315 Blue River Light Guards.... Marion Township Sept. 2, 1861. 117 Fort Harrison Guards. 118 Riley Guards.. 158 Otter Creek National Guards Terre Haute....June 20, 1861. 170 Prairieton Home Guards..... Prairieton.. 216 Scott Guards. June 26, 1861. July 19, 1861. July 3, 1861. Terre Haute.... July 20, 1861. Sept. 26, 1862. 448 New Phila. Home Guards.... New Philadelphia Sept. 26, 1862. NO. WAYNE COUNTY. COMPANY. STATION. ORGANIZED. 269 Cambridge City Guards.... Cambridge City. July 30, 1861. Simultaneous with the organization of these companies of the Indiana Legion, calls were made by the President of the United States for volunteers to suppress the rebellion. The first steps thus taken seemed to rouse a martial spirit in the officers and men of the companies, and before the first rudiments of military discipline were acquired, some patriotic person would rally around him a majority of the company, who would volunteer for the more gallant and glorious purpose of crushing out the pending rebellion in the Southern States of the Union. In this manner company after company has been disorganized and broken up. In this way the Legion has proved invaluable as a nursery for military enthusi asm, which has carried hundreds of men into the volunteer service of the United States. Its benefits, in this respect alone, have been uncalculable and have well repaid the labors bestowed upon it. Several times within the past eighteen months, our border along the Ohio river has been threatened with invasion, and, in one instance, a band of guerrillas crossed the river at Newburgh, in Warrick county, robbed our citizens, stole the State's arms, and plundered the Government Hospital stationed there. During these periods of danger the Legion has, at all times, answered promptly to all calls, and have shown a commendable willingness to meet any threatened danger. Scarcely a regiment along that extended border has escaped the necessity of sending at least a part of its force to some point for defense, whilst some companies have been called out repeatedly for short periods. The First Regiment, whose headquarters were at Mount Vernon, in Posey county, has, at all times, been regarded as amply sufficient for any pressing emergency, and its officers are vigilent and attentive to the public safety. The magnitude and importance of Evansville, the headquarters of the Second Regiment, rendered it necessary to make greater preparations for its defense than for any other point. Brigadier-General James E. Blythe and Colonel W. W. Hollingsworth, commanding the regiment, embracing all the forces in Vanderburgh county, have principally been charged with the management of all matters appertaining to its safety. Colonel Bates, commanding the Third Regiment, at Newburgh, in Warrick county; Colonel J. W. Crooks, commanding the Fourth Regiment, at Rockport, in Spencer county; Colonel Charles Fornier, in command of the Fifth Regiment, in Perry county; Colonol Lewis Jordan, in command of the Sixth Regiment, in Harrison county have all proved themselves efficient and vigilent officers. The Seventh Regiment, in Floyd county, as originally organized under the auspices of Colonel Benjamin F. Scribner, almost entirely volunteered under that gallant officer, in the organization of the Thirty-Eighth Regiment Indiana Volunteers. The regiment has never since been fully able to re-organize efficiently, though a suffi cient number has always been ready to meet any emergency which has yet arisen. The Eighth Regiment, in Clark and Scott countics, has suffered much in its organization, as well as all others, by the continual departure of its members to join the volunteer forces in process of organization. The Ninth Regiment, in Jefferson county, under the command of Colonel Samuel P. Sering, has, at all times, shown promptness and efficiency when its services have been required. The regiment in Jennings county (also numbered by error the Ninth) has at all times exhibited an excellent state of efficiency under its field officers who have promptly answered to any call for active service. Brigadier-General J. L. Mansfield, commanding the Third Brigade, has rendered valuable service in times of threatened danger in his district. In Switzerland county the Tenth Regiment has always shown a high degree of military efficiency and a willingness to respond to any call when they were needed for any emergency. The Eleventh Regiment, in Ohio county, and the Twelfth Regiment, in Dearborn county, have, so far as organized, shown a very creditable state of efficiency when their services have been required. During the month of September last, when the region opposite, in Kentucky, was overrun and occupied by the rebel forces under General Kirby Smith, almost up to the south bank of the Ohio river, and fears were entertained that bands of guerrillas, or rebel cavalry, would cross the river for purposes of plunder and pillage, several companies of these regiments were ordered on duty, for a number of days, to guard the fordable places along the river. They performed the service with alacrity and diligence, and are entitled to the thanks of the authorities and the public. For a more detailed and extended statement of the services rendered by the Legion, during the past eighteen months, reference is respectfully made to the able and interesting reports made by Major General John Love, and Brigadier Generals James E. Blythe, John L. Mansfield, and Alex. C. Downey, and the reports of the Colonels of the several regiments accompanying the same. The threatening aspect of affairs in Kentucky, during the invasion of that State by the Confederate forces under General Bragg, in August and September last, rendered it necessary that measures should be adopted and hastily consummated for the public safety along the southern border of our State. Orders were issued to the officers commanding the Legion to hold their forces in readiness to respond to any calls that might be made upon them. Arms in considerable numbers were sent to important points, to be distributed, as the emergency required, among the citizens. At the same time the citizens of the counties bordering on the Ohio river were required to assemble at suitable places, daily, and organize into companies for military duty, under the orders of the regimental officers of the counties. By these means a very fair state of military discipline and drill was introduced among the people of the southern sections of the State, putting them in a condition of efficiency for their own defense. For that purpose, the following orders and instructions were issued and carried out: EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA, In order to be able to repel invasion and insure the public safety, it is hereby ordered: 1. That all able-bodied white male citizens, between the ages of eighteen and forty-five, who reside in the counties bordering on the Ohio river, in this State, immediately upon receiving notice of this order, shall meet at their respective places of holding elections, in their respective townships, towns or wards, and form themselves into companies, for military duty, of not exceeding one hundred persons for each company. Each company will be organized by the election of one Captain, one First Lieutenant, and one Second Lieutenant; and the names of all the persons so elected, together with the names of all the members of the company, shall be reported, by proper roll, to the Colonel of the Indiana Legion, or, in his absence, to the next officer in rank, in said county, who will give written appointments to said officers. The usual non-commissioned officers will be appointed by the Captains. The mem |