History of the 34th Indiana Infantry

Contributed by Jim Beaty, jbeaty@tiptontel.com

Excerpt from the Records of the Indiana Regiments in the Civil War.

This book is at the Wells County Indiana Library.  It was donated
"8-5-1911, Compliments of J. B. Merriman, State Representative."  Mr,
Merriman was the husband of Cynthia Irene Beaty, daughter of William R.
Beaty who was a private in A Company of the Thirty Fourth Regiment
Indiana Infantry Volunteers


There is a picture of the monument at Vicksburg National Park which
includes the following inscription:
             1st Brigade  12th Division  13th Corps
                          34th Infantry
                    Colonel Robert A. Cameron
                    Lieut. Col. William Swain
                     Major Robert B. Jones

Engaged:  Port Gibson, May 1, Champion's Hill, May 16, Assault, May
22, Siege, May 23-July 4

Casualties:  Killed 14, wounded 106, total 120: Lieutenant-Colonel
William Swaim mortally wounded


The history is:
       THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT INDIANA INFANTRY VOLUNTEERS
 This regiment was organized at Anderson on the 16th of September, 1861,
and was composed of companies from the counties of Wells, Jay,
Huntington, Grant, Howard, Madison and Blackford.
 The various companies were mustered into the service of the United
States at different times from September 21st to October 10th.  The
officers at final date of muster were as follows:
FIELD AND STAFF
Anthony Steele....................................Colonel
(others not included for brevity)
Company A  Captain William Swaim, 1st Lieutenant Games Gorrell, 2nd
Lieutenant William Wilmington
(others not included for brevity)
 On October 10th the regiment started for the field via Indianapolis,
and on arrival at Louisville, Kentucky, went into camp, where it
remained until the middle of November, when it was ordered to Camp
Wickliffe, Kentucky, and from thence to Green River in February.  On the
14th of February, 1862, the regiment was ordered to West Point, twenty
miles below Louisville, where it was assigned to the division of General
Nelson, and embarked on boats, arriving at Cairo on the 20th of
February, where the 34th was detached from Nelson's Division and sent to
New Madrid, Missouri, arriving there on the 3rd of March.  The regiment
was engaged in the siege of that place until its evacuation, on the 14th
of March, where it marched to a landing, fourteen miles below, drawing
with it, by hand ropes, two thirty-pound siege guns, which were placed
in position on the night of the 15th, and resisted the attack the next
morning of seven rebel gunboats in a two hours' engagement, sinking one
boa and compelling the withdrawal of the remainder.
 The battery also cut off the retreat of the enemy from Island No. 10,
which was the means of its subsequent capture, with its guns and
garrison.  Returning to New Madrid, the regiment remained there on
garrison duty from April 7, 1862 to June 14th, during which time it
assisted in the capture of Fort Pillow.
 Soon thereafter the regiment was ordered to Memphis, and from there
during the summer and fall made short campaigns into Arkansas as far as
Duvall's Bluffs, and finally settled down to post duty at Helena,
Arkansas, during the fall and winter of 1862, with short expeditions,
driving off, defeating or capturing the enemy.  A very important duty
was the clearing out the Yazoo Pass of timber, fallen trees, etc, which
the enemy had felled to obstruct navigation, endeavoring to prevent the
reaching of Vicksburg by the rear.
 On the 10th of April, 1863, the regiment was assigned to the 1st
Brigade, General McGinnis commanding of Hovey's 12th Division of the
13th Army Corps, and remained in this command during the campaign and
seige of Vicksburg.
 On the 10th of April it was started on the Vicksburg campaign from
Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, to a point on the west side of the
Mississippi River and crossed the river on transports and gunboats to
Bruinsburg, on the east side of the river, on the 3oth of April, marched
all night and engaged the enemy at daylight on the 1st of May, near Port
Gibson, Mississippi.  The regiment by command of General Hovey,
supported by the 56th Ohio, charged a Confederate battery during the
battle, early in the morning,  and captured the two field pieces of
artillery and 49 prisoners.  In this battle the regiment lost 49, killed
and wounded.
 On the 16th of May the regiment engaged in the battle of Champion's
Hill, and, while advancing in line of battle, captured the 46th Alabama
Confederate Regiment, with its colors, all field officers and 127 men.
In this battle the 34th suffered heavy losses in killed and wounded, and
among the latter was Lieutenant-Colonel Swaim, who died of his wounds on
the 17th of June, 1863.
 Moving forward with the army, the 34th, with McGinnis' Brigade took
position in front of the Confederate defenses at Vicksburg, opposite
Confederate Fort Garrot, and participated in the siege until the final
surrender July 4, 1863, suffering 13 men killed and wounded during the
siege.
 On July 5th, the regiment moved with the brigade and division in
pursuit of Johnston's Confederate Army, until he retired within the
defenses of Jackson, Mississippi, where after a siege of nine days,
Johnston evacuated during the night, crossing Pearl River and escaping
eastward toward Meridian, Mississippi.  In the siege of Jackson the
regiment lost 8 men, killed and wounded.
 Returning to Vicksburg, the regiment embarked on August 4th for New
Orleans, and from thence, on the 12th of September, it moved to Brashear
City, Louisiana, and while in that section it took part in Banks'
expedition up the Teche country, as far as Opelousas.  On the return
march it engaged the enemy at Carrion Crow Bayou on the 3rd of November,
after which it proceeded to New Iberia, where on the 15th day of
December, 1863, 460 of the regiment re-enlisted, and on the 23rd of
December it embarked on a vessel for Pass Cavallo, Texas, reaching there
January 8, 1864, where it remained until the 21st of February and then
returned to New Orleans, and on March 20th left on veteran furlough for
Indianapolis, reaching there April 1st. (William Beaty had re-enlisted
and earned a bonus while home when brother Andrew enlisted and became a
member of Company A for the duration of the war.)
 Returning to the field the regiment was placed on duty in New Orleans,
where it remained until December, 1864. when in embarked for Brazos
Santiago, Texas.
 The regiment fought the last battle of the war at Palmetto Ranch,
Texas, May 13, 1865, and had a spirited engagement.  Some 250 of the
regiment fought 500 of the enemy, mounted with a battery of six field
pieces, driving them three miles in the space of three hours, but the
enemy, getting their battery in position, poured a destructive fire into
our ranks, compelling the main body of the regiment to fall back,
leaving Companies B and F, behind as skirmishers to cover the movement.
These companies, being unsupported, were finally surrounded and forced
to surrender.  The loss of the regiment was 82 in killed, wounded and
prisoners.
 After the engagement the regiment fell back to Brazos Island, and from
thence it moved to Brownsville, where it remained until June 16th, and
then marched to Ringbold Barracks, Texas, 260 miles up the Rio Grande,
and were the first Union troops to occupy that place, which had been an
important U. S. military post before the Civil War.
 After more than four years of military service, the regiment was
mustered out at Brownsville, Texas,  February 3, 1865. (This date has to
be incorrect, and must be February 3, 1866 as they occupied the Ringbold
Barracks after June 16, 1865.)
 The regiment lost during service 2 officers and 32 enlisted men killed
and mortally wounded, and 5 officers and 204 enlisted men by disease;
total 243.