If you are a direct descendant of a Marion County, Indiana resident who answered the call to the colors to help preserve the Union during the Civil War, then you may be eligible for membership in the new lineage society being offered by the Genealogical Society of Marion County (GSMC). The Civil War Families of Marion County is designed to honor both the Union veterans who served in either the army or navy and their families. The initial submission period ends on December 1, 2022, and those interested are invited to visit GSMC website, www.genealogyindy.org, for further information.
As Confederate guns pounded Ft. Sumter into submission during that April weekend in 1861, the Zouave Guards in Indianapolis received a flag and stood in readiness to march in support of the Union. The Stars and Stripes were proudly displayed throughout the city as Gov. Morton issued a proclamation to the patriots of Indiana to fill the state’s quota of 6,000 men in response to Pres. Lincoln’s call for volunteers. The city’s four organized military companies — the Indianapolis National Guards, the City Greys, the Independent Zouaves, and the Zouave Guards — soon went into quarters at the new state fairgrounds, Camp Morton, and by week’s end the streets were thronged with sufficient volunteers to complete enough companies to fill the six regiments of “Three Months Men” pledged by Gov. Morton to Pres. Lincoln. Marion County men filled the ranks of Co K, 10th Regiment and five companies of the 11th Regiment, including Co A (the City Greys), Co H (the Independent Zouaves), and Co K (the Zouave Guards.)
Among the 481 Marion County residents to answer the initial call for three months service was Francis “Frank” C. Cunningham, a nineteen-year-old painter, who enlisted as a private in Co K, 10th Regiment a week after the fall of Ft. Sumter. A few days later, Ebenezer Dumont, former president of the State Bank of Indiana, “promptly tendered his services” to Gov. Morton and was commissioned colonel of the 7th Regiment. He served with distinction, leading his regiment in the 1861 Western Virginia campaign, and upon the expiration of the term of service he reorganized the regiment for three years-service. Col. Dumont was appointed a brigadier general, but ill-health caused him to resign his commission. After leaving the Army, he was elected a United States Representative.
In the evening of Wednesday, May 8, 1861 thousands of citizens gathered along Massachusetts Ave. and Washington St. to cheer Col. Lew Wallace and his 11th Regiment Zouaves as they marched to State House Square where many thousands more gathered to witness the young volunteers kneel and swear, “Never to Desert the Colors!” Second Lieutenant Wallace Foster of Co H took these words to heart. He left the Army with the rank of captain and devoted his life promoting patriotism in the public and private schools of Indianapolis. He prepared a patriotic primer for use in the schools, not only in Indianapolis but throughout the United States. Captain Foster became known as the “Flag Man” because of the thousands of flags he gave to children, and his “love of Old Glory won him marked distinction throughout the city, state and nation.”
Another member of Wallace’s Zouaves was Daniel Macauley. Before being mustered into the 11th Regiment on April 25, 1861, he had been a bookbinder and first sergeant in the Independent Zouaves. Macauley served as regimental adjutant for three months service and continued in that role when the regiment was reorganized for three years service. In March 1863, Macauley was promoted to the rank of colonel and took command of the 11th Regiment. He was mustered out of the Army in July 1865 as brevet brigadier general and soon after returning to Indianapolis was elected mayor, serving three terms.
The Zouave Guards also had members serving in Co B, 11th Regiment who were mustered into service on April 22, 1861. Charles W. Davis, a general insurance agent and second sergeant of the Guards, served as a private in the company, while Socrates M. Byrkit, a wood engraver and fourth sergeant of the Guards, served as the company’s first sergeant. Also serving as a private in the company was Byrkit’s cousin Edwin M. Byrkit, a planing mill carpenter.
In the following weeks after the call for volunteers, students at North Western Christian University (NWCU), located at 13th and College (later renamed Butler University), organized a company under the command of Prof. Ryland T. Brown, calling the unit the Hoshour Guards in honor of the university’s president. While the unit did not enter state service, its namesake Samuel K. Hoshour served as a private in Co F, 107th “Minute Men” Regiment and Prof. Brown served as a sergeant in the same unit during Morgan’s Raid. However, before the formation of the Hoshour Guards, at least four NWCU students abandoned their studies and enlisted. Edward Thayer enrolled in Co A, 11th Regiment on April 22, 1861 for three month’s service as a private, and two days later James H. Snoddy enrolled as a private in Co H, 11th Regiment.
“Home Guard” companies, authorized by the newly enacted militia law, were formed in the Indianapolis city wards and the Marion County town of Cumberland in July 1861. Dr. William R. Smith proposed the name “Ellsworth Boys” for the Cumberland company in honor of Col. Elmer Ellsworth who had been killed while removing a Confederate flag from a house in Alexandria, Virginia. In the summer of 1863, Gen. Morgan’s Raid into Indiana rallied the Home Guard and Nimrod “Nim” K. Knotts, a sign painter living in the First Ward, entered the service as a second lieutenant in Co A, 107th “Minute Men” Regiment. Also serving was William McLain of the Sixth Ward who was a private in Co K, 106th “Minute Men” Regiment.
From the first call for volunteers in April 1861 to the mustering of the 156th Regiment in March 1865, 4,000 men from Indianapolis and Marion County responded to the Call to the Colors to defend the Union. Some came home, like Private Benjamin Franklin Askren of Co K, 70th Regiment, with grievous wounds, while others who were physically unscathed carried wrenching memories of the trauma of war. About 700 local men (17.5 per cent) made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and like Private John C. Hollenbeck of Co B, 11th Regiment, the first of Indiana’s fallen, lay for eternity in hallowed ground far from home.
If you are a direct descendant of a Marion County, Indiana Union soldier, consider becoming a member of the GSMC Civil War Families of Marion County lineage society as a way of keeping the memory and honoring your ancestor’s valor and service. The eight volume Report of the Indiana Adjutant General of the State of Indiana is available online at archive.org. You may search there for your ancestors.
