A brief history of the 159th Indiana Volunteer Infantry

by  Patrick McSherry  
Click here for a roster of the 159th Indiana Volunteer Infantry, Company B
The 159th Indiana Volunteer Infantry was formed from the 1st Regiment, Indiana National Guard. The redesignated unit was mustered for service at Camp Mount in Indianapolis on April 28, 1898. On May 15, the 159th (in conjunction with many of the other Indiana units) was ordered to Camp Thomas, GA. This camp was located on the former Civil War battlefield of Chickamuaga. The unit stayed at Camp Thomas for only a brief time, being ordered to Port Tampa, Florida, on June 1. The 159th arrived
at Port Tampa on June 3.

Though the unit was close to the embarkation point where troops were being loaded for service in Cuba, at Port Tampa the unit's advance came to a halt. The 159th would remain in Port Tampa until August 30, when the was ordered back to Camp Mount at Indianapolis. An armistice had been agreed to on August 13, effectively ending the war's fighting.

The unit was given a month's furlough, from September 10 to October 10, 1898. On November 1, the unit was mustered out of service. The war ended officially on December 10, 1898 with the Treaty of Paris.


BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Clerk of Joint Comittee on Printing, The Abridgement of Message from the President of the United States to the Two Houses of Congress, (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899), Vol 3, p. 493.

Wright, General Marcus J., Wright's Official History of the Spanish American War. (Washington: War Records Office 1900) 319-320.

 
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