Hoosiers’ Courage: The 19th Indiana at Gettysburg

Date published – 1998
Page count – 202
Maps included – 9
Footnotes included – 526
Bibliography included
Index included
Regimental Roster included

On July 1, 1863, three-hundred Indiana members of the famed ‘Iron Brigade’ marched toward Gettysburg, expecting nothing more than a skirmish. By 10:00 AM they found themselves posted in a stand of woods near the Lutheran Seminary, west of town. There, among the trees, soon to be known as ‘McPherson’s Woods’, the 19^th Indiana fought their way into history with courage and determination.

The 19^th Indiana Infantry at Gettysburg is more than just an account of a regiment’s participation in the battle of Gettysburg. This book is the story of the men who made up the regiment.

Among the soldiers of the 19^th Indiana were individuals like the newly-married lawyer, William Orr, who had just returned to the regiment’s ranks following a serious chest wound. Also, there was Lewis Yeatman, who had joined the regiment in order to get out of debt, and had already been wound twice. And even an underage volunteer, Roby Moore, who was convinced he could not get hurt, and couldn’t wait to fight the Confederates. The combined stories of these men, and nearly three-hundred others creates a study of courage and determination.

The 19^th Indiana, which went into the first-day’s fighting with more than three-hundred soldiers, could only muster seventy-five survivors around the regiment’s bullet-torn colors at the end of the day.

The 19^th Indiana Infantry at Gettysburg follows the fight against Archer’s Brigade, and then the attempts to withstand the attacks by Pettigrew’s and Scale’s Brigades. These soldiers’ accounts are woven together, presenting a fascinating enlisted-man’s view of the battle of Gettysburg.