An Average Regiment: A Re-Examination of the 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry of the Iron Brigade

Abstract

The 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry Regiment is one of the most famous regiments of the Civil War through its membership in the Iron Brigade of the Union Army of the Potomac. This brigade has been hailed as an elite unit of the Civil War. This thesis is a regimental history which critically examines the socio-economic profile of the 19th Indiana and the combat record of the Iron Brigade. This thesis finds that the 19th Indiana is largely reflective of the rest of the Union Army in terms of its socio-economic profile. Also, the combat record of the brigade was not overly successful and not necessarily deserving of being singled out from among the hundreds of other brigades in the Civil War.