Thursday, January 26, 2012

Faces Of The 31st. Indiana Infantry.

On this page you will find 4, faces, these are not all the faces I have, there are a lot more, mostly Officers.  If you don't see a face here, you can request a look up.  if your face is not found there still will be some kind of information on him.
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Picture can be enlarged by pushing on it.
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          Read picture lift to right.

Augustus C. Ford.

Enlisted September 9, 1861, at Terre Haute, Indiana, Age 23, Regiment 31st., Co. A., Mustered out April 1, 1865.  Remarks; Sergeant, Resigned on account of family affairs, 1St. Sergeant November 9, 1861; 1St. Lieutenant October 31, 1864; Captain November 1, 1864.  Nativity Vermilleion county, Indiana; Clerk.
Birth: Aug. 3, 1838, Brazil Clay County Indiana.
Death: Mar. 30, 1911, Terre Haute, Vigo County, Indiana.

Union Civil War Veteran Officer. Born in Brazil, Indiana, he later moved to Terre Haute, Indiana. When the Civil War began, Ford volunteered to serve in the Union Army and enlisted for three years' service. He was mustered into Company A with the 31st Indiana Volunteer Infantry as a Sergeant. He was eventually promoted to Captain of Company A and participated in several major engagements of the Western Theatre including the Battles of Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Stones River, Chickamauga, Resaca, Kennesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Franklin, and Nashville. His company had the greatest percentage of lives lost than any other company that Indiana sent to the war. After the war, Ford returned to Indiana and lived in Terre Haute until his death in 1911 when he was 72 years old. He was buried in Cincinnati at Spring Grove Cemetery in the family plot of his wife, Orphia C. Ford.
Burial: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio.

William Henry Harrison Beadle.

Enlisted September 5, 1861, at Terre Haute, Indiana, Age 23, Regiment 31, Co. A., Mustered out February 2, 1862.  Remarks; Resigned. Lieutenant, Captain September 11, 1861.

Birth: Jan. 1, 1838
Death: Nov. 13, 1915

Civil War Union Brevet Brigadier General. Entered into the Union Army during the Civil War as a Captain in the 31st Indiana Volunteer Infantry, but was soon promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Michigan Volunteer Sharpshooters. He was severely wounded in battle, which forced him to resign his commission. However, he returned to the Army in the Veterans Reserve Corps, serving first as Major of the 1st VRC, then of the 3rd VRC. He was brevetted Brigadier General, US Volunteers on March 13, 1865 for "gallant and meritorious services during the war". He was appointed Surveyor General of the Dakota Territory in 1869. He helped write up the Code of 1877, and was known for his management plan for "school lands," whose sale would help fund public education. He became Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction in 1879, and his school lands ideas were written into the South Dakota constitution in 1889. His school lands idea was a model for several other western states. Beadle served as president of the Madison State Normal School from 1889 to 1905, and was a professor there before retiring in 1912. There is a statue of him in the United States Capitol building Rotunda in Washington, D.C. The inscription on the statue states, "He Saved the School Lands".
Burial: Riverside Cemetery, Albion, Calhoun County, Michigan.

Charles M. Spencer.

Enlisted September 20, 1861, at Terre Haute, Indiana, Age 19, Regiment 31, Co. A., Mustered out September 10, 1864, Remarks: Discharged at expiration of service.

Richard M. Waterman.

Enlisted September 5, 1861, at Terre Haute, Indiana, Age 52, Regiment 31, Co. A, Mustered out September 10, 1864.  Remarks: 2nd Lieutenant. Promoted to 1st Lieutenant on Dec. 1, 1861. Promoted to Captain on May 3, 1862. Resigned on account of disability. Resignation revoked; he died Aug. 22, 1864, Special Order # 565, War Department 1866.

1 comment:

Erik Donald France said...

This is amazing -- thanks for posting!

My great great grandfather, Samuel France, served in Company E, 31st Indiana. His brother Jeremiah C. France was in the 43rd Indiana and died in 1865. The first husband of Samuel's wife Ruthann Wheeler was in the 85th Indiana, Ira B. Slack, KIA at Resaca in 1864, exact grave site unknown.