The more than two thousand Putnam County men who fought for the Union in the Civil War served valiantly in many of the war’s bloodiest conflicts. The 27th Indiana Regiment, which included companies from Putnam County, was in the battles of Antietam and Gettysburg.
The Asbury Guard and the Union Guards composed some of the earliest Indiana regiments. Soldiers from Putnam County’s early enlistments later became officers of other companies and regiments. These included Col. Eli Lilly and Col. John R. Mahan, who would become influential throughout the state of Indiana, and Col. John Osborn, who led a Union regiment at the Battle of Shiloh. Robert Townsend, Putnam County’s only African American soldier, Barton W. Mitchell, who found Lee’s Lost Order before the Battle of Antietam, and Thomas Lyon, provide insight into ordinary soldiers’ lives.
No matter the regiment, soldiers shared similar feelings of fear and heartache, and more than three-hundred sacrificed their lives on the battlefield to preserve the Union and in 1863, abolish slavery. More