The 33rd Indiana Volunteer Infantry participated in military campaigns in five different states: Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. The regiment’s first volunteers enlisted for a period of three years. While some went home after their service expired, the majority of the regiment signed on to serve until the end of the war.
The 33rd was mustered into service on September 16, 1861 and organized at Camp Morton in Indianapolis. The men came from Warren, Marion, Morgan, Owen, Shelby, Bartholomew, Knox and Gibson Counties. Judge John Coburn was appointed colonel of the regiment by Governor Oliver Morton. Coburn was later given command of a brigade and served honorably until the expiration of his term in September of 1864. Near the end of the war, on March 13, 1865, Coburn was given the rank of Brevet Brigadier General of United States Volunteers for gallant and meritorious conduct.
In the fall of 1861, the 33rd was rushed to southeast Kentucky to meet the advance of Brigadier General Felix Zollicoffer, whose forces had recently arrived in Kentucky from East Tennessee. The 33rd formed part of a brigade belonging to Brigadier General Albin Schoepf, under the command of Brigadier General George H. Thomas. Thomas’ served under Brigadier General William T. Sherman, who then directed the forces in the Department of the Cumberland. Schoepf’s Brigade met Zollicoffer’s advancing army in Rockcastle Hills at a place called Camp Wildcat, a rugged country, which is now part of the Daniel Boone National Forest in Laurel County. On October 21, 1861, Schoepf’s forces, which included the 33rd, defeated Zollicoffer, earning the first Union victory in Kentucky. The 33rd played the most conspicuous part of the battle, after which an important section of the battlefield was named “Hoosier Knob.”
Union forces in the West were frequently reorganized and the 33rd found itself transferred to Major General Don Carlos Buell’s Army of the Ohio, Brigadier General George W. Morgan’s 7th Division, and Brigadier General Absalom Baird’s 27th Brigade. Following the reorganization, the 33rd participated in the Cumberland Gap Campaign, which lasted from April through September of 1862. While the Gap was taken June 18, Union forces were forced to evacuate on September 17 due to lack of provisions and the campaign was a fruitless one.
After a period of rest and refitting, the 33rd was transferred to the 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, commanded by General Baird, in Major General Gordon Granger’s Army of Kentucky. As part of a general movement by Major General William Rosecran’s Army of the Cumberland to drive out of Tennessee General Braxton Bragg’s Confederate Army of Tennessee, Coburn’s Brigade, which included the 33rd, was ordered on a reconnaissance mission on March 5, 1863. Just south of Franklin, at Thompson’s Station, the brigade encountered a large body of Confederate cavalry commanded by Major General Earl Van Dorn. Severely outnumbered, after a fight of several hours, Coburn’s brigade surrendered to Nathan Bedford Forrest, who commanded a brigade in Van Dorn’s army. The 33rd sustained 13 killed, 85 wounded and 407 captured. The regiment, now prisoners, were sent to Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia, where they remained for a month before being exchanged.
The fight at Thompson’s Station was the worst engagement the 33rd had seen up to that point in the war. And, the defeat cast doubt on Colonel Coburn’s leadership and the fighting readiness of the regiments in his brigade. The criticism was unwarranted; Coburn’s men fought gallantly against overwhelming odds and surrendered only when all chance of success had evaporated. After the 33rd was exchanged in the spring of 1863, the regiment reassembled at Franklin. They were subsequently divided and ordered to perform guard duty throughout middle Tennessee, keeping supply lines open against Confederate cavalry raids.
After spending the winter at Christiana, Tennessee, the regiment participated in William T. Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign, which lasted from May until September, 1864. The 33rd formed part of Colonel Coburn’s 2nd Brigade, Major General Daniel Butterfield’s 3rd Division, and the 20th Corps, commanded by Major General Joseph Hooker. The 20th Corps was part of General George H. Thomas’ Army of the Cumberland. Later in the campaign, Coburn’s brigade, after another reorganization, became part of Brigadier General William T. Ward’s 3rd Division, Major General Alpheus Williams’ 20th Corps, with Major General Henry Slocum now commanding the Union Army of the Cumberland. During the campaign, the 33rd participated in the engagements at Resaca, New Hope Church, Kolb’s Farm, and Peach Tree Creek.
The regiment’s most severe engagement took place at Peach Tree Creek, just on the outskirts of Atlanta. On July 20, 1864, Major General John Bell Hood’s army came out of its trenches and launched a surprise attack against Sherman. Colonel Coburn’s brigade acted swiftly on its front and repulsed the attack, though with a considerable number of casualties. The 33rd lost 20 killed and 71 wounded in the battle. Hood’s aggressive plan to drive Sherman’s army from the environs of Atlanta failed miserably and Atlanta was captured of September 2, 1864. Colonel Coburn, along with several companies of the 33rd and detachments from other units, had the honor of being the first Union troops in the city and Coburn himself accepted the surrender of Atlanta from its mayor.
After the fall of Atlanta, Sherman’s army strengthened the defenses around Atlanta, garrisoned the city and refitted for the next campaign. During this time, the 33rd lost many of its veterans due to the expiration of their term of service. The regiment’s ranks were constantly being filled, however, with new recruits and draftees. Colonel Coburn, having finished his term of service, resigned his commission and Captain James H. Burton (later colonel) of Company H assumed command of the regiment.
General Sherman devised a campaign to destroy the heartland of Georgia and cripple the Confederacy’s ability to wage war. On November 16, Sherman’s new Army of Georgia left Atlanta and began the March to the Sea campaign. The Army of Georgia, whose destination was Savannah, included four corps divided into a right wing and a left wing. The 33rd formed part of the 20th Corps under General Alpheus Williams, which marched in the left wing under the command of General Henry Slocum. Facing little resistance, Sherman’s forces easily captured Savannah on December 21, 1864.
Sherman wasted little time in continuing his destructive path and in January proceeded to cross the Savannah River into South Carolina. The Carolinas Campaign lasted just over two months, taking the army to Raleigh, North Carolina, when the regiment marched into the city on April 13, 1865. The major engagement of the campaign occurred at Bentonville, North Carolina from March 19-21; however, the 33rd played a supporting role and was not involved in the fighting. General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant on April 9, 1865 and General Joseph E. Johnston, who had replaced Hood, surrendered to Sherman on April 26, 1865. The war having finally ended, the 33rd, along with the rest of Sherman’s forces, headed toward Washington D.C., passing through Richmond, Virginia, and arriving at the capital in time to participate in the Grand Review on May 24, 1865.
After participating in the Grand Review, the 33rd was assigned to the 14th Corps and recruits from the 27th, 70th and 85th regiments were assigned to the 33rd. In June the regiment boarded the trains for Louisville, Kentucky, where the regiment was mustered out on July 21, 1865.
During its term of service, the 33rd Indiana Infantry suffered 271 deaths and 269 wounded, for a total of 540 casualties. Adjutant John McBride, a member of Company C and the regiment’s historian, wrote “The history of the Thirty-third Indiana embraces a long service – nearly four years – replete with deeds of daring and self-sacrifice, during which time it performed military duty in almost every Southern State east of the Mississippi river, under various commanders, and often under the most adverse circumstances. The record it made shows that for bravery in battle, willingness to perform every duty, however great the difficulty or discomfort, and loyalty to the cause in which it had enlisted, it was the peer of the best regiments in the service.” (History of the 33rd Indiana Volunteers, John McBride, 1900)