CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment

military unit

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ4596560 ↗
Source-derived summary

1st Regiment Indiana Heavy Artillery was a heavy artillery regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was nicknamed the "Jackass Regiment". Before being converted into an artillery unit in 1863, it served as the 21st Regiment, Indiana Volunteer Infantry.

Service

The 1st Indiana Heavy Artillery was organized in Indianapolis, Indiana, July 24, 1861, as the 21st Indiana Infantry under the command of Colonel James Winning McMillan. The regiment was converted to heavy artillery in February 1863.

The regiment was attached to Dix's Division, Baltimore, Maryland, to February 1862. Butler's New Orleans Expedition to March 1862. 2nd Brigade, Department of the Gulf, to October 1862. Independent Command, Department of the Gulf, to January 1863. Unattached, 1st Division, XIX Corps, Department of the Gulf, to February 1863.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment” as military unit. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1863, 1861, 1862—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1861-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Indiana, Heavy and Artillery can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as military unit. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4596560. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1863, 1861 and 1862.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow 1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment primary sources, 1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment archive and Indiana research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment”?
  2. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “1st Indiana Heavy Artillery Regiment” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.