DATE                   COL.           LT. COL.            MAJ.            ADJ.           CHAPLAIN             QM           SURGEON              ASST. SURGEONS       

   1 Jan. 1863        Osborne     C. M. Smith      J. T. Smith      Rose            Gilmore                 Beeler        Armstrong               Hendricks, Morgan      

  24 Jan. 1863            "                    "                        "              Noble                "                            "                   "                             "                "

 11 Feb. 1863             "             J. T. Smith           Neff               "                       "                            "                   "                             "                "

  15 Mar. 1863            "                    "                        "                "                       "                           "            Hendricks                Morgan,   McKinney

 

 

 

                                Armstrong, James B.    (  -  <1894>)   Commissioned as Regimental Surgeon on 22 Oct 61 and Mustered in on 1 Nov 61;

                                Discharged 13 Mar 63  (from Cripple Creek?) ;  Pension file shows his widow (Mary S.) filed in 1894 from IL;  There are                                             records for a William B. Armstrong, born PA 20 Feb 1833, died 13 Jan 1893 in Knoxville, Knox Co, IL, whose wife was named

                                Maria S. Campbell--the only problem I have with saying this is our William B. Campbell is that Maria's husband always lists

                                his occupation as Farmer, there is no mention whatsoever of his being a Physician;  Is this our Dr. William B. Campbell?

 

 

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                                Beeler, James C.  24  (1838 - 1897)  Mustered in on 4 Jan 62 from Terre Haute to Co F as a 2 Lt;   Promoted to Quarter  

                                Master Sgt for the regiment on 26 Apr 62; Resigned 17 Jun 65

 

 

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                                Gilmore, Hiram   51  (1809  - 1877)    Born in NY on Christmas Day;  Licensed to preach in 1831;  Married Eliza Ruter in 1834                                  and had 4 children;  Preached in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia before moving to Indiana in 1850;  living in Greencastle,                                        Putnam Co, IN for 1860 Census;  Commissioned and mustered in from Greencastle in Sep 61 as Chaplain for the regiment;                                      Mustered out 29 Sep 64;  Was a Minister in the Methodist-Episcopal Church and retured in 1874; Died in IL 

 

 

 

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                                 Hendricks, William C.  39 (1822 - 1888)  Mustered in 1 Nov 61 as Asst Surgeon (there were two assigned to the 31st IN);

                                 When Dr. James Armstrong was discharged on 14 Mar 63, Hendricks became the Regimental Surgeon the next day;  He

                                 would resign from the 31st IN on 10 May 64 in order to re-enlist as the Regimental Surgeon for the 149th IN;  Born in IN,

                                 Dr. Hendricks and his family called Ladoga home, in later years they lived in Franklin (Johnson Co), IN

 

 

 

 

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                                  McKinney, Asa W  30  (1831 - 1893)  He was mustered in as a 1 Sgt of Co H, in spite of having recently graduated from

                                  medical school; He became a Hospital Steward in May 62; Was a 2 Lt from Jan 63 until May 63 (roughly his whole time at

                                  Camp Cripple Creek); At last, he was promoted to Asst Surgeon in May 63 and finally served as Surgeon from Sept 64

                                  until his discharge in Dec 65;  Before the War, he lived in Owensburg;  He moved to Kansas in 1872, where he was a doctor,

                                  pharmacist, and the county coroner

 

 

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                                  Morgan, James H.    (  -  )   He was commissioned as one of the Asst Surgeons in the regiment on 22 Sep 62 (However,

                                  he was not mustered);  He resigned on 9 Dec 63

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                                  Neff, Francis L.  31 (1830 - 1864)  Born in KY, he made Sullivan Co, IN his home; He was mustered in as the 1st Lt of Co. D

                                  on 5 Sep 61;  He and his brother, Willis, were partners in a thriving law practice when Ft. Sumter was surrendered;  Francis

                                  and Willis were instrumental in recruiting their neighbors, friends, and fellow-lawyers for the cause of the Union  He was

                                  promoted to Adjutant for the regiment on 19 May 62, followed by a promotion to Capt of Co D on 31 Jul 62;  On 11 Feb 63,

                                  he was commissioned as a Maj, the rank he would hold until July 63, when he was promoted to Lt Col;  Sadly, he was killed

                                  24 Jun 64 by a sharpshooter at Kennesaw Mtn, near Atlanta, GA (according to the bio on his Find-A-Grave page, he was

                                  sitting at the base of a tree, reading a newspaper when he was killed!);  He was buried at home in Sullivan Co

 

 

                                        

                                   Noble, George Milton  20  (1842 - 1915)  His bio in Who's Who in Topeka, 1905, asserts he began as a Private in Co D and

                                   moved up through the ranks to a Brevet Major, however this is not reflected in the military records available to me;  No

                                   matter, he was mustered and commissioned as Adj for the regiment on 24 Jan 63 after Allen Rose resigned;  He would

                                   remain in this post until Sept 64 when he was promoted to Capt of Co C;  He resigned on 12 Jun 65;  He was from Ohio

                                   originally, but was living in Greencastle when he enlisted;  He and his wife moved to Kansas after the War;  He was a

                                   lawyer and businessman  He filed his pension request as an Invalid in 1904 and his widow (Eva R.) filed for her pension in

                                   1915--both from Kansas;  He died and was buried in Topeka, KS

 

 

 

 

                                   Osborne, John  53  (1809 - 1887) From Bowling Green, he became Lt Col when the regiment was formed in Sept 61;

                                   When Col. Cruft was promoted to Brig Gen in Jul 62, Osborne assumed command of the 31st;  He continued as Col until he

                                   resigned in Jul 63

 

 

 

 

 

                                    Rose, Allen T.  50  (1812 - 1892)  From Bowling Green, Clay Co., IN (although some records say he was from Spencer);  

                                    Served in the Mexican War;  He was commissioned and mustered into the 31st IN as Adj on 2 Oct 62;  After he resigned

                                    on 23 Jan 63, he returned home to IN;  He lived in Missouri 1880,  and died in Arkansas

 

 

 

 

 

                                    Smith, John T.  30  (1831 - 1908)  Hailing from Bloomfield, he was commissioned and mustered on 5 Sep 61 as the 1 Lt

                                    of Co F;  He was promoted to Capt of Co F on 4 Jan 62;  Promoted to Maj in Dec 62, Promoted to Lt Col in Feb 63;  He

                                    would eventually become Col in Jul 63 when Col Osborne resigned;  He would remain with the 31st until a few weeks

                                    before the War's end, turning in his resignation on 12 Mar 65;  In 1900, he was the author of the book commemorating

                                    the history of the 31st (A History of the Thirty-First Regiment of Indiana Volunteer Infantry in the War of the Rebellion)

 

 

 

 

                                   Smith, Charles M.   33  (1828  -  1909)   Born in OH, he called Terre Haute home for most of his life; (Note:  His military

                                   records show him serving in Co. F of 14th IN from 7 Jun 61 until 5 Jul 62, but I believe this second date should be 5 Jul 61,

                                   as this unit eventually became the 31st IN in Sep 61);  His newspaper obituary states he had a long military career,

                                   serving in the Mexican War and the "Lopez exedition to Cuba" in the 1850s;  He was commissioned and mustered in as the

                                   first Capt of Co K of the 31st IN on 5 Sept 61;  He was promoted to Maj on 7 May 62 and finally to Lt Col on 17 Jul 62;  He

                                   was serving in this capacity at Cripple Creek when he resigned on 10 Feb 63;  His final military service was as Lt Col of 

                                   the 156th IN from April until Aug 65;  In 1900, as a widower living in Terre Haute, he listed his occuation as Postal Clerk;

                                   His birthday was in May 1828, but I don't know the actual date