Indiana Historical Society - Manuscripts & Archives
User information
Biographical sketch
Scope and Content notes
Cataloguing information
Processed by
Charles Latham
22 February 1993
VOLUME OF COLLECTION: 3 folders
COLLECTION DATES: Inclusive 1861-1907; bulk 1861-1865
PROVENANCE: Roger B. Simpson, Madeira FL, 15 October 1993
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS: Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained in writing from the Indiana Historical Society
ACCESSION NUMBER: 93.0024
Oliver Shepherd was born in Jennings County, Indiana, and lived near Hopewell. In July 1861 he enlisted in Company H., 27th Indiana Volunteers. The regiment was dispatched to the Army of the Potomac. Shepherd was hit by a spent ball at Cedar Mountain, had a gunshot wound in his hip at Antietam, and was wounded in the forearm at Gettysburg.
In July 1863 the regiment was sent to New York City to help put down the Draft Riots. Returning to Virginia, they were then sent by railroad to Tennessee to support Rosecrans. They guarded a railroad, and took part in the campaign around Atlanta. They were mustered out in September 1864.
Shortly thereafter Shepherd enrolled as first lieutenant in Company G of the 145th Indiana Volunteers. He was soon promoted to captain. The regiment was sent to Nashville, Chattanooga, and Dalton, and spent the summer of 1865 at Marietta, Georgia, guarding a railroad.
After the war Shepherd complained of chronic diarrhea, which he attributed to his wound at Antietam. He was awarded a pension of $24 a month, cut in 1886 to $14 (he claimed political bias by the Cleveland administration). In 1907 the pension was raised to $40 a month.
Sources: Materials in collection
W. H. H. Terrell, Report of Adjutant General
This collection, filling three folders, contains Xerox copies of Shepherd's military record, and a 27-page manuscript by Shepherd which is basically a Civil War history of Company H, 27th Indiana Volunteers. Presumably written some time after the war, the account is an interesting mixture of specific detail derived from personal observation (food eaten on particular days, men of the company killed in a battle) with general comments on strategy.
MAIN ENTRY: Shepherd, Oliver, fl. 1850-1907
SUBJECT ENTRIES: United States. Army. Indiana Infantry Regiment, 27th (1861-1864)
United States. Army. Indiana Infantry Regiment, 145th (1865-1866)
Soldiers--Indiana--Johnson County
Pensions, Military--Indiana--Johnson County
Atlanta Campaign, 1864
Draft Riot, New York, N.Y., 1863
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Indiana--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Tennessee--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
Georgia--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
New York (N.Y.)--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Regimental histories.
END