Private Lemuel Engle: Company K, 148th. Indiana Regiment (Infantry)

(Photograph taken by the author)

     The Civil War isn't my specialty but on a recent business trip, a cemetery was visited which resulted in a few interesting soldier graves. I won't divulge the location as many of the headstones have been vandalized and even outright stolen. This marker is for Private Lemuel Engle who served in Company K, 148th. Indiana Regiment (Infantry). He mustered into the unit on February 23, 1865 at the age of 24. Much of the men taken into the regiment came from the 6th. Congressional District of Indiana and the regiment was formed in Indianapolis and was fully mustered on February 25, 1865 with a strength of 1,027 men. The unit was considered a "One Year Regiment." Within three days, the regiment was dispatched to Nashville, Tennessee. Bear in mind that by this time, the Confederacy was all but pushed out of the area following the Union victories during the Franklin–Nashville Campaign which ended in December 1864. Thus, when the 148th. Indiana Regiment arrived, it served as a garrison force in the central Tennessee area under the overall command and control of the Army of the Cumberland which was, at this time, commanded by Major General George H. Thomas. 

     The 148th. Indiana Regiment ceased to be on September 5, 1865 when it was stood down. PVT Engle was released from duty on that day. For the just over 6 months of the unit's existence, it had 75 desertions of which Company K accounted for ten of those men. The unit had 36 fatalities of which Company K accounted for two of the deaths. Both men, PVT William Harper and PVT John Henderson, died on July 22 and August 16, 1865 respectively in Pulaski, Tennessee. Pulaski, about 73 miles south of Nashville, was the site of Fort Hill though some current historians don't think such a fort existed. However, records show that at least by 1862, some sort of fortified position was established by Union troops in Pulaski and given the name Fort Hill. It is possible that unit(s) of XIV Corps, who encamped in Pulaski for some months in 1862, could have erected the fortified position upon the hilltop. Pulaski, however, was also the site of several Union hospitals and according to records, 34 of the 36 deaths from the 148th. Indiana Regiment were due to illness of some form. 

     Interestingly, Engle was mentioned in Volume E of the 1912 U.S. Senate Reports where he was requesting an increase in his pension from $12 (granted in 1907) to $24 due to deteriorated health. By this time, he was 71. He would die in 1921 at the age of 80.