Henry T. Hunter

Henry Thomas Hunter

"Henry Thomas Hunter was born 5 June 1842 in Barr Township, Daviess Co., IN, the second child of William and Martha [Davis] Hunter.

"In September 1861, a company was formed for the 42nd Indiana Regiment, Volunteers, and on 27 Sept. 1861, the men left for Evansville, where the regiment rendezvoused. In this group of men was a young man, 19 years old, described as having a light complexion, blue eyes, dark hair, and being 5 feet 8 inches tall. This young man was Henry Thomas Hunter.

"The 42nd Regiment was officially mustered in at Evansville, IN, on 10 Oct. 1861. The regiment was attached to the 14th Brigade, Army of the Ohio, from October to December 1861. They were soon moved to Henderson and Calhoun, KY, where they served duty, encamped at Sacramento, KY.

"After building fortifications near South Carrolton, KY, during winter months, the regiment returned by small steamboat to Sacramento and again occupied their old campgrounds. Soon they were ordered to move to Owensboro, where the regiment embarked on the steamer "Liberty," which transported the troops in Green River County to Pittsburgh Landing [Shiloh, TN].

"Early in the spring of 1862, the command moved to Murfreesboro, TN, and then marched to Shelbyville, then on to Fayetteville, and advanced on Huntsville, AL from 28 March to 11 April 1862. They saw action at Wartrace on 14 April and participated in the advance and capture of Decatur, AL, on 21 April. Following duty at Huntsville, AL, until August 1862, they began pursuit of General Braxton Bragg's Army, marching back toward Nashville and then toward Louisville, with General Don Carlos Buell's Army from 27 Aug.-26 Sept. They continued their pursuit of Bragg into Kentucky.

"On 7 Oct. 1862, the 42nd was encamped near Mackville, KY, with orders to march at six in the morning. But events transpired during the night which caused them to march at 4 a.m. After a few miles, they could hear cannonading and they continued their march until they reached a hill from which their batteries could be seen.

"They had scarcely taken their position when they were ordered to go down into a ravine to get water...." and along with them went Reuben Hunter. In front of the creek facing the enemy, the bank rose gradually toward the woods where the Rebel guns were and, in this space between the creek and the woods, was an open field. All behind them, except for the road down which they had come, was a precipitous rocky bluff from 25 to 50 feet high.

"The Rebel guns had ceased, but the Union cannoniers kept blazing away at the place where they had been. At about half past twelve, Rebel scouts discovered the men in the ravine below. The 42nd could hear commands being given up in the woods, marching toward them, and they assumed and felt confident that it was one of their own regiments taking position on their right. They were very wrong.

"The men had been lying around, with their guns stacked, when suddenly a few stray shots came whizzing by them. The enemy poured down a volley of musketry. The soldiers got the order to fall back and take the regiment out of the ravine--if possible.

"It was a terrible position: in front, a concealed enemy firing volley after volley; on their right, a battery throwing grapeshot; behind, a steep cliff, up which the men must climb, exposed to the fire of Rebel sharpshooters. A few succeeded in getting back up the road that they had come down, but the main body was compelled to clamber up the bluff the best way it could. The regiment had been ordered down into what proved to be a slaughter trap.

"A little after sunset, the firing ceased almost entirely. It was miracle the regiment got out so well. They lost 166 men in killed, wounded, and missing. Among the killed, our hearts are saddened, Henry Thomas Hunter, aged 20 years, 4 months, and 3 days...in the Battle of Perryville, KY, also known as Chaplain Hills.