Henry Ware Lawton - Civil War

Civil War

Lawton was among the first to respond to President Lincoln’s call for three-month volunteers. On April 16, 1861, he enlisted in Company E of the 9th Indiana Volunteers. He saw action at Philippi, Laurel Hill, and Corrick's Ford, in what is now West Virginia. He was mustered on July 21, 1861 and returned home. Colonel Sion S. Bass was then organizing the 30th Indiana Infantry, and Lawton re-enlisted.

The 30th Indiana Infantry mustered into service on August 20, 1861. Lawton was his company’s first sergeant but was promoted to 1st lieutenant on August 20. The 30th joined the Army of the Ohio, under General Don Carlos Buell in Kentucky and remained there for a brief period. The army moved on to Tennessee early in 1862. Its first major engagement would be at the Battle of Shiloh where Lawton’s regiment suffered heavy losses. Lawton had experienced one of the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. His unit moved on and fought at Corinth, Mississippi.

Lawton’s unit also fought at Iuka while attached to Buell’s forces. At the age of nineteen, on May 7, 1862, outside of Corinth, he was promoted to the rank of captain.

He fought at the battles of Stones River and Chickamauga, in all, at over twenty-two major engagements. He received the Medal of Honor years later for his bravery at the Atlanta campaign. He was a brevet colonel at the end of the war.