The 27th Battery, Indiana Volunteer Artillery served in Puerto Rico during the Spanish American War.
Unit History:
The 27th Battery of Indiana Volunteer Artillery was formed from Battery A of the , 1st Artillery, of the Indiana National Guard, which was initially formed on August 8th, 1882, at Indianapolis, Indiana. In response to President McKinley’s first call for volunteers was ordered to Camp Mount, located at Indianapolis, Indiana, where it arrived on April 26, 1898. On May 10th, 1898, the Battery was mustered into the federal service as the 27th Battery, Indiana Volunteer Artillery. At the time of mustering in, the battery consisted of four officers and 121 enlisted men.
The Battery left Camp Mount on May 15th, and moved to Camp George H. Thomas, on the site of the Civil War battlefield of Chickamauga, Georgia. In late July conditions at the camp began to rapidly decline and illness rose, the battery was ordered to depart. On July 24th, the 27th Battery went to Newport News, Virginia, where it was placed on the transport ROUMANIAN, in company Battery A, Missouri Volunteer Artillery; Battery B, Pennsylvania Volunteer Artillery, destined for Puerto Rico on July 28th, 1898.
The Battery disembarked at Arroyo, Puerto Rico, on August 4th, 1898 and was ordered to Guayma, where it arrived on August 13th. The Battery was in position along the San Juan Road in conjunction with the Battery A, Missouri Volunteer Artillery; Battery A, Pennsylvania Volunteer Artillery and Battery A, Illinois Volunteer Artillery. As the battle was about to begin, word was received that an armistice had been reached between the U.S. and Spain, ending the war’s fighting. The 27th Battery moved to Ponce on August 28, where it remained until September 7. At Ponce it embarked on the transports that would carry it to New York, where it arrived on September 15th, 1898.
The battery arrived back at Indianapolis on September 17th, 1898 and was given a two month furlough, beginning on September 23. When the unit reassembled in November, it was formally mustered out of the federal service on November 25th, 1898. At the time of mustering out, the battery consisted of four officers and 168 enlisted men. The war formally ended about two weeks later, on December 10, 1898, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris.
During its term of service, the regiment lost two men who were discharged on disability.
“A Reply to the Spaniards,” Herald-Despatch. Decatur, Illinois, July 30, 1898, 1.
Record of Indiana Volunteer Volunteers in the Spanish American War, 1898-1899. 62, 339 - 352.
Statistical Exhibit of Strength of Volunteer Forces Called into Service During the War with Spain; with Losses from All Causes. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899).