The Union 44th Indiana Infantry was organized October 24th 1861 at Fort Wayne, Indiana.
A Fort Wayne, Indiana druggist, Hugh B Reed was made the Colonel of the 44th Indiana when it was organized October 22nd 1861. The 44th was made up of volunteers mostly from Indiana’s Tenth Congressional District in the northeastern part of the state. They left for Henderson, Kentucky in December 1861 and went into camp at Calhoun, Kentucky. In February 1862 they were moved to the Fort Henry area and then onto Fort Donelson, Tennessee, where the 44th took heavy casualties during the siege of the fort. Following this action they moved onto the Battle of Shiloh taking 210 casualties. The men of the 44th would also take part in the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, and the Battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, and Stones River. They finished up their duty on provost guard duty at Chattanooga, Tennessee.
The 44th was mustered out of Union service September 14th 1865. During their service the 44th lost 80 killed and 229 who died from disease.