History
The earliest warriors from Indiana pre-date European contact. French explorers did not reach Indiana until the end of the Beaver Wars in the 17th century. The French soon established trading posts and villages. These remote outposts were defended by local militia and Native American alliances. In 1778, during the American Revolutionary War, the militia of Vincennes, Indiana declared for the United States, and local militia Captain François Riday Busseron commissioned the first American flag in Indiana. The Vincennes militia and Piankeshaw warriors resisted Lt-Governor Henry Hamilton, and in 1779 they supplied and supported United States forces under George Rogers Clark.
The Indiana Army National Guard traces its unbroken history to 1801, when William Henry Harrison, Governor of the Indiana Territory, formed a voluntary militia to defend against the aggressive actions of some of the Native American tribes in the vast territory. The Indiana Rangers were formed in 1807. The militia and rangers participated in a major action in the 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe, and many participated in the invasion of Canada in the War of 1812.
Indiana units were first officially called to national action in 1840s to serve as part of the army for the invasion of Mexico during the Mexican-American War. An Indiana regiment played a critical role in the Battle of Buena Vista, a critical battle that routed the entire Mexican Army and open the way for a rapid occupation of the country.
Indiana regiments were again called to national action in the American Civil War, the costliest engagement in terms of lives the state was ever involved in. Indiana in the war committed over 200,000 soldiers and casualties topped 35% among the men. During the war several regiments where mustered for duty on the home front creating the Indiana Legion which officially separated the militia from the army regiments. The state's regiments were renamed the Indiana National Guard in 1895.
Regiments from the guard first went overseas in the 1898 Spanish-American War, serving in the initial occupation of the Philippines. The Militia Act of 1903 organized the various state militias into the present National Guard system. In 1916 units were mobilized to patrol the Mexican Border in response to aggressive actions by the Mexican Government, but no action occurred. The next year the entire guard was mobilized and many sent into action as part of World War I, most men being deployed to France.
The guard was again called on during the Great Depression to suppress worker strikes and riots in Northern and Central Indiana, and was sent overseas again during World War II. The guard continued to see action in the second half of the 20th century, serving in the Korean War, Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the Iraqi War.
Well-known Indiana guardsmen include former Vice President Dan Quayle, who served as a sergeant during the Vietnam War time period.
Read more about this topic: Indiana National Guard
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