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Civil War General John T Wilder

Location: North side of 446 E. Main Street/SR 46 at Poplar Street, Greensburg. (Decatur County, Indiana)

Installed: 2001 Indiana Historical Bureau and Wal-Mart

ID# : 16.2001.1

Text

Side one:

Wilder (1830-1917), resident of Greensburg circa 1858-1869, built this home 1865-1866. He was millwright and inventor; provided major employment in the area. Enlisted in Civil War; appointed lieutenant colonel of Seventeenth Indiana Volunteer Infantry 1861 by Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton.

Side two:

In 1863, Wilder commanded a brigade which included mounted infantry equipped with new Spencer repeating rifles. Use of rifles helped troops defeat Confederates at Hoover's Gap; earned them nickname Wilder's Lightning Brigade. Wilder was breveted Brigadier General 1864, after Chickamauga.

Keywords

Military