Sharpe, John W

John W Sharpe

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Significance:

Company H, 6th Indiana Infantry

Place of Birth:

Mount Sterling, Switzerland County, Indiana

Date of Birth:

1845

Place of Death:

Murfreesboro, TN

Date of Death:

December 31st, 1862

Place of Burial:

Murfreesboro, TN

Cemetery Name:

Stones River National Cemetery

John W. Sharpe was born in 1845 in Mount Sterling, Switzerland County, Indiana. He mustered into Company H of the 6th Indiana Volunteer Infantry as a private to serve in the Union Army. The 6th Indiana was organized in Madison, Indiana, and mustered into service on September 20, 1861. They were soon ordered to Kentucky, where they remained for most of their first year of service. The regiment later fought at the Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Corinth and continued operations throughout Tennessee and Kentucky before being stationed in Nashville, Tennessee, in December 1862. On December 26, they were ordered to march toward Murfreesboro for the Battle of Stones River.

The regiment arrived near Murfreesboro on December 30 and took up positions suited to their new surroundings. There, they served under Baldwin’s brigade and were positioned west of Gresham Lane in reserve. At 6 a.m. on December 31, Confederate forces launched their assault, attempting to collapse the Union right wing with a sweeping, J-shaped attack. The Confederate plan initially proved successful, and the 6th Indiana soon came into contact with enemy forces. By 8 a.m., they had been pushed north toward Wilkinson Pike, and by 9 a.m., the remnants of the brigade had fallen back to Asbury Lane, where Union reinforcements were forming a new defensive line. It was likely during this intense fighting that Private Sharpe received a mortal gunshot wound. He died later that day, December 31, 1862, from his injuries.

John W. Sharpe is buried in Stones River National Cemetery, in Plot F-2370.