Despite significant anti-war activity in the state and southern Indiana's ancestral ties to the Southern United States, it did not secede from the Union. During the course of the war, Indiana contributed approximately 270,000 soldiers and millions of dollars of equipment and supplies to the Union. Indiana, an agriculturally rich state containing the fifth-highest population in the Union and sixth-highest of all states, was critical to Northern success. Before the conclusion of the war, Indiana had assembled 126 infantry regiments, 26 batteries of artillery and 13 regiments of cavalry. In 1861, when Kentucky governor Beriah Magoffin refused an order to allow pro-Union forces to mobilize in his state Indiana governor Oliver Morton issued orders allowing loyal Kentuckians to join Indiana regiments. Many Kentucky troops, especially from the city of Louisville, joined Indiana regiments at Camp Joe Holt.
