This
long running series about regiments that served in the trans-Mississippi from
William F. Fox’s list of “Three Hundred Fighting Regiments” is winding down. Only one
more regiment after this one remains to be highlighted, and that unit was quite
a unique one.
The
48th Illinois Infantry ended its service on occupation duty in
Arkansas after quite a distinguished combat career ranging from Fort Donelson
to the Carolina campaign. This regiment is fortunate to have two websites
specifically devoted to it. Each of the websites has many links to materials
such as rosters, description books, photos, flags, and much more. One of the 48th
Illinois websites is a project of Donald Aikman and the other is a project of Dr.David A. Stumpf.
“Oliver’s Brigade —Hazen’s Division--Fifteenth Corps.
（1) Col. Isham N.
Haynie; Brig.-Gen.
|
（3) Col. Lucien
Greathouse (Killed).
|
（2) Col. William W.
Sanford.
|
（4) Col. Ashley T.
Galbraith.
|
（5) Col. Thomas L.
Weems.
|
|
Companies.
|
killed and died of wounds.
|
died of disease, accidents, in Prison, &c.
|
Total Enrollment.
|
|||||
Officers.
|
Men.
|
Total.
|
Officers.
|
Men.
|
Total.
|
|||
Field and Staff
|
3
|
1
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
21
|
||
Company
|
A
|
9
|
9
|
26
|
26
|
165
|
||
B
|
2
|
9
|
11
|
2
|
25
|
27
|
157
|
|
C
|
10
|
10
|
1
|
25
|
26
|
151
|
||
D
|
1
|
7
|
8
|
15
|
15
|
150
|
||
E
|
2
|
10
|
12
|
1
|
28
|
29
|
151
|
|
F
|
10
|
10
|
25
|
25
|
161
|
|||
G
|
16
|
16
|
1
|
25
|
26
|
157
|
||
H
|
1
|
18
|
19
|
25
|
25
|
213
|
||
I
|
1
|
15
|
16
|
29
|
29
|
193
|
||
K
|
8
|
8
|
28
|
28
|
161
|
|||
Totals
|
10
|
113
|
123
|
6
|
251
|
257
|
1,680
|
|
Total of killed and wounded 431.
Battles.
|
K. & M. W.
|
Battles.
|
K. & M. W.
|
Fort
Donelson, Tenn.
|
12
|
Battle of Atlanta
|
18
|
Shiloh,
Tenn.
|
32
|
Ezra Chapel, Ga.
|
14
|
Germantown,
Tenn.
|
2
|
Jonesboro,
Ga.
|
5
|
Siege of Vicksburg
|
1
|
Lovejoy's Station, Ga.
|
1
|
Jackson,
Miss.
|
4
|
Siege of Atlanta
|
9
|
Resaca,
Ga.
|
1
|
Fort
McAllister, Ga.
|
8
|
Dallas-New Hope Church, Ga.
|
10
|
Duck
Creek, S. C.
|
1
|
Kenesaw
Mountain, Ga.
|
3
|
Columbia,
S. C.
|
1
|
Decatur,
Ga.
|
1
|
Present, also, at Fort Henry, Tenn; Siege of Corinth, Miss.;
Missionary Ridge, Tenn.; Bentonville, N. C.
Notes.--Organized
at Springfield, Ill., in September, 1861. It was stationed at Cairo until February,
1862, when it embarked on the expedition against Forts Henry and Donelson,
having been assigned to W. H. Wallace’s Brigade of McClernand’s Division. In
the action at Fort Donelson, it lost 8 killed, 31 wounded, and 3 missing;
Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas H. Smith was among the killed. At Shiloh, it lost 18
killed, 112 wounded, and 3 missing. The regiment was engaged in the Siege of
Corinth, after which, in June, 1862, it was ordered to Bethel, Tenn., on
garrison duty, where it remained until 1863. While on the Vicksburg campaign,
it served in W. S. Smith's Division, Sixteenth Corps. It was engaged in the
Siege of Jackson; also, in the action on July 16th, in which Major Wm. J.
Stephenson was mortally wounded. Having been transferred to the Fifteenth Corps,
it marched to the relief of Chattanooga, where it took part in the battle of
Missionary Ridge. It then marched on the winter campaign in East Tennessee for
the relief of Knoxville, a campaign memorable for its hardships, privation, and
suffering. The Forty-eighth fought in the Fifteenth Corps during the Atlanta
campaign, being hotly engaged in the battle of July 22, 1864, in which Colonel
Greathouse was killed. The regiment reenlisted, and hence it continued with the
corps on its March through Georgia, and in the fighting in the Carolinas. It
was then in Oliver’s (3d) Brigade, Hazen’s (2d) Division, Fifteenth Corps.
After participating in the Grand Review in Washington at the close of the war,
the regiment was ordered to Little Rock, Ark., where it was mustered out August
15, 1865” (Fox, p. 368).
