Another Regiment In Need of a Historian: The 42nd Illinois Infantry

My series on regiments that served in the trans-Mississippi from William F. Fox’s list of “Three Hundred Fighting Regiments” is winding down, and I have noticed that only a few of these regiments have been the subject of a full length history. This is a shame. The 42^nd Illinois Infantry, for example, saw much combat, and yet has drawn little interest from historians. As for its trans-Mississippi connections, the regiment initially served in Missouri and participated in an expedition to Springfield. For the bulk of the war, these men from Illinois served in the western theater, but they ended their service in the army of occupation in Texas. Fox’s short history of the unit is below, but for other information about the 42^nd Illinois see the following links:

Captain William R. Townsend Civil War Diary, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville: website has excerpts from his diary arranged by topic

Civil War Index-short history and a link to the roster of the 42^nd Illinois Infantry

“Harker’s Brigade —Newton’s Division--Fourth Corps.

(1) Col. William A. Webb, W. P., R. A. (Died).

(2) Col. George W. Roberts (Killed).

(3) Col. Nathan H. Walworth.

(4) Col. Edgar D. Swain.

Companies.		killed and died of wounds.			died of disease, accidents, in Prison, &c.			Total Enrollment.
		Officers.	Men.	Total.	Officers.	Men.	Total.
Field and Staff		5	1	6	1		1	18
Company	A		15	15		17	17	151
	B	2	16	18	1	19	20	156
	C	1	16	17	1	22	23	160
	D		19	19	1	23	24	162
	E	1	18	19		15	15	147
	F	2	17	19		19	19	168
	G	1	12	13		22	22	184
	H	1	15	16		21	21	158
	I		24	24		25	25	154
	K		15	15	1	18	19	164
Totals		13	168	181	5	201	206	1,622

181 killed == 11.1 per cent.

Total of killed and wounded, 654; died in Confederate prisons (previously included), 33.

Battles	K. & M. W.
Farmington, Miss., May 9, 1862	4
Columbia, Tenn., Sept. 9, 1862	1
Stone’s River, Tenn.	35
Chickamauga, Ga.	47
Missionary Ridge, Tenn.	12
Rocky Face Ridge, Ga.	1
Resaca, Ga.	8
Adairsville, Ga.	2
New Hope Church, Ga.	4
Pine Mountain, Ga.	2
Kenesaw Mountain, Ga.	10
Peach Tree Creek, Ga.	2
Siege of Atlanta	6
Jonesboro, Ga.	1
Lovejoy’s Station, Ga.	1
Spring Hill, Tenn.	23
Franklin, Tenn.	13
Nashville, Tenn.	5
Place unknown	4

Present, also, at Island No. 10; New Madrid; Siege of Corinth; Hoover’s Gap; Dandridge.

Notes.--Organized at Chicago, July 22, 1861, and left the State, September 21st, proceeding to St. Louis. It served in Missouri until April, 1862, when it was ordered to Corinth. During the siege of that place it was engaged in the affair at Farmington, losing 2 killed, 12 wounded, and 3 missing. After marching through Mississippi, Northern Alabama, and Tennessee, its next battle occurred at Stone’s River. It was then in Robert’s Illinois Brigade, Sheridan’s (3d) Division, McCook’s Corps; loss, 19 killed, 96 wounded, and 46 missing; Colonel Roberts, who was in command of the brigade, was among the killed. At Chickamauga, Major James Leighton was killed, the loss of the Forty-second in that battle amounting to 28 killed, 128 wounded, and 28 prisoners. (1) In October, 1863, it was placed in Harker’s (3d) Brigade, Sheridan’s (2d) Division, Fourth Corps, in which command it fought at Missionary Ridge; loss, 5 killed and 40 wounded The division was commanded by General John Newton during the Atlanta campaign, and by General Wagner during the Tennessee campaign against Hood. Major D. W. Norton was killed near New Hope Church, Ga., June 3, 1864. The regiment lost at Spring Hill and Franklin, 24 killed, 95 wounded, and 30 missing; at Nashville, 2 killed and 12 wounded. Having reenlisted, it served throughout the war, and at its close accompanied the Fourth Corps to Texas where it was stationed in 1865, as an Army of Occupation.

(1) War Department Records make it 15 killed, 123 wounded, and 5 missing” (Fox, p. 366).

Cyber Travel

There are so many Civil War sites that I would like to visit personally, but regrettably time, and sometimes lack of money, prevent me from visiting them. Luckily there is a website that allows one the opportunity to travel via cyberspace to those places. Civil War Album: Modern Photos of America’s Civil War Sites is a project of retired Oklahoma Highway patrolman Bruce Schulze. This site ranks as a true granddaddy as it has been in existence since 1998. A truly collaborative website, it features photographs and other information provided by loyal readers. Recently a neat set of photographs provided by Bruce Schulze and Dr. Carroll Messer showing the Butterfield Overland Mail route through Oklahoma was posted. Although the site has photographs from sites all across the U. S., the coverage for the trans-Mississippi is excellent. I may not ever get to personally visit the Birch Coulee battle site in Minnesota, the Belmont battlefield in Missouri, or Fort Craig in New Mexico, but I can view modern day photographs of them on Civil War Album. Happy Cyber Travels!

Speedy Marching by the 11th Kansas Infantry

Regular readers of this blog will know that I like to collect accounts of notable marches in the trans-Mississippi, and I thought that the following was impressive enough to share. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Moonlight in his reminiscences wrote that “No time was lost in making preparations and we marched from Fort Leavenworth on the 4^th of October [1862], rested one day in Fort Scott to get rations &c, and marched again through Carthage, Rocky Comfort and Keetsville Missouri to Pea Ridge, Arkansas, where we overtook Schofield’s command. There never was a better march made by any new regiment than made by the 11^th Kansas Infantry, an average of 32 miles each day was made from Leavenworth to Pea Ridge, resting only one day at Fort Scott.” 

According to Moonlight, the regiment again exhibited superior marching skills on December 7, 1862, the day the battle of Prairie Grove was fought: “The distance from Cane Hill to Prairie Grove the way we went is 12 miles, and we made it in 2 hours, infantry, artillery, and cavalry—the baggage having gone through the mountain road to Rheas Mills for safety. The booming of cannon was heard while we were about 5 miles off, informing us that Herron & Hindman had met; we renewed our exertions, marching through fields by the right flank four regiments deep, each vying with the other who would reach the scene of coming strife first” (Quotes are from: Kip Lindberg and Matt Matthews, eds., “’The Eagle of the 11^th Kansas’: Reminiscences of Colonel Thomas Moonlight,” Arkansas Historical Quarterly 62 [Spring 2003], p. 21, 26).

Hurrah for Missouri!

Missouri established the Battle of Island Mound State Historic Site on October 28^th. At this site, near Butler, a group of recruits from the 1^st Kansas Colored Infantry was attacked on October 28, 1862, with the 1^st Kansas suffering 10 killed; this skirmish is acknowledged to be the first time that African-American troops experienced combat during the Civil War. Although open, the park is under development.