124th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry "Excelsiors" | |
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Illinois state flag | |
Active | September 10, 1862 - August 16, 1865 |
Country | United States |
Allegiance | Union |
Branch | Infantry |
Nickname(s) | Excelsior Regiment |
Engagements | Operations against Vicksburg Central Mississippi Campaign Battle of Port Gibson Battle of Raymond Battle of Jackson, Mississippi Battle of Champion Hill Siege of Vicksburg Mobile Campaign Battle of Spanish Fort Battle of Fort Blakely |
The 124th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, also known as the Excelsior Regiment, was an exemplary infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. [1]
Infantry is the branch of an army that engages in military combat on foot, distinguished from cavalry, artillery, and tank forces. Also known as foot soldiers, infantry traditionally relies on moving by foot between combats as well, but may also use mounts, military vehicles, or other transport. Infantry make up a large portion of all armed forces in most nations, and typically bear the largest brunt in warfare, as measured by casualties, deprivation, or physical and psychological stress.
During the American Civil War, the Union Army referred to the United States Army, the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. Also known as the Federal Army, it proved essential to the preservation of the United States of America as a working, viable republic.
The American Civil War was a war fought in the United States from 1861 to 1865, between the North and the South. The Civil War is the most studied and written about episode in U.S. history. Primarily as a result of the long-standing controversy over the enslavement of black people, war broke out in April 1861 when secessionist forces attacked Fort Sumter in South Carolina shortly after Abraham Lincoln had been inaugurated as the President of the United States. The loyalists of the Union in the North proclaimed support for the Constitution. They faced secessionists of the Confederate States in the South, who advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.
On August 7, 1862, in response to President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops to fight in the American Civil War, a muster roll was begun in the office of Judge John H. Howe in Kewanee, in Henry County, Illinois. Company A and Company F were from the village of Kewanee.
Abraham Lincoln was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War, its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional, and political crisis. He preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the U.S. economy.
Kewanee is a city in Henry County, Illinois, United States. "Kewanee" is the Winnebago word for greater prairie chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,916 at the 2010 census, down from 12,944 in 2000.
Henry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. The 2010 United States Census, listed its population at 50,486. Its county seat is Cambridge.
Company B was recruited in Batavia and Lodi, in Kane county.
Batavia is a city in DuPage and Kane Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it was founded in 1833 and is the oldest city in Kane County. During the latter part of the 19th century, Batavia, home to six American-style windmill manufacturing companies, became known as "The Windmill City." Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, a federal government-sponsored high-energy physics laboratory, where both the bottom quark and the top quark were first detected, is located in the city.
Maple Park is a village in DeKalb and Kane counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 1,310 at the 2010 census, up from 765 in 2000. Maple Park was formerly known as Lodi.
Kane County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 515,269, making it the fifth-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Geneva, and its largest city is Aurora.
Company C, known as the Springfield Company, was raised in Springfield, Illinois and in Jersey county.
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County. The city's population of 116,250 as of the 2010 U.S. Census makes it the state's sixth most populous city. It is the largest city in central Illinois. As of 2013, the city's population was estimated to have increased to 117,006, with just over 211,700 residents living in the Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Sangamon County and the adjacent Menard County.
Jersey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 22,985. The county seat is Jerseyville.
Company D was raised from Colchester and Tennessee townships in the Illinois county of McDonough. It was consolidated with a band of Good Templars from Chicago and Dundee, Illinois.
Colchester is a city in McDonough County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,493 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the town of Colchester, England.
Tennessee is a village in McDonough County, Illinois, United States. The population was 144 at the 2000 census.
Illinois is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It has the 5th largest Gross Domestic Product by state, is the 6th-most populous U.S. state and 25th-largest state in terms of land area. Illinois is often noted as a microcosm of the entire United States. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in northern and central Illinois, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a diverse economic base, and is a major transportation hub. Chicagoland, Chicago's metropolitan area, contains over 65% of the state's population. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports around the world from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois Waterway on the Illinois River. The Mississippi River, the Ohio River, and the Wabash River form parts of the boundaries of Illinois. For decades, Chicago's O'Hare International Airport has been ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and, through the 1980s, in politics.
After being mustered into federal service, the regiment moved south to begin its service in the Western Theatre. Upon reaching the front at Jackson, Tennessee, it became part of Grant's operations which culminated in the Siege of Vicksburg.
The Western Theater of the American Civil War encompassed major military operations in the states of Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee, as well as Louisiana east of the Mississippi River. Operations on the coasts of these states, except for Mobile Bay, are considered part of the Lower Seaboard Theater. Most other operations east of the Mississippi are part of the Eastern Theater. Operations west of the Mississippi River took place in the Trans-Mississippi Theater.
Jackson is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Tennessee. Located 70 miles (110 km) east of Memphis, it is a regional center of trade for West Tennessee. Its total population was 65,211 at the 2010 census and 67,265 in the 2012 Census estimate.
Following duties in the Vicksburg area, the regiment was sent via New Orleans to participate in action against the defenses of Mobile after the Battle of Mobile Bay.
The 15th Regiment of the Illinois Volunteer Cavalry was a volunteer cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
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The 19th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Three companies formerly with Col. Elmer Ellsworth's Zouave Cadets wore a zouave uniform consisting of a dark blue zouave jacket with red trimmings, red pants, leather gaiters, a sky blue shirt, red sash, and a red French styled kepi with a dark blue band. The jacket cuffs were trimmed in yellow-orange and red. Brass buttons went down both fronts of the jacket. They were organized into four separate companies on May 4, 1861, in Chicago. It was consolidated and mustered into Federal service as the 19th Illinois Volunteer Infantry on June 17, 1861. It was mustered out at Chicago on July 9, 1864.
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The 106th Illinois was created during the call for 300,000 volunteers during the summer and fall of 1862. It was raised to be entirely composed of men from Logan County, Illinois, but Company A was raised in Sangamon County and Company K from Menard. The men were organized and trained in Lincoln, Illinois, and mustered into Federal service on September 18, 1862.
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(From pages 1 – 5 of "History of the 124th Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers, Otherwise Known as the "Hundred and Two Dozen," from August 1862 to August 1865," by R L Howard, Chaplain. Springfield, Illinois; printed and bound by H W Rokker. 1880.)