Wikipedia

55th Illinois Infantry Regiment

(Redirected from 55th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment)

The 55th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment is sometimes referred to as the Canton Rifles or the Douglas Brigade 2nd Regiment.

55th Illinois Infantry Regiment, U.S. Volunteers
Illinois state flag
ActiveOctober 31, 1861, to August 14, 1865
CountryUnited States
AllegianceUnion
BranchInfantry
Nickname(s)"Canton Rifles"
Engagements

Service

edit
 
Monument to the 55th Illinois Infantry and Oscar Malmborg at Vicksburg.

The 55th Illinois Infantry was organized at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois and mustered into Federal service on October 31, 1861. Training continued at Benton Barracks, Missouri. The 55th was part of Sherman's Yazoo Expedition.

The regiment was mustered out on August 14, 1865.

Total strength and casualties

edit

The regiment suffered casualties including nine officers, 149 enlisted men who were killed in action, or mortally wounded, and two officers and 127 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 286 fatalities.[1]

Commanders

edit

Notable members

edit
  • Corporal Robert M. Cox, Company K — Defended the colors planted on the outward parapet of Fort Hill.[3][4][5][6]
  • Private Jerome Morford, Company K[7][3][4][6][5] — Participating in a diversionary "forlorn hope" attack on Confederate defenses, 22 May 1863.
  • Private Jacob Sanford, Company K[8][3][4][6][5] — Participating in the same "forlorn hope."
  • First Lieutenant John Warden, Company E[8][3][4][6][5] — Participating in the same "forlorn hope."
  • Chaplain (Lieutenant Colonel) Milton L. Haney, Regimental Chaplain[6][5] — The "Fighting Chaplain" received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Atlanta, 22 July 1864. Haney was one of only nine chaplains awarded the CMH in American history.[9]

See also

edit
 
Map of Vicksburg National Military Park.

Notes

edit
  1. ^ Dyer (1908).
  2. ^ [1] Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine Illinois in the Civil War website after Illinois Adjutant General's muster rolls
  3. ^ a b c d Sightline Media Group (2020).
  4. ^ a b c d VCOnline (2020).
  5. ^ a b c d e The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation (2020).
  6. ^ a b c d e CMOHS (2014).
  7. ^ Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 175.
  8. ^ a b Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 214.
  9. ^ "Nine Chaplains Awarded the Medal of Honor". National Medal of Honor Museum. he National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

References

edit
edit
   

This article about a specific military unit of the American Civil War is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=55th_Illinois_Infantry_Regiment&oldid=1255293085"