Misplaced Pages

55th Illinois Infantry Regiment

Article snapshot taken from Wikipedia with creative commons attribution-sharealike license. Give it a read and then ask your questions in the chat. We can research this topic together.
(Redirected from 55th Illinois Volunteer Infantry 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
Military unit
Illinois U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments 1861-1865
Previous Next
54th Illinois Infantry Regiment 56th Illinois 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.

Service

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

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.

Commanders

Notable members

  • Corporal Robert M. Cox, Company K — Defended the colors planted on the outward parapet of Fort Hill.
  • Private Jerome Morford, Company K — Participating in a diversionary "forlorn hope" attack on Confederate defenses, 22 May 1863.
  • Private Jacob Sanford, Company K — Participating in the same "forlorn hope."
  • First Lieutenant John Warden, Company E — Participating in the same "forlorn hope."
  • Chaplain (Lieutenant Colonel) Milton L. Haney, Regimental Chaplain — 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.

See also

Map of Vicksburg National Military Park.

Notes

  1. Dyer (1908).
  2. Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine Illinois in the Civil War website after Illinois Adjutant General's muster rolls
  3. ^ Sightline Media Group (2020).
  4. ^ VCOnline (2020).
  5. ^ The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation (2020).
  6. ^ CMOHS (2014).
  7. Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 175.
  8. ^ 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

External links

Portals:
American Civil War
Origins
Slavery
Abolitionism
  • Combatants
  • Theaters
  • Campaigns
  • Battles
  • States
Combatants
Union
Confederacy
Theaters
Major campaigns
Major battles
Involvement
States and
territories
Cities
Leaders
Confederate
Military
Civilian
Union
Military
Civilian
Aftermath
Constitution
Reconstruction
Post-
Reconstruction
Monuments
and memorials
Union
Confederate
Cemeteries
Veterans
  • Related topics
Military
Political
Music
By ethnicity
Other topics
Related
Stub icon 1 Stub icon 2

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

Categories: