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127th Illinois Infantry
in the American Civil War
Online Books:
127th Illinois Infantry Soldier Roster - Report of the Adjutant
General of the State of Illinois, Volume 6, Revised by Brigadier General J.N.
Reece, Adjutant General, 1900
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Entire Book
| Regimental History |
| One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Infantry. — Cols., John
Van Arman, Hamilton N. Eldridge; Lieut. -Cols., Hamilton N. Eldridge,
Frank S. Curtiss; Majs., Frank S. Curtiss, Thomas W. Chandler, Frank C.
Gillette. This regiment was raised under the call of President Lincoln
for 500,000 volunteers in the summer of 1862. Co. A was recruited in
Kendall county; B, in and around Chicago; C, at Elgin; D, in Grundy
county; E, at St. Charles; F, at Piano; G, in Chicago; H, about Lyons;
I, at Elgin, and K, at Aurora and Big Rock. The regiment was mustered
into the service at Camp Douglas Sept. 6, 1862. It performed a
considerable amount of guard duty in Camp Douglas, where the Harper's
Ferry prisoners were sent in the fall of 1862. The command drew a full
complement of English Enfield rifles in the beginning of November and on
the 9th of that month departed over the Illinois Central railway for
Cairo, where it went on board the steamer Emerald, and landed at
Memphis, Tenn., on the 13th. It reached the Yazoo in December and was
engaged in the operations on the Chickasaw bluffs, during which its
losses were 1 man killed and 7 wounded. It was with the expedition which
captured Arkansas Post and was one of the first to plant its colors on
the enemy's works. Its losses in the assault were 2 killed, 20 wounded
and 9 missing. It was in the bloody assaults upon the Vicksburg lines in
May, 1863, on the first day planting its colors on the glacis of the
Confederate works and maintaining its position until nightfall, when the
troops were withdrawn. The losses of the regiment in the two engagements
were about 15 killed and 60 wounded. It took part in the series of
battles around Resaca, Ga., in the spring of 1864, notably the one on
the evening of May 14, when the brigade to which it was attached carried
the fortified line along the slope of Conasine creek by a desperate
assault with the bayonet, in which the regiment bore a conspicuous part
and captured a number of prisoners. In the operations in front of Resaca
the regiment lost 1 man killed and 3 wounded. In the sharp fighting
among the Dallas hills it was almost constantly under fire, showing
conspicuous gallantry in the actions of May 27 and 29. In the assault
upon Kennesaw mountain the regiment stood up grandly under the most
terrible fire it had ever encountered, and in the bloody engagement of
July 22, east of Atlanta, it was in the thickest of the fray. On Aug 3
it took part in an attack on the Confederate skirmish line to the west
of Atlanta, in which it displayed its usual gallantry and lost a number
of men, and it was hotly engaged in the battle of Jonesboro, its
officers and men displaying the greatest gallantry and inflicting severe
loss upon the enemy. The regiment accompanied Sherman's army on its
grand march through Georgia and the Carolinas, and at the battle of
Bentonville it was for 24 hours on the skirmish line, but escaped
without loss. After the surrender of Johnston it marched to Washington,
took part in the grand review, and was specially complimented for its
fine discipline and military bearing. It was finally mustered out on
June 17, 1865, after an arduous service of almost three years, the
actual number of men finally discharged being about 240, all that
remained of the 900 with which the regiment left Camp Douglas in Nov.,
1862. |
Footnotes:
Regimental history taken from "The Union Army" by Federal Publishing
Company, 1908 - Volume 3
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