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74th Illinois Infantry
in the American Civil War
Online Books:
74th Illinois Infantry Soldier Roster - Report of the Adjutant
General of the State of Illinois, Volume 4, Revised by Brigadier General J.N.
Reece, Adjutant General, 1900
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Entire Book
| Regimental History |
| Seventy-fourth Infantry. — Col., Jason Marsh ;
Lieut.-Cols., James B. Kerr, Thomas J. Bryan; Majs., Edward F. Dutcher,
Thomas J. L. Remington. This regiment was organized at Camp Fuller,
Rockford, in Aug., 1862, and was mustered into service Sept. 4. Its ten
companies were recruited as follows : A, B, C, D, E, F, H and K, in
Winnebago county, G at Oregon, Ogle county, and I in Stephenson county.
On Sept. 30 the regiment reported for duty at Louisville, Ky., where the
Army of the Ohio — afterward known as the Army of the Cumberland — was
then being organized under Gen. Don. Carlos Buell. On Dec. 26 the
regiment encountered the enemy at Nolensville and helped to dislodge one
of his batteries whose shells had made it very uncomfortable. The
following day was passed in skirmishing and slow advance in line of
battle, driving the enemy. The casualties of the regiment in the first
day's fighting at Stone's river were 8 killed, 35 wounded and 42 missing
or captured. That night a portion of the regiment had a brush with the
Confederate cavalry and the following day the regiment was in line of
battle all day, engaged in skirmishing with the enemy. The 74th broke
camp again on June 24, 1863, to commence that campaign of incessant
march, battle and skirmish, which terminated in the fierce struggle of
Chickamauga and the occupation of Chattanooga by the Federal forces. On
Sept. 24 the regiment with the 22nd Ind. made a reconnoissance,
discovering the enemy and engaging him in a skirmish. In the assault on
Missionary ridge the regiment lost 14 killed, 39 wounded and 6 missing.
It did not number in that action more than 340 combatants of whom 59 or
17 per cent., were placed hors du combat. Of the casualties of the
Atlanta campaign which followed there remains this record: At Resaca, 4
killed and 22 wounded; Adairsville, 1 killed and 28 wounded; Dallas, 5
killed and 7 wounded. The total casualties from May 2, when the regiment
left Cleveland, Tenn., to June 11, at Acworth, Ga., comprised 11 killed
and 59 wounded. In the assault at Kennesaw mountain the regiment met the
severest loss in its history, going into the fight with 201 men and
coming out with 138, a loss of 31 per cent. The detailed loss was 12
killed, 38 wounded and 13 missing. The regiment took part in the
engagement at Tunnel Hill ; at Rocky Face ridge, up whose rugged side,
inaccessible for artillery horses, it hauled 2 Parrott guns by ropes,
and an all-day's skirmish ensued ; the occupation of Dalton ; the fierce
engagement at Resaca ; a skirmish during the entire afternoon of May 16
just after crossing the Oostanaula about 3 miles south of Resaca; the
action at Calhoun ; an all-day's skirmish, at times rather lively, on
May 26. On June 24 the regiment was all day on the skirmish line and was
not relieved until 9 p. m. Moving with the army on July 3, the regiment
passed that night on the picket lines and celebrated the 4th by a
skirmish lasting the entire day, in which 7 men were wounded, 2 of whom
survived only until the following morning. From this time until the
occupation of Atlanta, the chapter is one of constant march, skirmish
and battle, including Hood's fierce assaults of July 20 and 22, in the
first of which the 74th was engaged, losing a number of men. In the
operations around Atlanta, after destroying several miles of railway the
division had a hot engagement with the enemy at Jonesboro, in which the
Confederates were completely defeated, the losses of the day in the 74th
numbering 14 wounded and missing. At Spring Hill, Tenn., it had 1 man
killed and 3 wounded. In the battle of Franklin the regiment and the
88th Ill. were united and acted as one regiment, and in both days'
fighting at Nashville the 74th took part with honor. On June 10, 1865,
the regiment, then numbering 343 officers and men, of whom some portion
had been recruited since leaving Camp Fuller, was mustered out at
Nashville, Tenn., and shortly after set out on its return to Rockford,
where it arrived June 29, and met a hearty public reception at the hands
of the citizens. |
Footnotes:
Regimental history taken from "The Union Army" by Federal Publishing
Company, 1908 - Volume 3
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