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Illinois in the American Civil War

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Illinois infantry regimental flag
(77th IL is shown)

The state of Illinois during the American Civil War was a major source of troops for the Union army (particularly for those armies serving in the Western Theater), as well as military supplies, food, and clothing. Situated strategically near major rivers and railroads, the state became a major jumping off place early in the war for Ulysses S. Grant's efforts to seize control of the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers.

History

During the Civil War, over 250,000 Illinoisians served in the Union army, more than any other northern state except New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Beginning with Illinois resident President Lincoln's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, the state mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th Illinois to the 156th Illinois. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also mustered, as well as two light artillery regiments. [1] Due to enthusiastic recruiting rallies and high response to voluntary calls to arms, the military draft was little used in Chicago and environs, but was a factor in supplying manpower to Illinois regiments late in the war in other regions of the state.

Camp Douglas, located near Chicago, was one of the largest training camps for these troops, as well as Camp Butler near Springfield. Both served as leading prisoner-of-war camps for captive Confederates. Another significant POW camp was located at Rock Island. Several thousand Confederates died while in custody in Illinois prison camps and are buried in a series of nearby cemeteries.

There were no Civil War battles fought in Illinois, but Cairo, at the juncture of the Ohio River with the Mississippi River, became an important Union supply base, protected by Camp Defiance. Other major supply depots were located at Mound City and across the Ohio river at Fort Anderson in Paducah, Kentucky, along with sprawling facilities for the U.S. Navy gunboats and associated river fleets.

Leading major generals with Illinois ties included Ulysses S. Grant, John Pope, John M. Schofield, John A. Logan, John A. McClernand, Benjamin Prentiss and Stephen Hurlbut. Brigadier General Elon J. Farnsworth, who began his career in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, died at the Battle of Gettysburg. President Lincoln maintained his home in Springfield, Illinois, where he is buried. Over 100 soldiers from Illinois units would win the Medal of Honor during the conflict.

On the homefront, composer and music publisher George Frederick Root gained fame and fortune from a number of well-received war songs, including The Battle Cry of Freedom and others. A pair of Chicago-based women, Mary Livermore and Jane Hoge, organized a pair of large expositions, the Northwest Sanitary Fairs, where cash generated from the sale of donated items was later used to purchase medical supplies for the soldiers. Their activities helped spark the postbellum women's rights movement in Illinois. Mary Ann Bickerdyke, a resident of Galesburg, was a noted nurse for the Western armies.

Workers in various factories and mills, as well as the port and stockyards, helped provide a steady source of war materiel, food, and clothing to Illinois troops, as well as to the general Union army. Mound City foundry workers converted wooden river steamboats into armored gunboats for Federal service. With traditional Southern markets cut off by the war, the port of Chicago rose in prominence as Illinois expanded trade with the Great Lakes region.

War politics

During the 1860 Presidential Election, two men from Illinois were among the four major candidates. Illinois voted in favor of Springfield resident Abraham Lincoln (172,171 votes or 50.7% of the ballots cast) over Chicagoan Stephen Douglas (160,215; 47.2%). Of minor consequence in the state-wide results were Southern candidates John C. Breckinridge (2,331; 0.7%), and John Bell (4,914; 1.5%).[2]

Throughout the war, Illinois politics were dominated by Republicans under the energetic leadership of Governor Richard Yates and Senators Lyman Trumbull and Orville H. Browning. Opposition views were often presented in The Chicago Times, the vociferous mouthpiece of the rival Democratic Party. It was the nation's loudest and most persistent critic of Lincoln and emancipation. At one point early in the Gettysburg Campaign in June 1863, Union troops forcibly closed the newspaper at bayonet point. It was only reopened when Democratic mobs threatened to destroy the rival Republican paper and President Lincoln intervened.[3] In 1863, Browning's seat, formerly held by Douglas prior to the war, was regained by the Democrats with the election of William Alexander Richardson.

In the 1864 presidential election, Illinois residents supported Lincoln's reelection, giving the president 189,512 votes (54.4% of the total) to General George McClellan's 158,724 votes (45.6%).[4] Within a year, Lincoln was dead and his remains had been returned to Springfield for burial.

Notable leaders from Illinois

References

  • Cole, Arthur Charles, The Era of the Civil War, 1848-1870, (Sesquicentennial History of Illinois, Vol 3) (ISBN 0252013395) (1919, reprinted 1987), outstanding scholarly history covering politics, economy and society.
  • Hicken, Victor, Illinois in the Civil War, University of Illinois Press, 1991, a scholarly history focused on the soldiers.
  • Illinois in the Civil War. Retrieved February 1, 2005.
  • Chicago History. Retrieved August 7, 2006.
  • Northern Illinois University's Illinois During the Civil War website. Retrieved August 8, 2006.
  • Leip, David. "1860 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 27, 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  • Leip, David. "1864 Presidential Election Results". Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved July 27, 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

Notes

  1. ^ Illinois regiments during the Civil War
  2. ^ Leip, 1860
  3. ^ Chicago History website
  4. ^ Leip, 1864

Further reading

  • Burton, William L., Descriptive bibliography of Civil War manuscripts in Illinois. Civil War Centennial Commission of Illinois, Northwestern University Press, 1966.
  • Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. 3 volumes. Thomas Yoseloff, 1959
  • Karamanski, Theodore J., Rally 'Round the Flag: Chicago and the Civil War. Nelson-Hall, 1993. ISBN 0830412956.
  • Levy, George, To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas, 1862-1865. Evanston Publishing, 1994.
  • Office of the Adjutant General, Roster of Officers and Enlisted Men. 9 volumes, State Printing Office, 1900.
  • U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 70 volumes in 4 series. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
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