55th 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.

55th Illinois Infantry Regiment, U.S. Volunteers
"Canton Rifles"
Illinois state flag
ActiveOctober 31, 1861, to August 14, 1865
CountryUnited States
AllegianceUnion
BranchInfantry
EngagementsBattle of Shiloh
Siege of Corinth
Vicksburg Campaign
Battle of Chickasaw Bayou
Battle of Fort Hindman (Arkansas Post)
Battle of Snyder's Bluff
Battle of Jackson (MS)
Battle of Champion Hill
Siege of Vicksburg
Battle of Collierville
Third Battle of Chattanooga
Atlanta Campaign
Battle of Resaca
Battle of Kennesaw Mountain
Battle of Atlanta
Battle of Ezra Church
Battle of Jonesborough
Battle of Allatoona Pass
March to the Sea
Battle of Fort McAllister (1864)
Carolinas Campaign
Battle of Bentonville

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.[1]

Commanders

Notable members

  • Coproral 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

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

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