7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment

The 7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was a component of the famous Iron Brigade in the Army of the Potomac throughout the war.

7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
ActiveSeptember 2, 1861  July 2, 1865
CountryUnited States
AllegianceUnion
BranchInfantry
SizeRegiment
Engagements
Commanders
ColonelJoseph Van Dor
ColonelWilliam W. Robinson
Lt. Col.John Benton Callis
ColonelMark Finnicum
Lt. Col.Hollon Richardson

Service

The 7th Wisconsin was raised at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service September 2, 1861. The regiment was initially equipped with smoothbore .69 caliber muskets converted from flintlock to percussion; in early 1862, they were replaced with Austrian Lorenz rifles. Unlike their sister regiment the 2nd Wisconsin, which had Lorenz rifles in the unmodified .54 caliber, the 7th's were bored out to .58 caliber to fit a standard Minie ball. The regiment saw its first action at Second Bull Run, followed by severe and bloody fighting in the Maryland Campaign which produced a combined casualty list of 323.

When the 7th Wisconsin marched into Pennsylvania in June 1863, it had not seen any combat action in nine months. During the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, the 7th pushed a part of James J. Archer's Confederate brigade off McPherson's Ridge, and then stubbornly defended the heights later in the day before withdrawing to Seminary Ridge. When the I Corps retreated to Cemetery Hill, the Iron Brigade and the 7th Wisconsin were sent over to nearby Culp's Hill, where they entrenched. They saw comparatively little action the rest of the battle. The Badgers would suffer heavily during the battle, out of 370 effective men, 194 would not return after July 3rd. The regiment later served that year in the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns.

In the spring of 1864, the regiment signed up for another three years of service and thence fought in the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg. At The Battle of Spotsylvania, Virginia Chippewa/Ojibwa troops of the 7th Wisconsin aided troops of the 6th Wisconsin employing native skirmishing tactics. [1]

The regiment participated in the Grand Review of the Armies on May 23, 1865, and then mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, on July 2, 1865.

Total enlistments and casualties

The 7th Wisconsin Infantry initially mustered 973 men and later recruited an additional 369 men, for a total of 1,342 men.[2] The regiment suffered 10 officers and 271 enlisted men killed in action or who later died of their wounds, plus another 143 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 424 fatalities.[3]

Commanders

1st Lieutenant Hollon Richardson circa 1862
  • Colonel Joseph Van Dor (September 2, 1861  January 1862) resigned to accept a diplomatic post.
  • Colonel William W. Robinson (January 1862  May 6, 1864) began the war as lieutenant colonel and was wounded at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Later served as brigade commander between July 1863 and his resignation in June 1864.
    • Lt. Col. John Benton Callis (March 3, 1863  June 1863) commanded the regiment when Colonel Robinson was recuperating from wounds. He was shot in the chest at the Battle of Gettysburg and resigned due to disability in December 1863. After the war, he was a U.S. congressman from Alabama.
  • Colonel Mark Finnicum (May 6, 1864  December 17, 1864) began the war as captain of Co. H and served as acting commander of the regiment when Colonel Robinson commanded the brigade. Wounded in the Overland Campaign and resigned.
  • Lt. Col. Hollon Richardson (December 17, 1864  July 2, 1865) began the war as a private in Co. A, he was commissioned a captain in February 1863 and served on the staff of General Solomon Meredith. He distinguished himself in this role during the Battle of Gettysburg and was later made acting lieutenant colonel of the regiment.

Notable people

Private Julian C. Lewis of Company B, 7th Regiment - killed in action at the Second Battle of Bull Run

See also

Further reading

  • "Seventh Regiment Infantry". Roster of Wisconsin Volunteers, War of the Rebellion, 18611865. Office of the Adjutant General of Wisconsin. 1886. pp. 538–576.
  • Quiner, Edwin B. (1866). "The Iron Brigade of the West". The Military History of Wisconsin. Clarke & Co. pp. 443–482.

References

  1. "Service With the Sixth Wisconsin Volunteers," Chapter 12, Dawes, Rufus R., Morningside Bookshop, January 1984, p. 265. Wisconsin Historical Society
  2. 7th Wisconsin Archived March 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Union Regimental Histories - Wisconsin". Civil War Archive. Retrieved November 24, 2021.
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