Wis Civil War Battles

1861-07-09: FALLING WATERS W VA. This was the first engagement of Wisconsin soldiers with the enemy. Union troops had left Washington and crossed into Virginia, searching for the Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley. On July 9, 1861, they encountered a brigade led by Gen. T.J. ("Stonewall") Jackson near Martinsburg, West Virginia. Wisconsin’s First Infantry was in the front and Philo Jones, of Company K, fired the first shot. The first Wisconsin soldier killed in the war was George Drake, of Milwaukee, from Company A. The first Wisconsin man wounded was Color Bearer Fred Huchting, of Company E, from Madison. Sol. Wise, of Company K, was the first Wisconsin soldier taken prisoner. This battle, also called the Battle of Hoke's Run and the Battle of Hainesville, was a Union victory.

1861-08-29 BULL RUN, VA (FIRST) This was the first major battle of the war; it is also called the battle of Manassas, and should not be confused with the second battle of Bull Run, Aug. 29-30, 1862.. On July 16, 1861, the Union army marched from Washington against Confederate forces, which they encoutnered drawn up on a hill behind Bull Run, near Centreville, Virginia. On the 21st, Union forces attacked the Confederates and fighting raged throughout the day. Wisconsin’s 2nd Infantry made several unsuccessful assaults on the enemy position, losing 19 men killed and 114 wounded. When Confederate reinforcements arrived, the Union troops retreated in chaos. Although victorious, Confederate forces were too disorganized to pursue the Union forces, who retreated in disorder all the way back to Washinton.Confederate Gen. Thomas J. Jackson earned the nickname “Stonewall” on this day. Bull Run's 3,461 casualties (1,969 Confederates killed or wounded and 1,492 Union troops) convinced observers that the war would be a bloodier one than they realized.

1862-04-06: SHILOH/PITTSURGH LANDING TENN The Battle of Shiloh was fought April 6–7, 1862, in southwestern Tennessee. A Union army under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant had moved far up the Tennessee River and was camped at Pittsburg Landing on the west bank. Confederate forces trying to push Grant out of their homeland launched a surprise attack there and were successful on the first day. But Union reinforcements arrived overnight and on the second day drove the Confederates from the field. Both sides claimed victory, but the Confederates had to retreat all the way to Corinth, Mississippi. Shiloh was the bloodiest battle in U.S. history up to that time – of 62,000 soldiers engaged (both sides), nearly 20,000 were killed or wounded. Wisconsin’s 16th Infantry, under Lt. Col. Cassius Fairchild, was the first to discover the sneak attack, and lost 265 soldiers killed. The 18th Infantry had only been out of camp one week when the battle began and lost 24 men; the 14th Infantry arrived the next morning with the reinforcements.

1862-04-08: ISLAND NO. 10 TENN . This Union victory was the first major battle for control of the Mississippi River in which Wisconsin troops took part. Union leaders knew that by controlling the river, they could divide the Confederacy in two. After Confederate defeats at Forts Henry and Donelson, Tenn., in early February 1862, Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard chose Island No. 10, between Tiptonville, Tenn., and New Madrid, Mo., to make a stand. The Union Army laid siege to New Madrid, on February 28 and it fell on March 13th when Confederate troops evacuated to Island No. 10 and Tiptonville. Two U.S. Navy ironclad gunboats arrived on April 4 and April 6, blocked the Confederate escape route across the river, and Confederate forces surrendered on April 8, 1862. The 8th and 15th Infantry regiments and 5th-7th Light Artillery batteries were heavily involved in this effort; Col. Hans C. Heg, commander of Wisconsin’s best-known Norwegian regiment, was put in command of the island.

1862-05-29: CORINTH MISS Following their victory at Shiloh on April 7, 1862, Union armies totaling ca. 100,000 men marched to the vital railroad center of Corinth, Mississippi. Confederate troops put up a determined resistance, and it took nearly a month for Union forces to cover the last 20 miles. Finally on May 25 Union forces got close enough to bombard the town with artillery, and on the evening of May 29-30, Confederate troops evacuated. Seven Wisconsin units took part in the Siege of Corinth: the 8th, 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Infantry regiments and the 5th and 10th Light Artillery batteries. Four months later, on Oct. 3-4, 1862, the confederates would try to re-take Corinth.

1862-06-26: MECHANICSVILLE VA . This engagement on June 26, 1862, is one of several that happened during the so-called Seven Days' Battle, when Union forces were advancing toward Richmond, Virginia. More than 30,000 troops took part, including Wisconsin's 5th Infantry and Wisconsin riflemen in Co G of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters. The result was inconclusive, and the two sides met the next day at nearby Gaines's Mill.

1862-06-27: GAINES MILL VA The battle of Gaine's Mill on June 27, 1862, is one of several that happened during the so-called Seven Days' Battle, when Union forces were advancing toward Richmond, Virginia. Confederates drove Union forces from their position during a day that saw more than 15,000 soldiers killed or wounded in all. Berdan's Sharpshooters, Co G of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters, were the only Wisconsin troops involved.

1862-07-01: MALVERN HILL VA This engagement on July 1, 1862, was the last of the so-called Seven Days' Battle. During the day, ca. 87,000 Confederate troops under Robert E. Lee attacked 83,000 Union soldiers on Malvern Hill, about 20 miles southeast of Richmond, Virginia. They were unable to dislodge the Federal force, however, and lost more then 5,000 troops in the attempt.

1862-08-05: BATON ROUGE On Aug. 5, 1862, Confederate troops tried to take back the city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, which Union forces had occupied since May. Although the Confederates were initially able to push their enemy from the field, Union reinforcements (including Wisconsin's 4th Cavalry) eventually drove them out again and the city remained in U.S. hands. After the battle, Col. Halbert Paine of the 4th Cavalry was instructed to burn Baton Rouge down and relocate to New Orleans. He refused to set fire to the city, but did move his unit south to the outskirts of New Orleans.

1862-08-28: GAINESVILLE VA The battle of Gainesville on Aug. 28, 1862, came just a day before the Second Battle of Bull Run, near Centreville, Virginia. As a brigade with the Wisconsin 2nd, 6th, and 7th Infantry regiments was marching toward Gainesville, they were attacked by Stonewall Jackson's troops. The three regiments faced a vicious fire until darkness ended the combat; 145 Wisconsin troops died in battle or from their wounds that day. The engagement is also called Brawner's Farm

1862-08-29: BULL RUN, VA (SECOND) The Second battle of Bull Run took place on August 29, 1862, 62,000 Union forces outside Richmond, Virginia, launched a series of assaults against 20,000 Confederates, who nevertheless repulsed them in bloody fighting. But 28,000 Confederate reinforcements arrived during the battle, and on the next day they conducted the largest mass assault of the war. Union troops were crushed and retreated all the way back to Washington, D.C., as they had at the first battle of Bull Run more than a year earlier. The Union's months-long campaign to take the Confederate capital had ended in failure. Wisconsin's 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th Infantry regiments had been severely taxed on Aug. 28th at Gainesville, so they provided the rear guard and protected the retreating army on the 29th and 30th. Still, Wisconsin regiments lost 588 killed or wounded at Second Bull Run.

1862-09-14: SOUTH MOUNTAIN MD Two weeks after their decisive victory at Second Bull Run, Confederate forces invaded the North and headed for Maryland, where they thought Southern sympathizers would rise up and join them. Instead, they encountered Union troops at South Mountain, between Frederick and Hagerstown, on Sept. 14, 1862, and in a battle that raged for more than 12 hours they were defeated by Union forces. While other units fought confederate troops on adjacent hilltops, Wisconsin's 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th Infantry regiments fought in the gap between the two. Seeing them from a distance, the Union's top commander, Gen. George McClellan, commented, "They must be made of iron." He was told that the brigade had performed even more heroically two weeks before at Second Bull Run, and called them the "best troops in the world." Historians believe that this was the likely origin of the name, "Iron Brigade." At South Mountain, the Wisconsin regiments lost 222 men killed or wounded, in addition to the more than 700 lost two weeks earlier.

1862-09-17: ANTIETAM MARYLAND: September 17, 1862, was the single bloodiest day in American military history. On that date Union and Confederate armies met at Antietam Creek, Maryland, about 40 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. More than 125,000 troops faced off and over 24,000 of them were killed or wounded. At the end of the day the Union forces had halted the Confederate advance into Maryland, but they had also made a huge error. Instead of crushing them when they had the chance, Union leaders allowed their Confederate foes to escape across the Potomac into Virginia. During the battle Wisconsin's regiments, were deployed along the right of the Union line, where the 3rd Infantry lost nearly two-thirds of its men killed or wounded and the 6th lost almost 60%.

1862-09-19: IUKA MISS. On Sept. 19, 1862, Union troops attacked a Confederate force that had captured a Union supply depot at Iuka, in northern Mississippi. Iuka was 20 miles south east of Corinth and the easternmost point that Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's U.S. troops had reached. Although Grant had planned a three-pronged assault, only one force actually attacked the enemy, but they defeated the Confederates after two days of heavy fighting. Wisconsin's 8th, 14th, and 16th Infantry regiments and the 8th and 12th Light Artillery batteries were present but were among the troops who saw no action at Iuka.

1862-10-03: CORINTH MISS (CONFEDERATE ATTACK) On Oct 3, 1862, Confederate generals tried to retake Corinth, Mississippi, which had been in Union hands since the spring. Union forces were arraigned in front of the city to meet them. Each side had about 23,000 soldiers, who faced off in 90-degree heat. On the first day, Confederate forces gradually pushed the Union troops back into the city before night fell. The next morning, however, Union artillery held the Confederates at bay and at the end of the day they retreated, having lost 4,848 killed and wounded; the Union lost 2,360. Wisconsin's 8th, 14th, 16th, 17th, and 18th Infantry regiments and 6th and 12th Light Artillery batteries helped defend the city

1862-10-08: PERRYVILLE KY During the summer of 1862, Confederate troops invaded Kentucky to acquire supplies and enlist the neutral state in the Confederacy. To stop them, Union leaders raced into the state from Tennessee. The two forces met in the Chaplin Hills west of the small town of Perryville, on October 8, 1862 (it is sometimes called the battle of Chaplin Hills). The Union fielded 37,000 troops and the Confederates only about 16,800. Nearly 15% of participants were killed, wounded, or taken prisoner, and Perryville is considered one of the bloodiest battles of the war. After two days of brutal combat, the Confederates retreated and the Union controlled Kentucky for the rest of the war. Wisconsin's 1st, 10th, 15th, 21st, and 24th infantry regiments and 3rd, 5th and 8th Light Artillery batteries took part.

1862-12-13-15: FREDERICKSBURG MD After their victory at Antietam in Sept. 1862, Union forces in the East waited three months for the next chance to destroy their Confederate adversaries. This came on Dec. 13-15, 1862, at Fredericksburg, Maryland, when more than 100,000 Union troops took the field against 72,500 Confederates. The latter dug in atop hills behind the town, from which they could pick off the Union soldiers as they crossed the Rappahannock River. For two days Union troops launched assault after unsuccessful assault on Prospect Hill and Marye's Heights. When Union troops finally gave up on night of Dec. 15th, a wall of bodies was piled all along the base of the ridge. They lost 12,700 soldiers compared to 5,300 on the Confederate side. During the battle, Wisconsin's 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th Infantry regiments and Co. G of the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters were present but their losses were small.

1862-12-31: STONE'S RIVER TENN The battle of Stone's River occurred over New Year's, 1862-63, outside Murfreesboro, Tennessee (it is often called the Battle of Murfreesboro). After losing control of Kentucky in October, Confederate troops massed near Murfreesboro to regroup. Union forces met them there on Dec. 31, 1862. About 41,000 Union soldiers met 38,000 Confederates and the two sides traded control of the battlefield for four days until they both withdrew. Each side lost about a third of its soldiers with neither able to claim victory. Nine Wisconsin units were involved: the 1st, 10th, 15th, 21st, and 24th Infantry regiments and 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th Light Artillery batteries. The 1st was held in reserve and the 10th and 15th fought only on the first day because they lost so many men they could not continue. The 21st was in the forefront all four days; the 24th lost 175 of its 400 soldiers.

1862-2-20: HOLLY SPRINGS MISS On the morning of Dec. 20, 1862, Confederate troops surprised Union forces at Holly Springs, Mississippi, about 40 miles southwest of Memphis. Holly Springs was a supply depot for Union troops, and Confederate forces destroyed $1.5 million worth of supplies and equipment, as well as taking 1,500 prisoners. The colonel of Wisconsin's 8th Infantry was in charge of the post, and his own troops were caught asleep in their beds (he was fired). In Wisconsin military history, this engagement is sometimes called the Disaster at Holly Springs.

1863-01-09: FT HINDMAN ARKANSAS: As the year 1863 opened, Confederate forces could shell Union shipping on the Mississippi River from Fort Hindman, a stronghold near the town of Arkansas Post, Arkansas. This was located at the mouth of the Arkansas River midway between Memphis, Tennessee, and Vicksburg, Mississippi. On January 9, 1863, Union boats landed troops belong the fort who overran Confederate trenches and eventually pushed the enemy inside. While the infantry advanced over the next two days, Union gunboats and artillery batteries across the river shelled the fort. The Confederates gave up on the 11th, surrendering more than 5,500 prisoners and leaving the Union free to move troops and supplies all the way south to Vicksburg. Wisconsin's 23rd Infantry was in the thick of the action all three days, while its 1st Light Artillery bombarded the fort from the opposite side of the river and prevented the enemy's escape.

1863-03-04: THOMPSON'S STATION TENN The battle of Thompson's Station (sometimes called Spring Hill) occurred on March 4, 1863, about 30 miles south of Nashville, Tennessee. A Union infantry brigade reconnoitering in the area came upon a Confederate force composed of two regiments. Unexpectedly surrounded by Confederate reinforcement, it fought until out of ammunition and surrounded, when it surrendered to the Confederates. Among the Union forces was Wisconsin's 22nd Infantry. It entered the battle with 363 men, of which only about 150 escaped; the remainder were killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, including its colonel and eleven other officers.

1863-04 TO 07-04: VICKSBURG, MISS SIEGE By 1863, the Confederate controlled only two places on the Mississippi River, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Port Hudson, Louisiana. As long as Confederate troops held Vicksburg, Union forces could not move troops and supplies further South. In late April of 1863, they advanced on the city and throughout the early summer the two sides clashed repeatedly at locations all around it. Despite battles at Grand Gulf, Port Gibson, Jackson, Champion Hill, and Milliken's Bend and a direct assault on the city, Confederate forces held on. The Union gradually surrounded the city, however, and cut off all supplies and communication into it. Finally on July 4, 1863, Confederate leaders surrendered and Union forces took possession of the gateway to the deep South. Between May 18 and July 4, 1863, nearly 20,000 soldiers were killed or wounded. Sixteen different Wisconsin regiments took part.

1863-05-01: PORT GIBSON MISS Port Gibson was the opening battle in a two-month-long Union campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi. On the night of May 1, 1863, they landed 23,000 troops a few miles south of the city at Port Gibson. Confederate units, outnumbered more than 3 to 1, made a fierce but vain defense of the town throughout May 2nd. At nightfall they were forced to yield and the Union victory established a foothold for attacking Vicksburg. Wisconsin's 11th, 23rd, and 29th infantry regiments and its 1st and 6th Light Artillery batteries participated; the 23rd was the first Union regiment to enter Port Gibson.

1863-05-1-4: CHANCELLORSVILLE VA The battle of Chancellorsville, Virginia, spanned May 1-4, 1863, and involved more than 150,000 soldiers, 20,000 of whom were killed or wounded. It occurred near Fredericksburg, Virginia, about halfway between Washington, D.C., and the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia. Although the Confederates were outnumbered almost 2-to-1, they emerged victorious through daring strategy, and Union forces retreated across the Rappahannock River on May 6th. Wisconsin's 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th and 26th Infantry regiments were engaged in some of the fiercest fighting.

1863-05-14: JACKSON MISS . This Union victory on May 14, 1863, was connected with the Siege of Vicksburg. Union forces had besieged that city on the Mississippi, 50 miles to the west of Jackson, and needed to cut off the flow of supplies and communications into it. They therefore invaded Jackson, former capital of Mississippi and a strategic railroad center. Only 6,000 Confederate troops were available to defend it, but they held on long enough to evacuate its most important property before Union troops took possession, burned part of the town, and tore up rail lines to Vicksburg. Wisconsin's 8th and 18th infantry regiments and 6th and 12th light artillery batteries took part.

1863-05-21 TO 07-9: PORT HUDSON LA SIEGE By 1863, the Confederate controlled only two places on the Mississippi River, Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Port Hudson, Louisiana. The Confederates had fortified Port Hudson, 30 miles north of Baton Rouge, and on May 21, 1863, Union troops arrived to attack it. On May 27th they tried a frontal attack but were easily turned away and settled in for a siege. This lasted until July 9th, when, after hearing of the fall of Vicksburg, the Confederate garrison gave up. This gave the Union complete control of the Mississippi River from Minnesota to New Orleans. Wisconsin's 4th Infantry arrived at Port Hudson on May 26th, seized control of a strategic ridge during the attack the next day, and stayed on the front line for more than two weeks. It lost 60 men killed or wounded, including its colonel who was picked off by a Confederate sharpshooter.

1863-05-22 VICKSBURG, MISS ASSAULT During May 19-22, 1863, Union forces made their only direct attempts to take Vicksburg, Mississippi. They were located below the city and had to negotiate steep ravines, cross trenches, and attack fortifications above them. Although the Union had 45,000 troops in the field and the Confederacy only 22,000, the latter repulsed repeated advances by Union forces. The Confederate victory convinced Union leaders to lay siege to the city rather than try to conquer it by force. Wisconsin's 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th, 18th and 23rd Infantry regiments and 1st Light Artillery battery were all involved in the assaults. Union troops lost more than 3,000 men killed, wounded or missing; the 14th Wisconsin lost more than 100 and the 23rd lost 53.

1863-06-24 TO 07-3: TULLAHOMA TENN The Tullahoma Campaign took place June 24-July 3, 1863, when Union forces drove Confederate troops out of central Tennessee. The sides were well-matched, the Union having about 50,000 men and the Confederates 45,000, but there were comparatively few casualties on either side. The victory at Tullahoma was overshadowed others at Gettysburg and Vicksburg that also occurred during the first week of July, 1863. Wisconsin's 1st, 10th, 15th, 21st, and 24th Infantry regiments, 1st Cavalry, and 3rd, 5th, 8th, and 10th Light Artillery batteries were all involved. Their experiences are detailed in the regimental history chapters of E.B.Quiner's Military History of Wisconsin (Madison, 1866).

1863-07-01-4: GETTYSBURG, PA perhaps the most famous battle of the Civil War, saw the largest number of casualties and is widely considered the war's most decisive turning point. It took place in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1-4, 1863, after 75,000 Confederate troops invaded the north. The Union fielded more than 80,000 soldiers to try to stop them. Fierce fighting occured over a wide area in and around the town for four days, and when it was over the Confederates retreated with a caravan of wounded men stretching nearly 15 miles. They lost more than 28,000 men killed, wounded, or missing; the Union lost more than 24,000. Wisconsin's 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 26th Infantry regiments and Co. G. of the U.S. 1st Sharpshooters were in the thick of the battle at various times.

1863-07-17 HONEY SPRINGS OK . This battle on July 17, 1863, in Oklahoma is remarkable for the many African-American and American Indian troops in the opposing armies. The Union force included five Cherokee infantry regiments, as well as one black and one white regiment; also, two white cavalry units (including the 3rd Wisconsin) and two white artillery batteries. This was the largest battle fought in the Indian Territory (as Oklahoma was then called) and gave control of the region to the Union.

1863-09-19: CHATTANOOGA. After their defeat at Chickamauga, Georgia, on Sept. 19-20, 1863, Union forces were besieged inside Chattanooga, Tennessee. Not until the end of November did they succeed, with the help of reinforcements, in driving off the Confederates. The most important engagements at Chattanooga were Orchard Knob, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Rossville Gap. See individual listings of those battles for discussions of Wisconsin's participation. When Confederate forces withdrew on Nov. 27, 1863, Union leaders made Chattanooga the base for attacking Atlanta and moving east through the Confederacy during 1864. Fourteen Wisconsin units were active in and around Chattanooga: 1st, 10th, 15th, 18th, 21st, 24th, and 26th Infantry regiments; 3rd, 5th, 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th Light Artillery batteries, and the 1st Heavy Artillery.

1863-09-19: CHICKAMAUGA GA The Union defeat at Chickamauga, Georgia, took place September 19–20, 1863, and was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Only the battle of Gettysburg produced more killed, wounded, and missing soldiers. It occurred 10 miles south of Chattanooga, Tennessee, and about 100 miles north of Atlanta, Georgia. Union forces were pursuing Confederate troops retreating out of Chattanooga when the Confederates stopped to make a stand, divided the Union forces, and pushed them back into the city. The Union lost more than 15,000 of its 54,000 troops while the Confederates lost 17,000 of their 66,000. Wisconsin's 1st, 10th, 15th, 21st, and 24th infantry regiments, 1st cavalry, and 3rd, 5th, and 8th light artillery batteries were engaged in some of the fiercest fighting.

1863-09-19: ORCHARD KNOB TN After their defeat at Chickamauga, Georgia, on Sept. 19-20, 1863, Union forces were besieged inside Chattanooga, Tennessee. The battle at Orchard Knob on Nov. 23rd was one of several engagements that ended the siege. On that day, Wisconsin's 15th Infantry helped drive the Confederates from a strategic hilltop that became the Union headquarters.

1863-11-24: LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN GA After their defeat at Chickamauga, Georgia, on Sept. 19-20, 1863, Union forces were besieged inside Chattanooga, Tennessee. The battle at Lookout Mountain on Nov. 24 was one of several engagements that ended the siege. Union forces attacked Confederate troops located on the slopes and summit of this small mountain overlooking Chattanooga. The battle slowed in the evening as fog rolled in, and when skies cleared after dark, the Confederates withdrew to neighboring Missionary Ridge under cover of a lunar eclipse.

1863-11-25: MISSIONARY RIDGE TN After their defeat at Chickamauga, Georgia, on Sept. 19-20, 1863, Union forces were besieged inside Chattanooga, Tennessee. The battle at Missionary Ridge on Nov. 25 was one of several engagements that ended the siege. It is best-known for the independent energy with which rank-and-file Union soldiers charged uphill into Confederate fire and captured a seemingly impregnable position. Wisconsin's 15th Infantry was one of the units who broke through the Confederate ranks and seized the strategic ridge.

1864-02-14-20: MERIDIAN MISS During this battle of Feb. 14-20, 1864, 20,000 Union troops moved 125 miles east from Vicksburg to take Meridian, an important railroad center. They planned to meet reinforcements there and continue east into the heart of the Confederacy. They met stiff resistance along the way but entered Meridian Feb. 14th and destroyed important transportation facilities. The anticipated reinforcements never arrived, however, and the Union forces started their return to Vicksburg on the 19th. Wisconsin's 8th, 12th, 25th, 32nd, and 33rd Infantry regiments participated in the march.

1864-03-10 TO 05-22: RED RIVER EXPEDITION. This Union failure lasted from March 10 to May 22, 1864, as roughly 30,000 Union troops advanced up the Red River into Louisiana in pursuit of supplies and Confederate troops. They were met by enemy forces that numbered between 6,000 and 15,000 at different times and who thwarted them at every turn. The Red River Campaign is best-remembered in Wisconsin for the creative solution employed by Joseph Bailey (1827-1867) of Wisconsin Dells to free 60 transport ships and their accompanying ironclad gunboats when they became stranded by low water as Confederate forces approached. Wisconsin's 8th, 14th, 23rd, 29th, and 33rd Infantry regiments and 1st Light Artillery battery went on the expedition.

1864-04-08: SABINE CROSSROADS MANSFIELD LA This Confederate victory (also called the Battle of Mansfield) was a turning point in the Red River Campaign. It took place on April 8, 1864, near Mansfield, Louisiana, an important communications center about 150 miles up the Red River. An outnumbered Confederate force managed to stop the Union advance and send it retreating back downriver. Wisconsin's 8th, 23rd, and 29th Infantry regiments were involved.

1864-05 TO 06: WILDERNESS, BATTLES OF This plural term is sometimes used to encompass a series of engagements in May and June, 1864, during which Union armies unsuccessfully attempted to interpose themselves between Confederate forces and their capital at Richmond, Virginia. The battles at Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna River, and Cold Harbor (see separate entries) were its major engagements. After a month of almost constant fighting, the Union had lost 50,000 men and the Confederacy 32,000 (41% and 46% of their original strength, respectively) and the war was no closer to being concluded. Wisconsin's 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 36th infantry regiments took part in most of these battles

1864-05 TO 09: ATLANTA CAMPAIGN in Georgia began in May of 1864 and lasted until Union forces took possession of the city on Sept. 2, 1864. Major engagements in which Wisconsin troops participated were Resaca (May 13–15), Dallas (May 25 – June 1), Kennesaw Mountain (June 27), Peachtree Creek (July 20), and Atlanta (July 22). Twenty different Wisconsin units took part in the Atlanta Campaign; see separate entries on the individual battles for details of their service. On Nov. 15, 1864, Union forces left Atlanta on Sherman's March to the Sea. Most of the Wisconsin units involved in the Atlanta Campaign also participated in this campaign, which ended in Savannah on Dec. 21, 1864.

1864-05-10-13: SPOTSYLVANIA VA This battle (sometimes called Spotsylvania Court House) was the second major engagement of an unsuccessful Union campaign (the Overland Campaign) to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, during May and June of 1864. It was a two-week-long series of fights in and around the Virginia town of Spotsylvania during which Confederate troops stalled the Union advance toward Richmond. On May 10th, repeated Union assaults against Laurel Hill proved bloody but fruitless. A May 12-13 Union attack against a location called Mule Shoe or Bloody Angle lasted for nearly 20 uninterrupted hours in what some historians consider the most ferociously sustained combat of the entire war. The Union lost about 11,000 killed and wounded; Confederate losses are not known. Wisconsin's 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 36th infantry regiments took part

1864-05-15: RESACA GA This battle was part of the Atlanta Campaign, which began in May of 1864 and lasted until Union forces took possession of the city on Sept. 2, 1864. On May 14, 1864, Union troops met Confederate forces 35 miles south of Chattanooga on the road to Atlanta, and the next day drove them from the field. Wisconsin's 5th and 10th Light Artillery batteries and the 3rd, 10th, 15th, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th and 26th infantry regiments took part.

1864-05-16: CHAMPION HILL MISSISSIPPI The Battle of Champion Hill is considered a pivotal battle in the Siege of Vicksburg. It occurred on May 16, 1863, midway between Jackson and Vicksburg, Mississippi, when roughly 33,000 Union troops surprised 23,000 Confederates. There were several attacks and counter-attacks during the day, but Confederate troops were able to escape into Vicksburg after losing more than 4,000 soldiers killed, wounded or missing (Union forces lost about 2,500). Wisconsin's 23rd and 29th Infantry regiments were in the thick of the fighting all day. Their experiences are detailed in the regimental history chapters of E.B.Quiner's Military History of Wisconsin (Madison, 1866).

1864-05-23-26: NORTH ANNA RIVER VA This battle was part of the unsuccessful Union campaign (the Overland Campaign) to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, during May and June of 1864. When Union troops moved south from Spotsylvania, Confederate forces dug in behind the North Anna River near Hanover Junction, 25 miles north of Richmond. After attacking them unsuccessfully in two places on May 23rd and May 24th, Union forces withdrew on the 26th to attempt a different approach to Richmond. Wisconsin's 2nd, 6th, 7th, 36th infantry regiments took part

1864-05-25 TO 06-4: DALLAS GA This battle, which included engagements at New Hope Church and Allatoona Pass, was part of the Atlanta Campaign which began in May of 1864 and lasted until Union forces took possession of the city on Sept. 2, 1864. After testing each other's strength on May 25 at New Hope Church, both sides amassed at Dallas, 20 miles northwest of Atlanta. Between May 26 and June 4, Confederate forces were repulsed and Union troops took possession of an important railroad depot at Allatoona Pass. Wisconsin's 1st, 3rd, 10th, 15th,, 21st, 22nd, 24th, 25th, and 26th infantry regiments, 1st Cavalry, and 5th and 10th Light Artillery batteries took part.

1864-05-7: WILDERNESS VA This singular term is used to describe the opening engagement of an unsuccessful Union campaign (the Overland Campaign) to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, during May and June of 1864. The battle was fought May 5-7 at a village called Wilderness about 40 miles southwest of Washington, D.C., and the same distance north of Richmond. The Union fielded 101,000 troops and the Confederacy, 61,000. The outcome was indecisive, as each side lost about 14% of its men killed or wounded before retiring from the field. Wisconsin's 2nd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 36th infantry regiments took part

1864-06 TO 1865-04 PETERSBURG SIEGE In June of 1864, Union forces made two assaults on the railroad hub of Petersburg, Virginia, 20 miles south of Richmond. With many forces bogged down north of the city after the battle of Cold Harbor, a separate Union army tried to advance on Richmond from the south. On June 9th a small force attacked Petersburg but was repulsed by the Confederates. A week later, after reinforcements arrived from Cold Harbor, a second and much larger attack was begun on June 15th. For three days, about 38,000 confederates held off more than 60,000 Union troops. When significant confederate reinforcements arrive on June 18th, Union commanders decided to stop fighting and settle in for a siege. Wisconin's 5th, 6th, 7th, 19th, 36th, 37th and 38th Infantry regiments and its 4th Light Artillery battery were all involved at Petersburg.

1864-06-03: COLD HARBOR VA The Union defeat at Cold Harbor, Virginia, near Mechanicsville, was one of the bloodiest battles of the war. It was the last major action in the Union's unsuccessful campaign (the Overland Campaign) to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond, Virginia, during May and June of 1864. More than 100,000 Union troops faced off along a seven-mile front against 59,000 well-protected Confederates. During their main assault on June 3rd, 7,000 Union troops were shot down in eight minutes. The lines remained stable about 100 yards apart for the next several days, with the dead and wounded lying where they fell. Before Union foprces withdrew on June 12th, about 13,000 of their troops had been killed or wounded; Confederate losses are not known. Wisconsin's 2nd, 6th, 7th, 36th infantry regiments took part

1864-06-27: KENNESAW MOUNTAIN, GA This battle (sometimes spelled Kenesaw) was part of the Atlanta Campaign which began in May of 1864 and lasted until Union forces took possession of the city on Sept. 2, 1864. After a month of trying to outflank Confederate troops on the road to Atlanta, Union commanders tried a frontal assault on June 27th at Kennesaw Mountain. This location just north of Marietta, Georgia, had been heavily entrenched by the enemy, however, and Union forces were turned back with heavy casualties. Wisconsin's 1st, 3rd, 10th, 12th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 22nd 24th, 25th, and 26th Infantry regiments, 1st Cavalry, and 5th and 10th Light Artillery batteries were all involved. .

1864-07-22: ATLANTA The battle of Atlanta was part of the Atlanta Campaign which began in May of 1864 and lasted until Union forces took possession of the city on Sept. 2, 1864. By late July, Union forces had advanced to the outskirts of Atlanta. On July 22, they met 37,000 Confederate troops in a battle that some historians consider one of the most desperate and bloody of the war. It ended with a Union victory, as more than 20% of Confederate forces were killed, wounded, or missing at the end of the day. Wisconsin's 1st, 12th, 16th, 17th, 22nd, 25th, 26th, and 31st infantry regiments and 5th Light Artillery battery were involved.

1864-07-30: CRATER, PETERSBURG VA The battle of the Crater, sometimes called the Petersburg Mine Assault, was part of the 1864 Union campaign against Petersburg, Virginia. Confederate forces had blocked approaches to the city with impregnable fortifications. Union troops who had been coal miners in civilian life secretly dug a 500-foot mine under a key Confederate position, intending to blow open a gap through which Union forces could charge. On July 30, 1864, they exploded 320 kegs of gunpowder there, killing or wounding 278 Confederates and leaving a crater 30 feet deep, 70 feet wide, and 170 feet long. Union troops, including most of Wisconsin's African-American soldiers, rushed into the crater, only to be pinned down and massacred by remaining Confederate artillery batteries. Nearly 4,000 of the Union's 21,000 troops were killed or wounded. Wisconsin's 37th and 38th infantry, as well as the 29th U.S. Colored Regiment that included about 250 black soldiers from Wisconsin, were involved. Two-thirds of the 37th infantry was killed in the crater.

1864-10-05: ALLATOONA, GEORGIA, took place on Oct. 5, 1864, when 2,000 Confederate troops tried to seize a Union supply depot containing a million rations of bread for the forces occupying Atlanta. After a day of severe fighting, it ended in a Union victory with each side having lost about 800 soldiers. Wisconsin's 18th Infantry and 12th Light Artillery participated; three companies of the former were taken prisoner.

1864-12-11: SAVANNAH GA This battle took place on Dec. 11, 1864, and was the concluding engagement of the Union march from Atlanta to the sea. Union troops left Atlanta on Nov. 15, 1864, and for the next month penetrated deep through the heart of the Confederacy, destroying everything of military or commercial value that they encountered. By Dec. 10th they had reached Savannah, Georgia, on the Atlantic coast. Over the next week they surrounded the confederate troops garrisoned there, who escaped by sea and Dec. 21st and left the city to the Union forces. Wisconsin's 3rd, 12th, 16th, 17th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 26th, 31st, and 32nd infantry and 1st, 10th, and 12th Light Artillery batteries were present at Savanah.

1864-12-15: NASHVILLE TN The battle of Nashville, Tennessee, took place on Dec. 15, 1864, when 50,000 Union troops routed 23,000 Confederates and put an end to the war in that part of the South. Wisconsin's 8th, 14th, 24th, 33rd, 44th, and 45th infantry regiments and 6th Light Artillery battery participated.

1865-03-19: BENTONVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, took place on March 19-20, 1865, as the Union troops advanced north toward Virginia. Evenly matched forces of about 17,000 soldiers traded attacks for 24 hours until the Confederates retreated. Wisconsin's 3rd, 12th, 16th, 21st, 22nd, 25th, 26th, 31st, and 32nd infantry regiments and 5th and 12th Light Artillery batteries took part.

1865-03-27 TO 04-1: SPANISH FORT MOBILE ALABAMA The battle of Spanish Fort on the Gulf Coast of Alabama was part of a campaign by Union forces to capture Mobile Bay. In March of 1865 they moved along the eastern shore of the Bay forcing the Confederates back into their defenses at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. On March 27, 1865, they began a siege of Spanish Fort, which they surrounded on April 1, and captured on April 8 after most of the Confederate forces had escaped. Wisconsin's 8th, 11th, 14th, 20th, 23rd, 27th, 28th, 29th, 33rd, and 35th infantry regiments were involved.

1865-04-02: PETERSBURG VA The final battle for Petersburg, Virginia, took place on April 2, 1865, and led quickly to the end of the war. Union forces totaling 63,000 men drove 19,000 Confederate troops from the city at nightfall. Union leaders had finally achieved one of their major objectives, which was followed a few days later by the fall of Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy. Wisconsin's 5th, 6th, 7th, 19th, 36th, 37th, and 38th infantry took part in the final assault on Petersburg.

1865-04-08: FT BLAKELY AL The battle of Fort Blakely on the Gulf Coast of Alabama was part of a campaign by Union forces to capture Mobile Bay. In March of 1865 they moved along the eastern shore of the Bay forcing the Confederates back into their defenses at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely. The latter consisted of nine connected earthen artillery redoubts with 41 artillery pieces. Skirmishing began on April 2, and after Spanish Fort fell on April 8, 1865, combined Union forces totalling 16,000 troops overwhelmed Fort Blakely's 4,000 defenders. This was the last major engagement of the war, and ended just a few hours after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox, Virginia. Wisconsin's 8th, 11th, 14th, 20th, 23rd, 27th, 28th, 29th, 33rd, and 35th infantry regiments were involved.

1865-04-09: APPOMATTOX COURT HOUSE on April 9, 1865, 40 miles west of the capital at Richmond, marked the end of the Confederacy. Confederate troops, outnumbered by Union forces, tried to escape and reach supplies at Lynchburg, Virginia. When Union infantry reinforcements arrived and surrounded them on three sides, Confederate General Robert E. Lee was forced to surrender to Union commander Ulysses S. Grant.

1865-05-10: IRWINVILLE GA . Nearly a month after Lee's surrender at Appomattox, Virginia, the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, was still at large. Wisconsin's 1st Cavalry was among the units sent to search for him. They tracked a wagon train said to be carrying him to Irwinville, Georgia, where before dawn on May 10th they were accidentally attacked by a Michigan unit. Later that day the two regiments captured the wagon train and took Jefferson Davis prisoner.