Illinois in the Civil War

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Colour-bearers of the 71st Regiment, Illinois Infantry

Introduction

Over 250,000 Illinois men served in the Union Army,the fourth most of any northern state. Illinois supplied 150 infantry regiments, 17 cavalry regiments, and 2 light artillery regiments. Most served in the Western Theater, Illinois also was a major source of military supplies, food, and clothing. A number of national cemeteries were established in Illinois.

Illinois Military Units

Most units were numbered, however, some were named. See the table below for lists of the regiments, battalions, batteries, and unassigned companies.

The information in the lists of Illinois Military Units comes from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors web site. This web site can also be searched by the name of a soldier.

Illinois Units by Number or by Name

Union Units

1st-26th

27th- 76th

77th- 126th

127th- 156th

A to Z

Illinois Units by Type of Unit

Union Units

Infantry

Cavalry

Artillery

Militia

Colored Troops

Unassign- ed Units

Service Records

At the Family History Library you may use indexes to federal service and pension records of Union Army soldiers. The pension indexes are cited in United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865. The index to the service records is:

• United States. Adjutant General’s Office. Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer Union Soldiers Who Served in Organizations From the State of Illinois. National Archives Microfilm Publications, M0539. Washington, D.C.: National Archives, 1964. (Family History Library films 881621–721) The original federal service records and pensions are available only at the National Archives.

• See also volumes 1–8 of the Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois, which is described in Records Covering More than One War.
  

Identifying Military Units

• Delap, Fred and Illinois State Archvies. Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database (accessed 1 June 2011). Searches can be done to find 1) a specific soldier, 2) all the soldiers in a unit, 3) all the soldiers in a company, or 4) all the soldiers from a county, township, or city.

Relatives and neighbors may have been in different military units even though they enlisted from the same county. A source that tells which companies were raised from each county is:

• Illinois Military Units in the Civil War. Springfield, Illinois: Civil War Centennial Commission of Illinois, 1962. (Family History Library book 977.3 M2im; fiche 6334558). The first section is arranged by county. The rest of the book is arranged by the name of the military unit, naming the counties where each company was raised.

Navy

Illinois men who served in the Navy during the war are identified in:

• Roster of Men From Illinois Who Served in the United States Navy During the War of the Rebellion, 1861–1866. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1974, 1975. (Family History Library film 1001182, item 2 [index], and 978491, item1 [roster of men]).

Militia

Muster Rolls, Militia Lists and Military Censuses The Illinois State Archives has a considerable collection of original muster rolls, militia lists, and military censuses for the Civil War (Record Series 301.29). Militia lists were of two types: volunteer militias and lists of males subject to military service. Volunteer lists include the each member’s name, residence, age, birthplace, occupation, and date and term of enlistment in the militia. During the war, entire units of volunteer militias were called into service, although some members enlisted individually.

Militia lists of men between the ages of 18 and 45 who were subject to military service were created by Illinois county assessors from 1861 through 1863 as a form of draft registration. These lists usually contain only the names and not their ages. Many of those listed may not have actually served.

Militia lists of both types are in:

• Illinois. Assessors. Militia Rolls, 1862–1863. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1977. (Family History Library films 1012406–24). These are arranged by county and town and list the names of men in rough alphabetical order.

• The military census of 1862 taken by the federal government is also at the Illinois State Archives and lists men subject to military service. It gives each person’s name, age, birthplace, and occupation, and remarks about military assignments or exemptions. This collection often includes lists of volunteers and enlistment certificates.

Pension Records

Civil War Pension Index Cards

• An Index to Pension Applications of veterans who served in the US Army between 1861-1917 is available on FamilySearch. Each card gives the soldier’s name, application and certificate numbers, state of enlistment, and might include rank and death information. The majority of the records are of Civil War veterans, but the collection also includes records for veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Insurrection, the Indian Wars, and World War I. For more information see Union Pension Records.

Regimental Histories

The Illinois State Historical Library has a sizable collection of regimental histories. Two bibliographies published in 1994 are:

• Tubbs, William B., comp. A Bibliography of Illinois Civil War Regimental Sources in the Illinois State Historical Library. Part I, Published and Printed Sources. Illinois Historical Journal. (Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Historical Society) vol. 87, no.3 (Spring 1994): 185–232. (Family History Library book 977.3 B2i). This is arranged by the name of the military unit and cites unit histories, reunion literature, and other published materials.

• Part II, Manuscripts. Volume 87, no.4 (Winter 1994): 277–324. Manuscripts cited include such items as letters, diaries, personal papers of regimental officers and official correspondence.

Biographies

Biographical data on Union officers from Illinois are in:

• Wilson, James Grant. Biographical Sketches of Illinois Officers Engaged in the War Against the Rebellion of 1861. Chicago, Illinois: J. Barnet, 1862. (Family History Library book 977.3 D3w; fiche 6049393 [set of 5]).

Biographical information can also be found in personal letters, diaries, interviews, and memoirs, some of which might have been published. (Click on the link to view "The memoirs, diary, and life of Private Jefferson Moses, Company G, 93rd Illinois Volunteers," as an example.)

Confederate Prisoners

Confederate prisoners were held in Illinois at Camp Douglas, Camp Butler, Rock Island, and Alton. Lists of both Union and Confederate soldiers buried at various camps are at the Illinois State Archives, Record Group 301.61. Some published records can be found in the Family History Library Catalog by using a Place Search under:

ILLINOIS, MADISON, ALTON- MILITARY RECORDS

ILLINOIS, ROCK ISLAND, ROCK ISLAND- MILITARY RECORDS

The website Genealogy Trails includes Confederate Soldiers buried in Illinois.

Veterans Organizations

By 1890, about 40 percent of the Civil War veterans were members of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). The descriptive books of each GAR post usually indicate the member’s name, age, rank, birthplace, residence, occupation, and enlistment and discharge information.

• A manuscript of members of GAR posts for the Department of Illinois, 1880 to 1930, and of other veterans organizations are at the Illinois State Historical Library. See the "Archives and Libraries" section for the address. Scattered records may be found in various libraries and archives throughout Illinois. Many GAR posts are identified in:

• Hutchison, Florence. 800 Posts of the Grand Army of the Republic, Department of Illinois. Salt Lake City, Utah: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1978. (Family History Library film 1036109, item 6). This is a microfilm of an original typescript (10 leaves) written in 1974. This tells where each post was located.

Other Sources

• Illinois GenWeb's Illinois in the Civil War site pulls together several types of resources regarding Civil War soldiers including the general order which describes how units were to be organized and photographs of many of the soldiers.
  

• The Illinois State Archives "Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database" allows searching muster rolls by name, unit, or residence.
•  Illinois in the Civil War allows searching muster rolls by name, unit, or county and offers additional Civil War-related resources.
• The Civil War Archive has links to all the Illinois Civil War units and what battles each unit fought.
• Civil War Flags of Illinois has images of the flags of the Illinois Civil War units.