Clark County WI, Civil War History, 2nd Wisconsin Infantry

Clark County WI

Civil War Unit Histories

Compiled by Paul Forester, Janet Schwarze, Allan Wessel & Ken Wood

2nd Wisconsin Regiment

Our Civil War Veterans who fought with this Regiment

(1) Allen, Jeramiah (2) Dutcher, William M. (3) Ferrell, John (4) Jarvis, Frank (5) Johnson, Loran Murray (6) Lupient, Gabriel Adolphus (7) Marden, W. H. (8) Mathison, W. (9) Maynard, George (10) Muller, Gorman (11) Oatman, Geo. I.

Service

The Second Infantry was first organized under the call for volunteers for three months service. The full number of troops under this call having been accepted, the Second was mustered, June 11, 1861, into the service of the United States for "Three years or during the war" under the call of the President, dated May 3, 1861, for "500,000 men."

The organization left the state on June 20, and arrived in Washington, D.C. June 25, 1861. From this date until the regiment was mustered out, the Second Infantry served in that part of the Union Army known as the Army of Virginia and the "Army of the Potomac." In July 1861 the Second was brigaded with three New York regiments of Infantry, the whole under command of Colonel, and later General, William T. Sherman, and in this organization participated in the battle of Bull Run, Va. July 21, 1861. On the 27th of August 1861, the regiment was assigned to the brigade under the command of Brig. Gen. Rufus King, which brigade became subsequently known as the "Iron Brigade." With that brigade the Second participated in all the historic battles fought by the Army of the Potomac until May 11, 1864. After the battle of Laurel Hill the Second having become reduced to less than 100 men present for duty, was permanently detached from the brigade and was thereafter assigned to duty as provost guard of the Fourth Division of the Fifth Army Corps, of which the Iron Brigade was at that time a part, and following the march of that division crossed the North Anna River on the 21st, arriving on the 6th of June on the Chickahominy, VA, where the regiment remained until the expiration of its term of service.

On the morning of June 11, 1864, the Second started for Wisconsin, except those members who had re-enlisted, and recruits whose term of service had not expired. The Second reached Madison on the 18th of June and was mustered out of the military service of the United States on the 2nd day of July 1864.

The Iron Brigade

< style="color: #0000ff">The men of the Iron Brigade first made a name for themselves simply as members of "Rufus King's Brigade". But as commanders and uniforms changed, and the conflict advanced to the war's most critical moment at Antietam, they earned some more titles. The men of the south knew them first as "That damn Black Hat Brigade" and latter to all as the "Iron Brigade" because they "stood like Iron" in the face of withering enemy fire. The truth is, the history of the Iron Brigade begins like a song of glory and victory assumed, and ends with the brigades virtual destruction on the first day of Gettysburg. The men were not of iron, but of flesh and blood and they anointed their nations fields with more of themselves than any other regiment in the Union.

The word "more" is intended to reflect the terrible losses in men of the Iron Brigade. The common (and overused) phrase "Less is More" can be applied to the Black Hat Brigade with considerable irony. Bruce Catton in his book Mr. Lincoln's Army wrote of the 2nd Wisconsin, "Over the length of the war, [the 2nd Wisconsin] was to win the terrible distinction of having a higher percentage of its enrollment killed in action than any other regiment in the United States Army." The 24th Michigan, in the battle of Gettysburg lost 80% of its men making that the highest percentage of loss for any Union regiment at the battle. (The 2nd Wisconsin was a close 77%.)* When the day was done and roll was taken, less meant "more".

The Iron Brigade, proportionately, suffered the most casualties of any brigade in the Civil War. For example, 61% (1,153 out of 1,885) were casualties at Gettysburg. Similarly, the 2nd Wisconsin, which suffered 77% casualties at Gettysburg, suffered the most throughout the war; it was second only to the 24th Michigan (also an Iron Brigade regiment) in total casualties at Gettysburg. The latter regiment lost 397 out of 496 soldiers, an 80% casualty rate.

The unit that became known as the Iron Brigade was activated on October 1, 1861, upon the arrival in Washington, D.C., of the 7th Wisconsin. It was combined into a brigade with the 2nd and 6th Wisconsin, and the 19th Indiana, under the command of Brig. Gen. Rufus King. The governor of Wisconsin, Alexander Randall, had hoped to see the formation of an entirely Wisconsin brigade, but the Army unwittingly frustrated his plans by transferring the 5th Wisconsin from King's brigade and including the Hoosiers instead. This brigade was initially designated the 3rd Brigade of Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell's division of the Army of the Potomac, and then the 3rd Brigade, I Corps.

McDowell's I Corps did not join the bulk of the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsula Campaign. In June 1862 it was re-designated the III Corps of Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia. Now under the command of John Gibbon, King's brigade was designated the 4th Brigade, 1st division, III Corps, and it saw its first combat in the Northern Virginia Campaign. Almost immediately following the Union defeat in the Second Battle of Bull Run, the III Corps was transferred back to the Army of the Potomac and redesignated the I Corps, under the command of Joseph Hooker; Gibbon's brigade became the 4th Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps.

Initially composed of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin and the 19th Indiana regiments, the Iron Brigade was organized at Washington, D. C. in the fall of 1861. Brig. Gen. Rufus King, former editor of Milwaukee's Sentinel and Gazette served as its first commander until Brig. Gen. John Gibbon assumed command in May 1862. A regular Army officer, Gibbon was keen on training and discipline and did much to improve the brigade's efficiency. To bolster morale and foster a sense of esprit de corps, Gibbon outfitted them with the black felt Army hat and canvas gaiters. The hats in particular became a source of pride and ultimately provided the distinctive sobriquet of the "Black Hat Brigade."

The Brigade saw its first serious action at August 28, 1862, at Groveton, VA where, along with Battery B, 4th US Artillery, it destroyed a third of the attacking Stonewall Brigade. Groveton was costly for the Iron Brigade as well resulting in 751 casualties for the Mid-westerners. A few weeks later, at South Mountain, the brigade lost another 318 men. It was there that Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker referred to the hard-fighting Westerners as his "iron brigade."

A few days later at Antietam, as a part of Hooker's I Corps, the Iron Brigade saw fierce action in the west woods and in Miller's cornfield. A determined charge momentarily displaced Jackson's surprised Confederates, but a blistering counterattack by Gen. Hood's division forced the Iron Brigade back through the cornfield and into the west woods. Resultant losses for the Iron Brigade amounted to 348 men.

After Lee's failed Maryland Campaign, the Iron Brigade was strengthened with the addition of the 24th Michigan. It remained a Western brigade amongst a sea of Eastern units, and no doubt served as another source of pride for its battle hardened veterans. The brigade saw limited action at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville but it bore a heavy burden at Gettysburg.

On the first day's fighting, the brigade was deployed on McPherson's and Seminary Ridge. In their dogged defense of that ground, the Iron Brigade suffered enormous casualties but managed to slow the Confederate advance thus enabling the timely deployment of fresh federal troops. Casualties for the brigade numbered approximately 1,212 out of 1,883 effectives. The 24th Michigan lost 80% of its number, while the 2nd Wisconsin suffered 77% casualties. The battle at Gettysburg essentially destroyed the original Iron Brigade. Although the name continued in use, the brigade lost some of its original character. The 2nd Wisconsin was disbanded in July 1864, and Eastern regiments were added to the brigade, altering its formerly all-Western composition. However the Sixth and Seventh Wisconsin Infantry units served until the end of the war earning the honored "Veteran Infantry" designation.

The History above was adopted from Charles E. Estabrook, ed., Records and Sketches of Military Organizations, (Madison, 1914).