# 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment

The 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

## History

The 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment was organized 3 years' service at Quincy, Illinois, along the Mississippi River, mustering in on September 1, 1862.$^{:1}$ The 78th Illinois then left the state by steamboat for Louisville, Kentucky, arriving on September 19, 1862. The regiment, would see all of its wartime duty in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.
The 78th Illinois was attached originally to 39th Brigade, 12th Division, Army of the Ohio. The regiment went through a series of reassignments; first in November 1862 to Gilbert's Command, District of Western Kentucky, Department of the Ohio. While in Franklin, Tennessee, in February 1863 the regiment was assigned to the Army of Kentucky, Department of the Cumberland. In June 1863, another reassignment assigned the 78th Illinois to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division Reserve Corps, Army of the Cumberland. The final reorganization would come in October 1863, assigning the regiment to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XIV Corps.
The regiment received the blue United States uniform, typical of the Civil War. Initially, the regiment was armed with .69 caliber rifled muskets, altered to use a percussion cap. In 1863, the regiment saw more modern arms provisioned to the soldiers; a mixture of the Enfield rifle and Springfield Rifle Muskets were carried. In 1864, all troops were armed with the Springfield Rifle Muskets.

### Timeline
#### Formation Period

       September 1, 1862
             Regimental Muster in Quincy, Illinois
       September 19, 1862
             Moved by steamboat from Quincy, Illinois, down the Mississippi River, then up the Ohio River to Kentucky

#### Defense of Kentucky Railroads

       October 5, 1862 – January 30, 1863
             Moved to Shephardstown, Kentucky and guard Louisville & Nashville Railroad; the main line trussel bridges running south from Shephardstown through Elizabethtown and a spur line between Bardstown Junction to New Haven. The regimental headquarters was primarily set in New Haven. The regiment was placed at several key bridges, splitting it apart having one to three companies guard each bridge.
       December 28, 1862
             Action at Muldraugh's Hill. Companies B and C were positioned at one of these bridges on December 28, 1862. General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry fired artillery at the two companies, of which the Union companies had no artillery to return fire. Consequently, the two companies surrendered to Morgan and were paroled. They were first sent to the north at Louisville and then west to St. Louis, where they would be held at Benton Barracks until they could be exchanged.
       December 30, 1862
             Action against Company H at New Haven
       January 30 – February 7, 1863
             Moved to Nashville, Tennessee

#### Middle Tennessee Operations

    February–June 1863
       February 3, 1863
             Repulse of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's attack on Fort Donelson, Tennessee
       February 12 – June 23, 1863
             Moved to Franklin, Tennessee
       March 4, April 10 and June 4–5, 1863
             Actions at Franklin

#### Tullahoma Campaign

    June 24 – July 3, 1863
       June 24–28, 1863
             March to Triune, Murfreesboro and then to marching near Shelbyville
       July 1, 1863
             Occupation of Shelbyville and Middle Tennessee through August 1863

#### Chickamauga Campaign

    August 16 – September 22, 1863
       September 19–20, 1863
             Battle of Chickamauga – On the final day of the battle, the 78th Illinois served a vital role as part of Mitchell's Brigade in reinforcing Thomas at the height of the Confederate attack and took 40% casualties

#### Chattanooga Campaign

    September–November 1863
       September 24 – November 23, 1863
             Siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee
       November 23–24, 1863
             Tunnel Hill
       November 24–25, 1863
             Missionary Ridge – (Regiment temporarily attached to 15th Army Corps November 24)
       November 26, 1863
             Chickamauga Station
       November 29 – December 17, 1863
             March to relief of Knoxville
       February 22–27, 1864
             Demonstration on Dalton, Georgia
       February 23–25, 1864
             Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge
       April 11–13, 1864
             Reconnaissance from Rossville to La Fayette

#### Atlanta Campaign

    May 1 – September 8, 1864
       May 6–7, 1864
             Tunnel Hill
       May 8–11, 1864
             Battle of Rocky Face Ridge
       May 8–9, 1864
             Buzzard's Roost Gap
       May 9–13, 1864
             Demonstration on Dalton
       May 14–15, 1864
             Battle of Resaca
       May 17–18, 1864
             Rome
       May 19–25, 1864
             Battle of Dallas
       May 25–26, 1864
             Battle of New Hope Church
       June 9 – July 3, 1864
             Battle of Marietta
       June 11–14, 1864
             Pine Mountain
       June 15–17, 1864
             Lost Mountain
       June 27, 1864
             Battle of Kennesaw Mountain – The regiment participated in an unsuccessful and costly assault on the Confederate position on Cheatham Hill.
       July 4, 1864
             Ruff's Station, Smyrna Camp Ground
       July 5–17, 1864
             Chattahoochee River
       July 19–20, 1864
             Battle of Peach Tree Creek
       July 22 – August 25
             Battle of Atlanta
       August 5–7, 1864
             Battle of Utoy Creek
       August 25–30, 1864
             Flank movement on Jonesboro
       August 31 – September 1, 1864
             Battle of Jonesboro – The 78th Illinois was in Baird's Division, which spearheaded the successful attack on the Confederate line
       September 2–6, 1864
             Lovejoy Station
Operations In North Georgia and North Alabama against Forest and Hood (September 29 – November 3, 1864)
       October 6–8, 1864
             Florence

#### Sherman's March to the Sea

    November 15 – December 21, 1864
       December 10–21, 1864
             Siege of Savannah.

#### Carolinas Campaign

    January–April 1865
       March 16, 1865
             Battle of Averasborough – Taylor's Hole Creek, North Carolina
       March 19–21, 1865
             Battle of Bentonville – Here, the regiment was nearly surrounded while assigned to picket duty
       March 24, 1865
             Occupation of Goldsbore
       April 10–14, 1865
             Advance on Raleigh
       April 14, 1865
             Occupation of Raleigh
       April 26, 1865
             Bennett Place – Surrender of Johnston and his army

#### Post War Activities

       April 29 – May 19, 1865
             March to Washington, D.C. – via Richmond, Virginia
       May 24, 1865
             Grand Review
       June 7, 1865
             Mustered out

### Strength and Casualties

When the regiment mustered in on September 1, 1862, it included 862 enlisted men. The regiment suffered 9 officers and 95 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 117 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 221 fatalities.

## Regimental Organization
### Headquarters

The 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment was organized at Quincy, Illinois, in Adams County.$^{:23}$
Commanding Officers$^{:3}$
* Colonel William H. Bennison – resigned commission September 2, 1863.
* Colonel Carter Van Vleck – died of wounds August 23, 1864.$^{:25}$
* Colonel Maris R. Vernon – mustered out with the regiment.$^{:3}$

### Company A

Recruited in Schuyler County, Illinois.$^{:4}$

### Company B

Recruited in Adams County, Illinois.$^{:6}$
Companies B and C were captured by, then Colonel, John Hunt Morgan during a December 26, 1862, raid at Muldraugh Hill. They were sent to St. Louis, Missouri, under terms of parole and not exchanged until October 1863, effectively reducing the regiment by two companies of infantry.

### Company C

Recruited in McDonough County, Illinois.$^{:8}$

### Company D

Recruited in Hancock County, Illinois.$^{:9}$

### Company E

Recruited in Adams County.$^{:11}$

### Company F

Recruited in Adams County.$^{:13}$

### Company G

Recruited in Adams County.$^{:15}$

### Company H

Recruited in Hancock County.$^{:17}$
During the same raid that captured Companies B and C, Colonel Morgan attacked the Regimental Headquarters and Company H, on the morning of December 30, 1862, in New Haven, Kentucky. The company sustained no casualties, but it was assumed that Colonel Morgan's cavalry did, but was never substantiated.

### Company I

Recruited in McDonough County.$^{:19}$

### Company K

Recruited in Adams County.$^{:21}$

## Memorials

There is a memorial to the soldiers of the 78th Illinois at the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.