page_title: Woodford County, Illinois
section_title: Civil War years
hierarchical_section_title: Woodford County, Illinois / History / Civil War years
caption_attribution_description: English: Rendition of the Second Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, second day (October 4, 1862), during the American Civil War. Hand-colored lithograph by Currier and Ives, 1862. Minor cropping and color correction by Hal Jespersen. Source: Library of Congress, http://loc.gov/pictures/item/90709052/
context_page_description: Woodford County is a county located in the state of Illinois. The 2010 United States Census listed its population at 38,664. Its county seat is Eureka.
  Woodford County is part of the Peoria, IL, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its name comes from General William Woodford, an officer of the American Revolutionary War who served at the brutal military encampment at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
context_section_description: Woodford County's population continued to swell, standing at 13,281 when the American Civil War started in 1861. Support for the Union Cause was strong throughout the county; by war's end 1,643 county residents had enlisted in the Union forces – 12.4% of the population.
  Calls for troops were translated into state quotas, which in Illinois was customarily apportioned to the various counties according to their population. Enlistment bonuses were paid. After 1862 when the number of volunteers ultimately failed to fulfill a state's enlistment quota, a draft was begun. Substitutes for those drafted could be sent, with prices paid by the draftee to his substitute generally ranging of $500 to $600, although prices of up to $1,000 were reportedly paid.
  Woodford County's volunteers — and later on conscripts — were dispersed among a wide range of units, making a universal summary of their wartime experience impossible. Some units composed largely of residents of Woodford County, including Company G of the 17th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, mustered at Peoria May 25, 1861, and fought at the Battle of Shiloh in Hardin County, Tennessee in April 1862. Several Woodford County men were among the 130 members of the 17th Infantry killed and wounded in the two-day battle. This unit also participated in the last phase of the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg in Warren County, Mississippi, a protracted battle which led to the surrender of over 29,000 Confederate troops.
  Another unit containing numerous Woodford County men was the 47th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, especially Companies B and I. Mustered into service at Peoria on August 16, 1861, the unit lost 30 killed and 100 wounded in the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi, in October 1862. The unit also suffered casualties in a May 1863 charge during the Vicksburg Campaign. After the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863, the unit spent the duration guarding railroad lines, being discharged in October of that year.
  The 77th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Companies C, F and H, also had a substantial Woodford County contingent. Serving under Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger, they participated in the initial phase of the Vicksburg Campaign. The 77th then participated in the Battle of Jackson, Mississippi (May 1863), and taking the city. Disaster struck in April 1864 near Alexandria, Louisiana, when the unit was isolated and crushed in a cavalry support operation at the Battle of Sabine Cross-roads. 176 men of the 77th Illinois were killed, wounded, or captured, leaving only 125 members of the regiment fit for duty. The unit was mustered out in July 1865, having participated in 16 battles.
  Woodford County men served in numbers in Company A, 86th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, suffering losses in Kentucky at the Battle of Perryville in October 1862, and participating in Sherman's March to the Sea. Others were concentrated in Companies D and E of the 108th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, in which 205 of the 214 fatalities suffered by the regiment were due to disease rather than combat, 134 of whom died in February and March 1863 alone.
caption: Fanciful rendition of the October 1862 Battle of Corinth, Mississippi by lithographers Currier and Ives. Woodford County members of the 47th Illinois Volunteers were part of the fighting, which resulted in combined losses of 828 killed and more than 3,800 wounded and missing.[27]
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