7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
The 7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was a component of the famous Iron Brigade in the Army of the Potomac throughout the war. Service. The 7th Wisconsin was raised at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service September 2, 1861. The regiment was initially equipped with smoothbore .69 caliber muskets converted from flintlock to percussion; in early 1862, they were replaced with Austrian Lorenz rifles. Unlike their sister regiment the 2nd Wisconsin, which had Lorenz rifles in the unmodified .54 caliber , the 7th's were bored out to .58 caliber to fit a standard Minie ball. The regiment saw its first action at Second Bull Run, followed by the Maryland Campaign which produced severe casualties. When the 7th Wisconsin marched into Pennsylvania in June 1863, it had not seen any combat action in nine months. During the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, the 7th pushed a part of James J. Archer's Confederate brigade off McPherson's Ridge, and then stubbornly defended the heights later in the day before withdrawing to Seminary Ridge. When the  I Corps retreated to Cemetery Hill, the Iron Brigade and the 7th Wisconsin were sent over to nearby Culp's Hill, where they entrenched. They saw comparatively little action the rest of the battle. The regiment later served that year in the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns. In the spring of 1864, the regiment signed up for another three years of service and thence fought in the Overland Campaign and the Siege of Petersburg. The regiment participated in the Grand Review of the Armies on May 23, 1865, and then mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, on July 2, 1865. Total  enlistments and casualties. The 7th Wisconsin Infantry initially mustered 973 men and later recruited an additional 369 men, for a total of 1,342 men. The regiment suffered 10 officers and 271 enlisted men killed in action or who later died of their wounds, plus another 143 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 424 fatalities.