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7th
Wisconsin Infantry
| Regimental History |
| Seventh Infantry.— Cols., Joseph Van Dor, William W. Robinson;
Lieut. -Cols., Charles A. Hamilton, John B. Callis, Mark Finnicum, Hollon Richardson;
Majs., George Bill, George S. Hoyt. This regiment, organized in Aug., 1861, was mustered
into the U. S. service by companies and left the state for Washington on Sept. 21. It
reached Washington on Sept. 26 and joined King's brigade at Camp Lyon on Oct. 2. It
participated in all the movements of its brigade during the following winter and spring
and had its first skirmish with the enemy in July, 1862. An expedition was sent out by
Gen. King to destroy the Virginia Central railroad, of which expedition the regiment
formed a part, and during the movement a skirmish occurred with the enemy's cavalry, but
the troops suffered more from the excessive heat of the weather. The regiment took part in
the celebrated retreat of Gen. Pope, taking position at Beverly ford after crossing the
Rappahannock, and for 3 days skirmished with the enemy, losing 2 men wounded. But it had
its first introduction to real warfare at Gainesville, where the fearful list of
casualties proved the desperate nature of the contest. All the field officers of the
regiment were wounded, and it lost 46 men killed or died of wounds. On the following day
it was present at the battle field of Bull Run, where it was temporarily consolidated into
six companies and took part in the contest. It acted as part of the rear-guard on the
retreat and during these two days lost 5 killed and 135 wounded. The regiment was engaged
throughout the battle of South mountain and held its ground until late in the night, when
it was relieved. It lost during the day 20 killed and 105 wounded. At Antietam the
regiment was hotly engaged and lost 17 killed and 25 wounded. It took part in the battle
of Fredericksburg, but owing to the position it held it did not become very actively
engaged and it lost but 1 man killed. At the opening of the Chancellorsville campaign in
the spring of 1863 the regiment was with the brigade when it crossed the river at
Fitzhugh's crossing in pontoon boats and drove the enemy out at the point of the bayonet.
In this affair the regiment lost 4 killed and 5 wounded. Early in June it took part in a
cavalry reconnoissance towards Culpeper Court house and as infantry support in the battle
of Brandy Station did very effective service. It bore its share in the battle of
Gettysburg with characteristic gallantry and suffered severely, its loss being 32 killed
and 80 wounded. It was in the affair at Buckland mills in October, where it had the
misfortune to lose 30 men captured. In December 211 of the 7th reenlisted as veterans.
This was sufficient to constitute a veteran regiment and in January the non-veterans were
temporarily attached to other organizations, while the regiment returned to Wisconsin on
veteran furlough. During the first day's fighting in the Wilderness, the regiment suffered
severely, but in the attack on the enemy's first line it captured the colors of the 48th
Va. The battle was resumed at daylight the following morning, when the regiment
participated in the grand charge upon the Confederates in front and was the only regiment
that succeeded in holding for a short time the enemy's first line of breastworks. At
Spottsylvania the enemy established a body of sharpshooters within 50 yards of the Federal
breastworks, but they were driven out by a company of the 7th Wis. On the following day
the brigade again advanced to charge the enemy's works in front, the regiment being on the
left. The troops to the left of the brigade were repulsed, and the 7th was obliged to
return to its breastworks, which it did in good order. It was the first regiment to
relieve Hancock's corps at the "bloody angle" and took position in the enemy's
first line of intrenchments, which had been captured by Hancock earlier in the day. The
list of killed and those who died from wounds in this campaign from May 5 to June 10 show
that the regiment lost 92, while 184 were wounded. On June 18 the regiment advanced with
its brigade across an open field, about 2 miles from Petersburg, against the heavy works
of the enemy, through a galling and terrific fire. In this movement the regiment was left
without any connecting line on its left, but the ground was held for an hour and a half,
during which the regiment suffered terribly from the infantry and artillery fire of the
enemy. The Federal batteries were firing over the heads of the men in order to prevent the
Confederates from advancing from their works and having to aim low many of the shells
struck in close proximity to the regiment. Having a few shovels, earthworks on the left
flank were commenced, the soldiers aiding the shovelers with their bayonets and tin
plates. Before they could finish their works, however, the Confederates advanced to within
75 yards, and after fighting them as long as there was a chance of holding the position,
the regiment was compelled to fall back, through a more deadly fire than that through
which it had advanced, returning to near the position from which it had moved in the
morning. The casualties in the regiment were 21 killed and 37 wounded. On July 30 the
regiment took part in the operations connected with the explosion of the mine and had 1
man killed and 1 wounded. In the desperate fight on the Weldon railroad the 7th captured
26 prisoners without sustaining any loss. On Aug. 20 it rejoined the brigade on the west
side of the railroad and assisted in the gallant repulse of the enemy on the 21st, the
regiment capturing the battleflag and all the field officers of the 16th Miss. The
regiment fought with its accustomed gallantry at the battle of Dabney's mill in Feb.,
1865, with a loss of 4 killed and 19 wounded. It fought at Gravelly run in March, and took
a prominent part in the famous battle of Five Forks, which immediately preceded the fall
of Richmond. It then joined in the pursuit of the enemy and had the proud satisfaction of
assisting in the capture of the army of Gen. Lee at Appomattox Court House. In this short
campaign from March 29 to April 9 the casualties in the 7th regiment were 18 killed and 52
wounded. After the surrender of the Confederate forces the regiment moved to Black and
White's Station, where it remained until ordered to Washington, where it participated in
the grand review. On June 17 it was ordered to Louisville, where it was mustered out and
started for Wisconsin on July 2. The original strength of the regiment was 1,029; gain by
recruits in 1863, 74; in 1864, 343; in 1865, 12; by substitutes, 189; by draft, 67; by
veteran reenlistments, 218; total, 1,932. Losses by death, 385; missing, 12; by desertion,
44; by transfer, 106; discharged, 473; mustered out, 912. |
Footnotes:
Regimental history taken from "The Union Army" by Federal Publishing
Company, 1908 - Volume 4
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