At the Battle of Glendale, the evening of 30 June 1862, SGT Charles Augustus Fuller and the 61st New York advance at the head of their brigade north of the Long Bridge Road. As night descends on their position, an unfamiliar voice asks the 61st New York to identify themselves.

Sources used for this episode:

Fuller, Charles A. Personal Recollections of the War of 1861 as Private, Sergeant and Lieutenant in the Sixty-First Regiment, New York Volunteer Infantry. Sherburne: News Job Printing House, 1906. https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.personalrecollec00full/?st=slideshow#slide-9.

Scott, Robert N. The War of The Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 11, pt 2 Reports. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1884. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077730152&view=1up&seq=3.

“Consolidation of Regiments. Organization of the Sixty-First New York Volunteers.” New York Herald, October 29, 1861. Chronicling America, Library of Congress.

“The Army of the Potomac: Our Camp Correspondence.” New York Herald. November 19, 1861. Chronicling America, Library of Congress.

“Charles A. Fuller” New York Herald. October 28, 1916. Newspapers.com.

At the Battle of Peach Tree Creek on 20 July 1864, COL James Cooper Nisbet and the 66th Georgia, participate in an echelon assault upon the Army of the Cumberland. After being repulsed, COL Nisbet reforms his command and advances again in support of a separate Confederate Brigade.

Sources used for this episode:

Nisbet, James C. Four Years on the Firing Line. Chattanooga: The Imperial Press, 1914. https://www.loc.gov/item/14008722/.

Davis, George B., Perry, Leslie J., Kirkley, Joseph W. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. ser. 1, vol. 38, pt. 1 Reports. Washington: Government Printing Office 1891. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077722977&view=1up&seq=3.

“Capt. Nisbet’s Regiment.” Confederate Union, March 24, 1863. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn85034083/1863-03-24/ed-1/seq-3/.

At the Battle of First Manassas, also known as First Bull Run, CPT William W. Goldsborough and the 1st Maryland meet PVT Bicknell and the 5th Maine on the battlefield at Chinn Ridge late in the afternoon of 21 July 1861.

Sources used for this episode:

Goldsborough, William W. The Maryland Line in the Confederate States Army. Baltimore: Kelly, Piet & Company, 1869. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/58632/pg58632-images.html.

Bicknell, George W. History of the Fifth Regiment Maine Volunteers, Comprising Brief Descriptions of its Marches, Engagements, and General Services from the Date of its Muster In, June 24, 1861, to the Time of its Muster Out, July 27, 1864. Portland: Hall L. Davis, 1871. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044050533173&seq=7.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Ser. 1, Vol. 2. Washington: Government printing Office, 1880. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077730186&view=1up&seq=3.

At the Siege of Vicksburg, 1SG Marshall and the 83rd Ohio participated in two separate assaults upon the Confederate works and conducted siege operations that culminated in the 4 July 1863 surrender of the city.

Sources used for this episode:

Marshall, Thomas B. History of the Eighty-Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, The Greyhound Regiment. Cincinnati: The Eighty-Third Ohio Volunteer Infantry Association, 1912. https://www.loc.gov/item/13020149/.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Ser. 1, Vol. 24, Pt. 1. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077699738&view=1up&seq=3.

Scott, Robert N. OR. Ser. 1, Vol. 24, Pt. 2. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1889. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077723033&view=1up&seq=3.

Captured at the Battle of Wyse Fork, 8 Mar 1865, PVT Ernul was transported to Point Lookout Maryland and stayed there until paroled in June 1865.

Sources used for this episode:

Ernul, J. B. Life of a Confederate Soldier in a Federal Prison. Vanceboro, 1914. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nc01.ark%3A%2F13960%2Ft4pk1qn30&seq=3.

Ainsworth, Fred C. and Kirkley, Joseph W. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Ser. 2, Vol. 8. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1899. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924079575233&view=1up&seq=3.

Point Lookout Maryland. https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/pnp/pga/02500/02593u.tif.

At the Battle of Fredericksburg, 11 December 1862, 2LT John G.B. Adams and the 19th Massachusetts, alongside the 7th Michigan, conduct the first opposed river crossing and urban warfare of the Civil War. On 13 December, 2LT John G.B. Adams earned the Medal of Honor during the assault on Marye’s Heights.

Sources used for this episode:

Adams, John G.B. Reminiscences of the Nineteenth Massachusetts Regiment. Boston: Wright & Potter Printing Company, 1899. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=loc.ark:/13960/t0ft8sn43&seq=9.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies . Ser. 1, Vol. 21. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1888. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077723017&view=1up&seq=3.

American Battlefield Trust. “The Battle of Fredericksburg.” Accessed April 25, 2024. https://www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/fredericksburg.

At the Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads, PVT John Milton Hubbard and the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, as part of MG Nathan Bedford Forrest’s Cavalry Corps, advanced against a numerically superior Union force on 10 June 1864.

Union Cavalry held the cross roads before the Confederates arrived and during that morning dismounted cavalry squared off against each other. Armed with Colt Navy Revolvers, PVT Hubbard and the 7th Tennessee Cavalry charged the lines of the 3rd and 4th Iowa Cavalry Regiments several times east of Brice’s Cross Roads.

Union Infantry eventually relieved the cavalry and PVT Hubbard and the 7th Tennessee now faced the 81st Illinois who had just forced marched about four miles into position. With cannon and bugles acting as the signal, the Confederates charged the physically exhausted Union Infantry at the Battle of Brice’s Cross Roads.

Sources used for this episode:

Hubbard, John Milton. Notes of a Private. Souvenir ed. St. Louis: Nixon-Jones Printing Co., 1911. https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/49466/pg49466-images.html.

Davis, George B. Perry, Leslie J. Kirkley, Joseph W. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Ser. 1, Vol. 39, Pt. 1: Reports. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1892. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077728297&view=1up&seq=3.

“John Milton Hubbard, Pioneer Teacher, Dies: Confederate Veteran and Author Was 91 Years of Age.” Commercial Appeal, April 3, 1923. Newspapers.com.

At the Battle of Shiloh, on the morning of 6 April 1862, CPL Leader Stillwell and the 61st Illinois heard the first shots of the battle off to their right and managed to form alongside their brigade and the 6th Division before a brigade of Alabamans and Louisianan's emerged from the woodline and engage them just south of their camp.

The Illinoisans engaged the advancing Confederates, but were eventually pushed out of their camps and retreated to a Union line held by BG W.H.L. Wallace's Second Division. This line became the focal point of several Confederate assaults, and thereafter was known as the Hornet's Nest.

For the rest of the morning into the afternoon, CPL Stillwell and the 61st Illinois fought in the Hornet's Nest and the Peach Orchard, as well as provided support to a battery of artillery.

Sources used for this episode

Stillwell, Leander. The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War 1861-1865. 2nd ed. Kansas City: Franklin Hudson Publishing Company, 1920. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044051051464&seq=9.

Scott, Robert N. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1884. https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924077730160&view=1up&seq=3.

“61st Illinois Infantry Regiment History: Adjutant General’s Report.” Accessed 16 April, 2024. https://civilwar.illinoisgenweb.org/civilwar/history/061.html.