98th Illinois Infantry Regiment

The 98th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, later the 98th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Mounted Infantry, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.^[1]

98th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry/Illinois Volunteer Mounted Infantry
Illinois flag
Active	September 3, 1862, to July 29, 1865
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Infantry Mounted Infantry (1863–1864)
Equipment	Spencer repeating rifle
Engagements	Battle of Hoover's Gap Battle of Chickamauga Battle of Resaca Siege of Atlanta
Insignia
1st Division, XIV Corps
4th Division, XIV Corps

Service

The 98th Illinois Infantry was organized at Centralia, Illinois and mustered into Federal service on September 3, 1862.^[2]

The regiment was converted to mounted infantry on March 8, 1863^[3] and became an element of "Wilder's Lightning Brigade",^{[note 1]} a unit that pioneered the use of mounted infantry.^[4] As part of that brigade, it performed admirably in the Tullahoma^[5][6] and Chickamauga campaigns. Its superior firepower^[7] due to its Spencers was found to allow it to take on an enemy that outnumbered them on several occasions and triumph. Also, the rapidity of movement afforded by their mounts gave them a rapid response ability that could take and maintain the initiative from the rebels^[8]This combat power prevented much larger Confederate units from crossing a bridge on the first day of Chickamauga^[8][9][10] and stopped the left column of the Bragg's key breakthrough on the second day.^[11]

1862 Spencer Rifle with sling and bayonet

The regiment was mustered out on June 27, 1865, and discharged at Springfield, Illinois, on July 7, 1865.^[12]

Total strength and casualties

The regiment suffered 30 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds and 5 officers and 136 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 171 fatalities.^[12]

Commanders

• Colonel John J. Funkhouser - Discharged due to wounds July 5, 1864.^[13]

See also

• List of Illinois Civil War Units
• Illinois in the American Civil War

References

Footnotes

1. It acquired the names due to the movement speed that was gained by mounting the brigade, and also by the hatchets/tomohawks that Wilder had issued initially. See Lightning Brigade article for more.

Citations

1. Dyer (1908), p. 1088.
2. Baumgartner (2007), p. 70; Dyer (1908), p. 1086; Reece (1900), p. 358.
3. Sunderland (1984), p. 24.
4. Sunderland (1969), p. 45.
5. Robertson, Blue & Gray, Jan 2006, p. 46–50.
6. Sunderland (1969), p. 45; Kennedy (1998), p. 225.
7. Sunderland (1984), p. 26.
8. Robertson, Blue & Gray, Jun 2006, p. 46–50.
9. Robertson, Blue & Gray, Dec 2006, p. 41–45.
10. Robertson, Blue & Gray, Jun 2007, p. 44–47.
11. Robertson, Blue & Gray, Oct 2007, p. 46–48.
12. Dyer (1908), p. 1088; Reece (1900), p. 493.
13. Reece (1900), p. 493.

Biblography

• Baumgartner, Richard A. (2007). Blue Lightning: Wilder's Mounted Brigade in the Battle of Chickamauga (1st ed.). Huntington, WV: Blue Acorn Press. p. 389. ISBN 978-1-885033-35-2. OCLC 232639520.
• Connolly, James A. (1959). Angle, Paul McClelland (ed.). Three Years in the Army of the Cumberland: The Letters and Diary of Major James A. Connolly (1st ed.). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press. ISBN 978-0-527-19000-2. OCLC 906602437.
• Connolly, James A. (2012). "Primary Sources: The Road to Chickamauga". www.battlefields.org. Washington, DC: American Battlefield Trust.
• Connelly, Thomas L (1971). Autumn of Glory: The Army of Tennessee 1862–1865 (PDF) (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-0445-3. OCLC 1147753151.
• Cozzens, Peter (1992). This Terrible Sound: The Battle of Chickamauga (PDF) (1st ed.). Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06594-1. OCLC 1147753151.
• Daniel, Larry J.; Lamers, William M. (1961). The Edge of Glory: A Biography of General William S. Rosecrans, U.S.A. (1st ed.). New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace & World. ISBN 978-0-8071-2396-6. OCLC 906813341.
• Duke, Basil Wilson (1906). Morgan's Cavalry (PDF) (1st ed.). New York, NY & Washington, DC: Neale Pub. Co. p. 441. OCLC 35812648.
• Dyer, Frederick Henry (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (PDF) (1st ed.). Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co. p. 1088. ASIN B01BUFJ76Q.
• Eddy, Thomas Mears (1865). The Patriotism of Illinois (PDF). Vol. I (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: Clark & Company. p. 642. LCCN 02012789. OCLC 85800687. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
• Eddy, Thomas Mears (1866). The Patriotism of Illinois (PDF). Vol. II (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: Clark & Company. p. 734. LCCN 02012789. OCLC 85800687. Retrieved April 14, 2020.
• Eicher, David J.; McPherson, James M.; McPherson, James Alan (2001). The Longest Night: A Military History of the Civil War. New York City: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-1846-9. OCLC 892938160.
• Esposito, Vincent J. (1959). West Point Atlas of American Wars (1st ed.). New York City: Frederick A. Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8050-3391-5. OCLC 60298522. Archived from the original on 2012-08-29.
• Frisby, Derek W. (2000). Heidler, David S.; Heidler, Jeanne T. (eds.). Tullahoma Campaign. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History. Vol. IV. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. –2733. ISBN 978-0-393-04758-5. OCLC 317783094.
• Garrison, Graham; Pierson, Parke; Shoaf, Dana B. (March 2003). "Lightning at Chickamauga". America's Civil War. 16 (1). Historynet LLC: 46–54. ISSN 1046-2899. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
• Hallock, Judith Lee (1991). Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat, Volume 2 (1st ed.). Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-585-13897-8. OCLC 1013879782.
• Illinois National Guard. "1st Battalion, 123d Infantry". globalsecurity.org. Alexandria, VA. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
• Jordan, Hubert (July 1997). "Battle of Chickamauga: Colonel John Wilder's Lightning Brigade Prevented Total Disaster". America's Civil War. 10 (3). Historynet LLC: 44–49. ISSN 1046-2899. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
• Kennedy, Frances H., ed. (1998). The Civil War Battlefield Guide (Kindle) (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Co. ISBN 0-395-74012-6. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
• Korn, Jerry (1985). The Fight for Chattanooga: Chickamauga to Missionary Ridge. The Civil War. Alexandria, VA: Time-Life Books. ISBN 978-0-8173-9185-0. OCLC 34581283.
• McWhiney, Grady (1991). Braxton Bragg and Confederate Defeat, Volume 1 (1st ed.). Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press. ISBN 978-0-8173-0545-1. LCCN 91003554. OCLC 799285151.
• Martin, Samuel J. (2011). General Braxton Bragg, C.S.A. (Kindle) (2013 Kindle ed.). Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5934-6. OCLC 617425048.
• Reece, Jasper Newton (1900). Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Illinois (1900-1902) (PDF). Vol. V. Springfield, IL: Phillips Bros., State Printer. pp. 493–517. OCLC 1052542476. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
• Robertson, William Glenn (2010). "Bull of the Woods? James Longstreet at Chickamauga". In Woodworth, Steven E. (ed.). The Chickamauga Campaign (Kindle). Civil War Campaigns in the West (2011 Kindle ed.). Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-8556-0. OCLC 649913237. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
• Robertson, William Glenn (January 2006). "The Chickamauga Campaign: The Fall of Chattanooga". Blue & Gray Magazine. XXIII (136). Columbus, OH: Blue & Gray Enterprises. ISSN 0741-2207.
• Robertson, William Glenn (June 2006). "The Chickamauga Campaign: McLemore's Cove - Bragg's Lost Opportunity". Blue & Gray Magazine. XXIII (138). Columbus, OH: Blue & Gray Enterprises. ISSN 0741-2207.
• Robertson, William Glenn (December 2006). "The Chickamauga Campaign: The Armies Collide". Blue & Gray Magazine. XXIV (141). Columbus, OH: Blue & Gray Enterprises. ISSN 0741-2207.
• Robertson, William Glenn (June 2007). "The Chickamauga Campaign: The Battle of Chickamauga, Day 1". Blue & Gray Magazine. XXIV (144). Columbus, OH: Blue & Gray Enterprises. ISSN 0741-2207.
• Robertson, William Glenn (October 2007). "The Chickamauga Campaign: The Battle of Chickamauga, Day 2". Blue & Gray Magazine. XXV (146). Columbus, OH: Blue & Gray Enterprises. ISSN 0741-2207.
• Smith, Derek (2005). The Gallant Dead: Union and Confederate Generals Killed in the Civil War (Kindle) (2011 Kindle ed.). Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 978-0-8117-4872-8. OCLC 1022792759. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
• Starr, Stephen Z. (1985). The War in the West, 1861-1865. The Union Cavalry in the Civil War. Vol. III (1st ed.). Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press. ISBN 978-0-8071-1209-0. OCLC 769318010.
• Stuntz, Margaret L. (July 1997). "Lightning Strike at the Gap". America's Civil War. 10 (3). Historynet LLC: 50–57. ISSN 1046-2899. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
• Sunderland, Glenn W. (1969). Lightning at Hoover's Gap: the Story of Wilder's Brigade (1st ed.). London, UK: Thomas Yoseloff. ISBN 0-498-06795-5. OCLC 894765669.
• Sunderland, Glenn W. (1984). Wilder's Lightning Brigade and Its Spencer Repeaters. Washington, IL: Bookworks. ISBN 99968-86-41-7. OCLC 12549273.
• Thomas, Edison H. (1985). John Hunt Morgan and His Raiders. Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-1-306-18437-3. OCLC 865156740.
• Tucker, Glenn (1961). Chickamauga: Bloody Battle in the West (Kindle) (2015 Kindle ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Co. ISBN 978-1-78625-115-2. OCLC 933587418. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
• Woodworth, Steven E. (1998). Six Armies in Tennessee: The Chickamauga and Chattanooga Campaigns (Kindle) (2015 Kindle ed.). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0-8032-9813-2. OCLC 50844494. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
• U.S. National Park Service. "NPS Hoover's Gap Battle Description". nps.gov. U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
• U.S. National Park Service. "Chickamauga Battle Description". nps.gov. U.S. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2013-09-13. Retrieved September 14, 2017.
• U.S. War Department (1889). Operations in Kentucky, Middle and East Tennessee, North Alabama, and Southwest Virginia. January 21 – August 10, 1863. – Reports. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XXIII-XXXV-I. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 857196196.
• U.S. War Department (1889). Operations in Kentucky, Middle and East Tennessee, North Alabama, and Southwest Virginia. January 21 – August 10, 1863. – Reports. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XXIII-XXXV-I. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 857196196.
• U.S. War Department (1899). Operations in Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Alabama, and North Georgia. August 11-October 19, 1863. – Part I Reports. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XXX-XLII-I. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 857196196.
• U.S. War Department (1899). Operations in Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Alabama, and North Georgia. August 11-October 19, 1863. – Part II Reports. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XXX-XLII-II. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 857196196.
• U.S. War Department (1899). Operations in Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Alabama, and North Georgia. August 11-October 19, 1863. – Part III Union Correspondence, etc. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Vol. XXX-XLII-III. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 857196196.

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