55th Illinois Infantry Regiment

55th Illinois Infantry Regiment, U.S. Volunteers
55th Illinois Infantry Regiment, U.S. Volunteers
	Illinois state flag
Active	October 31, 1861, to August 14, 1865
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Infantry
Nickname(s)	"Canton Rifles"
Engagements	Battle of Shiloh; Siege of Corinth; Vicksburg Campaign; Battle of Chickasaw Bayou; Battle of Fort Hindman (Arkansas Post); Battle of Snyder's Bluff; Battle of Jackson (MS); Battle of Champion Hill; Siege of Vicksburg; Battle of Collierville; Third Battle of Chattanooga; Atlanta Campaign; Battle of Resaca; Battle of Kennesaw Mountain; Battle of Atlanta; Battle of Ezra Church; Battle of Jonesborough; Battle of Allatoona Pass; March to the Sea; Battle of Fort McAllister (1864); Carolinas Campaign; Battle of Bentonville;

The 55th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The regiment is sometimes referred to as the Canton Rifles or the Douglas Brigade 2nd Regiment.

Service

Monument to the 55th Illinois Infantry and Oscar Malmborg at Vicksburg.

The 55th Illinois Infantry was organized at Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois and mustered into Federal service on October 31, 1861. Training continued at Benton Barracks, Missouri. The 55th was part of Sherman's Yazoo Expedition.

The regiment was mustered out on August 14, 1865.

Total strength and casualties

The regiment suffered casualties including nine officers, 149 enlisted men who were killed in action, or mortally wounded, and two officers and 127 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 286 fatalities.^[1]

Commanders

Colonel David Stuart - promoted to brigadier general on November 29, 1862, U.S. Senate refused to confirm appointment, resigned April 3, 1863
Colonel Oscar Malmborg^[2]

Notable members

Corporal Robert M. Cox, Company K — Defended the colors planted on the outward parapet of Fort Hill.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]
Private Jerome Morford, Company K^[7]^[3]^[4]^[6]^[5] — Participating in a diversionary "forlorn hope" attack on Confederate defenses, 22 May 1863.
Private Jacob Sanford, Company K^[8]^[3]^[4]^[6]^[5] — Participating in the same "forlorn hope."
First Lieutenant John Warden, Company E^[8]^[3]^[4]^[6]^[5] — Participating in the same "forlorn hope."
Chaplain (Lieutenant Colonel) Milton L. Haney, Regimental Chaplain^[6]^[5] — The "Fighting Chaplain" received the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Atlanta, 22 July 1864. Haney was one of only nine chaplains awarded the CMH in American history.^[9]

Notes

^ Dyer (1908).
^ [1] Archived 2007-11-11 at the Wayback Machine Illinois in the Civil War website after Illinois Adjutant General's muster rolls
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sightline Media Group (2020).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d VCOnline (2020).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation (2020).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e CMOHS (2014).
^ Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 175.
^ ^a ^b Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs (1968), p. 214.
^ "Nine Chaplains Awarded the Medal of Honor". National Medal of Honor Museum. he National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. Retrieved 14 November 2021.

References

The Civil War Archive
Dyer, Frederick H (1908). A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Des Moines, IA: Dyer Pub. Co. ASIN B01BUFJ76Q.
Subcommittee on Veterans' Affairs, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Labor and Public Welfare (1968). Edward M Kennedy, Chairman (ed.). Medal of Honor, 1863-1968 : "In the Name of the Congress of the United States". Committee print (United States. Congress), 90th Congress, 2nd session. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 1087. OCLC 1049691780.
U.S. War Department (1880). The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OCLC 857196196.
"Hall of Valor: The Military Medals Database". The Hall of Valor Project. Sightline Media Group. 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
"MOHs - victoriacross". THE COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO THE VICTORIA & GEORGE CROSS. VCOnline. 2020. Archived from the original on 3 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
"CMOHS.org - Official Website of the Congressional Medal of Honor Society". Congressional Medal of Honor Society. CMOHS. 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
"Home - The National Medal of Honor Museum The National Medal of Honor Museum". The National Medal of Honor Museum. The National Medal of Honor Museum Foundation. 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.