Description
Book Synopsis When Chicago lawyer Thomas Osborn set out to form a Union regiment in the days following the attack on Fort Sumter, he could not have known it was the beginning of a 6000-mile journey that would end at Appomattox Courthouse four years later. With assistance from Governor Richard Yates, the 39th Illinois Infantry--The Yates Phalanx--enlisted young men from Chicago, its (modern-day) suburbs, and small towns of northern and central Illinois.
While most Illinois regiments fought in the west, the 39th marched through the Shenandoah Valley to fight Stonewall Jackson, to Charleston Harbor for the Second Battle of Fort Sumter and to Richmond for the year-long siege at Petersburg. This book chronicles day-to-day life in the regiment, the myriad factors that determined its path, and the battles fought by the Chicagoans--including two Medal of Honor recipients--who fired some of the last shots before the Confederate surrender.
Table of ContentsPreface
Introduction: "Here My Children Have Been Born"
Part I. "A Good Ways from Home" October 1861–December 1862
1. From Chicago
2. Trains, Steamboats and Twists of Fate
3. Trial by Fire
4. Into the Valley
5. The Battle of Kernstown and a Pursuit of Stonewall
6. Final Days In (and Out of) the Valley
7. McClellan, Waiting Games and Emancipation
Part II. "Until Hell Freezes Over" January 1863–February 1864
8. Sailing to the Heart of Secession
9. Laying Siege
10. Furlough
Part III. "All This Bloodletting" March 1864–April 1865
11. Bermuda Hundred
12. The Battle of Drewry's Bluff
13. Ware Bottom Church and the End of a Campaign
14. Grant's Arrival
15. Deep Despair and Deep Bottom
16. Campaign Season
17. Darbytown Road
18. A Final Winter
19. Once More to Petersburg
20. Breakthrough and Fort Gregg
21. To Appomattox
Epilogue: "Muster Out"
Appendix: Roster of the 39th Illinois Infantry
Notes
Bibliography
Index
