78th Illinois Infantry Regiment

The 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.

History
The 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment was organized 3 years' service at Quincy, Illinois, along the Mississippi River, mustering in on September 1, 1862. The 78th Illinois then left the state by steamboat for Louisville, Kentucky, arriving on September 19, 1862. The regiment, would see all of its wartime duty in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.

The 78th Illinois was attached originally to 39th Brigade, 12th Division, Army of the Ohio. The regiment went through a series of reassignments; first in November 1862 to Gilbert's Command, District of Western Kentucky, Department of the Ohio. While in Franklin, Tennessee, in February 1863 the regiment was assigned to the Army of Kentucky, Department of the Cumberland. In June 1863, another reassignment assigned the 78th Illinois to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division Reserve Corps, Army of the Cumberland. The final reorganization would come in October 1863, assigning the regiment to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XIV Corps.

The regiment received the blue United States uniform, typical of the Civil War. Initially, the regiment was armed with .69 caliber rifled muskets, altered to use a percussion cap. In 1863, the regiment saw more modern arms provisioned to the soldiers; a mixture of the Enfield rifle and Springfield Rifle Muskets were carried. In 1864, all troops were armed with the Springfield Rifle Muskets.

Formation Period

 * September 1, 1862
 * Regimental Muster in Quincy, Illinois
 * September 19, 1862
 * Moved by steamboat from Quincy, Illinois, down the Mississippi River, then up the Ohio River to Kentucky

Defense of Kentucky Railroads

 * October 5, 1862 through January 30, 1863
 * Moved to Shephardstown, Kentucky and guard Louisville & Nashville Railroad; the main line trussel bridges running south from Shephardstown through Elizabethtown and a spur line between Bardstown Junction to New Haven. The regimental headquarters was primarily set in New Haven.  The regiment was placed at several key bridges, splitting it apart having one to three companies guard each bridge.
 * December 28, 1862
 * Action at Muldraugh's Hill. Companies B and C were positioned at one of these bridges on December 28, 1862.  General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry fired artillery at the two companies, of which the Union companies had no artillery to return fire.  Consequently, the two companies surrendered to Morgan and were paroled.  They were first sent to the north at Louisville and then west to St. Louis, where they would be held at Benton Barracks until they could be exchanged.
 * December 30, 1862
 * Action against Company H at New Haven
 * January 30 — February 7, 1863
 * Moved to Nashville, Tennessee

Middle Tennessee Operations

 * February–April 1863


 * February 3, 1863
 * Repulse of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest's attack on Fort Donelson, Tennessee
 * February 12 through June 23, 1863
 * Moved to Franklin, Tennessee
 * March 4, April 10 and June 4–5, 1863
 * Actions at Franklin

Tullahoma Campaign

 * June 24 and July 3, 1863


 * June 24–28, 1863
 * March to Triune, Murfreesboro and then to marching near Shelbyville
 * July 1, 1863
 * Occupation of Shelbyville and Middle Tennessee through August 1863

Chickamauga Campaign

 * August 16 to September 22, 1863


 * September 19 – 20, 1863
 * Battle of Chickamauga — On the final day of the battle, the 78th Illinois served a vital role as part of Mitchell's Brigade in reinforcing Thomas at the height of the Confederate attack and took 40% casualties

Chattanooga Campaign

 * September through November 1863
 * September 24 — November 23, 1863
 * Siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee
 * November 23 — 24, 1863
 * Tunnel Hill
 * November 24 — 25, 1863
 * Missionary Ridge — (Regiment temporarily attached to 15th Army Corps November 24)
 * November. 26, 1863
 * Chickamauga Station
 * November 29 — December 17, 1863
 * March to relief of Knoxville
 * February 22 — 27, 1864
 * Demonstration on Dalton, Georgia
 * February 23 — 25, 1864
 * Tunnel Hill, Buzzard's Roost Gap and Rocky Faced Ridge
 * April 11 — 13, 1864
 * Reconnaissance from Rossville to La Fayette

Atlanta Campaign

 * May 1 to September 8, 1864


 * May 6 — 7, 1864
 * Tunnel Hill
 * May 8 — 11, 1864
 * Battle of Rocky Face Ridge
 * May 8 — 9, 1864
 * Buzzard's Roost Gap
 * May 9 — 13, 1864
 * Demonstration on Dalton
 * May 14 — 15, 1864
 * Battle of Resaca
 * May 17 — 18, 1864
 * Rome
 * May 19 — 25, 1864
 * Battle of Dallas
 * May 25 — May 26, 1864
 * Battle of New Hope Church
 * June 9 — July 3, 1864
 * Battle of Marietta
 * June 11 — 14, 1864
 * Pine Mountain
 * June 15 — 17, 1864
 * Lost Mountain
 * June 27, 1864
 * Battle of Kennesaw Mountain — The regiment participated in an unsuccessful and costly assault on the Confederate position on Cheatham Hill.
 * July 4, 1864
 * Ruff's Station, Smyrna Camp Ground
 * July 5 — 17, 1864
 * Chattahoochee River
 * July 19 — 20, 1864
 * Battle of Peach Tree Creek
 * July 22 — August 25
 * Battle of Atlanta
 * August 5 — 7, 1864
 * Battle of Utoy Creek
 * August 25 — 30, 1864
 * Flank movement on Jonesboro
 * August 31 — September 1, 1864
 * Battle of Jonesboro — The 78th Illinois was in Baird's Division, which spearheaded the successful attack on the Confederate line
 * September 2 — 6, 1864
 * Lovejoy Station

Operations In North Georgia and North Alabama against Forest and Hood (September 29 — November 3, 1864)
 * '''October 6 — 8, 1864
 * Florence

Sherman's March to the Sea

 * November 15 to December 21, 1864


 * December 10 — 21, 1864
 * Siege of Savannah.

Carolinas Campaign

 * January through April 1865


 * March 16, 1865
 * Battle of Averasborough — Taylor's Hole Creek, North Carolina
 * March 19 – 21, 1865
 * Battle of Bentonville — Here, the regiment was nearly surrounded while assigned to picket duty
 * March 24, 1865
 * Occupation of Goldsbore
 * April 10 – 14, 1865
 * Advance on Raleigh
 * April 14, 1865
 * Occupation of Raleigh
 * April 26, 1865
 * Bennett Place — Surrender of Johnston and his army

Post War Activities

 * April 29 — May 19, 1865
 * March to Washington, D.C. — via Richmond, Virginia
 * May 24, 1865
 * Grand Review
 * June 7, 1865
 * Mustered out

Strength and Casualties
When the regiment mustered in on September 1, 1862, it included 862 enlisted men. The regiment suffered 9 officers and 95 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 117 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 221 fatalities.

Headquarters
The 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment was organized at Quincy, Illinois, in Adams County.

Commanding Officers
 * Colonel William H. Bennison – resigned commission September 2, 1863.
 * Colonel Carter Van Vleck – died of wounds August 23, 1864.
 * Colonel Maris R. Vernon – mustered out with the regiment.

Company A
Recruited in Schuyler County, Illinois.

Company B
Recruited in Adams County, Illinois.

Companies B and C were captured by, then Colonel, John Hunt Morgan during a December 26, 1862, raid at Muldraugh Hill. They were sent to St. Louis, Missouri, under terms of parole and not exchanged until October 1863, effectively reducing the regiment by two companies of infantry.

Company C
Recruited in McDonough County, Illinois.

Company D
Recruited in Hancock County, Illinois.

Company E
Recruited in Adams County.

Company F
Recruited in Adams County.

Company G
Recruited in Adams County.

Company H
Recruited in Hancock County.

During the same raid that captured Companies B and C, Colonel Morgan attacked the Regimental Headquarters and Company H, on the morning of December 30, 1862, in New Haven, Kentucky. The company sustained no casualties, but it was assumed that Colonel Morgan's cavalry did, but was never substantiated.

Company I
Recruited in McDonough County.

Company K
Recruited in Adams County.

Memorials
There is a memorial to the soldiers of the 78th Illinois at the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park.