United States Regiments & Batteries > Illinois
“2nd Hecker Regiment”
Friedrich Franz Karl Hecker originally formed the 24th Illinois Infantry and became its Colonel. But disagreements arose between Hecker and some of his officers, and he and his supporters resigned. In August of 1862 Hecker formed the 82nd Illinois, or “Second Hecker Regiment”, with himeself as Colonel and Edward Salomon as Lieutenant Colonel. It was composed mainly of German, Jewish, Swedish, and other European volunteers, with Company C entirely Jewish and Company I made up of Scandanavians.
The 82nd lost 4 officers and 98 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded and 60 enlisted men to disease during the Civil War. It marched an estimated 2,503 miles during its service, and is honored by a monument at Gettysburg.
|
1862
|
|
| October 23 | The 82nd Illinois Infantry Regiment was organized at Springfield, Illinois, and mustered in under the command of Colonel Friedrich (Frederick) Hecker. |
| November 3-9 | Moved to Washington, D.C. Attached to 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 11th Army Corps, Army of the Potomac |
| November 19 | Marched to Fairfax Court House, Va. |
| December 11 | Moved to Stafford Court House |
| December 19 | Near Aquia Creek, Va. |
|
1863
|
|
| January 20-24 |
“Mud March” |
| January 25 | At Stafford Court House, Va. |
| April 27 |
Chancellorsville Campaign |
| May 1-5 |
Battle of ChancellorsvilleIn its first battle the regiment lost 155 casualties out of around 400 men in action. Colonel Hecker and Major Ferdinand Rolshausen were wounded and Second Lieutenants Lieutenant Conrad Schonder and Lorenz Spoenemann were killed. Lieutenant Colonel Salomon took over command of the regiment. |
| June 12 |
Gettysburg Campaign |
| July 1-3 |
Battle of GettysburgThe 82nd Illinois Infantry Regiment was commanded at Gettysburg by Lieutenant Colonel Edward Salomon. It brought 347 men to the battle, of whom 4 were killed, 19 wounded, and 89 missing. Second Lieutenant Ferdinand Babst was mortally wounded and Captain Emil Frey and Lieutenant Eugene Hepp were captured. A monument to the regiment is on Howard Avenue just west of Carlisle Road. According to the account of Lt. Col. Salomon,“…it happened that my regiment, being the center of the whole line, was the last to leave the field. I received orders to cover our retreat through the town with my own regiment, the Eighty-Second Illinois and the Sixty-First Ohio. These two regiments, under my command, were the last to enter the town in which the greatest confusion reigned. Artillery, ammunition wagons, ambulances, provision trains, disorganized troops, wounded soldiers carried along by the ambulance corps thronged the narrow streets of the town. The retreat became a rout. My two regiments drove the men forward. I guarded the cross streets as much as possible, until I finally ran into a cul-de-sac, where I was compelled to have a heavy, tight board fence knocked down to make it possible to proceed. That accomplished, we had to pass through an enfilading fire of musketry until we gained the peach orchard (at the northern base of Cemetery Hill).” |
| July 5-24 | Pursuit to Manassas Gap |
| July 12 | Hagerstown |
| July 13 | Duty along the Orange & Alexandria R. R. |
| September 25 – October 4 |
Transfer to the Wester Theater.Movement to Bridgeport, Alabama |
| October 19-26 | Operations in Lookout Valley. Attached to 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 11th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland, and Colonel Hecker assumes command of the brigade. |
| October 20 | Reconnaissance to Trenton |
| October 26-29 | Reopening Tennessee River |
| October 28-29 |
Battle of Wauhatchie, Tenn. |
| October 30 | Duty in Lookout Valley, Tenn. |
| November 23-27 |
Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign |
| November 23 | Orchard Knob |
| November 24-25 | Tunnel Hill |
| November 25 | Mission Ridge |
| November 26-27 | Pursuit to Cleveland |
| November 29 – December 17 | March to relief of Knoxville |
| Dec. 18 | At Whitesides, Tenn. |
|
1864
|
|
| March 21 | Colonel Hecker resigned his commission |
| April | Attached to 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 20th Army Corps, Army of the Cumberland |
| May 3 |
Atlanta Campaign |
| May 8-11 | Demonstration on Rocky Faced Ridge |
| May 14-15 |
Battle of ResacaThe regiment saved the 5th Indiana Battery in a bayonet charge |
| May 19 | Near Cassville |
| May 25 |
New Hope ChurchThe regiment loses 11 killed and 69 wounded out of 245 engaged, winning the praise of General Thomas. |
| May 25-June 5 | Battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills |
| June 10-July 2 | Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain |
| June 11-14 | Pine Hill |
| June 15-17 |
Lost MountainLost 5 killed |
| June 15 | Gilgal (or Golgotha) Church |
| June 17 |
Muddy CreekLost 1 killed and 3 wounded in an attack on an entrenched position |
| June 19 | Noyes’ Creek |
| June 22 | Kolb’s Farm |
| June 27 |
Assault on Kenesaw |
| July 4 | Smyrna Camp Ground |
| July 5-17 | Chattahoochie River |
| July 19-20 |
Peach Tree CreekSecond Lieutenant Frederick Bechstein of Company I is killed |
| July 22-August 25 |
Siege of Atlanta |
| August 26 – September 2 |
Operations at Chattahoochie River Bridge |
| September 2 – November 15 | Occupation of Atlanta |
| October 26-29 | Expedition to Tuckum’s Cross Roads |
| November 15 – December 10 |
March to the sea |
| November 22 | Milledgeville |
| December 9 | Montieth Swamp |
| December 10-21 |
Siege of Savannah |
|
1865
|
|
| January |
Campaign of the Carolinas |
| March 16 |
Averysboro, Taylor’s Hole Creek, N. C.The regiment lost 15 casualties |
| March 19-21 |
Battle of Bentonville |
| March 24 | Occupation of Goldsboro |
| April 10-14 | Advance on Raleigh |
| April 14 | Occupation of Raleigh |
| April 26 |
Bennett’s HouseSurrender of Johnson and his Army |
| April 29-May 19 | March to Washington, D.C., via Richmond, Va. |
| May 24 | Grand Review |
| June 16 | The 82nd Illinois Infantry Regiment mustered out |