Illinois in the American Civil War
Encyclopedia
The state of Illinois during the American Civil War was a major source of troops for the Union army
(particularly for those armies serving in the Western Theater
of the Civil War
), and of military supplies, food, and clothing. Situated near major rivers and railroads, Illinois
became a major jumping off place early in the war for Ulysses S. Grant
's efforts to seize control of the Mississippi
and Tennessee rivers
.
Illinois contributed 250,000 soldiers to the Union Army
, ranking it fourth in terms of the total manpower in Federal military service. Illinois troops predominantly fought in the Western Theater
, although a few regiments played important roles in the East, particularly in the Army of the Potomac
. Several thousand Illinoisians were killed or died of their wounds during the war, and a number of national cemeteries were established in Illinois to bury their remains.
Besides President Abraham Lincoln
, a number of other Illinois men became prominent in the army or in national politics, including Ulysses S. Grant
(a resident when the war started), John M. Schofield and John A. Logan
. No major battles were fought in the state, although several river towns became sites for important supply depots and "brownwater" navy yards. Several prisoner of war camps and prisons dotted the state, processing thousands of captive Confederate
soldiers.
, Pennsylvania
and Ohio
. Beginning with Illinois resident President Lincoln's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, the state mustered 150 infantry
regiments, which were numbered from the 7th Illinois to the 156th Illinois. Seventeen cavalry
regiments were also mustered, as well as two light artillery
regiments. Due to enthusiastic recruiting rallies and high response to voluntary calls to arms, the military draft was little used in Chicago
and environs, but was a factor in supplying manpower to Illinois regiments late in the war in other regions of the state.
Camp Douglas
, located near Chicago, was one of the largest training camps for these troops, as well as Camp Butler
near Springfield
. Both served as leading prisoner-of-war camps for captive Confederates
. Another significant POW camp was located at Rock Island
. Several thousand Confederates died while in custody in Illinois prison camps and are buried in a series of nearby cemeteries.
There were no Civil War battles fought in Illinois, but Cairo
, at the juncture of the Ohio River
with the Mississippi River
, became an important Union supply base, protected by Camp Defiance
. Other major supply depots were located at Mound City
and across the Ohio river at Fort Anderson
in Paducah, Kentucky
, along with sprawling facilities for the United States Navy
gunboats and associated river fleets. One of which would take part in the nearby Battle of Lucas Bend
.
Leading major general
s with Illinois ties included Ulysses S. Grant
, John Buford
, John Pope
, John M. Schofield, John A. Logan
, John A. McClernand, Benjamin Prentiss
and Stephen Hurlbut. Brigadier General
Elon J. Farnsworth
, who began his career in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, died at the Battle of Gettysburg
. President Lincoln maintained his home in Springfield, Illinois
, where he is buried. Over 100 soldiers from Illinois units would win the Medal of Honor
during the conflict.
Composer and music publisher George Frederick Root
gained fame and fortune from a number of well-received war songs, including The Battle Cry of Freedom and others. A pair of Chicago-based women, Mary Livermore
and Jane Hoge, organized a pair of large expositions, the Northwest Sanitary Fairs, where cash generated from the sale of donated items was later used to purchase medical supplies for the soldiers. Their activities helped spark the postbellum women's rights movement in Illinois. Mary Ann Bickerdyke
, a resident of Galesburg
, was a noted nurse for the Western armies.
Workers in various factories and mills, as well as the port and stockyards, helped provide a steady source of materiel
, food, and clothing to Illinois troops, as well as to the general Union army. Mound City foundry
workers converted river steamboats into armored gunboats for Federal service. With traditional Southern markets cut off by the war, the port of Chicago rose in prominence as Illinois expanded trade with the Great Lakes
region. Chicago meatpackers earned venture capital during the war that was reinvested in 1865, as the war ended, to create the Northern city's Union Stock Yards
.
, two men from Illinois were among the four major candidates. Illinois voted in favor of Springfield resident Abraham Lincoln
(172,171 votes or 50.7% of the ballots cast) over Chicagoan Stephen Douglas (160,215; 47.2%). Of minor consequence in the state-wide results were Southern candidates John C. Breckinridge
(2,331; 0.7%), and John Bell
(4,914; 1.5%).
Throughout the war, Illinois politics were dominated by Republicans
under the energetic leadership of Governor Richard Yates and Senators Lyman Trumbull
and Orville H. Browning
. Democrats scored major gains in the 1862 election by attacking Lincoln's emancipation plan as danger to the state since it would bring in thousands of freed slaves. As a result the Democrats had a majority in the legislature and in 1863, Browning's Senate seat, formerly held by Douglas prior to the war, was filled by the Democrats with the election of William Alexander Richardson
.
In the 1864 presidential election
, Illinois residents supported Lincoln's reelection, giving the president 189,512 votes (54.4% of the total) to General George McClellan
's 158,724 votes (45.6%). Within a year, Lincoln was dead and his remains had been returned to Springfield for burial.
) filled the columns of The Chicago Times, the mouthpiece of the rival Democratic Party. It was the nation's loudest and most persistent critic of Lincoln and emancipation. At one point early in the Gettysburg Campaign
in June 1863, Union troops forcibly closed the newspaper at bayonet point. It was only reopened when Democratic mobs threatened to destroy the rival Republican paper and President Lincoln intervened.
Barry shows that Amos Green (1826-1911) from Paris, Illinois, was a leading lawyer and Peace Democrat (Copperhead). Green saw the War as unjust and Lincoln as a despot who had to be stopped. He wrote vicious denunciations of the administration in local newspapers. He was arrested for sedition in 1862. After his release in August 1862, he became the grand commander of the secret Order of American Knights in Illinois, which fought restrictions on civil liberties. It was was also called the Knights of the Golden Circle and later the Sons of Liberty. Green was funded by the Confederate government to arrange riots at the Democratic National Convention in 1864. Although the riots never materialized, he continued giving antigovernment speeches until he was again arrested in November 1864. After this arrest, he agreed to testify for the government about the activities of the Knights; his testimony implicated others but ignored his own deep involvement in antigovernment plots.
) and James L. Alcorn
, who was a U.S. Senator and the Governor of Mississippi. Both were born near Golconda
. Galena-born
John Aaron Rawlins
, long a confidant of U.S. Grant, became the United States Secretary of War
in the Grant Administration. John M. Palmer
, a resident of Carlinville
, was a postbellum Governor of Illinois
and the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party
in the 1896 election
.
Edward S. Salomon
, an immigrant from Europe
, was appointed by President Grant as the Governor of the Washington Territory
. William P. Carlin
of Carrollton
became a general in the postbellum U.S. Army and commanded several outposts in Montana
and elsewhere.
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
(particularly for those armies serving in the Western Theater
Western Theater of the American Civil War
This article presents an overview of major military and naval operations in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.-Theater of operations:...
of the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
), and of military supplies, food, and clothing. Situated near major rivers and railroads, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
became a major jumping off place early in the war for Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
's efforts to seize control of the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and Tennessee rivers
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
.
Illinois contributed 250,000 soldiers to the Union Army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
, ranking it fourth in terms of the total manpower in Federal military service. Illinois troops predominantly fought in the Western Theater
Western Theater of the American Civil War
This article presents an overview of major military and naval operations in the Western Theater of the American Civil War.-Theater of operations:...
, although a few regiments played important roles in the East, particularly in the Army of the Potomac
Army of the Potomac
The Army of the Potomac was the major Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War.-History:The Army of the Potomac was created in 1861, but was then only the size of a corps . Its nucleus was called the Army of Northeastern Virginia, under Brig. Gen...
. Several thousand Illinoisians were killed or died of their wounds during the war, and a number of national cemeteries were established in Illinois to bury their remains.
Besides President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, a number of other Illinois men became prominent in the army or in national politics, including Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
(a resident when the war started), John M. Schofield and John A. Logan
John A. Logan
John Alexander Logan was an American soldier and political leader. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a state senator, congressman and senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President...
. No major battles were fought in the state, although several river towns became sites for important supply depots and "brownwater" navy yards. Several prisoner of war camps and prisons dotted the state, processing thousands of captive Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
soldiers.
History
During the Civil War, 256,297 Illinoisians served in the Union army, more than any other northern state except New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania in the Civil War
During the American Civil War, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania played a critical role in the Union, providing a huge supply of military manpower, equipment, and leadership to the Federal government...
and Ohio
Ohio in the Civil War
During the American Civil War, the State of Ohio played a key role in providing troops, military officers, and supplies to the Union army. Due to its central location in the Northern United States and burgeoning population, Ohio was both politically and logistically important to the war effort...
. Beginning with Illinois resident President Lincoln's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, the state mustered 150 infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
regiments, which were numbered from the 7th Illinois to the 156th Illinois. Seventeen cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
regiments were also mustered, as well as two light artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
regiments. Due to enthusiastic recruiting rallies and high response to voluntary calls to arms, the military draft was little used in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
and environs, but was a factor in supplying manpower to Illinois regiments late in the war in other regions of the state.
Camp Douglas
Camp Douglas (Chicago)
Camp Douglas, in Chicago, Illinois, was a Union Army prisoner-of-war camp for Confederate soldiers taken prisoner during the American Civil War. It was also a training and detention camp for Union soldiers. The Union Army first used the camp in 1861 as an organizational and training camp for...
, located near Chicago, was one of the largest training camps for these troops, as well as Camp Butler
Camp Butler National Cemetery
Camp Butler National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located a few miles northeast of Springfield and a few miles southwest of Riverton, a small town nearby to Springfield, in Sangamon County, Illinois. It was named for Illinois State Treasurer at the time of its establishment,...
near Springfield
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
. Both served as leading prisoner-of-war camps for captive Confederates
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
. Another significant POW camp was located at Rock Island
Rock Island National Cemetery
Rock Island National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located within Rock Island Arsenal near the city of Rock Island, Illinois. It encompasses , and as of the end of 2006, had 24,525 interments. The cemetery is also nearing compliance with the National Shrine guidelines, due to its...
. Several thousand Confederates died while in custody in Illinois prison camps and are buried in a series of nearby cemeteries.
There were no Civil War battles fought in Illinois, but Cairo
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
, at the juncture of the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
with the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, became an important Union supply base, protected by Camp Defiance
Fort Defiance (Illinois)
Fort Defiance, known as Camp Defiance during the American Civil War, is a former military fortification located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers near Cairo in Alexander County, Illinois. The strategic significance of the site has been known since prehistoric times with...
. Other major supply depots were located at Mound City
Mound City, Illinois
Mound City is a city located along the Ohio River in Pulaski County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 692. It is the county seat of Pulaski County.-Geography:Mound City is located at ....
and across the Ohio river at Fort Anderson
Fort Anderson (Kentucky)
Fort Anderson, located in Paducah, Kentucky was the site for the Battle of Paducah. Originally a supply depot, it was rebuilt as a seven-gun fort. Fort Anderson was 400 feet long and ran 160 feet toward the Ohio river, surrounded on the west, north and south by 50 foot ditches filled...
in Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah, Kentucky
Paducah is the largest city in Kentucky's Jackson Purchase Region and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Tennessee River and the Ohio River, halfway between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, to the west and Nashville,...
, along with sprawling facilities for the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
gunboats and associated river fleets. One of which would take part in the nearby Battle of Lucas Bend
Battle of Lucas Bend
The Battle of Lucas Bend took place on January 11, 1862 near Lucas Bend, four miles north of Columbus on Mississippi River in Kentucky as it lay at the time of the American Civil War. In the network of the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio rivers, the Union river gunboats under Flag Officer Andrew...
.
Leading major general
Major general (United States)
In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general...
s with Illinois ties included Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant was the 18th President of the United States as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America...
, John Buford
John Buford
John Buford, Jr. was a Union cavalry officer during the American Civil War, with a prominent role at the start of the Battle of Gettysburg.-Early years:...
, John Pope
John Pope (military officer)
John Pope was a career United States Army officer and Union general in the American Civil War. He had a brief but successful career in the Western Theater, but he is best known for his defeat at the Second Battle of Bull Run in the East.Pope was a graduate of the United States Military Academy in...
, John M. Schofield, John A. Logan
John A. Logan
John Alexander Logan was an American soldier and political leader. He served in the Mexican-American War and was a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He served the state of Illinois as a state senator, congressman and senator and was an unsuccessful candidate for Vice President...
, John A. McClernand, Benjamin Prentiss
Benjamin Prentiss
Benjamin Mayberry Prentiss was an American soldier and politician. He fought in the Mexican-American War and on the Union side of the American Civil War, rising to the rank of major general....
and Stephen Hurlbut. Brigadier General
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
Elon J. Farnsworth
Elon J. Farnsworth
Elon John Farnsworth was a Union Army cavalry general in the American Civil War, killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.-Early life and career:...
, who began his career in the 8th Illinois Cavalry, died at the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...
. President Lincoln maintained his home in Springfield, Illinois
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the third and current capital of the US state of Illinois and the county seat of Sangamon County with a population of 117,400 , making it the sixth most populated city in the state and the second most populated Illinois city outside of the Chicago Metropolitan Area...
, where he is buried. Over 100 soldiers from Illinois units would win the Medal of Honor
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...
during the conflict.
Homefront support
The Chicago city government and voluntary societies gave generous support to soldiers during the war.Composer and music publisher George Frederick Root
George Frederick Root
George Frederick Root was an American songwriter, who found particular fame during the American Civil War.-Biography:...
gained fame and fortune from a number of well-received war songs, including The Battle Cry of Freedom and others. A pair of Chicago-based women, Mary Livermore
Mary Livermore
Mary Livermore, born Mary Ashton Rice, was an American journalist and advocate of women's rights.-Biography:...
and Jane Hoge, organized a pair of large expositions, the Northwest Sanitary Fairs, where cash generated from the sale of donated items was later used to purchase medical supplies for the soldiers. Their activities helped spark the postbellum women's rights movement in Illinois. Mary Ann Bickerdyke
Mary Ann Bickerdyke
Mary Ann Bickerdyke , also known as Mother Bickerdyke, was a hospital administrator for Union soldiers during the American Civil War.She was born in Knox County, Ohio, to Hiram Ball and Annie Rodgers Ball...
, a resident of Galesburg
Galesburg, Illinois
Galesburg is a city in Knox County, Illinois, in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 32,195. It is the county seat of Knox County....
, was a noted nurse for the Western armies.
Workers in various factories and mills, as well as the port and stockyards, helped provide a steady source of materiel
Materiel
Materiel is a term used in English to refer to the equipment and supplies in military and commercial supply chain management....
, food, and clothing to Illinois troops, as well as to the general Union army. Mound City foundry
Foundry
A foundry is a factory that produces metal castings. Metals are cast into shapes by melting them into a liquid, pouring the metal in a mold, and removing the mold material or casting after the metal has solidified as it cools. The most common metals processed are aluminum and cast iron...
workers converted river steamboats into armored gunboats for Federal service. With traditional Southern markets cut off by the war, the port of Chicago rose in prominence as Illinois expanded trade with the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region. Chicago meatpackers earned venture capital during the war that was reinvested in 1865, as the war ended, to create the Northern city's Union Stock Yards
Union Stock Yards
The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meat packing district in Chicago for over a century starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired swampland, and turned it to a centralized processing area...
.
War politics
During the 1860 Presidential ElectionUnited States presidential election, 1860
The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the...
, two men from Illinois were among the four major candidates. Illinois voted in favor of Springfield resident Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
(172,171 votes or 50.7% of the ballots cast) over Chicagoan Stephen Douglas (160,215; 47.2%). Of minor consequence in the state-wide results were Southern candidates John C. Breckinridge
John C. Breckinridge
John Cabell Breckinridge was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator from Kentucky and was the 14th Vice President of the United States , to date the youngest vice president in U.S...
(2,331; 0.7%), and John Bell
John Bell (Tennessee politician)
John Bell was a U.S. politician, attorney, and plantation owner. A wealthy slaveholder from Tennessee, Bell served in the United States Congress in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He began his career as a Democrat, he eventually fell out with Andrew Jackson and became a Whig...
(4,914; 1.5%).
Throughout the war, Illinois politics were dominated by Republicans
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
under the energetic leadership of Governor Richard Yates and Senators Lyman Trumbull
Lyman Trumbull
Lyman Trumbull was a United States Senator from Illinois during the American Civil War, and co-author of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.-Education and early career:...
and Orville H. Browning
Orville Hickman Browning
Orville Hickman Browning was a Republican Senator from Illinois.-Biography:Browning was born February 10, 1806 in Cynthiana, Kentucky. He was a veteran of the Black Hawk War. Browning was a Whig delegate to the anti-Nebraska convention held at Bloomington, Illinois, in May 1856...
. Democrats scored major gains in the 1862 election by attacking Lincoln's emancipation plan as danger to the state since it would bring in thousands of freed slaves. As a result the Democrats had a majority in the legislature and in 1863, Browning's Senate seat, formerly held by Douglas prior to the war, was filled by the Democrats with the election of William Alexander Richardson
William Alexander Richardson
William Alexander Richardson was a prominent Illinois Democrat politician before and during the American Civil War....
.
In the 1864 presidential election
United States presidential election, 1864
In the United States Presidential election of 1864, Abraham Lincoln was re-elected as president. The election was held during the Civil War. Lincoln ran under the National Union ticket against Democratic candidate George B. McClellan, his former top general. McClellan ran as the "peace candidate",...
, Illinois residents supported Lincoln's reelection, giving the president 189,512 votes (54.4% of the total) to General George McClellan
George B. McClellan
George Brinton McClellan was a major general during the American Civil War. He organized the famous Army of the Potomac and served briefly as the general-in-chief of the Union Army. Early in the war, McClellan played an important role in raising a well-trained and organized army for the Union...
's 158,724 votes (45.6%). Within a year, Lincoln was dead and his remains had been returned to Springfield for burial.
Copperheads
Opposition views of the Peace Democrats (or "Copperheads"Copperheads (politics)
The Copperheads were a vocal group of Democrats in the Northern United States who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates. Republicans started calling anti-war Democrats "Copperheads," likening them to the venomous snake...
) filled the columns of The Chicago Times, the mouthpiece of the rival Democratic Party. It was the nation's loudest and most persistent critic of Lincoln and emancipation. At one point early in the Gettysburg Campaign
Gettysburg Campaign
The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July 1863, during the American Civil War. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for offensive operations in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The...
in June 1863, Union troops forcibly closed the newspaper at bayonet point. It was only reopened when Democratic mobs threatened to destroy the rival Republican paper and President Lincoln intervened.
Barry shows that Amos Green (1826-1911) from Paris, Illinois, was a leading lawyer and Peace Democrat (Copperhead). Green saw the War as unjust and Lincoln as a despot who had to be stopped. He wrote vicious denunciations of the administration in local newspapers. He was arrested for sedition in 1862. After his release in August 1862, he became the grand commander of the secret Order of American Knights in Illinois, which fought restrictions on civil liberties. It was was also called the Knights of the Golden Circle and later the Sons of Liberty. Green was funded by the Confederate government to arrange riots at the Democratic National Convention in 1864. Although the riots never materialized, he continued giving antigovernment speeches until he was again arrested in November 1864. After this arrest, he agreed to testify for the government about the activities of the Knights; his testimony implicated others but ignored his own deep involvement in antigovernment plots.
Notable leaders from Illinois
Among the many Illinois generals who rose to post-war prominence were Green B. Raum (who became a U.S. congressman and the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue ServiceInternal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
) and James L. Alcorn
James L. Alcorn
James Lusk Alcorn was a prominent American political figure in Mississippi during the 19th century. He was a leading southern white Republican or "scalawag" during Reconstruction in Mississippi, where he served as governor and U.S. Senator...
, who was a U.S. Senator and the Governor of Mississippi. Both were born near Golconda
Golconda, Illinois
Golconda is a city in, and the county seat of, Pope County, located along the Ohio River. The population was 726 at the 2000 census. The entire city has been designated a state Historic District.-Geography:Golconda is located at ....
. Galena-born
Galena, Illinois
Galena is the county seat of, and largest city in, Jo Daviess County, Illinois in the United States, with a population of 3,429 in 2010. The city is a popular tourist destination known for its history, historical architecture, and ski and golf resorts. Galena was the residence of Ulysses S...
John Aaron Rawlins
John Aaron Rawlins
John Aaron Rawlins was an United States Army general during the American Civil War, a confidant of Ulysses S. Grant, and later U.S. Secretary of War.-Biography:...
, long a confidant of U.S. Grant, became the United States Secretary of War
United States Secretary of War
The Secretary of War was a member of the United States President's Cabinet, beginning with George Washington's administration. A similar position, called either "Secretary at War" or "Secretary of War," was appointed to serve the Congress of the Confederation under the Articles of Confederation...
in the Grant Administration. John M. Palmer
John M. Palmer (politician)
John McAuley Palmer , was an Illinois resident, an American Civil War General who fought for the Union, the 15th Governor of Illinois, and presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party in the 1896 election on a platform to defend the gold standard, free trade, and limited...
, a resident of Carlinville
Carlinville, Illinois
Carlinville is a city in Macoupin County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2000 Census, the population was 5,685, and 5,912 at a 2009 estimate. It is the county seat of Macoupin County, and so it is an outlying part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St...
, was a postbellum Governor of Illinois
Governor of Illinois
The Governor of Illinois is the chief executive of the State of Illinois and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by popular suffrage of residents of the state....
and the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Party
National Democratic Party (United States)
The National Democratic Party or Gold Democrats was a short-lived political party of Bourbon Democrats, who opposed the regular party nominee William Jennings Bryan in 1896. Most members were admirers of Grover Cleveland. They considered Bryan a dangerous man and charged that his "free silver"...
in the 1896 election
United States presidential election, 1896
The United States presidential election held on November 3, 1896, saw Republican William McKinley defeat Democrat William Jennings Bryan in a campaign considered by political scientists to be one of the most dramatic and complex in American history....
.
Edward S. Salomon
Edward S. Salomon
Edward Selig Salomon was a German immigrant to the United States who served as a Union brigadier general in the American Civil War and later became governor of Washington Territory and a California legislator....
, an immigrant from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, was appointed by President Grant as the Governor of the Washington Territory
Washington Territory
The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....
. William P. Carlin
William P. Carlin
William Passmore Carlin was a career soldier from the state of Illinois who served as a general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and then in the postbellum United States Army...
of Carrollton
Carrollton, Illinois
Carrollton is a city in Greene County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,605 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Greene County.-Geography:Carrollton is located at ....
became a general in the postbellum U.S. Army and commanded several outposts in Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
and elsewhere.
Further reading
- Bohn, Roger E. "Richard Yates: An Appraisal of his Value as the Civil War Governor of Illinois," Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society Spring/Summer2011, Vol. 104 Issue 1/2, pp 17-37
- Cole, Arthur Charles. The Era of the Civil War 1848-1870 (1919), the standard scholarly history; vol 3 of the The Centennial History of Illinois
- Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. 3 volumes. Thomas Yoseloff, 1959
- Hicken, Victor, Illinois in the Civil War, University of Illinois Press. 1991. ISBN 0-252-06165-9.
- Karamanski, Theodore J., Rally 'Round the Flag: Chicago and the Civil War. Nelson-Hall, 1993. ISBN 0-8304-1295-6.
- Levy, George, To Die in Chicago: Confederate Prisoners at Camp Douglas, 1862-1865. Evanston Publishing, 1994.
Primary sources
- Burton, William L., Descriptive bibliography of Civil War manuscripts in Illinois. Civil War Centennial Commission of Illinois, Northwestern University Press, 1966.
- Office of the Adjutant General, Roster of Officers and Enlisted Men. 9 volumes, State Printing Office, 1900.
- U.S. War Department, The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 70 volumes in 4 series. Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, 1880-1901.
External links
- Illinois in the Civil War (Mike's Musings)
- Illinois in the Civil War (ILGenWeb Project)
- Illinois regiments during the Civil War
- History of the 77th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, W. H. Bentley, 1883
- Civil War Flags of Illinois
- Illinois During the Civil War, 1861-1865, Illinois Historical Digitization Projects at Northern Illinois University Libraries