The 128th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and mar ...
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscript ...
that served in the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
.
Service
The 128th Illinois was organized at
Camp Butler, Illinois
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 the Illi ...
, and mustered into Union service on November 4, 1862.
The regiment was assigned to District of Columbus,
XVI Corps,
Department of Tennessee
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
from November 1862 to April 1863.
Losses
The regiment suffered 1 officer and 34 men killed by disease and 700 men by desertion.
Disbanded
Following the
Emancipation Proclamation, the regiment suffered 700 desertions. The regiment was disbanded on April 1, 1863, by order the War Department. Citing "an utter want of discipline" in the regiment, Adjutant General
Lorenzo Thomas
Lorenzo Thomas (October 26, 1804 – March 2, 1875) was a career United States Army officer who was Adjutant General of the Army at the beginning of the American Civil War. After the war, he was appointed temporary Secretary of War by U.S. ...
dismissed the regiment's commanding officer Colonel Robert M. Hundley, 29 other officers, and the regimental chaplain, from Union service on April 4.
The few remaining men of the 128th Illinois were consolidated into a detachment under command of First Lieutenants W. A. Lemma, William M. Cooper, and Assistant Surgeon George W. French and reassigned to
9th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment (3 Years).
[Adjutant General's Report, Special Order, April 1, 1863, Cario, Ill.]
See also
*
List of Illinois Civil War Units
References
External links
128th Illinois Infantry Regiment- Illinois Civil War Project
- History, Illinois Infantry
Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database- Illinois State Archives
Units and formations of the Union Army from Illinois
1862 establishments in Illinois
Military units and formations established in 1862
Military units and formations disestablished in 1863