The 12th Illinois Infantry Regiment, also known as the 1st Scotch Regiment, was an
infantry regiment
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 marine i ...
that served in the
Union Army between May 2, 1861 and July 18, 1865, during the
American Civil War.
Service
Initial 3 month service
The infantry regiment was organized at
Springfield, Illinois
Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...
and mustered in on May 2, 1861 for a three-month service. The regiment was transferred to
Cairo, Illinois
Cairo ( ) is the southernmost city in Illinois and the county seat of Alexander County.
The city is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Fort Defiance, a Civil War camp, was built here in 1862 by Union General Ulysses ...
, for garrison duty until August 1861. By the time the regiment was mustered out on August 1, 1861, they had lost four to disease.
[Dyer (1959), Volume 3 p. 1,049.]
3 year service
The 12th Illinois Infantry was mustered into Federal service for a three-year enlistment on August 1, 1861, at Cairo, Illinois.
The regiment was mustered out on July 18, 1865, at Camp Butler National Cemetery Camp Butler, Illinois.
Total strength and casualties
The regiment suffered 5 officers and 143 enlisted men killed in action or mortally wounded and 3 officers and 109 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 260 fatalities.
Commanders
*Colonel
John McArthur – promoted to
brigadier general on May 1, 1862.
*Colonel
Augustus L. Chetlain
Augustus Louis Chetlain (December 26, 1824 – March 15, 1914) was a United States Army soldier who was the first man in Illinois to volunteer at the outbreak of the American Civil War. He served as a Union Army general.
Early life and career
...
– promoted to
brigadier general on December 19, 1863.
*
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...
Henry Van Sellars – mustered out with the regiment.
[http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/f&s/012-fs.htm Illinois in the Ci 65th Illinoia Volunteer Infantry: "The Second Scotch Regiment"vil war website after Illinois Adjutant General's muster rolls]
See also
*
List of Illinois Civil War units
*
Illinois in the American Civil War
*
65th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, "The Second Scotch Regiment"
References
Bibliography
* Dyer, Frederick H. (1959). ''A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion''. New York and London. Thomas Yoseloff, Publisher. {{LCCN, 5912963.
External links
The Civil War Archive
Units and formations of the Union Army from Illinois
1861 establishments in Illinois
Military units and formations established in 1861
Military units and formations disestablished in 1865