The 40th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a
volunteer
Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
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 marine i ...
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 conscripted ...
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 (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
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 th ...
. It was among scores of regiments that were raised in the summer of 1864 as
Hundred Days Men The Hundred Days Men was the nickname applied to a series of regiments of United States Volunteers raised in 1864 for 100-day service in the Union Army during the height of the American Civil War. These short-term, lightly trained troops freed veter ...
, an effort to augment existing manpower for an all-out push to end the war within 100 days.
Service
The 40th Wisconsin was organized at
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
, and mustered into Federal service on June 14, 1864.
The regiment was mustered out on September 16, 1864.
Casualties
The 40th Wisconsin suffered 1 officer and 18 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 19 fatalities.
The Civil War Archive
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Notable people
* W. C. Bailey was corporal in Co. F. After the war he became a California state legislator and city manager of San Jose, California.
* James M. Bingham was major of the regiment. After the war he became the 20th speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
The Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly is the presiding officer of the Wisconsin State Assembly, the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Article IV of the Constitution of Wisconsin, ratified in 1848, establishes the legislature and ...
and the 13th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin
The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, or incapacity due to ...
.
* Orrin W. Blanchard, the brother of Caleb S. Blanchard, was surgeon of the regiment.
* William Avery Cochrane was a private in Co. B. After the war he became a Wisconsin state legislator.
* Alexander J. Craig was adjutant of the regiment. After the war he became the 8th Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin.
* Pitt Noble Cravath, son of Prosper Cravath
Prosper Cravath, Jr., (May 28, 1809May 20, 1886) was an American lawyer and Wisconsin pioneer. He was one of the original settlers of Whitewater, Wisconsin, and helped lay out the town plat. He represented Whitewater in the Wisconsin State Asse ...
, was a private in Co. D.
* Samuel Fallows
Samuel Fallows (December 13, 1835September 5, 1922) was an English American immigrant, minister, lecturer, and author. He was the 9th Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin and served as Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal C ...
was lieutenant colonel of the regiment and later served as colonel of the 49th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
The 49th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was a volunteer infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service
The 49th Wisconsin was organized at Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into federal service ...
. Earlier in the war, he was chaplain of the 32nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. After the war he became the 9th Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin and Presiding Bishop of the Reformed Episcopal Church
The Reformed Episcopal Church (REC) is an Anglican church of evangelical Episcopalian heritage. It was founded in 1873 in New York City by George David Cummins, a former bishop of the Protestant Episcopal Church.
The REC is a founding member ...
.
* Edward E. Merritt was a private in Co. G. After the war he became a Wisconsin state legislator.
* John Coit Spooner
John Coit Spooner (January 6, 1843June 11, 1919) was a politician and lawyer from Wisconsin. He served in the United States Senate from 1885 to 1891 and from 1897 to 1907. A Republican, by the 1890s, he was one of the "Big Four" key Republicans ...
was a private in Co. D. After the war he became a United States Senator.
See also
* List of Wisconsin Civil War units
The state of Wisconsin enrolled 91,327 men for service in the Union Army during the American Civil War, 77,375 in the infantry, 8,877 in the cavalry, and 5,075 in the artillery. Some 3,802 of these men were killed in action or mortally wounded, an ...
* Wisconsin in the American Civil War
With the outbreak of the American Civil War, the northwestern state of Wisconsin raised 91,379 soldiers for the Union Army, organized into 53 infantry regiments, 4 cavalry regiments, a company of Berdan's sharpshooters, 13 light artillery batter ...
References
The Civil War Archive
Notes
Military units and formations established in 1864
Military units and formations disestablished in 1864
Units and formations of the Union Army from Wisconsin
1864 establishments in Wisconsin
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