The 90th 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 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 ...

Service

The 90th Illinois Infantry was organized at

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and mustered into Federal service on September 7, 1862. Nicknamed the "Irish Legion" or the "Second Irish". On two occasions, the unit included a disguised woman (

Frances Elizabeth Quinn Frances Elizabeth Quinn was an Irish-born Union Civil War soldier who fought in both the infantry and cavalry. She enlisted over five separate times throughout the war and the country. Each time she was eventually discovered to be a woman and dis ...

) in its ranks. The first time she was discovered and dismissed within a month by Colonel Tomothy O'Meara. She rejoined under a different name, and a new commander, a year later. She was successful until captured and discovered by confederate soldiers. The regiment was mustered out on June 10, 1865.

Total strength and casualties

The regiment suffered 2 officers and 58 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds and 1 officer and 87 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 148 fatalities.

Commanders

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Timothy O'Meara - killed in action at the

Battle of Missionary Ridge The Battle of Missionary Ridge was fought on November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on November 24, Union forces in the Military Division of ...

. *

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 ...

Owen Stewart - Mustered out with the regiment.http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/f&s/090-fs.htm Illinois in the Civil war website after Illinois Adjutant General's muster rolls

Notes

References

The Civil War Archive

External links