6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment
HISTORICAL NOTES:
The 6th Wisconsin was raised at Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service July 16, 1861, for a term of three years. It saw severe fighting in the 1862 Northern Virginia Campaign, fighting at Brawner's Farm during the early part of the Second Battle of Bull Run. During the subsequent Maryland Campaign, the 6th attacked Turner's Gap in the Battle of South Mountain, and then suffered considerable casualties battling Hood's Texas Brigade in the D.R. Miller cornfield at Antietam.
During the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, Lt. Col. Rufus R. Dawes led a counterattack on Joseph R. Davis's Confederate brigade of Mississippians, many of which were sheltered in an unfinished railroad cut west of town. The 6th forced the surrender of over 200 enemy soldiers. The regiment later served that year in the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns.
The regiment participated in the Grand Review of the Armies on May 23, 1865, and then mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, on July 2, 1865.
The 6th Wisconsin Infantry initially mustered 1029 men and later recruited an additional 601 men, for a total of 1,630 men. The regiment lost 16 officers and 228 enlisted men killed in action or who later died of their wounds, plus another 1 officer and 112 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 357 fatalities.
OFFICERS:
Colonel Lysander Cutler - May 28, 1861, to November 29, 1862 - promoted to brigadier general.
Colonel Edward S. Bragg - March 10, 1863, to June 25, 1864 - promoted to brigadier general.
Colonel John Azor Kellogg - December 10, 1864, to July 14, 1865 - mustered out.
ASSIGNMENTS:
Attached to King's Brigade, McDowell's Division, Army of the Potomac, to March, 1862. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 1st Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to April, 1862. 3rd Brigade, King's Division, Dept. of the Rappahannock, to June, 1862. 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 3rd Army Corps, Army of Virginia, to September, 1862. 4th Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Army Corps, Army of the Potomac, to June, 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division, 1st Army Corps, to March, 1864. 1st Brigade, 4th Division. 5th Army Corps, to August, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 5th Army Corps, to September, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 5th Army Corps, to July, 1865.
SERVICE:
Camp on Meridian Hill and duty in the Defenses of Washington, D.C., until March, 1862. Advance on Manassas, Va., March 10-16. Advance to Falmouth April 9-19. Duty at Falmouth and Fredericksburg until August. McDowell's advance on Richmond March 25-29. Operations against Jackson June 2-11. Reconnaissance to Orange Court House July 24-27. Reconnaissance to Frederick's Hall Station and Spotsylvania Court House August 5-8. Thornburg's Mills (or Massaponax Church) August 5-6. Battle of Cedar Mountain August 9. Pope's Campaign in Northern Virginia August 16-September 2. Fords of the Rappahannock August 21-23. Action at Gainesville August 28. Battles of Groveton August 29; Bull Run August 30; Chantilly September 1 (Reserve). Maryland Campaign September 6-22. Battles of South Mountain, Md., September 14; Antietam September 16-17. At Sharpsburg until October 30. Advance to Falmouth, Va., October 30-November 22. Battle of Fredericksburg December 12-15. "Mud March" January 20-24, 1863. At Belle Plain until April 27. Expedition to Heathville February 12-14. Chancellorsville Campaign April 27-May 6. Operations at Pollock's Mill Creek April 29-May 2. Fitzhugh's Crossing April 29-30. Battle of Chancellorsville May 2-5. Gettysburg (Pa.) Campaign June 11-July 24. Battle of Gettysburg, Pa., July 1-3. Pursuit of Lee to Manassas Gap, Va., July 5-24. Duty on line of the Rappahannock and Rapidan until October. Bristoe Campaign October 9-22. Haymarket October 19. Advance to line of the Rappahannock November 7-8. Mine Run Campaign November 26-December 2. Campaign from the Rapidan to the James River May 4-June 15, 1864. Battles of the Wilderness May 5-7; Laurel Hill May 8; Spotsylvania May 8-12; Spotsylvania Court House May 12-21. Assault on the Salient, "Bloody Angle," May 12. North Anna River May 23-26. Jericho Ford May 23. On line of the Totopotomoy May 28-31. Cold Harbor June 1-12. Bethesda Church June 1-3. Before Petersburg June 16-18. Siege of Petersburg June 16, 1864, to April 2, 1865. Weldon Railroad August 18-21, 1864. Boydton Road, Hatcher's Run, October 27-28. Dabney's Mills, Hatcher's Run, February 5-7, 1865. Appomattox Campaign March 28-April 9. Lewis Farm, near Gravelly Run, March 29. Boydton and White Oak Roads March 30-31. Five Forks April 1. Fall of Petersburg April 2. Pursuit of Lee April 3-9. Appomattox Court House April 9. Surrender of Lee and his army. March to Washington, D.C., May. Grand Review May 23. Moved to Louisville, Ky., June 17. Mustered out July 2, 1865.
ROSTERS:
The composite rosters of this unit contain the names of 3371 men.
Company A - Sauk County and Sheboygan County
Company B - many men from Pierce County and Still Water, Michigan
Company C - many men from Crawford County and Grant County
Company D - many men from Milwaukee County
Company E - many men from Fond du lac County and from the town of Appleton, WI
Company F - many men from Milwaukee County and Walworth County
Company G - many men from Rock County
Company H - many men from Buffalo County
Company I - many men from Vernon County and Brown County
Company K - many men from Juneau County and Waukesha County
FEATURED MEMBERS:
Rufus Dawes - served as a lieutenant colonel - US congressman, father of vice president Charles G. Dawes
Daniel J. Dill - served as a captain - politician
John C. Hall - served as a regiment surgeon - physician and politician
John J. Jenkins - served as a private - politician and jurist (Congressman)
Robert Lees - served as private - politician
James R. Lyon - served as a private - politician
Adam Gale Malloy - served as a captain - was later brevetted brigadier general
George Davis McDill - served as a private and corporal - politician
Thomas McDill - served as a first lieutenant and captain - politician
Benjamin Sweet - served as a major and lieutenant colonel - politician, was later brevetted brigadier general
John Tester - served as a first lieutenant - was later a businessman and politician
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Dyer, Frederick H. A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion. Vol. 2. Cartersville, GA: Eastern Digital Resources, 2003.
Love, William D. Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion. Chicago: Church and Goodman, 1866. E537L79. Cartersville, GA: Eastern Digital Resources, 2011.
Quiner, E.B. The Military History of Wisconsin. Chicago: Clarke, 1866. E537Q75.
Cartersville, GA: Eastern Digital Resources, 2011.
Rigdon, John C. Wisconsin Civil War Soldiers Index. Cartersville, GA: Eastern Digital Resources, 2011.
REFERENCES:
Dyer, Frederick H. - A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion
The Union Army by Federal Publishing Company, 1908 - Volume 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_in_the_American_Civil_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Awakes
During the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, Lt. Col. Rufus R. Dawes led a counterattack on Joseph R. Davis's Confederate brigade of Mississippians, many of which were sheltered in an unfinished railroad cut west of town. The 6th forced the surrender of over 200 enemy soldiers. The regiment later served that year in the Bristoe and Mine Run Campaigns.
The regiment participated in the Grand Review of the Armies on May 23, 1865, and then mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, on July 2, 1865.
The 6th Wisconsin Infantry initially mustered 1029 men and later recruited an additional 601 men, for a total of 1,630 men. The regiment lost 16 officers and 228 enlisted men killed in action or who later died of their wounds, plus another 1 officer and 112 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 357 fatalities.
The Union Army by Federal Publishing Company, 1908 - Volume 1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_in_the_American_Civil_War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wide_Awakes