15th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Captain Harley Wayne commanded D Company in this regiment.

From Wikipedia

The 15th Illinois was mustered into service at Freeport, Illinois, on May 24, 1861.

The companies were from the following counties:

A  McHenry

B  Boone

C  Winnebago

D  McHenry

E  Jo Daviess

F  McHenry

G  Stephenson

H  Ogle

I  Lake

K  Carroll

So, the biggest number of men in the regiment were from McHenry County.  Companies A. D and F.  All of the counties represented in the regiment are in the northern part of Illinois.

--Old Secesh

Captain Harley Wayne-- Part 2: Co. D, 15th Illinois Infantry, Killed at Shiloh

Originally from New York, he lived well by pre-Civil War  standards.  He built the spacious Wayne House  in Union in 1857, owned 640 acres and ran a successful business.  He was also one of the first people to join the new Republican Party.

A strident abolitionist, he left it all, against his wife's wishes, and joined the Union Army when the Civil War broke out.  He joined the 15th Illinois Volunteer Infantry in Freeport, Illinois,  where the men of Company D elected him their captain.

The unit was in the first line of battle at Shiloh on April 6, 1862, and held its part of the line as the Ohio unit guarding its flanks broke and ran.  Wayne was one of the many officers of the 15th cut down in the fighting that ensued.

The battle cost  almost 24,000 casualties on both sides, or, in other words, more than the American Revolution,  War of 1812 and Mexican War combined.

Yet, there would be eight more Civil War battles with higher casualties.

--Old Secesh

George Clarke Rogers-- Part 6: Service Record

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

COMPLEXION:  Light

MARITAL STATUS:  Single

OCCUPATION:  Lawyer

NATIVITY:  Piermont,  Grafton County, New Hampshire

************************************

SERVICE RECORD

JOINED WHEN:  May 24, 1861

JOINED WHERE:  Freeport, Illinois

JOINED BY WHOM:  Captain Jones

PERIOD:  Three years

MUSTER IN:   May 24, 1861

MUSTER IN WHERE:   Freeport, Illinois

REMARKS:   Promoted to captain

--Old Secesh

Breakdown of Residences of Co. A, 15th Illinois Infantry-- Part 2

Other Illinois towns:

Freeport--  7
Chicago--  6
Ripley--  1  (Brown County)
Keithsburg--  1   (Murcer Co.)  These last two counties are over by the Mississippi River in the western part of the state.
Palatine--  1
Rockford--  2
LeRoy--  1  (McLean County)
Oneco--  1  (Stephenson County)

--Old Secesh

15th Illinois Infantry Regiment

From Wikipedia.

Raised under the 10 Regiment Act and mustered in at Freeport, Illinois, on May 24, 1861.

Companies  A, D and F from McHenry County,
B--  Boone County
C--  Winnebago County
E--  Jo Davies County
G--  Stephenson County
H--  Ogle County
I--  Lake County
K--  Carroll County

In all actions, the 15th was with the 14th Illinois Infantry.  Stationed around Rolla, Missouri.  Took part in the Fort Donelson Campaign and at the Battle of Shiloh.  On the second day of Shiloh, General Grant took personal command of the two regiments in the attack on the Confederates.

After the engagement, Grant ordered that the 14th and 15th remain together for the rest of the war.  As a result of losses and refusal to take in new recruits the two regiments were consolidated and became the 14th and 15th Illinois Battalion Infantry on July 1, 1864.

During the course of the war the 15th suffered 6 officers and 81 enlisted killed in battle or died from wounds and 5 officers and 135 died from disease.

Commanders were Col. Thomas J. Turner who resigned on November 2, 1862 and Col. George Clark Rogers to the end of the war.

--Old Secesh

And, a Lincoln Thing

Of course, Illinois is the Land of Lincoln, even says so on our license plates. However, other than the Lincoln Highway, celebrating its 100th anniversary next year, there isn't a whole lot of Lincoln here in the northern part of the state.

However, one of the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates took place in Freeport, right along US-20, now with a bypass, but Business US-20 goes right through town. They have statues of the two men in a park.

This year, the Freeport/Stevenson County Visitors Center, located east of town on the US-20 bypass has an exhibit on the debate. I found the Illinois voting maps for the 1858 election of particular interest. The northern part of the state was solid Republican (even though Lincoln was from the Central. The southern half went Democrat. Back then, the states picked their senators.

We'll Have to Spend Some Time in Freeport One of These Days. --Old Secesh