Wisconsin's Governor's Guard Trained With Ellsworth

From Warriors of the Rebellion.

Earlier, I was wondering whether or not the Governor's Guard militia group had trained/drilled with Elmer Ellsworth when I read that Lucius Fairchild, future colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin of the famed Iron Brigade and governor of Wisconsin, had joined this elite group in 1858 when Ellsworth was training militia groups in Wisconsin.  I surmised that he had.

According to this site, officers of the Governor's Guard from Madison had drilled with Elmer Ellsworth before he gained fame with the U.S. Zouave Cadets in Chicago.

So, They Had Met.  --Old Secesh

Lucius Fairchild-- Part 4: Wisconsin Governor, U.S. Dimplomat and C-in-C Grand Army of the Republic

He resigned from the Army on November 1, 1863 and was appointed Wisconsin Secretary of State which office he held 1864-1866, before serving three terms as the governor of Wisconsin.  He was in office at the time of the Peshtigo Fire and greatly helped relieve the suffering.

Fairchild was appointed U.S. consul to Liverpool in 1871 and consul general at Paris (1881-1882) and then was in Spain.

From 1886 to 1887, he was the  commander-in-chief of the Grand Army of the Republic.

He is buried at Forest Cemetery in Madison, Wisconsin.

--Old Secesh

Lucius Fairchild-- Part 3: Col. of 2nd Wisconsin

The 2nd Wisconsin fought at the Second Battle of Bull Run,  During action leading up to it, its colonel, Edgar O'Connor, was killed at Gainesville, Virginia, and Fairchild became its colonel.

The 2nd distinguished itself at the Battle of Antietam.

By February 27, 1863, Brigadier General Solomon Meredith commanded the Iron Brigade.  Then came the action already described on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863.  At around 10 a.m., the regiment captured the first Confederate general captured during the war, James A. Archer.  Fighting a holding position, the 2nd were attacked on their flank and by the time they withdrew, had lost 77% of its men, including most of its officers.

Lucius Fairchild was shot in the upper arm, captured, tended to and then released.  He lost his arm.

While recovering from the wound, he was promoted to brigadier general by President Lincoln on October 19, 1863.

--Old Secesh

Lucius Fairchild-- Part 2: Colonel of the 2nd Wisconsin, Governor of Wisconsin

The Governor's Guard became Co. K of the 1st Wisconsin in 1861.  They fought against Stonewall Jackson in July 1861 at the Battle of Falling Waters/Battle of Hoke's Run.

Fairchild became a captain in the 16th U.S. Infantry and then a major in the 2nd Wisconsin.  This unit served in a brigade commanded by Gen. W.T. Sherman until the general reorganization of the Army of the Potomac after the Battle of First Bull Run.  Fairchild remained with the 2nd Wisconsin and was promoted to its lieutenant colonel.

The regiment became a part of the famed Iron Brigade.

The 2nd's commander, Col. Edgar O'Connor, was killed at the Battle of Second Bull Run August 28, 1862 and Fairchild was made colonel, a position he held from September 8, 1862, to October 20, 1863.

--Old Secesh

Lucius Fairchild-- Part 1: Early Life

From Wikipedia.

December 27, 1831- May 23, 1896   American politician, army general and diplomat.

He was governor of Wisconsin at the time of the  Peshtigo Fire in 1871 which I have been writing about its Civil War connection.

Lucius Fairchild served as the 10th governor of Wisconsin and was born in Ohio.

In his military career, Fairchild enlisted as a private in 1858 with Governor's Guard of a Wisconsin militia unit in Madison.  It is possible that he received training from Elmer Ellsworth who trained a militia unit in Wisconsin/Madison around the same time.

--Old Secesh

Firestorm at Peshtigo-- Part 13: Lucius Fairfield, Lost His Arm at Hettysburg

During the Battle of Gettysburg, Lucius Fairchild's left arm was completely severed just above the elbow by a cannonball, and for the rest of his life he proudly wore his empty left sleeve neatly folded and hanging at his side, reminding all who saw him of his service and his sacrifice.

Luther Noyes was sure that Lucoius Fairchild, the Wisconsin governor in 1871, would send immediate aide.

Lucius Fairchid did nothing at first as he was not in the state, but in neighboring Illinois in Chicago where he was helping in the relief of that city which had a fire that night as well.  He had received news of that disaster first.

His wife, Frances "Frank" Fairchild, however started relief efforts on her own accord.

--Old Secesh

Firestorm At Peshtigo-- Part 12: Lucius Fairfield and the 2nd Wisconsin at Gettysburg

When Lucius Fairfield and the 2nd Wisconsin received orders to fall back to Cemetery Ridge, they did so in good order, firing as they went.

With their fierce fighting, they bought time for the rest of the Union Army to fall back and gave time for the other corps of the Army of the Potomac to get to Gettysburg and prepare a defensive position.

One Confederate officer credited the Iron Brigade's stubborn fight in glowing terms saying that the dead "lay in rows as if mustered on the parade ground."

Only 69  men of the 2nd Wisconsin remained of the 302 who went into battle that day were still available for duty the next day.  Of the Iron Brigade, there were only 600 of the 1,883 left.

And, Lucius Fairfield was right in the thick of the carnage, leading each charge, organizing the line and calmly urging his regiment to stand fast and give greater effort.

--Old Secesh

Firestorm at Peshtigo-- Part 10: Lucius Fairchiled, Wisconsin Governor

Lucius Fairdhild, the governor of Wisconsin at the time of the 1871 Peshtigo fire was known for making quick decisions.

He had served with great distinction during the Civil War in the 2nd Wisconsin Infantry of the famous Iron Brigade.  At the Battle of Antietam he was so sick that he had to be helped onto his horse, but he led his regiment into battle on "The Bloodiest Day of America."  His regiment suffered over 50 percent casualties.

At Gettysburg on July 1, 1863, Colonel Fairchild led his regiment as the Iron Brigade faced nine times their number in Herbst's Woods.  When ordered to hold the woods "to the last extremity" to give the Union forces time to bring up reinforcements, they stood their ground.

--Old Secesh