13th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry | |
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Pictured are the Confederate Lines, Vicksburg, Mississippi, May 19, 1863. In this assault against bitter resistance the 1st Battalion, 13th Infantry, lost forty-three percent of its men, but of the attacking force, it alone fought its color up the steep slope to the top. General Sherman called its performance "unequalled in the Army" and authorized the 13th Infantry to inscribe "First at Vicksburg" on its color. From U.S. Army Center of Military History painting in "US Army in Action" series.
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Active | April 21, 1861, to June 18, 1864 |
Country | United States |
Allegiance | United States |
Branch | Infantry Union Army |
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The 13th Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, nicknamed "Fremont's Grey Hounds," was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The Thirteenth was one of the regiments organized under the act known as the Ten Regiment Bill.
The 13th Illinois Infantry was mustered into state service by Captain John Pope, at Camp Dement, Dixon, Illinois, on April 21, 1861, and summoned into Federal service on May 24, 1861, for a three-year term. The Thirteenth was the first Regiment organized from the Second Congressional District of Northern Illinois.
In June, the regiment was ordered to Caseyville, Illinois, 10 miles east of St. Louis, and by July 5, had arrived at Rolla, Missouri, where it remained until the spring of 1862. While stationed at Rolla, the regiment was deployed to guard the supply trains to and from General Lyon’s army, from guerrilla bands in that part of the state. The Thirteenth was also part of General Fremont’s force that went to Springfield, Missouri, in the fall of 1861. In 1862 the regiment joined General Curtis’ army at Pea Ridge, Missouri, 250 miles southwest of Rolla, in his march from Pea Ridge to Helena, Arkansas, on the Mississippi River.