Some new stuff I found in the online searchable database…
| Both of these were not available when I wrote my book back in 2006/7. |
Wisconsin State Historical Society Archive
Posted in 11th Wisconsin History, Company B
Leave a comment
The 11th Wisconsin in the Civil War A Regimental History – PAPER BACK EDITION!
So after 12 years since the original hardcover publication McFarland has decided to release a paperback edition as it as sold well. This is very exciting.
This volume details the Civil War experiences of the 11th Wisconsin Volunteers as they traveled more than 9000 miles in the service of their country. The book looks at the attitude prevalent in Wisconsin at the start of the war and discusses the background of the men who comprised the regiment, 72 percent of whom were farmers. Compiled primarily from the letters and diaries of the men who served in the 11th Wisconsin, the work focuses on the firsthand day-to-day experiences of the common soldier, including rations (or lack thereof), clothing, disease, and, at times, the simple act of waiting. The 11th Wisconsin lost more men to disease than to battle, so their story presents an accurate picture not only of the heroic but also the sometimes humdrum yet perilous existence of the soldier. Appendices provide a list of occupations practiced by the men, dates of muster into service for the regiment’s companies and a copy of a sermon delivered by George Wells after Lee’s surrender in 1865.
Posted in 11th Wisconsin History, Book News, General News
Leave a comment
Book: The 11th Wisconsin in the Civil War A Regimental History
About the Book
This volume details the Civil War experiences of the 11th Wisconsin Volunteers as they traveled more than 9000 miles in the service of their country. The book looks at the attitude prevalent in Wisconsin at the start of the war and discusses the background of the men who comprised the regiment, 72 percent of whom were farmers. Compiled primarily from the letters and diaries of the men who served in the 11th Wisconsin, the work focuses on the firsthand day-to-day experiences of the common soldier, including rations (or lack thereof), clothing, disease, and, at times, the simple act of waiting. The 11th Wisconsin lost more men to disease than to battle, so their story presents an accurate picture not only of the heroic but also the sometimes humdrum yet perilous existence of the soldier. Appendices provide a list of occupations practiced by the men, dates of muster into service for the regiment’s companies and a copy of a sermon delivered by George Wells after Lee’s surrender in 1865.
About the Author
Christopher C. Wehner is a history teacher in Colorado.
Reviews
“the powerful story of a regiment from the Wisconsin frontier that saw hard service in the Western Theater. Christopher Wehner has written a deeply researched Civil War narrative”–Lance J. Herdegen, author of The Men Stood Like Iron: How the Iron Brigade Won Its Name
“a first-rate account of a Union regiment that fought in some of the toughest campaigns of the Civil War in the West. Well researched and well written. Highly recommended”–William Shea, co-author of Pea Ridge and Vicksburg Is the Key.
Posted in 11th Wisconsin History, Book News
2 Comments
Civil War Letters of Henry H. Twining
On April 9, 1865, just hours after Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant and for all practical purposes ended the Civil War, the Eleventh Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment charged across a hellish field of abatis, snarled debris, and ravines loaded with landmines. Their target was Fort Blakely, Alabama. A needless assault (20,000 against less than 2,000) that took only minutes to complete, cost the Eleventh Wisconsin 61 casualties, and ordered by a general trying to save face for numerous failings.
When the Eleventh Wisconsin was formed in the fall of 1861 outside of Madison at Camp Randall, it would have been hard for any of those Boys of 61’ to imagine that three and a half years later they would take part in the last significant land battle of the war.
Leading up to the assault on Fort Blakely, the Eleventh Wisconsin had traveled some 9,000 miles all along the Trans-Mississippi region, to as far away as Texas and the Gulf of Mexico. It was an odyssey of epic proportions for the farm boys of Wisconsin who dominate the regiment’s ranks; many had never left their county, let alone their state.
The Eleventh Wisconsin was made up primarily of wheat farmers (around 72 percent) from south central Wisconsin, with a strong showing from Dane County and Madison, where their beloved Colonel, Charles L. Harris, resided. Their journey had been a hard one in more ways than simply distance: long and exhausting marches across an often desolate, hot and humid landscape that was unforgiving. Many died of exposure, exhaustion, and, of course, disease. They also saw hard combat, especially during Grant’s Mississippi Campaign where the regiment suffered high causality rates during the siege of Vicksburg.
Henry Twining was a member of the 11th Wisconsin and served in Company C. Standing nearly 6 feet tall he was nineteen years old when he enlisted as a Corporal on September 14th, 1861, three weeks after his brother John joined up. It would take almost eight weeks for the final Twining brother, Aaron, to follow rank and enlist. All three were placed in the Eleventh Wisconsin and in Company C. We have recently entered in 6 of Henry’s letters that have survived dated from September 29th, 1861 to August 27th, 1862 and most addressed to a Miss Harriet “Hattie” Perkins.
Click here for Twining’s letters.
Posted in 11th Wisconsin History, Company C
Leave a comment
11th Wisconsin Regiment Demographics and More
I wish I had found this article before my book was published. I was going through The Quiner Papers on my iPad and while looking through Vol. 2 I found a newspaper clipping that was apparently misplaced under the 8th Wisconsin Regiment. Anyway, the article was a breakdown of the data offered in the regiment’s “descriptive books,” which I have and broke down some of this data myself. Here’s what this Janesville Newspaper article came up with:
The Average weight of the regiment while at Camp Randall in 1861: 151 pounds. The heaviest being Company A at 157LBS.
The Average height: 5’8 1/2″. The tallest being Company B at 5′ 9 1/2″
The tallest man at 6’6″ tall and I meed to find out who that is I’m pretty sure I have it written down somewhere.
603 men listed themselves as “farmers” out of 1038, or 58%.
Another interesting piece of data, the Quartermaster at Camp Randall reported that during the previous 4 months he has but one soldier who could not read.
Anyway, that’s it!
Posted in 11th Wisconsin History, General News
1 Comment