Wisconsin 26th Infantry (Union)

Fredericksburg

In early November, Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside took command of the Army of the Potomac, and made immediate plans to move the army once again toward Richmond.READ MORE

ColonelWlodzimierz Krzyzanowski

Major GeneralCarl Schurz

ColonelWilliam H. Jacobs

Chancellorsville

On April 27, 1863, Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker launched a turning movement designed to pry Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia out of its lines at Fredericksburg.READ MORE

CaptainJohn W. Fuchs

Lieutenant ColonelHans Boebel

MajorHenry Baetz

ColonelWladimir Krzyzanowski

Brigadier GeneralAlexander Schimmelfennig

Major GeneralCarl Schurz

Lieutenant ColonelHans Boebel

MajorHenry Baetz

Gettysburg

In the summer of 1863, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee launched his second invasion of the Northern states. Lee sought to capitalize on recent Confederate victories and defeat the Union army on Northern soil, which he hoped would force the Lincoln administration to negotiate for peace. Lee also sought to take the war out of the ravaged Virginia farmland and gather supplies for his Army of Northern Virginia. Using the Shenandoah Valley as cover for his army, Lee was pursued first by Union Maj. Gen. Joseph Ho…READ MORE

ColonelWlodzimierz Krzyzanowski

Major GeneralCarl Schurz

Wauhatchie

Wary of troops marching to the aid of the Federal army besieged at Chattanooga, General Braxton Bragg ordered General James Longstreet to take action against the force massing in Lookout Valley. In a rare nighttime attack, a division of Longstreet's corps attacked the Union rearguard near the crossroads of Wauhatchie. The brief fight was a bloody repulse for the Confederates, who were forced to withdraw. The Confederates had missed their last best chance to prevent supplies from reaching the Union Army of…READ MORE

Chattanooga Campaign

After taking charge of the Union's western armies in October of 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant focused on lifting the Confederate siege of Chattanooga, Tennessee, which had been in place since the Battle of Chickamauga in September. Grant opened the 'Cracker Line' across the Tennessee River to bring supplies to the beleaguered Army of the Cumberland inside the city, and, in mid-November, brought Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's Army of the Tennessee into the city as well. The Confederates under Maj. Gen.…READ MORE

Missionary Ridge

From the last days of September through October 1863, Gen. Braxton Bragg's army laid siege to the Union army under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans at Chattanooga, cutting off its supplies. On October 17, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant received command of the Western armies; he moved to reinforce Chattanooga and replaced Rosecrans with Maj. Gen. George Thomas. A new supply line was soon established. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman arrived with his four divisions in mid-November, and the Federals began offensive operat…READ MORE

Mine Run

After the inconclusive Bristoe Campaign in the fall of 1863, Maj. Gen. George G. Meade planned one more offensive against Gen. Robert E. Lee in northern Virginia before winter weather ended military operations. In late November, Meade attempted to steal a march southeast from Culpeper Courthouse, turn south through the Wilderness and strike the right flank of the Confederate army south of the Rapidan River. On November 27th, Maj. Gen. Jubal A. Early, in command of Ewell's Corps, marched east on the Orange…READ MORE

Rocky Face Ridge

During early May 1864, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman would successfully outmaneuver the army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in multiple battles in northwest Georgia. Each time, Johnston would fall back to a new defensive position closer to the strategic Confederate city of Atlanta. By May 7th, Johnston had entrenched his army on the long, high mountain of Rocky Face Ridge and eastward across Crow Valley. As Sherman approached, he decided to demonstrate against the position with two columns to the north while he…READ MORE

Resaca

Following his withdrawal from Rocky Face Ridge, the first battle in Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's campaign against Atlanta, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston established a four-mile defensive position protecting the Western & Atlantic Railroad west and north of Resaca, where the railroad crossed the Oostanaula River. On May 13th, Sherman tested the Rebel lines, sending forward divisions to skirmish with the Confederates, with little substantive result. On the 14th, the fighting erupted into a full-…READ MORE

New Hope Church

During early May 1864, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman successfully outmaneuvered the army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston in multiple battles in northwest Georgia. Each time, Johnston fell back to a new defensive position closer to the strategic Confederate city of Atlanta. After Johnston retreated to Allatoona Pass on May 19-20th following the battle at Adairsville, Sherman determined to move around Johnston's left flank rather than attack the strong Confederate defenses in his front. On May 23rd, Sherman set in…READ MORE

Kolb's Farm

On the night of June 18-19, 1864, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston moved into a defensive position on Kennesaw Mountain. Having encountered entrenched Rebels there stretching southward, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman extended his right to envelop their flank with Maj. Gen. John Schofield's Army of the Ohio. Johnston countered by moving Lt. Gen. John B. Hood's corps from his right flank to his left on June 22 to confront Schofield. Hoping to flank Schofield, Hood attacked, moving down Powder Springs-Marietta Road towa…READ MORE

Kennesaw Mountain

Fearing envelopment northwest of Atlanta, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston withdrew his army to a new defensive position astride Kennesaw Mountain near Marietta. Johnston selected this position in order to protect the Western & Atlantic Railroad, his supply link to Atlanta. Prior to taking up this new line on June 19th, Johnston had pioneers working through the night digging trenches and erecting fortifications, turning Kennesaw into a formidable earthen fortress. Having defeated Lieut. Gen. John…READ MORE

ColonelJames Wood

Brigadier GeneralWilliam T. Ward

Peachtree Creek

Weary of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's pattern of retreat through northwest Georgia in the face of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's advancing armies, President Jefferson Davis removed him from command of the Army of Tennessee, replacing him with Lieut. Gen. John B. Hood. On July 20th, Hood determined to take the fight to the enemy by setting upon an isolated portion of Sherman's forces in front of Atlanta. Hood's target would be the Union corps of Maj. Gens. Oliver O. Howard and Joseph Hooker from Maj. Gen. Geo…READ MORE

Averasborough

After his march through Georgia, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman headed north into the Carolinas, reaching central North Carolina by mid-March 1865. On the afternoon of March 15, Maj. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick's Union cavalry came up against Lt. Gen. William Hardee's corps, consisting of two divisions of infantry and one of cavalry deployed across the Raleigh Road near Averasboro. Hardee's orders from Gen. Joseph E. Johnston were to delay the progress of Sherman's army so that Johnston could consolidate the rema…READ MORE

Bentonville

After his march to the sea, Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman headed north in early 1865 to unite with Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army in Virginia. Only Confederate Gen. Joseph Johnston's army stood between Sherman and Grant. After briefly blocking Sherman's advance at Averasboro, North Carolina on March 16, Johnston struck Maj. Gen. Henry Slocum's wing of Sherman's army near Bentonville on March 19. The Confederates ran into stiff resistance, as Slocum established a defensive position. Johnston's assaults con…READ MORE