411 REFERENCE · Wikipedia
106th Illinois Infantry Regiment
Reference material by Wikipedia contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
December 2013
December 2013
106th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment Flag of Illinois.svg 100px Illinois flag September 18, 1862, to July 24, 1865 United States Union Infantry Siege of VicksburgBattle of Bayou FourcheIllinois U.S. Volunteer Infantry Regiments 1861-1865 105th Illinois Infantry Regiment 107th Illinois Infantry Regiment
The 106th Illinois was created during the call for 300,000 volunteers during the summer and fall of 1862. It was raised to be entirely composed of men from Logan County, Illinois, but Company A was raised in Sangamon County and Company K from Menard. The men were organized and trained in Lincoln, Illinois, and mustered into Federal service on September 18, 1862.Battle Unit Details - The Civil War (U.S. National Park Service) https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilwar/search-battle-units-detail.htm 2026-04-25 www.nps.gov en
History
Leaving Illinois behind, the 106th took a train from Lincoln to St. Louis, Missouri, and thence to Columbus, Kentucky, where it was attached to the Army of the Tennessee under Major General Ulysses S. Grant. They spent much of the winter of 1862-1863 around Jackson, Tennessee, and were tasked with guarding the Mobile & Ohio Railroad in that sector. In late December Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest led a cavalry raid on Jackson. This attack took the regiment by surprise and Companies C and G surrendered without a fight. The rest of the regiment built a makeshift breastwork out of railroad ties and bridge timber and fended-off the Rebels with some difficulty. After action reports claim to have not suffered a single man killed or wounded while inflicting many casualties on the enemy.History of 106th Illinois Infantry https://illinoisgenweb.org/civilwar/history/106.html 2026-04-25 illinoisgenweb.org
+CasualtiesCombatDiseaseOfficers07Enlisted3188Total 3195198
After Forrest's raid, the regiment was assigned to guard railroad stations north of Jackson until May 31, 1863, when it was ordered to Vicksburg, Mississippi, to participate in the siege already taking place there. While en route to Vicksburg, the regiment's steamboat came under fire from Rebel infantry and artillery on Island No. 63 near Clarksdale, Mississippi. Being unable to return much fire, the regiment suffered several men killed and twenty-five wounded, before it even arrived at Vicksburg. Throughout the month of June the 106th served in the trenches of Vicksburg, where the men suffered from high heat, lack of water, lack of shade, and continual fire from the enemy. Toward the end of the siege, they were transferred to the Yazoo River to protect the army's flank and rear against enemy raiders operating north of Vicksburg.
After the surrender of the Confederate bastion on July 4, 1863, the 106th was transferred to Helena, Arkansas, under the command of Major General Frederick Steele. Here it took part in the advance on Little Rock and the Battle of Bayou Fourche on September 10, 1863, which secured Little Rock and most of Arkansas for the Union. For the rest of the war the 106th was assigned to guard posts throughout Arkansas, keeping the peace and guarding against possible Confederate counter-thrusts in that region. The report of the Illinois Adjutant General sums up the 106th Illinois' service succinctly: "Except the siege of Vicksburg, the Regiment was not in any of the most noted battles, but, nevertheless, it performed well its part in putting down a rebellion, and it suffered many privations and hardships marching through swamps and bayous, guarding railroads, government property, fighting and foraging, as is proven by its long list of casualties."
The 106th Illinois was mustered out on July 12, 1865, at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and the men were discharged on July 24 at Camp Butler near Springfield, Illinois.
Commanders
Colonel Henry Yates Jr.
Colonel Charles H. Miller
Colonel Robert B. Latham
Lt Colonel George H. Campbell
Lt Colonel John M. Hurt (died at Pine Bluff, Arkansas, November 18, 1864)
See also
List of Illinois Civil War Units
References
30em
External links
Civilwar.illinoisgenweb.org https://web.archive.org/web/20121205095454/http://civilwar.illinoisgenweb.org/reg_html/106_reg.html 2012-12-05
Category:Units and formations of the Union army from Illinois
Category:1862 in the United States
Category:Military units and formations established in 1862
Category:1862 establishments in Illinois
Category:1862 in Illinois
Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1865