The 78th Illinois was attached originally to 39th Brigade, 12th Division, Army of the Ohio. The regiment went through a series of reassignments; first in November 1862 to Gilbert's Command, District of Western Kentucky, Department of the Ohio. While in Franklin, Tennessee, in February 1863 the regiment was assigned to the Army of Kentucky, Department of the Cumberland. In June 1863, another reassignment assigned the 78th Illinois to the 2nd Brigade, 1st Division Reserve Corps, Army of the Cumberland. The final reorganization would come in October 1863, assigning the regiment to the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, XIV Corps.
The regiment received the blue United States uniform, typical of the Civil War.[2] Initially, the regiment was armed with .69 caliber rifled muskets, altered to use a percussion cap. In 1863, the regiment saw more modern arms provisioned to the soldiers; a mixture of the Enfield rifle and Springfield Rifle Muskets were carried. In 1864, all troops were armed with the Springfield Rifle Muskets.[3]
Moved to Shephardstown, Kentucky and guard Louisville & Nashville Railroad; the main line trussel[check spelling] bridges running south from Shephardstown through Elizabethtown and a spur line between Bardstown Junction to New Haven. The regimental headquarters was primarily set in New Haven. The regiment was placed at several key bridges, splitting it apart having one to three companies guard each bridge.[4]
December 28, 1862
Action at Muldraugh's Hill. Companies B and C were positioned at one of these bridges on December 28, 1862. General John Hunt Morgan’s cavalry fired artillery at the two companies, of which the Union companies had no artillery to return fire. Consequently, the two companies surrendered to Morgan and were paroled. They were first sent to the north at Louisville and then west to St. Louis, where they would be held at Benton Barracks until they could be exchanged.[4]
Battle of Chickamauga – On the final day of the battle, the 78th Illinois served a vital role as part of Mitchell's Brigade in reinforcing Thomas at the height of the Confederate attack and took 40% casualties
March to Washington, D.C. – via Richmond, Virginia
May 24, 1865
Grand Review
June 7, 1865
Mustered out
Strength and Casualties
When the regiment mustered in on September 1, 1862, it included 862 enlisted men. The regiment suffered 9 officers and 95 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 117 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 221 fatalities.[11]
Regimental Organization
Headquarters
The 78th Illinois Infantry Regiment was organized at Quincy, Illinois, in Adams County.[1]: 23
Companies B and C were captured by, then Colonel, John Hunt Morgan during a December 26, 1862, raid at Muldraugh Hill. They were sent to St. Louis, Missouri, under terms of parole and not exchanged until October 1863, effectively reducing the regiment by two companies of infantry.
During the same raid that captured Companies B and C, Colonel Morgan attacked the Regimental Headquarters and Company H, on the morning of December 30, 1862, in New Haven, Kentucky. The company sustained no casualties, but it was assumed that Colonel Morgan's cavalry did, but was never substantiated.
^Dyer, Frederick Henry (1959). "The Civil War Archive website". A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion – 3 Volumes. Thomas Yoseloff. Retrieved June 24, 2014.
