ILLINOIS ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH INFANTRY (Three Years)

One Hundred and Fourth Infantry. Col., Absalom B. Moore; Lieut.-Col., Douglas Hapeman; Maj., John H. Widmer. This regiment was organized at Ottawa in Aug., 1862, and was composed almost entirely of La Salle county men. Before being uniformed or armed it received orders to report at Louisville, Ky., where it remained for some time, and in the reorganization of Gen. Buell's army was assigned to Gen. Dumont's division. When Gen. Buell commenced his march in pursuit of Gen. Bragg the 104th was on the left of the army going first to Frankfort, Ky., where it remained until Oct. 26 then marched via Bowling Green, Glasgow and Tompkinsville, and on Dec. 1 reached Hartsville, Tenn., where an attack was made by the enemy on the Federals Dec. 7, seven companies of the regiment being in line, the other three being absent on guard duty. The battle lasted 1 hour and 15 minutes, during which time the regiment lost 44 men killed and about 150 wounded, and then being completely surrounded was obliged to surrender. It was exchanged in the spring of 1863, and sent to Murfreesboro, where it remained until the advance of the army on Tullahoma, when it marched through Hoover's gap, skirmishing with the enemy with slight loss, then passed through Manchester, again skirmishing at Elk river. When Gen. Bragg crossed the Tennessee river it went into camp at Decherd, Tenn., where it remained until Aug. 15, when it marched to Stevenson, Ala., and remained there until the army made the advance which ended in the battle of Chickamauga and the occupation of Chattanooga. On Sept. 10 it moved forward to Davis' cross-roads and on the following day developed the Confederate army at Dug gap, in Pigeon mountain. After a severe skirmish, with some loss, it fell back again to McLemore's cove, where it remained until the 16th, when the movement towards Chattanooga was commenced. On the night of the 18th it marched all night, taking a position in front of Crawfish springs, where it was engaged during the 19th, exposed most of the time to a terrific artillery fire and suffering a severe loss. On the evening of the I9th it moved to the extreme left of the army and on the 20th was engaged, suffering a heavy loss, falling back in the evening to Rossville. On the 21st it remained at Rossville, skirmishing with the enemy, losing several men, and at night fell back to Chattanooga, being the rear-guard in the movement, reaching the works at Chattanooga about daylight on the morning of Sept. 22. The loss suffered by the regiment in the campaign was severe, as it was engaged in several hard skirmishes besides the two days of the battle. It fought at Lookout mountain, near the White house, when the 1st brigade, 1st division, 14th army corps, repulsed an attack made by the Confederates, about 9 p.m. of Nov. 24, to regain possession of the ground. It was engaged in the capture of Missionary ridge and captured a number of prisoners. It joined the march toward Atlanta on May 7, 1864, and on the 9th was in front of Buzzard Roost gap, where it remained skirmishing until the 12th, when it marched to the right, passing Snake Creek gap. It was engaged in the battle of Resaca, losing 1 man killed and 9 wounded. It marched to Dallas and remained there until it moved to the front of Kennesaw mountain, where it was engaged, skirmishing nearly all the time until the enemy left the mountain. At the battle of Peachtree creek the regiment fought nobly and the loss was heavy 16 killed, 29 wounded and 5 missing. It was engaged at Utoy creek, losing 5 killed and 18 wounded, and it also fought in the, battle of Jonesboro. The regiment marched with Sherman to the sea and on the campaign of the Carolinas, being engaged at the battle of Bentonville and in several skirmishes, with small loss. It commenced the march from Raleigh to Washington on April 30, arrived at the latter place on May 19, and participated in the grand review. The regiment was mustered out on June 6,1865. Source: The Union Army, vol. 3 Chickamagua after battle report: Report of Lieut. Col. Douglas Hapeman, One hundred and fourth Illinois Infantry. HDQRS. ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH ILLINOIS INFANTRY, Chattanooga, Tenn., September 26, 1863. SIR: I have the honor to make the following report of the operations of the One hundred and fourth Illinois Infantry since they left Cave Spring, Ala., on the 30th day of August, 1863: The regiment had, when we left Cave Spring, an aggregate of 300 men for the line of battle. We marched to Stevenson on the night of the 30th ultimo, when we bivouacked and remained until the 1st of September, when we marched across the Tennessee River and arrived at Brown's Spring, near Trenton, Ga., on the 5th. On the 6th we marched to Brown's Spring, and on the 9th bivouacked in the valley near Stevens' Gap. A detachment (Company H) had a skirmish at the foot of the mountain on the 8th, and captured 2 prisoners without loss on our side. On the 10th we moved to Davis' Cross-Roads. On the 11th were, skirmishing nearly all day, and moved back to Stevens' Gap. Our loss was 1 man wounded and 1 man missing. Remained at Stevens' Gap until the 14th, when we moved to Bailey's Cross-Roads; marched from there to Owens' Ford on the 17th. On the evening of the 18th we moved to within 2 miles of Crawfish Spring, and took position on a hill at the right of Bridges' Battery. About 11 o'clock on the 19th the rebels opened a furious fire on us with their artillery, which lasted over one hour and a half. Seven of our men were wounded, 2 mortally. One company assisted the battery in working their guns during the action. The men behaved themselves will during the entire engagement. At 3 o'clock we moved back from the position, and marched up the road 3 miles from Crawfish Spring. On the morning of the 20th we moved out with the brigade, and formed in line and commenced skirmishing with the enemy. The Fifteenth Kentucky and One hundred and fourth Illinois were formed on the same line, and advanced slowly, when we were halted and the One hundred and fourth sent forward to connect their skirmishers to the line of the Forty-second Indiana, some distance in advance and to the left. We moved forward about 250 yards, the enemy's skirmishers falling back, but failed to find the line of the Forty-second Indiana, when I discovered that the enemy was in large force in my front and on both flanks, and I ordered the regiment to fall back on the original line with the Fifteenth Kentucky on my right. When I reached that point the Fifteenth was pressed by a heavy force and was falling back, and we continued to retreat to the road about 300 yards to the rear, where we again halted. Five of my companies were deployed as skirmishers, and the regiment was thrown into some confusion, when they fell back on the line. About 30 men, mostly from the skirmish line, became detached from the regiment and did not again join it until night. This was the only engagement we were in during the day. We remained with the Fifteenth Kentucky, in command of Col. Taylor, on the hills between the road and mountain until 3 o'clock, when we marched back and bivouacked with the Second Division. Our loss was 2 killed, 37 wounded, and 24 missing. Among the wounded were Capt. Ludington, Company H; Lieut. Porter, commanding Company B; Lieut. Southwell, Company H, and Lieut. Sapp, Company K. Lieut. Calkins, Company E, aide to Gen. Beatty, was also slightly wounded and probably taken prisoner. The officers and men behaved very well and, with the exception of about 30, who were separated from the regiment when they first fell back, there was no straggling. On the 21st we were in line with the brigade and had some skirmishing, in which Capt. Leighton, Company A, was wounded in the shoulder. At night we marched to Chattanooga. The regiment was on picket on the 24th. During the skirmish in the night the batteries at the fort raked the open field in front of our line. A force was advancing in line to attack us, but were driven back by the fire from these batteries. Two of our men were struck by pieces of shell, but the injury was slight. I append a list of the killed, wounded, and missing.* I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, DOUGLAS HAPEMAN, Lieut.-Col., Comdg. 104th Illinois Infantry. Capt. J. S. WILSON, Assistant Adjutant-Gen., First Brigade.

Source: CHAP. XLII.] THE CHICKAMAUGA CAMPAIGN. PAGE 372-50 [Series I. Vol. 30. Part I, Reports. Serial No. 50.]

Illinois 104th Volunteer Infantry (Union)

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