72d Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment
"Organized during our American Civil War,"
1862 Chicago's
"First Chicago's Board of Trade Regiment"
Welcome to our web site
Company "A" known as the "Hancock Guard"
The 72nd Illinois base camp is located in Southern Lake County in Wauconda, Illinois. However, we draw members from Cook County, the Chicago area, as well as the greater Northern Illinois region. Our reason for being a member of the 72nd Illinois, is to bring history alive for the general public by being an INDEPENDENT Illinois UNION infantry company and Living Historians for our American Civil War period of 1862-1865. Hopefully, like "Musketeers" one for all, and all for one, we welcome into our ranks every enthusiastic unionist person possible, just as the original Board of Trade Regiment did back in July 1862.
Our commitment to authenticity and our effort at educating the public at civil war events can bring honor and dignity to the memory of the 1,417 men from Chicago, Cook County, and Southern Illinois, who served our country and fell on the battlefield as the First Board of Trade Regiment, the 72nd Illinois. Some 72nd Illinois members are available to talk to school classes and small groups. If you are interested in reenacting or having us at your event, contact the recruiter, listed at the bottom of this page. Also, we praise you for your interest in our United States history, and the 72nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
First man in the above picture is Colonel F. A. Starring of the Seventy-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was brevetted Brigadier General in 1867, to date from March 13, 1865.
Second man in the picture is Lieut. George Colby, Company K, 72nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
The third man in the picture is private Anson Hemingway, (his grandson was Ernest Hemingway) of company B of the 72nd Illinois who went on to become a 1st Lieutenant in the 70th U. S. Colored Infantry, serving as provost martial of the Freedman's Bureau in Natchez.
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Current update March, 2008
Over + 5,000 have visited this site
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Web Site, Contents;
--->Page 1 Adjutants General's Report > 72nd Illinois Infantry Regimental History
--->Page 2 Official after the war report > Dyer's Regimental History
--->Page 3 Important information for the reenactor > Equipment List ****
--->Page 4 Important view of the War and Board of Trade > Board of Trade Regimental History
--->Page 5 Our Schedule of events >> Current 72d Illinois Schedule
---Page 6 Our effort at listing the 145 men of company "A" > Roll of Company A-Adjutant General 1886
Construction underway ! XXXXXX
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Venturing Crew 862
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| Venturing Crew 862 is a chartered Venturing program of the Boy Scouts of America. We portray the 13th Tennessee Infantry Regiment and the Shelby County Aid Society in the War Between the States. |
This venturing crew was started in 2000 with its main focus as Civil War Reenactment. We are interested in both Military and Civilian roles. At the same time we are part of the Venturing movement and plan on being an active part of venturing. In the off season from reenacting we are actively involved with other venturers in activities of interest to 14 to 21 year olds.
Anyone who is interested in history can be a part of this organization even if they do not want to be actively involved as participants at reenactments. For a calendar of activities see the web site. crew862.nwsc.org
The 72nd Illinois, company "A" a Union civil war organization is happy to support and back Crew 862 in their attempt to accurately portray American Civil War soldiers. Our reenacting hobby should not be favoring a Rebel or Union side, but should be supporting historical inquiry, physical experience, and public interaction in an educational environment.
First Sergeant 72nd Illinois.
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Current News, Only the NEWS fit to read!
A letter from the: Save the Franklin Battlefield, Inc.
Sam Huffman - Treasurer / Membership Save the Franklin Battlefield, Inc
February 2007
Local nonprofit groups in Franklin TN have joined together to form Franklins Charge. This new group, with funds from the American Battlefield Protection Program and the Civil War Preservation Trust, split the $5 million tab with the City of Franklin to buy 112 acres just north of Carnton Plantation. The City also bought the restaurant at Columbia Pike and Cleburne Street and has developed an open space park. Also, the STFB has repaid the loan on Collins Farm on Lewisburg Pike at the CSX crossing.
However, the big news is that the Carter House Association has just purchased a parcel on its south boundary that was part of the Carter garden during the battle, and has begun refurbishing the old high school gym for a new visitor center and museum.
Sincerely
Teacher claims history is disappearing! By Stan Johnson Civil War Courier
Morristown Tenn. "We are not teaching, we are indoctrinating, we are oversimplifying history." Those are the words of a history teacher who has nearly three decades of experience in the classroom. This teacher asks that his name and location not be published because "I honestly fear reprisals" from school administrators. Many other teachers echo this thought. They feel the No Child Left Behind Act, which they say is a prime culprit in the phasing out of history education in many schools, can't be criticized without official reprimands. The teacher who talks about indoctrinating students, writes that he has to "float" in his work because he teaches a non-state assessed subject. In other words, it isn't on the standardized tests, so his work as a history teacher isn't considered important enough for a permanent classroom. "High school assessments matter more than real learning and teaching the basic skills which my kids have not gotten by the time they get to my classroom," the Teacher says. He also reports that there are many strict restrictions on what and how he can teach. He is required to use History Alive simulators, which he considers "contrived and very artificial." He can only show approved videos, and many that his experience shows can be beneficial are not approved. "I may not show Gettysburg, Glory, the Horse Soldiers, or the Great Locomotive Chase, all of which generate tremendous discussion and which I use to illustrate the contrast between movies and reality. I can use a very short segment of Andersonville. He has limitations on the issue of how I could display or discuss the Confederate battle flag in class. In addition, the teacher reports that even with all his experience, he was turned down when he requested a transfer to teach U.S. history. The reason? "Because I do not coach anything," the history teacher said.
How does all this impact students? An example of the way history is taught in many schools today was related by newspaper columnist Carla Cody. She was at church one Sunday recently and mentioned she would probably miss services the following week because she and her husband planned to take their two children to a Civil War encampment and reenactment. A young woman who had graduated from high school the year before had a question. "What's the Civil War thing?" She didn't mean what was the reenactment or encampment. She wanted to know what the Civil War was. Somehow, the young woman had made it through 12 years of public schooling and received a high school diploma without learning there was an American Civil War. When it was explained to her, she had another question. "Well, who fought in it?" she asked.
My two cents, from the Editor:
As an active reenactor I and my pards have noticed for many years now, the total lack of "awareness or understanding" that the average visitor shows at a civil war encampment or reenactment. Most reenactors study and read up on their "first person" whether a Northern or Southern impression. Many are history buffs who have studied on their own for years or most of their lives, and have attended civil war civilian conferences where they can learn more about the life and times of the 1860 to1865 period. Others still, have spent many thousands of dollars on exhibits to demonstrate to the public some facet of the civil war during a non-profit encampment weekend--only to have members of the public walk by an exhibit to ask if that's a real fire! Or is that a period water melon you are eating? One experience is the time when my wife and I had just gotten up at sunrise from a rather cool night on the ground and were questioned by a visitor (who had climbed over the fence at the Naperville Civil War Days event before it opened to the public, so he could avoid the seven dollar entrance fee for the park), who asked us as we were coming out of our tent, "You didn't really sleep in that thing last night, did you?"
My point is:
Long ago, when I was in school, I remember reading about some very old Greek wise guy, who wrote down this line. "If you do not remember history, and its folly, then you are doomed to repeat it!" School is the place where our children are supposed to be learning, among other things, to elect to public office officials who can work things out politically for the rest of us, so we do not have to go to war. The Civil War happened because politics failed and the only recourse was war.
So here is my plan, make all public officials take a set of mandatory American History classes before holding office. Since this is about as unlikely as it gets, let's go back to having all students take American History classes! How can we avoid repeating historical mistakes if we never learn about them?
As many of us are aware, American History is often minimized or whitewashed in the academic arena from kindergarten through college. Reenactors and reenactments offer a learning tool, which continues to tell the story of our heritage in its many perspectives, regardless of modern-day political correctness.
* Interested in Genealogy;
The State of Illinois during the Civil War provided 150 infantry regiments, 17 cavalry regiments, and 10 artillery batteries for the war. About 285,000 names of Illinois soldiers are to be found on the Secretary of States web site listed by regiment. Most soldiers were in their 20s, but some enlisted in their 40s and 50s, also, many drummer boys, musicians, as well as some soldiers where only 12 to 16 years of age. Even though, only 18 year olds and up could be legally recruited, some still got though. Most of the soldiers gave their occupations as farmers but every occupation is represented. The average soldiers height seemed to be about 5 foot 8 inches for Illinois soldiers, at a time when the average height of men in the population was only 5 foot 4 inches.
* > www.ilsos.gov/genealogy/index.jsp <
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Hyperlinks to the friends of the 72d Illinois Company A:
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Important Local Dates and Events to Note for - 2008
Haversack Herald.com
20W561 Army Trail RD.
Addison, Il. 60101
CIVIL WAR HISTORIAN
#1 Magazine for bring the civil war History to life!
Phone 1-888-760-8108
Fax 281-261-5999
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* Where can I buy stuff I need for re-enacting? From this list of Sutlers, on line or at Civil War Events.*
Cresent City Sutler
17810 Hwy. 57 N. Evansville, Indiana 47725
Phone & Fax: 812-983-4217
Sutlery seller of civil war clothing and equipment C & C Sutlery
Phone: 208-398-7279 Fax: 208-398-7279 Emmett, Idaho 83617
Sutlery, seller of civil war clothing and equipment Fall Creek Suttlery
Phone: 765-482-1861 or 765-769-5355 Fax: 765-482-1848 Whitestown, IN 46075
Sutlery, seller of civil war clothing and equipment Upper Mississippi Valley Mercantile Co.
Sutlery, seller of civil war clothing and equipment James Country Mercantile
Constitution of the United States
Preamble -- ratified on Dec. 15, 1791
We the People of the United States, In Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, and promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Constitution of the State of Illinois
Preamble -- ratified on Dec. 15, 1970
We, the People of the State of Illinois--grateful to Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberty which He has permitted us to enjoy and seeking His blessing upon our endeavors--in order to provide for the health, safety and welfare of the people; maintain a representative and orderly government; eliminate poverty and inequality; assure legal, social and economic justice; provide opportunity for the fullest development of the individual; insure domestic tranquility; provide for the common defense; and secure the blessings of freedom and liberty to ourselves and our posterity--do ordain and establish this Constitution for the State of Illinois.
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INFANTRY VOLUNTEER
Do you like camping, hiking, and the preservation of local and national sites? As well as learning about, our Nations roots and history?
Can you be a team player? Like the idea of one for all and all for one?
We are a new unit, looking for a few good men to join our not for profit organization
The 72d Illinois would like to extend an invitation to you and your family to participate with us during the summer months in an effort to educate our fellow citizens to the realties (history) of our American "Civil War" or the "War between the States" and join us in some really fun times. We truly want spectators to be able to interact with us, and we want to have some fun doing it. To this end we expect every member of the regiment to maintain the proper Civil War period impression and decorum, whether military or civilian and have fun along the way. All appropriate impressions are welcome and a great deal of research has gone into learning about the battles and the history of every man who served with company "A" and the regiment of the 72d Illinois during the war (see section under "Roll of Company A"). We are an infantry organization, that will try to have a meeting at least once a month. We are a not-for-profit club working toward tax-exempt status.
Events:
Each event is put on by a town or park district, and are different from each other, some are just "campaign "events for the men of the unit, and some are for the education of the public, or to raise public awareness for historic preservation. Also, as a unit, "we" will decide which events we will do, and how we will participate.
As a guideline, the regiment will strive for authenticity in your impression of Civil War life, in order to project an atmosphere which makes everyone believe that we have gone back in time to the Civil War. That means that for the weekend we do our best to leave the cell phones, computers, cyberspace, and fast food world of telemarketers behind, and get back to nature, camping, walking and the life stile of the 1860's. Some of the fun stuff we try to do during the weekend is to have foraging parties, drills, mail calls, picket duty, sick calls, scripted camp scenes, and scripted battles with the Rebs. The 72nd Illinois will make a military camp of shelter tent's so that the spectators can interact with them better. However, if we have our wife's with, we will spend the night in "A" frames that are considerably larger than shelter tents. Also, on Saturday night, a candle light tour will run through our camp for about an hour. This can be a lot of fun when we find a deserter or a Reb spy among the spectators. Afterwards, there is a civil war Ball "dance" that usually runs till 11 PM.
Most events will provide the usual amenities (straw, water, firewood, port a johns, ect.) with a Saturday night meal and evening civil war Ball. Otherwise company members will work together to provide any evening meals.
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Frequently asked questions;
Membership;
The 72d Illinois is open to all individuals who can pass the physical requirements of participation and are willing to reenact as federal infantry. If under 18, parental permission to participate in the unit is necessary to enlist. Also, at most EVENTS the minimum age for battlefield or skirmish weapon carriers is sixteen (16) years of age with a parent or guardian present. Safety rules are always followed and enforced. To be a full member of the 72nd Illinois, you need only participate three weekends a year, and pay the current regimental dues.
All firearms are to be handled and treaded as though they were loaded, you need a FOID card. Only blank paper cartridges are allowed. Blanks must also be properly constructed, and the company will provide proper instructions on how to make the paper rounds. Bayonets must remain in the scabbard, tied down during any battle or skirmish. We practice firearms safety religiously. There are prescribed steps to follow to fire a musket, called to "load in nine or four times", and to deal with any irregularities during firing, or to clear a musket after firing. You will learn the safety procedures at the side of a Sergeant of the Regiment, who will act as your coach and mentor.
Information for the Ladies
We try to be a family orientated organization. The men must set up and maintain a military camp during the day but after hours everyone is free to return to our family camp. To be honest it seems that to be a Union soldier today your are bucking the trend to family camp. It seems that campaigners want to go it alone and camp off by themselves. Also, campaigners seem to be dominating the Union reenacting world right now. The 72nd Illinois would like to interact with other civilians reenactors as well, because this greatly enhances the weekend experiences far beyond the military experience.
Civilian head dress of the Antebellum era was another piece of social norm attire. During the late 1850's it was considered unladylike to have a suntan. Young woman and children were overlooked at times, but once women reached the age of 14 and up they were expected to maintain their white skin. The most common fashionable item for this purpose was a sun bonnet, spoon bonnet or "pellerine" of any number of materials. Elaborate hats and other follies were a mark of social class and society standing, and as such they were certainly not worn by every woman on earth all the time. The Scarlet O'Hara look in reenacting is also fading out fast, thank goodness. The spoon bonnet, designed to frame the face, rose up off the head and was frequently filled with flowers and other decorations.
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Update February 2006
Save the Franklin Battlefield www.franklin-stfb.org
72nd Illinois members are happy to add there names to the list of those who are dedicated to the saving one of the Civil War Preservation Trust top ten most endangered historic Battlefield sites. The 72nd Illinois Regiment lost nine officers, and143 enlisted men during the battle of Franklin TN on November 30 1864, out of about 355 fit for duty members committed to the action. We are raising money to have a Bronze plate placed on the Franklin Battlefield to commemorate this action that took place on November 30th 1864.
We cannot forget the sacrifices made by the soldiers who fought on these hallowed fields, warned CWPT President James Lighthizer during a news conference. When a battleground is lost, a unique piece of America's heritage is lost as well.
Dear STFB members-- January 2006 -- Newsletter to all of us.
Franklin Battlefield and Franklin's Charge sprinted across the finish line in the final days of 2005 and met the goal to raise $100,000 dollars which was effectively matched one-to-one by both the CWPT and Rod Heller, the seller of the country club property. Our sincerest thanks go out to everyone who gave to the final hours. You are making a difference here in Franklin Tennessee. Our collective work is never done here, and we must be ever vigilant to future threats to the Franklin Battlefield. Your membership and your help at every level makes it possible to soldier on here in Franklin.
God bless you for that, and have a great start to the New Year.
Joe Smyth
*Tribune Article by F. A. Roziene member of the 72nd Illinois during the Civil War.
The Chicago First Board of Trade Regiment and the 50th Ohio Infantry held the position at and immediately west of the Columbia Pike, south of Franklin, near the Carter house and in front of a locust grove. These two regiments had hastily thrown up double lines of defense works, and some five different Confederate brigades charged, in turn, on the works. These assaults continued into a late hour of the night, but were persistently repulsed. In one of these charges about one hundred and seventy men and officers of General Sear's brigade of Loring's Division, Stewart's Corps, were in a hand-to-hand fight at our trenches and inside our works when our national flag was dropped between the trenches. Although forcing the Confederates back over the lost ground we were unable to recover our lost flag. In this repulse our state flag and some seventy men were captured. It was a magnificent silk flag with a golden shield on the staff, and on the flag itself the inscription; "Presented to 72d Volunteers by the Chicago Board of Trade". My theory now is that, inasmuch as there appears to be no official record of it, this flag must have fallen into the hands of some individual member of the troops engaged in this strife who retains it as a souvenir of that terrible conflict. It would be not only a gracious but a eminently just act for those who may know how to investigate to help return our flag. Remember the Golden Rule.
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Save the Flags!
---> Help save the 88th Illinois National Battle Flag <---
The last flag left from the civil war, Board of Trade Regiments, still known to be in existence
Illinois' collection of civil war flags needs your help!
The Illinois National Guard and Militia Historical Society is asking you to support the preservation and restoration of 392 regimental flags. Your donation, large or small, is vital to saving the colors carried by our Illinois forefathers. Please join us in restoring these state treasures. This is a way to help everyone remember all our soldiers past and present who have fought, been wounded, or killed, fighting for our freedoms. The civil war cost us 675,000 American lives, remembering them through these flags their symbols of the struggle for National Unity is an important precious effort. It costs thousands of dollars too restore a single flag. Your donation will help to ensure that the flags receive the care they need and that they will live on for future generations. Only with your generous support will the Illinois National Guard and Militia Historical Society and the Illinois State Military Museum be able to move this project into the next phase.
Historical Society
1301 North MacArthur Blvd.
Springfield, IL.
62702-2399 217-761-3975
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Yes,
We are capable of doing both Reb and Union impressions as events require. For our purpose is to educate the public, have a great time, and hopefully have a fair balance of numbers out on the skirmish field at small events.
Also, we can loan out equipment and uniforms to men who would like to give reenacting a try for the first time for a small donation and cleaning charge.
For more information about the 72nd Illinois contact 72nd Illinois representative at;
