Coles County, Illinois in the Civil War

Bibliography

1. Coles County in the Civil War 1861-1865,Eastern Illinois University Bulletin No. 234, April 1961, Lavern M. Hamand, General Editor. Published by Division of Regional Services; printed by Prather The Printer, Charleston, Illinois. [submitted by Dale Lutz; see below for more information.]
2. Alphabetical listing of Civil War soldiers buried in Coles County cemeteries by the members of a Civil War graduate seminar in the Dept. of History, Eastern Illinois University) ; foreword by Lavern M. Hamand. Charleston, Ill. : Eastern Illinois University 1981

Units Recruited in the County

• 7th Infantry - Company B
• 8th Infantry - Company C
• 21st Infantry - Company ?
• 25th Infantry - Company E
• 38th Infantry - Company E
• 41st Infantry - Company D
• 54th Infantry - Companies C, G, I
• 55th Infantry - Company B
• 59th Infantry - Company H
• 62nd Infantry - Company K
• 63rd Infantry - Company K
• 68th Infantry - Company ?
• 79th Infantry - Company K
• 97th Infantry - Company ?
• 123rd Infantry - Company A,C,D,H,I
• 130th Infantry - Company G
• 135th Infantry - Company I
• 143rd Infantry - Company A,K
• 1st Cavalry - Company C
• 5th Cavalry - Companies B, E, I
• 10th Cavalry - Companies H, M
• 2nd Artillery - Battery B

Coles County in the Civil War 1861-1865

112 pages of history on Illinois regiments.

The forward to this work states on page 5 that "This article is a revision of the author's Master's Thesis submitted at Eastern Illinois University in 1951 under the title, 'The War of the Rebellion and Coles County.' The thesis was edited by Dr. Charles H. Coleman only to remove certain sections in the interest of reducing the length to fit this bulletin. The most important portion removed was a carefully compiled list of the Coles County residents who served in the Union Army. Any one interested in this list can see it at the Charleston Public Library. A similar list was compiled under the direction of Dr. Coleman and is on deposit in the Coles County Circuit Clerk's office."

The booklet goes on to describe Coles County's Contribution to the War Effort on page 5 as follows:

Each of the 102 counties in Illinois made its own contribution to the enviable war record of the state. Coles County ranked near the top of the 102 names. Her population in 1860 was 14,174. Her total troop quota for the entire war was 2,728, and she furnished 2,741 in all, or 13 men in excess of the quota. In the final analysis, not more than 3 counties furnished more troops in proportion to the population than did Coles. (Wilson, Charles Edward, Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Coles County, p. 11.) Volunteering in Coles did not lag until the latter part of the war. On July 1, 1864, Coles led all other counties in total number of men furnished in excess of the quota. At that time, Coles was 843 men in excess (Eddy, T. M., The Patriotism of Illinois, Vol. I, pp. 607-608.) This indicates that Coles had supplied almost all the available manpower in the county by that time, for if the total of that date (2,636) is subtracted from the total furnished in the entire war (2,741) it can be seen that only 105 men were supplied after July 1, 1864.

According to this bulletin, men from Coles County served in the Illinois 7th, 8th, 21st, 25th, 38th, 41st, 54th, 59th, 62nd, 63rd, 68th, 97th, 123rd, and 143rd Infantry Regiments, and the 1st, 5th, and 10th Illinois Cavalry. The book mentions (p. 32) that

More Coles County soldiers were enrolled in the ranks of the 54th Illinois Infantry Regiment than in any other regiment.

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