William B. Gere
William Beecher Gere served as a Union officer in the 5th Minnesota Infantry, rising from private to lieutenant colonel by August 1862. He fought Confederate forces at Corinth and helped defend against the Dakota uprising in Minnesota, notably at the battles of Redwood Ferry and Fort Ridgely. After the war he relocated to Alabama, serving […]
Josiah F. Marsh
Josiah Fay Marsh, a Canadian-born lawyer and Minnesota probate judge, commanded the 9th Minnesota Infantry as colonel after Colonel Alexander Wilkin’s death at the Battle of Tupelo in July 1864. He had already distinguished himself directing a rear-guard action against Nathan Bedford Forrest’s cavalry at Brice’s Cross Roads, and he led the regiment through Price’s […]
Robert T. Van Horn
Robert T. Van Horn, founder-publisher of the Kansas City Journal and mayor of Kansas City during the war years, served as lieutenant colonel of the 25th Missouri Volunteer Infantry. Afterward he represented Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives across three non-consecutive periods (1865-1897) and remained a leading Kansas City civic and Republican Party figure, […]
William B. Britton
William Buckman Britton helped organize the ‘Janesville Fire Zouaves’ in Wisconsin and rose through the ranks of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry, commanding the regiment as colonel from October 1864 to September 1865. He served in campaigns including the capture of Jackson, Mississippi, the Red River Campaign, and the Battle of Nashville. After the war he […]
Sylvester G. Hill (k)
Sylvester G. Hill commanded the 35th Iowa Infantry as colonel, leading troops at the Siege of Vicksburg, the Red River Campaign battles of Pleasant Hill and Yellow Bayou (where he was wounded), and the Battle of Tupelo. Commanding a brigade at the Battle of Nashville, he was killed instantly by Confederate artillery fire on December […]