Country United States Branch Infantry | Allegiance Union | |
Active October 23, 1862 to June 16, 1865 Engagements American Civil War
Battle of Chancellorsville
Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Wauhatchie
Battle of Missionary Ridge
Battle of Resaca
March to the Sea
Battle of Bentonville | ||
The 82nd Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, known as the "2nd Hecker Regiment," was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was one of the three "German" regiments furnished to the Union by Illinois. Approximately two-thirds of its members were German immigrants and most of the other third was composed of immigrants from various countries. Company C was almost entirely Jewish, and Company I all Scandinavians.
Contents
Service
The 82nd Illinois Infantry was organized at Springfield, Illinois and mustered into Federal service on October 23, 1862, Colonel Friedrich Hecker commanding. Attached to the XI Corps of the Army of the Potomac, it lost 155 men at Chancellorsville, including Colonel Hecker, who was badly wounded. Although just 23 men were battlefield casualties at Gettysburg, 89 were captured during the retreat through the town.
In the fall of 1863, it moved with the rest of the XI Corps to the Western Theater. Colonel Hecker had recovered from his wounds by now and was promoted to brigade command (he would ultimately resign the following winter). After seeing action at Chattanooga, the 82nd Illinois became part of the new XX Corps and joined the rest of Sherman's army in the 1864-65 campaigns in Georgia and the Carolinas.
The regiment was mustered out on June 16, 1865.
Total strength and casualties
The regiment suffered 4 officers and 98 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds and 60 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 162 fatalities.