The 108th Illinois Volunteer Infantry was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 in the Union Army

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

Service

The 108th Illinois Infantry was organized in Peoria, Illinois

Peoria, Illinois

Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...

 mustered in for three years service on August 28, 1862 under the command of Colonel

Colonel (United States)

In the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, colonel is a senior field grade military officer rank just above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general...

 John Warner.

The regiment was attached to 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Army of Kentucky, Department of the Ohio

Department of the Ohio

The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River.General Orders No...

, to November 1862. 2nd Brigade, 10th Division, XIII Corps, Department of the Tennessee, to December 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, to January 1863. 2nd Brigade, 10th Division, XIII Corps, Army of the Tennessee

Army of the Tennessee

The Army of the Tennessee was a Union army in the Western Theater of the American Civil War, named for the Tennessee River. It should not be confused with the similarly named Army of Tennessee, a Confederate army named after the State of Tennessee....

, to May 1863. Detached Brigade, District of Northeast Louisiana, to August 1863. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, XVI Corps, to November 1863. Post of Corinth, Mississippi, 2nd Division, XVI Corps, to January 1864. 2nd Brigade, District of Memphis, Tennessee, to June 1864. 2nd Brigade, Sturgis' Expedition, June 1864. 1st Brigade, Memphis, Tennessee, District of West Tennessee, to February 1865. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, XVI Corps, Military Division of West Mississippi, to August 1865.

The 108th Illinois Infantry mustered out of service on August 5, 1865 at Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg, Mississippi

Vicksburg is a city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the only city in Warren County. It is located northwest of New Orleans on the Mississippi and Yazoo rivers, and due west of Jackson, the state capital. In 1900, 14,834 people lived in Vicksburg; in 1910, 20,814; in 1920,...

.

Detailed service

Moved to Nicholasville, Ky., October 17-November 1, 1862. Marched to Louisville, Ky., November 14-19, 1862; then moved to Memphis, Tenn., November 21-26, and duty there until December 20. Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 20, 1862 to January 2, 1863. Chickasaw Bayou December 26-28, 1862. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Ark., January 3-10, 1863. Assault and capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10-11. Moved to Young's Point, La., January 17-24, and duty there until March 10. At Milliken's Bend, La., until April 25. Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Battles of Port Gibson, Miss., May 1. Champion Hill May 16. Detached to guard prisoners from Big Black River to Memphis, Tenn., May 16-30. At Young's Point, La., during siege of Vicksburg and until July 18. Moved to Vicksburg July 18, then to Memphis, Tenn., July 26-29, and to LaGrange, Tenn., August 5. Duty there until October 28, and at Pocahontas until November 9. At Corinth, Miss., until January 25, 1864. Moved to Memphis, Tenn., and duty there until February 1865. Sturgis' Expedition to Guntown, Miss., June 1-13, 1864. Brice's (or Tishamingo) Creek, near Guntown, June 10. Ripley June 11. Repulse of Forrest's attack on Memphis August 21, 1864. Moved to New Orleans, La.; then to Dauphin Island, Ala., February 28-March 16. Operations against Mobile and its defenses March 16-April 12. Siege of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely March 26-April 8. Assault and capture of Fort Blakely April 9. Occupation of Mobile April 12. March to Montgomery April 13-25. Duty there until July 18. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss., July 18-August 5.

Casualties

The regiment lost a total of 214 men during service; 1 officer and 8 enlisted men killed or mortally wounded, 3 officers and 202 enlisted men died of disease.

Commanders

• Colonel John Warner - dismissed from the service, March 13, 1863
• Colonel Charles Turner

See also

• List of Illinois Civil War units
• Illinois in the Civil War

External links

• History and rosters of the 108th Illinois Infantry from the Illinois Adjutant General's Report