The 73rd Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, known as the "Persimmon Regiment

Persimmon regiment

Persimmon regiment was a term used during the American Civil War to describe a regiment that, in its history, stopped marching for a brief while to consume persimmons, a type of fruit popular in the Southern United States. Three different regiments in the Union army acquired the nickname.The 73rd...

" or the "Preacher's Regiment" 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...

 that served 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

73rd Regiment Illinois was organized at Camp Butler, Illinois

Camp Butler National Cemetery

Camp Butler National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located a few miles northeast of Springfield and a few miles southwest of Riverton, a small town nearby to Springfield, in Sangamon County, Illinois. It was named for Illinois State Treasurer at the time of its establishment,...

and mustered into Federal service on August 21, 1862.

The regiment was discharged from service on June 10, 1865.

Total strength and casualties

The regiment suffered 5 officers and 109 enlisted men who were killed in action or mortally wounded and 167 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 281 fatalities.