Wisconsin Civil War History

19/04/2025

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April 19, 1862: Gov. Louis P. Harvey, who was just sworn in as Wisconsin’s 7th governor in January of that year, died while leading an expedition to relieve Wisconsin troops after the Battle of Shiloh.

The expedition was bringing medical supplies, doctors, and nurses to tend to the wounded troops. Harvey, as he was attempting to step from a tethered boat to a moving steamboat heading back north, fell into the Tennessee River and drowned, despite the rescue efforts of members of his party.

His body was found 14 days later, 65 miles downstream. He is buried in Madison’s Forest Hill Cemetery.

17/03/2025

10/03/2025

27/02/2025

in 1895, Cordelia Harvey, wife of Wisconsin governor Louis Harvey, passes away.

Cordelia was born Dec. 7, 1824 in New York, and moved to Kenosha, WI in the mid-1840’s to teach school. It was there she met and married Louis Harvey in 1847.

Cordelia’s time as First Lady of Wisconsin was shirt-lived, as her husband tragically drowned a few months after his inauguration delivering supplies to wounded soldiers after the Battle of Shiloh.

She persuaded her husband’s successor, Edward Salomon, to grant her the title of “Sanitary Agent” and also earned the nickname of “Wisconsin Angel” for her dedication in visiting soldiers in military hospitals and advocating for their removal to better climates in the North.

Harvey was instrumental in the establishment of the Soldiers’ Orphans’ Home in Madison, and was made its superintendent in 1866.

Cordelia Harvey is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Madison.

23/02/2025

First Lieutenant James B. Duncan of Co. H, 23rd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Duncan enlisted on Aug. 23, 1862 at 21 years of age, and served for the duration of the war without suffering a scratch, being discharged on July 4, 1865.

Duncan died on February 21, 1884 aged 43, and is buried in Walnut Hill Cemetery in Baraboo, WI.

22/02/2025

Research time!

21/02/2025

Photo collection of various Civil War veterans’ graves around Wisconsin.

17/02/2025

Photo of Samuel Stevens, Captain of Company A, 37th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Stevens was killed in action on June 18, 1864 at Petersburg, VA in the initial attempts to capture the city.


📸: courtesy of

16/02/2025

to Lysander Cutler, who was born on Feb. 16, 1807 in Massachusetts.

Cutler moved to Milwaukee in 1857 and at the outbreak of the Civil War, due to his standing as a respected member of the community and prior military service, he was appointed the first colonel of the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

Cutler led this regiment at their first major action, Second Battle of Bull Run, where he was severely wounded in the thigh.

Eventually, Cutler was given command of a brigade, which he would lead in battle at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg, and would lead a division through the Overland Campaign and into the Siege of Petersburg.

On August 21, 1864, at the Battle of Globe Tavern, Cutler was struck in the face and left badly disfigured by a shell fragment. He would spend the rest of the war administering the draft in Michigan.

Cutler died on July 30, 1866 in Milwaukee and is buried in that city’s Forest Home Cemetery.

A couple years ago I had the chance to attend the monument rededication at his gravesite, which was a very nice program put on by the Civil War Round Table of Milwaukee.

15/02/2025

Unidentified soldier of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment, from the Liljenquist Collection at the

Anytime I come across a photo of an unidentified soldier, my first thought is of his loved ones and if he was able to make it through the war and see them again.

12/02/2025

Happy Birthday to Abraham Lincoln!

10/02/2025

The Wisconsin State Memorial at Vicksburg National Military Park.

The monument, dedicated on May 22, 1911, stands 122 feet high and features bronze tablets with the names of the 9075 Wisconsin soldiers who fought at Vicksburg. A bronze statue of “Old Abe”, mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry, sits atop the monument.

📸: courtesy of