33rd Illinois
Infantry
The THIRTY-THIRD INFANTRY ILLINOIS VOLUNTEERS was organized at Camp Butler, Illinois, in the
month of September
1861, by Colonel Chas. E. Hovey, and mustered into the United States
service by Captain
T. G. Pitcher, U.S.A.
September 20, moved to
Ironton, Mo., via St. Louis. Remained at Ironton during the winter,
with occasion
scouts into the country. On one of these the battle of Frederickstown
was fought-
Company A
on skirmish line. March 1862, moved, with the command of General Steele,
southward, passing
into Arkansas at Pitman's Ferry, and marching, via Pocahontas and
Jacksonport, to Batesville, where it joined General Curtis' army;
thence, via Jacksonport, Augusta
and Clarendon, to
Helena.
July 7, at Cache creek, or Cotton Plant, several companies
participated in a battle with Texas
rangers, in which
Company A rescued and brought off a field piece belonging to our cavalry.
The rebels had a large number
killed, and were pursued for some miles. According to our official
report, one hundred and twenty-three rebel dead were found
on the main battlefield, and a
number were killed in the pursuit. Seven were killed and
fifty-seven wounded on the Union side;
none killed in the Thirty-third.
During July and August were
camped 20 miles south of Helena, and engaged in eight expeditions
up and down the river.
September 1, was moved up the
river to Sulphur Springs, and thence to Pilot Knob,
where it
arrived the middle of October 1862.
November 15, moved to Van
Buren, Ark., in Colonel Harris' Brigade, Brigadier General W. P.
Benton's
Division, of General Davidson's Corps. Made winter campaign in Southeast Missouri,
passing through Patterson, Van Buren, Alton, West Plains,
Eminence and Centreville, and
returned to Bellevue Valley, near Pilot Knob, about March 1,
1863.
The Thirty-third was then
directed to St.. Genevieve, Mo., where with the
command, it embarked
for Milliken's Bend, La.
Attached to the First Brigade, First Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, it
was engaged in all its battles, participating in the
battles of Port Gibson, Champion Hills, Black
River
Bridge, assault and siege of Vicksburg, and the siege of Jackson.
April 28, in company with a
large force, embarked and ran down to Grand Gulf, where we
watched the five-hours fight between the gun-boat fleet and
the rebel batteries. The fleet having
failed to silence the rebel guns, the troops marched across
the bend to the river below, and the
fleet ran past during the night, through a heavy fire,
which however did but little injury even to
the frail transport boats.
Next day, April 30, again
embarked, ran down the river some miles, and landed on the
Mississippi
side. May 1, the Regiment opened
the fight on both the right and the left of the field;
and the Thirteenth Corps mainly fought and won it. Four
companies off the Thirty-third under
Major Potter deployed as
skirmishers on the left, developed the position of the enemy, and drew
an artillery fire, holding the position until relieved
by General Osterhaus' Division.
Next morning, May 2, entered
Port Gibson without further resistance, found the suspension
bridge across the bayou burned; and the Thirty-third built,
in four hours, a practicable floating
bridge, ever which the army marched.
On the 16th, was fought the
battle of Champion Hills.
The 1st Division was held in
reserve until near the close, but was in the advance in the pursuit,
and pressed the enemy closely until dark, when it halted
at Edward's Station, and captured there
a quantity of stores. Early in our advance, two men of
Company C were killed by a stray or
accidental shot.
At daybreak, May 17, were in
motion, the Thirty-third leading the advance and mostly deployed
as skirmishers. Before 7 a.m. were engaged with the
rebel works in front of the bridge and trestle
at Black River. At about 10 a.m., a grand charge swept
the enemy out of their works, capturing
many hundreds of prisoners. Seventeen pieces of artillery
were taken, fourteen of them being
seized by men of the Thirty-third regiment. Company B was
detailed to escort the captured
cannon to Haines' Bluff.
May 19, first saw the
fortifications of Vicksburg, moved up through the valleys under their fire,
and at one time had preliminary orders to join in Sherman's
partial assault, but received no final
order to charge. Details took part in the fighting as
sharpshooters. May 20, Captain Norton was
wounded by a "spent ball", and Captain Kellogg was
killed.
May 22, joined in the grand
assault. Three companies were sent out as sharp-shooters, and
Company B was on detached
duty, leaving six companies to charge in line-probably not
exceeding two hundred and fifty men. Seventy-five or six of
these-nearly one-third-were hit,
twelve being killed on the field, and several mortally
wounded. Reached the rebel works, but
were repulsed with the rest of the army; and at nightfall
withdrew to a less exposed position, and
began the six-weeks' siege.
June 1, a careful compilation
of losses since crossing the river, showed nineteen of the Regiment
killed in action, and one hundred and two wounded, of whom
ten had already died in hospital.
Some additional loss was
suffered during the rest of the siege. July 4 came a welcome surrender
of the rebel stronghold and its garrison of over thirty
thousand men.
Again no time was wasted in
ceremony. July 5 marched with the main army to Black River to
oppose General Johnston; and by the 10th had pushed the
enemy back to Jackson. On the night
of the 16th the place was evacuated. After tearing up
the railroad tracks for some miles, returned
to Vicksburg July 24.
In August,
moved to New Orleans, with the Thirteenth Corps. In October, with Brigade of
Colonel Shunk,
Eighth Indiana, Major General C. C. Washburne's
Division, and Major General
E. O. C. Ord's
Corps, engaged in the campaign up the Bayou Teche.
Returned to New Orleans in
November. Thence ordered to Brownsville, Texas, but, before
landing, was ordered to Aransas
Pass. Disembarked on St.
Joseph Island, marched up St. Joseph Island and Matagorda Island to
Saluria, participating in the capture of Fort Esperanza. Thence moved to Indianola and Port
Lavaca.
The First Brigade, while on
the main land of Texas, was commanded by Brigadier General Fitz
Henry Warren.
January 1, 1864, the Regiment
re-enlisted as veterans, and March 14 reached Bloomington,
Illinois, and received
veteran furlough.
April 18, 1864, Regiment was
reorganized at Camp Butler, Illinois, and proceeded to New
Orleans,
via Alton and St. Louis-arriving 29th, and camping at Carrollton.
May 17, ordered to Brashear
City, La. Soon after its arrival the Regiment was scattered along
the line of the road, as guard, as follows: Company F, C
and K, at Bayou Boeuf; Company I,
Bayou L'Ours;
Company A and D, Tigerville; Company G, Chacahoula; Company E, Terre
Bonne;
Company B, Bayou Lafourche and Bayou des Allemands;
Company H, Boutte.
Regimental Headquarters,
Terre Bonne. The District was called the "District of Lafourche",
commanded by Brigadier General Robert A. Cameron, Headquarters
at Thibodaux.
September 17, 1864, the
non-veterans of the Regiment were started home, via New York City, in
charge of rebel prisoners, and mustered out at Camp Butler,
about October 11, 1864.
March 2, 1865, ordered to
join the Sixteenth Army Corps. Near Boutte Station
the train was
thrown from the track, and nine men-five of A, three of D,
and one of G-were killed; and no less
than seventy-two more were enumerated by name and
description as more or less injured, many
of them very severely, two or three of whom subsequently
died in hospital, and others were
discharged from service disabled. The heaviest loss in wounded
fell upon Companies A and D,-
G, E and I coming next in
number, and every company suffered more or less, except C and F,
which were in the rear of the train.
On the 18th, Regiment
embarked on Lake Pontchartrain, for Mobile expedition. Company K,
remaining behind to guard transportation, joined the Regiment
April 11, at Blakely. Moved, via
Fort Gaines and Navy Cove,
landed on Fish River, Ala., and marched with General Canby's army
up east side of Mobile Bay. The Regiment was in the
First Brigade, Colonel W. L. McMillan,
Ninety-fifth Ohio; First
Division, Brigadier General J. McArthur; Sixteenth Army Corps, Major
General A. J. Smith.
March 27, arrived in front of
Spanish Fort, the main defense of Mobile, and, until its capture,
April 8th, was actively
engaged. Loss, one killed, two died of wounds, and nine wounded.
After the surrender of
Mobile, marched, April 13, 1865, with the Sixteenth Corps, for
Montgomery,
Alabama, where it arrived on 25th, and encamped on the Alabama River. Here it
received the news of Lee and Johnson's surrender, after which
its operations were not of a hostile
character.
May 10, marched to Selma, and
May 17, by rail, to Meridian, Mississippi. Here remained. In
the latter part of July the Regiment was filled above the
maximum, by men transferred from
Seventy-second, One Hundred
and Seventeenth, One Hundred and Twenty-second and One
Hundred and
Twenty-fourth Illinois.
Moved to Vicksburg, April 14,
1865, and remained at that place until mustered out of service,
November 24, 1865, and
ordered to Camp Butler, Illinois, for final payment and discharge.
December 6, 1865, the
enlisted men of the entire Regiment received their final pay, and
discharge from the military service, at the hands of Paymaster
Maj. Carnahan. The
commissioned officers were paid and discharged next day, December
7, 1865; and the Thirtythird
Illinois Regiment ceased to exist.
Its record of over four years of faithful service was
finished.
From first to last, about
nineteen hundred and twenty-four names were borne on
its muster rolls.
The Regiment had three
Colonels, six Lieutenant Colonels, and five Majors. Four companies
had two Captains each; four had three each; one had four
Captains, and one five. Only one of the
original field and staff officers belonged to the Regiment at
the final discharge-Surgeon Rex. Of
the line officers, two only remained who had been
officers at the outset-Captains Smith and
Lyon-and they had been
promoted from Lieutenants; all the other line officers had "risen from
the ranks"; as had also the Major, Adjutant and
Quartermaster.
The surviving members of the
Regiment at this date (1886) are scattered far and wide, engaged
in various occupations, and with various fortunes. Many
have held official stations in civil life.
All but a very few have added
to the merit of their military record, that of an honorable and
useful citizenship.
Several Regimental reunions
have been held, and the last printed roster shows the post office
address of a little over five hundred survivors living in
over twenty different States and
Territories,
one third of them having emigrated west of the Mississippi River.