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Pards,
Submitted for your reading pleasure is a link to the digitized version of the regimental history of the 85th Illinois Vol Inf. Thankfully there was a copy at UoI (Champaign-Urbana) and it was digitized during a historical survey. Henry J. Aten was the First Sergeant of Company G and after the war utilized his own "war diary" and the accounts and records of others in the unit and the unit itself to create a full history from the unit's muster in Peoria in the fall of 1862 to the end of the war and beyond. The work was published in 1901 at the behest of the regiment's society who would often hold reunions (I have a photocopy of an image around here somewhere of one of these).
It's a great look into a Western Theater Illinois Infantry unit. I haven't read too much but a quick skim gave me a few worthy anecdotes:
*The Regiment fights boredom and camp life in between movements from Peoria to Indiana to Kentucky, participates in Perryville and winters near Nashville (the regiment was provided 5 Sibleys per company which were well used)
*An interesting anecdote regarding some Confederate spies near Brentwood, Tennessee.
*A full regimental roster at the end, including occupations and lives after the war if the information was known.
Published in 1901
Submitted for your reading pleasure is a link to the digitized version of the regimental history of the 85th Illinois Vol Inf. Thankfully there was a copy at UoI (Champaign-Urbana) and it was digitized during a historical survey. Henry J. Aten was the First Sergeant of Company G and after the war utilized his own "war diary" and the accounts and records of others in the unit and the unit itself to create a full history from the unit's muster in Peoria in the fall of 1862 to the end of the war and beyond. The work was published in 1901 at the behest of the regiment's society who would often hold reunions (I have a photocopy of an image around here somewhere of one of these).
It's a great look into a Western Theater Illinois Infantry unit. I haven't read too much but a quick skim gave me a few worthy anecdotes:
*The Regiment fights boredom and camp life in between movements from Peoria to Indiana to Kentucky, participates in Perryville and winters near Nashville (the regiment was provided 5 Sibleys per company which were well used)
*An interesting anecdote regarding some Confederate spies near Brentwood, Tennessee.
*A full regimental roster at the end, including occupations and lives after the war if the information was known.
Published in 1901
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