59th Illinois Infantry Monument - Chickamauga National Military Park
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Lat34North
N 34° 54.122 W 085° 16.387
16S E 657776 N 3863539
This monument to the 59th Illinois Infantry is located south of Wilder Tower on Wilders Rd. in the Chickamauga National Military Park. The 59th was part of Post’s brigade and was responsible for guarding the supply wagons.
Waymark Code: WMDTAF
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 02/22/2012
Views: 2
This monument for the
59th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment is in recognition of their service during the
Battle of Chickamauga, fought September 19–20, 1863. This is the only monument to the 59th Illinois on the battlefield. A second monument to the 59th is located at the Lookout Mountain unit in Tennessee. The 59th Illinois was organized organized as the "Washington Zouaves" at the St. Louis Arsenal, and mustered into Federal service on September 18, 1861 as the 9th Missouri Volunteers. The 59th was part of Post’s brigade and was responsible for guarding the supply wagons. Post brigade was not engaged during the battle.
Text on the front of the monument:
Illinois
59th Infantry
1st Brigade – Post
1st Division – Davis
20th Army Corps – McCook
This regiment was engaged in guarding trains September 19th and
acted with Mitchell’s Cavalry corps at Crawfish Springs during
The afternoon of September 20th, 1863.
Text on the back of the monument:
Commanded by
Lt. Col. Joshua C. Winters
Reached Crawfish Springs
Sept. 20; 1 P.M.
A nearby plaque reads:
| Post’s Brigade |
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Davis’ Brigade | McCook’s Corps |
| Col. P. Sidney Post |
| Sept. 19 and 20, 1863 |
| | 59th Illinois, | Lieut. Col. Joshua C. Winters |
| | 74th Illinois, | Col. Jason Marsh |
| | 75th Illinois, | Col. John E. Bennett |
| | 22nd Indiana, | Col. Michael Gooding |
| | 5th Wisconsin Battery, | Capt. George Q. Gardner. |
The brigade was not engaged on this field. It remained at Stevens Gap on the 19th guarding wagon trains. On the morning of the 20th it marched for Crawfish Spring and skirmish at intervals with Wheelers cavalry reached the spring at 1 PM. When finding all communication cut off with its corps at 5 PM it marched back to Chattanooga Creek and bivouacked near McCulloch’s house near daylight of the 21st.
Casualties killed 1 wounded 5 missing 19 total 25.
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From the NRHP nomination form:
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Structure Number: |
MT-692(see note) |
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LCS ID: |
008906 |
Historical Significance:
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National Register Status:
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Entered - Documented
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National Register Date:
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07/25/1986
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National Historic Landmark?: |
No
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Significance Level:
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Contributing
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Short Significance Description:
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The marker contributes to the national significance of the park under NR Criterion A because it represents the national movement among veterans to commemorate Civil War battlefields. This was the first U.S. national military park.
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Short Physical Description
7'6" x 4'4" x 4'6" high rock-faced monument consisting of rectangular granite block with an inscribed polished front on a granite base. The tops of both pieces are beveled. Marks unit's position on Sept. 20, 1863, during battle.
Material(s)
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Structural Component(s)
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Material(s)
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1.
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Superstructure
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Granite
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2.
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Substructure
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Limestone
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3.
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Superstructure
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Bronze
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Construction Period:
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Historic
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Chronology:
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Physical Event
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Begin Year
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Begin Year AD/BC
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End Year
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End Year AD/BC
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Designer
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Designer Occupation
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1.
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Built
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1899
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AD
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My Sources
1.
NRHP
2. Wikipedia -
Battle of Chickamauga
3. The Civil War Home -
The Chickamauga Campaign - Union Order of Battle
4. Wikipedia -
59th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment
Note
Trailhead Graphics, Inc. has produced a map of the Chickamauga Battlefield showing the locations of all of the monuments and the markers on the battlefield. Each location on the map has a number associated with it that cross-references to an index on the back of the map that has the name of the marker (called the Chick-Chatt NMP monument numbering system). This number corresponds to the structure Number listed on the NPS List of Classified Structures that is normally prefixed with the letters MT for the Chickamauga Battlefield.