Illinois 2nd Volunteer Light Artillery (Union)
8/20/61
Organized - Illinois 2nd Volunteer Light Artillery - Illinois
2/11/62
Battle - Fort Donelson - Fort Donelson, Tennessee
Early in the war, Union commanders realized control of the major rivers would be the key to success in the Western Theater.READ MORE
2/28/62
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain Arthur O'Leary
CaptainArthur O'Leary
2/28/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Napoleon B. Buford
ColonelNapoleon B. Buford
3/6/62
Battle - Pea Ridge - Leetown, Arkansas
By the spring of 1862, Union forces had pushed Confederates south and west through Missouri into northwestern Arkansas. On the night of March 6, 1862, Confederate Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn and his 16,000-man Army of the West set out to counterattack the Union position near Pea Ridge. Hoping to move quickly, in a fateful decision, Van Dorn ordered the supply trains far to the rear. Learning of Van Dorn's approach, some 10,000 Federals in Brig. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis's Army of the Southwest marched to meet the…READ MORE
4/6/62
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain James P. Timmony
CaptainJames P. Timmony
4/6/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Abraham M. Hare, and Colonel Marcellus M. Crocker
ColonelAbraham M. Hare
ColonelMarcellus M. Crocker
4/6/62
Leadership Change - Division - Major General John A. McClernand
Major GeneralJohn A. McClernand
4/6/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Abraham M. Hare
ColonelAbraham M. Hare
4/6/62
Battle - Shiloh - Hardin County, Tennessee
4/29/62
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain Charles M. Barnett
CaptainCharles M. Barnett
4/29/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Lieutenant Colonel Warren L. Lothrop
Lieutenant ColonelWarren L. Lothrop
4/29/62
Battle - Siege of Corinth - Corinth, Mississippi
Union forces had captured the railroad junction and important transportation center at Corinth, Mississippi in the spring of 1862 after their victory at Shiloh. After the Battle of Iuka in September, Maj. Gen. Sterling Price's Confederate Army of the West marched to Ripley, Mississippi where it joined Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn's Army of West Tennessee. Van Dorn took command of the combined force numbering about 22,000 men. The Rebels marched southeast toward Corinth, hoping to recapture it and then sweep int…READ MORE
10/3/62
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant J.W. Mitchell
LieutenantJ.W. Mitchell
10/3/62
Leadership Change - Brigade - Captain Andrew Hickenlooper
CaptainAndrew Hickenlooper
10/3/62
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General John McArthur, and Brigadier General Thomas J. McKean
Brigadier GeneralJohn McArthur
Brigadier GeneralThomas J. McKean
10/3/62
Battle - Battle of Corinth - Corinth, Mississippi
Not to be confused with Siege of Corinth. Also known as Second Battle of Corinth.READ MORE
10/8/62
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain Charles M. Barnett
CaptainCharles M. Barnett
10/8/62
Leadership Change - Division - undefined 12 guns k-51 w-288 m-14 = 353, Brigadier General Philip Henry Sheridan, undefined Company L 2nd Kentucky Cavalry:, and undefined Escort:
10/8/62
Battle - Perryville - Perryville, Kentucky
On October 7, 1862, Maj. Gen. Don Carlos Buell's Army of the Ohio, in pursuit of Gen Braxton Bragg's Army of Mississippi, approached the crossroads town of Perryville, Kentucky. Union forces skirmished with Confederates on the Springfield Pike before heavy fighting began on Peters Hill. The next day, fighting continued as a Union division advanced up the pike. After noon, a Confederate division struck the Union left flank and forced it to fall back. When more Confederates joined the fray, the Union line ma…READ MORE
5/1/63
Battle - Port Gibson - Claiborne County, Mississippi
On April 30, 1863, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's army crossed the Mississippi River at Bruinsburg, 30 miles south of his objective of Vicksburg. Grant hoped to move east toward the capital at Jackson to block the Confederate army there under Gen. Joseph E. Johnston from reinforcing Vicksburg. Port Gibson, ten miles east of Bruinsburg on the Bayou Pierre River, commanded the best approach routes and was the first Federal objective. A Confederate force there was commanded by Maj. Gen. John S. Bowen. Grant's A…READ MORE
5/16/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant Frank B. Fenton
LieutenantFrank B. Fenton
5/16/63
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Eugene A. Carr
Brigadier GeneralEugene A. Carr
5/18/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Lieutenant George Lewis Nispel
LieutenantGeorge Lewis Nispel
5/18/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Captain George C. Gumbart
CaptainGeorge C. Gumbart
5/18/63
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Jacob G. Lauman
Brigadier GeneralJacob G. Lauman
5/18/63
Battle - Vicksburg - Vicksburg, Mississippi
In mid-May, 1863, after six months of unsuccessful attempts, Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee finally converged on Vicksburg, defended by a Confederate army under Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton. Capture of the Mississippi River town was critical to Union control of the strategic river. Vicksburg was located on a high river bluff defended with artillery, and Pemberton's men had constructed a series of fortifications in an 8-mile arc surrounding the city on the landward side. After crossing the…READ MORE
9/19/63
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain Charles M. Barnett
CaptainCharles M. Barnett
9/19/63
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Daniel McCook Jr.
ColonelDaniel McCook Jr.
9/19/63
Leadership Change - Division - undefined --
9/19/63
Battle - Chickamauga - Catoosa County, Georgia; Walker County, Georgia
After the successful Tullahoma Campaign, Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans continued the Union offensive, aiming to force Gen. Braxton Bragg's Confederate army out of Chattanooga. Through a series of skillful marches towards the Confederate-held city, Rosecrans forced Bragg out of Chattanooga and into Georgia. Determined to reoccupy the city, Bragg followed the Federals north, brushing with Rosecrans' army at Davis' Cross Roads. While they marched on September 18th, his cavalry and infantry skirmished with Un…READ MORE
7/14/64
Battle - Tupelo - Tupelo, Mississippi
Union Maj. Gen. Andrew J. Smith, commanding the Sixteenth Corps with more than 14,000 men, left LaGrange, Tennessee on July 5, 1864, and advanced south. Smith's mission was to insure that Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest and his cavalry did not raid Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman's railroad supply line in middle Tennessee supporting the campaign against Atlanta. Laying waste to the countryside as he advanced, Smith reached Pontotoc, Mississippi, on July 11th. Forrest was in nearby Okolona with about 6,000 men, bu…READ MORE
8/2/64
Leadership Change - Regiment - undefined Capt H. Borris, and Lieutenant Frank B. Fenton
LieutenantFrank B. Fenton
8/2/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - undefined Brigadier General Richard Arnold
8/2/64
Leadership Change - Division - undefined Major General Gordon Granger
8/31/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Captain Charles Barnett
CaptainCharles Barnett
8/31/64
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General James D. Morgan
Brigadier GeneralJames D. Morgan
12/15/64
Leadership Change - Regiment - Captain John W. Lowell
CaptainJohn W. Lowell
12/15/64
Leadership Change - Brigade - Colonel Edward H. Wolfe
ColonelEdward H. Wolfe
12/15/64
Leadership Change - Division - Brigadier General Kenner Garrard
Brigadier GeneralKenner Garrard
12/15/64
Battle - Nashville - Nashville, Tennessee
Despite a series of defeats in the closing days of November, 1864, Confederate Lieut. Gen. John Bell Hood continued to drag his bloodied Army of Tennessee, approximately 30,000 strong, north towards Nashville. The city was protected by 55,000 Union soldiers, which should have precluded further offensive operations, but Hood was determined and his situation was dire. Hood reached Nashville on December 2nd and staked out a position south of the city, hoping to draw the Union forces into a costly attack. Ulys…READ MORE
7/28/65
Mustered Out - Illinois 2nd Volunteer Light Artillery - Illinois
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