| The 2nd Wisconsin was primarily raised from citizens of Madison, Racine, Milwaukee, Oshkosh, and La Crosse, and mustered enough men to form two regiments. The 2nd Wisconsin was federally instituted on June 11, 1861, as a three-year regiment, under the appointed command of S. Park Coon, a native of New York and Wisconsin’s attorney general. Henry W. Peck, a Class of 1851 West Point Graduate from Ohio, was appointed as the Lieutenant Colonel. The 2nd Wisconsin saw their first action at the First Battle of Bull Run in July of 1861. After the Battle, both Colonel Coon and Lt. Colonel Peck resigned their positions, and Colonel Edgar O’Connor, Lt. Colonel Lucius Fairchild, and Major Thomas S. Allen were appointed, and under their leadership, the 2nd Wisconsin became a naturally feared fighting force to the Confederates. In Late July of 1862, Colonel O’Connor was killed in action, and Lt. Colonel Fairchild was promoted to Colonel and took his place. In 1862, during the Northern Virginia Campaign, the 2nd Wisconsin constantly went up against Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson’s fierce Confederates, and fought against them in the Second Battle of Bull Run. In the Battle of Groveton (the first day of battle during the Second Battle of Bull Run), the veteran 2nd Wisconsin was called up to eradicate the Confederate Artillery, and advanced against them quietly and managed to push against them. They fought in many major battles in 1862, such as Antietam and Fredericksburg, and in 1863 they fought at Chancellorsville, where the famed General “Stonewall” Jackson was killed. But the finest hour of the 2nd Wisconsin came in the Battle of Gettysburg, where under the command of Colonel Lucius Fairchild, held McPherson’s Ridge against invading confederate troops. |
