The Union Army

Civil War History

The 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was one of the western units in General John Gibbon's "Black Hat Brigade." The brigade later became known as the "Iron Brigade" based on the tenacious fighting of its regiments.
On August 28,1862, in Groveton, Virginia, (near the planned linking point with General John Pope's army) Gibbon suddenly spotted Confederate artillery moving in the twilight as shells began to crash around his Federal forces. The 2nd Wisconsin moved forward in good order under their bright colors to rout the Southern battery. But as they advanced, massive Confederate infantry appeared over the ridge: General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson's elite brigade of battle-hardened veterans bore down on the Federals with blood-curdling yells.

The men of the 2nd Wisconsin did not break in panic, but stood fast with their colors and fired away at the Confederate line. Both sides exchanged murderous musket volleys within 100 yards of each other. Artillery tore into their ranks, but neither side would retreat. As Jackson and Gibbon dispatched reinforcements, the battle raged in full force for two hours with no ground given. After the war, Gibbon would call it the heaviest musket fire he had seen. While repulsing the assault, the 2nd Wisconsin's Colonel Edgar O'Connor was mortally wounded, but continued to direct the defense in a whispered voice to his adjutant. Finally, as dark descended, the furious firing ceased and the terrible standoff was over. Of 500 men of the 2nd Wisconsin in the battle, more than half lay dead or wounded.
Jackson cited the 2nd Wisconsin's "obstinate determination" and another Confederate general spoke of how the Federals "withstood with great determination the terrible fire which our lines poured upon them." The 2nd Wisconsin ended the war with the highest killed-in-action rate of any regiment in the Union army. A sergeant from the 2nd Wisconsin later wrote, "Fighting regiments leave a bloody mark behind them. Retreating regiments lose few men."

The glory-laden 2nd Wisconsin was the senior regiment of the famous Iron Brigade, which also included four other regiments from Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. It was the Army of the Potomac's only brigade consisting entirely of western regiments and one of the most illustrious.
The 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was mustered into service in Madison in June 1861, under its founder, Colonel S.P. Coon. Its first colors were presented by the women of Madison before the regiment traveled east, where its original gray uniforms were exchanged for regulation blue and the brigade adopted distinctive black hats. The 2nd Wisconsin's first major action came at Bull Run in July
1861. suffering over 150 casualties among its 900 men in battle. Its colors were saved from capture at Stone Bridge by Private R.S. Stevenson, who was later killed at Antietam after leaving a hospital bed to carry the colors into battle.

The 2nd Wisconsin became a legend among Union fighting units for its heroic stand at Groveton, Virginia, in August 1862. during the initial stage of Second Bull Run. Two weeks later, at South Mountain, the "Black Hat Boys" engaged in another vicious fight when Confederates taunted from behind a stone wall, "you damn Yanks." The bloody standoff ended only when darkness fell. General George B. McClellan, who witnessed the battle from afar, congratulated the brigade for its exemplary fighting spirit.
Perhaps the 2nd Wisconsin's greatest glory came on the first day of Gettysburg, July 1,1863. By now, even the Confederate attackers respected their legend by lamenting, "Here are those damned black-hat fellers again." At great cost, the 2nd Wisconsin made repeated heroic stands against powerful assaults, holding crucial ground as one black hatted color bearer after another fell. Burly Private Patrick Maloney helped break up one attack by grabbing Confederate General James Archer as his prisoner. Out of the 300 men engaged, only 45 remained active in the 2nd Wisconsin after that fateful day.
Of 1,203 men who served with the 2nd Wisconsin, its 238 killed or mortally wounded in action was the highest rate (almost 20 percent) of any Union regiment in the Civil War.