Dear hose7,
The 36th Illinois Cavalry actually never existed - the references to
that unit are the interesting result of the regiment's structure and
the history of its companies that caused some confusion.
First, I have done some research to find names of soldiers mentioned
in text referring to that fictitious cavalry regiment. I have found
these mentioned with their full names, listed as belonging to the 36th
Illinois Cavalry:
Captain George A. Willis [1]
Captain Samuel B. Sherer [2], [3]
Joseph Ingham [4]
In addition, I have found these soldiers mentioned with partial names:
A. L. Strang, Company B [5]
Lieutenant Reynolds, Company B [7]
Captain Jenks [8]
Colonel Greuisel [8]
Captain Russell [8]
I have searched for the soldiers mentioned with full names in the
National Park Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System [9], and
these are the interesting results:
- There is a George A. Willis in the 36th Illinois Infantry (!) AND in
the 15th Illinois Cavalry
- There is a Samuel B. Sherer in the 36th Illinois Infantry (!) AND in
the 15th Illinois Cavalry
- There is a Joseph Ingham in the 36th Illinois Infantry (!) AND in
the 15th Illinois Cavalry
I found it most bizarre that two different regiments, the 36th
Illinois Infantry and the 15th Illinois Cavalry each had three
soldiers with exactly the same names. So I continued my research. I
found the earliest (=1861) roster of the 36th Illinois Infantry [10]
that gave me the full names of some of the other soldiers, with
support through cross-research in the National Park Service's
database:
Abijah L. Strang
Francis E. Reynolds
Albert Jenks, Captain
Nicholas Greusel, Colonel
The most interesting thing about that roster: Albert Jenks and Abijah
L. Strang are listed as belonging to "Company A Cavalry" and "Company
B Cavalry", respectively. The solution for this phenomenon: The 36th
Illinois Infantry was a "mixed" regiment, with two companies of
cavalry attached! I found this confirmed by the 36th Illinois Infantry
Regiment History [11]:
"The Regiment numbered 965 officers and enlisted men, and had two
companies of Cavalry, ("A" and "B") 186 officers and men."
So those two companies were actually the cavalry of the 36th Illinois
- NOT the 36th Illinois Cavalry! A fine distinction that obviously
some who read the historical sources did not notice. So this is the
origin of the misunderstanding.
Francis E. Reynolds, by the way, is also listed as belonging both to
the 36th Ill. Inf. and 15th Ill. Cav; the same is true for Albert
Jenks
Maybe the further destiny [11] of the regiment's two cavalry companies
added a bit to the confusion: Cavalry Company A was transferred and
became Company I of the 15th Illinois Cavalry in 1864; in 1865 it
became Company M, 10th Illinois Cavalry. Cavalry Company B became
Company K of the 15th Illinois Cavalry in 1863. So the two cavalry
companies of the infantry regiment later became parts of real cavalry
units.
So there never was a 36th Illinois Cavalry - only a 36th Illinois
Infantry with two cavalry companies.
Hope this answers your question!
Best regards,
Scriptor
Sources:
[1] Civil War Battles Page: Washington, Louisiana - 24 October 1863
http://members.fortunecity.com/thegunny1/washington_la_24oct63.htm
[2] Home of the American Civil War: The Stone's River Order of Battle (Union)
http://www.civilwarhome.com/stonesriverorderofbattle(union).htm
[3] The Battle of Perryville
http://www.battleofperryville.com/battle.html
[4] Daily Herald: Pioneer past alive in field (Google Cache)
http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:ZjUQJqWivr8J:www.dailyherald.com/main_storyMSNBC.asp%3FintID%3D3847060+%2236th+illinois+cavalry%22&hl=de%20target=nw
[5] GenForum: "A. L. Strang", by Richard Strang
http://genforum.genealogy.com/cgi-bin/print.cgi?strang::409.html
[7] Civil War Battles Page: Clarksville, Tennessee - 15 November 1862
http://members.fortunecity.com/thegunny1/clarksville_tn_15nov62.htm
[8] Third Iowa Cavalry: Biographical Sketch of General Curtis, Page 3
http://www.iowa3rdcavalry.com/curtis3.html
[9] National Park Service: Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System
http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.htm
[10] Illinois in the Civil War: Roster of the 36th Illinois Infantry
http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/cw36-roster.html
[11] Illinois in the Civil War: 36th Illinois Infantry Regiment History
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilcivilw/history/036.htm |
