Service With The Sixth Wisconsin (Illustrated): Four Years in the Iron Brigade

They were fierce! They were tough! The famous Iron Brigade was one of the most celebrated brigades in the history of the Civil War!

But how did they earn their title? Reflecting upon the Battle of South Mountain, General McClellan said, "My Headquarters were where I could see every move of the troops taking the gorge on the Pike. With my glass I saw the men fighting against great odd, when General Hooker came in great haste for some orders. I asked him what troops were those fighting on the Pike. His answer was, 'General Gibbon's Brigade of Western men.' I said, 'They must be made of iron.' He replied, 'By the Eternal they are iron. If you had seen them at Second Bull Run as I did, you would know them to be iron.' I replied, 'Why, General Hooker, they fight equal to the best troops in the world.'

Composed originally of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, 19th Indiana, and Battery B of the 4th U.S. Artillery, and then later reinforced by the 24th Michigan, the famed brigade did not come without experiencing losses. Colonel Fox wrote in a report documenting war casualties: "The Iron Brigade suffered a greater proportionate loss in battle than any other brigade in the Army of the Union."

Service With the Sixth Wisconsin details first-hand accounts of the bloody campaign of forty-five days, which covers the battles of Gainesville and Bull Run Second under General Pope, and the battles of South Mountain and Antietam, in the Maryland campaign. Dawes and his regiment fought in these and other major battles including Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania Court House, Cold Harbor and Petersburg.

Includes details about soldiers, military camp life, and General Rufus R. Dawes' Battle Record!