The Iron Brigade

To those who study the history of the Civil War the name Iron Brigade will stand out.  The original Iron Brigade was composed of three Wisconsin and one Indiana regiments. Later a regiment from Michigan would be assigned.  Some of the Wisconsin members hailed from Grant County, which saw original settlement for trade (along the Mississippi River) and, somewhat ironically given the role lead played in ammunition at the time, lead mining. The Iron Brigade was organized on this date, October 1, in 1861.  Over its 3.5 year span of service in the war of rebellion, it came to be recognized as one of the most celebrated organizations in that war to save to the union and free the slaves. Its service came at a great cost.  Lieutenant Earl Rogers would write, after witnessing the white flags that flew over the confederacy on Palm Sunday 1864, there "stood 'the remnants and shattered battalions' of Rufus King’s Division of 1861, which had fought the battles of their country for nearly four years. Many had fallen by the wayside, while others had pressed forward to the end.” Few of the original men of the Iron Brigade would be with it to the end as most of the regiments suffered some of the highest casualty rates in the war. A grim statistic showing a high price paid to meet the goals of the war.

Part of the Battlefield as shown on Google Maps

The Iron Brigade received its name from a conversation between General McClellan (then General of the Army) in 1862, and Corps commander General Joseph Hooker.  McClellan had seen the brigade  follow a Confederate army up a mountain in Maryland.  McClellan would say to Union General Joseph Hooker that they performed like iron.  Hooker then responded: "By the Eternal, they are iron! If you had seen them at Bull Run as I did, you would know them to be iron.” They not only performed admirably at Bull Run, but at Antietam and elsewhere.  However, their strongest performance came at the most crucial of time (about 10:45 am on July 1) in what would be the turning point of the Civil War--the Battle of Gettysburg. Robert E Lee, after having conducted several successful battles, had taken his armies north of the Mason-Dixon line in order to bring war to the north in a psychological and political attempt to demoralize the northern population which he hoped would lead to demand a settlement to the conflict.  Joseph Hooker was replaced by General George Meade, as the head of the Army of the Potomac just a few days before the start of the Gettysburg conflict on July 1, 1863. 

Part of Battlefield with downed soldiers

By the time of Gettysburg, The Iron Brigade was the First Brigade of the First Division of the First Corps in the Union army.  Due to losses at Gettysburg their ranks were reconstituted and they lost this designation of "Firsts."  Gettysburg was their greatest triumph, and their greatest tragedy. 

The two brigades of the First Division of the Union Army moved to quell a rapid advance by the Confederate Army under General Heth. The Confederates were pushing through Herbst Woods and were concealed by the woods from the Second Brigade, whose flank was wide open to attack of which the Rebels were moving to occupy and envelope.  It is at this point that the Iron Brigade, at about 10:45 am approached the unsecured flank at a run with the 2nd Wisconsin in the lead. A colonel from the 2nd Brigade would have them fix bayonets, and said "You have not a second to lose, the enemy are upon you." (Trudeau, 182). A young girl, Catherine Ziegler,  who lived with her parents on the grounds of the Seminary snuck out to get a view of the action occurring in Herbst Woods, which she would recall as being an "awe inspiring scene." She soon realized she was in a predicament and skedaddled home as minie balls went nearby and a Union soldier keeping watch of movement from the Seminary Cupola told her to get home.   As the 2nd Wisconsin entered the Herbst Woods and reached the top of a hill the Rebel advance was upon them. The 2nd Wisconsin ran into the eye of the storm and a Captain would say at that point the initial blast cut down 30% of the infantry soldiers of the regiment. Battle hardened, the soldiers of the regiment stayed and fought rather than retreat. Col. Lucius Farichild was wounded in one of the first exchanges of fire from which he would lose an arm. The next in command was killed.  The overall Corps Commander, the person who Meade thought should have been appointed head of the Army of the Potomac in lieu of his appointment, John Reynolds was next to Herbst woods urging the 2nd Wisconsin forward to "drive those fellows out of the woods." He turned to ask for the advance of the 7th Wisconsin and at that moment was hit by a bullet in the back of the neck and died instantly. 

Monument to 7th Wisconsin Regiment
Gettysburg

The Wisconsin 7th took position next to the 2nd and as the Confederates moved to the open flank of the 7th, the Indiana 19th moved in to take advantage of the now exposed Confederate flank. By the time the last Iron Brigade regiment entered, the 24th Michigan, Rebel skirmishes were ahead and easily scattered. Trudeau commented in his book Gettysburg, that the "better coordinated Iron Brigade broke up Archer's three right regiments" and sent them scattering (p 185).  The Confederate advantage and organizational control collapsed as the Iron Brigade met the Archer regiments from the east, north and south. A soldier from the 2nd Wisconsin would ask for Archer's surrender. 

Lucius Fairchild

It was at Gettysburg where the Iron Brigade rightfully won a place in American military history. By throwing back the Confederate advance, it allowed the Union to gain control of the high ground south of Gettysburg that became the key defensive position to Union victory.  The Iron Brigade would suffer significant casualties at this and other engagements throughout the day.  Later in the day they would need to retreat, but that morning engagement allowed other Union forces to gain key positions on the important defensive high ground.  Of the 1,883 men of the Iron Brigade engaged on that mild and cloudy first July day of 1863 in Gettysburg, 1,153 were killed, wounded or missing.  Nine of the fourteen field officers were killed or wounded.  Grant County saw eighty of its men die or downed.  Among the 80 Grant County casualties was Sgt. Jefferson Coates of the 7th Wisconsin who hailed from Boscobel.  Coates who would be shot in the face and lose his eyesight, would earn the Medal of Honor for a"for extraordinary heroism on 1 July 1863, while serving with Company H, 7th Wisconsin Infantry, in action at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for unsurpassed courage in battle, where he had both eyes shot out." (militarytimes.com).  Trudeau, notes that he was the only Iron Brigade member to be so honored. He received this honor three years later on June 29, 1966. At Gettysburg, the Michigan 24th would lose 80% of its men, with the 2nd Wisconsin losing 77%.  Famed Civil War historian Bruce Catton would write in his book Mr Lincoln's Army  "Over the length of the war the 2nd Wisconsin was to win the terrible distinction of having a higher percentage of its enrollment killed in action than any other regiment of the United States Army." Few members of the Iron Brigade would answer roll call on the morning of July 2, 1863. Of the many bloody battles of the Civil War, Gettysburg was the bloodiest. 

Jefferson Coates with his Medal of Honor

Lucius Fairchild, would go on to serve three terms as Governor of Wisconsin (1866-1872) and later serve as minister to Spain. He was a fervent supporter of civil rights for blacks. He died in Madison at age 64 in 1896.  Herbst Woods is now named Reynolds Woods, in honor of General John Reynolds who was killed as he was looking back to advance the 7th Wisconsin into battle.  Jefferson Coates was among the 7th Wisconsin members moving forward as Reynolds looked back, and Coates would take up the craft of making brooms.  He would marry in 1867, and would be the father to five children.  Sometime after 1870 he and his family moved to Nebraska where he died in 1880 at age 36 of pneumonia.  Coates was just one of many men of the Iron Brigade who hailed from Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan, and with their family members, paid a high price and heavy burden for the part they played in bringing about the end of slavery and to preserve the union.