Memorial Day - 2019
32nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, Company F
On Monday, 27 May 2019 members of the Re-Created Alton Jaeger Guard portrayed members of Company F. 32nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment as they would have appeared during the Vicksburg Campaign in 1863.
In 1868, after being told by several women from Alton who had recently traveled south that the war graves of the Confederate dead were beautifully decorated with flowers yet the war graves in the Alton Cemetery remained neglected, local Union veterans decided to do something about it, and it became the country's first, and now oldest Memorial Day Parade. The men dressed in their uniforms, and mustered in front of what is now the National Cemetery and after saying a few words, rendering a salute and firing a volley, they began laying flowers on all the graves. Once finished they marched through Upper Alton, ending at the Upper Alton Cemetery, where they again laid flowers on the graves of their fallen comrades.
By the end of the Civil War, the Alton City Cemetery and National Cemetery contained over 250 graves of Federal soldiers. The Alton Jaeger Guard, with help from Kinzels Flower Shop in Alton returned on Memorial Day 2019, after marching in the parade to again lay flowers and pay respect to the fallen men of the Civil War.
The Alton Jaeger Guard mustered 40 men, including two musicians for the parade and ceremony; the first time Federal troops have been seen in this number since the war, where it was a common sight on Alton streets. We replicated tear for tear and hole for hole the National Colors of the 32nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Following the ceremony at the National Cemetery, the men of the Alton Jaeger Guard went throughout the cemetery to place flowers at any stones of Civil War soldiers outside the National Cemetery, including Col. Friend S. Rutherford, commander of the 97th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and Col. John H. Kuhn, former Captain of the Alton Jaeger Guard, Co. A. 9th Illinois Volunteer Infantry and later commander of the 144th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
A small ceremony was held at the grave of the former Captain of our namesake, John Kuhn, the first time military honors have ever been rendered at his grave, as he died a few months after the war without a military burial.
Co. F. of the 32nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry was raised in Upper Alton by George Jenks. The company was made up entirely of Alton and Upper Alton men. The regiment fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Matamora, Vicksburg, Atlanta Campaign, Kennesaw Mountain, Sherman's March to the Sea, and Bentonville during the Campaign of the Carolinas.
Regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 90 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 168 Enlisted men by disease. Total 268.
In 1868, after being told by several women from Alton who had recently traveled south that the war graves of the Confederate dead were beautifully decorated with flowers yet the war graves in the Alton Cemetery remained neglected, local Union veterans decided to do something about it, and it became the country's first, and now oldest Memorial Day Parade. The men dressed in their uniforms, and mustered in front of what is now the National Cemetery and after saying a few words, rendering a salute and firing a volley, they began laying flowers on all the graves. Once finished they marched through Upper Alton, ending at the Upper Alton Cemetery, where they again laid flowers on the graves of their fallen comrades.
By the end of the Civil War, the Alton City Cemetery and National Cemetery contained over 250 graves of Federal soldiers. The Alton Jaeger Guard, with help from Kinzels Flower Shop in Alton returned on Memorial Day 2019, after marching in the parade to again lay flowers and pay respect to the fallen men of the Civil War.
The Alton Jaeger Guard mustered 40 men, including two musicians for the parade and ceremony; the first time Federal troops have been seen in this number since the war, where it was a common sight on Alton streets. We replicated tear for tear and hole for hole the National Colors of the 32nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
Following the ceremony at the National Cemetery, the men of the Alton Jaeger Guard went throughout the cemetery to place flowers at any stones of Civil War soldiers outside the National Cemetery, including Col. Friend S. Rutherford, commander of the 97th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and Col. John H. Kuhn, former Captain of the Alton Jaeger Guard, Co. A. 9th Illinois Volunteer Infantry and later commander of the 144th Illinois Volunteer Infantry.
A small ceremony was held at the grave of the former Captain of our namesake, John Kuhn, the first time military honors have ever been rendered at his grave, as he died a few months after the war without a military burial.
Co. F. of the 32nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry was raised in Upper Alton by George Jenks. The company was made up entirely of Alton and Upper Alton men. The regiment fought at Shiloh, Corinth, Matamora, Vicksburg, Atlanta Campaign, Kennesaw Mountain, Sherman's March to the Sea, and Bentonville during the Campaign of the Carolinas.
Regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 90 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 168 Enlisted men by disease. Total 268.
All images and video by: Inferno Imagery
