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William Kilgour was born in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania on June 12, 1828. He was the second child of Colonel Ezekiel and Elizabeth Kilgour. Ezekiel was colonel of the First Regiment of Cavalry, which he raised in Cumberland County. He was a farmer and kept several teams of oxen and horses, which he used to break prairie land for other farmers at $1.50 an acre. He also transported wheat to Chicago. He also carried mail from Sterling to Fulton and Albany. In 1837, his family moved to Sterling, Illinois.
William’s mother, Elizabeth, was born in 1801. They had seven children: Nancy, Jane, William, Isaiah, Ezekiel Jr., Martha, and Eliza. Ezekiel died on January 14, 1848 from erysipelas in the head and face. William acquired a professional education and became a teacher while studying law. In 1856, he was admitted to the bar and the following year, he was admitted to the Bar of the Federal Circuit and District Courts, and eventually admitted to the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. He was also a prominent politician. Originally he was a Whig, but when the Whig party collapsed after the death of Senator Henry Clay, he joined the Republican Party and organized the Republican Party in Illinois and nominated for Governor. When he was elected to the bar in 1856, he was a Justice of the Peace and supervisor for the township of Sterling. He was also a large property owner in Sterling City and township. He also took an active interest in the business interests of the city.
In 1861, when the Civil War broke out, he joined Company B, 13th Illinois Volunteer Infantry and was elected Second Lieutenant. He participated in several minor engagements, such as Wet Glaze, Lynn Creek, Springfield, Missouri and Salem. He also served as Judge Advocate. In 1862, he resigned due to ill health. Several months later, he had recovered from his illness and recruited Company I, 75th Illinois Infantry.
At the organization of the regiment, he was promoted to major and ordered to take temporary command of the 75th Illinois Infantry. On September 2, 1862, the regiment companies elected their officers. Dr. George Ryon as colonel, John Bennett becomes lieutenant colonel, and Kilgour as a major. On September 29, the regiment marched out towards Jeffersonville, Indiana and crossed into Louisville, Kentucky. The Army of the Ohio was reorganized and the 75th Illinois was assigned to the Thirtieth Brigade, Ninth Division, and Third Army Corps. On October 1, the regiment marched out with the rest of the army towards Perryville. Nearing sunset on the day of battle, October 8, 1862, Union General Lovell Rousseau received a courier announcing that a brigade from the Federal III Corps, under Union General Robert Mitchell’s Ninth Division awaited orders for action. As the fresh brigade, under Colonel Michael Gooding formed his line of battle, General Rousseau withdrew Colonel Leonard Harris’s worn-out brigade. Colonel Gooding formed his line of battle. The 22nd Indiana took position on the right, the 59th Illinois on the left and the 75th Illinois in the center, with Pinney’s Fifth Wisconsin battery on an eminence near the Dixville Road in Gooding’s rear, which was bordered by some woods. He ordered his brigade to the support of Websters’ brigade fighting on his left, which had retreated and fallen back. His brigade was formed in line of battle with the 75th Illinois Infantry relieving the 3rd Ohio Infantry on the left, the 22nd Indiana formed on the right of the 38th Indiana Infantry in an open field behind and slightly above the Russell House and the 59th Illinois placed on the right of the 22nd Indiana. i.
Instantly the battle raged furiously. The roar of the cannon and musketry was deafening. Gooding wrote that “one after one my men were cut down. . . Here we fought alone and unsupported for two hours and twenty minutes” against General Wood’s division, composed of fifteen regiments and a battery of ten guns. “Fiercer and fiercer grew the contest and more dreadful became the onslaught. Gooding wrote that “hand to hand they fought at least five times their own number, often charging upon them with such fearlessness and impetuosity as would force them to reel and give way, but as fast as they were cut down their ranks were filled with fresh ones.”ii. At one time the Twenty-second Indiana charged on the 32nd Mississippi and 33rd Alabama with fixed bayonets, completely routing them from their position on the right of the brigade. William Preston, Company B, 33rd Alabama, wrote about the attack from the 22nd Indiana. He stated that “the Federals got to advancing around the right of the 33rd Alabama, where it had no support and doubling its right back in the rear of its left, the regiment pivoting on the right of the 32nd Mississippi near where Major [Frank M.] Gailor [Chief Quartermaster for Wood’s brigade] was standing over a wounded officer when killed a little later, and Captain Robert E. Ward had been wounded and fell about fifty feet to the right and in line with Gailor and some thirty yards in front of the Federal line. Colonel Sam Adams had been wounded in the foot and Lieutenant Colonel Robert F. Crittenden ordered the left of the regiment to drop back some, the right being then quite forty five degrees in rear of the right of the 32nd Mississippi the pivot. In falling back the entire regiment dropped back some, but Colonel Crittenden halted us where we squatted on our knees loading and firing for a short time in the valley or depression to the right and in rear of the right company of the 32nd Mississippi and facing almost at right angle compared with our former front, when the 32nd Mississippi gave way and all ran up the slope. . . Colonel Crittenden, Captain Bob Hughes and other officers rallied our fleeing men behind a worm fence, a grave yard and checked them.” iii. While the 22nd Indiana was attacking the 32nd Mississippi and 33rd Alabama, a reserve force, under Confederate General St. John Liddell’s brigade appeared approaching Gooding’s brigade on the left, in which the Fifty-ninth and Seventy-fifth were engaged. Gooding ordered the 22nd Indiana to the aid of the 59th Illinois on the left. The Twenty-second Indiana quickly came to the aid of the 59th Illinois. Goodings’ brigade was now formed in an East –West line near the bed of the Mackville Road, faced to the North and firing on Liddells’ troops. Liddell had confronted a dark line hardly more than twenty-five paces off on the crest of the elevation they were ascending. Immediately, without orders a desultory fire issued from his line. Confederate General Leonidas Polk then, thinking he was seeing a fratricide occurring, mistakenly rode into Col. Keith’s line of the 22nd Indiana shouting “Cease fire! Those are your friends!” Once Polk realized he was in Union lines, he managed to bluff his way out of the encounter, and made his way back to Liddell’s line telling Liddell to make sure every musket was loaded and then to fire on the Union line. The trumpet sounded “fire” and a tremendous flash of musketry for the whole extent of the line for nearly one quarter of a mile in length followed. It continued for some fifteen minutes. The ground before Liddells’ line of battle was literally covered with the dead and dying. During the volley, Lieutenant-Colonel Squire Keith, of the 22nd Indiana Regiment, was killed and Major Kilgore, of the Seventy-fifth Illinois, was severely injured, when a ball passed through his stomach and liver. One of his comrades tried to clean the wound by taking a silk kerchief, soaking the kerchief in whiskey, attaching the kerchief to a ramrod and completely running the ramrod with the silk kerchief through the wound. Most of the doctors thought that his injury was fatal. After his injury, his men took Kilgour to a small log cabin nearby. Kilgour dictated his last message home to his mother to the regimental chaplain William H. Smith. He was later taken to the Dye house, which had been converted into a Union field hospital.
Also during the devastating fire from the Arkansas troops, Colonel Gooding had his horse shot out from under him and he was taken prisoner and taken from the field. His brigade was overwhelmed and were forced to withdraw from the field. The brigade fell back under the cover of a hill and reformed. The officer in charge realized that they had no support within a mile and they decided to withdraw from the field and fall back on their lines.
Forty-three men of the 75th Illinois were left dead on the field and nine mortally wounded, besides one hundred and fifty more who received hospital treatment, many of whom were discharged as unfit for further service. Twelve were also taken prisoners in the heat of the action. Since their brigade commander, Colonel Gooding, had been taken prisoner, Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett, being senior officer in the brigade, reformed the regiment, in their second line of battle and led the regiment off the field. Night came on and the battle ended. Now the horrors of the carnage began to be realized. All through the night the unfortunate soldiers were brought from the field by their comrades. All night the surgeons unceasingly worked in dressing their wounds. Surgeon George W. Phillips, of the 75th Illinois, took over as brigade-surgeon, because Dr. Hazlitt had been killed during the battle. Assistant Surgeon John C. Corbus was in charge of the amputation cases in one of the field hospitals. iv.
Among the soldiers who were killed were Lieutenants Franklin H. Eels and James Blean. Major W.M. Kilgore, Captains John Whallon, William S. Frost, and D.M. Roberts, Lieutenants Edward H. Barber, William H. Thompson, Robert L. Irwin, and James H. Blodgett were wounded. Kilgore, Roberts and Irwin were supposed to be mortally wounded, but recovered and returned to duty. When James Blean was wounded, he refused to be carried off the field, saying: “I’ll take care of myself. Fight on; give the rebels the best you have.” While lying on the ground, just in rear of the line of battle, where he had crawled, he was again wounded and died the next day. v.
On October 10, Will Stroud of the 75th Illinois wrote to his sister about his experience on the battlefield and the horrible scene after the battle. He wrote: It is impossible for human tongue to describe the scene that followed. Suffice it to say that the 75th Ill Regiment was in the battle field for over two hours and suffered dreadful. I cannot tell you much about it there was 5 or six shot right by my side and I did not get a scratch. First there was John Brubaker. He was about two feet from me when he was shot. And 3 or four others that I did not know. Little Frank Brown was killed by a ball falling right though his head. There was six shot dead in our company and in killed and wounded there were 20 in our company. Just think of that and thank God that I was spared. Why Frank? I believe that this was 50 balls passed within 2 feet of my head when we retreated for retreat we did. Such a volley as followed us can never be described. Oh lenient you know him Capt. Barber was wounded and died this morning of his wounds. He was with me about 1 minute before. He was very brave and when he was wounded he said boys take my sword for I am gone. Our former Captain Slager is wounded and we think mortally. . . . I don't know what else to write I suppose Jane don't care about knowing how the battle field looks after the fight. Enough to say that there is one dead "reb" sitting 40 rods from here and if there is one there is 50. Within 3 miles they lay on the ground naked or nearly so in every direction. We went in the field with about one thousand men in our regiment and in two hours there was only about 240 men. . . . I have seen all the fighting I ever want to see not that I was afraid for positively I was not. But to hear the groans and dying and the "screaming" it is horrible.vi.
On October 10, Chaplain William Smith of the 75th Illinois wrote in his diary about the aftermath of the battle. He wrote: Reveille roused us at daybreak and on getting to my feet, saw a dead horse a few feet away, and then some newly made graves, just in the rear of where a cannon had been placed, the ground having been leveled so as to aim the gun accurately; then just beyond Captain [John] Whallon of Company B got on to his feet out of his bed and blankets, and as our eyes met I asked, "What does this mean, Captain?" glancing around, "Oh, Chaplain, we have had a terrible battle," and stepping near to him, he gave me particulars, naming many of the wounded and killed; told where I would find the wounded at the house and barn just beyond. Without waiting for coffee or breakfast, I started, and all day went around among the wounded and dying; found a great many on beds of straw strung along the ground in a small field, for house and barn and sheds were full. Soon came in sight of the surgeons where they were still amputating feet, legs, hands, and arms, as could be plainly seen by the bloody objects laying about. From one or two of our wounded men, who were able to walk around, I soon found where the boys fought, and where about 2 or 3 o'clock I went to see for myself; a burial party under the direction of Captain [Robert] Hale of Company I were just getting the dead of our own regiment in a windrow, while some had already begun to dig the long trenches for their graves. I took some names and company - forty five - side by side, Lieutenants Eels and Blaine making 47, had been carried to the [John C.] Russell house yard for separate and single graves. Then went to get a drink of water from a creek beyond the battle line, and found the way strewn with dead rebels, some bloated, a horrid sight.” vii.
After the battle of Perryville, Kilgour remained under the care of a Union surgeon at the Dye house until January of 1863, when he was taken to Louisville, Kentucky. Eventually his sister brought him home to recover on sick leave. In 1870, after the war, Major Kilgour sent J. M. Dye an autographed copy of the book A Waif of the War, written by William Summer Dodge, who was also in the 75th Illinois Infantry, as an appreciation for the Dye’s kindness to him and his men. William Kilgour’s brother Ezekiel Jr. had enlisted in Company I, 75th Illinois Infantry and was elected First Lieutenant and participated in the battle of Perryville along with his brother, but in December of 1862, his brother died from pneumonia in a military hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.
In August of 1863, Kilgour recovered from his injury and rejoined his regiment in Stephenson, Alabama. On September 19 and 20, he distinguished himself in battle at the Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia. During the battle, on September 20, he was taken prisoner, but managed to fight his way out with Company D, commanded by Captain Moore, through Confederate lines and rejoined his regiment. During the defense of Chattanooga, he was cut off from all communication and surrounded by the Rebels. During the battle of Lookout Mountain, on November 24, 1863, he was ordered to charge the Confederate works, drive the Rebels up the mountain and then push them off them off the mountain, which he did with honor. He also participated in the engagements of Missionary Ridge, and Ringgold Gap. After the Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign, he was detailed to recover the Chickamauga battlefield and bury the Union dead. On December 5, 1863, he and his men performed the gruesome task of burying the Union dead who had remained in the field unburied and had been partially destroyed by dogs, hogs, buzzards, and vultures. The burial detail took two days. In February 1864, he returned to the brigade and fought in the battle of Buzzard’s Roost, near Dalton, commanding the 80th Illinois Infantry. In May of 1864, he fought in the battles of Tunnel Hill, Rocky Face Ridge, and Dalton. He fought at the battle of Resaca, Kingston, Cassville, Cartersville, Pumpkin Vine Creek, Pine Mountain, and Kennesaw Mountain. On July 1, 1864, he commanded the skirmish line at Atlanta. He also commanded a detachment of pioneers and ordered during the night to made an advancement movement and destroy the railway track of the Macon Railroad, near Altoona. On August 30, he was at Jonesboro, Tennessee and on September 2, 1864, he fought at the Battle of Lovejoy’s Station. He fought at the battle of Lost Mountain, where he pursued Confederate General John Bell Hood’s army to Gaylesville, Alabama. He commanded a detail comprising of the 75th Illinois and 23rd Ohio to guard seven hundred government teams with army supplies through Confederate territory. He participated in the battle of Athens, Dalton, Pulaski, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville. During the Battle of Nashville, on the first and second day of battle, he charged the Confederate first and second line of earthworks and captured them. He was wounded three times during his career. For his services at Missionary Ridge, he was brevetted Colonel, and Atlanta he was brevetted brigadier general. During the Civil War he participated in twenty-seven engagements. On July 29, 1866, he was appointed a captain in the United States Regular Army and was brevetted major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel in the regular army for meritorious services while in the volunteer army. When he was discharged from the army, he held the rank of captain.
After the war, he resumed his practice as a lawyer in Sterling, Illinois. On November 30, 1865, he married Isabella Junkin, near Iowa City, Iowa. They had two children: Eliza Graham, and Susan Junkin, James Albee, Cassius Mathers, and Freddy, who died in infancy. He was a member of the International Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, and the Grand Army of the Republic. He died on May 20, 1885 at the age of fifty-six in San Jose, California and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, in San Jose.
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