Iron Brigade
The Iron Brigade, also known as The Black Hats, Black Hat Brigade, Iron Brigade of the West, and originally King's Wisconsin Brigade, was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought entirely in the Eastern Theater, it was composed of regiments from three Western states that are now within the region of the Midwest: Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. Noted for its excellent discipline, ferocity in battle, and extraordinarily strong morale, the Iron Brigade suffered a higher percentage of soldiers killed in combat or from battle wounds than any other brigade in the Union army during the war.
The nickname "Iron Brigade," with its connotation of fighting men with iron dispositions, was applied formally or informally to a number of units in the Civil War and in later conflicts. The Iron Brigade of the West was the unit that received the most lasting publicity in its use of the nickname.
The brigade fought in the battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Hatcher's Run, and Five Forks. Due to significant casualties at Gettysburg, some eastern regiments were added to the Iron Brigade. For the rest of the war, it was not an all-Western brigade.
Nickname
The Iron Brigade initially consisted of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiments, the 19th Indiana, Battery B of the 4th U.S. Light Artillery, and was later joined by the 24th Michigan. This particular composition of men, from the three Western states, led it to be sometimes referred to as the "Iron Brigade of the West". They were known throughout the war as the "Black Hats" because they wore the black 1858 model Hardee hats issued to Army regulars, rather than the blue forage caps worn by most other Union Army volunteer units.The all-Western brigade, composed of Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana troops, earned their famous nickname, while under the command of Brig. Gen. John Gibbon, who led the brigade into its first battle. On August 28, 1862, during the preliminary phases of the Second Battle of Bull Run, it stood up against attacks from a superior force under Maj. Gen Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson at Brawner's Farm, during the waning hours of August 28, 1862. The brigade lost 800 casualties, the 2nd Wisconsin losing 276 out of 430 who went into the fight, and at least half of their wounded being shot twice.
The designation "Iron Brigade" is said to have originated during the brigade's action at Turners Gap, during the Battle of South Mountain, a prelude to the Battle of Antietam in September 1862. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, commanding I Corps, approached Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, seeking orders. As the Western men advanced up the National Road, forcing the Confederate line back to the gap, McClellan asked, "What troops are those fighting in the Pike?" Hooker replied, " General Gibbon's brigade of Western men." McClellan stated, "They must be made of iron."
Hooker said that the brigade had performed even more superbly at Second Bull Run. To this, McClellan said that the brigade consisted of the "best troops in the world". Hooker supposedly was elated and rode off without his orders. There are a few stories related to the origin, but the men immediately adopted the name, which was quickly used in print after South Mountain.
History
The unit that eventually became known as the Iron Brigade was activated on October 1, 1861, upon the arrival in Washington, D.C., of the 7th Wisconsin. It was combined into a brigade with the 2nd and 6th Wisconsin, and the 19th Indiana, under the command of Brig. Gen. Rufus King and were originally known as King's Wisconsin Brigade. The governor of Wisconsin, Alexander Randall, had hoped to see the formation of an entirely Wisconsin brigade, but the Army unwittingly frustrated his plans by transferring the 5th Wisconsin from King's brigade and including the Hoosiers instead. This brigade was initially designated the 3rd Brigade of Maj. Gen. Irvin McDowell's division of the Army of the Potomac, and then the 3rd Brigade, I Corps.McDowell's I Corps did not join the bulk of the Army of the Potomac in the Peninsula Campaign. In June 1862 it was reflagged the III Corps of Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia. Now under the command of John Gibbon, a regular Army officer from North Carolina who chose to stay with the Union, King's brigade was reflagged the 4th Brigade, 1st Division, III Corps, and it saw its first combat in the Northern Virginia Campaign, fighting at Brawner's Farm, August 28, 1862, where they received their deadly baptism of fire. Gibbon's brigade lost 725 men out of 1,900, the 2nd Wisconsin losing 276 out of 430 men. Almost immediately following the Union defeat in the Second Battle of Bull Run, the III Corps was transferred back to the Army of the Potomac and redesignated the I Corps, under the command of Joseph Hooker. Gibbon's brigade was reflagged yet again, becoming the 4th Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps.
The brigade next went into action at The Battle of South Mountain, September 14, 1862, where they received their coveted nickname. Then again at the Battle of Antietam, September 17, 1862, where the brigade was heavily engaged in the cornfield. Of the 800 men of the Iron Brigade engaged at Antietam, 343 were killed or wounded. The 6th Wisconsin lost 150 out of the 280 men they brought into battle that day.
The 24th Michigan Volunteer Infantry Regiment joined the brigade on October 8, 1862, prior to the Battle of Fredericksburg in December. The Iron Brigade was not heavily engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg, besides for some minor actions by the 24th Michigan. In April, 1863 the Iron Brigade would raid Port Royal, Virginia with the 24th Michigan taking the lead during the raid, losing no casualties during the raid. On February 27, 1863, the brigade, now under the command of Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith, was redesignated the 1st Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps. The 6th Wisconsin and the 24th Michigan took part in the attacks at Fitzhugh's Crossing, April 29, 1863, losing a combined total casualty list of 58.
The brigade took pride in its designation, "1st Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps", under which it played a prominent role in the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863. It repulsed the first Confederate offensive through Herbst's Woods, led by the 2nd Wisconsin, capturing much of Brig. Gen. James J. Archer's brigade, and Archer himself. The 6th Wisconsin, along with 100 men of the brigade guard, are remembered for their famous charge on an unfinished railroad cut north and west of the town, where they captured the flag of the 2nd Mississippi and took hundreds of Confederate prisoners.
The rest of the Iron Brigade were counterattacked in the early afternoon of July 1. The Brigade initially held their ground against the rebel counterattack. The pressure was eventually too heavy, and the Brigade slowly fell back to Seminary Ridge. The Brigade survivors defended the north slope of Culp's Hill on July 2,3, where the 6th Wisconsin made a night counterattack to restore Union positions previously lost to Confederate troops. Out of the 1,883 men the Brigade initially went to battle with, only 671 reported for duty at the battle's end.
The Iron Brigade, proportionately, suffered the most casualties of any brigade in the Civil War. For example, 61%, 1,153 out of 1,885, were casualties at Gettysburg. Similarly, the 2nd Wisconsin, which suffered 77% casualties at Gettysburg, suffered the third highest total throughout the war. It was third behind the 24th Michigan, also an Iron Brigade regiment, as well as the 1st Minnesota in total casualties at Gettysburg. The Michigan regiment lost 397 out of 496 soldiers, an 80% casualty rate. The 1st Minnesota suffered the highest casualty percentage of any Union regiment in a single Civil War engagement during the battle of Gettysburg, losing 216 out of 262 men. Due to the losses the brigade sustained in the Gettysburg campaign the 1st Battalion, New York Volunteer Sharpshooters were attached to the brigade to add some much needed manpower.
In early 1864, the 7th Indiana Infantry Regiment was transferred from the 2nd Brigade to the Iron Brigade. While the rest of the brigade considered the New York Sharpshooters and the 7th Indiana as of the Iron Brigade, they were never considered “in” the brigade, with the veterans considering those “in” the brigade being members of the five regiments that fought together at Gettysburg. The brigade fought in the bloody Overland campaign of 1864, and took part in the siege of Petersburg for the rest of the war. On October 31, 1864, the Iron Brigade and the Keystone Brigade were consolidated until the Pennsylvanians were ordered to Camp Elmira for provost duty.
The 19th Indiana was eventually transferred to the 20th Indiana Infantry Regiment in October, 1864. The 2nd Wisconsin left the brigade once they mustered out in 1864. The 24th Michigan was transferred up north to Camp Butler for guard duty in February, 1865. The 6th Wisconsin and 7th Wisconsin fought together until the end of the war. The 24th Michigan was selected to be the honor guard for the Funeral of Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois.
In June 1865, the units of the surviving brigade were separated and reassigned to the Army of the Tennessee.
The last surviving member of the Iron Brigade, Josiah E. Cass of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, died on 2 December 1947, from a fractured hip suffered in a fall. He was 100 years old.
Commanders
The brigade commanders, disregarding temporary assignments, were:Brig. Gen. Rufus King: September 28, 1861 - May 7, 1862
Brig. Gen. John Gibbon: May 7, 1862 - November 4, 1862
Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith: November 25, 1862 - July 1, 1863
The Iron Brigade lost its all-Western status on July 16, 1863, following its crippling losses at Gettysburg, when the 167th Pennsylvania was incorporated into it, and a company of New York sharpshooters. On October 31, 1864, the Keystone Brigade was consolidated with the Iron Brigade as well. The brigade that succeeded it, which included the survivors of the Iron Brigade, was commanded by:
Col. William W. Robinson : July 1, 1863 - March 25, 1864
Brig. Gen. Lysander Cutler : March 25, 1864 - May 6, 1864
Col. William W. Robinson: May 6, 1864 - June 7, 1864
Brig. Gen. Edward S. Bragg : June 7, 1864 - February 10, 1865
Col. John A. Kellogg : February 28, 1865 - April 27, 1865
Col. Henry A. Morrow : April 27, 1865 - June 5, 1865