Faces of the Iron Brigade: A Social Network of Soldiers

“This brigade has done some of the hardest and best fighting in the service. It has been justly termed the Iron Brigade of the West.” The Cincinnati Daily Commercial

Faces of the Iron Brigade–A Social Network of Soldiers tells the story of the men of the Iron Brigade via firsthand accounts, artifacts, documents, photographs, and personal items attributed to these western soldiers who participated in some of the greatest events and battles of the Civil War. From the decision to enlist, to training, to battle, to a final mustering out, all aspects of the brigade are covered within the walls of the gallery.

The famous Iron Brigade was made up of three infantry regiments of volunteers from Wisconsin, one from Indiana, and one from Michigan. The 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin all mustered into the Federal service in 1861. The 19th Indiana was organized about the same time, and the 24th Michigan was added to the brigade after Antietam in September 1862 to maintain the unit’s all-Western makeup.

Rare, signature artifacts that made members of the brigade stand out among their fellow soldiers are featured in the exhibit. A frock coat worn by the Lieutenant Colonel Rufus Dawes of the 6th Wisconsin is on display courtesy of the Dawes Arboretum of Marietta, Ohio. Also exhibited is an original black felt Hardee hat, identified to Private Horace L. Bedient of Company E, 2nd Wisconsin. These tall hats and long coats made Iron Brigade soldiers look, as one soldier said, “like giants, and giants they were in battle.”

Come, explore the gallery and see what made these Westerners what some have called the best infantry brigade of the Civil War.