Updated 17 November 2019
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CIVIL WAR CENTENNIAL 1961-1965
Perhaps our first occasion for pride is the recollection
that our statesmen were among the most active in their efforts to avoid the outbreak
of hostilities. None felt the tragedy of civil conflict more deeply than did the
heartbroken Stephen Douglas, whose last words were an admonition to defend the Constitution
and preserve the Union, or Abraham Lincoln, on whose shoulders fell the heaviest
burden of them all. But when the news of the firing on Fort Sumter was heard, Illinois
responded with a determination that inspires our admiration even today. The first
call for troops came in April, 1861, and by October of that year, we had forty-three
regiments already in service—more than the most populous state in the North. When
victory had been won, the final count showed that some 35,000 Illinois men died
fighting to preserve the Union. Altogether Illinois furnished about 256,000 soldiers
to the Union army. If we fur- nished quantity, we also furnished quality. The two
brightest names on the Union side were Lincoln and Grant. And there were others—Logan,
Palmer, Ellsworth, Grierson, Baker and many more. Illinois, as well as the entire
nation, commemorates the Centennial of the Civil War with observances appropriate
to the ideals and memories of this greatest common experience in the history of
the American people. |
For corrections or additions, please contact me: State Coordinator