George Smith, Jr., 96th Illinois Regiment

George E. Smith, Jr. (1842-1915), was born in Antioch in 1842 to parents, George and Mercy. The Smiths were natives of Salem, Massachusetts, and came to Lake County in 1839.

The Smith family home and farm was located north of the town of Millburn on Route 45 (then known as the West Milwaukee Road). George and Mercy Smith are standing at right in this photo taken circa 1885. LCDM 93.45.79.

When the 96th Illinois Regiment was formed, George Jr. enlisted in Company D, on August 6, 1862. Smith was an infantryman until 1864 when he was selected for duty in the Ambulance Corps.

Like other regiments, the 96th Illinois Infantry had little in the way of a system for getting wounded and dead off the battlefields before the Ambulance Corps was created in March 1864. Six “stalwart men” were selected to serve in the 96th’s Ambulance Corps as stretcher bearers, including George Smith. All of these men were of “good size and were chosen as being possessed of considerable strength and good courage.”

At the Battle of Kenesaw Mountain in June 1864, Smith and fellow stretcher bearer, Harlow Ragan, carried sixteen men to the hospital one and half miles away, traveling a total of 50 miles in a period of 20 hours. According to the regiment’s history, “It was a terrible day’s work for them, and they were not unfrequently [sic] the target of Rebel sharpshooters.”

It was commonly known that Smith would "go anywhere for a wounded man, and very often, at great risk, he assisted in bearing disabled comrades from the most exposed points." Smith's portrait from the regimental history. (left)

Despite this hazardous work, Smith’s letters home—preserved in the museum’s Minto Collection—were unusually cheerful, but often contained a longing to return home. He relayed a bit of whimsy when he wrote to his sister Susie, imagining that he was home enjoying huckleberry pie and “old turenne apple sauce and Sitron [sic].” He opens another letter with: “I am going to peek in and see some day so look out. I want some more of those big apples from the old spider. Such apples as those cost .05 [cents] a piece here and sour at that.”

Although George fought in sixteen battles, and was in every action the regiment had, without sickness or injury, only a few of his letters mention specific fights or battles in the three years of his enlistment. In one, he tells of bedding down in camp at night to the “flash of gunn [sic] & shell along the line, like heat lightning along the horizon of a warm summers night with the exception of the heavy jarring report.”

The letter below was written by George to his sister Susie, 147 years ago today:

Camp Near Chatahoochee River Geo.
July 7,th 1864

Dear Sister,

I with pleasure seat myself this fine morning to pen a few lines in answer to yours of the 25 which I received yesturday morning which found me well. I am sorry to hear that you were ill. but are in hopes as the 4th is over that you are by this time better or if not my sincere hope is that this does will perfect a cure take 4 pages of this for the first dose & then think of me every 4 hours to keep up nanseation untill I call gain. Let me see about a week from tomorrough from Saturday where or no you will receive this, another will come in due time.

The first paragraph illustrates George's good nature and lightheartedness, and is typical of his letters home. [Note: George's spelling and grammar have not been corrected in the transcription].

The letter continues:

Well I suppose you would like to know how we come down here by this river. well i suppose you know the terms as well as I do. these dam collored anumals which we call Johneyes or Rebs you see desputed our right so we just to spite them sayed that we would come anyhow. & here we are anyhow on the morning of the 3rd we waked up to find the enemy lighting out so we of course lit out in pursuit. Passed through Marietta about now I have agood view of the country around Marietta the top of a large semanary our scirmishers had hot work all day the enemys rear guard desputing the ground step by step when towards night we stoped by river beyond Marietta where the rebs had agan formed their lines. and fortifyed & every reb that tryes to cut it loose is shot down.

We have a fine view of Atlanta & surrounding country from a high ridge at the foot of whch we are encamped our troops have all gone into camp will probably stay here a few days if not longer. the boys are almost beside themselves as we have the river between us & do not have to lay in the ditches in line of battle & every thing being so quiate except the pickets occationally poping at each other across the river it does really seem strange like getting up stretching & looking around to seem if things really bee after a long noisey dream. we used to read of long campaigns fighting & all this little dreaming of ever seeing the reality the cars came up last night & trains have been comming up all day so you see our grub lines is all right & as long as that up & all right (& we are supplyed with hard tack & crackers) to feed the rebs one we are all right.

You have probably seen the act to raise souldiers pay which is 3 dollars a month more on privates pay towards buying that Cow & Pigs & set of Crockery when we get home & this cruel war is over & a man can think himself enny thing but a mark to bee shot at. & there will be time to refreshing on that Jenny & huge has piece of buisness the boys are all well no more wounded lately

Your affectionate Brother Ned
Geo. E. smith Jr.

There are 33 letters written by George Smith preserved in the museum's Minto Collection. They are available for research at the archives, and also available online at the Illinois Digital Archives where the museum's digital collections are housed.

In 1865, George Smith returned home to Millburn to farm and breed stock. He married Susanna G. White in May 1870. In 1885, they moved to Otis, Colorado where they continued farming.

George Smith died on October 26, 1915, in Denver, Colorado.

This weekend, July 9 - 10, 2011, is the museum's annual Civil War Days at Lakewood Forest Preserve, Wauconda. Join us for the region's largest re-enactment, and to view the museum's Civil War and quilt exhibitions.

Faces of the Civil War

Civil War re-enactors meeting the public at Lakewood Forest Preserve. Photo by Chip Williams.

From 1990 to 2018, Lakewood Forest Preserve was the site of the museum's annual Civil War Days. The weekend event included hundreds of re-enactors, sutlers, storytellers, musicians, and even an Abraham Lincoln or two. 

The annual event was the largest Civil War re-enactment in northern Illinois, drawing an average of 5,000 attendees, and generating interest in Lake County's role in the war. Researchers from the public and the media have utilized the museum's Lake County History Archives, which includes muster rolls, letters, photographs, and bound volumes. For research assistance, please email LCHA@LCFPD.org.

The news of the fall of Fort Sumter and the beginning of the war reached Waukegan by telegram on April 15, 1861. Nearly 2,000 Lake County men enlisted voluntarily during the American Civil War (1861 – 1865), out of a population of just over 18,000. Men enlisted into 75 different regiments, including the  37th, 45th, 51st, 65th, and 96th Illinois Infantry. 

Letter of George E. Smith, Jr. (Company D, 96th Illinois) to his sister Susannah D. Smith in Millburn, August 30, 1863 from Camp Near Estell Springs, Tennessee. Minto Family Collection, Dunn Museum 93.45.458.

In George Smith's letter (above), he let his sister know that her letter had arrived while he was on "Piquet." Picket duty was an advance outpost or guard that watched for enemy movement. This duty was the most hazardous work of infantrymen in the field. Many picket guards were targets of snipers. This portrait of George was included in the History of the 96th Illinois published in 1887.

State of Illinois records noted 1,890 Lake County men served in the war. Local historian, Elijah Haines, calculated over 2,000. The majority enlisted with the 96th Illinois Infantry, which had the unusual distinction of being a joint venture of two counties, Lake and Jo Daviess, since neither had enough companies to form its own regiment. 

Susannah "Susie" Smith, was a great letter writer to her brother and his comrades. It was commonly felt that the folks back home should correspond regularly with the soldiers to keep their spirits high. Susie Smith also supported her brother by sending care packages filled with paper and envelopes, and spices to enhance his army rations. She also made quilts for wounded soldiers, and was an editor of a pro-Union paper, The Millburn Union Casket.

Susannah "Susie" Smith, circa 1865. The photo was donated along with other photographs, letters, and diaries by Smith's granddaughters, Katherine Minto and Lura Minto Johaningsmeir. Minto Family Collection, Dunn Museum, 93.45.54. 

Many local recruits credited John K. Pollock (left) for their enlistment. Pollock was a farmer of standing in the Millburn area. He was elected captain of Company C by the men of the 96th Illinois. 

Edward Murray (right) of Newport Township was one of Pollock's recruits. He described his enlistment as follows: “I was in the harvest field working when a Mr. Pollock came to me and wanted to know if I would enlist…. After some conversation, I did…. On the appointed day we met in Searle’s hall [Waukegan]. After the signing of the roll call, we became soldiers... I now realized that I was a soldier and could not come home without a permit. Accordingly, I was permitted to come home and finish up my harvesting.”

About 10% of Lake County's enlisted men did not survive the war. However, all the soldiers mentioned in this post did.

The story of Edward Murray and his comrades is now featured in the book The Bonds of War by Diana Dretske (2021). The book was inspired by a Civil War portrait in the Dunn Museum's collection, and is the most extensive examination of the 96th Illinois Infantry since the regiment's history was published in 1887. The book is available at the Dunn Museum's gift shop and SIUPress.