Iron Brigade of the West

Rufus King, 1st Commander of the Iron Brigade

October 1, 1861 - May 6, 1862

John Gibbon, 2nd Commander of the Iron Brigade

May 7, 1862 - November 4, 1862

Solomon Meredith, 3rd Commander of the Iron Brigade

November 25,1862 - July 1, 1863

A Forward on the Iron Brigade

The seed of the famed fighting unit of the Army of the Potomac, The Iron Brigade, began at 4:30 a.m. April 12, 1861. At that time the first mortar shell burst over Fort Sumter. The first aggression by the Confederates against the Federal Government, the shot that began what is now referred to as the "Civil War" or "The War Between the States".

President Lincoln, on April 15th called for 75,000men to take arms for 90 days to put down the rebellion. The call did not go unheeded. Many states starting mustering regiments for the Union, and with Lincoln’s call to arms, the future of the Iron Brigade was born.

Below is a quote from Gary W. Gallagher in his forward in Alan Nolan’s " The Iron Brigade". Gary’s summary of the subject hits the mark about this famous brigade.

"…First, the subject itself is compelling. Singular in appearance (the men wore the dress black hat of the regular army rather than the usual blue kepis), the only all- Western brigade in the North’s premier eastern army, and the Federal brigade that suffered the highest percentage of soldiers killed in combat, the Iron Brigade stood out as an exceptional unit among all those that fought for the Union. Initially comprising of the Second, Sixth, Seventh Wisconsin Volunteers and the Nineteenth Indiana Volunteers, and subsequently joined by the Twenty-fourth Michigan Volunteers, the brigade received it’s baptism of combat on August 28th, 1862, against "Stonewall" Jackson’s wing of the Army of Northern Virginia at the Brawner Farm. Stalwart contributions followed at Antietam, and Fredericksburg before the brigade rendered its greatest service on the first day at Gettysburg. In the fighting on July 1, 1863, waged along the slopes of McPherson’s Ridge and Seminary Ridge, the brigade lost almost two-thirds of it’s men in a remarkable effort to hold back powerful assaults by two divisions of A.P.Hill’s Confederate Third Corps. Never the same after Gettysburg, the unit underwent a number of organizational changes, but it maintained a presence in the Army of the Potomac until Appomattox. Historian T. Harry Williams did not exaggerate when he labeled it "probably the best fighting brigade" in the Army of the Potomac."

With that said, this site will bring more information to the web surfing public that has an interest in the Iron Brigade and those who preserve the history of the Iron Brigade and the individual units.

Enjoy this site, it will continue to grow as information, events and reenactments bring forth information to you.

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