Our very own Mr. Mounds has published a new book about the Civil War
NEW CIVIL WAR BOOK ON THE 94TH ILLINOIS INFANTRY, “THE McLEAN REGIMENT.”
William Iseminger has written a book, just published and available from Amazon.com, From McLean to Mobile: A History of the 94th Illinois Infantry Regiment Volunteers, 1862-1865, “The McLean Regiment.”
His book follows the Regiment from their commissioning in Bloomington, Illinois, in August 1862, through their three years of service in the Union Army. They began training and skirmishing in Missouri, participated in the Battle of Prairie Grove, Arkansas, the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, conflicts in Louisiana, garrison duty in Brownsville, Texas, and finally the sieges and battles of Fort Morgan and Spanish Fort in Mobile Bay, Alabama. They mustered out of service in Galveston, Texas, and returned home to McLean County, Illinois, in August 1865.
Iseminger’s research for the book began many years ago when he transcribed the letters and diaries of two of his great-grandfathers who were in the Regiment, Tubal Wile Iseminger of Heyworth and Harrison H. Clark of Randolph Station. Over the years, he located 8 more diaries and 257 letters from 22 additional soldiers in the 94th, as well as 2 oral histories by soldiers, and other sources. Using all of these, he has written a day-by-day account of the Regiment’s journey, using the diary entries to create a daily narrative of their activities, battles and encounters, travels, health, the weather, and their thoughts and observations about the people and places they saw. The narrative is enhanced by inserting the transcriptions of their letters on the days they were written, providing more details about their experiences.
Rather than being a detailed military history of the unit, the book is more of a personalized history of the Regiment, from their own views and mostly in their own words. The book is a 300-page 8.5×11” softcover with over 100 full-color and black-and-white illustrations, photos, and maps, and includes a roster of all the soldiers in the Regiment.
