In preparation for the Georgia Campaign, the XX Army Corps was divided into three divisions, which were subsequently divided into three brigades, each, along with their respective artillery detachments. The third division of the XX Army Corps was commanded by Major General Daniel Butterfield, and later by Brigadier General William T. Ward. Consequently, Ward would command the First Brigade before his promotion, and eventual replacement by brigade leader, Colonel Benjamin Harrison, who would become our 23rd President of the United States. The First Brigade was composed of five regiments, the 79th Ohio, 70th Indiana, 129th Illinois, 105th Illinois, and finally, the 102nd Illinois Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Franklin C. Smith.
The 102nd Regiment was composed of 921 men, who were divided into ten companies, “A” through “K”. There is no mention however, of a Company “J”. I imagine that the difficulty in discerning the characters “I” and “J” was to be avoided. This stands to reason. Case in point: Henry is listed in census and military records as both Henry I. Banks, and Henry J. Banks.
Company E had an estimated roster of 95 men, once they organized and mustered in at Knoxville, Illinois on September 2nd, 1862. Their ranks would be whittled down to about 50 by the morning of May 24th, 1865 as the surviving throng marched down Pennsylvania Avenue before the Grand Review in Washington after Lee's surrender.
And so, to sum up Henry's place in the war, he was a Private in Company E, 102nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry, First Brigade, Third Division, XX (20th) Corp, Army of the Cumberland, Military Division of the Mississippi, United States Army. Whew! For those of us who respond more favorably to visual aids, an illustrated diagram representing Henry's chain of command is hereby presented.
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