39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment
military unit
The 39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was among scores of regiments that were raised in the summer of 1864 as Hundred Days Men, an effort to augment existing manpower for an all-out push to end the war within 100 days.
Service
The 39th Wisconsin was organized at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and mustered into Federal service on June 3, 1864. The 39th Wisconsin, along with the 40th and 41st, were ordered to the vicinity of Memphis, Tennessee, where they engaged in picket and guard duty, relieving veteran regiments which were sent to the front for the Atlanta campaign.
Their only combat occurred on August 21, 1864, when, in the early morning hours, a detachment of cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest raided Memphis, attempting—unsuccessfully—to capture the Union commanders stationed there in what is referred to as the Second Battle of Memphis.
The regiment was mustered out on September 22, 1864.
Casualties
The 39th Wisconsin suffered 3 enlisted men killed or fatally wounded in action, and 1 officer and 27 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 31 fatalities.
Commanders
Edwin L. Buttrick (June 3, 1864 – September 22, 1864) mustered out with the regiment.
Notable people
George Clay Ginty was major of the regiment and later colonel of the 47th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He earned an honorary brevet to brigadier general.
“39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment” enters the record as military unit. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what 39th, Wisconsin and Infantry can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, 39th, Wisconsin and Infantry provides the most credible route into that argument.
Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 27, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q4636195. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1864.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow 39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment primary sources, 39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment archive and 39th research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment”?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “39th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.