The 78th Illinois Is Coming Home!

In an ongoing effort to learn a little more about the 78th Illinois Volunteer Infantry, I've been searching for the unit on GenealogyBank among other sites. 

And I ran across this little gem in the Springfield, Illinois, Daily Illinois State Journal from 10 June 1865.

The 78th was in the eastern United States at the end of the War. I'm wondering if the family John and Riley Rampley (who served in the 78th) knew they were on their way home. I'll have to look in the Hancock County, Illinois, newspapers to see if there's any mention of the 78th's returning to Illinois. The majority of the men in that unit were from Hancock and Adams Counties and their return would certainly have generated local excitement.

I've had moderate success searching digital newspapers for mention of the 78th Illinois. One has to keep in mind all the various iterations by which the unit could be referred:

• 78th Illinois (the most common)
• 78th Ill Inf.
• 78 Ill Inf.
• etc.

78 is not often spelled out due to space considerations. "Illinois" (or abbreviated versions) may not necessarily be near "78," so proximity searches need to be constructed with those two terms near and not-so-near apart.

Muster-Out Versus Paid Out for the 78th Illinois

There are no smoking genealogical guns in Riley Rampley's compiled military service record from the Civil War.

However the card created from his entry on the "Muster-out Roll" does have a footnote which, if nothing else, illustrates the importance of paying attention to such things.

The card indicates that Riley's muster out date was 7 June 1865. The note indicates that the regiment was finally paid on 20 June 1865 and was "under military control until that time." There's a reference number provided as well.

Footnotes aren't made to provide busy work for file clerks. There's probably a reason for the notation and the statement that members of the regiment were under military control during the thirteen days between their muster out and their final payment.

Whether that has anything to do with Rampley is doubtful, but one never knows. We'll have a follow up post in a few days.

Stay tuned.

Bureaucracy is wonderful as soldiers sometimes discover.

In the Very Thickest of the Fight

I recently purchased on Amazon.com a copy of  In the Very Thickest of the Fight: The Civil War Service Of The 78Th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment.

The 78th was the unit in which my ancestor Riley Rampley and one of his brothers served. There's little chance either of the lowly privates are mentioned, so I'm not expecting a great amount of new information specific to Riley. However, I'm hoping to take the few details of his service that are mentioned in his pension record and see if there is any corroborating information in the text. And there may always be unexpected additional background material in the text as well.

How did I find the book?

I simply searched on Amazon.com for "78th infantry."  Now there are a few more I need to look for as well.