The 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry Regiment was a volunteer cavalry regiment that served in the Union Army in the western theater of the American Civil War.

Service

The 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry was organized at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, between December 30, 1861, and March 10, 1862. The regiment was divided for a significant portion of their service, with the 1st battalion (companies A, D, G, and K), remaining in Missouri from June 1862 until September 1864, when they rejoined the other two battalions at Vicksburg. While separated, the 1st battalion served as a private bodyguard for general Egbert B. Brown in Missouri, and were then assigned to Francis J. Herron and participated in the Battle of Prairie Grove, and were subsequently an escort for general William W. Orme. The regiment achieved veteran status in March 1864. About a fifth of the regiment mustered out of federal service at Memphis, Tennessee, on July 3, 1865, comprising men whose term was set to expire on or before October 1, 1865. The remainder of the regiment was mustered out at Austin, Texas, on November 15, 1865, and disbanded at Madison, Wisconsin, on December 14, 1865.

Total strength and casualties

The 2nd Wisconsin Cavalry initially recruited 1,127 officers and men. An additional 998 men were recruited as replacements, for a total of 2,125 men. The regiment suffered 24 enlisted men killed or died from wounds in action, and 4 officers and 284 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 312 fatalities.

Commanders

Notable people