The 2nd Wisconsin Infantry was organized at Camp Randall in Madison, and mustered into service for three years on June 11, 1861. It left Wisconsin for Washington, D.C., June 20-26, 1861, and spent most of the war around the nation's capital, in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. It fought at the First Battle of Bull Run, the defenses of Washington D.C., Antietam, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. On June 11, 1864, soldiers who did not re-enlist were ordered home to Wisconsin, and the veterans and new recruits were consolidated into an independent battalion of two companies. At the end of November, 1864, they were again consolidated, this time into the 6th Wisconsin Infantry as companies G and H. The regiment lost 315 men during service. Ten officers and 228 enlisted men were killed. Seventy-seven enlisted men died from disease.

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[Source: Estabrook, Charles E, ed. Records and sketches of military organizations... (Madison, 1914?).]

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