Fun Fact #513

 Fun Fact #513

Grounds for War

When most people think of the town of Rockford Illinois, their thoughts tend to stray towards the activities available throughout town and in the parks, and this was no different back in 1862. . . .Alright, maybe it was a little different. 

In 1861 The Civil war began and so needing an area to train recruits and volunteers the Union began looking for a place to call home. Located far from the front lines and situated between Galena, which supplied much of the Union’s ammunition for the war and Chicago which was a major transportation hub for the north, Rockford seemed ideal. The best part was it even had one the fastest industrial sectors and lots of farmland providing supplies and rations locally. Thus the temporary training ground “Camp Fuller” was set up between The Rock River, Auburn Street and North main Street with its population booming to 300,000 in just 4 weeks. 

Among those trained within the temporary Training camp was an artillery crew of 12 Swedish Rockford locals who wound up manning one of the most important Artillery Pieces of the war “Battery H” which took part in some of the most important battles of Sherman’s march to the sea greatly contributing to the Union Win of the Civil War and earning themselves the nickname of “Sherman’s Sons of Thunder” in a cool nod to The Christian Bibles the men carried with them. 

Another famous trainee was an Irish immigrant to Belvidere named Albert Cashier, AkA Jennie Hodgers who became one of the most famous of the 400 women who fought (In Disguise) in the Civil war. At one point she was captured during The Red River Campaign (The capture of the lands between central Arkansas, and Red River Louisiana), only to overpower a prison guard and start a successful Jailbreak. Post war she continued to pretend to be a man in order to get support from communities and the Government as a Union Veteran, until she was discovered in 1910 after a car accident (the first recorded car accident in Belvidere). The Illinois Government decided then to “Lose” this notice of her actually being a Woman repeatedly (took 7 times before the hospital stopped trying to update her veteran’s file) which kept her on G.A.R. Veteran's support until her death in 1913.

    Lastly Rockford is also remembered for Winnebago County being home to the Founding members of “The Grand Army of The Republic” (Union Veterans Club) which became the most powerful nationwide political lobby in US history and responsible for the creation of Veteran’s Memorial Halls among some of the earliest US examples Veteran's Benefits which is why Rockford is home to Veteran’s Memorial Hall No.1

“America without her soldiers would be like God without his angels.”--Claudia Pemberton

Image of the Veteran’s Memorial Hall by The American Legion