As I work on Vicksburg's Craters:The First Military Mines Exploded in United States History, I've encountered several nicknames for the Illinois units that charged into the first crater on June 25, 1863.
The first was the easiest to find. Soldiers knew the 45th Illinois, which led the charge into the June 25 crater, as the "Lead-Mine Regiment" and the "Washburne Lead Mine Regiment." Galena Daily Advertiser, Nov. 22, 1861, p. 3, col. 1. The unit got its name from Congressman Elihu B. Washburne and the prominent lead mining industry in northwestern Illinois. Washburne, like General Grant, hailed from Galena, Illinois, and looked after the general. Galena Daily Advertiser, Nov. 22, 1861, p. 3, col. 1.
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Elihu Washburne (U.S. National Park Service)
The next nickname I encountered belonged to the 124th Illinois. A regimental history called the 124th the "Hundred and Two Dozen." Later I discovered in a newspaper another: the "Commercial College Regiment." Where that nickname came from, I don't know. In January 1864 the regiment's superlative drill earned the unit the title of "Excelsior Regiment." R. L. Howard, History of the 124th Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers Otherwise Known as the “Hundred and Two Dozen,” from August, 1862, to August, 1865 (Springfield, IL: 1880), 111; “Forty-Fifth Illinois,” Rockford (IL) Register, July 18, 1863, p. 2, col. 4. In January 1864litt the 124th became the “Excelsior Regiment” on account of its superlative drill. Howard, History of the 124th Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers, 168-172, 174-175.
The last nicknames I found belonged to the regiment that interested me most, the 20th Illinois Infantry. Unlike the 45th, or 124th, this regiment lacked a unit history even though it was one of Fox's Fighting 300 Regiments with 10 percent of its members killed or dead of wounds.) If I had another life, I'd write a history of the 20th Illinois. John Wesley Powell, later the first known navigator of the Colorado River, belonged to this regiment before General Grant nudged Powell into becoming an artillerist. After losing his right arm at the battle of Shiloh, Powell returned to command his battery at the siege of Vicksburg in support of the mine explosions covered in Vicksburg's Craters. I had to read a lot of 1863 Illinois newspapers to learn this unit's rather unimaginative nicknames: the "Old Twentieth," the "Little Twentieth," and the "Little Fighting Regiment." The emphasis on the regiment's diminutive size comes from its complement of 1,092 soldiers when many regiments raised had several hundred more. Letter, I[saac] F. D[awson] to [Henry Dawson], in “From the Old Twentieth,” The Weekly Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), June 17, 1863, p. 2, col. 1. The regiment had also acquired the name of “The Little Twentieth” and “The Little Fighting Regiment.” Letter, Christopher Goodbrake to A. L. McArthur, July 16, 1863, in “From the 20th Ill.”, Joliet Signal, Aug. 4, 1863, p. 2, col. 7.
The reader may ask why those sources are there at the end of each paratraph. Sources build trust. I found nicknames for several other regiments such as the 31st and 56th Illinois, the 23rd Indiana, and the 17th Iowa, but I couldn't find a source to save my life. Don't even think about looking for AI. I asked what was the nickname of the 23rd Indiana twice and got a different nickname each time.
