Meet Corporal Vangilder
I’ve been the willing recipient of many shoeboxes of old photos collected through a couple lines of ancestors. The photos date back to the 19th century, some to the early days of photography.
One very old album came through my maternal grandmother to me. I’ve been able to identify almost all the direct relatives in the album. There are a few that will need more sleuthing.
We have several photos that were evidently comrades-in-arms with my great-great-grandfather in the Civil War. It’s been a pleasure to try to piece together a bit of the story behind them.
The photo above is of Corporal William H Vangilder. He enlisted in the 93rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry as a private on August 14, 1862 in Naponset, Illinois. My great-great-grandfather enlisted on the same date in the same place. They served together almost three years in Company H, comprised of 100 men residing in Neponset or nearby.
To look at Neponset today on a map you find only a small agglomeration of buildings on land surrounded by farms. Both Corporal Vangilder and my great-great-grandfather were farmers, both were 19 years old at enlistment, and both were about 5′-8″ in height (172cm).
On October 13 of 1862 they were mustered into their unit in Chicago. There were 10 companies nominally of 100 men to form the 93rd regiment. When mustered, the regiment had 998 men, or almost a full complement. The regiment was ordered to proceed to Memphis, joined General Grant’s army en route, and the following Spring were part of the Vicksburg Campaign and a series of campaigns and battles across the South, finally culminating in the Grand Review in Washington D.C. on May 24, 1865, after the defeat of the rebel armies. By July, the soldiers of the regiment had been discharged with final pay and made their way back to their homes from their last encampment in Chicago. According to an official history of the regiment,
“During two years and seven month’s service, the casualties, in battle, of the Ninety-third were 446, and 1 officer and 31 men accidentally wounded.
The Regiment has marched 2,554 miles, traveled, by water, 2,296 miles, and by railroad 1,237 miles. Total, 6,087 miles.”
A fascinating diary kept by a soldier in Company G of the same regiment can be found here. His story must have been very similar to the experiences of Corporal Vangilder and my great-great-grandfather. A detailed history of movements and engagements of the Illinois 93rd Volunteer Infantry Regiment can be found here.
Some time after the war, Corporal Vangilder settled on a farm in Nebraska, as did my great-great-grandfather, but in different parts of the state. I haven’t yet been able to find more details on Vangilder’s life.
The photograph in my collection has an inscription that identifies the subject, and testifies to the bond between the two soldiers. It’s been a fun journey for me to learn about these people and their times.
