Clear skies greeted Civil War reenactors, history fans, Boy Scouts and politicians who gathered yesterday to unveil a new bust dedicated to a Medal of Honor recipient from the Civil War who came from Galena.
“Sgt. Henry H. Taylor was born in Galena in 1840s,” said Jerry Howard, commander of the Fickbohm-Hissem Post 193 Galena Ill, and the senior vice commander for 13th district of the Department of Illinois the American Legion. “He became a member of the 45th when the Civil War started, volunteer infantry Company C. He was with that unit for well over two years. He fought in a number of battles for the Union in the Civil War and at the Battle of Vicksburg and for his gallantry and valor, he received the one of the very first Medals of Honor in the United States.”
Taylor joined the Union Army in May 1861 after President Abraham Lincoln called for 75,000 troops after Fort Sumter came under attack. He was assigned to the 45th Illinois infantry, which was officially mustered into federal service at Camp Douglas, Ill. on December 25 of that year. His unit saw action in some of the most significant battles of the Civil War, including Fort Henry, Fort Donaldson, Shiloh and the Vicksburg, Atlanta and Carolinas campaigns. Taylor enlisted as a private and advanced to sergeant of Company C, becoming their color bearer.
On June 25, 1863, at Vicksburg, Tenn., after the collapse of the Third Louisiana Redan by an underground mine, the 45th Illinois followed Colonel Jasper A. Maltby through a hole in the breach. U.S. Brigadier General Mortimer Leggitt later called the fighting “desperate.” Taylor, as the unit’s color bearer, was at the front of his regiment and as they clawed their way to the top of the Third Louisiana Redan, he became the first to plant the Union’s colors on the enemy’s works. The 45th Illinois was the first regiment to enter Vicksburg after the surrender on July 4, 1863. Taylor received the Medal of Honor for his actions on September 1, 1863.
Even though Taylor was recognized by his government for his bravery, his legacy wasn’t well known in his hometown for decades. “Sgt. Taylor was not well known,” says Howard. “We worked with a historian (Terry Miller) who also works for one of the Department of Illinois bureaus and he’s the director for the Grant home in Galena, the Apple River Fort and other Illinois state owned facilities. He was on our committee and explained to us that very little was known about Sgt. Taylor until my wife and I brought him up. Terry Miller confirmed that he truly was from Galena and truly had a history of being a soldier and a citizen from Galena.” Taylor’s name came up because of Howard’s work with the American Legion on their project to give U.S. Highway 20 a special name. “Highway 20 in the United States is now the Medal of Honor Highway. We have the nine generals and many veterans of the Civil War from the Galena area, so we did our research and found out that we truly had a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient, Sgt. Henry H. Taylor.” They added Taylor to the list of other veterans and generals who were being honored. The American Legion worked with other groups to designate Highway 20 as Medal of Honor Highway, coast to coast.
The date of the dedication was chosen to coincide with the annual Grant’s Home Front Reenactment and Encampment in Galena. “We and the Boy Scouts collaborated and hundreds if not thousands of Boy Scouts found out about and saluted Henry H. Taylor yesterday.” The event was thrilling for Howard. “We had members of our community, members from the Chamber of Commerce, city folks, our Illinois representative Tony McCombie was here. We had the most senior of executives with the Illinois American Legion; they all drove up here and stayed overnight in Galena and participated in our dedication. I’m heart warmed, it’s wonderful how people felt about what we were doing.”
Reenactors with Taylor’s old unit, the 45th Illinois volunteer infantry, were in town all weekend for a Civil War reenactment. “They did volleys when we played ‘Taps.’ It was exciting to hear those muskets fire. Many people had never seen a musket firing, but I had,” said Howard. “We played ‘Taps’ and we had two bands here that provided Civil War era music. One was the Americana band from the Galena area and the other was the East Dubuque VFW Drum and Bugle Corps. So here we are, in this gorgeous park on a really decent day. It wasn’t raining or anything, we had members of Sgt. Taylor’s own unit participating, including their regimental flag, and veterans in general but certainly the American Legion was here prominently to support our veterans. I am just excited to be the kind of the mover and shaker for what happened yesterday.”
History buffs can visit the bust in Grant Park, 625 Park Avenue in Galena. Even if you’re not a history buff, Howard says the park still is a lovely place to visit. “There’s gazebos, there’s statues of General Grant, there are cannons, there’s all sorts of really nice displays and it’s a beautiful area to walk on a sunny afternoon.”
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