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The Wilder Brigade Monument (also known as the Wilder Tower) is a large public monument located at the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park in Walker County, Georgia, United States. The monument, which consists of a stone watchtower , was erected to honor the Lightning Brigade (led by John T. Wilder ) of the Northern Union Army 's ...
Wilder Tower, early 20th century postcard. The Lightning Brigade, also known as Wilder's Brigade or the Hatchet Brigade was a mounted infantry brigade from the American Civil War in the Union Army of the Cumberland from March 8, 1863, through November 1863.
As part of the "Wilder Lightning Brigade" the 17th was among the first units fighting in the Civil War to receive the Spencer repeating rifle. In December 1862, the regiments colonel, John T. Wilder was promoted to command of the 2nd Brigade, 5th Division, Center, XIV Corps , Army of the Cumberland (AoC) under Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans .
John T. Wilder of the XIV Corps moved his mounted infantry brigade (the Lightning Brigade, which first saw prominence at Hoover's Gap) to the north of Chattanooga. His men pounded on tubs and sawed boards, sending pieces of wood downstream, to make the Confederates think that rafts were being constructed for a crossing north of the city.
With the Lightning Brigade, the 72nd found itself detached from the XIV Corps to serve as a mobile reserve for all three of the Corps within the Cumberland. After playing a key role in the feint that forced Bragg from Chattanooga, the regiment raided, skirmished, and scouted through the summer into the Chickamauga Campaign .
Wilder mounted his brigade on horses and mules that his men appropriated from the local area [24] and moved into the battle with such rapidity that his men soon became known as the "Lightning Brigade", comprising the 17th Indiana Infantry Regiment, the 72nd Indiana Infantry Regiment, the 98th Illinois Infantry Regiment, the 123rd Illinois ...
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By the middle of April 1863, Wilder's brigade was fully mounted. Having witnessed a demonstration of a new repeating rifle by Christopher Miner Spencer in March, Wilder determined to arm his brigade with that weapon. Wilder got his soldiers' whole-hearted support to re-arm them with the Spencer repeating rifle, and each soldier pledged a note ...