The 92nd Regiment Illinois Infantry, also known as 92nd Illinois Mounted Infantry Regiment, was an infantry and mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Service
The 92nd Illinois Volunteer Infantry was organized at Rockford, Illinois and mustered into Federal service on September 4, 1862. It was composed of 10 companies, five from Ogle County, three from Stephenson County, and two from Carroll County.
Companies in this Regiment with County of Origin
Men often enlisted in a company recruited in the counties where they lived though not always. After many battles, companies might be combined because so many men were killed or wounded.
The following counties of origin are taken from the Adjutant General's Report, found on the Illinois Civil War Rosters web site. Roster pages are from the same report found on the Internet Archives web site. The rosters show the men who served in each regiment, their residences, dates of enlistment and mustering out, and other remarks.
Company A - many men from Stephenson County - Stephenson County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 335-337.
Company B - many men from Ogle County - Ogle County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 337-339.
Company C - many men from Carroll County - Carroll County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 339-341.
Company D - many men from Ogle County - Ogle County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 341-343.
Company E - many men from Ogle County - Ogle County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 343-345.
Company F - many men from Stephenson County - Stephenson County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 345-347.
Company G - many men from Stephenson County - Stephenson County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 348-350.
Company H - many men from Ogle County - Ogle County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 350-352.
Company I - many men from Caroll County - Carroll County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 352-354.
Company K - many men from Ogle County - Ogle County web site - Roster, vol. 5, pages 354-356.
Unassigned Recruits -Roster, vol. 5, pages 356-357.
The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database lists 1,952 men on its roster for this unit. Roster.
The regiment elected twenty-seven-year-old Colonel Smith D. Atkins as its commander, and he received his commission as the regiment's Colonel on September 4, 1862. He was a newspaperman, lawyer, and ardent abolitionist in Illinois prior to the war. Enlisting as a private, he commanded Company A, 11th Illinois Infantry at Fort Donelson and was promoted to Major in March 1862. While home on leave in the summer of 1862 recovering from illness, he collected new volunteers and formed the 92nd.
The regiment remained drilling in Rockford until 10 October 1862.The next day it departed, with orders to report to Gen. Wright, at Cincinnati, where it was assigned to Cochran's Brigade, Gen. Baird's Division, Army of Kentucky.
Initial infantry service
The 92nd marched into the interior of Kentucky, and during the latter part of October, 1863 was stationed at Mt. Sterling, Kentucky to guard that place against rebel raids. It saw some action there where it moved through Danville.
In this time, Atkins had a falling out with the corps commander, General Gordon Granger. Atkins was a radical abolitionist, and he took President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation as a personal mandate to liberate every slave he could. Around Mt. Sterling and Danville, Atkins rounded up local slaves and took them with him, upsetting some local inhabitants and some of his fellow officers. In mid-November, a slave owner named William Hickman sued Atkins in the Fayette Circuit Court to get his “property” back. General Granger forced Atkins to return the slaves. Several officers of the brigade also signed a letter to Atkins requesting that he return the slaves to prevent further embarrassment of the army and " wounding the feelings of men who are unswerving in their loyalty and patriotism ... we expect you to turn them out of your lines."
Because of this betrayal and despite his subsequent rise to brigade command in Granger's brigade, Atkins could not wait to leave the corps. He felt alienated and betrayed by Granger, Baird, and some of his fellow brigade officers. The regiment and division moved south towards Nashville at the end of the year. Colonel Cochrane resigned his command for health reasons on 13 January 1863, and Colonel Atkins as senior regimental commander assumed command of the brigade, so Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin F. Sheets took command of the regiment.. At Nashville, the regiment, with General Baird's Division transferred to the Army of the Cumberland on 26 January 1863.