Organization

The 30th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Randall in Madison, Wisconsin, and mustered into the service of the United States on October 21, 1862.

Active Duty

While headquarters remained at Camp Randall, portions of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment were detailed on guard duty in various parts of the state. In May 1863, a number of companies were transferred to the Indian frontier and for some months were engaged in guard duty on the line of the Missouri River from Sioux City north to Fort Pierre, North Dakota.

In the summer of the same year, the one company remaining in the state was transferred to Superior and later to Bayfield, Wisconsin. Other companies were transferred to Camp Washburn in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in December 1863, and took charge of and guarded the conscript camp.

Again in 1864, most of the 30th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was transferred to the Indian frontier, where it remained until November 1864, when nine companies were transferred to Paducah, Kentucky, and in the following month to Bowling Green, Kentucky. The regiment was on provost, guard, and fatigue duty on different assignments in northern Kentucky from that time until it was mustered out of service of the United States on September 20, 1865, at Louisville, Kentucky. It returned to Madison and was disbanded.

Casualties

During service two enlisted men and two officers were killed. Sixty-five men died from disease.

For Further Research

Search our collections for photos and artifacts from Wisconsin in the Civil War. Read about other Wisconsin Civil War regiments. For detailed regimental histories of the U.S. Civil War, consult the Frederick H. Dyer, Compendium of the War of the Rebellion: Regimental Histories.

The histories above, unless otherwise noted, are adopted from Charles E. Estabrook, ed., Records and Sketches of Military Organizations, (Madison, 1914).