The Civil War

Merrit Lewis, a resident of Blue Grass, McLean, Illinois, enlisted in the Union Army for three years as a Private on 6 Nov 1861. Private Lewis was assigned to Company E, 51st Regiment, Illinois Infantry on 24 Dec 1861.  Private Lewis reinlisted on 24 Dec 1863.

Prior to his discharge, Private Lewis was promoted to the rank of Sergeant.  On 25 Sep 1865, Captain Lewis was discharged from the Union Army at Camp Irwin and died in 1914.

Civil War Engagements with the 51st, Organized: Camp Douglas, Chicago, Illinois on 24 Dec 1861, Mustered out: 25 Sep 1865. Civil War Data - Regiment

•  Island Number Ten, 28 Feb-8 Apr 1862, New Madrid, Missouri and Lake County,  Tennessee, United States, Union victory
•  Stones River, (aka Second Battle of Murfreesboro), 31 Dec 1862-2 Jan 1863, Near Murfreesboro, Tennessee, United States, Union victory
• Chickamauga, 18-20 Sep 1863, 18-20 Sep1863, Catoosa and Walker counties, Georgia, United States, Confederate victory
• Resaca, formed part of the Atlanta Campaign, 13-15 May 1864, Gordon County and Whitfield County, Georgia, United States, Inconclusive Victory
• Kennesaw Mountain, during the Atlanta Campaign, 27 Jun 1864, Cobb County, Georgia, United States, Confederate victory
• Atlanta campaign, a series of battles fought in the Western Theater of the American Civil War throughout northwest Georgia and the area around Atlanta during the summer of 1864, 7 May-2 Sep 1864, Northwestern Georgia and around Atlanta, United States, Union Victory
• Jonesborough, 31 Aug-1 Sep 1864, Clayton County, Georgia, United States, Union Victoryson, Mississippi, United States, Union Victory
• Franklin, 30 Nov 1864, part of the Franklin–Nashville Campaign, Franklin, Tennessee, United States, Union Victory
• Nashville, two-day battle in the Franklin-Nashville Campaign, 15-16 Dec 1864, Nashville, Tennessee, Union Victory, end of the Army of Tennessee as an effective fighting force

Sergeant Merrit Lewis, died in 1914.

See the diary of Merritt Lewis in our scrapbook.