Leroy Page Company K, 57th Illinois Volunteer Infantry

See his parents.  Leroy Page was born on October 29, 1844 at Henrietta, Ohio and came to Illinois with his parents in 1852, with them, he became a resident of Bureau County in 1853. He was a younger brother of Isaac D. Page. On June 4, 1862, he enlisted as a Private in Company A, 69th Volunteer Regiment of Illinois. The group was organized at Camp Douglas, Cook, Illinois and were mustered into the United States Army on June 14, 1862. They remained at Camp Douglas on guard duty for the camp and for the Confederate prisoner of war stockade. The 69th served three months and was disbanded, Leroy was honorably discharged October 6, 1862. On February 15, 1864, Leroy enlisted in Company 'K', 57th Illinois Volunteers, the unit his brother Isaac had served in two years earlier. During the interim of time between the service of the Page brothers in Company 'K', the regiment had been issued new enfield rifles on May 30, 1863 and had been in various battles. The regiment located near Lynville, Tennessee on outpost duty while a recruiting drive was conducted at Chicago, Illinois for fresh soldiers at which place Leroy joined the unit. The 57th Illinois Volunteers numbered just over 500 men after the recruiting drive was complete. This compared with 975 men when brother Isaac was in the unit.

The regiment performed garrison duty at Athens, Alabama unit May 1, 1864 at which time the unit joined General Sherman's army at Chattanooga, Tennessee for an attack on Rome and Atlanta, both in Georgia. On November 10, 1864 the 57th Regiment with 504 enlisted men in line and 17 officers present moved out from Rome toward Kingston, Georgia as the initial movement of "Sherman's March to the Sea". Seemingly, Company 'K' was in a "back-up" role as Companies A, B, & C were cited as being in the major battles of the campaign. The regiment finally wound up Raleigh, North Carolina on March 10, 1865. At the conclusion of the Civil War the 57th Illinois Volunteers marched northward through Richmond, Virginia and were graciously greeted by the population. On May 24, 1865 the regiment participated with Sherman's army in the grand review at Washington, D.C. before President Andrew Johnson and Generals Grant, Sherman, and Meade. They were received with wild enthusiasm by the multitudes witnessing the parade. The 57th moved from Washington via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad to Parkersburg, West Virginia. From there, they went by steamboat on the Ohio River to Louisville, Kentucky. On July 7, 1865 Leroy along with the entire 57th Illinois Volunteer Regiment was mustered out of Federal Service. On May 3, 1866 Leroy was employed by the Chicago Burlington and Quincy Railroad at Galesburg, Illinois as a brakeman. He was united in marriage with Lucinda DeSpain on January 17, 1869. In 1883, Leroy was promoted to freight and passenger agent of the St. Louis Division of the C.B. & Q. Railroad at Monmouth, Illinois, so he and his family moved to that location. Leroy served at Monmouth until the autumn of 1888 when he was promoted to the agent's position at Peoria, Illinois where he served until retiring in 1931, a total of 65 years service! After nearly 64 years of marriage, Lucinda died at Peoria on November 26, 1932. Leroy died two and one half months later on February 13, 1933 at Peoria. They are interred in the Page family plot in Springdale Cemetery, Peoria. Researched by John L. Page Photo and information submitted by Ed Page.

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