b. Winfield, New York, August 17, 1830
d. Blooming Grove, Wisconsin, March 28, 1883

Charles Gill is best known for his command of the 29th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War, though he also served as Wisconsin attorney general and as a state senator.

Early Years

Charles R. Gill was born in Winfield, New York, and worked as a farm laborer during the summers in order to pay for his legal training. In 1854 he moved to Watertown, Wisconsin, where he served as a judge in 1857 and superintendent of schools from 1857 -1859. He was a Democratic state senator from 1860-1861 and was elected superintendent of schools in Watertown three times.

Military Career

During the Civil War he served as colonel of the 29th Infantry during 1862 and 1863. He led the regiment south in November 1862 to Helena, Arkansas, where it stayed until the spring of 1863. It then joined the Union campaign against Vicksburg, Mississippi, and saw action at the battle of Port Gibson and the battle of Champion Hill, where Col. Gill's horse was shot out from under him.

Historian E.B. Quiner wrote, "On the 27th of June [1863], Colonel Gill resigned, in consequence of continued illness brought on by his exertions and the hardships of the campaign, and was conveyed on his bunk in an ambulance to the landing on the Yazoo River, where he was placed on a steamer, and succeeded in reaching Wisconsin, where, after many weary months, his health was restored."

Return to Law and Politics

After resigning his commission in 1863 and regaining his health, Gill resumed his law practice in Watertown and in 1865 was elected state attorney general. He was re-elected in 1867, and served two terms from 1866-1870. In 1870 he moved to Blooming Grove and opened a law office in Madison.

He was appointed commissioner of pensions by President Grant in 1876, but soon resigned this post and retired to a farm outside the capital. On March 28, 1883, Gill died in Blooming Grove, Wisconsin.

Links to learn more

• Biography of Col. Gill

  by E. B. Quiner in his book, The Military History of Wisconsin (Chicago, 1866)

• View Other Original Documents Related to Col. Charles Gill

[Source: E. B. Quiner, Military History of Wisconsin (Chicago, 1866) History of Dane Co. (Chicago, 1880) Wisconsin State Journal, March 29, 1883; Madison Democrat, March 29, 1883.]