JANESVILLE, Wis. — U.S. Rep. Bryan Steil has introduced legislation to authorize the construction of Wisconsin memorials at Antietam National Battlefield and Manassas National Battlefield Park, seeking to honor the service and sacrifice of several Wisconsin infantry regiments that fought in some of the Civil War’s fiercest battles.

Steil joined Scott Fitzgerald in introducing the measure, which would authorize monuments recognizing the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Wisconsin Infantry Regiments for their role in pivotal engagements during the Civil War.

“The bravery demonstrated by Wisconsin’s Union Soldiers at the site of the Civil War’s fiercest fighting should be permanently recognized,” Steil said. “These monuments will honor the sacrifice of Wisconsin soldiers in protecting our nation, securing liberty for all Americans, and will preserve their legacy for future generations.”

Fitzgerald said Wisconsin’s regiments “stood firm in some of the fiercest fighting of the Civil War” and deserve lasting recognition rather than “a footnote in history.”

According to background provided with the announcement, Wisconsin troops were heavily engaged during the Second Battle of Manassas in August 1862, when Confederate forces under Gen. Stonewall Jackson confronted Union troops returning toward Washington. The Second Wisconsin Infantry Regiment came under heavy artillery fire near Gainesville and, despite being outnumbered, charged Confederate positions before receiving support from the Sixth and Seventh regiments. After hours of combat, Union commanders ordered a retreat. Of the 515 Wisconsin soldiers who entered the fight, all were reported killed, wounded, or missing.

Less than a month later, on September 17, 1862, Wisconsin regiments again saw intense combat at Antietam, the deadliest single day in American military history. Four Wisconsin regiments fought in the infamous Cornfield, while the Fifth Wisconsin Infantry was held in reserve to support artillery operations. More than 500 men from the regiments were killed, wounded, or missing after the battle.

The Battle of Antietam halted the Confederate Army’s first invasion of the North and gave President Abraham Lincoln the confidence to issue the Emancipation Proclamation days later.

The Second Wisconsin Regiment included Company F, largely made up of volunteers from Janesville and Rock County, and Company D, composed primarily of men from Racine County. George B. Ely, a former Janesville district attorney and captain of Company D, helped organize the unit before being wounded at Antietam.

The Wisconsin Legislature authorized a monument commission in 1913 to explore building memorials at the Antietam and Manassas battlefields, but the effort was never completed. Steil and Fitzgerald say the new legislation is intended to fulfill that long-delayed commitment.

Reps. Derrick Van Orden, Glenn Grothman, Tom Tiffany and Tony Wied are original cosponsors of the bill.

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