The Iron Brigade Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Union

The Iron Brigade was an infantry brigade in the Union Army during the American Civil War, consisting primarily of Western regiments.

Answer: Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan

The Iron Brigade initially consisted of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiments, along with the 19th Indiana, and was later joined by the 24th Michigan. This led it to be sometimes being referred to as the 'Iron Brigade of the West'.

Answer: The Black Hats

Early in the war, the brigade was known as "The Black Hats," due to the black Hardee hats that the brigade wore.

Answer: 2nd Wisconsin

The regiment was transported to Washington, D.C., and saw its first combat at the First Battle of Bull Run in July 1861 in a brigade under William T. Sherman.

Answer: Turner's Gap

The designation "Iron Brigade" originated at the battle for the gaps of South Mountain, the prelude to the Battle of Antietam. Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker, commanding I Corps, approached Army of the Potomac commander Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan, seeking orders. McClellan asked, "What troops are those fighting in the Pike?" Hooker replied, "[Brigadier] General Gibbon's brigade of Western men." McClellan stated, "They must be made of iron." Hooker said that the brigade had performed even more superbly at Second Bull Run; to this, McClellan said that the brigade consisted of the "best troops in the world." Hooker became very elated and rode off with his orders; afterward, the name "Iron Brigade" stuck.

Answer: Rufus King

King was appointed by President Abraham Lincoln as Minister to the Papal States in 1861. On his way to Rome when the Civil War broke out, he took leave of absence to come to the defense of his country. He was appointed a brigadier general of volunteers and was given authorization to raise a Wisconsin regiment.

Answer: October, 1861

The Iron Brigade was activated on October 1, 1861, upon the arrival in Washington, D.C., of the 7th Wisconsin. The regiments in the original Iron Brigade were the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, and the 19th Indiana.

Answer: 1st Division

The brigade took pride in its designation, "1st Brigade, 1st Division, I Corps", under which it played a prominent role in the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, July 1, 1863. It repulsed the first Confederate offensive through Herbst's Woods, capturing much of Brig. Gen. James J. Archer's Confederate brigade, and Archer himself.

It suffered tremendous losses in the second, larger Confederate assault that afternoon.

Answer: Gettysburg

The Iron Brigade lost its unofficial designation on July 16, 1863, following its crippling losses at Gettysburg, when a non-Western regiment (the 167th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Regiment) was incorporated into it.

Answer: They suffered the most casualties in the war.

The Iron Brigade, proportionately, suffered the most casualties of any brigade in the Civil War. For example, 61% (1,153 out of 1,885) were casualties at Gettysburg. Similarly, the 2nd Wisconsin, which suffered 77% casualties at Gettysburg, suffered the most throughout the war; it was second only to the 24th Michigan (also an Iron Brigade regiment) in total casualties at Gettysburg.

The latter regiment lost 397 out of 496 soldiers, an 80% casualty rate.