Private Jesse Fox was mustered into the 44th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment in November 1944, and only a few weeks later found himself on the periphery of the large Battle of Nashville.

Fox, who was from Iola in Waupaca County, was in Company C. He died at New Hope in Portage County on Dec. 26, 1943, at the age of 97, and is buried there.

In the Wisconsin censuses of veterans that are online at the Wisconsin Historical Society, he was living at Iola in 1885 and then at Northland in 1895 and 1905 - that is in Waupaca County, in the Town of Harrison.

Fox enlisted on Nov. 1, 1864. The 44th Infantry was organized at Madison, and companies each were shipped to the South "as fast as they were completed," according to its history.

Companies A, B, Fox's C and D and F reached Nashville during October and November. The Battle of Nashville came Dec. 15-16, a clash between the Confederates' Army of Tennessee under Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood and the Union's Army of the Cumberland (Department of the Cumberland) under Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas. Thomas attacked and routed Hood's army, largely destroying it as an effective fighting force.

There were four main components of Thomas' forces. Fox's 44th was in what is listed as the Provisional Attachment, about 55,000 men from several different departments temporarily attached to Thomas' army.

The Provisional Detachment (also named District of the Etowah, which was a river in Georgia) was commanded by Maj. Gen. James B. Steedman. It was composed of garrison troops and railroad guards and included eight regiments of United States Colored Troops.

On Dec. 15, the attacking force against the right side of the Confederate force consisted of two brigades drawn from Steedman's group: the 1st Colored Brigade, consisting of three regiments of USCT (who had previously served as garrison troops or railroad guards), and a brigade composed of rear echelon white troops.

The 44th had garrison and guard duty at Nashville until March 1865. It was sent to to Paducah, Ky., April 3, and had duty there until August. Fox and the entire regiment were mustered out Aug. 28, 1865.

Information Sources:
Civil War Archive: 44th Wisconsin Infantry
American Battlefield Trust: Battle of Nashville
Wikipedia: Battle of Nashville
Wikipedia: Battle of Nashville, Union Order of Battle

Compiled by Tom Mueller, PCC and Department GRO

Last Updated: 30 Dec 2022