George Washington Grabe is the 3x great-grandfather of my nieces, Sophia & Sienna Kaski. At the age of 18, he enlisted in the 30th Illinois Infantry Regiment of the Union Army. The Civil War was in its third year.
He would travel on foot from Camp Butler, Illinois to Warrenton, Georgia: more than 900 miles.
On April 18, 1864, his regiment left Camp Butler, hiking the first 200 miles to arrive in Cairo, Illinois. There they joined with the Tennessee River Expedition under General W.Q. Gresham. On April 30, 1864, they arrived in Clifton, Tennesse. Five days later, they left Clifton marching on to Pulaski, Tennessee.
Who could have imagined that 180 years later, Private Grabe's great-great-great-granddaughters would live within 30-60 miles of these last two Tennessee locations? Learn more about Fort Pulaski thanks to this link from the National Park Service.
Heading out of Tennesee, the regiment then moved onward to Athens and Huntsville. On May 25, 1864, the regiment began their travel to Decatur crossing the Tennessee River on the 27th. From there, they continued on to Warrenton. Warrenton was as far south as Private Grabe's traveled before the battles pushed them north again.
To join General Sherman's Army, the regiment went to Rome, Georgia then Kingston, Georgia, joining the army at Acworth on June 8, 1864. June 10 they moved on to Big Shanty where about 20 soldiers from the 30th Illinois Infantry were killed or wounded. Learn more about the Battle for the Kennesaw Mountain using this National Park link which starts its story on the same June 10.
The regiment's final stops were in Resaca and Gaylesville before mustering out in Chicago, Illinois. And thus, goes the story of George Washington Grabe's journey to defend the Union. Shortly after the war, he would marry Maggie Dial and become a Methodist minister.
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