The first man to volunteer in Joliet was Frederick Bartleson. Bartleson was an attorney who is reported to have said at one of the rallies that took place soon after the firing on Fort Sumter: "I will ask no man to do that, which I would not be willing to do myself." He then signed his name as a volunteer in the Union forces.
Bartleson entered the service as a captain in the 20th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. There were approximately 200 men from Joliet and Will County in that unit.
The regiment fought at Fort Donelson in February 1862 and at Shiloh in April of that same year. At Shiloh, Bartelson was wounded and lost an arm as a result.
After recuperating, he was placed in command of a new regiment formed in August, 1862, comprised almost entirely of Will County volunteers. This regiment, the 100th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment, would be Bartleson's final command.
The 100th Illinois fought at Stones River on December 31, 1862 to January 2, 1863. Later, in 1863, the regiment fought at Chickamauga where Bartleson was captured. He was held in the famous Libby Prison in Richmond but was subsequently paroled in time to join his regiment for Sherman's Atlanta Campaign.
He was killed leading a skirmish line at Kenesaw Mountain, Georgia in 1864.
Major Rodney Bowen
Rodney Bowen was born in 1832 in Herkimer County, New York. Two years later, his parents moved to Joliet as some of the earliest settlers. In 1849, his parents and he moved to Wilmington.
In 1855, Bowen married Miss Fannie Todd and together they had two children. Bowen was a local businessman on the outbreak of the war. When President Lincoln called for additional 300,000 volunteers in July 1862, Bowen set about enlisting a company in Wilmington. He was chosen Captain of this unit, which was mustered in as Company A of the newly formed 100th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment.
He served as Captain of this Company in all engagements up to the Battle of Missionary Ridge where he was wounded in the leg. However, Captain Bowen did not immediately leave the field, he insisted on having his wound bound with his handkerchief and had a stray horse caught for him to ride until the ridge was secured and the fighting over.
He returned home to recuperate in Wilmington and rejoined the regiment in February 1864 as commander of Company A once more. While in front of Atlanta, he contracted a severe eye infection and was hospitalized in Chattanooga for six weeks. Upon his return he was promoted to Major due to the death of Colonel Bartelson and the resignation of Lt. Col. Waterman.
As Major he helped lead the 100th Illinois through the subsequent engagements around Atlanta and back into Tennessee. In late November, at the Battle of Franklin, where the 100th was pushed back from an ill-advised forward position, he was again wounded. He was transported back to Nashville for further treatment, but died three days later.
His body was brought back home where family and friends mourned his loss. His wife and two children survived him.
Captain David Grover
David Grover was born around 1833 in Milford, Pennsylvania. Two years later his family was living in Joliet. David's father died in 1838 and his mother died two years later leaving him and his brother and sister, orphans. He was taken to live with his paternal grandfather to Dryden, New York, where he remained until the age of eighteen. He then returned to Joliet and was for a time employed by a local merchant and postmaster, James McDougall. He then entered the practice of law and completed his study in Cincinnati. He was employed at an attorney when the war broke out.
In 1859, he married Eliza McGinnis and they had two daughters.
With the first call for volunteers he raised a company for "Yates Sharp Shooters" which became Company E, 64th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was commissioned Captain in December 1861.
He served as Captain of Company E until his death at the Battle of Corinth, October 4th, 1862. He was leading a skirmish line of three companies when struck by shell fragments.
He was carried back to the hospital but did not recover and died on October 10th.
His men buried his body at the front but the body was exhumed and brought back to Joliet by his law partner, S.W. Bowen for burial here.
One of his men wrote home "I helped to bury our gallant little captain. I may well call him gallant, for a braver man never drew a sword."
See a list of Joliet's Veterans from the Illinois Data Base
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