In the Very Thickest of the Fight

The 78th Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment took the field under command of a lackadaisical colonel who was frequently absent and feuded with his own officers and superiors. Distrusted by senior officers, the 78th became a regiment that was always left behind—until its own officers forced their reluctant colonel to resign. His replacement was a forceful leader who turned the regiment into a crack fighting outfit that performed heroically in the battle of Chickamauga and many of the great battl