On April 15, 1861, Abraham Lincoln sounded the call asking for 75,000 troops to enlist in the Civil War. Four days later, residents of Green County, Wisconsin gathered at the Court House to discuss organizing a company of volunteers. During the stirring meeting, they sang The Star-Spangled Banner and heard inspiring messages on patriotism from local dignitaries. When the time came to ask for volunteers willing to heed the call, hands shot up one by one. Within a short time, 83 men enrolled. Among them was Isaac Thurlow, 24-years-old. His 18-year-old brother Albion would follow in his footsteps just a month later. During the Battle of Antietam, 1st Lt. Warham Parks from the Third Wisconsin, Company C recorded this memory when Isaac was hit by gunfire, “I caught him as he fell, and his brother (Albion Thurlow) carried him to the rear. In a few moments, he came back saying his brother was dead, picked up his musket and resumed firing…but his courage never failed.”

Isiah Thurlow