CAIRO RE-ENACTORS ORGANIZE CIVIL WAR INFANTRY COMPANY

CAIRO, Ill. -- Some 131 years after it was formed at Fort Defiance, two Cairo men have reorganized a Civil War Union Army infantry company that fought with Brig. Gen. U.S. Grant.

They also hope the unit, whose members are Civil War re-enactors, will play a role in helping to revitalize this Southern Illinois community with the appearance, charm and traditions of the Old South.

The organizers, Jamie Eatmon, who works at the Westvaco paper plant near Wickliffe, Ky., and James McKenna, a Cairo police officer, recruited at least 25-30 volunteers during a recruitment drive held in Cairo last month.

"We haven't got all of the enlistment papers back yet, but we're very pleased with the number of people who volunteered," said Eatmon. "We have enough to form the company, and if we keep on growing, we have other plans to go along with the infantry company."

He said those plans include the formation of a company of Union cavalry, and a battery of federal artillery.

Eatmon said anyone who would like to enlist in Company G, should contact him in the evening at 1-618-734-3526, or send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: Jamie Eatmon, 3301 Elm St., Cairo, Ill., 62914. Or call McKenna at 1-618-734-2288.

"The only requirement for enlistment is that you must be at least 18 years old," Eatmon said. "We have enlistees from Cairo, Marion, Sikeston, Mayfield and a SIU student who lives in Christopher."

Although original recruits of the company were from the Alexander County area, McKenna said the reorganized company welcomes recruits from throughout Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee.

McKenna says he became interested in becoming a Civil War re-enactor after meeting Eatmon and learning more about the hobby.

"He's the brainchild behind this," said McKenna. "He came to me with the idea to reform the company. When I read some of the history of the regiment, I was hooked."

Eatmon says he got the idea of reforming Company G after attending an oral history program presented by Shawnee College during a meeting of the Alexander County Historic Preservation Commission.

According to documentation gathered by Eatmon and McKenna, shortly after the fall of Fort Sumpter in April 1861, Union soldiers were ordered to march from Springfield to Cairo to block an impending attack by Confederate forces coming down the Ohio River from Paducah, Ky.

"During the Civil War, Cairo played a role that was as important as that of any city, next to Washington," said McKenna, noting its strategic location at the confluence of the Ohio River with the Mississippi River.

After the Federal troops arrived, and the threat of a Confederate attack had subsided, volunteers from Cairo, Griggsville and Alexander County enlisted in the Union Army, and that became Company G of the 8th Regiment, Illinois Volunteer Infantry.

The regiment and the men of Company G fought with Grant and his Army in most of the major campaigns in the western theater of the war, and later, in the east, they said.

Eatmon said the "new" company has started drilling the men in the military tactics of the Civil War era.

"We are preparing the company for our first re-enactment in August at the Battle of Wilson's Creek, over at Springfield, Mo.," Eatmon said. "We hope to be able to take about 15 soldiers to the re-enactment."

In the meantime, Eatmon will attend a re-enactment prior to the August event. "I'm going to get the training that I'll need to help train our troops to participate in the August re-enactment," he explained.

After the Wilson Creek re-enactment, Eatmon said Company G is planning a re-enactment at Fort Defiance Sept. 6-8. The original fort was located near the southern tip of Illinois, at the mouth of the Ohio River, a short distance south of Cairo.

Eatmon said Dan Cheatum of Herrin has provided invaluable assistance to Company G in its organization and training. Cheatum is a re-enactor, and corporal in the 31st Illinois Regiment, one of the infantry regiments that served with Gen. John A. Logan during the War.

Eatmon said one of the attractive things about Civil War re-enacting is that it is a family affair.

"Although women did not participate in the battles, they did serve as nurses, worked in the camps doing washing, sewing, and other things," he said. "Wives and children of re-enactors come along, dressed in authentic 19th century civilian dress which makes the event even more impressive. As you can see, it's an activity that involves the entire family."

Besides attending battle re-enactments, McKenna said Company G plans to participate in "living history" events. "We also plan to post uniformed soldiers of Company G at Magnolia Manor, which Grant used as his headquarters in Cairo," he said. "We plan to post soldiers there and at the Old Customs House when the Delta Queen and Mississippi Queen steamboats come to Cairo."

McKenna said the soldiers will wear authentic short jackets of the 8th Regiment instead of the familiar long coats that were common in the western theater. He said they will also walk through town to greet and talk with tourists from the steamboats.

"We don't want to do just one or two events each year; our plan is to have many events throughout the year, all oriented towards the heritage of our city," said McKenna.

He said the company is working on plans to restore Fort Defiance, which was actually located near the present Ohio River bridge into Kentucky. "We would like to restore it as it appeared during the war when it had rifle pits and earthworks with artillery batteries at each corner," McKenna said.

Eatmon said the Cairo area is rich in Civil War history. He noted Cairo had one of the largest Civil War military hospitals in the nation, and at nearby Mound City, the shipyard there built federal gunboats that later fought at the Battle of Shiloh and the Siege of Vicksburg.

"There is a lot of Civil War heritage in and around Cairo," said McKenna, "and we want to take advantage of it to help build a new Cairo."