Public Domain. In December 1862, the 14th Illinois Infantry was reassigned to 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 16th Army Corps, located in Memphis, Tennessee, and Colonel Hall was promoted to command the brigade. The 2nd Brigade was comprised of: 14th Illinois Infantry, Lt. Col. William Cairn, Capt. Augustus H. Corman
15th Illinois Infantry, Col. George C. Rogers 46th Illinois Infantry, Col. Benjamin Dornblaser 76th Illinois Infantry, Col. Samuel T. Busey 53d Indiana Infantry, Col. Walter Q. Gresham Hall's brigade remained in reserve in Memphis as Grant's army crossed the Mississippi River to capture Vicksburg. However, Grant ordered all available units to reinforce his army. On May 14, Cyrus Hall's brigade boarded transport boats to make their way down the Mississippi River to Vicksburg. Landing at Young's Point, Louisiana, across the river from Vicksburg, on May 16, Hall's men waited two days, then marched to Bower's Landing and embarked for Grand Gulf to join Grant's army. On May 24, brigadier general Jacob G. Lauman, commanding the 4th Division, 16th Army Corps, had been ordered to move his available forces to the southern portion of the siege lines. Colonel Hall's brigade marched for two days from the hills north of Vicksburg to the Warrenton Road. On the night of May 25th, the 46th Illinois Infantry, one of Hall's regiments, were deployed on either side of the Warrenton Road as pickets. Members of the 41st Georgia Infantry, utilizing an path unknown to the federal infantryman, captured 116 of the Illinoisans. Colonel Hall had his men formed in line of battle thinking the Confederates were advancing to attack him. The Georgians used this confusion to slip back into their entrenchments with their captives. After Vicksburg surrendered, Colonel Hall's men petitioned for his advancement to brigadier general. This promotion did not come and Hall was mustered out of service in July 1864. He was then commissioned as colonel of the 144th Illinois Infantry in October of the same year and resigned his position in March 1865. He would again done his colonel's uniform, being commissioned back to his old regiment, the 14th Illinois Infantry. Like many colonels at the end of the war, Cyrus Hall received a brevet promotion to brigadier general. After the war, Hall engaged in building and selling furniture. He was appointed the postmaster of Shelbyville and held the position for over ten years. Cyrus Hall died in Shelbyville in 1878. 
NPS Photo Colonel, 14th Illinois InfantryCommanding the Second Brigade, Four Division, Sixteenth Army Corps (attached to the Thirteenth Army Corps). Sculptor: AntonSchaaf Erected: November 13, 1915 Location: On north side of Hall's Ferry Road, 280 yards south of overpass. |
Last updated: November 9, 2019