In 1913 the Wisconsin legislature passed a bill that set up a commission to study the possibility of placing memorials at the Antietam and Gainesville battlefields. The legislation became Chapter 700. Sadly, that legislation was lost to history, and the 1913 promise to the living veterans of those two Civil War battles was never realized. Today there is an effort to rectify that forgotten promise, beginning with HR 7495, introduced into the House of Representatives by Rep. Scott Fitzgerald in February 2026. All 8 Wisconsin Representatives support the proposed legislation. However, action on HR7495 in the House and a companion bill from the Senate is a long wait yet to be realized. Click the play button to view the video for a snapshot of Wisconsin’s engagement and sacrifice in these two battles.
YOU CAN HELP!
Today it takes an Act of Congress to place a memorial at a national battlefield. Please contact Representative Tiffany and Senator Johnson to help move this federal legislation forward and make these memorials a reality. Representative Tiffany, from Wisconsin, is chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. HR7495 has yet to be scheduled for a hearing by the House Natural Resources Committee. The proposed legislation does NOT require supporting federal funds yet must still have a hearing, with a subsequent vote, to move it to the full House for a full House vote. Senator Johnson has been approached on several occasions to introduce a companion bill in the Senate, but has yet to do so. Calls and emails to both offices encouraging them to make this long overdue honor a reality would be most helpful (see below).
“Wisconsin blood remains in that soil.” ~ Mark Nielsen, legislative aide to Senator Johnson
Senator Ron Johnson
Phone: (608) 240-9629 (Madison), (920) 230-7250 (Oshkosh), (414) 276-7282 (Milwaukee)
Click HERE to email.
Feel free to download and print the posters to use in your classrooms, veterans meetings, and in other helpful ways.
Did your state legislator sign onto this support document? If so, please send out a thank you. If not, please ask why not.
Upon his death in 1896, the living veterans of the Iron Brigade gathered funds to ensure that General John Gibbon, the commander of the Iron Brigade, had a proper tombstone at Arlington National Cemetery.
He does. Included on his tombstone is the Iron Brigade insignia.
Brigadier General John Gibbon commanded the Iron Brigade—composed primarily of the 2nd, 6th, and 7th Wisconsin, the 19th Indiana, and later the 24th Michigan—from May to November 1862. He strengthened the brigade through rigorous training and discipline and led it during major battles at Brawner’s Farm, South Mountain, and Antietam, helping it earn its reputation as one of the Union Army’s most formidable fighting units.
Learn more! Click on each image to watch the videos and hear their stories. Follow their Civil War journeys in this video series.
