The Midwesterners of the 17th and 72nd Indiana, the 98th and 123rd Illinois mounted infantry and the 18th Indiana Battery of Colonel John T. Wilder’s brigade peered with dismay through the curtains of smoke covering much of the West Viniard field and the La Fayette Road on September 19, 1863. At that point during the Battle of Chickamauga, pretty much all was confusion for the Union forces.

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Retreating Federals streamed by Wilder’s men, driven before the thundering Confederate attack of General Braxton Bragg’s Army of Tennessee. One member of the 72nd Indiana expressed shock at the sight of Union flight: ‘They ran over us like sheep.’

Wilder’s men, however, remained calm as they took up positions to stem the gray hurricane and peered through the man-made fog at the oncoming Southern battle line. The 18th Indiana’s cannons began dousing the Rebels with canister, while Wilder’s infantry cocked their Spencer rifles and let go with a fusillade of .56-caliber rounds that crumpled the Southern ranks. ‘Our Spencers,’ wrote Corporal Ambrose Remley of the 72nd Indiana, ‘[were] equal to the emergency.’ A private in the 17th Indiana confirmed that assessment: ‘Never did the enemy once reach us. We held our line intact.’

After several roaring attempts, the Confederate attack abated. ‘Bragg seemed determined to break our lines, but we held our position pretty well all day,’ was how Sergeant William Thompson of the 17th understatedly summed up the horrific battle.

The famous ‘Lightning Brigade,’ as Wilder’s regiments collectively were known, was one of the Civil War’s most unusual and successful fighting conglomerations, and the brigade’s 31-year-old commander was primarily responsible for both those characteristics. In 1849 Wilder had moved from his native Greene County, N.Y., to the Midwest, where he worked in a foundry as a draftsman in Columbus, Ohio. In 1857 he had established his own foundry in Greensburg, Ind. At the beginning of the Civil War he had hoped to form his own artillery battery, but Indiana had already filled its artillery quota. Instead, Wilder’s men were accepted into the service as Company A of the 17th Indiana Infantry.

Throughout 1861’s summer and autumn, Wilder’s men fought in western Virginia, and during that time he was promoted to lieutenant colonel of the regiment. Late in the year, the 17th Indiana was sent to the Western theater, where it would remain for the duration of the war.

Shortly before the Battle of Shiloh, Wilder became the colonel of the 17th, and he acquitted himself well in that fight. His superiors recognized Wilder’s command ability, and during Bragg’s autumn 1862 movement into Kentucky, Wilder was posted to command some 2,000 men guarding a vital railroad bridge over the Green River, near Munfordville. Bragg’s men soon approached, and Wilder and his troops found themselves surrounded. For two days his men beat back Confederate attacks. He refused to consider surrender offers, flippantly telling his foes to’stay out of the range of my guns’ if they did not want any more fighting.

Eventually, Wilder realized the inevitability of the situation and decided to consider surrender terms. He did so, however, only after he made the rare and astonishing request to survey the enemy lines to make sure the odds were indeed against him. The Confederates allowed Wilder to take a look at the 25,000 men and 45 cannons surrounding him. After a few minutes of reflection, Wilder gave the Rebel commander his decision: ‘Well, it seems I ought to surrender.’

Two months later, Wilder was exchanged as a prisoner of war and greeted back into the Army of the Cumberland in Maj. Gen. Joseph J. Reynolds’ 5th Division of the XIV Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. George H. Thomas. Wilder took command of the 1st Brigade, which included his old unit, the 17th Indiana. He structured the leadership to his liking, mostly from officers in the 17th, and improved the brigade in a number of ways.

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