George W. Williford (1836 - 1866)

Born 1836 in Illinois

Ancestors

Died 29 Apr 1866 at about age 30 in Fort Reno, Dakota Territory

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Biography

George was a Lieutenant and later a Captain in Company F, 9th Regiment, Illinois Infantry during the Civil War. http://civilwar.illinoisgenweb.org/r050/009-f-in.html

The Illinois 9th Regiment fought mainly in what was considered the western theater of the Civil War. From 1861 through 1865 this unit helped secure Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi before turning east into Alabama. Operations continued in these states until the 9th Illinois Regiment joined with General Sherman and marched to the sea through Georgia. Late in the war the unit turned back north attacking Confederate forces in the Carolinas. After participating in the Grand Review in Washington D.C. on May 24, 1865, the 9th mustered out of U.S. Army service on July 9, 1865. http://www.civilwararchive.com/Unreghst/unilinf1.htm#9th-3yr

Post Civil War military service: Concerning the establishment of Fort Reno, Dakota Territory (Wyoming). The Bozeman Trail, built as a way around the Bighorn Mountains, crossed the Powder River at Fort Connor, offering emigrants traveling on it protection. Buildings constructed at Connor had sod-covered roofs and dirt floors. In October 1865, the 6th Michigan and Colonel Kidd turned the garrison of Fort Connor over to Captain George W. Williford, and Companies C, and D, of the 5th United States Volunteer Infantry Regiment, companies of the Galvanized Yankees, and a company of Indian scouts. In November 1865, it's name was changed to Fort Reno, in honor of Major General Jesse Lee Reno, who had been mortally wounded on September 14, 1862 at the Battle of South Mountain, Maryland, while commanding the Union IX Corps at Fox's Gap. The name had no connection with Major Marcus Reno, a member of the 7th Cavalry who fought in the Battle of the Little Bighorn. The garrison of the fort endured the harsh winter of 1865–1866, and during this time suffered 33 casualties from desertions, illnesses, one soldier killed by an accidental gunshot, and the death of its commanding officer, Captain George W. Williford, who died of illness on April 29, 1866. Captain George M. Bailey became Williford's successor.[1]

Fort Reno

Sources

• "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MX4K-HSY : 30 December 2015), George Willerford in entry for Jams M Willerford, 1860.

• "United States Civil War Soldiers Index, 1861-1865," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:F9P6-ZMV : 4 December 2014), George W. Williford, Captain, Company F, 9th Regiment, Illinois Infantry, Union; citing NARA microfilm publication M539 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.), roll 98; FHL microfilm 881,718.

• "United States General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJD5-HJVZ : 3 April 2015), George W Williford, 1891.