Coming in January: A Special Civil War Series

The New Year will mark the 150th anniversary of when large numbers of young men left Oak Creek Township to fight in the Civil War. Two would die in Tennessee only four months later; seven more would be wounded in that battle, one case eventually proving fatal.

Local historian and book author Tom Mueller has written an in-depth series for Oak Creek Patch, detailing the journeys of about 40 soldiers from the township – which consisted of modern-day Oak Creek and South Milwaukee. Although it is difficult to be absolutely certain, they likely include a father who was killed and a son who was wounded three times.

Few people today seem to know that the two current cities once comprised the township; and not many more people know about the Civil War sacrifices that were made three decades before South Milwaukee became a city and nine decades before Oak Creek followed suit. This series will change all of that.

The local men’s battles included famous and lesser-known places such as Stones River, Tenn.; Chickamauga, Ga.; Mission Ridge, Tenn.; Antitetam, Md.; Mobile, Ala.; Resaca, Ga.; Franklin, Tenn., and the Battle of the Wilderness in Virginia, among many others. Some were killed in action, some were wounded and died months later, some were wounded and recovered, and some died of diseases that were rampant among Civil War soldiers.

This series will begin in the first week of January.

Mueller also wrote an Oak Creek history series for the Patch last Memorial Day, . Mueller has written three books about wars and the Ultimate Sacrifice. His author website can be found here.