Company E of the 16th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment was organized along with the rest of the regiment at Camp Randall in Madison in January 1862, though many of the men enlisted in the later months of 1861. Unlike many companies that were drawn largely from a single community or region in the state, the men of Company E hailed from several different areas of Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, Coloma, and Waupun. Following two months of training, the regiment traveled to Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee where two weeks after their arrival they were one of the first regiments attacked in what became known as the Battle of Shiloh. Company E lost eight men in the battle and had fourteen wounded.
The 16th Wisconsin also saw action during the Siege and Battle of Corinth before spending a year serving guard duty in Louisiana and Mississippi from February 1863 through February 1864. In June 1864 the unit joined General William T. Sherman's forces in Georgia and fought with them at Atlanta, participated in the March to the Sea, and continued into the Carolinas until Johnston's surrender. Following the war they took part in the Grand Review in Washington, DC before being mustered out of service in Louisville, Kentucky in July 1865.
