Iron Brigade

Iron Brigade
Iron Brigade
	Iron Brigade unit badge, a maltese cross design, showing the Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana, Union Army regiments, who were the core of the Brigade, on a historical marker, at Gettysburg National Military Park.
Active	October 1861-June 1865
Country	United States
Allegiance	Union
Branch	Union Army
Type	Infantry
Size	Five regiments:; 2nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment; 6th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment; 7th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment; 19th Indiana Infantry Regiment; 24th Michigan Infantry Regiment
Nicknames	The Black Hats, Black Hat Brigade, Iron Brigade of the West, King's Wisconsin Brigade
Engagements	American Civil War Second Battle of Bull Run; Battle of South Mountain; Battle of Antietam; Battle of Fredericksburg; Battle of Chancellorsville; Battle of Gettysburg; Battle of the Wilderness; Battle of Spotsylvania Court House; Battle of Cold Harbor; Battle of Hatcher's Run; Battle of Five Forks;
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Brig. Gen. Rufus King; Brig. Gen. John Gibbon; Brig. Gen. Solomon Meredith; Col. William W. Robinson; Brig. Gen. Edward S. Bragg

The Iron Brigade, also known as The Black Hats, Black Hat Brigade, Iron Brigade of the West, and originally King's Wisconsin Brigade, was an infantry brigade in the Union Army of the Potomac during the American Civil War. Although it fought entirely in the Eastern Theater, it was composed of regiments from three Western states that are now within the region of the Midwest: Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. Noted for its excellent discipline, ferocity in battle, and extraordinarily strong morale, the Iron Brigade suffered a higher percentage of soldiers killed in combat or from battle wounds than any other brigade in the Union army during the war.

The nickname "Iron Brigade," with its connotation of fighting men with iron dispositions, was applied formally or informally to a number of units in the Civil War and in later conflicts. The Iron Brigade of the West was the unit that received the most lasting publicity in its use of the nickname.

The brigade fought in the battles of Second Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Hatcher's Run, and Five Forks. Due to significant casualties at Gettysburg, some eastern regiments were added to the Iron Brigade. For the rest of the war, it was not an all-Western brigade.