To carry out this design of occupying Cairo, ere the enemy got possession of it, orders were issued on the 30th of April, 1861, to the 9th Regt. Ill. Inft., to report at Cairo, Ill. It arrived at that point May 1st, 1861, at 9 A. M. It was the third Regiment on the ground at Cairo.
The first six regiments from Illinois, that were organized under that call of the President, were:
7th Regiment, Colonel Cooke Commanding. 8th " " Oglesby " 9th " " Paine " 10th " " Prentiss " 11th " " Wallace " 12th " " McArthur "
These regiments were distributed as follows: The 7th Regiment was ordered to Alton, Ill.; the 8th, 9th and 10th to Cairo, Ill.; the 11th to Villa Ridge, Ill.; the 12th to Casey's Station, on the O. & M. R. R.
At an election which was held for a Brig. General to take the command of the above regiments, B. M. Prentiss was elected. His "Head Quarters" were at Cairo, Ill.
After the Regiment arrived at Cairo, Ill., Lieut. Conner, of Co. C, resigned. Sergt. W. C. Kneffner, of Co. D, was elected as 1st Lieut. of Co. C, and commissioned by the Governor. Jacob Kircher was commissioned as Captain of Co. A, and J. W. Kitchell as Captain of Co. H.
After the election of J. W. Kitchell as Captain of Co. H, 1st Lieut. Thos. J. Newsham was appointed Adjutant of the Regiment.
The Regiment remained on duty at Cairo during the term of service for which they were called out.
Many of the soldiers, supposing that they would be furnished with clothing by the government, took very little clothing with them, and that of the most ordinary kind, thinking that when they should draw clothing they could not take care of what they took with them. The result was, that many of them had no change of clothing for the three months they were in the service. They had no regular uniform. Some of the companies were clothed with such a uniform as they had selected and supplied for themselves. When the Regiment arrived in Cairo, no provision was made for them in the way of tents. War was a new thing then, and the Quartermaster and Commissary stores were not always ready to be drawn upon at a moment's warning. The supply of rations was, at times, very irregular. The men had not been accustomed to making themselves comfortable in camp; consequently they sometimes found it pretty hard living. After they had been there a few days, it was determined to go into camp on the edge of the Mississippi river, between the town and the river. The camping ground was covered with very large trees of drift-wood. These must be cleared off. No details for fatigue duty were made; but Col. Paine, taking hold along with the rest, said "Come, boys, we must red these logs off, and clear up this ground." And at it they went, and after a time they had the logs all cleared away, the stumps burnt out, and a pretty respectable camping ground prepared. Much hard service was endured during these three months. Although no fighting was necessary, yet some of the soldiers who were with the Regiment then, and are with it still, speak of those three months as the hardest part of their military life. The duty consisted principally in working on the fortifications, and guard duty. This was very onerous.