Whiteside County IL Archives Biographies.....Kilgour, Gen William M 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 January 31, 2008, 1:33 am

Author: Portrait/Bio Album, Whiteside County IL 1885

Gen. William M. Kilgour, late attorney at law at Sterling, was born   June 12, 
1828, in  Cumberland Co., Pa., and is a son of Col. Ezekiel Kilgour, 
manufacturer, and Colonel of the militia regiment in that county. His mother, 
nee Eliza Graham, was a daughter of Judge Graham, of the same county. In 1837 
the family came West, settling near Sterling. Gen. Kilgour received a common-
school education in his youth, studied law, and was admitted to practice in 
the State Courts by the Supreme Court at Ottawa, Ill., in 1856. The next year 
he was admitted to the Bar of the Federal Circuit and District Courts, and 
subsequently in the Supreme Court at Washington. The General was a prominent 
politician. Under the old regime he was a Whig, and was a representative from 
his county to the mass convention held at Bloomington, which organized the 
Republican party in Illinois, and nominated Col. Bissell for Governor. It was 
as a soldier, however, that the General made his mark. In 1861 he was among 
the first to volunteer, enlisting as a private in the 13th Regt. Ill. Vol. 
Inf. Upon its organization he was elected Second Lieutenant, and served with 
the regiment one year in Missouri, taking part in the skirmish at Wet Glaze, 
Lynn Creek, Springfield and Salem. During the time he also served as Judge 
Advocate. The next year, 1862, he was taken sick with fever and resigned. He 
had scarcely recovered from his illness when more troops were called for and 
he volunteered again, receiving a commission as Captain in the 75th Regt. Ill. 
Vol. Inf. When the regiment was fully organized he was promoted to the rank of 
Major. Shortly afterward, in an engagement at Perryville, Ky., he was wounded 
by a ball passing through his body. It was thought at the time that the wound 
would prove fatal; but he recovered, and in August, 1863, regained his command 
just in time to participate in the bloody battle of Chickamauga. He continued 
to serve with the regiment until it was mustered out, in July, 1865, having 
been in every battle in which it participated from the time he rejoined it 
excepting that at Culp's Farm, making in all 27 regular engagements. He was in 
nearly every battle fought in the Department of the Cumberland. During a great 
part of the Atlanta campaign he was in command of the 80th Ill. Vol. Inf., and 
at Pumpkin-Vine Creek, in Georgia, was under fire for nine consecutive days. 
The 75th Regt. Ill. Vol. Inf., under Gen. Kilgour, was the first under Gen. 
Joseph Hooker's command to charge the rebel works at Lookout Mountain, driving 
the rebels first up the mountain and then off of it. He was wounded three 
times, and was three times promoted for meritorious services in the field. His 
commission as Second Lieutenant of the 13th Ill. Inf., he received from Gov. 
Yates, April 20, 1861. For gallant and meritorious services at Mission Ridge, 
Tenn., he was commissioned Major by brevet, Oct. 31, 1867, by U. S. Grant, 
then President of the United States. Also, the same date, he received, for 
similar valor at Atlanta, Ga., a commission as Lieutenant Colonel by brevet; 
and again, for bravery at Nashville, Tenn., he was brevetted Colonel. At the 
close of the war he was commissioned Colonel in the regular army, and 
subsequently brevetted Brigadier General. The foregoing testimonials to Gen. 
Kilgour's efficiency in the field of war in defense of his country were never 
sought by him either directly or indirectly. They are simply proofs of his 
merit. On his retirement from the army, in 1867, Gen. Kilgour resumed the 
practice of his profession at Sterling, in which he was successfully engaged 
until his death, which occurred May 29, 1885, at Los Gatos, Cal., from the 
effects of the principal wound he received from the rebels in defense of his 
country. He was a member of the Knights of Pythias, I. O. O. F., A. F. and A. 
M., K. T., and G. A. R. The General was married in 1865, to Mary Isabella 
Junkin, of Perry Co., Pa. They had five children: Eliza G., Susan J., James 
Albee, Cassius M. and William S.

Additional Comments:
Portrait and Biographical Album of Whiteside County, Illinois, Containing Full-
page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative 
Citizens of the County. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1885.

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