First Lieutenant in the 11th Illinois Calvary, Company G, which served as Headquarters Guard, 17th Army Corps from 1863 to the end of the Civil War.
Lot Sabine Willard enlisted at age 22 on December 20, 1861. The money that he earned being a "traveling agent" in his hometown of Peoria, Illinois allowed him to enter the war as a first Lieutenant in the 11th Illinois Calvary, Company G. At first eager to try his regiment with active service, Willard quickly changed his mind after the incredibly high mortality rate of its first fight, the Battle of Shiloh. The event was to haunt him for years afterward. Even though he often longed for peace and home, Willard continued his military career and became major and senior aide-de-camp to General McPherson on April 18th, 1863. He camped in Vicksburg, then marched with Sherman and fought at Resaca and Kennesaw Mountain. Willard survived the war, was mustered out on August 9th, 1864, and, despite his frequent assertions that he would never marry, settled down in Litchfield Ward 2, Montgomery, Illinois and began raising a family. 1870 found him as a dry goods merchant living with his wife Ellen, his children, William and May, and a domestic servant, having accumulated $6,000 worth of property. Within ten years, Willard moved to Minnesota and his family grew with the addition of a third child, Asa.
From the description of L.S. Willard letters, 1862-1864. (Newberry Library). WorldCat record id: 58593039
