Grant's Army of the Tennessee. Less than a month later, Fairchild was leading his mostly untrained regiment against a surprise attack in the Battle of Shiloh. Fairchild was shot in the hip during the first day of fighting, and was forced to return to Wisconsin. He spent months recuperating, as surgeons attempted to remove the bullet and scraps of cloth that had been dragged into the wound. During that time, he and his father were bedridden in adjoining rooms—his father died that summer. The bullet and remaining pieces of material were finally removed by Dr. Brainerd in December 1862, but after months embedded in the bone, there was significant irritation around the wound that would, years later, result in Fairchild's death. Sherman's Army After removing the irritants, Lt. Colonel Fairchild was able to recover well enough to rejoin his regiment in May 1863, though still limited in his abilities. He returned in time to join the regiment at the Siege of Vicksburg. After Vicksburg, his superior officer, Colonel Allen, chose to retire. He, too, had been wounded at Shiloh and had not fully recuperated from the wound. On March 17, 1864, Fairchild was made Colonel of the Regiment. The Army of the Tennessee was now under William Tecumseh Sherman's command and was engaged in a campaign into the southern heartland. As Colonel, Fairchild led the regiment through Kennesaw Mountain, the Battle of Atlanta, and Sherman's March to the Sea. On March 13, 1865, Fairchild was given a brevet to Brigadier General and commanded a Brigade composed of five regiments during the Battle of Bentonville. A few weeks later, the war ended and Fairchild mustered out of the service. Postbellum years Just months after the end of the war, in 1865, Fairchild's brother, Lucius, was elected Governor of Wisconsin. The following summer, in 1866, Cassius was appointed United States Marshal for Wisconsin by President Andrew Johnson. He moved to Milwaukee and performed the duties of the office until his death two years later. On October 15, 1868, he married Mary Cornelia Haney, the daughter of the prominent Milwaukee businessman Robert Haney. Nine days later, while serving as a pallbearer at the funeral of a friend, his old wound ruptured and he died. See also Fairchild family References External links Political Graveyard: Fairchild |- Cassius People from Kent, Ohio Politicians from Madison, Wisconsin People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Businesspeople