Helm, George

George Helm

NPS Photo

Quick Facts

Significance:

Company K, 88th Illinois Infantry

Place of Birth:

Northfield, Cook County, Illinois

Date of Birth:

1839

Place of Death:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Date of Death:

December 31, 1862

Place of Burial:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Cemetery Name:

Stones River National Cemetery

George Helm was born in Northfield, Cook County, Illinois in 1839. In his adulthood, he lived in Wheeling, Cook County, Illinois and worked as a farmer. At the age of 23, Helm enlisted in the Union Army on August 8, 1862, in Chicago, IL. He mustered into Company L of the 88th Illinois Infantry as a private on August 27, 1862, also in Chicago. The Illinois Descripted Muster Rolls describe him as having been 5’ 6 ¾" with dark hair, blue eyes, and a dark complexion. 

The 88th Illinois Infantry was organized at Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after their organization and muster, they were sent to Kentucky to support the Union in the battle of Perryville on October 8, 1862. They were then sent to Nashville, Tennessee where they remained for winter. However, on December 26th, they received orders to march south to Murfreesboro, Tennessee by way of Lavergne, Tennessee, in pursuit of General Braxton Bragg. 

They arrived in Murfreesboro on December 30th and took a position just east of Gresham Lane. At 6am on December 31st, they quickly became the first line of defense for the Union. Confederate forces went on the attack, forming a J-shaped maneuver around Union troops, including the 88th Illinois. As Confederates swept around their right flank, the 88th Illinois lost its brigadier general, General Sill. This loss severely disoriented the troops as they retreated north towards what they hoped would be reinforcements. 

However, the 88th Illinois ended up pushed into a position forming the right flank of a V-shaped position along Wilkinson Pike and McFadden Road. They took head-on attacks from Confederate artillery and infantry, and around noon on December 31st, they gave way into a hasty retreat northward. 

The remnants of the 88th Illinois Infantry reformed a position on the Nashville Pike, where they remained until nightfall. Private Helm was among those to lose their lives in service on December 31, 1862, the first day of the battle of Stones River. 

George Helm is laid to rest in the Stones River National Cemetery in plot G-2770.  

Tags: stones river national battlefield, stones river national cemetery, american civil war