Another relative in the 33rd

[Laura]

Well, it appears I have another relative that may have been in the 33rd. A cousin just went to the New Diggins Cemetery in Wisconsin. She found a headstone there and this is what it said:

J. W. Raine, Comp. C., 33rd Wis Infantry

It was a civil war stone.

Is there anyway to see who this J.W. Raine might be? We do have a John Raine and he might have had a son with those initials or maybe John W. Raine. We know there was a George Raine, but he was with the Iowa Light Artillery. They could have been brothers?

Thank you for any help.

Laura Hauser Melton

[Robert Braun]

Laura, John W. Rain(e) enlisted at New Diggings on August 20, 1862 in a company raised by John Gurley of Shullsburg. The company initially went by the sobriquet "Gaylord Guards" (for Augustus Gaylord, the Wisconsin Adjutant-General.)

A few weeks later, the company changed it name to "Gurley's Hawks" and was designated Company C and the regiment's "Color Company." This distinction endured for the duration of the war. It appears that John Rain(e) was not specifically detailed as a memebr of the regiment's color guard.

For whatever reason, Rain(e) did not enlist on the occasion of the large war rally in New Diggings on August 14. At that rally, ten men enrolled, induced by cash bonuses offered by two local businessmen.

Rain(e) was mustered out on June 9, 1865. The balance of the regiment mustered out on August 9, 1865. There must have been some reason for this earlier discharge. I suspect it may have been for reasons of medical disability, but the record does not specifically indicate this.

I hope this information is of some use...

Bob Braun.