Editing Illinois (section)

====Civil War and after====

{{Main|Illinois in the American Civil War}}

[[File:Embarkation of General McClernand's Brigade at Cairo.jpg|thumb|right|[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] troops embarking at [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]] on January 10, 1862]]

During the [[American Civil War]], Illinois ranked fourth in soldiers who served (more than 250,000) in the [[Union Army]], a figure surpassed by only New York, [[Pennsylvania]], and [[Ohio]]. Beginning with President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th to the 156th regiments. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/units_num.html| title=Illinois Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery Units|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818150741/http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/units_num.html |archive-date=August 18, 2018 }}</ref> The town of [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]], at the southern tip of the state at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, served as a strategically important supply base and training center for the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] army. For several months, both General [[Ulysses S. Grant|Grant]] and Admiral [[Andrew Hull Foote|Foote]] had headquarters in Cairo.

During the Civil War, and more so afterwards, Chicago's population skyrocketed, which increased its prominence. The [[Pullman Strike]] and [[Haymarket affair|Haymarket Riot]], in particular, greatly influenced the development of the American [[labour movement|labor movement]]. From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the [[Great Chicago Fire]] burned in downtown Chicago, destroying {{cvt|4|sqmi|spell=in}}.<ref>{{cite book|first=Roland |last=Tweet |title=Miss Gale's Books: The Beginnings of the Rock Island Public Library |location=Rock Island, IL |publisher=Rock Island Public Library |year=1997 |page=15}}</ref>