32nd Wisconsin Volunteers Fallows was ministering to the Oshkosh church at the time of the outbreak of the
American Civil War and did not volunteer in the first year of the war. In 1862, however, he resigned his ministry and enlisted for service in the
Union Army, becoming chaplain of the
32nd Wisconsin Infantry Regiment under Colonel
James Henry Howe. He served for a year with the regiment which mostly performed guard duty during that time to protect supplies and logistics along the
Mississippi River in the
Western Theater of the American Civil War. He resigned due to poor health on June 29, 1863.
40th Wisconsin Volunteers He returned to his ministry in Wisconsin, this time at
Appleton, Wisconsin, and was also elected professor of natural science at
Lawrence University, in Appleton. As his health recovered, so to did his fervor to fight for the Union, and, in early 1864, he helped to raise a number of volunteers for the
40th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment—called the "Normal Regiment" due to the large number of teachers and students in the unit—and was selected as the regiment's
lieutenant colonel. The regiment was assigned mostly to the defense of
Memphis, Tennessee, and was engaged in the defense of Memphis during the raid known as the
Second Battle of Memphis, carried out by Confederate cavalry under General
Nathan Bedford Forrest on August 21, 1864.
49th Wisconsin Volunteers In January 1865, Lt. Colonel Fallows was promoted to
colonel and appointed to the organization of a new regiment in
Madison, Wisconsin, which became the
49th Wisconsin Infantry Regiment. The 49th Wisconsin mustered into service on March 8, 1865, and proceeded to
St. Louis and then to
Rolla, Missouri, where they engaged in guard duty through the end of the war. Colonel Fallows mustered out November 1, 1865.
Brevet to brigadier general On January 13, 1866,
U.S. President Andrew Johnson nominated Colonel Fallows for a
brevet to
brigadier general of volunteers in recognition for his service. The
United States Senate confirmed the brevet on March 12, 1866, and the rank was made effective retroactive to October 24, 1865. ==Postbellum years==