GENERAL'S WIFE AMONG MILITARY LEADERS OF CIVIL WAR BURIED AT CEMETERY

MOUNDS CITY, Ill. - At least one military leader buried in the Mound City Cemetery is a woman.

Madame Nadine Turchin, because of a wartime twist of fate, led the 19th Illinois Regiment into one of its fiercest battles during the spring of 1862. The 10-day Tennessee campaign earned her a spot in Civil War history.

Madame Turchin, who is buried with her husband, was actually a nurse. She accompanied her husband, Brig. Gen. John Basil Turchin, on his Civil War campaigns.

Turchin also had a colorful history. Immigrating to the United States from Russia in 1856, he joined the Union Army shortly after the Civil War broke out and subsequently became the Union Army's only Russian general.

It was when Turchin fell seriously ill that his wife stepped in to lead the troops.

Although little is know of Madame Turchin, a passage in Mary A. Livermore's book, "My Story of the War," sheds a little light on her life.

In 1862, Madame Turchin took her husband's place as head of the regiment. "The men in the ranks, and the subordinate officers, accorded her implicit obedience. She was not one whit behind her husband in courage or military skill," Livermore wrote.

"Utterly devoid of fear, and manifesting perfect indifference to shot or shell or minnie balls, even though they fell thickly around her, she led the troops into action, facing the hottest fire, and fought bravely at their head."

The Turchin name is a familiar one in Southern Illinois. The general was referred to as "The Russian Thunderbolt" or "Mad Russian."

A large monument at the National Cemetery recognizes the Turchins. It reads: "John B. Turchin, Brig. Gen., U.S A., Born Dec. 24, 1822, died June 18, 1901, and Nadine A. Turchin, his wife, born Nov. 26, 1828, died July 17, 1904."

The Turchins moved to Southern Illinois following the great Chicago fire of 1871. He had returned to his job with the Illinois Central Railroad following the Civil War. After the Chicago fire, he entered into an agreement with the railroad to establish a new railroad town in Southern Illinois.

Gathering a group of Polish immigrants living in Chicago, he moved some 300 miles south where he established the town of Radom, named for a city in Poland. A dozen years later, the community had more than 500 families, a church, a school, saloon, two stores and two blacksmith shops.

Turchin lived on an 80-acre farm a mile from the village, which is now DuQuoin.

Turchin, who was born Ivan Vasilovitch Turchinoff in the province of Don, Russia, advanced to the rank of colonel in the Russian Army and served on the personal staff of Czar Alexander II. He had seen service in Hungary, Finland and the Crimea before settling in the United States as an engineer with the Illinois Central Railroad.

It was as John Basil Turchin that he gained fame during the Civil War.

Author George Parks of Anna mentions Turchin in his three-volume, "Union County History."

"I didn't know that much about Turchin," wrote Parks, "but legend carried many stories about him. Many thought he was one of President Lincoln's best generals."

And for 10 days in 1862, so was his wife.