It was among scores of regiments that were raised in the summer of 1864 as Hundred Days Men, an effort to augment existing manpower for an all-out push to end the war within 100 days.

The 39th Wisconsin, along with the 40th and 41st, were ordered to the vicinity of Memphis, Tennessee, where they engaged in picket and guard duty, relieving veteran regiments which were sent to the front for the Atlanta campaign.

Their only combat occurred on August 21, 1864, when, in the early morning hours, a detachment of cavalry under Nathan Bedford Forrest raided Memphis, attempting—unsuccessfully—to capture the Union commanders stationed there in what is referred to as the Second Battle of Memphis.

The 39th Wisconsin suffered 3 enlisted men killed or fatally wounded in action, and 1 officer and 27 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 31 fatalities.

This article about a specific military unit of the American Civil War is a stub.