Among Elgin residents who served in the Civil War were 153 students, teachers, administrators, and trustees from Elgin Academy. Academy student Leverett Kelley received the Congressional Medal of Honor for heroic action in combat at Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, in November 1863; he lived to be 83 and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Private Edward Baker was killed in action on April 6, 1862, at the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, which claimed more than 13,000 Union casualties. Academy student Louis Tourtelott died of typhoid fever aboard the hospital transport ship City of Memphis and was one of 6,000 Illinois men who died from disease or injuries after the Vicksburg, Mississippi, Campaign in 1863. Two bronze cannons weighing about 1,300 pounds each were cast at the Paul Revere Foundry in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1864 and 1865. The cannons were 12 pounder Napoleans, which fired a 12-pound solid shot projectile or an exploding canister. They were given to Elgin Academy by a special grant through an Act of Congress and dedicated in May 1909 before a crowd of 600 people. Their placement, with one pointing north and the other south and both muzzles elevated, symbolized the peace and goodwill that came to exist between the North and South. Old Main at Elgin Academy opened in 1856 and housed classrooms and living quarters for teachers and students. The academy was ahead of its time in allowing female students and those of all religions. Built on a hilltop of local Dundee brick by Edwin Reeves and Joshua Wilburr, Old Main was designed in the Greek Revival style. Today Elgin Academy is a private, independent school educating children from pre-school through the 12th grade, and while most of Old Main now houses the Elgin History Museum, the school still uses one room as classroom space, keeping the building part of the Elgin Academy campus.