The motto of Company “A” 49th Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment

Local Patriot Donates Historic Flags

Mark Jackson is a Mahaska County farmer with deep ties to this part of the state in South-Central Iowa; and a huge sense of the debt that we all owe to those who have preceded us and to those who will come behind us on this journey through time and space. This past Saturday, during the opening day ceremonies at the Mahaska County Historical Society’s Nelson Pioneer Farm/Museum, Mark and his family dedicated a beautiful granite stone bench engraved with the names of his deceased father and brother that will allow visitors to sit in the cooling shade of a tree on the farm during visits for decades to come.

During the same ceremonial remembrances of peoples and times gone by, members of The Governor’s Own and other Civil War related military re-enactment units had spoken to the assembled visitors concerning the recently conserved flag of Company “D” of the 22nd Iowa and told of the service and sacrifice of the nations servicemen to the causes of union and freedom.

Immediately following our comments, Mr. Jackson approached me and offered his personal thanks and appreciation for the conservation work that we had done on the flag and the donation of time and materials that the work had required. He also told us some of a large “national" flag that was in his family’s care that had been handed down from an ancestor of his own (*Peter Hinkle) that was known to have served with the fabled 37th Iowa “Greybeards”.

Mark told me that the flag in his family’s long-time possession, “has several signatures and sayings written on the stars” and also appeared to be “hand-made”. He further stated that he had been thinking for some time that perhaps this flag might be of historical significance and should be entrusted to the care of professionals who could properly conserve and protect it. “The flag”, Mark said, “had for years and years, been rolled up and stored in a large lard can.”



I told Mark that I would love to take a look at the flag some time and he promised to contact me to make arrangements to do so.

By the following day (Sunday) Mark and I were corresponding via e-mails and I had brought Sheila Hanke, Conservationist and Collections Manager from the Battle Flags Project into the loop, along with Brother Ken Lindblom, from our own SUVCW’s Bates Camp in Marshalltown. Ken, in addition to his activities for his SUVCW Camp and work with David Thompson and me on the Battle Flags Project, commands the re-constituted 37th Iowa “Greybeards”/SVR unit.

Sheila had confirmed to me that IF indeed this flag could be in any way connected to the 37th Iowa it would be the only known flag of that unit to have surfaced since the war, as there are none in the collections of over 300 plus flags that we are currently caring for at the State Historical Society Museum, nor are there any listed on the inventory of flags from the Adjutant General’s Report compiled shortly after the war’s end.

By Monday afternoon, a visit by Mrs. Hanke, Ken Lindblom and myself to the Jackson farmstead at rural Rose Hill, Iowa, had been planned.

After a brief period of mistakenly believing that my GPS knew where it was taking us, Sheila and I arrived at the Jackson farm to meet with Mark and his wife, Joann, to find the Ken Lindblom had arrived ahead of us. This is not surprising, as Brother Ken actually grew up in this area and still has family not too far distant from the Jackson’s farm. (Along with his historical interests, Mark is deeply involved with the Iowa Soybean Farmers Council and travels widely promoting that crop to the world, including a recently completed trade mission to the People’s Republic of China with Lt. Gov. Reynolds and other representatives of Iowa’s diverse agricultural industries).

Laid out for us on two folding tables was a magnificent (and large) 34-star national flag that close inspection leads us to believe is definitely of the Civil War period. The fabric of the stripes and canton appear to be woolen and the appliquéd (and sized) stars are likely cotton. On a number of these stars there are names and patriotic sayings that are written in a finely balanced and practiced hand that look to be of the same origin. There are a few tantalizing names among these writings along with at least one reference to “The Union League” (which was one of several patriotic and benevolent social groups of the war, and post-war period, that encouraged patriotic support of the “Union Cause” and also provided financial and logistical support to such entities as the various Sanitary Commissions, etc., that grew up out of the need for improvement in the lives of the common soldiers of the Union armies in the field) and a possible connection between that organization and the Oskaloosa area.

In addition to the beautiful penmanship on the stars, the flag also appears to have what may be determined later to be “field repairs” and is of an inordinately large size, probably approaching eight by twelve feet in overall dimension.







After our initial inspection of the flag and confirmation that it is definitely of the Civil War period, Mark informed us that he had consulted with other members of his family and wished to make a donation of this wonderful artifact to the Iowa Battle Flags Project so that it might be preserved and documented with the care and intense scrutiny that it deserves.

The accepting paperwork was filled out on the spot and we carefully wrapped this priceless artifact in tissue and cotton batting for transport to the laboratory in Des Moines where we can begin the detailed study of the flag and complete the documentation that it so richly deserves.

Mr. Jackson then donated a second, and somewhat smaller, National Flag bearing 45 stars (which places it squarely in the period of the Spanish American War between Utah’s admittance to the union as the 45th state in 1896, and Oklahoma’s statehood in 1907). Mr. Jackson told us that family oral tradition states that this second flag may well have had a US Naval connection through a collateral branch of his family’s ancestry, who is believed to have served the nation during that time period.

Words of thanks to this man and his family for these wonderful gifts are not sufficient to express the appreciation that is felt by all of us who cherish our heritage.

*Preliminary searches of a couple of Civil War databases, and Jackson family records, indicate that Peter Hinkle was born in June of 1812 in Putney Township, Belmont County, Ohio. He married in 1832 or 33 and by 1853 was engaged in farming 120 acres of land in Monroe Township, Mahaska County, Iowa.

Peter Hinkle’s eldest son (he and his wife had eleven children), Benjamin Hinkle (age 26) has answered his country’s call in October of 1861 and entered into Company “C” of the 15th Iowa Volunteer Infantry. This entire company were Mahaska County residents. Benjamin Hinkle died at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri in May of 1862.

After learning of the death of his son, and possibly motivated in part by the bounty of $10.00 being offered to residents of Mahaska County, Peter joined the swelling numbers of older men who were filling the ranks of the 37th Iowa “Greybeards” Regiment in September of 1862, and was mustered into Federal service in November of that year. Promoted to 6th Corporal of the Regiment near the war’s end in 1865, Peter Hinkle would serve out his term of enlistment with the 37th and be mustered out of military service with the remainder of his regiment in May of 1865. Family history says that Hinkle was released from service at Davenport, Iowa. (which is entirely possible as part of the 37th remained at Rock Island Arsenal at the Confederate internment camp as guards, and other companies were moved as far afield as Indianapolis, Indiana, in the closing months of the war)

Following his term in service to his nation, Peter Hinkle returned to his farm in Mahaska County where he also served as a Trustee of the Shiloh Methodist church committee that was formed to build a church in the settlement of Hopewell. Four months after Peter Hinkle returned from the war, his wife of more than thirty years (Louisa Serichfield Hinkle) died. He would again marry (Martha Matilda Tanner Dodds) in 1867 and would father two more children during that marriage.

Family oral tradition states that Peter Hinkle’s health was never the same following his term of service with the 37th Iowa and that he endured several years of illness and infirmities before passing from this life at the age of 63 in 1876. He s buried in Bedwell Cemetery, Monroe Township, Mahaska County.


Respectfully submitted,

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding

Let No Spoon Be Left Behind

Immediately prior to the opening of the Shenandoah Valley Campaign, General Grant had issued orders that the “breadbasket of the Confederacy” should be laid waste to the extent that “if a crow flies into that valley, he will need to be carrying his own rations”.

Drill Sergeant Rittel of the 49th Iowa has always had the opinion that if the Confederates were denied their spoons, they would soon be brought to grief and so has single-handedly sought for years to collect all of the spoons that fell within his reach.

For his diligence in the pursuit of his goal in this endeavor, the good Sergeant has received the award of the “Medal of the Royal Prussian Order of the Silver Spoon” given to him on the occasion of his participation in the events of Saturday, May 5th, 2012 at Nelson Pioneer Farm Museum, Oskaloosa, Iowa.



Congratulations to Sgt Rittel on this well-earned decoration!

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding

Nelson Pioneer Farm

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

Top Two Preceding Photos Courtesy of Mark Jackson

Today marked the opening for the Summer season of Nelson Pioneer Farm, located just North of Oskaloosa; and, guardsmen of The Governor’s Own were on hand for the occasion along with a field piece and gun crew from Company “C”, 3rd Iowa Independent Light Artillery; and, Corporal Alexander Vasquez, portraying an Iowa soldier of the 15th Iowa Volunteer Infantry as he would have appeared for the Battle of Shiloh. Corporal Vasquez is an Iowa based historian and educator who has recently taken part in the living-history events at the Shiloh National Battlefield Military Park. Corporal Vasquez is shown here with Color Sergeant and Mrs. Richard “Jake” Grim.



Taking part in today’s opening ceremonies and dedications was a small contingent from our regiment consisting of myself, Color Sergeant and Mrs. Grim, Sgt. Ron Rittel, and Corporal David Sample.



The 49th Iowa was honored by the staff and Board of Directors for our work on the recently completed conservation treatment of the flag of Company “D” of the 22nd Iowa that was carried by that regiment throughout its service with the Armies of the Tennessee, Army of the Gulf, and ultimately with the Army of the Shenandoah before ending its service at Savannah, GA., in the Summer of 1865 where it mustered from federal service. It is known that this flag saw service at Port Gibson (the Regiment’s first major engagement), Champions Hill, Black River Bridge, and was carried to the ramparts of Fort Beauregard (when the 22nd and 21st Iowa were joined in the assault of Vicksburg by the 11th Wisconsin): and, later at the siege of Jackson, Mississippi and other engagements across the Southern Theater of the war. The 22nd Iowa then became one of three Iowa Regiments (24th & 28th) to see action in the Eastern Theater of the war when it was moved to the Army of the Shenandoah for actions at Cedar Creek, Winchester and other places during the Fall of 1864, before being transported to Savannah, GA., where it took part in operations between the coast and Augusta and was mustered out of federal service at Savannah on July 25, 1865.

The hand-made national flag was brought home to Oskaloosa after the war ended by Captain William Phinney, and was donated to the museum following his death by his descendants. Members of The Governor’s Own working as volunteer Conservators at the Iowa Battle Flags Project of the State Historical Museum donated their time, labor, and materials to effect a complete conservation cleaning and fabric treatment of the flag and Corporal Louie Zenti built the custom made frame that will protect the flag from further decay for decades to come. The sole costs assessed to the museum for this undertaking were the purchase of the aircraft grade aluminum to built the frame and the OPTIX (UV protectant and IR neutral) Plexiglas sheet to accommodate this larger than average Company National flag of the Civil War period. This flag is the third such that the regiment has preserved for entities outside of the Iowa State historical museum.



The newly conserved flag now enjoys a display space that is prominent to the entrance to the museum collections at the Nelson Pioneer Farm Museum. This museum houses a wonderfully eclectic collection of artifacts of Iowa’s early history and pre-history and enjoys the distinction of having two very unique Civil War burials right in the middle of the museum’s grounds.

Two Union Army mules (both white in color) were purchased from the Federal Quartermaster Generals Corps by farmer Daniel Nelson at the end of the war and brought home to his farm in Mahaska County. The pair, named “Jennie “and “Becky “had been used late in the war as part of the teams that hauled field artillery pieces. The following account of their demise(s) dates from the Oskaloosa Weekly Herald, April 1, 1897:

On Sunday afternoon at the Daniel Nelson homestead northeast of Oskaloosa, occurred the death of “Beckie”, the famous white mule that served all through the late rebellion. Her sister Jennie died about 9 years ago and they are now buried side by side on the Nelson place. These faithful old animals have had a remarkable history, and if they could have talked could have told many interesting war stories. They were born and reared in Ohio, and in 1854 when Beckie was seven and Jennie six they were taken to Cincinnati and sold to the Government. To make sure that they would not desert the service they were branded with a big “U.S.”, which marks remained with them until their death.

What regiment they served in is not now known, but they were mustered into the artillery service and helped to haul about the big guns. When the war closed they were again taken to Cincinnati and sold at public auction. The purchaser who bought them secured several more head and brought them to Iowa for sale. The late Daniel Nelson bought the two in 1865 and they have been the family’s faithful servants ever since. They were pure white and as gentle as could be. Neither one of them was ever sick a day until within a few hours of their death.

Beckie, the one which died on Sunday, had become quite feeble and often had to be helped upon her feet when she was lying down. She was full of life however, up to the last and are feed about 15 hours before she died.

Jennie was 34 when she died and Beckie 42. Their longevity was the remark of everybody acquainted with their history, and many persons made special trips to the Nelson place to see the animals.

…….The Oskaloosa Weekly Herald, April 1, 1897 by John Jacobs, Rose Hill, Iowa

The earthly remains of this pair of Civil War celebrity mules now reside in the nation’s only known “mule cemetery”, lovingly cared for by staff at the museum which now surrounds their “last post”. The Regiment intends to adorn the graves with markers appropriately commemorating their service to the nation on an upcoming trip back to the farm museum in the near future.





Nelson Pioneer Farm is also the site of the Memorial plaque honoring Private Cyrus West, the first Iowan in a volunteer infantry regiment (Co. “H”, 3rd Iowa) to fall in battle during the Civil War. This area has many deep Civil War connections that are worth exploring; and, it was from these rolling hills and dales that at least four regiments of young Iowa farm boys and itinerant coal miners would lay aside their picks, shovels and plows to take up arms in defense of their nation during the four bloodiest years in this nations history.

The museum is open to the public Tuesdays through Saturdays from May to October. It is worth a visit if for no other reason than to be able to say that you have seen the nation’s only Civil War mule cemetery.

Respectfully submitted

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding

An Omen

Given the nature of our seemingly interminable cycle of wind and rain of late, and the still reverberating sounds of thunder that were all around us, the thoughts of all seven members of today’s regimental work detail heading to Lineville for a day of wrestling with a century-old stained glass window, turned to the expected miseries that lay ahead. No sooner did we arrive on-site at the church than the skies began to clear and a favorable breeze began to blow in from the South as if unseen forces were working to lighten our load during the course of our labors. Perhaps an omen that the rescue mission that we were on was being looked upon favorably by those who had gone before?

Last Fall, members of the Department of Iowa Sesquicentennial Committee had learned that the Lineville Methodist Episcopal Church (built in 1897) had reached a point of dilapidation that rendered it unsafe and un-fixable at a cost that would have been within reach of its dwindled congregation and was to be razed. The magnificent old wooden framed church sits just feet away from a railroad track that runs through the heart of the tiny community which straddles the Iowa-Missouri border, and more than a century of fast moving freight trains had slowly, and surely, taken their toll on the building’s structural integrity.

Through a series of negotiations taking place over the late Fall and Winter of last year, the Department of Iowa purchased from the congregation the magnificent Grand Army of the Republic window that was the center-piece of the South-facing wall of the church near the main entry and bell tower upon which the now-leaning steeple still sits. As the date is rapidly approaching when the bull dozers are due to reduce the structure to rubble, it was now time to act to rescue this wonder piece of our collective heritage.







As soon as it was made known that the Department’s Sesquicentennial Committee had effected the purchase of the window from the church, The Governor’s Own stepped into the breach and offered our time, efforts, and energies to the removal of the window and transportation of the artifact to the new home that was found for it at the Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon, a scant twenty miles away from Lineville. We seemed the natural choice to perform this mission as we have within out ranks the multi-talented Corporal Rick Stewart, “Regimental Artiste Extraordinaire” and long-time building contractor who had actually removed other nine-foot square, six-hundred pound, windows in the past without rendering them into a wonderful collection of oddly shaped glass pieces.



Not to mention the fact that as the Honor Guard for the Department, it just seemed to us that duty called and we should answer.

On this day, as our seven-man work detail converged upon Lineville under darkened skies with intermittent sprinkles still beating upon our windshields from the over-night storms that had lashed Southern Iowa ahead of the sunrise, we were resigned to what looked to be a fairly wet and miserable day of struggling with our heavy lifting to be done. But, as I said earlier on, the clouds moved on, the sky cleared, and a fair wind kissed the project and made for one of those memorable Spring days in Iowa that facilitated our labors and made things go a whole lot easier than they might have.

Our Band of Brothers-in-arms this day consisted of myself, 2/Lt. Krock, Color Sergeant Grim, Sgt. Ron Rittel, and Corporals James Braden, David Sample, and Ricky Stewart, who by virtue of his vast experience with projects such as this took situational command and saw us all through the endeavor without a single injury to man or window.

Late afternoon saw us deliver the sections of the window and frame to the Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon where it will be re-assembled, and assume a place of honor among the collections of that august institution on a more or less permanent basis.

Plans are forming at this time for a “re-dedication” of the window in its new home at the museum in conjunction with Corydon’s annual Pioneer Days festival that will be held over the first weekend in October.

While on-site at the museum delivering our precious cargo, we also entered into preliminary discussions with museum staff to take on another possible flag preservation and conservation project of a miniature national flag that is said to have been carried in the knapsack of an Iowa member of Sherman’s Armies on the fabled “March to the Sea” in the Winter of 1864 and Spring of 1865.

Doing what we can, when and where we can, in the interests of preserving our precious heritage.

Respectfully submitted,

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding

























A Closing Photo:



The Continuing Adventures of Spoons Rittel

As we approach the annual Memorial Day events that today seem to be widely symbolized by the ever-present image of the blood-red poppies that became the fashion to show patriotic connections to our fighting forces in the years following World War I, and the publication of the hauntingly beautiful poem, “In Flanders Fields” (written by Lt/Col John McCrae, a Canadian surgeon serving with the British Expeditionary Forces in France, after overseeing the funeral of a beloved friend in who fell at the 2nd Battle of Ypres in May, 1915) it would seem appropriate to pause for a moment to recall an earlier symbol, from an earlier struggle.

Most of you, I am certain, know of the poppy and why it came to symbolize the “Great Fallen” of WWI; but, did you know that the poppies that grew wild over the graves of the dead in those French and Belgian fields of World War One were not the first flowers to stand as symbols of service and sacrifice? And, for some around the world (including parts of the British Empire, including Canada’s Newfoundland Province) did not replace the older harbingers of those virtues until well into the middle of the twentieth century.

The delicate and diminutive blue, five-petaled, bloom of the of the common “Forget-Me-Not” played a significant role on the home fronts and battlefields of the American Civil War that is largely forgotten these days. While the species itself encompasses over forty separate plants whose colors range from white to pink to shades of blue, we shall concern ourselves here with but one. The blue flowered variety that grows wild across much of the North American continent.

Religious legends say that in the beginning of time, when God had just finished creating the Earth, Sky, and Waters, he next turned his attention to the plants that would cover the surfaces of his new creation. Of course, once created, He named them one by one and overlooked a single, tiny plant with its blue petaled flowers. Worried that it would forever go nameless, the small plants cried out, “Forget-Me-Not, oh Lord!”, and amused by the gentle reminder the Creator said, “That shall be thy name, gentle ‘Forget-Me-Not’”.



Throughout history, this tiny flower has been the symbol of royal households (Henry IV of England adopted it as his emblem in 1398; and, it was a favorite symbol of the German House of Saxe-Coburg throughout much of the same time period) and common men. In 15th century Germany young maidens who were betrothed wore the tiny flowers in garlands in their hair as symbols of their fidelity to, and undying love for, their young men who were often away fighting in one of Europe’s seemingly never-ending wars.

To a large extent, those very wars, based upon growing religious differences, political intrigues and the struggles for power among the landed classes contributed mightily to the waves of immigration to our own shores by those wishing to escape to the New World where they might experience a different life than those they were destined to have at home in Europe. It may well be that those same immigrants brought with them their cultural affinities toward the wearing of the “Forget-Me-Not” to show love and fidelity to soldiers serving far away from their homes.

When the American Civil War broke out and this nation began to send it’s sons off to fight and die, the wearing of the blooms of the “Forget-Me-Not” became a way of announcing to the world that you had someone special wearing the uniform of his nation’s cause and serving far from hearth and home.



By the middle of the nineteenth century, talented seamstresses working in the dress-making shops of the growing industrial revolution had begun to make silk flowers from scraps of materials left over from the trimmings of their materials that they were cutting to make blouses, and dresses for their clientele.

One of my own Great-grandmothers, Luella Mae Townsend (maiden name of Bruch) had twin brothers who had enlisted in Illinois Regiments in the very first days of the war. At the time of the outbreak of war, “Lu” was living in Hardin County, Iowa, and family oral tradition says that she sent away to a Chicago dress-maker friend of hers for some silken “Forget-Me-Not” sprigs to sew to her bonnet in remembrance of her brothers (neither of whom survived the war). Upon learning of their deaths, Luella covered the silk blooms (but never removed them from the hat) with a sheer black crepe “mourning veil” that she wore for the rest of her life to honor those fallen brothers.



A photo of that bonnet (sans the “mourning veil” which long ago disintegrated) accompanies this article.

Another example of the importance of the “Forget-Me-Not” follows:

The One-Hundred and Sixteenth Pennsylvania was one of the units that was engaged in the fierce fighting in and around Chancellorsville, Virginia, in the closing days of April and first six days of May, 1863, and left many of its honored dead buried in the shallow graves that were the lot of the common soldier of armies constantly on the move. Over the coming months the 116th would fight on in dozens of smaller engagements in the area and in the days just preceding the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House (May 8-21, 1864) they would again find themselves camped on the site of their engagement of the previous year.

Col. (later Brevet Major General)St. Claire A. Mulholland, then in command of the regiment, recalled in his diaries of the time (which would later become his published history of the 116th) that the area still bore the physical scars of the previous years fighting and that much in the way of abandoned physical reminders of the fighting (empty cartridge tins, belt buckles, pieces of harness, decaying bones of horses, blankets, bayonets, cartridge boxes and so forth) still lay scattered about the battlefield. When several of his men went looking for the graves of their dead comrades they found that the area where they had been hastily lain to rest wrapped in their own blankets and shelter halves to be covered over with “wild flowers and Forget-Me-Not’s”.

Mulholland’s own Adjutant, Lt. Col. Richard C. Dale, wrote of the incident in a letter sent by him to the Pittsburgh Chronicle newspaper;

I gathered a few flowers as mementoes….the battlefield is covered with wild flowers, nearly all of a purple color, as though the blood of our brave soldiers had so drenched the soil as to darken the very flowers that grew upon it. Perhaps some who have lost friends at Chancellorsville may take pleasure in thinking that though their dead heroes may sleep in unmarked graves, yet the flowers bloom over them as profusely as if interred in any of our beautiful cemeteries at home.
(The Story of the 116th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion, pp 203-204, St. Claire A. Mulholland, edited by Lawrence Frederick Kohl, New York: Fordham University Press, 1966. Xxviii +463pp. ISBN 0-8232-1606-3.)

Within ten days of writing this letter, Lt/Col. Dale would, himself, fill a soldier’s unmarked grave.

In Remembrance,

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding

On Friday night, April 27th, 2012, it seemed as though there had been some sort of rending of the time-space continuum which had somehow lifted and shifted the environs of the middle Tennessee River bluffs near Pittsburgh Landing; and, transported them entirely to the verdant banks of the Volga River in Fayette County, Iowa. There to deposit them squarely into the student center on the campus of Upper Iowa University.

Such was the sorcery of Professor Timothy B. Smith, PhD.,



noted Civil War Historian and author, who had come from his own University of Tennessee (Martin) to speak to a those assembled there of the enormous and enduring links that were forged by the “University Recruits” of Company “C” of the 12th Iowa Volunteer Infantry and the forests, fields, and bluffs above the Tennessee that was to become the first of many of the Civil War’s bloodiest struggles. A parcel of land that history would remember in hushed and reverent whispers by those who survived it, and the families of them who did not knew it simply as “Shiloh”.

Dr. Lisa Guinn and Dr. Tom Jorsch, Assistant Professors of History at Upper Iowa, had enticed Professor Smith to return to Upper Iowa for the university’s commemoration of the one-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of that great battle;



and, had also graciously invited members of The Governor’s Own to participate in the event. Dr. Smith admits to an unabashed and long-held love of Upper Iowa University that was forged by his years of work as a Park Ranger and Historian at the Shiloh National Battlefield Park. Dr. Smith’s own years of observation, study, and scholarly writings of that battle have convinced him that the service and sacrifices of those young men of Company “C”, of the 12th Iowa on that great field of battle have forever linked that place and this; and, his own talk on this night focused upon the on-going legacy of the deeds of that corps of young men who left their desks and school books behind to don the uniforms of their nation when called upon to do so.

We were reminded by Dr. Smith that men such as David Bremner Henderson, the young Scottish immigrant and student who would, along with two of his own brothers vow to go to war and so passionately and stridently spoke on the endeavor that much of the male population of the student body would march off to join them. Henderson, who played such a significant role in the organization of this company of recruits would himself be wounded at Shiloh and would endure the loss of one of his beloved brothers there. He would suffer a debilitating second injury at Corinth, Mississippi that would result in the amputation of his left foot and effectively, but only temporarily, remove him from the ranks of the Union Armies. He would go on to command another Regiment (the 46th Iowa, one of the “Hundred Days” regiments that served from June to September of 1864) Henderson would return to his studies at war’s end and would ultimately enter into the practice law. He again was called to serve his state and nation by his entry into politics in the latter years of the nineteenth century as one of the champions of his own Republican Party. Rising to become Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Henderson would become the first man from West of the Mississippi River; and, second foreign-born man, to do so.

Dr. Smith also reminded us of the monumental legacy of David Wilson Reed, whose own service at Shiloh would, in many ways continue from those days in April of 1862 unto the end of his own life in1916. Reed too would be wounded during the engagement at the fabled “Hornet’s Nest” on the first day of fighting at Shiloh, and would lay on the field overnight until Federal Forces would re-take that ground on the second day. Like his friend, David Henderson, Reed would recover from those wounds and return to the remnants of his beloved 12th Iowa in time for the Battle of Corinth, Mississippi in May of 1862. By the time of the “First Battle of Corinth” as the siege of that key Confederate railhead community has come to be known, the decimated ranks of Iowa’s 8th, 12th and 14th Infantry Regiments would be joined together to form the “Union Brigade”.

In all 6,753 Iowans would fight at Shiloh, 2,407 would be killed, wounded, captured, or be listed as “missing” following what were the two bloodiest days in the nation’s history to that point. The 12th Iowa alone would lose 36 killed, 57 wounded and 419 captured during the engagement (and 65 of those captured would die in Confederate prison camps). A mere 75 men of the 12th Iowa would elude death or capture at Shiloh and be mustered into the Union Brigade. At Corinth, 37 of them would fall.

David Reed would fight on and rise to the rank of Major by war’s end, whence he returned to school, and also took up the study of law. But the images of Shiloh and the loss of his brother, Milton Reed, to disease while serving in the 27th Iowa, would haunt him for the remainder of his days.

The search for Milton’s grave site (at Corinth National Cemetery) and many on-going connections to Henderson and others of his “Sterling Band of Brothers” from his days of service would result in his writing what was once considered to be the definitive account of that battle; and, to his appointment as the Superintendant of the newly created Shiloh National Military Park in 1894. That appointment was greatly influenced by his friend and mentor, United States Representative David B. Henderson. (Who had authored the Bill in the United States Congress to establish Shiloh National Military Park)

David Reed would work tirelessly for over nineteen years to commemorate the great conflict that had played out in the quiet countryside around Shiloh Methodist Church. He would oversee the placement of scores of monuments, and over 250 cannon upon the historic sites of over 4,000 acres of the battlefield. He would personally interview hundreds of veterans of the engagement and meticulously record their recollections into his own writings. For many of those years (until 1910) Reed and his assistants at Shiloh would live in tents on the sites of the Battlefield while conducting their work, and mutinously mapping the terrain.

Reed would come to be known in his own lifetime as the pre-eminent historian of that battle.

To no small extent, the Battle of Shiloh never ended for David Reed. While conducting business as Superintendant he was thrown from his carriage in a freak accident in 1913 and severely injured. Those injuries and his advancing years would force him to retire to his former home in Waukon, Iowa, where he would never fully recover.

He would pass the final years of his life there, and pass from this life on September 22, 1916, and be laid to rest in Waukon.

Bearing witness to the events of this night was the field desk and other personal artifacts that David Reed and others had used while commanding Company “C” of the 12th Iowa; and the second flag of that noble company that was borne throughout the entire war by another of the “University Recruits” Color Sergeant Henry J. Grannis. (Company “C” of the 12th Iowa, would be appointed to bear the Regimental Colors by vote of the entire regiment, which was popularly done in those days. Grannis’s selection to be the man to bear the colors had been decided by vote of the women of the University community, as was also customary in those days. In deciding who was to bear the colors, Grannis’s name had competed with that of David W. Reed in the esteem of the ladies making the decision, or so legend has it). This is the very flag that would be made by the ladies and presented to the unit following the capture of its first flag when the regiment was finally overwhelmed at the end of the first days fighting at Shiloh.

Following Dr. Smith’s remarks to the gathering, a reception was held in his honor at the Student Center, and we all passed a further delightful hour hearing further tidbits and insights from this outstanding historian.

In a separate, yet related, endeavor, I was able to talk at some length with Ms. Becky Wadian, Librarian and Archivist at the University Library; and University President Dr Alan Walker about the proposition of entrusting the flag that CS Grannis had carried to the conservation lab at the Iowa Historical Society Museum





for preservation treatment and mounting into a suitable long-term frame as the regiment has done for other endangered flags. Both agreed to the endeavor with all work to be donated ” to the cause” by members of the 49th Iowa and the only costs to be incurred by the University being the materials needed to construct the custom-made frame by our own Corporal Louis Zenti.

Arrangements will soon be made for the flag to be collected and transported to Des Moines for treatment.

In attendance from “The Governor’s Own” 49th Iowa at Friday night’s event was Department Commander, Michael Carr (making his first “official” appearance at the event as Commander of the Department of Iowa);



Past Department Commanders Court Stahr and James A. Braden; 2nd Lt. Danny E. Krock (dressed in the uniform of the 16th Iowa in honor of his own ancestry in that noble regiment) and myself. PDC Stahr’ lovely wife, Janet, graced us with her company and served as the chronicler of the evening’s activities by doing the service of photographing the event.



At the end of the evening, and before retiring to the Stahr home to further enjoy their company and hospitality, Dr. Guinn presented the regiment with a monetary contribution to the Iowa Rifles Monument Restoration Project on behalf of Upper Iowa University. Those funds will go toward the current project to restore the monument at Elkader in Clayton County.

For those of us with a love of our history, and a dedication to its preservation, it just doesn’t get a whole lot better than this!

Respectfully submitted,

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding

The High Ground

The old military maxim that “He, who holds the high ground, holds the day” has been variously attributed to every general from to Gaius Julius Caesar (100 to 44BC) to Zhuge-Liang (181 to 234 AD) to George Gordon Meade (1815-1872). And, much of the recorded history of military endeavors of all armies in all times would seem to bear out the wisdom of the philosophy. Certainly, both Colonels Strong Vincent and Joshua Chamberlain’s experiences on Little Round Top at Gettysburg can attest to the wisdom in the words.

On a somewhat lesser scale than the exploits of the military leaders named above, The Governor’s Own Forty-Ninth Iowa can now claim at least a small piece of the turf referred to as the high ground thanks to the very recent accolades that have been afforded to us by our SVR District Commander, Lt. Col . Jack Grothe and our parent Order’s National Commander-in-Chief, Dr. Donald Palmer.

As mentioned in a previous After-Action Report covering the unit’s activities on the weekend of 14-15 April at the Lincoln’s Tomb Remembrance Ceremonies, the unit garnered the personal praise of our immediate Commander when Colonel Grothe addressed the Honor Guard personally to express his pleasure and pride in, “a job well-done!”
On Saturday, April 21st, at the 129th Department of Iowa Encampment of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Commander-in-Chief Palmer took time to praise his appointed Honor Guard for our participation on his behalf at the Remembrance Day at Gettysburg last November when we carried his Colors during the parade and ceremonies; and at the event in Springfield. We shall also post his colors at the upcoming National Encampment in Los Angeles, California, marking his last official act as commander.

C-in-C Palmer told the assembled delegates to the Iowa Department Encampment that his naming of The Forty-Ninth Iowa to be his personal Color Bearers during his term in office was another “first” in the annals of both this Regiment and the history of the Sons of Veterans Reserve, and he expressed his deepest appreciation for the manner in which we have represented both himself and his administration at the aforementioned national events thus far. He then presented the unit with his personal streamer for our own colors bearing the inscription, The Commander-in-Chief’s Own 2011-2012, Donald d. Palmer, Jr., Commander-in-Chief-SUVCW boldly emblazoned in black upon the yellow ribbon denoting his Commandry of our Order. The Commander Palmer then presented each individual guardsman of the regiment with a certificate of his personal appreciation for their efforts on his behalf.

I can only re-iterate the Commander-in-Chiefs’ word to the men of this command by adding my own expressions of gratitude to every member of the regiment for all that you have done to support this effort.

Exceptionally well done, gentlemen! The view from here is pretty special, is it not?

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding

A Rainy Night at Junie’s

I had the pleasure of presenting a program to the Cedar Valley Civil War Roundtable describing The Governor’s Own.

Jo Porter had contacted me about doing a program about our unit to their Roundtable.
She asked if I could do a Power Point presentation, and I said, “yes”.

Now, I’ve never built a Power Point presentation, even though I have the software in my Microsoft Office package…so, off I went.

Stretched over about three weeks, I had sixteen hours in designing, building, and editing my presentation.

Last night, accompanied by my darlin’, Janet, we journeyed to Junie’s Restaurant in Elk Run Heights to present the story of The Governor’s Own.

We arrived a little before 5:00 p.m. and were graciously met by Jo Porter. This was our first meeting other than e-mails.

With Janet’s assistance, I preceded to set-up our 32” Samsung flat screen and laptop containing the Power Point program.

Once everything was set-up, we took the opportunity to introduce ourselves to incoming members of the Cedar Valley Civil War Roundtable.





This is a very nice group of people who have a real passion for the study and discussion of our Nation’s civil war.
They made Janet & I feet very welcome and comfortable in our new surroundings.

Once the dinner was finished, Janet & I were introduced to the Roundtable as a whole and my presentation began at 7:00 p.m.

Jo had said the programs usually last from twenty to thirty minutes.

I knew as I was designing the program, it was going to be difficult editing our story into thirty minutes. There were easily five different categories that could receive a full thirty minute program. Much has been accomplished by The Governors Own in our “less than three year existence”.

I engaged my stopwatch and began…everything was going smoothly, gliding right along, when I looked down at my stopwatch, for the first time…did a double take to confirm the number staring back at me…thirty-three minutes had disappeared and I was about halfway…so, I apologized and offered to stop then and there…the group asked me to finish with the highlights.



Everything I had put into the program was highlights, so I breezed thru the remaining pages in about seven minutes.

The entire presentation including a few questions after the program was fifty minutes.

I wish to thank Jo Porter and the entire membership of the Cedar Valley Civil War Roundtable for their interest in our Organization, and making the Stahr’s feel welcome into their group on “A Rainy Night at Junie’s.”

A Report Submitted by
1/Cpl Stahr

Photos by Janet Stahr

56th Annual Lincoln Tomb Ceremony

Oak Ridge Cemetery
Springfield, IL

April 14, 2012

In a steady and gentle rain, the Honor Guard of the 49th Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regimental Honor Guard went surely and silently about the task of uncasing and “dressing” our Colors before falling into formation in marching order to await our National Commander-in-Chief’s arrival at the site of President Lincoln’s Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery.

These men are recognized by their peers, and by their commanders, to be the very best that this Order has to offer. They are each of them very much cognizant of the eyes of history that are being cast upon them at every moment that they wear the uniforms of their ancestors; and, the measure that is being taken of them by both the seen and unseen in a place such as this. Here, there is such a sense of honor, and of tragedy that their slow and measured movements of preparation seem to flow with a quiet professionalism that only adds to the dignity of this occasion.

For me, as their very proud Commander, there is always a sense of enormous admiration for this group of highly motivated “professionals” who understand completely that they are among a small and select number who would even dream of giving up a Saturday to drive across two states to don heavy wool uniforms; to spend hours and hours polishing leathers and brass and making certain that every crease is set, every medal is level and that their soon to be rain-soaked white gloves are absolutely spotless, before stepping out into a driving rain to pay homage to the memory of men and events so long passed.

But that is who they are, and this is what they do, over and over, and over again if need be and duty calls them to do so.

I have served with some of this nation’s finest, but NEVER have I served with finer men than these.

Of this group of dedicated men who strive so to honor their ancestors, I am ever reminded of the words of Lincoln in addressing the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, in January of 1838;

At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.

There was little “grousing” about the weather or the circumstances, as every man in the unit went about his work this day. They all knew that we, as a unit, were being highly honored in many ways on this day. Honored to be carrying onto these grounds, hallowed by the presence of our martyred sixteenth President, not only the National Colors, our “Regimental Colors”, and those of the Department of Iowa. But also the “9/11 National” that we have carried at every event since September 11th, 2011 (to honor the three-thousand slain in the tragic hours of 9/11/2001) but on this day we would also field the Guidon of the Fourth Military District/SVR, and also be carrying forward the personal colors of the National Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, Dr. Donald D. Palmer, Jr.

Normally, when soldiers aren’t complaining, something is drastically wrong. But not a discordant note was heard from anyone on this day.

What you did hear was the good-natured jesting between brothers in arms who commented on the distinct smell of “dampened Airedale” that seems to prevail at a certain point when the wool reaches a particular level of saturation; or the slight shiver that each man gives after bowing his head in prayer for the chaplains benediction and then feeling the small rivulet of rain that collected on the back of his head course down his neck and back like some unseen hand had emptied their canteen on you when you lift your eyes. There is also the fiendishly amusing squishing sound that somehow helps you keep cadence as you march once your socks take on enough water to soak the soles of your marching shoes.



Joining us in our endeavors on this day of making “armchair memories” were three extraordinarily sharp gentlemen from the 29th United States Colored Troops.



(L to R)
LeRoy Martin
Luther Johnson
Victor Young

These fine gentlemen more than ably took the place of our own riflemen, as all who came to this event were detailed to carry colors on this day; we also had the pleasure of a gentleman falling in with us to carry the colors for MOLLUS National Commander, The Honorable Jeffry C. Burden. Completing the color contingent were the combined color guards of several other Departments and individual Camps carried by Soldiers and Sailors of various other SVR units from across the nation.

Following the ceremonies, President Lincoln’s Tomb was opened for us to visit for a few moments of reverent introspection. We were allowed to actually approach the final resting place of our beloved Lincoln and to take away both memories and photographs to reflect upon with significant pride in those unknown days to come.



In a final moment of proud reflection, our own immediate Commander, Lt/Col Jack Grothe came to us to personally convey his thanks and admiration for a job “well done”; and reminded us of the special place that The Governor’s Own now holds in the history books for being the first in the Fourth Military District of the Sons of Veterans Reserve to be officially afforded the honor of bearing the guidon of the Command.

All in all, for us, it was a day that was kissed by rain, but drenched by glory.

Respectfully Submitted,

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding

Iowa in the Civil War Exhibit opens at the State Historical Museum in Des Moines

Prior to the official opening of “Nothing But Victory; Iowa in the Civil War” (the quotation taken from the title of the book by Steven Woodworth chronicling the struggles of the Army of the Tennessee) on Saturday, April 14th, 2012, the exhibition of artifacts from the collections of both the Iowa Historical Society and a select few pieces from private collections were previewed by The Honorable Terry E. Branstad, Governor of Iowa, and other invited guests.



Over three-hundred artifacts pertaining to the participation of Iowans in this bloodiest of American wars is on display in one of the largest exhibitions ever mounted at an Iowa museum. Over 10,000 square feet of museum space has been allocated to house the exhibit which will run for one year. Many of the items on display have never before been seen by the public at large.





Guardsmen of the Governor’s Own Forty-Ninth Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry Regiment participated in the pre-opening activities as the Honor Guard for Governor Branstad before departing for duties at the 56th annual Lincoln’s Tomb Ceremonials at Oak Hill Cemetery in Springfield Illinois as Honor Guard to the Commander-in-Chief of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War; and, as Guidon Bearers to the 4th Military District of the Sons of Veterans Reserve.

Respectfully submitted

1/Lt. David M. Lamb
Commanding