141st Annual Encampment, Department of Iowa

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War


Gold Star Museum, Des Moines, Iowa April 20, 2024


     As it looks today, the Encampment will likely begin promptly at 11:00 am. This will give time to those travelling from out of town and also some time for those who wish to visit the museum prior to the meetings. The Museum typically opens at 10:00 am on Saturdays. Dodge Camp is investigating catered lunch options. It is very likely that we will need a headcount and pre-payment a couple weeks prior to the Encampment. Once more information is known, I will put out a pre-registration email.


     The museum typically closes at 2:00 pm on Saturdays, however, we should be allowed time to finish our business meeting and officer installation if we run a little past that time. Because of this, we will want to stay on task and not get too sidetracked on non-business related items.


     If any delegates from your Camp are planning to introduce any new business items, please have them contact iowasignals@gmail.com so that I can place them on the agenda.


     As part of the planning, we will be needing an approximate headcount by the end of March in order to be sure we appropriately plan for lunch. Due to time constraints, an on-site lunch is being planned. At this time I am unaware of a planned menu or what the cost per attendee will be.


     More details will come later, but please let your Camp and Auxiliary members know the date of the meeting and have them let you know if they plan to attend in the next couple months. I will be asking for an approximate headcount in late March.


     Our National SUVCW representative will be National Quartermaster Bobby Welsh. The Department has typically hosted the National representative for dinner following the Encampment. If you or others are interested in joining us, please let me know so that I can try to organize that as well.



     A couple extra notes:

A valid driver's license or other government photo identification is required to

enter Camp Dodge.

To perpetuate the memory of the Grand Army of the Republic and of the men who saved the Union,
 1861 to 1865; to assist in every practicable way in the preservation and making available for research of documents and records pertaining to the Grand Army of the Republic and its members; to cooperate 
 in doing honor to all who have patriotically served our country in any war; to teach patriotism, and the duties of citizenship, the true history of our country, and the love and honor of our Flag; to oppose 
every tendency or movement that would weaken loyalty to, or make for the destruction or impairment 
of our Constitutional Union; and to inculcate and broadly sustain the American principles of
 representative government, of equal rights, and of impartial justice for all.

“Individuals attending events hosted by the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, by virtue of their attendance, agree to the usage of their likeness in the Banner, any Camp or Department Newsletter, any SUVCW website and/or on any SUVCW Social Media outlet, promotional brochures, or any other SUVCW material”.

     In 1860, Iowa had a population of 674,913 men, women and children, living in 124,098 households. Of this number, 116,000 men were eligible for military service. Iowa sent roughly 71,500 men to fight, 10.5% of our total population. Over the next four years 13,169, or one out of six, would die in the war. 

      Iowans fought at Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge, Fort Henry and Fort Donelson. They were at Shiloh, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Vicksburg and Missionary Ridge.

        They marched with Sherman through Atlanta and on to the sea. They suffered at Andersonville and triumphantly marched in the Grand Review at Washington, D.C.


  Greetings from the Department of Iowa,

Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

We're always happy to welcome new members.


You can contact the nearest Camp or our

Junior Vice Department Commander:


John T. Pregler

johnpregler@gmail.com

      During the Civil War Iowa sent: forty-four Infantry Regiments, four Artillery Batteries, nine Cavalry Regiments and the First Iowa Infantry African Descent, which became the Sixtieth U. S. Colored Infantry.  Over 800 Iowans enlisted in the Navy and Marines, stationed on either the Mississippi River or the Atlantic Coast. And yes, Iowans wore Blue and fought for the North. Their uniforms were made of wool. Their shoes came in neither left nor right. Their rifles weighed 10 pounds and fired one round at a time. They earned $13 a month and were paid every three months. Often their rations were few: General Sherman liked the Iowa boys

 “ 'cause they knew how to forage for food and took long strides when they marched”. 


Do you have an ancestor who served in the Union Army, Navy, Marine Corps or Revenue Cutter Service during the Civil War?  If you have a Union Civil War ancestor who qualifies you for Membership in our organization, or if you're interested in honoring the memory of the "Boys in Blue" through an Associate Membership, please consider joining the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War.

Currently, our number of those who served in Iowa Regiments and Iowans who served in other units, during the Civil War stands at:

71,544


Currently, the Department of Iowa has identified the graves of 41,719 Union Civil War Soldiers buried in Iowa, who are listed on the

SUVCW National Graves Registration Database.


Applying for a Veterans Headstone Video 

with Brother Mike Rowley


140th Annual Encampment of the Department of Iowa, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War

The 140th Annual Encampment of the Department of Iowa, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War was held Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the Iowa Veterans Home, Marshalltown, Iowa. Bruce D. Frail, National Commander-in-Chief, was in attendance.


The Elected Officers for 2023/2024 are:


Dennis Sasse - Department Commander

Charles Boeck - Senior Vice Department Commander

John Pregler - Junior Vice Department Commander

Daniel Rittel - Department Secretary/Treasurer

Don McGuire, Kenneth Lindblom, and Karl Geesman - Department Council Members

Last Union Soldier Project

           The purpose of the Last Union Soldier Project is to locate and appropriately mark the final resting place of the Last Union Civil War Soldier buried in each county and in each state of this great country. The Last Union Soldier project marries the efforts of the SUVCW's Grave Registration and Monuments Restoration programs. 
        These Iowa men are listed by the County they resided in at the time of their death. Some are buried in other Counties and other States.
         Kossuth County was the first to lose their Last Union Soldier, when John Grover passed away on March 1, 1932.  James Martin of O'Brien County was the Last Union Soldier in Iowa, passing on September 20, 1949.  Ira Wheeler, Howard County, was the youngest, passing at the age of 87 years, 8 months and 12 days.  Ebenezer McMurray, Johnson County, was the oldest, at the age of 103 years, 9 months and 24 days.  Iowa has 99 Counties, but, 100 Last Union Soldiers.  Robert Killen and William Humphreys, both of Lucas County, died the same day, January 25, 1941.
        Harrison Ray Crecelius was the Last Union Soldier of Ringgold County.  His brother Clark Franklin Crecelius was the Last Union Soldier of Floyd County, Indiana. 

Iowa's Last Union Soldier Project Completed


 Iowa has completed its project to identify and mark the Last Union Soldier in each of the 99 counties in the state. On June 18, 2022, we marked the final one, James P. Martin of O’Brien County in northwest Iowa. We held a special ceremony as Mr. Martin was also the last living soldier in Iowa. He passed away in 1949, only a short time before his 102nd birthday. His funeral was a huge event attended by 800 persons including the Governor and many dignitaries from Veteran Organizations.

 

     He grew up in Wisconsin, enlisted in the 1st Wisconsin Heavy Artillery at age 16 and moved to Iowa after the War where he farmed and raised a large family. He was active in the GAR, attended National Encampments, and served as Department Commander the last two years of his life when he was the only member alive in Iowa. About 25 relatives of Mr. Martin attended our ceremony on June 18. Danny Krock, PDC led the program and the Kinsman Camp Guards performed a moving ceremony. A last soldier plaque was added at his gravesite.

 

       There is a story to be told about each of the last soldiers. For example, the last soldier of Lee County was John Drain, an escaped slave from Missouri who served in the U. S. 67th Colored Infantry. He died in 1940 at age 96 but was heathy enough to attend the 75th Anniversary Reunion at Gettysburg in 1938. James W. Willett was the last soldier (or sailor in this case) from Tama County. He was a Boatswain’s Mate on the USS Springfield, a gunboat on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. He was very active in the GAR and served as National Commander-in-Chief from 1921-22. He also served terms as Judge Advocate General for the GAR.

 

The most unusual situation was in Lucas County where there were two last soldiers. They died on the same day, January 25, 1941. Both were born in 1844 and were age 96 at death. Robert Killen served in the 37th Kentucky Infantry and William Humphrey in the 119th Ohio Infantry.

 

      We were fortunate to have Ron Rittel, PDC do the research to identify the last soldiers. He spent hundreds of hours in the State Archives in Des Moines to develop this information. The last soldiers tended to be young at enlistment – at least 4 were age 15. The average age at death was 96 – 15 were age 100 or over.

 

       This was a rewarding project for our Department. There were many compliments from relatives of James Martin after the ceremony on June 18.  More information about the project, can be found on this site The Monument website - iowacivilwarmonuments.com - has a photo at gravesite and information about each last soldier.


Sons of Union Civil War Veterans Honoring James P. Martin Iowa's Last Civil War Soldier - YouTube


courtesy of Richard R. Radtke, O'Brien County's Bell-Times-Courier


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