Diseases Took There Toll

The 38^th Iowa was mustered in for three years of Union service November 4^th 1862, they were known as the Martyr Regiment.

The 38^th Iowa Infantry was recruited from Bremmer, Chickasaw, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek Counties.  They received their initial training at Camp Franklin in Dubuque, Iowa and mustered into Union service on November 4^th 1862.  The Regiment moved on January 2^nd 1863 to Fort Thompson in New Madrid, Missouri where they performed garrison duty, until June 6^th 1863 when the men left for Vicksburg as part of Union Major General Francis Herron’s Division.

The 38^th arrived near Vicksburg on June 11^th 1863.  Union General Ulysses S Grant moved the Division to the southernmost part of his line to protect against Confederate Cavalry thought to be moving in from Yazoo City, Mississippi.  The 38^th crossed the river on June 14^th 1863 and went into camp at Warrenton, Mississippi.  The 38^th and 34^th Iowa Infantry consolidated on December 12^th 1864.  During the Battle of Fort Blakely in Alabama on April 9^th 1865; one of the last battles of the war, men from the old 38^th charged redoubt #4 loosing 1 man killed and 8 men wounded.

The 38^th had a total of 1037 men in its service.  Two men were killed, and 315 died from diseases.  The 38^th lost more men to sickness than any other Iowa Regiment during the war.

If you’re interested in reading more about this Regiment A Brief History of the 38th Iowa is a good web site.