Southeast Iowa
and the
 Civil War

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Burlingtonians of the Civil War

Des Moines County and the Civil War

Located along the Mississippi River, and bordered on the south by the slave state of Missouri, the state of Iowa and indeed Des Moines County had much at stake as the Civil War engulfed the nation. After Lincoln's call for troops in April of 1861, the First Iowa Infantry was formed. Many Des Moines County boys enlisted and soon went into action. In August at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in southeastern Missouri one of Burlington's own, Nicholas Bouquet, under a withering enemy fire, saved an artillery piece from capture. It was an act that would later gain for him the Medal of Honor. Bouquet was only one of many Iowans who answered their nation's call to war and it is in his memory, and the memory of all soldiers, blue & gray, that we meet to discuss the issues and events that brought these brave men to the battlefield.

Links

The Burning of Atlanta by Megan Kate Nelson

Denver Post Civil War photos

Essential Civil War Curriculum

The Civil War Home Page

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion