Iowans and Gettysburg: Iowa Time Machine July 3, 1863

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On July 3, 1863, as smoke drifted over the Pennsylvania countryside and the last assaults fell away from Cemetery Ridge, Iowans who had marched east to fight for the Union watched the Battle of Gettysburg end in a victory that many later called the turning point of the Civil War. Although Iowa regiments did not fight at Gettysburg, individual soldiers with Iowa connections and many Iowans in service followed the battle closely and later settled in the state.

Iowa’s 48th Infantry Regiment, 9th Cavalry Regiment, and multiple artillery batteries largely served in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, and later Georgia and the Carolinas, supporting campaigns at Wilson’s Creek, Pea Ridge, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, and Sherman’s March to the Sea. Iowa’s population provided a significant workforce to the Union, with more than 76,000 Iowa men serving in the military and roughly 13,000 deaths, even though their main battles lay west of Pennsylvania.

Specific soldiers with Iowa ties fought at Gettysburg, even though they served in non‑Iowa units. Several men buried in Lisbon, Iowa, served in Meade’s army at Gettysburg but enlisted in Pennsylvania regiments, including Dewalt Shontz Fouse of the 53rd Pennsylvania Infantry and David Christian Bruch of the 153rd Pennsylvania Infantry, both of whom later lived and died in Iowa.

So while there were no clearly identified “Iowa” regiments at Gettysburg, there were specific individuals with Iowa ties who took part in the battle in other states’ units, and many more Iowans whose service in the western campaigns made Gettysburg’s outcome deeply meaningful to them. #Iowa #OTD #History #CivilWar #Gettysburg