The Iowa 32nd in the Civil War: Iowa Time Machine August 11, 1862

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On August 11, 1862, the 32nd Iowa Infantry Regiment mustered at Boone. Over the course of the American Civil War, 322 men serving with the 32nd Iowa died while serving in the Red River Campaign, the Battle of Pleasant Hill, and the Battle of Nashville.

After enlisting at the county seat of Boone County, the men headed east to Camp Franklin in Dubuque before descending the Mississippi. Led by Colonel John Scott of Nevada, Iowa, the regiment initially served in the Mississippi Theater of the war. Scott, a veteran of the Mexican-American War, later served as the Lieutenant Governor of Iowa from 1868 to 1870. The first major action for the 32nd Iowa Volunteers occurred with the launching of the massive Union offensive known as the Red River Campaign in March 1864. Hoping to cut off the Confederate Army from the port of Shreveport while also splitting Rebel forces, 30,000 American troops under Major-General Nathaniel P. Banks squared off against Confederate General E. Kirby Smith’s forces.

During the campaign, the 32nd Iowa saw notable action at the Battle of Pleasant Hill. A relative draw in which both sides lost around 1,600 soldiers, historians consider it an American tactical victory but a strategic Confederate victory. Authorities often consider the expedition a failure for the United States, which may have prolonged fighting in the western theater for several months while diverting from the capture of Mobile, Alabama. The 32nd Iowa Volunteers also participated in the Battle of Nashville during mid-December 1864, a battle that marked the end of large-scale fighting in the war outside the coastal region. One of the largest victories for the American army during the war, many Iowans served valiantly over the two-day engagement between the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Lt. General John Bell Hood and the Union Army of the Cumberland under Major General George H. Thomas.

Today, a marker in Boone at the intersection of Mamie Eisenhower Avenue and State Street, erected by the Women’s Relief Corps in 1936, commemorates the service of the 32nd Iowa Infantry. #Iowa #OTD #History #Boone #CivilWar