Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
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Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
JACKSON GUARDS
JACKSON GUARDS. The Jackson Guards were organized around August, 1859. After the attack on Ft. Sumter, enlistments increased to the point that the Herald reported on April 19, 1861 the company was nearly full. The same day a requisition was received from Governor Kirkwood for two or more companies from "this section to form a part of the regiment required of this state by the President." The men of the GOVERNOR'S GREYS and Jackson Guards left for Davenport on April 24, 1861. (1) The Greys were some of the most prominent men of Dubuque while the Jackson Guards were largely enlisted from the German population. (2)
The soldiers fought at the Battle of Wilson's Creek in Missouri in the First Iowa Regiment and suffered great losses--30% of the Jackson Guards and 23% of the Governor's Greys. (3) Identified as Company H (Jackson Guards) and Company I (Governor's Greys), a majority of those who returned to Dubuque re-enlisted. (4)
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Source:
1. "Dubuque Observes 50th Anniversary," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, April 23, 1911, p. 45
2. "The Civil War as Reported by Dubuquers at the Battlefields," Telegraph-Herald, March 8, 1964, p. 11
3. Reber, Craig D. "Local Soldiers Part of Notable Battles," Telegraph Herald, April 14, 2011, p. 7
4. "Anniversary of Wilson's Creek," Dubuque Telegraph-Herald, August 11, 1912, p. 10
Oldt, Franklin T. The History of Dubuque County, Iowa. Chicago: Goodspeed Historical Association, p. 253, 260, 262