[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 96 (Wednesday, June 26, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7057-S7058]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      CIVIL WAR: IOWA'S SACRIFICE

  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, many men and women of our Nation have 
been called to service during times of crises. Iowans, too, have boldly 
answered the call of duty. Today, as I continue my remarks about Iowa's 
spirit, I want to focus on one of our country's most bloody episodes--
the Civil War--and, specifically, remember one university that almost 
was not.
  From 1861 through 1864, Iowans eagerly responded to the need for 
soldiers to serve in the infantry, cavalry, and artillery. It has been 
recorded in the ``Roster of Iowa Soldiers'' that approximately 73,000 
Iowans enrolled with the Union Army. Among these soldiers, over 2,000 
were killed in action, almost 9,000 were wounded in action, and over 
10,000 died of their wounds or disease. These numbers are quite 
significant since Iowa, in proportion to its population, outfitted more 
troops than any other State in the Union. In fact, Perry Township, 
located in Jackson County, gave the largest per capita troop enrollment 
during the Civil War.
  Iowa women also played a vital role during the Civil War. Soldier's 
relief societies were formed to support the troops. These women sewed 
uniforms, provided bedding, and collected necessary funds to help 
purchase military supplies. One woman in particular,

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Annie Wittenmyer, played an instrumental role in organizing these 
societies throughout Iowa. Because soldiers were dying more from 
diseases than from their wounds, she created diet kitchens in hospitals 
to help rebuild their strength and aid in their recovery. Furthermore, 
Annie Witten- myer campaigned to provide relief for mothers, wives, and 
children adversely affected by the war because their sons, husbands, 
and fathers were killed or disabled during their service. Not only did 
she campaign for financial assistance for these women and children, but 
her efforts also helped build orphans' homes.
  Unfortunately, as with every hard-fought battle, there comes a price. 
A battle-scarred Civil War flag, on display at Upper Iowa University in 
Fayette, is a poignant reminder of this sacrifice.
  Upper Iowa was founded in 1857 by pioneer families living in the 
wooded hills surrounding the tiny village of Fayette. The nearest 
college, Cornell in Mount Vernon, was a long dangerous trip away by 
stagecoach over rough dirt roads and through territory roamed by native 
tribes. Colonel Robert Alexander, a veteran of the Black Hawk War, 
donated $10,000 in gold pieces toward the funding of a college, and a 
hall was constructed of native white limestone. The university doors 
opened on January 7, 1857.

  Three short years after Upper Iowa's founding, though, the Civil War 
broke out, and the university's young men, many of them on the verge of 
graduating, enlisted in a body, along with many of their professors. 
Company C of the 3rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry went on to participate in 
17 major battles, including the bloody fields of Vicksburg and Shiloh. 
For many young Upper Iowans, a battlefield grave ended their dreams for 
a future. In a quirk of fate, Upper Iowa's mathematics professor, 
Nathan Cornell, now a colonel in the Confederate Army, was captured by 
Colonel E.C. Byam of the Union Army--Upper Iowa's business manager.
  With so much of the student body gone, the university was on the 
verge of closing, but the women students and the female professors were 
determined to carry on. Dean of Students Elizabeth Sorin, although born 
in the South, wholeheartedly supported the decision of the men to fight 
for the Union. She and the women students fashioned the first American 
flag that the men carried into battle, and later she recalled those 
dedicated women whose ``hearts went in with their stitches in the red, 
white, and blue.'' When the flag was captured at the bloody conflict 
called the Hornet's Nest during the battle of Shiloh, the women made a 
second flag for their soldiers and continued to support them with their 
letters and prayers. They were there to welcome home the remnant of 
Company C, and mourn the fallen. Life slowly returned to normal, and 
the university that almost wasn't became a thriving academic community 
once more.
  Now, almost 140 years later, Upper Iowa University still stands amid 
the wooded hills of northeast Iowa, a tribute to the power of the 
academic spirit and a living memorial to those young Iowa soldiers and 
their fellow students who made sure they had a university to return to.

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