Iowa's Civil War Heroes

Some of Iowa's Civil War heroes continued in public service after the war. Annie Wittenmeyer opened a home for Civil War orphans.

Iowans who had been prominent in the war continued in public service after it. Abolitionist Josiah Grinnell was elected to Congress in 1862. Grenville Dodge left the war with the rank of Major General he continued as a railroad builder and promoter and was elected into Congress in 1866. Annie Wittenmeyer, who had take care of so many wounded and dying soldiers, opened a home for children who had been orphaned by the war. She continued her service in the Women Christian Temperance Union and worked actively to give women the right to vote. Barkley Coppoc, who took part in John Brown’s raid at Harper’s Ferry, joined the Union Army when the war broke out and was commissioned as a Third Lieutenant. He was killed by a train wreck caused by Confederates at St. Joseph, Missouri.