House Resolution 25 - Introduced HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 25 BY SMITH , GASKILL , ISENHART , HUNTER , STUTSMAN , MASCHER , WINCKLER , LENSING , THEDE , H. MILLER , HANSON , STAED , ANDERSON , McCONKEY , OURTH , KEARNS , ABDUL-SAMAD , STECKMAN , OLSON , LYKAM , GAINES , BROWN-POWERS , KRESSIG , WESSEL-KROESCHELL , FINKENAUER , PRICHARD , COHOON , BEARINGER , WOLFE , and KELLEY A Resolution commemorating the sesquicentennial of the 1 conclusion of the American Civil War. 2 WHEREAS, the Civil War was a defining moment in 3 our nation’s history, as the Union was preserved and 4 slavery abolished; and 5 WHEREAS, at the order of President Abraham Lincoln, 6 the State of Iowa mustered the 1st Regiment Iowa 7 Volunteer Infantry for service in May 1861, to be part 8 of the Army of the West; and 9 WHEREAS, approximately 70 percent of adult white 10 males in Iowa served in local militias, home guards, or 11 the Army or Navy of the United States; and 12 WHEREAS, African Americans from Iowa also served the 13 Union cause by forming the 1st Iowa African Infantry, 14 later reorganized by the United States Army as the 60th 15 Regiment United States Colored Troops; and 16 WHEREAS, by the end of the Civil War, Iowa had 17 raised 52 units; and 18 WHEREAS, for many Iowans in the Civil War their 19 baptism under fire came at Wilson’s Creek, on a sultry 20 August day in 1861; and 21 WHEREAS, Iowa’s volunteer regiments fought in 22 -1- LSB 1978YH (5) 86 aw/nh 1/ 3

H.R. 25 many battles and sieges in the Mississippi River 1 valley area, including those at Shiloh and Vicksburg, 2 and participated in many lesser-known engagements 3 in Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and 4 Mississippi; and 5 WHEREAS, following the capture of Vicksburg, most 6 Iowa regiments were shifted east, and many fought under 7 Major General William Tecumseh Sherman at Atlanta in 8 the summer of 1864 and later joined his famous March 9 to the Sea; and 10 WHEREAS, Union forces claimed important military 11 victories in Virginia in the Richmond-Petersburg 12 Campaign, from June 9, 1864, through March 25, 1865, 13 and in the Appomattox Campaign, from March 29, 1865, 14 through April 9, 1865; and 15 WHEREAS, on the afternoon of April 9, 1865, General 16 Robert E. Lee, commander of the Army of Northern 17 Virginia, met with Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant, 18 commander of the Army of the Potomac, at the home of 19 Wilmer McLean in the community of Appomattox Court 20 House, Virginia, to discuss terms of surrender for the 21 Army of Northern Virginia; and 22 WHEREAS, the events of April 9, 1865, effectively 23 ended the military campaign in Virginia and signaled 24 the conclusion of the Civil War; and 25 WHEREAS, many Iowa regiments would later march in 26 the Grand Review of the Armies in Washington, D.C., in 27 May 1865, following the victorious end of the war; NOW 28 THEREFORE, 29 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 30 -2- LSB 1978YH (5) 86 aw/nh 2/ 3

H.R. 25 That the House of Representatives today honors the 1 lives and contributions of all Iowans who labored and 2 fought to preserve the Union and those who, following 3 such service, continued to serve the State of Iowa and 4 the United States of America at the conclusion of the 5 American Civil War. 6 -3- LSB 1978YH (5) 86 aw/nh 3/ 3