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In another thread we touched on this issue but I think it is of enough interest to warrant its own thread.
Taken from the book, "Love Amid the Turmoil: The Civil War Letters of William & Mary Vermillion. In a letter written by Mary to her husband John (a captain in the 36th Iowa Infantry) on May 6, 1864 she relates a story her brother Matt Kemper (Company E, 6th Iowa Infantry) told her in a separate letter.
"He (Matt) told us a dreadful secret , love , about poor Jim Hickcox. It shocked me, and I didn't get over it for days. I will tell you but you must never tell anybody. It is the "dead secret" of Company E! Jim was not killed by the enemy, but by one of his own mess! Young Cyrus Blue of Lagrange (Iowa) did it. It was an accident of course, but how it could happen none of them could understand. Matt and Jim were very near each other, and some paces in front of all the others. They had just reached safe cover---a tree, and log---when they heard the report, and saw the flash of Blue's gun, and Jim was shot in the back! The poor fellow never knew whence the shot came. Blue took it terribly to heart, at first, and for the sake, and for the sake of Jim's friends, they vowed among themselves to keep it always a secret."
A tragic but probably a fairly common occurrence that is rarely mentioned. Below I have found the records for the three men mentioned and what the official military record for the state Iowa has for them.
Blue, Cyrus N. (Veteran.) Age 18. Residence LaGrange, nativity Iowa. Enlisted July 1, 1861.
Mustered July 17, 1861. Wounded April 6, 1862, Shiloh, Tenn. Re-enlisted and re-mustered Jan.
26, 1864. Mustered out July 21, 1865, Louisville, Ky
Hickcox, James A. Age 21. Residence Osprey, nativity Indiana. Enlisted July 1, 1861. Mustered
July 17, 1861. Killed in action July 11, 1863, Jackson, Miss.
Kemper, Matthew W. (Veteran.) Age 25. Residence Iconium, nativity Virginia. Enlisted July 1,
1861. Mustered July 17, 1861. Re-enlisted and re-mustered Jan. 26, 1864. Wounded June 27,
1864, Kenesaw Mountain, Ga. Died Nov. 8, 1864, Keokuk, Iowa. Buried in Oakland Cemetery,
Keokuk, Iowa.
Taken from the book, "Love Amid the Turmoil: The Civil War Letters of William & Mary Vermillion. In a letter written by Mary to her husband John (a captain in the 36th Iowa Infantry) on May 6, 1864 she relates a story her brother Matt Kemper (Company E, 6th Iowa Infantry) told her in a separate letter.
"He (Matt) told us a dreadful secret , love , about poor Jim Hickcox. It shocked me, and I didn't get over it for days. I will tell you but you must never tell anybody. It is the "dead secret" of Company E! Jim was not killed by the enemy, but by one of his own mess! Young Cyrus Blue of Lagrange (Iowa) did it. It was an accident of course, but how it could happen none of them could understand. Matt and Jim were very near each other, and some paces in front of all the others. They had just reached safe cover---a tree, and log---when they heard the report, and saw the flash of Blue's gun, and Jim was shot in the back! The poor fellow never knew whence the shot came. Blue took it terribly to heart, at first, and for the sake, and for the sake of Jim's friends, they vowed among themselves to keep it always a secret."
A tragic but probably a fairly common occurrence that is rarely mentioned. Below I have found the records for the three men mentioned and what the official military record for the state Iowa has for them.
Blue, Cyrus N. (Veteran.) Age 18. Residence LaGrange, nativity Iowa. Enlisted July 1, 1861.
Mustered July 17, 1861. Wounded April 6, 1862, Shiloh, Tenn. Re-enlisted and re-mustered Jan.
26, 1864. Mustered out July 21, 1865, Louisville, Ky
Hickcox, James A. Age 21. Residence Osprey, nativity Indiana. Enlisted July 1, 1861. Mustered
July 17, 1861. Killed in action July 11, 1863, Jackson, Miss.
Kemper, Matthew W. (Veteran.) Age 25. Residence Iconium, nativity Virginia. Enlisted July 1,
1861. Mustered July 17, 1861. Re-enlisted and re-mustered Jan. 26, 1864. Wounded June 27,
1864, Kenesaw Mountain, Ga. Died Nov. 8, 1864, Keokuk, Iowa. Buried in Oakland Cemetery,
Keokuk, Iowa.
Bringing the