armadillo
Cadet
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2014
- Location
- Iowa City, Iowa
In recent months plans have been moving forward to honor six brothers who perished serving the Union cause, possibly the largest single-family loss of life in America.
In 1840, James and Martha Littleton left Maryland, seeking opportunity in the Iowa Territory. Records indicate that Louisa County abolitionists helped James, who was of mixed race, settle his wife, three daughters, and six sons in Toolesboro. Martha died in 1853 and James in 1860.
In the months after the Civil War began in April 1861, Thomas, 25, enlisted in the Iowa Infantry, followed by William, 24; John, 31; Kendall, 19; and Noah, 16. George, [xx], then living in Illinois, enlisted there.
On December 7, 1862, at the Battle of Prairie Grove, in Arkansas, Kendall was killed. John, fatally wounded, died days later. Noah survived but drowned in a Missouri ferryboat sinking in March 1863.
George was captured at Harpers Ferry in September 1862. Paroled from a prisoner of war camp due to disease, he reportedly died early in 1863.
William fought at Shiloh, Jackson, and the Battle of Vicksburg, a two-month siege ending in July 1863. He died that December in a St. Louis hospital.
Thomas, the first to enlist, was the last to die. After fighting at Corinth and Champions Hill, Mississippi, and at Vicksburg, he was captured during the Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, in November 1863. He died at Andersonville Prison in Georgia in June 1864. The Civil War ended 10 months later.
This tragic story of loss was only recently uncovered by Tom Woodruff and Ed Bayne after Woodruff received a family's scrapbook from Raleigh, NC and followed its clues. Today Louisa County, Iowa, is planning to honor the brothers and their sacrifice with a monument at Toolesboro. Constructed of Mesabi black granite on a Barre grey granite base, the memorial will stand 11 feet tall. We hope national attention will come to this project during the fundraising period, launched last week, and that the monument can be completed by the end of 2015. Anyone interested in the full story can consult The Sept 23 edition of Phil Gast's excellent Civil War blog at http://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/ or consult the current edition of the Iowa History Journal.
I am serving as artist for the project and have designed the memorial. I will post pics soon as I figure out that part of this site...Thanks!
In 1840, James and Martha Littleton left Maryland, seeking opportunity in the Iowa Territory. Records indicate that Louisa County abolitionists helped James, who was of mixed race, settle his wife, three daughters, and six sons in Toolesboro. Martha died in 1853 and James in 1860.
In the months after the Civil War began in April 1861, Thomas, 25, enlisted in the Iowa Infantry, followed by William, 24; John, 31; Kendall, 19; and Noah, 16. George, [xx], then living in Illinois, enlisted there.
On December 7, 1862, at the Battle of Prairie Grove, in Arkansas, Kendall was killed. John, fatally wounded, died days later. Noah survived but drowned in a Missouri ferryboat sinking in March 1863.
George was captured at Harpers Ferry in September 1862. Paroled from a prisoner of war camp due to disease, he reportedly died early in 1863.
William fought at Shiloh, Jackson, and the Battle of Vicksburg, a two-month siege ending in July 1863. He died that December in a St. Louis hospital.
Thomas, the first to enlist, was the last to die. After fighting at Corinth and Champions Hill, Mississippi, and at Vicksburg, he was captured during the Battle of Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, in November 1863. He died at Andersonville Prison in Georgia in June 1864. The Civil War ended 10 months later.
This tragic story of loss was only recently uncovered by Tom Woodruff and Ed Bayne after Woodruff received a family's scrapbook from Raleigh, NC and followed its clues. Today Louisa County, Iowa, is planning to honor the brothers and their sacrifice with a monument at Toolesboro. Constructed of Mesabi black granite on a Barre grey granite base, the memorial will stand 11 feet tall. We hope national attention will come to this project during the fundraising period, launched last week, and that the monument can be completed by the end of 2015. Anyone interested in the full story can consult The Sept 23 edition of Phil Gast's excellent Civil War blog at http://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/ or consult the current edition of the Iowa History Journal.
I am serving as artist for the project and have designed the memorial. I will post pics soon as I figure out that part of this site...Thanks!