The 7th Iowa Cavalry Regiment was a

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

that served in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

during the

Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

. In Chapter IX of MacKinlay Kantor's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "Andersonville" (1955), the father of one of the main characters is commissioned as a lieutenant in Company G of the Seventh Iowa Cavalry.

Service

The 7th Iowa Cavalry was mustered into Federal service at

Davenport, Iowa Davenport is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Iowa, United States. Located along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state, it is the largest of the Quad Cities, a metropolitan area with a population of 384,324 and a ...

, for a three-year enlistment between April 27 to July 13, 1863. On September 19, 1863, it was deployed to Omaha en route to the west. In 1864, three companies of the regiments were part of Lieutenant Colonel Samuel M. Pollock's 1st Brigade of Brigadier General Alfred Sully's District of Iowa. In this organization, these companies participated in the Northwestern Indian Expedition, fighting at the

Battle of Killdeer Mountain The Battle of Killdeer Mountain (also known as the Battle of Tahkahokuty Mountain) took place during Brig. Gen. Alfred Sully's expedition against the Sioux in Dakota Territory July 28–29, 1864. The location of the battleground is in modern Du ...

and in the

Battle of the Badlands The Battle of the Badlands was fought in Dakota Territory, in what is now western North Dakota, between the United States army led by General Alfred Sully and the Lakota, Yanktonai, and the Dakota Indian tribes. The battle was fought August 7� ...

. Units of the regiment were at Camp Rankin on the South Platte in January, 1865 when more than 1,000 plains Indians attacked the fort and stage station at Julesburg during the

Sioux Wars The Sioux Wars were a series of conflicts between the United States and various subgroups of the Sioux people which occurred in the later half of the 19th century. The earliest conflict came in 1854 when a fight broke out at Fort Laramie in Wyom ...

following the Sand Creek Massacre. In the

Battle of Julesburg The Battle of Julesburg took place on January 7, 1865 near Julesburg, Colorado between 1,000 Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota Indians and about 60 soldiers of the U.S. army and 40 to 50 civilians. The Indians defeated the soldiers and over the next ...

, 14 men of the 7th were killed, including 4 non-commissioned officers. Company F of the regiment accompanied Colonel James H. Kidd's column of the

Powder River Expedition :''This event should not be confused with the Big Horn Expedition during the Black Hills War.'' The Powder River Expedition of 1865 also known as the Powder River War or Powder River Invasion, was a large and far-flung military operation of the U ...

in 1865 to the Powder and Tongue river valley's in

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of No ...

and

Montana Territory The Territory of Montana was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 26, 1864, until November 8, 1889, when it was admitted as the 41st state in the Union as the state of Montana. Original boundaries T ...

. The regiment was mustered out of Federal service on June 22, 1866.

Total strength and casualties

A total of 1420 men served in the 7th Iowa at one time or another during its existence. It suffered 1 officer and 21 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds and 1 officer and 74 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 97 fatalities.

Commanders

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Samuel W. Summers *

Herman H. HeathIowa Genweb Iowa in the Civil War Project after Logan, Guy E., Roster and Record of Iowa Troops In the Rebellion, Vol. 1

Notes

References

The Civil War Archive
*Ware, Eugene

Being a Fragment of the Early History of Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and Wyoming", Crane & Company (1911)

Eugene Ware Eugene may refer to: People and fictional characters * Eugene (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Eugene (actress) (born 1981), Kim Yoo-jin, South Korean actress and former member of the sin ...

was the most junior officer in the regiment when on September 19, 1863, it was deployed to Omaha en route to the

. Units and formations of the Union Army from Iowa Military units and formations established in 1863 1863 establishments in Iowa Military units and formations disestablished in 1866 {{AmericanCivilWar-unit-stub

Service

Total strength and casualties

Commanders

See also

Notes

References