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Military Biography ~ |
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Dubuque county Civil War Soldiers
of the
Twenty-first Regiment Iowa Volunteer
Infantry
Historical information, notes &
comments, in some cases correcting the record
Soldier biographies written by
Carl Ingwalson
Carl will do look-ups in his extensive
records of the 21st Iowa
and he is always willing to share what he
has. |
GEORGE G. MOSER
George Moser, one of
three sons of Benedict and Rosa Moser, was born on September 2,
1837, in the Canton of Bern, Switzerland, and immigrated to the
United States in 1848. In 1850 the family moved to Dubuque. In the
pre-war years, George worked with his father as a “mineral picker
and sawyer,” in the F. V. Goodrich & Co. general store, and then
at Sheffield & Scott, a dry goods store in the Globe Building.
Civil War infantry regiments had ten companies, each headed by
a Colonel, 1st Lieutenant, 2nd Lieutenant, five levels of
Sergeant, eight levels of Corporal and Privates. On August 21,
1862, George was enrolled by David Greaves as 4th Sergeant in what
would be Company I of the state’s 21st Regiment of volunteer
infantry. On August 23rd the company of 101 men, officers and
enlisted, was mustered in at Camp Franklin in Dubuque with David,
a veteran of an earlier 90-day regiment, as Captain and, on
September 9th, ten companies were mustered in as the state’s 21st
regiment of volunteer infantry. Training was brief and, on
September 16th, those healthy enough to travel crowded on board
the Henry Clay and two barges tied alongside, and started down the
Mississippi for St. Louis, although low water at Montrose forced
them to transfer to the Hawkeye State.
They reached St.
Louis on the 20th, spent one night at Benton Barracks, and then
traveled by rail to Rolla where they camped for about one month.
From there they walked to Salem, Houston, Hartville, back to
Houston, south to West Plains and then northeast through Ironton
and Iron Mountain and into the small French town of Ste.
Genevieve. By then it was March 11, 1863. From there they took
steamers to Milliken’s Bend where General Grant was organizing a
30,000 man, 3-corps, army at the start of his Vicksburg Campaign.
So far, George had been continuously present and he
remained with the regiment as they walked south along dirt roads
west of the river, passed homes of the now-absent plantation
owners, waded through bayous, and kept a wary eye for snakes and
alligators. On April 30th they crossed to the east bank and, with
their regiment designated as the point regiment for General
Grant’s entire army, started a slow movement inland. They drew
first fire from Confederate pickets about midnight but, unable to
see each other, both sides soon rested. The next day, George
participated in the daylong Battle of Port Gibson and, on May
16th, he was present when the regiment was held in reserve during
the Battle of Champion’s Hill. After the battle they helped guard
prisoners and two companies engaged in light skirmishing, before
moving to Edward’s Station where they spent the night.
The
next day, rotated to the front of the army, they were among the
first to encounter Confederates entrenched on the east side of the
Big Black River who were hoping to keep its railroad bridge open
long enough for their comrades to complete a withdrawal into the
confines of Vicksburg. Colonel Kinsman of the 23rd Infantry,
Colonel Merrill of the 21st, his adjutant Henry Howard and Company
D’s Samuel Moore conferred. “Before we four separated,” said
Merrill, “Sergeant Moore gently struck up the tune of Old Hundred,
‘Be Thou O God Exalted High,’ and all of us, quartett [sic],
joined, my Adjutant Howard, a broad chested young man with a grand
old bass, all singing tenderly.” Merrill and Kinsman ordered their
regiments to charge and George Moser was with his company as they
raced across an open field and, in three minutes, routed the
enemy. Regimental casualties included seven killed, eighteen
mortally wounded and at least forty who were wounded less
seriously. George was unscathed, but Kinsman, Howard and Moore
were killed. Merrill was seriously wounded and returned to
McGregor to recuperate.
On May 22nd, men still able for
duty were in position opposite the railroad redoubt at the rear of
Vicksburg when they again participated in an assault. This one was
unsuccessful, casualties were higher than at the Big Black and
George Moser was among the wounded. He had been shot on his right
thigh, not far from the hip. The wound was considered “slight,”
but surgeons were unable to remove the musket ball. Captain
Greaves was more seriously wounded and, like Merrill, was granted
leave to return to Iowa to recuperate. While they were gone, at
Major Van Anda’s request, they and three others were discharged by
the War Department and Van Anda recommended George “for promotion
to the position of Captain.” The promotion, however, was not
forthcoming as Merrill, Greaves and two of the others protested
their dismissals and were reinstated.
In February, 1864,
George was detailed for the recruiting service in Iowa, returned
home and, by March 16th, had “raised 25 recruits.” He was “in
every respect one of the best young men in this city,” said a
letter to Adjutant General Baker. “Dubuque never had a better
boy,” said another letter. On April 28 1864, George rejoined the
regiment, then stationed on Matagorda Island, Texas, and he was
with it when they moved to Louisiana in June. On June 23rd they
traveled west by rail and camped by the Terrebonne railway
station. On July 8th, they returned to Algiers and saw subsequent
service along Arkansas’ White River. Later that year, when Hiram
Buel resigned, George received a well-deserved promotion and was
commissioned as the company’s 2d Lieutenant. He continued in that
capacity during subsequent service in Memphis, at Kennerville in
Louisiana, and during the campaign in the spring of 1865 to occupy
the city of Mobile in Alabama. They were mustered out at Baton
Rouge on July 15, 1865, and discharged at Clinton on July 24th.
Three months later, October 25, 1865, George married Sophia M.
Weigel, “a sister of Fred Weigel, one of the early settlers of
Dubuque.” They had one daughter, Lizzie Ann Moser, but
thirty-five-year-old Sophia died on January 28, 1875, reportedly
while giving birth to another child. Sophia is buried in Dubuque’s
Linwood Cemetery.
On June 26, 1877, George married for a
second time when he was united “in the Holy Bonds of Matrimony”
with twenty-year-old Margaret “Mary” Funk by Rev. Henry Luz. Mary
later gave birth to three girls - Anna Elizabeth on December 18,
1878, Nellie M. on February 7, 1882, and Mildred on October 16,
1890.
A county history in 1880 said George was a dealer in
groceries, other provisions, flour and feed on Clay Street (now
Central Avenue) between Seventh and Eighth streets and was active
in the Veteran Reserve Corps, the Order of Workmen and the Legion
of Honor. He continued in good health for many years but finally,
in 1891, applied for an invalid pension indicating he was bothered
by the musket ball embedded since the assault at Vicksburg and by
sunstroke suffered, he said, on July 24, 1864, at Terrebonne
Station. Several of his comrades, including the regimental
surgeon, William Orr, signed affidavits supporting the claims and
verifying the dates. It took three years, but a pension of $2.00
monthly was finally granted for the wound. Despite all the
supporting affidavits, however, military records showed that the
regiment was not at Terrebonne Station when George and the others
claimed he had been prostrated by sunstroke.
Pension laws
were gradually liberalized. Disabilities no longer had to be
service-related and, eventually, pensions were granted solely on
the basis of age, ninety days’ service and an honorable discharge.
George, like other veterans, applied for and received periodic
increases. He was receiving $12.00 monthly when he died at home,
31 Arlington Street, Dubuque, on February 19, 1907. He is buried
next to Sophia in Linwood Cemetery.
His second wife, Mary,
was receiving a widow’s pension of $30.00 monthly when she died on
October 20, 1908. The place of her burial is unknown. |
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