Soldier Who Embarked - Keokuk, IA - Iowa Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

County of marker: Lee County
Location of marker: Main St. & Water St., Victory Park, Keokuk
Marker erected by: the Auxiliary to Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War
Dater marker erected: October, 1929

Marker text: Erected in memory of the soldiers of the Civil War who embarked from this spot 1861 - 1865

"During the American Civil War, Keokuk became the embarking point for Union troops heading to fight in southern battles. Injured soldiers were returned to Keokuk for treatment, so several hospitals were established. A national cemetery was designated for those who did not survive. After the war was over, Keokuk continued its expansion. A medical college was founded, along with a major-league baseball team, the Keokuk Westerns, in 1875." ~ Wikipedia

"With the coming of the Civil War, Keokuk became a major point of embarkation for Iowa's troops, an important relief center, and the site of a large military hospital. The women of Keokuk organized the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society, of which Wittenmyer was corresponding secretary and general agent. That society became a conduit for much of Iowa's private relief work. With the establishment of the U.S. Sanitary Commission in the summer of 1861, strain developed between the Iowa division of the commission and some of those already engaged in private aid work. The tension eased gradually after members of a special session of the Iowa legislature appointed Wittenmyer an agent of the Iowa State Sanitary Commission in September 1862." ~ University of Iowa Press Digital Editions