The Union First - About The Book
Based on the diaries of early Civil War enlistees George Burmeister and Eugene Ware, The Union First explores the gritty experiences of the First Iowa Infantry in the summer of 1861. Author Randee Fieselmann retells the stories of immense hardships under dire conditions and explores a central question: what motivated these men to remain committed to the Union cause? How did solders in the Iowa regiment weave the bonds of community needed to endure adversity and follow Brigadier General Nathaniel Lyon in his Missouri campaign and into the Battle of Wilsons Creek?
The Union First offers a fresh look at this segment of the Civil War west of the Mississippi and challenges traditional narratives of how the Civil War in Missouri began. It will interest historians as well as first time readers of history.
Quotes
Eugene Ware
“The boys wanted to fight and they wanted something to eat.” They believed they would “all be starved to death or captured.”
Looking up at the stars at night, Eugene’s favorite constellation was Corona Borealis: “We talked over how little man was and wondered if we would ever know any more about it.”
"Everything was so wet we could not make a fire...Our mess ate raw dough...The want of food, clothing and tents made itself felt in a longing to get out of the service.”
George Burmeister
We camped where the pure crystal water gushed from the mountain ... Seemed impossible to endure heat, dust, thirst and fatigue, yet we finally conquered all these.
In crossing these (streams), our shoes filled with sand and water. We crossed one little creek twenty-two times.
“Private soldiers with no means for verifying reports did not know what to believe.”
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The Union First
