Executive Office,
July 9, 1862.
PROCLAMATION OF THE
GOVERNOR.
To the People of Iowa: — I have this day received from the Secretary of War a
telegram, requesting me to raise as soon as practicable for the United States
service, for three years or during the war, five regiments of volunteer
infantry, being a part of the quota of this State under the late call of the
President for 300,000 men.
The preservation of the Union, the perpetuity of our
government, the honor of our State, demand that this requisition be promptly
met.
Our harvest is upon us and we have feared a lack of force to
secure it, but we must imitate our brave Iowa boys in the field, meet new
emergencies with new exertions. Our old men and boys unfit for war, and if need
be our women, must help to gather our harvest, while those able to bear arms go
forth to aid their brave brethren in the field. The necessity is urgent. Our
national escutcheon is at stake. The more promptly the President is furnished these
needed troops, the more speedily will this unholy rebellion be crushed, and the
blessings of peace again visit our land. Until then we must expect the
hardships and privations of war. The lime has come when men must make, as many
have already made, sacrifices of ease, comfort and business for the cause of
the country. The enemy by a sweeping conscription have forced into their ranks
all men capable of bearing arms. Our Government has as yet relied upon the
voluntary action of our citizens, but if need be the same energies must be
exerted to preserve our government that traitors are using to destroy it.
SAMUEL J. KIRKWOOD
SOURCE: Henry Warren Lathrop, The Life and
Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, Iowa's War Governor, p. 215-6;
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