William E. Fierce

WILLIAM E. FIERCE, a prominent farmer of Long Creek Township, resides on section 34, where he owns 320 acres of land, 120 acres under cultivation, the other 200 acres being pasture land.  He was born in Hamilton County, Indiana, March 10, 1843, son of E. W. and Mary (Criswell) Fierce, natives also of Indiana. When he was seven years of age his parents moved to Knox County, Illinois, and in the fall of 1857 came to Iowa, first living three years in Jefferson County.  He was reared to farm labor, an occupation he has since followed successfully.  During the late war he went forward in defense of his country, enlisting in 1862, in Company I, Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry, but was rejected on account of disability.  In 1864 he again enlisted in Company C, Forty-eighth Iowa Infantry, and served till his term of enlistment expired.  He was married in Decatur County, in 1867, to Miss Ann West, daughter of William and Elizabeth West, natives of Circleville, Ohio, who was born in 1850, in Pickaway County, Ohio.  Their children are — Charlie F., Ebenezer W., William W., Mertie M., John E., Nellie E., Bertha E. and Dora M.  Mr. Fierce is at present post-master of Fierce.  The office was named for his father, an honored pioneer of the settlement.  Himself and wife are members of the Methodist Protestant church.  Politically he is a Republican, and does all he can to promote the best interests of the party.

SOURCE: “Biographical and Historical Record of Ringgold and Decatur Counties, Iowa,” p. 549-50

41st – 48th Iowa Infantry Regiments

Attempts had been made to organize the Forty-first, Forty-second and Forty-third regiments of infantry, but were unsuccessful. In the summer of 1864 the governors of the western states proposed to the general government to send to the field a number of regiments enlisted for a short term to relieve the older regiments doing garrison duty and stationed on the western frontier. The proposition was accepted and Governor Stone, of Iowa, issued a proclamation calling on the people of the state for volunteers for 100 days. In response 3,900 men volunteered and were organized into the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh regiments and the Forty-eighth battalion of infantry.

The Forty-fourth was organized of companies raised in the counties of Dubuque, Muscatine, Linn, Butler, Clinton, Marshall, Boone, Polk, Dallas and Scott. The field officers were S. H. Henderson, colonel; Henry Egbert, lieutenant-colonel; Josiah Hopkins, major. It was mustered into service in June, 1864, at Davenport, and had 867 men.

The Forty-fifth was raised largely in the counties of Henry, Washington, Van Buren, Lee, Davis and Des Moines, and numbered 912 men. It was mustered in at Keokuk, May 25, 1864, with A. H. Bereman, colonel; Samuel A. Moore, lieutenant-colonel; and James B. Hope, major.

The Forty-sixth was enlisted chiefly in the counties of Dubuque, Poweshiek, Dallas, Guthrie, Fayette, Taylor, Linn, Delaware, Winneshiek, Appanoose, Monroe, Wayne, Clarke, Cedar and Lucas, and numbered 892 men. Its field officers were David B. Henderson, colonel; L. D. Durbin, lieutenant-colonel; and George L. Torbert, major; and it was mustered into service in June, 1864.

The Forty-seventh was made up from companies raised largely in the counties of Marion, Appanoose, Benton, Wapello, Buchanan, Madison, Polk, Johnson, Keokuk and Mahaska, and numbered 884 men. Its field officers were James P. Sanford, colonel; John Williams, lieutenant-colonel; and George J. North, major. It was mustered into service in June, 1864.

The Forty-eighth battalion numbered 346 men, raised mostly in the counties of Warren, Jasper, Decatur and Des Moines, and were mustered into the service at Davenport, in July, 1864, with O. H. P. Scott, colonel.

The Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth regiments were sent to Tennessee, to guard railroads and perform garrison duty, while the Forty-seventh was sent to Helena, where it suffered greatly from sickness. The Forty-eighth battalion guarded rebel prisoners on Rock Island.

The services of the hundred-days-men were acknowledged in a proclamation issued by President Lincoln in October, and thanks were tendered to the states which furnished them.

SOURCE: Benjamin F. Gue, Biographies And Portraits Of The Progressive Men Of Iowa, Volume 1, p. 119