Lieutenant Colonel Samuel G. Knee

Lieutenant Colonel Samuel G. Knee, Brevet Colonel U. S. V., was born in Martinsburg, Penn., March 11, 1834; removed to Delaware County, Iowa, in 1855, and worked at the carpenter's trade until the war broke out when he enlisted, September 19, 1861, in Company H, 12th Iowa, and was mustered in as 1st Sergeant of his company; was promoted 2nd Lieutenant November, 1862; Captain, September, 1863; Major in December, 1864; Lieutenant Colonel in 1865, and Breveted Colonel U. S. V., July, 1866. He participated in the battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Jackson, Siege of Vicksburg, Tupelo, Nashville and Spanish Fort; was taken prisoner at Shiloh; confined at Montgomery, Selma, and Libby prison; was paroled at Aiken's Landing Va., Oct. 18, 1862. In 1864 he commanded the Pioneer corps of the 1st Division, 16th Army corps and was commended for his energy and skill in building, in one night, out of raw material, a bridge 600 feet long, over which the army passed without accident. He commanded the regiment most of the time from February 1865, to muster-out, January 20, 1866. On muster-out of the regiment he returned to his home at Colesburg, Iowa, where he engaged in mercantile business. He married Miss Julia Moreland July 19, 1866, He died at his home, August 13, 1896,

SOURCE: David W. Reed, Campaigns and battles of the Twelfth Regiment Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry, p. 247