Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry

John S. Morgan, the writer of the following diary, was born at Crawfordsville, Indiana, March 4, 1841, and died at Pella, Iowa, June 15, 1874. He came with his parents in their removal to Pella, Iowa, in 1854. While a student at Central College, Pella, he enlisted as a fourth sergeant in Company G, Thirty-third Iowa Infantry, on September 4, 1862, was promoted to first sergeant July 21, 1864, to second lieutenant January 6, 1865, and was mustered out at New Orleans, Louisiana, July 17, 1865. He was graduated from Central College, and from the Iowa Law School, Des Moines, June 9, 1868, and practiced for a time in Adel, being a partner of D. W. Wooden.

The Thirty-third Iowa Infantry was organized in August, 1862, at Oskaloosa, the companies coming from Marion, Mahaska, and Keokuk counties. Samuel A. Rice of Oskaloosa, attorney-general of the state, was appointed its colonel. On October 4 it was mustered into the United States service, and on November 20 it marched to Eddyville and went by train to Keokuk where it took a steamer and arrived at St. Louis the night of the 21st. Here they were engaged principally in guard duty until December 21 when they went aboard a steamer and on the 24th they were landed at Columbus, Kentucky. There they did some fortifying and on January 1, 1863, proceeded to Union City, Tennessee, expecting an engagement with the enemy. On January 3 they returned to Columbus. Soon thereafter they embarked and reached Helena, Arkansas, on January 13. During the early part of February some of the regiment assisted in clearing out the Yazoo Pass, which was some seven miles below Helena and on the east side of the river. It was a narrow channel connecting the Mississippi River to the east with the Coldwater River. On February 23 they returned to their old camp at Helena, and at that date the diary begins. We have followed Lieutenant Morgan's spelling, capitalization, abbreviations, etc. as they appear in the original diary. — Editor.

SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 7, January 1923, p. 483-4