The Gray-Beard Regiment

This regiment, which was number Thirty-seven of Iowa infantry, was made up exclusively of men over 45 years of age, and who were consequently exempt from military duty.

Secretary Stanton, of the war department, had, at the request of men over age who wished to enter the service, authorized the organization of such a regiment to do garrison duty. The various companies making up the regiment went into camp at Muscatine, and were mustered into the service about the middle of December, 1862. Its field officers were George W. Kincaid, colonel; George R. West, lieutenant-colonel and Lyman Allen, major. Every congressional district in the state was represented in the ranks of the regiment. They were farmers, mechanics and business men, most of whom had sons or near relations already in the army. Many of them were over 50 years old, but when they marched through the streets of St. Louis in January, 1863, General Curtis, who had seen the volunteers of two wars, declared that he had never seen a finer looking body of men. For two and a half years these men performed garrison and guard duty, thereby relieving younger men for field service and thus contributing valuable aid to their country. The last general officer under whom they served thus wrote of their services, on the 13th of May, 1865:

"General L. Thomas, Adjutant-General U. S. Army:

"The Thirty-seventh Iowa Volunteer infantry, called the 'Gray-Beards,' now on duty at this post, consists exclusively of old men — none under 45, many over 60 years of age. After the men of this regiment had devoted their sons and grandsons, numbering 1,300 men, to the service of their country, their patriotism induced them to enlist for garrison duty, thus enabling the government to send the young men to the front. Officers and men would cheerfully remain in the service as long as they are wanted, though they are very badly needed at home to save the next harvest, most of them being farmers. They have received the commendation of their former post commanders. At this post they have performed very heavy duties, which would have been difficult for an even number of young men. The high patriotism displayed by these men in devoting a few years of their old age to their country's service is unparalleled in history, and commands the respect of every true republican. I therefore recommend that the Thirty-seventh Iowa Volunteer infantry may be mustered out of the service immediately, with honors and acknowledgments of their services, due to the noble spirit with which they gave so glorious an example to the youths of their country.

"Very respectfully,

"J. WILLICH,

"Brigadier-General.''

General Willich's request was granted, and the Gray-Beard regiment was mustered out, being the first of the three years men to be discharged from the service. The Thirty-seventh was disbanded on the day of the grand review at Washington. A large number of the men had died from exposure and the hard duties of camp life.

SOURCE: Benjamin F. Gue, Biographies And Portraits Of The Progressive Men Of Iowa, Volume 1, p. 116

Colonel George W. Kincaid

THIRTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY.

George W. Kincaid is a native of the State of Ohio, and an old resident of Muscatine county, Iowa. He is about fifty-three years of age. His occupation in civil life I have failed to learn. He entered the army in the fall of 1862, as colonel of the 37th Iowa Infantry, and served with that rank till the spring of 1865, when, with his regiment, he was mustered out of the service. In the judgment of his regiment, he served with little honor to himself, or the State.

The 37th Iowa is the celebrated Gray-Beard Regiment. It was organized under a special order of the War Department, in the fall of 1862, and was to be composed of men over the age of forty-five years. If I am correctly informed, it was a condition precedent that, the regiment was to be employed only on post- and garrison-duty. Certain it is that, with one exception, it was never assigned to any other. Its history, therefore, throwing age out of the question, is not a brilliant one. Its thirty-months' service was passed at the following points: St. Louis, Missouri; Alton, Illinois; Memphis, Tennessee; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Rock Island, Illinois.

The following from the pen of L. M. Miller, the regiment's sergeant-major, is the chief item of interest in the regiment's history;

"On the 15th instant, [July 7th, 1864] a detail of fifty men was sent from the 37th regiment, to go as guard on a supply-train, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. When about thirty-six miles out, the train was fired into by fifty or sixty bushwhackers, concealed in the brush and behind the fence. Our guards were stationed on top of the cars, exposed to their fire, the train running thirty miles an hour. Our men returned the fire very promptly, and it is believed from the best information we can gather we did the enemy equal damage, at least in numbers. Our loss was Samuel Coburn of Company A, and Corporal Charles Young of Company B, both mortally wounded. The corporal lived till next day, and Colburn till the evening of the same day. Two others were slightly wounded, but are doing well."

But if these patriarchal patriots did little service in the field, it is not to be supposed that theirs was holiday duty. Garrison-duty, if not attended with great risk, is fatiguing and monotonous; and few soldiers, if consulted, would prefer it to field-service. We should, therefore, accord to these ancient heroes a full share of the State's military renown.

I am told that Colonel Kincaid is a tall, raw-boned, gray-haired man, uninviting in personal appearance and in address. He was strict in his discipline, to which may be attributed his great unpopularity with his regiment. I am unwilling to record the many stories of his misrule.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 521-2