Fifth Iowa Veterans in Colorado

Unfortunately, most of the material in Grand Army of the Republic files and archives has yet to make its way to the internet. And, sadly, many invaluable resources must have been lost through the long years since veterans of the war gathered at those regular meetings and reminisced about their experiences.

Fortunately, however, some of these records have been made available to researchers and descendants on the internet. A debt of gratitude is owed to John Chandler Clement and Gerald Sherard for compiling data on "Colorado Civil War Grand Army of the Republic Members." The complete files are hosted at http://www.denver.lib.co.us/ebranch/ where they were at one time accessible to the worldwide community.

Although the records only include the name, unit and GAR Post of the veterans, that is still of interest to students of the regiment--not to mention descendants of the soldiers and troopers--of the Fifth Iowa Regiments. From the data compiled by Clement and Sherard (based on GAR records for 1895, 1910 and 1931), we have gleaned the following information about veterans of these two proud regiments. The authors note that "less than a third of the Civil War veterans who lived in Colorado were ever members of the GAR." Yet, despite the fact that any such list is doomed to be incomplete, it still offers valuable information. Following the War Between the States, these individuals migrated to Colorado, where they were active members of the Grand Army of the Republic. The list includes their name, senior rank attained during their service and the number and location of their GAR Post. It is interesting that since the regiments' veterans were spread throughout the state, few of them enjoyed the benefits of belonging to the same Post. Variations in name and rank are also intriguing; what appears below is from the GAR records, rather than the Official Roster.

Fifth Iowa Volunteer Cavalry

Private John Birkel
Post 42 - Denver, Denver County

Private J.F. Brainard
Post 7 - Fort Collins, Larimer County

Corporal Robert E Coulehan
Post 5 - Boulder, Boulder County

Corporal Abraham Deeter
Post 59 - Larmar, Prowers County

Private V.S. Duncan
Post 82 - Fleming, Logan County

Private J.B. Earl
Post 4 - Denver, Denver County

Private E.C. Hubbard
Post 8 - Pueblo, Pueblo County

Private Alex D. Jameson
Post 3 - Golden, Jefferson County

Private Brafford Johnson
Post 35 - Grand Junction, Mesa County

Private Andrew McHendrie
Post 26 - Trinidad, Las Animas County

Private A.G. McKindrae
Post 79 - Springfield, Baca County

Private James Moody
Post 102 - Florence, Fremont County

Private Newton Gleason
Post 42 - Denver, Denver County

Private A.B. Niles
Post 42 - Denver, Denver County

Private J.C. Perham
Post 39, Denver, Denver County

Private M. Pruyn
Post 54 - Telluride, San Miguel County

Private James Wesley Robb
Post 4 - Denver, Denver County

Private Jacob Sipe
Post 6 - Longmont, Boulder County

Private John Toner
Post 70 - Wray, Yuma County

Fifth Iowa Volunteer Infantry

Corporal Abraham Deeter
Post 59 - Larmar, Prowers County

Private Joseph M. Douglas
Post 8 - Pubelo, Pueblo County

Private J.B. Earl
Post 4 - Denver, Denver County

Private Charles M. Elerick
Post 40 - Monitou, El Paso County

Private James Ewing
Post 46 - Denver, Denver County

Private James Moody
Post 102 - Florence, Fremont County

Sergeant David Heron
Post 22 - Colorado Springs, El Paso County

Captain J.E. Page
Post 8 - Pueblo, Pueblo County

Private J.C. Perham
Post 39, Denver, Denver County