9th Iowa Infantry Regiment
The 9th Iowa Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Service. The 9th Iowa Infantry was organized at Dubuque, Iowa and mustered into Federal service on September 24, 1861. The Honorable William Vandever, Representative from the 2nd Congressional District, Iowa, was authorized by President Lincoln to organize this regiment from the counties in his district, and he was commissioned by Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood as its first Colonel. The regiment went without a standard of colors until a group of women from Massachusetts presented them with  a regimental flag in 1862. Service History: The regiment was mustered out on July 18, 1865, in Louisville, Kentucky. Before the regiment disbanded, the men gave their standard of colors to William Vandever as a memento. In 1886, Vandever presented the flag to veterans of the 9th Iowa Infantry at the annual encampment of the Grand Army of the Republic reunion in San Francisco and later wrote: They gathered close around it and their manly bosoms heaved with emotion, and noble tears coursed down their cheeks. It is a sacred relic that I prize today more than anything else that  I have in this world, coming to me as a memento of the sacrifices made to sustain this Union and as a freewill offering from the women of this country, and as a token of their sympathy in our struggle. Total strength and casualties. Total enrolment was 1,440. The regiment lost 12 officers and 142 enlisted men who were killed in action or who died of their wounds and 2 officers and 230 enlisted men who died of disease, for a total of 386 fatalities. 385 were wounded. Companies with the Counties of Origin. Company A - enrolled in Jackson County , Iowa Company B - enrolled in Jones County, Iowa Company C - enrolled in Dubuque County, Iowa Company D - enrolled in Jones County, Iowa Company E - enrolled in Clayton County, Iowa Company F - enrolled in Fayette County, Iowa Company G - enrolled in Black Hawk County, Iowa; Bremer County, Iowa Company H - enrolled in Winneshiek County, Iowa Company I - enrolled in Howard County, Iowa Company K - enrolled in Linn County, Iowa Medal of Honor Awardee. Sergeant James M. Elson (later Lieutenant) received the Medal of Honor for his action during the Siege of Vicksburg. His citation notes that Elson, "Carried the colors in  advance of his regiment and was shot down while attempting to plant them on the enemy's works."