Excerpt from Sergeant Alexander G. Downing, Company E Eleventh Iowa Infantry, Third Brigade, "Crocker's Brigade", Sixth Division of the Seventeenth Corps, Army of the Tennessee: August 15, 1861 July 31, 1865How were the best elements of the Citizen preserved throughout years in the ranks, and how was the good in the ranks carried back into life at peace? Where were the currents which blew a life out from the haven of home upon the sea of war and upon that part of such a sea which bore the stand ard of national as against state sovereignty. Whence came the poise in action and on march. Which made of an Iowa boy the veteran soldier upon which Grant relied even in the major responsibilities of a great war?About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.