Reflections on the Risks of Writing about the Civil War
Frederick Buechner writes in The Clown in the Belfry, “How can anybody writing a novel or a story know for sure where it will lead and just how and with…
Feel free to step inside: A review of Outside In: African-American History in Iowa, 1838-2000
Hustling up to the front door, package in hand, I rang the doorbell. An older African-American man invited me in out of the cold. I stepped inside a small entryway…
Think like Dr. Phil, new round: “Love will keep us together” — or will it?
Let’s have a little fun. In this post, I’ll introduce newlyweds who are a Confederate from Iowa and his wife. I’ll describe challenges in their early marriage. I invite you…
Snapshot of a divided family
Rev. William Salter walked in to the crude Federal field hospital near Marietta, Georgia in July 1864. Talking with pain-wracked Union troops drained Salter of energy and sympathy. He was…
Son of Former Iowa Governor goes bad, Part 2: The Family tries to Intervene
Junius L. Hempstead and 600 other Confederate officers crowded into the dark hold of a Federal steamer. Sea-sickness and lack of sanitation bedeviled them for two weeks. They arrived at Morris…
Son of Former Iowa Governor goes bad: “Rebel Son” becomes Campaign Issue
Iowa residents who served the Confederacy were never completely forgotten, especially during campaign season. One such man was 18-year-old Junius L. Hempstead, a Dubuque resident whose father had been Iowa’s…
How Abraham Lincoln helped me understand Confederates from Iowa
Six years ago, I stumbled on to a little-known chapter of Iowa history: residents who left Iowa and served the Confederacy. The men were sometimes mentioned as a historical footnote…
Confederates from Iowa: A fresh look at the Civil War
Welcome to my new blog, Confederates from Iowa! If you have Iowa roots, or if you like to learn about the Civil War, this blog is meant for you. When…