Franz and Christine “Barbara” Balluff were living in their native Germany when their son, John, was born in Württemburg on June 28, 1838. By 1850, the family had seven children when they moved to New York, purchased land and had three more children. Barbara died in the town of Clarence in 1853 and was buried in the cemetery of St. Mary’s of the Assumption church in Swormville. Three years later, Franz and the children moved to Iowa where Franz purchased an eighty-acre farm and built a rock house about three miles southwest of Strawberry Point. Another forty acres were purchased later.

In 1860 Abraham Lincoln was elected President and, on April 12th of the following year, General Beauregard’s canon fired on Fort Sumter. War followed. Sumter had galvanized the North and men came quickly as regiments were quickly organized and rushed to the field. On November 15, 1861, John Balluff enlisted at Strawberry Point as a Private in what would be Company H of Iowa’s 16th regiment of volunteer infantry. Twenty-three years old and 5' 8" tall, he was mustered into service on January 28th of the following year. John and his regiment participated in many of the most well-known engagements of the war.

They left Davenport by steamer on March 20th, went to St. Louis and, from there, to Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee where they loaded their guns for the first time and John participated in the Battle of Shiloh. They were then ordered to Mississippi where, with three other Iowa regiments, they were organized into what became known as Crocker’s Brigade.

From Tennessee they moved to Mississippi where John participated on September 19th in the Battle of Iuka and then, in October, in a two-day Battle of Corinth They were then allowed to camp for nearly month before being ordered back to Tennessee and, from there, to Lake Providence where they resorted to picks and shovels to connect the lake to the Mississippi River, work they did not enjoy. As a soldier in the 21st Iowa said, “I believe the boys would just as soon drown as work with a shovel. We all think it out of our line of business.”

At Milliken’s Bend, Louisiana, in April 1863, John was present as General Grant organized a large, three-corps army to capture the Confederate stronghold of Vicksburg. On June 30th, he was marked “present” on the bi-monthly company muster roll at the rear of Vicksburg and four days later the siege of Vicksburg ended when it was surrendered by General Pemberton.

Throughout much of the siege, rebels under General Joe Johnston had scouted the rear of the Union line but, with the city’s surrender, Johnston led his men east toward the capital at Jackson with Union troops in close pursuit. John was present during the pursuit and, later, when they returned to Vicksburg where, in December, by order of Major General Dennis, he was temporarily detached to serve as a Steward at Division Headquarters.

By the end of 1863, the Union army had been greatly reduced by illness, wounds, deaths and discharges and the government offered incentives for reenlistments. On January 4, 1864, still at Vicksburg, John Balluff, “aged Twenty-five years, and by occupation a farmer,” signed a Volunteer Enlistment agreeing to serve another three years “unless sooner discharged by proper authority.” In recognition of his reenlistment, John was paid $210 as an advance on the $400 bounty offered by the government and on March 17th left on a 30-day furlough. While absent, he was promoted from Private to 6th Corporal and then to 5th Corporal and, on May 3rd, started a return, rejoining the regiment at Clifton, Tennessee.

From there they went to Huntsville, Alabama, and Rome, Georgia, before joining a force under General Sherman near Acworth. On June 11th, they were at Kenesaw Mountain where they soon came under enemy fire and had a “sharp engagement” on the 15th. On July 5th they were in the advance driving the enemy across Nickajack Creek and on the 16th forced them to cross the Chattahoochee River. The regiment suffered heavy losses on the 20th and 21st and, on July 22, 1864, while participating in the Battle of Atlanta a short distance southeast of the city, John was captured and taken to the infamous Andersonville Prison. Two months later an exchange of prisoners was negotiated and he was exchanged at Rough & Ready (now known as Mountain View), Georgia. On September 21st, he rejoined the regiment that was still near Atlanta. Two months later, on November 19th, John’s younger brother, Victor Balluff, reached the regiment after enlisting as a substitute the previous month. By then, they were participating in what a poet would later call “Sherman’s March to the Sea.” The campaign ended with the occupation of Savannah on December 21st and the regiment then began a march north through the Carolinas. They entered the city of Raleigh on April 10, 1865.

By then the war was essentially over. The North had won and President Andrew Johnson initiated plans for a Grand Review with General Meade to lead his northern army down the streets of Washington D.C. on May 23, 1865, and General Sherman to do the same the next day with his southern armies. Continuing north, with John and his brother both present, the 16th Infantry moved through Richmond, reached Washington and marched with Sherman on the 24th. John was present, but Victor had suffered sunstroke on the 15th and may not have been able to participate. On June 7th the regiment left Washington, on July 19th they were mustered out of the service at Louisville, Kentucky, and from there they began a return to Iowa where they were discharged from the military. Like many soldiers, John elected to have $6.00 deducted from his final pay so he could retain his musket and accoutrements.

Including new recruits who enlisted after the regiment was mustered into service, it had a total enrollment of 1,441 men. Of those, 97 had been killed in action or died from wounds and another 220 had died from disease.

John Balluff, despite participating in all of the regiment’s campaigns and engagements, had maintained his health well. After returning to civilian life, he and his wife, Mary Jane (Nace) Balluff, had four children, the first being Emma born on September 12, 1867. She was followed by Joseph on May 18, 1870, and Nellie on March 2, 1873. Their fourth child, a daughter named Anna, lived only a short time and died as an infant.

A long-time resident of the area near Strawberry Point, John was forty-one years old when he died on February 12, 1880, after being in poor health for several months. Two days later he was buried in County Corners cemetery where his surname on a standard issue military stone is misspelled..