Henry Boysen

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Military Service
War: Civil

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Buried: Cemetery
Grundy County, Iowa

Saw Much Service

Henry Boysen of this place, who now holds the position of night watchman for the town, is one of the adopted citizens of this country who saw a great deal of active service during the civil war.

He was a member of Co. K, First Minnesota Volunteers, one of the regiments which was in the war from the first and remained in the thick of the fight for three years. In a soldiers memorial possessed by Mr. Boysen is a list of battles in which the regiment was engaged. The list includes Bull Run, Va., July 21, 1861; Balls Bluff, Oct. 21; Siege of Yorktown, April 1862; West Point, Va., May 7; Fair Oaks, Va., May 31 and June 1; Peach Orchard, June 29; Glendale, White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill, June 30 and July 1; Malvern Hill again, August 5; Vienna, Sept. 2; South Mountain, Sept. 15; Antietam Md., Sept. 17; Charlestown, Oct. 16; Fredericksburg, Dec. 13; Fredericksburg again, May 3, 1863; Haymarket, June 25; Gettysburg, July 2 and 3; Bristow Station, Oct. 14; and Mine Run, Nov. 27, 1864.

Mr. Boysen served under Gens. McDowell, Stone, Banks, McClelland, Mead, Hancock and Sumner. He was discharged in 1864 and re-enlisted in Co. A of the 9th Veteran Volunteers in April 1865 serving one year, part of the time at Washington and part at Indianapolis where they were guarding government property.

Mr. Boysen went through the entire war and never received a wound though at the battle of Gettysburg his regiment was almost wiped out in a few minutes.

Source:Grundy County Democrat (Grundy Center, Iowa), 5 September 1907, pg 8

Civil War History From Geo. Mackie

In response to his article on "Grundy County And The Civil War Centennial" which recently appeared in The Grundy Register, Glenn E. McCoy has received the following letter from George Mackie of Kalispell, Montana:

Kalispell, Montana
May 25, 1961

Dear Sir,
I read in the last issue of the Register that the Grundy County Civil War Centennial Commission is seeking information concerning Grundy county veterans. The information I have to give is quite meager and is in regard to my great-grandfather, Albert Burton.

At the outbreak of the war he enlisted at Galesburg, Ill., in Company I of the 12th Illinois Infantry and served through the war. All I know for sure about his service is that he was in action at Allatonna, Georgia, during the Union advance on Atlanta, and that he was in the Battle of Atlanta, and finally that he went with "Uncle Billy" Sherman from Atlanta to the sea. How I wish I could fill in the gap from his enlistment to the Atlanta Campaign in 1864!

He was in the newspaper business before the war and when he came to Iowa in 1877, he established the newspaper in Holland and in 1880 he moved to Conrad and founded the newspaper there, and then for 17 years followed the destinies of Conrad and her people. He died at the Soldiers Home, Quincy, Ill., in 1905 and is buried there.

I realize that the information I have given is very scanty and it may or may not be of interest to the commission. If it is not of interest, you have my permission to file this in the waste basket. In any case, good luck to the commission in digging out the information on Grundy county's participation in the war and I hope that at some future date the findings can be published for all to read.

Very truly yours,
(s) George Mackie

This is an interesting letter concerning a former resident of our county. No doubt there are many more persons at a distance and many here at home who can help the Grundy County Civil War Commission secure information and materials that will make the commemoration of the Centennial of great interest to the people of Grundy county. The commission urges all persons who can help to volunteer their services. And the sooner the help is received the better the job the commission can do.
--Glenn E. McCoy, Chairman, Grundy County Civil War Centennial Commission.

The Grundy Register (Grundy Center, Iowa), 8 June 1961, sec 2, pg 1