A Biography of Union county Soldiers. Veterans' Photographic Souvenir. (G.A.R)

JOSEPH F. SYP

JOSEPH F. SYP, enlisted in the spring of 1862, in Company H. Twenty- ninth Iowa Infantry. The regiment rendezvoused at Council Bluffs, Iowa. Where they were sworn into the service of the United States. In the fall they went South, to St. Louis, Thence to Columbus. Kentucky, in pursuit of Beauregard. Thence to Helena, Arkansas,where he remained with his regiment, at headquarters, until the spring of l863. During that time he was in the White River expedition. The Union forces captured Duvall's Bluffs, and routed Gen. Price's army. The regiment suffered very much from exposure to the cold and wet. At the close of this expedition they returned to Helena. They took part in the Yazoo Pass expedition, and the siege at Fort Pemberton, then returned to Helena, and took a very important part in the battle of that place, July 4, 1863. On the 11th of August following, the regiment left Helena, and took an active part in the expedition against Little Rock, commanded by General Steele, which took place September 10. In December, Mr. Syp was detailed with thirty-one others to raise a colored regiment in Arkansas. About three months later the regiment was organized, Mr. Syp was commissioned Second Lieutenant of Company G, One Hundred and Thirteenth United States Colored Infantry. In May, 1864, he was promoted to First Lieutenant, where he served until the close of the war. He was mustered out for disability, April 8, 1875. Mr. SYP was a brave and efficient soldier, and did good service in the cause of his country. During the first part of his service with the Twenty-ninth he was Commissary of the Company; afterward he was appointed Color Bearer. and carried the colors for several months; then served as regimental drill master for the recruits that joined the regiment, He has been physically unable to do any work since he left the army. For several years he had spells of being totally blind, and is now entirely blind in his left eye, and sees but feebly with the other. He has a pleasant; home in Afton, and is thankful for the blessings he still enjoys.