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Chattanooga union triumphs at Gettysburg and Vicksburg showed the people of the North that victory was possible, providing they were willing to continue paying the bloody cost. The Southern capital of Richmond had not been captured, and there were half a dozen Confederate states that had not yet been invaded. Most important, though, were the several hundred thousand well-led and well-armed Confederate soldiers still prepared to defend their homes. The state of Iowa was spared the physical ravages of battling armies and the economic disaster of the dying Confederacy. The war, in fact, helped boost Iowa's farm economy. Soldiers had to be fed and clothed. Cedar Falls, the railhead of the Cedar Valley, became a leading town in northeast Iowa. Goods from the length of the valley passed through Cedar Falls on their way east to Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and the Mississippi River. The demand for farm produce worked in favor of the farmers and the merchants, mill owners, and mechanics who serviced them. There had been about 1,500 people in Cedar Falls when the Pioneer Greys boarded the cars for the war in 1861; by the end of 1863, the population had grown to almost 2,400. There had been 272 new buildings erected since 1861: private dwellings, stores, churches, warehouses , barns, and stables. Cedar Falls's six hotels had registered more than 25,000 guests in 1862; in 1863 the total was more than 32,000. The three large mills were busy, especially during the fall harvest, when hundreds of farmers, teams, and grain-filled wagons crowded the streets.' The Gazette proudly proclaimed that "the business of Cedar Falls has increased over one hundred per cent in 1863, as compared with that of 1862,-footing up for the year ending Dec. 31st, $2,575,110, and this independent of the transactions of transient dealers, which amount to a large sumT2 While the war had not physically damaged the town, a price was being paid. Young men, such as Pennsylvania-born farmer Samuel Grove, who lost a leg in the disastrous charge at Jackson, came home FROM BLUE MILLS TO COLUMBIA crippled. Others came home too physically broken down ever to work on the farms or in the mills again. George Perkins, for example, spent a year recovering from the fever he caught at Vicksburg. It was worse for families whose sons would never come home. Those men, such as Ed Culver, Lathrop Ladd, Charles Lusch, and many others were buried in Southern graves. James Q. Rownd and his wife, Caroline, had watched both their sons go to war, George with the 1st Iowa Battery and John with the Cedar Falls Reserves. They had sweated out the news from Pea Ridge, Shiloh, Chickasaw Bluffs, and many other battles. Both sons came home. John was hit in the hand during the fighting at Vicksburg and had lost several fingers. He was discharged in November 1863. After the fall of Vicksburg, George Rownd had taken ill and was transferred to the military hospital at Helena, Arkansas, where he was discharged from the army. His father wanted to bring his son home to recuperate, so in December he traveled to Helena to get him. He brought the boy as far as Dubuque, but George's health was so bad that he died before reaching home.' The Cedar Falls casualty list continued to grow throughout the fall as the men fought with U. S. Grant. At the request of Governor Kirkwood, the loyal citizens of Iowa began to organize actual Home Guard militia companies to combat the perceived threat from local traitors. A Cedar Falls militia company, the Governor's Greys, was organized in July and August 1863. Many of the members were older men, such as Colonel William Sessions and John H. Overman, or former soldiers, such as Fitzroy Sessions. The company served as both a show company, designed to intimidate local copperheads , and as a means of keeping the Unionists deeply involved in the war effort. The Governor's Greys were accepted as part of the Iowa State Militia and issued 100 stands of arms and 1,000 rounds of ammunition. Veteran soldier John Wayne, who had been wounded and taken captive at Shiloh, was elected captain. Peter Melendy was elected first lieutenant.' Women could not join the militia companies, but they could form Union Leagues of their own. The Ladies' Union Leagues, however, were aid societies whose activities were primarily directed toward aiding the widows and...

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