George W. Strong Papers

Collection

Identifier: MsC0057

Staff Only
No requestable containers

Scope and Contents

Some correspondence from this collection is digitized on the Iowa Digital Library Civil War Diaries and Letters Collection page.

Dates

Creation: 1862-1868
Creation: Majority of material found within 1862-1865

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

This collection is available on microfilm, which is stored in preservation.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright status for collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge University of Iowa Libraries Special Collections & Archives as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/.

Biographical / Historical

George W. Strong was born in Oswego, New York near the year 1833. He worked as a farm laborer, a lumber man and a sailor, and as of 1861 was in Michigan. That year, he enlisted as a drum major in the Fifteenth Michigan Infantry Volunteers, where he attained the position of second lieutenant in Company F. In 1863, he went to the First West Tennessee Infantry of African descent as captain of Company H. He served in this company until 1864, when he was discovered to be involved in fradulent practices in the enlistment of African American soldiers. Before he could be arrested, he deserted his company and regiment and escaped. He was never captured, but documents in this collection indicate that he likely cleared his legal difficulties and enlisted in the Iowa Volunteers in 1866.

From: Cowden, Colonel Robert. A Brief Sketch of the Organization and Services of the Fifty-Ninth Regiment of United States Colored Infantry, and Biographical Sketches. Dayton, Ohio: United Brethren Publishing House, 1883. P. 232-233.