Brigadier General Samuel Allen Rice (b. 1828 d. 1864); Civil War Hero

Brigadier General Samuel Allen Rice (b. 1828 d. 1864); Civil War Hero

Samuel Allen Rice was the highest ranking officer in all of Iowa to be lost during the Civil War; being a Brigadier General at the time of his death. Rice was born in southern New York in 1828 and studied to become a lawyer. After graduating from law school and passing the bar exam, he practiced law in Fairfield, Iowa and then Oskaloosa, Iowa. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Rice was commissioned by Governor Kirkwood as Colonel of the 33rd Iowa Regiment on August 10, 1862. Rice was promoted to Brigadier General after being recognized for saving the day in the Battle of Helena on July 4, 1863; the same day that the Union was victorious in Vicksburg and Gettysburg. Pushing deep into the South, General Rice was mortally wounded at the Battle of Jenkin's Ferry, Arkansas, on April 30, 1864, after being struck by a Confederate bullet in the foot. Rice was brought back to his hometown of Oskaloosa in the days that ensued, eventually passing away from his wounds on July 6, 1864. Rice was 36 years old. He is buried at Forest Cemetery in Oskaloosa, Iowa. This is a lithographic portrait of Rice taken at the outset of the Civil War.

Union Historical Company, Librarian of Congress

Mahaska County Collection

Mills and Company: Des Moines, IA

2008-07-23

www.nelsonpioneer.org

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Wilcox Library

http://cdm16125.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p270701coll6,137