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Showing posts from November, 2012

The Movie "Lincoln" and the Seeber/Wallace family

The opening scenes of the movie "Lincoln" depict the Battle of Jenkins Ferry. My 2nd Great Grandfather, James Byers Wallace fought in this battle. He was a private in Company F of the 29th Iowa Infantry. His brother George was a Sergeant in the 29th Iowa as well. The Union Army was covering its retreat over the Saline River at Jenkins Ferry, Arkansas in April of 1864. It rained for 18 hours straight, and the water was rapidly rising. The wagons and horses were mired in mud, and the combatants battled in 1 to 2 feet of mud and water in the middle of a heavily wooded swamp. Although hand to hand combat during this battle was rare (it was mostly a musketry battle), this scene appears to depict when the 2nd Kansas Colored Infantry and the 29th Iowa Infantry (I have used the official historical names of the units) rushed and captured a confederate artillery battery.