History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Nathaniel B. Baker

ability was given to the work of organizing the fifty-seven regiments of volunteers which Iowa furnished to the President. He organized a system that has preserved a permanent record of the service of every Iowa soldier who entered the army. As the war progressed the duties of Inspector-General, Quartermaster, Paymaster and Commissary-General were imposed upon him, and the duties discharged with promptness unsurpassed. He was untiring in caring for the comfort of Iowa soldiers, and as the regiments were discharged he gathered at the State Arsenal all of the battle flags which were brought home for careful preservation. He planned and superintended the great reunion of Iowa soldiers in 1870, where every one of the 20,000 veterans was eager to take him by the hand. He held the office of Adjutant-General to the day of his death, which occurred on the 13th of September, 1876. Governor Kirkwood issued a proclamation announcing his death and enumerating his great services to the State. The national flag was displayed from the public buildings at half-mast and minute guns were fired the day of his funeral, which was one of the most imposing ever seen in the State. A monument was erected to his memory over his grave in Woodland Cemetery, Des Moines, by voluntary contributions of Iowa soldiers.