Greybeards in Blue - February 1998 Civil War Times Feature

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Greybeards in Blue

An eccentric Iowa farmer raises a regiment of old-timers
with hopes of one dayleading them into battle.

BY BENTON McADAMS

The idea was a bold one: a regiment of old men in Union blue, risen from their comfortable parlors and front-porch rockers to rally ’round the flag. The sight of these ancient soldiers marching off to war would make young men blush with shame and send them running to the nearest recruiter. That was the idea, but the reality of the 37th Iowa Infantry was another story altogether.

The brainchild of a flamboyant, 50-year-old Iowa farmer named George W. Kincaid, the 37th Iowa Infantry seemed to be an answer to Iowa’s military leaders’ most pressing concerns. Early in 1862, Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood and Adjutant General Nathaniel B. Baker fretted as Iowa’s once overwhelming recruitment numbers began to dwindle. Far to the east, the Civil War was entering its second year and showing every sign of becoming a long, costly fight. Kirkwood and Baker wanted the young men of Iowa to do their share and more to bring about victory for the Union. Even though the state was meeting its federal quota of volunteers, both men wanted higher enlistment figures. They favored conscription, but knowing that drafts–always unpopular–could have negative political consequences, they hoped for a better solution. Kincaid’s proposal for a regiment composed of men aged 45 years and up seemed to have promise, and Union Secretary of War Edwin Stanton applauded the notion.

So it was that in the fall of 1862, Kirkwood named Kincaid colonel of the new regiment, the 37th Iowa–soon to be known as the “Greybeards” or the “Silver Greys.” Baker had every confidence the regiment would succeed in raising enlistments and in providing some level of service for the war effort. Like the eccentric Kincaid, Baker likened the soldiers of the 37th to children–their ages notwithstanding–and the colonel as their proud father. Baker wrote Kirkwood that Kincaid was “large as life, happy as a clam, and proud as a peacock.” Kincaid had reason to be proud; he had risen almost overnight from being a complete unknown, far removed from the action and glory of war, to holding a commissioned position of power in the Federal military. In his estimation, he was now half a step below God, and beholden to no one.

One of Kincaid’s first acts as an officer was to defy his commanders. As he began organizing his regiment, he ignored the age minimum, and allowed his officers to recruit any man willing to join. When the 37th was mustered into service in December, 86 underage soldiers took the oath, one of them only 15 years old. Citing the official age limits authorized for the unit, the mustering officer took exception, but in the end Kincaid kept the youngsters. This apparent victory did nothing to lessen his ego.

Recruitment began briskly for Kincaid. Every county in the eastern half of Iowa contributed men, as did a number of Illinois towns across the Mississippi River. Elderly would-be soldiers called the new regiment “a wonderful expression of loyalty and patriotism,” and despite a random sprinkling of youngsters, it was old men who made up the bulk of the unconventional unit. Many of the soldiers had served in the military before, some as far back as the War of 1812. Nearly 600 of the 914 officers and enlisted men in the 37th were more than 50 years old, 48 of them were 60 or older, and 9 of them, 70 or older. The oldest was Curtis King, age 80. (Perhaps he was considered hearty enough for duty because he had five children under 16 years old.) For many of the troops, however, age would be a hindrance; neither King nor any of the 70-year-olds would complete their three-year enlistments. Nearly 350 Greybeards would eventually accept disability discharges. But at the outset, they had the fighting spirit of youngsters. Sixty-four-year-old Allen Summer spoke for them all when he boasted he “would kill a rebel with as clear a conscience as ever I killed a wolf.”

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