CAPTAIN JAMES B. GEDNEY.
James B. Gedney was born in Dearborn county, Indiana, on December 10, 1825. In 1838 he removed to Lee county, Iowa, and there, in 1848, he married Miss Sarah Linch. Five years later he removed to Appanoose county, Iowa, and became one of its foremost citizens in every enterprise for the good of the community, being one of the first settlers in that section. In 1859, during the gold excitement, he made a brief trip across the plains to what was then known as "the Pike's Peak country."
In 1862 he enlisted as a private, was elected captain, and he and his comrades were assigned as Company I of the 36th Iowa Infantry. He participated with his command in all its campaigns and engagements until captured with the writer at Marks' Mills, and remained a prisoner at Tyler, Texas, except during the attempt to escape, until regularly exchanged about the close of the war.
On his return home after the war he again took up farming in Appanoose county, keeping at this until 1890, when he bought property in Centerville, the county-seat, and became a resident of that town. Captain Gedney held many positions of honor and trust, serving five years on the board of county supervisors and six years as president of his county's agricultural association, besides having the confidence of his neighbors in other ways.
The disease which caused his death was contracted in the army, and on July 27, 1893, he died at the age of sixty-eight years, honored and loved by all who knew him. His memory will live long in the hearts of his comrades, because of the soldierly and manly qualities that endeared him to all his associates. His photograph is inserted opposite [page 79].
LIEUTENANT WALTER S. JOHNSON.
Walter S. Johnson was born in Union county, Indiana, near Liberty, on May 24, 1835. His ancestors were orthodox Quakers, and were early settlers near Lynchburg, Va., about 1690. About 1826 his grandparents moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, and a few years later to Liberty, Indiana. When Walter was about fourteen the family located in Appanoose county, Iowa, and at the age of eighteen he built the first store in the new town of Cincinnati, Iowa, and began merchandising. In 1855 he married Sarah B., daughter of James X. Gibson, and is now the father of five living children.
On July 8, 1801, he enlisted in Company D of the 6th Iowa Infantry, under the Hon. M. M. Walden, and was assigned to General Fremont's command in Missouri. In July, 1862, he was discharged for disability caused by hard marching and exposure while recovering from an attack of the measles. The spirit of patriotism was too strong to permit inactivity after his recovery, and he again enlisted on August 11, 1862, reporting in person to Adjutant-General Baker with 100 men for duty, and being assigned as Company I of the 36th Iowa Infantry. He served with his command until captured with the writer, as elsewhere described.
While the regiment was at Camden, Ark., four days previous to the capture, George W. Gibson, a brother of Lieutenant Johnson's wife, came to Company I as a recruit, and was killed in the fight at Marks' Mills.