The end is in sight ...

      On 6 May, the regiment joined Sherman and commenced the advance on Atlanta. It was engaged at Resaca, Dallas, Kennesaw Mountain, the various engagements in the vicinity of Atlanta; at Jonesboro and Lovejoy's Station, with a loss of about 80 men during the campaign. The regiment arrived at East Point, Georgia on 8 September 1864, where they remained until 4 October. The regiment was ordered to follow the rebel, General Hood, across the Chattahoochee River with his army. General Hood retreated and continued to elude capture even through several small skirmishes. On 21 October at the crossing of Little Creek, Alabama, the pursuit of Hood's army was abandoned. The troops started on the return march on 29 October halting at different points for rest. On 21 November 21 the regiment reached Griswoldville, Georgia, where they were engaged in a small skirmish.

            On 13 November the regiment reached Atlanta, Georgia. The regiments was engaged in a foraging expedition, forty miles in the interior, the day Sherman’s Army marched into the Atlanta and was not involved the capture of the city. In January 1865, the regiment marched with the army through the Carolinas, being engaged in numerous skirmishes and present at the capture of Columbia, South Carolina. Its last engagement was at Bentonville, North Carolina in March, after which it marched to Goldsboro and Raleigh, North Carolina and on to Washington, D.C.. where it was in the Grand Review. [1] Abraham served his country with honor and was released from service on 6 June 1865 at Washington, D.C.[2]

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[1] Abraham and George Newkirk, American Civil War Regiments. Ancestry.com [database on-line]. Accessed 8 November 2012; Abraham and George Newkirk, Roster and Record of Iowa Troops In the Rebellion, Vol. 3 By Guy E. Logan on-line http://www.ancestry.comdata downloaded 7 November 2012. 

[2] Abraham Newkirk Discharge paper, Civil War. Ancestry.com [database online], Bjhfturneradded this on 14 Oct 2009. Accessed 8 September 2012.