TAPS FOR COMRADE ALFRED HAMMER

Late Co. E, 50th Wisconsin Infantry

Comrade Hammer was born in Glogan, Germany, in the year 1848, and was brought to the United States when five years of age by his father, Capt. Gustavus Hammer, who established his home in Wisconsin where young Alfred grew to manhood.
 

COMRADE ALFRED HAMMER

Late Co. E, 50th Wisconsin Infantry
 

In the year 1865, just a few days prior to the close of the Civil War by the surrender of Gen. Robert E. Lee to Gen. U. S. Grant young Hammer, then 17 years of age, enlisted in Co. E, 50th Wisconsin Infantry which was being recruited for service in the Civil War. As soon as the word of the close of the War came to the ears of the officers and men of the 50 Wisconsin Infantry they fully expected and demanded their discharge.
 

However instead of being discharged they were sent up to the Sioux country, Minnesota and North Dakota, where they were retained until nearly the close of 1866 when the regiment was mustered out and Comrade Hammer was honorably discharged and returned to his home.
 

When pension laws were enacted in behalf of the Veterans of the Civil War, Comrade Hammer applied for a pension, rightly claiming to have enlisted for service in the Civil War. In fact the Civil War was not officially closed until August 20, 1866. Pension was refused him on the ground that "service rendered after July 1865 was not pensionable unless shown by positive evidence that such service was actually connected with the Civil War."
 

According to the Pension Bureau a war was not a Civil War unless fought by white men against white men. If war was made against rebellious and cruel Indians who were murdering and outraging indiscriminately, and even though waged during the years of the Civil War, and although one enlisted specifically for Civil War Service, yet it could only be classed as Indian War Service.
 

And thus early in the history of pension legislation the men who fought savages were discriminated against. At that date no pensions were as yet paid to survivors of Indian Wars.
 

Comrade Hammer continued to prosecute his claim for a Civil War pension over a period of more than 50 years. It was not merely the value of the pension that he cared for as he had been successfully engaged in business ever since 1874. It was the honor of being rightly recognized by the Government under whose flag he had enlisted and been sworn into service for the Civil War.
 

During those years he had accumulated a voluminous amount of endorsements from the highest officials of the G. A. R. and of various branches of the Government.
 

Finally after the passage of the Indian War Pension Law of March 3, 1927, he accepted an Indian War Pension and has been an honored official of the National Indian War Veterans U. S. A., for several years, serving as State Commander for the Department of Iowa until obliged of resign on account of total blindness.
 

Comrade Hammer was a successful merchant and bank director in Des Moines, Iowa, for more than half a century and our Indian War Veterans organization has met with a very great loss in his death which was the result of a broken hip at age 89.