Daniel A. Lowber Diary

Daniel A. Lowber, captain of Company A, 37th Wisconsin Infantry during the Civil War, was born in New York in February 1844. By 1864, he was living in Columbus, Wisconsin, where he enlisted as a private in the 13th Independent Battery of Wisconsin Light Artillery. Lowber transferred to the 37th Wisconsin Infantry on March 7, 1864. Serving as a lieutenant in Company A, he was wounded on June 18 at Petersburg. He received a promotion to first lieutenant on July 28, then to captain on September 27, 1864. He was wounded again at Petersburg on April 2, 1865, and mustered out with his regiment on July 27.

Post-war records show Lowber living in Waupun, Wisconsin from 1868 through 1880, his occupation listed variously as operator of a variety store and restaurant (1868), a news dealer and confectionary (1870, 1872) and a miner (1880). He had married before 1870, his wife Susan [Morse?] having been born in Wisconsin in 1850. By 1900 Lowber had returned with his wife to New York; they lived in a boardinghouse in Brooklyn, where Lowber was occupied as a railroad supplier. Daniel A. Lowber died on November 3, 1902.

The 37th Wisconsin Infantry was organized at Camp Randall in Madison and mustered into service on April 9, 1864. The regiment departed for Washington at the end of April. A month later, the 37th was ordered to the front. The regiment was assigned to the Ninth Army Corps and participated in the assault against the Confederate lines before Petersburg on June 17 and 18, experiencing heavy fire. The regiment generally remained at Petersburg until the Confederate surrender the following spring, participating in numerous battles (including the Battle of the Crater) around Petersburg and Richmond. The 37th participated in the Grand Review in Washington D. C., where it remained until July 27, when it was mustered out of the service.