Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Thursday, August 01, 2024
Tally's War. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. Aloha! Attach at the island! Right here in Iowa. Hi there. Andy Peterson joined Gary Dolphin and I as we host the annual Tate and Dotty Cummins Memorial Pineapple Gala to benefit Camp Courageous. It's Friday August 16th at 6 p.m. at the Double Tree Convention Center in downtown Cedar Rapids. Enjoy a Hawaiian dinner, live in so auction and more. To view auction items or for tickets, simply go to Camp Courageous.org and we'll see you there! When Iowa was admitted to the Union in 1846, it was a free state, meaning slavery was prohibited. But many in our state had loyalty to the south. Perhaps they had relatives living there or believed that state should make their own choice on what we now see as a moral issue. Those in the north who became involved in helping the south during the Civil War, secretly raising money for guns and other supplies, were called Copperheads. They got the name because the loyal Union people thought they were as deadly as the Copperhead Snake. One of the leaders of the Copperheads in eastern Iowa was a Baptist preacher named Cypher Tally. He was actually pro-peace and spoke often at rallies. One of those was a Democratic Party rally held near the English River on Saturday, August 1, 1863. Hundreds attended. After the rally, Tally and his party rode in Wagons to the town of South English nearby, where a meeting of Republicans had taken place. Tally was warned not to go to the town, but did anyway. The Democrats in Wagons displayed weapons and soon gunfire was exchanged between Tally's people and the equally well armed people in the town. Hundreds of shots were fired, but only one person died. Cypher Tally. By the next day, hundreds came to South English demanding vengeance. They formed what was called the Skunk River Army, itching for a fight. Some towns people traveled to Davenport to meet with Governor Samuel Kirkwood about the matter. The governor traveled with several hundred troops and cannons to the area, but the so-called army lost its nerve along the way and had disbanded by the time the governor arrived. No one was ever indicted for shooting Cypher Tally, whose death led to high tension in South English for a month, beginning on this date in 1863. And that's Iowa Almanac for August 1st. Follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.