Benjamin Housel from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, enlisted as a fifth sergeant in Company D, 4th Iowa Cavalry on September 28, 1861; on January 15, 1862, he was promoted to battalion commissary sergeant. Housel was transferred back to Company D on June 9, 1862; he was discharged on March 14, 1863, for promotion to lieutenant with the Mississippi Marine Brigade.

Despite its name, the Mississippi Marine Brigade was a U.S. Army organization formed in early 1863, consisting of 350 officers and men and nine lightly armored boats. The Marine Brigade was used to keep the Mississippi River open to Union traffic, often clashing with parties of Confederate guerrillas.

The brigade was disbanded in December 1864, with the last men discharged in January 1865.

Carte-de-Visite by Troxell & Bro., St. Louis, Mo.

Image Courtesy Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield; WICR 11490