Its troops came primarily from the Iowa counties of Linn, Jasper, Marion, Lucas, Keokuk, Scott, Polk, Benton, Marshall and Washington.

After the battle of Shiloh, the Thirteenth Iowa was assigned to the Third Brigade of the Sixth Division.

The brigade was composed of the Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth regiments of Iowa Infantry, and was under command of Colonel Crocker.

Between the 17th corps and the city flowed the swift current of the Congaree River, with a rocky and dangerous channel.

Kennedy was undoubtedly the first man to suggest the possibility of crossing the stream and entering the city.