Ira W. Monroe

Ira W. Monroe was born in 1839, possibly in New York.

Ira left New York and moved west and by 1860 he was probably working as a laborer and living at Cayler’s German boarding house in Traverse City, Grand Traverse County, Michigan.

Ira was 22 years old and may have been living in Kent County when he enlisted in Company F on May 13, 1861. He was reported absent sick in the hospital in July of 1862, but eventually returned to duty. He was wounded on May 3, 1863, at Chancellorsville, Virginia, and hospitalized soon afterwards where he remained until November of 1863 when he was transferred to the One hundred thirty-seventh company, Second Battalion, Veterans’ Reserve Corps, at Detroit. He was reported on detached service with the VRC in Michigan through May of 1864. (The VRC was made up of men who while ambulatory were generally incapable of performing regular military tasks due to having suffered debilitating wounds and/or diseases and were assigned to garrison the many supply depots, draft rendezvous, camps, forts, prisons, etc. scattered throughout the northern cities, thus freeing able-bodied men for regular military duty.)

He was reportedly mustered out on June 11, 1864.

No pension seems to be available.