Alexander Armstrong Talbott was born in Indiana on February 21, 1826, the son of Edward Talbott and Mary Merritt Laning. About 1851 the family moved to Iowa County, Iowa and on November 2, 1854 he married Nancy Ann Greenlee at Iowa City.

At Marengo, Iowa on August 14, 1862, Alexander Talbott enlisted in the Union Army for three years, and was mustered in as a Private in Company G, 28th Iowa Infantry. At the time of his enlistment he working as a farmer and was described as being five feet nine inches tall, with fair complexion, blue eyes, and brown hair.

The regiment was organized at Camp Pope in Iowa City and was mustered into service on October 10, 1862. Pvt. Talbott was troubled greatly by disease while in the service, contracting jaundice, weak eyes, rheumatism, diarrhea, and disease of the heart while still at Camp Pope in October 1862.

His unit soon moved to Helena, Arkansas, where a detachment of 500 accompanied a force in the direction of Oakland, Mississippi for the aid of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant in his effort to take Vicksburg. Smallpox kept the command in camp until January 1863, and Pvt. Talbott was treated in the regimental hospital at New Orleans, Louisiana in December 1862.

The regiment then moved in the expedition up the White River as far as Devall’s Bluff, Arkansas and returned to find its tents gone! The men then sank down into the mud to rest as best they could until something could be provided to give them some shelter from the elements. The regiment spent a week at Yazoo Pass in February, clearing the channel of the obstructions placed there. Pvt. Talbott was again treated at Yellow Bayou, Louisiana in March 1863. The regiment then returned to Helena.

Moving for Vicksburg, Mississippi, the regiment was first under fire at Port Gibson, where it went into battle after 24 hours’ march and fought with coolness and spirit. It was at this time part of the 2nd Brigade, 12th Division, 13th Army Corps, and took part in all the movements, skirmishes and marches of that Corps, and was engaged at Champion’s Hill, where it lost 22 killed, 65 wounded and 13 missing, four companies coming out of the fight without a commissioned officer. The regiment went into the trenches before Vicksburg and remained until the fall of the city. At the conclusion of the siege it moved to Jackson and engaged in the siege of that place. At this time it was reduced to about 250 men capable of duty; death, wounds and sickness having wrought havoc in its ranks. Pvt. Talbott was again treated in the regimental hospital for intermittent fever several times between October and December 1863.

On its return to Vicksburg, it was assigned to the Department of the Gulf, and accompanied the expedition into western Louisiana as far as Opelousas. On the return it was in constant skirmish, making several marches toward the west on two or three occasions when the enemy became too aggressive. It was next ordered to Texas, but transportation not being furnished the regiment went into camp at Madisonville. About March 1, 1864 it proceeded to New Orleans, thence to Algiers, and a few days later to Brashear City. It was with the Red River expedition, fought at Sabine Cross-Roads, where it lost about 80 in killed and wounded. The regiment was on train guard service when the battle of Pleasant Hill was fought. From Morganza the regiment marched to the Atchafalaya, and on its return embarked for Carrollton.

After some minor movements it sailed for Alexandria, Virginia, from there to Washington, thence to Tennallytown, and went into camp. With the Army of the Shenandoah, it was in the battle of Winchester, losing nearly 90 in killed and wounded. In the pursuit it captured 6 of the enemy’s guns in battery, a large quantity of ammunition and a number of prisoners in the battle of Fisher’s Hill.

From October 1864 to February 1865 Pvt. Talbott was detailed as a nurse in a hospital at Winchester, Virginia. He was mustered out with the rest of the regiment on July 31, 1865 at Savannah, Georgia.

After the war Alexander Talbott lived at Luzerne, Iowa until 1875, and then at Carroll, Iowa, where he passed away on July 11, 1907.

Two of Alexander’s brothers are also known to have served in the Union Army, namely: Lewis W. Talbott of Company B, 1st Iowa Infantry and Company G, 47th Iowa Infantry; and Daniel E. Talbott of Company G, 8th Iowa Infantry.