Polk County IA Archives Obituaries.....ALLEN, ROBERT Jr. 1862
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 "AMERICAN PATRIOTISM" OR, MEMOIRS OF 'COMMON MEN.'" by LEONARD BROWN, 1869
LIEUTENANT ROBERT ALLEN, JR.,
WAS a son of General Robert Allen of the Regular Army, and a nephew of Mr. B. F.
Allen of Des Moines. He was a member of the Capitol Guards during the winter of
1860-1, and enlisted as a private in Company D, May 4,1861, at the age of
twenty; was elected 4th corporal, and served in that capacity until towards the
close of the year, when he received  promotion to the office of First Lieutenant
in the 1st U. S. Cavalry, Army of the Potomac; was in the campaign before
Richmond, under McClellan, until the battle of Fair Oaks, where he was wounded
June 1, 1862. Being left on the field, he fell into the hands of the enemy, and
was carried to Richmond. The rebel surgeons amputated his leg, the bone being
badly shattered. After lying in hospital for a short time he was exchanged and
sent to New York. There it was found necessary to again amputate his limb. From
the effects of these repeated operations be did not recover -death occurring to
him before his relatives knew of his exchange.
Robert Allen, Jr., was born in Portland, Maine. His mother died when he was a
child. His father, General Allen, served in Florida and in Mexico, and was given
a command in California. Thither he carried his son, and there the child grew
up. After the beginning of the Rebellion General Allen was ordered to
Washington, and appointed Quartermaster-General of the Western Army, with
head-quarters at St. Louis. Robert preceded his father a few months, coming
overland to Des Moines, in November, 1860. Until the war broke out he was
employed as a clerk in Mr. B. F. Allen's bank. Born and bred a soldier, he was
one of the first to enter his name on the list, when Crocker began to enroll his
company. He loved the profession of arms, and coveted a position in the regular
service. His father had marked out for him a different course in life and would
not give him any encouragement in the way that Robert's own heart was set upon.
But Robert being active and persevering, well educated, intelligent, and of
soldierly appearance, was not long in finding friends to make his wishes known
to the proper authorities. Through the influence and recommendation of Crocker,
Curtis, and others, he soon obtained his coveted position -a regular soldier in
the line of promotion. From Second Lieutenant he rose to First. Proud to be
always at his post of duty, honorable and brave, he doubtless would have risen
to high command, but for its being ordered otherwise. An accomplished scholar, a
good mathematician, and master of the French language, there was not in our army
a young man of greater intelligence and promise.


Additional Comments:
This is taken from "AMERICAN PATRIOTISM" OR, MEMOIRS OF 'COMMON MEN.'" by
LEONARD BROWN, published by Redhead & Wellslager, 41 Court Ave.Des Moines,IA. 1869.
This book contains remembrances of fallen soldiers from Polk County during the
Civil War. This includes some genealogical material as well.

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