Born in New York in 1833, Warren W. Beckwith was living in Iowa, working in the railroad business when the Civil War began. Beckwith mustered in as a private in Company C, 4th Iowa Cavalry. He was promoted to adjutant, serving as acting adjutant and acting quartermaster for the regiment. Beckwith was promoted to captain of Company C in the spring of 1863. During Price's 1864 invasion of Missouri, Beckwith fought in Independence, at the Big Blue River (Byram's Ford), Mine Creek, Little Osage River, and at Charlot's Farm. He mustered out with this company on August 8, 1865, in Atlanta, Georgia. After the war, Beckwith returned to Iowa and the railroad business, taking a position of chief engineer and superintendent of track for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. Beckwith also raised cattle and horses on his farm near Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.
Scott, William F. The Story of a Cavalry Regiment. The Career of the Fourth Iowa Veteran Volunteers from Kansas to Georgia, 1861-1865. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1893.
Scott, William F. Roster of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry Veteran Volunteers, 1861-1865 : An Appendix to “The Story of a Cavalry Regiment.” New York: J.J. Little, 1902.
Iowa Adjutant General. Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion, Vol. IV. Des Moines, IA: Emory H. English, State Printer, 1910.
“Warren W. Beckwith,” accessed August 4, 2015, Link.