Samuel H. M. Byers (1838 - 1933)

Samuel Hawkins Marshall Byers (July 23, 1838 – May 24, 1933) was an American soldier and poet who wrote the poem "Sherman's March to the Sea", which was the origin of the eponymous term. Byers served in the 5th Iowa Infantry Regiment. He found success in a post-war writing career, including many poems about his native Iowa, including "The Song of Iowa", which was declared as Iowa's state song in 1911.