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IOWA COLONELS AND EEGIMENTS: 
 
 BEING A 
 
 » I t 
 
 HISTORY OF IOWA REGIMENTS 
 
 WAR OF THE REBELLION; 
 
 ANB CONTAINING A 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLES 
 
 IN WHICH THEY HAVE FOUGHT. 
 
 BY 
 , CAPTAIN A. A. STUART, 
 
 SEVENTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY. 
 
 DES MOINES, IOWA: 
 
 MILLS & COMPANY, 46 COURT AVENUE, 
 1865. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S65, by 
 MILLS & COMPANY, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Covirt of the United States for the District 
 of Iowa. 
 
 MILLS <fe COMPANY 
 PEINTEK3. 
 
 
I DEDICATE THIS BOOK 
 TOTHE COMMON SOLDIERS OF IOWA, 
 
 WHO BY THEIR CONSTANCY AND BE A VERY, 
 AND 
 
 WITHOUT DUE HONOR AND JUST COMPENSATION, 
 
 HAVE MADE THE MILITARY RECORD OF THE STATE WHAT IT IS. 
 
 THEY HAVE MADE AND SUSTAINED THE WORTHY MEN, 
 
 WHOSE SKETCHES ARE HEREIN GIVEN; 
 
 AND HUNDREDS OP THEM, 
 
 HAVE DESERVED THE HIGHEST MILITARY POSITIONS 
 
 WITHIN THE GIFT OF OUR STATE EXECUTIVE. 
 
 THEY HAVE BORNE THE BURDEN OF THE WAR, 
 
 AND ARE TENANTS-IN-COMMON 
 
 OF THE state's MILITARY RENOWN; 
 
 AND LET IT BE THEIR PROUD RECOLLECTION THAT, THOUGH THEIR 
 
 NAMES MAY NEVER APPEAR IN PRINT, 
 
 THEY DID THEIR FULL SHARE IN SAVING THE COUNTRY 
 
 FROM RUIN AND SHAME. 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 lu preparing this book for the press, my object has been, first to learn the 
 truth, and second, to present it honestly and impartially ; but, in justice to my- 
 self I should state that, in my efforts to obtain needed information, I have been 
 in some instances, unsuccessful. Some have felt, or manifested, so little inter- 
 est in the work, as to withhold from me the information, which would have 
 enabled me to make it biographically complete. The obscurity which the great 
 majority of such enjoyed in civil life, together with my insufBcient means 
 placed the needed information beyond my reach. 
 
 In connection with the biographical notices of Iowa officers, I have given his- 
 tories of the Iowa regiments and other Iowa troops, and a brief statement of 
 military operations in the departments wherein they served. Nor have I con- 
 fined myself, strictly, to the mention of Iowa troops, but have, in many instan- 
 ces, given the names of those of other States, whose names, to see associated with 
 their own, will give to the Iowa soldiers great pleasure; for though a soldier be 
 jealous of his own achievements and fame, he will ever cherish a recollection of 
 those brave men who have been his comrades in peril and glory. Throughout 
 this bloody struggle, the troops of the great North-West have fought side by side. 
 Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, and I may 
 add Missouri and Kansas, are bound together by indissoluble ties for all time to 
 oome. All, in the War of the Rebellion, are entitled to equal credit. 
 
 That which was necessary to avoid to preserve the interest of the book was rep- 
 etition. This has cost me much labor ; and to show it is a difficult task to 
 give a history of each Iowa regiment, and have it distinct and complete in it- 
 .=elf, it need only be stated that, almost from the beginning of the war till now, 
 several of these regiments have served in the same division, and taken part in 
 the same military operations. If, therefore, in some instances I have indulged 
 in repetition, it is no more than should be expected. 
 
 One of the chief features of interest connected with this book is the life-like 
 portraits of many of Iowa's distinguished officers — those through whom the mil- 
 itary prowess of the State is known abroad. In the future they will stand, in 
 
 5 
 
6 PREFACE. 
 
 oonnection with the War of the Rebellion, where to-day, Green, Gates, Ham- 
 ilton, Schuyler, and many others stand, in connection with the War of tho 
 Revolution. 
 
 In giving a description of the persons of Iowa oflBcers, and in stating their 
 merits, their habits, and their leading traits of character, I have endeavored to 
 tell the truth in plain and simple language, and to avoid that foolish flattery 
 so commonly bestowed on all who, by merit or chance., have mounted an eagle 
 or a star. All have not won enviable distinction, and to give all a great 
 name would be doing a gross injustice to the deserving 
 
 That to which I have paid more particular attention is the description of the 
 engagements in which the Iowa troops have taken part. It is the conduct of 
 her troops in the face of the enemy, that has given the State her brilliant mili- 
 tary reputation, and made her, in the judgment of that able paper, the Chica- 
 go "Journal," "the banner State of the Union." In speaking of the conduct of 
 our troops in battle, I have endeavored to avoid strained and unnatural lan- 
 guage, stating simply what was done, and what results followed. I have given, 
 as far as I could with good authority, lists of casualties; and also the names of 
 those, who, by their gallantry, won special distinction. 
 
 I do not claim for the book literary merit. I have tried to write it with clear- 
 ness and energy, and to present the greatest possible amount of matter in the 
 fewest possible words. 
 
 A. A. STUART 
 
 Ottumtva, Iowa, May 2d, 1865. 
 
WILLIAM MILO STONE. 
 
 GOVERNOR OF IOWA. 
 
 William M. Stone was bom in Jefferson county, New 
 York, on the 1-lth day of October, 1827. At the age of six years, 
 he accompanied his parents to Coshocton county, Ohio. In 
 tliat State he grew up and gained a meager education. He began 
 life at the age of thirteen, as a hired hand upon a farm. Two 
 years later, he was hired as a team-driver on the Ohio canal, 
 and at the age of eighteen was apprenticed to a chair-maker, 
 which business he followed till he reached his twenty-fourth 
 year. That same year he was admitted to the Coshocton bar. 
 Since 1854, he has been lawyer, editor, judge, captain, major, 
 colonel, and governor. Commencing lower down than thou- 
 sands of his competitors, he has left them all gaping and star- 
 ing after him, and wondering how he did it, and— there I shall 
 leave them. All declare he is the luckiest man they ever knew. 
 
 The extent of Governor Stone's early education, was two 
 terms, or Winters, at a common country school. His knowl- 
 edo-e of law was gained through the assistance and encourage- 
 ment of James Matthews, Esq., of Coshocton county, Ohio— 
 later, his father-in-law. While following his trade, he had 
 access to this gentleman's law library, and prosecuted the study 
 of his chosen profession with such zeal and energy as to be able, 
 in 1851, to exchange the chair-shop for the court-room. He 
 began practice as a partner of his former preceptor, and con- 
 tinued with him till 1854, when he removed to Iowa, and estab- 
 lished himself at Knoxville, Marion county. During his first 
 year in Knoxville, he practiced his profession; but in 1855, pur- 
 chased and began the publication of the Knoxville "Journal." 
 
8 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 As editor of that paper, if I am rightly informed, lie was the 
 first man in Iowa to suggest the call of a convention to organize 
 the Republican Party, then only in embryo. He was not only 
 the first to suggest the call of a Republican Convention in the 
 State, but was a delegate to that convention, when called; and 
 was nominated one of the Presidential Electors. Indeed, the 
 beginning of Governor Stone's career as a public man, in Iowa, 
 bears date at Iowa City, the 22(1 of February, 1856. 
 
 During the Presidential canvass of ISoG, he visited the princi- 
 l)al part of Southern Iowa, in company with our first Republi- 
 can representative— Major-General Samuel ]l. Curtis. In that 
 exciting canvass, he gained considerable note as a public speaker, 
 which, with his genial, off-hand address, put him fairly before 
 the peox^le. In February, 1857, one year later, a judicial con- 
 vention was called at Dcs Moines, to put in nomination a can- 
 didate for district judge of Stone's district. Stone was present 
 in the convention, and through the influence of his friends, 
 secured the nomination. From that time he became a rising 
 man in the State. He was elected to the judgeship with a flat- 
 tering majority ; and, having served that term with credit, was, 
 in 1858, re-nominated and re-elected with increased majorities. 
 He was the incumbent of this office, and holding a session of 
 his court in Washington county, at the time the news reached 
 him of the firing on Fort Sumter. He immediately adjourned 
 his court, declaring at the time, that the country demanded of 
 him and the people other and more imjiortant services. 
 
 Returning to Knoxville, Judge Stone raised a company, of 
 which he was elected captain; was assigned to the 3d Iowa 
 Infantry in May, and, on the 25th day of June following, was 
 promoted to the majority of his regiment. He .accompanied 
 his regiment into Northern Missouri as captain, and in com- 
 mand of his company, (B)— for he did not receive his commis- 
 sion as major till after his arrival at Chillicothe. While con- 
 
AVILLIAM M. STOXE. 9 
 
 nected with the 3rd Iowa Infantry, Major Stone fought at the 
 battles of Blue Mills, (where he was wounded) and Shiloh. In 
 the last named engagement he commanded his regiment, and 
 was made prisoner. Something of his sojourn in Dixie, as a 
 prisoner of war, may be seen in the sketch of Brevet Brigadier- 
 General J. M. Hedrick, then a captain of the 15th Iowa. In 
 nearly all cases, Stone was the spokesman of the party ; and his 
 cheerfulness and wit contributed not a little in keeping his fel- 
 low prisoners in spirits. What, I believe, afforded the most 
 amusement were the arguments between himself and the bel- 
 ligerous Colonel Shaw, of the Uth. Stone could advocate any 
 thing, and Shaw would always take the opposite. They would 
 often drag their discussions into the small hours of morning, 
 while the other prisoners, congregated about them, would 
 watch and listen attentively, except when giving occasional 
 attention to a straggling gray-back. I imagine that I can see 
 them now congregated together. I can see them, attired in their 
 cleanest linen, and seated in old rickety chairs, and on benches 
 and boxes, exhausting the whole calendar of attitudes. 
 
 But Major Stone was even lucky as a prisoner of war. In 
 June, 18G2, after some three months' captivity, he was selected 
 as one of three Federal officers, who, being paroled by the rebel 
 War Department, were dispatched to Washington to aid in 
 arranging a cartel of exchange between the belligerent parties. 
 The first mission was unsuccessful, and one of the parties, at 
 least, (Stone) returned to Richmond and surrendered himself to 
 the rebel authorities. Jefferson Davis, pleased with his conduct 
 and with what he had done, sent him back to Washington to 
 renew his efforts. His mission this time was successful, or at 
 least was so represented ; but, however that may be, it is certain 
 that a general exchange came off in the following Fall. 
 
 His experience as a prisoner of war, gave Major Stone much 
 notoriety, and put within his reach any position that ordinary 
 
10 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 desires might covet. Accordingly, after securing his liberty 
 and returning to his home in Knoxville, he was tendered the 
 colonelcy of the 22d Iowa Infantry, which he accepted. He 
 was made colonel of that regiment in August, 18G2, and served 
 with it till August 14th, of the following year, when he resigned 
 his commission with the almost certain promise of succeeding 
 to the highest honors within the gift of his State. 
 
 Though Stone made a good record as colonel of the 22d Iowa, 
 there is nothing strikingly brilliant about it. He first served 
 with his regiment in Missouri, and was for several weeks com- 
 mander of the post at RoUa. His regiment served as the pro- 
 vost-guard. In the early part of 1863, he was ordered South to 
 take part in the experiments against Vicksburg ; and immedi- 
 ately moved down the Mississippi, to Milliken's Bend, Louisi- 
 ana. Attached to Carr's Division of McClernand's Corps, (the 
 18th) Colonel Stone joined in the brilliant march of Grant's army 
 across the country to opposite Bruinsburg on the Mississippi, 
 and thence to the rear of Vicksburg. A full account of this 
 march, and of its incidents, will be found elsewhere. On this 
 march the 22d Iowa first met the enemy. 
 
 In the battle of Port Gibson, the first of the campaign, Colo- 
 nel Stone commanded the brigade to which his regiment was 
 attached; or rather, he commanded it during the forenoon of 
 the engagement. Early in the forenoon, he had become so 
 completely exhausted as to be compelled to turn his command 
 over to Colonel Merrill of the 21st Iowa. During the time he 
 acted on the field, he conducted himself with much credit. In 
 this engagement, too, the 22d Iowa reflected on itself much 
 honor. Colonel Stone's Brigade led the advance from Bru- 
 insburg, and was, of course, the first to encounter the enemy 
 among the rugged hills south of Port Gibson. This was not 
 far from the hour of mid-night. 
 
 So soon as the enemy were encountered in force at Thomp- 
 
WILLIAM M. STONE. 11 
 
 son's Hill, Major Atherton, the unfortunate, who was in com- 
 mand of the 22d Iowa, hurried the regiment to the front, and 
 deployed it in line to the left of Captain Grifllth's Battery. 
 There the regiment rested on their arms that night. Until 
 about ten o'clock of the following morning, the regiment acted 
 as an artillery support, and was then led forward to charge the 
 rebel line, which it did with gallantry, quickly routing the en- 
 emy, and promptly occupying the ground just before held by 
 them. In the severe fighting of the afternoon, the 22d Iowa 
 was in the front, and joined in three distinct charges against 
 the enemy's line, each of which was successful. The following 
 is from the official report of the regiment's conduct in the 
 action : 
 
 " Throughout this series of engagements, the officers and men 
 of the regiment behaved with great coolness and gallantry. I 
 found them always ready and eager to obey the order to move 
 on the enemy. So well did the entire command acquit them- 
 selves, I can not, without seeming invidiousness, enter into par- 
 ticulars. It is sufficient to say, they acted nobly, and well sus- 
 tained the honors already earned by Iowa soldiers. Great care 
 was taken to shelter the men from the enemy's fire, which the 
 unevenness of the ground enabled us to do, with comparative 
 success. And yet, the loss of the regiment, being greater with 
 but one exception than that of any other in the brigade, shows 
 plainly where they were during the long and hotly contested 
 engagement. Too much praise^cannot be awarded to our sur- 
 geons, White -and Peabody." 
 
 The loss of the 22d at Port Gibson was two men killed, and 
 fourteen wounded. Lieutenants D. J. Davis, W. M. DeCamp, 
 J. T. Whittington, D. N. Henderson, and John Francisco were 
 among the latter. Lieutenant Davis was adjutant of the regi- 
 ment. 
 
 In the official report of the Division Commander (Carr) is 
 paid the following compliment to Colonel Stone: 
 
 " Colonel William M. Stone, 22d Iowa, who succeeded to the 
 command of the 2d Brigade, took his place with the extreme 
 
12 IOWA COLONELS AXD REGIMENTS. 
 
 advance guard at night, during the advance upon the enemy, 
 exposed himself freely, and exerted himself so much that he 
 became completely exhausted in the afternoon, and was com- 
 pelled to relinquish his command to Colonel Samuel ISIerrill, 
 21st Iowa, for above an hour. By his bravery and the admi- 
 rable management of his brigade, he reflects new honor on his 
 noble State." 
 
 In speaking of liis division general. Colonel Stone, in his 
 official report, is equally complimentary. 
 
 Soon after the action at Port Gibson, General Lawlcr was 
 assigned to the command of the 2d Brigade, when Colonel 
 Stone again assumed command of his regiment. There is little 
 of special interest in the Colonel's military record, or in that of 
 his regiment, from the date of the Port Gibson battle to the 22d 
 of May following. The 2d Brigade of the 14th Division did the 
 magnificent fighting at Black River Bridge ; but both the 22d 
 Iowa and 11th AVisconsin regiments were in reserve, and suf- 
 fered little. The 21st and 23d Iowa regiments are entitled to 
 tlie credit of that brilliant afiiiir, and none will be found to dis- 
 pute it with them. 
 
 That which most distinguished Colonel Stone in the service, 
 was the part he sustained with his regiment in the memorable 
 charge at Vicksburg, on the 22d of INIay. In that clmrge he 
 was for the second time wounded. 
 
 The nature of the country in the immediate vicinity of Vicks- 
 burg, and the character of the enemy's works were such as to 
 insure almost certain defeat to the assaulting army, provided 
 the rebel garrison were not reduced to a state of totiil demorali- 
 zation. It was precisely this that General Grant counted on, as 
 appears in his official report ; and, when we reflect that he had 
 been a witness to the enemy's shameful defeat and flight at Bif,' 
 Black River Bridge, were his inferences unreasonable ? 
 
 In the march from Big Black River to the rear of Vicksburg, 
 Sherman followed the Bridgeport road, McPherson the Jack. 
 
WILLIAM M STONE. 13 
 
 son road, and McClernand the same road as ISIcPherson, till he 
 reache<l Mount Albans; then, turning to the left, he gained the 
 Baldwin Ferry road. This threw Sherman on the right of the 
 investing line, McPhei-son in the centre, and McClernand on 
 the left. The 22d Iowa, being attached to the command of 
 McClernand, was therefore on the south side of Vicksburg. 
 The general character of the ground over which the charge was 
 made, and the kind of obstructions to be overcome, I have given 
 elsewhere. I give below an extract from Major Atherton's 
 oflScial report, showing the particular part the 22d took in the 
 murderous assault. 
 
 "At four o'clock A. M., the regiment took position opposite 
 the enemy's works, preparatory to the charge, where we were 
 sheltered by the crest of a hill, and companies A and B 
 deployed as skirmishers. We lay upon our arms until ten 
 o'clock A. M., the appointed hour for the charge, when we 
 formed in line of battle on the summit of the hill, and imme- 
 diately pressed forward. From our first api)earance upon the 
 hill, we were expose<l to a terrible fire from tlie enemy, con- 
 waled within their forts and rifle-pits. The men maintained 
 their line and advanced like veterans to the ravine in front of 
 the enemy's works, and made a charge upon the fort situated 
 to our right. While here we were exposed to a murderous fire 
 from the front, and an enfilading fire from the right and left, 
 the enemy's works being so constructed as to eff"ect this result. 
 The column pressed forward, stormed the fort, took possession 
 of the same and its inmates, and held it till dark. We main- 
 tained our position during the day, receiving and returning the 
 enemy's fire — they concealed in their forts and other defences, 
 and we, in a great measure, without any shelter. A continuance 
 of the contest was deemed unadvisable, and we retired under 
 cover of the night." 
 
 In this action, the 22d Iowa lost heavily. Colonel Stone was 
 wounded, and Lieutenant-Colonel Graham taken prisoner. 
 Captain James Robertson and Lieutenant M. A. Robb were 
 among the killed. They were both good men, and their loss 
 was deeply mourned in the regiment. One of the severely 
 
14 IOWA COLOXELS AND REGIIMENTS. 
 
 wounded was Sergeant Leonidas M. Godley. When near the 
 enemy's works, he was shot above the knee, and his leg badly 
 fractured. He lay under the enemy's guns till after midnight, 
 when he was rascued by the enemy and taken into Vicksburg. 
 He still lives to tell the story of his prison-life in the beleaguered 
 city. The chief hero of Grant's army, that day, was a member 
 of the 22d Iowa — Sergeant Joseph E. Griffiths. *' No troops," 
 says General Grant in his official report, " succeeded in entering 
 any of the enemy's works, with the exception of Sergeant 
 Griffiths, of the 22d Regiment Iowa Volunteers, and some 
 eleven privates of the same regiment. Of these, none returned 
 except the Sergeant, and possibly one man." 
 
 Tlie charge of the 22d of May, at Vicksburg, was Colonel 
 Stone's last engagement. Having received early in the figlit a 
 gun-shot wound through his left fore-arm, he retired from the 
 field, and a few days later left for his home on leave of absence. 
 Fortune was again favoring him. 
 
 Soon after arriving at his home in Knoxville, the Republican 
 Gubernatorial Convention assembled at Des Moines. He atten- 
 ded it, and in a contest between himself. Honorable Elijah Sells, 
 and General Fitz Henry Warren, received the nomination ; 
 then, returning to Vicksburg, he resigned his commission, and 
 at once entered upon the vigorous canvass, which resulted in 
 his election. Such rapid and uninterrupted success has never 
 before fallen to the lot of any man in Iowa. 
 
 His administration of the Executive Department of the State, 
 has been characterized by that shrewdness and energy which 
 has marked his whole political course. Thus far, it has been 
 a popular one ; and, in this respect, contrasts favorably with 
 that of his predecessor. Though not so able a man as Ex-Gov- 
 ernor Kirkwood, his prospects for the future are now much the 
 brightest. His conduct as governor has been criticised, to my 
 knowledge, only in one particular. His visits to the army 
 
WILLIAM >r. STOXE. 15 
 
 were pronounced by some buncombe expeditions, but tlie sol- 
 diers did not, I am informed, so regard them. 
 
 Governor Stone is about six feet in hight, and slender and 
 erect. He has a Grecian face, a large, straight nose, large, full, 
 gray eyes, and spare features. His appearance is intelligent 
 and prepossessing. The chief elements of his success are, I 
 believe, an easy, entertaining address, untiring industry, and 
 unlimited self-confidence. These, sustained by a vigorous con- 
 stitution, and driven by an iron- will, have enabled him to 
 accomplish whatever he undertook. He rarely loses his temper, 
 and seldom discovers an immodest desire for distinction. 
 
 As a public speaker. Governor Stone is fluent and forcible, 
 but not polished — just what one would expect, when he remem- 
 bers that all his early oratorical efforts were made at the bar. 
 He has the happy faculty of forgetting himself in his theme. 
 Many were witnesses of this fact at Des Moines, when himself 
 and General Warren addressed the delegates the evening before 
 the convention. Colonel Stone's wound was still troubling 
 him, making it necessary for him to carry his hand in a sling; 
 but, after entering upon his speech, he forgot that he had but 
 one well arm, and, drawing it from the sling, began twirling it 
 in violent gesticulations. 
 
 Governor Stone's past successes have not only disappointed 
 his enemies, but surprised his friends. He is the most remark- 
 able public man in Iowa, and his future, as promising as that of 
 any man in the State. 
 
NATHANIEL BRADLEY BAKER. 
 
 ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF IOWA. 
 
 Nathaniel Bradley Baker, Iowa's able and eccentric 
 Adjutant-General, was born on the 29th of September, 1818, in 
 Hennika, Merrimack county, (then Hillsborough) New Hamp- 
 shire. His education is liberal. He pursued his preparatory 
 course at the Phillip's Exeter Academy, New Hampshire, and 
 graduated at Harvard College — the Oxford of American univer- 
 sities, and the alma mater of a large per cent, of the distinguished 
 jurists, statesmen, clergy and literary savans of the country. 
 
 I am unacquainted with the history of General Baker's col- 
 lege days, but I venture the assertion that he was not a hard 
 worker, and that, if in passing a difficult ascent in Horace or 
 the Iliad a pony would help him, he would not hesitate to 
 mount one. A half-hour would suffice him in preparing for a 
 recitation; and, during that time, I imagine I can see him 
 lounging on his bed and smoking a cigar. His active mind 
 would enable him to grasp principles without eternally plod- 
 ding, and his text-books would lack sufficient charms to engross 
 his entire attention. He could never have been a book-worm. 
 He graduated in the year 1839, with fair standing in his class, 
 and had the credit of possessing much general information. 
 
 After leaving Harvard, he studied law in the office of Ex- 
 President Franklin Pierce, and later in that of Asa Fowler and 
 Charles H. Peaslee. In 1842, he was admitted to the Merrimack 
 county Bar, but did not enter the practice. He became editor 
 of the New Hampshire "Patriot," a half-interest in which he 
 had purchased prior to 1842. In 1845, he disposed of his inter- 
 est in that paper, and received the appointment of Clerk of the 
 
 10 
 
NATHANIEL B. BAKEK. 17 
 
 Court of Common Pleas for Merrimack county. Five years later 
 he was elected to the New Hampshire Legislature, as represen- 
 tative ficom the city of Concord, and the following year was re- 
 elected. During both sessions, he served as Speaker of the 
 House. In 1851, he was only thirty-three years of age, and 
 there was not a more popular man in the State of New Hamp- 
 shire. 
 
 Having received the Democratic nomination for Governor of 
 New Hampshire, he was, in 1854, triumphantly elected. This 
 result was hardly looked for by his party, and demonstrated 
 his unbounded popularity in the State. It was unlooked for, 
 since the change of its national policy had weakened his party 
 in the State ; and, in addition to that, there were three aspir- 
 ants in the field, and it required a majority— not a plurality 
 to elect. 
 
 As Governor of Now Hampshire, General Baker's administra- 
 tion was characterized with his usual promptness and energy ; 
 but his name in some way got mixed up with the Know-Noth- 
 ing Party, which ruined his popularity in the State. His term 
 expired in 1855, and in the following year he came to Iowa, and 
 settled in Clinton, which has since been the residence of his 
 family. In Clinton, he practiced his profession till the fall of 
 1860, when, not yet cured of his political aspirations, he con- 
 sented to become a candidate for the State Legislature from 
 Clinton county. He was elected and served the following ses- 
 sion in that body. 
 
 On the 25th of July, 1861, he was appointed by Governor 
 Kirkwood Adjutant-General of Iowa, and, in 1864, was re-ap- 
 pointed by Governor Stone ; and, in his fitness for the position, 
 I believe he has no equal in the State. The skill and ability 
 which he has shown, in the discharge of his duties, would do 
 credit to one of extensive military experience and education. 
 His promptness and energy, and the systematic manner in 
 
18 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 which he has conducted the business of his office have elicited 
 flattering compliments from the public press in nearly every 
 loyal State. Indeed, his services as Adjutant-General of 
 Iowa, tone well with those of the Iowa troops in the field. 
 Iowa may well be proud of him. That I am impartial in my 
 judgment, the following, from one of the leading papers of 
 Chicago, Illinois, is evidence: 
 
 " Almost simultaneously with the close of 1864, the State of 
 Iowa gives to the public its Adjutant-General's Report for the 
 year. The fact that Iowa is the only State which has an excess 
 over all calls for men, attaches a peculiar interest to its military 
 operations, and the same circumstance will warrant more than 
 a mere passing allusion to the prominent share this gallant 
 young State has taken in the contest. 
 
 "In looking over the full and handsomely printed report of 
 Iowa, a citizen of Illinois will be mortified at the contrast, as 
 he compares it with those of his own State. The Iowa Report 
 is most creditable to the State. Iowa has a voting population 
 of from one hundred and twelve, to one hundred and fifteen 
 thousand, and, of this sparse number, nearly or quite sixty 
 thousand have been put into the field. To-day a number equal 
 to one-half the voters of the Hawk-Eye State are under arms. 
 Nor are the men who have been sent to the field canaille — 
 bought in the social kennels of Europe, or refuse negroes, 
 picked up among the camps. 
 
 " To the general reader, the most interesting portion of Gen- 
 eral Baker's Report is that which contains a record of the opera- 
 tions of every Iowa regiment. Fully one-half of the volume is 
 devoted to the history of the regiments in the field; and it 
 gives, either in an official or narrative form, the performances 
 of each regiment, during the year. By the employment of 
 this plan, a record of the troops is kept. The regiments are en- 
 couraged, by knowing that their labors all reach the public ; 
 and furthermore, a condensed account is preserved, which 
 only needs the amplification of the author to become history. " 
 
 The following, which needs no explanation, shows how Gen- 
 eral Baker's services are appreciated by the War Department 
 at Washington: 
 
NATHANIEL B. BAKER. 19 
 
 " General Orders, No. 6. 
 
 " Headquarters Sixth Division, Cavalry Corps, M. D. M., 
 Edgefield, Tennessee, Dec. 28, 1864. 
 
 ."It has come to the knowledge of the General commanding, 
 that in the Iowa regiments serving in this division, and per- 
 haps in those from other States, it has been customary, under 
 the supposed authority of some regulation or order from Head- 
 quarters of the so-called ' Army of Iowa,' or other authority of 
 like character, to furnish to the Adjutant-General of the State 
 of Iowa, and other States, copies of the monthly returns, lists 
 of casualties, reports of oi)erations and other reports. 
 
 " Not only military propriety, but the danger of such papers 
 falling into the hands of improper persons, forbids this prac- 
 tice. 
 
 •' It is therefore ordered, that in future no such reports, re- 
 turns, or others of like character, or copies thereof be furnished 
 to the Adjutant-General of the State of Iowa, or any other 
 State, or any person, persons, or authority except as now re- 
 quired, or as may be hereafter recjuired by orders from the War 
 Department, or Department Head-quarters. 
 
 " The time of the officers of this command is too precious 
 to be devoted to the preparation of official documents for the 
 satisfiiction or curiosity of civilians at home. This must be 
 left to the newspaper correspondents. 
 
 " Officers will understand that they and their troops are in 
 the service of the United States, and in their military capacity 
 have no relations whatever to the States from which they come, 
 or the Executive thereof. 
 
 " By command of Brigadier-General Johnson. 
 
 " E. T. Wells, Assistant Adjutant- General. 
 
 " Official copy for the information of the Adjutant-General of 
 Iowa. 
 
 "E. T. Wells, Assistant Adjutant- General. " 
 
 General Baker forwarded the letter to the Secretary of War, 
 with the following endorsement : 
 " General Johnson : 
 
 " The Adjutant-General of the State of Iowa, acknowledges 
 the receipt of the extraordinary ' General Orders. ' 
 
 "The State Officials have asked nothing improper, and the 
 Adjutant-General cannot comi^rehend the motives of Brigadier- 
 
20 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 General Johnson in issuing the ' General Orders, ' of which the 
 within is a copy. 
 
 " The State wishes to keep up the records of the volunteers 
 sent from this State. 
 
 " No other General, that this department is aware of, has 
 heretofore attempted to prevent the comjiletion of said records. 
 " These records are absolutely essential for the protection of 
 soldiers and their families here at home. 
 
 " (Signed) N. B. Baker, 
 
 " Adjutant- General of Iowa. " 
 " Special Okdees No. 53. 
 "War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, 
 Washington, February 2, 1865. 
 {Uxtmct). 
 
 * -x- * -x- * 
 
 40. So nmch of General Orders No. 6, December 28, 1864, 
 from Head-quarters 6th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Di- 
 vision of the Mississippi, as forbids the rendition of certain 
 returns and reports called for by tlie Adjutant-General of 
 Iowa, is hereby revoked, it being improper in its tone, and dis- 
 respectful to the State authorities. 
 
 * * * * * 
 " By order of the Secretary of War. 
 
 " E. D. TOWNSEND. " 
 
 General Baker has not only secured merited distinction for 
 the accurate, systematic and elaborate manner with which he 
 has conducted every thing properly connected with his office, 
 but he has manifested an interest in the Iowa soldier, beyond 
 the limits of the State and outside of his legitimate duties, 
 which has won him the lasting gratitude of many. One of the 
 many instances that might be cited is the case of the railroad 
 disaster in Indiana ; where, by a public order, he gave notice 
 to the friends of all Iowa soldiers, murdered or maimed by the 
 criminal negligence of the railroad, not to settle with the cor- 
 porators, or their agents, pledging his official word that justice 
 should be obtained for the injured parties. 
 
 General Baker is a large man, being six feet and one inch in 
 hight, and weighing about one hundred and ninety pounds. 
 
NATHANIEL B. BAKER. 21 
 
 He has a fine, well formed person, intelligent, gray eyes, and a 
 large prominent forehead. In person, he is prepossessing, and 
 he would be in manners and conversation, were he less rough 
 and unguarded in his language. He has Puritanic blood in his 
 veins, and, like the old Puritans, is plain-spoken and earnest ; 
 but, if he inherited all their virtues, one of the cardinal ones he 
 has squandered. Iowa would give him anything he could ask 
 if he would only become a teetotaler. He has no secretiveness, 
 and never talks in a whisper; and in his walk, which is 
 another index of his character, he has none of that creeping, 
 cat-like gait that stamps all sinister two-sided men. 
 
 General Baker is a man of much ability. He has large con- 
 centrativeness, a masterly memory, and, for the amount of 
 business he is able to accomplish in a given time, he has few 
 equals. 
 
COLONEL JOHN FRANCIS BATES. 
 
 FIRST INFANTRY. 
 
 John Francis Bates was the first colonel of the first regi- 
 ment furnished by the State for the War of the Rebellion. He 
 was born the 3d day of January, 1831 ; and is a native of Utica, 
 Oneida County, New York. His parents were poor, and, 
 thrown upon his own resources in acquiring his education, he 
 defrayed his expenses for six years at the Utica schools, by 
 sweeping the school-room and by building fires. Two years, he 
 subsequently passed in the office of the Utica Daily " Gazette," 
 and then became a book-keeper and salesman in a mercantile 
 establishment of that city. From 1852 to 1855, he was engaged 
 in the insurance business in New York City, since which time 
 he has been a resident of Dubuque, Iowa. In Dubuque, he has 
 been an insurance agent, a land-broker and a county politician. 
 He was elected in 1858 to the clerkship of the District Court 
 for Dubuque County, and w^as holding that office at the time of 
 entering the volunteer service. After the expiration of his 
 term of service, he was again elected to that office. 
 
 The 1st Iowa Infantry was the only Iowa regiment furnished 
 by the State for the first call of the President. It was the only 
 three-months Iowa regiment in the war. But, though its term 
 of service was short, it made a brilliant record, and what 
 sacred memories cluster about its name ! 
 
 During the long four-year's bitter struggle that is now about 
 to close, Iowa, in practical patriotism, in the promptness with 
 which she has filled her quotas, and in the general efficiency of 
 her troops, stands second to none of the loyal States. I will 
 not say firsts where all have done so well ; but a press of the 
 
 metropolis of our sister Empire State gives "All honor to the 
 
 22 
 
JOHN F. BATES. 23 
 
 enterprise and gallantry of Iowa. She lias, uncomplainingly 
 and unselfishly, borne more than her share of the onerous bur- 
 dens of the war ; and in the field her sons have carried the Stars 
 and Stripes well in the front, and made the name of Iowa 
 soldiers synonymous with heroism and invincibility." 
 
 The 1st Iowa Infantry was the oldest of her sister regiments, 
 and how much her example at Wilson's Creek had to do in 
 making her junior sisters " heroic and invincible," it is impos- 
 sible to say ; but we believe that no State, whose military sun 
 rose in such splendor as did Iowa's, would allow it to set in 
 disgrace. All honor to the 1st Iowa Infantry ! 
 
 To know the counties from which this regiment was made 
 up will be matter of interest, as it also will to know the names 
 and subsequent history of many of its ofiicers and enlisted 
 men. The members of the regiment had their homes in the 
 counties of Dubuque, Muscatine, Scott, Johnson, Des Moines, 
 Henry and Linn. Muscatine gave companies A and C ; Des 
 Moines, D and E ; Dubuque, H and I ; Johnson, B ; Henry, F ; 
 Scott, G ; and Linn, K. 
 
 Of Company A, Captain Markoe Cummings was subse- 
 quently lieutenant-colonel of the 6th Iowa Infantry ; Lieuten- 
 ant Benjamin Beach, a captain of the 11th ; First Sergeant H. 
 J. Campbell, major of the 18th ; and private Robert B. Baird, 
 quarter-master of the 3oth. 
 
 Of Company B, Lieutenant Harvey Graham was subse- 
 quently lieutenant-colonel of the 22d Iowa Infantry ; and 
 Sergeants Charles N. Lee and J. H. Gurkee, captains in the 
 same regiment. 
 
 Of Company C, Lieutenant W. Pursell was subsequently 
 major of the 16th Iowa Infantry ; First Sergeant W. Grant, a 
 captain of the 11th, and Corporal A. N. Snyder, a captain of 
 the 35th. 
 
 Of Company D, the facetious, jolly captain, Charles L. 
 
24 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Matthies, was subsequently lieutenant-colonel of the 5th Iowa 
 Infantry, then colonel, and then brigadier-general. 
 
 Of Company E, Lieutenant J. C. Abercrombie was subse- 
 quently lieutenant-colonel of the 11th Iowa Infantry ; private 
 W. J. Campbell, a captain of the 14th ; private C. A. Cameron, 
 a captain of the 39th ; and private A. Roberts, lieutenant- 
 colonel of the 30th. 
 
 Of Company F, Captain Samuel M. Wise was subsequently 
 major of the 17tli Iowa Infantry ; Lieutenant George A. Stone, 
 colonel of the 25th ; private J. S. Clark, a lieutenant of the 
 34th ; private C. W. Woodrow, a lieutenant of the 17th ; and 
 private T. J. Zollars, captain of Company F, 4th Iowa Cavalry. 
 
 Of Company G, Captain Augustus Wentz was subsequently 
 lieutenant-colonel of the 7th Io\va Infantry, and was killed 
 at Belmont ; and private Ernest Arp, a lieutenant of the 12th 
 Missouri Infantry. 
 
 Of Company H, Sergeant Charles Schaeffer was subsequently 
 a major of the 5th Iowa Cavalry, and a staff officer of General 
 Curtis ; private T. Groetzinger, a lieutenant in the 27th In- 
 fimtry. 
 
 Of Company I, Captain F. J. Herron was subsequently lieu- 
 tenant-colonel of the 9th Iowa Infantry, then brigadier-gen- 
 eral, and then major-general; Sergeant Samuel F. Osborn, a 
 lieutenant in the 21st ; private N. E. Duncan, adjutant of the 
 12th ; private David Greaves, a captain in the 21st ; private D. 
 
 B. Green, a captain in the 3d Missouri Infantry ; and private 
 
 C. A. Reed, an assistant-surgeon of the 9th Infantry. 
 
 Of Company K, First Sergeant John H. Stibbs was subse- 
 quently a captain, then lieutenant-colonel of the 12th Iowa 
 Infantry ; Sergeant Edward Coulter, a captain in the 20th ; 
 private G. C. Burmeister, a captain in the 35th ; and private 
 Jackson D. Furguson, a lieutenant in the 12th. He was killed 
 at the battle of Shiloh. 
 
JOHN F. BATES. 25 
 
 In its line officers and enlisted men, this noble old regiment 
 has been represented in a majority of the Iowa regiments, 
 since formed; and, from these officers and men, it has fur- 
 nished officers of every grade in the army, from a second lieu- 
 tenant to a major-general. Its example at Wilson's Creek was 
 not the only influence it had on the military history of the 
 State. 
 
 The 1st Iowa rendezvoused at the city of Keokuk, and its 
 camp was Camp Ellsworth. War, at that day, was a novelty, 
 and there was no end to the curiosity that a boy, dressed in 
 uniform, excited. And an officer — my ! One who visited the 
 camp of this regiment at Keokuk discourses thus : 
 
 "Their mode of life was a great novelty tons; those senti- 
 nels marching to and fro, so stern, so mute ! All within ten 
 feet of their beat was forbidden ground. What did all this 
 signify ? Their officers were putting on style, we said, and the 
 men were learning to be soldiers pretty easily. Then there 
 was a gate, where stood sentinel No. 1. Through this, all who 
 went in or out were compelled to pass. And there stood the 
 officer of the guard — how magnificently attired! If men's 
 merits were to be judged by their appearance, we would have 
 supposed him a hero of twenty battles. But we forgot to 
 salute him. What daggers he looked at us ! We asked him 
 to let us pass in. 
 
 ' Where do you belong ? ' 
 
 ' To the Third Regiment ! ' 
 
 ' What do you want here ? ' 
 
 ' To see some friends. ' 
 
 ' Sentinel, pass them in, sir. ' " 
 
 Farther along the author says : 
 
 " We plied them with all manner of questions, in reply to 
 which they told us prodigious stories of what they had already 
 seen and suffered for their country's sake. If we were to 
 believe them, they were suffering greatly now. They had been 
 in the service six weeks and a half, and the government had 
 furnished them no clothing, and not a cent of pay ! Besides, 
 they were half-starved ; and the rations furnished them were not 
 fit for a dog ! And their officers treated them shamefully too." 
 
26 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Thousands will recognize this as a true picture of their early 
 soldiering. 
 
 If in the spring of 1861, a soldier in rendezvous was a nov- 
 elty, he was on the eve of his departure for the field, still more 
 so. He became an object of veneration; and, as he moved 
 through the streets, he stirred in the hearts of the citizens the 
 deepest emotions. " Brave, noble boy ! He is going to defend 
 our rights and the glory of the flag ; and will probably never 
 return." Big tears started in many a manly eye that had 
 never known weeping before. 
 
 The 1st Iowa Infantry received orders from General Lyon to 
 report at Hannibal, Missouj-i, on the 12th of June, and the 
 next day the regiment left on transports. The 2d Iowa 
 Infantry under Colonel, now Major-General Curtis, left only 
 the day before for the same destination. The good people of 
 Keokuk were wild with excitement, and lavish of their hospi- 
 talities; and when all was in readiness and the boats were 
 about to drop out into the stream, a vast assemblage stood on 
 the wharf, waving and weeping their adieus. But how all was 
 changed in one year's time ! The same people wished the 15th 
 and 17th Iowa on their departure for the field, " good rid- 
 dance;" they still admired the soldier's intrepid spirit; but 
 they had become impatient of his mischievous conduct. 
 
 Colonel Bates was at first assigned to duty with his regiment 
 on the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad. His sec- 
 tion extended from Hannibal to Macon City. The character of 
 these services appears in the sketch of Colonel Wilson G. Wil- 
 liams, and need not be repeated. The duties, which were 
 arduous, and which required the greatest vigilance, were dis- 
 charged with much credit, and the regiment became popular 
 with the loyal citizens of Missouri. 
 
 Early in July, Colonel Bates was relieved from guard duty 
 
JOHN F. BATES. 27 
 
 on the railroad, and ordered to report to General Lyon at 
 Brownsville. Soon after, the long and tedious march over the 
 Missouri prairies in the direction of Springfield began. 
 
 At that day, the people of the entire State of Missouri were 
 in a state of anarchy. The great dividing lines were being 
 drawn, and both the Federal and Confederate authorities were, 
 in the same district, and often in the same county, recruiting 
 their forces. Everything seemed to threaten civil order in 
 Missouri. We know little of the terrors of civil war in Iowa. 
 Citizens upon our southern border only have had a foretaste. 
 All business pursuits were not only suspended, but no one at 
 night could rest soundly, for fear of the knife, bullet or torch of 
 the assassin. 
 
 Harris, Green and others, had large rebel forces even north of 
 the Missouri river. Near Springfield, the enemy were concen- 
 trating. They boasted that they would capture St. Louis, 
 which was Fremont's excuse for his elaborate fortifications 
 around that city. General Lyon resolved to march on and 
 disperse the enemy, though his force consisted of not more 
 than six thousand men, and the enemy claimed more than 
 treble that number. He marched from Springfield on the First 
 of August, in the direction of Dug Springs, and at that place . 
 encountered the enemy in force; but after slight skirmish- 
 ing they retired. He followed them into Northern Arkansas ; 
 but not bringing them to a stand, and fearing for his own safety 
 on account of being so far removed from his base, he fell back 
 to Springfield. On this march, the 1st Iowa Infantry had sev- 
 eral skirmishes with the enemy. So soon as Lyon began 
 retracing his steps the enemy followed, and on his arrival at 
 Springfield, or soon after, they had reached Wilson's Creek. 
 Why did General Lyon fight the battle of Wilson's Creek? 
 Why, if necessary, did he not faU back in the direction of Holla, 
 and await reinforcements ? General Lyon fought this battle, I 
 
28 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 believe, for the same reasons that would have controlled any 
 other brave, resolute general at that stage of the war. He 
 believed that the enemy, though strong in numbers, were 
 weak in that strength which arises from a sense of being in the 
 right, and on the side of law and order. As a bailiff with his 
 posse disperses a crazy, lawless mob, so he believed he could 
 triumph over the combined rebel forces ; and, had he not fallen, 
 he might have done so, though probably not. 
 
 The battle of Wilson's Creek was not great in its propor- 
 tions — only great in results. In the South West, it demon- 
 strated the falsity of Southern boasting, that one of the chivalry 
 "could whip six northern mud-sills;" indeed it well nigh 
 demonstrated the converse of the proposition. It resulted in 
 establishing military prestige in the South West in favor of 
 the federal arms — a prestige which was never after lost. 
 
 Wilson's Creek is a tributary of White River, and, at the 
 point where was fought the celebrated battle which bears its 
 name, is about twelve miles west-south-west of Springfield. 
 In the vicinity of the battle-ground, the country through 
 which it runs is hilly and barren, and, to a considerable extent, 
 covered with dense scrub-oak. To the west and south-west of 
 Springfield, the stream is crossed by two roads, the one west 
 leading to Little York and Mount Vernon, and the one south- 
 west to Fayetteville, Arkansas. The distance between these 
 two roads at the points where they cross the creek is between 
 three and four miles. Nearly mid- way between these the bat- 
 tle was fought. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 9th of August, 1861, Lyon, with all 
 his forces, was at Springfield, and the enemy in their camp on 
 Wilson's Creek. That afternoon, in council with his officers, 
 he determined to move out against them, and his plan of 
 attack was as follows :— Sigel, with a small force, going down 
 
JOHN F. BATES. 29 
 
 the Fayetteville road, was to move on the enemy and attack 
 them in rear, while Lyon, with the chief part of the troops, 
 was to move west over the Little York and Mount Vernon 
 road, and attack them in front. The attack was to be made at 
 day-light of the 10th instant. Sigel, though successful in sur- 
 prising the enemy, was afterwards defeated and narrowly 
 escaped capture. This was early in the day. Lyon's command, 
 therefore, did the chief fighting at Wilson's Creek. The First 
 Iowa Infantry was under Lyon, and the movements of this 
 officer I will therefore trace. 
 
 About six o'clock in the evening of the ninth instant, Lyon 
 ordered his troops under arms, and without music, marched 
 quietly out from Springfield. His course for nearly two miles 
 was the same as that followed by Sigel. Continuing his course 
 westward till arriving in the neighborhood of Wilson's Creek, 
 he then took a blind or by-road to his right ; for a portion of 
 the enemy were encamped near the junction of the main road 
 with the creek, on the bluffs south-west of the stream ; and 
 these, to make his surprise the more complete in the morning, 
 he wished to avoid. Before midnight, and without disturbing 
 the enemy, he gained the blufis south-west of the creek, and at 
 a point some three miles distant from their main camp. His 
 position was on their left flank, and their vedettes and pickets 
 were not far distant. There he bivouacked till three o'clock in 
 the morning. Sigel, on the other hand, halting in the low 
 ground on the north-east side of the creek, rested till about the 
 same hour, with only the high bluflfe of the creek separating 
 him from the enemy. 
 
 At three o'clock, Lyon put his troops under arms, and with 
 his skirmishers thrown out, moved down the bank of the creek 
 in the direction of the enemj-. The enemy's pickets and their 
 reserves were encountered and driven in, about five o'clock, 
 and very soon after quite a strong force was met on a high 
 
30 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 point, some quarter of a mile nortli of wliere tliey were form- 
 ing tlieir main line of battle. These were engaged and par- 
 tially driven back by the First Kansas Volunteer Infantry and 
 a battalion of Regular Infantry under Captain, afterwards, 
 General Plummer; and near this spot, let me say, was done 
 the principal fighting of that day. The Reverend John S. C. 
 Abbott represents the fighting as having taken place on the 
 north-east bank of the creek, but Mr. Abbott was misinformed. 
 He was also misinformed as to the spot where General Lyon 
 fell. That General was shot some four rods in rear of the First 
 Iowa, and was not at the time leading a charge. 
 
 The First Iowa Infantry first formed line of battle on the 
 ground in question, and on the left of Dubois' Battery, which 
 it was ordered to support. After taking position, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Merritt, commanding the regiment, and who it is but 
 just to add distinguished himself by his coolness and courage, 
 at once sent out as skirmishers companies D and E, com- 
 manded respectively by Lieutenants Keller and Abercrombie. 
 
 The topography of the Wilson Creek battle-ground is nearly 
 as follows : Between the Federal and Confederate forces was 
 a ravine, penetrating the bluffs of the creek in a semi-circular 
 course from the west. Its bed and its sides were partially 
 wooded as before stated — enough so, to afford cover to an 
 attacking party. On the north bank of this ravine was Lyon, 
 and on its south bank, McCulloch. Price had in the bed of 
 the ravine, artillery supported by infimtry. Between these 
 guns and those of Dubois, an artillery duel opened. For a 
 time the infantry engaged each other at long range ; but pres- 
 ently the First Kansas, stationed down the hill, were assaulted 
 and repulsed, when instantly the First Iowa was ordered for- 
 ward to relieve them. Advancing, the regiment met the First 
 Kansas retreating in confusion. They dashed through Colonel 
 
JOHN F. BATES. 31 
 
 Merritt's line, and threw it into disorder, and at tlie very 
 instant he received a galling fire from the enemy. Ordei*s 
 were given to re-form, but the din of fire-arms and loud talking 
 drowned Colonel Merritt's voice, and he was left with only 
 trsvo companies. With these he continued to advance. At this 
 juncture, the Black Horse Cavalry made their appearance on 
 our right and rear. They had gained their position by 
 moving through ravines, under cover of timber. They were 
 commanded by one Captain George S. Laswell, a former resi- 
 dent of Ottumwa. Led on by this man, they were about 
 charging Totten's Battery, when the two companies under 
 Colonel Merritt, about-facing, delivered a fire that emptied 
 several saddles, and placed the rebel captain out of battle ; and 
 thus the fight went on. 
 
 In the meantime, rebel infantry had been pushed up the 
 ravine, and appeared on our extreme right. They advanced 
 rapidly ui^ the hill, delivering a continuous fire, but were re- 
 pulsed. They re-formed and advanced again, and were a 
 second time repulsed. During the second advance, Lyon fell. 
 I should state that before this happened. Major A. B. Porter, 
 with companies A, F, D, and E, of the First Iowa, had been 
 sent to the rear to watch the Black Horse Cavalry. 
 
 Sigel had, a long time ere this, been defeated, and a portion 
 of the rebel troops that had repulsed him were now advancing 
 up the north-east bank of the creek. To check these, the Reg- 
 ulars were sent across the creek ; but in that quarter there was 
 little fighting. The battle was of more than five hour's dura- 
 tion. The First Iowa was at the front five hours. Of the 
 retreat Colonel Merritt says : 
 
 "About twelve o'clock, M., the order was given to retire 
 from the field, which was done in good order. As we retired 
 over the hill, we passed a section of Totten's Battery occupying 
 a commanding point to the right, and supported on the right 
 
32 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 by companies A, F, D, and E, of the Iowa troops, under com- 
 mand of Major Porter, and on the left by one company of 
 Regular Infantry under command of Colonel Lothrop. This 
 command sustained our retreat with great coolness and deter- 
 mination, under a most terrific fire from the enemy's infantry. 
 After the wounded were gathered up, our column formed in 
 order of march, and, the enemy repulsed, the battery and 
 infantry retired in good order. Thus closed one of the most 
 hotly-contested engagements known to the country." 
 
 Such, briefly, was the battle of Wilson's Creek. Though 
 imperfect in detail, I believe that, so far as it goes, it is cor- 
 rect. Compared, however, with the brilliant accounts of our 
 modern war-historians, it would not be recognized as the 
 same engagement. It was the first battle of importance fought 
 in the South West, and, becoming the theme of exciting com- 
 ment in almost every i)aper in the loj-al and disloyal States, 
 gradually increased in proportions, till it was in print one 
 of the most sanguinary battles of modern times. And it was 
 in fact a severely contested and bloody fight ; for the loss of the 
 1st Iowa Infantry alone was more than one hundred and fifty. 
 This regiment however suflfered more severely than any other 
 of the troops, and was acbnitted by all to have borne itself 
 with conspicuous gallantry. Captain Alexander L. Mason, a 
 native of Indiana, and a resident of Muscatine, was the only 
 commissioned ofiicer killed. He fell in a charge at the head of 
 his company. Captain Frederick Gottschalk and Lieutenants 
 H. Graham and William Pursell were wounded. The loss of 
 the regiment in killed was only eleven, though several died 
 afterwards of their wounds. Colonel Bates was not present in 
 the engagement, though I am advised he made an effbrt to be. 
 He was left sick at Springfield. 
 
 The following is the roll of honor, as given by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Merritt : 
 
 "It is with great pleasure that I acknowledge valuable aid 
 and assistance from Major A. B. Porter, Adjutant George W. 
 
JOHN F. BATES. 33 
 
 Waldron, who was wounded in the leg, and Sergeant-Major 
 Charles Compt^^n ; and to express my unbounded admiration of 
 the heroic conduct displayed by both officers and men. No 
 troops, regular or volunteer, ever sustained their country's flag 
 with more determined valor and fortitude. They have cov- 
 ered themselves with imperishable honor, and must occupy a 
 conspicuous place in the history of tlieir country. " 
 
 In this connection, it is proper to state that the term of ser- 
 vice of every line officer of the regiment expired on the 
 afternoon of that evening in which they marched out to Wil- 
 son's Creek ; but not one of them claimed exemption from the 
 coming battle. The same can not be said of officers of some 
 other troops. The term of service of the enlisted men of the 
 1st Iowa Infantry expired four days after the battle. 
 
 Wilson's Creek was a drawai battle ; for, though the Confed- 
 erates kept the field, they did not make pursuit. They had 
 been severely pumshed; but I doubt if that alone deterred them, 
 for, in numbers, their strength exceeded that of the Federals 
 more tlian four to one. They had not yet nursed their treason 
 to that fanatical point which made it synonymous with patri- 
 otism, and they were cowards. 
 
 After the fall of General Lyon, Major, now General Sturgis, 
 assumed command of the Federal forces and fell back to 
 Springfield, and soon after to Rolla. In the meantime Gen- 
 ral Sterling Price, who had succeeded McCulloch in command of 
 the rebel forces, occupied the country, and in the latter part 
 of the month, moved north and laid siege to, and captured 
 Lexington. 
 
 The term of service of the 1st Iowa Infantry had now- 
 expired, and, returning to their homes, they were welcomed 
 as the first heroes of the State in the war. Wherever they 
 appeared, they were looked on with wonder. They had 
 gained more distinction in that solitary battle than is now 
 
 accorded our veterans of twenty battles ; but they are the sires 
 
 8 
 
34 IOWA CX)LONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 of our military prowess, and who woiilo' detract from their 
 hard-earned glory ? 
 
 Colonel Bates is a fine looking man. He is five feet nine 
 inches in hight, and has a well develoi^ed and pre-possessing 
 person. He has a social disposition, and makes a warm friend 
 and a sleepless enemy. I do not admire his political course, 
 and may be prejudiced against him ; but this certainly must be 
 conceded — he is entitled to much credit for surmounting the 
 obstacles of poverty and a deficient education, and for making 
 himself what he is. 
 
 The Colonel, I think, was not popular with his regiment. 
 He would allow no foraging. In restoring the seceded States 
 to their proper functions in the Union, and in establishing 
 within their limits a respect for the laws of the Government, 
 he believed more in moral suasion than in corporal castigation. 
 His ofiicers and men charged him with being too kind to the 
 rebels, though they gave him credit of being sincere in his 
 convictions. After leaving the service, he continued to act 
 and vote with the so-called Peace Party. 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL SAMUEL R. CURTIS. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, SECOND INFANTRY. 
 
 Samuel Ryan Curtis, Iowa's distinguished statesman and 
 soldier, was the second colonel, and the first general officer 
 appointed from the State. He is Iowa's first and oldest major- 
 general, and, at the time of entering the service, was more 
 widely known than any other officer sent out from the State ; 
 for, almost from the State's infancy, he has stood prominent 
 among her public men. 
 
 General Curtis was born on the 3d day of February, 1807, 
 and calls himself a native of Newark, Licking county, Ohio. 
 In point of fact, he was born while his parents were on their 
 way from Connecticut to the West, and somewhere in the State 
 of New York. He was educated at the West Point Military 
 Academy, where he held the highest military office in his class. 
 Graduating in 1831, with a brevet second-lieutanancy in the 7th 
 Infantry, he was soon after assigned to duty at Fort Gibson in 
 the Indian Territory. In the following year, he resigned his 
 commission, and returning to Ohio, studied law, and was ad- 
 mitted to the bar. From 1837 to 1839, he was chief engineer 
 of the Muskingum River Improvement. Later he practiced 
 law in Wooster, Ohio, and was actively and successfully en- 
 gaged in the practice, when war was declared with Mexico. 
 He was now summoned to Columbus by the Governor of Ohio, 
 and made adjutant-general of that State ; and not long after was 
 commissioned colonel of the 3d Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which 
 he led to the field. 
 
 He served on the Northern Line in Mexico under General 
 
 Taylor, and was for a time on the staff of General Wool ; and, 
 
 35 
 
36 IOWA COLONELS AXD REGIMEXTS. 
 
 as governor, commanded the cities of Matamoras, Camargo 
 and Saltillo. 
 
 At the close of tlie war, he returned to Ohio; but finding his 
 law business had wasted away during his absence, and being 
 urged to take the i>osition of cliief engineer of the Des Moines 
 Improvement, he left that State, and coming West, settled in 
 Keolcuk, Iowa. He was for a time engaged in the practice of 
 the law in the city of Keokuk, and had for partners Colonel 
 J. W. Rankin and the Honorable Charles Mason. From 1850 
 to 1853, he was engineer-in-charge of the harbor and other 
 works of the city of St. Louis, where the dike that he construc- 
 ted, which connects Bloody Island to the Illinois shore, will, 
 for many years hence, stand a monument to his credit. It 
 secures to the city of St. Louis great commercial advantages. 
 During the two following years, he was chief engineer of the 
 American Central Rail Road, running through Illinois, Iowa, 
 and other States. 
 
 In 1856, General Curtis was elected to Congress from the First 
 Congressional District of Iowa, and in 1858, and again in 1860, 
 was re-elected from the same district. In the canvass of 1860, 
 his opponent was thd^Honorable C. C. Cole, now Judge of the 
 Supreme Court of Iowa, and one of the ablest debaters and 
 most popular men in the State. No better proof could be had 
 of the general's ability as a statesman, and of the integrity 
 of his record, than this final endorsement of him by the 
 people : indeed, nearly every section of his District gave him 
 increased majorities. 
 
 From the organization of the party, he has been an earnest 
 and consistent Republican ; but that for which he became most 
 distinguished in Congress was the part he acted in securing the 
 passage of the Pacific Rail Road Act. Others have claimed the 
 honor, but he is the father of this enterprise, as is evidenced by 
 his elaborate speeches and demonstrations of record in the 
 
SAMUEL R. CURTIS. 87 
 
 annals of Congress. I should also add that he was a leading 
 member of the Committee on Military Affairs. He had, I am 
 credibly informed, much to do with the efforts of the House, 
 in countervailing the schemes of Jeff Davis, in his manip- 
 ulations of our military forces to his base purposes. 
 
 General Curtis' patriotism was always fervent, and, though 
 others have made a more brilliant reputation in the war, none 
 responded more promptly to the first call of national alarm ; 
 and, I may add, none have led armies and fought battles ivifh more 
 uniform siiceess. Leaving his home in the West on the first 
 news of the attack on Fort Sumter, he started for Washington ; 
 and, meeting at Philadelphia the gallant 7th New York, 
 Colonel Lefferts, embarked with it on transports for Annapolis. 
 Prom that point the march was made through the heat and 
 dust by day and night to Washington. Returning to Keokuk, 
 he assisted in raising volunteers, and was, on the 1st of June, 
 elected colonel of the 2d Iowa Infantry, (the first three-years 
 regiment from the State) by the unanimous vote of the officers 
 and men. Ten days later and at midnight, he was summoned 
 by General Lyon by telegraph to Northern Missouri, and 
 marched next day with his regiment for that point. Besidas 
 capturing many prisoners, guns &c., he established at once in 
 Northern Missouri the military authority of the Federal 
 Government. 
 
 In the latter pai-t of June, he left again for Washington to be 
 present at the fourth session of Congrass, and while there was 
 made a brigadier-general. He now resigned his seat in Con- 
 gress, and, reporting at St. Louis, Missouri, was soon after 
 placed in conamand, first of Jefferson Barracks, next of the 
 Camp of Instruction at Benton Barracks, and finally of the 
 St. Louis District. While holding the last named command, 
 the President devolved on him the duties connected with the 
 change of commanders— a most delicate and painful service, 
 
38 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 which he neither sought nor desired ; but for the prudence and 
 decision he discovered in the discharge of these duties, he re- 
 ceived the special thanlvs of Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 In December 1861, General Curtis was placed in command of 
 the District of Southwest Missouri, and at once repaired to 
 Rolla, where he established his head-quarters. Having organ- 
 ized his army in the early part of January 18G2, he marched 
 against General Price, and drove him through Missouri and 
 Northern Arkansas. On this march, the enemy were encoun- 
 tered in several skirmishes and engagements. The culminating 
 one was the sanguinary battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas. It 
 resulted in a brilliant victory to the Federal arms, and in the 
 restoration of the flag and the authority of the Government in 
 that State. 
 
 Although the battle of Pea Ridge was one of the earliest and 
 most decisive of the war, yet, I believe, less is known of it, 
 than of any other of equal magnitude, especially of those 
 fought in the South West. 
 
 In the latter part of January, 1862, nearly four months after 
 the march of General Fremont was made from Jefferson City to 
 Springfield, General Curtis left Rolla, Missouri, for the purpose 
 of capturing or dispersing the rebel army under General Sterling 
 Price. His command consisted of the divisions of Sigel, (subse- 
 quently Osterhous') Asboth, Davis and Carr, and numbered 
 about twelve thousand men. Passing through Lebanon, Marsh- 
 field, Springfield and over the old Wilson Creek battle-field, he 
 arrived in the vicinity of Pea Ridge on the evening of the 20th of 
 February. He first met the enemy north of Springfield — though 
 neither there, nor at any point between that and Sugar Creek, 
 did he meet with determined resistance. Shortly before the 
 arrival of Curtis at Sugar Creek, Price had been re-info reed by 
 McCulloch, and, in consequence of this, quite a severe engage- 
 ment took place at the above named point. At Sugar Creek, 
 
SAMUEL B. CURTIS. 39 
 
 Sigel, who had made a detour, rejoined the main army, 
 which now pressed on to Osage Springs, a position which 
 flanked Cross Hollows, the rebel strong-hold, and compelled its 
 evacuation by McCulloch. From the 21st of February to the 
 5th of March, General Curtis' forces remained in this vicin- 
 ity, the enemy in the meantime collecting all his forces in 
 the front. Being informed of the enemy's great increase of 
 strength, and his designs to assume the offensive. General Cur- 
 tis ordered all his several divisions, by different routes, to 
 fall back to Sugar Creek and Pea Ridge to give battle, should 
 the enemy force one. At this time General Sigel was near 
 Bentonville, Carr was at Cross Hollows, while General Jeffer- 
 son C. Davis was already on Sugar Creek, just at the base of 
 Pea Ridge. 
 
 On the morning of the 5th of March, Captain H. H. Griffiths, 
 of the 4th Iowa Infantry, (subsequently of the 1st Iowa Battery) 
 who was field-officer of the day, found the picket-line in com- 
 motion, and, on inquiry, learned that a government foraging 
 train had been captured. Soon after it was learned from scouts, 
 contrabands and from loyal citizens, living in the vicinity of 
 Cross Hollows, that General Van Dorn, having formed a junc- 
 tion with Price, was advancing to give battle, and that night 
 Colonel Carr, under orders and accompanied by General Curtis, 
 marched back to Sugar Creek, a distance of fourteen miles. 
 That same afternoon, GenerarSigel also received orders at his 
 camp near Bentonville, to forthwith move back to Sugar Creek, 
 distant about sixteen miles ; for General Curtis was now satis- 
 fied that a great battle was imminent, and it was his purpose 
 to concentrate at Pea Ridge, and engage the enemy from that 
 strong position. Colonel Vandever, of the 9th Iowa Infantry, 
 who was near Huntsville, in command of a brigade, was 
 ordered to march day and night till he reached the place 
 designated. 
 
40 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Pea Ridge, Arkansas, is a narrow plateau, running nearly 
 east and west, and lying near the Boston Mountains. Along 
 its southern base is the historic stream of Sugar Creek, whose 
 northern bank is in many places precipitous, rising to the 
 hight of two or three hundred feet. On its top, Pea Ridge has 
 a few cultivated fields ; but for the most part is covered with a 
 short and stinted growth of oak of great density. Its northern 
 slope is gradually descending, and terminating in wild, deep 
 ravines. Just north of these ravines are abrupt, rocky and 
 rugged hills, and, among and in the vicinity of these, is the 
 celebrated Cross Timber Hollows, so named, it is said, from 
 the heavy timber which was felled there by General McCulloch, 
 in October 18G1, to block the advance of General Fremont, in 
 his march from Springfield. Running along through Cross 
 Timber Hollows, and over Pea Ridge and Sugar Creek, is the 
 Wire, or Butterfield road. Its course is nearly due north and 
 south. Branching off from this road to the west, and about four 
 miles north of Sugar Creek, is the Lee towTi road, which, after 
 passing through a small village by that name, bears round to 
 the south to Bentonville. It was over this last named road 
 that General Sigel fell back to Pea Ridge. Carr returned with 
 his division from Cross Hollows, over the Wire road; Cross 
 Hollows lying south of Pea Ridge, and, as I have said, some 
 fourteen miles distant from it. 
 
 On the morning of the 6th of March, the divisions of both 
 Carr and Davis were at Sugar Creek, and in position, throwing 
 up temporary field-works, while the command of Sigel was 
 just moving out of Bentonville; and here it was that Sigel first 
 met the enemy. It happened in this wise: having halted in 
 Bentonville with a small force until after the departure of the 
 greater part of his command, he was attacked by the rebel 
 army and almost completely surrounded. Forming his small 
 force— scarcely six hundred men— he broke through the ene- 
 
SAMUEL R. CURTIS. 41 
 
 my's lines and, though still closely pursued and his flanks 
 severely pressed, marched for several hours, sustaining an almost 
 continuous engagement; indeed, the enemy did not cease their 
 attacks until the arrival of reinforcements, sent and led by 
 General Curtis in person. That he was not entirely cut off and 
 compelled to surrender was due as well to the superior discip- 
 line of the troops, as to the skill displayed by Greneral Sigel, in 
 managing his rear defences. Thus the enemy were checked, 
 and Sigel arrived safely on the north bank of Sugar Creek. 
 
 At midnight on the 6th of March, the position of General 
 Curtis' forces were as follows: The enemy were expected to 
 advance from the south across Sugar Creek valley, and the 
 troops of General Curtis were therefore drawn up in line of 
 battle on the high bluffs, facing that valley. Davis' and Carr's 
 divisions held the left, and Sigel's and Asboth's the right ; and 
 the whole front was defended by strong works, thrown up 
 during the day and night. The commissary-stores had been 
 sent back to the rear to Elkhorn Tavern, and placed under 
 charge of Major Weston, provost-marshal of the army ; for it 
 was supposed that that was a place of safety. Early on the 
 morning of the 7th instant. General Curtis became convinced, 
 from the reports of his scouts, that a heavy body of the enemy 
 was moving round his right, for the purpose of attacking his 
 right flank and rear. A change of front to the rear was there- 
 fore ordered, so as to face the road west, along which the enemy 
 were now advancing. Before this movement had been com- 
 pleted, a detachment of cavalry and light artillery, well sup- 
 ported by infantry under Colonels Osterhaus and Bussey was 
 ordered from the new centre. Its object was to attack the 
 enemy while they were moving by the flank. But in the 
 meantime Major Weston was attacked at Elkhorn Tavern, 
 by rebel infantry. Elkhorn Tavern was the point where the 
 new right was to rest, and Carr's Division was already on its 
 
42 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 way to reinforce Major Weston's command, and to order the 
 train to a place of safety. It was this prompt movement on 
 the part of General Curtis that saved him his army, and for 
 the coolness and judgment that prompted it, he is entitled to 
 great credit. Nor is it true, as has often been stated, that 
 General Sigel, at Pea Eidge, saved the Federal army from de- 
 feat and capture. He did well the duties of a subordinate 
 officer, and is entitled to great praise for the manner in which 
 he wrested his mere handful of men from the enemy's grasp 
 at Benton ville ; but, on the 7th of March, and after the change 
 of front, he held the extreme left which was not engaged at 
 all. 
 
 A civilian has no idea of the extent of country embraced in 
 the lines of a great battle, and will be surprised when told that 
 the right and centre of Curtis' line at Pea Ridge were several 
 miles apart. He can better understand that to handle troops 
 successfully under such circumstances, requires great coolness 
 and judgment — and that is just what makes a good general. 
 
 The fighting now opened on the right and in the centre with 
 great fury ; and in the centre the enemy were at first successful. 
 The Federal cavalry, sent out under Osterhaus and Bussey, 
 were routed and lost their artillery ; and General Curtis there- 
 fore ordered Davis to Osterhaus' support. On arriving, he 
 assumed command, for he was the senior officer ; and now the 
 centre was held firmly. Soon Davis assumed the offensive, 
 and assaulting the enemy, re-captured the lost battery, and 
 either killed or mortally wounded Generals Mcintosh and 
 Slack. McCulloch had been killed before Davis came up. 
 
 In the meantime General Carr had met the enemy and 
 fought a most unequal and terrible battle on the right. 
 Opposed to his division were the commands of both Price and 
 Van Dom. From sun-rise to near sun-set, Carr fought with 
 but few reinforcements, and, though his troops displayed the 
 
SAMUEL B. CURTIS. ^^ 
 
 greatest bravery, he had, toward night, been forced back 
 Lrly a n.Ue ; and now his troops had left but little ammun. 
 
 tion. 
 
 The enemy now having developed their strength and posi- 
 tion, it became evident to General Curtis that he must re-form 
 US me ; and the order was promptly given. He divmed the 
 object of the enemy, which was to force bacU h.s nght cut off 
 2 lines Of retreat, and dash his army to pieces agarnst the Bos- 
 ton Mount-ains. The commands of Sigel, Davis, Ashoth and 
 Osterhaus were brought up from the left and ^nt.e, and 
 „„own into position, facing the north and eonfrontmg^h 
 main body of the enemy under Price and ^an Dom. But 
 while this movement was in progress. General Curtis, m com- 
 pany with Asboth and a small portion of his division, rode 
 I the right to the immediate relief of Carr, who, by this 
 time, as I have said, had been driven back nearly a mile. 
 Biding on to the ground he met the 4th Iowa Infantry, who, 
 having fired their last cartridge, were gradually yielding 
 ground to the enemy. He at once ordered them to about- 
 Le and charge the enemy, which they did in such gallant 
 style as to check their further advance that night. During 
 the night, the troops were afforded rest and sleep, and fresh 
 supplies of ammunition, and early on the following morning 
 the struggle was renewed. I should not omit to state that 
 during the night a third and last line was formed ; and it wa^ 
 now for the first time quite continuous. Carr held the right 
 as he had done the entire day before, Davis the centre and 
 Asboth and Sigel the left; but these last troops did not get 
 into position tiU after the fighting of the morning begun. 
 The right and centre was the only part of the line engaged, 
 and the fighting was being principaUy done by the artillery. 
 Soon Sigel came up on the left, and forced the enemy's right 
 from a strong position it had taken up on one of the hills m 
 
44 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Cross Timber PIollows. It was now the moment of victory, 
 seeing which General Curtis ordered a general charge. The 
 enemy struggled fiercely for a moment, but their lines were 
 soon broken at all points, and they fled in utter rout from the 
 field. But for one thing, large numbers of them would 
 have been captured— Cross Timber Hollows gave them a sure 
 and almost unmolested way of retreat. 
 
 It was a splendid victory ! For his bravery, watchfulness 
 and skill. General Curtis well deserved to be made a major- 
 general ; and only thirteen days after the last day's battle, he 
 was promoted to that rank. General Sigel received a like pro- 
 motion ; but, on account of ill health, was soon after compelled 
 to leave the field. He never returned to the Army of the 
 South West. 
 
 After remaining in the vicinity of the battle-ground for 
 nearly a month, the enemy no longer appearing in any force 
 near his front, General Curtis, by a difficult march, moved 
 across the Boston Mountains to Batesville, on White River. 
 Here he remained till the 23d of the following June, when he 
 began his celebrated march through Arkansas to Helena. At 
 that day it was a celebrated undertaking, and the papers 
 throughout the country were filled with its recital ; but to-day, 
 when contrasted with the wonderful movements of Sherman, 
 it seems only an ordinary affair. The skirmishes and engage- 
 ments which resulted from this movement will be given 
 elsewhere. That was now accomplished which General Fre- 
 mont claimed he would have effected six months earlier, had 
 his hands not been tied by the President — the west bank of 
 the Mississippi was gained at a point below Memphis. 
 
 General Curtis remained at Helena until the following Aug- 
 ust. His head-quarters were established at the magnificent 
 residence of the rebel General Hindman, which is situated 
 near the base of one of the hills that look down on that sickly, 
 
SAMUEL R. CURTIS. 45 
 
 detestable village. While here he organized many expeditions, 
 one of which penetrated the waters of the Yazoo River. 
 Another went do\\Ti the Mississippi, and captured a partially- 
 prepared battery ; and still another was sent to Richmond, a 
 considerable town in Louisiana, eighteen miles west of Vieks- 
 burg. It was through this same town that Grant marched, 
 when on his way to the rear of Vicksburg. 
 
 But, though burdened with the cares of a large military 
 command, General Curtis did not forget that magnificent 
 enterprise, for the success of which he had, in civil life, labored 
 so untiringly, and, I may add, so successfully. Having been 
 made one of the corporators, he obtained a leave of absence 
 from the War Department to attend the Pacific Railroad Con- 
 vention at Chicago. He was chosen and acted as President of 
 that body. In the future, that assemblage will be looked upon 
 a.s a land-mark of a new era ; for it organized and inaugurated 
 the great work which is now in progress, to connect the two 
 oceans and bind the continent together ^^'ith iron bands. 
 
 0]i the 19th of September, 1862, General Curtis was assigned 
 to the command of the Department of the Missouri, with 
 head-quarters at St. Louis. At that time this department 
 included the States of Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, the Territo- 
 ries of Nebraska, Colorado, and the Indian Territory. The 
 military forces consisted of the armies of the South West, the 
 Frontier, and South-ea^t INIissouri. The department was sub- 
 sequently diminished by the withdrawal of Arkansas. While 
 in command of this department, his troops fought the following 
 battles : Cane Hill, Old Town, Wayne, Prairie Grove, Spring- 
 field, Hartsville, Cape Girardeau, besides capturing Fort Smith 
 and Van Buren, Arkansas. There were also many skirmishes 
 and engagements of lesser note. But General Curtis was too 
 radical for that early day of the struggle. His anti-Slavery 
 spirit was distasteful to the conservative governor of Missouri, 
 
46 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and, harassed by the importunities of that official, and other 
 influential conservative men of the State, the President relieved 
 the general of his command, after a successful and, with the 
 true friends of the Government, a popular administration of 
 eight months. The President expressly stated that he had no 
 fault to find with the general's administration, but that he 
 was willing to yield to the wishes of the conservative party, 
 headed by Governor Gamble, and see, if by inaugurating a 
 more lenient policy, he could not conciliate hostile factions, and 
 heal the breach in the Union Party of Missouri. But the Pres- 
 dent, though honest in his intentions, (as he always has been), 
 was in error, as the subsequent triumph of anti-Slavery princi- 
 ples in that State evidences. Indeed, the history of the Balti- 
 more Convention of 1864 is conclusive proof in this matter; 
 for the Missouri delegation was the only one which cast its 
 vote against Mr. Lincoln in that body. 
 
 General Curtis' next command was the Department of Kan- 
 sas, to which he was assigned the first day of January, 1864. 
 It included Kansas, and the Territories of Nebraska and Colo- 
 rado, with head-quarters at Fort Leavenworth. Fort Smith 
 and the Indian Territory were at first included, but these 
 were subsequently given to General Steele, whose head- 
 quarters were at Little Rock. During the summer and fall of 
 1864, the general was engaged in protecting the exposed settle- 
 ments on the frontier from the depredations of hostile Indians, 
 and in guarding lines of travel west. He was at Fort Leaven- 
 worth, and his troops scattered in every quarter of his com- 
 mand, when he first learned of the rapid and almost unopposed 
 march of Price into Missouri. The course of the rebel general 
 was bearing toward the borders of Kansas, and General 
 Curtis, although his available force was scarcely three thousand 
 men, began preparations to meet him. The Kansas Militia 
 were at once organized under General Deitzler, and, with the 
 
SAMUEL E. CURTIS. 47 
 
 volunteer forces under General Blunt, General Curtis took the 
 field. The part taken by the general in routing and driving 
 Price from Missouri was active and successful. I quote from a 
 statement of one of his staff ofl&cers: 
 
 " The sudden rallying of the people of Kansas, under Curtis, 
 checked the movements of Price, who had boasted that he 
 would capture Fort Leavenworth and city, and lay the State 
 waste. The first resistance actually confronting the advance of 
 Price was the advance of General Blunt, under Curtis, at Lex- 
 ington, on October 19th. " 
 
 " Rosecrans and Pleasanton were south-east of the rebel gen- 
 eral, while Curtis, Blunt and Deitzler, with their little band of 
 volunteers, were to his west, near Kansas City, on the border 
 of Kansas. Blunt advanced to Lexington, where he was 
 attacked by Price, and, as he was ordered only to feel the 
 enemy, fell back to the Little Blue. In the battles of Little 
 Blue and Big Blue, on the 20th and 22d of October, Curtis 
 delayed the advance of the rebel general, and held him a 
 severe engagement. At Westport, on the 23d, the battle was 
 renewed ; and General Curtis, with his whole force, completely 
 checked Price's westward movement, and turned him south. 
 After the rebel retreat had commenced, Pleasanton joined in 
 pursuit, and the retreat became a rout. Price was driven south 
 along the border of Kansas. 
 
 " After the battle of Westport, Price successively fought and 
 lost the battles of Marias des Ci/gnes, [Swamp of the Swans] 
 Mine Creek, Osage, and on October 25th, the battle of Char- 
 lotte, losing two thousand men and two guns. The rebel 
 generals Marmaduke and Cabell were captured, and large 
 quantities of Price's equipments were burned and scattered in 
 the retreat. The rebel generals Graham and Slemmons were 
 killed. Price passed within a few miles of the richly stored 
 military depot of Fort Scott ; but was too closely pressed to 
 attempt its capture. The same night he burned five hundred of 
 his wagons, and a large quantity of his stores. The pursuit 
 was continued on October 26th, and on the 28th, at Granby, the 
 rebel rear-guard was struck. At Newtonia, five miles beyond, 
 Blunt, being in advance, attacked the enemy with parts of two 
 brigades, holding his ground for three hours, until the arrival 
 of Curtis with Sanborn's Brigade on the field. The enemy 
 
48 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was soon routed, and again retreated in great disorder, having 
 lost some six hundred men. On this night Rosecrans with- 
 drew all his forces, and, as the Kansas Militia had been dis 
 banded at Fort Scott, General Curtis' whole force did not now 
 exceed twenty-two hundred men. 
 
 " The next day, in accordance with orders from Lieutenant- 
 General Grant, Curtis continued the pursuit of Price. The 
 Missouri troops were included in the order; but for some 
 reason did not overtake General Curtis. At Keetsville, Colonel 
 Benton with a small brigade of veterans of the 16th Army 
 Corps, making Curtis' force about three thousand men, joined 
 in the pursuit, which was continued over the old Pea Ridge 
 battle-ground to Cross Hollows. From this point a forced 
 march was made to the relief of Fayetteville, for three days 
 invested by Price's forces, who hastily retired, on the approach 
 of General Curtis, who, they supposed, still retained the whole 
 force that operated in Missouri. The pursuit was continued 
 over Cane Hill battle-ground, and through a portion of the 
 Indian Territory, to a point on the Arkan.sas River, thirty 
 miles above Fort Smith. Here, on November 8th, Price suc- 
 ceeded in crossing the river, a parting volley of shells being- 
 fired at his rear. General Curtis now returned by easy marches 
 to Fort Leavenworth. 
 
 " In a campaign of thirty-eight days, a march of nearly one 
 thousand miles had been accomplished ; nine battles had been 
 fought, with a Union loss of eighteen hundred men, killed and 
 wounded. From Lexington to Cane Hill, the rebels admitted 
 a loss of ten thousand five hundred killed, wounded and miss- 
 ing. General Curtis was welcomed back to his post with a 
 grand reception by the people of Leavenworth ; and the Legis- 
 lature of Kansas tendered him their thanks for his noble 
 defense of the State, and recommended his promotion in the 
 regular army." 
 
 Greneral Curtis has recently been assigned to the command of 
 the Department of the North West, with head-quarters at Mil- 
 waukee, Wisconsin. It is the same command recently held by 
 Major-General John Pope, including the States of Wisconsin, 
 Minnesota and Iowa, and the Territories of Dacotah and 
 Idaho. 
 
 If we except two instance?, General Curtis has served with- 
 
SAMUEL R. CURTIS. 49 
 
 out reproach, from the time he entered the war to the present. 
 He was charged with dealing in cotton, while commanding in 
 Arkansas, and rebels gave their affidavits to impeach him ; but 
 the President was kind enough to inform the general of the 
 secret assaults on his character, and the overAvhelming proof 
 which he offered of the integrity of his command in Arkansas, 
 not only served with tlie President, but with the people, as a 
 full vindication against the foul slander. He was also charged 
 with appropriating two camels, which he had captured from 
 the enemy, the remnant of those imported by the Government 
 to traverse the sandy plains of the Southern Overland Route ; 
 but, on inquiry, it appeared that they were kept by, and prop- 
 erly accounted for, by the staff quarter-master, awaiting, at 
 any time, the disposiil of the Government. It further appeared 
 that they were only sent to Iowa to secure them from re-cap- 
 ture, and to preserve them for the Government, to which they 
 rightfully and notoriously belonged. Even the genial-hearted 
 Claggett, editor of the Keokuk " Constitution," and the bitter 
 political opponent of General Curtis, vindicated him from this 
 unjust and unmanly charge. 
 
 Of the Iowa major-generals. General Curtis is the largest in 
 person. He has a tall, fine form, and, though nearly sixty 
 years of age, is erect and vigorous. His large, hazel eyes give 
 his countenance an expression of gravity and thoughtfulness 
 which comports well with the dignity of his movements and 
 manners. But, if he is sedate, and if he never laughs boister- 
 ously, he is nevertheless easily approached and sociable ; he is 
 kind and generous-hearted, and would not knowingly injure 
 the feelings of the most humble or unfortunate. 
 
 He has one trait which is not in keeping with his general 
 character. He is nice and precise in dress, and in this respect 
 has been noted for the scrupulousness with which he has com- 
 plied with the Army Regulations. He never, when on duty, 
 
 4 
 
50 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 omits a reg-ulation trapping. In many respects he is not unlike 
 General Grant ; but not in this. 
 
 Intellectually, General Curtis is not brilliant. He has excel- 
 lent judgment, and great available ability. To these, and to 
 unremitting labor, he is indebted for what he is. He is a most 
 excellent mathematician, and, as a civil-engineer, has I believe 
 no superior in the West. This remarkal)le endowment made 
 him the leader in Congress of the great Pacific Railroad enter- 
 prise. 
 
 As a soldier, General Curtis is able, magnanimous and brave ; 
 and why, against his known wishes, he has recently been kept 
 from the front, I do not understand. Perhaps he too much 
 resembles the great military chieftain of the day ; for I have 
 noticed that, in nearly every instance, commands at the front 
 have been given to those who, as regards sprighfliness and dash, 
 are the direct opposites of General Grant. 
 
 General Curtis has a proud record, whether before, or during 
 the AVar of the Rebellion ; and when this great conflict shall 
 have closed, and a true love of the Nation's ancient motto 
 re-enshrined in the hearts of all, he will stand, with the honest 
 historian, as one of the most practical and deserving men of 
 his day. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL JAMES M. TUTTLE. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, SECOND INFANTRY. 
 
 General James Madison Tuttle, was born near Summer- 
 field, Monroe county, Ohio, on the 24th of September, 1823 ; and 
 was educated at "the people's college" — the Common School. 
 Emigrating to Indiana with his father's family, in the winter 
 of 1833, he settled in Fayette county, whence, after a residence 
 of thirteen years, he removed to Farmington, Van Buren 
 county, Iowa, where he soon after engaged in mercantile pur- 
 suits. 
 
 Prior to entering the United States Service, General Tuttle 
 was a quiet citizen, and not known to any great extent, outside 
 of his own county. In the fall of 1855, he was elected to the 
 office of sheriff of Van Buren county, and in 1857, to that of 
 treasurer and recorder, and was known as a prompt, honora- 
 ble and accurate official — but nothing further. He cared little 
 for public eclat ; and what little public life he had seen, was 
 not so much attributable to his own efforts, as to the solicitation 
 and labor of his friends. In his case, as in many others, the 
 war developed latent powers that otherwise would doubtless 
 have remained dormant. 
 
 Early in 1861, in response to the call of the President for sev- 
 enty-five thousand men, General Tuttle closed up his business 
 hastily, and recruited a company, of which he was elected cap- 
 tain ; but the quota of the State's three-months men being 
 already full, his company, in the following May, was assigned 
 to the 2d Iowa Infantry. At its rendezvous, he was chosen 
 lieutenant-colonel of that regiment, and on the 6th of the fol- 
 lowing September, was made its colonel. 
 
 51 
 
52 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 There are few officers, who have a better military record than 
 General Tuttle — nonea fairer; and from the time he led his 
 regiment in its gallant and reckless charge against Fort Don- 
 elson till August, 1863, when he accepted the Democratic nom- 
 ination for Governor of Iowa, there were none, except confessed 
 sympathizers with the rebellion, who were not loud in his 
 praise ; — and he merited his great popularity. 
 
 That the 2d Iowa Infantry, Colonel James M. Tuttle com- 
 manding, and the glory incident to the capture of Fort Don- 
 elson are inseparable, is known not only in Iowa, but in 
 every loyal State ; but, it is not so generally known that the 
 tender of the "forlorn hope" had been previously made by 
 General Smith to several other regiments, by all of which, 
 through their commanders, it had been declined. 
 
 " Colonel, will you take those works ? " 
 
 " Support me promptly, and in twenty minutes I will go 
 in. " 
 
 And he did go in ; but the glory was dearly purchased. The 
 dangers met, and the obstacles encountered and overcome in 
 this assault, were of the most prodigious character ; and the 
 heroism that inspired the assailants has never been fully ap- 
 preciated. It is without question the most gallant, reckless 
 and successful charge of the whole war. On the right of the 
 Fort Henry, or Dover Road, a fierce struggle had been going on 
 during all the forenoon of the loth, with results so favorable to 
 the enemy that, abandoning their purposes of retreating, they 
 returned to their works, confident of being able to force the en- 
 tire Federal position ; and, to show that their hopes of success 
 were not unreasonable, it is only necessary to state that with 
 the exception of a few regiments — only two brigades — the 
 whole Federal force had been encountered and sadly worsted. 
 McClernand and Wallace had both been defeated. I am aware 
 that the Rev. John S. C. Abbott, our able and pleasant histori- 
 
JAMES M. TUTTLE. 53 
 
 an, does not corroborate this statement ; nor does the rebel Gen- 
 eral Pillow, whom Mr. Abbott cites as authority; but the 
 former was doubtless misinformed, and, as for the latter, he 
 would not tell the truth if a lie would better suit his purpose. 
 Indeed his own flaming dispatch, forwarded to Nashville just 
 on the eve of the Confederate successes, contradicts his official 
 report of the battle— " On the honor of a soldier, the day is 
 ours;" and so at that hour it was. 
 
 In the disposition of the Federal troops at Fort Donelson, 
 the 2d Iowa Infantry held the extreme left of General Grant's 
 forces. Its position from the rebel lines, at the point where the 
 attack was to be made, and where, I may add, a whole brigade 
 had made an assault the day before and been repulsed, was 
 some six hundred yards distant. The character of the ground, 
 intervening between the 2d Iowa and the intrenched line of 
 the enemy, was such as to throw all the advantages in the 
 enemy's favor. In front of the regiment, and just beyond the 
 open field in which it formed for the charge, was a ravine 
 whose sides, thickly lined with tangled brush, were very diffi- 
 cult of passage. Beyond, was the steep, obstructed hill-side, 
 along the crest of which, and parallel to the ravine, were the 
 earth- works of the enemy. Not more than one hundi-ed yards 
 in front of these works was a formidable abattis, to pass which 
 an assaulting column must break its line of battle, and move 
 by the flank. Beyond the abattis there were no obstructions 
 except the enemy's breast-works. 
 
 The assaulting party consisted of three hundred men of the 
 2d Iowa, under Colonel, afterwards General Tuttle; and here 
 Mr. Abbott is again in error ; for he says : " General Smith led 
 the charge on horseback. It was a sublime sight, as this mass 
 of troops, in unbroken line emerged from the woods, and com- 
 menced its firm, resolute, silent tramp up the steep hill in the 
 face of the battery of the foe. " General Smith remained at 
 
54 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 the foot of the hill till the charge had been made, and the 
 enemy's defenses gained. 
 
 But to return: Wh^ all was in readiness, the order to 
 advance was given, when Colonel Tuttle, with the left wing of 
 his regiment, forcing his way through the ravine, began scal- 
 ing the hill-side. The abattis was reached, and that obstruc- 
 tion passed without the firing of scarcely a gun, but the instant 
 after, and hardly before the gallant band had again come into 
 line, it received the concentrated fire of three rebel infantry 
 regiments — not less than two thousand men. The slaughter 
 was terrible. At the first fire, one hundred and fifty of these 
 three hmidred gallant men fell, either dead or wounded. 
 Among them were the lamented captains, Slaymaker and 
 Cloutman. But the ardor of the surviving was in no manner 
 cooled. Their good name had been impeached at St. Louis, by 
 an unjust and unwarranted order of General Hamilton ; and 
 the last man was to die or be a victor. Without a perceptible 
 halt, the assaulting party, closing up its ranks, moved steadily 
 on. Such daring was too much for the enemy ; and two whole 
 regiments, with the exception of a few men who were promptly 
 put to the bayonet, fled from their defences in precipitate 
 flight. A Mississippi regiment to the right, still remained ; 
 but, the right wing of the 2d Iowa now coming up, this also 
 fled to the ravine below. 
 
 The key to the rebel position had now been wrested from 
 the enemy, and yet the fighting was not more than half done. 
 Between the main fort and the position the 2d Iowa now held 
 was a deep ravine, through which the enemy having passed, 
 had taken up a position on the high ground, which bounded 
 its opposite side. Colonel Tuttle, wishing to avail himself of 
 their present fright, promptly formed his regiment, and moved 
 against them. He had reached the ravine, and was engaging 
 the enemy, when that Indiana regiment, just having gained the 
 
JAMES M. TUTTLE. 55 
 
 hill for the first time, commenced pouring a severe musketry- 
 fire upon his rear. Momentary confusion followed. Colonel 
 Tuttle first waved his sword, and in other ways endeavored to 
 induce the Indianians to cease their firing; but they believed 
 they were engaging the enemy, and no token but the white 
 flag would they accept. Alarmed for the safety of his own regi- 
 ment, Colonel Tuttle now determined to run back to them, 
 and inform them in person of their mistake ; but he had not 
 gone far before he stopped short, and, turning his face in the 
 direction of the enemy's fire, began moving backward. The 
 reason for this maneuver of the colonel was then unknown, 
 and for sometime after; but it afterwards turned out that he 
 was fearful of being shot in the back by the enemy, which he had 
 declared should never happen. My informant was a member 
 of his old regiment. 
 
 Order was now restored. In the meantime General Smith, 
 having come on the hights to superintend movements in per- 
 son, recalled the 2d Iowa, and, with the other troops of his 
 command, stationed the regiment behind the captured works 
 of the enemy. Random firing was kept up till late in the 
 evening, and the next morning the fort surrendered. 
 
 Fifteen thousand prisoners, many ordnance stores, and 
 much other property, were the fruits of the victory. There 
 were other fruits, though these were not to be relished by the 
 public palate. The commander-in-chief, and every division 
 commander in the fight, were made major-generals, and every 
 brigade commander was made a brigadier. The 2d Iowa 
 Infantry, therefore, not only made U. S. Grant, C. F. Smith, 
 J. A. McClernand and Lew Wallace, major-generals; but 
 Lauman and some ten others, brigadiers. It also broke the 
 line of the enemy's defences, which extended in the South 
 West, fi'om Bowling Green to Columbus, and opened up the 
 enemy's country south, to the Memphis and Charleston 
 
56 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Railroad. The regiment did still more; it forced General 
 Johnson to evacuate Bowling Green, captured Buckner, and 
 frightened into flight Pillow at Fort Donelson, and compelled 
 Polk to evacuate Columbus, on the Mississippi. Glorious old 
 Begiment ! Well might General Halleck say : " The 2d Iowa 
 proved themselves the bravest of the brave." Richly did 
 the regiment deserve its place in the van of the triumphal 
 march into the rebel stronghold ! 
 
 And yet, after the surrender of the fort, the colonel of the 
 Indiana regiment, wlio had ordered his men to fire into the 2d 
 Iowa, had the impudence to claim the honor of being the first 
 in the enemy's works ; but in justice to General Smith, let me 
 say, his claims were met only by reprimands and cursings. 
 
 In adding the roll of honor, I shall quote from the official 
 report of Colonel Tuttle : 
 
 "When I come to speak of those who particularly distin- 
 guished themselves for coolness and bravery, so many exam- 
 ples occur to me that it seems invidious to make distinctions. 
 Of those few who were in the most responsible positions, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Baker, Major Chipman and Adjutant Tuttle, to 
 say that they were cool and brave would not do them justice. 
 They were gallant to perfection. Lieutenant-Colonel Baker had 
 a ball pass through his cap and come out near his temple. 
 Major Chipman was among the first to fall, severely wounded, 
 while cheering on the men of the left wing, and refused to be 
 carried from the field ; but waved his sword and exhorted the 
 men to press forward. Captains Slaymaker and Cloutman fell 
 dead, at the head of their companies, before they reached 
 the entrenchments. Near them also fell Lieutenant Harper. 
 His death was that of a true and brave soldier. Captains 
 Cox, Mills, Moore and Wilkins were at the head of their 
 companies, marked examples of gallantry and efficiency. 
 Lieutenants Schofield, Ensign, Davis, Holmes, Huntington, 
 Weaver, Mastic, Snowdon and Godfrey— in fact nearly all of 
 my officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, deported 
 themselves nobly throughout the engagement. Sergeant-Major 
 Brawner deserves very honorable mention for his gallant con- 
 
JAMES M. TUTTLE. 57 
 
 duct. Surgeons Marsh and Nassau also deserve the highest 
 praise for their skill and untiring devotion to the welfare of 
 the wounded. Dr. Nassau was particularly noticed for his 
 bravery on the field, taking off the wounded during a heavy 
 fire of the enemy." 
 I cannot omit, in this report, an account of the color-guard : 
 *' Color-Sergeant Doolittle fell early in the engagement, pierced 
 by four balls, and dangerously wounded. The colors were 
 then taken by Corporal Page, company B, who soon fell dead. 
 They were again raised by Corporal Churcher, company I, 
 who had his arm broken, just as he entered the entrench- 
 ments, when they were taken by Corporal Twombly, com- 
 pany F, who was almost instantly knocked down by a spent 
 ball, but immediately rose and bore them gallantly to the end 
 of the fight. Not a single man of the color-guard but himself 
 was on his feet at the close of the engagement." 
 
 At Shiloh, Colonel Tuttle was placed in command of a brig- 
 ade, where he won new laurels. His command consisted of 
 the 2d, 7th, 12th, and 14th Iowa regiments, and, with it, he 
 held a portion of that line which saved the Federal army from 
 capture. After the fall of General W. H. L. Wallace, in that 
 deadly cross-fire of the enemy, and just at the mouth of that 
 flanking swoop that swallowed up the 8th, 12th, and 14th 
 Iowa, Colonel Tuttle, at the request of Captain McMichael, 
 General Smith's acting assistant adjutant-general, assumed 
 command of the division, which he held the remainder of 
 that day, and until the enemy were finally repulsed and driven 
 from the field. At Shiloh, he showed himself to be cool and 
 calculating in danger, and on the 9th of the following June, he 
 was rewarded with the commission of a brigadier-general. 
 Subsequently to his promotion to the rank of a general officer, 
 and until the spring of 1864, when he left the service. General 
 Tuttle, a principal portion of the time, commanded a division 
 in the field. During the fall of 1862, and the following winter, 
 he was in command at Cairo, Illinois; but, in the spring of 
 1863, was relieved and placed in command of the 3d Division, 
 
68 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 loth Army Corps. He joined Sherman in the march through 
 Jaclvson to the rear of Vieksburg, and, in the assault and cap- 
 ture of Jackson on the 14th of May, was with his division in the 
 advance. His division moved against the south side of the 
 rebel capital, while General Crocker's made the assault on the 
 west. 
 
 There is a solitary political chapter in General Tuttle's his- 
 tory. He was the Democratic candidate for Governor of Iowa, 
 at the fall election of 1863, and the following brief extract from 
 his Address to the People will show his views upon the all-ab- 
 sorbing political question of the day." 
 
 " I am in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war to the 
 full extent of our power, until the rebellion is suppressed, and 
 of using all means that may be in our possession, recognized 
 by honorable warfare, for that purpose. I am for the Union 
 without an ?/, and regardless of whether Slavery stands or falls 
 by its restoration ; and in iavor of peace on no other terms than 
 the unconditional submission of the rebels to the constituted 
 authorities of the Government of the United States." 
 
 In size General Tuttle is above the medium, with broad, 
 square shoulders, and weighing one hundred and ninety 
 pounds. He has a sanguine, bilious temperament ; light, florid 
 complexion ; and gray eyes. His mental and physical organ- 
 ism seem to be in perfect sympathy ; for he is slow of speech, 
 and slow in action. He has none of the dash of Sheridan ;— he 
 is more like General Grant — slow and sure. Ordinarily he 
 does not draw conclusions rapidly ; but, if the circmnstances be 
 such as to give him no time for deliberation, he seems equal to 
 emergencies, for his judgments are nearly always correct. He 
 is naturally modest, unassuming and unostentatious. He has 
 large hope, but little self-esteem, and lacks confidence in his 
 own ability. But he is stubborn, and his deliberate opinions 
 are not easily shaken. 
 
COLONEL JAMES BAKER. 
 
 THIRD COLONEL, SECOND INFANTRY. 
 
 Colonel James Baker of the 2d Iowa Infantry, who fell 
 mortally wounded, while leading his regiment in a charge 
 against the enemy at Corinth, was a native of Gallatin county, 
 Kentucky, where he was born the 25th of December, 1823. 
 He was reared and educated in Shelbyville, Indiana, where 
 his father removed with his family in his son's infancy. In 
 1852, he came to Iowa and settled in Bloomfield, Davis county. 
 At Bloomflold, he entered the practice of law, in partnership 
 with his brother-in-law, H. H. Trimble, to which he devoted 
 his exclusive attention from 1855 to 1861. He was a successful 
 lawyer and had, at the outbreak of the war, secured an exten- 
 sive practice. 
 
 In April, 1861, Mr. Baker entered the Volunteer Service, as 
 captain of company G, 2d Iowa Infantry. He was the first 
 volunteer from Davis county, and enrolled his name in the 
 old Methodist Church of Bloomfield. Entering the field with 
 his regiment, he served with it with the rank of captain, till 
 the 2d of November, 1861; when he was promoted to the 
 lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment. Less than eight months 
 later, he succeeded General Tuttle to the colonelcy. 
 
 The history of the 2d Iowa Infantry, from the 22d of June, 
 1862, (the date of Colonel Baker's commission) till September 
 following, is nearly the same as that of all the Federal troops 
 camped at and in the vicinity of Corinth: the regiment did 
 little except camp- and picket-duty. 
 
 Corinth, Mississippi, where, on the 3d and 4th of October, 
 1862, was fought one of the most important and decisive 
 
 59 
 
60 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 battles of the war, especially in the South West, and where 
 the 2cl Iowa Infantry, for more than a year was stationed or 
 garrison-duty, is a point to which attaches much interest in the 
 history of the war. It was the first Confederate town of conse 
 quence in the South West besieged by the Federal forces. I 
 is situated in the north-east corner of Mississippi, and is at th< 
 point of intersection of the Memphis and Charleston, and th( 
 Mobile and Ohio Railroads. To the enemy, it was a place o 
 great importance. 
 
 From the 30th of May, 1862, the date of the place's evacuatioi 
 by Beauregard, till the early part of the following September 
 every thing remained quiet at Corinth. Indeed, no considerabL 
 rebel force was in its vicinity; for, after its evacuation, thi 
 greater part of the rebel army was transferred to the neigh 
 borhood of Chattanooga, Tennessee. ^General Sterling Prio 
 made his appearance at luka, about twenty miles east of Cor 
 inth, on the thirteenth of September, and, on the nineteentl 
 of that month. General Rosecrans fought with him the battl 
 of luka. Defeated at that point. General Price marched hi 
 army, by a circuitous route, round to Ripley, where he wa 
 joined by Generals Van Dorn and Villipigue. The combine( 
 rebel force numbered now not less than forty thousand, and 
 in Van Dorn's opinion, was sufficient to capture Corinth 
 Price, who had recently felt the mettle of the Federal troop 
 at luka, thought otherwise; but Van Dorn was the rankin; 
 officer, and an attack was determined on and ordered. 
 
 The enemy marched on Corinth from Ripley, and firs 
 encountered a detachment of Federal troops at Chewalla, ; 
 small town north-west of Corinth. This was on the afternooi 
 of the second of October. In the meantime General Grani 
 having learned of the enemy's approach, had made prepare 
 tions to meet him. The attack on Corinth was made from th 
 direction of the enemy's march — on the west and north-wes 
 
61 
 
 JAMES BAKEK. 
 
 r the town— and met serious resistance two and a half miles 
 Lit, on the Chewalla road. 
 
 The 2d Iowa Infantry, attached to the 1st Brigade of the 2d 
 Hvision, was among the troops sent out to encounter, the 
 iiemy, and, marching in a north-westerly direction, formed 
 ne of battle at the front. Frequent changes of position hav- 
 iig been made to check-mate the advances of the enemy, the 
 egiment finally became hotly engaged near what was known 
 s the White House. Near the White House, the position of 
 he 2d Iowa was as follows : it was stationed on high ground, 
 md in the edge of timber. In its front, the country was open, 
 iffording almost an unobstructed view for a mile or more to 
 he left and front. The regiment was assaulted in this position 
 )y the enemy in force, who, by a charge, endeavored to break 
 ;he Federal line; but they were repulsed. They did not 
 renew the charge, but returning to within musket-range, and 
 covering themselves as much as possible . behind stumps and 
 3ld logs, opened on the Federal lines with their rifles. The 
 aghting continued in front of the 2d Iowa for nearly an hour, 
 but with no advantage to the enemy; for, whenever they 
 advanced so as to expose themselves, they were driven to cover 
 by the sharp and accurate fire of the regiment. 
 
 But now heavy columns of rebel re-inforcements were seen 
 approaching in the distance, and for the regiment to remain 
 where it was, and allow the enemy in its immediate front to 
 hold their position till their re-inforcements arrived, would 
 result in certain defeat. Colonel Baker was sitting upon his 
 horse, watching the movements of the enemy, and contempla- 
 ting the course to be pursued, when Lieutenant, now Major 
 Hamill stepping to his side, said, "Colonel, let us charge the 
 enemy." The suggestion was adopted and a charge ordered, 
 which resulted successfully ; but just as the enemy were being 
 routed. Colonel Baker fell from his horse, mortally wounded. 
 
62 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 As he fell, he said, " Thank God, I fell while my regiment 
 was victoriously charging! " He was borne from the field on a 
 litter, and placed in hospital at Corinth, where he lay for three 
 days and nights, breathing regrets for his sad fate. " Poor 
 Charlie, (his wife) if it were not for you, I could die more wil- 
 lingly." He was never a father, and doted on his wife with 
 the fondest affection. 
 
 From the first, there was no hope of saving his life, and he 
 was drugged to kill his intense pain. He lingered till the 
 morning of the seventh of October, when he died. Of the 
 Iowa colonels, he was the first that had fallen in battle, and the 
 second that had fallen in the service of the country. Colonel 
 Worthington, of the 5th Iowa Infantry, had been shot during 
 the siege of Corinth by a frightened sentinel. 
 
 When Colonel Baker fell, Lieutenant-Colonel Mills assumed 
 command of the 2d Iowa, and soon after was ordered to fall 
 back in the direction of Corinth, and take position in the vicin- 
 ity of the Federal battery, Robinette, where the regiment 
 remained during the following night. In the next day's 
 engagement. Colonel Mills received a wound which terminated 
 fatally, five days after the death of Colonel Baker. 
 
 In the two day's engagement at Corinth, the loss of the 2d 
 Iowa was severe — especially in officers. When it marched out 
 to the front on the morning of the 3d, there were, in officers 
 and enlisted men, an aggregate of three hundred and forty-six. 
 In the first day's battle, it lost three officers killed, and two 
 wounded ; and in the second, one killed, and five wounded. 
 The entire loss of the regiment, in killed, wounded and mis- 
 sing, was one hundred and eight. Thirteen enlisted men were 
 killed. The officers killed dead, were Lieutenants Huntington, 
 Snowden, Bing, and George W. Neal. 
 
 The following is from Major Weaver's official report : 
 
 " Among those who distinguished themselves was Adjutant 
 
JAMES BAKEE. 63 
 
 George L. Godfrey, who could alwa5^s be seen and heard 
 charging along the line upon his horse, shouting to the men to 
 be cool and steady. He is one of the most valuable young 
 officers with whom I have ever met. Captains Cowles, 
 McCulloch, Mastic, Howard, Ensign and Davis were marked 
 instances of bravery and efficiency upon the field, and reflected 
 great credit upon themselves and their commands. Cap- 
 tain Holmes, on account of a wound received in the battle 
 at Fort Donelson, was unable to take command of his company 
 during the engagement. 
 
 " Conspicuous for bravery, were Lieutenants Parker, Duffield, 
 Marsh, Wilson, Tisdale, Suiter, Hamill, Hall, Blake, Duck- 
 worth, Ballinger, Twombly and McCoid. After Lieutenants 
 Parker and Twombly of company F, were wounded. Sergeant 
 James Ferry took charge of the company, and displayed 
 marked efficiency and courage. Likewise after the fall of 
 Lieutenants Huntington and Suiter, of company B, Sergeant 
 Lewis, (acting lieutenant) took charge of the company, and 
 rendered most satisfactory service. Too much credit can not be 
 bestowed upon our excellent First Assistant Surgeon Elliott 
 Pyle, then in charge of the Medical Department of the regi- 
 ment. He was most indeMigable in his attention to the 
 wounded. Nor upon our Quarter-Master Sergeant John 
 Lynde, who was ever present upon the field to supply the 
 wants of the men. Sergeant-Major Campbell distinguished 
 himself throughout the battle for coolness and bravery. Color- 
 Sergeant Harry Doolittle, whilst sui)porting the colors, was 
 again wounded, and Color-Corporals Henry A. Seiberlich, G. 
 C. Phillips, G. B. Norris, I. C. Urie and John H. Stewart 
 were all wounded, wiiilst supporting the old flag." 
 
 Captain Ensign distinguished himself by capturing a bat- 
 tle-flag, and in the charge upon the battery, was the first to 
 reach it, and turn the guns upon the enemy. 
 
 Colonel Baker was a man of middle size, and had a stocky 
 and vigorous form. He had a dark, or olive complexion, black 
 hair, and dark, lustroas eyes. In personal appearance he was 
 extremely prepossessing. With his friends he was extremely 
 sociable; but he had little to say to strangers. During the last 
 months of his service, he became somewhat convivial in his 
 
64 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 habits, which was doubtless occasioned by his inactive camp- 
 life at Corinth. 
 
 Tlie Colonel had great independence of character, and never 
 fawned nor flattered. He never asked favors ; but, for prefer- 
 ment, relied solely on his merit and ability. He had fine legal 
 talent, and there were few lawyers in Southern Iowa who 
 were his superiors. But he had one peculiarity— a weak- 
 ness, if it may be so termed, attributed by his friends to 
 his native modesty, which he could never overcome— he 
 never attempted to address a jury or a public assembly without 
 at first showing signs of fear. It could be seen in his pale face, 
 his compressed lips, and in the nervous tremor of his hand. 
 This is the more remarkable since he was a fine public speaker, 
 and never spoke with hesitancy. 
 
 The Colonel was a fine officer: indeed, the State has fur- 
 nished few better. His remains now lie buried on his former 
 happy homestead in Bloomfield, and a fine monument, erected 
 by his wife, marks the spot of his burial. 
 
COLONEL NOAH AVEBSTER MILLS. 
 
 FOUETH COLONEL, SECOND EEGIMEST. 
 
 The memories of the noble dead, who have fallen in battle, 
 ve shall ever cherish ; and the names of those who distinguished 
 hemselves most, we shall, regardless of their rank, hold in the 
 Ughest honor. Though Noah W. Mills, at the time of his 
 leath hold only the rank of a colonel, yet, I believe, we have 
 rarely sustained a greater loss in the death of a general officer. 
 The subject of this memoir was a native of Indiana, .and was 
 horn in Montgomery county of that State, on the 21st day of 
 .June 1834. In his early history there is little of special intc.rest. 
 His 'education, which was liberal, he received at Wabash 
 Collc^e, Indiana. He had to defray his own educational 
 expenses, and, for that purpose, p.a.ssed much of his time in a 
 printin-house. In college he was noted simply for his honesty, 
 morality and industry. Natumlly modest, he did not seek 
 that distinction in his class to which his talents entitled him 
 For several months after leaving college, he was employed with 
 an engineering corps, but subsequently became an employee of 
 the Adams Express Company, in whose service he remained 
 one vear While in the service of this company, he began the 
 stud'y of law, the profession for which he had always man.- 
 rested a preference; and, as an example of his industry, .t 
 may be stated that his leisure moments, while p.assing to and 
 fro over the road, were devoted to the study of his chosen pro- 
 fession. He was admitted to the bar in 18-56, and in the fall of 
 the same year removed to Des Moines, where, renouncmg for 
 the time his legal pursuits, he engaged in the book and printmg 
 business, with his brother, F. M. Mills, Esq., under the firm 
 
66 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 name of Mills & Co. ; and the zeal and skill which he carried 
 with him into the business were, I am informed, important 
 elements in the success of this enterprising house. 
 
 Colonel Mills was one of the first in Polk county to enter the 
 War of the Rebellion. His keen sense of honor and love of 
 justice, his horror of anarchy and hatred of the institutions 
 which were threatening to produce it, were the chief induce- 
 ments for his entering the army ; for he was naturally of a 
 retiring disposition, and hated contention. He entered the 
 service as a lieutenant in Captain, now General Crocker's com- 
 pany, which, being too late in its organization for the three- 
 months service, was assigned to the 2d Iowa Infantry. At its 
 rendezvous in Keokuk, Captain Crocker was elected major of 
 the regiment, and Lieutenant Mills was promoted to the cap- 
 taincy of his company. He held this rank till the 22d of June, 
 1862, when he was made major. Two days later he was com- 
 missioned lieutenant-colonel ; and on the 8th of October follow- 
 ing, the day after the death of Colonel Baker, he was promoted 
 to the colonelcy of the 2d Iowa Infantry. He entered upon his 
 military career with the lowest rank of a commissioned officer, 
 and, in seventeen months time, attained, by gallant and 
 meritorious conduct, the highest rank within the gift of the 
 State Executive. But he was entitled to even greater distinc- 
 tion ; for, after his death, General Rosecrans said: " He was a 
 gallant officer, and richly merited promotion to the rank of a 
 brigadier." 
 
 To give his military history in detail is needless ; for it is to 
 he found in the history of his gallant regiment. He served 
 with his regiment in all its campaigns, and fought with it in 
 all its battles ; and the force of every blow which it dealt the 
 rebellion was augmented by his gallantry and prowess. That 
 his merit as an officer was not of the common sort may be seen 
 from the two following incidents; the first occurring on the 
 
NOAH W. MILLS. ^"^ 
 
 Lghts Of Fort Donelson, and the second on the battle-field 
 
 fShiloh: 
 
 At Fort Donelson, after the bights had been gained, and 
 he works of the enemy captured, the left wing of the 2d (the 
 ,.ht wing had not yet come up) had started, in their enthu- 
 ilsm, in pursuit of the enemy, to the ravine below, when they 
 vere halted by Colonel Tuttle and ordered to re-form, so as to 
 ^eet the assault of a Tennessee regiment moving against them 
 m the right. The order was no sooner given than the company 
 of Captain Mills, quitting the pursuit, instantly rallied in a 
 circle around him ; reminding one, as General Tuttle expressed 
 it " of a brood of chickens huddling around their mother, on 
 the approach of danger." No more striking instance of the 
 confidence reposed in him by his men could be given. 
 
 He was equally fortunate in securing the confidence of his 
 superior ofiicers. At about four o'clock on the afternoon of the 
 first day's fight at Shiloh, that portion of the line formed by 
 General Tuttle's Brigade was being held successfully: every 
 thinWn the immediate vicinity looked as though the advance 
 of the enemy had been checked, though the heavy firing at the 
 left and right rear indicated otherwise. Just at this juncture. 
 Captain Mills, who held the right of his regiment, and the 
 ri<.ht of the brigade, sent a sergeant to General Tuttle with 
 word that the enemy were passing his flank on the right, and 
 that the command was in imminent danger. " Did Captam 
 Mills send you to me?" inquired General Tuttle. ''Yes.'' 
 u Well then, there must be something wrong, and I will report 
 it to General AVallace." 
 
 The facts are now well known. On a reconnolsance be.ng 
 made, the statements of Captain Mills were fomul to be cor- 
 rect- but only in time to save two regiments of the brigade 
 from capture. After the danger was passed. General Tuttle 
 remarked: " Had any one but Captain Mills reported that fact 
 
68 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIINIENTS. 
 
 to me I should have taken no notice of it ;" and thus he saved 
 the 2d and 7th Iowa regiments from capture at Shiloh. *' He 
 was the coolest man in battle I ever saw; (I again use the 
 language of General Tuttle) and his watchfulness and valor 
 were worth a regiment." 
 
 Colonel Mills' last engagement was that of Corinth, October 
 8d and 4th, 1862. On the afternoon of the first day's fight, the 
 gallant Colonel Baker was mortally wounded; and the com- 
 mand of the regiment devolved on Lieutenant-Colonel Mills. 
 He himself was struck in the foot by a spent ball, and his horse 
 killed under him, in the same charge in which Colonel Baker 
 fell ; but fortunately he was not disabled. 
 
 The morning of the 4th of October dawned with but little 
 hope for the Union army at Corinth. Our lines on every hand 
 had been forced back, and on the north, west and south sides 
 of the city, the enemy had possessed themselves of the outer 
 defences ; and the contest, which would decide the final issue, 
 could be of but short duration. Soon after day-light, the enemy 
 resumed their advance, and a few moments later the battle was 
 raging in every quarter. On the north side, Battery Kobinette 
 was repeatedly charged; but the enemy were each time 
 repulsed with dreadful slaughter. Despairing of success at 
 that point, they massed their forces on the south side, and, with 
 an appalling yell and at double-quick, came dashing into the 
 town, many of them even reaching the Tishamingo House. 
 At this critical moment, when victory was almost perching on 
 the banner of the enemy, three Iowa regiments sprang to the 
 rescue, and, with an answering yell of defiance, charged the 
 rebel legions and drove them back in utter confusion. To 
 the 2d, 7th, and 17th Iowa regiments belong the credit of 
 meeting and repelling the final assault of the enemy at Corinth. 
 The last desperate charge of the enemy on Battery Robinette 
 had been made just before. 
 
NOAH W. MILLS. 69 
 
 In this final charge, Lieutenan1>Colonel Mills was conspicu- 
 ous. Springing to the front of his regiment, he snatched its 
 tattered battle-flag from the color-guard, and, in the very face 
 of the foe, cheered on his men to the onset. It was in this 
 charge, and after the enemy had been routed, that he wa.s 
 wounded. He was shot in the foot with a musket-ball, which 
 entered at the big-toe joint and lodged in the heel. A week 
 after he was wounded he was attacked with lock-jaw, from 
 which he could receive no relief; and he died at sun-down, on 
 Sunday evening, the 12th of October, 1862. He retained his 
 consciousness to the last. He knew he must die, and wrote : 
 (he could not speak) " I am not alarmed, if the danger is great. 
 If this is to be fatal, it is my time, and God is wise and just: 
 I am not afraid to die." And he added: "In the army I 
 have tried conscientiously and prayerfully to do my duty ; and, 
 if I am to die in my youth, I prefer to die as a soldier of my 
 country. To do so as a member of the 2d Iowa is glory enough 
 for me." 
 
 To leave his beloved wife and his two dear little children, 
 was his greatest cross ; and many kind and touching messages 
 he left them. The grief of that noble woman but few can 
 understand ; for, in the engagement at Corinth, she sacrificed 
 her all. Her father, General Hackelman, of Indiana, was 
 killed in the first day's battle. Colonel Mills' farewell to his 
 parents was: "Your teachings have done me good through 
 all my life, and I honor and thank you for them." But he 
 had a Christian burial in a Christian land, which in a degree 
 assuaged the grief of his friends ; and John A. Kasson, his 
 warm friend, and one of Iowa's most eloquent and distin- 
 guished sons, pronounced his eulogy. 
 
 Immediately after learning of the death of Colonel Baker, 
 Governor Kirkwood promoted Lieutenant-Colonel Mills to the 
 colonelcy of the 2d Iowa Infantry ; and, though he did not live 
 
70 IOWA COIiONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 to receive his commission, he died a full colonel of that noble 
 regiment. 
 
 The names of Colonels Baker and Mills are immortal — at least 
 in the annals of Iowa. In life their regiment learned their 
 worth, and in death it mourned their loss : 
 
 ^^Hesolved, That in view of the gallant conduct of these brave 
 men, we, the officers and men of the 2d Iowa Infantry, join in 
 paying fitting honor to their memory. 
 
 Resolved^ That, at Donelson, Shiloli and Corinth, they dis- 
 played that coolness and bravery, which will secure for them a 
 place upon the brightest page of our history ; while posterity 
 will gratefully remember and emulate them, as among the 
 most worthy martyrs in the cause of their country." 
 
 Colonel Mills was tall and erect in person, and, in health, 
 had the appearance of being rather portly. He had light-gray 
 eyes, a fair, florid complexion, and light-brown hair. His 
 voice was clear and kind: his manners frank and unas- 
 suming. He had good literary taste ; was a good writer and a 
 fine scholar. In civil life he was quiet, urbane and industrious ; 
 and, though young, was a prominent, useful and influential 
 citizen. Though few predicted for him great success as a 
 military man, yet, his friends and those who knew him best, 
 were not surprised at his brilliant military career. He was 
 taught from childhood to hate Slavery. From the first he 
 saw it was the cause of the war, and he believed there could 
 be no peace till it was utterly destroyed. Soon after entering 
 the field he wrote to his friends: " I never fail to pray that this 
 rebellion may be the beginning of the end of Slavery." With 
 him the maintenance of Liberty and Justice were paramount. 
 To this end he gave his life a willing sacrifice ; and his friends 
 can rejoice that it was not given in vain. 
 
COLONEL JAMES BAIRD WEAVER. 
 
 FIFTH COLONEL, SEOOSD INFANTBY. 
 
 j,„Fs B. WBAVEB was the fifth colonel of the 2cl Iowa 
 infantry. He is a native of the city of Dayton, Ohio, where 
 TIL. on the mh of June, IS33, and a son of « 
 weaver, Esq., formerly a county officer and politican of Dav^^ 
 county. He accompanied his father's i;.mily from Olno to 
 Michigan, and thence to Iowa, where hearrived in 1843. In the 
 year following, he settled in Davis county, where be has surce 
 
 resided. . , v, „o 
 
 colonel Weaver's early education was limited-only such as 
 the West, at that early day, afforded. At the age of nineteen, 
 he began the study of law, which he pursued for two years m 
 Bloomfleld, and then, with the late lamented Colonel James 
 Baker, entered the Cincinnati Law School. Leaving that 
 university in the spring of 18.56, he returned to Iowa; and 
 from that date until the commencement of the war, practiced 
 his profession in Bloomfleld, Davis county. Soon after estab- 
 lishing himself in p.-actice, he was married to Miss Clara 
 Vinson, a lady of intelligence and worth. 
 
 Colonel Weaver entered the service, as first lieutenant of 
 Company G, 2d Iowa Infantry, and with that rank fought at 
 the battles of Fort Donelson and Shiloh. He was made major 
 of his regiment, rice N. W. Mills promoted to lieutenant-col- 
 onel, and, after the death of Colonels Baker and Mills, was 
 promoted to the colonelcy. His commission as major was 
 received the day before the first day's fight at Corinth, and that 
 of colonel, in the latter part of the same month. 
 It we except the part taken by the 2d Iowa Infantry m the 
 
72 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 early part of General Sherman's campaign against Atlanta, 
 the history of the regiment, while under the command of 
 Colonel Weaver, has in it little of general interest. From the 
 fall of 1862 to the fall of 1863, it was stationed on garrison-duty 
 at and near Corinth, Mississippi ; and, if we except the few 
 expeditions in which it took part during this time, the routine 
 of its camp-life was only occasionally broken by droll camp- 
 scenes and incidents. 
 
 In garrison-duty, the day begins something as follows:— 
 awakened in the morning by the braying of mules, the impu- 
 dent clatter of drums, and the shrill whistle of fifes, the 
 soldiers hurry on their clothes and assemble on the company 
 parade grounds for "roll-call." But there is always some 
 delinquent: some lazy fellow throws back his blanket and, 
 sitting upright, rubs his eyes and yawns lustily. He begins to 
 wonder if he will have to "police" to-day, or stand picket, 
 or — what he will have to do, when the command " fall in " is 
 sounded, and instantly the trumpet-voice of the orderly begins 
 calling, "Buckmaster;" "Bunner;" " Brown j" "Brooks;"— 
 he hurries on his pants and out into line, but only in time 
 to find his name passed, and himself checked as absent from 
 "roll-call." The day begins badly; for the thing he most 
 dreaded is now upon him — he is the first on the list of those 
 detailed for "policing," and he curses his ill luck. 
 
 Next follows the morning ablutions and toilet, and then 
 breakfast. The 2d Iowa at Corinth were gentlemen ; for, in 
 those days, they had black men for their cooks, their " hewers 
 of wood and drawers of water." The soldiers chatted and 
 laughed, while their servants fried the bacon, and made the 
 coffee. "Guard-mounting," "company-drill," "dinner-call," 
 and "retreat," followed each other, until finally "tattoo" 
 closed the day. Generally, the history of one day was repeated 
 in that following. 
 
JAMES B. WEAVER. 73 
 
 Of all the troops sent out from Iowa, there has been no regi- 
 ment, where the enlisted men have maintained so much inde- 
 pendence in their relations with their officers, as have those of 
 the 2d Iowa,— none, where the members would endure less of 
 sti/le in their field- and line-officers. In every other respect, the 
 discipline of the regiment was most commendable. In the 
 summer of 18G3, while the 2d Iowa was stationed with its brig- 
 ade at Corinth, General T. W. Sweeney, (afterwards dismissed 
 in disgrace from the service for threatening to shoot General 
 Dodge, and a surgeon) issued an order, embracing the follow- 
 ing points: — 1st. There must be no familiarity between enlist- 
 ed men and their officers. 2d. If any enlisted man have any 
 business with the commanding officer of his company, he must 
 transact it through the orderly-sergeant. The orderly-ser- 
 geant, on entering his officer's tent, must remove his hat, and 
 taking the position of a soldier, make known his business. He 
 nmst never seat himself, or talk about other matters than those 
 relating to the business in question ; and, that being atten- 
 ded to, he must leave promptly, and with the proper salute. 
 Violations of the order were to be reported by company-officers, 
 and all offenders severely punished. 
 
 This was a new article in the regiment's code of discipline, 
 to which it would not yield submission. But Colonel Weaver, 
 always anxious to comply with orders, added one of his own ; 
 and, with a rhetorical flourish, held his company-officei-s 
 responsible for all infringements of the former. Both were 
 read to his regiment on dress-parade, and were greeted with 
 three groans. One stormy night not long after, when the colo- 
 nel was in bed, a shot was fired through his quarters, the ball 
 passing within four or five inches of his person. For some 
 reason or other, no more was said about the obnoxious order, 
 and the men visited the tents of their company-officers as 
 usual. 
 
74 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 After Vicksburg had fallen, and Port Hudson, and the Mis- 
 sissippi had been opened from its mouth to its sources, there 
 was little need for the magnificent army of General Grant, in 
 its old field of operations. On the west side of the Mississippi, 
 the power of the Confederacy was inconsiderable: its chieJ 
 strength lay on the east side of the river. Rosecrans success- 
 fully engaged Bragg at Murfreesboro, and forced him back 
 across the tail of the Cumberland INIountains, to and beyond 
 Chattanooga. Then, himself defeated, he was beaten back tc 
 Chattanooga, and there beseiged. After the fall of Vicksburg, 
 therefore, Chattanooga became the chief point of interest, in 
 military operations in the South West. General Grant's vic- 
 tory at Vicksburg was the consummation of success in thai 
 quarter, and he therefore planned immediate relief for the 
 Army of the Cumberland, at Chattanooga. 
 
 In order to open and protect new lines of communicatior 
 between Nashville and Chattanooga, and to render that one 
 already open more secure, Corinth was to be evacuated, a larg( 
 extent of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad abandoned 
 and General Dodge's command ordered across the country t( 
 the Nashville and Decatur Railroad. Hence it was that the 
 2d Iowa, with its brigade and division, was transferred fron 
 Corinth to the line of the above named road. General Dodge's 
 command left Corinth and crossed the Tennessee, at Eastport 
 with the rear of General Sherman's Corps, then on its way t( 
 Chattanooga. 
 
 The 2d Iowa marched directly to Pulaski, Tennessee, where 
 were established the head-quarters of the regiment. Pulask 
 was also General Dodge's head-quarters. Colonel Weaver wsu 
 made commandant of the post, and held the position during 
 the following winter, and until just before the expiration of hii 
 term of service. The services of the 2d Iowa were, in th( 
 meantime, the same as those of other troops, stationed on rail 
 
JAMES B. WEAVER. 75 
 
 road guard-duty. The regiment however, marched on no 
 expeditions, and was, at no time, attacked by the enemy. It 
 was at Pulaski that the 2d re-enlisted, and from that point 
 left for Iowa on veteran-furlough. 
 
 Soon after its return from Iowa, the 2d Iowa, with the bal- 
 ance of Dodge's command, took the field. Leaving the non- 
 veterans at Pulaski, the regiment, in the latter part of March, 
 1864, marched to the front, by way of Elkton, Huntsville 
 and Bridgeport. It had been so long stationed in camp that 
 the news of its assignment to the front was hailed with much 
 satisfaction, and demonstrations of joy, along the line of march, 
 such as song-singing and the like, were frequent. The Elk 
 river was to be crossed at Elkton, and there was no bridge and 
 no boats; but that was no obstacle; for the regiment, and 
 indeed the whole brigade, stripping off all but their shirts, 
 waded the stream, amid shouting and laughter. There are 
 always some wags in every regiment, and at such times as 
 these, they crack their jokes and make much sport. 
 
 On arriving at Huntsville, General Sweeney's Division, (the 
 2d) to which was attached the 2d Iowa, was joined by that of 
 General Veatch. These troops constituted General G. M. 
 Dodge's command — the celebrated left wing of the 16th Army 
 Corps. They proceeded from Huntsville to Chattanooga, and 
 from Chattanooga, over the battle-gromid of Chickamauga, on 
 to Dalton. 
 
 At Dalton, General Johnson was strongly intrenched, with 
 the finest rebel army ever mustered in the South West ; and so 
 confident was he of his strength that he had boasted he would 
 march on Chattanooga, and, having driven the Federal forces 
 from that place, would move on and capture Nashville. But 
 Dalton was to fall with but little bloodshed. General McPher- 
 son, moving through Snake Creek Gap, gained Johnson's left 
 flank, and compelled him to evacuate his strong works and fall 
 
76 
 
 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 back to Resaca. In this flank movement, the first in Gener 
 Sherman's " flanking campaign," the 2d Iowa took part. Soc 
 after. Colonel Weaver was mustered out of the service, an 
 returned to his home in Bloomfield. His three year's ten 
 expired on the 2Sth of May, 1864. From that time to tl 
 present, the 2d Iowa Infantry has been commanded by CoI( 
 nel Noel B. Howard. 
 
 Colonel Weaver is one of the handsomest of the Iowa colonels 
 He has a symmetrical, well-developed person, which, with hi 
 dignified address, intelligent countenance, and dark-blue eyes 
 makes him interesting and pleasing. He is too small for ; 
 great man, and yet, with his dignity and self-assurance, h( 
 impresses a stranger favorably. 
 
 Intellectually, he is rather brilliant; I am told he is a grace 
 ful and interesting public speaker. His worst fimlt is ai 
 affectation in delivery. 
 
 He has some vanity, and was proud of his position as colonel 
 of the 2d Iowa. For instance : just after being commissioned a 
 lieutenant, it is said he returned to Bloomfield and attended 
 church in full uniform, sporting the whole regulation outfit. 
 "From his walk," said an ofiicer of his regiment, "you could 
 tell that he was colonel of the 2d Iowa." 
 
 He was a good and brave officer, and there are few who were 
 as cool as he in battle. At Shiloh, while the 2d and 7th Iowa 
 were running that terrible gauntlet, on the afternoon of the 
 first day's fight. Captain Moore, of company G, was shot 
 through both legs and disabled. Lieutenant W^eaver stopped, 
 picked him up, and bore him from the field. Under the circum- 
 stances, not one man in five thousand would have imitated his 
 example. He is a member of the Methodist Church, and is 
 one of the few officers who abstained from the use of liquor in 
 the service. 
 
COLONEL NOEL B. HOWARD. 
 
 SIXTH COLONEL, SECOND INFANTRY. 
 
 Noel B. Howard is one of the youngest officers of his ranlc 
 in the service, and one of the best. He was born in the State 
 of Vermont, in the year 1838 ; and was educated, I think, at 
 tlie Norwich INIilitary University of tlie same State. Just before 
 the outbrealv of the war, he was teaching a military scliool in 
 one of the soutliern Atlantic States. Coming Nortli, he was 
 stopping in Lyons, C-linton county, Iowa, at the time Captain 
 Hugh P. Cox's company of the 2d Iowa was being recruited. 
 He enlisted in that company, and on its organization was elec- 
 ted first lieutenant. With that rank he entered the service. 
 After the battle of Fort Donelson, he was promoted to the 
 captaincy of his company, (I) and, on the 13th of October fol- 
 lowing, was made major of his regiment. He served with 
 the rank of major till the spring of 1864, when he was made 
 lieutenant-colonel, vice Lieutenant-Colonel Henry R. Cowles, 
 resigned. 
 
 Colonel Weaver left his regiment at Resaca: since that time 
 it has been connnanded chiefly by Colonel Howard. In the 
 terrible battle of the 22d of July, before Atlanta, he was 
 wounded, which left the regiment for several weeks in com- 
 mand of Major M. G. Ilamill. After the fall of Atlanta, the 
 3d Iowa Infantry was consolidated with the 2d. This, with 
 tlie recruits and drafted men assigned to it, increasing its num- 
 bers to above the minimum of a regimental organization, 
 entitled the 2d Iowa to a Colonel. Lieutenant-Colonel How- 
 ard was accordingly promoted to that rank ; and no officer in 
 the Federal army more richly merited the position. 
 
 77 
 
78 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 The opening and closing days of the war were the most 
 eventful to the 2d Iowa. It gained pre-eminent distinction at 
 Fort Donelson, and closed its brilliant record, (for the war is 
 virtually over) in the campaigns from Dalton to Atlanta, from 
 Atlanta to Savannah, and from Savannah to Raleigh. 
 
 After leaving Resaca, Georgia, the operations of the 2d Iowa, 
 up to the time of the capture of Atlanta, were briefly as fol- 
 lows : — On the 14th day of May, it marched with its brigade to 
 Calhoun Ford, on the Oostanaula river, and assisted in foi'cing 
 a crossing of that stream. It was the first regiment sent across, 
 after which, having deployed as skirmishers, it held the enemy 
 in check till the other troojis were over. The Oostanaula was 
 crossed on the morning of the 15th instant, and in the after- 
 noon of the day following, the march was directed toward 
 Home. At Rome Cross Roads, the 2d Iowa engaged the enemy 
 as skirmishers, and held the left of its division. Defeated at 
 this point, the enemy fell back to Kingston, and beyond. The 
 2d Iowa, with its brigade and division, followed, and reached 
 that place in the afternoon of the 19th of May. From King- 
 ston, the regiment marched to Dallas, where it was engaged ; 
 from Dallas to Acworth Station, and thence to Big Shanty, 
 near Kenesaw Mountain, where it arrived on the 10th of June. 
 At Big Shanty, it was detached for a time from its brigade, 
 and assigned to provost- and fatigue-duty ; but it joined it again 
 near Lost Mountain on the 3d of July, and the same day assis- 
 ted in throwing up fortifications on Nick-a-jack creek. 
 
 From the 3d of July, until the arrival of McPherson before 
 Atlanta, the movements of the 2d Iowa were the same as those 
 of the other troops of its corps. Marching up past Marietta, 
 it crossed the Chattahoochie at Roswell, and then followed out 
 through Decatur to the east side of Atlanta. In approaching 
 Atlanta, on the 20th instant, the regiment was deployed as 
 skirmishers, and occupied a position between its own corps 
 
NOEL, B. HOWARD. 79 
 
 nd the 23d. That day, it was engaged but slightly ; but, on 
 16 22d instant, it took an active part in repelling the desperate 
 ssaults of the enemy on the Army of the Tennessee. For the 
 art taken by the 2d Iowa in that day's fighting, I refer to the 
 eport of Major Hamill. 
 " The regiment, with its brigade, was marched from position 
 n the line between the 15th and 23d Corps, on the morning of 
 he 22d, to position on the extreme left, to meet a rapid 
 dvance of the enemy on the left flank of the 17th Corps. We 
 ook position on the left flank of the brigade, the 7th Iowa on 
 ur right, on a ridge running almost at right angles with the 
 ine of the 17th Corps, and in an open field. Company G, 
 mder command of Captain Duckworth, was deployed as skir- 
 nishers; but had advanced only a short distance, when the 
 inemy was discovered in the edge of the woods, advancing in 
 brce directly in our front. Our skirmishers being hard pressed 
 etired to the left to avoid exposure, and until the regimental- 
 ront was uncovered, when the regiment opened a well-directed 
 ire on the enemy's advancing column, checking him, and 
 throwing him into confusion. After fruitless efforts to rally 
 lis men under our fire, he was driven from the field, leaving 
 lead, wounded, and arms in our hands." ******* 
 
 "About the close of the engagement, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 [ST. B. Howard was severely wounded, and compelled to leave 
 :he field, leaving the regiment in my command. Captain 
 Gfeorge Heaton, and three sergeants were severely wounded; 
 3ne corporal mortally, and four privates, slightly. The cap- 
 tures were twenty prisoners, one huntlred and sixty-seven 
 stand of arms, and one stand of colors. 
 
 "Were I to make special mention of the officers and men 
 who did their duty ivell, and who deserve promotion, I should 
 have to mention every member of the regiment ; for each officer 
 and soldier deported himself as if the safety of the army and 
 the success of our cause depended on his individual efforts. No 
 soldiers ever discharged their duties better — none were ever 
 more deserving of the lasting gratitude of the country." 
 
 The day following this terrible engagement, the 2d Iowa took 
 up a position on the extreme left of the army, which it held till 
 the morning of the 27th; and then, with its corps, swung round 
 
HO IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 to the west side of Atlanta. Throwing up earth-works, the 
 regiment remained in this position till the 8th of August follow- 
 ing, when it was ordered to take up an advanced position. 
 
 But the movement in which the regiment most distinguished 
 itself, during the campaign, was that which resulted in the 
 evacuation of Atlanta. Captain John A. Duckworth, a most 
 excellent officer, who afterwards died as Sherman was approach- 
 ing Savannah, gives the following account of the part taken by 
 his regiment in the first part of this brilliant movement. After 
 stating that on the 29th of August, the 2d Io\\'a had assisted in 
 destroying the West Point railroad, he goes on to say : 
 
 "On the morning of the 30th, in company with the 7th Iowa 
 Infantry, the regiment was ordered to support the cavalry 
 under General Kilpatrick, when the advance on Jonesboro was 
 commenced. Taking the main road leading to that point, the 
 command moved out at a brisk step, and under a burning sun, 
 ciirrying, besides arms, ammunition, clothing and rations, a 
 number of intrenching tools. A force of the enemy's cavalry 
 was found at Strithesville Post-Office, six miles north-west of 
 .lonesboro, posted on an eminence in an open field, and pro- 
 tected by a barricade of rails. This position the regiment, sup- 
 ported by the 7th Iowa, was ordered to charge. Two companies, 
 (B and G) under command of Captain Lewis, were deployed as 
 skirmishers. Major M. G. Hamill assumed command of both 
 regiments, and the movement commenced." 
 
 " The line moved cautiously until it arrived at the edge of a 
 corn-field, through which it had to pass, when the charge was 
 ordered. The regiment advanced in the most gallant style, 
 driving the enemy from the crest of the ridge, and taking pos- 
 session of their defenses. In this charge, Major Hamill was 
 wounded, who, it is needless to say, was doing his duty in the 
 coolest and bravest manner. Skirmishers were advanced, and 
 the enemy driven from his second position, in the edge of the 
 woods. Throwing out an additional company as skirmishers, 
 (E) the command again moved forward, under Major IMahon 
 of the 7th Iowa. The enemy was found in his third position 
 near Liberty Hill Church, which was charged, taken and held, 
 by companies B, G and E, and a squadron of cavalry. Here 
 
NOEL B. HOWARD. 81 
 
 five companies of the 7th Iowa took the advance, supported by 
 the remainder of the two regiments united ; but after advancing 
 a mile further, orders came to join the brigade." 
 
 That same day the advance was continued to Flint River, 
 where the 2d Iowa arrived late in the evening, and fortified. 
 The next day, the 31st, the river was crossed, and the enemy 
 went in heavy force ; and from that time until Hood's defeat 
 and flight, the regiment was much of the time under fire. 
 Atlanta was evacuated on the night of the 2d of September, 
 and, with the exception of the brief pursuit which was made 
 to Fayetteville, the campaign was closed. 
 
 In the march from Dalton, and in the battles and skirmishes 
 fought around Atlanta, the loss of the regiment was fifty-five 
 officers and men, killed and wounded. Eight were killed, 
 among whom were Lieutenant T. K. Raush, and Sergeant 
 Cyrus Bartow. Lieutenant V. P. Twombly, regimental adju- 
 tant, was the only officer wounded near Jonesboro. 
 
 The services of the 2d Iowa, subsequently to the fall of 
 Atlanta, are substantially the same as those of the other Iowa 
 troops, who accompanied Sherman on his toi/r, via. Savannah, 
 to Raleigh, and thence to Washington. At the National Capi- 
 tal, it joined in the Grand Review ; and I am told, held the 
 post of honor in the triumphal march of the Army of the Ten- 
 nessee. 
 
 Colonel Howard is a small, pale-faced man, with a weakly 
 voice, and weighing not more than one hundred and fifteen or 
 twenty pounds. A stranger would judge that he had little 
 capacity for physical endurance ; but he is as hardy as a knot. 
 He is quiet, and unpretending in his manners, and quick in his 
 movements. To look at him, one would not judge him to be 
 the man that he is ; though his countenance indicates much 
 energy and intelligence. 
 
 He is a model soldier. From the very first, he was known 
 
82 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 in the 2d Iowa, as "the nicest young man in the regiment." 
 When his regiment left Keokuk, he was its best drilled officer, 
 and, while a line officer, he had the best drilled company. He 
 always did his duty quietly and faithfully ; was always popu- 
 lar and approachable, and never became inflated by flattery or 
 promotion. 
 
COLONEL WILSON G. WILLIAMS. 
 
 FIKST COLONEL, THIRD INFANTRY. 
 
 Colonel W. G. Williams, of the 3d Iowa Infantry, was 
 born in Bainbridge, Chenango county, New York, in the year 
 1823. He is a descendant of one of the earliest settlers of Con- 
 necticut. His father, on the maternal side, was a resident of 
 Danbury , Connecticut, and, at the capture and burning of that 
 place by the British under Governor Tryon, was taken pris- 
 oner. Colonel Williams, while young, removed with his 
 parents to Utica, New York, then a small village, where he 
 passed his youth, and received a good academic education. 
 On attaining his majority, he removed to New York City, 
 and was, for several years, engaged in the importing business. 
 He came West in 1855, and, locating in the city of Dubuque, 
 opened soon after, a mercantile house. After following this 
 business for several years, he sold out his interest to a younger 
 brother, and purchased a form in Dubuque county, on which 
 he has since resided. 
 
 At the outbreak of the war. Colonel Williams was among 
 the first in the State to tender his services to the Government. 
 He was for a long time unsuccessful ; but finally, through his 
 own persistency, and aided by the earnest endeavors of his 
 friends, he was commissioned colonel of the 3d Iowa Infantry. 
 
 He retained this rank until November, 1862, when he 
 resigned his commission and returned to his farm in Dubuque 
 county. 
 
 The 3d Iowa Iniimtry, which ^^'as made up from nearly 
 every part of the State, was rendezvoused in the city of 
 Keokuk, and mustered into the United States service, on the 
 
 83 
 
84 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 10th day of June, 1861. It has the saddest, and, all things 
 considered, the proudest record of all the troops furnished by 
 our patriotic State. Strife for position has been the bane of 
 this war, especially with the Federal army ; and I need not add, 
 what was the first source of discontent with the 3d Iowa Infan- 
 try. This proved a great misfortune to the regiment. Like 
 the 1st, 2d, 4th, 5th and 6th Iowa Infantry regiments, the 3d 
 first served in Northern Missouri. It went to the front under 
 Captain R. G. Herron, a brother of Major-General Herron ; 
 for Colonel Williams was left behind, not yet having received 
 his commission. The regiment arrived at the pretty, and 
 just before that time, flourishing city of Hannibal, in the last 
 of June, and two days later, left on the Hannibal and St. 
 Joseph Railroad, which it was to assist in guarding. 
 
 It entered the field under many disadvantages. It not only 
 had no commanding officer above a captain, (for neither Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Scott nor Major Stone had yet received their 
 commissions) but it was without transportation and equip- 
 ments. It was armed with the Springfield musket of the pat- 
 tern of "1848," but had no cartridge-boxes, belts or bayonet- 
 scabbards. When it went on board the train for the West, on 
 the morning of the 1st of July, 1861, it did not have even a 
 cartridge — only burnished guns and bayonets ; and its route lay 
 through that section of the State in which the rebel Thomas 
 Harris was organizing his forces. But what was the greatest 
 matter of surprise to the regiment, it was sent ofi" without 
 rations. It was stationed along the road in detachments, in 
 the vicinity of Utica, and that night was the regiment's first 
 night in the field. It was tired and sleepy, and the detach- 
 ment at Utica threw themselves on the wet ground and slept, 
 without even establishing a picket-post. Lieutenant S. D. 
 Thompson, of the 3d Iowa, who has written a history of the 
 regiment, quaintly remarks that they trusted in Pro^'idence. 
 
WILSON G. WILLIAMS. 85 
 
 The history of the 3d Iowa Infantry, while stationed in 
 Northern Missouri, is extremely interesting ; but I can not give 
 it in detail. I shall give only those points which are of chief 
 interest. The regiment first formed line of battle, at the beat 
 of the long-roll, about midnight of the 3d of July, at Utica ; 
 and at Brookfield, early in August, first made the acquaintance 
 of " gray -backs." Its first affair, which approached to anything 
 like a battle, was that of Hager's Woods, in Monroe county, 
 and its last, while stationed in Missouri, that of Blue Mills 
 Landing. This last, though terminating unsuccessfully, was a 
 most gallant affair, and will be given in full hereafter. In the 
 affair of Hager's Woods, the expedition was under Colonel 
 Smith, of the 16th Illinois, and numbered about four hundred 
 and fifty men. Besides detachments from the 3d Iowa and 
 16th Illinois, there was one company of Hannibal home- 
 guards. One Sergeant Fishbeem commanded the artillery, 
 which consisted of a six-pounder swivel. This force moved 
 from Monroe on the line of the railroad, and came on the 
 enemy's scouts in Hager's Woods, who, firing on the Federal 
 advance, wounded three men. Hurrying his artillery to the 
 front, the incorrigible Fishbeem sent the enemy flying in an 
 instant. Night soon came on, and Colonel Smith retired. 
 
 The march from Macon City to Kirksville, comes next in 
 order. The object of this expedition was to intercept and rout 
 the forces of Colonel Martin Green, which were, at that time, 
 reported in camp on Salt River. The line of march from Macon 
 City was taken up at midnight, of the 15th of August. The 
 expedition was accompanied by Fishbeem with his " unfailing 
 six-pounder ; " but how Green with his rebel command, having 
 been routed by Colonel Moore and some Iowa home-guards at 
 Athens, on the Des Moines River, subsequently made good his 
 escape south, is well known. This was the result of a blunder, 
 for which one, who subsequently became distinguished, was 
 
86 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 responsible. It was positively asserted at the time, that, had 
 General Hurlbut used more powder and fewer proclamations, 
 the result would have been different. On this expedition the 
 3d Iowa had one man shot by rebel citizens. 
 
 Before Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, with his detachment of the 
 M Iowa, had returned from Kirksville, Colonel Williams, 
 with the balance of his regiment, left on an expedition to 
 Paris, in company with six companies of the gallant 2d Kan- 
 sas. On arriving at Paris, the enemy was reported in large 
 force near that place — more than three to one. The country 
 in the vicinity was reconnoitered, and a portion of the scouts 
 were captured. Colonel Williams became alarmed, and beat a 
 hasty retreat to Shelbina, the point on the railroad from which 
 he had marched. In his retreat on Shell^ina, Colonel Williams 
 had exercised good judgment; for he had only reached the 
 town, when, on looking to the rear, he saw first, dense clouds 
 of dust, and then the head of a column of cavalry, emerging 
 from the timber. These proved to be the forces of Green, and 
 numbered not less than three thousand. Having formed in 
 line of battle, the enemy sent in a flag of truce ; but to Green's 
 
 demand to surrender. Colonel Williams replied, " go to h ." 
 
 The enemy's artillery was now in position, and they began 
 throwing shells into the town ; it moreover appeared that they 
 were about surrounding the place, to force a surrender. Colo- 
 nel Williams had sent for reinforcements ; but they had failed 
 to come, and now, calling a council of war, it was determined 
 to escape on the railroad, while there was yet opportunity. 
 For his conduct in this affair. Colonel W^illiams was put under 
 arrest by General Hurlbut. In this matter, even the Colonel's 
 enemies thought that General Hurlbut acted unjustly ; for his 
 conduct merited approbation, rather than censure. It was said 
 that the Colonel was drunk at Paris ; but the general, with his 
 own iveaknesses, would hardly have put him under arrest for 
 
WILSON G. WILIilAJMS. 87 
 
 that. After much delay, the papers were lost, and the case 
 never came to trial. That which most annoyed the Colonel's 
 regiment in this matter, (for it had no love for him) was its 
 fears that his arrest would be a reflection on its own conduct ; 
 but in this its apprehensions were needless ; for no one ever 
 questioned the courage of the 3d Iowa Infantry. 
 
 The battle of Blue Mills Landing, on the Missouri River, in 
 which the 3d Iowa, under Lieutenant-Colonel John Scott, so 
 distinguished itself, was fought on the 17th of September, 1861. 
 It terminated unsuccessfully ; but it also discovered, on the 
 part of the 3d Iowa and its gallant commander, a spirit of for- 
 titude and promptness to duty, unsurpassed in the record of 
 any engagement. 
 
 It will be remembered that, at the time General Price was 
 besieging Colonel Mulligan in Lexington, Missouri, in Septem- 
 ber, 1861, Colonels Boyd and Patton, with their rebel com- 
 mands, marched against and captured St. Joseph. At that 
 very time Generals Pope and Sturgis were at or near Macon 
 City, with the ostensible purpose of organizing means for the 
 relief of Mulligan. From the movements which followed, it 
 seems that the aim of these officers was two-fold: to attack 
 Boyd and Patton, and re-capture their long train of plunder, 
 and afterwards to concentrate near Lexington, and raise the 
 siege of that city. In pursuance of these plans was fought the 
 battle of Blue Mills Landing. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott left Macon City, with his regiment, 
 for Cameron, on the 15th of September, 1861. His orders from 
 General Sturgis were, to leave Cameron, march south to Lib- 
 erty, and act against the enemy in co-operation with Colonel 
 Smith of the 16th Illinois ; and here I should state that Colonel 
 Smith was to march south, in the direction of Liberty, from a 
 point on the railroad some twenty-five miles west of Came- 
 ron. These, then, were the forces which were to attack Boyd 
 
88 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and Patton, and either capture, or compel them to destroy 
 their train of plunder. In the meantime, General Sturgis, with 
 about eleven hundred men, marched from Macon City, in 
 nearly a direct course for Lexington. 
 
 Passing through Hainsville and Centreville, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Scott arrived at Liberty, at about eight o'clock in the 
 morning of the 17th instant. Here he expected to find Colonel 
 Smith; but, disappointed in this, he dispatched a courier to 
 him, with the request that he come up with all speed; for he 
 knew that the enemy were in the vicinity, since, on entering 
 Liberty, Lieutenant Call, in command of the van-guard, had 
 driven their pickets through the town and forward to the main 
 body. From eight A. M. until one P. M., the time was passed 
 in the most harrowing suspense. From the citizens the num- 
 bers of the enemy had been learned, and, although their sym- 
 pathies were with the rebel party, yet, from the honesty of 
 their deportment, their statements were doubtless correct. All 
 told, Scott's force was not more than five hundred and fifty, and 
 that of the enemy was not less than three thousand. But why 
 did not Colonel Smith come up? was the ever recurring ques- 
 tion with Lieutenant-Colonel Scott. It was eleven ; he would 
 certainly be up by twelve; but twelve, and even one P. M. 
 passed, and still no signs of his coming. The enemy were 
 probably crossing the Missouri, only four and a half miles dis- 
 tant, and would soon be beyond reach. Lieutenant-Colonel Scott 
 hesitated, for he was to act with Colonel Smith. But just then 
 six distinct artillery reports were heard in the direction of 
 Independence. The citizens, too, said there was fighting on 
 the opposite side of the river. The enemy were being 
 attacked near the crossing, on the opposite side of the river, by 
 forces from Kansas City, was the conclusion of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Scott, and he hesitated no longer. Besides, his regi- 
 ment had not forgotten the afiair at Shelbina, and were earnest 
 
WILSON G. WILLIARLS. 89 
 
 in their demands to be led against the enemy. Such were the 
 considerations influencing Lieutenant-Colonel Scott to fight 
 the battle of Blue Mills Landing. 
 
 It was now nearly two o'clock, and the colonel dispatching 
 another messenger to Colonel Smith, ordered his command to 
 " fall in." Lieutenant Call, with his advance-guard, composed 
 of volunteer mounted Missourians, encountered the enemy's 
 pickets two miles south of Liberty, and was pursuing them 
 rapidly down the road, when he suddenly found himself 
 ambushed. A murderous volley from the enemy emptied five 
 saddles, and four men were killed dead. Their ghastly bodies, 
 lying by the road-side, were soon passed by the infantry troops ; 
 but the sight only nerved them for the pending conflict. 
 Finally, the enemy were encountered in the dense timber 
 bordering the Missouri, and about one mile from the Landing. 
 Their position was in a semi-circular, dry slough, whose arc, 
 near its centre, was crossed by the road leading to the Landing. 
 They were consequently well concealed, and the Federal skir- 
 mishers came on them unexpectedly. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott was still marching by the flank, 
 when his skirmishers, who were only a few yards in advance 
 of the head of the column, discovered the enemy. Not only 
 the skirmishers, therefore, were within range of the enemy's 
 musketry, but nearly the whole column ; for, as I have said, 
 the dry slough, in which the enemy were concealed, swung 
 round on both the right and left flanks. Rising to their feet, 
 the enemy delivered one concentrated fire, and then began to 
 advance, first on the right, and then in the centre and on 
 the left. They looked for instant and total rout; but in 
 this were disappointed. By order of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Scott, his cannon (for he had one piece) was brought for- 
 ward, and discharged twice almost in the teeth of the enemy ; 
 but the gunner and horses were instantly either killed or 
 
90 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 wounded, and the piece rendered useless. In front, the 
 enemy were repulsed and retired to their cover. In the 
 movement against the right, they had also been repulsed ; for, 
 after receiving the first volley, the column had deployed, a 
 part to the right, and a part to the left of the road. For half 
 an hour, the fighting was most desperate ; and, in spite of every 
 effort, the enemy were held in their places of concealment; but 
 now the Federal troops began gradually to give ground. 
 During all this time, Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, with his color- 
 guard, Lakin, had been in the extreme front, cheering the 
 men and watching the conflict. The colonel's orders had been 
 neither to advance nor retire ; for, to advance would result in 
 the capture of his command, and, to retire precipitately, might 
 be equally disastrous. He therefore sat on his horse and 
 watched — a mark for the enemy, and a sign of hope for his 
 men. They gradually yielded their position, and he watched, 
 cheered and followed. The enemy pursued for a time, and 
 then returned to the Landing. 
 
 With the exception of his caisson, Lieutenant-Colonel Scott 
 lost nothing. The gun was dragged from the field by Captain 
 Trumbull and Lieutenant Crosley. Thus closed the battle of 
 Blue Mills Landing. That night Colonel Smith came up, but 
 declined to renew the engagement before morning ; and before 
 that time, the enemy had crossed the river, and were eyi route 
 to join Price before Lexington. 
 
 Of all the battles that have been fought in Missouri, that of 
 Blue Mills Landing ranks second to none in point of gal- 
 lantry. "Major Stone, Captains Warren, Willet and O'Niel, 
 were severely wounded; and also Lieutenants Hobbs, An- 
 derson and Knight. The latter refused to retire from the 
 field, after being three times wounded, and remained with 
 his men till the close of the engagement." "Scott's horse 
 was hit several times, and several balls went through his 
 
WILSON G. WILLIAMS. 91 
 
 clothes. Eight balls went through the flag, in the hands of 
 Lakin, and a ninth one struck the staff." Sergeant Aber- 
 nethy, who commanded the twelve skirmishers, also deserves 
 special mention for his gallantry. 
 
 General R. D. Atchison made the official report of this battle, 
 on the part of the enemy. He was not, of course, present in 
 the engagement, but that makes no difference ; for he would 
 not have told the truth any way. In speaking of the results of 
 the battle he says : 
 
 " The Federal troops almost immediately fled, our men pur- 
 suing rai)idly, shooting them down until they annihilated the 
 rear of their army, taking one caisson, killing about sixty men, 
 and wounding, it is said, about seventy. Our men followed 
 them like hounds in a wolf-chase, strewing the road with dead 
 and wounded, until compelled to give over the chase from 
 exhaustion, the evening being very warm. " 
 
 But no rascal of his pattern, would tell the truth against 
 himself; and he goes on to say : 
 
 " Colonel Saunders, Colonel Patton, Colonel Childs, Colonel 
 Candiff, Colonel Wilfley, Major Grease, Adjutant Shackelford, 
 and all other officers and men, so far as I know, behaved gal- 
 lantly." 
 
 With all these commands, (and why the commanders if not 
 the commands?) the enemy could have had scarcely less than 
 four thousand in this engagement. Indeed, with this number of 
 men, the Federal troops should have been handled as roughly 
 as is declared they were by the rebel historian. Pollard ; for, 
 after asserting that the jay-hawkers numbered five thousand 
 five hundred, and the "loyal Missourians" only five hundred, 
 he goes on to say: — " Charging the jay-hawkers with shouts 
 of almost savage ferocity, and fighting with reckless valor, the 
 Missourians drove the enemy back ten miles, the conflict becom- 
 ing a hand-to-hand fight between detached parties on both 
 sides;" and such history as that has sustained the rebellion. 
 
 The 3d Iowa Infantry remained in Northern Missouri until 
 
92 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 the 18th of October, 1861, when it left for Qiiincj^ Illinois. 
 Here it remained a few weeks, and was then ordered to Benton 
 Barracks, St. Louis. From Benton Barracks, it was sent 
 out on the Northern Missouri Railroad, where it remained 
 till March, 1862, when it sailed for Savannah, on the Ten- 
 nessee River. It took a distinguished part in the battle of 
 Shiloh. 
 
 I have stated that the case of Colonel Williams, with refer- 
 ence to his conduct at Shelbina, never came to trial, the papers 
 having in some way been mislaid or lost. He was therefore 
 released, and restored to command in November, while his 
 regiment was at Benton Barracks. " Immediately on assum- 
 ing command, he arrested a number of officers, his personal 
 enemies, without the knowledge of the commandant of the 
 post. " For some reason, which I do not understand, this, too, 
 was deemed an offense, and he was again put under arrest by 
 General Halleck ; but, on a hearing of the charges in this case 
 at St. Louis, he was acquitted, and again restored to his com- 
 mand. He re-joined his regiment while it was stationed on the 
 Northern Missouri Railroad ; and, on its departure for the front, 
 left in its command. From this time on, till the date of his 
 leaving the service, he was much more popular with his regi- 
 ment. It was claimed that his experiences had worked great 
 improvement in his conduct ; but whatever is said against Col- 
 onel Williams, it must be admitted that, from the first, he was 
 a fine disciplinarian. It was doubtless this, with his naturally 
 overbearing disposition, that made him so unpopular with his 
 regiment. 
 
 But few outside of our State are aware of the important part 
 the Iowa troops acted in the battle of Shiloh. On that bloody, 
 chaotic field, as at Fort Donelson, the chief credit and glory 
 belong to their banners. The disposition and conduct of the 
 troops in this engagement, and the particular part sustained by 
 
WILSON G. WILLIAMS. 93 
 
 tiose from Iowa, are given elsewhere. On the first day's fight, 
 \ey saved Granfs army from capture. 
 
 The 3d Iowa Inftmtry disembarked at Pittsburg Landing, on 
 tie 17th of March, 1862, with the 4th Division, commanded by 
 reneral Steplien Augustus Hurlbut. On the re-organization of 
 hat division by brigades, the regiment was assigned to the 
 ''irst, which was commanded by Colonel Williams, as the rank- 
 ng officer. The brigade was composed of the 28th, 32d and 
 1st Illinois, the 3d Iowa and Burrow's Battery of light 
 rtillery. It was a fine body of troops, and Colonel Williams 
 s^as proud of his command. 
 
 The part taken by the 3d Iowa at the battle of Shiloh, I will 
 sndeavor to give briefly, after first premising that the divisions 
 if Hurlbut and Smith (the latter commanded in the battle by 
 kV. H. L. Wallace) were in camp between the front and the 
 Lianding. The divisions of Prentiss, McClernand and Sherman 
 leld the front, from left to right, respectively. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 6th of April, while eating its 
 )reakfast, the 3d Iowa Infantry was startled by firing at the 
 ront. Similar firing had occurred in the past few days, and it 
 ;reated no alarm. But it soon appeared that the firing now 
 vas not wholly the work of the pickets, for with every instant 
 t continued to increase in volume and rapidity. Couriers, too, 
 ^ere now seen hurrying in every direction ; and soon the call 
 'to arms" was sounded through the camps of both Hurlbut 
 uid Wallace. Leaving its breakfast unfinished, and buckling 
 )n its armor, the 3d Iowa was soon in line and in march to the 
 "ront, under its major ; for its colonel was in command of the 
 brigade, and its lieutenant-colonel sick with typhoid fever, and 
 ibsent. Marching down the road. Major Stone was directed to 
 :he left, and ordered to the support of Prentiss. In front, the 
 battle was now raging with the utmost fury, and from i\iQ 3d 
 [owa's camp-ground to that point the distance was but little 
 
94 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 more than a mile. The regiment moved on at quiek-ste]), but 
 had not proceeded far before encountering the stragglers and 
 the wounded ; and that was the hour when began that babel of 
 confusion which, with the exception of a few hours, reigned 
 supreme throughout that terrible day. To those who have 
 never seen five thousand men frightened in battle, and fleeing 
 from a victorious enemy, no idea can be gained, by words, of 
 the wildness of the scene, I care not how glaring the picture, 
 nor how accurate the language. With the unsuccessful party, 
 not only the human, but even the brute creation become over- 
 whelmed and crazed with terror. With the Union Army, this 
 hour was just dawning on the Shiloh battle-field. 
 
 But the 3d Iowa moved on, paying little heed to the tales of 
 of these frightened, disorganized men, and arrived safely at 
 the front. The regiment had sought the front for glory, and it 
 was resolved now to win it. Its position was at first in an old 
 cotton-field; but this was soon abandoned for one further to 
 the rear in the skirt of the timber, with the cotton-field still 
 in front. It held the right of its brigade, but, with this excep- 
 tion, held the left of the entire army. To its right were the 
 1st and 2d brigades of its division, and then came the division 
 of Wallace, in which were the 2d, 7th, 8th, 12th and 14th Iowa 
 regiments. This is the line which was held till four o'clock in 
 the afternoon; and this the position where was done such 
 magnificient fighting. This line broken, and this position lost, 
 and there was no other successful stand made until the fright- 
 ened troops had reached the Landing. It was on this line, too, 
 that the 8th, 12th and 14th Iowa were captured, as also was the 
 58th Illinois. While retreating from this line. Major Stone 
 was captured. This was the line which the enemy had tried 
 so hard, but unsuccessfully, to break for five long hours. 
 When they had accomplished this, not by attacks in front, hut 
 by flank movements, the day was so far gone that they could 
 
WILSON G. WILLIAMS. 95 
 
 not push their successes to full victory ; aud hence, I say, the 
 Iowa troops saved GranVs army from capture at Shiloh. 
 
 As to the conduct of the 8d Iowa in this part of the field, I 
 can only say : It held its position, when the troops on both its 
 right and left had been driven back, and utterly routed. So 
 fully did it win the confidence of its commanding general that, 
 riding up to Major Stone, he said: "I look to the 3d Iowa to 
 retrieve the fortunes of this field;" but, already, the fortunes 
 of that part of the field were past retrieving. It is a wonder 
 how the regiment escaped capture ; but, like the 2d and 7th 
 Iowa, it by some means worked its way through the circling 
 lines of the enemy. 
 
 While stationed in the skirt of the timber above alluded to, 
 Colonel Williams was badly injured and taken from the field. 
 A solid shot struck his horse just behind the saddle, killing it 
 instantly, and completely paralyzing the colonel. He did not 
 recover from the effects of the injury for many months : indeed 
 it was on account of this injury, I am informed, that he finally 
 tendered his resignation. 
 
 Out of the four hundred and fifty officers and men of the 3d 
 Iowa who were engaged in the battle, more than two hundred 
 were either killed, wounded or captured. Captain Hobbs, an 
 unassuming, but noble-hearted man, was killed. He was the 
 idol of his company. Of the other officers, O'Neil, Knight, 
 Merrill and Wayne, were wounded and captured ; Trumbull, 
 Ogg, Weiser, Tullis and Hamill were wounded. Sergeant 
 Lakin, who bore the battle-flag of the regiment at Blue Mills 
 Landing, again flaunted it in the face of the enemy at Shiloh. 
 With a few exceptions, every member of the regiment fought 
 gallantly. In the second day's fight, the 3d Iowa was com- 
 manded by Lieutenant Crosley; but, in the operations of this 
 day, it did not suffer severely. 
 
 Colonel Williams, recovering partially from his recent injury, 
 
96 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was returned to the command of his regiment, and, after the 
 fall of Corinth, marched with his division to Memphis, where 
 he was soon after prostrated by sickness. On the 27th of 
 November, he resigned his commission, as I have already 
 stated. After leaving the service, he was appointed a brig- 
 adier-general, but his appointment failed confirmation in the 
 Senate. 
 
 I never saw Colonel Williams but once, and that was late in 
 the Ml of 1862, when he was on his way to re-join his regi- 
 ment, after a leave of absence ; but his person and manners 
 impressed me so strongly that I am still able to recall them. 
 He has a dark complexion, dark eyes, a large head, and a 
 rather low and retreating forehead. In person, he is short, 
 and heavy set, with full chest and large, square shoulders. He 
 is not attractive in his personal appearance. 
 
 While sitting by himself, he looked grum and uncompan- 
 ionable; but his whole manner changed as soon as he was 
 addressed. I saw that he was fond of amusement, and all its 
 concomitants : indeed, there have been few officers who would 
 not occasionally indulge in a game of cards, et cetera. 
 
 As a commanding officer, I judged him to be precise and 
 exacting ; and I have since learned that this was his character. 
 While in command of his regiment, he was tyrannical, and, 
 by a majority of both the officers and men, sincerely hated. 
 
COLONEL AARON BROWN. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, THIRD INFANTRY. 
 
 Aaron Brown was born in Mississippi, about the year 
 1822, and is the only native from that State who has held a col- 
 onel's commission from Iowa. He entered the service from 
 the county of Fayette, Iowa, and was the first lieutenant of 
 Captain Carman A. Newcomb's company. He was made cap- 
 tain, April 8th, 1862, and promoted to the majority of his regi- 
 ment, after the resignation of Major William M. Stone. I am 
 unacquainted with Colonel Brown's history, prior to his enter- 
 ing the service. 
 
 In resuming the history of the 3d Iowa, I shall go back to its 
 encampment at Shiloh, where it rested immediately after the 
 battle. It was the same whence it had marched on the previ- 
 ous Sunday morning to the bloody field. Its dead comrades it 
 had gathered and buried ; and now it rested and contemplated 
 the scenes of the past conflict. It had won military glory; but 
 was this an equivalent for its dead comrades just buried? All 
 were sad, and yet all hearts swelled with secret and inexpres- 
 sible joy at their miraculous escape from harm. Shiloh had 
 taught the regiment a new lesson — to respect the valor of the 
 enemy, and, needlessly, not to seek a new encounter ; and such 
 has been the experience of every regiment that has once met 
 the enemy in a desperate engagement. No one will a second 
 time leave his cot in the hospital to be present in battle, and 
 yet there are hundreds of instances where this thing has been 
 done by novices. Good soldiers soon learn to do their whole 
 duty, and no more. 
 
 During the siege of Corinth, and for several months after, 
 7 97 
 
y» IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 the 1st Brigade of the 4th Division was commanded by Gen- 
 eral Lanman ; but neither the 8d Iowa, nor any other regiment 
 of the brigade, met tlie enemy during tlie environment of that 
 place. I of course, except the affairs on the skirmish line. 
 Before the fall of the city, tliere was but one affair in front of 
 the 3d Iowa, which approached to any thing like an engage- 
 ment : this was the charge of the 8th Missouri, of General 
 Sherman's command, to capture a block house, known as Bus- 
 sel's House. The charge was successful, and gave the regiment 
 an enviable reputation ; and it sustained its name well, for it 
 was this same regiment that so distinguished itself nearly a 
 year after, at Baymond, Mississippi. The position of the 4th 
 Division before Corinth was to the left of General Sherman, 
 that general holding the extreme right of the besieging army. 
 While tlie 3d Iowa was lying in the trenches before Corinth, 
 it was joined by Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, who had but just 
 recovered from his sickness. " All welcomed him joyfully." 
 
 Much was expected of General Halleck at Corinth. He had 
 command of the finest army that had ever been marshaled in 
 the South West. The enemy, in his disasters at Shiloh, had 
 lost his best general; his troops were disjiirited; and it was 
 expected, nay demanded, that Beauregard and his army be 
 either routed or captured. But, if General Grant had been 
 lazy in pressing the enemy after his defeat at Shiloh, so was 
 Halleck cautious not to push him to a new engagement. He 
 thought he would capture the whole thing, never dreaming, I 
 suppose, but what Beauregard was fool enough to sit still and 
 be surrounded. 
 
 But, presto change ! At a quarter before six, on the morning 
 of the 30th of May, a deafening explosion was heard in the 
 direction of Corinth, and, instantly, dense clouds of smoke 
 were seen rising over the city. But few wondered at the 
 cause. Pope had told Halleck several days before that Beau- 
 
AARON BROWN. 99 
 
 regard was evacuating; and that time Pope told the truth. 
 Many privates, even, could have told as much. Pope had 
 begged eagerly for permission to swing the left wing against 
 the enemy's works ; but, JVb ! The severe jar that all had just 
 felt was caused by the explosion of the enemy's magazines. 
 And so the enemy escaped, and the government gained — a 
 little, sickly, strategical point. The whole army was at once 
 put under arms, and marched, a part into Corinth and a part 
 in pursuit of the enemy. With the divisions of Sherman and 
 Hurlbut, there was a strife to see who would be first in the 
 city: who was the winning party, I never learned. I only 
 know that we, of Pope's command, were put in pursuit. 
 
 Corinth fell on the 30th of May, 1862, and, seven days later, 
 Memphis was surrendered to Captain, now Rear- Admiral 
 Charles H. Davis. On the 2d of June, and before the fall of 
 Memphis, the 4th and 5th Divisions, under General Sherman, 
 left Corinth, and marched west in the direction of the last 
 named city. The object of this movement was, I believe, to 
 co-operate with the fleet of Ellett and Davis in the capture of 
 Memphis, and ultimately to open up the railroad between that 
 place and Corinth. The news of the fall of Memphis reached 
 these troops while they were camped on the high bluffs that 
 overlook the Big Hatchie — that stream which, four months 
 later. General Hurlbut's Division was to render historic. 
 Before them, where they were then encamped, lay the future 
 battle-field of Matamora. 
 
 After considerable delay at La Grange and Moscow, General 
 Sherman resumed the march to Memphis, where he arrived 
 with his command on the 21st of July. The 3d Iowa led the 
 van of its division into the city. On the 6th of September 
 following, General Hurlbut was ordered back in the direction 
 of Corinth ; and, on the departure of his division from Mem- 
 phis, the 3d Iowa was again in the van. 
 
100 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 On the 13th of September this command was encamped at a 
 point on Spring Creek, where it remained till the 19th instant, 
 when a detachment of it, consisting of the 1st Brigade and two 
 battalions of tlie 2d Illinois cavalry, under General Lauman, 
 marched south to create a diversion in favor of General Grant. 
 It wiU be remembered that this was the date of the battle of 
 luka ; and the reason of this movement on tlie part of General 
 Lauman will be found elsewhere. General Lauman's scouts 
 came on the enemy in the vicinity of La Grange. They were 
 moving north in force; the column, on the march, was a mile 
 and a half in length. The force of Lauman being unequal to 
 engage them, that general beat a hasty retreat, and marched 
 till he came within supporting distance of General Hurlbut; 
 but the enemy, although they pursued, declined to give battle. 
 Northern Mississippi was at this time full of scouting parties 
 of the enemy: they were actively developing their plans for 
 the re-capture of Corinth and the destruction of General 
 Grant's army. Price was disheartened by his defeat at luka; 
 but Van Dorn resolved to strike again at Corinth. 
 
 While General Hurlbut was encamped near Bolivar, Tennes- 
 see, on the 3d of October, 1862, he received orders to march 
 promptly in the direction of Corinth ; and the next morning 
 reveille beat at one o'clock. Soon after the column was in 
 motion. He had his own division, and, in addition to thase 
 troops, the 68th Ohio and 12th Michigan, two regiments of 
 Ross' command that had come down from Jackson. The 
 march was to be made in light trim — only two wagons to the 
 regiment. The ambulances were to go along, and the men 
 knew that aU this meant fighting. The march was pushed 
 rapidly, and, just beyond Pocahontas, the cavalry van-guard 
 came on the enemy's pickets. That night the column reached 
 the Big Muddy, about two miles west of the Hatchie, and that 
 same forenoon Van Dorn and Price had been repulsed and 
 
AAROX BROWN. 101 
 
 utterly routed at Corinth. All that afternoon, the enemy had 
 been in rapid retreat in the direction of the Hatehie ; but of all 
 this General Hurlbut was ignorant. 
 
 The 1st Brigade had just stacked their arms, and were pre- 
 paring supper, when it was reported that the cavalry in front 
 were engaging the enemy. Instantly orderlies began flying 
 to and fro, and for a time there was much apprehension ; but 
 the firing soon ceased and all remained quiet till morning. 
 That night General Ord arrived from Jackson via Bolivar, and 
 reported the defeat of the enemy and his subsequent retreat in 
 the direction of the Hatehie. He would probably be met on 
 the morrow, and all nerved themselves for the conflict. Gen- 
 eral Ord, who was the ranking ofiicer, now assumed command 
 of the forces. In the early part of the engagement which fol- 
 lowed he was wounded, and retired from the field, leaving 
 Hurlbut in command of the Federal forces. To Hurlbut, 
 therefore, belongs the credit of that brilliant victory. 
 
 The battle of the Hatehie, or Matamora, was fought on the 
 5th of October, 1862, and was an unequal and most desperate 
 engagement. It was good fortune for the 4th Division that the 
 enemy had been previously routed and demoralized ; and also 
 that he was being hard pressed by Rosecrans: had this not 
 been so. General Hurlbut and his command must have been 
 certainly crushed. Even after the demonstration of the Fed- 
 eral cavalry of the previous evening, on the west bank of the 
 Hatehie, the enemy never dreamed that there was any consid- 
 erable force to resist his advance. He supposed it was a small 
 cavalry command, sent forward to harrass him on his retreat. 
 Therefore, on the morning of the 5th, he began pushing his 
 inlantry across the Hatehie with aU confidence; his surprise 
 can be imagined, when he met the division of Hurlbut. Beat- 
 ing a hasty retreat back across the bridge, he took up a strong 
 position on the bluffs opposite; but the particulars of this 
 
102 IOWA COLONEI.S AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 engagement appear in the sketch of General Lauman, The 3d 
 Iowa was one of the regiments that was filed to the right, into 
 the pocket, and, with the other troops there stationed, was sub- 
 jected to a murderous fire, without being able to protect itself, 
 or return it. But for the movement round the bluffs to the 
 left, General Hurlbut must have been defeated before Rose- 
 crans came up. 
 
 The disproportion in killed and wounded of the 3d Iowa was 
 unprecedented : two only were killed, while nearly sixty were 
 wounded. One of the former was Lieutenant Dodd. He was 
 struck by a shell just before reaching the bridge, and killed 
 instantly. Captains Weiser and Kostman were wounded, as 
 also were Lieutenants Hamill, Foote and C. E. Anderson. 
 The latter was wounded just at the close of the battle, after 
 having done his duty nobly. In their conduct in the battle, 
 the men of the regiment vied with the ofiicers; and their 
 names should all be recorded, to go down in honor to posterity. 
 
 After the fighting had closed and the result of all three bat- 
 tles learned, there was both sadness and rejoicing. The 3d 
 Iowa, with its division, marched back to Bolivar, and there 
 tendered and received congratulations. General Hurlbut was 
 lavish of his praises to all his troops: — " Comrades in battle, 
 partakers of the weary march and long watches ! the title of 
 the Fighting Fourth, earned at Shiloh, has been burnished 
 with additional splendor." He was noio Mr. Hurlbut, and 
 no longer General. His heart was as warm and tender as a 
 woman's. But he had covered himself with glory, had been 
 made a major-general, and was now taking leave of his divis- 
 ion. 
 
 After the battle of the Hatchie, the seven subsequent months 
 were not eventful to the 3d Iowa Infantry. General Lauman 
 succeeded General Hurlbut in the command of the 4th Divis- 
 ion, and under him the regiment remained, and, in the follow- 
 
AARON BROWN. 103 
 
 ing spring, followed him to Vicksburg. It had in the mean- 
 time made many fatiguing marches, the most important of 
 which was that under General Grant, through Central Missis- 
 sippi to the Yockona. For many weeks it was stationed on 
 guard-duty at Moscow, on the line of the Memphis and 
 Charleston Railroad. During these seven months, there had 
 been many changes in the regiment, the chief one of which 
 was the resignation of Colonel Williams, and the promotion of 
 Major Brown to that rank. 
 
 On the 18th of May, 1864, the 3d Iowa left Memphis for 
 Vicksburg. Its days of rest and quiet camp life had passed, 
 and now, for many months to come, it was to endure the hard- 
 ships and breast the dangers of active field service. With its 
 brigade it sailed up the Yazoo River, at day-light of the 21st of 
 May. The object was to open up communication with Sher- 
 man, then just forcing the enemy back into his inner-works at 
 Vicksburg. It is claimed that companies G and K, of the 3d 
 Iowa, were the first to occupy the enemy's strong works at 
 Haine's Bluff"; but about this there must be some mistake. 
 
 One incident in the passage of the 3d Iowa from Memphis to 
 Vicksburg, I must not omit to mention. The Crescent City, 
 on which the regiment was embarked, had arrived, in the 
 afternoon of the 19th instant, at the bend of the river near 
 Island No. 65, and was sailing on unsuspectingly, when it was 
 suddenly opened on with two howitzers from the eastern bank. 
 Thirteen men of the regiment were wounded at the first dis- 
 charge, one of them mortally ; but, before the guerillas had 
 time to re-load, a gunboat came up and drove the wretches from 
 their cover. This circumstance will be remembered, when I 
 state that the 41st and 53d Illinois, having landed and pursued 
 the guerillas without being able to overtake them, returned 
 and burned to the ground the village of Greenville, some two 
 miles below the scene of murder. If reports were true, its fate 
 
104 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was merited, and for other reasons ; for it was said that, early 
 in tlie war, a father and his son, Union residents of Greenville, 
 were headed up in barrels by the fiendish citizens, and rolled 
 down the steep bank into the Mississippi. 
 
 Before Vicksburg, the services of the 3d Iowa were the same 
 as those of the other troops, buried in the heated trenches 
 around that beleaguered city. 
 
 I now hasten to the most eventful chapter in the history 
 of the 3d Iowa Infantry— its charge on the enemy's works 
 at Jackson, Mississippi, on the 12th of July, 1863. Vicks- 
 burg had fallen, and the 3d Iowa had marched with the 
 forces of General Sherman against Johnson, who, for several 
 weeks, had been raising the siege — with official dispatches. On 
 the advance of Sherman, Johnson had fallen back and planted 
 himself behind his works at Jackson ; and there he was on the 
 12th of July, in a state of siege, confronted and watched by 
 three corps — the 9th, under Parke, on his right; the 15th, 
 under Steele, in his front ; and the 13th, under Ord, on his left. 
 General Laumau was in Ord's command, and his division held 
 the right of Sherman's army. And thas matters stood on the 
 morning of the 12th of July. 
 
 At the date above mentioned, it was thought by General Ord 
 that the position of Laumau's Division was too much retired. 
 He therefore ordered it forward, so that its left should dress on 
 the right of General Hovey, whose division, from right to left, 
 came next in order. Its right was to be thrown forward so as 
 to correspond with the advance on the left. The object was to 
 shorten and strengthen the line, and not to bring on an engage- 
 ment; nor would one have followed, but for the aspirations of 
 an ambitious general, who was charged by his own men with 
 hunting for promotion among the slaughtered and mangled 
 soldiers of his command. 
 
 The scene of this merciless butchery is south of the city of 
 
■lAK 
 
 AARON BEOWN. 
 
 Jackson, and between the New Orleans and Jackson Ba.foad 
 .nd Pearl Biver. "At about 9 o'clock in the morning,' (I 
 ,uote from Major Crosley's official report) "the 3d Iowa, 41st 
 and 63d Illinois Infantry, and the 5th Ohio Battery of s>x 
 guns crossed tire New Orleans and Jackson Railroad, at a pomt 
 about two miles south of Jackson, and one mile from the 
 enemy's works. After crossing, line of battle was formed, 
 skirmishers thrown out. and the line ordered forward. After 
 advancing about one-fourth of a mile, the line was halted; and 
 the battery, placed in position one hundred yards in onr rear 
 opened Are with sheU, and continued to fire rapidly for about 
 twenty minutes. The enemy replied promptly with two guns 
 getting our range the first shot. As soon as the battery ceased 
 firing, the Une again moved forward. We advanced half a 
 mile through timber and a dense under-growth, our skirmish- 
 ers meeting with no opposition, when, coming to the edge of 
 an open field, the Une was again halted. Here we were jomed 
 by the 28th Illinois, which took position on our right." There 
 the line should have rest«l; but General Lauman now commg 
 up, ordered it forward. 
 
 This was now the position: In front were open, undulatmg 
 fields, cleared of every thing that could afford protection or 
 cover, even down to corn-stalks; about four hundred yards m 
 advance were the enemy's skirmisher., backed by reserves 
 and, a little further on, a strong line of works, so constructed 
 as to give the enemy a concentrated fire on a charging column. 
 Behind these works, in addition to two brigades of mfantry, 
 were fourteen cannon-more than two full batteries, whose 
 dark mouths spoke almost certain death to assailants. There 
 was in addition, a formidable abattis, constructed with occa- 
 sional gaps, to pass which, it would be necessary for the 
 charging party to break its line and as.semble in groups. This 
 formidable strong-hold was to be carried by less than one 
 
106 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 thousand men, and that, too, without any diversion in their 
 favor. 
 
 The brigade advanced in compliance with orders, until it had 
 reached, forced back and occupied the position of tlie enemy's 
 skirmishers. The order had been to moveforivard ; but Colonel 
 Pugh, the brigade commander, believing there must be some 
 mistake, again reported to General Lauman — this time in 
 person. He explained to the general the point his command 
 had reached, the position of the enemy, and the character of his 
 works, and then waited for further orders ; but they were still 
 the same— to move forward. There could be no mistaking the 
 general's purpose. All, from field-officers to privates, saw the 
 situation ; but, although the movement filled them with amaze- 
 ment, there was no faltering. Literally, they were to enter the 
 jaws of death ; but they would not sully their good name by 
 disobeying orders. 
 
 The order to advance was given, and the whole line moved 
 forward at double-quick and in perfect order, when — but 
 what need of further recital ? They were, of course, repulsed. 
 Many, passing the abattis, advanced to within j)istol-shot 
 range of the enemy's works; they could go no further, and, 
 after struggling a few moments, retreated precipitately. As 
 soon as the exhausted, bleeding troops reached the edge of the 
 timber, whence they had advanced before encountering the 
 enemy's skirmishers, they rallied promptly, and, soon after, 
 were marched back to the point on the railroad at which they 
 had crossed in the morning. All the dead, and nearly all the 
 wounded, were left upon the field; nor would the enemy allow 
 them to be reached and rescued by flag of truce ; and there they 
 lay, mangled and bleeding, beneath the rays of the scorching 
 sun, comrades in agony, as they had long been comrades in 
 battle. 
 
 The escape of any from death was almost miraculous ; and 
 
AARON BROWN. 107 
 
 yet, iu the 3d Iowa, the loss was only about fifty per cent. The 
 regiment went into the engagement with an aggregate of two 
 hundred and forty-one ofiicers and men, and lost, in killed, 
 wounded and missing, one hundred and fourteen. Company 
 B lost all three of her officers, killed — the two Ruckmans and 
 Lieutenant Hall. Colonel BrowTi was severely wounded. The 
 loss of the 53d Illinois was greater than that of any other regi- 
 ment. Among others, it lost its gallant colonel. He was struck 
 by a charge of canister, and fell from his horse, literally torn in 
 pieces. It is said that General Lauman wept when he looked 
 on the remnant of his old brigade. 
 
 After the lamentable affair at Jackson, the 3d Iowa returned 
 with its division to Vicksburg, and sailed thence to Natchez. 
 In the following Winter it again returned to Vicksburg, and 
 accompanied General Sherman on his march to Meridian. 
 The regiment re-enlisted as veterans, and came North in the 
 early sj)ring of 1864. Returning to the front, it was ordered to 
 join General Sherman, already on the march against Atlanta. 
 Before the fall of that city. Colonel BrowTi, and a majority of 
 the field- and line-officers resigned their commissions. In 
 re-officering the regiment, a lieutenant was promoted to the 
 lieutenant-colonelcy : it was entitled to no colonel, on account 
 of the fewness of its numbers. On the memorable 22d of July, 
 1864, before Atlanta, the regiment was again put in the thickest 
 of the fight, and lost heavily. Among the killed was its lieu- 
 tenant-colonel, who had only the day before received his 
 commission. The regiment was soon after consolidated with 
 the 2d Iowa Infantry, and lost its organization as a regiment. 
 
 In closing this sketch of Colonel Brown and his regiment, I 
 
 will add an extract from a letter of Captain J. H. Reid, of the 
 
 15th Iowa: 
 
 "Our men, captured on the 22d of July, were taken through 
 Atlanta that day, and their names reported to the provost- 
 
108 
 
 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 marshal-general, when they were marched to East Point the 
 same night. In passing through the city, whenever a shell fell 
 in the streets from our batteries, they cheered and sang, 'Rally 
 Round the Flag.' Rebel officers told them to dry up, they 
 were prisoners of war; but they answered, *We will always 
 cheer a Yankee shell.' A squad of rebel cavalry was passing 
 through the streets with the flag of the 3d Iowa Infantry, cap- 
 tured after the color-sergeant fell, literally pierced through and 
 through with bullets. Some of that regiment among the 
 prisoners saw their old flag in the hands of the enemy. They 
 made a rush for it, wrested it from its captors, and, amid 
 torrents of threats and curses from the guards, tore it into a 
 thousand shreds . ' ' 
 
 I never saw Colonel Brown; but, from what I can learn of 
 him, he must be a large man, with phlegmatic temperament, 
 and an easy-going disposition. He may not be a brilliant man, 
 but he was certainly a brave and foithful officer. 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL GRENVILLE M. DODGE. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, FOURTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Grenville Mellen Dodge is a native of Massachusetts, 
 and was born at Danvers, Essex county, on the 12th day of 
 April, 1832. His father, Sylvanus Dodge, was, prior to 1844, a 
 provision dealer; but subsequently, and up to the time of his 
 removal West, was Postmaster of the town of Danvers. Gren- 
 ville remained with his father till he was sixteen years of age, 
 having prior to that time been afforded only a limited common 
 school education ; for his father's business had been such as to 
 require much of his son's assistance. At the age of sixteen, he 
 was sent to the Academy at Durham, New Hampshire, then to 
 that of Newbury; Vermont, and in 1850 was entered a student 
 of Norwich Military University, at that time under the super- 
 intendence of the late Captain Alden Patridge. Here he com- 
 pleted his education, which was thoroughly practical, scientific 
 and military. 
 
 In 1851, he left Norwich, and, coming West, lived for a time 
 in Peoria, Illinois, where he obtained a situation in an Engi- 
 neer Corps on the Pock Island Railroad. His skill as an 
 engineer, with his remarkable judgment and great ability to 
 control men, soon discovering themselves, he was entrusted 
 with the survey of this road to Peoria. On the completion of 
 this survey, he came to Iowa, and was for several years in the 
 employ of the Mississippi and Missouri River Railroad Com- 
 pany, during which time he projected surveys from the Mis- 
 sissippi River to the Missouri, and up the valley of the Platte. 
 As a civil engineer, young Dodge was very successful. 
 
 In May, 1854, he was married to Miss Annie Brown, of 
 
 109 
 
no IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Peoria, Illinois, and for a short time resided in Iowa City. In 
 tlie fall of the same year, he removed to Nebraska, where, in 
 connection with his father and brother, he remained nearly a 
 year, taking up claims on the Elkhorn River. At that day, 
 this section of Nebraska was the extreme limit of the frontier 
 settlements, and of easy access to the hostile tribes of Indians, 
 who, in the latter part of 1855, commenced their hostilities 
 against the white settlers. In consequence of these troubles, 
 G. M. Dodge returned to Iowa, and settled in Council Bluffs ; 
 where, engaging in the banking business, he continued to 
 reside till the beginning of the war. 
 
 The excitement produced at Council Bluffs by the first news 
 of the firing on Fort Sumter had hardly subsided, before Gen- 
 eral Dodge was recruiting a company for the service. Having 
 filled his company, he rejxtrted, early in the spring of 1861, to 
 Governor S. J. Kirkwood, who, after learning what he had 
 done, was so much pleased with him that he clothed him with 
 proper authority, and sent him to AVashington in quest of arms 
 and munitions of war for the State. The promptness with 
 which he discharged the duties of his commission attracted the 
 notice of the War Department, and he was offered a commission 
 in the regular army ; but this honor he declined, for he pre- 
 ferred to serve his own State. On his return from Washington, 
 he was commissioned colonel of the 4th Iowa Infantry, his 
 commission dating the 17th of June, 1861. 
 
 In less than two weeks after his regiment was organized, and 
 before he had been assigned to duty, he marched against Poin- 
 dexter, drove him from Northern Missouri, and returned to 
 Council Bluffs. On the loth of August following, he reported 
 at St. Louis, Missouri, for duty ; and was ordered to Holla, to 
 which place he at once proceeded. In the following October, 
 he was made Commandant of the Post. On the first of Novem- 
 ber, 1861, he led an expedition to Huston and Salem ; and met 
 
GRENVILLE M. DODGE. Ill 
 
 and defeated the enemy at both places. In December, he was 
 [juite severely wounded, but in what manner I am unadvised. 
 On recovering from this wound, he was assigned by General 
 Curtis (then organizing his army for an advance on Price) to 
 the command of a brigade. With this command he led the 
 advance against Springfield, on the morning of the 13th of 
 February, 18G2. 
 
 Company E, of the 4th Iowa Infimtry, one of the regiments 
 3f Colonel Dodge's Brigade, being deployed as skirmishers 
 inder Lieutenant Stitt and ordered forward, never halted until 
 t had taken possession of the city. Company H, Captain D. 
 A.. Craig, of the 17th Iowa, performed a similar feat at Jack- 
 5on, Mississippi, the 14th of May, 1863. At Springfield, the 
 mtree and occupation of the city was attended with much 
 ;port. After the company had routed the enemy, who were 
 principally stragglers, and made their captures of prisoners, 
 lorses &c., they broke for the city saloons and bakeries; and 
 vhen General Curtis, accompanied by his staff and body-guard, 
 ^me riding through to the public square, there he found 
 ;hem, feasting on beer and ginger-bread — their first spoils of 
 yar. 
 
 The object of General Curtis' campaign was not simply the 
 sapture of Springfield: it was the defeat of General Price's 
 irmy ; and accordingly, on the morning of the fourteenth, the 
 \xvciY of the South West started in pursuit of the enemy. In 
 .his pursuit. Colonel Dodge's command met and engaged the 
 inemy at Cane Creek, Sugar Creek, and Blackburn's Mill: 
 n the last of these engagements, the rebels were led by the 
 lotorious Gates. These encounters took place on the 14th, 17th, 
 Lud 27th of February, 1862, respectively. 
 
 How Van Dorn, uniting with Price after that general's flight 
 rom Missouri, marched on General Curtis at Pea Ridge has 
 )een already given, as has also the desperate fighting that 
 
112 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 occurred on the right, between Carr's Division and the rebel 
 forces. 
 
 At day-light on the morning of the 7th, the troops of Carr's 
 Division were put hurriedly under arms, and marched north- 
 ward. None but Carr and his brigade commanders knew the 
 object of the movement ; for it was supposed the enemy would 
 make their attack from the south and south-west. But no time 
 was given for breakfast, and all knew there must be danger 
 from an unexpected quarter. Colonel Dodge, having marched 
 his brigade a mile or more, turned eastward, along what was 
 known as the White River road. Companies E and K, of the 
 4th Iowa, constituted the van-guard, they being followed by 
 one section of the 1st Iowa Battery. Suddenly the sharp 
 barking of musketry was heard. Dodge had come upon the 
 enemy's cavalry, reconnoitering for the advance of their 
 infantry ; but this force was soon dispersed, and pursued 
 through the timber and past the rough and rocky hills, beyond 
 and around which was Cross Timber Hollows. Dodge took up 
 his position on these hills, with the enemy beyond in the fallen 
 timber. Colonel Vandever, with his brigade, was to the left 
 on the Springfield road; and there the severe fighting first 
 began. Vandever's line was soon broken, and forced back, 
 and Dodge had no alternative but to retire. In the meantime, 
 the enemy were moving round Dodge's right. Gaining the 
 ground out of the fallen timber, they swung round to the 
 south, and, the first intimation he had of their approach, they 
 were moving in heavy masses through open country to pass 
 his right, and cut him off. Promptly changing position "by 
 the right flank, file left," the colonel threw his handful of 
 troops along an old fence, with timber on his right and left, 
 and an open field in his front ; in the latter, the enemy were 
 forming for a charge. At this alarming juncture, he had only 
 two regiments— the 4th Iowa and 35th Illinois. The enemy 
 
GRENVILLE M. DODGE. 113 
 
 outnumbered hiui nearly ten to one; and, in addition, they 
 were supported by artillery. Concealing his men behind the 
 fence, Colonel Dodge awaited their approach. After a 
 vigorous cannonading, their infantry came sweeping across the 
 field in magnificent style and with a hideous yell, expecting 
 little opposition; but they were met with a deadly fire and 
 driven back. The charge was renewed several times, and each 
 time repulsed. Nor could they force Colonel Dodge from his 
 position, till they began moving columns past his right and 
 left flank. It was the fighting of the 4th Iowa and 35th 
 Illinois, in this position, that so challenged the admiration of 
 General Van Dorn, and other rebel officers. 
 
 The services of Colonel Dodge at Pea Ridge ranked those of 
 every other brigade commander: there were none to dispute 
 with him this honor. He was here a second time wounded, 
 and soon after sent to St. Louis, in charge of the surgeon of the 
 3d Iowa cavalry. 
 
 The important services of Colonel Dodge were now recog- 
 nized by the Government ; and he was, on the 31st of March, 
 1862, made a brigadier-general. Early in June of the same 
 year, he was made Post Commandant of Columbus, Kentucky, 
 and, on the 28th of the same month, was assigned to the 
 command of the Central Division, Army of the Tennessee, 
 with head-quarters at Trenton. On the 30th of the following 
 October, he assumed command of the District of Corinth ; and 
 the magnificent works, erected for the defense of that place, 
 were planned and constructed under his personal supervision. 
 From October, 18G2, till the 8th of July, 1863, when by order 
 of General Hurlbut he assumed command of the left wing of 
 the 16th Army Corps, General Dodge was engaged repeatedly 
 with the enemy under Forrest, Van Dorn, Chalmers, Ruggles 
 and Ferguson ; and, in every engagement and expedition, he 
 was successful. In addition to his other labors in the summer 
 
114 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 of 18o3, he organized five regiments of colored troops, and 
 several companies of heavy artillery, also colored troops. 
 
 In the fall of 1863, General Dodge was transferred, with his 
 command, from Corinth to Pulaski, Tennessee. He left his 
 old field of operations late in October, following on with the 
 rear of Sherman's army, then en route for Chattanooga, but a 
 history of these movements I have given elsewhere. Estab- 
 lishing his head-quarters at Pulaski, ho began opening the 
 Nashville and Decatur Railroad, and by Spring had the task 
 nearly completed. 
 
 General Dodge most distinguished himself in the Atlanta 
 campaign. The troops of his command were the same that 
 he had commanded on garrison- and railroad-duty. Among 
 them were three Iowa regiments — the 2d, 7th and 39th. He 
 joined General Sherman at Chattanooga, early in May, and soon 
 marched out to Dalton, General Johnson's boasted stronghold. 
 Through nearly this entire campaign he held the right of Sher- 
 man's army ; but the details of his services on this march will 
 be more fully given in the sketches of the Iowa regiments of 
 his command. For his gallant and important services in this 
 campaign, he was made a major-general, and there are few 
 oflicers who have more richly earned the rank. 
 
 The general was wounded for the third time, before Atlanta. 
 It happened thus : the morning in question he went out to the 
 trenches of the skirmish line, sporting a new hat, trimmed 
 with a brilliantly polished bugle. If I am rightly informed, 
 some important movement was on hand, in which he was to 
 take part, and, prior to moving, he exposed his head at one of 
 the loop-holes under the head-log, to make observations. The 
 sun, which was shining brightly, reflected on the bugle of his 
 hat, making a fine target for the enemy's sharp-shooters. The 
 rebel's aim was so accurate that the ball struck near the bugle, 
 and, going through the general's hat, passed round under the 
 
GREm^ILLE M. DODGE. 115 
 
 scalp. It did not prove fatal, though for several weeks it dis- 
 abled him for service. This accident occurred early in August, 
 after which he came North, and never after returned to his 
 old command. 
 
 On recovering from his wound, he was first placed in com- 
 mand at Vicksburg, Mississippi ; but, in a short time after, 
 succeeded General Rosecrans in Missouri. He is still in com- 
 mand of that department, with head-quarters at St. Louis. 
 
 During the present war, no oflBcer, whether of the regular or 
 volunteer service, has made a better record than Major-General 
 Dodge. One officer from our State has made a more brilliant 
 one— General Corse; but that general's services are in no 
 manner to be compared with those of General Dodge. His 
 duties have been varied, and in many instances have involved 
 the greatest responsibility and complexity; but he has met 
 with uniform success in every department of his labors, and 
 has never been relieved from a command unless it was by 
 orders assigning him to another and more important one. 
 His worth has been appreciated by General Grant, who, on 
 more than one occasion, has tendered him high comi^liments. 
 During operations around Vicksburg, General Dodge was in 
 command at Corinth, one hundred and fifty miles removed 
 from the former city; and yet General Grant stated officially, 
 I am credibly informed, that there was no officer of Dodge's 
 rank in his army to whom he was more indebted for his suc- 
 cess in capturing the stronghold. 
 
 In person. General Dodge is a small man, weighing only 
 about one hundred and thirty jiounds. I never saw him but 
 once, which was in the summer of 1862, as I was passing 
 through Trenton, Tennessee, at that time the general's head- 
 quarters. He was standing upon the depot platform, and was 
 in conversation with Lieutenant W. S. Burke, of the 17th Iowa. 
 From the lieutenant I afterwards learned that this was the 
 
116 IOWA colonp:i-s and regiments. 
 
 giilhiiit, distiuguishetl General Dodge, and I eonft'.ss I was 
 surprised. He Ls slightly stooping in the shoulders, and, at 
 first sight, does not look like the man he is. He h{\s a fine 
 eye, tliough, which, after seeing his shoulder-straps, was the 
 first thing that attracted my attention. 
 
 But he has the following distinguishing traits of chanuter, 
 for without them he could never have accomplished what he 
 has. He has an iron will, a mind rich in expedients, and a 
 perseverance that is active and untiring: these traits, with 
 promptness of action, and a judgment remarkably matured for 
 a man of his years, have conspirtnl to make him in fact, as he 
 is in rank, one of the best ofUccrs of our army. If Iowa has 
 been honorcil by her troops in the field, she luus been CM^ually 
 honored by her general officers; and in this n-spcct she is 
 indebtetl to no one more than to Genenil Dodge. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL J. A. WILLIAMSON. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, FOURTH INFANTRY. 
 
 James Alexander Williamson, the successor of Major- 
 General Dodge to the colonelcy of the 4th Iowa Infantry, is a 
 Southerner by birth, and a good representative of the old-style 
 chivalry. He is a native of Columbia, Adair county, Ken- 
 tucky ; where he was born on the 8th day of February, 1829. 
 All that I know of his early history is, that he was educated at 
 Knox College, Illinois, where he was known as a hard student 
 and accurate scholar. In 1845, he removed to Iowa, and, ten 
 years later, located in Des Moines, the present home of his 
 family. His profession is the law, in the practice of which he 
 was engaged just before entering the army. 
 
 Soon after the second call of the President for troops, in the 
 summer of 1861, General Williamson enlisted in the volunteer 
 service for " during the war. " He was commissioned 1st lieu- 
 tenant and adjutant of the 4th Iowa Infantry, on the 8th of 
 August, 1861; since which time his history has been almost 
 identical with the history of that regiment ; and, as much as 
 we admire the general's military career, we could not, if we 
 would, pay him a higher compliment ; for to no Iowa regiment 
 is the State more largely indebted for its military renown than 
 to the noble 4th Iowa. At Pea Ridge, its conduct was most 
 gallant, challenging alike the admiration of friend and foe. 
 General Curtis said : — " This regiment won immortal honors ;" 
 and General Van Dorn:— "I never saw troops stand up and 
 fight so before." 
 
 During the thirty months subsequent to the 23d of January, 
 1862, the time when the 4th Iowa left Rolla, Missouri — in its 
 
 117 
 
118 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 march under General Curtis against General Price to Spring- 
 field and to the Ozark Mountains ; from that point to Batesville 
 and across the State of Arkansas to Helena ; thence to Chicka- 
 saw Bayou and up the Arkansas Eiver to Arkansas Post ; from 
 Milliken's Bend round tlirough Grand Gulf and Jackson to the 
 rear of Vicksburg, and then, after the fall of that city, back to 
 Jackson ; from Vicksburg to Memphis, and thence across the 
 country to Chattanooga ; and finally, in its march with General 
 Sherman against Atlanta — its record is one continued series of 
 achievements, unsurpassed for success and brilliancy. 
 
 That I do not speak of this regiment in too high terms of 
 praise, the following order of General Grant is proof: 
 
 ''Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 
 Nashville, Tennessee, February 2d, 1864. 
 
 " The Board of officers of the 15th Army Corps, appointed to 
 determine the battles each regiment and battery of that com- 
 mand are entitled to inscribe on their colors and guidons, have 
 made the following award, in the case of the 4th Iowa Infan- 
 try : — Pea Bidge ; First at Chickasaw Bayou ; Arkansas Post ; 
 Vicksburg — siege and assaults on the 19th and 22d of May; 
 Jackson ; Chattanooga. " 
 
 But this order is imperfect in details. The following are the 
 skirmishes and engagements in which the 4th Iowa took part, 
 previous to joining the campaign of General Sherman against 
 Atlanta : — Pea Ridge ; Chickasaw Bayou ; Arkansas Post ; 
 Jackson (May 14th, 1863) ; siege and assaults at Vicksburg ; 
 Jackson (July 12th, 1863) ; Cherokee Station ; Caney Creek ; 
 Tuscumbia; Lookout Mountain; and Ringgold. This too, 
 including the battles that the 4th Iowa was engaged in on the 
 Atlanta campaign, is the battle-record of General Williamson. 
 
 When Colonel, now Major-General Dodge, was assigned to 
 the command of a brigade under General Curtis, he retained 
 Adjutant J. A. Williamson upon his staff, and made him his 
 acting assistant adjutant-general. At the battle of Pea Ridge, 
 Lieutenant Williamson acted as aid-de-camp to Colonel Dodge, 
 
JAMES A. WILLIAMSON. 119 
 
 and, by his coolness and promptness, rendered important 
 service. I might add, it was his good conduct in that engage- 
 ment tliat made him lieutenant-colonel of his regiment; for 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Galligan had resigned, for reasons which I 
 will not mention. On' the confirmation of Colonel Dodge as 
 brigadier-general, Lieutenant-Colonel Williamson was promo- 
 ted to the colonelcy of the 4th Iowa Infantry. 
 
 On the third day's fight at Chickasaw Bayou, Colonel Wil- 
 liamson, in command of his regiment, distinguished himself. 
 
 The fleet bearing the command of General Sherman entered 
 the mouth of the Yazoo River, on the morning of the 26th of 
 December, 1862, and proceeded up that stream until opposite 
 Johnson's plantation, which lies on the south bank of the river, 
 and some five miles below Haine's Bluff. At this point Gene- 
 ral Frederick Steele, in command of the 4th Division, 13th 
 Army Corps, debarked his command, and, under instructions 
 from General Sherman, sent out Blair's Brigade on the Johnson 
 road, which leads to the Walnut Hills, in the direction of 
 Vicksburg. That day reconnoissances were made, and that 
 night a new point of attack was determined on. Accordingly, 
 on the following morning, General Steele re-embarked with 
 the brigades of Hovey and Thayer, (in the last of which were 
 the 4th, 9th, 26th and 30th Iowa) and, moving further up the 
 river, effected a landing just above the mouth of Chickasaw 
 Bayou. From near this point to the Walnut Hills, a distance 
 of four miles or more, extends a narrow, winding causeway, 
 or levee, and over this was the only accessible way to the point 
 of attack; for, on either side of the levee, the country is 
 covered with brush and timber, and is so low that, at that 
 time, much of it was under water. Along this highway, 
 which had been obstructed by the enemy with brush and 
 fallen trees, the brigades of Hovey and Thayer moved, till 
 they had arrived in the vicinity of the bluffs— General Steele 
 
120 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 says, "within about eight hundred yards; " but it could hardly 
 have been so near. "At this point the levee turned to the left, 
 and continued in a curve for about eight hundred yards;" 
 and, on its farther side, were the enemy's skirmishers and 
 sharp-shooters. General Hovey's Brigade, which was in the 
 advance, endeavored to remove the obstructions in its, front, 
 and dislodge the enemy's sharp-shooters ; but the position was 
 covered by the enemy's artillery on the bluff, which made it 
 impossible. But this point gained, and still General Steele 
 had little assurance of success ; for the steep sides of the bluff 
 were lined with rifle-pits, in which the enemy were lodged in 
 force. The enemy's artillery, too, frowned down upon him 
 from four different points. He believed it impossible to make 
 a successful assault, and, falling back to the river, returned to 
 Johnson's plantation. On the morning of the 29th instant, 
 General Thayer's Brigade, being the first off the boats, was 
 hurried rapidly forward. It was to be held in reserve, but the 
 zeal of its commander led it directly to the front. "The 26th 
 Iowa was detached to cut a road," and the 30th was met by 
 General Steele, and turned to the right ; but the 4th, under the 
 lead of its gallant colonel, moved forward at double-quick, and 
 was the first to enter the enemy's second tier of rifle-pits. It 
 was for its gallant conduct at this point that the 4th Iowa was 
 permitted to inscribe on its colors, '■'■First at Chickasaw Bayou." 
 But the regiment's bravery was of no avail, and that assault 
 was mere butchery ; for the whole of Pemberton's Vicksburg 
 army was in possession of the bluffs. 
 
 The fact that General Sherman ordered, or permitted, that 
 assault, was, with many, new evidence of his insanity ; but it 
 is now, I believe, well settled that the orders under which he 
 acted were unconditional and imperative. 
 
 The engagement at Pea Ridge was more protracted and 
 exhausting, but, fov fierceness, it is in no way to be compared 
 
JAMES A. WILLIAMSON. 121 
 
 with that at Chickasaw Bayou. In each of these battles, the 4th 
 Iowa was in the hardest of tlie conflict ; but, considering the 
 time it was engaged in each, its loss was fifty per cent, greater 
 in the latter than in the former. Its loss at Chickasaw Bayou 
 was one hundred and twelve, out of an aggregate of three 
 hundred and fifty taken into the engagement. Lieutenants 
 L. Pitzer, E. C. Miller, and J. H. Miller were among the 
 killed; and Colonel Williamson and Captain R. A. Stitt of 
 Company F, among the wounded. 
 
 In the re-organization of the army before the final Vicksburg 
 campaign, the 4th Iowa Infantry was assigned to the loth 
 Army Corps; and, with that command, it has served ever 
 since. Its losses in the assaults on the enemy's works in rear 
 of Vicksburg were heavy ; and at Chattanooga, where, under 
 General Osterhaus, it joined General Hooker in scaling 
 Lookout Mountain, the loss in killed was especially heavy. 
 In the march of General Sherman on Atlanta, it engaged the 
 enemy at Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, and 
 in the battles of the 22d and 28th of July, and at Jonesboro. 
 Its conduct before Atlanta, on the 22d of July, was gallant in 
 the extreme, as was also that of the 9th Iowa. An account of 
 the part it acted, during that day, will be found in the sketch 
 of the last named regiment. 
 
 In the march from Atlanta to Savannah, the 4th Iowa was 
 brigaded with the 9th, 2oth, 26th, 30th, and 31st Iowa 
 regiments — the same troops who afterwards captured the city 
 of Columbia, South Carolina. While in rear of Savannah, 
 these troops had a compliment paid them, to which I should in 
 justice allude. The brigade. General Williamson commanding, 
 arrived in rear of Savannah, on the 11th of December, and, on 
 the 20th instant, was one of the commands selected to carry 
 the enemy's works, and force an entrance into the city. The 
 assault was to come off on the morning of the 21st ; but the 
 
122 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 night i)revious General Hardee fled. To appreciate the value 
 of this compliment, it is necessary to understand the position 
 of the brigade, and the character of obstacles to be overcome. 
 Its position was in the low lands south-west of Savannah, and 
 on the right of the road leading to the city. Five hundred 
 yards in its front was the Little Ogechee, whose north-east 
 bank was fortified, and held by the enemy : between its line 
 and the river was the Grave Yard Battery. The bridge over 
 the Ogechee was destroyed, and the waters of the stream, 
 much swollen. The brigade was to cross on rafts, planks, and 
 poles, placed by a storming party. It was a hazardous under- 
 taking ; but, had not General Hardee fled, it would doubtless 
 have been successfully accomplished. 
 
 The 4th Iowa Infantry has met the enemy in eight difffer- 
 ent rebel States — Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, 
 Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, and 
 has never been repulsed ; only once has it been compelled to 
 yield the ground it had wrested from the enemy. 
 
 In closing an ofiicial statement of the services of his regiment 
 called for by the Adjutant-General of Iowa, General William- 
 son says: It "stayed at Nashville a few days to get an outfit, 
 and then started on the campaign against Atlanta, and has 
 only halted in line of battle since, until its arrival at this place, 
 on the 7th instant. This is not a regiment which has ordina- 
 rily been at 'posts.' I can hardly realize the meaning of the 
 term. "VVe have stopped a few weeks to rest after a campaign, 
 but never had charge of any post since the regiment was really 
 equipped for the field at Rolla, in the fall of 1861. 
 
 "Our records, reports, and returns are made from the place 
 where we happened to be when they fell due, and one camp 
 has been almost as much a 'post' with us as another." 
 
 Subsequently to the spring of 1863, General Williamson has 
 been in command of the brigade to which his regiment has 
 
JAMES A. WILLIAMSON. 123 
 
 been attached; and during all this time has enjoyed, in an 
 uncommon degree, the confidence of his superior officers. In 
 proof of this I give the following instance : While Governor 
 Stone was on a visit to the army before Atlanta, in the summer 
 of 1864, he met General Sherman at his head-quarters. In the 
 course of conversation, the names of different Iowa officers 
 were introduced, when Governor Stone enquired: "Where, 
 general, is Colonel Williamson?" "With his command and 
 doing his duty, as he always is," was the reply; and only 
 those who know General Sherman can appreciate the worth of 
 this compliment. 
 
 General Williamson was not promoted to his present rank 
 until the winter of 1861-5. Why suoh merit was so long unre- 
 warded, has been a question much canvassed, and has produced 
 not a little indignation, both in and out of the army. I give 
 the following on the authority of a distinguished citizen of 
 General Williamson's city: — On one occasion, the family of 
 General Williamson being sick, that officer, knowing the long 
 delay that would follow in obtaining a leave of absence through 
 the regular channel, applied directly to the War Department. 
 He obtained his leave and left for his home, after presenting 
 his papers at corps head-quarters. The corps commander, who 
 was, and still is jealous of his authority, was indignant ; and 
 from that time until the fall of 1861, although conceding the 
 merit and claims of the general, declined to urge his promo- 
 tion. 
 
 General Williamson is of medium hight, and has a fine, 
 symmetrical form. His full, gray eyes, which in his ordinary 
 moods have a sort of absent and care-worn expression, tingle 
 with intelligence and animation as soon as he becomes inter- 
 ested in conversation. In manners he is modest and reserved. 
 He never begs favors. In New England he would be appreci- 
 ated ; but, for a Western man, he lacks impudence. 
 
124 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 The editor of the Cass County "Gazette," an intimate 
 acquaintance of the general, speaks thus of him : 
 
 " Colonel Williamson is a refined, chivalrous gentleman, 
 whom one must know to appreciate. To those who win his 
 confidence, he is lavishly sociable ; but, for those who treat him 
 coolly, he has no smile or word of gladness. He rarely alters 
 a deliberate opinion, and we know of but one exception ; once 
 of the best Democratic blood of the North, he is now a warm 
 friend of Lincoln. He is a brave man. In battle his fine form 
 moves near the van. He rides slowly, speaks with much calm- 
 ness, and never becomes excited in action. "Williamson is still 
 a young man ; but he is to-day a favorite of the people — espec- 
 ially in Middle and Western Iowa." 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM HORD WORTHINGTON. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, FIFTH INFANTRY. 
 
 William H. Worthington, who was shot dead before 
 Corinth, in the spring of 1862, by a frightened sentinel, was 
 linked by blood to the earliest and most distinguished families 
 of the country — on the paternal side to the Virginia line of 
 Madisons, and to General Andrew Lewis, the Virginia soldier, 
 who was recommended by General Washington as "Com- 
 mander-in-chief of the American Army:" on the maternal 
 side, to the Slaughters, also a distinguished Virginia family. 
 His grand-father. Colonel Gabriel Slaughter, who emigrated to 
 Kentucky in its earliest history, was twice elected lieutenant- 
 governor of that State — first with Governor Scott, and last 
 with Governor George Madison — and each time succeeded to 
 the administration of the government, as survivor of the 
 governor elect. He was also the colonel of a Kentucky regi- 
 ment which fought with General Jackson at the battle of New 
 Orleans. His faithfulness and ability as an executive officer, 
 and his gallantry at the battle of New Orleans, have been 
 commemorated by his adopted State, in the erection of a fine 
 monument to his memory. 
 
 Colonel Worthington's grand-father, Edward Worthington, 
 a Marylander, was also an early and distinguished settler in 
 Kentucky. His father, the Rev. John Tolly Worthington, 
 D. D., a devoted Christian and zealous patriot, is still living, 
 and a resident of Pittsfield, Illinois. William H. Worthington 
 was born at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, on the 2d day of Novem- 
 ber, 1828. He lost his mother in early infancy, and was 
 
 adopted, reared and educated by his maternal grand-uncle, 
 
 125 
 
126 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 Major William Hord, also a distinguished Kentucky gentle- 
 man. I am thus particular in giving the colonel's lineage, for 
 his military enthusiasm was of ancestral inheritance. 
 
 His primary education Colonel Worthington received in the 
 schools of Louisville, at that time the residence of Major Hord; 
 and it was there, while under the instruction of a Polish officer, 
 that he first gave token of that military spirit which, in despite 
 of his untimely fate, has made his name celebrated in the 
 history of our State. Having graduated at Bacon College, 
 Harrodsburg, Kentucky, he was, at the age of nineteen, mar- 
 ried to Miss Anna Eliza, daughter of Dr. Tomlinson, a lady of 
 reputed beauty and intelligence ; and now, throwing aside his 
 books, he began life on a farm. This calling soon proved 
 uncongenial to his tastes, and he abandoned it for the law. 
 After being admitted to the bar, he opened an office in his 
 native town; and, though his i^rofessional studies had been 
 chiefly of his own shaping, he soon gave promise of future 
 eminence. In 1857 he moved to Iowa, where, establishing 
 himself in a lucrative practice, he made his home till the 
 beginning of the war. 
 
 When the war broke out he was serving as the captain of 
 the "City Rifles," a military company in the city of Keokuk ; 
 and it was the aptness which he discovered in military matters 
 while in this position, that first brought his name into favora- 
 ble notice with Governor Kirkwood. 
 
 While in Washington City, seeking a position in the regular 
 army, (which he only failed in obtaining on account of all 
 vacancies being filled) he was tendered the colonelcy of an 
 Iowa volunteer regiment. This he accepted; and, returning 
 to Iowa early in July, received his commission as colonel of 
 the 5th Iowa Infantry, on the 15th of the same month. 
 
 The 5th Iowa Infantry entered the service under peculiar 
 and promising omens : its colonel was a descendant of our most 
 
"WILLIAM H. WORTHINGTON. 127 
 
 illustrious revolutionary heroes, and its drummer-boy, Robert 
 Bain, beat the same drum with which his father, in 1812, and 
 his grand-father, in 1776, had stirred the hearts of the Revolu- 
 tionists. For aught I know, this same drum- beat defiance to 
 Sir George Packenham, on the battle-field of New Orleans. 
 
 The history of the 5th Iowa is a proud one. From the time 
 it took the field in August, 1861, till it was consolidated with 
 the 5th Iowa Cavalry, three years later, no blot or stain dis- 
 figures its fair record. I have stated elsewhere that the 
 regiment first served in Missouri. Leaving Jefferson Barracks 
 the 14th of August, it proceeded to Jefierson City, where it 
 remained till the first of September, From Jefierson City it 
 marched to Columbia; from Columbia to Boonville; from 
 Boonville to Glasgow; from Glasgow to Springfield; from 
 Springfield to Syracuse ; from Syracuse back to Boonville, and 
 thence to Cairo, Illinois, where it arrived on the 20th of Febru- 
 ary, 1862. Thus far, the regiment had failed to meet the enemy 
 in a general engagement. 
 
 When the 5th Iowa, under Colonel Worthington, arrived at 
 Cairo, it was one of the best drilled and disciplined regiments 
 in the volunteer service. This, at first, was secured at the 
 expense of the colonel's popularity. Indeed, in the early his- 
 tory of the war, the people of the North were so largely 
 imbued with their peculiar ideas of Democracy, (doing as they 
 pleased) that it was hard for them to learn the duties and sub- 
 mit to the requirements of soldiers; and this, with the 5th 
 Iowa as well as with other Iowa regiments, was the cause of 
 much discontent. The men were, at first, restive under 
 Colonel Worthington's strict discipline. But the semi-oflacial 
 order of General Pope, of October, 1861, announcing : " Colonel : 
 your regiment is the most soldierly-appearing one I have seen 
 in Missouri," secured, in the future, an unquestioning compli- 
 ance with his orders ; for the men were proud of their good 
 
128 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 name, and knew to whom belonged the credit. This, too, in 
 connection with the fact of his having periled his own life in 
 rescuing a private of his command from drowning in the Mis- 
 souri E.iver, secured him, from that day to the day of his 
 death, the respect and esteem of his regiment. 
 
 After a three days' rest at Cairo, Colonel Worthington crossed 
 the Mississippi with his regiment, and marched out to Benton, 
 Missouri. From that point, he accompanied General Pope to 
 New Madrid, where, during the ten days' siege, he was con- 
 spicuous. In the meantime, he had assumed command of a 
 brigade, and with that was assigned the important task of 
 assaulting and capturing the ' Upper Fort, ' which, I may add, 
 would have been successfully accomplished, had not the ruse 
 de guerre of General Stanley been divined by the enemy. This 
 was on the morning of the 7th of March, 1862, and, on the 
 morning of the 13th, the place was evacuated. But the gallan- 
 try of companies A and B, of the 5th Iowa, and three compa- 
 nies of the 39th Indiana, (these regiments were of Colonel 
 Worthington's command) I should not omit to mention. On 
 the afternoon of the 4th of March, these troops, under com- 
 mand of Major Robertson of the 5th Iowa, made the first 
 demonstration against New Madrid. After engaging the ene- 
 my's pickets, and driving them through the large corn-field 
 that lay to the north of the town, they suddenly found them- 
 selves confronted by a force which, in numbers, was not only 
 treble their own, but which was supported by artillery. Here, 
 however, they maintained their position, in the face of a gall- 
 ing fire, for upwards of two hours ; nor did they retire till 
 ordered to do so by Colonel, now General Granger. 
 
 During the operations around Island No. 10, which was sur- 
 rendered to General Pope on the 7th of the following April, 
 Colonel Worthington v/as again conspicuous ; and the troops of 
 his command were, by order of General Pope, iDcrmitted to 
 
WILLIAM H. WORTHINGTON. 129 
 
 inscribe on their flags, "Island No. 10." He now sailed to 
 Hamburg Landing, on the Tennessee, where, with the com- 
 mand of General Pope, he took up his position before Corinth, 
 on the left of our army. But his gallant career was soon to 
 close: he was shot by a heecUess and frightened sentinel, on the 
 morning of the 22d of May ; and the story, a brief one, is thus 
 
 sadly told : 
 
 "General Orders No. 53. 
 
 "Head-quarters Army op the Mississippi, 
 Near Fabmington, May 22d, 1862. 
 
 " The general commanding announces to the army with deep 
 regret the death of Colonel W. H. Worthington, Fifth Iowa 
 Volunteers. He was killed by an unfortunate accident this 
 morning, at two o'clock, while in discharge of his duties as 
 general officer of the day. * * * * 
 
 "Speed Butler, 
 Assistant Adjutant General. ^^ 
 " By order of General Pope." 
 
 The report of the gun was heard by Captain Wever and 
 myself, who, at the time, were on picket-duty, on the extreme 
 left. It came to us across an open field to our right and rear, 
 and from the edge of the timber, which was some quarter of a 
 mile away. On our return to camp in the morning, we 
 learned the sad story. The night was dark, and the sentinel, 
 having left his post, was walking carelessly to the rear, when 
 the officer of the day approached. Forgetting that he was 
 unthin the line, and alarmed at what he supposed the approach 
 of the enemy, he fired, without even challenging the 
 approaching party. The ball took effect near the left eye, and 
 the colonel, falling from his horse, died almost instantly. 
 
 Of the many gallant Iowa officers who have fallen in the 
 service of their country, few were more deeply and sincerely 
 mourned than Colonel Worthington. Many were the tributes 
 that were offered to his memory. The army in which he 
 served, his regiment, the District Court of his county, his old 
 
130 IOWA COLOXELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 company, the "City Rifles,"— all spolve his praise and joined 
 in one common wail : all, as was expressed by Judge Francis 
 Springer, "mourned the loss, and cherished the memory of the 
 noble-hearted, brave and heroic Worthington.". 
 
 At the time of his death, the future of no officer in our army 
 was more promising than his. He loved the service, and was 
 a model soldier. Already he had been recommended for 
 promotion ; and, had he survived the siege of Corinth, he 
 would have been made a brigadier-general. I do not speak 
 without authority. "In Colonel Worthington" (I quote from 
 the above order of General Pope) "this army has sustained a 
 serious loss. Prompt, gallant and patriotic, a brilliant career 
 in the military profession was before him. " 
 
 I remember well the first time I saw him. We had just 
 arrived at the front, and he had called on Colonel Rankin to 
 enquire and talk of friends at home. His manly form, and 
 frank, open countenance imj^ressed me ; and, though I did not 
 then know his name, I knew he was no ordinary man. 
 
 Colonel W^orthington was a Southern man, with a Southern 
 education and Southern prejudices; and, during the Presiden- 
 tial canvass of 18G0, advocated the cause of Bell and Everett. 
 Even at the outbreak of the war, he was a conservative. But 
 he was also loyal; and no sooner was Abraham Lincoln 
 declared elected, than he recognized and respected him as the 
 legal Executive of the Nation. Indeed, when it was rumored 
 that the rebels were tlireatening the Capital, he declared to his 
 father: "If they enter Washington they shall march over my 
 dead body!" Before leaving Missouri, lie wrote to his fatlier: 
 "You know my conservative views heretofore; I am now a 
 radical; and so lie died. To his wife he wrote: "If I fall, 
 teach my son to do likewise, if his country needs li is life. " 
 His love for his country he sealed with his blood, and died a 
 true patriot. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL C. L. MATTHIES. 
 
 SECOND COLOiSTEL, FIFTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Charles Leopold Matthies was the first man in the 
 State of Iowa, and in the United States, to tender a military 
 company to the Government, to aid in crushing the rebellion. 
 The tender was made by letter through Governor Kirkwood, 
 on the dth day of January, 1861. The general can not be proud- 
 er of the distinction which this act has secured him, than is the 
 State of Iowa. 
 
 General Matthies is a Prussian by birth, and was born in 
 Bromberg, on the 31st day of May, 1824. When sixteen years 
 of age, his father, an affluent farmer, sent him to the Univer- 
 sity at Halle, where he received a thorough military education. 
 On leaving that University, he returned home ; and, from that 
 time till he reached his twentieth year, he labored on his 
 father's farm. At the age of twenty, he entered the Prussian 
 army ; and, in 1847, served in the campaign against the Insur- 
 rectionists, (the Poles) under General Miroslawski. In 1848, 
 he resigned the commission which he had won by his good 
 conduct, and a few months later emigrated to America, arriv- 
 ing in New York in the spring of 1849. In the latter part of 
 the same year, he came to Iowa, and settled in Burlington, 
 where, engaging in mercantile pursuits, he has made his home 
 ever since. 
 
 General Matthies entered the volunteer service, as captain of 
 Company D, 1st Iowa Infantry — that noble regiment which, 
 by its heroism at Wilson's Creek, established the military 
 prowess of the State. He was not present in that engagement; 
 for, in the latter part of July, he received notice of his 
 
 131 
 
132 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 promotion to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 5th Iowa, and at 
 once left to report to that regiment. After the death of Colonel 
 "Worthing-ton, he was promoted to the colonelcy. He shared 
 with his regiment the fatigues and hardships of the Missouri 
 campaigns ; was with it at Island No. 10, and during the siege 
 of Corinth ; and yet, prior to the battle of luka, his name was 
 hardly known outside of his own brigade. It was his courage 
 and gallantry in that sanguinary battle that made him distin- 
 guished in his army corps, and earned for him the commission 
 of a brigadier-general. 
 
 After the evacuation of Corinth, the 5th Iowa, under Colonel 
 Matthies, joined in the pursuit of Beauregard to Boonville, 
 and returned thence to Clear Springs, near Corinth. Late in 
 June, it marched to Ripley with its division ; returned imme- 
 diately to Rienzi, and, on the 10th of July, marched back to 
 Clear Springs. From Clear Springs it changed camp to Jacinto, 
 and, from that point, marched against Price at luka, in the 
 evening of the 18th of September, 1862. With the exception 
 of the last, the regiment met the enemy in none of these 
 movements. 
 
 General Rosecrans, by incautiously pushing his advance too 
 far, precipitated the battle of luka on the afternoon of the 19th 
 of September, when, in accordance with pre-arranged plans, it 
 should have been fought on the morning of the 20th. General 
 Grant first arranged to fight the battle as early as the morning 
 of the 19th instant; and, with that understanding, the forces of 
 Ord moved out from Corinth in the afternoon of the 17th, and 
 the evening of the next day came up with, and drove in the 
 enemy's pickets. But at that hour the chief part of Rosecrans' 
 - command was still at Jacinto, and the time for making the 
 attack was changed. General Price, divining Grant's plan of 
 concentration, hurried out from luka in the afternoon of the 
 19th, and threw his entire army against Rosecrans, hoping to 
 
CHARLES L. MATTHIES. 133 
 
 overwhelm him before Ord could come up; aud thus it hap- 
 pened that Rosecrans fought alone the heedless battle of luka. 
 There is another version of this affair, which, judging by the 
 authority from which I receive it, is doubtless the correct one : 
 that Rosecrans, ambitious, and desirous of superseding General 
 Grant, moved up against Price for the express purpose of 
 bringing on a battle and winning glory, well knowing at the 
 time that he was disobeying orders. Any other general, 
 except the magnanimous Grant, would have at once relieved 
 him and put him in arrest. 
 
 The 5th Iowa under Matthies, together with the 10th, IGth 
 and 17th Iowa, the 10th Missouri and 80th Ohio, were among 
 the troops in the van of Rosecrans' forces, and were the first to 
 encounter the enemy. The struggle which ensued was pro- 
 tracted and desperate in the extreme ; indeed, for courage and 
 endurance it has few parallels. No pen can do more than 
 credit to the 5th Iowa Infantry for its heroism in this terrible 
 engagement. During the fore part of the day, while en route 
 from Jacinto to luka, this regiment led the advance of the 3d 
 Division, and, for more than six miles, continued to drive back 
 the enemy, who, in small force, made repeated stands. When 
 the enemy were finally met in force some three miles south- 
 west of luka, the 5th Iowa was one of the first regiments in 
 line of battle ; and, from that time until it fired its last cart- 
 ridge, it maintained its position. Its list of casualties is proof 
 of its gallantry. It lost in killed, wounded and missing, from 
 an aggregate of four hundred and eighty-two that went into the 
 fight, hvo hundred and seventeen men. Fifteen commissioned 
 officers were killed and wounded; and, of the enlisted men, 
 thirty-four were kiUed, and one hundred and sixty-eight 
 wounded. Lieutenants Lafayette Shawl and E. M. Holcomb 
 were killed, and Captains John Albaugh and Joel BrowTi, and 
 Lieutenants R. F. Patterson, J. W. Casad, A. L. Mateer, A. 
 
134 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Ellis, J. E. Page, Benjamin Jarvis, A. B. Lewis, S. S. Sample, 
 J. E. Pangborn, W. C. Huber and W. H. Colton were wounded. 
 Lieutenant Mateer died of his wounds soon after the battle. 
 Among those mentioned for special gallantry were Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Sampson, and Lieutenant and Acting-Major Patterson, 
 and Lieutenant Marshall. Nearly all were equally deserving 
 of mention. 
 
 The 5th was General S. Hamilton's pet regiment; and, after 
 the battle, Colonel Matthies enclosed to him his official report, 
 to which he received the following reply : 
 
 "New York, October 27th, 1862. 
 " Colonel C. L. Matthies, Uh Iowa Infantry: 
 
 '''■My Dear Colonel: In sending to me the report of the 
 brilliant conduct of the 5th Iowa at luka, September 19th, 
 1862, you have given me a very great pleasure, as well as 
 paid me a great compliment. When I read the newspaper 
 accounts of battles in the vicinity of Corinth, though still sick, 
 my heart thrilled with pride and satisfaction at the splendid 
 conduct of the regiments composing my old division, espe- 
 cially that of the 5th Iowa and 26th Missouri. 
 
 " To show you how well understood it is, the 5th Iowa has 
 become a household word with us, and my youngest boy, a 
 prattler of four years of age, when asked what company he 
 belongs to, says, (and he breakfasts in his knapsack) ' Com- 
 pany A, Fifth Iowa — papa's pet regiment.' 
 
 " I am under orders from Washington, and though I may 
 not again have the honor to number the 5th Iowa among 
 those under my command, I shall always point to its conduct, 
 as an evidence of the character of the troops from that State, 
 and how kindly they respond to, and confer honor upon those 
 who have diligently endeavored to look after their welfare, 
 discipline, and instruction, which I honestly think I may 
 claim a share in having done. Feeling, Colonel, that their 
 honor is my honor, I shall watch their future career with the 
 same interest I watched over them when a part of my 
 command. Write my compliments and kind remembrances 
 to all. Believe me, very truly your friend, 
 
 "SCHUYLER HAMILTON, 
 ^^Major-General Volunteers, U. S. J.." 
 
CHAELES L. MATTHIES. 135 
 
 The 5th Iowa Inftintry next engaged the enemy at Corinth- 
 October 3cl and 4th, 1862 ; and, from that date until the 24th of 
 April, 18G3, the time of Colonel Matthies' promotion to 
 brigadier-general, its history is the same as that of the 10th 
 and, I might add, that of the 17th Iowa ; for these three 
 regiments served in the same division. 
 
 After receiving, in April, 1863, a brigadier's commission, 
 General Matthies was ordered to report to General McPherson, 
 who assigned him to the command of the 7th Division, 17th 
 Army Corps ; but this order being soon after recalled, he was 
 given command of the 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 15th Army 
 Corps, which he commanded, under General Sherman, from 
 Grand Gulf to Jackson and thence to the rear of Vicksburg. 
 He continued in command of this brigade until the death of 
 Colonel Boomer, of the 26th Missouri, when he was sent back 
 to his old army corps, and given command of the 3d Brigade, 
 of the 7th Division. On leaving the command of General 
 Sherman, that ofllcer honored him with an autograph letter, 
 in which he complimented him highly for his efficient 
 services. His new command was composed of the following 
 troops: the 5th and 10th Iowa, the 26th Missouri and 93d 
 Illinois— four as gallant regiments as ever met the enemy in 
 battle. In the latter part of January, 1864, he was given 
 command of a temporary division, made up of different 
 regiments of the 15th Army Corps, with which he marched to 
 East Tennessee, to aid in driving back Longstreet, who was 
 then threatening Knoxville. Returning from this expedition, 
 he was assigned to an important command, with head-quarters 
 at Decatur, Alabama. He had charge of the Nashville and 
 Decatur Railroad as far north as Linnville, and of the 
 Memphis and Charleston Railroad as fiir east as Huntsville. 
 He removed his head-quarters to Decatur, on the 1st of IMay, 
 1864, and at once began fortifying that place. The works 
 
136 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 which he erected were of the most imposhig character ; — so 
 formidable tliat General Hood, in his flanking tour north, did 
 not essay their capture. In the latter part of May, 18G4, the 
 general tendered his resignation, which was reluctantly 
 accepted. 
 
 I should not close this sketch without stating briefly the 
 distinguished part General Matthies sustained in the operations 
 around Chattanooga, in November, 18G3. General Bragg was 
 defeated in the evening of the 24th, and his only hope, on the 
 morning of the 25th, was to save his baggage, stores and 
 artillery. The point on Mission Ridge that commanded the 
 road over which these must pass was on Grant's extreme left, 
 and, during the entire day of the 25th, the divisions of Ewing, 
 John E. Smith, Morgan L. Smith and Jeff'erson C. Davis had 
 sharp and sanguinary fighting for its possession; but it had 
 been so strongly fortified, and Bragg had massed his troops 
 there to such an extent that, all efforts on the part of General 
 Sherman were fruitless. There was no harder fighting done 
 on any portion of Mission Ridge or Lookout Mountain, than 
 was done on this point ; and acts of individual gallantry, on 
 the part of the Union troops, were numerous. Colonel Holden 
 Putnam of the 93d Illinois, although not an Iowa man, deserves 
 special mention ; and nothing can give the Iowa troops, who 
 fought with him on Mission Ridge and at Champion's Hill, 
 more pleasure than to meet his name on these pages. His 
 was the first regiment of General Matthies' Brigade to scale 
 the hill from the White House and assault the enemy in their 
 strong works. His command was instantly repulsed; but, 
 undaunted, he rallied his men, and, seizing the colors, dashed 
 on to the top of the hill in spite of all remonstrances. He was 
 shot dead instantly, through the head. The 26th Missouri soon 
 followed the 93d Illinois, and then the 5th and 10th Iowa, with 
 General Matthies in person ; and still the enemy, rejoicing in 
 
CHAHLES L. MATTHIES. 137 
 
 the strength of their numbers and position, maintained their 
 ground. The 2d Brigade of the same division now came up ; 
 but in a few moments after the enemy, emerging in strong 
 force from the railroad tunnel near by, and with their move- 
 ments concealed by dense brush, suddenly made their appear- 
 ance in rear of the right flank, when a retreat was ordered. 
 The command was, " For God's sake, get out of this ! " It was 
 on that hill-top that General Matthies was wounded ; and it 
 was that wound, together with the exposures and hardships of 
 the previous campaign, that broke down his health, in conse- 
 quence of which he tendered his resignation. He was an 
 excellent officer, and had a reputation for promptness and 
 trustworthiness that but few enjoyed in his division. 
 
 General Matthies is a little above the medium in size, with a 
 full breast and heavy shoulders. He has mild, gray eyes, and 
 a round, full, good-natured face. To look at him, you would 
 not take him for a foreigner; but he no sooner speaks than he 
 betrays his nativity. He has never been able to master the 
 accent of our language. He is one of those men whom to know 
 is to like. His sanguine temperament, and earnest, open- 
 hearted disposition enables him, in his happy moods, to talk 
 and laugh with extreme good nature, and, in his less happy 
 ones, to hate and berate his enemies most intensely. He was 
 always on kind and familiar terms with every solcUer of his 
 command, and his familiarity in no way interfered with his 
 discipline. The soldiers loved "old Dutchie," he was so good 
 and brave. 
 
 I can not take leave of General Matthies without relating the 
 following: When the division of John E. Smith was in camp 
 back of Memphis, late in February, 1863, the general chanced 
 one day to be general officer of the clay. At about seven o'clock 
 in the morning of the day in question, a captain, whose 2d 
 lieutenant had deserted to the enemy the night before, and 
 
138 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 whose 1st lieutenant was enjoying himself in the city, arrived 
 on the picket-line to relieve the old picket-guard. The captain 
 left his reserve in charge of a sergeant, while he went to dis- 
 tribute the first relief at the different posts, and give proper 
 instructions. In his absence, the officer of the day made his 
 appearance. Having at some point stole his way through the 
 lines, he came riding down the road at full speed, and was on 
 the reserve before the sergeant could get his men in line to 
 receive him. The general, who was dressed in a common 
 soldier's overcoat, and without any scarf or other insignia of 
 his office, began administering a rebuke for negligence; but 
 was quickly cut short by the sergeant, who replied, "How did 
 I know who you was ? you haven't got any scarf on ; I thought 
 it was a soldier just coming in from foraging." "Well, well," 
 said the general, "I know; but— you must be on the watch 
 for guerrillas." 
 
COLONEL JABEZ BANBURY. 
 
 THIRD COLONEL, FIFTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Jabez Banbury is a native of England, and was born in 
 the year 1831 ; but, removing to this country when quite young, 
 he became, long since, thoroughly Americanized. He is a 
 man of limited education, and by trade a mechanic. 
 
 At the time of entering the service, he had some experience 
 in military matters ; for he had been a member of an independ- 
 ent military company in Marshalltown. At that time I am 
 informed, he gave proof of military taste and talent. He 
 enlisted in the United States volunteer service in June, 1861, 
 and assisted in raising a company for the war, which was 
 afterwards assigned to the 5th Iowa Infantry, and designated 
 Company D. Of this company, he was elected 1st lieutenant, 
 and, with this rank, entered the field. He was j)romoted to 
 the captaincy of his company in February, 1862 ; was made 
 major of his regiment, on the 14th of the following July, and, 
 on the promotion of Colonel Matthies to brigadier-general, was 
 commissioned colonel. At the time his regiment was trans- 
 ferred to the 5th Iowa Cavalry in August, 1861, he was 
 mustered out of the service, and returned to his home in 
 Marshalltown. 
 
 General Matthies left his regiment at Milliken's Bend, 
 
 Louisiana, just before it started on its march to the rear of 
 
 Vicksburg. From that time till the fall of that city, the 5th 
 
 Iowa was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel E. S. Sampson. 
 
 From the fall of Vicksburg, up to the time Colonel Banbury 
 
 was mustered out of the service, the regiment was under his 
 
 command, if we except a few months when he was in 
 
 139 
 
140 IOWA COLiONEIiS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 command of a brigade. The 5th Iowa is proud of its record, 
 and it may also be proud of its commanding otficers ; for they 
 were all most excellent men. 
 
 The march to the Yockona, and thence back to Memphis ; the 
 trip down the Mississippi to Grand Lake, and thence back to 
 Helena; and the wild expedition down the Yazoo Pass, all 
 belong to the history of the 5th Iowa Infantry. An account of 
 these I have given in the sketches of other officers and regi- 
 ments, as I also have of the march from Milliken's Bend round 
 to the rear of Vicksburg. Of the battles fought during the last 
 named march, the 5th Iowa was engaged in two — Jackson and 
 Champion's Hill. The regiment also engaged the enemy in 
 two skirmishes — the first on the hills north of Bayou Pierre, 
 and the second in the rugged country north of Big Black 
 Kiver. In the last, the regiment constituted a portion of the 
 force under Colonel Boomer of the 26th Missouri, who was sent 
 out on a reconnoissance some five miles in the direction of 
 Vicksburg. The 5th Iowa led the advance of its corps from 
 Raymond to Clinton, and marched with its division, which led 
 the advance, from Clinton to Jackson. In the battle of Jack- 
 son, the regiment did not suffer severely. Its position was to 
 the left of the 17th Iowa, and so far to the north that it over- 
 lapped the right of the enemy's line. Its loss was four men 
 wounded. 
 
 The part which the 5th Iowa took in the battle of Cham- 
 pion's Hill, or Baker's Creek, was most brilliant and sanguin- 
 ary. This battle, which came off on the 16th of May, 1863, 
 "was fought mainly by Hovey's Division of McClernand's 
 Corps, and Logan's and Quimby's Divisions (the latter com- 
 manded by Brigadier-General M. M. Crocker) of McPherson's 
 Corps;" and in it the Iowa troops were consequently largely 
 represented. On the evening of the 15th instant, General 
 Grant made his head-quarters at Clinton. Early on the fol- 
 
JABEZ BANBURY. 141 
 
 lowing morning, two employees on the Jackson and Vicksburg 
 Railroad were brought to him, who represented that, on the 
 previous night, they had passed through General Pemberton's 
 army. They also represented that Pemberton had marched 
 out from Vicksburg with a force consisting of about eighty 
 regiments, with ten batteries of artillery, the entire command 
 numbering about twenty-five thousand men. The object of 
 Pemberton was, to come up with and attack General Grant in 
 rear, before he should be able to overcome General Johnson at 
 Jackson ; and it had been before reported by prisoners that, on 
 General Johnson's arrival at Jackson in the evening of the 
 13th instant, he had sent peremptory orders to Pemberton to 
 make this movement. The evidence was conclusive to General 
 Grant that a great battle was near at hand ; and he therefore 
 ordered a rapid concentration of his troops, even sending back 
 to Jackson for General Sherman's Corps, which had been left 
 behind to destroy the railroads and rebel government property. 
 This done, he mounted his horse and rode rapidly to the front. 
 In the march from Jackson back in the direction of Vicksburg, 
 the divisions of Logan and Crocker (excepting the 2d brigade) 
 reached a point some five miles west of Clinton ; and were, 
 therefore, only about seven miles east of Champion's Hill, 
 and not far distant from General Hovey, who, with his divi- 
 sion, was in the extreme advance. The next morning, the 
 16th of May, the troops of Hovey's Division left their camp 
 at Bolton's Station, and moved in the direction of Champion's 
 Hill, three and a half miles distant. These troops were the 
 first to meet the enemy. The engagement was just opening as 
 the 5th Iowa, with its brigade, came up. 
 
 "The enemy had taken up a very strong position on a nar- 
 row ridge, his left resting on the hight where the road makes a 
 sharp turn to the left approaching Vicksburg. The top of the 
 ridge, and the precipitous hill-side to the left of the road, are 
 
142 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 covered by a dense forest and under-growth. To the right of 
 the road, the timber extends a short distance down the hill, 
 and then opens into cultivated fields on a gentle slope, and 
 into a valley, extending for a considerable distance. On the 
 road and into the wooded ravine and hill-side, Hovey's Divi- 
 sion was disposed for the attack." 
 
 But Logan and Crocker fought on the right of the road, hav- 
 ing come into line in the above named open fields. Logan's 
 Division held the extreme right, and next to his was Crock- 
 er's; and now the fighting opened in earnest. The rebel, as 
 compared with the Federal force, was more than two to one; 
 for Pemberton had not less than twenty-eight thousand men ; 
 whereas the divisions of Hovey, Crocker and Logan would not 
 number thirteen thousand. Confident of success with his 
 superior numbers, the enemy massed heavily on the right of 
 Hovey's Division, whi(th was near the road, and forced it back. 
 His left they also flanked, and soon after forced back his whole 
 line. The 3rd Brigade, to which the 5th Iowa was attached, 
 held the left of Crocker's Division, and, seeing Hovey's right 
 driven in, and their own left flank threatened, they faced to the 
 left, and double-quicked down to the road to meet the enemy 
 and check their further advance. The 93d Illinois was the 
 extreme left regiment of the brigade, and, next to that, was 
 the 5th Iowa : a portion of the 93d crossed the road, so that the 
 5th was but a few paces distant from it. And right here the 
 fighting was most obstinate and sanguinary. The trees, living, 
 though insensible witnesses to this terrible contest, stand 
 there still, bearing on their shattered branches and lacerated 
 trunks, thrilling evidence of these hours of bloody strife. 
 From one tree near the road-side, more than five hundred 
 bullets were afterward extracted; and it was not three feet 
 through. 
 
 In that immediate vicinity, the 5th Iowa with its brigade, 
 maintained its position in the unequal conflict for more than 
 
JABEZ BANBURY. 143 
 
 an hour and a half, and, during the last half hour, it had no 
 ammunition, or only such as could be taken from the cartridge- 
 boxes of the dead and wounded. In the meantime, the enemy 
 at this point had been reinforced, and were being led on with 
 the promise of certain victory. To withstand longer such 
 odds and desperation was impossible, and the gallant 3d 
 Brigade began to break, retiring over the hill in its rear, and 
 back into the open fields. McClernand, with the balance of 
 his corps, was momentarily expected, and was now looked for 
 with the greatest anxiety ; but relief came from another and 
 unexpected quarter. Just then two regiments of the 2d Brig- 
 ade, which had been left the night before at Clinton, as a sort 
 of body-guard to General Grant, came in view, down the road, 
 at double-quick. The 17th Iowa was in the advance, and was 
 closely followed by the 10th Missouri ; and both regiments did 
 not number more than five hundred and fifty men. In the 
 instant that these troops were seen by Colonel Putnam of the 
 93d Illinois, he came riding back at full run, without his hat, 
 and his brown, wavy hair streaming in the wind, shouting to 
 Colonel Hillis, of the 17th: "For God's sake. Colonel, hurry 
 up— we can not stand another minute;" and the fields to the 
 right, which were filled with the affrighted and fleeing strag- 
 glers, were proof of what he said. With the handful of 
 reinforcements thus brought up, the scale of battle was turned ; 
 and, before McClernand had arrived, the enemy were hasten- 
 ing in total rout back in the direction of Vicksburg. 
 
 To show the determination and valor with which the 5th 
 Iowa and its brigade fought, I will give one instance, which 
 came under my own observation. On arriving at the top of 
 the hill from which our lines had been driven, I noticed a 
 noble young boy lying near the road. He was shot through 
 both legs, and was unable to stand ; but he had his musket in 
 his hands, and was loading and firing on the advancing enemy. 
 
144 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 We were now under a galling fire, and I saw no more of the 
 brave boy till the enemy were driven from the field. On 
 returning afterward to look for the dead and wounded of my 
 company, I saw him lying in the same spot, but he was dead. 
 I do not know his name or his regiment ; but he must have 
 belonged to the 5th Iowa, or the 93d Illinois. 
 
 The 5th Iowa, in this engagement, lost nineteen killed and 
 seventy-five wounded, out of an aggregate of three hundred 
 and fifty officers and men. There were many individual 
 instances of gallantry ; but I am able to mention only the 
 names of Captains Tait, Lee and Pickerell. 
 
 The same night of the battle, the 5th Iowa marched two 
 miles in the direction of Vicksburg; and the next night 
 camped on the Big Black. On the 19th instant, the regiment 
 with its brigade arrived in rear of Vicksburg ; and, from that 
 time until the fall of the city, its history is the same as that of 
 the 10th Iowa, and the other regiments of its brigade. I might 
 add that, from the fall of Vicksburg up to the winter of 1864, its 
 history is the same as that of its brigade. Early in September, 
 1863, the 5th Iowa left with its division for the purpose of join- 
 ing the army of General Steele in Arkansas ; but, on arriving 
 at Helena, learned that no reinforcements were needed in that 
 quarter. From Helena it moved up the river to Memphis, and 
 from that point marched across the country with General Sher- 
 man to Chattanooga, where with its brigade it took a distin- 
 guished part in the engagement of the 25th of November. On 
 the night of the 24th instant, the regiment stood picket near 
 the Chattanooga and Knoxville Railroad, just where it passes 
 the north point of Mission Ridge ; and the next day, at noon, 
 joined its brigade and moved out through the open fields as 
 elsewhere described, to engage the enemy. After arriving at 
 the White House, which was near the base of the hill for 
 which General Sherman was fighting, the chief portion of the 
 
JABEZ BANBURY. 145 
 
 regiment was deployed as skirmishers to the right and front of 
 its brigade, and remained thus deployed till a retreat was 
 ordered. The total loss of the 5th Iowa in this engagement 
 was one hundred and six; but the greater portion of these 
 were captured in the sudden left flank movement of the enemy. 
 Two commissioned oflBcers were wounded, and eight captured ; 
 among the latter were Major Marshall and Adjutant Byers. 
 
 Subsequently to Grant's victory at Chattanooga, there is little 
 in the history of the 5th Iowa Infantry of striking interest. 
 It joined its division in the pursuit of Bragg, as far as 
 Graysville, Georgia, and then returned to Chattanooga. After 
 going into several temporary camps along the road, it finally 
 reached Huntsville, Alabama, where it passed the following 
 Winter. In April, it came North on veteran furlough; 
 returned to the field early in May ; served for a short time on 
 the Huntsville and Decatur Railroad, and was then ordered to 
 Kingston, Georgia. On the 8th of August, 1864, the veterans 
 of the regiment, by special order of the War Department, No. 
 262, were transferred to the 5th Iowa Cavalry, and assigned as 
 Comimnies G and I, under the following officers: Captain 
 Albert G. Ellis, 1st Lieutenant Jeremiah M. Lembocker, and 
 Second Lieutenant William S. Peck, of Company G; Captain 
 William G. M'Elrae, 1st Lieutenant Robert A. McKee, and 
 2d Lieutenant John Q. A. Campbell, of Company I. 
 
 At Mission Ridge Colonel Banbury showed great courage, 
 riding constantly under the heavy artillery- and musketry- 
 fire of the enemy. The same night of the engagement, he was 
 assigned to the command of his brigade; for General Matthies, 
 the brigade commander, had been wounded as I have already 
 stated. There is one other item in the colonel's military 
 history, which I should not omit to mention. At the battle of 
 Corinth, October 3d and 4th, 1862, he commanded the 17th 
 Iowa Infantry; and led it in the charge in which the 
 
146 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 regiment captured the colors of the 40th Mississippi, and 
 between one and two hundi'ed prisoners. 
 
 Although I served in the same division with Colonel 
 Banbury for many months, I never saw him to know him ; 
 but I am told by good authority that "he is reticent in 
 manners, intelligent though not educated, honest, upright, 
 and thoroughly reliable." As a soldier, he ranked among the 
 best officers of his division ; and, had he possessed sufficient 
 impudence, would doubtless have been promoted to a brigadier- 
 general. 
 
COLONEL JOHN ADAIR M'DOWELL. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, SIXTH INFANTRY. 
 
 John A. McDowell is a younger brother of Major-General 
 Irwin McDowell, who led the Federal forces in the first great 
 battle of the war. Colonel McDowell was born in the city of 
 Columbus, Ohio, the 22d day of July, 1825, and was graduated 
 at Kenyan College, Gambia, Ohio, in the year 1846. While at 
 Kenyan College he devoted much time to the study of military 
 tactics, under the instruction of Professor Boss, a former Pro- 
 fessor of Mathematics and Tactics in the West Point Military 
 Academy, New York, and the widely known translator of 
 Bourdon and other mathematical works. Colonel McDowell's 
 experience as an officer began as captain of the Kenyan Guards, 
 an independent military company, which, in its day, attained 
 much celebrity for its proficiency in discipline and drill. 
 
 Leaving college with the highest oratorical honors of his 
 class, he entered, in 1847, the office of Judge Swan, and pre- 
 pared himself for the practice of law. The vast mineral wealth 
 of California was, in 1848 and 1849, attracting thousands of 
 emigrants from the States to that country ; and, for young men 
 of enterprise and talent, the prospects seemed flattering. Hav- 
 ing completed his legal studies in 1848, he left in the following 
 Spring for California, in company with the 2d United States 
 Dragoons. He arrived on the shores of the Pacific in the 
 following Fall, and without incident, if we except the passage 
 of the Rio Grande. In crossing that river, he came near losing 
 his own life, in his generous efforts to save the life of a friend. 
 Locating in Monterey, he began the practice of law, and soon 
 became a public man; for, in 1851, he was elected mayor of 
 
 147 
 
148 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 that city. Those were, in California, tlie days of vigilance com- 
 mittees, and the duties of liis office required great caution and 
 judgment; but his management was firm and judicious, and 
 he secured the confidence of tlie public. 
 
 In 1852 he returned to the States, and, the following year, 
 settled in Keokuk, Iowa. During Colonel McDowell's resi- 
 dence in Iowa, and prior to his entering the service, he 
 followed the profession of civil engineering. He was at one 
 time the City Engineer of Keokuk, but, at the outbreak of the 
 war, was Superintendent and Chief Engineer of the Keokuk, 
 Mount Pleasant and Minnesota Railroad. 
 
 In the spring of 1861, Colonel McDowell visited Washington 
 for the purpose of obtaining authority to raise a regiment of 
 infantry. Authority was granted by the War Department, 
 and he returned to Burlington, which was to be the rendezvous 
 of his regiment. The 6th Iowa Infantry was enlisted princi- 
 pally from the counties of Linn, Lucas, Hardin, Appanoose, 
 Monroe, Clark, Johnson, Lee, Des Moines and Henry. It was 
 mustered into the United States service on the 17th of July, 
 1861 : its camp was Camp Warren. On the 2d of the following 
 August, Colonel McDowell was ordered to Keokuk, and, during 
 his week's stay there, a portion of his regiment took part in 
 the affair at Athens, between the Union forces under Colonel 
 Moore, and the Confederates under Green. On the 19th instant 
 the regiment left for St. Louis, where, reporting to General 
 Fremont, it was retained for five weeks in camp, at La Fayette 
 Park. The first campaign on which the 6th Iowa marched, 
 was that from Jefierson City to Springfield. 
 
 Lyon had been killed at Wilson's Creek, and Sturgis, his suc- 
 cessor, had fallen back to RoUa; when, instantly, the rebellious 
 citizens of Missouri, from every quarter, made haste to join 
 Price, their deliverer. Price, strongly reinforced, in council 
 with that mean, cowardly traitor, Claib Jackson, rasolved on a 
 
JOHN A. M'DOWELIi. 149 
 
 march northward. Small detachments of Federal troops with- 
 drew from his line of march ; and, on the 12tli of September, he 
 laid siege to Lexington. Fremont, in command of the Western 
 Department, having made ineffectual efforts to relieve jNIulli- 
 gan, quit St. Louis, and concentrated an army at Jefferson 
 City, with which to march on Price, and either rout or capture 
 his forces. Some claim more for this fossil hero; — that, after 
 Price's annihilation, he was to march south, and, flanking 
 Columbus, Hickman, Memphis, and a long stretch of the 
 Mississippi, was to enter, in triumph, Little Rock. With him 
 were Sigel, Hunter, Asboth, McKinstry, Pope, Lane, and his 
 royal guard under Zagonyi. Price left Lexington on the 30th 
 of September, and, the 8th of October, Fremont marched from 
 Jefferson City. Such, briefly, is the history of what preceded 
 the first great campaign in Missouri. 
 
 Passing through Tipton, Warsaw on the Osage, and thence 
 south, Fremont arrived in Springfield the 29th of October. 
 Price was then at Neosho. And this is all that there is of 
 Fremont's celebrated campaign in Missouri; for he was now 
 relieved by the President, and his command turned over to 
 General Hunter, who forthwith ordered a return in the direc- 
 tion of St. Louis. I cannot forbear adding that Fremont was a 
 better man than Hunter; for, if he had style, he also had pluck 
 and confidence. On this campaign the Gth Iowa Infantry was 
 under Brigadier-General McKinstry, and in three day's time 
 marched seventy-five miles. 
 
 During the winter of 1861-2, Colonel McDowell was stationed 
 on the Pacific Railroad, which he guarded from Sedalia to 
 Tipton; but, in the opening of the Spring Campaign, was 
 relieved at his own request, and sent to the front. Early in 
 March he sailed with his regiment up the Tennessee Elver, 
 and landed at Pittsburg Landing, where he was immediately 
 assigned to General Sherman's Division, and placed in 
 
150 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 command of a brigade. At the battle of Shiloh his command 
 held the extreme right of General Grant's Army, and was 
 stationed near the Purdy road. The 3d Iowa, it will be 
 remembered, was stationed near the extreme left. The 11th 
 and 13th Iowa, under McClernand, were to the left of Sherman ; 
 and the 2d, 7th, 8th, 12th and 14th Iowa, in Smith's Division, 
 commanded by W. H. L. Wallace, and to the left of McClern- 
 and. The 15th and lOth Iowa fought on their own hook. The 
 8th Iowa, however, fought under Prentiss. These were all the 
 Iowa troops in the battle of Shiloh. 
 
 The Gth Iowa was commanded at Shiloh by Captain John 
 Williams; and, to show the part acted by the regiment, I 
 quote briefly from his official report : 
 
 "On Sunday morning, when the attack was made on Genera^ 
 Grant's centre, the regiment was immediately brought into 
 line of battle, and was then moved about fifty yards to the 
 front, along the edge of the woods. Company I was thrown 
 out as skirmishers, and Companies E and G were moved to the 
 left and front of our line, to support a battery just placed there. 
 We were in this position for more than two hours, when we 
 were ordered to fall back to the rear of our camp, on the Purdy 
 road. The battle at this time was raging fiercely in the centre, 
 and extending gradually to the right. The line was slowly 
 yielding to a vastly superior force, and it now became evident 
 that we must change our position or be entirely cut off from 
 the rest of the army. 
 
 "The regiment then marched by the left flank about six 
 hundred yards, crossed an open field about one hundred and 
 fifty yards wide, took a position in the edge of the woods and 
 formed a new line of battle, which was succeeded by another 
 line, nearly perpendicular to the former, the right resting close 
 to the Purdy road." 
 
 This left flank movement was to the left and rear ; but this 
 position was held but a very short time, when the regiment 
 was marched to the rear about half a mile ; for McClernand's 
 Division, and the left of Sherman's, had been driven back rap- 
 idly. The next position taken by the regiment was in the 
 
JOHN A. M'DOWELL. 151 
 
 edge of the woods, and formed a part of that line which, for 
 several hours, held the enemy successfully at bay. At this 
 hour, things looked more hopeful ; and, had all the troops that 
 had stampeded and straggled been now in their proper places, 
 Grant would probably have suffered no further reverses at Shi- 
 loh. It was in this last position that the 6th Iowa suffered its 
 severest loss. Captain Williams was wounded here, and the 
 command of the regiment turned over to Captain Walden. 
 
 Of less than six hundred and fifty men that went into the 
 engagement, sixty-four were killed, one hundred wounded, 
 and forty-seven missing. The 6th Iowa, as a regiment, was 
 not engaged in the second day's battle, and its losses were 
 slight. Among the wounded in the first day's fight were Cap- 
 tain Williams, and Lieutenants Halliday and Grimes. The 
 names of the killed I have failed to learn. " In regard to the 
 bravery, coolness and intrepidity of both officers and men, too 
 much can not be said. Where all did so well, to particularize 
 would seem invidious." The regiment continued with Sher- 
 man during the siege of Corinth, and Colonel McDowell in 
 command of his brigade. The 6th was one of the regiments of 
 his command. 
 
 After the fall of Corinth, Colonel McDowell marched with 
 his brigade to Memphis, where he remained the balance of the 
 Summer, and during the following Fall. In November, he 
 marched with his division on the campaign down through 
 Oxford, and to the Yockona, after which he returned to La 
 Grange, Tennessee, where he passed the Winter. While on the 
 march from Corinth to Memphis, he was attacked with a dis- 
 ease, pronounced by his surgeon an affection of the sciatic 
 nerve. It had been contracted through exposure and by almost 
 constant duty in the saddle, and was extremely painful ; but he 
 continued on duty. Finally, receiving no relief, he tendered 
 his resignation, which was accepted late in the winter of 1862-S. 
 
152 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 While stationed at Memphis, he received from General Sher- 
 man a recommendation for brigadier-general, which was 
 endorsed, I am informed, as follows: — "I think it but right 
 and just that a gallant oflacer, who has discharged faithfully 
 the duties of a brigadier for many months, should enjoy in full 
 the rank and pay of the position." On leaving the service, his 
 regiment presented him with a costly silver set, which, in its 
 own language, was "a token of their esteem for him as a man, 
 and their appreciation of his merit as an officer. " 
 
 Colonel McDowell is a large man, and well proportioned, 
 but a little too fleshy to look comfortable. He is above six feet 
 in hight, and erect ; has a mild blue eye, light complexion, and 
 a good-natured countenance. Usually, he seems kind and 
 approachable, but, when aroused, the flash of his eye makes 
 him look, as he really is, a most formidable opponent. He has 
 large self-esteem, a good education and fine social qualities. 
 His conversational powers are remarkable. He is fond of mer- 
 riment, to be convinced of which you have only to look on his 
 shaking sides : he laughs, like Momus, all over. 
 
 Colonel McDowell has fine ability, but is naturally, I believe, 
 inclined to be a little lazy. He is a close observer, and forms 
 positive opinions. His experience in the army destroyed his 
 faith in field artillery. "There are occasions," he once said, 
 " when it is invaluable ; but, as a general thing, it is vox prm- 
 ter-er nihil. If you fight to whip, you must fight to kill ; and 
 whoever heard of a dead or wounded artillery-man? These 
 things that you hold straight at a man, are the things that 
 hurt." 
 
 As a soldier. Colonel McDowell excelled as a disciplinarian 
 and tactician : he was a splendid drill-master, a fact attested by 
 his regiment, which was one of the best drilled in the volun- 
 teer service. 
 
BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL JOHN M. CORSE. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, SIXTH INFANTRY. 
 
 John M. Corse is the only military prodigy the State has 
 furnished in the War of the Rebellion. For his family and 
 intimate friends I am unable to speak, but I have knowledge 
 positive that, with all others, his brilliant military career has 
 created the greatest surprise. In civil life, though possessing 
 large self-esteem, he was looked on as having only ordinary 
 ability ; and, therefore, his promotion in the army to nearly 
 the highest rank in the volunteer service, was wholly unlocked 
 for. 
 
 General Corse is a native of Pennsylvania, where he was 
 born in about the year 1833. When young, he accompanied 
 his parents West and settled with them in Burlington, Iowa ; 
 where he has since resided. He was at one time a cadet in the 
 West Point Military Academy, New York ; but had spent, I 
 think, hardly two years at the institution, when he was 
 politely informed that, should he tender his resignation, it 
 would be accepted. At all events, he left West Point, and 
 returned to Burlington, where he entered the book-store of his 
 father. Not long after he became a partner in the business, 
 and was thus engaged at the outbreak of the war. 
 
 He entered the service as major of the 6th Iowa Infantry , 
 and, up to the time of its arrival at Pittsburg Landing, has a 
 military history similar to that of his regiment. During the 
 siege of Corinth, he was a staff-officer of General Sherman — I 
 think, his inspector-general. From the time of their first 
 meeting, he was held in high esteem by that general. He 
 
 was mustered a lieutenant-colonel the 21st of May, 1862 ; and, 
 
 153 
 
154 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 on the resignation of Colonel McDowell, was made colonel of 
 his regiment, and returned to its command. From that time 
 forward, he grew rapidly popular. 
 
 During his colonelcy and after, the history of the 6th Iowa is 
 one of great interest. It is the same as that of Sherman's old 
 Division. It was the only Iowa regiment in that division. 
 On the assignment of General Sherman to the command of the 
 15th Army Corps, its division was commanded by General 
 William L. Smith, who, during the siege of Vicksburg, joined 
 the army of General Grant in rear of the city. " Smith's and 
 Kimball's Divisions, and Parke's Corps were sent to Haine's 
 Bluff. * * This place I [Grant] had fortified to the 
 land-side, and every preparation was made to resist a heavy 
 force." After the fall of Vicksburg, the 6th Iowa marched 
 with Sherman to Jackson, where it made itself conspicuous — 
 with the exception of the 3d Iowa, more conspicuous than 
 any other Iowa regiment. On the morning of the 16th of 
 July, Colonel Corse was put in command of the skirmishers of 
 the 1st Division, 15th Army Corps, and ordered to report to 
 Major-General Parke, commanding the 9th Corps. The 6th 
 Iowa was included in the colonel's command ; and, to show 
 the part taken by the regiment in the advance of that 
 morning, I quote from his official report : 
 
 " I assumed command of the line formed by the skirmishers 
 of the 6th Iowa ; and, at the designated signal, the men dashed 
 forward with a shout, met the line of the enemy's skirmishers 
 and pickets, drove them back, capturing eighteen or twenty, 
 and killing as many more. Clearing the timber, they rushed 
 out into the open field, across the railroad, over the fence, up a 
 gentle slope, across the crest, down into the enemy's line, when 
 two field-batteries of four guns each, pointing west, opened a 
 terrific cannonade. The enemy were driven from two i)ieces 
 at the point of the bayonet, our men literally running them 
 through. In rear of the batteries, two regiments were lying 
 supporting the gunners, and, at our approach, they opened 
 
JOHN M. CORSE. 155 
 
 along their whole line, causing most of the casualties in this 
 gallant regiment. With such impetuosity did the line go 
 through the field that the enemy, so completely stunned were 
 they, would have precipitately fled, had they not been re-as- 
 sured by a large gun-battery, nearly six hundred yards to our 
 right, which enfiladed the railroad line of skirmishers. 
 Startled at this unexpected obstacle, which was now in full 
 play, throwing its whirlwind of grape and canister about us 
 until the corn fell as if by an invisible reaper, I ordered the 
 bugle to sound the 'lie down.' The entire line fell in the 
 corn-rows, and I had the opportunity to look round. * * 
 * * Feeling that I had obtained all the information I 
 could, I ordered the 'rise up' and 'retreat,' which was done 
 in the most admirable manner, under the fire of at least three 
 regiments and seven guns — three of these enfilading my line. 
 But few of those who had so gallantly charged the battery got 
 back. I cannot speak in too extravagant terms of the officers 
 and men of the 6th Iowa on this occasion. * They awakened 
 m.y admiration at the coolness with which they retired, return- 
 ing the incessant fire of the enemy as they slowly fell back." 
 
 The loss of the 6th Iowa in this encounter was one killed, 
 eighteen wounded, and nine missing. The conduct of the regi- 
 ment filled the general commanding the division with admi- 
 ration : 
 
 "Head-quarters First Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, 
 "In Front of Jackson, Mississippi, July 16tli, 1863. 
 
 "Colonel, Corse, commanding Qth Iowa Infantry: 
 
 "The valor of your noble regiment has been conspicuous, 
 even amidst the universal good conduct that has marked the 
 operations of all the troops of the 1st Division, during our 
 advance upon Jackson, and since our arrival here. I can not 
 too highly commend the gallantry you have displayed in two 
 successful charges you have made. The true heart swells with 
 emotions of pride in contemplating the heroism of those who, 
 in their country's cause, charge forward under the iron-hail of 
 half a dozen rebel batteries, and, exposed to a murderous fire 
 of musketry from behind strong intrenchments, capture prison- 
 ers under their very guns. Such has been the glorious conduct 
 of the 6th Iowa this morning; and those who shared your 
 dangers, and emulated your valor, will join me in tendering to 
 
156 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 you and the brave men under your command my warmest 
 thanks and most hearty congratulations. 
 "Most truly yours, 
 
 "William Lov'y Smith, 
 '■^ Bvigadier-Geiieral commanding Ist Div., IGth A. C" 
 
 In October, 18G3, the 6th Iowa, with its division, (which in 
 the meantime had been transferred to the loth Corps) marched 
 to the relief of Chattanooga. Under General Hugh Ewing it 
 fought on Mission Bidge. Its position was just to the left of 
 the two brigades of General John E. Smith ; and, with those 
 troops, it fought for the possession of that point which covered 
 General Bragg's line of retreat. It was so far to the left that it 
 escaped the flank movement of the enemy from the railroad 
 tunnel, and lost few, if any prisoners. The regiment, how- 
 ever, suffered severely in killed and wounded. Eight fell dead 
 upon the field, one of whom was the gallant Captain Robert 
 Allison. Major Ennis, and Captains Calvin Minton, L. C. 
 Allison and G. R. Nunn were wounded. The total nmnber of 
 killed and wounded was sixty-eight. 
 
 If foraging in the enemy's country is always a labor of 
 danger, it is also sometimes attended with sport. Apropos, 
 the 6th Iowa Infantry was one of the most expert and success- 
 ful foraging regiments in the service. At all events, it was, in 
 this respect, the banner regiment from Iowa ; and I am aware 
 how high is the compliment I am paying it. If that sergeant 
 is still living, (I did not learn his name) he will recognize the 
 following: Hugh Ewing's Division led John E. Smith's in the 
 march from Chickasaw on the Tennessee to Bridgeport. That 
 of which I speak occurred between Prospect Station and 
 Fayetteville. We were marching along leisurely through a 
 beautiful, highly-improved country, when, of a sudden, there 
 was great confusion in the front. It would remind you of a 
 crowd running to witness a show-day fight. A sergeant of the 
 6th Iowa, with a squad of one man, two mules and a revolver, 
 
JOHN M. CORSE. 157 
 
 had left his regiment on a foraging excursion, and returned 
 with a whole train, ladened with the fruits of the land. He had 
 fresh apples and dried apples, sweet potatoes and pumpkins, 
 bed-clothes, and butter-milk in canteens: all were loaded on 
 old rickety wagons, drawn by half-starved mules, and driven 
 by American citizens of African descent. To share these spoils 
 was the cause of the confusion. " He had got them for his 
 boys," he said; but precious few of them did his boys ever get. 
 At Fayetteville, the 6th Iowa was infantry^ and, only two 
 days later, when they passed us in the woods near Winchester, 
 nearly half the regiment was cavalry. " What in the d— 1 do 
 you go a-foot for ? " they said to us ; but they lost their horses 
 before reaching Chattanooga, and, like us, fought at Mission 
 Bidge on foot. The regiment was as reckless in battle as it was 
 on the march. 
 
 General Corse was severely wounded at Mission Ridge, and 
 disabled for several months. His intrepidity there, and his 
 previous good conduct, secured his promotion to the rank of 
 brigadier-general. When partially recovered, he was, I think, 
 ordered on duty in Indiana. In a short time he was placed on 
 General Sherman's staff, and in August, 1864, was assigned to 
 the command of a division. That passage in his military his- 
 tory which will make his name distinguished hereafter, is that 
 which records his defense of Allatoona, Georgia. At the time 
 in question he was in command of the 4th Division, 15th Army 
 Corps, one of the divisions comprised in General Dodge's com- 
 mand during the march on Atlanta. An account of the 
 defense of Allatoona will be found elsewhere. I give below 
 simply the correspondence of Generals French and Corse, and 
 the congratulatory orders of Generals Howard and Sherman : 
 
 "Around Allatoona, October 5th, 8:15 A. M. 
 
 "Commanding Officer U. S. Force, Allatoona: 
 
 " Sir: — I have placed the forces under my command in such 
 positions that you are surrounded, and, to avoid a useless 
 
158 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 effusion of blood, I call on you to surrender your forces at once, 
 and unconditionally. Five minutes will be allowed you to 
 decide. Should you accede to this, you will be treated in the 
 most honorable manner, as prisoners of war. 
 "I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours, 
 
 "S. G, French, 
 '•''Major-General commanding forces C. /S'." 
 
 [the reply.] 
 
 " Headquarters Fourth Division, Fifteenth Armv Corps, 
 Allatoona, Georgia, October 5th, 8:30 A M. 
 
 " Major-General S. G. French, C. S. A. : 
 
 "Your communication demanding surrender of my com- 
 mand, I acknowledge receipt of, and respectfully reply that we 
 are prepared for the useless effusion of blood wiienever it is 
 agreeable to you. 
 
 "I am very respectfully your obedient servant, 
 " John M. Corse, 
 " Brigadier- General commanding Uh Divisio7i, 15th A. C." 
 
 How needless was the effusion of blood the following orders 
 
 of Generals Howard and Sherman will show : 
 
 General Field Orders No. 18. 
 
 " Head-Quarters Department and Army of the Tennessee, 
 Near Kenesaw Mountain, October 16th. 
 " Whilst uniting in the high commendation awarded by the 
 General-in-chief, the Army of the Tennessee would tender 
 through me its most hearty appreciation and thanks to Brig- 
 adier-General J. M. Corse for his promptitude, energy and 
 eminent success in the defense of Allatoona Pass, against a 
 force so largely superior to his own ; and our warmest congrat- 
 ulations are extended to him, to Colonel Tourtellotte, and the 
 rest of our comrades in arms who fought at Allatoona, for the 
 glorious manner in which they vetoed ' the useless effusion of 
 
 blood.' 
 
 "O. O. Howard, 
 
 ' ' Official. JIajor- General. ' ' 
 
 Special Field Orders, No. 86. 
 
 "Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 
 In the Field, Kenesaw Mountain, October 6th. 
 
 The General commanding avails himself of the opportu- 
 
JOHN M. CORSE. 
 
 159 
 
 nity in the handsome defense made of ' Allatoona,' to illustrate 
 the most important principle in war, that fortified posts should 
 be defended to the last, regardless of the relative numbers of 
 the party attacking and attacked. 
 
 " Allatoona was garrisoned by three regiments commanded 
 by Colonel Tourtelotte, and reinforced by a detachment from a 
 division at Home, under command of Brigadier-General J. M. 
 Corse on the morning of the 5th, and a few hours after was 
 attacked by French's Division of Stewart's Corps, two other 
 divisions being near at hand, and in support. General French 
 demanded a surrender, in a letter to ' avoid an useless effusion 
 of blood,' and gave but five minutes for an answer. General 
 Corse's answer was emphatic and strong, that he and his com- 
 mand were ready for the ' useless eifusion of blood,' as soon as it 
 was agreeable to General French. 
 
 "This answer was followed by an attack which was prolonged 
 for five hours, resulting in the complete repulse of the enemy, 
 who left his dead on the ground amounting to more than two 
 hundred, and four hundred prisoners, well and wounded. The 
 ' effusion of blood ' was not ' useless,' as the position at Alla- 
 toona was and is very important to our present and future 
 operations. 
 
 "The thanks of this army are due, and hereby accorded to 
 General Corse, Colonel Tourtelotte, officers and men for their 
 determined and gallant defense of Allatoona, and it is made an 
 example to illustrate the importance of preparing in time, and 
 meeting the danger when present, boldly, manfully and well. 
 " This Army, though unseen to the garrison, was co-operat- 
 ing by moving toward the road by which the enemy could 
 alone escape, but unfortunately were delayed by the rain and 
 mud, but this fact hastened the retreat of the enemy. 
 
 "Commanders and garrisons of posts along our railroads 
 are hereby instructed that they must hold their posts to the 
 last minute, sure that the time gained is valuable and neces- 
 sary to their comrades at the front. 
 " By oi'der of 
 
 " Major-General W. T. Sherman, 
 
 " L. M. Dayton, 
 "Official. ^- -^- C'." 
 
 At Allatoona General Corse was again wounded. A musket- 
 shot struck him in the cheek, and, for a time, rendered him 
 
160 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 insensible. Colonel R. Rowett of the 7th Illinois, as ranking 
 officer, succeeded him in command ; and the fighting continued 
 as before with great fury. At twelve o'clock M., Sherman 
 had reached the summit of Kenesaw, and from that point 
 signaled to the garrison : — " Hold on to Allatoona to the last ; 
 I will help you." Not long after the enemy retired, having 
 failed to draw their one million and a half of rations. 
 
 For his brilliant defense of Allatoona, General Corse was 
 made, by brevet, a major-general. Since that time, he has 
 remained in command of his division. He joined Sherman in 
 the march from Atlanta to Savannah, and from that city to 
 Raleigh. They say Sherman calls him, " mypeV 
 
 Subsequently to the engagement at Mission Ridge, the 6th 
 Iowa Infantry has been commanded a chief portion of the 
 time by Lieutenant-Colonel J. A. Miller. During the winter 
 of 1863-4 the regiment was stationed with its division along 
 the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, between 
 Bridgeport and Huntsville ; but in the Spring was ordered to 
 the front and served through the Atlanta campaign. It fought 
 at Resaca, Dallas, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain, before 
 Atlanta and at Jonesboro ; and lost in killed and wounded, in 
 the months of May and June, an aggregate of one hundred 
 and six. Lieutenant Rodney F. Barker, of Company A, was 
 wounded in the first day's engagement at Dallas. On the 28th 
 of May, the day following, Lieutenant F. F. Baldwin was 
 killed, and Lieutenant and Adjutant Newby Chase mortally 
 wounded. The former was killed while saving two guns of 
 the 1st Iowa Battery from capture, and the latter, shot in the 
 throat and mortally wounded, while on the skirmish line. A 
 correspondent of the regiment says: "Better men never 
 drew swords." Lieutenant-Colonel A. J. Miller was severely 
 wounded in this same engagement at Dallas. Indeed, three of 
 the four regimental commanders of the 2d Brigade, 4th 
 
JOHN M. CORSE. 161 
 
 Division, were struck, two of them being Ivilled— Colonel 
 Dickerman of tlie 103d Illinois and Major Gisey of the 46th 
 Ohio. The total loss of the 6th Iowa at Dallas, was seven men 
 killed, and fifteen wounded. 
 
 On the loth of June the regiment joined its division in the 
 brilliant charge near Big Shanty, and, two days later, took 
 part in the unsuccessful charge at Kenesaw Mountain. In that 
 of the 15th instant, Lieutenant J. F. Grimes, acting' adjutant, 
 was killed. At the opening of the campaign, the 6th Iowa 
 arrived before Dalton, nearly four hundred strong; and by the 
 middle of July had suffered a loss of fifty per cent. The last 
 services of the 6th Iowa Infantry were performed in the 
 marches from Atlanta to Savannah, and thence to Raleigh. 
 
 General Corse is a small man. He is not above five feet 
 eight inches in hight, and weighs less than one hundred and 
 twenty-five pounds. He is small in stature, and, to look at him, 
 a stranger would not think his mind and body much out of pro- 
 portion. He has more ability than he seems to have. He has 
 sharp features, a dark complexion, large, dark eyes, and black 
 hair, which he usually wears long. In his movements, he is 
 dignified and somewhat consequential, carrying a high head, 
 and wearing a stern countenance. > (I speak of him as I saw 
 him in the service.) Before he entered the service, his neigh- 
 bors in Burlington told on him the following story. I do not 
 suppose it is true, but possibly it illustrates his character. 
 When he became a partner with his father in the book business, 
 the story goes, there had to be a new sign made. The father 
 suggested that it read, " J. L. Corse & Son;" while the future 
 general insisted that it should read, "John M. Corse and 
 Father." 
 
 I omitted to mention in the proper place that, in 1860, the 
 
 general was a candidate for the office of Secretary of State. 
 
 Perhaps I ought to omit it now, for I venture to say, he is not 
 
 11 
 
162 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 proud of that passage in his history ; he was the candidate on 
 the old Hickory ticket, with a certain prospect of being 
 defeated. 
 
 In battle I believe General Corse to be as cool a man as ever 
 met an enemy. His defense of Allatoona shows that. He has 
 always seemed to act on the principle suggested by General 
 Jerry Sullivan: "Boys, when you have fought just as long 
 as you think you possibly can, then fight ten minutes longer, 
 and you will always whip." General Corse has richly earned 
 his distinguished reputation, and the State will always be 
 proud of him. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB G. LAUMAN. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, SEVENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Jacob Gartner Lauman was the fourth volunteer officer 
 from Iowa, promoted to a brigadier. He was born in Tarry- 
 town, Maryland, on the 20th day of January, 1813; but 
 removed with his family, when young, to York, Pennsylva- 
 nia. In 1844, he came West, and settled in Burlington, Iowa, 
 where, engaging in mercantile pursuits, he has since made his 
 home. At the outbreak of the war, he took an active part in 
 enlisting and mustering our volunteer troops, and, on the 11th 
 of July, 1861, was commissioned colonel of the 7th Iowa Infan- 
 try—later, the heroes of Belmont. 
 
 While under the command of Colonel Lauman, the 7th Iowa 
 was stationed and served at the following points :- Jefferson 
 Barracks, Pilot Knob, Ironton, Cape Girardeau and Jackson, 
 Missouri;. Cairo, Illinois; Fort Holt, Mayfield Creek, Camp 
 Crittenden and Fort Jefferson, Kentucky; and Norfolk and 
 Bird's Point, Missouri. The regiment was stationed at the 
 latter place, on the 6th of November, 1861, when it sailed on 
 the Belmont expedition, the object of which was, "to prevent 
 the enemy from sending out re-inforcements to Price's army 
 in Missouri, and also from cutting off columns that I [Grant] 
 had been directed to send out from Cairo and Cape Girardeau, 
 in pursuit of Jeff Thompson." 
 
 On this expedition, the battle of Belmont was fought; and 
 the conduct of Colonel Lauman in the engagement, together 
 with that of his regiment, gave him his early popularity as a 
 military leader. At Belmont, the 7th Iowa greatly distin- 
 guished itself, and received from General Grant, in his official 
 
 . 163 
 
164 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 rejiort, the following mention : — " Nearly all the missing were 
 from the Iowa regiment, (the 7th) who behaved with great 
 gallantry, and suffered more severely than any otlier of the 
 troops." 
 
 Just when the enemy had been driven from their camp, and 
 down the steep bank of the Mississippi, Colonel Lauman, while 
 giving Captain Parrott instructions with reference to the cap- 
 tured artillery, was disabled from a musket-shot wound in the 
 thigh. He was taken back to the transports on one of the guns 
 of Cajitain Taylor's Battery, just in advance of his regiment, 
 and was only in time to escai)e that terrible enfilading fire that 
 \well nigh annihilated the rear of Grant's forces. 
 
 A rejnarkable incident occurred while the troops were 
 re-embarking after the battle. It is well vouched for, and wor- 
 thy of record. The last transport had just cut its hawser, and 
 was dropping out into the stream, when the enemy suddenly 
 appeared on the bank with artillery. One piece waa hastily 
 put in battery, and leveled on the crowded decks of the trans- 
 port. The rebel gunner was just about pulling the lanyard, 
 when a shell, from one of the Union gun-boats, burst directly 
 under the carriage of the gun, throwing gun, carriage and all 
 high in the air. The carriage was demolished, and, while 
 still in the air, the gun exploded. The rebel gunner and 
 several others were killed ; and the lives of at least a score of 
 Union soldiers were saved by this remarkable shot. 
 
 "It was after the retreat had commenced that Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Wentz Wius killed, lie died on the field of battle, like 
 a true soldier; he was a truly brave man, and did his duty 
 well and nobly. Lieutenant Dodge of Company B was killed, 
 and Lieutenant Gardner, who commanded Comjjany 1, and 
 Lieutenant Beam of Company C, mortally wounded. Among 
 my olticers, more or less severely wounded, you will fiuil the 
 names of Major Bice, Captains Harper, Parrott, Kittredgo and 
 Gardner, and 1st Lieutenant Ue Ileus, (who commanded com- 
 
JACOB G. LAUMAN. 
 
 165 
 
 pany A) of whose bravery I desire to speak in the most 
 emphatic manner. I desire also to direct your attention to 
 Captain Crabb, who was talcen prisoner, and who behaved m 
 the bravest manner. But I might go on in this way and name 
 nearly all my command, for they all behaved like heroes; but 
 there are one or two more I feel it my duty to name as deserv- 
 ing special mention. Lieutenant Bowler, adjutant of the regi- 
 ment and Lieutenant Estle, whose conduct was worthy of all 
 praise, and private Lawrence A. Gregg, whose thigh was 
 broken and he left on the field ; he was taken prisoner and his 
 lea- amputated, but he died the same day, telling his captors 
 wHh his dying breath, that, if he ever recovered so as to be 
 able to move, he would shoulder his musket again in his coun- 
 try's cause." 
 
 "My entire loss in killed, wounded, prisoners and missnig, 
 out of an aggregate of somewhat over four hundred, is as 
 follows: Killed, fifty-one; died of wounds, three; missing, 
 ten; prisoners, thirty-nine; wounded, one hundred and twenty- 
 four. Total, two hundred and twenty-seven." 
 
 Having recovered from his wound. Colonel Lauman re-joined 
 his regiment ; and at the battle of Fort Donelson was placed in 
 command of a brigade, composed of the 2d, 7th and 14th Iowa, 
 and the 25th Indiana. At Fort Donelson, the gallantry of his 
 brigade-more especially that of the 2d Iowa-made him a 
 brigadier-general. From what occurred just before the success- 
 ful assault was made, it seems that the success of his troops was 
 unlooked for by Colonel Lauman ; for to Colonel Tuttle, who 
 desired to lead the charge, he said: "Why, sir, you can't go up 
 there ; didn't I try it yesterday ? " And to the reply of Colonel 
 Tuttle, that he would, if he lost the last man of his regiment, 
 he said, "Oh, sir! you'll soon get that taken out of you." 
 After the assault of the 2d Iowa at Fort Donelson, Colonel 
 Lauman believed there was nothing that brave men could not 
 accomplish. 
 
 After being promoted to the rank of a brigadier, General 
 Lauman was assigned to the command of a brigade in General 
 Hurlbut's Division, with which he fought in the left wing of 
 
166 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 Grant's army at Shiloh. Colonel Williams of the 3d Iowa 
 having been disabled in that engagement, General Lauman 
 succeeded him in the command of his brigade; which com- 
 mand he retained until the following October. He marched 
 with Sherman and Hurlbut from Corinth to Memphis, after 
 the fall of the former place; and, in the following Fall, when 
 the enemy began to show activity in the neighborhood of 
 Corinth, returned with Hurlbut to the vicinity of Bolivar, 
 Tennessee; near which place he was encamped just before 
 the battle of luka. To mislead the enemy under Price at 
 luka, or, as General Grant expresses it, "to cover our 
 movement from Corinth, and to attract the attention of the 
 enemy in another direction, I ordered a movement from 
 Bolivar to Holly Springs. This was conducted by Brigadier- 
 General Lauman." On the 5th of October, General Lauman 
 commanded his brigade in the battle on the Hatchie. 
 
 General Hurlbut's march from Bolivar to the Big Muddy, 
 about two miles west of the Hatchie, has already been given 
 in the sketch of Colonel Aaron Brown. The battle of the 
 Hatchie, or Matamora, opened between the Federal and 
 Confederate artillery, the former stationed on the bluffs, and 
 the latter in the Hatchie Bottom. After a brief artillery duel, 
 the 2d Brigade, General Veatch commanding, charged the 
 enemy's infantry that liad crossed the bridge to the west side 
 of the stream, and routed them. Falling back across the 
 bridge, they, with the balance of the rebel forces, took up a 
 position on the opposite bluffs. General Ord, now coming to 
 the front, determined to attack the enemy in their strong 
 position, and accordingly ordered General Veatch to push his 
 brigade across the bridge. 
 
 Tlie topography of the battle-ground on the east side of the 
 Hatchie, is thus well given by Lieutenant Tliompson, of the 
 3d Iowa Infantry: 
 
JACOB G. LAUMAN. 167 
 
 "Beyond the river there was about twelve rods of bottom, 
 and then there arose a very high and steep bkiff. Along the 
 brow of this, the enemy, rallying and reinforced, had formed 
 new lines of battle, and planted artillery, which, from different 
 points, enfiladed the road and bridge, and swept the field on 
 both sides of the stream. Following up the river just above 
 the bridge, it makes an abrupt elbow, and comes down from 
 the east, running parallel to the road on the opposite side [of 
 the bridge]. In this elbow, and on not more than half an acre 
 of ground, a part of General Veatch's Brigade, according to 
 the orders of General Ord, would have to deploy." 
 
 Crossing the bridge and filing to the left, it was possible to 
 gain the enemy's right flank ; for on that side of the road the 
 north point of the bluffs could be passed; and what seems 
 strange is that, a man of General Ord's ability should not have 
 discovered this strategical point. The balance of General Lau- 
 man's Brigade, which was of the reserve forces, was now 
 ordered across the bridge, and directed to file to the right, into 
 the inevitable pocket. General Lauman, accompanied by his 
 orderlies, led the advance. To cross the open field, and then 
 the bridge, was a most perilous undertaking ; for, on the bluffs 
 on the opposite side, as has already been stated, the enemy's 
 artillery was so planted as to give them a converging fire on 
 both the field and bridge. General Lauman reached the oppo- 
 site side in safety, followed by the other two regiments of his 
 brigade, one of which was the 3d Iowa Infantry. 
 
 The battle was now raging with great fury, the enemy from 
 their elevated position pouring a deadly, continuous fire on 
 their helpless victims below, whose returning fire was almost 
 wholly ineffectual. Confusion must soon have followed ; but 
 just then General Ord was wounded, and General Hurlbut 
 assumed command. He at once crossed the bridge, and, in 
 person, directed a flank movement around the bluffs to the left. 
 The troops employed were the 46th Illinois, the 68th Ohio, and 
 the 12th Michigan. The enemy's right flank was soon gained 
 
168 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and turned, which comi^elled them to abandon the bluffs ; — 
 and thus the day was saved from disaster. 
 
 This pocket-blunder of General Ord, and the subsequent 
 indiscretion of General Lauman, have been considered by some 
 as connected with the latter's ill-fortune at Jackson, Missis- 
 sippi, in the summer of 1863. The story is as follows: — In 
 the winter of 1862-3, a supper was given in Memphis, where 
 Generals Ord, Veatch, Lauman and others, were present. 
 When the wine was passing, and all were merry, the affair on 
 the Hatchie occurred to General Lauman, and he remarked to 
 General Ord : — " General, that was a bit of a blunder, in put- 
 ting us into that pocket, wasn't it?" (I may not give the 
 language, but I give the idea.) General Ord, it is said, made 
 no reply ; but gave his eyes a wicked leer, which, even then, 
 some thought meant mischief. 
 
 Soon after the battle of Matamora, General Hurlbut was 
 made a major-general, and assigned to the command of the 
 District of Jackson, Tennessee. General Lauman succeeded 
 him in the command of his division. 
 
 If we except the march of General Grant into Central Mis- 
 sissippi, in which General Lauman joined with his division, 
 his military history, for the six months following the battle of 
 Matamora, is void of great interest. During this time, he had 
 his head-quarters, first at Bolivar, then at Moscow, and then 
 at Memphis. When Vicksburg was beleagured, he left Mem- 
 phis to report to General Grant in rear of that city ; and, on 
 the fall of Vicksburg, marched with his division on the, to Mm, 
 unfortunate campaign to Jackson. His position before Jack- 
 son, and what happened on the 12th of July, appear in the 
 sketch of Colonel Aaron Brown, of the 3d Iowa Infantry. 
 With reference to a further history of this affjiir, I shall only 
 add an extract from the official report of General Sherman. 
 
 "On the 12th [July], whilst General Lauman's Division was 
 
JACOB G. LAUMAN. 169 
 
 moving up into position, dressing to his left on General Hovey, 
 the riglit of his line came within easy range of the enemy's 
 field artillery and musketry, from behind his works, whereby 
 this division sustained a serious loss, amounting in killed, 
 wounded and missing to near five hundred men. This was 
 the only serious loss which befell my command during the 
 campaign, and resulted from misunderstanding or misin- 
 terpretation of General Ord's minute instructions, on the i^art 
 of General Lauman." 
 
 At the time of the occurrence of this misfortune, General 
 Ord's head-quarters were to the right of the Clinton and Jack- 
 son road, and near where the left of his command rested. 
 Near that of General Ord's, was the tent of Surgeon Wm. L. 
 Orr of the 2ist Iowa. When the heavy firing opened in front 
 of General Lauman's command, Ord, in a tone of much sur- 
 prise and alarm, called hurriedly to one of his aids: "What 
 does that mean? what does that mean? Ride out there quickly 
 and see." General Lauman was at once relieved of his 
 command, and ordered to report to General Grant at 
 Vicksburg. Upon his departure he issued the following 
 order: 
 
 "Head-qpakters Fourth Division, Sixteenth Army Corps, 
 "In the Field, Near Jackson, Miss., July I2th, 1863. 
 
 " Fellow-Soldiers : 
 
 Having been relieved from the command of the 4th Division 
 by Major-General Ord, the command is turned over to Briga- 
 dier-General Hovey. To say that I part with my old comrades 
 with sorrow and regret, is simply giving expression to my 
 heart-felt feelings. I shall ever remember the toils and hard- 
 ships we have endured together, and the glory which the Old 
 Fourth has won on hard-fought fields, and the glory which 
 clusters around their names like a halo — with pride and satis- 
 faction. 
 
 "And now, in parting with you, I ask a last request, that, in 
 consideration of your past fame, you do nothing, in word or 
 deed, to mar it; but that you give to your present or future 
 commander that prompt obedience to orders which has always 
 
170 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 characterized the division, and which has given to it the proud 
 position which it now enjoys. 
 "Officers and soldiers, I bid you now an affectionate farewell. 
 
 " J. G. Lauman, 
 
 Brigadier- General. ' ' 
 
 But for his ill-fated blunder at Jackson, General Lauman 
 would doubtless ere this have been made a major-general. 
 
 Reporting to General Grant, he was sent, I think, to an 
 Eastern Department, and assigned a command somewhere in 
 Northern Virginia ; but before his arrival, the command had 
 been given to another. He was then ordered to report to his 
 home in Burlington to await further orders from Washington, 
 which, thus far, he has failed to receive. The general, I am 
 informed, has made frequent efforts to secure an investigation 
 of the causes, whereby he was thrown under opprobrium, 
 but without success. Rumor says that both Grant and Sher- 
 man have put him off with, " we have no time to convene 
 courts-martial." 
 
 The war is now closing, and he will, probably, go out of the 
 service, without being restored to a command. Indeed, his 
 health is broken down, and he is now totally unfit for service. 
 
 Like the majority of the Iowa general ofiicers, General 
 Lauman is of only middle size. His person is slender, and his 
 weight about one hundred and forty pounds. He has a nervous, 
 excitable temperament, and a mild, intelligent countenance. 
 
 As a military leader, he is brave to a fault, but he lacks 
 judgment. He would accomplish much more by intrepidity, 
 than by strategy ; and, if his intrepidity failed him, he might 
 lose every thing. 
 
 He has been a successful merchant, and stands among the 
 wealthy men of Burlington. As a citizen, he has always been 
 held in the highest esteem, and is noted for his kind-hearted- 
 ness and liberality. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL ELLIOTT W. RICE. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, SEVENTH INFANTKY. 
 
 Elliott "W. Rice, a younger brother of the late General 
 Samuel A. Rice, who died in the summer of 18G4, of a wound 
 received at the battle of Jenkins' Ferry, is a native of Pitts- 
 burg, Pennsylvania, where he was born on the 16th of 
 November, 1835. In 1837, he removed with his father's family 
 to Belmont county, Ohio, where he made his home till the 
 year 1855. He was regularly graduated at Franklin College, 
 Ohio, in 1854; and immediately after entered the Law Uni- 
 versity at Albany, New York. In 1855, he came West, and 
 became a law-partner of his late brother at Oskaloosa, Iowa. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1861, General Rice enlisted as a 
 private in the 7th Iowa Infantry ; but was, on the 30th of the 
 following August, promoted to the majority of the regiment. 
 He served with his regiment with that rank till after the 
 battle of Fort Donelson, when he was commissioned colonel, 
 vice Colonel Lauman promoted to brigadier-general. This 
 promotion was endorsed by the almost unanimous voice of the 
 officers of his regiment, and was a high compliment to his 
 military talent and worth. One of the brightest pages in 
 General Rice's military history was made prior to the date of 
 his colonel's commission, on the battle-field of Belmont. The 
 enemy had been forced through the low, timbered bottoms 
 that skirt the west side of the Mississippi above Columbus; 
 they had been driven back to their encampment, and 
 beyond, to the banks of the Mississippi below Columbus; 
 their camp had been burned, and their flag — Harp of Erin 
 — captured, when word came, "we are flanked." Colonel 
 
 171 
 
172 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Lauman had already been wounded and taken to the rear. At 
 the very moment that orders were received to fall back, the 
 enemy rallied in front, and Lieutenant-Colonel Wentz fell, 
 mortally wounded. Under these circumstances, Major Rice 
 took command of his regiment to conduct the retreat. Pie had 
 already been severely wounded, though he said he tvas not 
 hurt. Placing himself at the head of his regiment, which he 
 had hastily re-formed, (for all just then was confusion) he 
 dashed through the "lines of the enemy that had been inter- 
 posed between the Federal forces and the landing, disregarding 
 all calls of " surrender !" In the terrific enfilading fire through 
 which he passed, his horse was pierced with twenty bullets ; 
 his sword-scabbard was shot in two ; his sword-belt shot away, 
 and his clothes riddled; but he saved a remnant of his 
 regiment, and brought it safely back to the transports. His 
 gallant conduct in this engagement made him the idol of his 
 regiment. 
 
 The history of the 7th Iowa Infantry, subsequently to the 
 battle of Fort Donelson, when Major Rice was promoted to 
 colonel, is briefly as follows : — For three weeks after the battle, 
 the regiment rested in rebel barracks, constructed by the enemy 
 for winter quarters. Then, marching back to the Tennessee, it 
 took the steamer White Cloud at Metal Landing for Pittsburg. 
 
 As already stated, the 7th Iowa fought at Shiloh with the 2d, 
 12th, and 14th Iowa regiments. It was commanded by Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel J. C. Parrott, and lost in the engagement thirty- 
 four in killed, wounded and missing. Lieutenant John Dillin, 
 a resident of Iowa City, was killed, and no other commissioned 
 ofl&cer of the regiment was struck. After the fall of Corinth, 
 and the pursuit of the enemy to Boonville, the 7th returned 
 and established, with its brigade, what was known as Camp 
 Montgomery. Here the regiment passed the chief portion of 
 its time till the battles of luka and Ccrinth. 
 
ELLIOTT W. RICE. 173 
 
 At the battle of Corinth, the 7th Iowa suffered severely, the 
 list of casualties amounting to one hundred and twenty-three. 
 In speaking of the conduct of his officers and men in the 
 engagement. Colonel Rice said : 
 
 " I must make special mention of Lieutenant-Colonel Par- 
 rott, who, with great bravery and coolness, cheered and 
 encouraged the men to renewed vigor. * * * It is 
 with pleasure that I make favorable mention of almost all my 
 officers who were engaged in the two day's battle. Major 
 McMuUen did efficient service until he was wounded and dis- 
 abled, on the evening of the 3d. Captain Conn, although 
 wounded, remained with his command through both day's 
 battle. Captains Hedges and Mahon, left in camp sick, left 
 their beds and came on the battle-field on Saturday, and did 
 efficient service. Their companies were well commanded Fri- 
 day by Lieutenants Dillon and Sergeant. Lieutenant Gale 
 displayed great gallantry, and was severely wounded in the 
 battle of the 4th, after which the company was bravely led by 
 Lieutenant Morrison. 
 
 " Captains Irvin and Reiniger performed their duties nobly. 
 I must also mention Lieutenants Hope, Loughridge, Irvin, 
 McCormick, Bennett and Bess. Captain Smith, who was 
 killed in the last hour of the battle of the 4th, was one of the 
 most promising young officers of the service. He was brave, 
 cool and deliberate in battle, and very efficient in all his duty. 
 Color-Sergeant Aleck Field was wounded in the battle of the 
 3d: afterwards the colors were borne by William Akers of 
 Company G, who was also wounded, when they were carried 
 by George Craig, of Company B. All of the color-guard, with 
 the exception of one, were either killed or wounded. Sergeant- 
 Major Cameron, severely wounded, must not escape favorable 
 mention for his brave and valuable services on the field. 
 
 " While it is a pleasure to report the noble and heroic conduct 
 of so many of my officers and men, we mourn the loss of the 
 gallant dead, and sympathize deeply with the unfortunate 
 wounded. More than one-third of those taken into action are 
 wounded, or lie dead beneath the battle-field. With this sad 
 record, we can send to Iowa the gratifying word that her 
 unfortunate sons fell with faces to the enemy. * * * * * " 
 
 For nearly a year and a half prior to the month of October, 
 
174 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 1863, the 7th Iowa Infantry remained at and near Corinth, 
 Mississippi; but, at tlie above named date, marched with 
 General Dodge from Corinth to Pulaski. In the winter of 
 18G3-4, the regiment re-enlisted and came North on veteran 
 furlough, and, on its return to the field, marched to the front 
 with the 2d Iowa, via Prospect, Elkton and Huntsville. 
 
 In Sherman's celebrated Atlanta campaign, Colonel Rice 
 commanded his brigade, comjjosed of the 2d and 7th Iowa, the 
 52d Illinois and 66th Indiana, (the same that he had com- 
 manded for nearly a year before) and, at the battles of Hesaca, 
 Lay's Ferry, Rome Cross Roads, Dallas, Kenesaw Mountain, 
 and Niek-a-jack Creek, distinguished himself. For his gal- 
 lantry and promptness to duty, he was recommended by 
 General Sherman for promotion to a brigadier-general, and 
 was appointed and confirmed to that rank, his commission 
 dating the 20th of June, 1864. 
 
 The engagement on Oostanaula River is worthy of special 
 mention. Crossing his brigade in the face of the rebel General 
 Walker's entire Division, he drove it in disgrace from the 
 south bank of the stream, and secured a position which was 
 generally believed to have necessitated the evacuation of 
 Resaca. 
 
 Of the different regiments in his command, the 7th Iowa 
 Infentry suffered the most severely in this engagement. The 
 regiment was moving through heavy timber, when it was 
 suddenly charged by a whole brigade of rebel infantry. The 
 charge was gallantly sustained, and a counter-charge made, 
 which resulted in driving the enemy from the field. The loss 
 of the regiment here was between sixty and seventy. 
 
 The preliminaries to the battle of Dallas are briefly as fol- 
 lows: Having arrived at Kingston, a small railroad station 
 about eighty miles south of Chattanooga, the enemy were 
 found posted across the Etowah River, in the Allatoona Moun- 
 
ELLIOTT W. EICE. 175 
 
 tains. Their position, wlaicli was one of great natural strengtli, 
 was to be carried by a flank movement ; and General INIcPher- 
 son, moving south-west, reached and crossed the Etowah 
 River, and marched directly for Atlanta. The enemy, when 
 advised of the movement, abandoned their position on the 
 Allatoona Mountains, and pushed for Dallas, some thirty-five 
 miles south of Kingston. Hardee's rebel Corps, leading the 
 advance, reached Dallas and strongly fortified itself before 
 McPherson's arrival. What followed is well given by an 
 ofiicer of General Rice's command : 
 
 "At early dawn, on the 28th of May, the two contending 
 armies were on the qui vive. All looked forward for the deeds 
 the day might bring forth. Heavy skirmishing was kept up, 
 which, at times, almost swelled into volleys; and, at short 
 intervals, stretcher-men, with their precious burdens going to 
 the rear, attested the accuracy with which the 'Johnny 
 rebs' handled their long Enfields. At four o'clock P. M., 
 the threatening storm burst out in all the fury of battle, just 
 on the extreme right of Logan's Corps, where it sounded like 
 the wind roaring through a pine forest. The breeze wafted it 
 dismally toward us. On came the wall of fire, nearing us at 
 every instant, until it broke in all its violence on our front. 
 Here was the rebel right. Their assaulting column reached 
 along the whole line of Logan's Corps, and over on to Dodge's 
 front far enough to engage Rice's Brigade, which was posted 
 in the front line. The rebel forces consisted of Plardee's 
 Corps— three divisions. Their men were told that we were 
 one-hundred-day men ; and their charge was a desperate one. 
 In front of Rice's Brigade (two regiments being in line, the 
 2d Iowa and 66th Indiana) there was a brigade of the enemy, 
 known as the Kentucky Brigade, consisting of the 2d, 3d, 5th, 
 6th, 7th and 9th Kentucky Infontry. They charged in columns 
 six lines deep, and, as they neared our works, yelled in that 
 unearthly style peculiar to themselves. They were met by 
 men who were equal to the emergency. Not a man left the 
 works, unless he was wounded. They stood there like a wall 
 of iron, their comrades from the reserve carrying ammunition 
 to replenish their exhausted supplies. Yet still the rebel hosts 
 poured up to the works, those behind being cursed by their 
 
176 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 officers and rushed up so as to prevent those in front from fall- 
 ing back. Thus they continued, hoping against hoi)e, and all 
 the time being mowed down like grass by the fire of our brave 
 veterans, and the grape and canister of Welker's Battery. 
 Pushing forward till they were almost hand-to-hand, they 
 continued the deadly struggle for one hour and a half; when, 
 completly exhausted, they broke and fled, amid the loud 
 huzzas of our splendid fellows. I never wish to know a 
 prouder day than that. 
 
 " Our brigade that day fought for the first time behind 
 breast-works. Although they had built miles of them, this 
 was the first chance to use them. Too much praise can not be 
 given to Colonel Rice, who was ever where the danger was the 
 thickest, mounted on his magnificent gray. He looked the 
 personification of the brave soldier. His example appeared to 
 inspire the men : they fought as only the best and bravest of 
 soldiers can fight, and never left the works. 
 
 "After the action, I noticed him riding to the different regi- 
 ments to ascertain, I suppose, the extent of our casualties. He 
 was everywhere met with loud and prolonged cheers ; but he 
 modestly attributed it all to them, and kindly thanked them 
 for their great bravery. Such men as he are not made of the 
 ordinary stuff. Though young in years, he is already a vete- 
 ran-hero of nearly a score of battles ; and has, since this cam- 
 paign, made a reputation for himself and the brigade he so 
 gallantly commands, unequalled by any in this army." 
 
 No one has been a warmer admirer of the gallantry of Gen- 
 eral Rice than myself, whenever it has fallen to his lot to meet 
 the enemy ; but still I think it hardly just to say that the repu- 
 tation of himself or of his brigade was " unequalled by any" 
 in that magnificent Army of the Tennessee. The general 
 himself would not claim this ; nor would the author, from 
 whom I have quoted, on sober reflection. He wrote under the 
 inspiration of recent victory. 
 
 General Rice, I believe, most distinguished himself on the 
 memorable 22d of July before Atlanta. In that engagement, 
 though assaulted by an entire division of Hardee's Corps, he 
 held his ground firmly, and inflicted most bitter punishment 
 
ELLIOTT W. KICE. 177 
 
 upon the enemy. Besides capturing one hundred prisoners of 
 war, and six hundred stand of arras, he buried in his front, on 
 the morning of the 23d, one hundred and twenty of the ene- 
 my's dead, which is evidence that his brigade placed nearly 
 one thousand rebels out of battle. 
 
 After General Dodge was wounded before Atlanta, the 
 division to which General Rice's brigade was attached was 
 assigned to the 15th Army Corps : since that time, the services 
 of the general and, I may add, of the 7th Iowa, are the same 
 as those of General Logan's command. Marching first in 
 pursuit of General Hood back nearly to Dalton, and round 
 through Snake Creek Gap, they then returned, and, with the 
 other troops, pushed through to Savannah, and thence north, 
 through South Carolina and North Carolina to Raleigh. 
 
 The operations of the 7th Iowa in rear of Savannah, are thus 
 given by Lieutenant-Colonel Parrott: 
 
 " December 11, moved to the rear, and encamped on Ander- 
 son's plantation, where we remained in camp until the 21st, 
 keeping up all the time a lively skirmish on the picket line. 
 On the night of the 19th, my regiment was ordered to effect a 
 Icrossing of the Little Ogechee. The regiment marched to the 
 vicinity of the river. Company A, being detailed to carry 
 boards for the purpose of crossing sloughs, and Company B to 
 kjarry a boat for the purpose of crossing a detachment to recon- 
 Inoitre the opposite bank. Major Mahon, with four picked 
 men, crossed the river, and from his reconnoissance it was 
 found impossible to cross the regiment on account of swamps 
 md morasses on the opposite bank. At 12 midnight, the regi- 
 nent was ordered back to camp. 
 
 "December 20th was quiet all day. December 21st, reports 
 vere in circulation, at an early hour, that the enemy had 
 libandoned his stronghold on the Little Ogechee. The brigade 
 vas ordered to move to the front, and at 2 P. M. entered the 
 ity of Savannah without firing a gun, the enemy having 
 nade a hasty retreat." 
 The only time I ever saw General Rice was in the summer 
 
 12 
 
178 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 of 1862, and not long after he had received his colonel's com- 
 mission. He was in company with Captain, now Major, I 
 Mahon, and on a visit to some friends at Camp Clear Springs, 
 Mississippi. He was dressed in a brand-new uniform, and I 
 thought him a gallant and handsome looking o£&cer. 
 
 He is a man of middle size, and has a fine form. His com- , 
 plexion, and the color of his hair and eyes, are much like I 
 those of his late distinguished brother. He is reputed a more i 
 brilliant man than was hLs brother, but not so able. His 
 neighbors say he has one of those minds that learn from 
 observation, rather than from hard study. AVhen he entered 
 the service, he was so young that he had had little oi)portunity 
 to gain distinction. He has made a brilliant record in the 
 army ; and his friends expect that his course in civil lifi' will 
 be equally brilliant. 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL FREDERICK STEELE. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, EIGHTH INFANTRY. 
 
 i Frederick Steele is a native of Delhi, Delaware county, 
 New York, where he was born in the year 1819. He was the 
 second regular army officer appointed to a field office from Iowa 
 I Entering the West Point Military Academy in the year 1839,' 
 ! he was regularly graduated in 1843, and appointed a brevet 2d 
 lieutenant in the 2d Infantry. He served with General Scott 
 I in the Mexican War, and greatly distinguished himself in the 
 I battles of Contreras and Chapultepec. He commanded his 
 ! company at the capture of the City of Mexico, having been 
 brevetted 1st lieutenant and captain, on account of gallant con- 
 I duct in the two previous engagements. 
 
 j On the declaration of peace, he reported, under orders to 
 I General Riley, in California, and was made his assistant adju- 
 j tant-general, which position he retained for several years. At 
 the outbreak of the war, he was serving in Missouri, and, with 
 the 1st Iowa Infantry, fought under General Lyon at the battle 
 of Wilson's Creek. Captain Steele was commissioned colonel 
 of the 8th Iowa Infantry, on the 23d of September, 1861 ; but 
 his connection with this regiment was brief; for, his good 
 conduct at Wilson's Creek coming to the ears of the War 
 Department, he was, on the 29th of January, 1862, made a 
 brigadier-general. If we except the time he served with Sher- 
 man around Vicksburg, in the spring and summer of 1863, 
 and the time he served under General Canby, at Pensacola and 
 around Mobile, in the spring of 1865, General Steele has, at all 
 other times, held commands in Missouri and Arkansas. He 
 was in command at Helena, Arkansas, in December, 1862, just 
 
 179 
 
180 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 before joining the expedition under General Sherman, which 
 left that point in the latter part of that month for Chicka.saw 
 Bayou. On this expedition he commanded the 4th Division, 
 13th Army Corps ; and, with two brigades of it, led the attiK-k 
 against the bluffs, over the long and narrow causeway that 
 iBiids to the Walnut Hills from above the mouth of Chi.kasaw 
 Bayou. 
 
 Immediately after this unfortunate affair. General Steele 
 sailed with his command up the Arkansas River ; and on the 
 night of the 10th of January, 1863, marched to the rear 
 of Arkansas Post, through the brushy swamps that were 
 well-nigh impassable for infantry, and quite so for the ambu- 
 lances and baggage-wagons. It is to the patience and valor 
 of General Steele's troops that the country is chiefly 
 indebted for the capture of these formidable works. We 
 next find General Steele with Sherman, in command of 
 his division on the final march against Vicksburg; and, 
 after the fall of that city, on the second march against 
 Jackson, in command of the 15th Corps. General Sherman 
 ai»proached Jackson in three c(»lunuis, (Jeneral Steele's com- 
 mand holding the centre, General Ord's the right, and General 
 Parke's the left. On this march, "nothing worth recording 
 occurred till the head of Steele's column \\ as within six hun- 
 dred yards of the enemy's line, on the Clinton road, when 
 [July 9th, 8 A. M.] a six-inch rifle-shot warned us to prepare 
 for serious work." Indeed, if we except the heedless afl'air of 
 General Lauman, who commandt'd a division of General Ord's 
 Corps, and the recoimoissance of Colonel, now General Corse, in 
 command of the 6th Iowa and other troops, nothing of spinial 
 interest occurred, during the eight day's siege of the city. 
 
 On the evacuation of Jackson by General Johnson, and 
 after the destruction of the railroads and the rebel government i 
 proi>erty in and around the city, Geneml Steele returned to I 
 
FREDERICK STEELE. 181 
 
 Vicksburg; and, immediately after was appointed to the 
 command of the Department and Army of Arkansas. He 
 arrived at Helena on the Slst of July, 1863. 
 
 This was his first distinct and important command; and, for 
 the manner in which he managed some matters of detail, he 
 has been severely criticised. As a fighting-general, he proved 
 himself all the loyal North could ask. It was the policy he 
 adopted in governing the people of a subjugated district — 
 nearly all of them bitter rebels — which lost him much of his 
 early popularity ; but, without questioning the wisdom of his 
 plans, it is but just to say that, he was doubtless honest in his 
 motives. He believed that the speedier way to bring a disaf- 
 fected people back to a love of the Union was to treat them 
 with kindness. He was right in principle: he only forgot that 
 he was dealing with those who were rotten with treason, and 
 totally destitute of principle. 
 
 General Steele left Helena for Little Rock, Arkansas, on the 
 10th of August, 1863, with an expeditionary army, numbering, 
 of all arms, not quite twelve thousand men. On the 10th of 
 September following, after forcing the enemy back step by 
 step from Clarendon and across the Arkansas, he had 
 compelled Generals Price and Marmaduke to evacuate 
 Little Rock; and, on the evening of the same day, he 
 received the city by formal surrender of the municipal 
 authorities. 
 
 His successes were brilliant and, by General Grant, unlooked 
 for ; for, on the 12th of September, that general dispatched a 
 seventeenth corps' division, (General John E. Smith's) from 
 Vicksburg to reinforce him. News of the fall of Little Rock 
 reached this division at Helena, and it marched to Chatta- 
 nooga. 
 
 By this brief campaign. General Steele had restored to the 
 Government nearly the entire State of Arkansas; for the 
 
182 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 enemy now disputed the possession of only a few counties in 
 the south-western part of the State. 
 
 General Steele's next important move, which was made in 
 conjunction with a similar one under Major-General N. P. 
 Banks, was a failure, though history, I believe, will attribute 
 it to no fault of the general. The object of this grand campaign 
 was the capture of Shreveport, and the dispersion of the enemy 
 in the Red River country, and, had General Banks escaped the 
 serious disasters which overwhelmed his command at Sabine 
 Cross Roads and Pleasant Hill, the object would doubtless 
 have been attained. 
 
 General Steele left Little Rock on the 23d of March, 1864, 
 and marching via Benton, Rockport and Arkadelphia, entered 
 Camden at sun-down on the 15th of Aj)ril. On this march he 
 met and defeated the enemy under Price, Marmaduke, Shelby, 
 Cabell and a score or more of others, of the ragged, epauletted 
 chivalry, at Terre Noir Creek, Elkin's Ford, Prairie de Anne 
 and north-west of Camden. When leaving Little Rock, it 
 was doubtless General Steele's intention to march directly on 
 Shreveport; for he crossed the Washita at Arkadelphia, and 
 was directing his line of march nearly mid-way between 
 Washington and Camden. Why did he enter Camden? On 
 the 10th, 11th and 12th of April, he engaged the enemy at 
 Prairie de Anne, and, from prisoners captured there, or from 
 other sources, learned that the advance of Banks had not only 
 been checked, but his whole command overwhelmed with 
 disaster. The enemy, who at this point wei'e in strong force 
 in Steele's front, soon disappeared; and the general was not 
 long in discovering that they were marching by a circuitous 
 route to occupy Camden, and gain his rear. A race followed 
 between himself and the enemy for Camden, which resulted 
 in the battle bearing that name. The battle was fought at the 
 cross-roads, some seven miles west-north-west of the city. 
 
FREDERICK STEELE. 183 
 
 Before reaching Camden, General Steele remained incredu- 
 lous of the reports of General Bank's defeat; but after his 
 arrival there he was convinced of their truth, and contem- 
 plated an immediate return to Little Rock. But, a large train 
 of supplies reaching him in safety, he persuaded himself that 
 he could maintain his position, and accordingly ordered the 
 train to return to Pine Bluff for additional supplies. This is 
 the train which was captured just north of the Moro Bottom ; 
 and this circumstance, some think, saved the balance of his 
 army. 
 
 Having learned of the capture of his train, (and he had just 
 before lost one sent out on a foraging expedition to Poisoned 
 Springs) General Steele prepared for a rapid march back to 
 Little Bock, w^here he arrived on the 2d of May. To show 
 that fortune favored him, I give the following: After the cap- 
 ture of the train above referred to and the command of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Drake of the 36th Iowa, the rebel General 
 Fagan was ordered to cross the Saline Biver, and intrench him- 
 self fronting Jenkin's Ferry, at which point Steele was to 
 cross his army. For some reason, Fagan failed to comply with 
 these orders, and, in consequence thereof, was relieved of his 
 command and put in arrest. Had he complied with these 
 orders, Steele must have surrendered to the rebel forces ; for, 
 without any enemy in his front, and after having burned the 
 most of his own train, it was with the utmost difficulty he 
 effected a crossing. 
 
 After General Steele's return to Little Rock, and during the 
 entire time he was retained in command in Arkansas, he did 
 little worthy of record. In January, 1865, he was relieved of 
 his command, and ordered to report to Major-General Canby, 
 at New Orleans. His last services were performed in the 
 vicinity of INIobile. He was given a command, stationed at 
 Pensacola, Florida, with which he marched against Mobile. 
 
184 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 He took a prominent part in the capture of Fort Blakely ; but 
 a history of this affair will appear elsewhere. 
 
 General Steele is the smallest of the Iowa major-generals, 
 or the smallest of the major-generals who have held colonel's 
 commissions from the State; for he can hardly be called an 
 Iowa man. He has a light complexion, lively, gray eyes, and 
 hair, though originally brown, now heavily sprinkled with 
 gray. He has a slender, wiry form, and a sharp, shrill voice. 
 Nearly all army officers are occasionally profane: I know of 
 but few exceptions, and General Steele is not one of them. He 
 swears with precision, and with great velocity. 
 
 The general is passionately fond of a fine horse, and, in civil 
 life, would be called a horse-jockey. It is reported that his 
 horses have more than once appeared on the old race-course at 
 Little Rock, where, competing with the steeds of the cavalry 
 privates of his command, they have always borne off the 
 stakes. The general, in his flannel shirt, would stand by, a 
 spectator of the sport, but nothing more. 
 
 General Steele is kind-hearted and humane, and easily 
 approached, even by an humble private. It is this same 
 kindness of heart, as I am informed, that tempered his rule 
 while in command in Arkansas, and made him popular with 
 the citizens and camp-followers, and unpopular with many in 
 his army. In the field, he is really a fine officer; but he lacks 
 firmness, and is unfit for a military governor. That which 
 injured him not a little at Little Rock was his lack of judgment 
 in selecting his staff officers. In this respect he was very 
 unfortunate. 
 
 But he stands high in the confidence of General Grant, which 
 is no common recommendation. The general is neat and tidy 
 in his dress, and, when on duty, always appears in full uniform. 
 
COLONEL JAMES LORAINE GEDDES. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, EIGHTH INFANTRY. 
 
 James L. Geddes, of the 8th Iowa Infantiy, is a Scotchman, 
 and was born in the city of Edinburgh, on the 19th day of 
 March, 1827. When ten years of age, he emigrated with liis 
 family to Canada; but, at the age of eighteen, returned to 
 Scotland, and, in the following Winter, embarked for the East 
 Indies, where he entered the British Military Academy at 
 Calcutta. After studying at that Institution for about two 
 years, he enlisted in the British service, and was a member of 
 the Royal Horse Artillery. He was connected with the British 
 service seven years, and, during that time, served under Sir 
 Hugh Gough, Sir Charles Napier, and Sir Colin Campbell. 
 Under Gough, he took part in the celebrated Punjaub Cam- 
 paign, and with Napier fought in the battle of Kyber Pass. 
 He was also engaged under Sir Colin Campbell in the cam- 
 paign against the Hill Tribes of the Himalaya. For his 
 services in India, he was awarded a medal and clasp. 
 
 After leaving the British service, he returned to Canada 
 where, being commissioned by Queen Victoria a colonel of 
 cavalry, he organized a cavalry regiment ; but, as he himself 
 expressed it, he soon became disgusted, and resigned his com- 
 mission. He came to Iowa in the fall of 1857, and purchased 
 a farm in Benton county, on which he has since lived. 
 
 In August, 1861, Colonel Geddes enlisted a company in 
 Benton county, for the 8th Iowa Infantry, and was commis- 
 sioned its captain ; but, on the organization of his regiment, he 
 was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy, and, with that rank, 
 he entered the field. He was promoted to the colonelcy of 
 
 185 
 
186 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 the 8th Iowa, on the 7th of February, 1862, vice Colonel Steele, 
 who had been appointed a brigadier-general. 
 
 The first campaign on which the 8th Iowa InHmtry marched 
 was that of General Fremont, from Jefferson City to Spring- 
 field. The regiment's first battle was Shiloh. The part it took 
 in this engagement is the first point of interest in its history. 
 It was attached to the division of General C. F. Smith, which, 
 in the absence of that general, was commanded by Wallace. 
 The camp of the regiment was, therefore, in rear of the line 
 ^rst assailed by the enemy. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 6th of April, and soon after the 
 enemy opened fire on the divisions of Prentiss and Sherman, 
 Colonel Geddes ordered his regiment under arms and formed 
 it in lino of battle in front of its camp. In the meantime, the 
 firing at the front was increasing rapidly, and the colonel, con- 
 vinced that the enemy were advancing in force, ordered the 
 baggage to be loaded on the wagons and driven back in the 
 direction of the Landing. This done, his regiment was ordered 
 to the front. The other regiments of the brigade, which was 
 commanded by Colonel Sweeney, of the 52d Illinois, were, on 
 the arrival of the 8th Iowa, already in position. Forming his 
 regiment on the left of his brigade. Colonel Geddes remained 
 in this position for about an hour, in support of a battery in 
 his front, and during this time sufiered from a galling fire of 
 the enemy's artillery. 
 
 He was now separated from his brigade and ordered to the 
 left, and still further to the front : and the position which his 
 regiment now took up was in that line, portions of which were 
 held so obstinately until about four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 The 8th Iowa in this position was the connecting link between 
 the division of General Wallace and that portion of General 
 Prentiss' which had not stampeded at the first onset of the 
 
JAMES LORAINE GEDDES. 187 
 
 enemy. On the left of General Prentiss was the division of 
 Hurlbut, which had just come into position. It was now 
 nearly eleven o'clock, and every thing j^romised well for the 
 Federal cause; for the enemy in their first successes had been 
 effectually arrested. 
 
 Hardly had the 8th Iowa been aligned and drawn a long 
 breath, when it was assaulted by a battalion of the enemy, 
 advancing to turn Prentiss' right flank. A most determined 
 struggle followed of nearly an hour in length. The enemy, 
 flushed with their first successes, which su7'prise as well as their 
 valor had contributed to win, would not yield the contest until 
 they had left nearly half their number upon the field. The 
 8th Iowa held its ground steadily, and, like the 14th Iowa on 
 its right, charged and bore down the enemy whenever they 
 approached too closely. Finally they retired, after which 
 there was a respite of nearly an hour. 
 
 In the meantime General Prentiss had placed a battery in 
 position immediately in front of the 8th Iowa, and ordered the 
 regiment to hold and defend it at all hazards. It was now 
 about one o'clock in the afternoon, the hour when the fiercest 
 fighting of the whole day began ; for the enemy had com- 
 pleted their reconnoissances, and were advancing at nearly 
 every point along the line. The battery placed by General 
 Prentiss in front of the 8th Iowa opened upon the advancing 
 columns of the enemy, under the direction of the general in 
 person, and so accurately and rapidly was it served that it 
 soon became to them an object of special attack. " To this end 
 [I quote from the statement of Colonel Geddes to Governor 
 Kirkwood] they concentrated and hurled column after column 
 on my position, charging most gallantly to the very muzzles 
 of the guns. Here a struggle commenced for the retention 
 and possession of the battery, of a terrific character, their 
 
188 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 concentrated and well-directed fire decimating my ranks in a 
 fearful manner. In this desperate struggle, my regiment lost 
 one hundred men in killed and wounded. The conspicuous 
 gallantry and coolness of my company commanders, Captains 
 Cleaveland, Stubbs and Benson on the left ; Captains McCor- 
 mick and Bell in the centre; Captains Kelsey, Geddes and 
 Lieutenant Muhs, on the right, by reserving the fire of their 
 respective companies until the proper time for its delivery 
 with effect, and the determined courage of my men, saved the 
 battery from capture ; and I had the satisfaction of sending 
 the guns in safety to the rear." 
 
 And thus the conflict raged along the line, but at few points 
 with as great fury as in front of the 8th and 14th Iowa. 
 Finally, after the struggle had lasted nearly two hours, the 
 enemy retired, leaving the troops at this point masters of the 
 field. But they had not been equally unsuccessful at other 
 points. They had broken the line on the right, and had forced 
 back the left and centre of Prentiss' Division and the right of 
 Hurlbut's. Heavy volleys of musketry were now heard to 
 the left and rear of the 8th Iowa, where Prentiss, having rallied 
 his troops, had formed a new line. This line was at nearly 
 right angles with his former one, and the enemy were promptly 
 engaging him in this new position. At this time, about half- 
 past three o'clock, there was no enemy in front of the 8th Iowa, 
 or on its immediate left ; but, to conform with Prentiss' new 
 line, Colonel Geddes threw back the left of his regiment, and 
 dressed it on the right of the 58th Illinois, the right regiment 
 of Prentiss' Division. 
 
 The rest is soon told. Prentiss' new line gave way and fled 
 in terror to the Landing, and the enemy, meeting with no 
 further opposition, swung round to the rear of the 8th Iowa ; 
 and thus it was that the regiment was captured. The 58th 
 
JAMES LORAINE GEDDES. 189 
 
 Illinois stood nobly to the last, and was captured in like man- 
 ner. General Prentiss was near these troops, and was also 
 made prisoner. It has been asserted by many, that, had all 
 the troops at Shiloh fought with the same determination as 
 did the 58th Illinois, the 8th Iowa, and the four other Iowa 
 regiments on its right, the first day's battle would not have 
 been disastrous to our arms. Some have blamed General 
 Prentiss for holding his position so long; but, had he aban- 
 doned it sooner, who can tell the calamities that might have 
 followed; for, with all the delay he and the Iowa troops on his 
 right occasioned the enemy, the Federal forces barely escaped 
 capture, and the day closed with little hope. 
 
 Of the conduct of Colonel Geddes and his regiment at Shiloh, 
 General Prentiss, in his ofiicial report, says: 
 
 "He acted with distinguished courage, coolness and ability. 
 His regiment stood unflinchingly up to the work the entire 
 portion of the day, during which it acted under my orders." 
 
 The loss of the regiment in this engagement was nearly two 
 hundred. Captain Hogin was shot dead early in the day, and 
 soon after the regiment took up its position on the right of 
 General Prentiss' Division. Captain Palmer was at nearly the 
 same time severely wounded. Later in the day, and at the 
 time the conflict was going on for the retention of the battery 
 in his regiment's front. Colonel Geddes was wounded in the 
 leg. Major Anderson was at the same time severely wounded 
 in the head. Among those mentioned for special gallantry 
 was Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson, who, throughout the day, 
 was reckless in the exposure of his person to the enemy. 
 
 The history of that portion of the 8th Iowa Infantry which 
 escaped capture is to be found in the record of the Union Brig- 
 ade. This brigade, which was organized immediately after 
 the battle of Shiloh, and which retained its organization until 
 the 17th of the following December, acted an honorable part in 
 
190 IOWA COLONELS ^^^ REGIMENTS. 
 
 the battle of Corinth, in the fall of 1862, under the command of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel J. P. Coulter of the 12th Iowa Infantry. 
 On the morning of the 18th of December, 18G2, the detach- 
 ments of the 8th, 12th and 14th Iowa regiments, which had 
 served in the Union Brigade for upward of eight months, left 
 Corinth, by order of General Dodge, to report at Davenport, 
 Iowa, for re-organization in their respective commands. This, 
 it will be remembered, was at the time of Forest's raid through 
 Tennessee into Kentucky ; and, on the arrival of these troops 
 at Jackson, Tennessee, they were ordered by Colonel Lawler, 
 Commandant of the Post, to assist in defending the place 
 against the threatened attack of the enemy, who were reported 
 to be in strong force, and supported by artillery. But Jackson 
 was not attacked. The enemy's demonstrations before that 
 city were only intended to divert the Federal forces, while 
 they in the meantime destroyed the railroad north in the 
 direction of Columbus; and this work they effectually accom- 
 plished. Forest now fled the State, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Coulter proceeded with his command to Davenport. 
 
 Subsequently to the re-organization of the 8th Iowa Infantry 
 and up to the spring of 1864, the history of the regiment is 
 similar to that of the 12th Iowa. It joined General Grant's 
 army at Milliken's Bend in the spring of 1863, and was 
 assigned to the 3d Brigade, 3d Division, 15th Army Corps, 
 which it accompanied in all its long and tedious marches 
 through Mississippi. But when that corps left Vicksburg for 
 Chattanooga, in the fall of 1863, the 8th Iowa with its division 
 was left behind. The regiment remained at Vicksburg until 
 the following Winter, when, having re-enlisted, it was sent 
 North on veteran furlough. On its return, it was ordered to 
 Memphis, since which time it has served under Major-General 
 A. J. Smith. 
 
 When Forest made his dash into Memphis, late in August, 
 
JAMES LOKAINE GEDDES. 191 
 
 1864, the 8th Iowa was stationed in the city on garrison-duty, 
 and took an important part in driving out, and dispersing the 
 forces of the guerrilla chief. "Sergeants Ostrander, and 
 privates A. M. Walling, Charles Smith, I. F. Newman and 
 Perry Clark, watched their opportunity, and fired a volley on 
 the flank of the enemy, killing the rebel Captain Lundy and 
 wounding several others." Lieutenant-Colonel W. B. Bell 
 commanded the 8th Iowa in this affiiir ; and, before the enemy 
 were dispersed, the regiment suffered severely. Lieutenant 
 A. S. Irwin was mortally wounded and died soon after. 
 Lieutenants J. A. Boyer and J. S. Tinkham were also 
 wounded. Among those mentioned for good conduct, are 
 Captain Geddes, and Lieutenants Stearns and Campbell. 
 
 The,8th Iowa has recently and most signally distinguished 
 itself, in the operations of General Canby around Mobile. 
 
 The arrival of A. J. Smith's Corps at Barley's Mill on Fish 
 Biver, and the march to Spanish Fort and its investment will 
 appear elsewhere. The 8th Iowa Inflmtry was attached to this 
 Corps, and its position in front of the fort was to the extreme 
 right of the Federal line. The brigade to which the regiment 
 was attached, was commanded by Colonel Geddes, and the 
 division by General E. A. Carr. 
 
 Of Spanish Fort, which is situated on Blakely River, and 
 nearly east from Mobile, one who was on the ground writes 
 
 thvis : 
 
 " At Spanish Fort, there were several lines of inferior rifle- 
 pits for skirmishers, outside the principal works. A formida- 
 ble ditch added to the strength of the position ; the most 
 elaborately constructed abattis presented its sharp points to an 
 enemy; a line of chevaux defrize intervened between the 
 ditch and the abattis ; the trees were felled and laced together 
 for an area of many acres around, and the ground everywhere 
 was pretty thickly sown with torpedoes. Artillery, of all 
 kinds and calibres, bristled along the walls, and three thou- 
 sand men with muskets held the interior of the fort." 
 
192 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Spanish Fort was crescent-shaped in form, its right and left 
 defenses swinging back to near the river. Just at the northern 
 extremity of these defenses, a deep ravine puts down to the 
 river, dividing the high bluff along its eastern bank. On the 
 north-eastern side of this ravine was the brigade of Colonel 
 Geddes in position, and, on the opposite one, the northern 
 extremity of Spanish Fort. At the mouth of the ravine was 
 low bottom-land, not long since covered with dense and 
 heavy timber ; but this had all been felled, to enable the rebel 
 gun-boats to sweep it from the river. This was the point 
 selected from which to carry Spanish Fort. 
 
 In speaking of the charge of the 8th Iowa, which led the 
 advance, the same correspondent goes on to say : 
 
 " For nearly an hour and a half the bombardment continued, 
 before Colonel Geddes judged it expedient to move; and the 
 sun was just sinking below the western horizon when the 
 signal to advance was given. Instantly the men of the 8th 
 Iowa sprang to their feet, and the company of skirmishers, 
 followed by the entire regiment, threw themselves among the 
 fallen and matted timbers in the swamp, and urged their way, 
 as rapidly as possible, across the mouth of the ravine. A loud 
 shout from the rest of the division, as if the whole were about 
 to charge, distracted the attention of the enemy, while the bold 
 advance of the 8th Iowa seemed to strike him with dismay. 
 Such of his men as were posted behind the log breast-work, 
 [that which extended from the bluff down across the low 
 ground to the river] fired a scattering, hesitating volley, and 
 ran for their lives. But from the extreme left of the rebel 
 rifle-pits, a heavy fire was poured upon our boys, until the 
 foremost of them, mounting the bluff, came full upon the rear 
 of the enemy. 
 
 "It was just here that Lieutenant Vineyard, the gallant 
 leader of Company G, fell dangerously wounded. Some of his 
 men halted a moment where he lay. ' Pay no attention to me,' 
 he said; 'move on;' and they did move on. The frightened 
 rebels seeing the boys still clambering over the bluff, and not 
 knowing what force there might be behind, threw down their 
 
JAMES LORAINE GEDDES. 193 
 
 arms. Three hundred were made prisoners on the spot. 
 Others retreated rapidly toward the centre of the fort, and a 
 line of battle was now formed by the enemy to check the fur- 
 ther advance of our troops into the fortress. For more than 
 three hundred yards, the brave 8th fought its way toward the 
 enemy's centre; but it was now dark, and, in obedience to 
 orders which they had received, the victorious Hawkeyes 
 halted, and hastily constructed a line of rifle-pits." 
 
 ! At about eleven o'clock at night, it was learned that the 
 enemy were evacuating, when, nearly an hour later, the whole 
 Federal line moved against the fort. There was little resist- 
 ance made; for nearly all the enemy had left. Of all the 
 prisoners captured, there were less than six hundred; but, 
 besides large quantities of ammunition, nearly fifty pieces of 
 artillery fell into our hands. The 8th Iowa Infantry should be 
 
 i permitted to inscribe on their banner, First at Spanish Fort. 
 The troops with which the 8th was brigaded were the 81st, the 
 108th and the 124th Illinois. 
 
 Of the scenes inside the fort after its evacuation, the author 
 from whom I have quoted goes on to say : 
 
 "For several hours on Monday morning, I wandered about 
 over the interior and battlements of the deserted fortress. 
 Objects and localities of interest abounded. Here was the 
 point where the 8th Iowa effected its entrance ; the swamp 
 covered with fallen timbers through which it had clambered; 
 the huge ravine whose mouth it had passed; the bluff up 
 which it had climbed ; the line of rifle-pits which it had thrown 
 up after gaining a lodgment. Here lay a huge columbiad, dis- 
 mounted during the bombardment on the 4th. One of the 
 heavy iron trunnions was knocked off, and lay beside the gun. 
 Down there was the formidable water battery, from which you 
 could, with ease, see Mobile and the entire upper part of the 
 bay, with all of its rivers and shores and indentations. That 
 cabin there, was occupied as the quarters of the general com- 
 manding this fort, Randall E. Gibson. Surely, it could have 
 been no enviable residence ; for the trees all around it were 
 torn to pieces with shot and shell, and the timbers of several 
 
194 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 similar cabins in the immediate vicinity had been shivered 
 and splintered by the fiery missiles. 
 
 "Other effects of the terrible bombardment to which the 
 fort had ])een subjected were plainly and painfully visible. 
 Haversacks and clothing crimsoned with blood were scattered 
 over the ground. In several places gory streams had run for a 
 considerable distance along the trenches, and the little pools of 
 it, which even the thirsty sands had not yet drank up, were 
 standing here and there. At other points the life-blood from 
 the bosoms of the rebel soldiery along the lines had spurted 
 upon the walls, dying them even a deeper red from the head- 
 log to the foot of the rampart. Oh, it was a sickening sight! 
 Gun-carriages shivered to jiieces ; hundreds of iron fragments 
 of missiles which had burst ; solid shot and unexploded shells 
 that had been flung from grim-mouthed cannon ; great holes 
 in the earth, dug out in an instant by some ponderous projec- 
 tile ; immense rents in the earthworks, through which the fiery 
 bolts had ploughed their way — all these were every where vis- 
 ible. The bombardment of the evening before must have 
 indeed possessed every feature calculated to terrify the souls of 
 those who lay within the fort. " 
 
 Colonel Geddes is a small, slender man, weighing about one 
 hundred and thirty-five pounds. He has thin, sharp features, 
 fine, brown hair, and large, hazel eyes. He is active and 
 intelligent, and has much general information. As an officer, 
 I am told, he was always held in high esteem by his men. He 
 has most certainly enjoyed the full confidence of his superiors. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL WM. VANDEVER. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, NINTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Of General Vandever's early history I have been able to 
 learn but little. I do not even know his native State. I first 
 find him at Hock Island, Illinois, where he was employed in a 
 news-paper office. Iowa was then a Territory. From Rock 
 Island, he removed to Dubuque, and entered the Surveyor- 
 Greneral's office at that place. Still later, he studied and prac- 
 ticed law in Dubuque. In 1858, he was nominated for Congress 
 from the Dubuque District, there being, I am told, no stronger 
 man of his party, who would accept the nomination, on 
 account of the almost certain prospect of defeat. But the 
 general made a good canvass ; and, to the surprise of all, was 
 elected. He was distinguished in Congress, for his dignity and 
 taciturnity ; two traits, which would embellish the records of 
 many, who have worn Congressional honors. 
 
 Mr. Vandever was commissioned colonel of the 9th Iowa 
 [nfantry, on the 30th of August, 1861 ; and in the winter of 
 1862-3 was made a brigadier-general. As a military man, he 
 lias gained less distinction than any other public man who has 
 entered the service from Iowa. 
 
 The 9th Iowa Infantry was enlisted principally from the 
 counties of Jackson, Dubuque, Buchanan, Jones, Clayton, 
 Payette, Bremer, Blackhawk, Winneshiek, Howard and Linn, 
 [ts first field of service was Missouri, and its first hard-fought 
 aattle, Pea Ridge, Arkansas. At Pea Ridge, the regiment was 
 commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel, now Major-General Her- 
 ron ; for Colonel Vandever was in command of the brigade to 
 which it was attached. In the march from Rolla to Cross 
 
 195 
 
196 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Hollows, it had several skirmishes with the enemy, but 
 suffered, I think, no loss. From Cross Hollows it marched 
 with its brigade on an expedition to Huntsville, Arkansas, an 
 account of which is thus given by Colonel Vandever : 
 
 " On the morning of the 4th instant [March 1862] I left Camp 
 Halleck, at Cross Hollows, in command of an expedition in 
 the direction of Huntsville. The forces consisted of three hun- 
 dred and fifty of the 9th Iowa Infantry, one hundred and fifty 
 from Colonel Phelps' Missouri Begiment, one battalion from 
 the 80th Illinois Cavalry, one section of the Dubuque Battery, 
 (light artillery) and one section of Brown's Mountain Howitz- 
 ers. We prosecuted the march and arrived at Huntsville at 
 noon of the 5th instant, without incident. A portion of the 
 enemy's stores was captured at their camp, three miles beyond 
 Huntsville, and several prisoners taken. From the prisoners 
 I obtained information that the enemy was marching in force 
 toward our lines, for the purpose of attack, which information 
 I immediately transmitted to head-quarters, and then prepared 
 to retrace my steps. I moved out of Huntsville, and camped 
 three miles distant. At two o'clock in the morning, I received 
 your [General Curtis] orders to return and join the main body 
 at Sugar Creek. At three o'clock A. M., I resumed my line of 
 march, and, at dusk the same evening, arrived in camp, having 
 accomplished a forced march of forty miles in a single day. " 
 
 The next day, the seventh, the severe fighting at Pea Bidge 
 opened ; and early in the morning Colonel Vandever marched 
 his brigade out in the direction of Elkhorn Tavern. His 
 command fought that entire day, on the left of the brigade of 
 Colonel Dodge, which, it will be remembered, held the 
 extreme right of General Curtis' army. It is stated elsewhere 
 that the division of Colonel Carr, to which both Dodge and 
 Vandever were attached, did the severest fighting at Pea 
 Bidge. In speaking of the conduct of his own regiment in 
 this engagement. Colonel Vandever says : 
 
 " Major Coyl of the 9th Iowa acted with distinguished valor, 
 until disabled by a severe wound, and compelled, reluctantly, 
 to leave the field. Adjutant William Scott also deserves great 
 
WILLIAM VANDEVER. 197 
 
 praise. Lieutenant Asher Kiley, of Company A, my acting 
 assistant adjutant-general, deserves particular mention. Upon 
 the fall of Captain Drips and Lieutenant Kelsey, both distin- 
 guished for their bravery, Lieutenant Riley gallantly took 
 I command, and remained with the company throughout the 
 I action. Captain Carpenter and Lieutenant Jones, of Company 
 I B, also acted with great bravery, leading their company in the 
 face of the enemy, and bringing off one of our disabled pieces 
 and a caisson. 
 
 " Captain Towner and Lieutenant Neff, of Company F, were 
 conspicuous for their bravery. Both of these officers were 
 severely wounded, when the command devolved upon Lieut- 
 enant Tisdale, who gallantly led the company through the 
 remainder of the action. Captain Bull and Lieutenant Rice of 
 • Company C also deserve particular mention, the latter of 
 I whom was killed near the close of the day, while the former 
 j was severely wounded. Captain Bevins of Company E, was 
 i killed upon the field, and the command devolved upon Lieut- 
 enant Baker. He acquitted himself with great credit. Cap- 
 I tain Washburn and Lieutenants Beebe and Leverich of 
 Company G, Lieutenants Crane and McGee of Company D, 
 Captain Moore and Lieutenant McKenzie of Company H, 
 Captain Carsakaddon and Lieutenant Claflin of Company K, 
 and Lieutenant Fellows, commanding Company I, also Lieut- 
 enant Inman, were all conspicuous for bravery, under the 
 hottest fire of the enemy. Many instances of special gallantry 
 occurred among non-commissioned officers and privates. All 
 did their duty well. I should also mention Sergeant-Major 
 Foster of the 9th Iowa, and other members of the non- 
 commissioned staff, who did their duty nobly." 
 
 After nearly a month's rest in the vicinity of the battle- 
 ground, Colonel Vandever joined in the march of General 
 Curtis across the Ozark Mountains to Batesville. While at 
 Batesville, General Steele joined Curtis with a division from 
 Pilot Knob ; but here, also, the general lost the commands of 
 Davis and Asboth, which were summoned by Halleck to 
 Corinth. Early in June, the Army of the South West was 
 re-organized into three divisions, commanded by Steele, Carr 
 
198 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 and Osterhaus. Colonel Vandever remained in Carr's Divi- 
 sion, and retained the command of his brigade. The hardships 
 of Curtis' march from Batesville to Helena, which was made 
 in mid-summer, have already been enumerated; but not the 
 different points at which the enemy were met: they were 
 Searcy Landing, Sillamore, Waddell's Farm, Jeffries' Mills, 
 Cashe River Bridge, Stuart's Plantation, Pickett's Farm, 
 Grand Glaize and Round Hill. The last was of the most 
 importance: less than six hundred defeated two thousand 
 Texan Rangers, inflicting on them a loss of more than two 
 hundred. 
 
 Colonel Vandever remained at Helena for several months, 
 when, being appointed a brigadier-general, he was ordered to 
 report to General Curtis at St. Louis, and given a command in 
 Central Missouri. In the early part of April, 1863, he com- 
 manded the cavalry force, which, leaving Lake Springs, Mis- 
 souri, marched against Marmaduke, and drove him from the 
 State. It was this command that, at mid-night of the 26th of 
 April, charged the enemy's camp on the Dallas road, near 
 Jackson, routing the enemy, and afterwards pursuing them to 
 St. Francis River. 
 
 General Vandever accompanied General Herron to Vicks- 
 burg, in command of one of his brigades ; and, after the fall of 
 the city, sailed with him up the Yazoo River to Yazoo City. 
 For his services on this expedition, he was thus complimented 
 by General Herron : 
 
 " I desire to return my thanks to Brigadier-Generals Vande- 
 ver and Orme, my brigade commanders, for their unceasing 
 efforts to carry out all my plans, and aid in the success of the 
 expedition." 
 
 Since that time, and up to the spring of 1864, General Van- 
 dever served in the Department of the Gulf, but during the 
 march on Atlanta he was ordered to report to General Sherman 
 
WILLIAM VANDEVER. 199 
 
 by whom he was assigned a district command with head-quar- 
 ters at Rome, Georgia. He retained this command till after 
 the fall of Atlanta, when he was ordered to Louisville, and 
 assigned to duty on a court-martial. After the fall of Savan- 
 nah he reported to General Sherman at that city, and was 
 assigned to the command of a brigade in the 14th Corps which 
 he commanded till the arrival of the Army of the Tennessee 
 at Washington, when he was assigned to the command of the 
 2d Division of said corps. This command he accompanied to 
 I Louisville. 
 
 During the march from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to 
 Goldsboro, General Vandever distinguished himself. The his- 
 tory of the march is as follows : 
 
 Crossing Cape Fear River, opposite Fayetteville, on the loth 
 of March, General Sherman "ordered Kilpatrick to move up 
 the plank road to and beyond Averysboro. He was to be 
 followed by four divisions of the left wing, [the 14th and 20th 
 Corps] with as few wagons as possible; the rest of the train, 
 under escort of the two remaining divisions of that wing, to 
 take a shorter and more direct road to Goldsboro. In like 
 manner, General Howard [commanding loth and 17th Corps] 
 was ordered to send his trains, under good escort, well to 
 the right toward Faison's Depot and Goldsboro, and to hold 
 four divisions light, ready to go to the aid of the left wing, 
 if attacked while in motion. The weather continued very bad, 
 and the roads had become a mere quag-mire. Almost every 
 foot of it had to be corduroyed to admit the passage of wheels." 
 
 Prosecuting this line of march, the left wing fought the bat- 
 tle of Averysboro, and then turned east in the direction of 
 Goldsboro; for Hardee had fled, "in a miserable, stormy night, 
 over the worst of roads," in the direction of Smithfleld. The 
 feint on Raleigh did not deceive Johnson, and Sherman, con- 
 trary to his expectations, had to fight the old rebel before 
 
200 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 reaching Goldsboro. While the left wing was on the march 
 through the marshy, timbered bottoms that lie near Benton- 
 ville, Johnson, hurrying down from Smithfield, threw himself 
 on the front and left flank of Jefiferson C. Davis' Corps, which 
 was in the advance. Disaster threatened to overwhelm the 
 leading division, and indeed the whole left wing, and Sherman 
 became anxious; but the great courage and endurance of the 
 troops held the enemy at bay till the right wing was brought 
 up. Then, with their left flank and rear threatened, the 
 the enemy retired, and Sherman entered Goldsboro. In this 
 engagement General Vandever distinguished himself. 
 
 Mr. J. Thompson, a member of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, who 
 served for several months under General Vandever, writes 
 thus of him : 
 
 "General Vandever is a man of medium hight, dark hair 
 and wiry constitution. There is nothing remarkable in his 
 features or organization, to impress one with the belief that 
 there is any true greatness about him, either as a man or a 
 general. He lacks both the will and the energy, but more, the 
 ability of a successful leader. The history of his military life 
 is a history of the man — tame and unromantic, exhibiting 
 nothing striking or remarkable — never sinking below, nor yet 
 rising above his chosen level. Such he is as a general, and 
 such would be your opinion of him were you to see him." 
 
 From what I have been able to learn of General Vandever, I 
 am persuaded Mr. Thompson does him hardly justice. Though 
 in no respect brilliant, yet he is a man of good judgment and 
 of great perseverance. He is not of a social, communicative 
 nature. He minds his own business, and this, I believe, has 
 been to his disadvantage in the army ; for rapid promotion has 
 depended not less upon hard begging^ than upon hard working, 
 especially if the officer in question holds a subordinate posi- 
 tion. Can one in any other way account for so many worthless 
 field and general officers? 
 
MAJOR-GENERAL FRANCIS J. HERRON. 
 
 LIEUTEXANT-COLOXEL, NINTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Francis J. Hebron is Iowa's youngest major-general, and 
 the second one of that rank appointed from the State. His 
 ancestry are ancient and honorable, and, on the paternal side, 
 are familiarly known as " Herron's Branch," who, settling in 
 Eastern Pennsylvania in the early history of that State, were 
 ever classed among her most intelligent and well-to-do yeo- 
 manry. On the maternal side of the house, he is descended 
 from one of the oldest families of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 
 who settled in that city when it was a mere village, and who 
 have maintained an honorable position in the community to 
 the present day. The general's uncle, the late James Ander- 
 son, ranked with the most benevolent and wealthy citizens of 
 Pittsburg. 
 
 The subject of our sketch is a son of the late Colonel John 
 Herron, and a native of Pittsburg, where he was born on the 
 17th day of February, 1837. He was educated at the Western 
 University, in Pittsburg, which was then, and is still, under 
 the superintendence of Professor J. M. Smith, a brother-in-law 
 of the general. Leaving this University at sixteen, he was 
 soon after appointed to a clerkship in a Pittsburg banking- 
 house, and, in 1854, became a partner in the banking firm of 
 " Herron & Brothers." In 1855, he removed to Iowa, and, in 
 connection with one of his brothers, opened a banking-house 
 in the city of Dubuque. Dubuque is his present home. 
 
 General Herron began his brilliant military career as cap- 
 tain of Company I, 1st Iowa Infantry. He served with his 
 regiment in Missouri till the expiration of its term of service, 
 
 201 
 
202 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and with it took part in the memorable battle of Wilson's 
 Creek. Returning home in the latter part of August, he was, 
 on the tenth of the following September, commissioned lieut- 
 enant-colonel of the 9th Iowa Infantry. For gallantry at the 
 battle of Pea Ridge, (March 6th, 7th and 8th, 1862, where he 
 was wounded and taken prisoner) he was made a brigadier- 
 general, and, for his courage and superior military skill at the 
 battle of Prairie Grove, December 7th, 1862, was promoted to 
 his present rank. The battle of Prairie Grove is one of the 
 most brilliant of the war — perhaps the most brilliant, when we 
 consider the disparity in numbers of the forces engaged ; and 
 it was by no means barren in results ; for a well-organized and 
 confident army was overwhelmed in defeat, from the effects of 
 which it never recovered. 
 
 In the organization of the Army of the Frontier, under 
 General Schofield, of date the loth of October, 1862, General 
 Herron was put in command of the 3d Division. The 1st and 
 2d Divisions were commanded by Generals Blunt and Totten 
 respectively. For three weeks previous to the 1st of December, 
 1862 and longer, the Army of the Frontier had been watching 
 the enemy, who had below, and in the vicinity of the old Pea 
 Ridge battle-field, a large and well-organized army, under 
 command of the rebel Major-General Thomas C. Hindman. 
 
 On the first of December, General Blunt, who had been hold- 
 ing his division on Prairie Creek, near Bentonville, moved 
 against a detachment of the enemy, and, driving it from Cane 
 Hill, held the position. This was no sooner done, however, 
 than the enemy threatened him in heavy force, and compelled 
 him to send to General Schofield for reinforcements. General 
 Blunt's messenger, arriving at head-quarters near Wilson's 
 Creek on the evening of the 8d of December, found General 
 Schofield absent, and General Herron in command. "General 
 Blunt must have reinforcements or lose his entire command;" 
 
FRANCIS J. HEREON. 203 
 
 and there was no other alternative; but General Herron, 
 under instructions, could afford no relief. The expedient 
 which he adopted was worthy of him, and will redound to his 
 infinite credit. Disi^atching- a messenger to General Schofield, 
 but without awaiting or expecting a reply, he broke camp and 
 marched to the rescue. 
 
 At day-light on Sunday morning, the seventh of December, 
 his command passed through Fayetteville, Arkansas, and 
 halted for breakfast one mile beyond; but before the meal was 
 completed, members of the 1st Arkansas Cavalry, which com- 
 posed a portion of the advance-guard, came hurrying back 
 with word that Hindman's cavalry was upon them. The 
 merest incident often controls momentous issues, and so it 
 happened here. Major Hubbard, a gallant, positive fellow, 
 and an officer of General Herron's stafi", being in command of 
 the advance-guard, was captured and taken before the rebel 
 general. "How much of a force has General Herron?" 
 demanded Hindman. "Enough," replied the major, "to 
 annihilate you ; " and this answer, with Herron's determined 
 fighting and superior generalship, saved to our arms the battle 
 of Prairie Grove; for Hindman, with his twenty thousand, 
 dared not move out against the handful of men in his front, 
 (net four thousand all told) for fear of being annihilated by an 
 overwhelming reserve, marshaled, in his imagination, in the 
 heavy timber to our rear. Nor did he learn his mistake till 
 late in the afternoon, and just before the guns of General Blunt 
 began thundering on his left and rear. 
 
 Having completed their hasty meal, Herron's troops resumed 
 the march and pushed vigorously on, till arriving at Illinois 
 Creek, about ten miles distant from Fayetteville. There the 
 enemy were met in force. They were on the south-west side 
 of the creek, and strongly posted on the high ground, which, 
 on either side, looks down into the valley through which the 
 
204 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 road to Cane Hill passes. The situation was no sooner learned 
 than Herron had formed his decision. He must bhiff his 
 adversary, or lose his command; and this was the plan on 
 which the engagement was fought, which, to General Hind- 
 man, was a confirmation of Major Hubbard's report. General 
 Herron first endeavored to push Battery E, 4th Missouri Light 
 Artillery, and the 9th Illinois Infantry across the ford in his 
 front ; but that was so accurately covered with the guns of the 
 enemy as to make it impossible. The detachment was driven 
 back in some confusion. Next, he ordered Colonel Houston to 
 cut a road through the timber to the right, and, having gained 
 the opposite side with Captain Murphy's Battery, to open on 
 the enemy and divert their attention, while he, with the bal- 
 ance of his command, pushed across the ford and gained a 
 position in front of the enemy. The movement was successful. 
 A further account of this battle will be found in the sketch of 
 Colonel W. McE. Dye, of the 20th Iowa. I will only add here, 
 that Hindman was defeated, and Herron made a major-gen- 
 eral. 
 
 It will be interesting to know the names of the troops who 
 earned General Herron this promotion. They were the 9th, 
 37th, and 94th Illinois, the 19th and 20th Iowa, the 26th IncU- 
 ana, and the 20th Wisconsin Infantry regiments, together 
 with four Missouri batteries, commanded by Captains Murphy, 
 Faust and Backof, and Lieutenant Borries. The 6th, 7th, and 
 8th Missouri Cavalry, the 1st Iowa and 10th Illinois, and 
 the 1st Battalion of the 2d Wisconsin Cavalry, were all sent 
 forward to General Blunt from Elkhorn, and remained with 
 his command till the close of the engagement. 
 
 General Herron remained with his command, operating in 
 Missouri and Arkansas, till late in the following May, when 
 he was summoned to Vicksburg to take part in the reduction 
 of that place. Immediately after the fall of the city, he made 
 
 \ 
 
FRANCIS J. HEBRON. 205 
 
 his expedition up the Yazoo River, after which, he embarked 
 his command on transports, and sailed for Port Hudson and 
 thence for Carrollton, Louisiana ; where he arrived on the 13th 
 of August. Subsequently to that date, the general has served 
 principally in the Gulf Department; but the operations in 
 which he took part will appear in the sketches of other officers. 
 
 General Herron's Division was attached to Ord's Corps. By 
 that general he was held in the highest esteem, as is shown by 
 General Order Number 39, dated, " Head-quarters 13th Army 
 Corps, Carrollton, Louisiana, September, 25th, 1863." 
 
 During the winter of 1863-4 and for some time after, General 
 Herron, while serving in Texas, made his head-quarters at 
 Brownsville. It will be remembered that it was during this 
 time the forces of M. Ruiz, Governor of Tamaulipas, and those 
 of Colonel Cortinas, came in collision in Matamoras. L. 
 Pierce, U. S. Consul stationed in that city, became alarmed, 
 and sent to General Herron for protection. Colonel Bertram 
 of the 20th Wisconsin was at once sent across the river with a 
 portion of his regiment, with which he conducted the Consul 
 and his property and papers within the Federal lines. Had I 
 the space, a further history of this affair would be interesting. 
 
 General Herron's ventilation of the Department of Arkan- 
 sas has more recently made his name quite distinguished. 
 This was a most thankless mission, and he was charged by 
 some with being partial ; but that is not strange. Indeed, we 
 are not to suppose the exposer would be more popular with the 
 guilty parties than the expose. The result of his investigations 
 was published in nearly all the leading papers of the country, 
 and convinced all honest men that, the Department of 
 Arkansas had been the theatre of most outrageous abuses. 
 
 General Herron has a neat, well-formed person, and dresses 
 with much taste. In appearance he is intelligent, and in 
 manners agreeable. He has, I am told, some vanity. His 
 
206 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 marked traits of character are three. He is always cahn and 
 composed, no matter how great the danger, or how wild the 
 excitement. At Prairie Grove he led the advance over the 
 ford of Illinois Creek, and, under the rapid and accurate fire of 
 the enemy, was in imminent peril ; but he was perfectly calm, 
 and apparently insensible of danger. 
 
 Another marked trait of his character is his taciturnity; and 
 yet, if he talks but little, there is nothing about him 
 sullen or morose. His voice, which is clear and kind, has a 
 sort of charm about it that evidences a warm heart and gene- 
 rous nature. He was always popular with the soldiers of his 
 command. 
 
 His third and most distinguishing trait— that which more 
 than all others has contributed to make him what he is — is a 
 self-reliant spirit. This, from his early youth, was always 
 noticeable, and was the cause of his leaving the Western Uni- 
 versity before mastering the full course of study. It was a 
 matter of no consequence to him that his father and his friends 
 were opposed to this course. He believed he knew enough to 
 make his way in the world, and, because he thought so, all 
 remonstrances were unavailing. 
 
 Frank J. Herron was promoted to the rank of brigadier- 
 general from that of lieutenant-colonel. He is the only officer 
 from the State who has been thus complimented by the War 
 Department. 
 
COLONEL DAVID CARSAKADDON. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, NINTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Of Colonel Caksakaddon I have been able to learn still less 
 than of General Vandever. He is a native of Pennsylvania, 
 which is all that I know of his earlier history. He settled in 
 Iowa after the year 1850, and at the time of entering the army 
 was the proprietor of a livery-stable. He recruited Company 
 K, 9th Iowa Infantry, in the summer of 1861, and was mus- 
 tered its captain the 24th of September following. On the 
 promotion of Colonel Vandever to a general officer, he was 
 made colonel of his regiment. 
 
 The history of the 9th Iowa, while under the command of 
 Colonel Carsakaddon, need not be given in detail, for it is 
 essentially the same as are those of the 4th, 2oth, 2Gth, 30th 
 and 31st Iowa regiments. Its loss during the Vicksburg Cani- 
 paign was about one hundred and fort5% In the charge of the 
 22d of May, 1863, it was in the front, and suffered severely. 
 Among the killed in this charge were Captain F. M. Kelsey of 
 Company A, and Lieutenants Jacob Jones and Edward Tyrrell. 
 Captain T. S. Washburn and Lieutenant E. C. Little were both 
 wounded. The former commanded the regiment in the charge. 
 He was a gallant officer, and died of his wounds soon after 
 reaching his home in Iowa. Lieutenant John Sutherland of 
 Company D, was also wounded in the charge of the 22d, and 
 Sergeant, afterwards Major, Inman. 
 
 The following incident is deserving of mention: Sergeant 
 J. M. Elson, the color-bearer, was shot through both thighs, 
 while endeavoring to scale the outer slope of the enemy's 
 defenses. The flag fell forward on the enemy's works, where 
 
 207 
 
208 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 it lay till it was siezed by Lieutenant and Adjutant George 
 Granger. Tearing it from the staff, he put it in his bosom and 
 brought it from the field. While on the march from Memphis 
 to Chattanooga, the regiment lost three men in the affair at 
 Cherokee Station. Its loss on Lookout Mountain was one man 
 wounded, and at Mission Ridge, seven. In the affair at Ring- 
 gold it lost three men killed, and eleven wounded. 
 
 During the winter of 1863-4, the 9th Iowa was stationed near 
 Woodville, Alabama, and, in the following spring, marched 
 with its brigade and division to the front. It participated in 
 the entire Atlanta Campaign, but most distinguished itself on 
 the 22d of July, 1864, before the city. An account of general 
 movements on these two memorable days may be given with 
 interest. We begin with the 21st instant; for the advance to 
 and beyond Decatur has been already given. 
 
 The 21st day of July closed with the enemy in their line of 
 works, just beyond Decatur, and from which Sherman had 
 tried unsuccessfully to force them: it closed with a vigorous 
 fire of musketry along the whole line, and with the prospect 
 that the enemy would not abandon their position till forced to 
 do so. The night following was a magnificent one : the firing 
 ceased late in the evening, and, not long after, the moon rose 
 in all its splendor, lighting up dimly the scene of the recent 
 conflict. Before mid-night, every thing was quiet, with the 
 exception of an incessant rattling of wagon-trains and artil- 
 lery, away off to the left and front. The sentinels said to each 
 other, that Hood was evacuating Atlanta; and they were 
 happy in the thought that they were to possess the Gate City 
 without further blood-shed ; but they were doomed to wretched 
 disappointment. 
 
 When morning broke, no enemy were in view. They had 
 abandoned their long line of works, extending from the right 
 
DAVID CAKSAKADDON. 209 
 
 of General Thomas to near the left of General McPherson ; and 
 where, on the 21st instant, they had brought General Sherman 
 at bay. An advance was, of course, at once ordered. The line 
 of march of the Army of the Tennessee was nearly due west, 
 and along and parallel with the Decatur road. Before the 
 advance was made, the 16th Corps held the right, and joined 
 the 23d ; the loth Corps the centre ; and the 17th the left. After 
 the movement was made, and the Army of the Tennessee dis- 
 posed in line, the 15th Corps covered the Atlanta and Decatur 
 Railroad, leaving the 17th Corps still at its left, and south-east 
 of Atlanta. But the lines were shortened so as to crowd the 
 16th Corps out ; and at the time the enemy made their assault, 
 it was in reserve, in rear of the 15th and 17th Corps. This, as 
 subsequent events proved, was most fortunate. 
 
 The enemy had not fled. They were soon discovered in a 
 new and strong line of works, not more than a mile and a half 
 back from those they had just abandoned. Sherman moved 
 up and took position, shortly before twelve o'clock, at noon. 
 
 In this maneuver of his forces, the rebel Hood showed strat- 
 exjy. He could count on Sherman's advance in the morning, 
 and, having massed a heavy force on his left, he would strike 
 him, just after the advance was begun. There were two obsta- 
 cles to his success — the tarc^mess of his troops in coming into 
 position, and the courage and endurance of the 17th Corps. 
 But the 9th Iowa was attached to the 15th Corps, and was not 
 less than four miles north of the Federal left, when the Iowa 
 Brigade, commanded by Colonel Hall, received the first attack 
 of the enemy. 
 
 As soon as the firing commenced on the left, Wood's Divis- 
 ion, to which the 9th belonged, was put under arms, and rested 
 in line. On the left of Wood's Division was Morgan L. 
 Smith's. Separating these two commands was a deep and 
 
210 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 difficult ravine, along the bottom of which ran a small stream. 
 The sides of the ravine were covered with brush and fallen 
 timber ; and the banks of the stream, with thick bramble. In 
 front of Smith's right, and near the ravine, was a bald knob, 
 on wliich the enemy had erected a crescent-shaped work, (now 
 vacant) to cover the approaches from the east. West of this 
 work and in the direction of Atlanta, the ground was descend- 
 ing, and heavily timbered. In front of Wood's right was the 
 Howard House, where Sherman was making his head-quarters, 
 and where the body of the gallant and lamented McPherson 
 was brought, soon after he was killed. I should further state 
 that, the position of Wood's and Smith's commands was along 
 the line of works the enemy had abandoned the previous 
 night : portions of these had already been reversed. 
 
 The attack of the enemy broke with great fury on the left. 
 The deep and prolonged roar of musketry, broken, occasion- 
 ally, by the booming of artillery, seemed constantly approach- 
 ing and increasing. Soon there were other evidences of the 
 enemy's success. Aids, with despair in their faces, hurried 
 to and from Sherman's head-tiuarters ; and the general 
 himself grew anxious and nervous. General officers were 
 sent for, or reported without orders; and among them 
 were Thomas, Howard, and Logan. General McPherson had 
 already been killed in rear of the 17th Corps, and news of the 
 calamity brought to Sherman. The ambulance bearing his 
 dead body was then approaching the Howard House. 
 
 All this had been witnessed by the right wing of Wood's 
 Division, when its attention was suddenly drawn in the oppo- 
 site direction. Morgan L. Smith was being attacked by the 
 enemy, and not only the smoke of the battle could be seen, 
 but the shouts of the combatants distinctly heard. Smith's 
 command stood firmly for only a few moments, and then broke 
 in confusion, the enemy occupying their works. But these 
 
 I 
 
DAVID CARS AK ADDON. 211 
 
 successes were only temporary ; and yet, at that instant, with 
 its left wing forced back and its centre broken, it looked as 
 though the Army of the Tennessee was overwhelmed with 
 disaster. In this gallant charge, the enemy captured several 
 prisoners, besides De Grass' Battery of twenty-pounder Par- 
 rots. This affair took place in plain view of Sherman's head- 
 quarters; and, if I am rightly informed, the general was 
 himself a witness to it. Wood threw back the left wing of his 
 division promptly, so as to confront the advancing enemy. 
 Colonel, now General, J. A. Williamson commanded the 
 right brigade, the extreme right of which was the pivot on 
 which the line turned. Sherman was still present and, after 
 the new line was formed, said, "that battery must be re-cap- 
 tured." Wood accordingly selected the 2d Brigade, only three 
 regiments of which were present— the 4th, 9th and 25th Iowa: 
 the 31st Iowa was detached, and at Roswell, doing guard- and 
 picket-duty. Between Colonel Williamson and the enemy 
 was the ravine of which I have spoken ; for the enemy held 
 the works just before occupied by Smith. With the 4th on the 
 right, the 9th on the left, and the 25th in reserve. Colonel 
 Williamson entered the ravine, and, after having with much 
 difficulty worked his way to the opposite slope, shot out on the 
 enemy's flank with such impetuosity as to give them little 
 time for resistance. The Mh mid dfh Iowa re-captured De 
 Grass^ Battery, and turned it again on the foe. A portion of 
 the 16th Corps now came up, and claimed a share of the honor ; 
 but it was awarded by both Generals Sherman and Wood to 
 the 2d Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Army Corps. 
 
 For the part taken by these troops, during the balance of 
 this engagement, I refer to the report of Colonel Williamson : 
 
 " Leaving the 9th Iowa in the works, I sent the 4th to the 
 right, to occupy a rebel battery which commanded the head of 
 a ravine, leading to our line in the only place where there was 
 
212 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 not a breast-work. The regiment had not more than formed, 
 when it was assaulted by a brigade of rebel inftmtry, under 
 command of Colonel Backer, and a very stubborn fight ensued; 
 but the regiment held its position, and finally repulsed the 
 assaults, inflicting great loss on the rebels in killed, wounded, 
 and prisoners. 
 
 "The 37th Alabama (rebel) was, according to the statements 
 made by prisoners, nearly annihilated in this engagement. 
 After the last assault made by the rebels was repulsed, the 
 command went to work changing the rebel works and con- 
 structing new ones, completing them against day-light. I now 
 received orders to move to the left of the IGth Corps, some two 
 or three miles to the left of our position." 
 
 In the movement of the 27th instant from the east to the 
 west side of Atlanta, the 9th Iowa with its brigade was given 
 the post of honor : it covered the rear of its division, in the 
 line of marcli. Marching all that day and until about ten 
 o'clock at night, it rested on its arms till day-light of the 
 28th, and then, in line of battle, moved forward to its new 
 position in line. The loss of the 9th Iowa and its brigade 
 in this day's fighting was slight, the enemy making their 
 desperate assaults on the forces to its right. Among the 
 wounded was Colonel Carsakaddon. He was struck by a 
 musket-shot in the forehead, receiving a wound very simi- 
 lar to that received by General Dodge a few days after. 
 Only a portion of Colonel Williamson's Brigade was engaged 
 in the battle of the 28th. This brigade was relieved on the 
 3d instant, and placed in reserve, the 9th Iowa being sent to 
 picket the extreme right. On tlie 13th of August, having 
 re-joined its brigade, the regiment took part in assaulting the 
 enemy's skirmish line, which resulted in capturing the entire 
 force in the pits. 
 
 In the march to Jonesboro, which closed the memorable 
 campaign, the 9th Iowa took part. It reached the Montgom- 
 ery Railroad in the forenoon of the 28th of August, where it 
 
DAVID CARSAKADDON. 213 
 
 remained with its brigade one day, destroying the road, and 
 then marched to within one mile north of Jonesboro. While 
 lying before Jonesboro on the 31st instant, the enemy made a 
 desperate assault on the 1st Division; and the part which a 
 portion of the 9th took in repelling this assault is thus given 
 by the brigade commander : 
 
 "During the assault, four companies of the 9th Iowa, under 
 Captain McSweeny, went forward and took a position in an 
 interval between the right of the 4th Division and the left of 
 the 3d Brigade, where there were no intrenchments, and, while 
 the battle continued, succeeded in throwing up temporary 
 works, which enabled them to hold the position." 
 
 The loss of the 2d Brigade in the Atlanta Campaign (and the 
 4th and 9th Iowa suffered the most severely) was two hundred 
 and eighty. 
 
 An account of the march from Atlanta to Savannah, and 
 thence, through the swamps of South Carolina to Goldsboro 
 and Raleigh, will be found in the sketch of Colonel William 
 Smytli, 31st Iowa. After the fall of Atlanta, the 30th Iowa 
 was attached to the loth Corps' Iowa Brigade, and the brigade 
 itself changed from the 2d to the 3d. On the march from 
 Savannah to Goldsboro, the brigade was commanded by Colo- 
 nel George A. Stone of the 25th Iowa, and met the enemy at 
 three different points on the line of march. Of the part taken 
 by the 4th and 9th Iowa on the Little Congaree Creek, near 
 Columbia, South Carolina, Colonel Stone says : 
 
 " I was ordered to form in two lines of battle, two regiments 
 front, and the other regiment (the 4th Iowa) to cover the front 
 as skirmishers, and to move forward to eflFect a crossing of the 
 Little Congaree Creek, if possible. Immediately in front of the 
 4th Iowa was a swamp about waist-deep, and some three hun- 
 dred yards wide. The regiment did not falter at this obstacle, 
 but gallantly plunged in, led by its commanding officer, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Nichols. We were now about five hundred 
 yards above the position held by the rebels on Little Congaree 
 Creek ; but a branch of that same stream intervened between 
 
214 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 US and the crock itself. It was discovered our position flanked 
 an out-post of tlie enemy on the same side of the streiuu we 
 were on, and three companies of the 4th Iowa and four compa- 
 nies of the 9th Iowa were ordered to attack this out-post. 
 Major Anderson of tlie 4th Iowa commanded tlie skirmishers 
 making the attack, and Captain Bowman of the 9th com- 
 manded the reserve. The attack was made with great vigor, 
 and was entirely successful. The enemy could not withstand 
 the impetuosity of the skirmishers, and broke, after a few 
 minutes' fighting, to the opposite side of the creek. I now 
 ordered my command forward to the branch of the Little Con- 
 garee, separating us from the main creek, and with the 4th 
 Iowa went about three-fourths of a mile up the creek, to a 
 point beyond the enemy's right flank, and in their rear. Here 
 I ordered the 4th Iowa to cross on a log as quickly as possible, 
 intending, as soon as that regiment had crossed, to support it 
 with two others, and attack the enemy from the rear." 
 
 But the movement was discovered, and the enemy retired. 
 
 On the marcli through the Carolinas, the 9th Iowa was com- 
 manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Abernethy, a most excellent 
 ofiicer. He is a brother of the late Lieutenant-Colonel John 
 Abernethy of the 3d Iowa, who was killed on tlic i^2d i)f July, 
 before Atlanta. Both entered the service as first sergeants, and 
 rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. 
 
 After Colonel Carsakaddon was woundi'd on the Listh of July, 
 he received leave of absence and came North, lie did not 
 re-join his regiment till after its arrival at Savannah, Georgia, 
 and, before it left that i)(»int on its final canii>aign, he tendered 
 his resignation. 
 
 The colonel is a short, stocky man, Milh black hair and 
 eyes, and lias the appearance of much energy and determi- 
 nation. I am told lie is a good sample of a \\'es(erii man — 
 unpretending and practical, l>ul ra(lii-r illittrate. He was a 
 l)rave man, and a gallant oMicer; ami then' are few of his old 
 regiment, wIiocIk not entertain for him the greatest good-will 
 and allectiou. 
 
COLONEL NICHOLAS PERCZEL. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, TENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Nicholas Pekczel is a native of Hungary, where he was 
 born in the year 1813. He has a military education, and passed 
 a nunil)er of years in active service, before coming to this 
 country. For, several years, he has been a resident of Daven- 
 port, Iowa, where he has been engaged in the business of 
 mercliaiit and trader. He was made colonel of the 10th Iowa 
 Infantry, on the 1st day of September, 18G1, and held that 
 position till the 1st of November, 18G2, when he resigned his 
 commission. 
 
 Authority to recruit the 10th Iowa Infantry was granted by 
 the War Department to J. C. Bennett, in July, 1861. Mr. 
 Bennett was afterward major of the regiment. He, aided by 
 F. M. Mills, Esq., of Des Moines, a brother of the late Colonel 
 Mills of the 2d Iowa, had nearly completed the regiment's 
 enlistment, when it was ordered to rendezvous at Iowa City. 
 The manner in which the regiment was officered created con- 
 siderable dissatisfaction; but this will not be matter of interest, 
 either to the old members of the regiment, or to the public. 
 
 Colonel Perczel first served with the 10th Iowa in Missouri. 
 He was engaged in the skirmish near Charleston, on the morn- 
 ing of the Gth of January, 1862, his loss being eight killed, and 
 sixteen wounded. These were the first men the 10th Iowa lost 
 in battle. The colonel was also present at the capture of New 
 Madrid, and Island No. 10 ; and with his regiment formed a 
 part of the force which, at Tiptonville, captured five thousand 
 of the enemy. After operations were completed in this direc- 
 tion, the 10th Iowa sailed with the command of General Pope 
 
 215 
 
216 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 to Hamburg Landing, on the Tennessee, and served with that 
 general during the siege of Corinth, on the left of the besieging 
 army. 
 
 Colonel Perczel commanded a brigade before Corinth, two 
 regiments of which were his own and the 17th Iowa; and 
 during the siege of that city was engaged in two important 
 reconnoissances and skirmishes. The first of these was made 
 on the afternoon of the 2Gth of May, witli a force consisting of 
 the 10th Iowa, and four pieces of artillery. With the enemy, 
 this skirmish assumed the importance of an engagement ; for, 
 saying nothing of his wounded, he admitted a loss of one 
 hundred and twenty-five in killed. The 10th Iowa, the only 
 troops on our side that suffered loss, had only eight men 
 wounded. The losses were so disproportionate as to give the 
 above statement an air of improbability ; but its truth is well 
 vouched for. 
 
 On the morning of the 2Sth of May, two days later, the 17th 
 Iowa and the 10th Missouri of the same brigade had a skirmish 
 with the enemy, in which the losses were nearly as dispropor- 
 tionate. These troops were sent out under the immediate 
 command of Colonel Holmes of the 10th Missouri ; and mov- 
 ing against the enemy's extreme right, which was held by the 
 commands of Price and Van Dorn, came within musket-range 
 of the two strong forts on the hills to the south of the Memphis 
 and Charleston Railroad. The enemy supposed they were 
 being attacked in force, and came swarming out of their works 
 and down the steep hills to oppose the advance; while their 
 pickets, skirmishers and reserves, hurried with greater haste 
 in the opposite direction. Corinth was evacuated that night, 
 and, on passing over the ground the next morning, where the 
 skirmish took place, ninety-three new graves were counted. 
 The Union loss in this encounter was about thirty in killed and 
 wounded. 
 
NICHOLAS PERCZEL. 217 
 
 On the fall of Corinth and the hasty retreat of the enemy, 
 the division of General Schuyler Hamilton, to which Colonel 
 Perczel's Brigade was attached, followed in pursuit, and 
 marched as far south as Boonville, on the Mobile and Ohio 
 Bailroad. The route from Corinth lay through the heavily- 
 timbered swamps, which form the head-waters of the Tombig- 
 bee Kiver, and which would be, at any season of the year, 
 difficult of passage to a large army with baggage-trains and 
 i artillery. There was but little fighting ; but, one day of the 
 I march it rained incessantly, which rendered the corduroy 
 roads almost impassable. Add to this the fact that the army 
 ; had for a long time been lying before Corinth inactive, and the 
 i hardships and fatigue of the march can be imagined. One 
 j scene on the road, at a point some six miles north of Boon- 
 • ville, will never be forgotten by those troops who, on the night 
 of the 2d of June, ascended from the swamps to the up-lands, 
 near mid-night. On an open, even, but gradually-sloping field, 
 containing not less than two thousand acres, and facing the 
 Corinth road to the north-east, just in front of where it rises 
 from the bottom-lands and turns to the left, were encamped 
 nearly two entire divisions. The previous afternoon had been 
 rainy, and the soldiers, cold and wet, had built large and bril- 
 liant camp-fires throughout their entire encampment. The 
 sky was still hung with dark, heavy clouds, which, as viewed 
 from the point in the road above mentioned, formed the back- 
 ground of this magnificent scenery — the grandest I ever 
 witnessed. It was literally a city of fire, and was ample com- 
 pensation for the slippery, hazardous, mid-night-march over 
 the never-to-be-forgotten one-mile-of corduroy. 
 
 Pursuit was made to a few miles south of Boonville ; but the 
 enemy, with the exception of some hundreds of stragglers and 
 deserters, had made good his escape with his shattered legions. 
 To pursue further would so extend the line of communications 
 
218 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 as to imperil a safe return ; and a " right about " was therefore 
 ordered to Corinth. Returning to the vicinity of Corinth, the 
 the 10th Iowa went into camp at Clear Springs, a place three 
 and a half miles south of Corinth, and so called from the 
 beautiful, translucent springs which gush out from the foot of 
 the hills, on which the camp was made. The regiment 
 remained here and at Jacinto, the county-seat of Tishamingo 
 county, and some twenty miles south of Corinth, till the 18th 
 of the following September ; when, with the balance of Gen- 
 eral Rosecrans' command, it was ordered out to engage the 
 forces of General Price, then supposed to be intrenching 
 themselves near luka. In this heedless, blundering fight, the 
 10th Iowa held the left of its brigade, and, like the other regi- 
 ments of its brigade, suffered severely. 
 
 The pursuit of the enemy in his hasty retreat on the 
 morning of the 20th, and the bloody battle at Corinth on the 
 3d and 4th of the following October, and subsequent pursuit of 
 the rebel forces to and beyond the Hatchie, form the next 
 chapter in the history of this regiment. With the close of 
 these operations also closed the colonelcy of Nicholas Perczel ; 
 for, as has already been stated, he resigned his commission on 
 the first of the following November. 
 
 He had in the meantime been recommended for promotion 
 to brigadier-general, but for some reason was not appointed by 
 the President. 
 
 Among the officers of the 10th Iowa with whom I became 
 acquainted early in the regiment's history, were Major, after- 
 wards Lieutenant-Colonel Nathaniel McCalla, Captain Albert 
 Stoddard and Lieutenant and Adjutant John Delahoyd; and 
 I hope that, in giving their names special mention, I shall do 
 no injustice to otlier officers of the regiment equally deserving. 
 I never met Major McCalla without thinking of an old Roman 
 lieutenant. He is rough in exterior and in manners, and as 
 
NICHOLAS PEECZEL. 219 
 
 gallant and generous as rough. Captain Stoddard is a hand- 
 some and most genial fellow, and was, in the spring and 
 summer of 1863, Judge- Advocate of the old 7th Division. In 
 i the hour of battle, and at the convivial board, he always took 
 I his place in the front. Lieutenant John Delahoyd was one 
 of the most reckless aids and adjutant-generals that ever 
 I carried a dispatch in the face of the enemy. He distinguished 
 ; himself at Corinth. Having ridden out with the 17th Iowa 
 I to assign it a position, he put the regiment under a terrific 
 I fire of grape and canister, and then, directing it to lie down, 
 sat and watched the enemy from his horse. Whenever the 
 enemy were about to fire, he would say: "Lay low, Seven- 
 teenth." It is a wonder how he escaped being killed. He 
 was General Sullivan's adjutant-general, and was one of the 
 most popular ofiicers of the brigade. 
 
 During the siege of Corinth, (I believe it was on the 22d of 
 May) and while his brigade was encamped near Farmington, 
 an incident occurred which the colonel will never forget. That 
 morning a company of the 3d Michigan Cavalry, which, like 
 all the troops before Corinth, had seen but little service, was 
 stationed beyond the picket-line, as vedettes on the extreme 
 left. And I should add further that, an attack from this direc- 
 tion was being anticipated, and the extreme left wing, by 
 reliefs, was engaged in digging rifle-pits, and in cutting the 
 timber which would form a cover for the approach of the 
 enemy, and obstruct the range of the artillery. All was quiet, 
 and the work was steadily progressing, until about two o'clock 
 in the afternoon, when, instantly, a cry of alarm was heard in 
 the direction of the enemy, and, turning the eye down the 
 road, a cavalry-man was seen coming at the top of his speed, 
 standing upright in his saddle, and whirling his drawn sword 
 about his head in the wildest manner. In an instant he had 
 passed, shouting in a frantic, broken voice, "The enemy are 
 
220 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 coming against the left in force ! The enemy are coming against 
 the left in force!" All were instantly under arms, and, with 
 breathless determination, stood waiting the approach of the 
 enemy. The guns of the 6th Wisconsin Battery, hurriedly 
 charged with canister, were turned in the direction of the 
 threatened attack, when Colonel Perczel, riding down the road 
 and out through a large, open field to the right, suddenly 
 saw — that he was sold. The captain of the 3d Michigan Cav- 
 alry had been frightened at the approach of one of our own 
 scouting parties. Colonel Perczel was chief in command, and 
 felt the sell most keenly; but he only said: "Whare es dat 
 cap'n ob de Third (?) Mee-che-gan Cabalry, wat run widout 
 firing one gun?" 
 
 Colonel Perczel is about six feet in hight, and both slender 
 and erect. He has a lively, gray eye, and, in the service, wore 
 a long, heavy, gray beard. Naturally he is excitable, but 
 in danger was cool and brave, and was greatly loved by his 
 command. He knew his merit as a military man, and was 
 chagrined at being placed under the command of officers who 
 were not only his inferiors in military knowledge, but who 
 would get beastly drunk on duty. To escape this unpleasant 
 situation, I am advised, was the chief cause of his leaving the 
 service. The general, whona he most despised, died late in 
 1862, at Corinth, of mania apoiu. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM E. SMALL. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, TENTH INPWNTRY. 
 
 William E. Small, the successor of Nicholas Perczel to 
 the colonelcy of the 10th Iowa Infantry, is a native of the State 
 of Maine. At the time of entering the service, in September, 
 1861, he was a resident of Iowa City, and a practicing lawyer. 
 He was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of tlie 10th Iowa 
 Infantry, the 10th of September, 1861 ; and with this rank 
 served till the second of November, 1862, when, Colonel 
 Perczel resigning, he was promoted to the colonelcy of the 
 regiment. 
 
 During his colonelcy, as also from the time of its organiza- 
 tion, the 10th Iowa Infantry has a proud and interesting 
 history. From the second of Noveml>er, 1862, till after the 
 fall of Vicksburg, the time of Colonel Small's discharge, this 
 regiment was always at the front; and, if there was any fight- 
 j ing to be done, like the other Iowa regiments of the 7th Divis- 
 ion, 17th Army Corps, the 10th was sure to have part in it. 
 Late in November, 1862, the 10th Iowa joined its division in 
 I the march of General Grant down the Mobile and Ghio Rail- 
 road. Piissing through Abbeville and Oxford, it had reached a 
 point as far south as the Yockona River, when, the line of 
 j communications being cut, it was ordered to return. On the 
 I 26th of December, it marched with its division from near 
 ' Lumpkin's Mills, Mississippi, to Memphis, having in charge a 
 provision-train of six hundred and twenty-five wagons ; and 
 this was one of the most vexing and fatiguing marches the 
 regiment ever made. It was the coldest part of the Southern 
 Winter, and the trip was made without baggage, or only such 
 
 221 
 
222 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 as the men could carry on their persons. A cold, sleety rain 
 was falling almost constantly, and the red, clayey mud, the 
 dirtiest and daubiest in the world, was half-knee deep. Hang- 
 ing on their flanks and rear was a band of guerrillas, ready to 
 pick up the stragglers, and to fire into the train whenever 
 occasion offered. Usually, men are merry on the march ; but, 
 without rest by day or sleep at night, there was little merri- 
 ment here. For so short a one, this is regarded the hardest 
 march the old 7th Division ever made. 
 
 After this march was completed, the balance of the winter 
 of 18G2-3 the 10th Iowa passed on the Memphis and Charles- 
 ton Railroad; but, in the opening Spring, moved down the 
 Mississippi to Helena. Prior to the 22d of March following, 
 the operations of the division are detailed elsewhere ; and the 
 history of the division is the same as that of this regiment. 
 On the evening of the last named date, the 10th Iowa sailed 
 into the mouth of the Yazoo Pass, which opens into the 
 Mississippi on its east side, and eight miles below Helena. 
 This was a most wonderful expedition, and, had it not been a 
 military movement, would have been romantic. For the 
 labor and skill employed in opening this pass, and in clearing 
 it of obstructions. General Grant was chiefly indebted to Iowa 
 troops under General Washburn. For more than a week, the 
 24th, 28th, and 33d Iowa regiments were kept half-leg deep in 
 mud and water, hauling out the timber, which the enemy had 
 felled for purposes of obstruction. 
 
 The object of the Yazoo Pass Expedition was a flank move- 
 ment on Vicksburg, but it ended, as it begun, in strategy. This 
 was one of the forty-three plans, which General Grant had 
 pocketed for the reduction of Vicksburg. The story is as 
 follows, but I do not vouch for its truth : A Federal soldier 
 was captured on the Deer Creek raid, and taken before a rebel 
 officer, when the following colloquy occurred: "What in the 
 
WILLIAM E. SMALL. 223 
 
 devil is Grant in here for ? what does he expect to do? " "To 
 take Vicksburg," was the soldier's reply. " "Well, hasn't the 
 old fool tried this ditching and flanking five times already?" 
 "Yes," said the soldier, " bnt he has got thirty-seven more 
 plans in his pocket." 
 From the mouth of this pass to Moon Lake, (so named from 
 j its crescent shape) the distance is five miles, and was passed 
 ' over without much trouble ; but, for forty miles after leaving 
 Moon Lake, it was literally a boat-ride in the forest ; for the 
 stream was so winding that its course could rarely be seen 
 more than forty yards in advance. It seemed to have no 
 outlet; and gigantic trees, on every hand, challenged an 
 advance. Small stern-wheel boats could only be used, and 
 even these were found to be unwieldy. The force of the 
 current which put in from the swollen waters of the Missis- 
 sippi was prodigious; and the danger was in going too fast. 
 Until the boats reached the Cold Water, their engines had to 
 be kept reversed ; and so it happened that this was called by 
 the soldiers "the back-water expedition." Even with all the 
 care that was used, the boats were stripped of every thing that 
 was fancy, and of much that was substantial. Not a smoke- 
 stack in the whole fleet was able to weather the storm ; and 
 whole state-rooms were raked off" by projecting limbs, into 
 whose ugly embrace the boats would rush, in spite of the 
 pilots and engineers ; and, I may add, in spite of from twenty 
 to fifty soldiers, aligned on the decks and armed with long 
 poles. 
 
 But in spite of all these dangers, the expedition did not lack 
 amusement ; for instance : a tall, awkward fellow, (he did not 
 belong to the 10th) while standing on the hurricane deck of the 
 Lady Pike, was watching a large sycamore limb, which a spar 
 of the boat was pushing aside. He was wondering if it would 
 not break ; when just then it slipped by the spar, and, taking 
 
224 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 him across the face, knocked him several feet, and came near 
 dropping him into the stream. He carried a " stiff upper-lip," 
 if not a brave heart, till the expedition returned. History 
 may, if it will, omit to mention this expedition ; for it has 
 furnished itself a record that will be read many years hence. 
 On the trees, at nearly every bend in this stream, the name of 
 some soldier is literally "recorded on high," and nearly every 
 regiment in Quimby's and Ross' Divisions is thus represented. 
 For nearly every boat of the fleet was caught at some one of 
 these bends, and before it could be released the enterprising 
 soldiers would carve their names on pieces of broken cracker- 
 boxes, and nail these to the limbs. When the expedition 
 returned, the water in the pass had fallen many feet, leaving 
 these inscriptions high in the air ; and there they still hang. 
 
 There was one feature of this expedition, which, though 
 interesting, lacked amusement; though it was experienced 
 only on the Tallahatchie River and the lower waters of the 
 Cold Water. The banks of these streams are covered, mostly, 
 with timber and thick under-brush, forming fine places of 
 concealment for guerrillas. We were in the enemy's country 
 and, acquainted with their chivalric mode of warfare, were 
 looking for it to be put in practice; yet, when the first guerrilla 
 gun was fired, it was all unexpected. Standing on the hurri- 
 cane-deck, you would see in the brush near a fallen log, or the 
 trunk of a standing tree, a blue circling puff of smoke, and then 
 hear the pat or sharp whistle of a bullet. The report of the gun 
 would follow, when all hands would dodge. In spite of the 
 anticipation of seeing the thing repeated, the men would laugh 
 at their folly, and remark, "that shows what a little noise 
 will do." 
 
 On the Gth of April, the last of the fleet arrived above Fort 
 Pemberton, at the junction of the Tallahatchie and Yallabusha 
 Rivers; and a fight was expected the day after; but either 
 
WILLIAM E. SMALL. 225 
 
 General Grant had accomplished all he expected to in this 
 direction, or had learned he could accomplish nothing, and the 
 entire fleet was ordered to return. The last boat, in a damaged 
 condition, arrived at the Sand Bar below Helena, at noon on 
 the 12th of April; and, should one return from Hades, he could 
 be little more surprised at his safe arrival on terra firma, than 
 were many who sailed on the celebrated Yazoo Pass Expe- 
 dition. 
 
 In this connection, I desire to speak of a good man, who 
 rendered important services on this expedition, and who after- 
 wards died at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. Captain Robert 
 Lusby of the 10th Iowa, and, at the time of his death, 
 adjutant-general to General Crocker, was a noble man and 
 officer. 
 
 Next in the history of the 10th Iowa, is the final Vicksburg 
 Campaign. During this celebrated march, Ihe details of which 
 are given elsewhere, the regiment met the enemy at the battles 
 of Jackson, and Champion's Hill. In the last of these engage- 
 ments, it greatly distinguished itself, and suffered severely, as 
 also did the regiments of the 3d Brigade, commanded by the 
 gallant little Boomer, The 5th and 10th Iowa, the 26th Mis- 
 souri and 93d Illinois, deserve a proud place in the history of 
 our civil war. On the 19th of May, the 10th Iowa arrived 
 before the rebel works, in rear of Vicksburg ; and, from that 
 day till the 4 h of July following, the day of General Grant's 
 triumphal entry into the city, did its full share of duty. With 
 its brigade, it join d in the memorable charge of the 22d of 
 May ; and, under General McClernand, to whom the brigade 
 had been ordered to report, was preparing to assault the right 
 of the enemy's works, when Colonel Boomer fell, shot through 
 the head. He was killed at sun-down, and near the crest of a 
 hill within two hundred yards of the enemy's line. Colonel 
 Boomer was a native of Massachusetts, and a brave and gallant 
 
226 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 officer. The confusion, incident to the loss of the brigade 
 commander, created some delay, and, before an advance was 
 made, orders were received to withdraw to a position behind 
 the second line of hills. On the 24th of May, the 3d Brigade 
 reported back to its division, whose position in the line was to 
 the left of the centre, and about half a mile south of the rebel 
 Fort Hill ; and here the 10th Iowa remained till the surrender 
 of Vicksburg. 
 
 Immediately after the fall of Vicksburg, the brigade of Gen- 
 eral Matthies, to which the 10th Iowa was attached, (for after 
 the death of Boomer he had been transferred to this command) 
 joined the command of General Sherman, in the pursuit of the 
 rebel forces under General Johnson. The brigade arrived 
 before Jackson on the evening of the 14th of July, having 
 marched from Clinton; but had hardly stacked arms, when 
 orders were received to march back to Clinton, to anticipate 
 the rebel General Jackson in his cavalry-raid upon Sherman's 
 train. General Matthies arrived in Clinton late that night, 
 and just in time to meet and repulse one brigade of Jackson's 
 cavalry, the only rebel troops sent to that point. For this gal- 
 lant aiTair, the 10th Iowa, with the balance of the troops of the 
 brigade, was handsomely complimented by General Sherman. 
 
 The principal portion of the time covered by these opera- 
 tions, Colonel Small was absent from his regiment: indeed, he 
 was never with it much, and, if I am rightly informed, was 
 never present in an engagement. His military record is not in 
 keeping with that of his gallant regiment. He was a fine drill- 
 master, which was his chief merit as a soldier. 
 
 In person, Colonel Small is below the medium. He has a 
 nervous temperament, a pale, sickly countenance, and a feeble 
 constitution. In his manners, I am told, he is dignified and 
 sedate. 
 
COLONEL PARIS PERRIN HENDERSON. 
 
 THIRD COLONEL, TENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Paris P. Henderson was born at Liberty, Union county , 
 Indiana, on the 3d day of January, 1825. He was educated at 
 I the Common Schools of his native town, where he resided 
 till he reached his eighteenth year. At eighteen, he learned 
 the tanner's and currier's trade in Vermillion county, Illinois. 
 He settled in AVarren county, Iowa, in the fall of 1847, and 
 two years later was appointed organizing-sheriff of that 
 I county. In August, 1851, he was elected County Judge of 
 ] his county, which office he held for three consecutive terms. 
 I In the fall of 1859, he was elected to the State Senate, and was 
 I the Senator of Warren county at the outbreak of the war. 
 In September, 18G1, Mr. Henderson was commissioned cap- 
 tain of Company G, 10th Iowa Infentry, which he had enlisted 
 in Warren county. On the 27th of January, 18G3, he was pro- 
 I moted to the lieutenant-colonelcy, and, on the 18th of the 
 I following August, to the colonelcy of the 10th Iowa Infantry. 
 On the arrival of General Sherman at Savannah, in his grand 
 I march from Atlanta to the sea. Colonel Henderson resigned 
 I his commission, having served three years and nearly three 
 I months. The military history of Colonel Henderson reflects 
 on him much credit: it is the same as that of his regiment; for, 
 from the time of his entering the service until the date of his 
 leaving it, he was present with it. Even during the greater 
 part of the time of his lieutenant-colonelcy, he commanded it ; 
 for Colonel Small was sick and absent. 
 
 Early in September, 1863, the 10th Iowa Infantry, v/hich 
 was then in camp at Vicksburg, left with its division for the 
 
 227 
 
228 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 purpose of reinforcing General Steele, tlien marcliing on Little , 
 Rock ; but, news coming of the fall of Little Rock on the arri- 
 val of the division at Helena, it remained in camp at that 
 place, awaiting transports in which to return to Vicksburg. . 
 In the meantime, General Sherman's old Corps had been 
 ordered to report at Chattanooga. The march from Memphis 
 commenced about the middle of October. Why, I do not 
 know, but for some reason the 7th Division of the 17th Corps 
 was separated from its command, and ordered to join General 
 Sherman in this march. There were many other troops, who 
 for a long time had done little, and who, in fairness, should 
 have been selected for this arduous campaign. It was sup- 
 posed by the division that the mettle of which it had shown 
 itself possessed, on so many battle-fields, had determined the 
 commanding general in this choice; for General Grant was 
 once reported to have said: — "One knows just what he can 
 do with that division." In justice to the veteran troops of 
 this command, these facts should be stated ; for they should 
 receive the credit due to their gallant services. And here, 
 although not in strict keeping with my plan, I yield to what 
 I know would be the earnest wish of the regiment whose his- 
 tory I am recording, and append the names of the regiments 
 which constituted this noble command. In the First Brigade 
 were the 4th Minnesota, the 48th and 59th Indiana, the 18th 
 Wisconsin, and the 63d Illinois. In the Second Brigade were 
 the 10th Missouri, the 17th Iowa, the 5Gth Illinois, and the 80th 
 Ohio. In the 3d Brigade were the 5th and 10th Iowa, the 2Gth 
 Missouri, and the 93d Illinois. In our groat National struggle 
 there has been no more worthy or potent representative from 
 the great North West than the 7th Division, 17th Army Corps. 
 Moving up the river from Helena to Memphis, the 10th Iowa 
 left that city early in October, and proceeded by rail as far as 
 
PARIS PERRIN HENDERSON. 229 
 
 Glendale, Mississippi, nine miles east of Corinth. From that 
 point the regiment marched to Chattanooga, by way of Dixon's 
 j Station; Chickasaw Landing, on the Tennessee Kiver ; Florence, 
 I Alabama, Rogersville, Prospect Station, on the Nashville and 
 ! Decatur Railroad; Fayetteville, Winchester, Decherd and 
 Bridgeport. The Tennessee River, at Chickasaw Landing, 
 was crossed on the night of the 30th of October, and, in tho 
 j evening of the 19th of November, the 10th Iowa, with its divi- 
 sion, arrived under Lookout Mountain. The night of the 30th 
 of October, 1863, was stormy and dismal, which not only ren- 
 dered the crossing of the Tennessee disagreeable, but soured 
 
 the tempers of all. General , in command of the division, 
 
 superintended the crossing of his troops, and, like every one 
 else, was irritable. On one occasion, while his boat was 
 approaching the south bank of the river, the detail on shore 
 had left their post, and no one chanced to be at hand but a 
 lieutenant, the son of a Congressman. The hawser being 
 
 thrown ashore and no one there to receive it, General 
 
 cried out, "Take hold of that rope, sir." "I am a lieutenant, 
 
 and the son of Congressman ." "Don't care a d — n, take 
 
 hold of that rope." But the lieutenant was relieved by the 
 detail, who at that instant came up. 
 
 I have said that the 10th Iowa, with its division, arrived at 
 the foot of Lookout Mountain in the evening of the 19th of 
 November. The head of the division arrived in Lookout Val- 
 ley just before night-fall, and no sooner was it seen by the 
 enemy, than he commenced displaying his signal-lights. 
 Bragg knew that General Grant was receiving reinforcements, 
 but the number he could not tell, for darkness intervened soon 
 after the head of the column came in view. Before day-light 
 the next morning, the division was marched across the Ten- 
 nessee River, and behind some hills, out of view of the enemy. 
 It was said that this was one of the plans which General Grant 
 
230 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 had adopted to puzzle and mislead the enemy ; and it may be 
 correct history. It was even said that General Grant would, 
 in the night-time, march troops from the north bank of the 
 river under Lookout Mountain, and, after day-light the next 
 morning, march them back to their former position. But, 
 however this may be, it is certain that Bragg was, by some 
 means, thrown from his reckoning ; for he attributed to Gen- 
 eral Grant, at Chattanooga, a much larger army than he. had. 
 
 From the 20th of November until the 23d, the 10th Iowa, 
 with its brigade and division, rested in camp behind the hills 
 above mentioned, but at mid-night of the last named date 
 marched down to the river to effect a crossing. The crossing 
 was to be made in pontoons, and just below the mouth of 
 South Chickamauga Creek. The pontoon-boats had already 
 been launched in the North Chickamauga, so that all was in 
 readiness. The brigade of General Giles A. Smyth, numbering 
 about eighteen hundred men, led the advance. Embarking on 
 the pontoon-boats, they floated quietly down into the Tennes- 
 see, and then made rapidly for the opposite shore; and so quiet 
 and systematic were their movements that they surprised and 
 captured the entire picket-guard of the enemy but one. By 
 day-light in the morning, nearly three entire divisions of Sher- 
 man's command had reached the south bank safely, and were 
 behind intrenchments nearly a mile and a half in length. 
 These successes insured victory to General Grant at Chatta- 
 nooga; for he could now swing round on the enemy's right and 
 rear, and force him to abandon his boasted impregnable 
 position. 
 
 In the fighting which followed, the 5th, the 10th, and the 
 17th Iowa regiments took a conspicuous part, though neither 
 of these regiments met the enemy till the 25th instant. Nor 
 did the 6th Iowa, which was the only other Iowa regiment 
 that crossed the Tennessee with Sherman, meet the enemy 
 
PARIS PERRIN HENDERSON. 231 
 
 I before that time. In a south-westerly direction from where 
 the crossing was effected, and about four miles distant, was the 
 I long range of irregular and precipitous hills, known as Mission 
 j Ridge; and to wrest these from the possession of the enemy, 
 j was the object of General Sherman's crossing the river. At 
 j about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 24th instant, the 
 10th Iowa, with its brigade and division, (the whole command 
 drawn up in column by division) marched down through the 
 I timber and wet bottom-lands that intervened between the 
 place of crossing and Mission Ridge, to assault and capture a 
 high hill in the northern portion of the ridge. The movement 
 was made, and the hill gained without a casualty ; for, not 
 i having been fortified, it was abandoned by the enemy. But 
 on the next hill beyond, which was about half a mile distant, 
 were the enemy in large force, and strongly fortified; and 
 against this position were the attacks of the 7th Division 
 directed the next day. Retiring from the hill just occupied by 
 ! its division, the 10th Iowa bivouacked the night of the 24th in 
 j the woods near the Chattanooga and Knoxville Railroad ; but 
 there was little sleep for the regiment, for it was during that 
 night that General Hooker was driving the enemy from Look- 
 out Mountain; and such an incessant and appalling fire of 
 musketry was hardly ever heard before in the night-time. 
 It raged from sun-down until near day-light the next morning. 
 Thus far every thing had worked favorably, and "on the 
 night of the 24th our forces maintained an unbroken line, with 
 open communications, from the north end of Lookout Moun- 
 tain, through Chattanooga Valley, to the north end of Mission 
 Ridge." General Bragg was now defeated; and to save his 
 army, his baggage, stores and artillery, was with him the 
 important question. The point against which the attacks of 
 the 5th, 6th, 10th and 17th Iowa regiments, with their respec- 
 tive commands, were directed on the 25th instant, covered 
 
232 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and protected Bragg's line of communications to the rear; 
 and hence it was that the fighting at that point was of the 
 most desperate character; for, that hill lost, and Bragg would 
 have lost nearly every thing. 
 
 The 10th Iowa, with its brigade, was ordered up to reinforce 
 General Ewing's command at eleven o'clock in the morning. 
 Moving west across the railroad already alluded to, it marched 
 out across an open field, and down into low ground, which 
 was covered with under-brush. Next, it was faced to the south, 
 which brought it fronting the hill in question, and for the 
 possession of which. General Sherman was now struggling. 
 Thus far, the entire brigade had lost but two men ; but now 
 orders came for an advance — first to the White House, 
 (which was already in flames) and then to the top of the hill. 
 In the advance to the White House, the artillery-firing of 
 the enemy was most frightful. Their position on the hill, or 
 succession of hills, was semi-circular, and, at different points 
 along their line, were some forty pieces of artillery in battery, 
 the range of which was short and accurate. They used solid 
 shot, shell, canister and grape; and, altogether, it was the most 
 terrific artillery-fire the 10th Iowa ever passed under in the 
 open field. It was also the most terrific artillery-fire the 5th 
 and 17th Iowa ever passed under. To this day, I can not recall 
 that hour, without feeling in sympathy with the old Latin 
 poet: '■^ Steteruntque comce et vox faucibus hcesit.^^ 
 
 On the hill-top, the 10th held the left of the brigade, and 
 fought with its accustomed gallantry ; but the numbers of the 
 enemy, with their strong position, could not be overcome, and 
 a retreat had to be ordered soon after General Matthies, its 
 brigade commander, was wounded. The engagements of 
 Champion's Hill and Mission Bidge are regarded by the 10th 
 Iowa, as among their hardest battles. 
 
PARIS PERRIN HENDERSON. 233 
 
 From the 25th of November, 1863, until the following May, 
 the histories of the 10th and 17th Iowa regiments are similar. 
 The 10th marched to Graysville, Georgia, in pursuit of Bragg's 
 forces, and then, returning, was ordered to Huntsville, Ala- 
 bama, where it remained until the following May. It was 
 then sent to Decatur, Alabama, the junction of the Nashville 
 and Decatur, with the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. 
 While at Huntsville, the regiment had re-enlisted as veterans; 
 but it did not receive its veteran furlough until the following 
 June. 
 
 While stationed at Decatur, the 10th Iowa, under Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel McCalla, with some one hundred and thirty men 
 of the 9th Ohio Cavalry, had a little affair with the rebel forces 
 of General Forest, on the south side of the Tennessee River; 
 but I omit details, for their recital could give no additional 
 lustre to the already brilliant record of the regiment. 
 
 The 10th Iowa Infantry returned to the front late in July, 
 1864, and arrived at Kingston, Georgia, on the 1st of August. 
 Here it remained on guard-duty along the railroad, until the 
 time of Wheeler's celebrated cavalry raid on General Sher- 
 man's rear line of communications, when it joined the command 
 which was organized to make pursuit. The expedition was 
 out about twenty days, and marched, during that time, more 
 than five hundred miles. But their fleet-footed adversary 
 could not be brought to a stand, and, after pursuing him 
 through East and Middle Tennessee and Northern Alabama, 
 they finally came up with him just as his rear-guard was cross- 
 ing the Tennessee River at Florence. Soon after, followed the 
 flanh movement of General Hood, after which, the 10th Iowa 
 moved with General Sherman on his memorable march to 
 Savannah. Its last campaign was from Savannah to Raleigh, 
 and that will probably be its last in the war ; for the veteran 
 army of Northern Virginia has now surrendered. 
 
234 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Colonel Henderson is about six feet in hight, and well 
 formed. He has a pleasant face, and an easy, winning address. 
 No one can know him but to like him. The Colonel was a 
 brave and efficient officer, and popular with his regiment ; but 
 he was too kind and conceding, I am told, for an excellent 
 disciplinarian. 
 
 Henderson was one of the Iowa colonels who would do justice 
 to a subordinate, without an express or implied consideration. 
 He never bartered his honor to enhance his chances for pro- 
 motion. 
 
COLONEL ABRAHAM M. HARE. 
 
 FIRST COT.ONEL, ELEVENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Abraham M. Hare, the original colonel of the 11th Iowa 
 Infantry, is a native of Ohio, where he was born about the 
 year 1812. He was one of the earliest settlers of Muscatine, 
 Iowa, having established himself in that place before the year 
 1839. For several years after settling in Muscatine, he carried 
 on the hatter's business ; and later, opened a hat and cap store. 
 He was successful in business, and, in the course of a few years, 
 acquired a respectable fortune. I am told he stands among 
 the wealthy and most exemplary men of Muscatine. He had 
 some knowledge of military matters before entering the 
 service, having been a major of militia in Ohio. 
 
 He was mustered colonel of the 11th Iowa on the 1st day of 
 November, 1861, and served with his regiment until the battle 
 of Shiloh, when he resigned his commission, on account of a 
 wound received in that engagement. 
 
 But little of the history of the 11th Iowa Infantry was made 
 under Colonel Hare. The regiment was recruited mainly from 
 the counties of Muscatine, Iowa, Hardin, Marshall, Louisa, 
 Cedar, Keokuk, Washington, Henry, Clinton and Linn: Mus- 
 catine is the most largely represented. It was mustered into 
 the United States service, by companies, in the months of Sep- 
 tember and October, 1861, and the following Winter, served 
 in Missouri. Shiloh was its first battle, and the only one it 
 was engaged in during the colonelcy of Colonel Hare : indeed, 
 it was not under him in that engagement; for he was in com- 
 mand of the brigade to which it was attached. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel, afterward Colonel Hall commanded the regiment, and 
 
 235 
 
236 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 made the report of the engagement. The 11th and 13th Iowa 
 were attached to the same brigade at Shiloh, and the part the 
 regiment sustained in the engagement, may be seen in the 
 sketch of Brigadier-General M. M. Crocker. 
 
 Among the killed at Shiloh, the 11th Iowa lost Lieutenant 
 John F. Compton, Sergeants Henry Seibert, Ezra McLoney 
 and George E. Daniels; and Corporals William F. Hough, 
 George J. Barns, and Martin A. McLain. Captain Charles 
 Foster was wounded, as also was Sergeant E. D. Akers, who 
 was not long after promoted to the captaincy of his company. 
 The regiment lost heavily in killed and wounded, but the 
 exact number I have been unable to learn. The rebel General 
 A. Sidney Johnson fell in front of the 11th Iowa, and was 
 doubtless killed by this regiment. 
 
 Colonel Hare was quite severely wounded near the close of 
 the first day's battle, and left the field. He was wounded 
 where his brigade made its last stand ; and in speaking of him 
 General McClernand says: — " Colonel A. M. Hare, command- 
 ing the 1st Brigade, who had borne himself through the day 
 with great constancy and courage, was here wounded, and the 
 command of the brigade devolved on his able and gallant 
 successor, Colonel Crocker." 
 
 Colonel Hare is a large, athletic man, of billious-sanguine 
 temperament, and dark complexion. His hair once black, is 
 now streaked with gray ; his eye though mild, is penetrating. 
 He is determined in purpose, and kind-hearted, a fact univers- 
 ally attested by the "boys" of his regiment. He is cool, 
 deliberate and fearless in battle, and unostentatious in man- 
 ners. It is doubtless owing to this peculiar trait of character 
 that I am unable to get further details of his history. He 
 seems satisfied with having done his duty. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM HALL. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, ELEVENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 William Hall was born in the city of Montreal, Canada 
 East, on the 25th of January, 18.32; but, though born in Canada, 
 he is not a foreigner. His parents were, at the time of his 
 birth, residents of the State of Vermont, and chanced to be on 
 a visit at Montreal. William remained at home with his 
 family till 1844, during which time his father resided in 
 Ogdensburg, New York; Brookville, Canada West; and Roch- 
 ester, New York. In 1844 he entered Oberlin College, where 
 he remained a year and a half, and then entered the Western 
 Military Institute of Kentucky. At that time, as also at the 
 breaking out of the rebellion, the rebel Bushrod Johnson was 
 superintendent of the institution. Commencing with the rank 
 of private, Colonel Hall went through all the military grades 
 of the school, and graduated as acting-adjutant, and with the 
 rank of captain. Soon after leaving that institution, he entered 
 the Harvard Law School, at Cambridge, Massachusetts; but, 
 without graduating, left in 1854, and came West. Since that 
 time he has made his residence in Davenport, Iowa. By pro- 
 fession. Colonel Hall is a lawyer ; and I understand he ranked 
 fairly at the Davenport bar. He had the reputation of being a 
 hard worker, and of doing the best he could for his clients. 
 
 In the summer of 18G1 he entered the volunteer service, and 
 the 23d of September following was commissioned major of the 
 11th Iowa Infantry. He was promoted to the lieutenant- 
 colonelcy of his regiment, on the 11th of October, 1861, and, on 
 the resignation of Colonel Hare, was commissioned colonel. 
 He held this rank, and served in the field, till the summer of 
 
 237 
 
238 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 1864, when, Colonel W. W. Belknap being promoted over him 
 to a general officer, he resigned in disgust. It is reported that, 
 after his return home, he espoused conservatism, and villified, 
 in public speeches, the policy of the Administration ; but that 
 can hardly be so. 
 
 As already stated, the 11th Iowa's first battle was Shiloh. 
 Its second was Corinth ; and the part it acted in the latter may 
 be gained from the following extract from Colonel, now Gene- 
 ral, Crocker's official report : 
 
 "About fivc^ o'clock in the morning of the 3d instant, the 
 brigade formed — two regiments, the 11th and 13th Iowa vol- 
 unteers in line of battle, facing to the west, and the loth and 
 16th Iowa volunteers, in close column by division in rear of the 
 line. The regiments remained in that position, with skirmish- 
 ers deployed in front, receiving an occasional cannon-shot, 
 until about three o'clock, when, the division on the right hav- 
 ing fallen back, a change of front was ordered. The 15th and 
 16th were then formed in line of battle perpendicular to the 
 first line, and the 11th and 13th, in close column by division, 
 in the rear. In this position, the brigade remained until about 
 four o'clock P. M., when orders were again received to again 
 change front, so as to connect the right of the brigade with 
 the left of General Davis' Division, its left to rest in the direc- 
 tion of Battery E. After the execution of this order had been 
 commenced, notice was received from General McKean that 
 the division was to move back inside the inner fortifications ; 
 and an order was received that, the llth and 13th regiments be 
 formed in line of battle a quarter of a mile in the rear of the 
 line formed by the 15th and 16th, in front of, and parallel to 
 the road, over which the artillery of the division must pass, 
 the brigade to protect the movements of the rest of the divi- 
 sion, and the artillery." 
 
 This position, which the llth Iowa, or the Iowa brigade was 
 thus ordered to abandon, was south of the Chewalla road, and 
 a little north-of-west of Corinth. "On arriving inside the 
 fortifications, we took position, the 15th Iowa in line of battle 
 in rear of, and to the right of the battery commanded by 
 
WILLIAM HALL. 239 
 
 Captain Phillips, 1st Infantry; the 16th in rear of, and sup- 
 porting the 5th Ohio Battery, which was in position on the left 
 of Captain Phillip's Battery ; five companies of the 11th Reg- 
 iment, in command of Major Abercrombie, in line of battle, 
 supporting the 1st Minnesota Battery, in position still on the 
 left of the 5th Ohio Battery; the 13th Iowa, and five compa- 
 nies of the 11th, still in the rear of the 15th and IGth, in close 
 column by division, as a reserve." This last position was held 
 through all the fighting of the next day, the 11th Iowa being 
 drawn up in line of battle in rear of the loth. The onlj^ com- 
 missioned offlcers of the regiment, wounded in botli day's 
 fighting, were Lieutenants "William II. Wetherby and Dennis 
 P. Greeley : the latter was wounded by a falling tree. 
 
 From November 1861, till the spring of 1864, the history of 
 the 11th Iowa will be found in the sketches of other officers 
 and regiments. It re-enlisted in tlie winter of 1863-4, and 
 came North, on veteran furlough, in March following. 
 
 In May, 1864, two divisions of the 17th Army Corps ren- 
 dezvoused at Clifton, on the Tennessee, from which point, 
 General Blair marched across the country to Sherman, via 
 Huntsville, Decatur and Rome. The 11th Iowa was attached 
 to this command, and arrived at the front early in June, and, 
 while Sherman was in the vicinity of Acworth, Georgia. The 
 regiment first confronted the enemy before Kenesaw Mountain, 
 and lost its first man on the loth of June. Before Kenesaw, 
 " General Hooker was on its right and front. General Howard 
 on its left and front, and General Palmer between it and the 
 railroad." The rebel General Polk was killed by a caimon- 
 shot on the 14th of June, after which the enemy abandoned 
 Pine Mountain away on the right, and took up a position 
 "with Kenesaw as his salient point, his right wing thrown 
 back to cover Marietta, and his left behind Nose's Creek, 
 
240 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 covering the railroad back to the Chattahoocliie." While the 
 enemy were in this position, General Sherman made his bloody 
 and unsuccessful assault. The flank movement to the right, 
 led by the 17th Corps, commenced in the evening of the 2d of 
 July, and an account of it will be found in the sketch of Gen- 
 eral lied rick. 
 
 Like the other regiments of the Iowa Brigade, the 11th Iowa 
 suffered its severest loss on the afternoon of the 22d of July ; 
 but an account of this engagement has been given elsewhere. 
 The following is from Lieutonant-Colonel Abercrombie's offi- 
 cial report: 
 
 " Many acts of bravery were performed by officers and men 
 of the regiment, which might be mentioned, did time and 
 opportunity permit. 
 
 "Major Foster was wounded early in the action, faithful in 
 discharge of his duty. Captain Neal was killed instantly by a 
 grape-shot at the fort late in the afternoon. Captain Barr is 
 missing. Captain Rose, missing, is supposed to have been 
 wounded and captured. 1st Lieutenant Cassell, missing; 1st 
 Lieutenant Caldwell, killed ; 1st Lieutenant Pfoutz, wounded ; 
 2d Lieutenant Wylie, wounded. I would make honorable 
 mention of Sergeant-Major John G. Safley, who, with 1st Ser- 
 geant John A. Buck, Company K, (afterwards killed — brave 
 fellow) and a party of picked up men, numbering thirty or 
 forty, made a dash over the works held by the enemy, bring- 
 ing over more than their own number as i)risoners, amongst 
 whom were a colonel and captain. 
 
 " In the sally, Safley was wounded, but it is not believed 
 seriously. During the action a Confederate flag was cap- 
 tured, and brought over the works by Private George B. 
 Haworth, of Company B, and is now in his possession. A 
 banner, belonging to the 45th Alabama, was also brought over 
 by Private Edward Siberts, of Company G, which was placed 
 by him in the hands of Lieutenant Safley, Provost-Marshal of 
 the brigade," 
 
 Altogether, the 11th Iowa captured, and sent to the rear, 
 ninety-three persons. Both Captain J. W. Anderson and 
 
WILLIAM HALL. 241 
 
 Adjutant B. W. Prescott are mentioned for gallantry. The 
 loss of the regiment, in killed, wounded and missing, was 
 severe — eight officers and one hundred and twenty-nine men. 
 It has already been stated that Major Foster was wounded. 
 He died not long after, and the regiment mourned, in his loss, 
 one of its finest and most popular officers. He was a native of 
 New Hampshire. 
 
 From the 15th of June, 18G4, to the oth of September, the 11th 
 Iowa lost, in killed, wounded and missing, ten commissioned 
 officers, and two hundred and seven enlisted men. One of the 
 officers, who has not already been mentioned, was Lieutenant 
 Alfred Carey of Company E. He was wounded on the loth of 
 June, before Kenesaw, and afterwards died of his wounds. 
 
 A further history of the 11th Iowa will be found in the 
 sketches of the other regiments of the 17th Corps' Iowa Brigade. 
 
 For several months, Colonel Hall commanded the Iowa 
 Brigade. He commanded it on General Blair's Mechanicsville 
 march during the siege of Vicksburg, and until the return of 
 Colonel Chambers of the 16th Iowa from leave of absence. He 
 also commanded it through the entire Atlanta Campaign. He 
 was not much liked by his brigade. He was nearly all the 
 time sick and irritable; but, in justice, I should add, he never 
 made his sickness an excuse to avoid duty. If danger was at 
 hand, he was never the second man present. 
 
 The colonel is a small man, weighing about one hundred and 
 twenty-five pounds. He has a slender, gaunt, ungainly per- 
 son, rendered so, I suppose by disease. He wears long, black 
 hair; has large, black eyes, and a dark, sallow complexion. 
 Colonel Hall is not a comely man. When I saw him, in the 
 spring of 1864, I wondered how he had for three years endured 
 the hardships of the service. 
 
 When interested or excited, he moves about nervously, with 
 16 
 
242 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 his face turned downward, and his liands thrust in his panta- 
 loons' pockets. He has large self-esteem, and prides himself 
 in doing things in his own way. If he is as he seems, he is 
 impervious to flattery; but that can hardly be, for he shows 
 great indignity, if he thinks his services underrated. It was 
 on this score that he tendered his resignation. 
 
 Considering his ill-health, Colonel Hall was successful as a 
 soldier. He was a good tactician, and brave and resolute. His 
 greatest fault seemed to be in questioning, the justness and 
 propriety of the orders of his superiors. He would obey them, 
 but it was not uncommon for him to do so under protest. The 
 following will illustrate how the enlisted men of his command 
 appreciated his temper. 
 
 While the Iowa Brigade was encamped at Clifton, Tennessee, 
 just before starting across the country to Huntsville, a squad 
 of raw recruits, from its different regiments, were put on 
 picket. They were in the enemy's country, and, of course, 
 were ordered to load their pieces. Returning to camp in the 
 morning, they inquired of the veterans how they should get 
 the charges out of their guns, and received the following 
 instructions : " Go out there, behind Colonel Hall's tent, and fire 
 them off: that's the only place— and be sure and all fire at 
 once." They did as directed. What followed, was better 
 appreciated by the veterans, than by those who were learning 
 their first lesson in soldiering. Colonel Hall, who was in bed, 
 sprang out in a rage, and ordered the poor fellows tied from 
 morning till night. 
 
COLONEL JOSEPH JACKSON WOODS. 
 
 TWELFTH INFANTRY. 
 
 J. J. Woods, of the 12th Iowa Infantry, has a checkered 
 history, which will be read with interest. He is a native of 
 Ohio, and was born in Brown county, the 11th day of January, 
 1823. In 1833, he removed with his father's family to Rush 
 county, Indiana, whence, after a residence of two years, he 
 returned to his native county. 
 
 Colonel AVoods is a West Point graduate. Having comjileted 
 his preparatory course at Augusta College, Kentucky, he 
 entered the West Point Military Academy in 1843. He was a 
 
 . successful scholar, and graduated in 1847, the third in his class. 
 
 I Receiving a 2d lieutenant's commission in the 1st United 
 States Artillery, he sailed, on the 10th of October, 1847, under 
 
 j orders for Vera Cruz; but, on the fourth day out, the vessel 
 
 I on \^•hich he had taken passage was wrecked near the Great 
 Bahama. After several days of peril and hardship, he reached 
 Nassau, New Providence, and sailed thence to Charleston, 
 South Carolina, where he passed several weeks with a former 
 class-mate, by the name of Blake. Re-embarking again for 
 Vera Cruz, he reached that place on the 5th of January, 1848. 
 In August of the same year, after having had yellow fever, he 
 was recalled and ordered to report at Governor's Island, New 
 York Harbor. He was promoted to a 1st lieutenancy the 29th 
 of October, 1848, and soon after sailed with Companies L and 
 M of his regiment for Oregon : these were the first troops sent 
 by our Government to that Territory. He remained in Oregon 
 till the winter of 1853; and, during his stay in the Territory, 
 was stationed at Fort Vancouver, Astoria, and Middle Oregon. 
 
 243 
 
244 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 At the last named place he had command of the Dalles. 
 In the winter of 1853, he was ordered to New York City on 
 recruiting service, where he remained till the following Octo- 
 ber, when he resigned his commission. Soon after, he pur- 
 chased a farm in Jackson county, Iowa, on which he has since 
 resided. 
 
 In August, 1861, Colonel Woods was tendered the lieuten- 
 ant-colonelcy of the 9th Iowa Infantry ; but this position he 
 declined, and was, on the 23d of the following October, commis- 
 sioned colonel of the 12th. From that date till the expiration 
 of his three year's term of service, he served in command, 
 either of his regiment, or of the brigade to which it was 
 attached. He left the army in the fall of 1864, with the respect 
 and good-will of his regiment, and with the high personal con- 
 sideration of his superior ofl&cers. His services merited recog- 
 nition at Washington; but, with him as with some others, 
 modesty blocked the wheels of promotion. 
 
 The 12th Iowa Infantry, like the other Iowa regiments which 
 were captured with it in the first day's battle at Shiloh, has a 
 bright record. Its first battle was Fort Donelson. It had been 
 present at the capture of Fort Henry; but, like the other 
 infantry troops, took no part. The late gallant Admiral Foote 
 captured Fort Henry with his three wooden and four iron-clad 
 gun-boats, and received the surrender of General Tilghman ; 
 and no one will dispute with him that honor. 
 
 General Smith, in whose command was the 12th Iowa, 
 operated on the bluffs on the west bank of the Tennessee, and 
 General McClernand, on the east. Had McClernand moved 
 two hours sooner, he would have invested the fort, and cap- 
 tured five thousand prisoners; but he floundered in miry 
 swamps, and nearly the entire rebel garrison escaped to Fort 
 Donelson before he came up. It was said the blunder was 
 
JOSEPH J. WOODS. 245 
 
 General Grant's ; but, if it was, he retrieved it a few days after 
 at Fort Donelson. 
 
 After the fall of Fort Henry, the 12th Iowa, with its divis- 
 ion, marched across the country to the rear of Fort Donelson, 
 on the Cumberland. The distance is twelve miles. One strong 
 and important point in the long line of rebel defenses — that 
 line extending from Bowling Green, Kentucky, down past 
 Fort Donelson and Fort Plenry, and across the country to 
 Columbus — had been wrested from the enemy. Fort Donel- 
 son captured, and the country south, to the vicinity of the 
 Memphis and Charleston Railroad, including the city of Nash- 
 ville and the railroad connecting Bowling Green with Colum- 
 bus, must be yielded by the Confederates. Columbus, too, 
 must be evacuated, and the Mississippi abandoned as far south 
 as Memphis. Then, with prompt and energetic movement on 
 the part of the Federal forces, the Memphis and Charleston 
 Railroad could be cut, the strategic point of Corinth occupied, 
 and Kentucky and West Tennessee restored to Federal author- 
 ity. The issue at Fort Donelson was therefore watched with 
 impatience and anxiety. 
 
 General Grant, with the divisions of Smith and McClernand, 
 arrived in rear of Fort Donelson in the evening of the 12th of 
 February, 1862. That night the troops slept on their arms, as 
 they also did on every subsequent night, until the fort capitu- 
 lated. . The division of Smith, jfiling to the left from the Dover 
 road, swung round against the enemy's right, and that of 
 McClernand, filing to the right, formed line in front of the 
 enemy's left. The right and left of these divisions remained 
 connected; for the division of General Wallace, which was to 
 occupy the centre, had not yet arrived, but was on its way up 
 the Cumberland River. The 12th Iowa was still under Smith, 
 and was attached to the 3d Brigade, commanded by Colonel J. 
 
246 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 Cook. The 4th Brigade of the same division, in which were 
 the 2d, 7th, and 14th Iowa regiments, was next on the left and 
 constituted both the left of the division and the left of the 
 Federal forces. 
 
 "Thursday morning, at half past eight o'clock, (I quote 
 from Colonel Woods' report) we marched down to, and uj) the 
 Dover road about half a mile, when we filed to the left, and 
 formed line of battle : threw forward the flanking companies 
 as skirmishers, and marched forward down a long slope that 
 lay in front, the grape, shot and shell of the enemy flying thickly 
 around us all the time. Our skirmishers advanced to the top of 
 the hill that lay in front of us. The battalion halted at two- 
 thirds of the distance to the top of the hill, where it was pro- 
 tected from the enemy's fire by the ridge in front." This 
 position was held by the 12th Iowa the following night ; and 
 that night and the following one will never be forgotton by the 
 regiment. A fierce north-east storm set in late in the afternoon, 
 and raged with great fury, and the men, though drenched with 
 the rain, and chilled with the cold, were allowed no fires, and 
 suffered most bitterly. That morning the 12th Iowa had lost 
 its first man killed in battle— private Edward C. Buckner. He 
 was shot through the head on the skirmish line, and killed 
 instantly. In the wet and cold of the following night, the sad 
 event was talked over by the men, and they wondered who 
 would be the next to fall. 
 
 The entire day of the 14th, (Friday) and the forenoon of 
 the following, were passed by the 12th Iowa in skirmishing 
 with the enemy ; and, during this time, the regiment was gal- 
 lantly supported by the 50th Illinois, and by Birge's Sharp- 
 shooters. No assaults were attempted on Friday, for the divi- 
 sion of General Wallace, and the gun-boat fieet had not yet 
 come up. The fighting on the south side of Fort Donelson 
 closed about noon on Saturday, the 15th instant; when the 
 
JOSEPH J. WOODS. 247 
 
 enemy, having routed McClernand, returned to their works in 
 triumph. It was at this hour that General Pillow sent his 
 laconic report to Nashville : "On the honor of a soldier, the 
 day is ours." " At about two o'clock in the afternoon of Sat- 
 urday, the 12th Iowa, oOth Illinois, and Birge's Sharp-shooters 
 were ordered to make a feint-attack, to draw the enemy's fire. 
 The men went cheerfully to the work assigned them ; and kept 
 up a warm fire on the enemy, while Colonel Lauman's brig- 
 ade, on our left, advanced on the enemy, and got possession of 
 a part of the enemy's outer works, and hoisted thereon the 
 American flag." From that hour until night-fall, the 12th 
 Iowa was sharply engaged, and during that time, the regiment 
 suffered nearly its entire loss. It moved to the support of 
 Colonel Tuttle by the left flank, and, marching through the 
 deep ravine in its front, and over the fallen timber, arrived at 
 the top of the hill, just as the 25th Indiana commenced falling 
 back. The regiment entered the rebel works to the right of 
 Colonel Tuttle, and held its position till morning, when the 
 Fort and its garrison were surrendered. 
 
 The casualties of the regiment in this engagement were 
 thirty — all, with the exception of three, being sustained on 
 Saturday afternoon. Two only were killed. Among the 
 wounded, was Lieutenant-Colonel Coulter, who "behaved 
 with the utmost coolness and bravery, and performed his 
 duties regardless of the danger to which he was exposed." 
 Major Brodtbeck and Surgeon Parker received special men- 
 tion for their good conduct. " Every commissioned officer 
 performed his duty without flinching." Sergeant -Major Mor- 
 risy, and Color-bearer Sergeant Grannis, and many others, 
 deserve special mention for their coolness and gallantry. 
 Privates Buckner and Stillman were the two men killed : the 
 former was shot in the eye, and the latter in the right temple. 
 With the exception of the 2d Iowa Infantry, no troops are 
 
248 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 entitled to more credit, for the part they sustained in the 
 capture of Fort Donelson, than this regiment. 
 
 The next engagement of the 12th Iowa was Shiloh, wliere, 
 for holding its position too long, it was captured. It has been 
 matter of wonder why General Grant and Admiral Foote, after 
 the fall of Fort Donelson, did not push on directly to Nashville. 
 The people of that city, and the rebel troops there stationed, 
 would be in the utmost consternation; and it was believed that 
 the place could be occupied with little or no opposition. Both 
 Grant and Foote appreciated the situation, and were anxious 
 to advance against the city ; but Halleck, the general command- 
 ing the Department, would not give his consent. They called 
 him the old wheel-horse. Some said he was good only on the 
 hold-back, and, to succeed, he must have a doivn-hill enter- 
 prise. As it was, the enemy, in their mad fright, destroyed 
 some two million dollars' worth of property which might have 
 been appropriated by the Government. General Johnson's 
 army, too, on the march from Bowling Green, might probably 
 have been captured. A week after the fall of Fort Donelson, 
 General Buel occupied Nashville; after which. General Grant 
 proceeded up the Tennessee River to Savannah and Pittsburg 
 Landing. 
 
 At the battle of Shiloh, the 12th Iowa was attached to the 1st 
 Brigade, 2d Division, commanded by General Wallace. Gen- 
 eral Smith was absent at Paducah . Colonel, afterwards General 
 Tuttle commanded the brigade. The part taken by the regi- 
 ment in this engagement is elsewhere given. It formed a part 
 of that line which, though at last broken, was held with such 
 obstinacy as to save Grant's army from total rout. 
 
 After receiving orders to fall back, Colonel Woods says, in 
 his official report : 
 
 "Seeing ourselves surrounded, we nevertheless opened a 
 brisk fire on that portion of the enemy who blocked our pass- 
 
JOSEPH J. WOODS. 249 
 
 I age to the Landing, who, after briskly returning our fire for a 
 short time, fell back. A brisk fire from the enemy on our left 
 was going on at the same time. Seeing the enemy in front 
 I falling back, we attempted, by a rapid movement, to cut our 
 I way through ; but the enemy on our left advanced rapidly, 
 coming in behind us, pouring into our ranks a most destructive 
 fire. The enemy in front faced about, and opened on us at 
 short range, the enemy in our rear still closing in on us rapidly. 
 I received two wounds, disabling me from further duty. The 
 command then devolved on Captain Edgington, acting as field 
 officer. The enemy had, however, already so closely sur- 
 I rounded us that their balls, which missed our men, took effect 
 I in their ranks beyond us. To have held out longer would have 
 I been to suffer complete annihilation. The regiment was there- 
 fore compelled to surrender as prisoners of war." 
 The regiment's list of casualties was great, though the exact 
 j number I am unable to give. The killed and wounded num- 
 I bered about one hundred and fifty. Of the conduct of his 
 regiment, Colonel Woods says : — " Captains Earle, Warner, 
 Stibbs, Haddock, Van Duzee and Townsley performed well 
 their part, as did all the lieutenants in the action, in a prompt 
 and willing manner. The non-commissioned oflacers and men 
 stood bravely up to their work, and never did men behave 
 better." Lieutenants Ferguson and Moir, two brave and wor- 
 thy officers, were both killed. As already stated, Colonel 
 Woods was twice wounded, and taken prisoner. He was shot 
 through the left leg and right hand. The former wound dis- 
 I abled him, so that he could not march to the rear with the 
 other prisoners, and the fortunes of the following day restored 
 him to liberty ; for he was re-captured by our forces. Over 
 four hundred of the 12th Iowa were captured, and, of these, 
 eighty died in Southern prisons. That is the saddest page in 
 the history of this noble regiment. 
 
 The 12th Iowa was re-organized in the winter of 1862-3, that 
 portion of it which had been captured having been previously 
 exchanged. The regiment was again led to the front by its 
 
250 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 unassuming colonel, and assigned to the 3d Brigade, 3d Divis- 
 ion, 15th Army Corps. The command of the brigade was given 
 to Colonel Woods. A detailed account of the movements of 
 the regiment need not be given here; for a full history of 
 operations in the rear of Vicksburg will be found elsewhere. 
 
 The 12th marched with its corps from Milliken's Bend, via 
 Grand Gulf to Jackson, and thence to the rear of Vicksburg, 
 where it participated in the long and arduous siege. On the 
 fall of that city, it marched back with Sherman to Jackson, 
 and, after the flight of Johnson, assisted in the almost total 
 destruction of the place. 
 
 The regiment's next important services were rendered in 
 Northern Mississippi, in the spring of 1864 ; though I should 
 not omit to state that it marched with Sherman on his trip to 
 Meridian. 
 
 It re-enlisted as a veteran regiment, in the winter of 1863-4, 
 and came North on veteran furlough; after which, it was 
 assigned to the command of General A. J. Smith, and, under 
 that general, fought at the battle of Tupelo, July 14th, 1864. 
 Its conduct in this engagement, and in saving Smith's train 
 from capture and burning the day before, between Pontotoc 
 and Tupelo, made it one of the star regiments of the expedi- 
 tion. 
 
 The previous reverses, sustained by the army stationed at 
 and near Memphis, under General Sturgis, are stated in the 
 sketches of other officers. The expedition in question left 
 La Grange, on the line of the Memphis and Charleston Rail- 
 road, on the 5th of July, 1864; and, proceeding in a south- 
 easterly direction, passed through Ripley and Pontotoc, and 
 thence on to Tupelo. The heat and the dust rendered the 
 march extremely painful and exhausting ; but the brave men 
 endured the hardships with great fortitude, for they were to 
 retrieve our arms in that quarter from disgrace. 
 
JOSEPH J. WOODS. 251 
 
 On the 13th instant, the 12th Iowa was assigned the duty of 
 guarding the supply-train, a task whicli was not without its 
 dangers, and which, on account of tlie hilly and timbered 
 country through which the march lay, required the greatest 
 vigilance. The country, too, was full of scouting parties of the 
 enemy. Early in the afternoon, Lieutenant-Colonel Stibbs, 
 commanding the regiment, was informed by one of his flankers 
 that, the enemy's cavalry, in large force, were advancing 
 rapidly through the timber on his right. It proved to be 
 Maley's Mississii^pi Brigade. Learning their intended point 
 of attack, the colonel threw his regiment in their front, and, 
 concealing his men in the dense brush, ordered them to hold 
 their fire till they received the proper command. Soon, the 
 enemy came dashing through the woods, firing their carbines, 
 and shouting like demons. They were allowed to approach 
 within less than twenty paces, when a well-directed volley 
 from the regiment checked them, and a second one drove 
 them back in confusion, with the loss of their colors. They 
 continued a scattering fire for fifteen or twenty minutes, and 
 then retired. 
 
 In this affair, the loss of the 12th Iowa was one man killed, 
 and twelve wounded. Among the latter, was Captain C. 
 L. Lumbardo. The battle of Tupelo opened the next 
 I morning. 
 
 On Thursday, the 14th instant, Smith's army was put under 
 
 arms at three o'clock in the morning, and was soon after 
 
 I marched out and formed in line, on the right of the Pontotoc 
 
 I road. The position of the 3d Brigade, 1st Division, to which 
 
 ' was attached the 12th Iowa, was as follows: "On the extreme 
 
 I right was stationed the 6th Indiana Battery, four guns ; next 
 
 in line, on the left, was the 33d Wisconsin, of the 4th Brigade; 
 
 next, the 33d Missouri ; next, the 2d Iowa Battery, four guns, 
 
 commanded by Lieutenant J. Reed; and on the left of the 
 
252 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 brigade, in the most advanced position of our front line of 
 battle, was the 12th Iowa, the 7th Minnesota being in reserve." 
 
 Immediately after the line was formed, skirmishers were 
 thrown out; and soon, the enemy, moving from their cover in 
 the timber, appeared in force, and formed for the encounter. 
 The battle opened with artillery, which was fired with great 
 rapidity and precision. The range was short, and the screach- 
 ing of shells, and the whistling of grape and canister, was 
 frightful. In the meantime, the enemy pushed their infantry 
 forward, and engaged the whole Federal front. The 12th Iowa 
 was protected by an old fence thrown down for a barricade, 
 from behind which it did terrible execution, repelling every 
 rebel assault. And thus the fighting continued for upward of 
 two hours, when the regiment, having exhausted its ammuni- 
 tion, was sent to the rear. In half an hour, it returned with 
 replenished cartridge-boxes, and, taking up its former position, 
 again engaged the enemy. As the battle progressed, the 
 enemy made charge after charge, confident of victory. They 
 would approach within fifty yards of the Federal line, when, 
 met by terrible volleys of canister and musketry, they would 
 stagger for a moment, and then retire precipitately. To whip 
 Smith's forces, was to be a "fore-breakfast spell"; but they 
 must have thought their breakfast a long way otf. Finally, 
 they were charged in turn by the 12th Iowa in the van, the 
 35th Iowa, the 33d Missouri, the 33d Wisconsin and two com- 
 panies of the 7th Minnesota. They could not face the valor 
 of these veterans, and fled to the woods, leaving the bloody 
 field in possession of the Federal forces. Nor did they return 
 that day to renew the contest. 
 
 Of the second day's fight, and of the results of both days' 
 battles, Lieutenant-Colonel Stibbs says : 
 
 "On the morning of the 15th instant my regiment was 
 assigned a position to the left of the Pontotoc road, and formed 
 
JOSEPH J. WOODS. 253 
 
 the left centre of the brigade line. We had a substantial breast- 
 work of cotton-bales in our front, which served as an admirable 
 protection against the enemy's sharp-shooters. We took full 
 part in the fight and charge of the day, losing one man killed 
 and three wounded. Our loss during the three days' fighting 
 was one officer and eight men killed, one officer and fifty-four 
 men wounded, and one man missing." 
 
 Lieutenant A. A. Burdick, acting regimental quarter-master, 
 was killed by a shell, while assisting to bring forward ammu- 
 nition. He was a gallant young officer, and held in the highest 
 esteem by his regiment. Sergeant Robert Fowler and Corporal 
 G. R. Holden were also killed. 
 
 Being without supplies, General Smith could not continue 
 the pursuit ; and he therefore moved back in the direction of 
 Memphis. Indeed, I am informed that the object of the expe- 
 dition was accomplished on the battle-field of Tupelo— Forest 
 and his command had been routed. The enemy's cavalry 
 followed on the return as far as Oldtown Creek, giving the rear 
 guard much trouble ; but so skillfully and successfully was the 
 march conducted, that not a single wagon of the long train was 
 lost. The expedition arrived at La Grange on the 20th instant ; 
 and from that point all the wounded were sent forward to 
 Memphis. 
 
 The entire Federal loss in the fighting at Tupelo was about 
 six hundred, while the enemy's was estimated at not less than 
 two thousand. 
 
 After General Smith's operations against Price in Missouri, 
 in which the 12th Iowa took part, we next find the regiment 
 with that general before Nashville. In the battles fought 
 south of the last named city, it figured conspicuously ; and its 
 gallantry became the more noted, from the fact that it went 
 into the fight without a single line officer : each company was 
 commanded by a sergeant. Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Stibbs 
 commanded the regiment, and Captain, now Major Knee was 
 
254 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 acting major — both brave and true men. The regiment's con- 
 duet at Nashville is deserving of the greatest praise ; for its 
 colors were among the first to be placed upon the enemy's 
 strong redoubts. It accomplished much, with but small loss 
 — two killed and eighteen wounded. The 12th Iowa last 
 operated with General Smith, in the reduction of ]Mobile, or 
 rather the strong forts, by which that city was defended. 
 
 Colonel Woods has a slender, stooping form, brown hair, a 
 light complexion, and mild, blue eyes. He is, in appearance 
 and in faef, the most unassuming of the Iowa colonels. He 
 speaks slowly and kindly, and was accustomed to give his 
 commands with great coolness and deliberation. The officers 
 and men of his regiment at first thought he lacked style and 
 energy ; but they soon learned he possessed great worth as a 
 commanding officer. He is the farthest removed from every 
 thing that distinguishes regular army officers. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL M. M. CROCKER. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, THIRTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Marcellus M. Crocker is a native of Jolnisou county, 
 Indiana, where he was born on the 6th day of February, 1830. 
 At the age of ten years, he accompanied his father's family to 
 Illinois, whence, after a residence of four or five years, he 
 removed to Jefferson county, Iowa. The extent of his early 
 education I have failed to learn ; but, at the age of sixteen, he 
 was appointed, through the recommendation of General A. C. 
 Dodge, a cadet in the military academy at West Point. He is 
 not however a graduate of that Institution. After an attend- 
 ance of some two years and a half, his health failed him, and 
 he was compelled to leave the Academy. Late in 1849, he. 
 returned to Iowa, and began the study of law in the office of 
 Judge Olney, at Fairfield. He commenced the practice of his 
 profession in 1851, in the town of Lancaster, Keokuk county, 
 where he remained till the spring of 1855, and then removed 
 to Des Moines, his present home. 
 
 General Crocker entered the service as captain of Company 
 D, 2d Iowa Infantry. He had recruited his company in April, 
 1861, for the three month's service, (as was the case with nearly 
 ' every captain of the 2d Iowa) but, the State's quota for that 
 ; term of service having been already filled, he was assigned to 
 I the 2d Iowa, and, at the rendezvous of the regiment in 
 i Keokuk, was elected its major. With that rank he entered 
 ' the field. Four months later, he was commissioned lieuten- 
 ant-colonel, vice Tuttle, promoted, and on the 30th of October 
 following, was transferred from his regiment, and made colonel 
 I of the 13th Iowa Infantry. In the winter of 1862-3, he was 
 
 255 
 
256 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 appointed and confirmed a brigadier-general. His promotions 
 were rapid and riclily merited ; for, witii her splendid galaxy 
 of military heroes, Iowa can not boast a better nor truer soldier 
 than General Crocker. 
 
 During his colonelcy of the 13th Iowa, General Crocker took 
 part in two engagements — Shiloh and Corinth. In the for- 
 mer, he commanded his regiment, and in the latter the Iowa 
 Brigade — the oldest and not the least distinguished brigade 
 command in the Army of the Tennessee. In the former, his 
 conduct was gallant in the extreme ; and how he escaped with- 
 out injury is really wonderful. I have spoken elsewhere of 
 the confusion that reigned on the field in the afternoon of the 
 first day's battle. At about four and a half o'clock it was at 
 its hight, and was so wild and terrible as to beggar description. 
 At that hour, Colonel Crocker was conspicuous. I am told that 
 his splendid example of courage contributed not a little toward 
 the establishment of the new line, which successfully resisted 
 the enemy's further mlvance that night. The progress of the 
 battle on the left, I have given in the sketch of Colonel W. G. 
 Williams. To show its opening and progress on the right, I 
 quote from the official report of Colonel Crocker ; for that gives 
 the clearest and most intelligible account of any that I have 
 seen : 
 
 "Early on the morning of the sixth, the alarm was given, 
 and heavy firing in the distance indicated that our camp was 
 attacked. The regiment was formed in front of its color-line, 
 its full force consisting of seven hundred and seventeen men, 
 rank and file. It was at once ordered to form on the left of the 
 2d Brigade, and proceeded to that position at a double-quick, 
 and was then formed in line of battle in a skirt of woods, 
 bordering on an open field, to the left of a battery. Plere it 
 remained for some time inactive, while the enemy's guns were 
 playing on our battery. In the meantime, a large force of the 
 enemy's infantry were filing around the open field in front of 
 our line, protected by the woods, and in the direction of our 
 
MARCELLUS M. CROCKER. 257 
 
 battery, opening a heavy fire of musketry on the infantry sta- 
 tioned on our right, and charging upon the battery. The 
 infantry and battery to the right having given way, and the 
 enemy advancing at double-quick, we gave them one round of 
 musketry, and also gave way. At this time we, as indeed all 
 of our troops in the immediate vicinity of the battery, were 
 thrown into great confusion, and retired in disorder. Having 
 retreated to the distance of one or two hundred yards, we suc- 
 ceeded in rallying and forming a good line, the 8th and 18th 
 Illinois volunteers on our left, and, having fronted to the 
 enemy, held our position there under a continual fire of cannon 
 and musketry, until after twelve o'clock, when we were ordered 
 to retire and take up a new position. This we did in good 
 order, and without confusion. 
 
 "Here having formed a new line, we maintained it under an 
 incessant fire, until four and a half o'clock, P. M., the men 
 conducting themselves with great gallantry and coolness, and 
 doing great execution on the enemy, repelling charge after 
 charge, and driving them back with great loss. At four and a 
 half o'clock, we were again ordered to fall back. In obeying 
 this order, we became mixed up with a great many other regi- 
 ments, falling back in confusion, so that our line was broken, 
 and the regiment separated, rendering it very difficult to 
 collect it." 
 
 This was the last order to retire that was given that after- 
 noon, and the last ground yielded to the enemy ; for the new 
 line, when formed, was held successfully. It should, however, 
 be stated that, it was now near night, and there was little 
 more fighting that evening. It was in this new position that 
 Colonel Hare, of the 11th Iowa, was wounded and retired 
 from the field. During the day, he had commanded the 1st 
 Brigade of McClernand's Division. After he was wounded 
 and left the field, the command of the brigade was then 
 turned over to Colonel Crocker— "his able and gallant succes- 
 sor." 
 
 In closing his report of the battle of Shiloh, Colonel Crocker 
 
 says : 
 
 "During the day, we were under fire of the enemy for ten 
 17 
 
258 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 hours, and sustained a loss of twenty-three killed, and one 
 hundred and thirty wounded. 
 
 "On the morning of the 7th, we were ordered to continue 
 with Colonel Tuttle's Division, and to follow up and sui)port 
 our forces that were attacking, and driving back the enemy. 
 We followed them up closely, moving to support the batteries, 
 until the enemy was routed, after which, we were ordered to 
 return to the encampment that we had left on Sunday morn- 
 ing, where we arrived at eight o'clock, P. M. Our total loss 
 in the action of the 6th and 7th is killed, twenty-four; 
 wounded, one hundred and thirty-nine; missing, nine: total, 
 one hundred and seventy-two. The men, for the most part, 
 behaved with great gallantry. All the officers exliibited the 
 greatest bravery and coolness; and I call especial attention to 
 the gallant conduct of my field officers, Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Price and Major Shane, who were both wounded in the action 
 of the 6th, and acknowledge my great obligations to my adju- 
 tant, Lieutenant Wilson, who, during the entire action, 
 exhibited the highest qualities of a soldier." 
 
 The last gun was fired at Shiloh, before two o'clock in the 
 afternoon of the 7th, and that same evening, the main portion 
 of Grant's army marched back to their former encampments, 
 where, having buried the dead and cared for the wounded, 
 they rested. 
 
 Immediately after this engagement, the Iowa Brigade was 
 organized, and placed under the command of Colonel Crocker. 
 It was composed of the 11th, 13th, 15th and 16th Iowa regi- 
 ments, and afterward, as I have already said, became one of 
 the most distinguished brigade commands in the Army of the 
 Tennessee. Under its first commander, it acquired that disci- 
 pline and efficiency, for which it was noted under each of the 
 general's successors — Chambers, Hall and Belknap. It has 
 distinguished itself on half a score of battle-fields, and once 
 saved the Army of the Tennessee from calamitous defeat. It 
 has a most brilliant record. With this brigade. Colonel 
 Crocker fought at the battle of Corinth ; but an account of that 
 engagement will be found in the sketches of other officers. 
 
MARCELLUS M. CROCKER. 259 
 
 In the winter of 1862-3, the colonel was made a brigadier- 
 igeneral. His sterling qualities as a soldier, and his continued 
 gallant deportment earned the promotion. After receiving 
 Ihis commission, he continued with his brigade till the latter 
 jpart of April, 1863, when, by order of General McPhersou, he 
 isucceeded General Quimby in the command of the 7th Divi- 
 ision, 17th Army Corps— the division which fought so gallantly, 
 and lost so heavily at Jackson and Champion's Hill. He joined 
 his division at Bruinsburg, just after it had crossed the Missis- 
 sippi, and commanded it in the two above engagements. 
 
 On the evening of the 13th of May, the 7th Division bivou- 
 iacked, with its army corps at Clinton, ten miles west of 
 {Jackson. The following night it was to camp in Jackson. 
 The character of the country between Clinton and Jackson, 
 'the condition of the roads, and the state of the weather on the 
 jmorning of the 14th instant, I have given elsewhere. Crocker's 
 |Division led the advance. This post of honor was granted by 
 
 Im^ 
 
 cPherson, at the general's own request, which barely antici- 
 jpated a similar one from Logan. The march was made, and 
 the enemy encountered about two and a half miles west of the 
 city. Their line of battle was along a high ridge, and extended 
 from north to south, as far as the eye could reach. The rain 
 was falling in torrents, and, until it partially ceased, the two 
 jarmies stood and watched each other. In half an hour it broke 
 away, when General Crocker, pushing forward the 12th Wis- 
 :consin Battery, saluted General Johnson. Tuttle's Division of 
 Sherman's Corps, which had in the meantime come up on the 
 jsouth side of the city, opened on the enemy at nearly the same 
 jinstant. The 2d Iowa Battery, Lieutenant Reed, tired the first 
 Igun on the south side of Jackson. The enemy's force was 
 about ten thousand, and the principal portion of it was in 
 Crocker's front ; but he pushed his leading brigade, which was 
 drawn up in a continuous line, to the farthest point that 
 
260 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 afforded cover, and then ordered a charge. It was a magnifi- 
 cent sight, for the conduct of the brigade was magnificent. 
 The battle was bloody, but not protracted: in ten minutes 
 after the order to charge was given, the enemy were fleeing in 
 total rout; nor did they stop until they had crossed Pearl 
 River. 
 
 For so great results, the Federal loss was small — only two 
 hundred and eighty-six; but all, except six or eight of the 
 casualties, were from the 2d Brigade of Crocker's Division. 
 The press of Illinois gave Logan the credit of fighting the 
 battle of Jackson. It was all wrong. His command was not 
 under fire ; nor did it lose a man, even by a stray shot. The 
 general himself was at the front, where he always was, when 
 there was any fighting to be done ; but he was only a spectator. 
 He sat quietly on his horse, caressing his huge mustache, till 
 word came of the flight of the enemy across the river, when he 
 rode into the city. In his official report, General McPherson 
 says: — " Colonel Sanborn was directed to send the flag of one 
 of his regiments, which had borne itself most gallantly in the 
 battle, and place it on the Capitol of the State of Mississippi, 
 and shortly before four o'clock the flag of the 59th Indiana was 
 proudly waving from the dome." The 59th Indiana "bore 
 itself gallantly," but it did not fire a gun at Jackson. The 
 10th Missouri, 17th Iowa and 80th Ohio made the charge, and 
 captured the city ; and why the flag of the 59th first waved 
 from the dome was, the regiments entitled to the honor had 
 been left on the field, and could not be reached. Had General 
 Crocker delayed five minutes longer, the colors of the 95th 
 Ohio of Tuttle's Division, would have flaunted from the rebel 
 Capitol. 
 
 As soon as the fighting was done, General Crocker rode 
 down his line to the 17th Iowa, and to the other regiments ol 
 the brigade, and thanked them for their gallantry ; and as he 
 
MARCELLUS M. CROCKER. 261 
 
 looked back on the hill-slope, where were lying the dead and 
 , wounded, his eyes filled with tears, and his voice choked with 
 I emotion. " Noble fellows," he said, "I am sorry, but we can 
 not help it." 
 
 Two days after the battle at Jackson, General Crocker com- 
 manded his division at Champion's Hill. His own, with 
 : Hovey's and Logan's Divisions, fought that battle— the 
 bitterest of the whole campaign, if we except the charge on 
 i the 22d of May ; but an account of this engagement has been 
 already given. 
 
 In June, 1863, General Crocker came North on sick leave. 
 His health, always bad, had been rendered much worse by the 
 hardships and exposures of the recent campaign, and he 
 accepted his leave, at the urgent request of General Grant. 
 There is a story connected with this sick leave, which illus- 
 trates the kind-heartedness of General Grant, and which 
 affords me pleasure to relate. On the return of General 
 Quimby in the latter part of May, he resumed command of 
 his old division, when General Crocker was placed temporarily 
 upon the staff of General Grant. Crocker's tent being near 
 that of Grant, the attention of the latter was attracted by the 
 severe and almost incessant coughing of the former during the 
 night; and, on meeting him the morning after, General Grant 
 said: "General Crocker, was that you whom I heard coughing 
 so last night?" "Yes," replied the general. "Well, then, 
 my dear fellow, you must go straight home, for you will die 
 here." 
 
 The general was at his home in Des Moines, at the time the 
 Union Gubernatorial Convention was held in that city. Dur- 
 ing its session, he visited the hall of the Convention, and the 
 eclat with which he was received, was a flattering testimonial 
 of the esteem in which he was held by his State. He was the 
 choice of the Convention for Governor of Iowa, and was 
 
262 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 earnestly solicited to accept the nomination ; but his answer 
 was: "If a soldier is worth any thing, he can not be spared 
 from the field ; and, if he is worthless, he will not make a 
 good Governor." The argument was unanswerable, and his 
 name was reluctantly dropped. 
 
 Early in July, 1863, General Crocker returned to the field, 
 and was given a division command, and made Commandant of 
 the District of Natchez. While commanding at Natchez, he 
 made his expedition to Harrisonburg, Louisiana. "The expe- 
 dition consisted of the following troops: the 2d Brigade, 4th 
 Division, Colonel C. Hall, 14th Illinois, commanding; tlie 3d 
 Brigade, 4th Division, General AV. Q. Gresham commanding; 
 Company F, 3d Illinois Battery, and the 15th Ohio Battery, 
 with the 17th AVisconsin Infantry, mounted, commanded by 
 Colonel Mallory." At Harrisonburg, the enemy were rei)orted 
 in considerable force, and intrenched in strong works. The 
 object of the expedition was to destroy these works and ord- 
 nance proj^erty, and cajiture or disperse the rebel garrison. It 
 resulted in the capture and burning of one small steamer on 
 Black River at Trinity, the capture and destruction of Fort 
 Beauregard at Harrisonburg, the destruction of all ammunition 
 and six pieces of artillery ; and the capture of about twenty 
 prisoners and two six-pound brass cannon. There was no 
 battle — only trifling skirmishing. 
 
 In the fall of 1863, General Crocker returned to Vicksburg, 
 where he joined Sherman on the Meridian march. In the 
 following Spring, he joined his corps (the 17th) in its march 
 across the country to Georgia; but, on account of ill health, 
 was relieved, and, early in the summer of 1864, was tendered a 
 command in New Mexico, with head-quarters at Fort Sumner. 
 Believing the climate would be beneficial to his health, the 
 general accepted this command, since which time he has served 
 in that department. 
 
MARCELLUS M. CROCKER. 263 
 
 General Crocker is about five feet ten inches in hight, with a 
 slender, nervous form, which can never pass one unnoticed. 
 He has a passionate temper, and is plain-spoken, often saying 
 things which, in his calmer moments, he would leave unsaid. 
 
 His mode of discipline is severe and uncompromising, and a 
 careless blunder he would never excuse. On one occasion, 
 while in command of the Iowa Brigade, a general review was 
 ordered, and great pains was taken to avoid all mistakes. One 
 can imagine then what must have been the general's mortifica- 
 tion to see Colonel , of his leading regiment, ride past the 
 
 reviewing ofiicer, with his sword at a protracted "present." 
 
 That was bad enough ; but next followed Colonel , whose 
 
 regiment passed with arms at a " right-shoulder-shift." When 
 the review was over, the regimental commanders were sum- 
 moned to the general's head-quarters, when, beginning with 
 the chief in rank, he administered the following rebuke : — 
 "Now, Sir, aren't you a pretty man — and pretend to be a 
 military man — and educated at a military school ! " " But — " 
 (began the colonel, wishing to apologize) " Hush up, Sir. I'm 
 doing the talking here." It all ended in a friendly chat, and 
 in an order for a new review ; and there was no more mistakes. 
 
 As a military man, General Crocker has been pre-eminently 
 successful, not only as a disciplinarian, but as a bold and able 
 leader. As a division commander, he has no superior in the 
 State, and, what is a little remarkable, this fact is universally 
 conceded. 
 
 Nor was the general less successful as a civilian, than he has 
 been as a soldier. Though young, he ranked, at the time of 
 entering the service, among the best lawyers of Des Moines — 
 the city which boasted one of the ablest bars in the State. 
 C. C. Cole, ( now Judge of the State Supreme Court ) J. A. 
 Kasson, (now Congressman from the 5th District) C. C. 
 Nourse, (Attorney General of the State) T. F. Wi throw, 
 
264 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 (State Supreme Court Keporter) P. M. Cassady, (General 
 Crocker's law-partner) General Williamson, Polk, Jewett, W. 
 W. Williamson, Finch, St. John, EUwood, Rice, Clark, 
 Mitchell, Ingersoll, Smith, Phillips, White, McKay and 
 Brown, was Des Moines' roll of attorneys in the spring of 1861, 
 and of these the general ranked among the very best, as an 
 advocate and circuit practitioner. Some say that, in these 
 respects, he led the Des Moines Bar. 
 
COLONEL JOHN SHANE. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, THIRTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 John Shane was born in the county of Jefferson, Ohio, on 
 the 26th of May, 1822, and was educated at Jefferson College, 
 Pennsylvania. After graduating, he taught school for a few 
 years in Kentucky, and then, returning to Ohio, studied 
 law in the office of E. M. Stanton, Esq., now our honored 
 Secretary of War. He was admitted to the bar at Steuben- 
 ville, in 1848, where he continued in the practice till the year 
 ISoo, when he removed to Vinton, Benton county, Iowa, his 
 present home. 
 
 Colonel Shane volunteered as a private in Company G, 13th 
 Iowa Infantry; and, on its organization, was elected its cap- 
 tain. This rank he held till the 30th of October, 1861, when 
 he was elected to the majority of his regiment. At the battle 
 of Shiloh, both Lieutenant-Colonel Price and Major Shane 
 were severely wounded. The former soon after resigning his 
 commission. Major Shane was promoted to the lieutenant- 
 colonelcy. On the 13th of March, 1863, he succeeded General 
 Crocker to the colonelcy of the 18th Iowa Infantry, which 
 position he retained till the expiration of his three years' 
 term of service. The principal portion of the history of this 
 gallant regiment has been made under Colonel Shane; for, 
 with the exception of Shiloh, it was under his command in all 
 its engagements, prior to the fall of Atlanta. It is, however, 
 but proper to state that, for several months after Colonel 
 Crocker left his regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Shane was 
 indebted to him for its marked efficiency ; for, although in 
 
 265 
 
266 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 command of a brigade and noniinally absent, the colonel was 
 really the commanding officer of the regiment. 
 
 I need not record in full the services of the 13th Iowa, for 
 they are given elsewhere, in connection with the histories of 
 the other regiments of the Iowa Brigade. Dating from the 
 middle of April, 1SG2, the records of these regiments are almost 
 precisely the same. 
 
 Returning from General Grant's march into Central Missis- 
 sippi in the \vinter of 1862-3, the 13th Iowa, with its brigade, 
 returned to the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, 
 and, for a few weeks, went into camp at La Fayette, Tennessee. 
 About tlie 20th of January, the brigade marched to Memphis, 
 and on the 22d loft that city on transports for Young's Point, 
 Louisiana. Plere the regiment remained for several weeks, 
 furnishing heavy details to work on the celebrated Vicksburg 
 Canal, which taps the Mississippi just below Young's Point. 
 The services of the 13th Iowa and of the Iowa Brigade were, 
 from this time till the following September, of the most annoy- 
 ing and fatiguing nature. 
 
 In the complicated movements around Vicksburg, which 
 attended its investment and capture, the regiment acted a 
 prominent part ; though the services performed were of such a 
 nature as not to challenge special notice. General McArthur's 
 Division, to which the Iowa Brigade was attached, was the last 
 of the 17th Corps to leave the river above Vicksburg, in the 
 march across the country to the river below that city. By the 
 time this division had reached a point opposite Grand Gulf, 
 the brilliant successes of General McClernand and two divis- 
 ions of General McPherson's Corps had compelled the evacua- 
 tion of this point ; and all that was now required of McArthur 
 was to cross the river, and take possession of the place. This 
 happened on the 6th of May, and, from that date until after 
 the battles of Champion's Hill and Big Black River Bridge, 
 
JOHN SHANE. 267 
 
 Grand Gulf was held by the Iowa Brigade, and made a sort of 
 base from which Grant's army received its supplies, and where 
 all surplus baggage was stored. 
 
 There is an amusing and honest story connected with the 
 occupation of Grand Gulf. Admiral D. D. Porter, since become 
 celebrated on the coast of the Atlantic, had tried nearly one 
 whole day to reduce this strong-hold, with his gun-boat fleet ; 
 but he so far failed as not to silence a single gun. He still 
 watched in the vicinity, and, when the garrison, flanked by 
 McClernand and McPherson, were compelled to evacuate, at 
 once entered and occupied the works, and labeled upon the 
 breech of every gun, "Captured by Admiral D. D. Porter, 
 May 6th, 1863." I suppose Admiral Porter did well at Fort 
 Fisher, as, indeed, he did on the Mississippi; but, though he is 
 a brave and efficient officer, General Ben. Butler is not the only 
 one who has had occasion to "blow the froth from his lively 
 porter.^'' 
 
 On the 19th of May, at mid-night, the Iowa Brigade was 
 ordered back by forced marches across the neck of land to 
 Young's Point, and sent by boat up the Yazoo, to the assist- 
 ance of Sherman; but, on its arrival, it was learned that 
 Sherman had sufficient force, and it was ordered again to the 
 left. It retraced its weary steps, and, crossing the Mississippi 
 River near Warrenton, marched to the front, arriving on the 
 evening of the memorable 22d of May, but too late to partici- 
 pate in the general charge. 
 
 What is true of the position of Grant's forces before Vicks- 
 burg, on the morning of the 22d of May, is not generally 
 known. The left of McClernand's Corps did not extend to the 
 river below the city. A strip of country nearly seven miles 
 in width, between INIcClernand's left and the river, was held 
 by the enemy; and it was this gap in the line, which 
 McArthur was ordered to fill, and which, when filled, 
 
268 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 completed the investment of Vicksburg. In coming into this 
 position, the Iowa Brigade slcirmished nearly the entire day 
 of the 22d, and, as I have said, arrived before the enemy's 
 works, just after the disastrous charge. But this position 
 was maintained by General McArthur only until the 2Gth of 
 May, the date of the arrival of General Lauman's command ; 
 for in the meantime, the enemy were reported to be concen- 
 trating in heavy force in the direction of Yazoo City, and the 
 Upper Big Black, for the purpose of moving on General 
 Grant's rear, to raise the siege; and General Blair, with a 
 picked command, consisting of McArthur's Division and other 
 troops, was ordered out to disperse them. This, with the 
 exception of the march to Monroe, Louisiana, and that one 
 just recently made through the bottomless swamps of South 
 Carolina, is the hardest one the Iowa Brigade ever made. It 
 was made by forced marches, in the heat of a Southern sum- 
 mer's sun, and through dust that was well-nigh suffocating. By 
 those who participated in it, it will never be forgotten. But 
 the march was the only thing of terror connected with the expe- 
 dition ; for the enemy, who were met only in inconsiderable 
 force near Mechanicsville, were dispersed with but few casual- 
 ties. The expedition, however, was not without its good 
 results; for, on its return by way of the fertile valley of the 
 Yazoo, almost fabulous quantities of corn and cotton were 
 destroyed. Five thousand head of cattle, sheep and hogs, too, 
 were driven back to Grant's needy army. 
 
 After the return of this expedition, the 13th Iowa, with its 
 brigade, constituted a portion of the force with which General 
 Sherman held at bay the rebel General Johnson, on the Big 
 Black. On the 3d and 4th of July, the regiment skirmished 
 with the enemy's advance, and, on their retreat to Jackson, 
 followed in close pursuit. Next follows the expedition under 
 Brigadier-General Stevenson, from Vicksburg to Monroe, 
 
JOHN SHANE. ^b^ 
 
 Louisiana, which was made in the middle of August, 1863; and 
 an account of which appears in the sketch of General J. M. 
 Hedrick, formerly of the 15th Iowa. 
 
 The following- Autumn, and the greater part of the following 
 Winter, were passed by the 13th Iowa in camp at Vicksburg. 
 It was at Vicksburg that the regiment re-enlisted as veteran 
 volunteers. Immediately after the march to Meridian, in 
 which the 13th joined, it returned North on veteran furlough. , 
 The balance of its history has been made in the three wonder- 
 ful marches of General Sherman — from Dalton to Atlanta, 
 from Atlanta to Savannah, and from Savannah to Goldsboro 
 and Washington. The regiment bore a conspicuous part in 
 the memorable engagement of the 22d of July before Atlanta. 
 Its loss was eleven killed, forty-two wounded, and ninety-six 
 missing. Among the killed was the brave Major William A. 
 Walker ; and among the wounded, Captain George McLaugh- 
 lin and Lieutenants Wesley Huff, George B. Hunter, and 
 Charles H. Hivskins. Captiun Pope, and Lieutenants Rice, 
 Parker and Eyestone were captured. 
 
 The aggregate loss of the 13th Iowa during the Atlanta Cam- 
 paign I have failed to learn. 
 
 That which has most contributed to give the regiment a 
 National reputation is the part it acted, or a portion of it, in 
 the capture of Columbia, South Carolina, on the 17th of Feb- 
 ruary, 1865. The colors of the regiment, in the hands of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Justin C. Kennedy, were the first to flaunt 
 from the capitol building of South Carolina. 
 
 " Head-quabteks 4th Division, 17th Army Corps, 
 " Near Columbia, S. C, February 17, 1865 
 
 "Biugadier-General W. W. Belknap: 
 
 usjj^._ Allow me to congratulate you, and through you, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel J. C. Kennedy, 13th Iowa Veteran Volun- 
 teers, and the men under his command, for first entering the 
 city of Columbia on the morning of Friday, February 17th, 
 
270 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and being the first to plant his colors on the Capitol of South 
 Carolina. 
 
 "I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
 
 " Your obedient servant, 
 
 "Giles A. Smith, 
 '■'■Brevet 3faj or- General Commanding.'''' 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Kennedy is a resident of Vernon, Linn 
 county, Iowa. He is thirty-two years of age, and a native of 
 the State of New York. His name will live in American 
 history. 
 
 Colonel Shane is one of the largest of the Iowa colonels, his 
 weight being two hundred and ten pounds. He has sandy 
 hair, (perhaps red) a florid complexion and blue eyes, looking 
 out through a large, round, good-natured face. He is of an 
 easy, jovial nature, relishes a joke, and is fond of good living. 
 He ranked fairly as a soldier, and was popular with his com- 
 mand. 
 
 At home and in private life, he is much respected. He is 
 economical, and has secured a snug property. I am told he 
 was one of the few officers of our army who Iionestly made 
 money in the service. 
 
 From the organization of the Republican Party in his county, 
 he has been a prominent, working member. He was a dele- 
 gate to the State Convention which re-nominated the Hon. 
 Samuel J. Kirkwood for Governor of Iowa. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM TUCKERMAN SHAW. 
 
 FOURTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 The belligerous Colonel Shaw is a native of the State of 
 
 Maine, and was born in the town of Steuben, Washington 
 
 county, on the 22d day of September, 1822. He received his 
 
 education at the INIaine Wesleyan Seminary, and after leaving 
 
 that; Institution removed to Kentucky, where he engaged in 
 
 school teaching. He was in Kentucky at the time war was 
 
 declared by our Government against Mexico, and enlisted in 
 
 the 2d Kentu: ky Infantry regiment, commanded by the 
 
 gallant Colonel William R. McKee. He served with his 
 
 regiment till the close of the war, accompanying it on every 
 
 march, and fighting with it in every engagement, in which it 
 
 took part. He was present in the sanguinary battle of Buena 
 
 Vista ; and was on that hill-slope, and in that ravine, where 
 
 the battle raged with such fury, and where Colonel McKee was 
 
 killed, and the chivalric Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Clay, Jr., 
 
 mortally wounded. On the declaration of peace, he assisted in 
 
 clearing our South-western borders of those hostile tribes of 
 
 Indians, which were then so annoying to the frontier settlers. 
 
 By his great courage and determination, Colonel Shaw 
 
 attained notoriety, and, in 1849, was chosen the leader of the 
 
 first party, which crossed the barren and trackless country 
 
 lying between Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Santa Fe. This 
 
 event at that day was quite notable; and the number and 
 
 names of the party have been preserved. It was composed of 
 
 thirty-six men— citizens of New York, Kentucky, Tennessee, 
 
 Louisiana and Arkansas. In 1852, Colonel Shaw again crossed 
 
 the plains, starting from Council Bluffs; and, this time, he was 
 
 271 
 
272 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 accompanied by only one man. In 1853, he settled in Ana- 
 mosa, Jones county, Iowa, where he has since resided. 
 
 Colonel Shaw was made colonel of the 14th Iowa Infantry," 
 on the 24th day of October, 1861 ; and held this rank till the 
 summer of 1864, when he was dismissed the service. 
 
 The first of the long and bloody series of battles in which 
 the 14th Iowa has borne a conspicuous part was that of Fort 
 Donel.-on. Though present at the capture of Fort Henry, the 
 regiment was not engaged. In the engagement at Fort Don- 
 elson, the 14th Iowa held the right of its brigade ; and, on the 
 afternoon of the 13th, two days before the successful assault 
 which was led by the left wing of the 2d Iowa, under Colonel 
 Tuttle, charged the enemy's works in connection with the 25th 
 Indiana. The object of this assault was the capture of a six- 
 gun battery, and the enemy's line in front ; but through the 
 failure of the 25th Indiana, under the immediate connnaiid of 
 Colonel Lauman, to co-operate in the movement, no adv-iintage 
 was gained, except that a slightly advanced jjosition was taken 
 and held. 
 
 On the afternoon of the loth of February, the 14th moved 
 into the enemy's works to the right of the 2d Iowa, and soon 
 after they had been entered by tliat regiment. In this day's 
 fight the loss of the regiment was trifling — only one man 
 killed, and seven wounded. On the afternoon of the 13th, 
 it suffered more severely, losing two killed and fourteen 
 wounded. 
 
 In closing his official report of this engagement. Colonel 
 Shaw says : 
 
 " I may mention the valuable services rendered by Sergeant- 
 Major S. H. Smith, who was shot dead by my side, while 
 encouraging the men on to enter the breast-works of the 
 enemy ; also 1st Lieutenant William W. Kirkwood, command- 
 ing Company K, rendered very valuable assistance, in forming 
 
WILLIAM T. SHAW. 273 
 
 the Hue in front of the enemy's breast-works. Captain War- 
 ren C. Jones, of Company I, also rendered valuable service, in 
 directing the fire of my marksmen, and, especially, in protect- 
 ing the retiring of the skirmishers on the 13th instant." 
 
 I am informed that Colonel Shaw was mistaken in the case 
 of Lieutenant Kirkwood. Second-Lieutenant Charles P. 
 King commanded Company K at Fort Donelson, and distin- 
 guished himself. 
 
 Sergeant I. N. Rhodes, of Company I, also distinguished 
 himself. Just after his regiment had gained the enemy's rifle- 
 pits, the 1st Missouri Battery was hurried up to a sally-port, 
 near by, and opened on the enemy. It at once drew the fire of 
 a six-gun rebel battery, to the right and front. The firing of 
 the rebel guns was so rapid and accurate that, the lieutenant in 
 command of one section of the Missouri Battery became 
 frightened, and deserted his guns. A sergeant of the battery, 
 however, named Bremer, stuck to his piece, and returned the 
 fire of the enemy. Sergeant Rhodes, of the 14th Iowa, seeing 
 the other pieces deserted, sprang forward with six men of his 
 company, and continued to work them on the enemy, till 
 darkness prevented their further use. 
 
 From Fort Donelson, the 14th Iowa marched with its 
 division to Pittsburg Landing, on the Tennessee. The dis- 
 tinguished part which the 14th took in the sanguinary 
 engagement of Shiloh, has been noticed in the sketches of 
 Colonels Geddes and Woods. The 8th, 12th and 14th Iowa 
 regiments stood side by side, at the time they were surrounded 
 and captured— the 14th holding the centre, with the 12th on 
 its right, and the 8th on its left. In speaking of the gallant 
 conduct of Colonel Shaw's regiment in this engagement. Major 
 Hamill, of the 2d Iowa Infantry, said : 
 
 " They were to our left, and in plain view of us, until up to 
 the time we learned of the flank movement of the enemy, and 
 were ordered to fall back to save ourselves. The regiment can 
 18 
 
274 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 not receive too much credit; for I never saw such splendid 
 fighting- before nor since. They would lie quietly in line 
 until the enemy was within fifteen or twenty paces, when they 
 would rise and deliver a deadly fire, and then, in an instant, 
 charge his line, which, in every instance, they did not fail to 
 break, and force back in confusion." 
 
 Colonel Shaw, who commanded his regiment in this engage- 
 ment, was captured and retained a prisoner of war until the 
 following October, when he was paroled at Richmond, and 
 sent into our lines. The history of his hardships, during his 
 six months' prison-life, is the same as are those of Major, 
 now Governor Stone, Colonel Geddes, Captain, now General 
 Hedrick, and others, who were captured during the first day's 
 battle. 
 
 The 14th Iowa, as also the other Iowa troops captured at 
 Shiloh, were exchanged in the fall of 18G2, and sent to Annap- 
 olis, Maryland. While at Annapolis, some of the officers 
 telegraphed to General Halleck for permission to visit Wash- 
 ington; and the general replied: "You can come. Such troops 
 can go any where : your indomitable courage at Shiloh saved 
 the Army of the Mississippi from total annihilation." The 
 courage and endurance of these troops was appreciated by Gen- 
 eral Beauregard, who is reported to have said, "We charged 
 the centre [they held the centre] five distinct times, and could 
 not break it." 
 
 The history of the 14th Iowa Infantry, subsequently to its 
 exchange and re-organization, and up to the time when the 
 greater portion of it was mustered out of the service, is similar 
 to that of the 32d Iowa. During the spring and summer of 
 1863, it served at dififerent points on the Mississippi River, on 
 garrison-duty ; but shortly before General A. J. Smith moved 
 with his division from Memphis to Vicksburg, from which 
 last named point he marched on the Meridian Expedition, the 
 14th was brigaded with the 27th and 32d Iowa, and the 24th 
 
WILLIAM T. SHAW. 275 
 
 Missouri. Colonel Shaw of the 14th Iowa was assigned to the 
 command of this brigade; and, with it, saved the army of 
 General Banks from defeat and capture at the battle of Pleasant 
 Hill, Louisiana. 
 
 In the fall of 1864, the 14th Iowa joined in the operations 
 which were instituted for the expulsion of General Price's 
 army from Missouri; soon after which the regiment was mus- 
 tered out of the United States service; for it had foiled to 
 re-enlist in sufficient numbers to entitle it to retain its organi- 
 zation. Only two companies remained in the service. 
 
 The 14th is the only Iowa regiment, from the 2d to the 17th, 
 (and no others of the infantry troops came within the order) 
 that lost its name and organization, on account of not re-enlist- 
 ing. The reasons why the regiment refused to renew their 
 enlistment need not be stated, for they involve an old feud, 
 which should not be revived. 
 
 A true history of the Red River Campaign will attribute the 
 chief glory which attaches to the battle of Pleasant Hill, to 
 the 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 16th Army Corps; (Colonel Wil- 
 liam T. Shaw's command) for these troops saved the army of 
 General Banks from destruction, on that day of terror. 
 
 Rumor says that the army of General Steele should have 
 been, at least, as far south as Camden, Arkansas, on the 8th of 
 I April, 1864, the day on which General Banks first met the 
 ! enemy in strong force, some four miles east of Mansfield, 
 : Louisiana. The object of both Banks and Steele was a com- 
 mon one — the capture of Shreveport, and the destruction of 
 the rebel army in Western Louisiana and Arkansas. Of the 
 character of the orders under which these officers marched, I 
 am ignorant ; but, had they co-operated as they should have 
 done, the power of the Confederates would no doubt have been 
 broken in the trans-Mississippi country. As it is, history 
 
276 IOWA COLOXET.S AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 must record disa.strous defeat to the armies of both Steele and 
 Banks. 
 
 General Smith arrived with his command within one mile 
 of Pleasant Hill, at sun-down on the evening of the 8th of 
 April, 1864, and a little before the fighting of that day had 
 closed at the front. That night, General Banks fell back with 
 his troops of the 13th and 19th Corps ; and, early on the follow- 
 ing morning, took up a position about one mile west of 
 Pleasant Hill. At ten o'clock of the same morning, the com- 
 mand of General Smith was ordered to the front. Colonel 
 Shaw's Brigade led the advance, and took up a position on the 
 Pleavsant Hill and Mansfield road. His own regiment was 
 thrown across the road, and at nearly right angles with it. His 
 right was held by the 24th Missouri, and his left by the 27th and 
 32d Iowa— the 82d holding the extreme left. To the right of his 
 command, was the brigade of General Dwight ; but the name 
 of the brigade on the left, I am unable to give. Nor does it 
 matter, since it fled at the first onset of the enemy. No sooner 
 had Colonel Shaw brought his command into line, than the 
 skirmishers of the enemy were encountered ; and then, after 
 an interval of long and harrowing suspense, followed the fierce 
 and sanguinary conflict of Pleasant Hill, the details of which 
 are given in the sketch of Colonel John Scott, of the 32d Iowa 
 Infantry. 
 
 For the part taken by the 14th regiment in this engagement, 
 I refer to the official report of Lieutenant-Colonel, then Captain 
 W. C. Jones: 
 
 " The regiment moved out to the front with the brigade to 
 which it was attached, at a few minutes before eleven o'clock 
 A. M., taking position upon the line parallel with an open 
 field, the right resting upon a road immediately in the rear of 
 the 25th New York Battery. Company I, under command of 
 2d Lieutenant G. H. Logan, Company K, under command of 
 Captain W. J. Campbell, were deployed as skirmishers toward 
 
WILLIAM T. SHAW. 277 
 
 the centre of the field. Their left was resting upon the 
 skirmish line of the 27th Iowa. Skirmishing occurred at 
 [intervals, until 4 o'clock P. M., when the enemy advanced by 
 a cavalry charge— our skirmishers rallying in their proper 
 places, the 2oth New York Battery fell in the rear of us. We 
 reserved our fire until the enemy v/ere in easy pistol range, 
 when we opened a fire upon them, which almost annihilated 
 them. Horses and riders rolled almost within our lines. This 
 charge was followed by an advance of infantry in two lines, 
 when the conflict became general. The enemy was repulsed in 
 front with heavy slaughter. The second line advanced upon our 
 front, and a line at right angles upon our right flank, opening a 
 terrible cross-fire. Our right was changed in the new direction 
 to meet the new line. In this bloody cross-fire, our lamented 
 Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Newbold, fell from his horse, mor- 
 tally wounded, the ball passing through his body from the 
 right breast, disabling his left arm. There, also fell Lieuten- 
 ant Logan, Lieutenant McMillen, and Lieutenant Shanklin, 
 ofiicers beloved by all, nobly laying their bodies a bleed- 
 ing sacrifice upon their country's altar. The long list of 
 casualties below, clearly indicate the unreproachable bravery 
 and indomitable will of the regiment. Upon the foil of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Newbold, I assumed command of the 
 regiment, and I tender most hearty thanks to the officers, 
 commissioned and non-commissioned and privates, for the 
 gallant manner in which they sustained their reputation, 
 gained upon the bloody fields of Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, 
 De Russy and Pleasant Hill. 
 
 "I withdrew the regiment, with the rest of the brigade, by 
 your order, at six o'clock P. M." 
 
 Among the wounded of the 14th Iowa in this engagement, 
 were Lieutenant Holmes, and Sergeants Ford, Parmenter, 
 Nichol and M. L. Roberts — the last mortally. Private S. 
 J. Parker had his head blown completely off by a shell. 
 
 Disregarding former services, his conduct in this engagement 
 alone should have made Colonel Shaw a brigadier-general ; but 
 he was disgusted with the weakness of certain general officers, 
 and the exhibitions of his manly wrath procured his dismissal 
 from the service. He was dismissed for publishing a letter 
 
278 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 in the Dubuque "Times," from wliich the following is an 
 extract : 
 
 " I reported to General Emery at about ten o'clock in the 
 morninj,^: he then appeared to be both drunk and a coward. I 
 relieved General McMillan, who was drunk. I did not see 
 General Emery again till after dark, and the fighting had 
 ceased. He was then beastly drunk. I saw General Stone, 
 General Banks' Chief of Staff, thirty minutes before the main 
 attack was made, and pointed out to him my position, which 
 he approved and said it must be held at all hazards." 
 
 I am informed by officers, who were with Colonel Shaw at 
 the battle of Pleasant Hill that he stated in his letter nothing 
 but the truth ; but, though that b(^ so, the publication of the 
 letter was an ill-judged act, and in violation of wise and 
 imperative rules. The colonel received his dismissal in the 
 fall of 1864, and while he was with his command in Missouri, 
 aiding to drive Price from that State. He returned at once to 
 his home in Anamosa. 
 
 The last three months' service of the 14th Iowa was per- 
 formed in Missouri. After the death of Colonel Newbold, the 
 regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel W. C. Jones, 
 the original and celebrated " Paul Bentley," who, in the winter 
 of 18G2-3, entrapped Mrs. Jeff Thompson and Rosa at St. Louis. 
 The history of this affair need not be repeated. I will only add 
 the compliment the colonel received from General Curtis. 
 "You have," he said, "done me more service than all my 
 troops stationed at St. Louis." 
 
 The 14th Iowa, with its division, took part, during the 
 month of October and a portion of September, in driving Gen- 
 eral Price from Missouri. Leaving Memphis on the steamer 
 JBostona, the 5th of September, it arrived by way of Cairo at 
 Jefferson Barracks, and, after a stay of a few days, left for Pilot 
 Knob. It left at mid-night of the 24th of September. Part of 
 the regiment was distributed along the Iron Mountain Railroad 
 
WILLIAM T. SHAW. 279 
 
 for purposes of defense, while the balance went forward with 
 General Ewing to Pilot Knob. 
 
 Having been re-called to Jefferson Barracks, or that portion 
 of it stationed along the railroad, it left with its division for 
 Jefferson City, and marched thence to Tii)ton. From the last 
 named point, it returned to St. Louis without meeting the 
 enemy, and, on the Gth of November, reached Camp Kinsman, 
 Davenport. Here the non-veterans were mustered out, and 
 the others — two companies, as I have before stated — were 
 organized into the Residuary Battalion. This battalion, which 
 has since served at Camp Butler, Illinois, was officered as fol- 
 lows :— Company A: Hugo Hoffbauer, captain; Joseph D. 
 McClure, 1st lieutenant; Addison Davis, 2d lieutenant. 
 Company B: Orville Burke, captain ; Thomas B. Beach, 1st 
 lieutenant ; Perry L. Smith, 2d lieutenant. 
 
 Colonel Shaw is of only medium size, being five feet and ten 
 inches in hight, and sparely built ; though there is something 
 about him which makes him appear larger. He is rough and 
 abrupt in his manners, is careless in dress, and by no means 
 comely in person. His eyes are gray and deep-set, and his 
 cheek-bones prominent. His mouth is large, and has about it 
 an expression of stubbornness, which, I believe, is his most 
 prominent trait of character. 
 
 Colonel Shaw is a man of great experience, and large and 
 varied acquirements. Indeed, there seems to be no profession 
 or science, with which he is not, in a good degree, familiar. 
 He can talk law, divinity or physic; and, by his blunt shrewd- 
 ness, surprises even those who, by these callings, obtain a 
 livelihood. In nearly all questions, he is noted for assuming 
 the negative; and, when once interested, he will talk and 
 argue from morning till night. Many days of his prison-life 
 were passed in this way. In prison. Major, now Governor 
 Stone, was his chief opponent. 
 
280 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 It is a mystery to some why Colonel Shaw was never made 
 a brigadier-general. He was brave and efficient in the field, 
 and never met the enemy without distinguishing himself; 
 and many, destitute of these qualifications, have been made 
 general officers. He doubtless would have been promoted, 
 had he been more reticent on the conduct and merits of his 
 superiors. It was against his nature to let a blunder pass 
 unnoticed ; and he would quarrel with a superior, sooner than 
 with a subordinate. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL HUGH T. REID. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, FIFTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Hugh Thompson Reid was born in Union county, Indiana, 
 the 8th day of October, 1811. His father, who was a native of 
 South Carolina, had left that State only a year before his son 
 Hugh's birth. General Reid worked on his father's farm, in 
 Indiana, till the year 1830, when he entered the Miami Uni- 
 versity, then under the tutorship of Professor Bishop. He 
 graduated at the Indiana College, in 1837. Choosing the law 
 for a profession, he studied for two years in the office of Judge 
 Perry of Liberty, Indiana, and was then admitted to the bar. 
 He came to Keokuk, Iowa, in 1843, and began the practice of 
 his profession. Keokuk has since remained his home. 
 
 General Reid first became widely known in Southern Iowa, 
 from his connection with the Keokuk and Des Moines River 
 Railroad: indeed, to his energy and perseverance, more than 
 to the efibrts of any other man, this road is indebted for its 
 existence. At one time its abandonment was talked of; but he 
 would not consent, and the work was pushed forward. Its 
 present flourishing condition evidences the soundness of his 
 judgment. 
 
 Late in the summer of 1861, General Reid began recruiting a 
 regiment for the service. Then, recruiting dragged heavily. 
 On every hand he met with discouragements; but he finally 
 succeeded, for he never turned his back on an enterprise once 
 undertaken. The loth Iowa Infantry was mustered into the 
 United States service on the 22d day of February, 1862. 
 
 The 15th Iowa left its rendezvous in Keokuk on the 17th of 
 
 March, 1862, and, after a stay of only ten days in St. Louis, 
 
 281 
 
282 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 proceeded to the front. At St. Louis the regiment received its 
 arms and camp equipage. It arrived at Pittsburg Landing at 
 six o'cloclc on Sunday morning, the first day of the battle. Its 
 opening chapter was an eventful one. It fired its first gun at 
 Shiloh. 
 
 General Grant's head-quarters were then at Savannah, 
 eight miles below, on the river; and at that point Colonel Reid 
 had, the night before, been assigned to the division of General 
 Prentiss. On arriving at the Landing, on the morning of the 
 sixth, his first business was to report to that general, and, 
 mounting his horse, he rode out toward the front for that pur- 
 pose; but for some reason, he did not reach the front till the 
 battle had opened with great fierceness, and he was unable to 
 effect his olyect. He therefore returned to the river, and, dis- 
 embarking his regiment, drew it up in line on the high bluffs, 
 and waited for orders. It was now hardly nine o'clock, and 
 yet the frightful stamj)ede had already begun. Long lines of 
 fugitives, many of them hatless and coatless, and all of them 
 frightened to desperation, came streaming to the river-bank, 
 and nothing could stop them. 
 
 Colonel Reid first received orders to arrest these fugitives, 
 and effect their re-organization ; but it was utterly impossible, 
 and he was therefore, after considerable delay, ordered to pro- 
 ceed hastily to the front. 
 
 I have already stated that the 15th Iowa received their arms 
 at St. Louis, just before embarking for the front : it is therefore 
 unnecessary to add that the regiment had never been instructed 
 in the manual of arms. In the process of loading and firing, 
 they were all novices; but it was fortunate that they were 
 nearly all of them accustomed to a gun, and could handle it 
 with efficiency. 
 
 Under the guidance of a staff officer of General McClernand, 
 and followed by the 16th Iowa, Colonel Chambers, Colonel 
 
HUGH T. EEID. 283 
 
 Reid started with his regiment for the front ; and, after a long, 
 circuitous march occasioned by the ignorance or confusion of 
 the guide,— first to the right, in almost the opposite direction 
 from where the firing was the heaviest, and then to the left in 
 a south-westerly direction — finally entered a large, open field, 
 the west side of which was bordered by timber and held by 
 the enemy. On his right, too, the field was bordered with 
 timber and held by the enemy; and here they had artillery 
 in position, with which, as soon as he came into view, they 
 opened on him with great vigor. They used shell, grape and 
 canister, and fired with precision ; but Colonel Reid, heedless 
 of danger, advanced to engage the enemy in his front. He 
 was so confident, or so forgetful, that he did not even take the 
 precaution to deploy his regiment in line of battle; but 
 marched it by the right flank, into the very face of the 
 enemy. Some of his regiment said after the engagement that, 
 if the enemy had opened their lines, he would have marched 
 straight through and been captured ; but it is needless to say 
 that these were the colonel's enemies. 
 
 When he had reached a point where he was met both in front 
 and on the right by a most galling fire, he drew his regiment 
 (mt into line of battle ; and the manner in which he did it, 
 showed his great courage. He first filed it to the left, in a line 
 parallel to that of the enemy, and then counter-marched it 
 into a position to return the enemy's fire. All this time he 
 was suffering loss. Such coolness must have been a strange 
 spectacle to the enemy; and such troops they must have 
 encountered with hesitancy. 
 
 As soon as the regiment was brought to a front, it engaged 
 the enemy, first by a rapid fire, and then with the bayonet ; 
 and thus the struggle continued for nearly two hours, when, 
 flanked on both the right and left, the order to fall back was 
 given. The regiment fell back, as did nearly all the troops on 
 
284 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 that field, in confusion. But that is not strange: what is 
 strange, is how, undisciplined as -it was, the regiment main- 
 tained itself so long, and with such courage. 
 
 About this time, Colonel Reid was severely wounded. A 
 shot struck him in the neck, and paralyzed him. Seeing him 
 fall from his horse, Major Belknap ran to hiiii, and raised him 
 up, when he said: "Tell my wife that I died gloriously, fight- 
 ing for my country." Brave man! He tliought he was hit 
 mortally— c?wfc(3 pro patria mori; but it fortunately proved 
 otherwise. He revived in a half-hour, and resumed command 
 of his shattered regiment. 
 
 There are various accounts of the i)articular part taken by 
 the loth Iowa at Shiloh : indeed, hardly two men of the regi- 
 ment saw the thing alike. One says the regiment did not file 
 left in coming into line, but that it formed "forward on first 
 company." Another gays that, a portion of the regiment filed 
 left, and the other right, and thus got separated, (which is 
 true) ; and still another that, it engaged the enemy across a 
 large ravine, to the right and front, while standing by the 
 right flank and before it was formed in line of battle. To 
 show how great was the confusion, I may further add that, one 
 of the regiment's field officers, the day after the battle had 
 closed, was not able to find the field in which the fighting was 
 done. 
 
 The following is Colonel Beid's statement of casualties, and 
 his roll of honor : 
 
 " Fifteen of the thirty-two commissioned officers, who went 
 on the field, had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoners: 
 twenty-two officers and men had been killed, and one hundred 
 and fifty-six wounded. 
 
 "Adjutant Pomutz distinguished himself during the action, 
 for his coolness and courage. He, too, was wounded. Cap- 
 tains Kittle, of Company A ; Smith, of Company B ; Seevers, 
 of Company C ; Madison, of Company D ; Hutchcraft, of Com- 
 pany E ; Cunningham, of Company G ; Day, of Company I ; 
 
HUGH T. REID. 285 
 
 and Hedrick, of Company K, who was captured in a charge 
 upon the enemy, all distinguished themselves for their gal- 
 lantry and courage, in leading forward and encouraging 
 their men. Captain Blackmar, of Company F, was wounded 
 in the action, and disabled; 1st Lieutenant Goode of the same 
 company was also wounded. Captain Clark, of Company H, 
 was not in the engagement, having been left sick in the hos- 
 pital at St. Louis. Captains Hutchcraft and Day were both 
 severely wounded. Second Lieutenant Penniman of Company 
 A, and Hamilton of Company I, were killed whilst bravely 
 performing their duty. Plrst Lieutenant King, and 2d Lieu- 
 tenant Danielson of Company H, were both severely wounded, 
 while acting well their part, thus leaving the company without 
 a commissioned otiicer. First Lieutenants Studer, of Company 
 B ; Porter, of Company D ; Craig, of Company E ; Hanks, of 
 Company G ; J. Monroe Beid, of Company I, who, though 
 wounded himself, continued in command of the company after 
 the captain was disabled and the 2d Lieutenant killed; and 
 Eldridge, of Company K ; all deserve special praise for the 
 manner in which they conducted themselves on the field. 
 Second Lieutenants Lanstrum, of Company B; Brown, of 
 Company E; Herbert, of Company C; and Sergeant-Major 
 Brown, who was severely wounded, conducted themselves 
 well on the field. The non-commissioned officers generally, 
 were at their posts, and performed their duty. The color-Ser- 
 geant, Newton J. Rogers, who fought in the 1st Iowa at 
 Springfield, gallantly bore our standard forward, and planted 
 it among the enemy, where it was bravely maintained and 
 defended by portions of Companies C, E, I, and K. * * The 
 Reverend W. W. Eastbrook, too, for a time laid aside his 
 sacred office, and resumed the use of the surgeon's scalpel with 
 great success." 
 
 In no respect is Colonel Reid too lavish of his praise. The 
 \Uh Iowa did nobly. During the war, no cruder troops have 
 met the enemy; and but few have borne themselves with 
 greater credit. 
 
 In the retreat from the front to the Landing, Captain Kittle, 
 of the loth Iowa, a handsome and brave young officer, was 
 reported the hero of an incident which I would like to tell, 
 
286 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 but it is not well vouched for. The following is true. Soon 
 after arriving at the Landing, a lieutenant-colonel — a staff 
 officer — rode up to the frightened crowd on the river bank, 
 and shouted: "Is there no officer here ?" Captain Kittle step- 
 ping forward said: "Yes, Sir, I am an infantry officer: what 
 shall I do?" "For God's sake, organize these men, and bring 
 them out to the new line." Going at the work, he gathered in 
 line, by threats and entreaties, a respectable battalion, and 
 started with them to the front ; but the greater part of them 
 were so filled with terror, that they soon broke and fled back 
 to the Landing. With the balance, he went on and took part 
 in repelling the last assaults of the enemy, that were made 
 that afternoon. There were many other instances of special 
 gallantry among the line officers of the 15th Iowa; and the 
 names of Captains Iledrick, Madison and Blackmar ; and 
 Lieutenant J. S. Porter, may be mentioned specially, for their 
 conduct was admirable. 
 
 Colonel Reid continued with his regiment till the 23d of 
 April, 1SG:3, when he received his commission as brigadier- 
 general. A portion of this time he had been in command of a 
 brigade. Subsequently to the battle of Shilon, and up to the 
 time he received his promotion, the history of his regiment is 
 the same as that of the other regiments of the Iowa Brig- 
 ade. General Reid was promoted to the rank of brigadier on 
 the special recommendation of General Grant ; and the general 
 may well be proud of this compliment; for General Grant, 
 knowingly, never compliments the undeserving. 
 
 During the spring of 18G3, and till the Gth of the following 
 August, General Reid commanded the District of Lake Provi- 
 dence, with the following named troops comprising his com- 
 mand: the 16th Wisconsin, the 122d Illinois, portions of the 
 17th and 95th Illinois, and the 1st Kansas Mounted Infantry. 
 At the last named date, orders were given for the evacuation 
 
HUGH T. REID. ' 287 
 
 of the place. They were issued on account of the sickliness of 
 the locality. After visiting his family on leave of absence, the 
 general was placed in command at Cairo, Illinois. He was 
 holding this command at the time of tendering his resignation, 
 which was in the spring of 1864. 
 
 Colonel Reid does not look like the man he is. From what 
 he has accomplished, I judge him to be a man of more than 
 ordinary ability. He is tall, and slightly stooping in person, 
 has coarse features, and a large, sandy, bushy head. He has 
 large perceptive organs, and small, gray eyes, sunk deeply in 
 his head. He is perhaps a little more comely than Colonel 
 Shaw of the 14th, but not much. 
 
 In character, he is brave and determined. A neighbor of 
 his, of long acquaintance, speaks thus of him: 
 
 "In the early history of the Half-Breed Tract in Lee county, 
 which included the city of Keokuk, there was much trouble 
 al)out titles to real estate, and at times, a state of things border- 
 ing upon civil war. In these contests. General Reid was 
 conspicuous, and had to undergo many dangers. On several 
 occasions, his life was threatened by an infuriated mob ; but 
 he maintained his rights with so much courage, as to secure a 
 local fame for prowess, which, more recently, has become 
 national, by his military achievements." 
 
 In the essentials, General Reid was a fine soldier. He was 
 brave, and had good judgment; but he could never master 
 tactics. "He could not," say many of his regiment, "drill a 
 company, to say nothing about a regiment;" and many 
 instances are given, showing how he used to handle his regi- 
 ment. In passing an obstacle, he once gave the following 
 command: "File left, boys; and follow my horse round this 
 stump!" But his regiment noticed this deficiency more, on 
 account of the great contrast, in this respect, between himself 
 and his successors. Generals Belknap and Hedrick. Both those 
 officers are fine tacticians. 
 
288 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 The following incident occurred while General Reid was 
 colonel of the 15th Iowa: He was stationed with his regiment 
 at Lake Providence, Louisiana, in February, 1863, when Adju- 
 tant-General Thomas visited Grant's army, to institute negro 
 recruiting; for the Government had at last come to the 
 conclusion that, for a black man to shoot a rebel, was no mur- 
 der. McArthur's Division, of McPherson's Corps, was drawn 
 up in hollow square, and addressed by Generals Thomas, 
 McPherson and McArthur. Finally, Colonel Reid was called 
 to the stand. Some oflScers of his regiment felt anxious for 
 him ; but he soon relieved their minds, for he made the best 
 speech of them all. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL W. W. BELKNAP. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, FIFTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 William Worth Belknap, the successor of Colonel Beid 
 to the colonelcy of the loth Iowa Infantry, is a son of the late 
 General Belknap, who, as a colonel, distinguished himself in 
 the Mexican War. Entering the United States Army in 
 1812, the late General Belknap continued in the service till the 
 day 'of his death. For his efhcicnt services in the Mexican 
 War, he was made a brevet brigadier-general. He died in 
 Texas soon after the publication of peace, and near the fort 
 bearing his own name. He was, at the time of his death, 
 traveling in an ambulance from one portion to another of his 
 
 command. 
 
 William, the subject of this sketch, was born in the year 
 1880, at Newburg, New York. He was named after General 
 William J. Worth, a warm friend of his father's family. In 
 I about the year 1856, he came to Iowa, and located in the city 
 j of Keokuk. Prior to coming to Iowa, General Belknap had 
 I studied the law, and, soon after settling in Keokuk, he entered 
 I upon its practice. As a lawyer, he was quite successful. He is 
 one of the few young attorneys, who, settling at that day in 
 the city of Fast Living and High Prices, was able to secure a 
 paying practice, and establish himself as a permanent resident. 
 He was engaged in the practice of his profession at the out- 
 break of the war, and till as late as the fall of 1861, when he 
 abandoned it to enter the service. 
 j In compliment for his successful efforts in assisting to recruit 
 
 ' the 15th Iowa Infantry, he was commissioned major of the 
 reo-iment. With this rank he accompanied it to the field. On 
 
 19 289 
 
290 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 the promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel Dewey to the colonelcy 
 of the 23cl Iowa Infantry, he was made lieutenant-colonel, and 
 still later — the 22d of April, 18G3 — was commissioned colonel, 
 vice Colonel Reid, promoted to a general officer. 
 
 If we except General Belknap's services at the battle of 
 Corinth, where he distinguished himself, his military record, 
 that has made his name familiar in Iowa, and secured his 
 appointment as brigadier-general, was almost wholly made 
 in General Sherman's campaign against Atlanta. The same is 
 true of his old regiment. Brigaded with the 11th Iowa, the 
 13th and 16th ever since the spring of 18G2, the history of 
 the loth Iowa is almost identical with that of these regiments. 
 It took part in the battle of Corinth, October 3d and 4th, 
 1862; but, with this exception, the 15th, with the balance of 
 the Iowa Brigade, escaped every hard-fought battle until the 
 spring of 1864 ; and this, too, notwithstanding it was always in 
 the front, and present in the Department that, of all others, 
 was characterized by its bloody battle-fields and vigorous cam- 
 paigns. 
 
 Of the different regiments of the Iowa Brigade, the 15th most 
 distinguished itself at the battle of Corinth. The following is 
 from Colonel Crocker's report, the brigade commander: 
 
 *'The execution of the order to move back had just com- 
 menced, when the enemy, in greatly-superior force, attacked 
 the front of the line (the 15th and 16th Iowa). The officers and 
 men of these regiments, acting with signal determination and 
 bravery, not only held the enemy in check, but drove him 
 back, and held their position, until notice was received that 
 the artillery had passed safely to the rear, when they were 
 ordered to fall back and form in line of battle on the right of 
 the second line, which they did in good order, the enemy 
 declining to follow. This engagement lasted three-quarters of 
 an hour. The firing was incessant, and the regiments, especi- 
 ally the loth, suffered severely. I deem it my especial duty to 
 particularly mention Lieutenant-Colonel Belknap, who com- 
 
WILLIAM W. BELKNAP. 291 
 
 manded the 15th regiment. This regiment was under the 
 hottest fire, and Colonel Belknap was everywhere along the 
 line, mounted, and with sword in hand encouraging, by voice 
 and gesture, his men to stand their ground." * * * 
 
 The opening of General Sherman's campaign in the spring 
 of 1864, forms a new and sanguinary chapter in the history of 
 the Iowa Brigade. Keturning from veteran furlough, the 
 brigade proceeded to the front at Kenesaw Mountain, after 
 which, for nearly sixty days, it was almost constantly under 
 fire; and its scores of killed and wounded, during this period, 
 are witnesses of its conspicuous gallantry. From the time the 
 enemy was flanked at Kenesaw Mouni;ain, till he was forced 
 back to and into his entrenchments at Atlanta, there were few 
 engagements in which this brigade did not take part. But the 
 greatest battle of the campaign was precipitated, just at the 
 time it was supposed the contest for the Gate City had closed. 
 During the greater part of the night of the 21st of July, 
 1864, the rumbling of artillery, and the confusion so common 
 in the movements of large bodies of men, were distinctly heard 
 by our troops, in the direction of the enemy; and it was sup- 
 posed by many that, General Hood was evacuating Atlanta; 
 McPherson thought otherwise, and was anxious and watchful. 
 In the disposition of our forces in this engagement, the 17th 
 Army Corps held the left, and on the extreme left of this corps, 
 was the Iowa Brigade. The position held by this brigade, was 
 a commanding ridge on the east side of the McDonough road, 
 and almost at right angles with the main line of battle, which 
 was west of, and nearly parallel with, the above named road. 
 The head-quarters of the 15th Iowa were not more than two 
 and a half miles north of the Atlanta and Macon Railroad, and 
 about three miles south-east of the city of Atlanta. The coun- 
 try on every side was broken, and for the most part, heavily 
 wooded; but that portion lying in the direction of the Macon 
 
292 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 road, was more especially so. In this dense timber, General 
 Hood had massed his forces on the evening of the 21st instant. 
 At a little after twelve o'clock on the afternoon of the 22d, 
 Colonel Belknap and Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick had just 
 seated themselves for dinner, when the first gun of the senti- 
 nels was fired. The suddenness of the enemy's attack was 
 unprecedented. Colonel Belknap had barely time to buckle 
 on his sword, and hurry from his head-quarters to the front of 
 his regiment, when the line of skirmishers was driven in. 
 Almost at the same instant, the enemy was seeTi coming at 
 double-quick, and in a line of battle, nearly at right angles 
 Avith that of General Blair's along the McDonough road. In 
 the suddenness of his attack, the rebel general was aping 
 Napoleon. He doubtless expected to force in our line, as one 
 would slide in the sections of a telescope, thus crowding the 
 Army of the Tennessee together in hopeless confusion ; but he 
 had reckoned without his host. The Iowa Brigade, having 
 hastily formed, met and repulsed the assaults of the enemy in 
 their front; when, his centre being repulsed, his left and right 
 wing swung round to the Federal front and rear. And in this 
 way, is accounted for the almost incredible story of our troops 
 fighting, first on the one, and then on the other side of their 
 intrenchments. Subjected to a galling artillery-fire, and now 
 well-nigh surrounded,<'olonel Belknap had no other alterna- 
 tive than to retire, which he did, in a north-westerly direction,- 
 and across the McDonough road. During that afternoon, the 
 15th Iowa fought in seven distinct positions ; and its losses are 
 proof of the stubbornness with which each was contested. The 
 following were among the gallant dead: Lieutenants Logan 
 W. Crawford and E. M. Gephart. The latter was killed in 
 the regiment's fourth position. Seeing, as he thought, a small 
 detachment of the enemy in cover not far distant, he rallied a 
 few volunteers, and rushed out to capture them; but they 
 
WILLIAM W. BELKNAP. 293 
 
 proved to be quite a large force. He turned to retreat to his 
 regiment, but was shot before he reached it. He was a young 
 man of much promise. 
 
 The loss of the 15th Iowa in killed, wounded and missing, 
 was one hundred and fifty-three. Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick 
 was severely wounded, as was also his brother, Captain Hed- 
 rick. Lieutenant W. P. L. Muir was wounded for the fourth 
 time in the head, and was captured. Lieutenants Evans and 
 Scheevers were also severely wounded. 
 
 At one time during the engagement, the loth Iowa was 
 assaulted by the 45th Alabama Infantry, Colonel Lampley. 
 The 15th in this instance was protected by earth-works, and 
 literally slaughtered its assailants, wdiile they were rushing to 
 the onset with the most determined bravery. Only a few of 
 the entire rebel regiment reached the foot of the works, and of 
 these, one was killed, and the others either wounded or cap- 
 tured. Colonel Lampley was captured by Colonel Belknaj^ in 
 person. Connected with this charge of the 45tli Alabama, was 
 an amusing incident. A young boy, of the genuine chivalry, 
 was among the party that reached the foot of the works. After 
 the assault had been repelled, and the firing had slackened. 
 Colonel Belknap stepped up on the works to secure his pris- 
 oners ; but he had no sooner exposed his person than the young 
 boy fired on him. The ball passed under his chin and cut 
 through his whiskers. He was enraged and, seizing the boy 
 by the hair of the head, dragged him over the works ; but, in 
 spite of himself he could not help admiring the pluck of the 
 young rascal. 
 
 For his gallantry in this and in other battles of the cam- 
 paign, Colonel Belknap, on the recommendation of General 
 Sherman, was appointed a brigadier-general. After receiving 
 his commission, he succeeded Colonel Hall of the 11th Iowa, in 
 
294 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 the command of the Iowa Brigade, which he has held ever 
 since. 
 
 General Belknap is about five feet, eleven inches in hight, 
 and rather portly. His eyes, which are dark-blue and very 
 expressive, are his handsomest feature. In his manners he is 
 rather dignified ; but he is educated and refined, and a favorite 
 in the social circle. 
 
 In the legal practice, he did not excel as an advocate. He 
 made no pretensions to oratory; but, in preparing a case for 
 trial, he had few equals. It was a rare thing for a demurrer to 
 be sustained to one of his pleadings. 
 
 At the time of entering the army, he was reputed an able 
 and honorable business-man. In the army he has been known 
 as a good disciplinarian, a brave ofiicer, and a warm friend to 
 the soldier. His neighbors in Keokuk look upon his brilliant 
 military career with much pride. 
 
BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL J. M. HEDRICK. 
 
 THIRD COLONEL, FIFTEEXTH INFANTRY. 
 
 John Morrow Hedrick is a native of Indiana, the State 
 which stands third, in the number of her sons, who, in Iowa, 
 have been honored with colonel's commissions. He is a son of 
 J. W. Hedrick, Esq., a resident of AVapello countj-, and an 
 intelligent and influential farmer. 
 
 General Hedrick was born in Rush county, Indiana, the 
 16th day of December, 1832. In the year 1846 he accompanied 
 his father's family to Iowa, where he has since resided. His 
 means of education were limited. He never entered the halls 
 of an academy or a college as a student. He acquired his edu- 
 cation at the Common Schools, and at his father's fireside ; but, 
 notwithstanding his limited advantages, he had, at the age of 
 seventeen, qualified himself for a teacher. From the age of 
 seventeen to that of twenty, he passed his Winters in teaching, 
 and his Summers on his father's farm. In 1852, he entered a 
 mercantile house as clerk. Soon he became a partner in the 
 business, and, ere long, proprietor of the house. With the 
 exception of two years, when he was engaged in the real-estate 
 business, his entire attention, from 1852 till the beginning of 
 the war, was turned to mercantile pursuits. But he was unfor- 
 tunate in some investments. In 1857-8, he had risked much in 
 land speculations; and, like the great majority of those who at 
 that time dealt in wild lands, suffered pecuniary losses. 
 
 In August, 1861, General Hedrick closed out his business in 
 
 Ottumwa, for the express purpose of entering the service, and, 
 
 before the close of that month, had enlisted a sufiicient number 
 
 of men to entitle him to a first lieutenant's commission. Before 
 
 295 
 
29G IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 entering the service, lie hud held commissions as second lieu- 
 tenant and captain in an independent military company of the 
 city of Ottumwa; but this company existed only in name, and 
 the knowledge of military matters, which he derived from his 
 connection with it, was of no importance: indeed, in this 
 respect, he was as purely a civilian as any officer that has gone 
 out from the State. 
 
 General Hedrick was commissioned 1st Lieutenant of Com- 
 pany D, 15th Iowa Infantry, the 20th day of September, 1861, 
 and on the 23d of the following December was made quarter- 
 master of that regiment. While the regiment was at its 
 rendezvous in Keokuk, he was promoted to the captaincy of 
 Company K, and with this rank he entered the field. 
 
 Shiloh, as has already been stated, was the loth Iowa's first 
 battle ; and the part taken by the regiment in this engagement 
 has been already given. Captain Hedrick here distinguished 
 himself, and was wounded and taken prisoner. At the time 
 the regiment made its partially successful assault against the 
 enemy, and just when the left wing was overpowered and 
 forced back by overwhelming numbers, he was wounded, and 
 instantly surrounded and captured. Being taken to the rear 
 he, with about two hundred and fifty other officers, was for- 
 warded to Corinth, and thence by rail to Memphis; where he 
 arrived on the night of the 8th, near mid-night. Hustling 
 the prisoners rudely from the cars, the Confederates huddled 
 them, both officers and men, into a large store-room, where 
 they guarded them that night, and where, for the first time 
 since their capture, they issued them rations. It had been 
 more than fifty hours since they had tasted food, and now they 
 received only raw bacon and rotten bread. 
 
 But in the meantime the issue of the battle having been 
 decided, the enemy became apprehensive, not only of the 
 
JOHN M. HEDRICK. 297 
 
 capture of Corinth, but of Memphis; for a fleet of Union gun- 
 boats was, at that very time, lying only a few miles above the 
 city. The Union prisoners were therefore, on the morning of 
 the 9th, hurried on board the cars, in crder to be sent South; 
 but for some reason the train did not leave till evening. 
 
 At that time, the fiendish cruelties practiced by the Confed- 
 erates upon all Union people within their lines, had not 
 purged the city of Memphis of all Union sentiment; for, 
 during the entire day of the 9th, hundreds of her citizens 
 crowded closely around the carefully-guarded train, which con- 
 tained the prisoners, speaking kind words and, whenever 
 occasion offered, tendering more substantial testimonials of 
 their sympathy. But the story of the sufferings of Union 
 prisoners of war has been often told, and need not be here 
 repeated. 
 
 The sojournings of Captain Hedrick in the South, and the 
 route he traveled with his brother officers, may be given with 
 interest. Leaving Memphis on the evening of the 9th of April, 
 he was taken, first to Jackson, Mississippi; from Jackson to 
 Meridian; from Meridian to Mobile; from Mobile up the Ala- 
 bama River to Selma ; and from Selma to Talladega, where for 
 two weeks he ^^■as quartered with his brother officers in a 
 vacant Baptist College. From Talladega he was taken back 
 to Selma, where he remained two months; from Selma to 
 Montgomery; from Montgomery to Atlanta; from Atlanta 
 to Madison; and from Madison to Richmond, via Augusta, 
 Columbia, Raleigh and Weldon. At Richmond Cai^tain Hed- 
 rick was paroled, after a prison-life of six months and seven 
 days, and entered our lines on the 18th day of October, 1862, 
 
 After remaining several weeks with his family at Ottumwa, 
 he learned that he was exchanged, and at once returned to his 
 regiment. He re-joined it on the 9th of February, 1863, at La 
 Fayette, Tennessee, and was immediately promoted to the 
 
298 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 majority, his commission dating the 17th of January, 18G3. 
 On the 22d of the following April he was made lieutenant- 
 colonel ; and with this rank he won his chief laurels. When, 
 after the fall of Atlanta, Colonel Belknap was made a briga- 
 dier-general, Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick was promoted to the 
 full colonelcy of the loth Iowa Infantry, his commission dating 
 the 20th of August, 1864. He was breveted brigadier-general 
 in the spring of 1865, for gallant services in the Atlanta Cam- 
 paign. 
 
 As has already been stated, the 15th Iowa saw its hardest 
 service in General Sherman's campaign against Atlanta. Just 
 before returning home on veteran furlough, the regiment had 
 accompanied General Sherman on the Meridian march, which, 
 however, is celebrated only for the rapidity of the movement, 
 and the large amount of rebel property destroyed ; and still 
 earlier the regiment had joined in the siege of Vicksburg, and 
 in the subsequent march on Jackson ; but in none of these 
 movements was it in any general engagement. It did not 
 accompany its corj^s on the march through Bruinsburg, Port 
 Gibson, Baymond and Jackson, to the rear of Vicksburg; but 
 with its brigade was stationed at Grand Gulf. 
 
 In the march to Monroe, Louisiana, which, considering its 
 length, is the hardest with one exception that was ever made 
 by the Iowa Brigade, the 15th Iowa was commanded by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick. The expedition was commanded 
 by Brigadier-General Stevenson, and left Goodrich's Landing 
 above Vicksburg, about the middle of August, 1863. The line 
 of march, which was almost due west, lay across the broad 
 bottom-lands that, for nearly fifty miles, stretch westward from 
 the Mississippi. These bottom-lands, lying as they do below 
 Lake Providence, had in the previous Spring received rich 
 deposits from the Lake Providence Canal ; and the road, which 
 was narrow and straight, was bordered with the most luxuri- 
 
JOHN M. HEDRICK. 299 
 
 ant vegetation, in many places the weeds being twelve feet 
 high. There was hardly a breath of air stirring, and, from 
 morning till night the troops for the most of the way had no 
 protection from the burning rays of the sun. The weather too 
 was dry, and the dust almost suffocating. In addition to all 
 this, the timber and the rank and dense vegetation was thickly 
 inhabited by snakes of all kinds, and of the most fabulous size 
 — enemies which the troops held in much greater terror than 
 the few hostile rebels who hovered in their front. The only 
 alleviating circumstance in this expedition seemed to be that 
 the country had never been ravaged by our army, and supplies 
 were abundant. Of the two hundred and eighty-one men of 
 the loth who started on this march, sixty had to be brought 
 back to the river in wagons and ambulances. Several too, who 
 were unable to bear the fatigue, were left within the lines of 
 the enemy, in ciire of Surgeon Gibbon. 
 
 The fruits of the expedition, which was some twenty days 
 out from Vicksburg, were small. Monroe, the terminus of 
 the Vicksburg and Monroe Railroad, was entered without 
 opposition, the enemy abandoning the place, crossing the 
 Washita, and destroying their iDontoons. A few prisoners 
 were captured, and a small quantity of Confederate stores 
 destroyed. 
 
 The march of the Iowa Brigade with the greater portion of 
 its army corps from Clifton, Tennessee, to the front at Kene- 
 saw Mountain, has already been given. On the morning of 
 the 2d of July, 1864, the 17th Army Corps formed the left of 
 Sherman's army before Kenesaw. The Iowa Brigade held 
 the right of its corps. Already, Sherman had despaired of 
 dislodging the enemy from their strong-hold in his front, and 
 that night he ordered a flank movement to the right, by way 
 of Nick-a-jack Creek. Just at dusk, the 17th Corps, which was 
 to hold the advance, broke camp, and, with the division of 
 
300 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Giles A. Smith in the lead, took up its line of march down the 
 valley, just in rear of the main line of works in the centre and 
 on the right. The movement was a surprise to the enemy ; 
 and yet, the character of the country to be passe"d, which was 
 broken and heavily timbered, enabled them to make much 
 resistance. Keeping a considerable force of cavalry with 
 light artillery constantly in the front, they would halt at 
 every commanding point along the road, and, with their artil- 
 lery, supported by their cavalry, dismounted, harrass the 
 advance. These positions, in nearly every instance, had to be 
 charged. 
 
 During two days of this march, (the -ith and 5th of July) 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick, with four companies of the 15th 
 Iowa, and four of the 16th, as skirmishers, led the advance. 
 On the second day's march, the following incident occurred : 
 on a heavily-wooded point, the enemy was found in posi- 
 tion, and the reserves brought up and deployed, for a charge. 
 Instantly, as the charge was ordered, the lowans swept reck- 
 lessly down through the ravine, and up the opposite slope to 
 the crest, where the enemy had just shown themselves. They 
 gained the point, and now for the pursuit. With a shout, they 
 started down through the brush, each man striving for the 
 lead, when — bang! bang! bang! went the enemy's artillery 
 from the hill not more than seventy-five yards in advance. A 
 deadly volley of musketry followed, when the boys, returning 
 as quickly as they went, reported to their officers: "Damn 
 'em, they are right up there ! " 
 
 Soon after discovering Sherman's movement to Nick-a-jack 
 Creek, the enemy evacuated Kenesaw and Marietta, and hur- 
 ried to their left, where, on the morning of the 6th, they showed 
 sufficient force to prevent a further advance ; for their position 
 was a strong one on the hills that lay on the east side of Nick- 
 a-jack Creek, and near where that stream forms a junction 
 
JOHN M. HEDRICK. 301 
 
 with the Chattahoochie. From the 6th of July to tlie 10th, the 
 time was passed in skirmishing with tlie enemy ; but, in tlie 
 meantime, General Sherman had entered Marietta, and passed 
 up the Chattahoochie fifteen miles to Iloswell, where he secured 
 a crossing. That stream was now passed, and the capture of 
 Atlanta made certain. This happened on the morning of the 
 10th instant; and in the afternoon and evening of the same 
 day, the enemy abandoned their works on the Xick-a-jack, and 
 crossed the Chattahoochie. A tedious march up the valley 
 past Marietta, and the 17th Corps also crossed the river at Ros- 
 well, and led the advance to Decatur, which was entered with 
 little opposition, on the evening of the 19th instant. [In giv- 
 ing the movements of the 17th Corps, I am also giving the 
 I movements of the 15th Iowa, and of the other regiments of the 
 Iowa Brigade.] 
 
 The advance from Decatur to the south-east side of Atlanta, 
 on the 20th, was fiercely contested; but the enemy, at night^ 
 fall, had been successfully forced back to their defenses around 
 I the doomed city. On the following morning, followed the 
 I fierce assault of the 21st, which was unsuccessful, and in which 
 the 15th Iowa lost some fifty in killed and wounded; but the 
 great battle of the campaign, and the one in which the 15th 
 iloAva sufiered most, and most distinguished itself, was that 
 . fought on the afternoon of the day following, 
 i After the engagement of the 21st, the Iowa Brigade marched 
 to the extreme left of its corps, and took up a position as a sort 
 of picket-reserve; and in this position it was assaulted near 
 the hour of dinner-call, on the following day; but a description 
 of this engagement has been already given. 
 I Colonel Hedrick was wounded in the early part of the 
 jengagement, and just before his regiment was forced back. 
 He was shot with a minnie ball directly over the spine, in the 
 small of the back. The ball, striking and cutting his sword 
 
JOHN M. HEDRTCK. 302 
 
 belt in two, was turned slightly to the left; and, passing down 
 across the ilium, came out near the lower point of the hip. 
 Completely paralyzed by the wound, he was at once placed 
 upon the shoulders of two men to be taken to the rear when he 
 instantly received another shot through the left fore-arm. The 
 first wound was supposed to be mortal ; and, but for his vigor- 
 ous constitution, it must have proven so. For many weeks he 
 was kept upon his back, and even now he can not move about 
 without the aid of crutches. Having partially recovered, he 
 was detailed on a court-martial in the city of Washington, 
 where he is still serving. 
 
 Since the battle of the 22d of July, before Atlanta, the loth 
 Iowa has been commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Pomutz, a 
 Hungarian by birth, and, I am told, a good officer. The 
 services of the regiment, since tlie fall of that place, are com- 
 prised in the march from Atlanta, via Savannah, to Raleigh 
 and Washington. 
 
 Of General Hedrick as a military man, I dare not speak as I 
 otherwise would, were he not my fellow-townsman. All who 
 know his military history concede that he is an officer of great 
 worth. 
 
 In person, he is tall and slender, with spare features, dark- 
 brown hair, and large, dark eyes. He is an energetic and 
 rapid talker, and expresses his opinions with great positive- 
 ness; which he can do with safety, since he has much general 
 information. He has a firm step, and a hearty laugh; is hope- 
 ful, cheerful and self-confident, and endures reverses with great 
 fortitude. He is as much esteemed as a citizen, as he is admired 
 as a soldier. 
 
COLONEL ALEXANDER CHAMBERS. 
 
 SIXTEENTH IXFAXTRY. 
 
 ALEXAXDEii Chambers is thirty-two years of age, and a 
 native of the State of New York. I know little more of his 
 history prior to his entering the volunteer service except that 
 he was a lieutenant of the 18th Regular Infantry, and a resi- 
 dent of Owatonna, Minnesota. After the war broke out, and 
 before he was made colonel, he served as a mustering officer of 
 Iowa troops. He was the United States mustering officer of 
 tlie following Iowa regiments: the 1st, 2d and 4th Cavalry; 
 and tlie 1st, 2d, 3d, 5th, Gth, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th 
 Infantry. Though not an Iowa man, his military services 
 certainly go to the credit of the State. He was commissioned 
 Colonel of the IGth Iowa, in February, 1862, and served with 
 this rank till the winter of 18G3-4, when he left the volunteer 
 service and returned to his former position as captain in the 
 18th Regular Infantry ; for he had been promoted to a cap- 
 taincy, in the summer of 1861. 
 
 Colonel Chambers' first engagement, which was also the first 
 of his regiment, was Shiloh. In that action he was slightly 
 wounded. The position of his regiment in the first day's 
 battle was on the right of the loth Iowa, and the part it sus- 
 tained sufficiently appears in the sketch of General H. T. Reid. 
 In the closing paragraph of an official statement concerning 
 this engagement, Colonel Chambers says : 
 
 "The field officers were particularly cool under a destructive 
 fire, and rendered great assistance. The horses of all the field 
 and staff" officers were killed or wounded, evidently showing 
 an intention on the part of the enemy to pick off the most 
 prominent officers. Captains Ruehl and Zettler, both gallant 
 
 303 
 
304 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 men, were killed or mortally wounded, and 1st Lieutenant 
 Frank N. Doyle, a brave and efficient officer, was also killed. 
 The loss during Sunday's fight was two officers and sixteen 
 non-commissioned officers and privates killed, and nine 
 officers and twenty-four non-commissioned officers and privates 
 wounded, and fifteen non-commissioned officers and privates 
 missing. " 
 
 Among the wounded officers, were Captains A. Palmer, E. 
 S. Fraser, and E. M. Newcorab; and Lieutenants Lewis 
 Bunde, J. II. Lucas, G. PI. Ilolcomb, and Henry Meyer. It 
 was reported that the regiment did not conduct itself with 
 credit, but its losses tell a diflferent story. The conduct of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel A. H. Sanders was especially gallant, as it 
 ever after was, in the face of the enemy. 
 
 It is elsewhere stated that immediately after the battle of 
 Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing, the Iowa Brigade was organized, 
 and that the organization was preserved till the close of Gen- 
 eral Sherman's campaign through the Carolinas, in the spring 
 of 1865. The IGth Iowa was the junior regiment of this brig- 
 ade, and much relating to its history will be found in the 
 sketches of Generals Crocker, Held, Belknap and Iledrick, and 
 Colonels Hall and Shane. But the 16th has a chapter in its 
 history, not to be found in those of the other regiments of its 
 brigade. It fought Price at luka ; was conspicuous upon the 
 field, and suffered terribly in killed and wounded. Next to 
 the Sth Iowa Infimtry, it lost more heavily than any other 
 regiment on that ])loody field. 
 
 " For some ten days or more before the final move of the 
 rebel army under General Price, eastward from the Mobile and 
 Ohio Kail road, it was evident that an attack upon Corinth was 
 contemplated, or some change to be made in the location of 
 that army. This caused great vigilance to be necessary, on the 
 part of our cavalry, especially that to the southern front, under 
 Colonel Mizner. The labor of watching and occasional skir- 
 mishing was most satisfactorily performed, and almost every 
 
ALEXANDER CHAMBERS. 305 
 
 move of the enemy was knowm as soon as commenced. A])out 
 the 11th of September, Price left the railroad — the infontry 
 and artillery probably moving from Baldwin, and the cavalry 
 from the roads north of Baldwin, toward Bay Springs. At 
 the latter j)lace, a halt of a few days seemed to have been 
 made; likely, for the purpose of collecting stores and recon- 
 noitering our eastern flank. On the 13th of September, the 
 enemy's cavalry made their appearance near luka, and were 
 repulsed by the small garrison under Colonel Murphy of the 
 8th Wisconsin Infantry, still left there to cover the removal of 
 stores, not yet brought into Corinth. The enemy appeared 
 again in increased force on the same day, and, having cut 
 the railroad between there and Burnsville, Colonel Murphy 
 thought it i)rudent to retire to save his force." 
 
 How the IGth Iowa became separated from its brigade and 
 fought with Rosecrans at luka happened thus : When Colonel 
 1 Murphy was attacked by the enemy, he sent back for rein- 
 I forcements: Colonel Crocker was directed to send a regiment 
 to his support. The 16th Iowa was ordered forward, and thus 
 formed a junction with General Bosecrans. In speaking of 
 the part the IGth and other regiments of his command bore at 
 luka. General Rosecrans says : 
 
 " The IGth Iowa, amid the roar of battle, the rush of wounded 
 artillery-horses, the charges of a rebel l)rigade, and a storm 
 of grape, canister and musketry, stood like a rock, holding the 
 centre, while the glorious 5th Iowa, under the brave and dis- 
 tinguished INIatthies, sustained by Boomer, with his noble little 
 26th Missouri, bore the thrice-reijeated charges and cross-fires 
 of the rebel left and centre, with a valor and determination, 
 seldom equaled, and never excelled by the most veteran 
 soldiery." 
 
 So far as I can learn, the killed and wounded of the 16th 
 Iowa at luka numbered about sixty-five. Colonel Chambers 
 was wounded and obliged to turn his command over to Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Sanders. Lieutenant and Adjutant George 
 Lawrence, a gallant young officer, was killed. Captain A. 
 Palmer and Lieutenant J. H. Lucas of Company C, were both 
 
306 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 wounded, as they had also been at Shiloh. Lieutenants Alcorn 
 and Williams were also wounded, both severely. luka was 
 the IGth Iowa's second engagement, and their courage and 
 intrepidity, on that field, was a triumphant answer to all 
 insinuations of former ungallant conduct. They were the 
 heroes of their brigade, and when they marched back to 
 re-join it they were looked on with admiration, and received 
 the eager gratulations of their sister regiments. 
 
 Next in the history of the regiment is the battle of Corinth, 
 a full account of which has been given elsewhere. It lost its 
 commanding officer at luka, and suffered the same misfortune 
 at Corinth. Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders was severely wounded 
 in the thigh, in the afternoon of the first day's fight. Of this 
 gallant officer's conduct, Colonel, afterward General Crocker 
 says : 
 
 "Lieutenant-Colonel Add. H. Sanders, who commanded the 
 16th, is entitled to great praise. He rode along the line of his 
 regiment, amid the storm of bullets, encouraging his brave 
 boys, who had so lately suffered at luka, to remember their 
 duty, and, although severely wounded, remained with his regi- 
 ment until it marched off the field." 
 
 Major William Purcell succeeded Colonel Sanders in the com- 
 mand of the regiment. Its loss in the engagement I have been 
 unable to learn, but, next to the loth Iowa, it suffered more 
 severely than any other regiment of its brigade. Major Purcell 
 was slightly wounded, but not so severely as to compel him to 
 leave the field. Captain C. W. Williams was taken prisoner. 
 Color-Sergeant Samuel Duffin, and Color-Corporals McElhaney, 
 Eighmey and Karn are mentioned for their gallant conduct 
 on the field. 
 
 The pursuit of the defeated and dispirited rebel army to the 
 Hatchie, and the return to Corinth ; the march to the Yockona 
 late that same Fall ; the trip down the Mississippi to Young's 
 Point, and the operations around Vicksburg; the march to 
 
ALEXANDER CHAMBERS. 307 
 
 Mechanicsville, up the Yazoo ; the expedition to Jackson, and 
 the escape of Johnson; the raid to Monroe, Louisiana, and, 
 later, that to Meridian, Mississippi; the long and tedious 
 march from Clifton on the Tennessee, to North-western Georgia, 
 in the Spring of 18G4, and the operations of the Iowa Brigade 
 on the memorable Atlanta Campaign, will be found in the 
 sketches of those officers and regiments, whose histories they 
 help to make up. The 16th Iowa Infantry took part in all 
 these operations. 
 
 It has already been stated that Colonel Chambers resigned 
 his commission in the winter of 1863-4. Subsequently to that 
 date, the 16th Iowa has been commanded by that excellent 
 officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders. Indeed, for many months 
 prior to the resignation of the former officer, Colonel Sanders 
 commanded his regiment; for, on the departure of General 
 Crocker to assume command of the Tfli Division, of his corps, 
 Colonel Chambers succeeded him in the command of the Iowa 
 Brigade. 
 
 I pass now to the most interesting and exciting chapter in 
 the history of the 16th Iowa — a chapter which, could I write 
 it as it was made, would equal any passage in war-literature. 
 Certainly no regiment in all Sherman's grand army of " ninety- 
 eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven men" can fur- 
 nish an instance of greater and more distinguishing valor, than 
 that of which I write. 
 
 How Sherman, having crossed the Chattahoochie, threw his 
 army by a grand right-wheel around Atlanta, with the Army 
 of the Tennessee — Blair, Logan and Dodge — on the left, I 
 have written elsewhere. In the sketch of General Belknap, I 
 have also given an account of the enemy's opening attack, 
 which, for suddenness and desperation, would have done credit 
 to the best marshals of France. The 22d of July, and the 
 assault on Sherman's left, are the day and the battle of which 
 
308 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 I speak. Tlie 16th Iowa " was posted upon the left of the 11th 
 Iowa, and in the immediate front of the 13th Iowa, the 15th 
 Iowa being ui)on the left and upon a prolongation of the line 
 of the 13th, the brigade being the left of the 4th Division, 
 which held the left wing of the Army of the Tennessee." The 
 16th Iowa, therefore, held the extreme left and front of Sher- 
 man's victorious legions— a post of honor deserving double 
 honor, on account of its gallant defense. "Companies B and 
 G, under the respective commands of Captain Henry Lefeldt 
 and Lieutenant Timm, were deployed as skirmishers in front, 
 connecting on the right with the skirmishers of the 11th Iowa, 
 and on the left with those of the 15th." This position had 
 been taken up, and these dispositions had been made, (earth- 
 works in front of each regiment having been in the meantime 
 .constructed) on the previous afternoon. And it is proper to 
 state in this connection that the left of the Army of the Ten- 
 ne.ssee had not joined in the general advance made by Sher- 
 man's army on the morning of the 22d. 
 
 As elsewhere stated, the ground occupied by the Iowa 
 Brigade was open, with the exception of being covered with 
 under-brush ; but, immediately after taking up the position, 
 the 11th, 15th, and 16th Iowa had " policed " in their front, 
 from thirty to fifty yards. No enemy could pass that line 
 under cover, and to come within it was almost certain death. 
 The skirmish line was posted in the thicket beyond. 
 
 Just before noon of the day in question, General Giles A. 
 Smith, in person, had directed Colonel Sanders to have his 
 regiment ready to fall in at a minute's notice, adding, "you 
 must hold your works to the last, as the safety of the division 
 may depend on the delay occasioned the enemy at this point." 
 This was the last order received by Colonel Sanders from his 
 superior that day. Already the reign of ominous silence, 
 which commonly precedes great battles, portended the ap- 
 
ALEXANDER CHAMBERS. 309 
 
 preaching conflict, and, hardly had General Smith rode back 
 to his head-quarters, when the roar of musketry along the 
 skirmish line signaled the advance of the enemy. It was 
 sharp and spiteful, and told the brave boys, who sprung for 
 their guns and the trenches, that a desperate struggle was at 
 hand. Instantly the skirmishers, with anxious faces, made 
 their appearance, and came running back to the works. They 
 were sent back by Colonel Sanders, but had scarcely entered 
 the thicket, when they were fired on and again driven back. 
 The enemy were coming in heavy line of battle, and closely on 
 the heels of their own skirmishers, while the 16th Iowa, 
 crouched in their trenches and, with their muskets pointed 
 toward the threatened point, awaited their approach. " When 
 you fire, fire low, but don't fire a gun till you receive my 
 command, no matter how near they come," were the orders of 
 Colonel Sanders, and they were strictly obeyed. Then fol- 
 lowed a moment of anxious, protracted suspense and then 
 the opening battle. 
 
 The enemy advanced their line boldly into the clearing in 
 front of the Sixteenth's works, and, with bayonets fixed and 
 their pieces at a charge, began raising their accustomed shout, 
 when Colonel Sanders gave the order to fire — first to the rear 
 rank, and then to the front. " The response was a terrific and 
 deadly volley from one rank, followed immediately by another, 
 and then a continuous, rapid firing, as fast as eager, experi- 
 enced soldiers could load and discharge their guns. The result 
 of our fire was terrible. The enemy's line seemed to crumble 
 to the earth ; for even those not killed or wounded fell to the 
 ground for protection. Another heavy line of the enemy 
 advanced, and was repulsed in the same terrible manner. 
 Officers and men worked enthusiastically, and guns became so 
 heated that they could not be handled, the powder flashing 
 from them as the cartridges were dropped in. The oflBcers 
 
310 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 prepared the cartridges for the men, and helped them load 
 their guns. More splendid firing, or more effectual in its 
 results, was never before witnessed in the army." I have 
 taken the above from Colonel Sander's report; for, should I 
 make the same statement myself, it would pass for fiction. 
 
 Simultaneously with the attack on the IGth, the 11th and 
 loth Iowa were charged in their works. The left of the 15th 
 had no protection, and, as the enemy came swinging round to 
 its rear, it had no alternative but to draw out of its works and 
 retire. The 11th Iowa was dislodged in like manner. But 
 just before this occurred, the enemy in front of the 16th 
 (the 2d and 8th Arkansas and two companies of Texan 
 troops) i)ut up the white flag and surrendered as prisoners of 
 war. AVhen they arrived in Colonel Sanders' rear, he found 
 that he had two prisoners for every man in his ranks. But 
 there were other prisoners to the left, or men whom Captain 
 Smith claimed as j^risoners, but who refused to throw down 
 their arms. Learning this, Colonel Sanders hurried down to 
 the left, and began disarming them himself, but he had taken 
 the guns of only two, when he was surrounded by a rebel 
 squad, who demanded: "Surrender, Sir, and we won't hurt 
 you." Startled by such a demand, he turned and looked about 
 him. For the first time he now saw that the works of the 
 13th and loth Iowa in his rear were in the possession of the 
 enemy. Believing that he had held his works " to the last," 
 and hoping that he might break away and escape with his 
 regiment to the rear of the lltli Iowa, he sprung away, and, 
 with the exclamation — " I am not talking of surrender now," 
 hurried back to his command. The rebels stared in wonder 
 and none fired at him except a rebel captain, who instantly 
 after was shot dead by Captain Lucas of the 16th Iowa. 
 
 On reaching the right of his regiment, the last hope fled ; 
 for the works of the 11th Iowa were already in possession of 
 
ALEXANDER CHAMBERS. 311 
 
 the enemy. The regiment was thus surrounded, and had no 
 choice but to surrender or be butchered. The 16th Iowa was 
 the sixth Iowa regiment to be captured nearly entire. "The 
 regiment numbered, on the morning of the twenty-second, 
 four hundred and twenty-five effective men: of these, a 
 fatigue detail of three officers and eighty men was made in 
 the morning, most of whom were captured afterward, while 
 fighting in front of field-works near by." 
 
 During the Atlanta Campaign, or rather up to the 23d of 
 July, the 16th Iowa lost in killed, wounded and captured, 
 three hundred and sixty-eight men. Of these, twenty were 
 killed, and one hundred and six wounded. Private Charles 
 M. Stark was the first man of the regiment killed. He was 
 shot through the head on the 14th of June, and while on 
 picket near Big Shanty, Georgia. From the 14th of June to 
 the 22d of July following, hardly a day passed without 
 adding one or more to the regiment's list of casualties ; and to 
 show the character of warfare in which the regiment engaged, 
 it may be stated that, of the twenty killed, nine at least were 
 shot through the neck or head. Quarter-master-Sergeant John 
 W. Drury was the only man killed by a shell, and Corporal 
 James Huntington, the only one killed by a solid shot. 
 Lieutenant George H. Holcomb was one of the killed, and 
 among the wounded were Captains Hugh Skillings and Peter 
 Miller, and Lieutenants Thomas A. Burke and Samuel Duflin : 
 the latter afterward died of his wounds. 
 
 The greater part of the enlisted men of the 16th Iowa, who 
 were captured on the 22d of July, were exchanged in Septem- 
 ber, 1864 ; but the oflicers were held until the following Winter 
 and Spring. The regiment has closed the interesting portion 
 of its history in the siege of Atlanta, and in the Savannah and 
 Carolina Campaigns, aU of which operations have been fully 
 detailed. 
 
312 IOWA COIiONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 I am told Colonel Chambers is a trim, black-haired, black- 
 eyed gentleman, with the airs and deportment of a regular 
 army officer. He was a severe disciplinarian, and, by reputa- 
 tion, ranked well with the Iowa Colonels. After the fall of 
 Vicksburg, he was appointed by the President a brigadier- 
 general ; but the appointment failed confirmation in the Senate. 
 His status defeated him ; he was neither an Iowa nor a Minne- 
 sota man. Iowa would indorse his appointment, provided he 
 was credited to Minnesota, and Minnesota, vice versa. He is 
 the only Iowa officer who was killed by having too many 
 friends. 
 
COLONEL JOHN WALKER RANKIN. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, SEVENTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 John W. Rankin was born on the 11th day of June, 1823. 
 He is of Scotch Irish descent, his mother being a relation of 
 Burns, the poet. He was educated at Washington College, 
 Pennsylvania, where, graduating at the age of sixteen, he was 
 complimented with the Latin Oration. After leaving college, 
 he taught school for a few years, and then studied law. He 
 was admitted to the bar in 1844. Before coming West, he 
 practiced his profession in Wooster, and in Ashland county, 
 being, at the latter place, a partner of Judge Sloan. He settled 
 in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1848. Since living in Iowa, he has been 
 district judge, State senator, United States assistant quarter- 
 master, and colonel. He was appointed Assistant Quarter- 
 Master of United States Volunteers in the summer of 1861, and 
 discharged the duties of the office with credit. In the winter 
 of 1861-2, he was granted authority by the Secretary of War to 
 raise a regiment of volunteers. He entered with energy ui)on 
 the business of recruiting, and, in a little more than thirty days 
 from the time he began active operations, the 17th Iowa Infan- 
 try was mustered into the United States service. Colonel 
 \ Rankin received his commission on the 17th of April, 1862, 
 i and two days later, under orders from Halleck, left Keokuk 
 with his regiment for St. Louis. 
 
 In what I have to say of the 17th Iowa, I desire to be impar- 
 tial. That it was composed of as fine a body of men as ever 
 went out from the State, is true, in proof of which I may state 
 that, at the time it was enlisted, it was supposed, by both the 
 State Executive and the Secretary of War, that it would be 
 
 313 
 
814 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 the last regiment furnished by the State for the war. Lieuten- 
 ant C. J. Ball, mustering officer, and Surgeon S. B. Thrall, 
 examining officer, both able and efficient in their respective 
 departments, will bear me witness that no man was passed if 
 he had the slightest physical blemish, and no man mustered 
 unless, in size, he more than filled the letter of the regulations. 
 
 It was supposed at the time the 17th Iowa entered the service 
 that the war was near its close. This was the opinion of the 
 chief military men of the day ; though nearly all of these men 
 are fossils now. The resplendent victory at Fort Donelson 
 threw the North into ecstasies of joy. That one was soon fol- 
 lowed by the bloody triumph at Shiloh; and then it was 
 declared that no more troops were wanted. It might have 
 been so, had first reports been true ; for the news of the battle 
 of Shiloh, which was read to the 17th Iowa on dress-parade, 
 declared that twenty thousand Union troops had been placed 
 hors dii combat, and that the enemy had lost more than double 
 that number. 
 
 The regiment stared in amazement, and thought there were 
 none left to kill. It was well for the enemy that the news was 
 false ; for, had it been true, he would have marched back to 
 Corinth with hardly a corporal's guard. The war would have 
 been near its close. " I can crush the rebellion in the South 
 West with what men I have," a certain general in the West 
 declared to the Secretary of War ; and an order was even issued 
 for disbanding the 17th Iowa, and was only recalled, after 
 the utmost exertion on the part of Colonel Rankin. Many 
 honestly believed that the 17th would never fire a gun : never- 
 theless, the regiment has fired more guns, and slain more 
 rebels, than almost any other equal number of men in the 
 field. 
 
 The first march of the 17th Iowa was from the St. Louis 
 wharf to Benton Barracks : the debarkation and march was 
 
JOHN W. EAXKIN. 315 
 
 made in the mud and rain ; and the regunent experienced a 
 foreta.ste of soldier-life. Embarking on the steamer Conti- 
 I nental, Colonel Rankin left St. Louis with his command for 
 I the front, on Sunday morning, the 4th day of May, 1862, and 
 ; arrived at Hamburg Landing, on the evening of the 6th 
 I instant. Under orders from General Halleck, he reported to 
 General Pope, and was assigned a position at the extreme left 
 and front of the besieging army at Corinth. Here began the 
 brilliant record of the 17th Iowa ; for, though it was once 
 disgraced on paper, and over the signature of a major-general, 
 it was never disgraced in the eyes of its sister regiments. The 
 regiment arrived at the front, on the evening of the 9th of 
 May, the day of the battle near Farmiugton, where the 2d 
 Iowa cavalry, and the troops of Colonel Loomis' Brigade 
 deported themselves so handsomely. On the afternoon of that 
 day, the ITtli beheld for the first time terror-stricken cowards 
 fleeing from the scene of action. Never present in battle, they 
 are always the first to herald disaster. "Turn back! turn 
 back ! ! " they said ; " the whole army is killed and captured ! " 
 but on arriving at the front all was found quiet. 
 
 On the 28th of May, 1862, Colonel Rankin received orders to 
 advance his regiment as skirmishers, and, having ascertained 
 the character and strength of the enemy's works, to fall back. 
 Accompanying the order were the compliments of General S. 
 Hamilton in the following language : — " For gentlemanly and 
 soldier-like conduct, your regiment has been assigned this post 
 of honor." The reconnoissance was made in connection with 
 the 10th Missouri, and resulted in a sharp fight. More than 
 one hundred rebels were killed and wounded ; and that same 
 night Corinth was evacuated. Next followed the march to 
 Boonville, Mississippi, in pursuit of General Beauregard, and 
 on which General Pope captured thirty thousand stand of- 
 arms, and ten thousand prisoners. (?) These were splendid 
 
316 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 successes ; but, though the 17th Iowa had marched near the 
 van, it first learned the glad news wliile encamped in the 
 woods near Boonville. Beauregard made good his escape, and 
 Pope returned to Corinth. To new troops, this marcli was one 
 of great hardships. It was made in the early days of Summer, 
 when, in that climate, the days are hot and the nights cool. 
 Uninured to the hardsliips, and ignorant of tlie customs of 
 soldier-life, the 17th Iowa suffered severely ; for they parted 
 with nothing, and struggled along with burdens that would 
 have broken down even veterans. They would not throw 
 away even a cartridge. 
 
 Ordered into camp at Clear Springs, Mississippi, the 17th 
 remained there until the latter part of June, and then joined 
 the forces which marched out beyond Ripley. One incident 
 on this march will be remembered by every member of the 
 regiment who joined in it. It happened on the evening of the 
 second day of the return to Camp Clear Springs. In the even- 
 ing of that day, which had been cold and rainy, camp was 
 made in a low bottom, and soon after the camp-fires were 
 lighted, a dense fog arose, which was almost blinding. This 
 proved the cause of the fright which followed. At about eight 
 o'clock, sudden cries of alarm were given from the hill above— 
 " For God's sake get out of there, or you will be all dead in 
 half an hour." The regiment was filled with fright, and in 
 ten-minutes' time every camp-fire was deserted. That night 
 the poor fellows slept between corn-rows on the hill-side. Dr. 
 
 McG was a wag as well as a good surgeon, and, whether he 
 
 perpetrated the above in sport or in earnest, I never learned. 
 After returning from the Ripley march, the 17th Iowa remained 
 at Camp Clear Springs until the middle of the following August, 
 and then marched with its division to Jacinto, about twenty- 
 five miles south of Corinth, where it remained till just before 
 the battle of luka. 
 
JOHN W. RANKIN. 317 
 
 In August, 1862, Hon. Samuel F. Miller, Colonel Rankin's 
 law-partner, was appointed to a judgeship of the United States 
 Supreme Court. The business of the firm was large and com- 
 plicated, embracing many cases of great importance, which 
 required the personal attention of one of the original members 
 of the firm. Indeed, I am informed that it was the under- 
 standing, when Colonel Rankin entered the service, that, in 
 case Judge Miller should leave the firm, the colonel was to 
 resign his commission. At all events, he tendered his resigna- 
 tion, which was accepted on the 3d of September, 1862. On 
 the 19th of September, 1862, was fought the rough-and-tumble 
 battle of luka; and Colonel Rankin had not yet left for his 
 home. 
 
 ; luka was the 17th Iowa's first engagement, and by the for- 
 tunes of war the regiment was temporarily put in disgrace. It 
 was gross injustice, and the fact that the commanding general 
 who issued the order of censure was afterwards retired in 
 shame from an important command affords us no satisfaction. 
 And now I regret for the first time that I was a member of the 
 17th Iowa, for in stating the truth some may think me partial. 
 
 How the battle of luka was brought on is explained in the 
 sketch of General Matthies. Rosecrans either blundered or dis- 
 obeyed orders, and it matters not which ; for, in either case, he is 
 I equally censurable. The battle was fought on the afternoon of 
 jthe 19th of September, and that morning the 17th Iowa, with its 
 brigade, marched from Jacinto some twenty-five miles south- 
 |west of luka. Immediately after arriving at the front the 
 j regiment was hurried into the action. Its position was at the 
 .cross-roads and along an open ridge; and just across a narrow 
 ravine, filled with dense brush, were the enemy. Hardly had 
 i the regiment come into line, when it was met with a terrible 
 
 volley of grape, canister and musketry, and General Sullivan 
 
 ordered it to a less exposed position. While Colonel Rankin 
 
318 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was giving the proper command for the movement, that 
 happened which was the cause of the regiment being censured. 
 A portion of Rosecrans' body-guard, in reconnoitering at the 
 front, came on the enemy's line. Surprised and alarmed by 
 the terrible fire which met them, they rode hurriedly back, and 
 finding the 17th Iowa drawn up across the road dashed 
 through its ranks, knocking down and injuring several men. 
 At about the same time, Colonel Rankin's horse was shot, and, 
 becoming unmanageable, ran and threw him, his head strik- 
 ing the roots of a tree, which rendered him insensible. 
 Captain Anderson of the 80th Ohio, supposing him dead, laid 
 him by the side of a tree, where he remained till late that 
 night. For months afterward, I am told, the colonel did not 
 recover from the effects of this stroke. 
 
 Standing/or the first time under a galling fire ; overrun and its 
 ranks broken by stamj)eding cavalry; its commanding officer 
 disabled, and all happening in the same instant, is it matter 
 of wonder that the 17th Iowa was thrown into temporary 
 confusion, and partially disorganized? A portion of the left 
 Aving got separated from the right ; but the greater part of the 
 regiment was present throughout the engagement. Indeed, it 
 may be said that, in all its hard-fought battles, the 17th Iowa 
 never did better, all things considered, than it did in its luck- 
 less fight at luka. Go read the inscriptions on its battle-flags ! 
 go count its gallant dead, whose bleaching bones give addi- 
 tional sacredness to a dozen battle-fields ! or, what you may 
 more easily do, go ask those who know its history, if the 
 regiment has not a gallant record. And it ivas not ingJoriously 
 begun at luka. 
 
 The losses of the 17th Iowa at luka, numbered about forty. 
 Among the killed was Lieutenant Oliver H. P. Smith, a good 
 man and a brave ofiicer. He was shot in the midst of confu- 
 sion, and doubtless by our own men ; for the ball entered the 
 
JOHN W. KANKIN. 319 
 
 back of his head, and he tiever turned his bach to the enemy. 
 Captain, now Lieutenant-Colonel S. M. Archer was among 
 the severely wounded. He had just before assumed command 
 of the regiment. 
 
 It was reported that Colonel Rankin was under the influence 
 of liquor in the action at luka. If he was, and if the injury he 
 received was attributable to that fact, I do not know it. I 
 have been told by ofiicers of the regiment (for I was not present 
 in the engagement) that all the licpior was destroyed before the 
 troops were marched out from their camps. In addition to 
 this, I was told by Assistant Surgeon McGorrisk, afterward 
 surgeon of the 9th Iowa Infantry, and still later, surgeon-in- 
 chief of the 1st Division, loth Army Corps, that, while the 
 command of Rosecrans was en route for luka. General Stanly 
 rode up to Colonel Rankin and asked him for a drink. The 
 colonel, pulling his flask from his pocket, replied, "I am sorry, 
 general; but you see I hav'nt got any." Lieutenant Delahoyd, 
 brigade adjutant-general, was present, and confirms the above 
 statement. I am no particular friend of Colonel Rankin, for 
 he is the only officer who ever threatened to put me in arrest, 
 and, as I think, unjustly. But then, it is my duty to give facts 
 as they are. The truth is, the conduct of the 17th Iowa would 
 never have been censured, had it not been for the malice of a 
 certain brigadier, and the disappointment of a certain aspiring 
 captain, who dared in no other way to strike at the reputation 
 I of Colonel Rankin. 
 
 1 Colonel Rankin is a small man, with light complexion, and 
 I a nervous-sanguine temperament. Before entering the service, 
 j he was unused to hardship and exposure, and, for many weeks 
 I after entering the field, suflfered much from sickness. He is 
 warm-hearted, generous and unassuming; and no man of his 
 
 influence and standing, in the State, has fewer enemies than 
 I 
 he. In politics, he is an ultra-Republican, though with both 
 
320 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 parties in his county he has always been popular. With an 
 average democratic majority of five hundred, he was, in 1858, 
 elected to the State Senate from Lee county. All were sur- 
 prised, but only a few disappointed. The colonel is quick to 
 invent, quick to execute, and has one of the best legal minds in 
 Iowa. 
 
COLONEL DAVID BURKE HILLIS. 
 
 SECOND COLOXEL, SEVENTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 David B. Hillis is a native of Jefferson county, Indiana ; 
 and was born on tlie 25th day of July, 1825. He is a son of the 
 late David Hillis, who was quite a distinguished politician, 
 and at one time Lieutenant-Governor of Indiana. Colonel 
 Hillis was educiited at the University of South Hanover, 
 Indiana; studied medicine at Madison, Indiana, and, at the 
 age of twenty-one, commenced the practice of his profession in 
 Jackson county, of the same State. For eleven years, he gave 
 to his profession his undivided attention ; and, at the end of 
 that time, had attained a good standing among the members 
 of his fraternity. In 1858, he abandoned his profession to 
 engage in mercantile pursuits. Moving West, he located in 
 Bloomfield, Davis county, Iowa, where he continued in busi- 
 ness till the summer of 1860, when he removed to Keokuk, 
 Iowa, and there, in partnership with his brother-in-law, Oscar 
 Kiser, established himself in the dry-goods business. In 
 August, 1861, he was appointed an aid de camp to Governor 
 Kirkwood. This position he held till the 14th of March, 1862, 
 when he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 17th Iowa 
 Infantry. In August, 1862, Colonel Kankin tendered his resig- 
 nation, and on its acceptance Lieutenant-Colonel Hillis was 
 promoted to the colonelcy of his regiment. During the siege 
 of Vicksburg, he resigned his commission, and returned to 
 civil life. He left the service with much credit. 
 
 In continuing a record of the services of the 17th Iowa 
 
 Infantry, I shall try to be honest and imi^artial. Several Iowa 
 
 regiments have done as well ; but I believe none have done 
 
 21 321 
 
322 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 better. Close on the heels of the battle of luka, was the battle 
 of Corinth. In the former the regiment was disgraced, but in^ 
 the latter it "atoned for its misfortune: " so said its command- 
 ing general. 
 
 " General Orders No. 145. 
 
 '' Head-quarters Army of the Mississippi, 
 
 Third Division, District West Tennessee, 
 
 Corinth, Mississippi, October 23d, 1862. 
 
 " The General Commanding cannot forbear to give pleasure 
 to many, besides the brave men immediately concerned, of 
 announcing in advance of the regular orders that the 17th 
 Iowa Infantry, by its gallantry in the battle of Corinth on the 
 fourth of October, charging the enemy, and capturing the flag 
 of the 40th Mississippi, has amply atoned for its misfortune at 
 luka ; and stands among the honored regiments of his com- 
 mand. Long may it wear, with unceasing brightness, the 
 honors it has won. 
 
 " By order of Major-General W. S. Rosecrans." 
 
 And long has the noble regiment worn its honors with 
 unceasing brightness, baptizing them in eight hard-fought 
 battles ; but, not so much did those brave men atone for their 
 conduct at luka, as did General Order No. 145 atone for that of 
 No. 130, of the same commanding general. That " the con- 
 duct of the 17th Iowa at luka formed a melancholy exception 
 to the general good courage of the troops " must stand a lie in 
 history. Colonel Hillis was present at neither luka nor 
 Corinth. 
 
 In the pursuit of the enemy after the battle of Corinth, the 
 hardships endured by the troops were great. They suffered on 
 the march from heat and thirst, and at night, from the cold. 
 They had few rations, too, and suffered no little from hunger ; 
 but not so much on this march, as they did in the pursuit of 
 the enemy after the battle of luka ; for then a large sum was 
 offered for a small ear of corn. The 17th Iowa returned to 
 Corinth after a nine days' march, and went into camp. 
 
 The history of General Grant's campaign against Vicksburg 
 
DAVID B. HILLIS. 323 
 
 through Central Mississippi, which was organized in Novem- 
 t ber, 1862, is well known. The 17th accompanied the forces of 
 General Grant on that march, moving first by way of Davis' 
 Mills, and arriving at Moscow, on the 18th of November. On 
 the 30th instant, the march was resumed in the direction of 
 Grenada, Mississippi, and continued southward until about 
 the middle of December. On the 21st of that month, the 17th 
 Iowa started on the return, arriving at Holly Springs on the 
 24th instant, and going into camp at Lumpkin's Mills. 
 
 If this campaign failed in its object, it was not void of inter- 
 esting and amusing incidents. Here the 17th first became 
 expert in the art of foraging; and it was said by some oflicers 
 of the regiment that their men could "fiill out," butcher, dress 
 and quarter a hog, and resume their places in the ranks, with- 
 out losing "the step." With these shrewd, hungry boys, 
 orders of "no foraging on private account will be allowed" 
 were totally disregarded, no matter from how high authority 
 they emanated. Even before the eyes of general ofiicers, hogs 
 would be turned loose from their pens, and bayoneted and 
 butchered. Fresh pork and sweet potatoes were great luxuries, 
 for the indulgence of which the men willingly periled their 
 personal liberties. On one occasion, General Sullivan endeav- 
 ored to oppose force against force; but he was soon knocked 
 over by the accidental blow of a clubbed musket, and the hog 
 borne off in triumph. The camp-making of the troops, when 
 they halted for the night, too, was amusing. Camps were 
 usually made in spacious fields, surrounded by strong Virginia 
 fences; but, in ten minutes after the command "stack arms" 
 was given, not one rail would be left upon another for half a 
 mile round. The work was done with system, and on the 
 principle of squatter-sovereignty; for, after the rails were 
 thrown in piles, one would squat on them, while the other 
 
324 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 members of the mess would remove them on their shoulders to 
 the proper quarters. 
 
 After the last named march, and that one to Memphis for 
 supplies, the 17th Iowa was ordered into camp at Bray's Sta- 
 tion, on the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. 
 Here it remained for about six weeks; and this was the 
 only real rest the regiment enjoyed up to January, 1864. On 
 the 8th of February, 1863, the regiment marched to Memphis, 
 and, on the 2d of the following March, left with its divi- 
 sion for the vicinity of Vicksburg. In the next four months, 
 it saw its most arduous service. 
 
 Moving down the IMississippi, the division stopped for two 
 days near Grand Lake, Louisiana, some thirty miles above 
 Lake Providence, and then, re-embarking, sailed up the river 
 to the Sand Bar, just below Helena. On the night of the 6th 
 of March, while encamped near Grand Lake, that place was 
 visited by a most frightful thunder-storm. The wind blew 
 with the violence of a hurricane, and swept nearly all the tents 
 from their fastenings. The strong hawsers, too, which held 
 the transports to the shore, were snapped, and the boats forced 
 out into the stream. Without any means of controlling them, 
 (for the fires were all out) they came very near wrecking; and 
 not a few fine-skinned officers, who preferred quartering in a 
 state-room to remaining with their commands, were fright- 
 ened well-nigh to death. "They did not mind going into 
 battle," they said, "but deliver them from another such a ride 
 as that." Some thought they could boast of having been, Jor 
 once, in peril. 
 
 The 17th Iowa next joined in the Yazoo Pass Expedition, an 
 account of which will be found elsewhere. In this movement 
 the regiment did not suffer a single casualty, though one of 
 the boats, on which a portion of it was embarked, came near 
 sinking in fifty feet of water. It had struck a snag, and the 
 
DAVID B. HILLIS. 325 
 
 hold was half filled with water, before the accident was dis- 
 covered. The confusion which followed was alarming. The 
 boat at once made for the shore, and no sooner reached it than 
 men, knapsacks, boxes and barrels, and guns with fixed bay- 
 onets, all left the hurricane-deck together. The distance was 
 some twenty feet; and how it happened that no one was 
 killed is surprising. 
 
 The transit by steamer from the Sand Bar to Milliken's 
 Bend, and the march across the country from that point to 
 Bruinsburg and round to the rear of Vicksburg, follow next in 
 the history of the 17 th Iowa. On that march it bore a proud 
 and note-worthy part in two bloody battles. 
 
 One incident which occurred while e7i route for Milliken's 
 Bend, I should not omit to mention ; for by the accident the 
 whole regiment came near sinking in the Mississippi. When 
 nearly opposite the mouth of White River, the fleet bearing 
 the 7th Division was hailed by a Federal gun-boat. While 
 the Rose Hambleton, on which the 17th was embarked, was 
 turning to answer the challenge of the gun-boat, she was struck 
 by the boat following her, near the after gang-way, and 
 her guards and a large hole in her hull stove in. Had any 
 other than soldiers been on board, the boat must have gone 
 down ; for the hole knocked in her hull was large enough to 
 drag a horse through. The men were aroused from sleep and 
 hastily moved to the opposite side of the boat, and in this 
 way the lower edge of the hole was raised above the water. 
 This all happened at mid-night. The Mississippi was swollen 
 out of her banks and the nearest land was miles away. 
 
 The regiment crossed to the east bank of the Mississippi on 
 the morning of the 1st of May, 1863, the day on which General 
 McClernand routed the enemy at Thompson's Hill, or Port Gib- 
 son, and with its division pushed on with all dispatch to the 
 front ; for it was then supposed that the enemy had suflBcient 
 
326 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 strength to give much trouble. The battle-ground was passed 
 over during the forenoon of the next day, and that night the 
 enemy was brought to bay on the hills across the north fork ol 
 Bayou Pierre, and about eight miles north of Port Gibson. But 
 he was dislodged next morning with only slight skirmishing, 
 and the pursuit was continued to Hawkinson's Ferry, on the Big 
 Black River. Here the 17th Iowa rested a few days, and then, 
 with its division and corps, resumed the march in the direction 
 of Raymond. Near Raymond on the 12th of May, where Gen- 
 eral Logan's Division so handsomely and signally defeated the 
 enemy, the regiment was double-quicked to the front, and 
 thrown into line of battle; but the enemy yielding his position 
 it was not brought into action. Two days later it was one of 
 the three regiments that did the chief fighting at the first 
 battle of Jackson. 
 
 On the evening of the 13th of May, 1863, the 17th Army 
 Corps under Major-General McPherson, bivouacked at Clinton, 
 and, at day-light of the following morning, marched for Jack- 
 son, with the 2d Brigade of the old 7th Division in the van. 
 For many hours, a drenching rain had been falling, and for 
 nearly two days scarcely an ounce of food had been tasted. 
 The roads were heavy, and by a Potomac general would have 
 been pronounced impassable ; but the Union army was to 
 camp in Jackson that night. The column moved on slowly, a 
 strong line of skirmishers feeling the way before it. Finally, 
 descending a wooded hill, it came to an open country, and 
 within plain view of General Johnson's army, drawn up in 
 line of battle. On the right of the road, the country was open 
 and, from a low bottom, gradually ascending ; but, on the left 
 and not far in advance, it was undulating and covered with a 
 young growth of oak timber. It fell to the lot of the 17th 
 Iowa to fight here. On the right was the 10th Missouri, in the 
 centre the 80th Ohio, and on the left the 17th Iowa. The 
 
DAVID B. HILLIS. 327 
 
 balance of the division was drawn up in line by brigades to 
 the rear, and within easy supporting distance. 
 
 The guns of General Sherman were already thundering on 
 the south side of the city, and were being answered by those 
 of General McPherson ; and down the road, which separated 
 the right of the 17th Iowa from the left of the 80th Ohio, the 
 shell and solid shot of the enemy flew in rapid succession. 
 Near one o'clock, the entire line of the 2d Brigade began to 
 advance slowly, while its skirmishers drove in those of the 
 enemy. No guns were fired, except those of the skirmishers 
 and the artillery, till we were within three hundred yards of 
 the enemy's line. Here a halt was ordered and bayonets fixed. 
 The 17th was lying under the crest of a small hill ; beyond was 
 a ravine, and a little further on, the cMvalry — one Georgia 
 and two South Carolina regiments. In an instant the artillery 
 ceased firing, when the order was given, and the charge made. 
 Colonel Hillis simply said: — "Boys, when I tell you to go 
 down there, I expect you will go." 
 
 The enemy stood for a moment, and then fled in confusion ; 
 but not till he had strewed the hill-slope with eighty of our 
 dead and wounded. The regiment went into the fight with 
 only three hundred and fifty men, and the contest was of not 
 more than ten minutes' duration. 
 
 The 17th stood panting on the spot but just now wrested 
 
 j from the enemy, when General Crocker, with hat in hand, 
 
 I came riding up. " God bless you, colonel," and then turning 
 to the regiment, he added: " don't let any one tell me the 17th 
 
 , wont fight." This was Colonel Hillis' first hard-fought battle ; 
 
 ' and his gallant conduct secured the love and admiration of his 
 regiment. Among the dead were Lieutenant John Inskeep 
 and fifteen others; and I regret that want of space prevents 
 me giving their names. Captains L. W. Huston and C. P. 
 Johnson, and Lieutenant John F. Skelton were among the 
 
328 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 wounded. Captain Johnson and Lieutenant Skelton, witli the 
 other severely wounded, were left in hospital in the enemy's 
 lines. 
 
 As General Crocker predicted, the Union army camped in 
 Jackson on the night of the 14th of May. On the following 
 morning, the 17th Army Corps marched back in the direction 
 of Vicksburg; and, on the day succeeding that, was fought the 
 stubborn battle of Champion's Hill. The 2d Brigade camped 
 at Clinton, ten miles west of Jackson, in the evening of the 15th 
 instant ; and it was rumored that, for its gallantry at Jackson, 
 it had been detailed as a sort of body-guard to General Grant, 
 who, during that night, had his head-quarters established at 
 Clinton. But day-light, on the morning following, was ush- 
 ered in by the booming of cannon away off in the direction of 
 Vicksburg ; and as the brave boys of the 17th looked at each 
 other, they seemed to read in their faces mutual concern 
 and anxiety; for, I care not how reckless men may be, 
 the first thought of entering battle is chilling and repulsive ; 
 and he who is constantly boasting of his valor is the one of all 
 others to be watched in action. It proved as all expected, for 
 orders to move immediately and rapidly came instantly ; and 
 the regiment, foot-sore and weary, was off again for the scene 
 of action. 
 
 At Champion's Hill (for I cannot drag out the story longer) 
 five hundred men snatched victory from a self-confident 
 enemy, The Union lines, on either side of the Jackson and 
 Vicksburg road, had been overpowered, and the troops were 
 fast yielding their last position, when the 17th Iowa and 10th 
 Missouri coming up succeeded, after five successive charges, in 
 turning the scale of battle. Before the 17th was fairly in line, 
 it raised a shout, which, being taken up along the entire line, 
 led the enemy to believe that the Federal reinforcements did 
 not number less thsinjffteen thousand men. This seems improb- 
 
DAVID B. HILLIS. 329 
 
 able ; but a Confederate quarter-master, who was taken 
 prisoner, afterward declared that the Union reinforcements 
 could not have been less than that number. At that point, 
 General Grant came near being defeated; but he had ample 
 reinforcements near at hand, and had the enemy been success- 
 ful there and followed up the attack, their defeat in another 
 position would have been even more disastrous than it was. 
 Though General Grant in his official report declares: " Expect- 
 ing McCleruand momentarily with four divisions, including 
 Blair's, I never felt a doubt of the result," yet, when he was 
 seen coming down from the hill from which his forces were 
 being slowly but surely pressed, his countenance wore an 
 expression of sadness and doubt, such as the 17th never saw it 
 wear before. It was just at this instant that the 17th Iowa and 
 the 10th Missouri, passing their general, went under fire ; and 
 I believe that I do no injustice in claiming that these troops 
 acted the chief part in turning the scale of battle at Cham- 
 pion's Hill. 
 Though the 17th Iowa was not engaged more than thirty 
 i minutes before the enemy fled, yet its loss, in killed and 
 wounded, was fifty-nine. Corporal J. B. Holt and privates 
 James Kain, John Kirkland, Ezra Stoker and William Turner 
 were among the killed. Corporal H. W. Mulford, a young 
 man of exemplary habits and promise, was one of the mortally 
 wounded. 
 
 Among the regiment's spoils in this victory, were the colors 
 of the 31st Alabama, and four guns of Waddell's Alabama Bat- 
 tery. The regiment also captured more than three hundred 
 prisoners. That night it encamped on the battle-ground, and 
 the next day, with the 10th Missouri, buried the dead, and 
 cared for the wounded. It arrived in rear of Vicksburg in the 
 morning of the 20th instant ; and, from that day till the surren- 
 der of the city, did its full share of duty on the skirmish line 
 and in the trenches. 
 
330 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 In personal appearance, Colonel Ilillis is attractive. He is 
 not a large man, but is strongly and compactly built ; and steps 
 promptly and firmly. His complexion, hair and eyes are 
 dark, the last being full and lustrous. On first acquaintance, 
 one would think him a little haughty and aristocratic ; but his 
 sociableness and congeniality soon remove this impression. 
 As an officer, he ranked high, and, had he remained in the 
 service, would have been promoted in a few weeks to a briga- 
 dier-general. 
 
 Colonel Hillis has good business talent, and a fine education. 
 He is also somewhat of a politician, and makes a pretty and 
 forcible extempore speech. 
 
BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL C. R. WEVER. 
 
 THIRD COLONEL, SEVENTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Brevet General Clark Russell Wever was born in 
 Hornsfleld, Jefferson county, New York, on the 16th day of 
 September, 1835. He resided with his parents until he attained 
 I his majority, and then visited Mexico and Texas. After trav- 
 j eling extensively through those countries, he returned to his 
 native county, where he remained till the year 1858. In the 
 fall of that year he removed West, and settled in Burlington, 
 Iowa, where he opened a broker- and exchange-office. He 
 subsequently removed to Carthage, Illinois, which was his 
 place of residence at the time he entered the service. He 
 assisted in recruiting Company D, 17th Iowa Infantry, early 
 in 1862, and, on its organization, was chosen its captain. He 
 accompanied his regiment South, and was with it during the 
 siege of Corinth, and on the march to Boonville ; but soon after 
 it started on the Ripley march, he was attacked with typhoid 
 fever, and sent back to Corinth. He lay in the Clear Springs 
 and Corinth Hospitals for several weeks, and until it was 
 thought by the surgeons that he could not recover his health 
 in that climate. He was then sent North, where he remained 
 till the following October, when he re-joined his regiment at 
 Moscow, Tennessee, just before it started on its march down 
 through Central Mississippi. On the resignation of Colonel 
 Hillis, before Vicksburg, he was promoted to the colonelcy of 
 the 17th Iowa Infantry. I should not omit to state that he 
 had been promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of his regiment, 
 in the preceding October, soon after he re-joined it at Moscow. 
 From October, 1863, until after the fall of Vicksburg, his 
 
 831 
 
332 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 history and that of his regiment are the same. He was present 
 with it in every campaign, and in every battle. 
 
 In writing the history of the 17th Iowa, I could fill a vol- 
 ume; but I must confine myself to leading events. From 
 Champion's Hill the regiment marched to the rear of Vicks- 
 burg, and took up its place in line. It was in reserve in the 
 charge of the 22d of May, and lost only seven men. The place 
 where it sufifered most during the siege was at Fort Hill, on 
 the Jackson and Vicksburg road. 
 
 General Logan's pet scheme for breaking the enemy's line, 
 and forcing the surrender of Vicksburg, was the blowing up of 
 Fort Hill, and the occupation of its site. The Fort was a work 
 of considerable elevation, and of prodigous strength, and was 
 the key to a large extent of the rebel fortifications. Securely 
 lodged here, and General Logan would have been in a position 
 to enfilade their lines, both on the right and left, and render 
 their works untenable. The mining had all been completed, 
 and the fuse was ready for lighting, by noon of the 25th of 
 June ; and that afternoon was fixed upon as the time for the 
 explosion. 
 
 From the Union lines, a narrow, deep trench led to the fort, 
 running up the hill in a north-westerly direction, and near the 
 celebrated oak, under which Grant and Pemberton afterward I 
 arranged the terms of capitulation. This trench, just before ' 
 the explosion, had been filled with troops, who in the confii- • 
 sion that would follow were to rush in, occupy and fortify the 
 position. The explosion took place just before sun-down, and 
 was a sight of terrible magnificence. For a moment the air 
 was filled with earth, boards, blocks of wood, cotton-bales and 
 human beings. Of the latter, many were buried in the debris, 
 and some thrown into the Union lines ; and among these was a 
 poor negro, who, dead with fright, plead for his life on the 
 
CLARK E. WEVER. 333 
 
 ground that, "he had only jus done come out from"de city to 
 bring his massa's dinner." 
 
 The troops in the trenches now rushed into the crater, which 
 had been formed by the explosion ; but, although the enemy 
 were surprised, they would not yield their position. On the 
 outside of the crest of the fort and toward Vicksburg, they 
 swarmed in great numbers; and, by their peculiar mode of 
 attack, made it impossible for the Federal troops to fortify. 
 They used both musketry and hand-grenades — from six- to 
 twelve-pound shells. Though this mining scheme was Gen- 
 eral Logan's own, he was not limited to his own troops to 
 push it to consummation; and General Smith's (formerly 
 Quimby's) Division was called on for reinforcements. The 
 17th Iowa was one of the poor unfortunates ; and early in the 
 evening this regiment, with the 56th Illinois, marched out 
 into the trench above alluded to. It was ordered into the 
 crater by reliefs, the first relief entering a little before eleven 
 at night : the reliefs were three, and altogether held the crater 
 a little more than three hours. Perdition, painted in the most 
 glaring and hideous colors of the most rigorous theology, 
 could not be a more horrible place for poor mortals, than was 
 this crater for the unfortunate soldiers. 
 
 That night was one of gloom and terror for the 17th Iowa, 
 and will never be forgotten ; though, to portray correctly the 
 scene of mortal strife and anxiety, is utterly impossible. The 
 night was dark and gloomy ; and as the brave troops stood in 
 the approaches, awaiting their turn in the fearful carnage, they 
 were greeted by the heavy and incessant booming of artillery 
 for miles around, and the screaming of shells, flying and burst- 
 i ing in every direction. On the hill in their front was the 
 j crater, filled and defended by Union troops, and assaulted on 
 three sides by a chagrined and infuriated enemy. Friend and 
 foe were separated only by a thin crest of earth; and so near 
 
334 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 were they together that they could touch each other with the 
 muzzles of their guns. This scene of strife, which was lighted 
 up by the constant explosion of hand-grenades and the dis- 
 charge of musketry, was appalling ; and yet the brave men, 
 who just now were standing only as spectators, must soon 
 become actors on this stage of death. This was the most 
 dreadful hour of suspense ever experienced by the 17th Iowa 
 Infentry ; and the engagement itself was not more appalling. 
 
 The killed and wounded of the regiment in this contest were 
 shockingly mutilated ; and a larger portion of the wounded 
 died, than of those wounded in any other engagement ; and it 
 is not strange, for every casualty in the regiment was caused 
 by the bursting of hand-grenades. The musketry-fire of the 
 enemy was too high. In the list of casualties, which were 
 thirty-seven, were Captains Ping and Horner — both wounded. 
 First-Sergeant Moses Stuart Pettengill, a brave, efficient and 
 faithful soldier, was also wounded, and severely. All were so 
 sore and lame for a week after the engagement, as to almost 
 render them unfit for duty. 
 
 After the fall of Vicksburg, the 17th Iowa was ordered into 
 camp on the hills south-east of the city, where it remained till 
 it was ordered, with its division, to reinforce General Steele 
 near Little Rock. It proceeded by boat to Helena, leaving 
 Vicksburg on the 12th of September ; but the history of its 
 movements from that time until its arrival at Chattanooga, 
 appears in the sketches of other Iowa officers, whose regiments 
 were attached to the same division. 
 
 The 17th Iowa left its camp at Bridgeport for Chattanooga, 
 at day-light on the ISth of November, and in the evening of 
 the 19th instant bivouacked under Lookout Mountain, and 
 seemingly within a stone's throw of the fires of the enemy's 
 picket-posts, which were scattered along the side of the moun- 
 tain about half-way up from its base to its summit. At two 
 
CLARK R. WEVER. 335 
 
 o'clock the next morning, the regiment, with its brigade and 
 division, crossed the Tennessee, and, marching up its north 
 bank till it had passed behind some hills, which covered it 
 from the view of the enemy's lookout on Lookout Mountain, 
 went into camp, just after day-light. Just before the fighting 
 in Chattanooga Valley opened, all the troops which had 
 marched through with General Sherman from the Mississippi 
 River had arrived in camp on the north side of the Tennessee. 
 General Osterhaus' Division, however, should be excepted; 
 but in place of these troops was the division of Jefi'erson C. 
 Davis, which was in camp near North Chickamauga Creek, 
 With this command General Sherman was to re-cross the Ten- 
 nessee, just below the mouth of South Chickamauga Creek, and 
 oust the enemy's right from the line of hills known as Mission 
 Ridge. 
 
 General Grant's plan of attacking Bragg was known in the 
 main to nearly the entire command of General Sherman, as 
 early as the morning of the 23d of November : it might have 
 been known to the commands of Thomas and Hooker ; and, if 
 the like has happened in any other instance during the war, I 
 do not know it. It was the more remarkable, since in some 
 respects the commanding general had taken great precaution 
 to secure secrecy; for the citizens, for several miles around, 
 were kept under the strictest surveillance. But it was known 
 ' that the contest would commence on the afternoon of the 23d 
 instant; for then General Grant was to demonstrate whether 
 the report of Bragg's falling back was correct. The troops 
 stationed at Chattanooga, and the corps of General Howard 
 were selected to develop the enemy's force on the hill-slope in 
 , rear of Cuattanooga. 
 
 ! Back of the camp of the 17th Iowa, was a high, precipitous 
 hill, from whose summit was a fine view of Chattanooga, 
 Chattanooga Valley, the north and east sides of Lookout 
 
336 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Mountain, and the west slope of Mission Ridge; and from 
 this hill, which is some four miles distant from Chattanooga, 
 not only the greater portion of the 17th, but the greater part of 
 its brigade and division, witnessed the contest in the country 
 below : it was the first engagement to which the 17th Iowa had 
 been a spectator, where it was itself unengaged, and removed 
 from danger. The enemy were surprised. They supposed, as 
 it was afterward learned, that the Union troops were simply 
 parading on a review; and the affair proved more fortunate 
 for General Grant than he had hoped. The enemy^lost their 
 strong position on Indian Hill or Orchard Knoll. But the 
 enemy were not evacuating; Bragg was simply sending rein- 
 forcements to General Longstreet, in East Tennessee; and on 
 this fact a deserter had based his report of the enemy's falling 
 back. But the troops dispatched to Longstreet were noAV 
 hastily recalled; for General Bragg saw that his own position 
 was in danger. 
 
 In the three days' desperate fighting that preceded the total 
 rout of General Bragg's forces, the 17th Iowa took no part 
 until the afternoon of the 25th instant. The regiment was 
 among the first troops to cross the Tennessee, on the night of 
 the 23d, and, in the afternoon of the 24th, was marched out 
 against what was supposed to be a strongly intrenched position 
 of the enemy, on the north end of Mission Bidge ; but on 
 arriving at the hights no enemy was found. It then rested 
 on its arms until about noon of the next day, when, with its 
 brigade, it was sent forward to the support of General C. L. 
 Matthies' command. The engagement on Mission Ridge was, 
 I believe, one of the hardest field-fights the 17th ever had. 
 But the enemy defended successfully their strong position 
 through all that day, which enabled General Bragg to save a 
 good share of his stores and artillery. In this engagement the 
 
CLARK E. WEVER. 337 
 
 17th Iowa had only about two hundred men, and its list of 
 casualties was sixty. 
 
 In the pursuit of the disorganized Confederate forces, the 
 regiment marched only as far as Graysville, Georgia, and then 
 returned to Chattanooga. From Chattanooga, it marched to 
 Huntsville, Alabama, where it remained until the following 
 May, and was then ordered in the direction of Atlanta ; and 
 from the above named date till the 13th of October, 1864, it 
 was stationed in detachments along the line of railroad, 
 between Chattanooga and General Sherman's front, to defend 
 that road from sorties of the enemy. 
 
 On the 13th of October, 1864, the 17th Iowa Infantry, then 
 commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel S. M. Archer, was captured 
 at Tilton, Georgia ; but it did not surrender until after the 
 most stubborn resistance. Tilton, Georgia, is situated on the 
 line of the Chattanooga and Atlanta Railroad, and is nine 
 miles south of Dalton, and six, north of Resaca. The defenses 
 of the place, which three weeks previous had been assaulted 
 by the rebel cavalry command of Wheeler and successfully 
 defended by the 17th Iowa, consisted of simply a block-house 
 and outer trenches. Wheeler was the precursor of the young, 
 gaunt and maimed General Hood. 
 
 It was known for several days previous to the time in ques- 
 tion, that the garrison was in danger of being attacked, and 
 every thing was put in a condition for resistance. On the even- 
 ing of the 12th instant, Colonel Archer had been informed that 
 the enemy were in the vicinity ; and at a little past six of the 
 following morning they made their appearance before the 
 picket-line. Two companies were at once sent out as skir- 
 mishers, and the balance of the regiment drawn up in line 
 outside the block-house. By nine o'clock the skirmishers had 
 been driven in, and the whole command was compelled to 
 retire within its works. Soon after, a flag of truce, which 
 
338 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 before had been unrecognized, was received by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Archer, who, in company with Captain Hicks, went 
 out to meet it. The colonel received and read the following: 
 
 "Hbad-quarters Stuart's Corps, Army of the Tennessee, 
 Near Tilton, Georgia, October 13th, 1864. 
 
 "To THE Officer Commanding United States Forces, 
 Tilton, Georgia: 
 "Sir: — I have ample force to take the garriscn at Tilton. 
 To save loss of life, I demand an immediate and unconditional 
 surrender. If this demand is complied with, all the white 
 troops and their officers shall be paroled within a few days, 
 and the negroes shall be well treated: if refused, I will take 
 the place, and give orders to take no prisoners. 
 
 " Very r&spectfully, your obedient servant, 
 
 Alex. P. Stuart, 
 Lieutenant- Oeneral, C. S. A^ 
 
 To this, Lieutenant-Colonel Archer, through Captain Hicks, 
 
 replied : 
 
 "Give my compliments to General Stuart, and tell him if he 
 wants my command, to come and take it." 
 
 " But we have thirteen thousand men, and can storm your 
 works," insisted a rebel officer. 
 
 " Can't help that; I was put here to hold this place, and you 
 can't have it till you blow us out." 
 
 "I admire your pluck; but you haven't got ad— d bit of 
 judgment." 
 
 This was said by a rebel colonel, who had accompanied the 
 flag of truce, after which the colonel was allowed ten minutes 
 in which to retire to his command. The unequal fight now 
 opened ; and less than two hundred men, in the block-house 
 and surrounding trenches, were besieged and assaulted for five 
 long hours, by not less than five thousand. 
 
 Having tried unsuccessfully to carry the place by storm, and 
 destroy the block-house by fire, the enemy, at a little after one 
 o'clock in the afternoon, brought up their artillery. Twelve- 
 pounders were first put in battery in the skirt of the timber 
 
CLARK R. WEVER. 339 
 
 south of the block-house; but their position was so little 
 elevated that they could do but little damage. Soon after, 
 twenty-four pounders were placed in position on a command- 
 ing point to the west of the block-house. Further resistance 
 was now useless, for every shot came plunging down the hill 
 and through the block-house, knocking the timbers and scat- 
 tering splinters in every direction. Finally, a shell burst in 
 its centre, which prostrated every man inside : twelve were 
 killed and wounded. The roof was now nearly all shot away, 
 and the upright timbers fast falling. To resist longer would 
 be madness, and the white flag went up. 
 
 In the meantime the place had been entirely surrounded, 
 and now the gray rascals came flocking in from every quarter, 
 headed by general and field officers. Riding up to Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Archer, Lieutenant-General Alexander P. Stuart said: 
 "Do you know whom you have been fighting? Your obsti- 
 nacy has given me a d — d sight of trouble, and detained me 
 nearly a whole day." "Well, general," replied the colonel, 
 "that was what I was put here for;" after which General 
 Stuart's provost-marshal general remarked, "I thought there 
 would be trouble, when I learned this was an Iowa regiment." 
 
 About the same time that Tilton was attacked by the corps 
 of Stuart, Dalton was attacked by General Cheatham, and Res- 
 aca by General Lee. The former place, which was commanded 
 by Colonel Johnson, was disgracefully surrendered ; while the 
 latter, commanded by Colonel Wever of the 17th Iowa, was 
 gallantly defended. 
 
 The terms of surrender, brought by flag of truce to Colonel 
 Wever, were the same as those accompanying the demand for 
 the surrender of Tilton; and Colonel Wever's reply was 
 similar to that of Lieutenant-Colonel Archer. " In my opin- 
 ion," he said, " I can hold this post; if you want it, come and 
 take it." To defend the extensive works of Resaca, Colonel 
 
840 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Wever had only about seven hundred men — only enough, 
 when deployed as skirmishers, to occupy the entire line of 
 works. But, in shrewdness, the colonel was more than a 
 match for his adversary ; for his troops were deployed in the 
 manner above stated, and every flag and guidon that could be 
 commanded was stuck around on the works in the most 
 commanding places. The ruse was successful, and, after some 
 skirmishing, and a vigorous use of artillery, the enemy retired. 
 For his successful defense of this post. Colonel Wever was 
 highly complimented by General Howard. 
 
 In closing this sketch of Colonel Wever and the 17th Iowa, 
 the reader must indulge me, while I name some of the many 
 brave men with whom I served so long, and for whom I 
 formed the deepest attachment; and, that I may not appear 
 partial, I shall select the names of those who, in the discharge 
 of their duty, either lost their lives or were severely wounded. 
 
 Captain David A. Craig of Company H was a brave and 
 noble man. He died in the fall of 1863, from disease con- 
 tracted in the service. Captain S. E. Hicks was most gener- 
 ous and noble-hearted. He was a true friend, and one of the 
 bravest men in the regiment. He was captured with his regi- 
 ment at Tilton, and afterward lost his life while endeavoring 
 to swim Coosa River, to escape the enemy. Captain L. T. 
 McNeal was quiet and unsociable, but a most excellent officer. 
 He was shot through the knee on Mission Ridge, and died 
 from the effects of the wound some three weeks after. Captain 
 William Horner of Company G., though unassuming, is an 
 able man, and possesses fine judgment. He was wounded 
 severely in the hip at Fort Hill, on the evening of the 25th of 
 June, 1863, and his life, for a long time, despaired of. Captain 
 Charles P. Johnson is a most gallant officer. He was shot 
 through both thighs in the first battle at Jackson, Mississippi, 
 and, for sixteen long months, lay upon his back in a rebel 
 
CLABK R. WEVER. 341 
 
 hospital in Georgia. Captain John F. Skelton was also 
 wounded at the first battle of Jackson. He was shot in the 
 right eye, the ball passing through his head and coming out 
 under the left ear. Being necessarily left in the hands of the 
 enemy, he was retained a few days at Jackson, and then trans- 
 ferred to Libby Prison. After the lapse of five months, he 
 made his escape and came in our lines. He was captured 
 again at Tilton, Georgia, and again made his escape, traveling, 
 in company with Lieutenant Deal, through more than five 
 hundred miles of the enemy's counti-y, and reaching the Gulf 
 through the dismal lower-waters of the Chattahoochie. Lieu- 
 tenant D. \V, Tower, a gallant, modest young ofiicer, was shot 
 through the knee at Champion's Hill, and had his leg ampu- 
 tated. After the stump had healed, he donned a wooden leg, 
 and again joined his regiment. He was also captured at 
 Tilton. Young Lieutenant Inskeep was shot through the 
 neck and killed, at the battle of Jackson. 
 
 Our quiet and able surgeon, Doctor Udell, and the facetious 
 and urbane Doctor Ealy; Assistant-Surgeons McGorrisk, 
 Biser and Coleman ; our sedate and worthy chaplain, Wilson, 
 who hated gray-backs as he hated the Great Adversary ; Major 
 S. M. Wise ; Captains Newton, (who died of wounds received 
 before Vicksburg), Huston, Ping, (who goes into a fight just as 
 a man goes who is late at his work), Hoxie, Craig, Moore, (a 
 most genial fellow), Edwards, Rice, Brown, Snodgrass, (a 
 good fighter and the most stubborn man in the regiment); 
 Lieutenants Garrett, Sales, (the judge), Neuse, Scroggs, Staple- 
 ton, (an excellent ofiicer who died of disease), Park, Johnson, 
 Godley, Morris, Swearngin, Barnes, Keach, Burke, (the wit 
 and editor), Tamman, Inskeep, Stever, Grifiith, Woodrow, 
 Spielman and Woolsey; and, with a few exceptions, all the 
 enlisted men from Joseph M. Atkins to Ashel Ward, the alpha 
 and omega of the regiment — all deserve more than a passing 
 
342 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 notice; all were brave and deserving men, and merit the 
 lasting gratitude of the country. The recalling of their names 
 and friendship will ever be among the pleasantest of my army 
 recollections. 
 
 In the winter of 1SG4-5, Colonel Wever accompanied the 
 remnant of his regiment North on veteran furlough ; and I 
 should not omit to state that, although the term of .service of 
 the 17th Iowa lacked some two months of coming within the 
 order creating veterans, yet, for gallant services, it was 
 permitted to re-enlist, and to share all the incidental honors 
 and emoluments. On the expiration of their furlough. 
 Colonel Wever, led his handful of men back to the front by 
 way of New York City ; for, in the meantime, Sherman had 
 captured Savannah. Their last march was that made from 
 Beaufort to Goldsboro and Washington. 
 
 I can not close this sketch, without giving expression to my 
 love and esteem for Company D, of the regiment. Their 
 patience, bravery and endurance I can never forget. Others 
 were just as good and brave ; but I loved them less. 
 
 Colonel Wever is about six feet in hight, and has a slender, 
 but not an elegant form : there is an awkward twist about his 
 shoulders. He has dark hair and complexion, and piercing 
 black eyes. Considering his age and opportunities, he is rather 
 a remarkable man. His education is limited; but, in spite of 
 that, he has worked his way up above many who in that 
 respect were greatly his superiors. He is recklessly brave in 
 the face of the enemy, and one of the most ambitious men I 
 ever met. He aspired to be a full brigadier, and it is a shame 
 he was not promoted to that rank ; and, in giving expression 
 to this opinion, I do not think I am influenced by the many 
 kindnesses he has shown me. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL JOHN EDWARDS. 
 
 COLONEL, EIGHTEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 John Edwards was born the 24th day of October, 1815, in 
 Jefferson county, Kentucky, and lived with his parents at the 
 old homestead till he reached his eighteenth year. Leaving 
 Kentucky at eighteen, he removed to Indiana, and settled in 
 Lawrence county; where, purchasing a farm, he continued his 
 residence till the year 1849. In Indiana he was highly 
 respected, and, during the last years of his residence there, 
 was elected at different times to each branch of the State Legis- 
 lature. 
 
 In 1849, he sold his farm and emigrated to California. Set- 
 tling in the Nevada District, he was, in 1851, elected by the 
 people to the Alcalde; for the State Government had not at 
 that time been formed. After serving in that body for one 
 year, he returned to Indiana, and was again elected to the 
 State Senate. In 1853, he came to Iowa and located in Chari- 
 ton, where, engaging in the practice of law, he has since resided. 
 
 In Iowa, General Edwards has been a prominent public man. 
 In 1858, he was a member of the State Constitutional Conven- 
 tion ; and subsequently served three terms in the State Legisla- 
 ture. He was the representative from Chariton at the outbreak 
 of the war, and Speaker of the House. He was from the first 
 a staunch war-man ; and coming from the extreme southern 
 part of the State took a lively interest in preparing for the 
 defense of our southern border, which was at that time being 
 threatened by the Missouri rebels. On the 9th of June, 1861, 
 he was commissioned aid de camp to Governor Kirkwood, 
 with the rank of lieutenant-colonel of cavalry ; and was the 
 
 343 
 
344 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 first man in the State promoted to that office. For several 
 months he had charge of a large portion of the border between 
 Iowa and Missouri, during which time, he twice marched his 
 troops into Missouri — once as far south as the Hannibal and St. 
 Joseph Railroad. Resigning his commission as aid de camp, 
 June 20th, 1862, he was, on the 17th of July following, made 
 colonel of the 18th Iowa Infantry. For his able and faithful 
 services in Missouri and Arkansas, he was, in the winter of 
 1864-5, promoted to a general officer ; and I believe none will 
 say he did not richly earn his promotion. 
 
 The history of the 18th Iowa Infantry while under the 
 command of Colonel Edwards is as replete with interest as 
 that of almost any other Iowa regiment. It does not enjoy 
 the reputation that many others have ; and for the reason, I 
 believe, that the people are ignorant of its record. From the 
 time it engaged and defeated the braggart Marmaduke, at 
 Springfield in January, 1863, to the time it fought Price and 
 his subordinates on the Saline River, in the spring of 1864, its 
 conduct has, in every instance, been such as to elicit much 
 praise from both its division and department commanders. 
 Indeed, I believe it would be unwilling to exchange either its 
 number or its record with any regiment of the State ; for, if 
 others have served with more distinction, they have not with 
 greater honesty and fidelity. 
 
 The first march of the 18th Iowa was from Sedalia, Missouri, 
 to Springfield; its first campaign, from Springfield into 
 Northern Arkansas; and its first severe engagement, at 
 Springfield, on the 8th of January, 1863. 
 
 In August, 1862, Colonel Edwards marched his command 
 from Sedalia to Springfield, where he was organized in the 
 Army of the South West, at that time commanded by General 
 Schofield. In the expedition to Cane Hill, and other points in 
 Northern Arkansas, which soon followed, he took part, 
 
JOHN EDWARDS. 345 
 
 remaining with the main army till its return to Ozark, when, 
 with his regiment, he was given charge of the sick and 
 prisoners, and sent back to Springfield. Arriving in the latter 
 part of November, 1862, he was, in the following December, 
 detailed on a court-martial in St. Louis. Springfield remained 
 the head-quarters of the 18th Iowa from that time until 
 October of the following year. 
 
 The battle of Springfield, as already stated, was the regi- 
 ment's first engagement, and in premising, I quote briefly from 
 General Marmaduke's ofiicial report: 
 
 "Head-quarters, 4th Division, 1st Corps, T. M. D. 
 Batesville, Ark., January 18th, 1863. 
 
 "Colonel: — In obedience to instructions from General Hind- 
 man, I marched from Lewisburg, Arkansas, December 31, 1862, 
 via Yellville, Arkansas, to strike the enemy in rear and flank, 
 with sixteen hundred men under Shelby, and two hundred 
 and seventy men under McDonald. Before marching, I tele- 
 graphed to Lieutenant-General Holmes, if it would not be best 
 to move up the troops under Colonel White, to co-operate in 
 the movement, to which he consented; and the order was 
 given. Colonel Porter, with six hundred men, moved forward 
 for this purpose." * * * 
 
 " Shelby captured and burned the fort at Ozark : the garrison 
 fled. With Shelby and McDonald, I attacked Springfield, 
 Missouri ; and, after eight hours hard fighting, driving the 
 Yankees before me into their strong-holds, I captured one 
 piece of artillery, (six-pounder) a stockade fort, and a large 
 part of the town, which the Yankees burned as they retired. 
 At dark the fighting ceased, the greater part of the town, the 
 fort and many of the dead and wounded Federals being in my 
 possession. The Federal force there was four thousand two 
 hundred. My loss was twenty killed and eighty wounded — 
 Yankee loss much greater. I did not deem it best to renew 
 the attack, and the next day marched toward Holla." 
 
 By his own statement, Marmaduke attacked Springfield with 
 at least eighteen hundred and seventy men. The place was 
 commanded by General Brown of Missouri, and garrisoned 
 with the 18th Iowa, (numbering five hundred muskets) a few 
 
346 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 companies of Missouri State Militia, and some one hundred 
 and fifty convalescents of the Army of the South West. " The 
 only defenses were some incompleted works." In one particu- 
 lar Marmaduke's report is correct — the fighting lasted about 
 eight hours ; but in other respects it is a tissue of falsehoods — a 
 grim joke. On its own face, he should have been court-mar- 
 tialed and dismissed the service. 
 
 The 18th Iowa held the works south of Springfield, and the 
 Missouri troops those on the east. The fighting commenced 
 early in the morning of the 8th between the skirmishers. 
 Little advantage was gained by the enemy until late in the 
 afternoon: then, massing his troops south-east of the city, he 
 charged gallantly, and overbore the militia-men, capturing 
 their works. This was the only critical hour of the day, and, 
 through the promptness and intrepidity of the ISth Iowa, it 
 soon passed. "In the most critical juncture of the attack, 
 when the militia were retreating in confusion, and defeat 
 appeared certain, a part of the 18th Iowa was ordered to the 
 threatened point ; and by a desperate charge, in which they 
 lost four commissioned officers and fifty-two enlisted men, 
 killed and wounded, broke the enemy's lines, and restored the 
 wavering fortunes of the day. The enemy retreated in haste, 
 under cover of the night, leaving their dead and wounded on 
 the field." And thus it happened that Marmaduke "did not 
 deem it best to renew the attack." He marched north-east 
 from Springfield ; was met and severely punished by Colonel 
 Merrill of the 21st Iowa, at Ilartsville ; and then swung round 
 south to Batesville, where he issued his report. And thus 
 ended his movement against "the enemy's rear and flank." 
 
 Colonel Edwards was placed in command of the Post at 
 Springfield, in April, 1863; and, from that time forward, has 
 been in the immediate command of his regiment but little. 
 AU of its history, however, has been made under him; for, 
 
JOHN EDWARDS. 347 
 
 whether in command of a post, a brigade, or a district, it has 
 always been with him. In August, 1863, the colonel was 
 assigned by General McNeil to the command of the District of 
 South West Missouri. In the same month, Shelby made his 
 Invasion of Missouri, with a force numbering more than two 
 thousand men. Colonel Edwards promptly organized his 
 forces and made pursuit; and it was said his "combinations 
 were such as would have resulted in the interception of the 
 enemy, had they not been disconcerted by causes beyond his 
 power to control." 
 
 General Steele captured Little Rock the 10th of September, 
 1863; and the next October General McNeil, in whose com- 
 mand was the 18th Iowa, marched from Springfield in pursuit 
 of the enemy, and captured and occupied Fort Smith, Arkan- 
 sas. A chief portion of the time since. Colonel Edwards and 
 the 18th Iowa have served at that post. In December, 1863, 
 |the colonel was placed in command of the Post of Fort Smith, 
 which he held till January, 1864. At the last named date, he 
 was given a brigade command, which he has held ever since. 
 His first brigade consisted of the 18th Iowa, 2d Kansas Cav- 
 iilry, 1st Arkansas Infantry, and the 2d Indiana Battery ; and 
 [lis second, of the 18th Iowa, the 1st and 2d Arkansas Infantry, 
 md the 2d Indiana Battery. With this last ccmmand, he 
 iccompanied General Steele on the march to Camden. 
 
 For the part taken by Colonel Edwards and the 18th Iowa in 
 he uufortunate Camden march, I am indebted to one who 
 hared the hardships and perils of the campaign : 
 
 1 "On April 11th and 12th, Colonel Edwards and his brigade 
 'ook part in the battle of Prairie de Anne, in which the whole 
 orces of Price, Maxey, Shelby and Gano were opposed to 
 ixeneral Steele. April 13th, 1864, the battle of Moscow took 
 'lace thirty miles north of Camden. The 3d Division guarded 
 be rear of the army, and had just gone into camp, when six 
 liousand of the enemy, under the rebel generals Dockery, 
 
348 IOWA COIiONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Fagan, Maxey and Gano, attacked them, driving in their 
 pickets and pouring a heavy fire into their quarters. Colonel 
 Edwards with his brigade, alone at first, but soon reinforced 
 by the 2d and 3d, repulsed the enemy and drove them five 
 miles. The engagement lasted from one to six o'clock P. M." 
 
 "On the 17th of April, Colonel Edwards, being then 
 encamped at Camden, ordered the 18th Iowa, and one section 
 of the 2d Indiana Battery, under command of Captain Dun- 
 can of the 18th Iowa, to reinforce Colonel Williams of the 1st 
 Kansas, (colored) who was in charge of a forage train to Pois- 
 oned Springs, about eighteen miles distant from Camden. The 
 18th Iowa guarded the rear of the train, and the 1st Kansas the 
 front. The whole were surrounded by a force of the enemy 
 six thousand strong, on the morning of the 18th instant. The 
 1st Kansas, after losing heavily, was completely surrounded 
 and compelled to retreat in haste through the line of the 18th 
 Iowa, which was now left to sustain the attack alone. The 
 regiment was broken by fierce charges of the enemy seven 
 times, and as often stubbornly re-formed, contesting every inch 
 of ground, until being surrounded on three sides and foiling 
 rapidly under a withering fire, and being left alone on the field, 
 it finally cut its way through, and returned in good order to its 
 camp at Camden, having lost one ofiicer and seventy-six men, 
 killed, wounded and prisoners." 
 
 "In this engagement. Captains Blanchard, Clover, Stonaker 
 and Conway showed especial bravery and gallantry. Captain 
 Blanchard, who commanded the color-company, and who was 
 already wounded, seized the colors at a critical time, when the 
 regiment was hotly pressed, and told Captain Clover, who was 
 mounted, to form the regiment on him, which that ofiicer did 
 in gallant style, the men responding with cheers. It was 
 owing in a very great measure to the exertions of these officers 
 that the regiment was extricated from its perilous position. 
 Sergeant Dean, Company E; Sergeants Bowers and Oleson, 
 Company A; Sergeant Mordis, Company C; Sergeant Bullock, 
 Company B; and Sergeant Kirkpatrick, Company H; behaved 
 with a courage and coolness which deserve special notice. 
 Everywhere, all behaved with common bravery." 
 
 In the terrible battle of Saline Biver, fought on the 30th of 
 April, and which is described elsewhere, Colonel Edwards, with 
 his brigade, held the reserve ; and had in charge the ordnance 
 
JOHN EDWARDS. 349 
 
 train. This being tlie last of the engagements fouglit on the 
 campaign, the 18th Iowa, and tlie otlier troops of Steele's com- 
 mand, returned to their places of starting, unmolested. On 
 arriving at Fort Smith, the records of the 18th Iowa sliowed 
 the following: From the time of entering the field till the 23d 
 of May, 1864, the regiment had marched over eighteen hundred 
 miles, and had lost in action, and from disease contracted in 
 the service, thirteen commissioned officers, and five hundred and 
 sixty etilisted men — nearly two-thirds of its original strength; for, 
 when mustered into the service, its aggregate of officers and 
 enlisted men was only eight hundred and sixty-six. 
 
 Subsequently to its return from South Western Arkansas, 
 the 18th Iowa has been retained on garrison-duty at Fort 
 Smith. It has marched on some expeditions, but has, I think, 
 been in no engagement, since the Camden Campaign. 
 
 For the valuable services which I have briefly enumerated 
 above. Colonel Edwards was made a brigadier-general ; but the 
 most honorable part of hi^ record remains yet to give. 
 
 From the organization of the first volunteer troops, our army 
 has been infested with thieves and robbers: indeed, this has 
 been a crowning evil of the war. For officers of a low grade, 
 quarter-masters have led the crowd ; and it long since passed 
 into a proverb that an honest quarter-master could not long 
 retain his commission. But the most stupendous robberies 
 have been practiced by officers of high rank, and holding 
 important commands; for they would not soil their hands with 
 hundreds, but with hundreds of thousands. In their operar 
 tions, too, they were not limited to a few clerks, but had whole 
 commands. I venture the assertion that, in the last four years, 
 the Government has been defrauded of not less than one hun- 
 dred millions of dollars. 
 
 For many months during General Steele's administration in 
 Arkansas, Fort Smith was a den of thieves; and Steele, though 
 
850 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 not implicated himself, was removed because these abuses were 
 not corrected. General Thayer, Steele's subordinate, was 
 doubtless guilty ; and yet, backed by Kansas politicians, who 
 had snuffed the breezes of our Capital, he escaped disgraceful 
 dismissal. 
 
 Let it be said to the credit of General Edwards that, though 
 he served at Fort Smith from the time the place was first occu- 
 pied by our troops, none ever breathed the least breath of 
 suspicion against him. Indeed, it is said (and if true let it 
 be recorded to the eternal infamy of those concerned) that, 
 because he had complained of these abuses, his life was threat- 
 ened, and he dared not, unaccompanied, appear in the streets 
 after dark. At home, he was called " Honest John Edwards," 
 and the sobriquet has been doubly earned. 
 
 General Edwards, in appearance and in character, is a good 
 type of a Northern gentleman. He is unassuming in his man- 
 ners, and brave and chivalrous without being boastful and 
 pretending. He has not a commanding person, and with 
 strangers would not pass for what he is worth. With one 
 exception, the portrait here published is a correct likeness: the 
 expression of his countenance is much kinder than the portrait 
 represents. He has blue eyes, a light complexion, and a san- 
 guine temperament, and is slightly stoop-shouldered. When 
 he walks, he usually drops his head forward, and keeps his 
 face turned to the ground. He is not a brilliant man, but he is 
 able and honest. 
 
COLONEL BENJAMIN CRABB. 
 
 NINETEENTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Benjamin Crabb, of the 19th Iowa Infantry, is a native of 
 Ohio, and was born in the year 1821. I am ignorant of his 
 early liistory, and of the time he first removed to Iowa. When 
 I first knew him, he was the proprietor of a hotel in Washing- 
 ton, Iowa. I think that was his business at the outbreak of 
 the war. 
 
 Benjamin Crabb first entered the service in the summer of 
 1861. He was captain of Company II, 7th Iowa Infantry. At 
 the battle of Belmont, he distinguished himself, and was thus 
 jcomplimented by Colonel, afterward General Lauman: "I 
 kiesire also to direct your attention to Captain Crabb, who was 
 'taken prisoner, and who behaved in the bravest manner." 
 After being exchanged he re-joined his regiment, and remained 
 with it till the 13th of August, 1862, when he resigned his 
 commission, to accept the colonelcy of the 19th Iowa Infantry. 
 "This regiment was organized in the city of Keokuk in 
 August, 1862, and was the first in the State under the Presi- 
 ent's call, dated July 2d, for 300,000 volunteers. The compa- 
 ies were mustered into the United States service, as they 
 reported— the first, on the 17th day of August, and the last, 
 on the 25th day of August, 1862: its aggregate number, at the 
 date of organization, was nine hundred and eighty men." 
 
 The early history of the 19th Iowa, as also that of the 20th, 
 iwas made under General F. J. Herron. Leaving Keokuk on 
 Ithe 4th of September, 1862, the regiment proceeded to Benton 
 Barracks, Missouri, where it was assigned to a brigade, com- 
 manded by that ofiicer. Its stay at Benton Barracks was only 
 
 351 
 
352 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 six days. Then, marching to the Pacific Railroad Depot, it 
 proceeded by cars to Rolla. 
 
 The first three month's service of this regiment is made up 
 of marchings and counter-marchings in Southern Missouri and 
 Northern Arls:ansas. On some of these, the enemy were met 
 in slight skirmishes ; but the majority of them were character- 
 ized simply by that dragging, fatiguing monotony, which is 
 unbearable, especially if the roads and weather be unfavorable. 
 To show the nature of these services, I quote a portion of the 
 regiment's record, which covers only six days of its service: 
 
 "October 17th — broke up camp at Cassville, Missouri ; march- 
 ed southward four miles and camped for the night. October 
 18th — marched southward thirty-one miles, and camped on 
 Sugar Creek, Benton county, Arkansas; lay on our arms all 
 night. General Blunt's Division was camped near by. At 
 five o'clock P. M., of the 20th, broke up camp ; made a night's 
 march over the Pea Ridge battle-ground, and on to White 
 River; crossed the river — water about three feet deep, clear 
 and cold. On the 22d instant, marched fifteen miles; halted 
 and prepared supper. We were then within a distance of six 
 miles from Huntsville, Arkansas. Fell in again at six P. M., 
 and made a night's march of fourteen miles to White River, 
 at a point below where we had first crossed, arriving at two 
 A. M., on the morning of the 23d of October; bivouacked until 
 seven A. M., when, without waiting for breakfast, crossed 
 White River ; marched forward, much of the time on double- 
 quick, reaching the telegraph road at Bloomington, at twelve 
 M. ; formed at once in line of battle, expecting an attack. 
 Remained in this position three hours, and were then ordered 
 forward on the main road to Cross Hollows, Arkansas, where 
 we arrived at five P. M., and went into camp, having made a 
 forced march of ojie hundred miles in three days and three 
 nights, over a very rough and mountainous country, and 
 having compelled the enemy to retreat across the Boston 
 Mountains." 
 
 The month of November, as well Jis the previous one, was 
 passed by the 19th Iowa and the greater part of the Army of 
 the Frontier, in a constant chase from one point to another. 
 
BENJAMIN CRABB. 353 
 
 The country was full of rumors; the general officers in imme- 
 diate command were young and ambitious, which, taken 
 together, made the time pass most restlessly with the poor 
 infantry troopers. Thus far the enemy had declined to stand 
 and fight. They were not, however, without spirit. They 
 were organizing; and the coming December was to test their 
 prowess. November, 1862, closed with the divisions of Totten 
 and Herron at Camp Curtis, near Wilson's Creek, Missouri, 
 and that of Blunt at Cane Hill, Arkansas. The enemy had in 
 the meantime organized, and were advancing to give Blunt 
 battle ; but a history of these events has been previously given. 
 Herron struggled with the confident but cautious enemy till 
 Blunt came up from Cane Hill, when the cloud that before had 
 threatened almost certain destruction, broke and disappeared. 
 The 19th Iowa was doubtless the banner regiment of the une- 
 qual and terrible battle of Prairie Grove ; but the 20th Iowa is 
 entitled to hardly less praise, as also is the 20th Wisconsin. 
 
 The records of the regiment thus modestly tell the story of 
 this engagement: 
 
 "The 19th Iowa and 20th Wisconsin chargcni and broke the 
 rebel centre, and took a battery, but were unable to hold it. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel McFarland was killed dead on the field, 
 while leading the regiment in this charge. Lieutenant Smith, 
 of Company F; Lieutenant Johnson, of Company I; and Ser- 
 geant-Major C. B. Buckingham, were also killed on the field. 
 Our whole loss was forty-five killed, and one hundred and 
 fifty-five wounded. Captains Wright, of Company D ; Paine, 
 of Company I; Jordan, of Company B; and Lieutenant 
 Brooks, of Company D; were severely wounded." 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel McFarland was a brave and good 
 man, and his loss was sincerely mourned. He was a native of 
 Pennsylvania, a resident of Mount Pleasant, and first entered 
 the service, as captain in the 11th Iowa Infantry. 
 
 After the battle of Prairie Grove, the 19th Iowa enjoyed its 
 
 first rest since leaving Springfield in the previous October. It 
 23 
 
354 IOWA COI^ONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 camped on the battle-field the night after the engagement, a.s 
 though unwilling to part with its dead comrades, just bur- 
 ied. The regiment remained at Prairie Grove nearly three 
 weeks; and then broke camp and, with its division, marched 
 across the Boston Mountains to Van Buren, on the Arkansas. 
 From Van Buren it returned to Prairie Grove. And now its 
 marchings again became uninterrui)ted : indeed, from the 2d 
 of January, 1S63, when it left Prairie Grove for White River, 
 till the 2oth instant, when it went into camp near Forsyth, 
 Missouri, it heard little else than the beat to " ftiU in," and the 
 command, "forward." At Forsyth, it remained to guard the 
 place, while its division proceeded to Lake Spring, Missouri. 
 
 Late in April, 1863, the regiment proceeded to Ozark, and 
 from that point marched against Marmaduke, who was threat- 
 ening the country in the vicinity of Hartsville ; but it ftiiled to 
 meet the fleet-footed rebel. The services of the regiment in 
 Missouri were now drawing to a close. On the 3d of June, it 
 marched from Salem, Missouri, to Rolla, whence it proceeded 
 by rail to St. Louis, and embarked on the transport Chautau 
 for Vicksburg. 
 
 Such has been tlie character of service imposed on the 
 Federal troops in Missouri — most annoying and fatiguing in 
 its nature, and almost wholly destitute of honor. Had the 
 19th Iowa been retained in Missouri, and had it not fought at 
 Prairie Grove, every man of it might have marched to his 
 grave, and yet the regiment be without a record. 
 
 But little of the history of the 19th Iowa was made under 
 Colonel Crabb. He remained with it, and in command of it, 
 till its arrival at Springfield, in September, 1862. At Springfield 
 he was made Commandant of the Post, and never I think joined 
 it afterward. He was at Springfield, at the time that place 
 was attacked by Marmaduke in January, 1863; and, after 
 General Brown was wounded, assumed command of the 
 
BENJAMIN CRABB. 855 
 
 Federal forces; and I am informed that he succeeded to the 
 duties and responsil)ilities of the command with much honor. 
 He resigned his commission in the following Spring, and 
 returned to his home in Washington. 
 
 The 19th Iowa left St. Louis for Vicksburg, under command 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Kent : it was one of the regi- 
 ments of General Herron's Division, and, before Vicksburg, 
 was on the right of that command. Its duties during the 
 siege, and its triumphal march into the city after its surrender, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Kent gives as follows : 
 
 "Our fatigue duty consisted in digging rifle-pits, planting 
 batteries and siege-guns to bear upon the enemy's works. This 
 was continued and unremitting, (well named fatigue-duty) 
 until the morning of the ever-glorious fourth day of July, 
 when the glad news came to us that, Vicksburg had surrend- 
 ered. We were then ordered to join in the march of the 
 triumphant army, which we did ; and now occupy a part of 
 the enemy's works." 
 
 Private Thomas Pender, of Company I, was the only man 
 of the regiment wounded during the siege. 
 
 After the fall of Vicksburg, the 19th Iowa joined in the 
 expedition up the Yazoo Piver, which was made by General 
 Herron's Division, and which is detailed elsewhere. On the 
 return to Vicksburg, General Herron sailed with his command 
 for Port Hudson ; whence, after a few days' stay, he proceeded 
 to Carrollton, Louisiana; and now soon follows the saddest 
 page in the history of the 19th Iowa. 
 
 Early in September, the enemy appearing in force in the 
 vicinity of Morganzia, General Herron was sent back to that 
 point, where he operated for about a month. During these 
 operations, the 19th Iowa was captured in the engagement at 
 Sterling Farm, near the AtchaMaya. I quote from Major 
 Bruce's official report: 
 
 "On the 29th instant, the enemy, having received reinforce- 
 ments, turned our right and attacked us in the rear, cutting off 
 
356 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 our retreat. Ho at the same time attacked us in front. My 
 regiment was first called into action, met the enemy boldly, 
 and at short range, delivering a deadly volley, which com- 
 pelled him to fall back. He however rallied again in over- 
 whelming force, and, after a firm and desperate struggle, in 
 which we were well supported by the 26th Indiana, we were 
 completely overpowered and compelled to surrender. Many of 
 our men, however, refused to give up until the guns were 
 taken from their hands by the rebels. 
 
 "The rebels were commanded by General Green in person, 
 and consisted of three brigades — in all, a force of five thousand 
 men. Our entire force was about five hundred. My regiment 
 had only about two hundred and sixty men in the action: 
 many having been left sick in convalescent camps at Carroll- 
 ton, Louisiana, were not present on the expedition. The fight 
 was short, but deadly, considering the numbers engaged. The 
 corn and high weeds concealed the enemy's lines, until they 
 approached within pistol-shot. Many of our men escaped and 
 came straggling into camp for two days afterward." 
 
 The loss of the 19th Iowa in this action, was two officers and 
 eight enlisted men killed, and one officer and eleven enlisted 
 men wounded. Eleven officers and two hundred and three 
 enlisted men were captured, and marched to prison at Camp 
 Ford, Texas. Lieutenants Kent and Roberts of the regiment 
 were among the killed. Captain Taylor, of Company G, was 
 severely wounded, and died of his wounds soon after. The 
 19th Iowa constituted the first installment of Iowa troops, 
 taken to Camp Ford; and its locality and surroundings may 
 be given here with interest. I quote from a letter of Chaplain 
 M. II. Hare, of the 36th Iowa, who, at a later day, was him- 
 self a prisoner of war in this wretched den. 
 
 "The prison-camp is one hundred miles south-west of 
 Shreveport, Louisiana, and four miles from Tyler, Texas. It 
 is situated on high table-lands, covered w'ith pine and oak, 
 and might be considered, for this country, healthy. There are 
 about eight acres in the stockade. A spring in the south-west 
 corner of the lot furnishes a good supply of water, impreg- 
 iiated with sulphur, and tolerably cool. Old prisoners say this 
 
BENJAMIN CRABB. 857 
 
 water is healthy. The stockade is formed by placing logs, 
 halved, upright, planted some two feet in the ground, and 
 standing seven feet above the surface. The prisoners have to 
 build their own quarters, and are very much in the condition 
 of the old Israelites, who were required to make brick without 
 straw." 
 
 The 19th Iowa was captured on the 29th of October, as already 
 stated, and was at that time the fourth Iowa regiment that had 
 been captured entire, or nearly so. Three others have since 
 suffered the like misfortune, Tn Anril. 1864, the 36th was cap- 
 tured near Moro Creek, Arkansas; in July of the same year, the 
 16th was captured south-east of Atlanta; and, in the following 
 October, the 17th was captured at Tilton, Georgia. The 19th 
 Iowa were the first Iowa troops that, as prisoners of war, 
 suffered great cruelties, on the west side of the Mississippi. 
 Indeed, previous to this, the Confederate authorities at Rich- 
 mond had not resolved on disabling their captives for further 
 service, by exposure and starvation. But these were not the 
 only cruelties practiced; for instance: *' A private of the 26th 
 Indiana regiment, named Thomas Moorehead, was one day 
 near the guard-line, waiting for wood, when he was abruptly 
 commanded to fall back. The Federal soldier was aware that 
 an order had been promulgated forbidding prisoners to 
 approach within three paces of the line, and he had halted, 
 therefore, at a distance much greater. Nevertheless, in compli- 
 ance with the sentry's demand, he was turning back, when the 
 brute, whose name is remembered as Frank Smith, shot him, 
 the ball passing through his body and shattering the arm of 
 another prisoner, who stood near by. Moorehead, fatally hurt 
 in the bowels, died the same night; and the wounded man was 
 left without surgical assistance, other than could be afforded by 
 a hospital-steward, captured soon after." 
 
 I have said the 19th Iowa were marched as prisoners of war 
 to Tyler, Texas ; but they had many sufferings before reaching 
 
358 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 that place. They were first sent to Alexandria, then to Shreve- 
 port, and from that point to Tyler. It is said their guard from 
 Shreveport to Tyler, were rebel Bed River steamboat-men, 
 who practiced on them great cruelties. In the early winter of 
 1863-4, they were paroled for e?^hange, and marched back to 
 Shreveport ; but for some reason no exchange was effected, and 
 after remaining at Shrevejiort all Winter they were again sent 
 to Tyler. Their treatment on this march was more brutal than 
 ever. Their course was marked by the blood from their swol- 
 len and lacerated feet. "Men, who failed to keep up from 
 swollen feet, were lassoed and dragged by the neck. Many 
 were wounded by blows from swords and muskets. Proper 
 representations of this treatment were made to General Kirby 
 Smith, but ivithout effect.^^ They were finally exchanged on the 
 23d of July, 1864, and delivered to Colonel Dwight near the 
 mouth of Red River. Proceeding to New Orleans, their 
 wretched condition excited much sympathy ; and they were 
 photographed in a group, and prints of the negative sent to all 
 parts of the country. 
 
 Though it seems hardly possible, there are not wanting those 
 who now clamor for an amnesty that shall shield the instigators 
 of these enormous crimes from justice. For my part I will 
 never cease to pray that blood may flow till all these inhuman 
 wretches have suffered the full penalty of the law. Let our 
 innocent blood be avenged, or peace will never be secure ! Let 
 all leading traitors die ! 
 
 That portion of the 19th regiment which escaped capture at 
 Sterling Farm, and its sick and convalescent at Carrollton and 
 other points, were afterward united, and, under Major Bruce, 
 joined in General Banks' expedition into Texas, late in the 
 following October. 
 
 The above expedition left New Orleans, and, passing down 
 to the Gulf through the South West Pass, anchored out side 
 
BENJAMIN CRABB. 359 
 
 the bar in the evening of the 28th instant. On the morning 
 of the 29th, it put to sea. The three-days trip across the Gulf 
 will never be forgotten by Banks' old command. The major- 
 ity of the troops were land-men, and, with pleasant weather 
 and an even sea, would have experienced little pleasure ; but 
 the elements conspired against them. The morning of the 
 second day out broke with a violent storm from the north, 
 which lashed the waters into frightful commotion. Unfortu- 
 nately, many of the troops were embarked on old and frail 
 transports. These were loaded tot he water's edge, and every 
 surge of the heavy sea made them groan like huge monsters 
 at bay. Several of the boats became leaky, and, to lighten 
 them, mules, wagons, caissons, and forage were thrown over- 
 board. The storm finally abated, and the whole fleet arrived 
 at the Island of Brazos Santiago in safety. The bar was 
 crossed on the second of November, and a landing effected. 
 The 19th Iowa was the first regiment to land, and that was 
 soon followed by the 20th. 
 
 Four days were consumed in dis-embarking the troops, 
 unloading the baggage and supplies, and in reconnoitering. 
 Then, — November 6th — a portion of Herron's Division, of 
 which was the 19th Iowa, led the advance to Brownsville, 
 which was entered on the evening of the next day, without 
 opposition. Portions of the town were at the time in flames, 
 as also were the barracks of Fort Brown. The town had been 
 occupied by rebel troops ; but they fled on the approach of the 
 Federals. I should not omit to state that the country through 
 which our troops marched was historic : the line of march led 
 past the battle-fields of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. 
 Large quantities of cotton captured, and the breaking up of a 
 considerable trade between Mexico and the Confederacy, were 
 the chief fruits of this military movement. 
 
 In the summer of 1864, that portion of the 19th Iowa which 
 
360 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 escaped capture returned to New Orleans, where it was joined 
 by its comrades, just released from Tyler, Texas. The regi- 
 ment then joined in the operations that resulted in the capture 
 of the forts guarding Mobile Bay. Much of the fall of 1864, 
 and of the following Winter, it passed at different points 
 along the Mississippi, and operated with the forces that were 
 changed from one point to another in Louisiana and Arkansas, 
 to check-mate the movements of the enemy. It last served 
 under General Granger in the operations against Mobile, being 
 brigaded with the 20th Wisconsin, 23d Iowa, and the 94th 
 Illinois. With its brigade, it held the extreme left of the 
 Federal forces before Spanish Fort. In the reduction of this 
 strong-hold, it suffered little if any loss. 
 
 Benjamin Crabb was the only colonel the 19th Iowa had. 
 At the time of his resignation, the ranks of the regiment had 
 been so depleted in action and by disease, as to reduce it below 
 the minimum of a regimental organization. In justice to a 
 gallant and faithful ofiicer, I should state that the regiment, a 
 chief portion of the time since the resignation of Colonel 
 Crabb, has been commanded by Major John Bruce, a Scotch- 
 man by birth, and a resident of Keokuk, Iowa. 
 
 Colonel Crabb is a large, portly man, and has the appearance, 
 on short acquaintance, of being easy-going and good natured. 
 He walks like a lazy man, but his neighbors say he is not. 
 He was an efficient officer, and left the service, I am told, on 
 account of ill-health. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM M<^E. DYE. 
 
 TWENTIETH INFANTRY. 
 
 William McE. Dye was born in the State of Pennsylvania, 
 about the year 1831. At the time of entering the volunteer 
 service, he was a captain in the regular army — I think, in the 
 8th Infantry. When promoted to the colonelcy of the 20th 
 Iowa, his residence was in Marion, Linn county, Iowa. I 
 know no more of his history. 
 
 The history of the 20th Iowa Regiment is nearly the same as 
 that of the 19th. From the first, these two regiments have 
 served together, and much of the time in the same brigade. 
 With the 20th Wisconsin and 94th Illinois, they constituted 
 Herron's Brigade, with which he marched from Rolla to 
 Springfield, in September, 1862. Prairie Grove was the 20th 
 Iowa's first battle, as it also was the first of the 19th. However, 
 at the time of this action, the 20th regiment was attached to 
 Totten's Division, (the 2d) the 19th being attached to Herron's 
 (the 3d) — all of the Army of the Frontier, as organized on the 
 15th of the previous October. But, as has been previously 
 stated, both Schofield and Totten being absent. General Herron 
 marched to Blunt's relief, at Cane Hill, with both divisions, 
 and chief in command. 
 
 For a further history of the battle at Prairie Grove, and more 
 particularly for the part taken in it by the 20th Iowa, I shall 
 refer to the interesting and ofiicial statement of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Leake; first premising, however, that the regiment 
 entered the engagement in support of the three left guns of 
 Captain Murphy's Battery, which, having been pushed across 
 Illinois Creek, were put in position in the edge of the woods on 
 the north side of the prairie. 
 
 361 
 
362 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 "Immediately after forming in line, I was ordered to throw 
 out a party of skirmishers, to protect our right and rear from 
 surprise, for which service I detailed twenty men of Company 
 A, under the command of First-Lieutenant C. L. Drake of 
 that company. The 26th Indiana, the only infantry regiment 
 in the 1st Brigade, of the 2d Division, was formed to the rear 
 of, and between the 37th Illinois and the 20th Iowa. These 
 dispositions having been made at one o'clock P. M., the 
 engagement was opened by the firing of a gun from the bat- 
 tery, under command of Lieutenant Marr. At about two. 
 o'clock, the order was given to advance the battery, I receiving 
 orders to move the regiment forward in support. We 
 advanced in this order across the open field, to within about 
 two hundred yards of the foot of the hill, and in front of the 
 house of H. Roger, when the battery was ordered back, but 
 the regiment left in its advanced position. I presently 
 received orders from Colonel Dye, in pursuance of which the 
 regiment moved to the right, into the adjoining field, and in 
 front of the orchard on the left of the house of William Rogers, 
 to check a movement of the enemy to out-flank us on the 
 right. At this time, the 20th was on the extreme right of the 
 2d and 3d Divisions. This movement was executed under a 
 galling fire, which we returned, advancing to within a few 
 paces of the edge of the orchard." 
 
 " At this time, a force appeared on our right, advancing up 
 the valley. Fearing that we were being outflanked by the 
 enemy, I was ordered to fall back across the field, and take 
 position behind a fence in our rear, which was executed in 
 good order, under fire. I then threw out Companies A and F, 
 under command of Captains Bates and Hubbard, as skirmish- 
 ers. Shortly after a cavalry force appeared upon our right and 
 rear, whereupon the skirmishers were recalled, and a change of 
 front made toward the approaching force. Colonel Dye hav- 
 ing sent forward and ascertained that the cavalry were from 
 General Blunt's command, the 20th Iowa at once changed 
 front, and resumed its former position behind the fence, 
 fronting toward the orchard. We had scarcely re-taken this 
 position, when an aid from General Blunt reported to me that 
 the forces that had come up the valley and were taking position 
 in the field on our right was the command of General Blunt. 
 
 " Blunt at once sent forward a part of the 1st Indiana regi- 
 ment as skirmishers. Colonel Dye reported to General Blunt, 
 
WILLIAM MCE. DYE. 363 
 
 and ordered me to make a charge with the 20th up the hill, on 
 the left of, and operate with the forces of General Blunt. I 
 moved the regiment rapidly forward in line of battle across 
 the field, obliquing to the left; crossed the orchard fence; drove 
 the enemy through the orchard; and advanced beyond the 
 upper orchard fence, and through the woods a short distance. 
 The left wing being more severely engaged, the right had 
 passed further in advance, when some of the Indianians came 
 running back through the woods to the right, gesticulating 
 violently, and pointing in the direction whence they came. 
 At the same moment an officer shouted to me that we were 
 firing on our friends. Seeing some men with United States 
 overcoats on, I gave the order to cease firing, and rode toward 
 the left. I feared that the troops on our left wing had ascended 
 the hill, and advanced to our front ; but I now saw directly in 
 our front, a mass of troops moving down upon us. At nearly 
 the same instant, they fired a volley, under which the left wing 
 recoiled nearly to the orchard fence, when they promptly 
 rallied at my command, and renewed the firing with great 
 rapidity and, I think, with great effect. 
 
 "The Indiana regiment having fallen back, I received orders 
 to retire behind the fence at the foot of the hill, and hold it, which 
 movement was promptly executed by the regiment, and in 
 good order, the men climbing the fence under a galling fire, 
 lying down behind it and continuing their fire between the 
 fence rails." 
 
 In this position the fighting of the 20th Iowa practically 
 closed; for, so soon as the regiment left the orchard, Blunt's 
 and Herron's artillery opened a vigorous fire on the enemy, 
 and drove them back ; and, though they kept up a fire till after 
 d[ark from their retired position, they did not advance to renew 
 the attack. 
 
 The loss of the 20th Iowa in this action was forty-seven. 
 Lieutenant Harrison Oliver was the only commissioned officer 
 of the regiment killed. He was a native of Massachusetts, 
 and a young man, I am told of much promise. Lieutenants 
 R. M. Lyth, T. G. G. Cavendish, Fred. E. Starck and E. Stowe 
 were wounded. Seven enlisted men were killed, among whom 
 
364 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 were Sergeants T. B. Miller, and F. M. Steel, Major William 
 G. Thompson, who acted with great courage, was quite severely 
 wounded. He received high commendation from Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Leake: " I was assisted in the discharge of my duties 
 as commander of the regiment, by Major Thompson who, 
 although exposed to the hottest fire, conducted himself with 
 great galluntry and self-possession. He was wounded late In 
 the action, and, though sufiering great pain, did not leavG the 
 field until the command was safely withdrawn from under the 
 fire of the enemy." The good conduct of Lieutenant J. C. 
 McCelland, acting adjutant, was most highly commended, as 
 was also that of Sergeant-Major George A. Gray. " The men 
 acted throughout the engagement bravely and with entire self- 
 possession, retiring under fire repeatedly, and rallying with the 
 utmost promptness at the word of command." General Her- 
 ron in his offi ial report omits mentioning the name of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Leake, though I am told none showed 
 greater coolness and determination on the field than he. " The 
 conduct of Colonel W. McE. Dye was admirable." 
 
 From the date of the Prairie Grove battle till the fall ol 
 Vicksburg, and, indeed, till the arrival of Herron's Division 
 at Carrollton, Louisiana, and its return to Morganzia, the 
 history of the 20th Iowa will be found substantially recorded 
 in the sketch of the 19th. Their fatiguing marches through 
 the alternating mud and dust of Southern Missouri and 
 Northern Arkansas; their exposures in inclement weather; 
 their labors before Vicksburg ; their march from Yazoo City, 
 across to the Big Black and back to the river ; their trip to 
 Port Hudson and Carrollton, and back to Morganzia — in all, 
 their experiences are nearly the same. 
 
 The 20th Iowa was not in the action at Sterling Farm, 
 though Lieutenant-Colonel Leake of the regiment was in 
 command of the forces, which fought there and were captured. 
 
WILLIAM MCE. DYE. 365 
 
 Only thirteen men of the regiment accompanied the colonel, 
 and these served as mounted infantry, and were employed in 
 scouting and as vedettes. On the day of the battle, they were 
 stationed some eight miles distant from the main body, and at 
 that point were attacked and routed by a portion of the same 
 rebel force, which fought Colonel Leake. As stated in the 
 sketch of the 19th Iowa, Lieutenant-Colonel Leake was 
 captured, and shared all the hardships of the prison-life. He 
 seemed to have been one of the chief counselors of the 
 unfortunate captives ; for, at the time Private Moorehead, ol 
 the 26th Indiana, was shot by the brute. Smith, the prisoners 
 determined " to rise, massacre the small guard, and sack the 
 I neighboring town of Tyler ; " but the colonel counseled mod- 
 eration, and "calmed an excitement, which might have 
 resulted in a rash outbreak that could only end in the destruc- 
 tion of all." Lieutenant-Colonel A. J. II. Duganne, a prisoner 
 at Camp Ford, and the author of "Twenty months in the 
 Department of the Gulf," pays Colonel Leake the following 
 compliment: "He was one of the most genial and intelligent 
 officers that I met at Camp Ford." 
 
 The 20th Iowa remained with its division in the vicinity of 
 Morganzia, until about the 10th of October, 1SG3, wiien it left 
 on the return to Carrollton. General Banks was already 
 organizing his forces, preparatory to his expedition into Texas ; 
 I and Herron's Division was summond below, to join in this 
 j service. All things were in readiness late in October, and the 
 24th of that month Banks cut loose from the Crescent City, and 
 I steered for Brazos Santiago. He had an ample out-fit— six- 
 I teen vessels, loaded down with troops and supplies, and three 
 gun-boats. The expedition promised much, but for some 
 reason resulted in nothing substantial. The territory recov- 
 ered, was all afterward abandoned. Indeed, General Banks, 
 though a brilliant and most worthy man in some respects, has 
 
866 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 been unsuccessful or unfortunate, from the time of assuming 
 command at New Orleans, forward to — I don't care how iiir. 
 His operations at Port Hudson were not brilliant; his "Teche 
 Raid" was only ordinary; his efforts at Sabine Pass, where a 
 mud fort repulsed him, were inglorious; his movements up 
 the Rio Grande, and along tlie Texan coast were substantially 
 failures; and his expedition up the Red River an alarming 
 disaster. Evidently, he is not fit for the field; though, as a 
 military governor, he possesses merit. 
 
 An account of the passage from New Orleans to Brazos San- 
 tiago has been given in the sketch of Colonel Crabb, of the 
 19th Iowa. On arriving at the last named point, the 20th 
 Iowa did not accompany its division to Brownsville; but 
 crossing the Lagoon de Madre to Point Isabel, proceeded to 
 Mustang Island, where it remained for several months. 
 
 When Canby and Granger were about to attack the forts at 
 the mouth of Mobile Bay, the 20th Iowa with the other troops 
 of its division were summoned to that department. The regi- 
 ment took part in those operations, and, in the following Fall, 
 moved up the Mississippi to Morganzia. For many weeks, it 
 operated in Louisiana and Arkansas ; but a history of these 
 movements will be found elsewhere. It last served under 
 General Steele, in the operations against Mobile, marching from 
 Pensacola, Florida, via Pollard to the rear of Fort Blakely. 
 Of the particular part it acted in this grand movement, I am 
 unadvised. 
 
 I am told that Colonel Dye is a little above the medium in 
 size ; that he has a freckled face, sandy hair, light eye-brows, 
 and bright blue eyes. He is either a relation or a friend of 
 Ex-Governor Kirkwood, and, like that able, unpretending 
 man, is careless in dress and unostentatious in manners. He 
 ranks high as an officer, and is held in the highest esteem by 
 General Canby. 
 
COLONEL SAMUEL MERRILL. 
 
 TWENTY-FIRST INFANTRY. 
 
 Colonel Samuel Merrill is a native of the State which 
 was first settled by traders and fishermen "on the Maine," and 
 is a representative-man of New England. He was born on the 
 7th day of August, 1822, in the town of Turner, Oxford county, 
 where he resided till the age of sixteen ; when he moved with 
 his parents to Buxton, York county, of the same State. After 
 removing to Buxton, he taught and attended school by turns, 
 until he attained his majority, and then visited the Southern 
 States, with the intention of settling there, and making teach- 
 ing a permanent business. But, as the colonel himself 
 expresses it, "he was born too far north." Suspicions were 
 awakened, many questions asked, and he was finally advised 
 to leave, which he did in disgust. Nor did he ever return, 
 until, under orders from his Government, he led his regiment 
 j to the field. Returning to 'Maine after his rebuff" in the South, 
 I he purchased a farm, and two years later married. In 1847, he 
 j lost his wife, after living with her only fourteen months. Soon 
 I after, he sold his farm and moved to Tamworth, New Hamp- 
 I shire; where, in company with his brother, J. H. Merrill, 
 Esq., he entered the mercantile business. This he followed 
 with good success, till the year 1856, when he removed to 
 McGregor, Iowa, and established a branch house of the same 
 firm. 
 
 While a citizen of New Hampshire, Colonel Merrill was 
 twice elected to the State Legislature. He was a member of 
 that body in 1854 and in 1855, the time when the celebrated 
 struggle for United States Senators came off", which finally ter- 
 minated in the election of John P. Hale and .lames Bell. For 
 
 3G7 
 
868 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 nearly, forty consecutive years previous, the State Iiad been 
 democratic. 
 
 In 1854, Nathaniel B. Baker, our present adjutant-general, 
 was Governor of New Hampshire, and Colonel Merrill a 
 member of the House. Just six years later, both of these gen- 
 tlemen were elected to the Iowa State Legislature, and served 
 together in that body. 
 
 In January, 1851, Colonel Merrill was again married, his 
 second wife being a Miss Hill, of Buxton, Maine. From this 
 union three children were born ; though all of them died 
 young, the oldest living to be only two and a half years old. 
 From 185G till the spring of 1861, Colonel Merrill continued in 
 the wholesale and retail dry-goods and grocery business ; but, 
 at the last named date, sold out and became a member of the 
 McGregor Branch Bank. 
 
 In the summer of 1862, Colonel Merrill entered the United 
 States service. Ardent in temperament and radical in senti- 
 ment, it was only his unsettled business, as I am credibly 
 informed, that prevented him from enlisting in the war sooner. 
 He was commissioned colonel of the 21st Iowa Infantry, on 
 the 1st of August, 1862, and, on the 16th of September follow- 
 ing, left Dubuque in command of his regiment for St. Louis on 
 the steamer Henry Clay. 
 
 One of the most interesting pages in the history of the 21st 
 Iowa, is that which relates to the battle of Hartsville, Mis- 
 souri — an engagement, of which less is known in our State, 
 than of almost any other, in which Iowa troops have fought. 
 Colonel Merrill arrived with his command at Holla, Missouri, 
 on the 23d of September, 1862, and, previous to the 11th of 
 January, 1863, (the date of the Hartsville battle) had marched 
 it from one point to another in Southern Missouri, without ever 
 meeting the enemy. We should, however, excejDt the affair at 
 Beaver Creek, where, on the 27th of November, a small 
 
SAMUEL, MERRILL. 369 
 
 detachment of the regiment, while guarding a provision-train 
 from Rolla to Hartsville, was cut to pieces by rebel cavalry. 
 
 General J. S. Marmaduke, on the 31st of December, 1862, (I 
 quote from the rebel general's report) "marched from Lewis- 
 burg, Arkansas, via Yellville, Arkansas, to strike the enemy 
 in rear and flank," with a force numbering, according to his 
 own estimate, three thousand three hundred and seventy men. 
 Advancing by way of Ozark, the rebel force appeared before 
 Springfield on the 8th of January, 1863, and at once began an 
 assault on the place. 
 
 As has been already stated in the sketch of General Edwards, 
 Springfield was, at the time in question, commanded by Gen- 
 eral Brown of Missouri. Doubting his ability to make a 
 successful defense against so unequal a force, he telegraphed 
 General Fitz Henry Warren, commanding at Houston, Mis- 
 souri, for reinforcements. The telegram was received by 
 General Warren on the morning of the 9th. Without waiting 
 to confer with General Curtis, commanding the Department, 
 he promptly organized a force, consisting of the 21st Iowa, the 
 j99th Illinois, three companies of the 3d Iowa, and the 3d Mis- 
 souri cavalry, and two guns of the 2d Missouri Battery, and, 
 placing it under command of Colonel Merrill of the 21st Iowa, 
 |ordered that oflicer to proceed by forced marches to Sx)ringfield, 
 land report to the commanding oflicer of the place. On Satur- 
 day evening, the 10th instant. Colonel Merrill had reached 
 [Woods' Fork, about six miles west of Hartsville, where he 
 halted his command for supper and rest. Reveille was beat on 
 Sunday morning at two o'clock, and preparations made to 
 |*esume the march, when scouts came in with the report that 
 the enemy, in heavy force, was advancing on the Springfield 
 'oad. Colonel Merrill at once comprehended the situation. 
 Marmaduke had been repulsed at Springfield ; and he had now 
 fight the entire rebel command. With this understanding 
 
 24 
 
370 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 he made a liasty disposition of his forces, and met the advance 
 of the enemy with so vigorous an attack that he soon fell back, 
 and, moving south to the old Springfield road, continued his 
 march in the direction of Ilartsville. Being advised of this 
 movement, Colonel Merrill moved back hastily, and secured a 
 commanding point to the west of the town that not only made 
 his own position secure, but enabled him to command the 
 place. 
 
 The fight at Hartsville opened with artillery at eleven 
 o'clock A. M. and continued till four in the afternoon, when 
 the enemy, repulsed and punished at every point, withdrew 
 from the field. The force under Colonel Merrill in this engage- 
 ment was about one thousand : that of the enemy was not less 
 than three thousand three hundred and seventy — probably, 
 not less than five thousand. The contest was unequal, and the 
 victory all the more brilliant. Of this battle General Marma- 
 duke says, in his official report : "At Hartsville, I met, fought, 
 and drove, in the direction of Lebanon, sixteen hundred infantry 
 and five hundred cavalry, under General Merrill. The battle 
 was desperate." It was indeed desperate for him ; for he lost 
 among his dead one brigadier — the "brave McDonald" — three 
 colonels, and one major, "besides other brave officers." Gen- 
 eral Marmaduke, in his retreat to White River, frequently 
 said to Lieutenant Brown of the 3d Iowa cavalry, whom he 
 had taken prisoner at Wood's Fork: "Why, Lieutenant, 
 your boys fought like devils." 
 
 At Hartsville, the loss of the 21st Iowa was thirty in killed, 
 wounded and missing. Four enlisted men were killed, and two 
 oflBcers and sixteen enlisted men wounded. 
 
 Subsequently to the winter of 1862-3, and till after the fall of 
 Yicksburg, the history of the 21st is nearly the same as are 
 those of the 22d and 23d Iowa Infantry regiments. Brigaded 
 with the two last named regiments, together with the 11th 
 
SAMUEL MERRILL. 371 
 
 Wisconsin, (a splendid body of troops) the 21st Iowa marclied 
 on the Vicksburg Campaign, and took a distinguished part in 
 the battles of Port Gibson and Big Black River Bridge. In 
 the former of these the regiment led the advance of its corps, 
 and received the first fire of the enemy. 
 
 "At the widow Daniel's plantation, some nine miles from 
 Port Gibson, we were ordered by General Carr to take the 
 advance. I ordered Company A, commanded by Captain A. 
 P. Jones, and Company B, commanded by Captain W. D. 
 Crooke, as advance skirmishers, commanded by Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Dunlap, and supported by Companies D and F, com. 
 manded by Major Van Anda; next was a twelve-pound field 
 piece from that excellent battery, the First Iowa : all supported 
 by the balance of my command." 
 
 The road from Rodney, Mississippi to Port Gibson, (and it 
 was on this road that the battle was fought) runs along a high, 
 broken ridge, and is cut down in many places to a great depth. 
 The 21st Iowa, when near Thompson's Hill, where the Federal 
 skirmishers were fired on, was ordered to halt and rest in one 
 of these cuts. A majority of the men had thrown themselves 
 down in the road, and upon their backs, using their knapsacks 
 as a support — a favorite position for the soldier, when ordered 
 to rest on the march. Others were leaning up against the steep 
 banks of the road. Among the latter, were Dr. "William L. 
 Orr, surgeon of the 21st Iowa, and, I believe. Colonel MerriU, 
 both having dismounted. It was now nearly two o'clock in 
 the morning. The colonel and doctor stood talking together 
 unconcernedly, when they were startled by a brilliant flash, 
 and, at the same instant, a storm of musket-balls came whirl- 
 ing down through the cut. Almost at the same instant, the 
 enemy opened with artillery. They were in force on the hill 
 above — and thus the fight opened and lasted about and hour, 
 when both parties, as if by mutual consent, ceased firing. The 
 battle was renewed at day-light the next morning, and lasted 
 nearly the entire day. The 21st Iowa fired the first gun ; but, 
 
372 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 although engaged nearly all day, the loss of the regiment was 
 only one officer and thirteen men wounded. Colonel Merrill, 
 in the afternoon of the engagement, commanded his brigade, 
 and had his horse so severely wounded that, it was necessary 
 to leave it upon the field. For his conduct in the engagement, 
 he was thus complimented by General Carr, the division com- 
 mander: "The 21st Iowa, Colonel Samuel Merrill, first in the 
 battle, and one of the last to leave the field." Of Company B, 
 and its gallant captain, the same report says: "Company B, 
 21st Iowa, Captain Crooke, received the first fire of the rebel 
 pickets, and returned it with great coolness." Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Dunlap was the only commissioned officer of the 
 regiment wounded in this engagement. 
 
 Among the officers and men whose names are mentioned for 
 good conduct in this engagement are Captains Benton, Harri- 
 son, Voorhees, Boardman and Watson, and Sergeant B. Krist. 
 The latter captured a rebel orderly, who was at the time bear- 
 ing dispatches. 
 
 The battle at Big Black River Bridge, where the 21st Iowa 
 next distinguished itself, is one of the most gallant afiairs ol 
 the whole war: an account of it will be found in the sketch oi 
 the late Colonel Kinsman, of the 28d Iowa. It was in this 
 charge that Colonel Merrill, while leading his regiment 
 received the wound which afterward necessitated his leavinfi 
 the service. His regiment, too, sufiered severely. Sever 
 enlisted men were killed, and three officers and sixty-fou 
 enlisted men wounded. In his official report of the engage 
 ment, Lieutenant-Colonel Dunlap says : 
 
 "Colonel Merrill, commanding the regiment, fell in the firr 
 part of the charge, severely wounded, while gallantly leadin 
 his regiment against the enemy. ***** 
 
 I can not of course make mention of all those who distil i 
 guished themselves on that battle-field, as that would be ' 
 copy the roll of all present. Major S. G. Van Anda, receive 
 
SAMUEL MERRILL. 373 
 
 , the highest credit for the coolness and bravery with which he 
 I conducted the charge, the left being in front, through the storm 
 of leaden hail. Much of the success of the charge is owing to 
 his gallant conduct and daring example. Captain Harrison was 
 I one of the first officers on the enemy's works. Captains Swivel, 
 I Voorhees, Watson, Boardman, and Crooke behaved with great 
 i coolness. Lieutenants Roberts, Childs and Dolson, received 
 the praise of all who saw their bravery. Lieutenant Howard 
 of Company B, acting adjutant, received a mortal wound while 
 I gallantly performing his part of this gallant charge. 
 I With no desire to do injustice to other brave men of the regi- 
 Iment, I will mention, specially. Captain Jesse M. Harrison, 
 Company C ; for his conduct on the field was most admirable. 
 He was one of the first to enter the enemy's works. On coming 
 to the bayou in front of the rebel works, he saw a fallen tree, 
 lying in the water, and sprung upon it, and from that to the 
 opposite side, which he reached without wetting his feet. His 
 company having waded the stream, followed directly to the 
 bridge to cut off the retreat of those to the right. His fore- 
 thought and courage added not less than five-hundred to Gen- 
 eral Grant's roll of prisoners. The captain's residence is in 
 Dubuque, and I am told he is a w^ealthy bachelor. I am in 
 j wonder at the status of so brave a man. 
 
 I After participating in the siege of Vicksburg, (during which 
 
 the brave Lieutenant-Colonel Dunlap was killed) and the 
 
 ' second march on Jackson under General Sherman, the 21st 
 
 Iowa was ordered to report to General Banks at New Orleans. 
 
 A chief portion of the time since the regiment has served in 
 
 the trans-Mississippi Department. I have already said its 
 
 history was much the same as that of the 23d Iowa. It was 
 
 I stationed at Old Town, Texas, early in March, 1864, when 
 
 ' Colonel Merrill, not yet fit for duty, re-joined it. The colonel's 
 
 wound was much more severe than was at first supposed ; for 
 
 after the lapse of nine months he was still unfit for duty. 
 
 Believing that he could not again endure the hardships of field 
 
374 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 service he wrote a letter to his officers in which he expressed 
 his determination to resign liis commission ; but they and the 
 regiment would not consent, and a petition was drawn up and 
 forwarded to him which in length measured nearly twenty 
 feet. 
 
 Colonel Merrill re-joined his regiment in March as already 
 stated, but his health was gone, and after a few weeks he 
 resigned his commission and returned to his home in Mc 
 Gregor. The history of his regiment since he left it is not an 
 eventful one. It has served on the Gulf and along the Missis- 
 sippi River. 
 
 Colonel Merrill in his habits and manners is a New England 
 man ; and, in person, he is a fair sample of the sons of Maine 
 which is noted for her stately forests and stalwart men. He is 
 six feet high, and weighs two hundred and fifteen pounds. As 
 a soldier. Colonel Merrill ranked high, and was popular both 
 with his command and his superiors. When he entered the 
 service, he was strictly a civilian, but notwithstanding this, he 
 was, though of a nervous temperament, cool in action and 
 brave to a fault. That he was regarded as possessing the qual- 
 ties of a commanding officer, I need only state that he was 
 placed in command of a division at "West Plains, Missouri, 
 when he had been in the service only five months. In politics, 
 he is radical, and deems the term "Black Republican" of no 
 reproach. On resigning his commission in the army, he was 
 elected President of the First National Bank, McGregor, Iowa, 
 which position he still holds. 
 
COLONEL HARVEY GRAHAM. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, TWENTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 
 
 Harvey Graham was born in the year 1827, in the State of 
 Pennsylvania. He is an old resident of Iowa City, and entered 
 the service from that place ; but, of the time he first came to 
 the State, I am unadvised. He is a mill-wright by trade. 
 
 Colonel Graham's connection with the volunteer service 
 dates from the beginning of the war. He was one of the first 
 men from Johnson county to enter the army, in the spring of 
 i 1861. He was the 1st Lieutenant of Company B, 1st Iowa 
 I Infantry, and commanded his company at the battle of Wil- 
 son's Creek, where he was slightly wounded. On the organi- 
 zation of the 22d Iowa Infantry, he was commissioned major 
 of the regiment, and, a few days later, was promoted to the 
 lieutenant-colonelcy, vice John A. Garrett, promoted to the 
 I colonelcy of the 40th Iowa. He served with his regiment as 
 I lieutenant-colonel till the resignation of Colonel, now Governor 
 I Stone, when he was commissioned colonel. 
 I Subsequently to the fall of Vicksburg and up to July, 1864, 
 
 I the history of the 22d Iowa is much the same as are those of 
 I 
 the 21st and 23d Iowa Regiments. It served in Louisiana, 
 
 and on the Texan coast. But in July, 1864, it was one of the 
 
 three Iowa regiments that were transferred to the Shenandoah 
 
 Valley. At the time it sailed for that destination, there were 
 
 other Iowa troops under orders for the same place; but the 
 
 unsettled condition of affairs in Arkansas demanded their 
 
 services, and the orders, as regarded them, were revoked. 
 
 The following is from the history of the 22d Iowa, which 
 
 appears in the Adjutant-General's Reports for the year 1865: 
 
 375 
 
376 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 " The 13th Army Corps having been temporarily discon- 
 tinued by the War Department, the 22d Iowa was ordered to 
 report to General Beynolds at New Orleans. Embarked on 
 transports, reached New Orleans July 6th, and was ordered 
 into camp at Algiers, Louisiana. Here was assigned to the 
 Second Brigade of General Grover's (second) Division, 19th 
 Army Corps. The Second Brigade consisted of the 131st and 
 159th New York, 13th Connecticut, and 8d Massachusetts Cav- 
 alry, and was afterward joined by the 22d Iowa and 11th 
 Indiana, and was commanded by Colonel E. L. Molineaux, of 
 the 159th New York. 
 
 "The 19th Army Corps, as reorganized, comprised three 
 divisions : 1st, General Dvvight's, composed of Eastern troops 
 exclusively ; 2d, General Grover's, of five Western regiments 
 and the remainder Eastern troops; 3d, General Lawler's, of 
 Western troops. The 1st and 2d Divisions having been ordered 
 to report to Washington, D. C, the 22d Iowa, with the 131st 
 and 159th New York, embarked on the 17th of July on the 
 steamship Cahawba, and, after a voyage void of incident, 
 arrived at Fortress Monroe on the 24th of July, and anchored 
 in Hampton Boads. Weighed anchor on the 25th at eight A. 
 M., and proceeded up James Biver. Dis-embarked at Ber- 
 muda Hundreds Landing, and after marching seven miles 
 joined the forces of General Butler. 
 
 " The 22d Iowa, and 131st and 159th New York, being the 
 only regiments of the division ordered to this place, the other 
 portion of it having gone direct to Washington, they were 
 temporarily attached to General Terry's Division of General 
 Birney's Corps, and placed on duty in the trenches extending 
 across the peninsula from the James to the Appomattox, 
 occupying a portion of the line in General Butler's front until 
 the 31st, when orders were received to report at Washington. 
 Marched at two o'clock A. M., and reached Bermuda Hun- 
 dreds Landing at day -light; embarked on transport Wenona, 
 and steamed down the James river to Fortress Monroe and 
 from thence up the Potomac to Washington, arriving at noon 
 on the 1st of August. 
 
 From Washington the regiment marched to the Shenandoah, 
 joining Sheridan at Berryville, at mid-night— August 18th. 
 Sheridan was at the time falling back before Early ; and, for 
 
HARVEY GRAHAM. 377 
 
 a month after the arrival of the 19th Corps, he did little more 
 than watch his opportunity and maneuver in the face of the 
 enemy. Nor were his maneuvers fruitless; for, during this 
 time, he parried Early's second contemplated raid into Penn- 
 sylvania. Finally, the rebel Kershaw's Division leaving 
 Early for Kichmond, Sheridan promptly assumed the offen- 
 sive. He was at the time lying intrenched, near Berryville, 
 while Early was on the west side of Opequan Creek, and near 
 Winchester. The advance was begun before day-light on the 
 morning of the 19th of September, over the Winchester and 
 Berryville pike, and the enemy encountered across the Ope- 
 quan, shortly before ten o'clock. The 6th Corps led the 
 advance, or rather followed close on the heels of the cavalry, 
 sent forward to open up a crossing over the Opequan. 
 
 The battle of Winchester or Opequan, says a captain of the 
 19th Corps who fought on the same ground with the 22d Iowa, 
 was after this plan : 
 
 "A narrow ravine, winding among hills so steep and thickly 
 wooded as to be impassable for any troops but light infantry, 
 debouches into an irregular, undulating valley, faced on the 
 south by an amphitheatre of stony hights, laid, with regard to 
 each other, like detached fortifications. The object of Sheridan 
 was to pass through this ravine, deploy in the valley, amuse the 
 enemy's right, fight his centre vigorously, and turn and force 
 his left. The object of Early was to allow us to deploy up to 
 a certain extent ; then to beat in our attacking columns, and 
 throw them back in confusion on the line of advance; lastly, to 
 ruin us by pushing his strong left through our right, and reach- 
 ing the gorge, so as to cut off our retreat. To effect this final 
 purpose, his line was not drawn up at right angles to the pike, 
 but diagonally to it, so as to bring his left near to our vital 
 debouching point." 
 
 The 6th Corps, as already stated, encountered the enemy 
 about ten o'clock. Emerging from the ravine, they swung 
 rapidly down against the enemy's right, in two lines of battle, 
 and gained the position assigned, without much hard fighting. 
 
378 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 The position of tlie 19th Corps was in the centre, and the 
 ground it was to talie and hold involved the severest fighting 
 of the day. It was to break back the rebel centre, and secure a 
 position that would enable the 8th Corps to move up and 
 against the enemy's left. It was the key to all positions— the 
 place of supreme importance, which, if not taken, would insure 
 a repulse, and, if not held when taken, would insure disastrous 
 defeat. 
 
 The fighting had already begun, as the 22d Iowa neared the 
 Opequan ; and, as they pressed on at a rapid pace through the 
 narrow, crowded highway, wounded men, lying pale and quiet 
 upon their bloody stretchers, were frequently met. Soon the 
 creek was reached and crossed, and line of battle formed, when 
 the struggle with the 19th Corps began. The fortunes of the 
 22d Iowa in this battle were, I am told, the same as those of 
 other regiments of its division. It was at first successful, 
 driving the enemy back under one of the most destructive fires 
 ever witnessed, and was then in turn as signally repulsed. 
 Finally, it rallied, and when the enemy's left was assailed by 
 the intrepid Crook, joined in pressing their centre to total rout. 
 It was a dear, but most signal victory. 
 I again quote from the history of the regiment: 
 "It would be impossible to make any discrimination among 
 officers or men for gallant and meritorious conduct in this 
 action. The regiment never fought better. Not a man fal- 
 tered or fell back, although it required more than momentary 
 excitement to charge over a mile, and subjected to a heavy fire. 
 None lacked the courage and determination to do so. Captain 
 D. J. Davis, of Company A, and Captain B. D. Parks, Com- 
 pany E, were instantly killed at the head of their companies, 
 and at the post of honor. Sergeant- Major George A. Remley, 
 as noble as he was brave, was pierced with three balls, and fell 
 dead. Lieutenant-Colonel E. G. White was slightly wounded 
 in the face by the explosion of a shell. Lieutenant James A. 
 Boarts was severely wounded in the head by a minnieball, and 
 has since died. Lieutenants Jones, of Company A, and Hull, 
 
HARVEY GRAHAM. 379 
 
 of Company K, were both captured. Colonel Graham, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel White, Major Gearkee, Captains Mullins, 
 Humphrey, Cree, Clark, Shocker, Hartley and Morsman, and 
 Lieutenants Turnbull, Davis, Needham, Messenger and Chand- 
 ler, are all entitled to great prai.se for their gallantry through- 
 out the battle in encouraging and rallying the men to the 
 colors. Surgeon Shrader was on the field during the engage- 
 ment, and was indefatigable in his exertions to care for the 
 wounded. Quarter-master Sterling, Hospital-Steward Ealy, 
 and Commissary-Sergeant Brown rendered efficient service in 
 carrying off" the wounded, and conducting the ambulances to 
 different paits of the field, and can not be too highly com- 
 mended. The total loss of the regiment in this action was one 
 hundred and nine killed, wounded and missing." 
 
 Next came the pursuit and the engagement at Fisher's Hill, 
 and then the pursuit to Harrisonburg. At Fisher's Hill, the 
 regiment took a conspicuous part, charging in company with 
 the 28th Iowa, and 128th New York, the strong works of the 
 enemy, and capturing a six-gun battery and many prisoners. 
 
 The bloody and well-nigh disastrous affair at Cedar Creek, is 
 thus given by Adjutant Samuel D. Pryce, the regiment's excel- 
 lent historian: 
 
 "On the night of the 18th instant, the 22d Iowa, with the 
 brigade under Colonel Mollineaux, was ordered to be ready to 
 move at five o'clock on the coming morning, on a reeonnois- 
 sance in the direction of Strasburg, to ascertain the force and 
 develop the lines of the enemy. Accordingly, at the hour 
 designated, the brigade was in line ready to move, when the 
 enemy suddenly attacked the extreme left flank of the army, 
 consisting of the 8th Corps, taking them completely by sur- 
 prise, and routing them from their works, and before day-light 
 had succeeded in throwing their entire army in the rear of the 
 6th and 19th Corps. At this juncture, the 22d Iowa was 
 detached, and double-quicked one-half mile to save a battery 
 from capture, and also to protect it until it could take up a new 
 position. We had not, however, reached to within two 
 hundred yards of the ground, when it was ascertained that the 
 enemy had possession of the guns, and were charging over 
 their works. The regiment opened fire, and held its ground 
 
380 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 against the force, checking their advance, but were obliged to 
 fall back and join the brigade, to save being isolated and 
 captured. In this retreat, the regiment retained its organiza- 
 tion, and rallied four times alone, each time checking the 
 advance of the enemy. The army fell back gradually for three 
 miles in the direction of Winchester, when, General Sheridan 
 arriving on the field, the troops re-formed, and preparations 
 were made to retrieve the disaster of the morning. General 
 Sheridan rode along the line, reviewed the troops, and then 
 ordered an advance on the enemy's lines. In the advance, the 
 Western regiments were formed together in one line, and the 
 duty of changing the fortune of the day confided to their 
 intrepid courage. The enemy met the advance with stubborn 
 resistance, but were compelled to give way before the tremen- 
 dous fighting of General Grover's Division of the 19th Corps. 
 The enemy fell back to a line of breast-works, thrown up by 
 them in the morning to provide against a reverse, where they 
 attempted to make a stand to resist the fierce and determined 
 attack of the Western troops, who, with a deafening cheer, 
 again charged them, routing them from their breast-works, 
 and driving them in confusion in every direction. The disas- 
 ter of the morning had been turned into a victory, and the 
 army, inspired with success, pursued the routed enemy, driv- 
 ing them through the camp occupied in the morning, and over 
 Cedar Creek, capturing thousands of prisoners, and a great 
 portion of their trains and artillery. The cavalry took up the 
 pursuit, making heavy additional captures, rendering the 
 defeat of the enemy the most disastrous during the campaign. 
 The total loss of the regiment in this hardly-contested battle 
 was seventy -seven killed, wounded and missing. 
 
 Among the wounded of the 22d Iowa, in the battle of Cedar 
 Creek, were Captains L. F. Mullin, A. B. McCree and Charles 
 Hartley, and Lieutenants E. F. Dudley and N. C. Messenger. 
 Captain G. W. Clark was captured. 
 
 When Sherman left Savannah and Beaufort, on his march 
 northward, the 22d Iowa, with its division, left the Shenan- 
 doah Valley for Eastern Georgia; but all the chief points ot 
 interest in the regiment's history have been already given. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM DEWEY. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 
 
 William Dewey, the original colonel of the 23d Iowa 
 Infantry, and a son of the late Hon. Charles Dewey, a former 
 Judge of the Supreme Bench of Indiana, was born on the 26th 
 day of March, 1811, in the town of Sheffield, Massachusetts. 
 He was educated at the West Point Military Academy, but 
 was not, I think, a graduate of the Institution. After leaving 
 West Point, he studied law in the office of his father, and was 
 admitted to the bar in Indiana, in about the year 1836. He 
 practiced the law for a few years, and then abandoned that 
 profession for medicine, which he studied at the St. Louis 
 Medical College. He completed his medical studies in about 
 the year 1842, and soon after came to Iowa, and settled in 
 Wapello county. 
 
 In 1850 Colonel Dewey served as one of the commissioners, 
 
 who were appointed from Iowa to settle the boundary line 
 
 between Missouri and this State ; after which he removed to 
 
 Sidney, Fremont County. He practiced medicine in Sidney, 
 
 till the summer of 1861, when, in connection with Colonel H. 
 
 T. Reid, he assisted in recruiting and organizing the 15th Iowa 
 
 Infantry. He was made lieutenant-colonel of that regiment, 
 
 on the 6th of November, 1861, and, early in the following 
 
 Spring, accompanied it to Pittsburg Landing. The 15th Iowa 
 
 reached the Landing on Sunday morning, the 6th of April, 
 
 just as the battle was opening, and was ordered to report to 
 
 General Prentiss. All order however was lost before it reached 
 
 the front, and, really, the regiment fought on its own 
 
 account and independently of the orders of General officers. 
 
 381 
 
dii'Z IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Dewey served with the 15th Iowa during 
 the siege of Corinth, and until the 1st of August, 1862, when he 
 was commissioned colonel of the 23d Iowa Infantry. He soon 
 joined his regiment at. its rendezvous in Des Moines. 
 
 The 23d Iowa was first stationed at Patterson, Missouri: 
 indeed, that was the only point at which it served during the 
 life of Colonel Dewey; for he died at that place on the 30th of 
 November, 1862, of erysipelas. His affair at Pittman's Ferry, 
 on Currant River, is the only one that approached to any thing 
 like an engagement during his colonelcy of the 23d Iowa, and 
 that resulted in little more than a long, fatiguing march. 
 
 The colonel was a tall, slender man, with gray eyes and 
 spare features. He was not at first popular with his regiment. 
 He was strict and exacting in his discipline, which did not 
 accord with the democratic notions of his men. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM H. KINSMAN. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 
 
 William H. Kinsman, the successor of Colonel Dewey to 
 the colonelcy of the 23d Iowa Infantry, was born in Nova Sco- 
 tia, in the year 1832. More of his early history I have been 
 unable to learn, except that, when about twenty years of age, 
 he went to sea, and passed some three years in voyaging. He 
 inherited nothing from his parents; nor did he ever receive 
 any pecuniary assistance from his friends ; but, by his diligence 
 and economy, he collected a few hundred dollars, and, with 
 this to defray his expenses, he entered the Columbia County 
 Academy, New York. In 1857, he left that institution, and 
 went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended one course of 
 lectures in the law school of that city. 
 
 Early in 1858, he left Cleveland to seek a location in the 
 West, and in May of the same year arrived in Council Bluffs, 
 having crossed the entire State of Iowa on foot. In Council 
 Bluffs he was a total stranger, and, what seemed worse, had 
 no money; but he had energy, integrity and ability — a most 
 excellent inheritance, and a sure guarrantee of success. Soon 
 after arriving at Council Bluffs, he obtained a situation in the 
 law office of Clinton & Baldwin, where, passing his time as 
 student and clerk, he remained till the fall of 1858. In 1858, 
 he was admitted to the bar of the Pottawattamie District 
 Court. For a short time after, he taught school in Council 
 Bluffs, and at the same time wrote for the press of that city ; 
 for he had no means and could not afford to practice his pro- 
 fession. 
 
 383 
 
384 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 In the winter of 1858-9, was the Pike's Peali gold mines 
 excitement, and he resolved to visit that new region. That he 
 was moneyless, by no means discouraged him : he could make 
 the journey on foot. He therefore paclced his scanty wardrobe 
 in a knapsack made for the occasion, and, bidding his friends 
 good-bye, left Council Bluffs for Denver, on foot. He made 
 the trip, visited the mines and all the interesting and import- 
 ant localities of the country, and in the following Fall returned 
 to Council Bluffs. If we except the experience he gained, he 
 came back no richer than he went ; but he lost nothing, and 
 thousands were less fortunate than he. While absent in the 
 mines, he corresponded with his friends through the Council 
 Bluffs "Nonpareil;" and his letters, during this time, consti- 
 tuted a new feature of interest in that live and valuable paper. 
 
 Mr. Kinsman was in Council Bluffs at the outbreak of the 
 rebellion, and at once volunteered. He also assisted in raising 
 the first company that went out from Pottawattamie county. 
 On its organization, he was elected its 2d lieutenant : I believe 
 that General G. M. Dodge was its captain. This company was 
 afterward assigned to the 4th Iowa Infantry, and made Com- 
 pany B, of that regiment. At Rolla, Missouri, he was promo- 
 ted to a captaincy, and with that rank fought at the battle 
 of Pea Ridge. He was detached from his regiment in that 
 engagement, and, with two companies (his own and one from 
 the 24th Missouri Infantry) deployed as skirmishers, covered 
 the left wing of the army. For his vigilance and firmness he 
 was afterward handsomely complimented by Colonel, now 
 General Dodge. Captain Kinsman was appointed by the Pres- 
 ident, in July 1863, assistant adjutant-general to General G. M. 
 Dodge ; but declining the commission he continued with his 
 regiment until the 2d of the following August, when he 
 was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 23d Iowa 
 Infantry. He joined the regiment at its rendezvous in Des 
 
WILLIAM H. KINSMAN. 385 
 
 Moines, and served with it till the death of Colonel Dewey, 
 when he succeeded to the colonelcy. 
 
 During the winter of 1862-3, the 23d Iowa Infantry was 
 attached to the Army of South East Missouri ; but in the 
 early Spring it broke camp and proceeded to Milliken's Bend, 
 whence it marched on the exciting campaign that resulted in 
 the capture of Vicksburg. The close of that campaign Colonel 
 Kinsman was destined never to see. On this march the 23d 
 Iowa was attached to the division of Carr, of the 13th Army 
 Corps, which first crossed the Mississippi River at Bruinsburg, 
 and led the advance through the enemy's country to the rear 
 of Vicksburg. Port Gibson was the regiment's first battle; 
 and in that engagement its loss was thirty-one killed and 
 wounded. Six were killed. Among the wounded were Cap- 
 tain Henry and Lieutenant Ballard. 
 
 With its division the 23d Iowa was in reserve at Champion's 
 Hill; but at Big Black Biver Bridge, on the 17th of May, 
 18G3, it most signally distinguished itself. It lost many brave 
 officers and men, and among others its noble colonel. 
 
 How General Pemberton, under orders from Joe Johnson, 
 left Vicksburg with nearly his entire army to strike and crush 
 General Grant; and how Grant, divining his plans, turned 
 back on him at Champion's Ilill, and with a force less by one- 
 half than the enemy's, not only defeated, but put him to total 
 rout, is well known. On the heels of the battle of Champion's 
 Hill was that of Big Black River Bridge. Its account will be 
 read with interest. I will fii'st quote from the official report of 
 General Grant: 
 
 " At day-light on the 17th, the pursuit was renewed with 
 McClernand's Corps in the advance. The enemy was found 
 strongly posted on both sides of the Black River. At this 
 point on Black River, the bluffs extended to the water's edge, 
 on the west bank. On the east side is an open cultivated bottom 
 of near one mile in width, surrounded by a bayou of stagnant 
 
 25 
 
386 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 water, from two to three feet in depth, and from ten to twenty 
 feet in width, from the river above tlie railroad to tlie river 
 below." 
 
 "Following the inside line of this bayou, the enemy had 
 constructed rifle-pits, with the bayou to serve as a ditch on the 
 outside, and immediately in front of them. Carr's Division 
 occupied the right in investing this place, and Lawler's Brigade, 
 the right of his division. After a few hours' skirmishing, 
 Lawler discovered that, by moving a portion of his brigade 
 under cover of the river bank, he could get a position from 
 which that place could be successfully assaulted, and ordered a 
 charge accordingly. Notwithstanding the level ground over 
 which a portion of his troops had to pass without cover, and 
 the great obstacle of the ditch in front of the enemy's works, 
 the charge was gallantly and successfully made; and in a few 
 minutes the entire garrison, with seventeen pieces of artillery, 
 were the trophies of this brilliant and daring movement." 
 
 It is to be remembered that the direction of Grant's march 
 was from the east. The general course of the Big Black Biver 
 is nearly south-west; but, just above the railroad bridge, it 
 runs nearly east and west. At the point where the bayou of 
 which General Grant sj^eaks puts out, the river bears round to 
 the left, and forms a great bend, at the lower point of which 
 the bayou again unites with the river. The enemy were behind 
 this bayou, and had the river on their right and left, and in 
 their rear. Near the middle of this bend, the river is spanned 
 by the railroad bridge and on its farther side the high ground, 
 which comes squarely up to its bank, was held by the enemy 
 and defended by artillery. 
 
 Along the bank of the river on the side where the Federal 
 troops were in position was a belt of timber, in which the right 
 of Carr's Division rested : the 23d Iowa was the extreme right 
 regiment. With this exception, the country in front of the 
 enemy was open. The 21st and 23d Iowa regiments made the 
 charge, supported by the 22d Iowa and the 11th Wisconsin. 
 
 The position of the two leading regiments just before advan- 
 
WILLIAM H. KINSMAN. 387 
 
 cing on the enemy's works was in the timber and nearly 
 
 parallel with the river bank; and the movement was to be 
 
 effected by a grand and rapid right wheel, which, as soon as 
 
 the open field was gained, would throw the troops under a 
 
 most murderous fire of musketry and artillery. Eighteen 
 
 cannon were in position on the east side of the river, in 
 
 addition to those on the opposite bluff. The infantry force of 
 
 the enemy could not have been less than five thousand; for 
 
 over two thousand were captured. Had they not fled like base 
 
 cowards, how could there have been a survivor in the two 
 
 leading regiments? This then was the position, and the 
 
 determination and valor which carried it could have been 
 
 scarcely less than that which sealed Fort Donelson. 
 
 Colonel Merrill of the 21st Iowa, and Colonel Kinsman of the 
 
 [ 23d, were to lead their regiments, and, at the request of Colonel 
 
 I Merrill, Colonel Kinsman, who held the inner line, was to give 
 
 the former notice of the moment to move. Soon all was in 
 
 ! readiness, and notice was dispatched by an orderly. 
 
 Placing himself now in the front and centre of his regiment, 
 
 j Colonel Kinsman said: " Captains, lead your companies, and 
 
 I I will lead you." The shout was now raised, and the heroes 
 
 ' started on the double-quick, with their guns thrown forward, 
 
 i as is usual in a charge. What a moment of agony was it till 
 
 I the enemy opened fire! But the storm of death was not long 
 
 I deferred. There was a sudden crash along the whole 
 
 I rebel line, and instantly a purple cloud of smoke enveloped the 
 
 enemy's breast- works. All anxiety was now gone: the killed 
 
 and wounded dropped upon the ground, while the others, 
 
 closing up their ranks, pressed on to victory. 
 
 Colonel Kinsman had not advanced far till he was struck by 
 
 I a minnie ball in the abdomen, which felled him. Immediately 
 
 rising, he said: — "They have not killed me yet," and still 
 
 moved on ; but he had advanced only a few yards further, 
 
 when he was shot again — this time through the lungs. He 
 
388 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 fell, mortally wounded; but he said to his regiment as it passed 
 him : — "Go on, go on, I can not go with you further." 
 
 Beneath a tree, and near where he fell, Colonel Kinsman 
 died. " Bury me," he said, " on the battle-field, and tell my 
 friends I did not falter." And thus fell Colonel Kinsman — of 
 the Iowa colonels the third, who, at that time, had been killed 
 in battle. The country was not his by birth, nor the cause by 
 inheritance; and yet he gave his life in their vindication. 
 What a lesson is his example and devotion to the base men 
 who have struck hands with the Nation's fratricides ! How 
 they will covet the glory that will bear his name down to pos- 
 terity ! He died to save the counfrg — his, only by choice. 
 
 But, though Colonel Kinsman fell, his regiment did not 
 falter; for his last command had been, "Go on, goon." The 
 enemy, apalled by such bravery, broke in confusion. They 
 all had to cross the bridge, and before that could be accom- 
 plished two thousand of them were captured. Colonel Kins- 
 man and Colonel Merrill each led their regiment in the charge: 
 the former was mortally, and the latter severely wounded. 
 Many other brave men fell. The loss of the 23d Iowa alone 
 was more than one hundred. But the enemy had been routed, 
 and a safe and unmolested passage secured over Big Black 
 River. From that time forward, the history of the 23d Iowa 
 has been made under Colonel Glasgow. 
 
 I never saw Colonel Kinsman, but learn that he was a man 
 of middle size, erect, and well formed. He had fine, brown 
 hair, blue eyes, a full, high forehead and regular features. The 
 expression of his countenance was frank and pleasing. He 
 was of a very sociable and sensitive nature, and made a fast 
 friend. In civil life, he never bent his energies long in any 
 one direction ; some prophesied he would meet with great 
 success at the bar. As a soldier, he stood among the first the 
 State has sent to the war. 
 
BREYET BRIGADIER-GENERAL S. L. GLASGOW. 
 
 j THIRD COLONEL TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 
 
 ■ Samuel L. Glasgow is the youngest officer of his rank 
 from Iowa. He is a native of Ohio, and was born in Adams 
 county of that State, on the 17th of September 1838. His 
 education is academic, and was acquired at the South Salem 
 I Academy, Eoss county, Ohio. In the fall of 1856, he left his 
 home in Tranquillity, and, coming to Iowa, settled in Oska- 
 loosa, Mahaska county, where he studied law. He was admit- 
 ted to the bar in 1858, and soon after removed to Corydon, 
 I Wayne county, where he opened a law office. He practiced 
 ' his profession in Corydon till the spring of 1861, when he 
 entered the service. Corydon is his present home. 
 
 In July, 1861, Mr. Glasgow assisted in enlisting Company I, 
 4th Iowa Infantry, of which he was elected and commissioned 
 first lieutenant. He served with his regiment in Missouri till 
 ! the 4th of January, 1862, when ill health compelled him to 
 I resign his commission. In the following Summer having 
 ' recovered his health, he recruited a company for the 23d Iowa 
 j Infantry; and, on reporting to his regiment at Des Moines, 
 I was made its major; on the first of the following December he 
 was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy. Colonel Kinsman 
 was killed in the charge of his regiment at Big Black River 
 Bridge, on the 17th day of INIay, and, two days later, Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Glasgow was made colonel, or rather the 19th day 
 of May, 1863, is the date of his commission. For his gallantry 
 at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, where he saved the place from 
 capture and the black troops from massacre, and for general 
 good conduct since, he was in the spring of 1865, promoted to 
 
 389 
 
390 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 brevet brigadier-general. For one so young he has had a 
 brilliant military career. 
 
 Since entering the service in 1862, General Glasgow's military 
 record has been made with his old regiment. He has served 
 with it constantly. At Port Gibson, its first engagement, he 
 commanded it ; for at that time Colonel Kinsman was under 
 arrest, though for what cause I have been unable to learn. 
 That day he distinguished himself, fighting his regiment 
 almost from morning till night, without rest or food. He 
 engaged the enemy on the left. Brigadier-General E. A. Carr, 
 of Pea Ridge fame, commanded the 14th Division, and in his 
 roll of honor he speaks thus of the 23d Iowa and its brave 
 young commander: "The 23d Iowa, with its gallant com- 
 mander, Lieutenant-Colonel S. L. Glasgow, behaved admi- 
 rably." 
 
 The battle at Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, was the first in 
 which Colonel Glasgow commanded his regiment with his 
 new commission. These briefly are its antecedents. After Joe 
 Johnson's defeat at Jackson, and Pemberton's at Champion's 
 Hill and Big Black River Bridge ; after Sherman had gained 
 Haines' Blufi", and formed communication with the outside 
 world by way of the Yazoo; Pemberton's grand army was 
 shut fast in the very trap which for months the rebel papers 
 had declared was set for Grant. This was all very mortifying, 
 and the least that could now be done was to raise the siege. 
 The enemy, however, boasted that they would capture Grant's 
 army. To this end, Johnson, with troops sent him from 
 nearly every corner of the Confederacy, was to strike the Fed- 
 eral army in the rear, while Holmes, at the same time or a 
 little before, was to capture diflerent points held by the Federal 
 troops along the Mississippi River. Then, with the Mississippi 
 blockaded, and his supplies and reinforcements cut off; with a 
 valorous army in his rear, and a co-operating one in his front, 
 
SAMUEL L. GLASCtOW. 891 
 
 Grant must surrender. This was what they boasted ; but, had 
 they released their friends, they would doubtless have felt 
 amply compensated. 
 
 Among the points on the Mississippi to be attacked were 
 Young's Point, Milliken's Bend and Lake Providence. Milli- 
 ken's Bend was the only point where the fighting was severe. 
 
 How the 23d Iowa happened to be in the affair at Milliken's 
 Bend is explained thus : The regiment, after the engagement 
 at Big Black Biver Bridge, had been detailed as a portion of 
 the troops to guard prisoners north, and had made its trip, and 
 returned to Young's Point. On the afternoon of the 6th of 
 June, word came from Milliken's Bend that the place was 
 being threatened by the enemy ; and, that evening. Colonel 
 Glasgow received orders to proceed with his regiment to that 
 point; for it was garrisoned by only a few colored troops. 
 Arriving that night, the colonel reported to the commandant 
 of the place, and was advised to retain his regiment on the 
 boat, which he did. The commandant anticipated no serious 
 attack. 
 
 When day-light broke a strange sight met the eye of the 
 regiment. Standing on their boat they first saw commotion 
 among the Federal troops on shore, and then looking across the 
 broad, open fields that stretch back from Milliken's Bend for 
 some half a mile, they saw emerging from the timber and at 
 full run a long, rebel line of battle. Instantly Colonel Glas- 
 gow prepared to debark his regiment, a task always attended 
 with irksome delay. 
 
 Back a few rods from the river bank is the Mississippi levee. 
 The black troops were already stationed behind it ; but 
 between the enemy and the 23d Iowa there was a race to see 
 who would first reach the place. The regiment, after landing, 
 started on the run by the right flank and the right of it reached 
 the levee just as the enemy came up on the opposite side. 
 
392 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 The left was still back, and as it came up the enemy poured 
 
 into it a most deadly fire. 
 
 The struggle which now followed, was of the most desperate 
 character and the conduct of the 23d Iowa was gallant beyond 
 description. The conflict became hand-to-hand, and to give an 
 idea of its fierceness I will state that the person of Colonel 
 Glasgow was bespattered with the blood and brains of his 
 slaughtered men, beaten out with the clubbed muskets of the 
 enemy. The contending forces were separated only by the 
 levee and several hand-to-hand encounters took place on its 
 top. In one instance, a powerful man of the 23d Iowa named 
 John Virtue assaulted a rebel with his bayonet. The i)arties 
 met on the top of the levee, and after a few parries each pierced 
 the other through. They stood thus struggling when another 
 soldier of the 23d Iowa, named Thomas McDowell, rushed on 
 the rebel and beat his brains out with his musket. Virtue 
 afterward died of his wound. The above is an actual occur- 
 rence. 
 
 And thus the fighting continued until the arrival of the 
 gun-boats from below, when after a few shots the enemy fled to 
 the woods. The 23d Iowa lost in this engagement twenty- 
 three killed and thirty-four wounded. Captain J. C. Brown 
 and Lieutenant Downs were killed ; and among the wounded 
 were Major Houston, Captain Dewey and Lieutenants Carlton 
 and Dewey. The regiment went into the engagement with 
 not above one hundred and ten men. Its losses were frightful. 
 
 At the same time the enemy attacked INIilliken's Bend, other 
 commands also attacked the posts at Lake Providence and 
 Young's Point. At Young's Point there were but a few shots 
 fired. A squad of one hundred or more convalescents were 
 kept constantly on the march from one point to another, and 
 thus threw the enemy from their reckoning. They thought 
 the place was held by a large force, whereas there were few 
 troops except these convalescents. 
 
SAMUEL, L. GLASGOW. 393 
 
 A few days after the fight at Milliken's Bend the 23d Iowa 
 re-joined its brigade in rear of Viclcsburg, where it remained 
 until the fall of the city, and then marched under General 
 Sherman on the second trip to Jackson. Next, it sailed with 
 its brigade to Carrollton, Louisiana, and from that point 
 marched on the expedition via Bayou Boeuf, Brashear City, 
 Berwick Bay and Opelousas to Vermillionville. A history of 
 this march will be found in the sketch of the 24th Iowa. 
 
 For a history of the voyage to the Texan coast in the fall of 
 1863, and to show the character of services of the 23d Iowa and 
 the other Iowa troops of that division while stationed in that 
 outside country, I quote from the history of one of the regi- 
 ments of the 2d Brigade, (afterward of the 1st) : 
 
 "On the 20th November proceeded down the river and 
 crossed the bar into the Gulf of Mexico, at 9 A. M., of the 21st. 
 On the 26th, after a stormy and perilous voyage, arrived at the 
 mouth of the Rio Grande, and off Brazos Santiago, Texas. 
 Here an attempt was made to land a portion of the troops at 
 Point Isabel. The ship drawing too much water to cross the 
 bar, five companies of the 11th Wisconsin were landed in small 
 boats, but during the undertaking — a somewhat hazardous 
 one — a storm arose, and the ship was compelled to put to sea 
 again, leaving that portion of the troops landed at Point Isa- 
 bel. On the evening of the 27th, we arrived off Mustang 
 Island, seventy miles from Matagorda Bay, and the storm 
 having somewhat abated, succeeded in landing the troops 
 safely. On the 29th, proceeded on the expedition against Fort 
 Esperanza, commanding the entrance to Matagorda Bay, 
 crossed St. Joseph's and Matagorda Islands, and arrived at our 
 destination December 1st. The enemy, having blown up their 
 magazines, and abandoned their works the night previous, we 
 encamped near the port of Saluria. December 2d, crossed Pass 
 Cavallo, at the entrance of the bay, and went into camp on the 
 Peninsula, at De Crou's Point. Remained at this place until 
 January 3d, 1864, when proceeded to Indianola, up the bay, a 
 distance of forty miles. The enemy occupied the town, but 
 fled at the approach of the Union army. We were quartered 
 in houses at Indianola about tliree weeks, when the brigade 
 
394 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was ordered to Old Indianola, where it went into winter quar- 
 ters. While at Old Indianola, the 1st and 2d Brigades were 
 consolidated, and formed the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division; 
 the former commanded by Brigadier-General Fitz Henry 
 Warren, and the latter successively by Generals Washburne, 
 Dana, and Benton. 
 
 "On the 13th day of March, the troops evacuated the town 
 and returned to Matagorda Island. All other troops of the 
 13th Army Corps having left the Island, the 1st Division under 
 command of General Dana was assigned to the defenses of the 
 coast at this point. ********* 
 
 " On the 21st of April, was ordered to embark on board the 
 steamers, and proceed on an expedition, under command of 
 General Warren in person, to Port Lavacca, a distance of sev- 
 enty miles from the mouth of the bay, and thirty miles above 
 Indianola ; the object of which was to obtain lumber for the 
 completion of the forts, and other works already constructed 
 on the island. We arrived in front of town at noon on the 23d 
 instant, when the enemy, consisting of one company of Wall's 
 cavalry, seeing the approach of the steamers, fled to the coun- 
 try. Port Lavacca is beautifully situated on the west bank of 
 Lavacca Bay, and contained before the war nearly two thousand 
 inhabitants." 
 
 On the receipt of the news of disaster to Banks up the Red 
 River in the latter part of April, 18G4, the Texan coast was 
 abandoned by the chief portion of the Federal troops, they 
 being ordered to report to that officer ; for Banks had caught 
 the bear, and he wanted reinforcements "to help him let go." 
 The fleet bearing the command proceeded up the Red River 
 as far as Fort De Russey. Here the river was found obstruc- 
 ted and the troops returning to its mouth disembarked. They 
 remained in camp till Banks was about to work his way 
 through to Simmsport when they proceeded to the latter 
 place. But the history of these operations, and of those in 
 which the 23d Iowa took part during the following Summer 
 and Fall are void of much interest. Colonel Glasgow and the 
 23d Iowa have more recently distinguished themselves in the 
 
SAMUEL L. GLASGOW. 395 
 
 operations around Mobile. Leaving Morganzia on the oth of 
 January, 1865, the colonel proceeded with his regiment to 
 Kennerville about twenty-five miles above New Orleans, and 
 then prepared for the coming Spring Campaign. The 23d 
 Iowa operated under Granger, and marched to the rear of 
 Spanish Fort from Mobile Point, crossing Fish River at Dan- 
 ley's Mill or Ferry. With the 19th Iowa, 20th Wisconsin and 
 94th Illinois the 23d held the extreme left of the Federal line 
 and in pushing its approaches toward Spanish Fort led every 
 regiment of its division. Indeed General Granger issued 
 
 I orders I am told for it to cease work till the balance of his 
 troops could dig their way up. 
 
 To show the zeal with which the officers and men worked, I 
 give the following: 
 The country in which the left of Granger's command operated 
 
 ! was a level sandy plain, and no one could rise from the trenches 
 without being exposed to the fire of the enemy's sharp-shooters. 
 In front of Colonel Glasgow's line, which was not more than 
 
 I seventy-five or eighty yards from the enemy's works, was a 
 
 I rail pen near which he was desirous to start a trench, to meet 
 
 I another, being dug on the left of his line. 
 
 To R. W. Cross, a gallant young oflicer, and some half-dozen 
 of his men was entrusted this dangerous work. I need not 
 add that it was successfully accomplished, only one man was 
 wounded. The party were obliged to run nearly fifty yards 
 under the enemy's fire, before reaching cover ; the captain and 
 each man carried a gun and shovel. 
 
 There is little more of special interest in the history of the 
 23d Iowa. After the fall of Mobile it accompanied the Federal 
 forces to Texas. It will probably soon be mustered out of the 
 service. 
 
 I Without regard to his age, General Glasgow is one of the 
 
 I bravest and best ofiicers of the volunteer service. He is taU 
 
396 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and slender in person, has black hair and eyes, and a lively 
 intelligent countenance. He is a much better looking man 
 than his portrait represents. 
 
 ■ I am told that in battle he is gallant in the extreme : that, 
 if there is a charge to be made, he never sends, but leads 
 his men. At Spanish Fort, he was anxious to assault the ene- 
 my, whom he believed to be evacuating the place; (which 
 afterward proved true ) but the brigade commander would not 
 consent. *' The ground is full of shells, and we shall be all 
 blown to pieces." " Who cares for the shells ? " replied Glas- 
 gow, '* my regiment will follow me." 
 He is the model of a gallant, chivalric young officer. 
 
COLONEL EBER C. BY AM. 
 
 TWEXTY-FOURTH INFANTEY. 
 
 Eber C. Byam was born in Canada West, in the year 1826. 
 All that I know of him prior to entering the service is, he was 
 a Methodist preacher. He was made colonel of the 24th Iowa, 
 on the 7th day of August, 1SG2, and served with his regiment 
 tiU after the fall of Vicksburg, when he resigned his commis- 
 sion. 
 
 The history of the 24th Iowa up to the time its brigade 
 reported to Carrollton, Louisiana, in the sununer of 1863, will 
 be found substantially in the sketches of Colonels Miller and 
 Connell, of the 28th Iowa. It fought at the battles of Port 
 Gibson, and Champion's Hill, and took part in the siege of 
 Vicksburg. At Champion's Hill, its position was to the right 
 of the 28th Iowa; and, like that regiment, it was among the 
 first troops to engage the enemy. Its loss in that engagement 
 was terribly severe, and was chiefly sustained while charging, 
 capturing and holding a rebel battery in its front. The act 
 was daring in the extreme. Leaving its place in the line, it 
 advanced on the battery without any support, and without 
 any disposition being made to protect its flanks. It accord- 
 ingly became an object of the enemy's concentrated fire, which 
 in a short time disorganized it. It retired to the rear in 
 disorder, and took no further part in the engagement. The 
 loss of the regiment in the engagement I have been unable to 
 learn. 
 
 The 24th Iowa reached Carrollton, about the middle of Aug- 
 ust, 1868, where it remained one month in camp, and then left 
 with its division on an expedition up the Teche. For a history 
 
 397 
 
398 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 of this march, the object of which I never knew, I refer to an 
 account, given by the chaplain of the 28th Iowa. 
 
 " On the 13th of September, we received orders from General 
 Banks to move, which proved to be over the railroad, west 
 from New Orleans, or rather Algiers, to Brashear. * * We 
 commenced moving up Bayou Teche on the 3d of October; 
 and, after a slow march which gave ample time to forage 
 through a beautiful country, abounding in beef and sweet 
 potatoes, orange groves and sugar plantations, reached Opelou- 
 sas on the 23d instant, a distance of one hundred miles. It is 
 needless to say that when the luxuries of this clime got in our 
 way we ate them. The authorities would sometimes interdict 
 them ; yet, it required a fine taste to tell the difference, while 
 the ingenuity of the men seemed fully up to the exigency of 
 possessing themselves of any thing they needed as food. No 
 enemy of strength being found, this expedition was evidently 
 at a terminus. * * * * 
 
 "On the first day of November, General Franklin com- 
 menced a retrograde movement, and we began failing back in 
 the direction of Franklin. No sooner had we commenced fall- 
 ing back than the enemy began to harass our rear and flanks. 
 We reached Carrion Crow Bayou, on the second day, and 
 remained here till the 7th instant. One brigade of the 4th 
 Division, under command of General Burbridge, being left at 
 Grand Chateau, four miles in our rear, were, on the 3d instant, 
 attacked by the enemy. The regiment, with a part of our 
 division, was ordered out to his assistance. We went promptly 
 at double-quick for three miles; for it was apparent that the 
 enemy were pressing him severely, that they had already 
 turned his left flank, and were gaining his rear. This brought 
 our troops directly facing the foe, who were already flushed 
 with success. Teams and numerous attendants were stam- 
 peding to the rear, and great danger of confusion and disaster 
 was imminent. Our division was hastily put in line, and the 
 command to charge given, when the whole command went in 
 at double-quick, with fixed bayonets. This the enemy could 
 not stand, and they fell back in confusion, leaving their dead 
 and wounded. In the meantime the rebels had sent a force to 
 attack our camps, and the firing of our pickets soon became 
 spirited. A detachment of the 24th Iowa was thrown out to 
 their support. The sick and lame, to the last man, were 
 
EBER C. BYAM. 399 
 
 ordered out, and hobbled into the ranks; but, after a brisk 
 engagement with our pickets, the rebels retired, leaving two of 
 their men dead. Our teams, which had been hurried out with 
 our camp equipage, returned, and all was again quiet. 
 
 " On the morning of the 9th of November, we moved toward 
 Vermillionville ; but when within six miles of that place, the 
 enemy made demonstrations upon our rear, and the command 
 halted. Our brigade was formed to receive the attack, but the 
 enemy came no further than our skirmishers, and we continued 
 the march and went into camp near Vermillionville, in a 
 drenching rain." 
 
 In this connection the author speaks of an incident, like 
 examples of which have been often witnessed at new encamp- 
 ments. I allude to the tearing down of rebel buildings by 
 the soldiers and the construction of chebcmgs with the material. 
 The rebels called it vandalism, but I have often witnessed the 
 operation with admiration. Two-story dwellings, with out- 
 houses, have been utterly demolished in ten minutes time. 
 While witnessing the performance one could think of nothing 
 but an unfortunate caterpillar, dropped by accident in an ant- 
 bed. 
 
 The 24th Iowa remained at Vermillionville till about the 
 20th of November, when it fell back to the rebel Camp Pratt, 
 and the next day to New Iberia, at the head of navigation on 
 the Teche. Here the regiment remained till the middle of 
 December, and then returned to Berwick, and in a short time 
 proceeded to Madisonville, on Lake Pontchartrain. At Madi- 
 sonville the regiment went into quarters, and remained until 
 General Banks organized his Red River Campaign. The 24th 
 joined in that celebrated failure, a history of which will be 
 found in the sketch of Colonel Connell and the 28th Iowa. 
 
 The 24th Iowa reached Morganzia Bend, on the 22d of May, 
 1864, after the nine days' exhausting march from Alexandria. 
 Here it remained till about the middle of June, when, with its 
 brigade, it was ordered down to Carrollton and thence west to 
 
400 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 Thibadaux, to anticipate General Dick Taylor, who, with a 
 large force, was reported to be moving on Brashear. But 
 nothing came of this expedition, and on the Gth of the follow- 
 ing July the troops struck tents and moved back to Algiers. 
 
 Early in July a portion of the 19th Corps as re-organized was 
 summoned to the Eastern Department, and preparations were 
 made for its hasty departure. Grant needed these troops at 
 Petersburg, and Sheridan, in the valley of the Shenandoah ; 
 and there was little now that required their services on the 
 Gulf. Steele was in danger of being driven from Little Bock, 
 and a portion of the 19th Corps was dispatched to his assist- 
 ance : the balance took boats for Fortress Monroe. The 24th 
 and 2Sth Iowa left New Orleans for the last named place on 
 the 22d of July. The 22d Iowa with its brigade had left for 
 the same destination several days before. This was an event- 
 ful passage in the history of these regiments, and, when well 
 out in the Gulf the news was broken to them that they were 
 going to the Potomac, it was hailed with universal acclama- 
 tion. No Iowa soldier had as yet trod the soil of Virginia. 
 All his fame had been earned in south-western dejmrtments, 
 and he was impatient to measure his bayonet with those of the 
 boasted Virginia veterans. 
 
 For these troops this was the first ocean trip. They had 
 made short journeys on the Gulf, but none of sufficient length 
 to make them familiar with that detestable, though invigora- 
 ting sickness, which is certain to overwhelm all new voyagers. 
 They wore not more fortunate than others ; for, says the chap- 
 lain of the 28th Iowa, when the sickness was on them, they 
 were at first afraid they would die, and then afraid they would 
 not. The hardest feature of the journey was the crowded 
 condition of the boats; this, with the hot weather and the 
 meager supply of fresh water, put many on the sick list, and, 
 as soon as land was made, in the hospitals. 
 
EBER C. BYAM. 401 
 
 After touching at Fortress Monroe, the fleet proceeded to 
 Alexandria, where the troops were debarked and transferred 
 by ferry to Washington. From Washington they were ordered 
 by General Augur, to the Shenandoah. The 24th and 28th 
 Iowa were the first Iowa troops in the National Capital, and 
 their march down Pennsylvania Avenue is thus referred to 
 by Chaplain Simmons, who has published a history of his 
 regiment. 
 
 "About noon of the 3d, we started from the depot, passing 
 down Pennsylvania Avenue, with our battle-worn colors float- 
 ing over the column. * * The fame of Iowa troops had been 
 long talked of in Washington, and now, for the first time, its 
 people looked on living Iowa regiments. Much interest 
 seemed to be manifested by the citizens. The boys caught the 
 enthusiasm, and their soldierly deportment evinced their 
 appreciation, and called out from the public press honorable 
 mention. I can not fail to mention that citizens of Iowa 
 thronged to greet us. Many others, gentlemen, ladies and 
 children, mingled in the throng, to lavish their sympathies 
 upon these brave men. Men of position and influence gave 
 their congratulations; children mingled with the soldiers; and 
 the ladies— God bless them— blushed not to smile their sym- 
 pathies upon our war-worn veterans." 
 
 From Washington, the 24th Iowa, with its brigade and 
 division, marched by way of Snicker's Gap to Berry ville, 
 where they formed a junction with Sheridan. Sheridan as 
 elsewhere stated was at the time falling back before Early ; 
 and, after the arrival of the 19th Corps, he continued his 
 retrograde movement till he arrived first, at Charlestown and 
 then, near the bights of Harper's Ferry, where he threw up 
 fortifications. After resting five days in this position, he 
 moved forward to Charlestown, and two weeks later again 
 advanced, encountering the enemy near Berryville. Early fell 
 back across the Opequan to near Winchester, and both armies 
 fortified. This was on the 8th of September. Eleven daj-s 
 
402 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 later, the advance was resumed down the rugged Berryville 
 pike, and the enemy encountered, when was fought the des- 
 perate battle of Winchester or Opequan Creek, the first of the 
 series which utterly demolished the invincible cohorts of 
 Early. 
 
 The 22d, 24th, and 28th Iowa fought together in this engage- 
 ment ; and their services on the field were nearly the same. I 
 have been unable to obtain the ofiicial report of Colonel Wilds, 
 the commanding officer of the 24th Iowa, and therefore append 
 an extract from the report of Lieutenant-Colonel B. W. 
 Wilson of the 28th. The two regiments fought side by side : 
 
 " Early on the morning of the 19th, we broke camp near 
 Berryville, and proceeded with the rest of the brigade on the 
 Wmchester pike. After crossing the Opequan, I formed in 
 line of battle, my regiment occupying the extreme left of the 
 brigade, and, on receiving orders to advance, immediately 
 moved forward, and was soon warmly engaging the enemy. 
 The 1st Brigade of our division being in advance was pressed 
 back through our lines; yet we moved steadily forward for 
 almost fifty yards, under one of the hottest fires of shot shell 
 and canister I ever witnessed. Here I was ordered to halt. 
 At this point the fighting was most terrific ; yet I am happy to 
 say that none showed a disposition to either shrink from duty 
 or to Ml back. * * We followed the retiring foe beyond 
 Winchester, where night overtook us and we lay down to 
 brood over the events of the day." 
 
 As stated in the sketch of Colonel Graham of the 22d Iowa, 
 the first successes of tlie 19th Corps were changed into reverses,' 
 threatening to make the contest a defeat, almost before it had 
 become a battle. In the midst of the confusion that followed 
 the well-nigh disastrous repulse, was an example of coolness 
 and courage on the part of an officer of the 24th Iowa, which is 
 thus recorded by one who took part in the engagement: 
 
 "One instance of coolness and discipline, which contrasted 
 curiously with the general panic, was noticed by Captain Brad- 
 bury of the 1st Maine Battery. * * Through the midst of 
 
EBER C. BYAM. 403 
 
 the confusion came a captain of infantry— William T. Bigby 
 of the 24th Iowa — leading a sergeant and twelve men, all 
 marching as composedly as if returning from drill. * Captain, 
 you are not going to retreat any further, I hope?' said Brad- 
 bury. 'Certainly not,' was the reply. 'Halt; about-face. 
 Three cheers, men ; hip, hip, hurrah ! ' The little band cheered 
 lustily. It ivas the first note of defiance that broke the desperate 
 monotony of the panic. It gave heart to every one who heard 
 it, and made an end of retreat in that part of the field. In a 
 few minutes, the platoon swelled to a battalion, composed of 
 men from half a dozen regiments." 
 
 On the 20th instant, Sheridan pressed the pursuit, and, 
 passing through Strasburg, found the enemy entrenched on 
 Fisher's Hill. They were again encountered and so severely 
 punished that their retreat became a hopeless rout. Sheridan 
 followed them to beyond Harrisonburg, and then fell back to 
 Cedar Creek, where he arrived on the 10th of October, and 
 where he fought, on the 19th instant, the remarkable battle 
 bearing that name. 
 
 I give below Lieutenant-Colonel Wright's account of the 
 part the 24th Iowa sustained in the battle of Cedar Creek. 
 After having stated preliminarily, that his regiment was, at 
 5 o'clock in the morning of the 19th, in line of battle and 
 ready to march with its brigade on a reconnoissance, the colonel 
 says: 
 
 " At ten minutes past 5 o'clock, firing commenced on the 
 picket line of the 8th Corps. Supposing it to be only a recon- 
 noissance by the enemy, it created but little alarm. In a few 
 minutes heavy firing commenced on the left and front of the 
 8th Corps. It was not yet day-light, and a dense fog, which 
 had settled to the ground, rendered it almost impossible to 
 distinguish objects at any distance. Soon after the firing com- 
 menced on the left, the brigade was ordered to move by the 
 left flank, until the left of the 24th Iowa rested on the pike. 
 
 "Colonel Wilds ordered me to ride to the left of the regiment, 
 and lead it to the place indicated, but before reaching the pike, 
 I was ordered to halt, and take position, as we were already 
 
404 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 receiving the enemy's fire. * * The fog was so dense that it 
 was impossible to tell what was in front of us, and as the 8th 
 Corps was falling back at the time, our fire was reserved until 
 the enemy had pressed his columns close up to and charged the 
 battery on the right, one piece of which was captured. We 
 held the position, however, until Colonel Shunk, discovering 
 that the enemy had thrown a column across the pike on our 
 left, ordered the brigade to fall back about five hundred yards, 
 and take position parallel to, and facing the pike. This was 
 done in good order, and the position taken and held, until it 
 became necessary, in the opinion of General Grover, to fall 
 back, in order to prevent being cut off entirely. (Up to this 
 time the regiment had lost six men killed, and about forty 
 wounded.) The order was given to fall back as rapidly as pos- 
 sible in the direction of the camp of the 6th Corps. The enemy 
 came in heavy force on our left, and captured four officers and 
 about forty men. The brigade fell back about one mile, and 
 formed between the 1st Brigade, General Birge, and the 6th 
 Corps, which was on the left. Previous to this time, Colonel 
 AVilds had been wounded, and carried from the field. I had 
 also received a bruise on my hip from a piece of shell, and a 
 wound from a musket-ball in the left arm near the elbow, 
 which sickened me so that I could not ride for near an hour, 
 and the regiment was commanded by Captain L. Clark, 
 during my absence. 
 
 " Soon after I returned to the regiment, which was then in 
 the position above mentioned, the enemy made a flank move- 
 ment to the left of the 6th Corps, rendering it necessary for it 
 to fall back, and we were ordered to retire by the right of regi- 
 ments to the rear. We moved in this manner nearly three 
 miles, halted, took position, procured ammunition, and pre- 
 pared to renew the battle. After we had rested about half an 
 hour, Major-General Sheridan came on the field, having been 
 absent since the morning of the 18th. He ordered the 8th 
 Corps to take position on the left of the pike between Middle- 
 town and Newtown, the 6th Corps the centre and the 19th Corps 
 the right. Sent two divisions of cavalry to the right, and one 
 to the rear. 
 
 " The 4th Brigade was formed on the extreme left of the 19th 
 Corps, connecting with the right of the 6th Corps. In this 
 
EBEB C. BYAM. 405 
 
 position the troops were ordered to rest, and throw up some 
 temporary works. 
 
 " About 12 o'clock I was ordered to move the 24th Iowa to 
 the extreme right of the 19th Corps, and protect the flank. I 
 immediately moved to the place indicated, took position, and 
 threw out a skirmish line. In this position I remained until 
 3 o'clock P. M., when I received orders to call in my skirmish- 
 ers, and take my place in the line, as it was going to advance. 
 My skirmishers had just reported when the advance was 
 sounded. In order to get my position in the line, I had to 
 double-quick about one mile, and during the greater part of 
 this distance, we had to pass through the fire of the enemy's 
 guns, which overshot our advancing columns, the shells 
 exploding in the rear. About 3} o'clock, I got my place in the 
 line, which steadily advanced, driving the enemy from every 
 position taken until we reached the camp we left in the 
 morning. Here we halted, and made some cofi'ee (those of us 
 who were fortunate enough to have any), the first we had 
 tasted since the evening of the 18th. We found one wounded 
 officer there, who had hidden among the rocks during the day, 
 and quite a number of our wounded men. Every thing was 
 taken from our camp, leaving the men and most of the officers 
 without haversacks, blankets, or shelter tents. 
 
 "At 8 o'clock P. M., the regiment moved forward, with 
 the brigade, to a point near Strasburg, to protect the parties 
 that were sent out to collect the property abandoned by the 
 enemy in his hasty retreat. There we bivouacked for the 
 night, without fires, the men sufltering severely for want of 
 blankets and proper clothing to protect them from the excess- 
 ive cold." 
 
 " On the following morning (20th) the remainder of the 2d 
 Division came up, and we went into camp about one mile from 
 Strasburg. 
 
 " It would appear invidious to mention individual cases of 
 gallantry during the day, when all, both men and officers, did 
 their whole duty. I can not close, however, without referring 
 to the bravery of our lamented Colonel Wilds, who was 
 wounded soon after day-light, and died November 18th. In 
 him we lost a noble, brave, and efficient officer." 
 
 Each of the three Iowa regiments were conspicuous in the 
 
406 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 battles of Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. In those 
 of Winchester or Opequan and Cedar Creek, the 24th suffered 
 severely. In the battle of Opequan, the 24th Iowa lost two offi- 
 cers and nine men killed, and four officers and fifty-six men 
 wounded. Captain J. B. Gould and Lieutenant S. S. Dillman 
 were killed ; and Captain S. J. McKinley, Lieutenant and Adju- 
 tant D. W. Camp, and Lieutenants W. W. Edgington and R. 
 S. Williams, were wounded. At Fisher's Hill, the loss of the 
 regiment was only one officer and four men wounded. The 
 regiment lost, at Cedar Creek, seven men killed; six officers 
 and thirty-nine men wounded, and two officers and thirty-nine 
 men captured. The wounded officers were Colonel John Q. 
 Wilds, Major Edward Wright, Captains A. R. Knott, E. H. 
 Pound and A. M. Loomis, and Lieutenant C. H. Kurtz. Col- 
 onel Wilds was thirty-nine years of age; was a native of Penn- 
 sylvania, and entered the service from Mount Vernon. Before 
 going to Virginia, he had commanded his regiment for several 
 months. The 24th Iowa is known as the "Methodist Regi- 
 ment." 
 
COLONEL GEORGE AUGUSTUS STONE. 
 
 TWENTY-FIFTH INFANTRY. 
 
 George Augustus Stone is a native of New York State, 
 and was born in the town of Schoharie, on the 13th of October, 
 1833. In 1839 his father removed with his family to the then 
 Territory of Iowa, and settled in Washington county. Her§ 
 young Stone resided, attending common school a principal por- 
 tion of the time, till 1849, when he removed to Mt. Pleasant. 
 After completing his studies at the Mt. Pleasant schools, he 
 was received into the banking house at that place, and, in 1851 , 
 was appointed cashier of the bank, which position he held till 
 ■ the spring of 1861. Early in the spring of 1861 he assisted in 
 I recruiting Company F, 1st Iowa Infantry, Captain Samuel M. 
 } Wise, and on its organization was elected its first lieutenant. 
 I He served with his regiment in Missouri during its three 
 ' month's term of service, and took part in the battle of Wil- 
 1 son's Creek. 
 
 I Lieutenant Stone's term of service in the 1st Iowa expired 
 I in August, and, in the following October, he was commis- 
 sioned a major in the 4th Iowa Cavalry, with which regiment 
 he served till the 10th of August, 1862, when he was promoted 
 to the colonelcy of the 25th Iowa Infantry. 
 
 In November, 1862, Colonel Stone's regiment arrived at 
 Helena, Arkansas, whence it sailed, in the latter part of 
 December following, on the expedition against Vicksburg by 
 way of Chickasaw Bayou. Chickasaw Bayou was its first 
 engagement. Its second was Arkansas Post, and there, like 
 the 26th Iowa, it suffered severely, losing in killed and wounded 
 more than sixty. The regiment was attached to Hovey's 
 
 407 
 
408 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Brigade, of Steele's Division — the division whicli did the fight- 
 ing and captured the strong-hold. It served as a support to 
 the 76th Ohio, and just in rear of that regiment charged 
 through an open field in the face of a withering fire from the 
 enemy's artillery and musketry. Passing the enemy's obstruc- 
 tions, it advanced to within one hundred yards of their works ; 
 and in that position engaged them for nearly three hours, and 
 until the garrison surrendered. So cool and gallant was its 
 conduct, that a Texan colonel, captured with the garrison, 
 remarked: "I was almost sure those were Iowa troops-" 
 
 Five commissioned ofiicers were wounded in this engage- 
 ment—Captains Palmer and Bell, and Lieutenants Stark, Orr, 
 and Clark. Nine enlisted men were killed, among whom were 
 Sergeant Zickafoose, and Corporals Wilson and James W. 
 Thompson. Adjutant S. P. Clark, who was wounded severely 
 in the leg, was conspicuous for his cool and gallant conduct. 
 " He earned and received the praise of the entire regiment." 
 Privates Hiram Payne and B. F. Weaver, who bore the colors 
 of the regiment, earned and received equal praise. 
 
 After the Deer-Creek-Sun-Flower-&c. exjjedition, the 25th 
 Iowa marched with Sherman, via Jackson, to the rear of 
 Vicksburg; but, like the 26th Iowa, failed to meet the enemy 
 till it arrived before the doomed city. Being in the same 
 division with the 26th Iowa, its services before Vicksburg 
 were nearly the same as those of that regiment. In the charge 
 of the 22d of May, it was one of the front regiments in the 
 charging line, and, with its colonel in the advance, moved 
 against a strong fort on the north side of the city. It passed 
 unfalteringly through the galling fire that met it as it moved 
 upon and along the bights in plain view and within shot range 
 of the enemy, but was unable to carry the rebel works, and 
 after holding its position till night was, with the balance of 
 the division, ordered to retire to the position it occupied in the 
 
GEORGE A. STONE. 409 
 
 morning. On that day, Private Isaac Mickey, of the enlisted 
 men of the regiment, most distinguished himself. 
 
 An account of the march on Jackson, Mississippi, and the 
 evacuation of that city by Johnson, after the fall of Vicksburg, 
 having been given in other parts of this volume, I need simply 
 state that the 25th Iowa took part in those operations. After 
 the termination of that expedition, the regiment returned with 
 its division to the Big Black River, where it remained till the 
 23d of September following, when it moved with General 
 Sherman on the march to Chattanooga. The 1st Division of 
 the 15th Corps, to which the 25th Iowa was attached and 
 which was commanded by Brigadier-General P. J. Osterhaus, 
 was the only one that engaged the enemy on this march. The 
 fighting, which was not severe, took place at and between 
 Cherokee Station, Alabama, and Tuscumbia, and, to give an 
 idea of its character, I quote from the ofllcial statement of 
 Colonel George A. Stone : 
 
 " On Sunday evening, October 25th, at Cherokee, our divi- 
 sion received marching orders for 4 A. M. next day; and 
 accordingly the division moved at the hour indicated, in the 
 direction of Tuscumbia, in light marching order, and in fine 
 fighting condition. The 1st Brigade, Brigadier-General C. R. 
 Woods commanding, had the advance, and ours, the 2d 
 Brigade, Colonel A. J. Williamson commanding, the rear. 
 General Osterhaus' orders were very imperative and strict 
 concerning the tactical arrangement of battalions, as the 
 enemy, but some three miles in front of us, was composed 
 entirely of cavalry, and our equal fully in numerical strength. 
 About two miles from camp we met the enemy's skirmishers, 
 and here formed line of battle, the 1st Brigade on the right, 
 and the 2d on the left, with one of the other divisions of our 
 corps as a reserve. My position was on the extreme left, and, 
 n accordance with orders, I formed a square to repel cavalry, 
 first, however, having covered my front properly with skir- 
 mishers. Our skirmishers pushed the enemy so vigorously 
 and our lines followed so promptly, that, after a short resist- 
 ance, he fell back to another position some four miles to his 
 
10 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS . 
 
 rear, and made another stand. The same disposition was 
 made again by our division, the same sharp, short fighting, 
 and the same result — the retreat of the enemy. We continued 
 this skirmishing during the entire day, and renewed it on the 
 27th, literally fighting them from Cherokee to Tuscumbia,- 
 We entered the town at 3 P. M. on the 27th." 
 
 The 25th Iowa in these operations lost only one man — Ser- 
 geant Nehemiah M. Redding —who was killed on the skirmish 
 line. Other regiments suffered more severely. In this connec- 
 tion I should state that there had been fighting on the 21st of 
 the same month, on the entrance of Osterhaus' Division into 
 Cherokee Station. It was in the affair of that day that the 
 lamented Colonel Torrence, of the 30th Iowa, was killed. 
 
 Returning to Cherokee on the 28th instant. Colonel Stone 
 marched thence with his regiment back to Chickasaw Land- 
 ing, and crossed the Tennessee with his division, on the 4th of 
 November. The march from that point to Chattanooga was 
 continued without incident. The division of Osterhaus not 
 arriving till the evening of the 23d of November, and being 
 too late to operate with Sherman above Chattanooga, was 
 ordered to report to General Hooker, who, on the following 
 day, was to assault the enemy on Lookout Mountain. For the 
 part taken by the 25th Iowa in the engagement on and around 
 Lookout Mountain, on the 24th of November, I again quote 
 from a statement of Colonel Stone : 
 
 "Al9:30, A. M., I had orders to go to the front, just 
 under a point of rocks on Lookout Mountain, to support the 
 guns of Battery I, 1st New York Artillery, now in position, 
 and two of which guns were protected by being hastily case- 
 mated. This position I retained during the day, and on 
 account of the admirable place for defense, and the inability of 
 the enemy to sufliciently depress his guns, I found at dark I 
 had not lost a man. 
 
 "Nothing could exceed the grandeur of this battle from the 
 point at which we viewed it. [The position of the 25th Iowa 
 was at a point on the north end of Lookout Mountain] . Every 
 
I GEORGE A. STONE. 411 
 
 I gun from Raccoon Mountain to Moccasin Point was in plain 
 I view, and our lines of infantry so close that acquaintances were 
 j easily recognized. At 12 M., the grand attack began, and 
 I soon the smoke of the battle hung over and enveloped the 
 i mountain, like a funeral pall; and the whole battle, like a 
 I panorama, passed around and before us." 
 I This was the first battle whose progress the 25th Iowa had 
 witnessed without being engaged ; and the recollections of that 
 ' afternoon will never be effaced from the memories of the regi- 
 ment. But the scenery of the following night was even more 
 1 terribly magnificent; for the fighting continued around and up 
 I the mountain until long after mid-night. 
 
 In the engagement on Lookout Mountain, the regiment suf- 
 j fered no loss: nor did it, in that of the following day on Mission 
 j Ridge. In the latter it was not engaged, being detached, with 
 the 26th Iowa, for the purpose of anticipating an attack, which 
 it was supposed two regiments of rebel cavalry designed 
 1 making on the left. But it followed in pursuit of General 
 JBragg's flying forces to Ringgold, and engaged the enemy 
 there in their strong works, on the morning of the 27th of 
 November. 
 
 Ringgold, which is planted among the broken, irregular hills 
 of Northern Georgia, is about twenty-five miles south of Chat- 
 jtanooga. On a line of these hills the enemy had taken up an 
 lintrenched position in considerable force, which, contrary to 
 the expectation of General Osterhaus, they held stubbornly. 
 To dislodge them it became necessary to deploy the division so 
 as to carry the works by assault. The position of the ;.25th 
 Iowa, in the assaulting line, was at the front and on the 
 extreme left in an open field. On the hill in its front were the 
 enemy, protected by abattis and breast-works. A point of this 
 hill, which was rocky and in places precipitous, extended down 
 to the field where the 25th stood in position. Up this the regi- 
 ment was to charge. On rugged points, both to the right and 
 
412 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 left, the enemy's infantry were posted, so as to rake by a right 
 and left flanking fire the assaulting party. In front of the 
 regiment were two rebel colors, defended doubtless by two 
 rebel regiments. This then was the position of the 25th Iowa, 
 when the advance was sounded. 
 
 The contest now began along the whole line, and lasted for 
 about an hour ; when the enemy, no longer able to withstand 
 the cool, steady valor of their assailants, fled from their works 
 and hastened on to Dal ton. 
 
 The loss of the 25th Iowa at Ringgold was twenty-nine 
 wounded. None were killed. Of the twenty-one officers who 
 entered the fight, seven were struck. 
 
 After the battle at Ringgold, the 25th Iowa marched back to 
 Chattanooga, and thence, via Bridgeport, to Woodville, Ala- 
 bama, where, with its brigade, it went into Winter quarters. 
 It remained in Winter quarters, however, only about a month; 
 for, on the organization of General Matthies' temporary Divi- 
 sion to march to the relief of Knox ville, it was assigned to that 
 command, and on the 11th of February, 1864, broke camp and 
 again took the field. It was rumored when the division left 
 Bridgeport, that it was to march only to Chattanooga, where, 
 being relieved by other troops, it would be permitted to remain 
 on guard-duty. But there was in store no such good fortune; 
 for, on the morning of the 16th instant, it resumed the march 
 eastward in the direction of Cleveland. 
 
 It was now the season of the year when the Southern 
 Winter was breaking, and the alternating rain and sunshine, 
 and cold and heat did not contribute to the good nature of the 
 troops; and, as they trudged on through the mud, their minds 
 soured at what they called the injustice of the commanding; 
 general. "He don't care a d— n, as long as he can ride a 
 horse," and "If I could catch him a-foot, if I didn't give him 
 an appetite for his hafd-tac/c,^^ and other like expressions were 
 
GEORGE A. STONE. 413 
 
 not unfrequently heard on this march. No veteran infantry 
 trooper will wonder at these spiteful ebullitions ; for it should 
 be remembered that these troops were all of the 15th Corps, 
 who, during the three past months, had marched nearly four 
 hundred miles, and fought in three hard battles. 
 
 After the march to Cleveland, which resulted in nothing of 
 special interest, the 25th Iowa returned to Woodville, where it 
 remained till its division left for the front to join General 
 Sherman in his grand campaign against Atlanta. The events 
 of that campaign, in which the 25th Iowa took an honorable 
 part, will be found elsewhere, as will also the history of Sher- 
 man's march from Atlanta to Savannah, and from Savannah 
 to Raleigh, North Carolina. 
 
 In the operations of General Sherman in his march from 
 Savannah to Raleigh, the capture of Columbia, South Carolina, 
 is conspicuous. The credit of this affair belongs to the Iowa 
 Brigade of the 15th Corps, to which the 25th Iowa Infantry 
 was attached. 
 
 j The question as to who was entitled to the honor of having 
 1 first planted the American Flag on the Capitol buildings at 
 Columbia, has been in some doubt. It is claimed by Justin C. 
 Kennedy of the 13th Iowa, and by Colonel George A. Stone. 
 The following I believe to be correct history : The 15th Corps' 
 Iowa Brigade, commanded by Colonel G. A. Stone, forced the 
 enemy back and captured the city ; but in the meantime, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Kennedy, with a few men, crossed the Congaree 
 in a rickety boat, and, hurrying on to the city, succeeded in 
 first gaining both the old and new Capitol buildings. The harv- 
 ner of the 13th Iowa, in the hands of Colonel Kennedy, was the 
 prst to wave from the buildings ; but the first American Flag 
 was that belonging to the 31st Iowa, which was planted by 
 the hands of Colonel Stone. But Iowa's brave sons should not 
 
414 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 allow jealousies to sully their fair fame. It is enough for the 
 State to know that her soldiery received the surrender of 
 Columbia. 
 
 For several weeks after the battles around Chattanooga, Col- 
 onel Stone commanded the Iowa Brigade. lie also com- 
 manded this brigade on the march from Savannah to Goldsboro 
 and Raleigh. He is an excellent young officer — prompt, pre- 
 cise and sprightly. He is a middle-sized man, with black hair, 
 and merry, brown eyes. In appearance, he is quite youthful. 
 I never saw him but once, and that was while I was in the 
 service, and just after he had succeeded to a brigade command. 
 A stalwart captain was riding by his side, and both were 
 enveloped in ponchos; for it rained in those days about Bridge- 
 port. The captain I took for the commander, and the colonel 
 for an aid, or orderly. 
 
 The colonel is proud and ambitious, and is happily free from 
 that self-importance — a sort of pseudo-dignity — which seems 
 to afflict army officers conversely in proportion to their merit. 
 
COLONEL MILO SMITH. 
 
 TWENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY. 
 
 MiLO Smith was born in "the State of Vermont, about the 
 year 1819. At the time of entering the service he was a resi- 
 dent of Clinton, Iowa. He was commissioned colonel of the 
 26th Iowa, the 10th day of August, 1862; was mustered into 
 the United States service on the 30th of the following Septem- 
 ber; and served with his regiment in the field until after the 
 fall and occupation of Savannah, when he resigned his commis- 
 jsion and returned to his home in Clinton. 
 
 I know more of the 26th Iowa than of its colonel. The regi- 
 
 ent, like all the regiments of its old brigade, has a splendid 
 
 record. It was raised in Clinton and adjoining counties, in the 
 
 summer and early fall of 1862, and proceeding to the front 
 
 arrived at Helena, Arkansas, in the latter part of the following , 
 
 October. The first military movements in which it joined 
 
 yere the White River and Tallahatchie marches. It also 
 
 pined General Sherman in his operations against Vicksburg, 
 
 ate in December, 1862, by way of Chickasaw Bayou and the 
 
 iValnut Hills; but in the severe and disastrous fighting which 
 
 )ok place at that point, it took no part, being detached from 
 
 |s brigade, and engaged on pioneer-duty. 
 
 'The regiment's first engagement was Arkansas Post. This 
 ittle was not only its first, but, judging from its list of casual- 
 2s, the severest one in which it ever took part. Its position 
 'I the field wiis exposed, and it was not only subjected to a 
 .'vere fire from the enemy's artillery, but to a direct and 
 irtially enfilading musketry-fire. The regiment went into 
 te engagement with an aggregate, in officers and enlisted men, 
 
 415 
 
416 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 Of four hundred and forty-seven, and lost, in killed and 
 wounded, one hundred and nineteen. Two officers were 
 killed, and six wounded. The killed were Lieutenants P. L. 
 Hyde and J. S. Patterson ; Lieutenant James McDill died of 
 his wounds a few days after the engagement. Colonel Milo 
 Smith was slightly wounded in the leg. Among the enlisted 
 men killed were Corporal Shaffer, Pankow, Delong and J. E. 
 Stearns. Lieutenants William R. Ward and Edward Svend- 
 sen were wounded. 
 
 The engagement at Arkansas Post took place on the 11th of 
 January, 1863; and on the 13th instant the regiment left that 
 place on transports for Young's Point, Louisiana. 
 
 General Steele's Division, of General Sherman's Corps, to 
 which the 26th Iowa was attached, was the one selected by 
 General Sherman to open up a passage through Deer Creek to 
 the Yazoo River, and thereby gain the high lands to the rear 
 of Haines' Bluff and Vicksburg. 
 The following is from General Grant's official report of his 
 
 '* operations against Vicksburg: 
 
 "On the 14th day of March, Admiral D. D. Porter, com- 
 manding the Mississippi squadron, informed me that he bad 
 made a reconnoissance up Steele's Bayou, and partially through 
 Black Bayou, towards Deer Creek; and so far as explored, 
 these water-courses were reported navigable for the smaller 
 iron-clads. Information, given mostly, I believe, by the 
 neo-roes of the country, was to the effect that Deer Creek could 
 be navigated to Rolling Fork, and that from there, through 
 the Sun-Flower to the Yazoo River, there was no question 
 about the navigation. On the following morning, I accompa- 
 nied Admiral Porter in the ram Price, several iron-clads pre- 
 ceding us, up through Steele's Bayou to near Black Bayou. 
 The expedition was promptly dispatched, and as a co-opera- 
 ting infantry force, Sherman, with Steel's Division, was sent up 
 to Eagle's Bend and marched across the country from that 
 point. I need not add the expedition was a failure. 
 
MILO SMITH. 417 
 
 " All this may have been providential, in driving us ulti- 
 mately to a line of operations, which has proven eminently 
 successful." And so thought all who accompanied the exijedi- 
 tion. 
 
 In this connection, mention should not be omitted of the 
 other expedition, to which the one in question was only sup- 
 plemental. The Yazoo Pass Expedition had already been 
 organized and sent out, and was now blocked by the rebel 
 ' Fort Pemberton at Greenwood. The junction of the Sun- 
 Flower Bayou with the Yazoo River was between Fort Pem- 
 j berton and Haines' Bluff; and General Grant hoped to intro- 
 ' duce a force between that fort and the high grounds above 
 Haines' Bluff. Had he succeeded, the rebel works at Green- 
 I wood would not only have been rendered untenable and the 
 I garrison compelled to fly east to escape Ciipture, but the two 
 I Federal forces, united, would have been sufficiently strong to 
 possess and defend the desired point. 
 
 The entei'prise was burdened with most annoying and stub- 
 born obstacles, to overcome which no man who possessed less 
 hope and persistency than Grant would have attempted. But 
 Vicksburg would never have been captured from this direc- 
 tion, and I doubt whether Grant ever honestly expected it. 
 The former of these expeditious was christened by the soldiers 
 "the back-water," and the latter, the " Deer Creek raid." 
 
 In the meantime. General Grant, having settled on the plan 
 which promised and resulted in success, recalled the detached 
 portions of his army, and concentrated it on the west bank of 
 the Mississippi, above Vicksburg. The 2Gth Iowa returned 
 with its division to Milliken's Bend on the 25th of April, and 
 on the 2d of May following marched with Sherman for Grand 
 Gulf and Jackson, and thence to the rear of Vicksburg. In 
 this march the regiment failed to meet the enemy in a single 
 general engagement. It arrived at the Walnut Hills the i8th 
 
 27 
 
418 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 of May, and all that afternoon skirmished with the enemy, 
 they gradually falling back to their strong works encircling the 
 city. The heavy skirmishing of the following day the regi- 
 ment engaged in, as it also did in the assault which was made 
 the same afternoon. Its position before Vicksburg was north 
 of the city. It was in Steele's Division, which held the right 
 of the besieging line. 
 
 What followed in the long and arduous siege is given else- 
 where. But one general assault was made after the 19th 
 instant — that of the memorable 22d of May; and in that the 
 26th Iowa participated. Up to and including this disastrous 
 day, the 26th Iowa lost in its skirmishes and assaults some 
 forty in killed and wounded. Colonel Smith and Lieutenants 
 Rider, Noble, and Maden were among the wounded. 
 
 After the fall of Vicksburg, the 26th Iowa joined the army 
 of General Sherman in the pursuit of Johnson to Jackson, 
 where it arrived on the 10th of July. It remained there during 
 the eight days' siege, without meeting the enemy. It next 
 marched to Brandon; then back to Jackson, and thence to 
 Big Black River, where it remained in camp till the 23d of the 
 following September, when it left with three divisions of its 
 corps to reinforce the Army of the Cumberland, at Chatta- 
 nooga. This march was accomplished without any fighting, if 
 we except the affairs which General Osterhaus had with the 
 enemy at Cherokee Station and beyond that place, in the direc- 
 tion of Tuscumbia, Alabama. The 26th Iowa was attached to 
 this division, and participated in some of these affairs, but suf- 
 fered no loss. In the meantime. General Sherman was 
 preparing to cross the Tennessee at Chickasaw Landing ; and 
 the object of Osterhaus' advance to Tuscumbia, I do not under- 
 stand, unless it was to draw the attention of the enemy from 
 Sherman's real purpose, which was to reach Chattanooga by 
 
MILO SMITH. 419 
 
 way of Florence, Alabama, Fayetteville and Winchester, Ten- 
 nessee, and Bridgeport. 
 
 Returning: to Chickasaw, General Osterhaus crossed the river 
 with his division, and moved on after the main column; for 
 Sherman was already well under way. He did not arrive in 
 Lookout Valley until the evening of the 23d of November, and 
 was too late to operate with Sherman's forces against the 
 northern point of Mission Ridge. He was therefore ordered to 
 report to General Hooker; and thus it happened that the 4th, 
 9th, 2oth, 26th, 30th and 31st Iowa regiments, all of General 
 Osterhaus' Division, engaged the enemy on Lookout Mountain. 
 The 26th Iowa fought in the battle of Lookout Mountain in the 
 afternoon and night of the 24th of November, after which it 
 moved across the valley to engage the enemy on Mission 
 Ridge; for the enemy had been routed and Lookout gained by 
 our forces early on the morning of the 25th. 
 
 At Mission Ridge the 26th Iowa, and also the 25th, were 
 separated from their division, and made a sort of Corps of 
 Observation to watch the enemy's cavalry from near Rossville 
 Gap. Neither of these regiments were therefore engaged at 
 this point. But on the flight of General Bragg the night of 
 the 25th instant, the 26th Iowa was near the van in its 
 division, which led the advance in the pursuit. Osterhaus 
 came up with the enemy at Ringgold as previously stated, and 
 at Ringgold the 26th engaged them from behind their works, 
 and suffered greater loss than it had done in the whole cam- 
 paign before. In the engagement at Lookout Mountain, the 
 loss of the regiment was only five wounded, among whom 
 was Lieutenant-Colonel Ferreby. At Mission Ridge it was not 
 engaged. Its loss at Ringgold on the 27th was three men killed 
 — McDonnell, Beddon and Phillips— and nine wounded. 
 Among the latter were Captain Steele, and Lieutenants 
 
420 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Hubbard and Nickel. Captain Steele, a brave and efficient 
 officer, died of his wounds soon after the engagement. 
 
 On the close of the Chattanooga Campaign, the 26th Iowa 
 returned with its division to Bridgeport, and in the latter part 
 of December was ordered to Woodville, Alabama, on the line 
 of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, where it went into 
 Winter quarters. On the opening of the Spring Campaign 
 against Atlanta, it marched to the front : since that time its 
 services have been nearly the same as those of the other Iowa 
 regiments of its division. Moving via Gordon Mills and 
 Saake Creek Gap, the regiment came on the enemy at Resaca, 
 whe!H3 it first engaged him. It subsequently engaged the 
 enen&y at New Hope Church, Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain, 
 before Atlanta, and at Jonesboro ; but in none of these engage- 
 ments was its loss severe. At Big Shanty, it lost one enlisted 
 man killed, and one officer and six men wounded. In the 
 terrible fight before Atlanta on the 22d of July, the regiment 
 lost only five men wounded ; and, at Jonesboro, its loss was 
 one officer and four men wounded. 
 
 After joining in the pursuit of Hood in his celebrated flank 
 movement northward, the 26th Iowa returned to near Vining 
 Station, on the Chattahoochie, where it rested and fitted for 
 the march to Savannah. The history of this march, and of 
 that from Savannah to Baleigh, will be found in the sketches 
 of those ofiicers whose regiments belonged to the loth Corps' 
 Iowa Brigade. I have already said that the 26th Iowa was 
 attached to this brigade. 
 
 On the arrival of his regiment at Savannah, Colonel Smith 
 resigned his commission. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL J. I. GILBERT. 
 
 COLONEL, TWEXTY-SEVEXTH IXFAXTRY. 
 
 James I. Gilbert is one of Iowa's best ofi&cers. He is a 
 native of Kentucky, and was born about the year 1824. At the 
 time of entering the service, in the summer of 1862, he was a 
 resident of Lansing, Iowa, where he had lived for about ten 
 years. In Lansing, he has been commission merchant, dealer 
 in general merchandise, produce dealer, and lumber merchant. 
 At the time, or just before entering the service, he was the pro- 
 prietor of a livery stable, and a dealer in real estate. He was 
 commissioned colonel of the 27th Iowa on the 10th day of 
 August, 1862, and served without special distinction till he 
 joined General A. J. Smith on the Red River Campaign, in 
 the spring of 1864. His gallant conduct at Fort De Russy, and 
 through the whole campaign, and also before Nashville nearly 
 a year later, secured his promotion to a general oflBcer. 
 
 The 27th Iowa, which was rendezvoused in the city of 
 Dubuque in the months of August and September, 1862, was 
 made up of "the overplus of companies over the 21st regiment 
 in the northern part of the State." In the early part of Octo- 
 ber, Colonel Gilbert, with six companies of his regiment, was 
 assigned as an escort to guard a pay-master and train from Fort 
 Snelling to Mille Lacs. The balance of the regiment, under 
 Major Howard, remained at the fort. Early in November, 
 Colonel Gilbert returned to Fort Snelling, Minnesota, and 
 soon proceeded to Memphis, via Cairo, Illinois. Major George 
 W. Howard with the balance of the regiment had already 
 proceeded to that point. He reached Memphis on the 20th 
 of November, and one week later joined Sherman in his 
 
 421 
 
422 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 march from that place to the Tallahatchie, below Waterford. 
 It will be remembered that this movement was made in con- 
 junction with that of General Grant through Central Missis- 
 sippi, against Vicksburg. The 27th Iowa marched only as far 
 south as College Hill, near Oxford. "The regiment was then 
 ordered to Waterford, Mississippi, and thence to the Talla- 
 hatchie Hiver, where it first commenced its work as railroad- 
 guards." 
 
 When Van Dorn attacked and captured Holly Springs, the 
 27th Iowa, with other troops, was hurried to that vicinity ; but 
 the wily rebel having destroyed the immense Federal sup- 
 plies, made his escape. The march was then continued 
 northward, for the purpose of meeting and, if possible, of 
 capturing Forest, who was at the same time making his raid 
 on the Jackson and Columbus Railroad. The 27th arrived at 
 Jackson on the 30th of December, and the next day or night, 
 Forest's defeat at Parker's Cross Roads and subsequent flight 
 having been learned, was marched by a circuitous rout to 
 Clifton. The raiders however escaped. It was this raid of 
 Forest, it will be remembered, that so frightened General 
 Davies at Columbus, and caused him to order the destruction of 
 government property at Island No. 10. The march from 
 Jackson to Clifton was the first fatiguing one the 27th Iowa had 
 yet made. More than one man of the regiment wished that 
 night that he had never entered the army. 
 
 From December, 1862, until the following August, the 
 regiment served in Southern Tennessee. It was stationed a 
 principal portion of the time on the Jackson and Columbus 
 Railroad, with head-quarters at Jackson. 
 
 On the abandonment of Jackson and the railroad through 
 to Columbus, in the fore part of June, 1863, Colonel Gilbert 
 was ordered down to Moscow, where he remained with his 
 regiment till the 20th of the following August, guarding the 
 
JAMES I. GILBERT. 423 
 
 railroad. But after the fall of Vicksburg, and the defeat of 
 General Johnson's army at Jackson, Mississippi, the 27th with 
 its brigade was ordered to report to General Steele, who was 
 then about starting on the Little Rock Campaign. The brig- 
 ade, composed of the 49th and 62d Illinois, the 27th Iowa and 
 50th Indiana, and commanded by Colonel J. M. True, of the 
 62d Illinois, arrived at Helena, after the forces of General Steele 
 had left; but immediately starting in pursuit, Colonel True 
 succeeded in uniting with Steele in time to enter Little Rock 
 with the main army. With the routine of camp-life and 
 picket-duty, the months of September and October were passed 
 at Little Rock, when, under orders from General Steele, Col- 
 onel Gilbert reported back to Memphis in command of his 
 own regiment and the 49th Illinois. At Memphis a portion of 
 the 27th was assigned to duty at the Navy Yard, and the bal- 
 ance put on picket-duty in rear of the city. 
 
 Up to this time, the 27th Iowa, as a regiment, had never 
 met the enemy in battle ; but the time was now near at hand 
 when it would afford new proof of the intrepidity of Iowa 
 soldiers. The regiment left Memphis for Vicksburg on the 
 28th of July, 18G4, whence, a week later, it left with General 
 Sherman on the celebrated march to Meridian. 
 
 At Memphis and just before leaving for Vicksburg, the 
 27th Iowa was brigaded with the 14th and 32d Iowa, and the 
 24th Missouri. These troops constituted the 2d Brigade of the 
 3d Division, IGtli Army Corps, which afterward, under com- 
 mand of Colonel William T. Shaw of the 14th, so distin- 
 guished itself in the Red River Expedition of General Banks. 
 In the Meridian march, it should be stated that the 27th Iowa 
 went some six miles further east than any other troops of 
 Sherman's command, and in this advanced position captured 
 several prisoners. 
 
 The plan for the Red River Campaign had already been 
 
424 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 matured, on the return of General Sherman to Vicksburg ; and 
 on the evening of the 10th of April, 1864, General A. J. Smith 
 left with his expeditionary army for the mouth of Red River, 
 where he arrived on the evening following. The fleet of 
 Admiral Porter arriving that same evening, the expedition, 
 on the morning of the 12th instant, sailed up the river, and in 
 the afternoon arrived at Simmsport, where the infantry forces 
 disembarked. From this point. General Smith marched with 
 his command across the country to the rear of Fort De Russey, 
 while Porter, with his gun-boat fleet, proceeded up the river. 
 Near Simmsport a small body of the enemy's cavalry made 
 their appearance ; but they offered no resistance to the advance; 
 and on the evening of the second day the fort was invested. 
 Porter in the meantime had come up with his fleet, but for 
 some reason took no iJart in the engagement which followed. 
 I have been told that it was the crookedness of the river at this 
 point, together with certain obstructions, that prevented him 
 from operating with the land forces. 
 
 Fort De Russey, a formidable earth-woi'k of the enemj-^ on 
 the south-west side of Red River, and some four miles 
 above the town of Marksville, was built on a high point of 
 land, about one hundred paces back from the river, but con- 
 nected with it by rifle-j^its. On the south-west bank of the 
 river, was a six-gun water-battery. The Fort proper mounted 
 but four guns : two six-pounders commanded the open country 
 south-west of the Fort ; and two thirty-two pounders covered 
 the Marksville road and the approaches to the south-east. On 
 the north-west side of the fort was dense timber and impassa- 
 ble swamps. 
 
 On the 14th day of March, the day of the capture of Fort De 
 Russey, the 27th Iowa led the advance. Marksville, which is 
 some thirty miles distant from Simmsport, was reached at four 
 o'clock in the afternoon ; and at this point Colonel Gilbert was 
 
JAMES I. GILBERT. 425 
 
 ordered to halt his regiment to prevent straggling in the town. 
 He was kept in this position till all the troops had passed, and 
 until the dispositions for the attack had been nearly completed. 
 The 27th as a regiment had not yet been under fire, and, jeal- 
 ous of his own reputation and that of his command, Colonel 
 Gilbert dispatched his adjutant to Colonel Shaw, with this 
 request: "If there is to be any fighting we want to have a 
 hand in it." An order was finally returned for him to bring 
 his regiment forward ; and he moved up and took position on 
 the extreme right of the assaulting forces. Two entire brig- 
 ades charged on the fort, and Colonel Shaw's held the right. 
 The line of battle was semi-circular, and, on the right, was 
 formed in the edge of timber and some two hundred and fifty 
 yards distant from the fort. 
 
 In front of the 2d Brigade (Colonel Shaw's) was a ravine, 
 running nearly parallel with the enemy's defenses; but, before 
 this could be reached, the entire line must pass under a severe 
 musketry-fire from the fort and the adjacent rifle-pits. After 
 the reconnoissance had been completed, during which time the 
 fire from the fort had been responded to by the 3d Indiana 
 Battery, a general charge was ordered, when Colonel Gill^ert, 
 drawing his sword and stepping to the front of his regiment, 
 said : " Boys, come on." '' From that moment," said a mem- 
 ber of his regiment to me, " we knew he had the true grit." 
 He was one of the first ofiicers, if not the very first, to enter 
 the enemy's works. If this was not a sanguinary affair, it 
 was a brilliant one, and augured well for the success of the 
 future expedition. The number of casualties of the 27th Iowa, 
 in this engagement, I have failed to learn. 
 
 It should be borne in mind that General Banks had not yet 
 come up from Franklin, Louisiana ; nor did he come up till a 
 week after the capture of Alexandria; so that the credit 
 
426 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 incideut to the capture of Fort De Russey belongs sole'y to 
 General Smith and the troops of his command. On the 
 morning of the loth instant, the 3d Division, having re-em- 
 barked on the fleet, moved up to Alexandria, and that same 
 evening the place was entered without opposition. Here 
 General Smith remained till the arrival of General Banks 
 with his command, consisting of portions of the 13th and 
 19th Army Corps. 
 
 From this point, General Banks marched through the coun- 
 try via Natchitoches to Grand Ecore ; but Smith, moving up to 
 the head of the rapids, above Alexandria, re-embarked and 
 sailed up the river, arriving at Grand Ecore at about the same 
 time as did General Banks. On the 5th of April, General 
 Banks marched for Shreveport by way of the Mansfield road, 
 and two days later was followed by the command of General 
 Smith ; but the advance was soon to be turned into a retreat ; 
 and neither the forces of Banks nor Smith were destined to see 
 even Mansfield. No considerable resistance was made to the 
 advance till near Natchitoches, and, to beat this back, no troops 
 were required but the cavalry; but beyond Pleasant Hill, 
 and about thirty miles distant from Natchitoches, the enemy 
 showed so much resistance that it became necessary to send 
 forward a brigade of infantry. 
 
 The battle of Mansfield, or Sabine Cross Roads was fought 
 on the afternoon of the 8th of April, 1864, and that of Pleasant 
 Hill on the morning and evening of the 9th. The last was the 
 one in which the 1 1th, 27th and 32d Iowa regiments so distin- 
 guished themselves. These troops, together with the 24th 
 Missouri, I believe impartial history will say, saved the 
 army of General Banks from disorganization and capture ; for 
 they were the only troops that maintained their position 
 throughout that terrible day— I mean, of course, of those 
 
JAMES I. GILBERT. 427 
 
 whose position was in tlie front. If this be not so, how was it 
 that their losses, in killed, wounded and missing, numbered 
 nearly, if not quite two-thirds of the casualties in Banks' 
 entire army? The position held by the 27th in this engage- 
 ment was the left centre of its brigade. On its right was the 
 14th Iowa, and on its left the 32d. Its right rested near the 
 Pleasant Hill and Mansfield road. 
 
 The conduct of Colonel Gilbert in this engagement, as at Fort 
 De Russey, was gallant in the extreme. Through the anxious 
 hours that intervened between the first attack in the morning 
 and the final fierce assaults of the enemy in the afternoon, he 
 was never idle, but talked with and cheered his men. Skir- 
 mishing all this time was going on ; and every moment closed 
 with the assurance that the next would open the fierce encoun- 
 ter. When the conflict finally did open, he stood firm and 
 confident, using, when occasion offered and his duties would 
 permit, a musket against the advancing enemy. Indeed, the 
 colonel was wounded in this engagement, while in the act of 
 shooting a rebel officer. Many brave officers and men of the 
 27th Iowa were left among the killed and wounded: their 
 names I have failed to learn. One I know — Sergeant George 
 W. Griswold, a brave and faithful soldier. He was wounded 
 severely in the face, and left in hospital within the enemy's 
 lines. 
 
 A history of Banks' Expedition after his unplucked victory 
 at Pleasant Hill will be found elsewhere. In the fatiguing and 
 harassing retreat to Simmsport, Smith's Division covered the 
 rear of Banks' army. 
 
 Subsequently to the Red River Campaign, there has been 
 little rest for the 27th Iowa Infantry. It joined its division in 
 driving Price from Missouri ; was with A. J. Smith at Nash- 
 ville, and fought in those terrible battles that closed only with 
 
428 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 the destruction of General Hood's army ; and, lastly, was with 
 its old white-headed general before Blakely, where it led a por- 
 tion of the charging column that carried so brilliantly the 
 strong-hold. Now it has marched with its division into the 
 interior of Alabama ; but it will probably see no more fighting. 
 
 After the battle of Nashville, Colonel Gilbert was made a 
 brigadier-general. Since that time, he has been in command 
 of a brigade. He is one of the most popular oflicers in his 
 division. 
 
 Colonel Gilbert is six feet and one inch in hight, and has a 
 broad chest, and an erect and tapering form. His hair, eyes 
 and complexion are dark. He has a heavy voice, and is an 
 energetic talker. At home and among his acquaintances, he is 
 "noted for his love of a fine horse and riding out-fit. He thinks 
 much of style in appearance." 
 
 He is quick and active in his motions, and, in civil life, was 
 accustomed to decide the most important business transactions 
 in a moment. His opinions, of which he is very positive, he 
 is always ready to back with a bet; and his losses, of which he 
 rarely' has any, he pays promptly. As a business man, he was 
 not considered very fortunate, though he was never placed in a 
 position which prevented him irom paying all legal demands 
 against him. Like several other Iowa officers, he is better 
 adapted to the profession of arms than to any other calling. I 
 should not omit to state that, of the Iowa generals. General 
 Gilbert is the finest equestrian the State can boast, not even 
 excepting General Frederick Steele. 
 
COLONEL WILLLOI E. MILLER. 
 
 FIRST COLOXEL, TWEXTY-EIGIITH INFANTRY. 
 
 William: E. Miller, the original colonel of the 28th Iowa 
 Infantry, is a Pennsylvanian by birth, and was born in the 
 year 1823. At the time of entering the service, he was a resi- 
 dent of Iowa Citj% and a practicing law^-er. He was at one 
 jtime a district judge. Mr. Miller entered the service as colonel 
 'of the 28th Iowa Infantry, and was commissioned, as such, on 
 the 10th of August, 1862. The date of his muster into the 
 United States service was just two months later. 
 
 The 28th Iowa Infantry was enlisted in the counties of Ben- 
 ton, Tama, Jasper, Powesheik, Iowa and Johnson, and was 
 rendezvoused at Iowa City. The history of this regiment and 
 of the 24th Iowa Infantry are nearly identical. The 28th left 
 jits rendezvous for the front, on the 1st day of November, 1862, 
 iand, going to Helena, Arkansas, was there brigaded with the 
 |24th Iowa ; and from that time to the present these regiments 
 ihave served in the same brigade. The first march of the 28th 
 jlowa was that made to Oakhind, Mississippi ; after which it 
 pined the White River Expedition, under Brigadier-General 
 Gorman. General Gorman left Helena with his command for 
 the mouth of White River about the 6th of January, 1863 ; and 
 sailing up that stream until arriving near St. Charles, disem- 
 barked his command. St. Charles, a little village on the south 
 bank of White River, and resting on its steep, high bluffs, was 
 supposed to be held by the enemy in force; for strong works 
 [Surrounding the place were visible. On sending forward skir- 
 mishers, however, it was found to be unoccupied and was 
 entered without opposition. 
 
 429 
 
430 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 The next morning General Gorman moved up the river to 
 Duvall's Bluff, preceded by the gun-boats. This place, too, 
 the enemy were making haste to abandon. The greater part 
 of the stores had already been sent west, over the Little Rock 
 road, and the last train was in waiting to remove the siege- 
 guns and small artillery. One large siege-gun was loaded, and 
 another was raised on skids for the same purpose. But on the 
 approach of the gun-boats, which opened vigorously upon the 
 place, the enemy fled, having offered but slight resistance. 
 Five or six pieces of artillery were captured, besides some two 
 hundred and fifty stand of small arms. If the object of the 
 White River Exi^edition was the capture of Duvall's Bluff 
 and nothing more, I do not know it. I believe the object was 
 the capture of Little Bock; for it will be remembered that 
 Mc' demand's expedition up the Arkansas River to Arkansas 
 Post was made at just about this time. After the capture of 
 Arkansas Post, IMcClernand went no further, and Gorman, 
 accordingly, turned back to Helena. 
 
 If on this expedition Colonel Miller and his regiment won 
 little distinction, it was because no occasion offered. One 
 thing is certain that, the hardships and exposures attending 
 the movement were hardly ever equalled. The weather w^as 
 cold ; and it rained and snowed, by turns, almost incessantly. 
 Scores contracted diseases on the White River Expedition, 
 which totally disabled them for service. 
 
 The 28th Iowa, as a regiment, met the enemy for the first 
 time on the final Vicksburg Campaign. On this march it was 
 attaclied to the corps of General McClernand, which led the 
 van of General Grant's army. Previous to the 29th of March, 
 1863, the day on which General McClernand began his march 
 through the country from Milliken's Bend to New Carthage, 
 General Grant had tried five distinct plans to gain a footing on 
 
WILLIAM E. MILLER. 431 
 
 the hills in rear of Vicksburg. lie had Q\en x)ermitted a sixth 
 plan to be tried; but this last one was at the suggestion of 
 Admiral David D. Porter, who, with a portion of his Missis- 
 sippi squadron, had discovered "a new route." This expe- 
 dition has already been spoken of. It should be known in 
 history as the Steele's-Bayou-Black-Bayou-Deer-Creek-Rolling 
 Fork-Sun-Flower- Yazoo-River Expedition : indeed, even this 
 prodigiously significant name does not begin to suggest the 
 obstacles that must have been overcome to make it successful. 
 The soldiers of Steele's Division christened it " The Deer Creek 
 raid." 
 
 The march across the neck of land, which is embraced in the 
 great bend of the Mississippi, and which lies just opposite 
 Vicksburg, was thirty-five miles in length, and was attended 
 with great hardships ; for the weather was cold and stormy, 
 and the roads so muddy as to make the transportation of large 
 army supplies over them almost impossible. And it must be 
 remembered too, that, at that time, the plan of running the 
 Vicksburg Batteries had not been proven feasible ; for the Sil- 
 ver Wave, the Forest Queen, and the Henry Clay, under the 
 escort of Porter's fleet, did not run their celebrated gauntlet, 
 until the night of the 6th of April. But, as General Grant 
 said, the only way to reduce Vicksburg was to approach it from 
 the south side, and he accordingly played this bold hand. All 
 other plans tried had proved impracticable. 
 
 On arriving near New Carthage, General McClernand found 
 the levee of Bayou Vidal broken, and the country flooded. 
 New Carthage was an island, and could only be reached in 
 skiffs and flat-boats, such as could be found in the neighbor- 
 hood; and this proving too great a task, the march was con- 
 tinued to Perkin's plantation, twelve miles lower down the 
 river. The country and the scenery at Perkin's plantation 
 were magnificent; but the owner. Judge Perkins, a bitter rebel 
 
432 IOWA COLOXELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and Confederate State Senator, had burnt his splendid mansion 
 to the ground, declaring that the foot of no Yankee soldier 
 should ever cross its threshold. It was said that he burned it 
 just after the fall of Island No. 10, declaring that, if the Union 
 troops could capture that i)lace, they could capture every thing; 
 and this may have been so, for rank weeds were growing 
 among the ruins, and the shrubbery, and winding and shaded 
 avenues, had the appearance of having been long deserted. I 
 mention these things because they formed a theme of great 
 interest among the soldiers, as they dragged themselves along 
 on the weary march. 
 
 In the meantime, Admiral Porter, having run the Vicks- 
 burg Batteries, arrived in the river opposite Perkins' planta- 
 tion. Here a portion of McClernand's command having 
 embarked moved down to Hard Times Landing, which lies 
 a little above Grand Gulf, and on the opposite side of the 
 river. The balance of the command moved round to the same 
 point by land. The object now was to capture Grand Gulf, 
 and move round to tlie rear of Vicksburg from that point. 
 Admiral Porter declared the plan feasible, and at once set 
 about the reduction of the rebel works ; but they would not 
 reduce: the position was impregnable; for, during more than 
 five hours of most vigorous cannonading, not a gun of the 
 enemy was silenced. This happened on the morning of the 
 29th of April, and on the afternoon of that same day the gun- 
 boat fleet and the transports prepared to run the Grand Gulf 
 Batteries, while the troops took up their line of march to a 
 point down tlie river, and opposite Bruinsburg, Mississippi. 
 The fleet arrived in safety ; and on the following morning the 
 13th Army Corps, as is well known, effected a landing on the 
 east side of the Mississippi Biver. 
 
 That same afternoon, the 30th of April, CJcneral McClernand 
 marched for Port Gibson; and that same night, at about eleven 
 
WILLIAM E. MILLER. 433 
 
 o'clock, encountered the enemy's pickets. He continued to 
 push on, and two hours later arrived at Thompson's Hill, 
 where, when the head of the column was resting in the road, 
 it received a heavy volley of musketry. The enemy also 
 opened with his artillery ; and for a few moments all was con- 
 fusion ; but it soon appeared that his only object was to check 
 the advance, and quiet was restored. In this connection, it is 
 but just that I should pay a merited compliment to the skill 
 and bravery of Captain H. H. Griffiths, of the 1st Iowa Bat- 
 tery. When the firing commenced, he was far to the rear; 
 but, being impressed with the notion that he was wanted at 
 the front, he moved hastily forward through the opened ranks 
 of the infantry, and reported to General Carr, whose division 
 was in the van. "Did you send for me, general?" he said. 
 "No"; and at that very instant a shell came screaming down 
 the narrow, excavated road, and burst just to their right. 
 "Tear down the fence," said Captain Griffiths to his men ; and 
 in less time than is required to tell it, he had run his guns over 
 the embankment, unlimbered them, and was playing upon the 
 enemy. Twice he silenced the enemy's batteries, and com- 
 pelled them to change position. The fighting in the darkness 
 now closed ; and in the morning. General Carr sent his com- 
 pliments to Captain Grifiiths, whose guns had burst the first 
 j shell on the south side of Vicksburg. 
 
 I The 28th Iowa, which was attached to the division of General 
 
 Hovey, did not cross the Mississippi till evening, when, hav- 
 
 j ing drawn three days' rations, it started for the front. At one 
 
 I o'clock in the morning, and just after it had ascended the hills 
 
 that lie some four miles back from the river, it heard the 
 
 I booming of artillery. The regiment pushed on through the 
 
 i darkness, and at sun-rise arrived at the foot of Thompson's 
 
 Hill, where, having eaten a hasty breakfast, it prepared for 
 
434 IOWA COLONELS AXD REGIMENTS. 
 
 battle. Its first position was on the crest of Tlioinpson's Hill, 
 where all but three companies lay under fire for an hour. In 
 the meantime Companies B, G and K joined the 34th Indiana 
 in charging a rebel battery, which, I may add, was captured, 
 with nearly three hundred prisoners. But the enemy had now 
 massed their forces heavily on our left, with the hope of forcing 
 it and gaining our rear. The 28th Iowa was therefore ordered 
 to this point, where it engaged the enemy till he fled from the 
 field. "While in thi.s position, the regiment was opposed to the 
 2d and the oth Missouri (rebel) Infantry. It was now nearly 
 dark, and the 28th Iowa, which had been sejiarated from its 
 brigade the greater part of the day, was ordered by Geuen;l 
 Stevens to re-join it; and that night it encamped on the bloody 
 battle-field of Thompson's Hill, or Port Gibson. The Ciisual- 
 ties of the regiment in this engagement were not great: only 
 one man was killed — Jacob Souervine — and sixteen wounded. 
 
 In the battle of Champion's Hill, the 2Sth Iowa distin- 
 guished itself, and suil'ered severely. The part taken by il 
 regiment in this engagement is thus given by C'liai)lain J. i . 
 Simmons : 
 
 "At 11 A. M. our command was ordered forward, and in a 
 short time the whole line of our division had engaged the 
 enemy. IMoving steaclily forward, we were thrown acrons a 
 deep ravine, densely set witli timber and underbrush, whieh 
 rendi'red our advance difiicult. On reaching the top of the hill 
 we were fully under the lire of the enemy, yet continued to 
 advance, driving him from his ])osition. Tlie work of death 
 liad now fairly begun, and our brave nun falling in numbers 
 from till' ranks, dead or wounded, told too plaiidy the terrible 
 earnestni'ss of the engagement. Attendants began to gather 
 the fallen, surgeons to dress their wounds, am])ulances to con- 
 voy them to the rear; and all the machinery of a dreadful 
 confliet was in motion. The regiment with the whole division 
 contiiMied to i>ress tlie enemy back over an open field for nearly 
 one mile. During all this time the lighting had b(HMJ most 
 fearful. Here the enemv massed liis forces in front of our 
 
 
WILLIAM E. MILLER. 435 
 
 single line of battle, already weakened by the loss of hundreds, 
 and at the same time a move was made to turn our left flank. 
 This compelled us to fall back, which was done in good order. 
 Outnumbered, pressed, and overwhelmed, our men were still 
 driven back, until we had lost a large i^ortion of the ground 
 that had been gained, when General Quimby sent to our relief 
 a portion of his command, commanded by General Crocker, 
 among which were the 10th, 17th and 5th Iowa. These troops 
 charging through our shattered lines, came nobly to the rescue. 
 Here a most terrible struggle ensued, when the enemy in turn 
 gave way; and our men, now flushed with victory, rapidly 
 pressed them back again over the ground already twice fought 
 for. So hotly was he pressed, that the enemy could not avoid 
 confusion ; his lines wavered and broke, and his rout became 
 complete, leaving his dead, wounded, and many prisoners, in 
 our hands." 
 
 The 28th held the left of its division which extended to the 
 Raymond road ; and, in endeavoring to resist the flank move- 
 ment of the enemy, was subjected to a most terrible enfilading 
 fire of musketry. Four companies came out of the fight 
 without a commissioned oificer; and the total, in killed and 
 wounded of the regiment, was an even one hundred. " Lieut- 
 enant John J. Legan, of Company A, and Captain Benjamin P. 
 Kirby, of Company I, were killed ; and Lieutenant John 
 Buchanan received a severe wound of which he died." Twenty 
 enlisted men were killed. 
 
 After the battle of Champion's Hill, the 28th Iowa followed 
 the en^my as far east as Edward's Station, and there rested till 
 the 20th instant. It was then ordered to the Big Black, where 
 it remained till the 24th, and then re-joined its division in rear 
 
 of Vicksburg, 
 
 At the time of entering the service. Colonel Miller was afllic- 
 ted with a troublesome disease which the exposures and 
 hardships of the field so aggravated as to compel him to 
 resign his commission. He left his regiment just before it 
 naarched on the Vicksburg Campaign. 
 
436 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 In personal appearance Colonel Miller is prepossessing. He 
 is heavy set, with broad, square shoulders, and is about five 
 feet, eight inches in hight. His hair and eyes are both dark, 
 and the expression of his countenance is frank and manly. 
 He has a heavy, firm voice, and possesses good taste as a mili- 
 tary man. He was a good disciplinarian, and was regarded by 
 his regiment as a good and brave soldier. Had he retained his 
 health, he would doubtless have made a fine record. 
 
 It was with the greatest reluctance that Colonel Miller left 
 the service: indeed, he delayed sending in his resignation, 
 until many thought he could not live to reach his home ; and, 
 after arriving in Iowa City, but few of his neighbors expected 
 him to recover. 
 
COLONEL JOHN CONNELL. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, TWENTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 
 
 John Connell is a Scotchman by birth. Scotland has two 
 sons, who have been honored with colonel's commissions from 
 Iowa— Geddes and Connell. 
 
 John Connell was born the 16th day of March, 1824, in Pais- 
 ley, Scotland; and emigrated to the United States in the year . 
 1831. He settled, with his parents, in Norwich, Connecticut, 
 where he received a common school education, and where he 
 continued- to live till the year 1852, when he came West, and 
 settled in Tama county, Iowa. He was one of the first settlers 
 in that county, and assisted in its organization. His first resi- 
 dence was in the village of Buckingham; but, in 1855, he 
 removed to Toledo. He was a farmer in Buckingham, and, in 
 Toledo, a merchant and trader in lands. He was once in the 
 Iowa Legislature. The Whigs of his county elected him in 
 1854; but, on reporting at Iowa City, he found the Whig Party 
 dead, and joined hands with the Republicans. He came to 
 Iowa poor, and has now a respectable property. 
 
 Mr. Connell was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the 28th 
 Iowa Infantry on the 16th day of September, 1862; and, on 
 the 14th of the following March, was promoted to the full col- 
 onelcy of his regiment. 
 
 During the colonelcy of Mr. Connell, the most interesting 
 portion of his regiment's record is to be found in the history of 
 General Banks' march up the Red River, in the spring of 1864, 
 and in the brilliant operations of General Sheridan in the 
 Shenandoah Valley, in the following Fall. But from the 
 time General McClernand commenced his march across the 
 
 437 
 
438 IOWA COLOXELS AND EEGIMEXTS. 
 
 peninsula west of Vicksburg, to New Carthage and Perkin's 
 plantation, up to the date of the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louis- 
 iana, where he was wounded, Colonel Connell was in command 
 of his regiment. He led it in the battles of Port Gibson, 
 Champion's Hill, and against the rebel works at Vicksburg. 
 
 On the 1st of August, 18G3, after returning from Jackson, 
 (for the 28th Iowa joined General Sherman on that march) 
 Colonel Connell left with his regiment on board transports, for 
 Natchez, where he arrived on the 3d instant. The next day, 
 he marched out to Second Bayou, seven miles from the city, 
 and assisted in the construction of cotton fortifications. But 
 there seemed to be no rest for the regiment ; for, on the 12th 
 instant, it was again ordered on board boats and dispatched to 
 Carrollton, Louisiana. During the balance of the Summer, and 
 through the following Fall, the regiment served in Louisiana ; 
 but a history of its movements during this time has been 
 already given, and need not be repeated. 
 
 The 28th Iowa passed Christmas at Algiers, opposite New 
 Orleans, and moved up to INIadisonville, on the northern shore 
 of Lake Pontcliartrain, early in February, 1864. There it 
 remained till it joined General Banks in his Red Bivcr Cam- 
 paign. 
 
 The command of General Banks in the Red River Expedi- 
 tion, consisting of detachments of the 13th and 19th Army 
 Corps, was rendezvoused at Berwick Bay early in March, 18G4. 
 These troops were under the immediate command of General 
 Franklin, General Banks being commander-in-chief. Only 
 the 3d and Ith Divisions of the 13tli Army Corps wore present, 
 tlie 3d being coniinandud by (Jeneral Cameron, an Indiana 
 man, and the Ith by General Ransom, later, the hero of Sabine 
 Cross Roads. The 2.sth Iowa was attached to the 3d Division ; 
 and, witli the 2ilii Iowa, the ITlli Indiana and r.dtji Ohio regi- 
 ments, constituted the Brigade. CJeneral I'ranklin Wl'l ncrwick 
 
JOHN CONNELL. 439 
 
 Bay for Alexandria, where a junction was to be formed with 
 the command of General A. J. Smith of the 16th Army Corps, 
 on the 13th of March, only two days before General Smith had 
 occupied that place. His course lay nearly due north ; and, for 
 a long distance, was the same as that traveled by General 
 Banks in gaining the rear of Port Hudson. Passing through 
 New Iberia, Vermillionville, Opelousas and Washington, he 
 reached Alexandria on Saturday evening, the 26th instant. In 
 the march through the country to Alexandria, no opposition 
 was met : only a few rebel cavalry vedettes were seen. General 
 Banks, having in the meantime come up by boat from New 
 Orleans, and every thing being in readiness for an advance, the 
 13th and 19th Corps broke camp and marched in the direction 
 of 'Natchitoches. General Smith, moving with his command 
 to the head of the rai^ids above Alexandria, proceeded up the 
 river on transports. 
 
 The spirits of General Franklin's troops were buoyant, and 
 the magnificent country through which they were passing 
 made the march for them a mere pastime. It was holiday 
 sport, but was soon to be changed for serious work. For a 
 further account of this march, and of the part taken by the 28th 
 Iowa in the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, I refer to the state- 
 ment of Captain J. T. Simmons, chaplain of the regiment. 
 His account differs in some respects from what I have been 
 informed were the facts ; but he was on the ground, and has 
 doubtless told the truth. 
 
 "We reached Alexandria on Saturday, and stayed over Sun- 
 day, * * On Monday morning our division, taking the lead, 
 moved forward and reached Natchitoches, a distance of eighty- 
 five miles, in three days and a half. When within twenty- 
 three miles of that place, we received intelligence that the 
 enemy were pressing General Lee's cavalry, and a forced 
 march was begun. Our regiment was in front, and we reached 
 the place in six hours. * * On the 6th of April we ag^n 
 
440 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 started, and on the 7th received orders to hurry up to the 
 assistance of General Lee, and after a rapid march reached 
 Pleasant Hill. 
 
 "Pausing a few moments, we were ordered to fall in, and 
 were sent out one mile to support the cavalry, but after an 
 hour's waiting returned again to camp. On the morning of 
 the 8th, our division moved forward to support General Lee; 
 and one brigade of the 4th Division then engaged the enemy. 
 Reaching Ten-Mile Creek, we halted in line of battle. At 2 P. 
 M., we moved forward to Moss' Lane, and went into the action 
 near Mansfield." 
 
 The country between Pleasant Hill and Mansfield, Louisi- 
 ana, is hilly, and for the most part, covered with heavy timber: 
 the road connecting these two places is narrow and difficult. 
 More especially is this the case just east of where the enemy 
 were first met. In this road and near the front was a portion 
 of General Banks' train, including his head-quarter wagons. 
 General Ransom led the advance on the morning of the 8th 
 instant and was the first to engage the enemy. They were met 
 in heavy force, when, after a desperate struggle the 4th 
 Division was completely routed. Word came back that the 
 division was all cut to pieces, and that the 3d Division which 
 was at Ten-Mile Creek must hurry to the front. These troops 
 accordingly started at double-quick, but hardly had the column 
 got in motion before stragglers were met. A little further on, 
 the wagon-train was encountered which completely blocked 
 the narrow road, but in such an emergency this was no 
 obstacle, for the troops swinging into the timber by the sides of 
 the road hurried on. The scene of confusion was now reached. 
 Here were met the shattered and bleeding battalions of the 
 poor 4th Division, hurrying in rapid flight from the field. 
 Terror stared from the faces of all : many were wounded and 
 covered with blood, and all had the same alarming story : 
 " We are all cut to pieces ! We are all cut to pieces ! ! " 
 
JOHN CORNELL. 441 
 
 The 2d Brigade now came to where there was a clearing on 
 the left of the road, and timber on the right, and here was 
 formed the new line of battle. The position of the 28th Iowa 
 was in the edge of the timber, with the clearing and a ravine 
 in front. To its left were four companies of the 24th Iowa. 
 This position was gallantly held till out-flanked, when, falling 
 back, the 2d Brigade again formed line, some three-quarters of 
 a mile to the rear; and this line was held till sun-down. In 
 the meantime, the 19th Corps had come up, which, coming 
 into line, checked the further advance of the enemy. That 
 night a retreat was ordered ; and, on the afternoon of the next 
 day, was fought the battle of Pleasant Hill. 
 
 "With no desire to disparage the conduct of other troops 
 engaged at Sabine Cross Roads, I must, in justice, state that 
 the 28th Iowa and the detachment of the 24th, which was 
 present, were the last troops of their division to leave the 
 second line. Nor, when they retired, did they do so in confu- 
 sion, but fought along down the road from wagon to wagon, 
 and held back the rebel centre, so as to enable the wagon-masters 
 to save a portion of the train, 
 
 j Colonel Connell was wounded in this engagement and lost 
 j his left arm, and the circumstances under which it happened 
 are as follows : While he was falling back with his regiment 
 1 they came to a battery, blocked up in the road, and stopping 
 they tried to extricate it, but the enemy pressed them so closely 
 that nearly all the men retired, leaving the colonel still at 
 work. He did not observe his men when they left, but look- 
 ing up the instant after saw them retiring and prepared to 
 follow. Before starting he turned round and stooping looked 
 through the brush to see how near the enemy had approached : 
 that instant a shot struck him. As he stooped, his left hand 
 was resting on his hip which threw his elbow up. The ball 
 
442 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 struck him above the elbow and passed down through the 
 joint, fracturing it severely. He then tried to run but became 
 so faint he was obliged to rest, when the enemy coming up 
 captured him. He was retained a prisoner till the following 
 June, when he was paroled and sent within our lines. He 
 re-joined his regiment at Carrollton, Louisiana, and his reception 
 is thus recorded : — " The colonel stepped from the cars, while 
 an armless sleeve hanging from his left shoulder but too plainly 
 suggested the past. He was introduced to the regiment by 
 Major Meyer, and was received by the regiment with an 
 expression of that unmistakable affection and enthusiasm with 
 which soldiers always regard a true man." 
 
 The loss of the 28th Iowa at the battle of Sabine Cross Boads 
 was about eighty in killed, wounded and missing. Among 
 the wounded were Adjutant J. G. Strong and Lieutenants 
 Weaver and Dorrance. Lieutenant Hughes, regimental quar- 
 ter-master, was captured. 
 
 In the battle of Pleasant Hill, the 28th took little part, the 
 19th Corps, and the command of General Smith doing the chief 
 fighting— I should say, the brigade of Colonel Shaw, of the 
 14th Iowa, doing the chief fighting; for such is the fact. The 
 long and perilous retreat which followed the last named battle 
 is replete with incidents which of themselves would make a 
 large and interesting volume. General Banks' army reached 
 Alexandria in the latter part of April, where it remained till 
 the 13th of May following, and then continued the march to 
 Simmsport and Morganzia Bend. 
 
 Subsequently to the Red River Campaign, the chief portion 
 of the history of the 28th Iowa has been made in the valley of 
 the Shenandoah, and in the Southern Atlantic States. It is 
 the same as are those of the 22d and 24th Iowa, and will be 
 found in connection with the histories of those regiments. 
 
JOHN CONNELL. 443 
 
 I should not close, however, without saying that the regi- 
 ment sustained its good name in the Valley of the Shenandoah. 
 There it met the enemy in the three memorable engagements 
 of Winchester or Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek. 
 Each of these battle-fields drunk its blood, and each are dotted 
 with its graves. I give below the official report of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel B. W. Wilson, concerning the part taken by his regi- 
 ment in the battle at Fisher's Hill ; for a full account of this 
 affair has not been previously given. 
 
 "Heap-quarters Twenty-Eighth Iowa, in the Field, 
 "Near Harrisonburg, Va., September 27th, 1864. 
 
 "Colonel— /S'/r.- In compliance with your request, I submit 
 the following report of the part taken by my command in the 
 battle of Fisher's Hill, on the 22d day of September, 1864. On 
 the morning of the 22d we moved forward toward the enemy a 
 short distance, who were strongly intrenched at Fisher's Hill, 
 a naturally strong position, a short distance above Strasburg. 
 We got into position, and were ordered to intrench. We had 
 scarcely commenced work, when I received orders to report 
 with my regiment to General Grover for a special duty. On 
 reporting, I was ordered to the front line; a commanding 
 position, from which the enemy's sharp-shooters had just been 
 driven. As a battery immediately preceded me, I supposed 
 that I was there as its support, and soon had constructed a sort 
 of intrenchment as protection against the enemy's sharp-shoot- 
 ers. Here I remained until about 4 P. M., when I received 
 orders from General Grover to deploy as skirmishers on the 
 right of the 22d Iowa, as far as practicable toward the 
 intrenched position of the enemy. We advanced toward their 
 works, to within about three hundred yards, pouring in volley 
 after volley with great rapidity. The enemy seemed to Avaver, 
 whereupon I ordered a charge. With a prolonged shout, we 
 went after them, scaling their works and driving them in con- 
 fusion before us, capturing a six-gun battery, a large quantity 
 of ammunition, and a number of prisoners. After following 
 them about a mile, I received orders to return for the knap- 
 sacks of my regiment, which had been left when the charge 
 began. I have no fault to find with either officers or men. All 
 deserve praise. Not one flinched, or fled, when it seemed we 
 
444 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 were charging right into the very jaws of death. My loss wafi 
 exceedingly light, being only ten men wounded." 
 
 At the battle of Winchester the loss of the regiment waa 
 eighty-seven; at Fisher's Hill, ten,- and at Cedar Creek more 
 than ninety. Captains Palmer, Houseworth and Riemen- 
 schnieder were among the killed in these engagements; and 
 among the wounded were Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson, Captain 
 Carr, and Lieutenants Strong, Dean, Summers and Hanerly. 
 The enlisted men who fell are equally deserving of mention, 
 but want of space forbids me giving their names. 
 
 In appearance, Colonel Connell is intelligent and unassuming, 
 and his countenance wears a frank and modest expression 
 which makes one like him. He has a good form, sandy hair, 
 and a florid complexion, and, I may add, just the sort of tem- 
 perament to meet a rebel. Indeed, our red-headed men, 
 throughout the war, have been the most successful soldiers. 
 
 Colonel Connell never commanded his regiment after he lost 
 his arm in Louisiana. Since that time it has been commanded 
 by Lieutenant-Colonel B. W. Wilson and Major John Meyer, 
 both, I am told, fine officers. 
 
BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL T. H. BENTON. 
 
 COLONEL, TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Thomas Haet Benton, Jr., is a nephew of the celebrated 
 American statesman and author, whose name, at his uncle's 
 own request, he bears. He is a native of Tennessee, and was 
 born in Williamson county of that State, on the 5th day of 
 September, 1816. His father, Samuel Benton, was quite a 
 noted man^ In 1817, the year after his son Thomas' birth, he 
 left Tennessee for Missouri ; and settled in St. Louis. In 1822, 
 he returned to Tennessee, and settled in Shelby county, near 
 the present city of Memphis, which was then a mere village. 
 In 1835, he left the States, and emigrated to Texas, which was 
 at that time an independent Republic. During his residence 
 there, he served one term in the Texan Congress. He died in 
 1846. Young Benton accompanied his father in all his migra- 
 tions. 
 
 Colonel Benton's education is academic, and was acquired 
 at the Huntington Academy, Tennessee. His collegiate course 
 was brief: he passed only a portion of the year 1835 at Marion 
 College, Missouri. In 1839, he came to Iowa, and located in 
 Dubuque, where he lived till 1854. During his residence in 
 Dubuque, he was first teacher, and then merchant. In 1846, 
 he went to the State Senate from the Dubuque District, and 
 served in Iowa's first General Assembly. He was elected, in 
 1848, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and, at the 
 close of his three-years' term, was re-elected for a like term. 
 The nomination for the same position was again tendered him ; 
 but he declined it, and the same year removed to Council 
 Bluffs, his present home. 
 
 445 
 
446 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 It would seem that Iowa had but oue scholar ; for, in 1858, 
 Ck)lonel Benton was elected Secretary of the Board of Educa- 
 tion, under the new State Constitution. This oiflce he held for 
 the two subsequent terms, and was its incumbent at the time 
 of entering the service. On the 10th of August, 1862, he was 
 commissioned colonel of the 29th Iowa Infantry ; and, on the 
 1st of the following December, mustered into the United States 
 service. For gallant conduct in the different campaigns in 
 which he joined in Arkansas, Colonel Benton, in the spring of 
 1865, was made brevet brigadier-general. 
 
 The history of the 29th is nearly the same as are those of the 
 33d and 36th Iowa regiments. In the latter part of December, 
 when the enemy were threatening Columbus and other points 
 on the Mississippi, Colonel Benton was ordered with his 
 regiment from Benton Barracks to Columbus. No attack was 
 made, and in a few days he sailed down the river to Helena, 
 Arkansas. In January, 1863, he accompanied General Gorman 
 on the AVhite Biver Expedition — one in which the troops 
 were subjected to great fatigue and exposures, but which, it is 
 said, was fruitless, on account of the non-co-operation of the 
 fleet. After his return from this expedition, he remained at 
 Helena till the latter part of February, when he joined the 
 Yazoo Pass Expedition, under General Ross. In the early 
 part of April, General Boss, under orders from General Grant, 
 returned with his command to Helena, where Colonel Benton 
 remained with his regiment during the following Summer, 
 and took part in the brilliant engagement of the 4tli of July. 
 This was a contest for the great gala day of the nation, and 
 will ever have a prominent place in the history of our civil 
 war. The following extract I take from Colonel Benton's 
 oflacial report : 
 
 "My men were under a severe fire for more than five hours, 
 and it affords me the greatest pleasure to speak of both oflicers 
 
THOMAS H. BEXTOX. 447 
 
 and men in terms of the highest commendation, for their cool- 
 ness and courage during the entire action. I saw no flinching 
 or wavering during tlie day. It is proper to add that several 
 of my officers and men, who were excused from duty in conse- 
 quence of physical disability, left their quarters and joined 
 their respective companies, when the signal gun was fired. 
 
 "I would not do justice to an accomplished officer, should I 
 fail to acknowledge the efficient services of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 R. F. Patterson, during the action; and the special obligations 
 I am under for the thorough instruction previously given by 
 him to both officers and men, in the responsible duties and 
 obligations of the soldier." 
 
 The loss of the 29th Iowa at Helena was seven killed and 
 twenty-four wounded. Two of the latter were hurt mortally, 
 and died soon after. 
 
 Early in August, 1863, the 29th Iowa joined the Arkansas or 
 Little Rock Expedition, under General Steele, and was present 
 at the capture of Little Rock. On the Little Rock march. 
 Colonel Benton was in command of a brigade, composed of the 
 29th and 33d Iowa and the 28th Wisconsin regiments. 
 
 After passing the fall of 1863 and the following Winter, at 
 Little Rock, the 29th Iowa, under its colonel, joined General 
 Steele on the Camden march, and on this campaign saw its 
 hardest service, and made the most interesting portion of its 
 history. The object of the campaign has been already given. 
 Had it been successful, it would have relieved the entire State 
 of Arkansas from Confederate rule. In the expedition, the 
 29th Iowa marched two hundred and fifty miles, and lost in 
 action one hundred and forty-two officers and men. 
 
 General Steele left Little Rock on this celebrated march on 
 the 23d of March, 1864. General Banks in his course up the 
 Red River was already approaching Natchitoches. The des- 
 tination of both armies was Shreveport. Passing through 
 Benton, Rockport, and Arkadelphia on the Washita River, 
 and thence south-west across the Little Missouri, Steele arrived 
 
448 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 on the 10th of the following April, at Prairie de Anne — one of 
 the prettiest little spots in wild Arliansas, or the whole "Sunny 
 South." At Prairie de Anne, as already stated, he learned the 
 probable fate of his expedition. There he learned of Banks' 
 defeat ; and, with Banks defeated and driven back, he, with his 
 small army, could not hope for success, against the combined 
 rebel forces. General Steele then pushed for Camden, which 
 he reached on the loth instant. 
 
 In this expedition, the enemy was first met on the tenth 
 day's march, and near Terra Noir Creek, some four miles south 
 of where General Steele had camped the night before. On the 
 morning of the 2d of April, the day in question. Colonel Ben- 
 ton, with his regiment and two pieces of artillery, was assigned 
 the perilous position of rear-guard to the supply- and transpor- 
 tation-train, consisting of about four hundred and fifty wagons. 
 The day before the enemy's scouts had been frequently seen ; 
 and it was known that the rebel General Shelby, with ten 
 thousand cavalry, w^as in the neighborhood. Steele's main 
 force, and a large portion of the train had already crossed the 
 creek, when Shelby first made his appearance. Colonel Ben- 
 ton, having himself disposed his forces, was barely in time to 
 anticipate the dash of the gallant rascal, who, believing the 
 entire train at his mercy, came on with the greatest celerity. 
 Finding himself foiled, Shelby, after a spirited little contest, 
 retired, and Colonel Benton, resuming the march, hurried up 
 to the train. But after crossing the creek, he was again 
 attacked by the enemy's skirmishers, who, from this point to 
 three miles south of the creek, continued to harass his rear. 
 Having now reached a commanding ridge. Colonel Benton 
 halted his command in line of battle, and engaged the enemy 
 for over an hour, and until he was reinforced by the 50th Indi- 
 ana, brought back by General S. A. Rice. 
 
 The history of that entire day's march is but a repetition of 
 
THOMAS H. BENTON. 449 
 
 the above, with the exception that the forces engaged on both 
 sides were being constantly reinforced. Late in the afternoon 
 and near where General Steele had left the Washington road, 
 Shelby was joined by Cabell, and Colonel Benton by the 9th 
 Wisconsin Infantry. Here another engagement followed, 
 when the enemy, being again repulsed, retired for the night. 
 On the morning of the 4th of April, the battle of Elkin's 
 Ford, on the Little Missouri River, was fought. Colonel 
 Benton, although under fire with his regiment, was not 
 engaged. The march through Prairie de Anne was attended 
 by a series of skirmishes and engagements ; though none of 
 them were bitterly contested. Jenkin's Ferry on the Saline 
 River was the great battle of the campaign, and there Colonel 
 Benton and his regiment most distinguished themselves. 
 
 Steele occupied Camden from the evening of the loth to the 
 night of the 26th of April, and then left on the return to Little 
 Rock. During all this time, the enemy had been devising 
 plans for his capture. Before he left they had sufficient forces 
 to attack and defeat him at Camden, but this they did not do ; 
 for their object was the capture of his army; and so confident 
 were they of the success of their plans that, a rebel officer 
 offered to wager large sums of money that General Steele 
 would not see Little Rock, except as a prisoner of war. Had 
 the rebel General Maxey, with his five thousand men, been 
 purposely less vigilant in watching Steele at Camden, their 
 schemes might have ripened into success; for Steele might 
 have maintained himself by foraging several days longer, but 
 this Maxey would not allow: he would pounce on every for- 
 aging party sent out, thus compelling Steele to rely on his 
 supply-trains from Pine Bluff. When the last train sent back 
 was captured with its escort, he, of course, could do nothing 
 but retire. The last Federal troops left Camden just before 
 
 29 
 
450 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 mid-night of the 2Gth of April, taking tlie road via Princeton 
 and Jenkin's Ferry. 
 
 On the evening of the 28th of April, the retreating army 
 encamped at Princeton, sixteen miles south of the ferry. The 
 march was resumed early on the following morning, and pro- 
 ceeded unmolested till some ten miles out from camp, when, in 
 the midst of a most terrific thunder-storm, the rear-guard was 
 opened on by the enemy's artillery. Price and Kirby Smith 
 had come up by forced marches, having crossed the Washita 
 some twenty-five miles below Camden ; and from this point, 
 till Steele's advance reached the ferry, they continued to harass 
 his rear. A pontoon-bridge had to be constructed, which, with 
 the swollen waters of the river and the black darkness of the 
 night, was well-nigh impracticable. There were also other 
 difficulties to overcome, but these will be mentioned elsewhere. 
 
 With all these obstacles to overcome, only the artillery and 
 Carr's Division of Cavalry were able to reach the north bank of 
 the Saline before day-light broke. It would have been impossi- 
 ble, had there been more time, to cross the train; for the 
 wagons were all sunk to their axles in miry quick-sands. The 
 whole bottom was a vast mud-bed, and nearly the entire train 
 and stores had to be burned. How the artillery was crossed I 
 can not understand. In the meantime the enemy had made 
 their dispositions, and were advancing to the attack. Carr 
 was at once dispatched with his cavalry to Little Rock, while 
 the infantry halted to fight the battle of Saline River. I should 
 state that a portion of the infantry was sent over the river to 
 guard the artillery. Only about five thousand were left on the 
 south bank. 
 
 The battle opened at day-light and on the part of the enemy 
 with artillery. His force was not less than ten thousand — two 
 rebels to one Federal, and the Federals had no artillery. Fur- 
 ther particulars of this engagement will be found in the sketch 
 
THOMAS H. BENTON. 451 
 
 of the late gallant General Rice, who was in command of our 
 forces, and who received a wound, from the effects of which he 
 died not long after. 
 
 The 29th Iowa held the right of the line of battle, and half- 
 knee deep in mud and water fought with the most determined 
 bravery from the beginning to the end of the engagement. 
 The gallant charge, which captured the enemy's artillery (the 
 only artillery on the gi-ound) was made by this regiment in 
 connection with the 2d Kansas (colored). One hundred and 
 eight in killed and wounded was the list of casualties of this 
 noble regiment. The colonel escaped uninjured, though his 
 horse was shot dead under him. 
 
 Returning to Little Rock with the balance of the forces, the 
 29th Iowa went into camp where it remained for nearly a year. 
 In February, 1865, it was ordered to New Orleans, where it 
 was attached to the forces of General Canby. Its last services 
 were, in aiding to reduce the strong forts that defended Mobile. 
 The particular part that it acted, I have been unable to learn. 
 
 Colonel Benton received his commission as brevet brigadier- 
 general, while stationed with his command at Mobile Point, 
 Alabama, and just before the forces marched from that place, 
 against Spanish Fort. The rank is only complimentary : in 
 justice, his commission should have made him a full brigadier. 
 
 General Benton is six feet in hight, and has a well-formed 
 person. He has dark brown hair, a light complexion, and 
 mild, blue eyes. He lacks the dignity and majesty that 
 characterized his late distinguished uncle. Like his uncle, 
 however, he has large self-esteem, and full confidence in his 
 ability. If he wants any thing, he asks for it directly, and not 
 through another ; and, if he has done any thing, he does not 
 affect modesty and refuse to let it be known. 
 
 In religion. General Benton is a Methodist, and in politics. 
 
452 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 an ardent Republican. He was formerly a Democrat, but left 
 that party in 1850. 
 
 His military record is not a glaring one: indeed, there 
 have been few brilliant ones made in the department where he 
 has chiefly served. But no officer in the army has a more 
 honorable record than he. Great confidence has always been 
 placed in him by his superior officers. After General Steele 
 had lost a great portion of his train near Camden, his chief 
 hope of relief was in the safe escort of a provision-train of one 
 hundred and ninety wagons, forty miles out on the Pine Bluflf 
 road, and in charge of a few convalescents, under Colonel 
 Mackey, of the 33d Iowa. The responsible and dangerous duty 
 of bringing this train through in safety was assigned to 
 Colonel Benton, with a force consisting of only two regiments 
 of infantry, four pieces of artillery, and a small squadron of 
 cavalry. 
 
COLONEL CHARLES HENRY ABBOTT. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, THIRTIETH INFANTRY. 
 
 The late Charles H, Abbott of the 30th Iowa Infantry 
 was born in Concord, New Hampshire, on the 25th day of 
 January, 1819. His ancestors were Puritans. His grand-father 
 of the sixth generation was George Abbott, who, coming from 
 Yorkshire, England, settled in Andover, Massachusetts, in the 
 year 1613. Of that patriarch's grand-children, numbering 
 seventy-three, thirty settled in Andover. The others wan- 
 dered through New England and the Middle Colonies, where 
 they made themselves homes. The family is one of the oldest 
 in the country, and also one of the most numerous and wide- 
 spread. Nathaniel Abbott, the colonel's great-grand-father, 
 was a captain in the Provincial Army, and served through the 
 French and Indian wars. His grand-father, Joshua Abbott, 
 was a captain under Warren, and commanded a company at 
 Bunker Hill; and his father, also christened Joshua, a Congre- 
 gational minister. The latter died at Norfolk, Virginia, in 
 about the year 1828. The Rev. John S. C. Abbott, the cele- 
 brated author and historian, is a cousin of the late colonel, as is 
 also Jacob Abbott, an author of some note. 
 
 The subject of this memoir, who was the youngest of eight 
 children, left New England at the age of sixteen for New York, 
 whence, after a few months' residence, he removed to Michi- 
 gan. In 1850 he left Detroit, and, coming to Iowa, settled in 
 Louisa county. Later he removed to Muscatine. His business 
 in Iowa was that of a farmer, land-agent and banker. In 1853 
 he married Miss Julia Beach, an accomplished lady and a 
 
 453 
 
454 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 daughter of the Rev. John Beach of Michigan. Two little 
 boys remain to her as her only hope. 
 
 Colonel Abbott entered the service in the summer of 1862, as 
 colonel of the 30th Iowa, and commanded his regiment in the 
 battle of Chickasaw Bayou, and in the charge against the 
 enemy's works at Vicksburg, on the 22d of May, 1863. In the 
 last named engagement he was killed, while leading his regi- 
 ment. Of the Iowa colonels, he was the third to fall dead or 
 mortally wounded in battle. 
 
 The operations of the 80th Iowa, while under the command 
 of Colonel Abbott, will be found substantially recorded in the 
 sketches of Brigadier-General, then Colonel Williamson, of the 
 4th, and Colonel Milo Smith, of the 26th Iowa regiments. The 
 30th Iowa was not engaged at Chickasaw Bayou, though it had 
 four men wounded, while lying under the enemy's guns, on 
 the third day of the battle — one corporal and three enlisted 
 
 men. 
 
 At Arkansas Post, the regiment was commanded by Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Torrence, Colonel Abbott being sick. In this 
 action, it was under fire for about three hours. It engaged the 
 enemy from behind their works on the left, and, lying down, 
 kept up an incessant fire, till the white flag was hoisted. The 
 regiment suffered quite severely in killed and wounded : five 
 were killed, and thirty-nine wounded. Among the wounded 
 were Captains R. D. Cramer and Uley Burk ; Lieutenants H. 
 L. Creighton and W. L. Alexander; Sergeant-Major Clenden- 
 ing, and Sergeants York, Detwiler and Gregg. The following 
 
 is from Lieutenant-Colonel Torrence's report : 
 
 "There is nothing further which I deem it my duty to men- 
 tion, save that both officers and men generally acted well for 
 new troops. I might mention to you with great propriety a 
 few instances of cool and commendable courage, displayed by 
 some of the men, they having fallen under my immediate 
 notice during the action; but I forbear mentioning any save 
 
CHARLES H. ABBOTT. 465 
 
 one, and that is the case of James M. Smith, a private of Com- 
 pany C, a single young man, not yet arrived at liis majority. 
 * * * His conduct on the battle-field, in the late engage- 
 ment, was such as to secure implicit confidence in his courage 
 and ability." 
 The night following the engagement was one of great fatigue 
 
 to the 30th Iowa ; for it was detailed to guard prisoners, and to 
 escort them inside the fort, and was not relieved till after mid- 
 night. The "Deer Creek raid" follows next in the history of 
 the regiment, an account of which is elsewhere given; and 
 next, the march to the rear of Vicksburg and the environment 
 of that city. In this march, the regiment was attached to the 
 loth Army Corps— Sherman's— and marched by way of Grand 
 Gulf to Jackson, and thence to the rear of Vicksburg. General 
 Sherman's account of the advance from Jackson will be read 
 with interest. The 30th Iowa, it should be remembered, was 
 attached to Steele's Division. 
 
 "On the morning of the 16th, [May] I received a note from 
 General Grant, written at Clinton, reporting the enemy 
 advancing from Edward's Depot, and ordering me to put in 
 motion one of my divisions toward Bolton, and to follow with 
 the others as soon as I had completed the work of destruction 
 ordered. 
 
 "Steele's Division marched at ten A. M., and Tuttle's fol- 
 lowed at noon. As the march would necessarily be rapid, I 
 ordered General Mower to parole the prisoners of war, and to 
 evacuate Jackson as the rear of Tuttle's division passed out. I 
 paroled these prisoners because the wounded men of McPher- 
 son's Corps had been left in a hospital in charge of Surgeon 
 Hewitt, to the mercy of the enemy, who I knew would re-enter 
 Jackson as soon as we left. The whole corps marched from 
 Jackson to Bolton, nearly twenty miles, that day; and the 
 next morning resumed the march by a road lying to the north 
 of Baker's Creek, reaching Bridgeport, on the Big Black, at 
 noon. There I found Blair's Division (which, with one of 
 McClernand's Divisions, and a wagon-train had been left near 
 New Auburn) and the pontoon-train. The enemy had a small 
 picket on the west bank in a rifle-pit, commanding the crossing; 
 
456 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 but, on exploding a few shells over the pit, they came out 
 and surrendered — a lieutenant and ten men. The pontoon- 
 bridge was laid across under the direction of Captain Freeman, 
 and Blair's and Steele's Divisions passed over that night. 
 Tuttle's followed the next morning. Starting with the break 
 of day, we pushed on rapidly and by nine and one-half A. M. 
 of May 18th the head of the column reached the Benton road ; 
 and we commanded the Yazoo, interposing a superior force 
 between the enemy at Vieksburg and his forts on the Yazoo. 
 Resting a sufficient time to enable the column to close up, we 
 pushed forward to the point where the road forks, and sending 
 forward on each road — the 13th Regulars to the right, and the 
 8th Missouri to the left, with a battery at the forks, I awaited 
 General Grant's arrival." 
 
 From this point, Sherman, by Grant's order, gained a 
 position in front of the enemy's works north of Vieksburg. 
 Steele's Division led the advance, and, by a blind road on the 
 right, winding through rugged, precipitous hills, came up 
 squarely to the Mississippi above the city. This happened on 
 the morning of the 19th instant ; and that morning a cheering 
 sight greeted the eyes of the soldiers, who, for two weeks, or 
 more, had been shut completely out from God's country. In 
 plain view were the old camping-grounds at Young's Point; 
 and, only five or six miles away, the Union fleet loaded down 
 to the guards with government rations. Looking southward, 
 the sight was less cheering. "Vieksburg was in plain view, 
 and nothing separated us from the enemy but a space of about 
 four hundred yards of very difficult ground, cut up by almost 
 impassable ravines, and his line of intrenchments." 
 
 Without that line of intrenchments, bristling with hostile 
 bayonets, and defended by artillery, with black, gaping 
 mouths staring madly at you through embrasures, the sight 
 would have been magnificent ; for the dome of the court-house 
 and the tall spires of wealthy churches looked up through the 
 waving branches of luxuriant shade-trees, which dotted the 
 
CHARLES H. ABBOTT. 457 
 
 lills and hill-slopes in all parts of the city. Splendid private 
 esidences, too, adorned with all the taste of modern art, 
 eflected their beauty in the morning and evening sun. 
 
 The first charge against the enemy's works was made on the 
 .9th of May, the day concerning which I have just now spoken, 
 jreneral Grant's reasons for making this charge, and the results 
 vhich followed, he gives as follows : 
 
 "I was not without hope of carrying the enemy's works, 
 ■elying upon their demoralization, in consequence of repeated 
 iefeats outside of Vicksburg ; and I ordered a general assault 
 it 2 P. M. on this day. The 15th Army Corps, from having 
 irrived in front of the enemy's works in time on the 18th to 
 ^et a good position, were enabled to make a vigorous assault, 
 rhe 13th and 17th Corps succeeded no further than to gain 
 idvanced positions, covered from the fire of the enemy." 
 
 Neither this charge, nor the one made three days later, was 
 successful ; and is it strange? It is rather wonderful that every 
 nan who joined in these assaults was not left, either dead or 
 svounded, under the guns of the enemy. 
 
 The character of the country for miles around Vicksburg is 
 tilly and broken; and the nearer you approach the city the 
 wilder and more impracticable it becomes. The hills lie, as a 
 general thing, I believe, in great parallel, semi-circular ridges, 
 with Vicksburg as the centre; but they lap each other, and 
 ihoot out spurs in every direction, thus forming deep, winding 
 ravines, which were filled, as a general thing, with under- 
 brush, and standing and fallen timber. The works around 
 Vicksburg were constructed by the best engineers the Con- 
 federacy could boast; and not a ravine was there which 
 approached these works that was not swept by artillery and 
 enfiladed by musketry. The hill-sides were precipitous, and 
 in many places obstructed: these were also swept by a front 
 and enfilading fire. None who know the ground will say that 
 I have drawn too strong a picture. 
 
458 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Grant failed to carry the enemy's works on the 19th instant. 
 The following are his reasons for attempting it on the 22cl. : 
 
 *' I believed an assault from the position at this time gnioied 
 could be made successfully. It was known that Johnson was 
 at Clinton with the force taken by him from Jackson, reinforced 
 by other troops from the east, and that more were daily reach- 
 ing him. With the force I had, a short time must have 
 enabled him to attack me in the rear, and possibly succeed in 
 raising the siege. Possession of Vicksburg at that time would 
 have enabled me to turn upon Johnson, and drive him from 
 the State, and possess myself of the railroads and practicable 
 military highways, thus effectually securing to ourselves all 
 territory west of the Tombigbee ; and this, before the season 
 was too far advanced for campaigning in this latitude. I 
 would have saved the government sending large reinforcements, 
 much needed elsewhere; and finally, the troops themselves 
 were impatient to possess Vicksburg, and would not have 
 worked in the trenches with the same zeal, believing it unnec- 
 essary, that they did after their failure to carry the enemy's 
 works." 
 
 There was one other reason, I believe, which influenced Gen- 
 eral Grant in making the assault, of which from some cause he 
 does not speak. Valorous Falstaffs at the North, some of 
 them wearing civic honors and others at the head of influen- 
 tial public presses, had long croaked of indecision and inactiv- 
 ity. Such (and they were legion) could not be appeased, except 
 by blood ; but even now he had not closed their twaddling lips; 
 for they prated of the " useless sacrifice." Now that he wears 
 triumjihal honors, they fawn about him like so many worthless 
 curs ; but I know he spurns them with contempt. 
 
 Twice it has been my fortune, myself removed from danger, 
 to witness the fierce conflict of two contending armies. Once, 
 standing on a high hill on the north bank of the Tennessee, I 
 saw the veterans of Howard assail the enemy and drive them 
 from their works on Orchard Knoll, back of Chattanooga. I 
 also had previously witnessed the bloody and unsuccessful 
 
CHARLES H. ABBOTT. 459 
 
 charge of the 22d of INIay, at Vicksburg : that was the grandest 
 and most terrible sight I ever looked on. The high ground 
 east of Fort Hill and near the White House was the stand- 
 point ; and I can now recall the whole scene, as though it had 
 passed but yesterday. Here was Grant's look-out, and, near 
 him, were INIcPherson and Logan. Sherman was already 
 advancing on the right ; and soon McClernand was boasting 
 that he had captured three forts, and was master of his 
 position. I heard a lieutenant-colonel announce this to Logan, 
 when that general yelled with an oath to the new brigadier, 
 Leggett, "to move at once on the enemy's works in his front, 
 or he would arrest him." 
 
 All this time, and for more than an hour previous, above an 
 hundred pieces of artillery had been booming, and throwing 
 their ponderous projectiles into and above the enemy's works. 
 Porter, during the same time, was tossing his big mortar shells 
 into the doomed city. Huge volumes of smoke in front, and 
 on the right and left, were rising lazily in the air, revealing 
 the most interesting and anxious part of the scene— the 
 infantry. There they were — some winding their long 
 lengths through the deep ravines, to gain their designated 
 positions, and others, further on, deployed on the hill-sides, 
 and, with their bodies thrown forward, working their way 
 up toward the enemy's works. So intent was I in watching 
 those in front that I did not observe others. These, soon 
 arriving near the summit of the hill across which stretched 
 the enemy's works, raised the battle-cry, and dashed forward. 
 I began to hope there was no enemy to oppose them, or that 
 they would not fire ; but at that very instant, the smoke from 
 at least two thousand muskets leaped down in their very faces. 
 Horrors! It seemed as though three-fourths of them fell. 
 The line did not waver : the men were butchered ; for I saw 
 
460 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 only a few run hurriedly back down the hill. By reports 
 afterward made, however, the casualties could not have been 
 as large as I suppose : many of the men, while enveloped in 
 the smoke, must have sought and found cover. 
 
 The 30th Iowa was under Steele, away on the extreme right, 
 and beyond my observation ; but it joined in the same general 
 charge, a portion of which I have given. Among the many 
 gallant men who fell that day, on the slopes and ridges that 
 encircle Vicksburg, was the lamented Colonel Charles H. 
 Abbott. He was struck in the chin by a musket-ball, which, 
 passing through his throat, came out at the back of his neck. 
 He fell instantly and was carried from the field. His last 
 words were words of cheer to his men. He never spoke after he 
 was shot, and lived only about three hours. He died and was 
 buried near the spot where he fell; and the valley beneath 
 whose turf he was temporarily laid was designated by General 
 Sherman as "Abbott's Valley." His body was afterward 
 removed to Muscatine and buried on the banks of the majestic 
 Mississippi. Iowa, "the land of flowers," and the State he 
 loved so well is the shrine of his mortal remains. Brave, good 
 man ! he lived worthily and died nobly ; and his name stands 
 among the first on the State's Roll of Honor. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM M. G. TORRENCE. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, THIRTIETH INFANTRY. 
 
 William M. G. Torrence, the successor of Colonel Abbott 
 to the colonelcy of the 30th Iowa Infantry, was the eighth of 
 the Iowa colonels who lost their lives in the service — Worth- 
 ington, Baker, Mills, Dewey, Kinsman, Abbott, Hughes, and 
 Torrence. Of those who lost their lives in battle, he was the 
 fifth— Baker, Mills, Kinsman, Abbott, and Torrence. 
 
 Colonel Torrence was a native of Westmoreland county, 
 Pennsylvania, where he was born the 1st day of September, 
 1823. His parents were Presbyterians, of which church he was 
 also a member. His mother died in his early infancy, and left 
 him to the kind care of an esteemed and most worthy sister, 
 who reared him with almost maternal tenderness. 
 
 In early manhood, he left his native State for Kentucky, 
 where he became a school-teacher; and in this capacity he 
 passed several years. He was engaged in school-teaching in 
 Kentucky, at the time war was declared against Mexico; but, 
 like Colonel Scott of the 32d Iowa, left the school-room and 
 volunteered. He was a first lieutenant in that war, and a 
 member of the 1st Kentucky Mounted Volunteers, commanded 
 by the portly, perfidious Humphrey Marshall. His cool judg- 
 ment and commendable courage in action won him distinction. 
 He was highly complimented for the part he acted at the battle 
 of Buena Vista, being tendered a commission in the regular 
 army of the same rank as that which he held in the volunteer 
 service ; but he declined the honor, and, at the close of the war, 
 returned home with his regiment. 
 
 461 
 
462 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 In the latter part of 1817, Lieutenant Toi'rence came to Iowa, 
 and settled in Keokuk, where he resumed his former occupa- 
 tion, and where he made his home till the outbreak of the 
 rebellion. During his residence in Keokuk, he was for several 
 years City Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the 
 spring of 1861, ho enlisted a comi)any (A) for the 1st Iowa 
 Cavalry, and was in June commissioned major of the first 
 battalion of that regiment. In the winter of 18G1-2, he served 
 with his battalion in Central Missouri, and had command of 
 posts in Howard, Pettis and Cooper counties. At Silver Creek, 
 in January 1862, he engaged and defeated the rebel Colonel 
 Poindexter, capturing and destroying his camp and his train. 
 While a member of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, he served with 
 credit to himself, and was equally successful as a post-com- 
 mandant, and as a leader of expeditions to hunt out and 
 punish guerrillas. He was a terror to the Missouri bush- 
 whackers. 
 
 On the 3d of May, 1862, for reasons unknown to me. Major 
 
 Torrence resigned his commission, and returned to his home in 
 Keokuk. 
 
 After the call of the President for additional troops in the 
 summer of 1862, Major Torrence again volunteered, and was 
 made lieutenant-colonel of the 30th Iowa Infantry. In Octo- 
 ber, 1862, he accompanied his regiment to the field, and was 
 with it in all its subsequent campaigns and engagements. At 
 Arkansas Post, where he commanded his regiment, he partic- 
 ularly distinguished himself; and at the memorable charge 
 against the enemy's works at Vicksburg, where Colonel Abbott 
 was killed, he bore himself with equal gallantry. On the 29th 
 day of May, 1863, he was commissioned colonel of the 30th 
 Iowa ; and, from that day till the 21st of October, 1863, he 
 remained in command of his regiment. 
 
 The history of the 30th Iowa during the colonelcy of Colonel 
 
WILLIAM M. G. TORRENCE. 463 
 
 Torrence covers the siege of Vicksburg; the march to Jackson 
 under General Sherman after the surrender of Vicksburg, and 
 a portion of the march from Memphis to Chattanooga. It was 
 on tlio hist named march that the colonel was killed. 
 
 An account of all the above operations has already been 
 given in the sketches of other officers and regiments, and can 
 not be repeated with interest. This however should be said in 
 justice to the 30th Iowa : no regiment from the State surpasses 
 it in gallant and meritorious services ; and, of the Iowa troops 
 called out in the summer of 1862, no regiment has done more 
 fighting, and few have done as much. In the face of the 
 enemy, it has always conducted itself with conspicuous gal- 
 lantry, challenging the admiration of both its brigade and 
 division commanders. From the time of its entering the field 
 to the present, the 30th has served in the same division with 
 the 4th, 9th, 25th, 26th and 31st Iowa regiments. 
 
 The services of the 30th Iowa, and of the Iowa troops before 
 Vicksburg, were arduous and exhausting. After operations 
 had settled down into a regular siege, the troops suffered chiefly 
 from tlie intense heat in the trenches, and from the want of 
 good water. The labor in digging the approaches, and of con- 
 structing new forts and planting artillery, was the hardest and 
 most dreaded. The Federal camps were so securely established 
 tack behind the hills, as to render them comparatively safe 
 from the enemy's scattering musketry, and from the ponderous 
 missiles of their artillery. The skirmish-line was the place of 
 chief danger; and yet, the skirmish-line was the scene of much 
 amusement. Regiments took their regular turn on the skir- 
 mish-line, every two or three days, usually going out in the 
 morning, and holding their posts for twenty-four hours. They 
 were protected by old logs, fallen trees, and slight earth-works. 
 Every man had his chosen place — in the crotch of a fallen 
 
464 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 tree, at the end of a log, behind a stump, or somewhere; and 
 the regular day for his regiment at the front, was sure to find 
 him there, unless he had been struck by a "Johnnie," or left 
 sick in camp. Thousands to-day can go to the very spot where, 
 during the siege of forty-five days, they slammed away. 
 
 A favorite amusement with many of the men, was to stick 
 their hats on the end of their guns, and then, thrusting them 
 just above the works, invite the "Johnnies" to "hit that." It 
 was nothing uncommon, too, for the men to "take a game of 
 seven-up." It is wonderful what indifference to danger men 
 acquire from being constantly exposed to it. 
 
 The greater portion of the montlis of August and September, 
 1863, were passed by the 30th Iowa in camp on Big Black 
 River. In the latter part of September, the regiment marched 
 with its brigade to Vicksburg, and proceeded thence by boat 
 to Memphis. Going by rail from Memphis to Corinth, it 
 marched thence for Chattanooga. The 30th was attached to 
 General Osterhaus' Division, which marched out to Tuscumbia, 
 Alabama, to call the attention of the enemy from Sherman's 
 real line of march. It was on that march that Colonel Tor- 
 rence wjxs killed. 
 
 He was shot by the enemy, in ambush, just beyond Cherokee 
 Station and among the wild hills of northern Alabama. I 
 remember the day well. It was in the afternoon of the 2l8t 
 of October, and stormy and dismal. The troops of John E. 
 Smith's Division, being only about seven miles in rear of 
 Osterhaus', could hear the firing distinctly. That night no 
 baggage was unloaded, and we slept in a cold, drizzling rain. 
 We expected to be thrown to the front the next morning, and 
 all were gloomy. But the next morning we remained in 
 camp, and watched the ambulances that were bearing to the 
 rear the dead and wounded of Osterhaus' Division : when the 
 
WILLIAM M. G. TORRENCE. 465 
 
 dead body of Colonel Torrence went past, there were not a 
 few sad hearts among the Iowa troops. The Colonel was shot 
 through the breast while at the head of his regiment, and died 
 almost instantly. 
 
 The following, as nearly as I can learn, are the circumstances 
 under which Colonel Torrence was killed; and General Oster- 
 haus was severely censured by some, for the part he acted. 
 The enemy were met just beyond Cherokee. Between the 
 Federal and Confederate forces was an open field, bordered by 
 dense timber ; and Osterhaus' line of march was eastward in 
 the direction of Tuscumbia. Forming his line, he advanced 
 across the field, when the enemy fell back into the woods, in 
 their rear. Colonel J. A. Williamson, in command of the bri- 
 gade to which the 30th Iowa was attached, on arriving at the 
 edge of the timber, left his command in line, and rode forward 
 to reconnoitre. On returning, he met Colonel Torrence 
 advancing with his regiment by the flank, and said to him: 
 "How is this. Colonel? you are not obeying orders." Colonel 
 Torrence, lifting his hat, and in his bland, gentlemanly way, 
 replied: "I am acting under the orders of General Osterhaus." 
 Colonel Williamson then rode back to the balance of his com- 
 mand, but had hardly re-joined it, when a volley of musketry 
 was heard down the road. 
 
 Colonel Torrence had discovered the enemy only an instant 
 before they fired, and was just deploying his regiment in line. 
 He was shot through the breast, and, as I have before said, fell 
 from his horse, and died almost instantly. 
 
 In the skirmish near Cherokee, (for so it was called) the loss 
 of the 30th Iowa was twenty-seven in killed, wounded and 
 missing. Captain William H. Randall was among the killed. 
 He was a native of Indiana, and a resident of Birmingham, 
 Van Buren county. Brave, modest and unassuming, he was 
 deservedly one of the most popular officers of his regiment. 
 
466 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 If I ever saw Colonel Torrence, I did not know him; but 1 
 am told he was a tall, slender man, with agreeable manners 
 and affable address. At the time of his death, his head was 
 heavily sprinkled with gray. He was a good scholar, and, 
 judging from his official papers, a man of good taste and judg- 
 ment. He was a Christian gentleman, and, as a citizen, held 
 in the highest esteem. 
 
 The following is an extract from his last communication sent 
 to the adjutant-general of Iowa: 
 
 " Head-quarters 30th Regiment Iowa Volunteers, 
 luKA, Mississippi, October 13th, 1863. 
 
 "N. B. Baker, Adjutant- General of Iowa : 
 
 " Accompanying this, you will receive two flags, worn out 
 in the service. They were carried by the 30th Iowa during 
 their marches a distance of five thousand seven hundred 
 miles, between October 26th, 1862, and October 10th, 1863." 
 
 Quite in contrast is the following extract from the report of 
 an Iowa officer, whose name I will not give. 
 
 "Exposed to every danger, they were ever conspicuous for 
 their cool, daring courage, and the ardor of their souls, blended 
 with pure love for their country, beamed from their counte- 
 nances, and hung about them, ' Like the bright Iris, o'er the 
 boiling surge.' " 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM SMYTH. 
 
 THIBTY-FIRST INFANTRY. 
 
 William Smyth was born in the year 1824. England, 
 Scotland and Ireland are all represented among the Iowa 
 colonels. Colonel William Smyth is the Irish representative. 
 
 His history, so far as I know it, is briefly as follows : He 
 was born in Ireland, and emigrated to this country about the 
 year 1838. A year or two later, he settled in Linn county, 
 Iowa, where he has made his home ever since. He is one of 
 the oldest residents of that county. He came to the State 
 ignorant and poor ; but educated himself, and is now wealthy 
 and one of the ablest lawyers in Iowa. He was at an early 
 day district judge of what is now the Eighth Judicial District. 
 He was also one of our Code Commissioners. He is reported 
 as being the only able and responsible man in his part of the 
 State who has no enemies. 
 
 William Smyth entered the service as colonel of the 31st 
 Iowa Infantry, one of the twenty-two infantry regiments 
 organized in the State in the summer and fall of 1862. His 
 commission, like those of eleven other Iowa colonels, bears 
 date of the 10th of August, 1862. At the time of entering the 
 service, he had, I am told, no military knowledge or training : 
 he was made a colonel on account of his worth. 
 
 The services of the 31st Iowa, up to the arrival of Sherman 
 at Savannah, can be learned in the histories of the 4th, 9tli, 
 25th, 26th and 30th Iowa regiments. It joined these regiments 
 at Helena, late in the fall of 1862, and has served with them 
 ever since. The expedition to Chickasaw Bayou ; that up the 
 Arkansas River to Arkansas Post, and also that to near the 
 
 467 
 
468 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Yazoo, known as the " Deer Creek raid; " the march to the rear 
 of Vicksburg, and the protracted and exhausting siege of the 
 city; the return march of Sherman to Jackson, Mississippi, in 
 pursuit of Johnson ; the movement of Sherman's Corps from 
 tlie Big Black up the river to Memphis, in the fall of 1864, 
 and thence to Corinth, and the march from Corinth to Chatta- 
 nooga; the brilliant campaign of Sherman from Daltou to 
 Atlanta; the pursuit of Hood to North Eastern Alabama, at 
 the time he began his disastrous raid north ; and, finally, the 
 grand marches from Atlanta to Savannah, and from Savannah 
 to Raleigh, are all embraced in the record of the 81st Iowa 
 regiment. 
 
 There is little in the march from Atlanta of special interest ; 
 for, previous to the time it was begun, the rebel forces had 
 become so scattered as to make resistance, on their part, feeble 
 and ineffectual. With the exception of the cavalry, the Fed- 
 eral troops marched with little molestation, and with an 
 abundance of supplies. It was rather an agreeable campaign 
 than otherwise. On the other hand, the march from Savannah 
 to Goldsboro was one of great hardship. The advance was 
 made in the face of a foe too feeble, it is true, to offer much 
 serious resistance, and yet strong enough to occasion much 
 anxiety. In addition to this, much of the country over which 
 the march lay, presented strong natural obstructions. One 
 who accompanied General Sherman in his last grand cam- 
 paign, gives the following picture of one of the advancing 
 columns; and the experiences of all were nearly the same: 
 
 " If the head of the column is checked by bad roads, it masses 
 and goes to work with a vengeance, assisting the pioneers. 
 The object is to get the roads in such condition that the artillery- 
 trains can pass. If the bottom be good and the water not suffi- 
 ciently deep to damage the ammunition in the wagons, and 
 the swamp not more than one mile across, we always bulge 
 
WILLIAM SMYTH. 469 
 
 through. If our column is checked by the enemy, it deploys 
 into position and fights a little, while other troops push ahead 
 and flank the enemy. If several columns are checked, we 
 deploy into position, (nicest maneuver in the world) press the 
 enemy closely at all points, and, if no advantage occurs, pitch 
 in and whip them like h— 1. General Sherman never bothers 
 us upon such occasions, unless we are getting a little too far 
 round, or not quite far round enough, or a little too brisk; for 
 he knows precisely what we are going to do. But if we get a 
 little too fast, he always modestly makes his appearance and 
 says: "Hold up a little there, boys, d— n it! wait till the 14th 
 gets fairly in;" or words to that effect. To be sure, he does 
 not say this so that we can hear him ; for he speaks through 
 the regular channel ; but then we all know what General Sher- 
 man says. 
 
 "Advancing in line of battle through woods, brush, over 
 logs, through swamps, down embankments, and over wood- 
 piles, is easily done, because we all know how. We never 
 think of keeping step, or touching elbows— pshaw! Each 
 man knows just where he ought to be, and keeps his eye upon 
 the spot where, theoretically, he is until he gets there. This 
 may cost him a dozen flank movements on his own hook." 
 
 Though the above is a facetious picture of General Sherman's 
 progress through the swamps and timber of South Carolina, it 
 has in it less of fiction than of history. 
 
 When Sherman left Atlanta, his plan was, to use his own 
 words, "to leave an army in the West, under Major-General 
 G. H. Thomas, of sufficient strength, to meet emergencies in 
 that quarter, while he conducted another army, composed of 
 the 14th, 15th, 17th, and 20th corps and Kilpatrick's Division 
 of cavalry, to the Atlantic slope, aiming to approach the grand 
 theatre of war in Virginia, by the time the season would 
 admit of military operations in that latitude." Hardee aban- 
 doned Savannah during the night of the 20th of December, 
 and, twenty days later, the 15th and 17th Corps began embark- 
 ing at Fort Thunderbolt for Beaufort, South Carolina, prepar- 
 atory to marching " to the grand theatre of war in Virginia." 
 
470 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Near Beaufort, the 31st Iowa remained in camp with its 
 brigade till the 27th of January, when it begun the march 
 inland. The grand army moved in three columns, the 17th 
 Corps on the right, the 15th in the centre, and the 14th and 
 20th Corps and Kilpatrick's Cavalry on the left. As already 
 stated. Colonel Stone's Iowa Brigade, to which the 31st Iowa 
 belonged, was attached to the 15th Corps, whose line of march 
 was nearly due north till arriving at Columbia, after which it 
 was directed north-east toward Fayetteville and Goldsboro, 
 North Carolina. On this march, the 31st Iowa with its brigade 
 met the enemy at three different points — on the Little Con- 
 garee Creek near Columbia, at Columbia, and near Bentonville, 
 North Carolina. 
 
 The first engagement occurred on the loth of February, 1865. 
 That morning the 2d Brigade of the 1st Division, Colonel Cal- 
 leson, led the advance and encountered the enemy soon after 
 leaving camp ; but they made little resistance till arriving at 
 the Little Congaree, where, having taken up a strong position, 
 they brought the head of the column to a halt. Next in rear 
 of Colonel Calleson's Brigade was Colonel Stone's, which was 
 at once ordered to the front and deployed in line of battle. 
 The enemy were soon flanked without serious loss, and a cross- 
 ing over the Little Congaree secured. With little delay, the 
 march was continued in the direction of Columbia, where the 
 army arrived in the afternoon of the 16th instant. Columbia, 
 the South Carolina Capital, situated on the north bank of the 
 Congaree and just below the junction of the Broad and Saluda 
 Rivers, was one of the prettiest cities in all the South. It was 
 formerly the centre of South Carolina politics and South Caro- 
 lina wealth. When, in marching upon the high ground south 
 of the river, the sight of the boasted city first greeted the eyes 
 of the soldiers, they were filled with wonder at its beauty. 
 Immediately in their front was the Congaree, hidden from 
 
WILLIAM SMYTH. 471 
 
 view by a broad belt of pine timber; but over the tops of the 
 tall, waving trees were plainly to be seen the handsome build- 
 ings and the beautiful surroundings of Columbia. 
 
 Only the 15th and 17th Corps marched on the city. The 14th 
 and 20th crossed Broad River at Zion Church, and marched 
 through Alston, destroying the road, and proceeding thence in 
 the direction of Winnsboro. Of the two corps before Colum- 
 bia, the 15th held the left and the 17th the right. The 3d 
 Brigade, 1st Division, of the 15th, was the first organized com- 
 mand to cross Broad Biver. It was to the same command that 
 Columbia was formally surrendered by the rebel mayor, on the 
 morning of the 17th of February. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 16th instant. General Logan had 
 efi-ected a crossing of the Saluda, and pushed a portion of his 
 command to near the west bank of Broad Biver. George 
 A. Stone's Brigade was sent forward to the river bank, 
 with instructions to cross the stream that night in pontoons, 
 and cover the crossing of its corps the next morning-perhaps, 
 to move on the city; for that is what was done. "The point 
 determined on for crossing, was about one mile above the 
 wreck of the bridge, and two miles above the city. It was 
 expected to have effected a crossing by mid-night; but the cur- 
 rent of the river was so very strong, the engineer did not 
 succeed in getting a line across till three o'clock of the morning 
 of the 17th instant. At ten minutes before four, I sent over 
 two boat-loads of sharp-shooters under Captain Bowman of 
 my staff, with instructions to have them placed as skirmishers, 
 with the centre of the line opposite the landing, and at least 
 seventy-five yards distant. He had particular instructions to 
 keep his men quiet, and not to reply to any firing of the 
 enemy, unless satisfied they meant an attack before the column 
 could cross. I went over with the advance-the 31st lowa- 
 and made a personal reconnoissance of the ground." 
 
472 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 The landing was effected on a crescent-shaped island, one or 
 more bayous separating it from the main land. Here Colonel 
 Stone assembled his command, or all except a portion of the 
 4th Iowa, which had not yet crossed, and at day-light charged 
 the enemy. The struggle lasted but a few moments ; for the 
 main rebel army had already abandoned the city, leaving only 
 a few regiments to delay the crossing. Colonel Stone marched 
 directly on the city, and when near the suburbs, met a carriage 
 flying a flag of truce, and bearing the rebel mayor, Goodwin. 
 Terms of capitulation were tendered and accepted, when the 
 Iowa Brigade, of the loth Corps, entered and occupied Colum- 
 bia. It was the proudest day these gallant troops had seen 
 since entering the war. 
 
 Of the capture of Columbia, General Sherman says, in his 
 official report: 
 
 "Under cover of this brigade, [Stone's] a pontoon-bridge 
 was laid on the morning of the 17th. I was, in person, at this 
 bridge, and at eleven A. M. learned that the mayor of Colum- 
 bia had come out in a carriage, and made a formal surrender 
 of the city to Colonel George A. Stone, 25th Iowa, commanding 
 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Corps. About the same time, a 
 small party of the 17th Corps had crossed the Congaree in a 
 skiff, and entered Columbia from a point immediately west." 
 
 The night following the capture of Columbia, the greater 
 portion of the city was burned ; not, however, by the Federal 
 soldiery, but by that rebel wretch. Wade Hampton, who had, 
 for this very purpose, flooded the place with cotton. A high 
 wind and bad whisky were the confederates of his wicked 
 scheme. The sight was heart-rending. Decrepit old men, and 
 helpless women and children, rushed wildly from their burning 
 dwellings, and cried most piteously for help; but, though the 
 soldiers exerted their utmost, it was long before they could 
 stay the devouring element. 
 
 From Columbia, the line of march of the 15th Corps lay 
 
WILLIAM SMYTH. 473 
 
 through Cheraw and Fayetteville, and thence to Goldsboro 
 and Raleigh; but in all this distance the 3d Brigade of Wood's 
 Division failed to meet the enemy, till arriving near Benton- 
 ville, on the route from Fayetteville to Goldsboro. In the 
 battles that were fought near Bentonville, on the 20th and 21st 
 of February, the Iowa Brigade took an important part. These 
 were the last battles of the campaign, and decided the fate of 
 General Johnson's army, if, indeed, it had not been decided 
 before. In the march to Goldsboro, near which place the 
 armies of Sherman and Schofield formed a junction, the Iowa 
 Brigade held the post of honor— the rear-guard of its division 
 
 and corps. 
 
 The results of the campaign, as regards Colonel Stone's Bri- 
 gade, are summed up as follows : 
 
 «' This brigade has been in four engagements, with the fol- 
 lowing loss: killed, seven ; wounded, sixty-four; and missing, 
 twelve. We have captured and turned over to the provost- 
 marshal one hundred and forty-five prisoners of war. In the 
 capture of Columbia, South Carolina, we took about five thou- 
 sand stand of arms, immense quantities of ammunition and 
 ordnance stores, and released forty Federal officers confined 
 there. We have marched four hundred and eighty-five miles, 
 built fifteen thousand and thirty-seven yards of corduroy road, 
 and destroyed three miles of railroad." 
 The following is from the history of the regiment: 
 "Colonel William Smyth commanded the regiment from the 
 time of its organization till the 13th of August, 1863, at which 
 time, Lieuteuant-ColonelJenkins being at home with wounds 
 received at Vicksburg during the charge of May 22d, the regi- 
 ment was commanded by Major Stimming, until August 22d, 
 
 1863, when Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins rejoined his command, 
 and commanded the regiment from that date to February 1st, 
 
 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins then taking command of 
 the brigade, Major Stimming commanded the regiment from 
 that date to March 10th, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkms 
 then commanded it to March 20th, at which time he went 
 home on leave of absence, and Major Stimming agam com- 
 
474 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 manded to April 20th, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins 
 returning, he commanded until May 1st, 1864, when Colonel 
 Smyth, having rejoined the regiment, commanded from May 
 1st to September 25th, being then detailed to command the 
 brigade. Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Jenkins has been in com- 
 mand from that date to the present time. * * The regiment 
 was first armed with Prussian smooth-bore muskets; before 
 taking the field actively, it was armed with Enfield rifle 
 muskets. September 28th, 1864, it was armed with Spring- 
 field rifie muskets. 
 
 Colonel Smyth resigned his commission after the arrival of 
 his regiment at Savannah. Accordingly, in the march from 
 Beaufort, the 31st was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel J. 
 W. Jenkins, who, during the campaign, was thrice compli- 
 mented by his brigade commander for gallant conduct. 
 
 Colonel Smyth is a large man and rather portly. In his 
 deportment he is kind, candid and dignified. His merit as a 
 soldier consisted in his kind care for his men, and in his great 
 bravery. He was not an apt tactician. I am told he would sit 
 quietly upon his horse under a sharp fire of the enemy, while 
 determining upon the proper command to be given to his regi- 
 ment for some designated movement. Not long after entering 
 the service, he was ordered by his brigade commander, while 
 drilling his battalion, to throw it into a certain position. 
 Not remembering the proper command, he rode up to his 
 adjutant and enquired : " Lieutenant, what shall I say ? " 
 
COLONEL JOHN SCOTT. 
 
 THIRTY-SECOND INFANTRY. 
 
 John Scott, the commander of the Union forces at Blue 
 Mills, Missouri, and one of the chief heroes at the battle of 
 Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, is a native of Jefferson county, Ohio, 
 where he was born on the 14th day of April, 1824. He is a 
 lawyer by profession, and was admitted to the bar in 1845, in 
 Steubenville, Ohio, where he had pursued his legal studies. 
 But, being without means, and seeing less certain subsistence 
 in the practice of his profession, than in the business of teach- 
 ing, he removed to Kentucky, where, for two or more years, 
 he was engaged in conducting county academies and select 
 female schools. He was a resident of Kentucky, at the time 
 war was declared with Mexico, and volunteered in the 1st 
 Kentucky Mounted Volunteers, Colonel Humphrey Marshall's 
 regiment. The late Colonel W. M. G. Torrence, of the 30th 
 Iowa, who, like Colonel Scott, was then engaged in teaching in 
 Kentucky, was a member of the same regiment. But in his 
 connection with the Mexican service. Colonel Scott was unfor- 
 tunate. He was one of the party of seventy that, on the 23d 
 of January, 1847, was captured at Encarnacion, and taken to 
 the city of Mexico. He was retained a prisoner of war, until 
 the following October, and then released at Tampico. 
 
 At the close of the Mexican war. Colonel Scott returned to 
 
 Kentucky, and, locating in Mount Sterling, became the editor 
 
 of the "Kentucky Whig." Soon after his return he published 
 
 an account of his prison-life. He continued his residence in 
 
 Kentucky until the year 1856, when he removed to Nevada, 
 
 Iowa; though two years before he had visited the State in 
 
 475 
 
476 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 search of a home on free soil. In Kentucky, he was a man of 
 influence— in his congressional district at least; though his 
 principles were such as to attach him to the unpopular party. 
 In the canvass made by General Scott for the Presidency, he 
 took an active part, advocating the claims and merits of that 
 officer ; and at that early day he did not fail to warn the people 
 of his adopted State of the suicidal policy of agitating the 
 Slavery question. 
 
 In the fall of 1859, Colonel Scott was elected to the Iowa State 
 Senate, to represent the counties of Hardin, Hamilton, Boone 
 and Story, and was a member and holding a seat in that body 
 at the time of accepting a commission in the volunteer service. 
 He entered the war as captain of Company E, 3d Iowa 
 Infantry, but, on the final organization of that regiment, was 
 promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy. The early history of the 
 3d Iowa Infantry, and the part taken in the battle of Blue 
 Mills, Missouri, by Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, in command of 
 that regiment and the other Union forces, appears in the sketch 
 of Colonel Wilson G. Williams. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Scott was promoted to the colonelcy of 
 the 32d Iowa Infantry, on the 10th day of August, 1862, and at 
 once joined that regiment at its rendezvous near Dubuque. 
 The 32d regiment, which was enlisted from the Sixth Con- 
 gressional District, numbered at the time it was mustered 
 into the service about nine hundred and thirty men. It was, 
 as was the case with the majority of the Iowa regiments organ- 
 ized under the call of that Summer, made up from our best 
 yeomanry. The first year and a half of its service was not 
 eventful, and gave the regiment little reputation; for, from 
 October, 1862, the date of its arrival at St. Louis, Missouri, 
 until the month of March, 1864, it was stationed in detachments 
 at Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, Fort Pillow, Columbus, and 
 
JOHN SCOTT. 477 
 
 at other points along the Mississippi, on camp- and post-duty; 
 and it rarely happens that incidents occur on such duty that 
 attract general attention. In the case of this regiment, 
 however, there was one such incident: it was widely talked of 
 at the time; but its history with many was not understood. 
 
 It will be remembered that, in the latter part of December, 
 1862, Colonel, afterward General Forest, with a force estimated 
 at from five to seven thousand men, made his appearance in 
 Western Tennessee and Kentucky. It was on this same raid 
 that Forest threatened Jackson, Tennessee, destroyed some 
 thirty miles of railroad north of that place, and fought with the 
 brigade of Colonel Dunham the battle of Parker's Cross Boads. 
 On the 28th of December, 1862, Colonel Scott, under instructions 
 from General Curtis, left Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to join six 
 companies of his regiment, stationed at New Madrid, and 
 occupying that place. By his instructions, he was to have 
 oversight of the country from New Madrid to Cape Girardeau. 
 On the afternoon of the 28th, he arrived at Columbus, Ken- 
 tucky, and called on General Davies, then commancUng at that 
 place, for the purpose of consulting with him, and obtaining 
 information. On arriving at head-quarters, he found General 
 Davies in conference with Generals Tuttle and Fisk, (both of 
 the Department of Missouri) and in a state of great apprehen- 
 sion. The general believed the object of the enemy was the 
 capture of Fort Pillow ; and, assuming authority from Gen- 
 eral Curtis, ordered Colonel Scott to abandon New Madrid, and 
 reinforce that place. The colonel remonstrated, and inquired 
 for his authority; but, though the general failed to find the 
 dispatch, he substantiated its substance by General Fisk. The 
 colonel had no choice in the matter, for his duty as a subordi- 
 nate officer was clear; but, though he entered upon it with 
 apparent alacrity, I venture the assertion, he did not with a 
 fully subordinate spirit. Hence it was that the government 
 
478 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 property at New Madrid and Island No. 10, was destroyed, in 
 consequence of which. General Carr, unjustly, and without 
 inquiry, placed Colonel Scott under arrest. But the finding 
 of the commission, which was ordered to investigate the mat- 
 ter, was for the colonel a full vindication ; for it found that 
 "he did his duty, and was honorably acquitted of all blame." 
 Naturally sensitive, and extremely jealous of his military 
 record, the simple fact of his being put under arrest was a 
 source of great mortification ; but, to those who were 
 acquainted with the circumstances, the affair was not only not 
 detracting to him as a military man, but was a recommenda- 
 tion of great value. 
 
 I have stated that the 32d Iowa was stationed on camp- and 
 picket-duty a principal portion of the time from October, 1862, 
 until March, 1864. I should not however omit to state that, 
 early in February, 1864, Colonel Scott, with a part of his regi- 
 ment, accompanied General Sherman on his march to Meridian. 
 In this expedition, and in that one under General Banks up 
 the Red River, the regiment was brigaded with the 14th, and 
 27th Iowa, and the 24th Missouri. On the Meridian march, 
 there was no general engagement, and, if I mistake not, the 
 32d Iowa, as a regiment, met the enemy for the first time in 
 the assault and capture of Fort De Russey, an account of 
 which affair is given in the sketch of General James I. Gilbert, 
 formerly of the 27th Iowa. 
 
 Colonel Scott, in command of his regiment, sailed from 
 Vicksburg for the mouth of Red River, on the 10th of 
 March, 1864, his regiment forming a part of the 3d Division, 
 16th Army Corps, commanded by General A. J. Smith. On 
 the evening of the 12th instant, the fleet bearing this command 
 arrived at Simmsport, Lousiana, situated at the junction of 
 Bayou Atachafalya with the Red River, and one of the places 
 
JOHN SCOTT. 479 
 
 through which General Banks passed, while marching to 
 invest Port Hudson. 
 
 From Simmsport to Alexandria, General Smith had no 
 other aid or reinforcements than the gun-boat fleet of Admiral 
 Porter; and between these two points was the strong work of 
 the enemy, known as Fort De Russey. But Fort De Bussey 
 was captured, and Alexandria reached in safety, on the even- 
 ing of the 15th instant. Some days after the arrival of General 
 Banks with his command from Franklin, Lousiana, the 
 combined forces, numbering about fifteen thousand men, 
 moved up the river— those of General Banks by land and 
 the division of General Smith on the gun-boat fleet and 
 transports. General Smith's command arrived at Grand 
 Ecore on the 3d of April without incident; nor had General 
 Banks on arriving at that point met the enemy in suflicient 
 force to offer much resistance. At Grand Ecore, the troops 
 rested for several days, as they had also done at Alexandria. 
 The reason for these delays I have been unable to learn ; and it 
 may be true, as was at the time asserted, that General Banks, 
 by his lazy activity, contributed to his own defeat. Beport, too, 
 burdens General Steele with a share of the odium; for he 
 should have moved much sooner than he did, and rendered it 
 impossible for the enemy to concentrate at long marches from 
 Shreveport. But Providence, whose galled back has borne the 
 blunders of centuries, was doubtless made the pack-horse of all 
 these disasters, for one of these generals was retained in his 
 command, and the other acquitted without censure. But we 
 can not make history : we can only record it. 
 
 General Banks, with the command he had brought with him 
 from the Gulf, marched out from Grand Ecore, on the Mans- 
 field and Shreveport road, in the forenoon of the 5th of April, 
 and two days later was followed by the division of General 
 Smith. On the evening of the 8th instant, General Smith 
 
480 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 went into camp near Pleasant Hill ; and that night every thing 
 was put in readiness for an early and rapid march on the mor- 
 row; for, during nearly all that afternoon, he and his troops 
 had heard, indistinctly, the reports of artillery at the front. 
 Notwithstanding the battle of Sabine Cross Roads was fought 
 nearly twenty miles in advance of Pleasant Hill, and closed 
 only after dark, yet, before eleven o'clock that night, the 
 affrighted stragglers from the front came swarming past Gen- 
 eral Smith's encampment. As the night wore on, the confu- 
 sion increased ; and before two o'clock the stampede of footmen, 
 horsemen and teams was appalling. Long before day-light, 
 more than two thousand weak-hearted, terror-stricken men 
 had fled to the rear, rehearsing as they rode or ran their stories 
 of fearful disasters that had befallen General Banks. 
 
 In the meantime, those troops who had retained their 
 organizations had hurried back, and a little after day-light 
 had formed a line of battle about one and a half miles west of 
 Pleasant Hill. At about ten o'clock of the following morning, 
 the 32d Iowa, with its brigade, (which, by the way, had been 
 put under arms a little after mid-night,) was ordered to the 
 front, to report to General Banks. That officer turned it over 
 to General Emery, who, sending it out on the Mansfield road, 
 stationed it in the extreme front. Its position was on a small 
 rise of ground, and at right angles with the road. In its rear 
 was heavy timber, and in its front, open fields, which descended 
 to a ravine. Beyond the ravine was timber, in which the 
 enemy was already deployed in line of battle. As I have else- 
 where stated, the 32d held the extreme left, and on that regi- 
 ment's right was the 27th Iowa. The 24th Missouri held the 
 right, and between that and the 27th, was the 14th Iowa, 
 drawn up across the road. Between the 32d and 27th Iowa, 
 was a small ravine, putting down into the one in front, which 
 
JOHN SCOTT. ^1 
 
 rendered the position of the 82d in a manner isolated. What 
 made it still worse for the 82d Iowa was the timber, extending 
 nearly up to its left, affording a fine cover for the approach of 
 the enemy's flankers. A few yards in front of the 14th Iowa 
 was the 25th New York Battery, double-shotted, and rea<ly to 
 receive the enemy. I would like to omit its mention ; for, on 
 the first dash of the enemy's cavalry, it fled to the rear, break- 
 ing through the ranks of the 14th Iowa, and knocking down 
 and injuring several men. 
 
 After the line of battle was formed, skirmishers were sent to 
 the front, who promptly engaged those of the enemy; and 
 thus the day passed till about four o'clock in the afternoon, 
 .vhen the enemy's cavalry, galloping from their cover down 
 into the ravine, made for the Kew York Battery. But when 
 the head of the charging column came up the slope in front, i 
 ^■as received by a volley from almost the entire brigade. It 
 seems hardly possible; but so accurate was the aim that, as was 
 afterward learned by wouuded men left in the enemy's Imes, 
 only four men of the front company escaped being either k.lled 
 or wounded. Following this cavalry charge, came the enemy s 
 infimtry, in double line, when the desperate struggle begun. 
 
 To convey to the mind of the reader a true idea- of what 
 followed is impossible; but/«cfe can be stated, which is more 
 than the penny-a-liners, who first recorded the events of the 
 battle, were able to do. Their accounts were dUffu^Ur,!,; for so 
 far were they from being correct that they even omitt«i to 
 mention tl>e names of the troops that did the ch.ef flghtmg 
 while they recorded the names of many that fled at the first 
 onset of the enemy. Iowa saved General Banks' army from 
 rout and capture, and yet her brave sons, in any a«ount that I 
 have seen, were nowhere mentioned. The brigade of the 
 irascible Colonel Shaw held the centre of the Union hne of 
 
482 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 battle — it may be said, constituted that line; for the brigades on 
 both its right and left were uot only refused, but thrown many 
 yards to the rear ; and as soon as the enemy advanced they 
 retired still further. In this position Colonel Shaw's Brigade 
 received the enemy's infantry, which came up the slope lead- 
 ing to the ravine, in a long, unbroken line. Cheered with the 
 recollections of their successes of yesterday, and seeing but a 
 handful of men in their front, they came with a shout and at 
 double-quick, confident of speedy victory, but their charge 
 was repulsed. They charged once, twice, thrice, and were 
 each time repulsed with slaughter. Disappointed but still 
 determined, they then sought the flanks ; when followed the 
 most stubborn and gallant fighting of the day— especially on 
 the part of the 32d Iowa. Making a detour through the 
 woods to their right, (and they met no opposition, for the 
 troops stationed in that quarter had long since retired) the 
 enemy's skirmishers suddenly appeared in the rear of the 32d 
 Iowa. The situation was most critical. Pressed in front, and 
 the enemy closing on its rear, the regiment might have sur- 
 rendered with honor ; but Colonel Scott had been ordered to 
 hold that position at all hazards, and it was not to be yielded. 
 Swinging the left wing of his regiment round hastily to the 
 rear, so that it formed an acute angle with the main line of 
 battle, he presented 2^ front on all sides to the enemy, and was 
 still able to hold his position. 
 
 In the meantime, the 24th Missouri, on the right, was 
 flanked, when Colonel Shaw, sending to General Smith for 
 reinforcements, received orders to fall back, as the enemy was 
 already in his rear; but Colonel Scott, from the isolated position 
 of his command and from the fact that the balance of the bri- 
 gade had yielded considerable ground, failed to be reached by 
 the orderly sent to notify him of the order to retire, and he 
 
JCHN SCOTT. 483 
 
 was left on the ground he had defended so gaUantly. He was 
 now surrounded on all sides by the enemy's lines ; and why he 
 with his command was not overwhelmed and captured I can 
 not understand. Finally the Union forces rallying drove the 
 enemy back to his original line, when Colonel Scott and his 
 regiment were found on the ground they had been ordered " to 
 hold at all hazards." For more than two hours it had been 
 supposed by all that the regiment was captured ; and the sur- 
 prise and joy of its friends at finding it again in the Federal 
 lines was unbounded. If in the history of the whole war there 
 be an instance equal in all respects to the above, I have failed 
 to learn it. 
 
 That I have in no way exaggerated the heroic conduct of the 
 32d Iowa in this engagement, its list of casualties is evidence. 
 The regiment lost in killed and wounded more than one hun- 
 dred and sixty, which, excluding the losses of its own brigade, 
 exceeded the losses of General Banks' entire army. 3Iore than 
 two-thirds of the ^yid Iowa were put out of battle. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Edward H. Mix was killed; and a 
 majority of the line officers were either killed or wounded. 
 Among those killed were Captain Amos B. Miller, Captain H, 
 F. Peebles; Lieutenant Thomas O. Howard and Adjutant 
 Charles H. Huntley. Captain Ackerman, and Lieutenants 
 Deviue and Wright were severely wounded. 
 
 Among the enlisted men, distinguished for their merit, who 
 fell in this engagement, were Sergeants Hull, Goodell and 
 Kane; Corporals Ballon, Modlin and Pettibone; Privates 
 Anderson, Hoyt, Ilewett, Hutchinson, Wood, and many 
 others. 
 
 The night after the engagement. General Banks in council 
 with his chief officers declared it impossible for the expedition 
 to proceed further, and the next morning begun the memorable 
 retreat. It is not so strange that the rebel chiefs, during that 
 
484 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 same night, came to the conclusion that the result of the day's 
 fighting was against them, and that further resistance to the 
 advance of the Federal army at that point was useless ; for 
 they had been defeated, notwithstanding the lack of energy (I 
 can not say spirits) and co-operation on the part of the Federal 
 general oflBcers. 
 
 Before day-light on the morning of the 10th of April, both 
 armies began to retreat ; and, to facilitate their flight, the Con- 
 federates spiked several of their cannon. But they soon 
 learned their mistake, and returned, their advance reaching 
 the hospitals, in which the Union wounded had been left, at 
 about nine o'clock in the morning. From that time until Gen- 
 eral Banks reached Simmsport, they remained his master; and 
 had it not been for an insignificant lieutenant-colonel who 
 rescued the gun-boat fleet and transports they might have 
 been his captors; for these he was not allowed to abandon. 
 
 On the return of the Red Biver Expedition, Colonel Scott 
 tendered his resignation, which was reluctantly accepted, on 
 the 81st of May, 1864. He was impelled to this course, I am 
 informed, from the loss of his health in the recent campaign, 
 and from the urgent claims of his family, which was broken 
 up and in need of a home. He is at present living on his farm 
 in Story county, and engaged in sheep-raising and horti- 
 culture. 
 
 The following is from the history of the regiment published 
 
 in the Adjutant-General's report for the year 1865: 
 
 " On the 14th of July was attacked by the enemy at Tupelo, 
 Mississippi. Repulsed him with a loss to the regiment of four 
 men wounded. July 15th, the regiment started back to La 
 Grange, and camped at Old Town Creek, where it was 
 attacked by the enemy, again repulsing him. Arrived at La 
 Grange July 22d and at Memphis on the 24th. Left by rail- 
 road for Holly Springs, Mississippi, August 4th, and after 
 marching to Waterford, Abbeville, Oxford, and back to 
 Holly Springs, arrived at Memphis on the 30th. 
 
JOHN SCOTT. 485 
 
 "From September 5th to October 4th, the regiment was on 
 the move to Jefferson Barracks, De Soto, and other points, 
 and from October 2d to the 18th it was constantly marching 
 to different points in Missouri. October 25th it left Saint 
 Louis, Missouri, on transports for Nashville, Tennessee, and 
 on arriving at that point immediately began intrenching. * * 
 
 " The regiment has traveled five thousand five hundred and 
 ninety-four miles, two thousand three hundred and thirty-two 
 miles of the distance on foot with the army. Its aggregate 
 present for duty is three hundred and fifty-nine. Aggregate 
 when mustered into service was nine hundred and eleven. 
 Has received since muster-in two hundred and seventy-seven 
 recruits: lost ninety-three men in battle, one hundred and 
 seventy-seven by disease, one hundred and twenty-two dis- 
 charged, twenty-nine transferred, and one missing. It is 
 armed throughout with good, serviceable Springfield rifled 
 muskets and complete accoutrements. Health and condition 
 of clothing and camp equipage of the regiment is good." 
 
 Later, the regiment fought at the battles around Nashville, 
 and then accompanied Smith to New Orleans, and took 
 part in the capture of Mobile. During these operations it 
 was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel G. M. Eberhart a 
 son of the Rev. S. R. Eberhart formerly chaplain of the 12th 
 Iowa Infantry. He is reported a most excellent oificer. 
 
 I have seen many of the "Iowa colonels," and among 
 others. Colonel John Scott. This is how it happened. The old 
 Gladiator, which was returning me to my regiment at Mem- 
 phis, stuck on a sand-bar above Devil's Island; and I put into 
 Cape Girardeau for better quarters. On walking up into the 
 St. Charles, I saw, perched in a chair in the north-east corner 
 of the bar-room, a man that attracted my notice. His chair 
 was tipped against the wall, one foot stuck on the front 
 stretcher, and the other thrown across the leg thus supported. 
 His elbows were resting upon the arms of the chair, his head 
 thrown forward, and his hat drawn over his eyes. In the 
 small space between his lap and his face was a newspaper, 
 
486 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 which he was readiug. I thought I never saw a man doubled 
 up so before, and walked round to take a better look at him ; 
 when, my impudence attracting his attention, he looked up to 
 me as much as to say: "Who are you?" A prominent trait in 
 his character I read in that glance. 
 
 Colonel Scott is a man of middle size, and compactly built. 
 His hair and whiskers are more red than sandy, and his eyes 
 gray and sharp. His round, florid features are set off" by a pair 
 of gold-mounted spectacles. 
 
 I believe him to be among the ablest and best informed men 
 of Iowa; and yet he has that sort of something about him 
 which has kept him back. It may be the trait to which I have 
 alluded; for he is incorrigibly suspicious, and never gives his 
 confidence to a stranger. When I wrote to him for information 
 relative to his biography, he replied: "If I can be convinced 
 that the book is not to be a aitch-penny affair, I will furnish 
 data; " but I could never convince him of that, and for what I 
 have I am indebted to one of his friends. One thing is certain, 
 Colonel Scott was never intended for a politician; and why, I 
 believe, we heard no more of him in the army is, he always 
 stayed at his quarters, and minded his own business. I ven- 
 ture the assertion that he never asked to be made a brigadier- 
 general. Had he less of the negative about him, it would be 
 well ; for, with the same honesty, he would be a much more 
 popular and useful man in society. 
 
 Colonel Scott's military record is without blemish. He was 
 brave, a fair tactician, and a good disciplinarian. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL SAMUEL ALLEN RICE. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, THIRTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 
 
 Samuel A. Rice, who received his death-wound at the 
 battle of Jenkin's Ferry, is the most distinguished officer our 
 gallant State has lost in the War of the Rebellion. Sprung 
 from the great middle class, without name or wealth, he had, 
 at the age of thirty-five, attained such distinction as to make 
 his death a national calamity. 
 
 General Rice was a native of New York, and was born in 
 Cattaraugus county of that State, the 27th of January, 1828. 
 His boyhood was passed in Belmont county, Ohio, where his 
 parents removed when he was young. There he gained a 
 common school education. The father died soon after removing 
 to Ohio, leaving his fomily in limited circumstances, and his 
 son, Samuel, as their chief support. He, accordingly, engaged 
 in the boating business on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, 
 that promising the amplest remuneration. As a flat-boatman, 
 he made one or more trips to New Orleans. 
 
 General Rice was liberally educated; but the expenses of his 
 education he had to defray himself. He pursued his prepar- 
 atory course at the Athens Academy, Ohio, and in 1844 or 
 1845, entered Union College, New York. After graduating 
 there, he entered the law department of that University , where 
 he studied for one year, and then left for the wild West-for so 
 Iowa was regarded, at that day, in the Eastern and Middle 
 
 States. 
 
 The history of General Rice is widely known in our com- 
 monwealth; for he was one of our most prominent public men. 
 
488 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 He first settled in Fairfield, Jefferson county, where he prac- 
 ticed his profession, and occasionally assisted in the editorial 
 department of the whig newspaper of that place. But in the 
 Jail of 1851, he removed to Oskaloosa, at which place his family 
 still reside. His first public office was that of prosecuting 
 attorney of his county. Naturally excelling as a criminal 
 lawyer, he attracted general attention by the able manner in 
 which he discharged the duties of his office ; and it was this 
 which secured him the nomination in 1856, to the office of 
 attorney-general of the State. In 1856, and again in 1858, he 
 was elected to the last named office ; and at the close of his last 
 term, he had established a reputation that placed his name 
 among the foremost lawyers of the State, and, I might add, 
 among the foremost of our public men. I do not speak of him 
 in extravagant terms. The attention and deference that were 
 paid to his arguments before the Supreme Court, would have 
 flattered an attorney of the greatest experience, and the most 
 extensive practice ; and the influence which he wielded, as a 
 leading member of the Republican Party, was recognized by 
 all of our most prominent men. 
 
 General Rice entered the United States service in the summer 
 of 1862. He would have entered the army sooner; but he 
 could not leave his large business without pecuniary sacrifice ; 
 and, besides, he did not believe at first that the war would be 
 of long duration. He was commissioned colonel of the 33d 
 Iowa Infantry, on the 10th day of August, 1862 ; and late in 
 November left with his regiment for St. Louis. Early in Feb- 
 ruary, 1863, he arrived with his command at Helena, Arkansas, 
 the point where was organized the Yazoo Pass Expedition ; 
 and the first important services of the 33d Iowa were in clear- 
 ing this Pass of obstructions, and opening it for the passage of 
 our transports. For nearly three weeks prior to the starting of 
 
I SAMUEL A. RICE. 489 
 
 I the expedition, the regiment was engaged in tliis fatiguing and 
 dangerous work. The history of this expedition is given else- 
 where. 
 
 In the long list of battles'that were fought in the South West 
 from the 27th of December, 1862, to the 4th of July following, 
 
 1 that of Helena, Arkansas, ranks high in point of importance, 
 not simply because Helena with all its government property 
 was saved from capture ; but because the spirit of our troops 
 caused the rebels, on the west side of the Mississippi, to de- 
 spair of ever re-possessing their lost country. Colonel Rice had 
 met the enemy before in skirmishes, but the engagement at 
 Helena was his first battle. Here his brigade saved the place 
 from capture, and his gallantry and soldierly skill made him a 
 brigadier-general. The names of his troops deserve special 
 mention : the 33d Iowa and 33d Missouri, who most distin- 
 guished themselves and suffered most severely, engaged the 
 enemy at batteries C and D, near the Little Rock Road : the 
 29th and 36th Iowa regiments would have done as well and 
 suffered as severely, but they were stationed on the hills to the 
 right, near batteries A and B, and were not so severely engaged. 
 The main attack of the enemy was made on the Little Rock 
 road, where they staked every thing on forcing an entrance. 
 They captured battery C, and so far succeeded ; but the raking 
 fire they received from the other batteries, and from the infan- 
 try and Fort Curtis, soon forced them to abandon their dearly- 
 won prize. Our pickets were driven in at half past three in 
 the morning, and the fight lasted till nearly 11 A. M., when 
 the enemy retired precipitately. I have said his command 
 saved Helena from capture ; and I may add that his casualties 
 amounted to more than half the entire Union loss. It should 
 be stated that two regiments of his command — the 33d Iowa 
 and 33d Missouri — were, during the engagement, under the 
 more immediate command of General Solomon. 
 
490 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 In August, 1863, Colonel Rice was appointed a brigadier- 
 general. He had saved General Prentiss and his command 
 from defeat as a colonel ; as a brigadier-general, he saved 
 General Steele's army and train from capture at Jenkin's 
 Ferry, on the Saline River ; and, had he survived the injury 
 he received in that engagement, he would, doubtless, have 
 been made a major-general. 
 
 In General Steele's march against Little Rock, which left 
 Helena on the 10th of August, 1863, General Rice commanded 
 a division, and it was on this march that he received his 
 appointment as brigadier-general. No great battles were 
 fought on this expedition, and no oportunities offered for 
 special distinction. With others he is entitled to equal credit 
 for the success of our arms. 
 
 General Rice's coolness and bravery, and his ability as an 
 officer were best illustrated in General Steele's Campaign into 
 South Western Arkansas, which resulted disastrously to our 
 arms, and gave new hope to the rebels. Here he held only a 
 brigade command. Had he commanded the expedition, some 
 have thought the result would have been different ; but this is 
 unjust to General Steele. The loss of a brigade and wagon- 
 train at Mark's Mills might have been avoided ; but, consid- 
 ering the difficulties under which General Steele labored, no 
 one could have hoped for entire success. That the chief credit 
 which attaches to this movement or rather to the battle at 
 Jenkins' Ferry, belonged to General Rice, no one will dispute. 
 
 The expedition in question left Little Rock on the 23d of 
 March, 1864. Between that point and Camden, the enemy 
 were met at Terra Noir Creek, Elkin's Ford, Prairie de Anne, 
 and six miles north-west of Camden. The sharpest of these 
 engagements was that at Elkin's Ford, on the Little Missouri 
 River. Colonel Rice, though not in command of the forces 
 
SAMUEL A. RICE. 491 
 
 engaged, received a scalp-wound, while riding to the front. 
 But the great battle of the campaign was fought at Jenkins' 
 Ferry, on the morning of the 30th of April, 1864. 
 
 On the evening of the 29th of April, the expedition had 
 reached the Saline Biver, on its return to little Rock. That 
 same evening. General Steele's rear-guard had been attacked 
 by the enemy, under Price and Kirby Smith ; and it was prob- 
 able that on the following morning he would have to give 
 them battle; for a pontoon-bridge must be constructed on 
 which to cross, and the difficulties to be overcome were well- 
 nigh insurmountable: these, however, have been spoken of 
 elsewhere. 
 
 That night was stormy and dismal, and will be long remem- 
 bered by Steele's old command. The floods of falling rain had 
 swollen the Saline to the top of its banks, and covered the low 
 bottom-lands bordering the river with water. But few slept 
 that night: in front was a swollen river; in the rear a confident 
 enemy, and under foot mud and water half-leg deep. Some 
 collected piles of brush to rest on, and others passed the night 
 on stumps and old logs. Day-light was longed for ; and yet it 
 promised little, for all believed it w^ould be ushered in by an 
 attack of the enemy. Some were cheerful, and cracked their 
 jokes; but the great majority pulled their ponchos or blankets 
 tightly about them, and remained quiet: they were thinking 
 of their homes and friends, and of the comforts they had 
 exchanged for these hardships. 
 
 But morning came at last, and with it the opening battle. 
 Already General Rice's command was in line to engage the 
 enemy, should he advance, and to defend the crossing : they 
 were engaged promptly. The troops of his command, who 
 met the first shock of battle, were the 29th Iowa on the right, 
 the 50th Indiana in the centre, and the 33d Iowa on the left. Of 
 
492 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 the position of tlie otlier two infantry regiments of his com- 
 mand (the 9th and the 28th Wisconsin) at the opening of the 
 fight, I am unadvised. His battery (Captain Voglies') had 
 been sent over the river. The enemy— four to one in the first 
 onset — advanced fairly and squarely, confident of easy victory; 
 but they were repulsed. And not only in this, but in each 
 renewed assault were they repulsed; till finally, near noon, 
 they withdrew and left our forces in possession of the field. At 
 about two o'clock, the last of our infantry forces crossed the 
 river; and after destroying the pontoon-bridge, resumed, 
 unmolested, their march to Little Rock. We lost in this 
 engagement about eight hundred men. The enemy lost, 
 according to his own estimate, nine hundred and fifty ; but it 
 is known that his loss was greater. 
 
 That was a most gloomy hour for the Federal cause in 
 Arkansas, and the enemy were every where jubilant over the 
 "prospects of peace and independence." They boasted that 
 Steele's army was defeated and disheartened, and that, if it 
 escaped at all, it would do so as a disorganized rabble. They 
 never seemed to doubt that Steele would be compelled to aban- 
 don Little Rock, and that the entire State of Arkansas would 
 pass again under Confederate rule. They moved north and 
 blockaded the Arkansas River, and threatened seriously the 
 Little Rock Railroad. The Government became alarmed, and 
 sent nearly two divisions from New Orleans to Steele's assist- 
 ance. Indeed, for many months the post of Little Rock was 
 little better than in a state of siege; and it was only after 
 Price's reverses in Missouri that the hopes of the Federal cause 
 in Arkansas again rose in the ascendant. But to return. 
 
 In the enemy's last charge, and as General Rice was riding 
 down his left wing, he received the wound which resulted in 
 his death. He was shot by a musket-ball "through the right 
 
SAMUEL A. RICE. 493 
 
 foot, the ball passing under the instep, just in front of the ankle, 
 and driving the buckle of the spur before it." 
 
 He left Little Rock for his home in Iowa, on the 18th 
 day of May. For a considerable time after reaching his home, 
 it was supposed he was convalescing ; but, (I quote from the 
 Oskaloosa " Herald") " the virus of his wound had permeated 
 ihis whole system, poisoning the vital fluids, and putting his 
 jcase beyond the reach of human aid." He died on the 6th day 
 of August, 1864. 
 
 The night before the general's death. Judge Loughridge, of 
 Oskaloosa, his warm and tried friend, watched by his bed-side 
 jto assist in answering his wants, and to offer consolation to the 
 grief-stricken family. His pain seemed to be intense, making 
 the night drag heavily, and, as he turned restlessly in his bed, 
 the judge inquired: "General, how do you feel now? Are you 
 willing to die?" Looking up, and his eyes brightening, he 
 replied: "I am ready. 'Though I walk through the valley of 
 I the shadow of death. He is with me. His rod and His staff, 
 they comfort me.' " 
 
 Four years before, he had said, while pronouncing an eulogy 
 upon our lamented Judge Stockton : 
 
 j "We can but feel and realize that, like the deceased, we too 
 I must undergo that great change, allotted to all living. When 
 that change shall come; when the shadows of the last night 
 shall gather around us, may we meet it like one that draws the 
 drapery of his couch about him, and lies down to pleasant 
 dreams." 
 
 His prayer was realized. He died in the full possession of 
 his mental faculties, and with the hopes of a Christian. 
 
 My admiration of the character of this noble man, I am 
 unable to express. Few as able and deserving as he have 
 been sacrificed to the Moloch of Slavery. One who served 
 long with him in the army writes thus of him : 
 
494 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 "But above all, and overall stands the name of one, whom 
 Iowa will be proud to own — General Samuel A. Kice. I 
 have never yet seen his equal, either on the field, or in the 
 camp. * * All admit that his brigade saved the army from 
 defeat and consequent destruction, at the battle of Jenkins' 
 Ferry." 
 
 Testimonials of his worth meet me on every hand, to which, 
 I regret, I am unable to give place. His old division has 
 contributed funds for the erection of a monument to his 
 memory; but his "good name will live, when monuments of 
 brass and stone shall have crumbled to dust." 
 
 The proceedings of the Supreme Court at Des Moines, on 
 learning of his death, I must briefly allude to. Hon. C. C. 
 Nourse, the general's successor, as Attorney-General of Iowa, 
 Hon. Thomas F. Withrow, and Hon. Chief Justice Wright 
 offered touching eulogies to his memory. In the course of his 
 remarks, our honored Chief Justice said : 
 
 "I parted with him in May, as he was nearing his home, 
 with his family and friends around him : he was reclining on 
 what proved to be his death-bed. I shall ever remember his 
 face, and the sparkling expression of his flashing eyes, as, 
 taking me by the hand, he said : ' I shall not die : I know 
 that I shall live — I shall live to return to the field, and assist 
 in crushing this most accursed rebellion.' These hopes — these 
 high resolves were doomed to disappointment." 
 
 After tlie addresses were closed, the following preamble and 
 resolutions were entered of record : 
 
 "Whereas, General Samuel A. Rice, formerly a member of 
 the bar of this Court, and for four years Attorney-General of 
 the State, died at his home in Oskaloosa on the 6th day of 
 July, 1864, from a wound received in battle at Saline River 
 on the 30th day of April, 1864, and whereas, the high standing 
 of the deceased as a member of the profession, as well as his 
 exalted patriotism and many personal virtues, demand a 
 special notice of his memory upon our part ; Therefore, be it 
 
 '■'■ Besolved, By the members of the bar now in attendance 
 upon the Supreme Court: 
 
SAMUEL A. RICE. 495 
 
 1. "That we deeply deplore this dispensation of Divine 
 Providence, in thus removing from our midst one who 
 adorned his profession, and endeared himself to us by his 
 
 ! uniform courtesy and upright conduct. 
 
 j 2. "That by his death a brave and true soldier and officer 
 has fallen in defense of his Government, a kind father and true 
 husband has been lost to his family, a valued citizen has been 
 lost to the State, and an honored and able advocate has been 
 lost to the profession. 
 
 3. " That we will cherish in affectionate remembrance his 
 many virtues, and request the members of the bar to wear the 
 usual badge of mourning during the term. 
 
 4. "That we tender to the bereaved family our sincere 
 testimony of the worth of the deceased, and assure them of 
 
 ; our sympathy and condolence in their affliction. 
 
 5. "That the court be requested to have these proceedings 
 and resolutions spread upon the records of the court, and to fur- 
 nish a certified copy of the same to the family of the deceased. 
 
 " Committee. — Jefferson F. Polk, H, S. Winslow, William 
 
 H. Seevers, C. C. Nourse." 
 I first met General Rice in the spring of 1857, at the Oska- 
 I loosa bar. Then, he had just been elected Attorney-General of 
 I the State ; and I scanned him closelj^ He was, at the time, 
 I arguing a case with Judge Seevers ; and Governor Stone was 
 i sitting upon the bench. He was dressed poorly; was unsha- 
 I ven, and looked to me to be below the medium in size. I 
 
 thought we never elected such men to like positions in New 
 I England. Three years later, I saw him again; when he 
 
 looked more like himself— an able and polished gentleman. 
 
 The portrait here published is not a perfect likeness, though 
 
 the mild, intelligent expression of the eye is correct. 
 General Rice was not a man of brilliant parts. He had a 
 i large brain and a sound judgment; and hard study did the 
 ' rest. He was an able reasoner. His cast of mind was more 
 
 practical than theoretical; for instance: on one occasion, two 
 i applicants for admission to the bar presented themselves in the 
 
 Oskaloosa Court. It was Governor Stone's first term upon the 
 
496 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 bench. Judges Loughridge and Seevers and General Rice,, 
 having been appointed by the court the examining committee, 
 the hitter approached the young men, and, taking one of them 
 by the hand, said: "Gentlemen, you look as though you 
 could practice law ; if you can not, you will get no business, 
 and if you can, all right. I will vouch for you." 
 
 The general was kind-hearted and unassuming. I never 
 saw him without a smile upon his face, and no one could be 
 embarrassed in his presence. Few promised him the success 
 he met in the service. He was as successful with the sword, 
 as he had been in his civil profession. He was a noble exem- 
 plar of our Free State Chivalry. 
 
COLONEL CYRUS H. MACKEY. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, THIRTY-THIRD INFANTRY. 
 
 Cyrus H. Mackey is twenty-eight years of age, and a native 
 of Illinois. He is a lawyer by profession, and, at the time of 
 entering the service, was a resident of Sigourney, Keokuk 
 county, Iowa. He was made lieutenant-colonel of the 33d 
 Iowa Infantry the 10th of August, 1862, and served with that 
 rank till the 18th of August, 18G3, when he was commissioned 
 colonel of his regiment. He was not however mustered to 
 that rank till the 22d of April, 1864. The 33d Iowa has been 
 under his command a chief portion of the time since entering 
 the field; for Colonel, afterward General Rice was in command 
 of the brigade to which the regiment was attached. 
 
 To give in detail the operations in which the 33d Iowa has 
 taken part can not be done with interest ; for they are recorded 
 elsewhore in these pages. From the time of entering the field 
 to the present, the 29th and 33d Iowa regiments have served 
 together, and the history of one regiment is nearly the same 
 as that of the other. It accompanied the White River and 
 Yazoo Pass Expeditions, and marched with General Steele on 
 the Little Rock and Camden Campaign. The regiment most 
 distinguished itself at the battles of Helena and Saline River, 
 or Jenkins' Ferry, the former fought on the 4th of July, 1863, 
 and the latter on the morning of the 30th of April, 1864. 
 
 The following is from Lieutenant-Colonel Mackey's ofiicial 
 report concerning the battle at Helena : 
 
 "The men, after having been constantly engaged for six 
 hours, were very much exhausted. From eighty to one hun- 
 dred rounds of ammunition had been expended to the man. 
 
 32 497 
 
498 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 The loss of my own regiment was : killed on the field, seven- 
 teen; wounded, fifty-two; taken prisoners, seventeen. Three 
 men were taken at Battery C. Eight of the wounded have since 
 died from their wounds. I went into the engagement with 
 five hundred men. The ofiicers and men of the entire com- 
 mand behaved themselves splendidly. The force we had to 
 contend with was at least five to one, and I feel perfectly safe 
 in saying that the regiment took as many prisoners as we had 
 men in action. They all did so well that it is a difficult matter 
 for me to attempt to particularize who did best. 
 
 " I take particular pleasure in mentioning the names of 
 Major H. D. Gibson, Captain John P. Yerger, Captain John 
 Lofland, Lieutenant Cheney Prouty, and Captain L. W. Whip- 
 ple. The manner in which these officers conducted themselves 
 is deserving of the highest praise. 
 
 "I would also call your attention to the good conduct of 2d 
 IJeutenaut Sharman, of Company G, who had command of 
 the picket-guard. He succeeded in holding the enemy in check 
 until we were fully prepared to receive them, brought his 
 guard all off except a number tliat were killed and wounded 
 in good order, and joined the regiment. He was wounded in 
 the head very severely, but I think not dangerously." 
 
 For the part taken by the 33d Iowa on the Camden march 
 and in the different skirmishes and actions in which it was 
 engaged, I refer to the reports of its commanding officers. 
 From the time Steele left Little Rock till after his arrival at 
 Camden, the regiment was commanded by Major H. D. Gib- 
 son, and the following is from his official report: 
 
 "Prior to the arrival of our forces at Prairie de Anne, the 
 part taken in any engagement by my regiment was entirely 
 unimportant. On arriving at Prairie de Anne, I was ordered 
 to form line of battle and move to the left of the 50th Indiana, 
 which was done. I was then ordered to form column by divis- 
 ion, and in that order I moved forward on to the prairie. 
 While crossing a slough in the timber joining the prairie, a 
 shell from the enemy's gun exploded near the regiment, killing 
 one man and breaking several guns. On reaching the open 
 ground, I again deployed, sending forward two companies as 
 skirmishers, with instructions to move steadily forward, which 
 
CYRUS H. MACKEY. 499 
 
 ' they did, driving the enemy before them, tlie regiment moving 
 to their support. In this order I moved forward till the regi- 
 ment rested where the enemy's artillery first opened fire. It 
 j then being dark, the skirmishers were ordered to rest in place, 
 ! and the regiment retired two hundred yards to unexposed 
 j grounds and bivouacked. At 11 o'clock P. M. the enemy 
 dashed upon the skirmish line, but was repulsed without injury 
 to us. The transactions of the following day are unimportant, 
 i On the morning of the 13th of April, we moved, in connection 
 I with the entire forces, through and to the west of Prairie de 
 '< Anne, our skirmishers steadily driving the enemy before tliem . 
 On approaching their works on the Camden and Washington 
 road, the enemy hastily withdrew. From that time till the 
 morning of the loth, nothing worthy of note transpired. 
 
 " On the loth day of April, my regiment led the advance of 
 the infantry. Two companies were deployed as skirmishers on 
 either side of the road, and, having moved forward two miles, 
 were fired upon by the enemy. The skirmishers moved for- 
 ward, driving them, assisted by a howitzer, until they came 
 within range of the enemy's artillery, which was opened upon 
 us, wounding four men. My regiment supported the 2d Mis- 
 souri Battery on the right. Having taken this position, I sent 
 forward three sharp-shooters from each company to assist the 
 skirmishers, and annoy the enemy's gunners. After an 
 engagement of two hours the enemy withdrew from his posi- 
 tion, after which the march was resumed. At about two miles 
 distant, we were again fired on ; and while awaiting orders a 
 shell from the enemy's guns burst near my regiment, danger- 
 ously wounding one man. A sharp skirmish was kept up for 
 two and a half miles, when the enemy withdrew from our 
 front. Our entire loss in killed and wounded, when we reached 
 Camden, amounted to one killed, and four wounded." 
 
 Colonel Mackey reached Camden on the 19th of April, and 
 assumed command of his regiment. The following is from 
 his official report concerning the part taken by his regiment in 
 the return to Little Rock. 
 
 "Nothing of particular interest took place from the time of 
 the evacuation of Camden until my arrival at Saline River. 
 On the evening of the 29th, at 6 J o'clock P. M., I was ordered 
 to the rear on the Camden road to support Colonel Ingleman's 
 
500 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 BVigade, an attack being anticipated during the night. I 
 stood at arms during the entire night, the enemy making 
 no particular demonstration, although in speaking-distance. 
 Night very dark and raining most of the time. 
 
 " About 4 o'clock A. M. on the 30th, I received orders that, 
 as soon as the 43d Illinois Infantry on my left was withdrawn, 
 I should retire about three-fourths of a mile toward the river, 
 and take position covering the passage of the troops while 
 crossing. This movement I executed without being discovered 
 by the enemy. This position I occupied half an hour when 
 the enemy made his appearance. The skirmishers imnaedi- 
 ately engaged them, holding them in check for half an hour. 
 When I was relieved by the 27th AVisconsin Infantry, I 
 marched my command to a new position, one mile in the 
 direction of the crossing. In twenty minutes the engagement 
 became general, and I was ordered to the support of the 50th 
 Indiana Infantry on the left. From this time until the close 
 of the battle, the regiment was almost continually engaged. 
 
 " As to the conduct of both officers and men of my command, 
 I cannot speak in terms too high. To attempt distinction 
 would be injustice to my command, as all did their duty nobly. 
 A short time before the close of the action I received a wound 
 in my right arm, which compelled me to quit the field, the 
 command of the regiment devolving upon Captain Boydston, 
 Company A, who, at the close of the engagement, marched 
 the regiment off in good order." 
 
 In the desperate engagement at Jenkins' Ferry, the loss of 
 the 33d was severe. Eight enlisted men were killed, and six 
 ofiicers and ninety-seven enlisted men wounded. There were 
 also twelve missing; making the total loss of the regiment 
 one hundred and twenty-three. The commissioned officers 
 wounded were Colonel Mackey, Captains Comstock and Tot- 
 ten, and Lieutenants Conner, De Garmo and Kindig. Captain 
 P. T. Totten and Lieutenant T. R. Conner were both mortally 
 wounded. The former was shot through the thigh, and the 
 latter through the neck. The subsequent history of the 33d is 
 nearly the same as that of the 29th Iowa. 
 
BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL G. W. CLARK. 
 
 COLONEL, THIRTY-FOURTH INFANTRY. 
 
 George Washington Clark, the original colonel of the 
 84th Iowa Infantry, is a native of Johnson county, Indiana, 
 and was born on the 2Gth day of December, 1833. He was 
 educated at Wabash College, Indiana, and resided with his 
 father's family at the place of his nativity till the year 1856, 
 which is all that I know of his early history. In the spring of 
 1856 he removed to Iowa, and became a resident of Indianola, 
 Warren county, where he has since made his home. He is a 
 lawyer by profession. Subsequently to his removal to Iowa, 
 and prior to the spring of 1861, when he entered the service, 
 he practiced his profession in Warren county. He was, I am 
 told, a successful lawyer, and had, at the time of entering the 
 service, a paying practice. 
 
 At the outbreak of the war, General Clark was the first man 
 in Warren county to enroll himself a volunteer. In May, 1861, 
 he assisted in raising Company G, of the 3d Iowa Infantry, 
 which was the first company that went out from Warren 
 county. He was commissioned a first lieutenant, and, on the 
 organization of his regiment, was appointed regimental quar- 
 ter-master, which position he held till the first of September, 
 1862, when he was commissioned colonel of the 31th Iowa 
 Infantry. For meritorious services, he was, in the spring of 
 1865, made a brevet brigadier-general. 
 
 Up to the time of the capture of Arkansas Post, the history 
 
 of the 31th Iowa is not very dissimilar from those of the 25th, 
 
 26th, 30th and 31st Iowa Infantry regiments. Late in the fall 
 
 of 1862, these regiments had all, under orders, arrived at 
 
 501 
 
602 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Helena, Arkansas, at which point General Grant was concen- 
 trating troops preparatory to malving a descent on Vicksburg 
 by way of Chickasaw Bayou. The expedition, which started 
 late in December, under command of General Sherman, was a 
 failure; but through no fault of the troops; for, during the 
 three days' struggle in the brush and swamps that border 
 Chickasaw Bayou, soldiers never fought better. The fact is. 
 General Sherman did not succeed, simply because the obstacles 
 to be overcome at that point were insurmountable. Had 
 General Grant maintained his line of communication, and 
 threatened Vicksburg from the east, the result would doubtless 
 have been different ; for he would have drawn a large portion 
 of the rebel army out from the Walnut Hills. 
 
 Immediately after the unfortunate operations at Chickasaw 
 Bayou, the Arkansas River Expedition was organized, which 
 terminated in the capture of Arkansas Post. This brilliant 
 affair was accomplished on the 11th of January, 1863, and par- 
 tially atoned for previous disasters. The capture of these 
 formidable works, in which the 34th Iowa took a prominent 
 part, was a great disaster to the enemy in Southern Arkansas, 
 and disconcerted him in his previously arranged plans of har- 
 assing the flank and rear of General Grant in his operations 
 against Vicksburg. The following is from Colonel Clark's 
 official report of the part his regiment took in the capture of 
 this strong-hold : 
 
 "We had just returned from the bloody battle-field of Chick- 
 asaw Bayou, where we had been repulsed with terrible slaugh- 
 ter. Sherman's entire fleet came out of the Yazoo River on 
 the 3d of January, and on the 9th steamed up the Arkansas 
 River, to operate as'ainst Arkansas Post, arriving near there 
 the same day. The following day was occupied in reconnoiter- 
 ing and skirmishing. Our (Steele's) Division marched all that 
 night through the woods and swamps, through which it was 
 impossible to take baggage-wagons or ambulances. At day- 
 
GEORGE W. CLARK. 503 
 
 light the next morning we found ourselves within range of the 
 enemy's guns, from which he immediately opened on us. Our 
 batteries were soon put in position, and commenced a vigorous 
 reply. The artillery continued until about 12 o'clock M. At 
 this time I received an order from General Steele to move my 
 regiment rapidly to the front, which was promptly obeyed. I 
 moved the regiment forward in line of battle, to a point within 
 one hundred and fifty yards of the enemy's intrenchments." 
 
 This position was held till the place surrendered, and during 
 this part of the action the gallant Captain Dan H. Lyons fell. 
 
 During the three weeks that followed the capture of Arkan- 
 sas Post, the 84th Iowa saw their hardest service. After the 
 capitulation. Colonel Clark was detailed with his regiment to 
 escort the captured prisoners from that point to Camp Douglas ; 
 and, on the way, both the prisoners and their escort suffered 
 untold hardships. Only three miserable transports were 
 allowed the colonel, in which to convey his own command and 
 the prisoners ( numbering between five and six thousand ) 
 from the point of capture to St. Louis. It was mid- Winter, and 
 on the trip the small-pox broke out. The boats were so densely 
 crowded that they could not be policed, and became shockingly 
 filthy ; and in this accumulation of filth this loathsome disease 
 was raging, adding each half-hour one to the list of mortality. 
 The scene was most wretched and revolting. In writing to a 
 friend Colonel Clark said: "During those two weeks, I wit- 
 nessed more human suffering, than I had seen in all my life 
 before." 
 
 On returning from Chicago to St. Louis, Colonel Clark was 
 ordered with his regiment, in the early part of April, to Pilot 
 Knob, to anticipate the reported movement of General Mar- 
 maduke on that place. For two months after, he commanded 
 the Post and District of Pilot Knob and then joined the com- 
 mand of General Herron, which was en route for Vicksburg. 
 General Herron arrived at Vicksburg on the 11th of June ; and 
 
504 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was assigned a position on the extreme left of General Grant's 
 army. The 1st Brigade of his Division, to which the 34th 
 Iowa belonged, was stationed near the Mississippi, which posi- 
 tion it held till the surrender of the city. 
 
 On the morning of the 11th of July, General Herron's Divis- 
 ion was embarked on transports, with orders to report to 
 General Banks, at Port Hudson ; but news now arriving of the 
 surrender of that place, these troops sailed up the Yazoo River, 
 constituting the force which captured Yazoo City, and subse- 
 quently marched out across the Big Black River, to Canton, 
 to make a diversion in favor of General Sherman before Jack- 
 son. These operations closed, Colonel Clark sailed with his 
 regiment down the Mississippi River ; since which time he has 
 served in the Gulf Department and the trans-Mississippi. 
 
 During the latter part of the fall of 1863, and through the 
 following Winter, the history of the 34th Iowa savors some- 
 what of romance. Stationed at Fort Esperanga on Matagorda 
 Island, which lies at the head of the Gulf of Mexico, and at 
 the mouth of the Guadeloupe River, the men, when off duty, 
 passed their time in wandering on the beach, and gathering 
 curious shells. They even talked of associating Ceres and 
 Flora, as consorts with their patron war-god. Mars. But 
 these scenes closed on the opening of the Spring Campaign 
 under Major-General Banks. 
 
 The troops, who joined in the Red River Campaign, have 
 never had full credit for their heroic endurance of the perils 
 and hardships they encountered, which may be attributable to 
 the fact that, the campaign was only fruitful of disaster. 
 
 In the battles that were fought near Alexandria, the 34th 
 Iowa took an active part, and sustained itself with credit ; but 
 the sufferings of the regiment in these battles and in the early 
 part of the campaign, were not to be compared with those 
 experienced on the memorable nine days' retreat to Simmsport 
 
GEORGE W. CLARK. 505 
 
 and Morganzia. During these nine days and nights, there 
 were no halts for rest and sleep, or only such as were required 
 for repairing the roads, and constructing pontoons. 
 
 On the 28th of May, 1864, the 34th Iowa left Morganzia for 
 Baton Kouge, where it remained till the latter part of July, 
 when it sailed with the command of General Granger against 
 the rebel forts at the mouth of Mobile Bay. The operations of 
 Bear-Admiral Farragut and General Granger against Forts 
 Powell, Gaines and Morgan were brief and brilliant; and the 
 troops who joined in these operations may well feel proud of 
 their achievements. On the 2d of August, 1864, General Gran- 
 ger effected a landing on Dauphin Island, and within twenty- 
 one days from that time, each one of these forts was in the 
 possession of our forces. The 34th Iowa was the first regiment 
 to disembark on the west point of Dauphin Island. It was 
 soon joined by the 96th Ohio, and a colored regiment; when 
 the entire force, under command of Colonel Clark, with skir- 
 mishers well advanced and extending from shore to shore, 
 marched forward in the direction of Fort Gaines. The night 
 was dark and stormy, and an east wind beat a drenching rain 
 directly in the faces of the troops. To any but soldiers, the 
 occasion would have been dismal; but these brave fellows, 
 trudging on through the mud and rain, were jocose and merry. 
 Colonel Clark advanced about six miles, and to within two 
 miles of the fort, when he halted and rested his command in 
 line of battle. At day-light he was joined by the 67th Indiana, 
 the 77th Illinois and the 3d Maryland; when, after slight 
 demonstrations, the fort surrendered. 
 
 In the reduction of Fort Morgan Colonel Clark with his 
 command also took a conspicuous part ; and on its capitula- 
 tion, on the morning of the 23d of August, led the escort, 
 composed of his own regiment and the 20th Wisconsin, which 
 
506 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was marched out to receive the garrison as prisoners of war. 
 Subsequently to February, 18G4, he has commanded a brigade. 
 With tliis command, he distinguished himself at the battle of 
 Middle Bayou, and was highly complimented for his coolness 
 and bravery. 
 
 The Fall and Winter following the operations at the mouth ij 
 of Mobile Baj' were passed by the ;34th Iowa on the Gulf coast 
 and along tlie Mississippi. In Januarj^ 1805, the regiment was 
 consolidated with the 38th Iowa Infantry, and under the new 
 organization retained its old name and colonel. 
 
 For many months, the 34th Io^^'a was stationed at Barrancas, 
 Florida: from that point, it marched with General Steele 
 against ]Mobile, and took part in the assault and capture of 
 Fort Blakely. 
 
 General Clark is a little above six feet in hight, and has a 
 fine, well-developed form. He is a fine looking man, though, 
 when I saw him, he was a little too fleshy ; but at that time he 
 Wiis Jusf from his home, and on the way to re-join his regiment. 
 
 General Clark is a man of gentlemanly deportment, and, I 
 am told, has good ability, and much shrewdness. He has a 
 good military record. One who has visited all the Iowa troops 
 in the Gulf Department, speaks thus of him: "Colonel Clark 
 stands high, and, with the officers in general, seeks not only the 
 highest military efficiency, but also a good moral character for 
 his regiment." The general took great pride in the drill and 
 discipline of his old regiment. His regiment were proud of 
 theirname, and designated themselves the "star regiment." 
 
 In politics, General Clark is a Republican; though, I am 
 told, he was never a political aspirant. 
 
 i' 
 
COLONEL SYLVESTER G. HILL. 
 
 THIRTY-FIFTH INFANTRY. 
 
 The late Colonel S. G. Hill was a native of Washington 
 county, Rhode Island, where he was born on the 10th day of 
 June, 1820. His education, which wiis academic, was received 
 at the old and popular institution at Greenwich, Rhode Island. 
 Leaving Rhode Island in 1840, he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
 where he remained till 1849. A chief portion of this time he 
 was engaged in the lumber business. In 1849 he removed to 
 California; but being disappointed in the country and in its 
 business prospects, he returned to the States in the following 
 year, and soon after settled in jNIuscatine, Iowa. In Muscatine 
 he resumed his former business. He was engaged in the 
 lumber trade in the summer of 1862, just before entering the 
 service. 
 
 In July, 1SG2, Colonel Hill recruited a company of infantry, 
 of which he was elected captain, and which, in the following 
 August, was assigned to the 35th Iowa Infantry. On the 10th 
 of August he was promoted to the colonelcy of that regiment. 
 
 I can not with interest give a detailed history of the 35th 
 Iowa; for the majority of movements in which it took part 
 have been already given. During the winter of 1862-3, it served 
 at Cairo and Columbus, and at other points on the Mississippi, 
 and in the following Spring joined General Sherman at Milli- 
 ken's Bend. The march to the rear of Vicksburg, and the 
 investment and capture of the place; Sherman's return march 
 to Jackson; and McPherson's Expedition through Clinton to 
 Brownsville, late in October of the same year, have all been 
 
 given, and in all these the 35th Iowa joined. 
 
 507 
 
508 IOWA COLOXELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 On the close of the last named expedition, Colonel Hill 
 marched with his regiment to Vicksburg, whence he proceeded 
 by boat to Memphis. From Memphis his regiment left for 
 La Grange, Tennessee, where it went into Winter-quarters. 
 Its history will be better understood if I state that during all 
 these operations, and up to the time General Sherman made 
 his celebrated raid through Missisrippi to Meridian, the regi- 
 ment was attached to the division of General J. M. Tuttle. 
 
 After Sherman's return from Meridian, the 35th Iowa was 
 attached to the command of A. J. Smith, and left under that 
 general for the mouth of Red River. Its subsequent history 
 will be found in the brilliant operations of the 16th Army Corps. 
 The part taken by General A. J. Smith's troops in Bank's 
 disastrous Red River Campaign ; their operations against Forest 
 in Tennessee, and Price in Missouri, have been detailed else- 
 where. I therefore enter upon an account of the brilliant 
 operations which in December 1864 overwhelmed the army of 
 General Hood in defeat and rout at Nashville. 
 
 Before however giving a history of these brilliant move- 
 ments, I should state that in the retreat from Alexandria, 
 Lousiana, the 35th Iowa suflfered severely. It was in this part 
 of the luckless campaign that the regiment lost its noble major. 
 Major Abraham John, if I mistake not, is the only officer of 
 that rank from Iowa, who has been killed in battle. In the 
 Red River Campaign Captain Henry Blanck, of the 36th Iowa 
 was killed, and Captain William Dill wounded. 
 
 In giving General Hood's march on Nashville, I quote from 
 the official report of Major-General George H. Thomas. 
 
 "Pending these operations in Tennessee, [the raid of Forest 
 into the State, and his expulsion by the Federal troops] the 
 whole aspect of affiiirs about Atlanta, had undergone a change. 
 Hood had crossed the Chattahoochie River, and had sent one 
 corps of his army to destroy the railroad between Allatoona 
 and Marietta, which he had effectually accomplished for a 
 
SYLVESTER G. HILL. 609 
 
 distance of over twenty miles, interrupting all communication 
 between the forces in Tennessee, and the main army with 
 General Sherman in Georgia. He then moved round south 
 of Rome, to the west side of the Coosa River, and, taking a 
 north-westerly course, marched toward Summerville and La 
 Fayette, threatening Chattanooga and Bridgeport. * * 
 On the 12th instant, [October] the enemy's cavalry attacked 
 Resaca. * * On the 13th, one corps of Hood's army 
 appeared in front of Dalton, and a summons to surrender, 
 signed by Hood in person, was sent in to Colonel Johnson. * * 
 After remaining at Dalton one day, during which he destroyed 
 about five miles of railroad, the enemy moved off to the west- 
 wai'd, through Nick-a-jack Gap, to re-join the remainder of 
 Hood's army near Summerville, to which point he had been 
 followed by Sherman, with the 4th, 14th, 15th and 17th Corps, 
 the 20th having been left behind at Atlanta, to hold the place. 
 
 * * On the 21st Instant, the enemy was at Gadsden, Ala- 
 bama, while Sherman's forces were at Gaylesville, both armies 
 remaining inactive and watchful of the other's movements." 
 
 At the last named point, Sherman quit pursuit, and suffered 
 Hood to go on and beat his brains out at Nashville, while Jie 
 turned about, and walked through to the Atlantic Slope. 
 
 " On the 16th instant, the enemy's infantry made its appear- 
 ance in strong force in front of Decatur, Alabama, and during 
 the afternoon attacked the garrison, but not vigorously, and 
 without effect. * * * On the 29th, General Granger reported 
 the enemy in his front, to be withdrawing from Decatur 
 toward Courtland. The same day, General Croxton, com- 
 manding a brigade of cavalry picketing the north bank of the 
 river, reported the enemy crossing at the mouth of Cypress 
 Creek, two miles below Florence. * * Hood's plans had 
 now become evident, and from information gained through 
 prisoners, deserters, and from other sources, his intention was 
 to cross into Middle Tennessee." 
 
 Hood's march from the Tennessee to Nashville, will be 
 found elsewhere. During the march, he fought the terrible 
 battle of Franklin, where he lost more than six thousand men 
 in killed, wounded and captured, among whom were thirteen 
 general officers. Thomas fell back to Nashville, where, on the 
 
510 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 1st of December, he formed line of battle on the bights sur- 
 rounding the city, and awaited Hood's approach. General A. 
 J. Smith's command, (to which, as I have already said the 85th 
 Iowa was attached) had already arrived from Missouri, and 
 now Thomas' line of battle before Nashville was as follows : 
 Smith held the right, Wood, commanding the 4th Corps, the 
 centre, and Schofield the left. In this position the Federal 
 army rested, ice-bound, until the morning of the 15th instant; 
 and during those two weeks, the dispirited rebels suffered most 
 intensely from cold and hunger. They had been promised 
 much plunder and little fighting; and there they stood shiver- 
 ing over their lazy, smoking camp-fires, staring destruction in 
 the face. They could see the promised city, with its inviting 
 shelter and comforts, but, like one of old, they could not enter. 
 
 By special order No. 342 the battle was to be opened at the 
 earliest day the condition of the weather would admit and 
 thai day proved to be the loth of December. In the morning 
 of that day the weather was moderate, a circumstance which 
 contributed not a little to the Federal successes ; for a dense fog 
 arose which only lifted toward noon. Under cover of this fog, 
 Thomas advanced to the attack. Smith, who still held the 
 right, marched out on the right of the Harding pike and struck 
 and doubled back the enemy's left flank. On Smith's right 
 were the cavalry who, dismounted, joined in the general 
 advance ; and these were the opening successes. 
 
 For the part taken by the 12th and 35th Iowa in the first 
 day's battle (these troops were of the same brigade) I refer to 
 the official report of Lieutenant-Colonel J. II. Stibbs of the 
 former regiment. 
 
 "At about ten o'clock, the order to advance being given, our 
 skirmishers pushed rapidly forward, and found a considerable 
 force of the enemy, who were easily driven back. Our main 
 line advanced steadily, and without opposition, constantly 
 
SYLVESTER G. HILL. 511 
 
 changing our point of direction toward the left, until we had 
 advanced two miles, when, coming on to the crest of a hill, we 
 were opened on by one of the enemy's batteries posted directly 
 in front, and distant about a thousand yards. Our men were 
 then ordered to lie down, when our brigade battery was 
 I brought forward, and opened on the enemy. We were held in 
 ] this position for about an hour and a half, the enemy keeping 
 I up a constant fire on our line, doing us but little damage. 
 
 " The first and second brigades of our division to our right, 
 
 ' having advanced their lines, swung round to the left, charged 
 
 I and captured the enemy's redoubts in our front. AVe were 
 
 then moved forward, swinging our line to the left, and con- 
 
 ; forming to the line on our right. After advancing about half 
 
 i a mile, we came upon a strong redoubt of the enemy, situated 
 
 I to the right of the Hillsboro pike, and just five miles from 
 
 Nashville; our line was pushed well forward, and shortly 
 
 before four o'clock, P. M., every thing being ready, we were 
 
 ordered to charge. 
 
 "Our men moved rapidly up the hill, but, before gaining the 
 
 I crest, the enemy moved their guns and most of their support 
 
 to a fort about three hundred yards in the rear, and to the right, 
 
 from which they gave us a heavy raking fire as we moved on 
 
 to and over the first work. On gaining the first work, our 
 
 brigade commander. Colonel S. G. Hill, 35th Iowa Infantry, 
 
 was shot through the head, and instantly killed." 
 
 I And thus closed the first day's fighting in this part of the 
 j field; for it was now near night and soon the whole line was 
 i compelled to halt. 
 
 The engagement at Xashville stands among the most brilliant 
 
 j of the war. It is Thomas' celebrated left-wheel battle, where 
 
 ! with Schofield's and a part of Wood's command, he guaixled 
 
 Nashville and held the enemy's right, and with Smith and 
 
 Wilson's Cavalry bore back and shattered his left. 
 
 When the first day's fighting had closed, the issue of the 
 battle was decided; and now Hood only thought of how he should 
 conduct his retreat. There was, however, much hard fighting' 
 on the IGth instant ; but before four o'clock of that day Hood 
 
612 IOWA colonp:i^s and regiments. 
 
 fled in utter despair southward. Tliomas followed the dis- 
 organized rebel army as far as Clifton, and there went into 
 camp. In the following Spring, the 35th Iowa followed 
 General Smith to Mobile, where it closed the interesting portion 
 of its history. 
 
 Colonel Hill was a man of middle size, weighing about one 
 hundred and sixty pounds, and having a bilious-sanguine tem- 
 perament. He was a brave soldier, and an honest, unpretend- 
 ing man. If he was distinguished for any thing, it was for his 
 courage and caution. He had good judgment, and enjoyed the 
 love of his regiment, and the confidence of his superior officers. 
 
COLONEL CHARLES WOODMAN laTTREDGE. 
 
 THIRTY-SIXTH INFANTRY. 
 
 Charles W. Kittredge is a New Englander, being born 
 in Portland, Maine, on the 16th of January, 1826. His father, 
 Joseph W. Kittredge, who was a merchant, closed up his busi- 
 ness in Portland in 1828, and removed with his family to 
 Sutton, Vermont. Sutton remained the residence of his 
 family, till the year 1836. At nine years of age, young Kit- 
 tredge entered the High School of Bradford, Massachusetts. 
 A few years later, he became a member of the Lyndon Acad- 
 emy, Vermont, where he remained till 1839. That year he 
 completed his schooling, and soon after joined his father's 
 family in Adams county, Illinois, where it had removed in the 
 fall of 1836. The father died in 1844, soon after which Charles 
 returned with his mother to New England, where he remained 
 till 1855, doing business in Haverhill, Massaichusetts, and in 
 Dexter and Portland, Maine. In 1855, he again came West, 
 and, after a residence of three years in Chicago and Mt. Pleas- 
 ant, settled in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he entered the grocery 
 business. 
 
 Early in the summer of 1861, he enlisted a company (F) 
 
 for the 7th Iowa Infantry, and was elected its captain. He 
 
 accompanied his regiment in all its tiresome marches through 
 
 Missouri, and was with it in the brilliant, though unfortunate 
 
 affair at Belmont, where he distinguished himself. Just after 
 
 the flank movement of the enemy had been learned, and when 
 
 his regiment was falling back. Captain Kittredge was severely 
 
 wounded, and, being necessarily left upon the field, fell into 
 
 the hands of the enemy. He was soon paroled, however, and 
 33 513 
 
514 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. I 
 
 sent to Cairo, where he lay for many weeks in a very critical | 
 condition, in the St. Charles Hotel. He was shot twice; 
 through the arm, and through the thigh, the ball in the latter I 
 case passing between the bone and the femoral artery. Having 
 finally recovered he re-joined his regiment on the 30th of the 
 following March ; but his wounds had disabled him for duty 
 as a line officer, and he was compelled to tender his resigna- \< 
 lion, which was accepted on the 11th of June, 1862. | 
 
 Returning to Ottumwa, he resumed his former business, and 
 was thus engaged when, in the following August, Governor 
 Kirkwood tendered him the colonelcy of the 36th Iowa 
 Infantry. He accepted the commission, and at once reported 
 at Keokuk, where his regiment was in rendezvous. 
 
 The 36th Iowa, like all her sister regiments, has a good 
 record. It has an unfortunate chapter in its history: it is one 
 of the seven Iowa regiments that, during the war, has been 
 captured. 
 
 The regiment, by order of General Curtis, commanding at St. ii 
 Louis, reported at Helena, Arkansas, on the first of January, 
 1863, and remained at that post on garrison-duty till the 24th 
 of February following, when it left on the celebrated Yazoo 
 Pass Expedition. It sailed with the advance, under Brigadier- 
 General Ross of Illinois, and arrived at Shell Mound on the 
 Tallahatchie, about two miles above Fort Pemberton, on 
 the 11th of March. It was at once disembarked, and sent 
 out to support a portion of General Solomon's Brigade, then 
 skirmishing with the enemy; but, though under fire, it did 
 not engage the enemy, and suffered no loss. It left on the 
 return to Helena the 4th of April, having in the meantime 
 only met the enemy in skirmishes. 
 
 The dangers and hardships of the Yazoo Pass Expedition 
 have been given elsewhere, and I need only add here that, in 
 the perilous return up the Tallahatchie and Cold Water 
 
CHARLES W. KITTREDGE. 515 
 
 Rivers, the 36th Iowa lost only four men wounded. But many 
 
 of both officers and men contracted diseases on this expedition, 
 
 which rendered them unfit for service. Among others was 
 
 Major T. C. Woodward, a most excellent officer, and deservedly 
 
 popular with the regiment. 
 
 The 4th of July vindication, at Helena, Arkansas, in the sum- 
 
 , mer of 1863, was the first severe engagement of the 36th Iowa. 
 
 Here, three thousand five hundred men successfully resisted 
 
 I the repeated and determined assaults of six times their num- 
 
 ; ber. It was a terrible disaster to the rebels, and made the 
 
 hearts of those on the west side of the Mississippi disconsolate. 
 
 From the 8th of April to the 10th of August, 1863, the 36th 
 
 Iowa was stationed at Helena; but on the last named date 
 
 started out with Major-General Steele on the Arkansas 
 
 Expedition, which ended with the capture of Little Rock, 
 
 September 10th 1863. During this march. Colonel Kittredge 
 
 commanded the 1st Brigade of the 2d Division. 
 
 Having passed the fall of 1863, and the following Winter at 
 Little Rock, the 36th Iowa, on the 23d of March, 1861, joined 
 the expedition under Major-General Steele, which, being 
 organized in conjunction with one under Major-General Banks, 
 had for its object the capture of Shreveport, and the defeat and 
 dispersion of the enemy in the Red River country. The battles 
 of Elkin's Ford and Mark's Mills, Arkansas, will ever have a 
 place in the military annals of Iowa, Missouri, Indiana and 
 Ohio, the States whose troops were there represented. 
 
 The 43d Indiana, 36th Iowa, 77th Ohio, and two sections of 
 Battery E, 2d Missouri Light Artillery constituted the 2d 
 Brigade, 3d Division, 7th Army Corps, and, with the excep- 
 tion of two companies of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, were the only 
 troops on our side engaged at Elkin's Ford. Indeed, if I am 
 correctly informed, the 77th Ohio was not engaged, having 
 
616 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 been previously detached to support tlie cavalry in another 
 quarter. 
 
 The battle of Elkin's Ford was opened early on the morning 
 of the 4th of April, 18G4, by the enemy driving in our cavalry- 
 pickets, and by advancing rapidly against the command of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Drake, composed of portions of the 43d 
 Indiana and the 36th Iowa, and one section of Battery E, 2d 
 Missouri Light Artillery, which was being held as the picket- 
 reserve. The fighting was very severe, and the gallantry of 
 the troops unrivaled ; but the force of the enemy was so great 
 as to render all opposition of no avail. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Drake was being gradually force d back, when Colonel Kitt- 
 redge, coming up on his left with the balance of his regiment, 
 charged the enemy and drove him back in confusion. The 
 repulse was so complete that the enemy declined to renew the 
 fight, and beat a hasty retreat. 
 
 The battle of Elkin's Ford was fought near the Little Mis- 
 souri River, and during General Steele's march southward. 
 That of Mark's Mills was fought, while the 2d Brigade wiis en 
 route to Pine Bluff for supplies for Steele's army at Camden. 
 
 How General Steele, learning at Prairie de Anne of the 
 defeat of Banks, turned eastward to Camden ; how he lost 
 much of his train sent out on a foraging expedition to Poisoned 
 Springs ; how, after that. Colonel Mackey of the 33d Iowa 
 came through with supplies from Pine BluflP; and how Steele, 
 resolving to maintain himself at Camden, sent back to Pine 
 Bluff for other supplies, has already been stated in the sketches 
 of other officers and regiments. The 2d Brigade, under com- 
 mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Drake, constituted the command 
 above alluded to ; and, in addition to those troops, were two 
 hundred and forty men of the First Indiana and 7th Missouri 
 Cavalry, under Major McCaully. The wagon-train consisted 
 of two hundred and forty wagons. 
 
CHARLES W. KITTEEDGE. 517 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Drake left Camden on the morning of 
 the 23d of April, and proceeding on the Pine Bluff road, 
 reached Moro Bottom in the evening of the 24th instant. Up 
 to that time. Major McCaully, in command of the cavalry, had 
 discovered no enemy; and Lieutenant-Colonel Drake, thinking 
 that he was not threatened, went into camp. Had he marched 
 all that night, as did the enemy, he would have escaped cap- 
 ture, and saved his train. On the 2r)th instant, the march was 
 resumed at day-light, and proceeded unmolested till near the 
 junction of the Warren and Pine BlufT roads, when Major 
 Morris, in advance, came on the enemy's skirmishers. The 
 engagement opened at once. At this time the 36th Iowa, 
 under Major Hamilton, a brave and worthy officer, was march- 
 ing by the side of the train, to guard against a flank-surprise; 
 but, on receiving notice of the attack, hurried to the front. 
 Orders were also sent to the 77th Ohio, in the extreme rear, to 
 double-quick to the front ; but before the movement was exe- 
 cuted, the regiment was surrounded and captured. The 36th 
 Iowa, 43d Indiana, Lieutenant Peetz's Battery, and the cav- 
 alry, had, therefore, to continue the engagement without rein- 
 forcements. As was afterward learned, the rebel troops on 
 the ground numbered little less than eight thousand. Fagan 
 was in command, and he had seven brigades — Shelby's, Dock- 
 ery's, Cabell's, Cooper's, Crawford's, Wright's, and Greene's. 
 But, notwithstanding these overwhelming numbers, the rem- 
 nant of the 2d Brigade maintained its position, repelling the 
 enemy's charges, for nearly five hours. Finally, being com- 
 pletely surrounded, its ammunition expended, and having no 
 hope of relief, the command surrendered. It was at this time 
 that the rebel General Fagan boasted that the capture of Steele's 
 whole army was certain. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Drake was severely wounded in this 
 
518 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 engagement, and was soon after paroled with others, and sent 
 within our lines ; but the 3Gth Iowa was marched to Tyler, 
 Texas, where it passed a long and wretched prison-life. To 
 show the hardships endured on this cruel march, I quote, 
 briefly, from a statement made by Chaj)lain M. H. Hare, of 
 the 36th Iowa: 
 
 "We were marched off rapidly after the close of the battle. 
 We were all driven on foot fifty-two miles, without rations, 
 rest, or respite, to Moro, or, as we termed it, 'Raw Corn.' 
 There we crossed the Ouchita. We had eaten our breakfast on 
 the morning of the 25th before day ; and now it was after dark 
 in the evening of the 26th. The rebels had robbed us of our 
 haversacks, beside other valuables ; and, when we reached the 
 river, we seized upon some mule-corn, which we found, and 
 ate it with avidity, raw. It was a sad sight to go among the 
 boys, as I did that night, and see them — some gnawing away, 
 and others, wearied and exhausted, lying asleep, still holding 
 their half-eaten ear." 
 
 Captain T. B. Hale, unable to endure these hardships, died. 
 This noble young officer was buried in a handsome grove, on 
 the banks of the Ouchita, about sixty miles below Camden. 
 
 The killed and wounded of the 2d Brigade, in the battle of 
 Mark's Mills, numbered about two hundred and fifty. The 
 loss of the enemy is not known. Surgeon J. M. B. Cochrane, 
 of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, Major Hamilton, of the 36th Iowa, 
 and many others were highly complimented for their gallantry 
 during the action. 
 
 The 36th Iowa was exchanged in the spring of 1865. Since 
 that time, it has been stationed on garrison-duty at St. Charles, 
 on White River. 
 
 Colonel Kittredge was not present in the engagement at 
 Mark's Mills. At the time it was ordered out, he was sick and 
 was left behind with some forty men of his regiment. On the 
 return of General Steele to Little Rock, he accompanied the 
 command of Brigadier-General Samuel A. Rice; and, under 
 
CHAKLES W. KITTEEDGE. 519 
 
 that officer, took part in the engagement at Jenkin's Ferry. 
 During General Steele's absence from Little Rock, Colonel 
 Anderson of the First Iowa Cavalry, who was left behind, 
 assumed command of the post ; but, soon after the return of 
 the army, that officer resigned his commission, when Colonel 
 Kittredge was made Post Commandant. Colonel Kittredge 
 continued at Little Rock till the spring of 1865, when on the 
 suggestion of General Reynolds he was dismissed the service. 
 I will state briefly what I know of this unfortunate affair. 
 
 In the winter of 1864-5, Lieutenant-Colonel Drake of the 36th 
 Iowa preferred charges against Colonel Kittredge, which I 
 have never seen, and which, if I had, and could state them, 
 would afford to the reader little interest. Early in March, 
 1865, Colonel Kittredge went before a general court-martial 
 convened at Little Rock, for trial. Brigadier-General Cyrus 
 Bussey was President of the Court, and Colonels Benton, 
 Mackey and Thompson were among its members. The case 
 was tried, and resulted, I am told, in a finding of "not guilty," 
 as regarded every charge and specification. The record was 
 then made up, and sent by the Judge Advocate to General 
 Reynolds, for approval; but that general, instead, forwarded 
 the papers to the President, with the recommendation that 
 Colonel Kittredge be dismissed the service. General Reynolds' 
 recommendation was of course complied with ; for he had been 
 recently sent to Little Rock to relieve General Steele, for the 
 express purpose of renovating the Department of Arkansas, 
 and all his recommendations were promptly endorsed. I 
 should state further that, one of General Steele's staff-officers, 
 who remained behind after the departure of that general for 
 New Orleans, and who was a bitter friend of Colonel Kittredge, 
 was acting on the staff of General Reynolds at the time the 
 colonel's papers were sent up. 
 
520 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 After receiving his dismissal the colonel returned to his 
 home and proceeded thence to Washington to make inquiry 
 into the proceedings in his case. He M^as gone only a few days 
 when news came that the order for his dismissal was revoked 
 and he reinstated. He left Washington immediately for St. 
 Charles, Arkansas, where his regiment is now stationed in 
 garrison. 
 
 From the portrait of Colonel Kittredge here published which 
 is a good one, can be read the character of the man. He is 
 independent and outspoken and has no policy. The following 
 is illustrative of his character. While stationed at Helena he 
 was requested to sign a paper recommending a brigadier-gen- 
 eral for promotion. He refused to give his name, saying he 
 did not believe the officer entitled to promotion. The officer 
 was at the time his division commander. He is abrupt in 
 his manners, quick in his movements, and treats his friends 
 with generosity and his enemies with vindictiveness. 
 
 From what I can learn he was popular with his regiment. 
 I talked with several of his men who were just out of prison 
 and home on leave of absence, and they all said he was con- 
 sidered a good officer. In the first year of the regiment's service 
 I understand he made enemies by recommending a lieutenant 
 over several captains for a field officer, though all but the par- 
 ties interested admitted that the lieutenant was the best man 
 for the place. 
 
 It is proper to state in this connection that, soon after resign- 
 ing his commission as captain in the 7th Infantry, Colonel 
 Kittredge was married to Miss Charlotte Mahon of Ottumwa, 
 a sister of Major Mahon, and an intelligent and accomplished 
 lady. 
 
COLONEL GEORGE W. KINCAID. 
 
 THIRTY-SEVENTH INFANTKY. 
 
 George W. Kincaid is a native of the State of Ohio, and 
 an old resident of Muscatine county, Iowa. He is about fifty- 
 three years of age. His occupation in civil life I have failed 
 to learn. He entered the army in the fall of 1862, as colonel of 
 the 37th Iowa Infantry, and served with that rank till the 
 spring of 1865, when, with his regiment, he was mustered out 
 of the service. In the judgment of his regiment, he served 
 with little honor to himself, or the State. 
 
 The o7th Iowa is the celebrated Gray-Beard Regiment. It 
 was organized under a special order of the War Department, 
 in the fall of 1862, and was to be composed of men over the age 
 of forty-five years. If I am correctly informed, it was a con- 
 dition precedent that, the regiment was to be employed only 
 on post- and garrison-duty. Certain it is that, with one excep- 
 tion, it was never assigned to any other. Its history, therefore, 
 throwing age out of the question, is not a brilliant one. Its 
 thirty-months' service was passed at the following points: 
 St. Louis, Missouri; Alton, Illinois; Memphis, Tennessee; 
 Cincinnati, Ohio; and Rock Island, Illinois. 
 
 The following from the pen of L. M. Miller, the regiment's 
 sergeant-major, is the chief item of interest in the regiment's 
 history ; 
 
 "On the lOth instant, [July 7th, 1864] a detail of fifty men 
 was sent from the 37th regiment, to go as guard on a supply- 
 train, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. When about 
 thirty-six miles out, the train was fired into by fifty or sixty 
 bushwhackers, concealed in the brush and behind the fence. 
 Our guards were stationed on top of the cars, exposed to their 
 
 521 
 
522 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 fire, the train running thirty miles an hour. Our men returned 
 the fire very promptly, and it is believed from the best infor- 
 mation we can gather we did the enemy equal damage, at least 
 in numbers. Our loss was Samuel Coburn of Company A, 
 and Corporal Charles Young of Company B, both mortally 
 wounded. The corporal lived till next day, and Colburn till 
 the evening of the same day. Two others were slightly 
 wounded, but are doing well." 
 
 But if these patriarchal patriots did little service in the field, 
 it is not to be supposed that theirs was holiday duty. Garri- 
 son-duty, if not attended with great risk, is fatiguing and 
 monotonous; and few soldiers, if consulted, would prefer it to 
 field-service. We should, therefore, accord to these ancient 
 heroes a full share of the State's military renown. 
 
 I am told that Colonel Kincaid is a tall, raw-boned, gray- 
 haired man, uninviting in personal appearance and in address. 
 He was strict in his discipline, to which may be attributed his 
 great unpopularity with his regiment. I am unwilling to 
 record the many stories of his misrule. 
 
COLONEL D. HENRY HUGHES. 
 
 THIRTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY. 
 
 The late D. Henry Hughes was born in Jefferson county, 
 New York, on the 11th of September, 1830. He was the son of 
 a farmer. At sixteen, he entered the New Yorlc State Normal 
 School, where he passed a year and a half, and then returned 
 home and labored with his father on the farm till he attained 
 his majority. In 1852, he came West and settled temporarily 
 in Chicago, where he obtained employment as book-keeper in 
 the Agricultural Warehouse of Emery & Co. During his two 
 years' stay with this enterprising house, he was a frequent 
 contributor to the "Prairie Farmer," a valuable agricultural 
 paper, published by his employers. In 1855, he left Illinois 
 for Iowa, and settled in Decorah, which was his family's place 
 of residence at the time of his death. 
 
 Colonel Hughes was held in high esteem in Winnesheik 
 county. He learned the law with one Mr. Webber of Decorah, 
 and, in the spring of 1862, became a partner of the Hon. M. V. 
 Burdick, now State Senator from Winnesheik county. Indeed, 
 in 1861, he was Mr. Burdick's opponent for the State Senate, 
 being the nominee of the Democratic Party of Winnesheik 
 
 county. 
 
 In October, 1862, Mr. Hughes was made lieutenant-colonel 
 of the 38th Iowa Infantry, and late in the same month was 
 promoted to the colonelcy of the regiment. He served with 
 his regiment till its arrival at Port Hudson, Lousiana, when 
 he was prostrated by the sickness incident to that climate. He 
 died on board the steamer Lebanon, on the 7th of August, 1863. 
 
 The history of the 38th Iowa has less of general interest in it 
 
 523 
 
524 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 than that of any other Iowa regiment. Up to the 27th of 
 November, 18G4, it had lost in battle only one man killed, and 
 two wounded, one of the latter mortally. The following are 
 the points at which the regiment served prior to the above 
 named date: Columbus and Union City, Kentucky; New 
 Madrid, Missouri; Vicksburg; Port Hudson and Carrollton, 
 Louisiana; on the Texan coast and at Brownsville; Mobile 
 Point, and at Donaldsonville, Louisiana. The regiment was 
 consolidated with the 34th Iowa Infantry, on the 1st day of 
 January, 1865 ; since which time its history will be found in 
 that of the latter regiment. 
 
 The following statement, taken from the records of the regi- 
 ment, is a remarkable illustration of the disparity of losses 
 sustained by troops in battle and by disease: 
 
 "Original strength of regiment: officers, thirty-nine; enlist- 
 ed men, eight hundred and seventy-six. Added in field by 
 recruits: enlisted men, one hundred and twelve. Added by 
 promotion: officers, nine. Added by transfer: officers, one. 
 
 "Killed in battle: enlisted men, one. Died of wounds: 
 enlisted men, one. Discharged: officers, twenty; enlisted 
 men, one hundred and ten. Deserted: thirteen. Died of 
 disease: officers, four; enlisted men, three hundred and seven. 
 Transferred : enlisted men, twenty-eight. Total : officers, 
 twenty-four; enlisted men, four hundred and sixty-five." 
 
 The following is from an eulogy delivered by Hon. M. V. 
 Burdick to Colonel Hughes' memory : 
 
 "He is gone ; but though dead he yet lives— lives in the 
 example that he set, in the precepts that he gave — lives in the 
 hearts of his friends. They will not endeavor to repress the 
 generous pride which prompts a recital of his noble deeds, and 
 manly virtues. He commenced his career among us without 
 fortune, without influential friends, and surrounded by many 
 difficulties. He has filled many positions of honor and trust, 
 and has written his name in the history of this great struggle 
 of the nation to maintain the national existence. He leaves to 
 his friends none but the most pleasing recollections." 
 
COLONEL HENRY J. B. CUMMINGS. 
 
 THIRTY-NINTH INFANTRY. 
 
 HENRY Johnson Broadhead Cummings is the only rep- 
 resentative that little New Jersey can claim among the loiva 
 Colonels. He was born in the town of Ne%vton, Sussex county, 
 on the 21st day of May, 1831, and continued to reside at that 
 place until he was ten years of age. He then accompanied his 
 parents to Lycoming county, Pennsylvania, where he lived 
 till he reached his eighteenth year. His education was acquired 
 at the common schools of that county. In his eighteenth Win- 
 ter, he taught school, and after its close, entered the law-office 
 of Judge Maynard of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and began 
 the study of the law. From 1851 to 1854, he edited a paper in 
 Schuylkill Haven, after which he resumed his legal studies in 
 the office of Henry Johnson, Esq., of Muncey, Pennsylvania, 
 and was admitted to the bar in 1855. But, being without 
 means, he was again compelled to return to the editorial tri- 
 pod. In 1856, he came West and located in Winterset, Iowa, 
 where he opened an office, and for the first time entered upon 
 the practice of his profession. That same Winter, he assisted 
 in oro-anizing the Republican Party in Madison county; and, 
 in thl following August, was elected Prosecuting Attorney for 
 that county. Later, he became a law-partner of the Hon. M. 
 S. McPherson, who, in 1860, was a member of the Iowa State 
 Senate. 
 
 Colonel Cummings first entered the war as captain of Com- 
 pany F., 4th Iowa Infentry. While the regiment was at its 
 rendezvous in Council Blufts, he was elected by the line officers 
 
 52o 
 
526 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 its major. He was not, however, commissioned by the Gov- 
 ernor; for Captain English, of the same regiment, had been 
 previously promoted to that rank. Captain Cummings served 
 in the 4th Iowa Infantry until the 6th of September, 1862, 
 when he was promoted to the colonelcy of the 39th Iowa 
 Infantry. 
 
 The first engagement of the 39th Iowa, was at Parker's Cross 
 Roads, Tennessee, on the 31st of December, 1862. The enemy 
 were led by Forest, and numbered from five to seven thousand 
 men. The Union forces engaged comprised only one brigade, 
 commanded by Colonel Dunham of the 50th Indiana, and 
 numbered not quite sixteen hundred men. 
 
 So soon as the enemy learned of General Grant's plans for 
 the capture of Vicksburg, in the fall of 1862, they at once set 
 on foot schemes for their frustration ; and, only a few days 
 after the Federal army had marched from Holly Springs, Van 
 Dorn and Forest were dispatched against General Grant's rear, 
 to overwhelm small garrisons, and destroy all supplies and 
 lines of communication. Van Dorn marched for Holly Springs 
 and vicinity, while Forest made his appearance along the 
 Jackson and Columbus Railroad. On the morning of the 31st 
 of December, 1862, Forest, with the greater portion of his com- 
 mand, was encamped in the timber, about half a mile west of 
 Parker's Cross Roads. A small detachment was stationed at 
 the Cross Roads ; and these Colonel Dunham, while moving 
 with his command down the road in the direction of Red 
 Mound, encountered at about eight o'clock in the morning. 
 
 But, to give an intelligible history of this affair, I should 
 refer briefly to the previous movements of the 39th Iowa. On 
 the 18th of December, 1862, the regiment left Columbus, Ken- 
 tucky, under orders to report to General G. M. Dodge at Corinth. 
 Arriving at Jackson, it was ordered by General Sullivan to 
 
HENRY J. B. CUMMINQS. 527 
 
 disembark ; for an attack upon that place by Forest was hourly- 
 looked for. It remained at Jackson four days, when, it 
 becoming evident that Forest did not intend attacking that 
 place, it was sent back to Trenton. There it was organized 
 with the 50th Indiana and 122d Illinois, and sent in pursuit of 
 Forest, then reported at Huntingdon, thirty miles east. 
 Parker's Cross Roads is between Huntingdon and Lexington, 
 where, as above stated, a portion of Forest's command was 
 encountered. 
 
 The 50th Indiana was at once deployed as skirmishers, and 
 I drove the small detachment back to the main body, stationed 
 j on the hill or in the timber. Colonel Dunham now began 
 making his dispositions to attack them in this position ; but 
 he soon learned that the position was so strong, and that their 
 numbers so superior to his own that an attempt to rout them 
 must be unsuccessful. After a vigorous use of his artillery, he 
 therefore withdrew his command south, and took up a position 
 on the east side of the road on a gentle rise of ground near Red 
 Mound. The enemy followed and took up a position on the 
 brow of a hill about one thousand yards distant. The enemy 
 had eleven pieces of artillery, and the Federal troops but three ; 
 and in all other respects they were equally superior. The 
 engagement now opened with artillery ; but only a few shots 
 had been fired, when Colonel Dunham saw that he could not 
 hold his present position. He therefore moved down the hill 
 into low ground, and took position behind a rail fence. The 
 39th held the left, the 122 Illinois the centre, and the 50th 
 Indiana the right. The enemy still held the brow of the hill 
 in front. 
 
 Their position was most admirable. Retiring just behind 
 the crest of the hill, and charging their artillery, they would 
 then shove it forward, and, depressing the pieces, continue a 
 
528 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 most destructive fire on our lines. Their infantry, too, at long 
 range and well covered, did much execution; while our troops, 
 lying along the fence in the bottom, were able only by their 
 presence to hold the enemy at bay. The right of the line, how- 
 ever, was able to do some execution. Thus matters stood tiU 
 about four o'clock in the afternoon, when the enemy, despair- 
 ing of routing the Federal troops from the position they then 
 held, dismounted a force of about one thousand men, and sent 
 them round to the rear of Colonel Dunham's right flank. 
 Moving by a circuitous route through the timber, they were 
 not discovered till their skirmishers opened fire on tlie right- 
 rear of the Federal line. This was the signal for the enemy on 
 the hill in front to concentrate their artillery-fire on the 
 Federal left; for this was necessary to save their own men, 
 approaching from the rear; and now the shower of grape and 
 canister, which fell on the 39th Iowa, was terrific. With the 
 enemy approaching in its rear, and this terrible fire in front, 
 the right wing of the 39th broke, and sought shelter in a corn- 
 field to the west of the road. Portions of the 50th Indiana and 
 122d Illinois also joined in this brief stampede. But relief was 
 now near at hand: a brigade of reinforcements — the "Ohio 
 Brigade" —soon fell upon the enemy's rear, and scattered their 
 lines in confusion. This, however, w^as not done till after the 
 39th Iowa had rallied, and, with the balance of the brigade, 
 driven back the enemy's flanking-party. The engagement 
 now closed, and the Federal troops rested that night on the 
 battle-ground. The following is the result of the engagement: 
 Four hundred prisoners were captured. Five hundred horses 
 and seven cannon were also among the spoils of war; but the 
 three pieces of artillery belonging to the command of Colonel 
 Dunham had been literally knocked to pieces. The losses of 
 the 39th Iowa, in killed, wounded and missing, were forty- 
 seven. Three only were killed; and among these was the 
 
HENRY J. B. CUM.MIXGS. 529 
 
 color-guard, J. C. Stearns. The gallant Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Redfield, while rallying his men, was severely wounded in 
 the shoulder. Major Griffiths, Captain Browne and Lieutenant 
 Rawls were also among the wounded. This was the first 
 engagement of the 39th Iowa; and all things considered, it 
 sustained itself well. 
 
 With the battle of Parker's Cross Roads closed the old year 
 of 1862. On the morning following, the 39th Iowa, with the 
 i balance of its brigade, started on the return march to Jackson, 
 I where it arrived on the evening of the 2d. At Columbus, as 
 already stated, Colonel Cummin^s had been ordered to report 
 to General G. M. Dodge, commanding 2d Division, 16th Army 
 Corps, and on the 6th instant he left Jackson with his regiment 
 . for Corinth. Arriving at Corinth, the 39th Iowa was assigned 
 I to the 2d Brigade, Colonel M. IM. Banes, and, for more than a 
 I year thereafter, was attached to that command. From the 
 date of its arrival at Corinth, till the time it joined the forces 
 I of General Sherman in the grand march on Atlanta, the his- 
 tory of the 39th Iowa may be soon told. It was stationed on 
 garrison-duty, and passed the most of its time in camp. 
 
 The march to Tuscumbia, Alabama, the object of which was 
 to cover the movements of Colonel Streight, in his raid into 
 Georgia, I must not, however, omit to mention. All things 
 being in readiness. General Dodge moved out of Corinth with 
 his entire division on the 15th of April, and, proceeding by 
 easy marches, arrived at Bear Creek without incident. At 
 Bear Creek, his advance encountered the enemy under Roddy, 
 and soon after that force was strengthened by the arrival of 
 Forest. But General Dodge pushed steadily on, driving back 
 the enemy with a line of skirmishers, until he arrived at Town 
 Creek. Here the enemy, on the opposite bank, had their artil- 
 lery in position, which was well supported. An artillery-duel 
 followed of half a day in length, when, bridges having been 
 
530 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 constructed under the enemy's fire, the forces of General Dodge 
 began crossing to the east side of the stream. The enemy now- 
 retired precipitately, and General Dodge, knowing Colonel 
 Streight, who had passed by the enemy's left flank, was well 
 on his way, returned to Corinth. The 39th Iowa arrived at 
 Corinth on the 2d of May. Four days after. Company H of 
 the regiment, while guarding a corral near Corinth, was sur- 
 rounded by a large body of rebel cavalry and captured. Its 
 Captain, James H. Loomis, was made a prisoner, and only a 
 few of the men escaped. 
 
 Colonel Cummings remained with his regiment at Corinth, 
 until November, 1863, and then marched with the command of 
 General Dodge to the line of the Nashville and Decatur Rail- 
 road. 
 
 He arrived with his regiment at Pulaski the 11th of November, 
 and the day following was sent north seven miles to Reynold's 
 Station, where regimental head-quarters were established. 
 Five companies remained at head-quarters. Three were sta- 
 tioned at grist-mills; and two on guard-duty, at raih'oad- 
 bridges. Seven weeks later, regimental head-quarters were 
 removed to Culleoka, twenty miles further north. The regi- 
 ment remained here till the 12th of the following March, when, 
 with its brigade, it marched south to Athens ; but its day of 
 garrison- and railroad guard-duty was now soon to close. 
 
 In the early part of May, 1864, the 39th Iowa marched with 
 its brigade to Huntsville, where the whole command of Gen- 
 eral Dodge assembled, preparatory to joining General Sherman 
 on the march against Atlanta: from that point it moved 
 directly to the front at Dalton. But the movements of the 
 left wing of the 16th Army Corps during the Atlanta Cam- 
 paign have been given elsew here, and up to the time of the 
 occupation of Rome, the history of the 39fch is the same as that 
 of this command: the 39th Iowa, and, I think, all the regi- 
 
HENRY J. B. CUMMINGS. 531 
 
 ments of its brigade— the 7th, 50th and 57th Illinois Infantry 
 regiments, went no further than Rome, being left at that point 
 to guard Sherman's flank, and his line of communications. 
 Where the regiment most distinguished itself, and where it 
 lost its best officer — Lieutenant-Colonel James Redfield— was 
 at Allatoona, Georgia. 
 
 Its defense of this place was gallant in the extreme, and a full 
 history of the affair would be read with the greatest interest; 
 but want of space forbids me giving it. The following is from 
 a statement of Major, afterward Lieutenant-Colonel Griffiths: 
 
 "The entire force on our side was one thousand eight hun- 
 dred: that of the enemy, seven thousand. Our forces were 
 commanded by Brigadier-General J. M. Corse. They arrived 
 at 10 o'clock P. M., expecting that the enemy would not attack, 
 knowing they (we) were reinforcements. In this we were 
 deceived. They attacked in the morning at 7 A. M. General 
 Corse had time only to hastily dispose of his little force, when 
 they came up with massed columns. 
 
 " The 30th Iowa was placed at the forks of a road, three hun- 
 dred yards from the fort, where the heaviest column of the 
 enemy charged. It was important to hold this position, and 
 check the enemy. This they did twice, although terribly cut 
 to pieces. The third time the enemy was in such force as to be 
 irresistible, and the remainder of our regiment fell back, con- 
 testing every foot of ground to the fort. 
 
 "General Corse and the veteran troops, who witnessed the 
 heroism and determination of the 39th on that day, say they 
 have never before seen such fighting. They pronounced it 
 'Chickasaw Bayou,' continued for five hours. It was during 
 this time that the above named officers, except Lieutenant 
 Blodgett, were killed. He was one of the four officers who 
 succeeded in reaching the fort, and was shot while carrying a 
 message from General Corse to Colonel Rowett. There were 
 ten of our officers in the engagement: five were killed, and two 
 wounded and captured, leaving but three with the command. 
 
 "It gives me great pleasure to testify to the heroism, valor 
 and gallantry of these officers. I have seen them before when 
 in discharge of their duties and under fire, and can say of them 
 
532 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 that in every emergency they displayed coolness and deter- 
 mined courage. As officers, they had the respect and confidence 
 of the command. As men, they had won, by their geniality 
 of disposition and uniform courtesy of manner, the kindest 
 regards and affections of their officers and men, so that we can 
 feelingly exclaim; Their places, who can fill them?" 
 
 The regiment lost, in killed, five officers and twenty-seven 
 enlisted men, and, in wounded, one officer and sixty-one 
 enlisted men. Two officers and sixty-eight enlisted men were 
 captured. The commissioned officers killed, were Lieutenant- 
 Colonel James Redfield and Lieutenants O. C. Ayers, A. T. 
 Blodgett, N. P. Wright and J. P. Jones. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Redfield was a man of much excellence. It has often been 
 said he should have been colonel of the 39th Iowa. 
 
 Colonel Cummings is a short, fleshy man, with blue eyes, 
 and a large, red face. In his manners, he is dignified and con- 
 sequential. He is reputed as being able to endure as much rest 
 as any man in Iowa. He was a good tactician, but, beyond 
 that, possessed little merit as a soldier. 
 
COLONEL JOHN ALEXANDER GARRETT. 
 
 FORTIETH INFANTRY. 
 
 John A. Garrett is a native of Carlisle, Sullivan county, 
 Indiana, and was born on the loth day of November, 1824. 
 He was educated at Hanover College, and at the Indiana Uni- 
 versity, and was a member of the last named institution, not 
 having yet graduated, when he enlisted as a private in the 4th 
 Indiana Infantry, Colonel, now General Gorman. Landing 
 at Vera Cruz under General Scott, he accompanied his regi- 
 ment from that place to the city of Mexico ; and, on that cam- 
 paign, took an active part in two engagements— Huamartla 
 (which was Santa Anna's last) and Atlixco. 
 
 At the close of the Mexican War, he returned to his native 
 town ; where, entering the mercantile business, he remained 
 till 1857. In the fall of that year, he came to Iowa, and, after 
 a brief residence in Des Moines and Leon, settled, in 1859, in 
 Newton, Jasper county, where, re-establishing himself in mer- 
 cantile pursuits, he continued to reside till the opening of the 
 war. 
 
 John A. Garrett enlisted in the present war late in July, 
 18G1. In the following August he recruited a company in 
 Jasper county which was assigned to the 10th Iowa Infantry, 
 and of which he was elected captain. Until after the evacua- 
 tion of Corinth and till as late as September, 1862, Captain 
 Garrett was constantly on duty with his regiment. He took 
 part with it in the expedition against New Madrid, and with 
 his company (I) led the advance of the detachment, which, 
 under Major McCalla, first occupied the place after its evacua- 
 tion by the enemy. He was also present at the taking of 
 
 533 
 
534 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Island No. 10, and was with the force, which, crossing the 
 river on the afternoon of the 7th, marched out to Tipton ville 
 and received the comical surrender of five thousand of the 
 enemy. 
 
 In tlie sharp skirmish of the 10th Iowa before Corinth on 
 the afternoon of the 26th of May, 1862, Captain Garrett distin- 
 guished himself, and for his good conduct in this and in other 
 encounters with the enemy was appointed lieutenant-colonel of 
 the 22d Iowa Infantry. His commission was issued on the 2d 
 of August, 1862; but the delay occasioned by the "red tape" 
 system prevented his leaving his company until the following 
 September. On his way North to join his new command he 
 learned from the Chicago "Journal" that the 22d Iowa had 
 already left their rendezvous for the field. He also learned, 
 and with greater surprise, that he had been commissioned col- 
 onel of the 40th Iowa Infantry. 
 
 The 40th Iowa Infantry entered active service in the latter 
 part of December, 1862, and was first stationed at Columbus, 
 Kentucky. On the first night of its arrival, that place was 
 threatened by the enemy under Forest ; but as is well known, 
 no attack was made. The regiment served at Columbus and at 
 Paducah, Kentucky, until the 31st of May, 1863, when, by 
 order of General Grant, it moved down the Mississippi, and 
 joined the grand army of that general in the operations around 
 Vicksburg. It reached Sartatia on the Yazoo on the morning 
 of the 4th of June, and, from that date till the surrender of the 
 rebel strong-hold, served with that portion of the army which 
 was stationed at and in the vicinity of Haine's Bluff, to antici- 
 pate any movement that might be made by General Johnson, 
 to relieve the beleaguered city. During the protracted siege, 
 the 40th never met the enemy, and lost no men in battle, but, 
 stationed on the banks of the Yazoo, it had drunk of those 
 deadly waters, and when, on the 23d of July, the regiment 
 
JOHN A. GARRETT. 535 
 
 embarked for Helena, many a brave boy had been laid beneath 
 the sod, and many more totally disabled for the service. The 
 fifty days' service of this regiment in Mississippi forms the 
 saddest page in its history. 
 
 Colonel Garrett arrived with his command at Helena on the 
 26th of July and after a few days' rest, marched with the 
 forces of Major-General Steele against the Arkansas Capital. 
 The fatigues and hardships of this march, made in the face of 
 the enemy and in mid-summer in almost a tropical climate 
 may be imagined when it is stated that, out of some six hun- 
 dred men of the 40th Iowa who started on this campaign, only 
 about two hundred and fifty reported for duty the morning 
 after General Steele's entry into Little Rock. From Browns- 
 ville, on the line of the Duvall's Bluff and Little Rock Railroad 
 where Steele had halted a few days to reconnoitre the position 
 of the enemy, the advance was made against the enemy's right 
 to the Arkansas River via Shallow Ford and Ashley's Mills. 
 On the evening of the 7th, the cavalry of General Davidson 
 reached the river near Ashley's Mills where they had a sharp 
 skirmish with the enemy. At this point the plan of attack 
 was determined on ; and on the night of the 9th of September 
 General Davidson threw across his pontoons preparatory to an 
 advance on the morning of the 10th. General Davidson was to 
 move up the south, and General Steele the north side of the 
 Arkansas— a movement which, being least expected by the 
 enemy, would contribute most to their surprise. 
 
 In crossing the Arkansas River the 40th Iowa under Colonel 
 Garrett led the advance. The banks of this stream opposite 
 to where the crossing was made were covered with dense tim- 
 ber, and it was supposed not only by Colonel Garrett but by 
 Generals Steele and Davidson that the moment the opposite 
 side was reached by our troops a murderous fire of canister and 
 
636 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 grape from masked batteries, and a more fatal one of musketry 
 from long lines of infantry would meet them. But doubting 
 their ability to hold their position, the enemy had retired. 
 The gallantry of Colonel Garrett and his regiment is, however, 
 no less worthy of mention ; for, to meet a supposed enemy in 
 the manner above described is the chief test of a soldier's 
 bravery. 
 
 The fall of 18G3, and the following Winter, were passed by 
 the 40th at Little Rock, and but little occurred during this time 
 worthy of special notice ; but the Spring of 18G4, opening with 
 the campaign of General Steele to Camden, afforded the regi- 
 ment new and ample oj^portunities to establish their prowess 
 in battle. .In the great battle of the campaign — Jenkin's 
 Ferry— Colonel Garrett distinguished himself; but full credit 
 has never been awarded either to him or his regiment for the 
 gallant part they acted. In the engagement, the regiment was 
 divided, which may be the reason. Two companies were sta- 
 tioned on the extreme right of the line of battle, two on the 
 extreme left, and two in the centre, (the last two in support of 
 a battery) Colonel Garrett, with the four remaining companies, 
 engaged the enemy for four long hours without being relieved, 
 and in that part of the line where the fighting was the hottest. 
 His list of casualties is evidence of the part he sustained in 
 this sanguinary contest, it being larger in proportion to the 
 number in line, than that of any other command engaged. 
 His brave boys — they were but a handful — the colonel led; and 
 in one of the many charges of the enemy he joined in repuls- 
 ing, his horse was shot under him. The colonel not only dis- 
 tinguished himself, but nearly every officer and enlisted man 
 of his command; and the name of Adjutant L. A. Duncan is 
 deserving of special mention. Kirby Smith and the ubiqui- 
 tous General Price, notwithstanding their vastly superior 
 numbers, were bitterly punished at Jenkin's Ferry ; and from 
 
JOHN A. GARRETT. 537 
 
 this point baclv to Little Rock, the army of General Steele 
 marched unmolested. 
 
 Subsequently to the unfortunate Camden. Campaign, and 
 up to the early spring of 1865, the 40th Iowa remained in camp 
 at Little Rock. Much of this time Colonel Garrett served on a 
 court-martial. But at the time above mentioned, General 
 Thayer was relieved of his command at Fort Smith, Arkan- 
 sas, and General Bussey made his successor. The latter officer, 
 fearing that in overhauling the afluirs of his new command he 
 might not have the cordial support of the troops stationed 
 there, requested General Reynolds to give him the 40th Iowa, 
 as that regiment he could rely on. The request was complied 
 with, and General Garrett, with his regiment, was at once 
 orderered to report at that Post, where it has since served. 
 
 Colonel Garrett is six feet in higlit, has a fair complexion, 
 dark-blue eyes and chestnut hair. He has a thin, pale face, 
 and a spare form ; and his general appearance indicates any 
 thing but a vigorous constitution. In his habits he is strictly 
 temperate: he regards not only intoxicating liquors and 
 tobacco, but tea and coffee as his deadly enemies; and thus, 
 although possessed of naturally a weak constitution, he has 
 preserved his general health, not having varied in the last fif- 
 teen years five pounds in weight. 
 
 He is brave and cool in action. This he so finely illustrated 
 in the battle of Jenkin's Ferry that it has since been the sub- 
 ject of frequent comment with the officers and men of his com- 
 mand. He is a good, but not a strict disciplinarian. Few 
 officers, however, have a better control over men than he ; and 
 there are few in the 40th Iowa, who would not prefer the 
 guard-house, with its rations of bread and water, to a repri- 
 mand from their colonel. His character as an officer is illus- 
 trated by a little speech which he is reported to have made, on 
 one occasion, just before leading his regiment into battle. 
 
488 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 "Boys! we will probably have a little fight. Remember 
 your own good name, and the fair fame of the glorious young 
 State which sent you to the field. DonH tarnish them. Do you 
 see that flag? Follow and defend it. Don't shoot at the sky; 
 there are no rebels up there. That climate does not suit them. 
 Aim low, and send them where they belong. That's all." 
 
CAVALRY. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL FITZ HENRY WARREN. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, FIKST CAVALRY. 
 
 FiTZ Henry Warren and Grenville Mellen Dodge, the 
 only Iowa general officers whose native State is Massachusetts, 
 are both fair representatives of that proud old Commonwealth. 
 Although differing in their mental constitutions, they are each 
 earnest and persevering — two traits for which the sons of the 
 old Bay State are noted. 
 
 General Warren is the son of a tanner, and a native of the 
 town of Brimfield, where he was born on thellth day of Jan- 
 uary, 1816. His education was not liberal. He first attended 
 the common schools of his native town, and later was a mem- 
 ber of the Wilbraham Academy, Massachusetts. At that 
 institution he completed his education. He subsequently 
 entered a mercantile house as salesman, and still later, in com- 
 pany with his father, became an extensive manufacturer of 
 boots and shoes in Chicopee, now embraced within the limits 
 of the city of Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1837, General 
 Warren, who was the financial head of this firm, carried it 
 safely through that terrible financial crisis which wrecked, 
 hopelessly, thousands of merchants throughout the country. 
 The firm continued its business successfully till the year 1843, 
 when, for reasons unknown to the writer, it was brought to a 
 termination. 
 
 General Warren, who was now only twenty-seven, started 
 in pursuit of a location in the North Western States, and, after 
 traveling through nearly all of them, finally selected Iowa 
 in which to make a home. He arrived in Burlington in the 
 month of August, 1844. In Burlington, he first engaged in 
 
 541 
 
542 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 mercantile pursuits; but, being at that day somewhat of a 
 politician he was, in the spring of 1849, appointed by President 
 Taylor Assistant Post Master General. I need not speak of 
 the great credit that accrued to our State from his connection 
 with this office. The judgment he discovered in his appoint- 
 ments and the great business tact he displayed in all matters 
 connected with the Postal Department challenged general 
 attention; and I think it may be said that, in his fitness for 
 this office, he had been before unequalled. Unfortunately, 
 General Warren's connection with the Post Office Department 
 was of only two year's duration ; for, when Fillmore was 
 cajoled into signing the new edition of the Fugitive Slave Law, 
 the general refused to be connected longer with that Adminis- 
 tration, and tendered his resignation. 
 
 His connection with Fillmore's Administration, and the 
 spirit he showed in refusing to join hands with unprincipled 
 men, in the furtherance of that policy which has so nearly 
 precipitated the nation in ruin, made him a prominent public 
 man; and the year following his resignation he was made 
 Secretary of the National Executive Committee in the Scott 
 Presidential Campaign. 
 
 Retiring now from public life, he established himself in 
 the banking business in the city of Burlington ; but in this 
 enterprise he was unsuccessful ; for, in the year 1857, he failed 
 with large liabilities. Enterprising and public spirited, he was 
 all the time alive to all political questions, but more especially 
 to the great leading issue, which was being tried so slowly but 
 surely; and there was never a Presidential, and rarely a State 
 canvass, in which he did not take the stump. He took an 
 active part in the Presidential Campaign of 1860, and, after the 
 election of Mr. Lincoln, stood prominent among those whose 
 names were being used for the position of Post Master General. 
 His former position in the Post Office Department, I am 
 
FITZ HENRY WAEREN. 543 
 
 advised, was tendered him ; but this he declined. He entered 
 the War of the Rebellion in the summer of 1861, as colonel of 
 the First Iowa Cavalry— one of the first volunteer cavalry- 
 regiments mustered into the United States service. 
 
 But, in passing, I should not omit stating that General War- 
 ren was one of those who, in the early stages of the war, 
 believed the fate of the Confederacy would be decided by the 
 fall of the rebel Capital. His opinions he published to the 
 world in his celebrated letters— "On to Richmond." It was 
 said at the time that these letters were the cause of the Bull 
 Run disaster; but, had the weak-hearted Patterson been as 
 prompt to duty as McDowell, these very letters would have 
 made General Warren one of the chief heroes of the rebellion. 
 In that case, Greeley would never have denied their authorship. 
 
 At the suggestion of General Warren, the 1st Iowa Cavalry 
 was, I think, tendered to the General Government and 
 accepted, under a resolution of the Iowa General Assembly. 
 It rendezvoused at Burlington, and in the early part of October 
 reported at Benton Barracks, Missouri. In the latter part of 
 that month, the 1st and 2d Battalions of the regiment were 
 ordered to Central and Western Missouri, and stationed, by 
 companies, at different points, to secure order and to protect 
 the country from guerrilla incursions. The 3d Battalion, under 
 Colonel Warren, remained at Benton Barracks through the 
 following Winter, and until the 6th of March, 1862, when that 
 was also ordered into the field. 
 
 Colonel Warren was promoted to the rank of brigadier-gen- 
 eral on the 20th day of August, 1862. In the winter of 1862-3 
 he held a command under General Curtis, in Missouri. He 
 was stationed at that point with head-quarters at Huston at the 
 time of General Marmaduke's Invasion of Missouri, early in 
 January of that year, and on receiving a telegram from Gen- 
 eral Brown at Springfield, announcing the approach of the 
 
644 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 enemy, at once dispatched a part of his force, under Colonel 
 Merrill, of the 21st Iowa, with orders to report at that place. 
 The battle of Hartsville, in which the enemy in despite of his 
 vastly superior numbers was severely handled, resulted from 
 this movement. 
 
 In the summer of 18G3, the name of General Warren was 
 urged in the Union Gubernatorial Convention for the office of 
 Governor of Iowa; and but for a heedless blunder he 
 might have been the candidate for the position. From the 
 first he was the choice of a plurality of the delegates and 
 finally, as was thought, of a majority ; but the history of the 
 thing is well known and need not be related. It illustrates 
 well how some men rise suddenly above others to places of 
 honor and responsibility. It was the grace and high-toned 
 honor which the general displayed in withdrawing his name 
 from the convention that won the heart of every delegate 
 present, and which, had another vote been taken, would doubt- 
 less have secured him the gubernatorial chair. 
 
 In the fall of 1863, General Warren was sent to New Orleans, 
 whence he wao ordered to Matagorda Island, and there assigned 
 to a brigade command. He soon after succeeded General 
 Washburne in the command of the 1st Division, loth Army 
 Corps, which was stationed in the vicinity of Indianola, Texas. 
 During the following Winter, he made several expeditions 
 from this point into the adjacent country, the most important 
 of which was that to Port Lavacca, just before Christmas. He 
 was once attacked by a large cavalry force at Indianola ; but 
 after considerable skirmishing, and the loss of several pris- 
 oners, the enemy retired. In June, 1864, he was given a 
 District command in Louisiana, with head-quarters at Baton 
 Rouge, and by his administrative ability, succeeded in correct- 
 ing many abuses. He was popular with his command, but 
 
FITZ HEXEY WAREEN. 545 
 
 unpopular with interlopers, and with many of the citizens of 
 his district. Among the many newspaper notices of his com- 
 mand while stationed here, I give the following : 
 
 " General Warren now in command of this district is estab- 
 lishing a very rigid system of surveillance over the speculators 
 and citizens here in regard to passes and permits for trafiicing 
 through the lines : although it is one of the most difficult mat- 
 ters to regulate, he will approximate as nearly to a solution of 
 the problem as any general in the Department." 
 
 During the summer of 1864, having lost his health, which 
 was never vigorous, he was relieved from his command and 
 permitted to come Xorth on leave of absence ; but many weeks 
 of medical treatment being ineffectual in removing the disease 
 he had contracted in a debilitating climate, he was finally, in 
 consideration of this, placed on duty in Kew York city, where 
 he is still serving. 
 
 In personal appearance. General Warren is excelled by no 
 officer of the volunteer or regular service. Tall, slender and 
 erect, neat and precise in dress, and active and graceful in his 
 movements, he is, in public and among strangers, the first to 
 attract notice. As a military man, he possesses many excellent 
 traits. He is energetic, has good executive ability, and is a fine 
 disciplinarian. When, in the spring of 18G2, he left Benton Bar- 
 racks with the 3d Battalion of his regiment, there was not an 
 equal number of men in the regular or volunteer service more 
 perfect in drill and general efficiency than these. But, in his 
 military career, if we are to judge by his reputation, he has 
 been only ordinarily successful. The reason why he has failed 
 to attain that distinction which his talent and military taste 
 insured, is known by those who hold high authority at the 
 National Capital. 
 
 The general's native talent is great and versatile, and enables 
 him to attain eminence in any public position : indeed, he has 
 never failed, as a public man, to acquit himself with credit. 
 
 35 
 
646 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 As a public speaker, he is polished, eloquent and forcible, r 
 Iowa has many more popular men than he, but few more able, i 
 His great independence of character and the bitterness with 
 which he has been accustomed to treat his opponents has been 
 an impediment to his popularity. 
 
 General Warren is graceful and dignified in his manners, is a 
 rapid, though not a garrulous talker, and has a voice of won- 
 derful capacity. To show its power it may be stated that, in 
 drilling a brigade of troops, he was accustomed to give all 
 commands inva voce, dispensing with all aids and orderlies. 
 
 1 
 
COLONEL JAMES OTIS GOWER. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, FIRST CAVALRY. 
 
 James Otis Gower, the successor of General Warren to the 
 colonelcy of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, is a son of James H. 
 Gower, Esq., of Iowa City, and a native of Abbot, Maine, 
 where he was born on the 30th of May, 1834. In 1839, he 
 accompanied his fiithcr's ilimily West, and settled in Iowa 
 City, where he has since made his home. He was educated at 
 Knox College, Illinois, and at the Kentucky Military Institute. 
 He graduated at the last named Institution in 1855, when, 
 returning home, he, in partnership with his father, engaged in 
 the banking business at Iowa City. He followed this business 
 till the spring of 1S(;1, the time of his entering the service. 
 
 In June and July, ISGl, Colonel Gower enlisted Company F, 
 1st Iowa Cavalry, and was elected its captain. On the 1st of 
 September following, he was promoted to the majority of the 
 2d Battalion of that regiment, which rank he held till the 2Gth 
 of August, 18G2, when he was made its colonel. 
 
 To convey a correct idea of the character of services per- 
 formed by the 1st Iowa Cavalry from the time Colonel Gower 
 assumed command of it until the date of his resignation, and, 
 in fact, from the time of its entering the field until the time 
 above mentioned, I can not do better than to quote briefly 
 from the monthly reports of the regiment. I select the month 
 of October, 1862, because it was the month in which Colonel 
 Gower first commanded the regiment as its colonel. 
 
 "October Ist.-Marched twelve miles toward Mt. Vernon. 
 2d.-Passed through Mt. Vernon and camped on Centre Creek, 
 Lawrence county, Missouri. 3d.-At 7 P. M., with brigade 
 
 547 
 
548 IOWA COLONELS AXD REGIMENTS. 
 
 and division marehed through Jollification to Newtonia, New- 
 ton county, arriving at 7 A. M. 4th instant, and finding and 
 engaging the enemy in a slight skirmish, with no casualties 
 however to the regiment. 9th.— Marched from Newtonia to 
 Gadfly, Barry county, Missouri ; and 12th from Gadfly to Cass- 
 ville, Barry county. 16th. — Regiment transferred to 2d Brig- 
 ade, 3d Division, Army of the Frontier. 17th.— Moved camp 
 to McMurtry's Springs. 18th.— Marched all day and camped 
 on Sugar Creek, near Bentonville, Arkansas. 20th.— Left 
 camp on Sugar Creek at 5 P. M., marched all night and the 
 next day, and 'stood to horse' on White River. Night of 21st 
 and 22d, marched to Glade Creek, near Huntsville : took sup- 
 per and marched all night to camp on White River. 23d.— 
 Marched to INIudtown, thence toward Fayetteville, thence back 
 to Cross Hollows, Benton county, Arkansas, into camp at Val- 
 ley Springs. 27th.— Ten companies of the regiment marched 
 at 9 P. M. to a point eight miles south-east of Fayetteville, and 
 had a slight skirmish with the enemy on the morning of the 
 28th. 28th.— Quarter-:Master Samuel C. Dickerson killed by 
 guerrillas. 29th.— Scout of ten companies returned to camp 
 at Valley Springs." 
 
 The marches and counter-marches made by this regiment 
 during the month of October, 18G2, are but a fair sample of its 
 labors for the entire year following. 
 
 In the month of November, 1SG2, the regiment marched four 
 hundred miles, visiting Elkhorn Tavern, McMurtry's Springs, 
 Crane Creek, Ozark, AVhite Oak Springs, Wilson's Creek, and 
 Yellville, Arkansas. In the last five days of the month, more 
 than half this distance was accomplished by the regiment. 
 Leaving Wilson's Creek on the morning of the 2oth, it reached 
 Yellville on the 27th, and on the evening of the 30th instant 
 arrived again at its camp on Wilson's Creek. These marches, 
 made as they were in the wet season of the year, and many of 
 them in the night-time, fill a civilian with amazement; but 
 the marches of themselves give no idea of the fatigue, hard- 
 ships and dangers endured. The regiment was often divided 
 into small detachments, and when moving from one point to 
 
JAMES (). GOWEH. 549 
 
 another, these brave fellows had little assurance of their safety; 
 for the country was full of guerrillas and scouting-parties of the 
 enemy, ready to decoy them into ambuscades, or, if his num- 
 bers would justify, attack them in more honorable warfare. 
 Whether on the march or resting in camp, the most active 
 vigilance had to be maintained— some resting and sleeping, 
 while others watched. 
 
 One of the most noteworthy engagements in which the 1st 
 Iowa Cavalry took quite a conspicuous part, was that of Prairie 
 Grove, Washington county, Arkansas. On the evening of the 
 3rd of December, 1862, the 1st Iowa, with its brigade and divi- 
 sion, was encamped near Wilson's Creek, Missouri, when 
 orders were received to march hastily to the relief of Briga- 
 dier-General James G. Blunt, then stationed at Cane Hill, 
 Arkansas. The regiment broke camp near mid-night and 
 marched with the main column as far as Elkhorn. From 
 that point the 1st and 2d Battalions, with the balance of the 
 brigade, proceeded hurriedly at day-light on the morning of 
 the Gth, and reached Cane Hill safely at mid-night, having for 
 eighteen consecutive hours been constantly in the saddle. The 
 3d Battalion of the regiment w'as left behind to guard the train 
 of the infantry troops, under the immediate command of Gen- 
 eral Ilerron. How the rebel General Hindman, leaving Gen- 
 eral Blunt at Cane Hill, had hurried out to Prairie Grove with 
 the principal portion of his army, for the purpose of crushing 
 General Herron before a junction could be formed by the Un- 
 ion forces, is well known. Even on the afternoon of the Gth 
 instant, a considerable portion of the rebel force had arrived 
 on the Prairie Grove battle-ground ; for in the evening of that 
 day, the 1st Iowa Cavalry in passing through the valley, had 
 seen them on the hills on either side of the road. 
 
 At day-light on Sunday morning, the 7th, Colonel Gower 
 
550 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 had the 1st and 2d Battalions of his regiment in their saddles, 
 ready to lead Blunt's advance in the direction of Fayetteville; 
 for the jjlans of the enemy had already been divined. To this 
 advance the enemy made but slight opposition since, as already 
 stated, his main force was at Prairie Grove. It was near noon 
 when Ilerron opened the engagement, and General Blunt, then 
 seven miles distant, heard distinctly the reports of the artil- 
 lery. His rout was necessarily circuitous; but he pushed 
 rapidly on, and just before sun-down came on the rear and left 
 flank of the enemy, who was just then rejoicing at the pros- 
 pects of victory. The rest is well known. As was natural, 
 the gratitude of Generals Herron and Blunt was mutual: 
 Herron saved Blunt and Blunt saved Ilerron from ruinous 
 defeat. In the advance from Cane Hill the 1st Iowa 
 Cavalry was repeatedly engaged with the enemy's skirmishers, 
 and yet its loss was only one man wounded and two captured. 
 With the expedition to Van Buren on the Arkansas River, 
 which the 1st Iowa Cavalry accompanied and in which were 
 captured one hunch-ed prisoners and five river steamers, closed 
 the year 1862. 
 
 The character of service of the 1st Iowa Cavalry did not 
 change with the opening of the new year of 18G3. The regi- 
 ment still continued its journeyings from one point to another, 
 in pursuit of guerrillas and small detachments of the enemy, 
 and principally under the command of Major, now Lieutenant- 
 Colonel J. W. Caldwell ; for Colonel Gower was in command 
 of a brigade. Of the many laborious marches performed by 
 the 1st Iowa Cavalry, in the eight months following the first of 
 January, 1863, the most noteworthy one is that executed in 
 April and May of that year, where some five hundred men of 
 the regiment, under command of Major J. W. Caldwell, 
 scoured a principal portion of South Eastern Missouri, in pur- 
 
JAMES O. GOWER. 651 
 
 (Suit of the rebel cavalry force under General Marmaduke. 
 I Since the first of January, 1863, and previous to the time of the 
 I above named expedition, the regiment had marched more than 
 three hundred miles, and had visited Huntsville, Dry Fork, 
 Crooked Creek, Kingston, where extensive saltpetre works 
 were destroyed by Major Caldwell; Yellville, Arkansas; For- 
 syth, Missouri ; Finley Fork, near which place six members of 
 the regiment were captured; Mountain Grove, where the regi- 
 ment received new Sharp's carbines ; and Lake Springs. 
 
 To create a diversion in fiivor of Lieutenant-General John 
 C. Pemberton at Vicksburg, the rebel General Marmaduke, 
 with a cavalry force reported to be seven thousand strong, 
 had marched from Arkansas into South Eastern Missouri, and, 
 in the latter part of April, 1863, was threatening Pilot Knob and 
 Cape Girardeau. The authorities were even alarmed at St. 
 Louis, and aU available troops stationed at that point were 
 hastily forwarded to Pilot Knob, to check a further advance of 
 the enemy. At the time in question, the 1st Iowa Cavalry was 
 encamped at Lake Springs, Missouri, seventy-five miles dis- 
 tant from Pilot Knob. On the morning of the 21st of April, 
 Major Caldwell, with a detachment of five hundred men from 
 his regiment, started for the last named place, where, arriving 
 in the afternoon of the 23d, he remained till the 25th instant, 
 awaiting the approach of the enemy. Report now placed 
 Marmaduke at Fredericktown, twenty miles east from Pilot 
 Knob; and, on the 25th, General Vaudever with the cavalry 
 marched for that place; but the enemy retired on his approach, 
 and he entered the town without opposition. On the 26th he 
 proceeded in the direction of Cape Girardeau and arrived at 
 Jackson that same evening. But in the meantime it had been 
 learned that the enemy, who had attacked Cape Girardeau, had 
 been repulsed, and were now encamped on the Dallas road, 
 only a few miles distant from Jackson. 
 
552 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 The celebrated night-attack was now planned, which, by its 
 skillful execution, completely routed the rebel forces. The 
 chief credit of this affair belongs to the detachment of the 1st 
 Iowa Cavalry under Major Caldwell, the troops selected to 
 make the charge. " At midnight [I quote from the records of 
 the regiment] Lieutenant Hursh, Company F, with a platoon 
 of eight men and two howitzers, approached within thirty 
 yards of the unsuspecting rebels, discharged howitzers and 
 carbines, and then joined the column, which, with sabers 
 drawn, charged upon and routed the entire force, killing many 
 and capturing horses, arms and camp-equipage. Not a man 
 of the regiment was harmed." Major Caldwell returned with 
 his command to Lake Springs on the 14th of May. The 
 detachment had been absent twenty-four days, and had trav- 
 eled nearly five hundred miles. 
 
 Colonel Gower is of medium size, rather slender in person, 
 and weighs about one hundred and sixty pounds. He has 
 light-brown hair, a light complexion, and gray eyes. In dress 
 he is exceedingly neat and tasty. He never looks dirty nor 
 slovenly, no matter what he is doing. When in the service 
 he was celebrated for his cleanly appearance, whether in camp 
 or on the march. The colonel is quiet and rather dignified in 
 his manners with strangers, but not so with his friends. He 
 is fond of fun, but likes to enjoy it in a quiet way. 
 
 As a soldier, he was brave and a good disciplinarian. Dis- 
 ability was the cause of his resignation. 
 
COLONEL DANIEL ANDERSON. 
 
 THIRD COLONEL, FIRST CAVALRY. 
 
 Daxiel Anderson was born in the year 1821, in the State 
 of Indiana. His history, prior to coming to Iowa, I am unac- 
 quainted with. He settled in Albia, Monroe county, of this 
 State, in about the year 1843, and established himself in the 
 ■ practice of the law, which he continued to follow till the time 
 of entering the service. In July and August, 18G1, he enlisted 
 Company H, 1st Iowa Cavalry, was elected its captain, and 
 held this rank till the 10th of July, 1862, when he was promo- 
 ted to the majority of the 3d Battalion of his regiment. In 
 the following August, he was made lieutenant-colonel, which 
 rank he held till the 21st of August, 1863, when he was pro- 
 moted to the colonelcy of the regiment. On the expiration of 
 his three-years' term of service he resigned his commission, 
 and returned to his home in Albia. 
 
 During the colonelcy of Mr. Anderson the 1st Iowa Cavalry, 
 as a regiment, met the enemy for the first time in a regular 
 engagement. On the 11th day of June, 1863, nearly a month 
 after the regiment had returned from its scout in South Eastern 
 Missouri, the 1st Iowa Cavalry in company with the 8th 
 Missouri Cavalry left Lake Springs for Pilot Knob, where it 
 reported to Colonel J. M. Glover commanding the 2d Brigade 
 of the 1st Cavalry Division. Plans for the Arkansas Expedi- 
 tion and the capture of Little Eock which were matured after 
 the fall of Vicksburg had been conceived in the month of June 
 preceding ; and in anticipation of this movement the 1st Cav- 
 alry Division was ordered south from Missouri. On the 1st of 
 
 553 
 
554 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 July the 1st Iowa Cavalry with its brigade and division left its 
 camp at Arcadia, Missouri, and passing through Frederick- 
 town and Bloomfield, crossed the St. Francis River in the 
 vicinity of Chalk Bluff, Arkansas. From this point the com- 
 mand moved due south through Gainsville, and Jonesboro, 
 Arkansas, and on the 28th instant arrived within some three 
 miles of Wittsburg, where it went into camp. Here the divis- 
 ion remained several days, and until dispatches could be 
 forwarded to Helena, which was one hundred miles distant. 
 The party which carried these dispatches, and which consisted 
 of only fifty men, was under the command of Captain Jenks 
 and Lieutenant Hursh of the 1st Iowa Cavalry; and the 
 success which attended the movement did these officers great 
 credit; for the rout which was unknown to them, and which 
 lay all the way through the enemy's country, was passed 
 without accident or the loss of a single man. 
 
 With the return of this party, the division broke camp and 
 continued tho march to White River, which it struck on the 
 evening of the 8th of July, near Clarendon. The organization 
 of General Steele's command being now completed, he marched 
 out from Helena to form a junction with the cavalry of General 
 Davidson, at Clarendon. White River was crossed success- 
 fully, and now the expedition to Little Rock was well under 
 way. By order of General Steele, General Davidson, on the 
 morning of the 22d of July, led the advance in the direction of 
 Deadman's Lake and Brownsville; while the infantry, under 
 General Steele, moved up the river to Duvall's Bluff, and 
 proceeded from that direction. No opposition was made to 
 General Davidson's advance until the 25th, when General Mar- 
 maduke made his appearance with his rebel cavalry. All that 
 day skirmishing was carried on with the enemy, who, driven 
 back to and through Brownsville, were on the following day 
 
DANIEL ANDERSON. 555 
 
 forced into their works on Bayou Metoe; and at Bayou Metoe, 
 the 1st Iowa Cavalry, as a regiment, first met the enemy in 
 
 , battle. Bayou Metoe, a miry, sluggish stream, is crossed by 
 the Brownsville and Little Rock road, at a point about four- 
 
 ! teen miles east of the last named place. At the time in ques- 
 tion, it was spanned by a wooden bridge ; and the object of the 
 charge of the 1st Iowa Cavalry was to save this bridge from 
 burning; for the enemy, after falling back to the west side of 
 
 . the stream, had fired it, to prevent pursuit. On the east side 
 of Bayou Metoe, and nearly three-quarters of a mile distant 
 from it, is a sharp, narrow ridge of land, which is covered with 
 
 I brush, and runs nearly parallel with the stream. Along this 
 the enemy had constructed earth-works, which, after being 
 driven from Brownsville, they had occupied. 
 
 On the afternoon of the 2Gth of August, General Davidson's 
 van-guard, which consisted of a detachment of the 3d Missouri 
 Cavalry, was moving along the road and had come within 
 about a mile of the above named rebel works, when they were 
 greeted with a six-pound solid shot. It struck the ground in 
 their front, and ricochetting killed one man and two horses. 
 Word was sent back to General Davidson, who was at Browns- 
 ville, and the next morning he came to the front. The expe- 
 dient which he adopted to dislodge the enemy was a novel one. 
 He directed a bass drum to be beaten that the enemy might 
 infer the approach of infantry ; and the ruse succeeded admi- 
 rably, for they left without offering further resistance. Retir- 
 ing to the west side of the bayou, they fired the bridge, seeing 
 which, General Davidson called for the 1st Iowa Cavalry to 
 charge and save it. Colonel Anderson led his regiment and 
 had arrived within some three hundred yards of the bridge 
 when the enemy, secreted in thick brush to the right, delivered 
 a deadly volley of musketry. The colonel's horse was wounded 
 
556 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and frightened, and took the colonel to the rear. The 
 regiment dashed on with Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell at its 
 head ; but on reaching the bayou the enemy were found in 
 strong works just beyond the opposite bank. It was impossi- 
 ble to save the bridge, and after exchanging shots with the 
 enemy for upward of an hour the regiment retired. 
 
 Further pursuit of the enemy in this direction was therefore 
 rendered impossible, since at this point the bayou was deep 
 and miry; and, stationing pickets near the crossing, General 
 Davidson returned to Brownsville. From this time till the 
 8th of August the 1st Iowa Cavalry remained in Camp at 
 Brownsville, and during this time the character of the country 
 and the position of the enemy were thoroughly reconnoitered. 
 General Steele in the meantime having determined to move 
 against Little Rock by ,way of the river-road the cavalry, on 
 the morning of the last named date, led the advance in that 
 direction ; and in the evening of that same day General David- 
 son bivouacked only one mile north of the Arkansas River, and 
 ten miles east of the doomed city. 
 
 The next day the 1st Iowa, having crossed the Arkansas, 
 took a distinguished part in leading Steele's army into Little 
 Rock. 
 
 On the 2Gthof November, Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell, with 
 two hundred and fifty men of his regiment, left camp at Little 
 Rock, and moved down the Arkansas River to Pine Bluff. 
 The enemy were reported advancing on that place, and he was 
 sent forward to reinforce the garrison. Lieutenant-Colonel 
 H. C. Caldwell, of the 3d Iowa Cavalry, in command of a 
 brigade, also joined in this movement; but before the arrival 
 of any of these troops. Colonel Clayton, of the 5th Kansas 
 Cavalry, with his gallant little garrison numbering not over 
 four hundred men, had engaged and beaten off the rebel force. 
 
DANIEL ANDERSON. 557 
 
 7or the number of troops engaged, this is one of the most 
 )rilliaut battles ever fought in Arkansas; and, for his success 
 n defending Pine Bluff, Colonel Clayton received the highest 
 
 jommendations of General Steele. 
 
 Immediately after arriving at Pine Bluff, the commands of 
 both Lieutenant-Colonels H. C. and J. W. Caldwell started in 
 pursuit of the enemy, and proceeded as far west as Arkadel- 
 phia; but in all that distance no enemy was encountered. 
 The detachment from the 1st Iowa Cavalry returned to Little 
 Rock on the 1st of December, and during the scout had 
 traveled not less than two hundred and fifty miles. From 
 the 1st to the 31st of December, 18G3, the 1st Iowa Cavalry, in 
 detachments, was constantly on the scout. In November, I 
 have mentioned only that expedition in which Lieutenant- 
 Colonel J. W. Caldwell took part; for that was the most 
 important; but other detachments of the regiment were also 
 on the scout; and to show the amount of labor performed by 
 the entire regiment, it need only be stated that the aggregate 
 number of miles marched by the different companies and 
 detachments in the month of November was three thousand 
 and seventy-nine miles. In December, the aggregate of miles 
 marched was two thousand eight hundred and eighty-two. It 
 has been supposed the cavalry was a lazy arm of the service; 
 but these figures should correct this idea. 
 
 The most important of the expeditions joined in by the 1st 
 Iowa Cavalry in the month of December, was that which, 
 leaving Little Rock on the 15th instant, marched south through 
 Arkadelphia, and to within fifteen miles of Camden on the 
 Washita River. The detachment from the 1st Iowa, which 
 consisted of some two hundred and sixty men, under Captain 
 Jenks, engaged the enemy, dismounted, a few miles south of 
 Princeton, and drove them from the works, killing and wound- 
 ing some, and capturing several prisoners. The history of this 
 
558 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 affair seems incredible. The enemy were eiglit hundred, and 
 holding a strong position; but they were routed by less than 
 three hundred men, losing many of their arms, their wagons 
 and camp-equipage. 
 
 After the occupation of Little Rock, Colonel Glover was taken 
 sick and was succeeded in the command of his brigade by 
 Colonel Anderson of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, who retained the 
 command for several weeks. And it was during this time 
 that he was placed under arrest for writing a sharp letter to 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Chandler, General Steele's Provost-Marshal 
 General. He was, however, after the lapse of several weeks, 
 released without trial, and returned to the command of his 
 brigade. On account of sickness, which prostrated him just 
 before the expedition started, Colonel Anderson did not 
 accompany General Steele on his Camden march ; but soon 
 recovering, he assumed command of the Post of Little Rock, 
 which he held till the expedition returned. During the absence 
 of his regiment on veteran furlough, he was placed in com- 
 mand of the non- veterans ; but before the regiment returned, 
 he resigned his commission and returned to his home in Albia. 
 
 In person, Colonel Anderson is tall and erect. He can not 
 be less than six feet and three inches in hight. He has 
 regular features, brown hair, and grey eyes. He is dignified 
 in his manners; he has large self-esteem, and an arbitrary 
 disposition. It was this, with his quick temper, which gave 
 him trouble in the service. He is a man of good judgment; 
 and though he never met with great success in the practice of 
 his profession, he is regarded as a sound lawyer. He is a fair 
 public sj)eaker; but too prolix to be entertaining. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM THOMPSON. 
 
 FOURTH COLONEL, FIRST CAVALRY. 
 
 William Thompson was born in the State of Pennsylvania, 
 in about the year 1814. He came to Iowa while it was yet a 
 Territory, and settled in Burlington, where he was at one time 
 the editor of a democratic paper. He became, soon after com- 
 ing to the country, quite a distinguished politician, and, in 
 1848, was elected to Congress. At the time of entering the 
 service, he was a resident of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and a prac- 
 ticing lawyer; for that was his profession. Colonel Thompson 
 entered the service as captain of Company E, 1st Iowa Cavalry, 
 the company which he had recruited in Henry county, in the 
 months of June and July, 1861. Holding this rank until the 
 5th of April, 1863, he was at that time promoted to a majority 
 of the regiment, and in August, 1864, was made colonel. 
 
 In the sketch of Colonel Thompson, I shall include a portion 
 of the history of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, which was made during 
 the colonelcy of Mr. Anderson; for I can do so with propriety, 
 since during this time the regiment was not commanded by 
 Colonel Anderson. 
 
 Having passed the previous Fall and Winter in scouting in 
 the vicinity of Little Rock, the 1st Iowa Cavalry in the open- 
 ing of Spring joined the command of General Steele in the 
 march to Camden. The regiment was brigaded with the 3d 
 Missouri and the 10th Illinois Cavalry, these troops being the 
 same that had been organized into a brigade command nearly 
 a year before at Pilot Knob, Missouri. The brigade command- 
 er was not the same. Colonel Glover, a brave and good man, 
 had been compelled to leave the service from disability, and 
 
 559 
 
560 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Colonel Anderson, as the ranking oflBicer, became his successor. 
 But, as has already been stated. Colonel Anderson was, on the 
 eve of General Steele's departure, seized with sudden illness, 
 and Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell, of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, 
 succeeded to the command of the brigade. There had also 
 been a change in the division commander. After the posses- 
 sion of Little Rock, the radicalism of General Davidson had 
 so conflicted with the conservatism of General Steele, as to 
 produce repeated misunderstandings ; and the report was that, 
 by the mutual efforts of these officers, General Davidson was 
 relieved and given a command elsewhere. General David- 
 son's successor was General E. A. Carr, of Pea Ridge 
 notoriety. Major, now Colonel Thompson, commanded the 
 1st Iowa Cavalry, and thus commanded, and thus associated, 
 the regiment marched on its most eventful campaign. 
 
 The leading events of the Camden Expedition are related 
 elsewhere. It was one of great dangers and hardships, and the 
 cavalry portion of the command, which led the advance, was 
 hardly ever out of peril. From Prairie de Anne, (than which 
 there is not a prettier little district of country in the Old or 
 New World) to Camden, the enemy were never out of view. 
 Wherever the character of the country was favorable, they 
 were sure to be found in position, and during the whole of this 
 distance, their skirmishers were constantly in the front, to 
 harass the cavalry-advance. A detachment of the 1st Iowa 
 Cavalry, and one of the 3d Missouri Cavalry were the first 
 troops to enter Camden. Two and a half miles west of Cam- 
 den, (and General Steele marching down the south-west side of 
 the Washita River, entered the city from the west) the road 
 forks. The left-hand road enters the city from the west, and 
 the right-hand one from the south-west. Starting from these 
 forks, two hundred and fifty men from the 1st Iowa Cavalry, 
 
WILLIAM THOMPSON. 561 
 
 and two hundred and fifty from the 3d Missouri Cavah-y, dashed 
 into Camden. The Iowa troops under Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Caldwell, taking the right-liand road, entered the city just 
 before sun-down, and almost simultaneous with those of the 
 3d Missouri Cavalry. The enemy offered no resistance, for 
 they had fled to avoid capture. 
 
 On entering Camden on the evening of the loth of April, 
 General Steele was unwilling to believe he had reached the 
 terminus of his march southward. Nor when the Old Flag 
 was raised on the Court-House did he think that it must soon 
 be hauled down, and he be compelled to march back hurriedly 
 to Little Rock. 
 
 But the 1st Iowa Cavalry was to go no further. Indeed, its 
 leaving Little Rock was a matter of its own choosing ; for the 
 regiment had re-enlisted as veterans, and the first of March 
 had been fixed as the time for its departure North. But Gen- 
 eral Steele had said "You had better go along, for we shall 
 need you;" and where is the Iowa regiment that would not 
 have done likewise? The horses of the 1st Iowa Cavalry were 
 the individual property of the regiment, and by a general 
 order these had to be sold and transferred to the Government, 
 before the regiment could start back to Little Rock. It was a 
 matter of irksome delay, but it saved the regiment from 
 capture; for it was to accompany the brigade and train that 
 were surrounded and captured at Mark's Mills, Arkansas on the 
 25th instant. 
 
 The 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 7th Army Corps, Lieutenant- 
 Colonel F. M. Drake commanding, left Camden for Pine Bluff 
 for supplies, at five o'clock on the morning of the 23d of April, 
 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Caldwell, in command of his 
 regiment, was not able to leave until twenty-four hours later. 
 
 The regiment had disposed of their horses and, with the 
 
 36 
 
562 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 exception of the officers, were to travel on foot. The order 
 directing the regiment to sell and transfer their horses, also 
 required them to turn over their arms ; but against this Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Caldwell protested, and they were allowed to 
 retain them. This was most fortunate ; for their trusty arms 
 proved their salvation. Early in the morning of the 24th 
 instant, the 1st Iowa Cavalry crossed the Washita, and started 
 in rapid pursuit of the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Drake. 
 The country was full of the enemy's scouts. The citizens were 
 sullen, and to all questions gave ominous answers. At the 
 same time rumors were repeated of the defeat of Banks ; all 
 of which justly made Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell apprehen- 
 sive of pending danger. He therefore called on General Carr 
 for a cavalry-escort, which was reluctantly granted; but it 
 turned back on the morning of the second day's march, and 
 proved of no service. Camp was pitched on the evening of 
 the 24th instant, about twenty-five miles from Camden. 
 
 The next morning, the march was resumed at day-light, and 
 by great exertion, the edge of Moro Bottom was reached at ten 
 o'clock. Here had been the encampment of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Drake's command only the night before, and, by hard march- 
 ing, Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell hoped to overtake that 
 command that night. The men of his regiment now ceased to 
 be apprehensive for their safety, and began to indulge in 
 dreams of home-greetings, and to devise plans by which 
 they could most surprise their friends. But they had not quite 
 reached the stream from which Moro Bottom derives its name, 
 before a cry of alarm was heard in the front; and in the next 
 instant all was confusion. 
 
 That morning the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Drake 
 had been attacked by a superior force of the enemy — not less I 
 think than seven thousand, and after a brief but most spirited 
 fight, the greater portion of it captured. The camp-followers 
 
WILLIAM THOMPSON". 563 
 
 and teamsters, cutting loose the mules from the train, 
 J mounted them, and at full speed rode back in the direction of 
 , Camden ; and from one of these Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell 
 I learned of that morning's disaster. To conceive the terror 
 j with which these poor fellows were overwhelmed is impossible. 
 {Stripped of all but their boots, pants and shirts, hatless, 
 i coatless and covered with mud, their eyes protruding, and 
 i their hair standing on end, they came at full run and shouting 
 from their already hoarse throats : "We are all lost! they are 
 all lost! we are all lost! they are all lost:" To the repeated 
 calls of Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell, ^^Stop, stopT^ they paid 
 no attention, and the only way he could learn what had 
 happened was, by laying his strong hand on the shoulder of 
 one as he was passing, and holding him fost till he had told the 
 story. But he was not half done, when the report of musketry 
 was heard at the front. Some four hundred of the enemy's 
 cavalry were in pursuit of the fugitives, their object being the 
 capture of the mules on which they were escaping. Reinforce- 
 ments were at once sent forward to the advance-guard, which 
 had arrived at the bridge over the Moro in time to prevent the 
 enemy from crossing. Quite a sharp engagement followed, 
 during which Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell burned his small 
 train with its contents. This was the cause of much regret to 
 his men; for in their saddle-bags were many cherished 
 souvenirs which they had for a long time preserved as gifts for 
 their friends ; but it was impossible in the deep mud to turn 
 the wagons and drive them to the rear. The enemy finally 
 ceased their attack and riding down the creek, disappeared 
 and gave no further trouble. 
 
 The 1st Iowa Cavalry now returned to near Camden, and 
 accompanied General Steele to Little Rock. 
 
 The departure North of this gallant regiment on veteran 
 
564 IOWA COLONELS AND EEGIMENTS. 
 
 furlough, was made the occasion by General Carr, of a very 
 complimentary order to not only that regiment, but to the 
 Iowa troops generally. The same order alluded in flattering 
 terms to the gallant conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Cald- 
 well on the Camden Expedition. 
 
 About the middle of July, 1864, its leave of absence having 
 expired, the 1st Iowa Cavalry left Davenport for the front, via 
 Cairo, Illinois ; but, on arriving at that place, was ordered by 
 General Halleck to Benton Barracks, Missouri, where it 
 remained until the 12th of the following August. At the last 
 named date it was ordered to Mexico, Missouri ; and later was 
 ordered on duty on the line of the Hannibal and St. Joseph 
 Railroad. 
 
 At the time of General Price's invasion of Missouri in the 
 fall of 1864, the regiment was ordered to Jefferson City, and 
 at that point joined the forces of General Rosecrans, and 
 marched on the campaign that resulted in the expulsion of the 
 rebel forces from the State. Returning to Warrensburg, Mis- 
 souri, the regiment was there made the cavalry-escort of 
 General Rosecrans, which conducted him back to St. Louis. 
 After its arrival in that city, it was ordered into quarters at 
 Benton Barracks, and in January, 1865, sent back to Little 
 Rock, where Colonel Thompson joined it, and in the vicinity 
 of which place it has since served. 
 
 Colonel Thompson is a large man, weighing about one hun- 
 dred and ninety pounds, and having black hair and eyes, and a 
 
 dark complexion. He is reputed an able, intelligent man. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL W. L. ELLIOTT. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, SECOND CAVALRY. 
 
 Washington L. Elliott was the first regular army officer 
 appointed to the colonelcy of an Iowa regiment. In the early 
 history of the war, it was the opinion of Governor Kirkwood, 
 and of a majority of the people, that none but men of military 
 education could be safely entrusted with the command of a 
 regiment of volunteers ; but it was all a mistake. 
 
 The place of General Elliott's nativity, and the date of his 
 birth, I have been unable to learn ; but in May, 1816, he was 
 appointed from Pennsylvania to a second lieutenancy of 
 mounted rifles, and served in the Mexican War. At the close 
 of that war he served in New Mexico, and, in 1854, w^as pro- 
 moted to a captaincy. In the fall of 1858, he distinguished 
 himself in conflicts with the Navajoes, and, in the following 
 year, was placed in command of Fort Bliss, Texas. 
 
 Captain Elliott was commissioned colonel of the 2d Iowa 
 Cavalry on the 14th day of September, 1861, and by his energy 
 and military ability soon made for himself and his regiment 
 a most enviable reputation. Indeed, it has often been claimed 
 as regards the Iowa troops that the 2d Infantry, the 2d 
 Cavalry, and the 2d Battery, are the star troops of their 
 respective arms of. service; but this claim is certainly not 
 founded in justice; though it may be conceded that the 2d 
 Iowa Cavalry has done as much hard fighting as any other 
 
 Iowa cavalry regiment. 
 
 On the 19th of February, 1862, which is the date of the 
 commencement of their field-service, the 2d Iowa Cavalry 
 
 arrived at Bird's Point, Missouri. Having watched the 
 
 565 
 
Om IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 movements of the enemy for several days in the direction of 
 Belmont and Columbus, the regiment started on the 27th 
 instant in pursuit of Jeff. Thompson towards New Madrid, 
 and after a march of thirteen days through the almost impass- 
 able swamps that here border the Mississippi, reached that 
 place in time join the forces of General Pope in its capture. 
 After the caj^ture of Island No. 10, in which a detachment of 
 the 2d, under Lieutenant Schnitger, took a conspicuous part, 
 the regiment sailed for Hamburg Landing on the Tennessee 
 River. 
 
 The services of the 2d Iowa and the 2d Michigan Cavalry 
 regiments before Corinth, in the spring of 1862, gave to the 2d 
 Brigade of General Pope's Cavalry Division a national reputa- 
 tion. From the 29th of April, the date of the capture and 
 burning of the enemy's camp at Monterey, Mississippi, till the 
 30th of the following May, the 2d Iowa Cavalry took part in 
 five distinct expeditions, and not less than ten skirmishes and 
 engagements; and, in nearly all these operations, were joined 
 by the 2d Michigan Cavalry, under the gallant Colonel Philip 
 H. Sheridan. The most noteworthy of these expeditions is that 
 which under Colonel Elliott in command of the 2d Brigade, 
 left its camp near Farmington for Boonville, Mississippi, at 
 one o'clock on the morning of the 27th of May, 1862. Connected 
 with Colonel Elliott's exit from camp, is a laughable incident 
 which I can not forbear relating. A new regiment, which 
 had just come to the front, had its camp near the road over 
 which Colonel Elliott passed. Its camp-guard was commanded 
 by a lieutenant— an able lawyer, but at that time a green 
 soldier. Soon after mid-night, hearing the heavy tramp of 
 twenty-three hundred cavalry on a hard-beaten road, he sup- 
 posed the enemy were upon him and, rushing to the tent of his 
 Colonel, he broke through its fastenings, and thus reported: 
 
WASHINGTON L. ELLIOTT. 567 
 
 "For God's sake, colonel get up: the enemy with ten thousand 
 cavalry are upon us; and we are within half a mile of h— 1!" 
 
 It was this Boonville Expedition of Colonel Elliott, which 
 afforded General Pope the chief material for his celebrated 
 report, of date, I think, the 3d of June, 1862; and it was 
 really a most important affair. Moving from Farmington in 
 a southerly direction, and crossing the Memphis and Charles- 
 ton Railroad about ten miles west of luka. Colonel Elliott, 
 from this point, marched in a south-westerly direction and, 
 passing through the country intersected by the Tombigbee 
 swamps, arrived before Boonville on the morning of the 30th 
 of May, before day-light. The surprise was complete. Some 
 two thousand prisoners were captured, the majority of them, 
 however, being sick or convalescent. But the amount of rebel 
 property destroyed was of chief importance. Beside three 
 hundred kegs and barrels of powder, and large quantities of 
 commissary-stores, ten thousand stand of arms and equipments 
 to correspond, were destroyed. For his successes here. Colonel 
 Elliot, was most highly complimented by General Pope. 
 
 The most gallant achievement of the 2d Iowa Cavalry, while 
 
 under Colonel Elliott, was its charge on the rebel battery at 
 
 Farmington, Mississippi, on the morning of the 9th of May, 
 
 1862. On the afternoon of the 8th of May, the divisions of 
 
 Stanley and Payne, by order of General Pope, made an 
 
 important reconnoissance in the direction of Corinth and 
 
 Rienzi, surprising the enemy and driving them through and 
 
 i beyond the little village of Farmington. Then, the Federal 
 
 forces fell back to the east side of the village and bivouacked 
 
 for the night. Colonel Loomis' Brigade in advance. Thus things 
 
 i stood on the morning of the 9th when the guns of our sentinels 
 
 ' gave notice of the advance of the enemy. Chafed by the 
 
 surprise of the day before, which lost them their advance- 
 
568 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 line, they were moving in force to restore it; but Pope was 
 resolved on maintaining his advanced position, and hastily 
 dispatched General Plummer's Brigade to take position to the 
 right, and somewhat in advance of Colonel Loomis. But these 
 dispositions were not completed when the enemy were seen 
 advancing in column by division. Soon two regiments of 
 Plummer's Brigade broke in confusion, and fled to the swamps 
 in their rear, when his two remaining regiments had to be 
 withdrawn from the field. 
 
 Having hastily formed their line of battle just in rear of the 
 large white house in the north-east portion of the town, and, 
 where General Pope the day before had made his head- 
 quarters, they threw forward their batteries, and commenced 
 shelling the position of Colonel Loomis. And now comes the 
 gallant charge of the 2d Iowa, which had already arrived at 
 the front : 
 
 "Moving the column to the top of the hill, I ordered Major 
 Coon, with Companies H. G, C, and part of A, of the 2d Bat- 
 talion, and Major Love's 3d Battalion, to charge the battery on 
 our left in echelons of squadrons. Deploying the columns to 
 the right and left when we had jjassed our infantry lines, we 
 attacked the skirmishers and supports of the enemy, driving 
 them in and killing and wounding some. The fire from the 
 battery on our left, near the Farmington road, was very severe, 
 but on account of the ground being impracticable, and the 
 battery and supports protected by a fence, this could not be 
 reached; yet the enemy's gunners evidently alarmed at the 
 charge, ceased working their guns. Major Coon's Battalion, 
 led by him, gallantly attacked the battery near the building 
 known as the cotton-mill (the centre battery). Lieutenant 
 Reily, commanding Company F of 3d Battalion, attacked and 
 carried two guns in battery on our extreme right. The centre 
 battery was fairly carried, the gunners driven from their 
 guns, the enemy limbering up his guns without taking them 
 off the field. Finding our horses badly blown from a long 
 charge over rough ground, and the infantry of the enemy in 
 great force, I under a heavy fire ordered all companies on my 
 
WASHINGTON L. ELLIOTT. 569 
 
 right to retreat to the right and rear, forming on the swamp- 
 road, and tliose on my left to join the regiment in this road. 
 I ordered Major Hepburn to move to the rear, retaining Major 
 Coon with two companies to pick up the wounded and 
 scattered. My orders were carried out better than I could 
 have expected. My chief bugler's bugle was rendered useless 
 in the charge. Four of my orderlies had their horses killed, 
 and two of the orderlies were shot out of their saddles while 
 transmitting orders. 
 
 "The conduct of officers and men was in every way com- 
 mendable. Captains Lundy and Egbert, and Lieutenant Owen, 
 were wounded near the enemy's guns; and Lieutenants Hor- 
 ton, Moore and Schnilger, all had horses killed under them. 
 Captain D. J. Crocker, and Lieutenant Moore, of Company H ; 
 Captain McConnell, and Lieutenant Foster, of Company M; 
 Captain Kendrick, of Company E; Captain Eaton, and Lieu- 
 tenant Bilden, of Company L, all of the 1st Battalion, led in 
 the finest manner by Major Hepburn, rode through the hottest 
 fire, and were rallied by Major Hepburn on the right when 
 retiring in fine style, forming in good order in rear of the 
 swamp, to await orders. Major Coon, Captain H. Egbert, 
 Captain William Lundy, Lieutenants Owen and Horton, of 
 the L Battalion, led the charge on the right in the finest man- 
 ner, riding boldly in advance of their commands, and in 
 advance of the entire regiment. The daring of Lieutenant 
 Qucal, commanding Company B, was conspicuous, cheering 
 his men to the very muzzles of the enemy's guns. Captain 
 Bishop, of Company I, and Captain Graves, of Company D, 
 obeyed my orders promptly, under a heavy fire. Lieutenant 
 Schnitger, acting regimental-adjutant, and Lieutenant Metcalf, 
 battalion-adjutant, did their duty to my entire satisfaction. 
 Before, and at the time of the charge. Captain Freeman and 
 Lieutenant Eystra, with detachments of Companies A, G and 
 H, dismounted as skirmishers, did excellent service in the 
 swamps on our left, holding the enemy's skirmishers in check. 
 There were about four hundred men in the charge. Our loss 
 will scarcely exceed fifty killed and wounded, fifty horses 
 killed, and fifty rendered unserviceable from wounds." 
 
 Immediately after the 2d Cavalry had retired, the enemy 
 advanced his infantry when, after a sharp fight between them 
 
670 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and the brigade of Colonel Loomis, General Pope ordered his 
 troops to withdraw to the east side of the creek. The enemy 
 pursued no further. In this engagement, not only the Iowa 
 troops, but, with the exceptions already mentioned, those 
 from Illinois, Wisconsin and Missouri, distinguished them- 
 selves. 
 
 Dr. M. K. Taylor, afterward the able and courteous surgeon 
 in charge of the United States General Hospital at Keokuk, 
 was at the time surgeon of the 26th Illinois, Colonel Loomis, 
 and was conspicuous in his efforts to rescue the wounded. He 
 was among the last to leave the field, in charge of the dead 
 and wounded. 
 
 The 17th Iowa arrived at the front that evening, and biv- 
 ouacked near the camp of the 2d Iowa Cavalry. That night we 
 first saw the bodies of dead men killed in battle, and for the 
 first time heard the piteous groans of the wounded, and wit- 
 nessed their unmitigable agonies. 
 
 For his promptness, and for his soldierly qualities discovered 
 during the siege of Corinth and before. Colonel Elliott was 
 promoted to brigadier-general, his commission dating the llth 
 of June, 1862. He was soon after made Chief of Cavalry to 
 General Pope, and not long after, accompanied that general to 
 Washington, and served with him in his unfortunate campaign 
 on the Potomac. After General Pope was relieved of his com- 
 mand in the East, General Elliott accompanied him to St. Paul, 
 Minnesota, where he remained till the winter of 1862-3. He 
 was then transferred to the Army of the Cumberland, and 
 made chief of Cavalry to General Thomas. 
 
 General Elliott is a smallish man, with stooping shoulders, 
 sharp features and gray eyes. He is a man of great energy, 
 and has the reputation of being a splendid cavalry officer. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL EDWARD HATCH. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, SECOND CAVALRY. 
 
 The gallant j^oung Edward Hatch is one of the very best 
 of the Iowa general officers. He was born in Maine, in the 
 I year 1832. The town of his nativity, the character of his 
 education, and the date of his removal to Iowa, I have failed 
 I to learn. He was a resident of Muscatine, Iowa, as early as 
 I 1858, and engaged in the lumber business with a Mr. Fullerton 
 of that city. I regret that I can not give more of his history. 
 In August, 1861, Mr. Hatch was made Major of the 2d Iowa 
 j Cavalry. A few weeks later, he was commissioned Lieutenant- 
 I Colonel of his regiment, and, on the promotion of Colonel 
 Elliott to brigadier-general, in June 1862, he was made colonel. 
 For gallant and meritorious services he was, in the spring of 
 1864, appointed and confirmed a brigadier-general. He richly 
 earned his promotion ; for, from the first, he has been a work- 
 ing, fighting officer. 
 
 General Elliott left the 2d Iowa Cavalry soon after the fall of 
 
 Corinth ; and from that date I resume the history of the regi- 
 
 I ment, first premising that it was under the command of 
 
 i Lieutenant-Colonel Hatch from the time of its arrival before 
 
 Corinth, Colonel Elliott being in command of the brigade to 
 
 which it was attached. 
 
 Since May, 18G2, the regiment's field of service has been 
 principally in Tennessee and in Northern Alabama and Mis- 
 sissippi. A full history of its operations can not be given in 
 the limited space to which I am confined, and I shall therefore 
 allude to only the most important items of its service. 
 During the summer and fall of 1862, the regiment was 
 
 571 
 
572 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 attached to the cavalry brigade of the gallant Philip H. Sheri- 
 dan, and made its head-quarters, a chief j^ortion of the time, 
 near Rienzi, Mississippi. After General Grant's unsuccessful 
 march through Central Mississippi, in November, 1862, the 2d 
 Iowa changed its head-quarters to La Grange, Tennessee. 
 It was from that point the regiment moved out to co-operate 
 with Colonel Grierson, at the time that officer started on his 
 wonderful raid through Mississippi. Much interest attaches to 
 this movement, and I therefore give briefly its antecedents 
 and its results. 
 
 "In accordance with previous instructions, [I quote from 
 General Grant's official report] Major-General S. A. Hurlbut 
 started Colonel B. H. Grierson with a cavalry force from La 
 Grange, Tennessee, to make a raid through the central portion 
 of the State of Mississippi, to destroy railroad and other public 
 property, for the purpose of creating a diversion in favor of the 
 army moving to the attack of Vicksburg. On the 17th of 
 April, this expedition started, and arrived at Baton Rouge on 
 the 2d of May, having successfully traversed the whole State of 
 Mississippi. The expedition was skillfully conducted, and 
 reflects great credit on Colonel Grierson and all of his com- 
 mand. The notice given this raid by the Southern press con- 
 firms our estimate of its importance." 
 
 Colonel Hatch and the 2d Iowa did not accompany Colonel 
 
 Grierson on this raid, but operated in other quarters, and in 
 
 conjunction with him, so as to draw the attention of the enemy 
 
 from the real movement, and thus secure the expedition a sure 
 
 and unmolested start. For a full account of the part taken by 
 
 the 2d Iowa in this movement, I can not do better than to give 
 
 in full the official report of Colonel Hatch ; 
 
 " Head-Quarters 2d Iowa Cavalrt, 
 La Grange, Tennessee, April 27th, 1863. 
 
 " Captain : 
 
 "I have the honor to report : Complying with orders 
 from Colonel Grierson, commanding 1st Cavalry Brigade, left 
 camp with my regiment at La Grange, Tennessee, April 17th, 
 
r 
 
 EDWARD HATCH. 573 
 
 and marched with the brigade to the neighborhood of Ripley, 
 Mississippi, and camped. 
 
 " On the morning of the 18th of April, by order of Colonel 
 Grierson, marched my regiment east of Ripley three miles, 
 thence south-east through Molino, and camped five miles south 
 of that place, skirmishing during the day with Smith's regi- 
 ment of Partisan Rangers, organized near there at a place 
 known as Chesterville. On the 19th, marched south-west, 
 forming a junction with Colonel Grierson, five miles south of 
 Pontotoc, Mississippi. There Major Love, of my regiment, 
 was detached with a portion of the regiment to return to La 
 Grange, reducing me to about five hundred men. 
 
 "On the morning of the 20th, marched with Colonel Grierson 
 thirteen mile south-east of Houston, and camped. On the 
 morning of the 21st of April, complying with Colonel Griersou's 
 order, I moved in rear of his column. At 3 o'clock A. M., left 
 Colonel Grierson at the junction of the roads leading to Louis- 
 ville, West Point and Columbus, thence to proceed to the 
 railroad at West Point, destroying the railroad-bridge over the 
 Okatibbayhah River, thence to move rapidly southward to 
 Macon, destroying the railroad and government stores, and 
 thence to find my way back north to La Grange, by the most 
 practicable route. For some reason unknown to me, the col- 
 umn did not move till 7 o'clock A. M. This delay, as the 
 following report will show, was fatal to carrying out Colonel 
 Grierson 's order. 
 
 "At the point Colonel Grierson turned south from the direc- 
 tion I was to travel, a detachment of my regiment moved with 
 him four miles, then marched back to that point to obliterate 
 the tracks of Colonel Grierson going south with the 6th and 7th 
 Illinois Cavalry, which had been concentrating for some days 
 in anticipation of a movement on Columbus. About 12 o'clock, 
 on reaching the town of Palo Alto, I was attacked in rear and 
 on each flank by a force under General Dolsen, consisting of 
 Smith's Partisan Regiment, Bartoe's Regiment and Inge's 
 Battalion. In my front, bet\veen me and West Point, was an 
 Alabama Regiment, recently from Pensacola, with artillery— 
 my front being well protected by the Hooka River. In the 
 attack made by the enemy, a company in the rear was cut off 
 and nearly all taken. The enemy then closed in on my fiank, 
 and advanced in two lines upon my rear, with two flags of 
 
574 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 truce flying, enabling him to approach very close, my com- 
 mand being at that time in a lane, with high fences and hedges 
 upon either side, my men dismounted and well covered. 
 Changing my front to the rear, I waited until the enemy were 
 close upon me, and opened with my rifles and one two-pounder 
 from the front, and with carbines on the flanks, breaking his 
 lines, driving him back, pushing him about three miles, cap- 
 turing arms and horses, and re-taking the company that was 
 lost in the first attack. From that time until it was dark, it 
 was a constant skirmish, the enemy having taken mine for the 
 main column. Believing it was imjiortant to divert the ene- 
 my's cavalry from Colonel Grierson, 1 moved slowly northward, 
 fighting by the rear, crossing the Hooka E-iver, and drawing 
 their force immediately in my rear. 
 
 *' On the 22d, marched north near the Mobile and Ohio 
 Railroad, the enemy continuing to follow, their forces aug- 
 mented by all the citizens in the country, armed with shot- 
 guns and hunting-rifles, firing constantly on our flank. At 4 
 o'clock, P. M., attacked Okalona, driving out the enemy's 
 cavalry and State forces, burning the barracks for five thousand 
 men, and destroying stores and ammunition. I then marched 
 north-west five miles, and camped. 
 
 "On the 23d, marched north, and hearing that Chalmer's 
 forces intended cutting me off", I destroyed the bridge over 
 the Chivoppa Creek, to check the forces following me in the 
 rear. Camped that night near Tupelo. On the 24th, marched 
 north through Birmingham, where I was attacked in the rear 
 by what I believe to be Chalmer's forces. At 10 o'clock, A. 
 M., my ammunition giving out, I retreated slowly towards 
 Molino, stopping occasionally to repel their charges, concealing 
 my men at all favorable points with the two-pounder, which 
 did excellent service. I waited till the enemy were nearly on 
 me, when I opened a fire at short range, the enemy sufiering 
 terribly, with small loss to me. In this way the attack was 
 kept up for six miles, when the enemy was evidently tired, 
 and with the exception of annoyance from guerrilla parties, 
 we were not troubled by the enemy from that point to La 
 Grange, where I arrived on the 26th. 
 
 "We captured about three hundred shot-guns and rifles, 
 mostly Enfield, which for want of transportation were 
 destroyed, anc;! had but ten men killed, wounded and missing. 
 
EDWARD HATCH. 575 
 
 I left camp with seventy rounds of ammunition, and had two 
 on reaching it. I had decided, on reaching Okalona, to go 
 south, but, upon examining my ammunition, I had but 
 twenty-one rounds left, which did not warrant the movement. 
 The fight at Palo Alto gave the enemy time to guard the 
 railroad at West Point, and to prepare for an attack on 
 Columbus, with some two thousand State troops, under Gen- 
 eral Buggies. 
 
 " I left camp with two hundred and fifty horses: worn out 
 for want of proper and suflicient forage , they broke down at 
 the end of the second day, and I mounted my men upon the 
 mules from my train and borrowed mules. I have nearly 
 mounted my regiment, returned the mules borrowed, and 
 filled up my train, captured fifty prisoners and killed and 
 wounded not less than one hundred of the enemy. 
 
 ''The fight at Palo Alto, diverting the enemy from Colonel 
 Grierson, has, undoubtedly, given him thirty-six hours' start." 
 The raid of Colonel Grierson, to which the operations above 
 detailed were collateral, ranks among the first of the war, for 
 daring and success; but the "Patriotism of Illinois" is not 
 impartial in declaring that the entire credit of the aflair belongs 
 to Illinois officers. Had not Colonel Hatch, by his maneuver- 
 ing and hard fighting, diverted the attention of the enemy's 
 cavalry, the result would doubtless have been different. But 
 it is true that the movement filled the enemy with consterna- 
 tion. At the time this handful of Federal troops was sweeping 
 down through Mississippi, Porter was running the Vicksburg 
 Batteries, and McClernand was gathering his corps on the west 
 bank of the river below the city. The combination of move- 
 ments filled the enemy with amazement, and for several days 
 it was said they stood and looked on with wonder, not knowing 
 what points were most threatened, and most in need of defense. 
 Those who joined Grant's forceson the final Vicksburg Cam- 
 paign, and who were aff'orded the opportunity of reading the 
 rebel papers picked up at Baymond, Clinton, and at other 
 points along the route, will remember how great the alarm had 
 
676 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 been : they will also remember how poor Pemberton was bela- 
 bored for having allowed "this handful of thieving Yanks to 
 pass unmolested under his very nose." 
 
 The 2d Iowa's next move of importance was that made to 
 Jackson, in pursuit of Forest, about the middle of July, 1863. 
 It was on ■ this march, and while charging through the city 
 of Jackson, that Lieutenant John Humphreys was severely 
 wounded. This, considering the numbers engaged, was a 
 gallant affair. One incident of the fight is thus given by 
 Major, afterward Colonel Coon : "In one j>lace, the contest 
 was so close between Company M and a superior force of For- 
 est's men, that one man, named H. H. Bromer, had a hand-to- 
 hand fight, after exhausting all the weapons in his hands. 
 
 The 2d Iowa Cavalry re-enlisted as a veteran regiment in the 
 winter of 1863-4, and came North. Afterward, it returned to 
 Memphis, from which j^oint it marched on the expeditions of 
 Sturgis and Smith against Forest ; but an account of these 
 operations will be found elsewhere. 
 
 Much of the time since promoted to a general officer, General 
 Hatch has commanded a cavalry division. He distinguished 
 himself in resisting Hood's advance into Tennessee, and, 
 especially, in the part he took in routing the rebel forces at 
 Nashville. 
 
 The general has a handsome person and an agreeable address. 
 He is about five feet eleven inches in hight, has dark hair and 
 eyes, and, if I am rightly informed, possesses great energy and 
 determination. He is dignified if the occasion requires it, and 
 yet, he can crack a joke and tip a beer-mug with the best of 
 tliem. 
 
COLONEL DATUS E. COON. 
 
 THIRD COLONEL, SECOND CAVALRY. 
 
 I)atu8 E. Coox is a native of New Yorlv State, and is thirty- 
 four years of age. He was, in the summer of 18G1, a resident 
 of Mason City, Cerro Gordo county, Iowa. He entered the 
 service as captain of Company I, 2d Iowa Cavalry, and, on the 
 14th of September of the same year, was promoted to a majority 
 in that regiment. If lie ever held the lieutenant-colonelcy of 
 his regiment, I have foiled to learn it. He was commissioned 
 colonel of the 2d Iowa Cavalry on the 1st day of May, 1864. 
 Much of the time since promoted to his present rank, he has 
 been in command of the 2d Brigade, 5th Cavalry Division, the 
 command of General Edward Hatch. He is reputed a gallant 
 and efficient officer. 
 
 The point of chief interest in the history of the 2d Iowa 
 Cavalry, during the colonelcy of Colonel Coon, is that which 
 relates to the Fall and Winter Campaign against General Hood, 
 in Tennessee. The time covered by these operations embraces 
 fully three months ; for the advance of Forest into Tennessee 
 near Waterloo, Alabama, late in September, 1864, may be 
 regarded as a part of Hood's grand flanking campaign. From 
 the 30th of September to the 5th of December, the skirmishes 
 and engagements of the 2d Cavalry are enumerated as follows : 
 Shoal Creek, Alabama, November 9th, 1864 ; Aberdeen, 
 Alabama, November 17th ; Butler Creek, Alabama, Novem- 
 ber 19th ; Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, November 22d ; Campbell- 
 ville, Tennessee, November 24th; Linnville, Tennessee, 
 November 24th; Mount Carmel, Tennessee, November 29th 
 
 and New Franklin, Tennessee, November 30th. 
 37 577 
 
578 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 At the time Forest crossed into Tennessee, as above staled, 
 the 2d Cavalry was stationed at White's Station, and at once 
 marched with its brigade for Clifton, on the Tennessee Kiver. 
 Arriving there, it found General Washburne, who had come 
 by boat from Mempliis, and was directed by him to start in 
 pursuit of the raider. From this time till the 18th of October, 
 the regiment was on the scout, but failed to find the enemy. 
 E.eturning then to Clifton, it remained a few days in camp and 
 then started again on the scout; and thus its time was passed 
 until the advance of Hood made its appearance opposite Flor- 
 ence, Alabama. 
 
 The brigade command of Colonel Coon, to which was 
 attached the 2d Iowa, took a distinguished part in the opera- 
 tions to resist Hood's advance into Tennessee, and also in 
 driving the rebel army from the State. The skirmishes and 
 engagements, which I have given above, were fought while 
 Hood was marching on Nashville. For the part taken by the 2d 
 Iowa in the battles of the 15th, IGth, and 17th of December I 
 refer to the official report of Major C. C. Horton, who was in 
 command of the regiment. After first stating that his regi- 
 ment with its brigade moved out from camp and took uj) its 
 position on the right of General A. J. Smith's Corps, the Major 
 says : 
 
 "Their main line was found some four miles from town, 
 occupying formidable works on a commanding hill. By con- 
 tinually swinging to the left, our brigade struck their left 
 flank. 
 
 "The division battery (I, of the 2d Illinois) now galloped into 
 position in an open field and opened on the works, evidently 
 much to their annoj^ance, as the guns of both forts were imme- 
 diately turned upon the battery and my regiment, which had 
 been formed to the left and rear as support. Remained lying 
 in this position, exposed to a galling fire from both forts for 
 nearly an hour, losing two men killed and one wounded, when 
 
 i 
 
DATUS E. COON. 579 
 
 I received orders to move forward and joiu in an assault upon 
 the first fort. Tlie regiment moved steadily forward under a 
 severe fire until within three hundred yards of the works, 
 when the order to 'charge and take that fort' from General 
 Hatch, rang along the line. With a shout the men sprang for- 
 ward, and with a shout the fort was carried. Company G, 
 Lieutenant Budd commanding, having been thrown out as 
 skirmishers, were nearest the works, and consequently the first 
 to enter. One man was knocked down by a blow from a mus- 
 ket just as he was scaling the works. One of General Smith's 
 batteries shelled the fort after it was captured, six shells 
 bursting in and over it after we had entered. Captured here 
 four brass Napoleons and sixty prisoners. Thirty killed and 
 wounded rebels were found lying in the fort. Leaving a guard 
 with the guns, I pressed forward after the retreating enemy, 
 capturing many prisoners. 
 
 "Orders were now received from Colonel Coon to move by the 
 right flank and charge the second fort, situated some seven 
 hundred "yards to our right on a high, conical hill. The men 
 were so eager in the pursuit of the fugitives from the first fort, 
 that I was able to rally only two hundred of them : with these 
 I joined the brigade in the assault. The fort was defended 
 with a stubbornness and gallantry seldom surpassed— the 
 enemy only ceasing to use their artillery after the works were 
 scaled. A short but desperate hand-to-hand struggle ensued 
 after the works were entered. My colors, borne by the gallant 
 Sergeant Hartman, Company F, were the first to float from the 
 fort. The Sergeant fell mortally wounded while in the act of 
 planting the colors on one of the guns. Seizing my hand as I 
 bent over him, he exclaimed, 'Major, tell my friends I died 
 doing my duty.' 
 
 "In this fort were captured two guns, with caissons; one 
 battery- wagon, and nearly one hundred prisoners. Notwith- 
 standing my colors were the first to enter the works, it would 
 be unjust to claim the guns or prisoners as my particular prize, 
 as the diff'erent regiments of the brigade entered so nearly at 
 the same time. Lieutenants Watson and Griffith, Companies 
 I and D, who, not having heard the order to rally in time to 
 join in the assault on the fort, moved by the right and charged 
 on our left flank, attacking and repulsing a force of rebels who 
 were endeavoring to reinforce the fort, now reported with some 
 
580 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 sixty prisoners each. Quartermaster-Sergeant Beason, with 
 my bugler, Anderson, and two mounted orderlies (Truesdale 
 and Winn) charged with the sabre, killing and wounding 
 several, and taking some seventy prisoners. Number of 
 prisoners captured during the day, two hundred and fifty. 
 Regiment lost, while supporting the battery and charging the 
 two forts, six men killed, and two commissioned officers and 
 eighteen men wounded. 
 
 '^December 16^/i. — Moved with the brigade, early in the 
 morning, again taking a position on the right of General 
 Smith's Infantry: slight skirmishing during the morning. 
 About 2 o'clock P. M., in compliance with orders from General 
 Hatch, I sent Captain Bandy with the 3d Battalion to draw 
 one gun of Battery I up a steep hill, utterly impassable for 
 horses. The gun was dragged to the top of the hill and planted 
 in such a position that it commanded a battery which had 
 greatly annoyed our infantry lines during the day. In a few 
 moments the rebel battery was silenced, and their infantry 
 wavering and falling back. Colonel Coon then ordered the 
 brigade forward, and poured volley after volley into their 
 retiring columns. I now received orders to remain with the 
 battery, assist in taking the gun down the hill, and then join 
 the brigade. Lost during the day, one commissioned officer 
 slightly wounded. 
 
 '-'-December Ylth. — Moved again at day-light on the Franklin 
 pike. General Hammond having the advance: found the 
 enemy in strong force, occupying a line of hills on 'Little 
 Harpeth,' four miles south of Franklin. General Hatch 
 moved his division to the front; formed on the right of General 
 Hammond, 2d Iowa on the extreme right. The line moved at 
 a walk for some three hundred yards: then the trot, and finally 
 the charge was sounded. At the signal, all sprang forward; 
 but the centre found it impossible to carry the position on 
 account of the steep and rocky hill-side. They halted here, 
 dismounted, and engaged the enemy on foot. Not receiving 
 the order to halt, and having better ground in front, I pressed 
 forward, charged up the hill and through a thick wood, until 
 we reached the enemy's left and rear, who now opened on me 
 with grape and canister from the batteries. Wheeling the 
 regiment to the left, I ordered the charge upon the battery to 
 our left; but the* horses were poor and so much blown that 
 
DATUS E. COON. 581 
 
 they could only raise a slow trot, perceiving which the enemy 
 charged us in turn, but were handsomely repulsed with the 
 carbine. A strong column of rebels were now reported passing 
 through the gap between my regiment and the balance of the 
 brigade. The fact that the day was dark and rainy, and that 
 they wore rubber ponchos, and were many of them dressed in 
 blue, had led my men to believe them to be our own troops, 
 so that they were nearly in the rear of the 3d Battalion before 
 the mistake was discovered. Company K, Sergeant John 
 Coulter commanding, were nearly surrounded, and were com- 
 pelled to cut their way out with the sabre. Sergeant Coulter, 
 with Corporal Heck and Privates Black and Anderson, 
 charged the rebel color-guard, and after a desperate hand-to- 
 hand struggle, in which Heck and Black were killed and 
 Coulter and Anderson badly wounded, the colors of Bosse's 
 Brigade were captured, and borne triumphantly off by the 
 sergeant. Eight dead rebels, lying within the space of a few 
 yards, attest the desperate nature of the conflict. After a few 
 moment's close fighting, in which the sabre and butts of guns 
 were freely used, the rebels fell back. * * * My loss during the 
 engagement was seven killed, eight wounded, and thirteen 
 captured. Several others were captured, but made their 
 escape, in some instances returning with their guards as 
 prisoners. The regiment captured in all some fifty prisoners. 
 
 On the 19th instant, the 2d Iowa met and engaged the enemy 
 at Rutherford Creek, and, on the 25th, near Pulaski. But they 
 continued their flight rapidly southward, and succeeded in 
 crossing the Tennessee in detatchments. Many officers of the 
 2d Cavalry are mentioned in the highest terms for their con- 
 duct during this campaign, and among others are Major 
 Schnitger, Captains Foster and Bandy, and Adjutant Syden- 
 ham. 
 
 After the above operations had closed, Generals Smith, Scho- 
 field, and Wilson were ordered to concentrate their respective 
 commands at Eastport, on the Tennessee River, preparatory to 
 a renewal of the campaign against the enemy in Mississippi and 
 Alabama ; little more was done in this quarter, for Schofield 
 
682 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was soon after summoned to North Carolina to co-oporate 
 with Sherman, and Thomas ordered to Tennessee to "assume 
 general control of the defenses of our line of communication in 
 the rear of the Army of the Mississippi." 
 
 The results of the campaign are thus sunmied up by General 
 Thomas : 
 
 " There were captured from the enemy during the various 
 actions of which the foregoing report treats, thirteen thousand, 
 one hundred and eighty-nine prisoners of war, including seven 
 general officers and nearly one thousand other officers of all 
 
 grades, seventy-two pieces of artillery, and battle-flags. 
 
 During the same period over two thousand deserters from the 
 enemy were received, and to whom the oath was administered. 
 Our own losses will not exceed ten thousand in killed, wounded 
 and missing." 
 
 With the above campaign, closes the interesting portion 
 of the 2d Cavalry's history. It did not march with Wilson on 
 his celebrated march through Alabama to Macon, Georgia. 
 
BRIGADIER-GENERAL CYRUS BUSSEY. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, THIRD CAVALRY. 
 
 Cyrus Bussey was born on the oth day of October, 1833, in 
 Trumbull county, Ohio, where he lived till the year 1837, when 
 he removed with his father, the Rev. A. Bussey, to Southern 
 Indiana. When fourteen years of age, he entered a dry-goods 
 store as clerk ; and at sixteen embarked in the mercantile busi- 
 ness on his own account. In 1855 he came to Iowa, and settled 
 in Bloomfield, Davis county. Previously to coming to Iowa 
 he had spent two years in the study of medicine ; but the prac- 
 tice of that profession not according with his tastes he resumed, 
 after coming to Iowa, his former business. 
 
 Mr. Bussey was formerly a Democrat in politics, and in 1858 
 was elected by that party to the State Senate from Davis 
 county. During the canvass that terminated in his election, 
 the oratorical skill and ability that he displayed in his speeches 
 surprised the people of Davis county, who had heretofore 
 known him as a successful merchant. He served in the State 
 Senate during the session of 18G0-61, and also in the extra war 
 session; and unlike the representatives from Davis county, 
 gave hearty support to the Administration and voted for every 
 war measure. By his fealty to the Government he lost caste 
 with his party and forfeited all prospects of political prefer- 
 ment in his county, for it was intensely democratic. 
 
 On the nth of June, 1861, General Bussey was appointed an 
 
 aid de camp to Governor Kirkwood, and served in that capacity 
 
 during the southern border excitement in the summer of 1861, 
 
 distributing arms and organizing the militia. 
 
 On the 10th of August, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of 
 
 583 
 
584 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 the 3cl Iowa Cavalry, and in ten days from that date, had his 
 regiment in rendezvoas. Early in February, 18G2, he was 
 ordered with his regiment from Benton Barracks near St. 
 Louis, to Rolla, Missouri, which place, after a few days' rest, 
 he left and marched for Springfield, to join General Curtis. 
 He readied Springfield on the loth instant, but General Curtis 
 had already left in pursuit of General Price toward the Arkan- 
 sas border. On learning this fact, and hearing rumors of an 
 imi)ending battle. Colonel Bussey decided to push on at once, 
 and join General Curtis' command at all hazards. The roads 
 were heavy and the weather inclement ; but on the evening of 
 the 16th instant, he reached Sugar Creek, having accomplished 
 in four days' time, some two hundred miles. It is not the 
 greatest cavalry march on record ; but at that day there was 
 not a greater, where it was made in the direction of the enemy. 
 After joining the Army of the South West, Colonel Bussey 
 was assigned to the command of a cavalry brigade. With this 
 command he fought in the battle of I'ea llidge, and engaged 
 the enemy near Ijcetown. Tlio circumstances attending the 
 opening of the engagement on the part of the 3d Iowa Cavalry, 
 and the i)art the regiment sustained in the action are as follows: 
 \'an Dorn, declining to attack General Curtis in front, stole in 
 the night-time (luietly by the right flank of the original line of 
 battle, hoping to gain position in the rear, and by a sudden 
 attack, and with confusion as his ally, push the Fwleral army 
 t<j ruinous (h-foat. But General Curtis divininl his i)liins, ami 
 made disposition of his forces to meet tlu- tiu-iny in the ni'W 
 position. 
 
 The new line was forninl early in the iiioniing, and the rebel 
 advance encountered near i:iUhnri» Tavern — Curtis' right. At 
 about the same time, Colonel Osterhaus with an infantry com- 
 mand, and Colonel Bussi'y witli liis cavalry brigade, were sent 
 luit from llie left U) .-jtrike the enemy in Hank, while they were 
 
CYRUS BUSSEY. 585 
 
 moving into position. This force proceeded through the tim- 
 ber and some open fields to beyond Leetown, when they saw 
 the enemy's train and some cavalry passing by their front. 
 This cavalry the 3d Iowa, under Lieutenant-Colonel Trimble, 
 was ordered to charge; but while moving to the attack, the 
 regiment suddenly came on the infantry of McCulloch, Mcin- 
 tosh and Albert Pike, concealed in the timber. Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Trimble was instantly shot in the head and disabled; 
 and a majority of the men of the 3d Iowa, who were killed and 
 wounded in the engagement, fell here. Nine of Company D 
 were killed and wounded by this fire. The regiment was of 
 course repulsed, and, wheeling about, retired. 
 
 But in the meantime a force of rebel cavalry having advanced 
 from the right, charged the command of Colonel Bussey, and, 
 after a short struggle, drove it back in confusion. This rebel 
 cavalry, the 3d Iowa while falling back encountered, and 
 immediately charged and routed it. A running fight then 
 ensued, during which the rebel General Ben McCulloch was shot 
 from his splendid black charger. Company D, Captain Nor- 
 man W. Cook, had the honor of killing this celebrated rascal. 
 In these charges and counter-charges, both the Benton and 
 Fremont Hussars failed to do themselves credit : some declare 
 that they broke without firing a gun. All of Bussey's com- 
 mand now fell back to the infantry of Colonel Osterhaus, which 
 was found in line of battle. The enemy soon followed, and 
 in this position, which was near Leetown, was done the prin- 
 cipal fighting on the left. 
 
 The enemy were routed on the 8th of March, and, on the 
 morning of the 9th, Colonel Bussey in command of his brigade 
 and with a battery of artillery started in pursuit. He came 
 up with their rear-guard at Bentonville, which he found in 
 line of battle ; but a few shots from his artillery put it to 
 
5SG IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 flight. Pursuing still, Colonel Bussey continued to harass the 
 enemy's rear till he had gained his strong-hold in the lioston 
 Mountains. Pea Ridge was Colonel Bussey's first hattJe, and, 
 in evidence of their admiration of his conduct throughout the 
 engagement and in the pursuit, his regiment presented him 
 with a magnificent sabre, costing over seven hundred dollars. 
 Pea Ridge was also the first battle of the 8d Iowa Cavalry, and 
 it was one of the hardest in which the regiment ever fought. 
 It was at Pea Ridge only, that the killed and wounded were 
 subjected to the shocking atrocities of barbarous warfare. 
 Many of the wounded were killed after their capture, by the 
 inhuman wretches, led to the conflict by Albert Pike. Eight 
 of the 3d Iowa alone were scalped, and many bore evidences of 
 having been murdered after their cajjture. The killed, 
 wounded and missing of the regiment numbered fifty; and 
 among the former were Sergeants W. O. Crawford, G. N. 
 Anderson, R. II. Millard, and J. W. ^Montgomery. Not to 
 convey a wrong idea, I should state that only five companies 
 of the regiment were in the engagement — A, B, C, D and M. 
 The 2d Battalion, under command of ]\Eajor H. C. Caldwell, 
 was at the time serving in Central Missouri. 
 
 During the spring and summer of 1862, Colonel Bussey con- 
 tinued with the Army of the South West,-and accompanied it 
 on its long and tedious campaign through Arkansas to Bates- 
 ville. On this march, he had command of his brigade, and, 
 with it, was sent on various expeditions ; but in all of these he 
 failed to meet the enemy in any considerable force. On the 
 10th of July, 1862, he was assigned to the command of the 3d 
 Brigade of General Steele's Division, Army of the South West, 
 which he retained till the 2d of the coming September. From 
 the 2d of September till the 11th of January following, he was 
 in command of either a brigade or a division, but on the last 
 
CYRUS BUSSEY. 587 
 
 named date was appointed to the command of tlie District of 
 Eastern Arkansas ; and the manner in which he discharged the 
 duties of this command, affording, as it did, so great a contrast 
 with the administration of his predecessor, challenged the 
 attention of the General Government. 
 
 On the 6th of April, 1863, Colonel Bussey succeeded Major- 
 General Washburne, in command of ^the 2d Cavalry Division, 
 Army of the Tennessee ; but his command here was brief ; for, 
 desiring a more active field of labor, he was at his own request 
 relieved and ordered to report at Vicksburg, where, on his 
 arrival, he was made chief of cavalry. From the last of May 
 till the surrender of Vicksburg, he had command of all the 
 cavalry in the rear of the beleaguered city, and, in matching 
 the movements of General Johnson, rendered important 
 services to General Grant. 
 
 The advance of General Sherman against Jackson, Mississippi, 
 after the fall of Vicksburg, was led by Colonel Bussey, who, on 
 the 8th instant, engaged the rebel General Jackson, and after a 
 spirited little fight forced him to retire. He was more or less 
 engaged with the enemy till the 16th instant, during which 
 time he visited Calhoun, Beattie's Bluff, and Vernon. On the 
 17th of July, he started in command of an expedition to Can- 
 ton, Mississippi, and on this march again encountered General 
 Jackson with a force numbering four thousand strong. The 
 engagement lasted from eight o'clock in the morning till five 
 in the evening, when the enemy, repulsed at all points, fell 
 back and crossed to the east side of Pearl River. On this 
 expedition. Colonel Bussey destroyed thirteen manufacturing 
 establishments, forty miles of railroad, and a large amount of 
 rolling stock. It is proper to state in this connection that, in 
 all these operations, Colonel Bussey's regiment formed a part 
 of his command. 
 
088 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Coloney Bussey was promoted to a general officer on the 5th 
 of January, 18G4; and the above statement of his services 
 suffices to show that his title to a star was long anterior to the 
 date of his receiving it. He was nominated and confirmed for 
 "special gallantry," on the reports of commanding generals. 
 
 Since promoted to his present rank, General Bussey has 
 served in the Department of Arkansas: until the middle of 
 February, 1865, he was stationed at Little Rock, and much of 
 this time was the president of a court-martial. Immediately 
 after General Reynolds succeeded General Steele at Little Rock, 
 General Bussey was assigned to the command of the 3d Divi- 
 sion, 7th Army Corps, and ordered to relieve General Thayer 
 at Fort Smith, Arkansas. The history of these changes in 
 commanders has been discussed elsewhere, and well illustrates 
 the esteem and confidence in which General Bussey was held 
 by his superiors. Soon after he assumed command at Fort 
 Smith, the following api)oared in an editorial of the "New 
 Era:" 
 
 "The firm administration of the new commander, General 
 Bussey, together with his untiring efforts to deal justice with 
 an even hand to all, have contributed greatly to restore confi- 
 dence among the loyal people, and infuse new hope for a bright 
 future among them." 
 
 And Governor Murphy, in a letter to the same paper writes: 
 
 " I have great confidence in your present commander, Gen- 
 eral Bussey. His judgment energy, and firmness I feel 
 confident will be equal to the task imposed, though it be great. 
 General Reynolds, commander of the Department, will fully 
 sustain him in every measure for the protection of loyal citi- 
 zens, and the suppression of villainy." 
 
 Before closing this sketch of General Bussey and his old 
 regiment, I cannot forbear alluding to some of the many 
 brave officers, who have contributed to make the history of the 
 3d Iowa cavalry what it is. Majors Perry, Duffield, Drake and 
 
CYRUS BUSSEY. 589 
 
 Scott; Captains Van Benthuser, Anderson, Cook, Duffield, 
 Eobison, Mayne, Hughs, Taylor, Miller, Mudgett and Warner, 
 and Lieutenants Dale, Fitch, Cherrie, Horton, Walker, 
 McCrary, Crail, Spencer, Curkendall, De Huff, Baker, and H. 
 D. B. Cutler were among the officers who accompanied the 
 regiment to the field. Lieutenant Cutler, a brave and genial 
 companion, was for a long time on the staff of General Bussey 
 —I think his adjutant-general. 
 
 Among others, too, who are deserving of mention, is the late 
 Lieutenant A. H. Griswold. He was killed in Arkansas, on 
 the 27th of Juno, 18G2, by a party of guerrillas. The circum- 
 stances of his murder are as follows : 
 
 "With twenty men of Company K, Lieutenant Griswold 
 went out yesterday morning as escort to Captain Fuller's 
 forage-train. The party proceeded down White lliver about 
 ten miles, where they loaded the train with corn, and were 
 returning to camp without having discovered the enemy. 
 After traveling three miles, the cavalry escort in the rear of 
 the train were fired upon by a party of rebels concealed in a 
 canebrake about twenty yards distant, killing tlie lieutenant, 
 Corporal Thomas Watson, and Privates Richard Luke and 
 James L. Beacom, all of Company K; and wounding Privates 
 Edwin Beck with, in elbow, severely; Wesley Pringle, in side, 
 not dangerously ; James Marsh, in head, not dangerously ; and 
 Marcus I»ackard, in leg, slightly. The escort returned the fire, 
 and succeeded in bringing off the train, with the killed and 
 wounded. Lieutenant Griswold was a most faithful and 
 efficient officer, and a gentleman, whose loss will be deeply felt 
 by a large circle of friends in the regiment and in Iowa, 
 where he leaves a wife and two children." 
 
 General Bussey is five feet, eleven inches in hight, and has a 
 slender, athletic form. He has an exceedingly fair complexion, 
 dark hair, and dark, lustrous eyes. He is not only comely in 
 person, but winning in manners, and, with his pleasing con- 
 versational powers, could not be otherwise than popular in any 
 community. He has ready wit, great power of expression, 
 
O')0 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 and is able to say whatever he wislies in whatever way he 
 pleases; and in this lies the secret of his success as a public 
 extempore speaker. General Bussey has confidence in himself 
 and his aljilities, and is happily free from those airs and indis- 
 cretions common to men overburdened with self-esteem. As a 
 business man, he was characterized for promj)tness and order, 
 and these traits he carried with him into the army, lie is 
 ambitious and fond of i)ublic eclat^ and — who is not? 
 
 Mr. J. Thomi)son of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, in an article on 
 the Iowa general otticers, speaks thus of General Bussey: 
 
 •'His demeanor indicates at once the scholar and gentleman. 
 He possesses fine sensibilities, and a character irreproachal)le for 
 honesty and morality. His moral qualities have suffered little 
 by three year's contact with the evil associations of the army. 
 Position or promotion tloes not change him. It gives me 
 l)leasure to dwell on the virtues of his private life, because he 
 stands alone in this respect. His conduct during the war 
 l^roves him not unworthy the position he occupies." 
 
COLONEL HENRY CLAY CxlLDWELL. 
 
 SECOND COLOXEL, THIRD CAVALRY. 
 
 H. C. Caldwell, now judge of the District Courts for the 
 District of Arkansas, is a son of the late Van Caldwell, who, 
 in the early history of the State, was extensively known 
 through South Eastern Iowa for his uncompromising whigism 
 and his generous hospitality. Van Caldwell was one of the 
 first settlers of that county, and deserves a passing notice. He 
 was, at one time, a wealthy Virginia planter, but, meeting 
 reverses in fortune, and losing the greater part of his estate, 
 sold his ancient homestead and came to Iowa, which was then 
 a Territory. His first claim was laid in what is now the town 
 of Bentonsport, Van Buren county. After a four-years' resi- 
 dence here, he removed to Davis county, where he died. He 
 was an old-style, Virginia gentleman. 
 
 Colonel Caldwell, the subject of this sketch, is a native of 
 Virginia, and was born in Marshall county of that State, on 
 the 4th day of September, 1832. Accompanying his father in 
 his western migration, he remained with him till the fall of 
 1847, when he was received into the law office of Wright & 
 Knapp, at Keosauqua, as chore-boy. 
 
 Colonel Caldwell is essentially an Iowa man — more so than 
 anj^ other officer whose sketch is here given ; and for this reason 
 the details of his early history may not be uninteresting. 
 Before starting in life for himself, he did not have even the 
 advantages of a common school education. He had atten- 
 ded school a few weeks at the old Indian Agency Station, now 
 Agency City, where he might have learned to read, but 
 
 nothing more. He was, however, a student at home; audit 
 
 591 
 
592 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was here, by the fire-side of his father's rustic log cabin, where 
 Judge Knapp first found him and learned his habits. The 
 result was as has been stated. 
 
 In the fall of 1847, he left his home for a permanent resi- 
 dence in Keosauqua, having his entire worldly effects tied in a 
 red cotton handkerchief. One year's schooling in Keosauqua 
 completed his education ; and this was only afforded by hard 
 labor and the most rigid economy. In 1851, he was admitted 
 to the Keosauqua bar, since which time his history is better 
 known. 
 
 He first entered the practice as a partner of Judge Wright, 
 (Judge Knapp being then on the bench) and later was a 
 member of the firm of Wright, Knapp & Caldwell. Still 
 later, on the election of Judge Wright to the Supreme Bench 
 of Iowa, the firm was known as that of Knapp & Caldwell. 
 He was the junior member of this firm at the time of entering 
 the service, in the summer of 1861. The connection of Colonel 
 Caldwell with this able firm was, for him, no ordinary good 
 fortune. He would have succeeded by himself, poor as he was. 
 Agreeable in manners, able, energetic and ambitious, he 
 possessed every requisite of success ; but his advancement was 
 much more rapid from being associated with two such masterly 
 minds. 
 
 In March, 1853, Colonel Caldwell married Miss Hattie Ben- 
 ton, an estimable lady and a niece of Judge Wright, and a sister 
 of JNIrs. Judge Knapp. 
 
 "Colonel Caldwell was always the pet of Van Buren county;" 
 so many of her citizens have told me. With his appearance at 
 the bar began his popularity. In the fall of 1856 he was elected 
 prosecuting attorney for Van Buren county, by a majority of 
 180. He ran upon the Republican ticket, and was the only can- 
 didate in the county, of that shade of politics, who was elected. 
 In 1860, he was elected to the State Legislature, and here again 
 
HENRY CLAY CALDWELL. 593 
 
 was the only successful candidate on his ticket in the county, 
 the democrats electing the senator and the other members of 
 the House. AVnile a member of the legislature, he served as 
 chairman of the Judiciary Committee; and by his counsels in 
 the committee-room, and his nervous, off-hand speeches in the 
 House, established the reputation of being an able lawyer and 
 practical legislator. His geniality, moreover, secured the love 
 and respect of every member of the House. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell entered the service in the summer of 1861, being 
 in August of that year commissioned major of the 3d Iowa 
 Cavalry. Subsequently to that time and till the 20th of June, 
 18G4, when he was appointed judge of the district courts for 
 the District of Arkansas, he followed the profession of arms. 
 As a soldier, he met with his usual success. His military 
 record is not as brilliant as are those of some others, and for 
 the reason that the department in which he served did not 
 chance to be the theatre of many hard-fought battles. The 
 service which he saw comprised all the hardships and nearly 
 all the dangers, but lacked the glory incident to the sanguinary 
 campaigns in other departments. During his first year's 
 service. Major Caldwell had a separate command, consisting of 
 companies E, F, G and H— the 2d Battalion of the 3d Iowa 
 Cavalry. On the 12th of December, 1861, he was ordered from 
 Benton Barracks to Jefferson City, Missouri, and thence to 
 Fulton, where he made his head-quarters, and from whence he 
 led various scouting expeditions, during the Winter. 
 
 In the following Summer, in connection with a detachment 
 of the Missouri State Militia and Merrill's cavalry command, 
 he took part in the engagement at Moore's Mills, in Calloway 
 county. This battle, though short, was fiercely contested, and, 
 of all that were fought during that Spring and Summer, ranks 
 highest in importance. 
 
594 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 On the 5th of September, 1862, Major Caldwell was promoted 
 to the lieutenant-colonelcy of the 3d Iowa Cavalry, vice Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Trimble, resigned. In the winter of 1862-3, he 
 served in the Army of the Frontier, and then joined General 
 Davidson, at that time in command of the Army of South East 
 Missouri. For several months, although only a lieutenant- 
 colonel, he commanded a brigade. Subsequently, he was made 
 chief of cavalry on General Davidson's staff, and served in 
 that capacity till after the capture of Little liock. 
 
 Colonel Caldwell most distinguished himself, I believe, in the 
 Little Rock Campaign. At the head of his command, he was 
 the first to enter the Arkansas Capital. 
 
 How Steele, having completed his reconnoissance, marched 
 via Shallow Ford and Ashley's Mills to the Arkansas, and 
 crossed the river some eight miles below the city, has been given 
 elsewhere. The passage of Davidson's cavalry command across 
 the Arkansas, and the march on Little Rock is thus given by 
 General Steele : 
 
 "Two regiments of infantry passed over the river to drive 
 the enemy's skirmishers out of the woods, and the cavalry 
 division passed on without serious interruption until they 
 reached Bayou Fourche, where the enemy were drawn up in 
 line to receive them. The rebels held their position obstinately 
 until our artillery on the opposite side of the river was opened 
 upon their rear and flank, when they gave way and were 
 steadily pushed back by Davidson, the artillery constantly 
 playing upon them from the other side of the river. Our 
 two columns marched nearly abreast on either side of the 
 Arkansas." 
 
 Long before reaching the city, General Steele knew that 
 the enemy were evacuating ; for dense clouds of dust and smoke 
 were seen rising in the distance, in the direction of the town, 
 and soon small bodies of troops were seen hurrying hither and 
 thither, like so many frightened sheep. 
 
HENRY CLAY CALDWELL. 595 
 
 On approaching the city, Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell, who 
 had been given the advance, disposed his troops and charged 
 through the streets; but the enemy, with the exception of some 
 few stragglers, had fled. Soon after the cavalry took possession 
 of the place, the infantry came up and marched through its 
 deserted streets, after the music of the "Star Spangled Banner" 
 and "Yankee Doodle." It was an inspiring scene, and will 
 be recalled as a day of proud recollections by Steele's old com- 
 mand. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell was commissioned colonel of 
 his regiment, on the 4th of May, 1864, and, on the 20th of the 
 following June, was promoted to his present office. In the 
 spring of 1864, and before he was promoted to the colonelcy of 
 his regiment, he had been recommended by both Steele and 
 Davidson for promotion to a general officer ; and, had he not 
 been tendered his present position, he would have been made 
 a brigadier-general, and in that case would have been the 
 second officer from the State to receive like honor. I am told 
 that, by the advice of his friends and through the solicitations 
 of Governor Murphy, Senator Baxter, Doctor Kirkwood, and 
 other prominent Union men of Arkansas, Colonel Caldwell 
 waived a brigadier's commission, and accepted his present 
 office. The position he now holds is both honorable and 
 lucrative, and he deserves his good fortune. 
 
 Colonel Caldwell is tall and slender in person, and gentle- 
 manly and pleasing in his address. His constitution is not 
 very vigorous; that, at least, would be the judgment of a stran- 
 ger ; for he has a thin, pale face, and is nervous and restless in 
 his movements. The hardships of the service and his constant 
 mental labors have conspired to make him an older looking 
 man than he is. He is himself careless in dress, and never 
 measures other men by their broad-cloth. In conversation, he 
 
596 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 is earnest and emphatic, and has a habit of constantly winking. 
 
 Thougli the colonel has first-rate ability, it is not of that 
 voluntary kind that accomplishes wonders spontaneously. 
 Through his whole life, he has been an untiring student. As a 
 public speaker, he is off-hand, impressive and laborious, and, 
 at the close of a long argument, seems nearly exhausted. 
 While in the practice of his profession, he rarely took the time 
 to make a short speech, in consequence of which his arguments 
 were desultory. But he always had this excellent trait: he 
 never talked because he wished to say something, but because 
 he had something to say. 
 
 Colonel Caldwell's character as a soldier may be inferred 
 
 from the following extract from General Davidson's official 
 
 report of the capture of Little Rock. 
 
 " Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell, whose untiring devotion and 
 energy never flags during the night nor day, deserves, for his 
 gallantry and varied accomplishments as a cxivalry officer, pro- 
 motion to the rank of a general officer." 
 
 Is it to be wondered that Iowa is proud of this distinguished 
 young citizen and soldier? 
 
COLONEL JOHN WESLEY NOBLE. 
 
 THIRD COLONEL, THIRD CAVALRY. 
 
 John W. Noble was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in the year 
 1831, and is a son of Colonel John Noble, a distinguished citi- 
 zen of that State. His education is liberal and thorough, and 
 was acquired at Yale College, New Haven. His profession is 
 the law, which he first studied in the office of Hon. Henry 
 Stansbury of Ohio, and afterward at the Cincinnati Law 
 School. In 1857, he came to Iowa and settled in the city of 
 Keokuk, where he formed a law partnership with Henry 
 Strong, Esq. From that time until the breaking out of the 
 war, he practiced his profession with great success, and in the 
 opinion of most competent judges was, without regard to his 
 age, one of the best read lawyers in his district. In the spring 
 of 18G1, the firm of "Strong & Noble" ranked only second in 
 ability and business, to the many law firms in the city of Keo- 
 kuk. In August, 1861, John W. Noble entered the service a.s 
 adjutant of the 3d Iowa Cavalry. He held that rank till the 
 18th of November, 1862, when he was mustered to the majority 
 of the 2d Battalion of his regiment. Early in May, 1864, he 
 was made lieutenant-colonel, and in the following June was 
 mustered colonel, vice Colonel H. C. Caldwell. 
 
 For several months before he was commissioned colonel, and 
 while he held the rank of major, Colonel Noble commanded 
 his regiment— or rather the 1st and 3d Battalions of it. These 
 battalions were under his command in rear of Vicksburg, 
 during Sherman's advance on Jackson, on the march to Canton, 
 
 and the raid made by Colonel Winslow of the 4th Iowa Cavalry 
 
 597 
 
598 IOWA COLOXELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 from near the Big Black River through the country to Mem- 
 phis. The last named expedition was made in August, 1863, 
 and we resume the history of the regiment from that date. 
 
 On the 26th of August, the 1st and 3d Battalions of the 3d 
 Iowa were embarked on boats for Vicksburg, but they had 
 proceeded no farther than Helena, when they were ordered by 
 General Grant in person, to debark and report to General Steele, 
 then marching on Little Rock. It will be remembered the 
 2d Battalion of the regiment, with the command of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Caldwell, had marched with the cavalry division of 
 General Davidson from Arcadia, and that it now formed a part 
 of General Steele's forces. On the arrival of Major Noble the 
 regiment was therefore re-united after a separation of nearly 
 two years. From September, 1863, until the following Febru- 
 ary, the histories of the 1st and 3d Iowa Cavalry regiments are 
 nearly the same. They served in the same department, and 
 took part in the same operations ; but on the last named date, 
 the 3d Iowa having re-enlisted, came North on veteran fur- 
 lough. Since that time the histories of these regiments have 
 been widely different. 
 
 While en route for the front, after the expiration of its fur- 
 lough, the 3d Iowa Cavalry was stopped at Memphis, and, in 
 the latter part of April, 1861, was brigaded with the 4th Iowa 
 and 10th Missouri Cavalry. These troops constituted "Colonel 
 Wiuslow's Brigade;" and by their gallantry in six important 
 expeditions they have made their name distinguished. 
 
 An account of the operations against General Forest in the 
 spring and summer of 1864, I have given elsewhere, and I need 
 not detail them here. The 3d Iowa took part in all these 
 operations, and sustained its reputation for gallantry. In the 
 disastrous aflfiiir of General Sturgis near Guntown, Mississippi, 
 the regiment lost five killed, eighteen wounded, and forty-nine 
 
JOHN W. NOBLE. 599 
 
 captured. In speaking of the conduct of his regiment in this 
 engagement, Colonel Noble says : 
 
 '*My officers and men behaved universally so well that I can 
 not make much distinction among them. But, for their aid in 
 getting a new line to force the enemy at one particular 
 emergency, I deem Captain Curkendall, of Company D, and 
 Lieutenant McKee, of Company B, worthy of particular 
 notice. Major Jones was constantly at his post, and did all a 
 good and brave officer could. If occasion offers, I hope to bring 
 the merits of others of the brave men more prominently for- 
 ward than I can do now." 
 
 Lieutenants Thomas J. Miller and Reuben Delay were both 
 wounded in this engagement and captured. 
 
 The loss of the 3d Iowa Cavalry in the expedition made by 
 General Smith against Forest to Tupelo, Mississippi, was one 
 killed, seventeen wounded, and one captured. Major Duffield 
 and Captains Crail, Brown, McCrary and Johnson, are men- 
 tioned for special gallantry. 
 
 The history of the operations against General Sterling Price 
 in Missouri, in the fall of 1864, is one of great interest, and the 
 brilliant part which the 3d Iowa Cavalry and its brigade sus- 
 tained in it I give in full. 
 
 Colonel Winslow's Brigade had only returned from its second 
 expedition under General Smith against Forest, when it was 
 ordered in pursuit of Price: indeed, it was re-called from 
 Oxford, Mississippi, if I mistake not, for this express purpose. 
 The brigade left its camp near Memphis, at two o'clock on the 
 morning of the second of September, and, crossing the Missis- 
 sippi, marched to Brownsville, Arkansas, when it arrived on 
 the 9th instant. Plere the command rested till the morning of 
 the 18th, awaiting the arrival and organization of the infantry 
 command of Major-General Mower. On the 18th, the march 
 was resumed northward, and, passing through Austin, and 
 Searcy, and crossing the White Biver fifteen miles below 
 
600 IOWA COLONELS AND KEGIMENTS. 
 
 Batesville, and Black River at El^an, entered Missouri at 
 Poplar Bluffs. Price was now well into Missouri, living liber- 
 ally, and inviting his rebel adherents to join him. Prom 
 Poplar Bluffs, Winslow's Brigade marched east to Cape 
 Girardeau, and proceeded thence by boat to St. Louis, where it 
 arrived on the 10th of October. 
 
 At this date, there was great alarm, both in Southern Iowa 
 and Eastern Kansas; and the militia in both States were being 
 organized and disciplined to meet the invader. Dollar-men 
 along the border in Iowa, (I do not speak for Kansas) who, 
 during the whole war, had hugged closely to their business and 
 about their firesides, and who had thought of nothing but their 
 per centage, now looked anxiously over into Missouri, and 
 talked loudly of patriotism. I could not pass without paying 
 the patriots this compliment. 
 
 Winslow's Brigade rested only one day in St. Louis to refit; 
 then pushed up the Valley of the Missouri Biver, on the direct 
 road to Independence. The command struck the enemy's trail 
 at Franklin, only thirty miles west from the Mississippi; and 
 at that time Price was at Lexington. On the 22d instant, they 
 reached Independence, where they formed a junction with the 
 cavalry command of General Pleasanton. That same evening 
 the brigade was thrown to thi,, front, and encountered the ene- 
 my's rear-guard; for Price was now only a few miles distant 
 from Independence. Of the operations of the 3d Iowa Cavalry 
 that night. Colonel Noble says: 
 
 "My regiment, though not having the advance, was dis- 
 mounted, sent to the front, and immediately engaged the 
 enemy on the Kansas City Boad, fighting and driving Clark's 
 rebel brigade a distance of five miles, from five o'clock until 
 nine and one-half P. M., when my command was relieved. 
 The command rested on the field for the night in the face of 
 the enemy, having marched from twelve o'clock on the night 
 of the twenty-first, without water or forage for our animals." 
 
JOHN W. NOBLE. 601 
 
 The next morning, the 23cl, the 3d Iowa Cavalry v/as in the 
 saddle by four o'clock, and j)ressing the enemy. The 10th 
 Missouri and 4th Iowa Cavalry had the advance. It will be 
 remembered that, as early as the 20th instant, General Blunt, 
 under orders from General Curtis, had moved out from Kansas 
 to Lexington and engaged Price's advance. Pleasanton, with 
 his cavalry, soon after struck him in rear, and from that time 
 till the 23d, the date of the battle on the Big Blue, the rebel 
 general was between two fires. It will also be remembered 
 that it was on the Big Blue that the invading army was defeated 
 and disorganized. In this splendid victory, the brigade of 
 Colonel Winslow contributed not a little. Early in the day, 
 Company A, of the 3d Iowa, charged the enemy in a strong 
 position, and captured a stand of colors and several prisoners; 
 and later in the same day, the entire regiment, in company 
 wuth its brigade, "joined in the gallant mounted charge against 
 the enemy in column of regiments, which was continued 
 through farms and over the prairie for five or six miles." The 
 loss of Price here was extremely severe, and, as I have said, 
 his army was demoralized. 
 
 The history of the pursuit, during the two subsequent days, 
 Major B. S. Jones gives as follows : 
 
 "Having, at day-light, [the 14th] joined the Army of the 
 Border under General Curtis, we marched early, constantly 
 and rapidly in a southern direction after the retreating enemy, 
 down the line dividing Missouri and Kansas, over extensive 
 prairies, dotted with devastated farms and lonely chimneys, 
 which marked the ravages of war. We marched without 
 halting, until three o'clock A. M. of the 2oth, when we 
 reached Trader's Post on the Osage Biver: there we found the 
 enemy, and eagerly waited for morning. The enemy, having 
 been routed from his position on the river, was followed up at 
 a gallop for several miles by Winslow's Brigade, in the follow- 
 ing order: 10th Missouri, 4th Iowa, 3d Iowa, 4th Missouri, and 
 7th Indiana Cavalry. When he attempted to make a stand, 
 
602 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 we formed on tlie open prairie in two linos of battle, supported 
 by eight pieces of artillery. 
 
 "My command was formed in line of battle with the 
 brigade, in column of regiments, in their order of march, and 
 constituting the left centre of our whole line. We charged the 
 enemy, breaking his right and centre, killing, wounding and 
 capturing many of h'n men. Among the captured were 
 Generals Marmaduke and Cabell, the former by Private James 
 Dunlavy, of Company D, and the latter by Sergeant C. M. 
 Young, of Company L — both of the 3d Iowa Cavalry. Com- 
 panies C, D and E captured three pieces of the enemy's 
 artillery. The whole of my command did nobly on that field, 
 as also on all others, and the highest commendations are due 
 to every man and officer. The remainder of the day was one 
 continual charge upon the enemy, resulting in his complete 
 rout. We rested on the open prairie over night, near Fort 
 Scott, Arkansas." 
 
 The charge made by Winslow's and Philip's Brigades, on 
 the 25 til instant, against the command of General Marmaduke 
 and near Mound City, was brilliant in the extreme. It was in 
 this charge, and after the rout of the enemy that Marmaduke 
 and Cabell were captured. General Marmaduke was holding 
 Price's rear at the place above designated, and had formed his 
 division in line to check our advance. But he had chosen his 
 position badly. It was at the foot of a gentle slope, and in 
 front of a small creek, skirted with brush. The charge was 
 made down the slope at full run, with the 10th Missouri in the 
 lead, that regiment being followed by the 4th Iowa, and the 
 4th by the 3d. The sight was a magnificent one. When the 
 10th came under the withering fire of the enemy, it recoiled 
 slightly ; but the 4th dashed on through its line, wheeling par- 
 tially to the right, and followed closely by the 3d. The 4th 
 Iowa was the first to strike and break the enemy's line. In 
 an instant, the whole rebel line was shattered and fleeing in 
 confusion. The charge was so sudden and impetuous that 
 Marmaduke was left without a command, and a straggler; and 
 
JOHN W. NOBLE. 603 
 
 thus he was captured. Cabell was captured in like manner. 
 Private Dunlavy, the captor of INIarmaduke, was a new recruit, 
 and I am told is a bit of a boy. His home is in Davis county. 
 Sergeant Young is twenty-four years of age, and a native of 
 Ohio. 
 
 Immediately after this brilliant charge General Pleasanton 
 issued the following complimentary order: 
 "General Orders No. 6. 
 
 "Head-quarters Cavalry Division, 
 Fort Scott, Kansas, Oct. 26th, 1864. 
 
 '•The major-general commanding this division, composed of 
 troops from the Department of Missouri and Winslow's Brig- 
 ade of cavalry, congratulates the officers and men upon the 
 brilliant success which has crowned their untiring efforts, 
 in this decisive campaign. The battles of Independence, Big 
 Blue and Osage river, have resulted in the capture of Major- 
 General Marmaduke, Brigadier-General Cabell, four colonels 
 and nearly one thousand prisoners, (including a large number 
 of field officers) ten pieces of artillery, seven thousand stand of 
 arms, the destruction of a large portion of the enemy's train, 
 and the routing of their array. The gallant action of Phillip's 
 Brigade of Missouri Cavalry, and Winslow's Brigade, in 
 capturing eight of the enemy's guns on the Osage, was so dis- 
 tinguished as to draw praise from the enemy. ***** The 
 regiments of the 4th Brigade [ Winslow's ] are authorized to 
 place upon their colors 'Big Blue and Osage.' 
 
 "By command of Major-General Pleasanton, etc." 
 
 Resting one day at Fort Scott, Winslow's Brigade continued 
 the pursuit, following Price through Arkansas and the Indian 
 Territory, to a point on the Arkansas River about forty miles 
 above Fort Smith. They failed to overtake the enemy, and 
 soon after turned about, and marched to St. Louis, via Fayette- 
 ville and Springfield. 
 
 During the Missouri Campaign, the 3d Iowa Cavalry suffered 
 the following loss: six men were killed, and two officers and 
 forty-one men wounded. Lieutenant and Adjutant James H. 
 Watts was shot near Independence, on the 22d of October, and 
 
604 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 died soon after of his wounds. First Sergeant Lewis G. Bald- 
 win was mortally wounded in the same skirmish. In the 
 battle on Big Blue, Captain J. D. Brown, of Company L, and 
 twelve enlisted men of the regiment were wounded ; and, in 
 that known as the Osage, four enlisted men were killed and 
 twenty-four wounded. 
 
 In December, Winslow's Brigade left St. Louis and returned 
 to Memphis, where it remained till the 21st instant, and then 
 joined General Grierson in his raid through Mississippi. The 
 route which Grierson followed was as follows: Marching east 
 till he struck the Mobile and Ohio Bailroad at Shannon Station, 
 he then turned south and moved down the road until reaching 
 Okalona. From Okalona, he marched south-west, passing 
 through Bellefontaine and Lexington, and arriving at Vicks- 
 burg on the 5th of January, 18G5. Hood, it should be borne in 
 mind, had already been frozen out at Nashville, (for he is 
 reported to have said that the cold contributed more to his 
 defeat than General Thomas) and was hunting head-quarters 
 in Northern Mississippi and Alabama. The object of Grier- 
 son's raid was to destroy Hood's supplies, and his lines of 
 communication, and this was most eflfectually done. Immense 
 stores and railroad property were destroyed. 
 
 Only a portion of the 3d Iowa Cavalry accompanied General 
 Grierson on this expedition. Colonel Noble commanded the 
 detachment, which consisted of eleven commissioned officers 
 and three hundred and nine enlisted men. From Vicksburg, 
 the 3d Iowa returned by boat with its brigade to Memphis, 
 and soon after sailed for Louisville, Kentucky, where ih^ 
 regiment was again united. The regiment's next and last 
 campaign was that made under Brevet Major-General Wilson 
 from Chickasaw on the Tennessee River, to Macon, Georgia. 
 
JOHN W. NOBLE. 605 
 
 A history of this brilliant march will be found in the sketch of 
 Colonel Winslow, of the 4th Iowa Cavalry. 
 
 The enemy were first met on this march at Six-Mile Creek, 
 twenty miles from Montevallo. Here the 3d Iowa charged 
 and broke the enemy's line, and captured one hundred prison- 
 ers. The subsequent engagements were those at Ebenezer 
 Church, Selma and Columbus; and in all of them the regiment 
 was conspicuous. Its loss, from the time it left Chickasaw till 
 its arrival at Macon, was about forty, or nearly twenty per 
 cent, larger than the loss of either of the other regiments of the 
 brigade. Captain Thomas J. Miller of Company D, who fell at 
 Columbus, was the only commissioned officer of the regiment 
 killed. He was a young man of steady habits, and of much 
 promise. Entering the service as a private of Company D, 
 from Davis county, he was first orderly to Colonel Bussey, then 
 sergeant, and then lieutenant and captain. It will be remem- 
 bered that he was severely wounded on Sturgis' disastrous 
 expedition against Forest. I am told that he said, when his 
 regiment returned to the front from its veteran furlough, that 
 he should never return alive. He was killed by the concussion 
 of a shell, which grazed his breast as it passed him, and while 
 he was standing in front of his company, just before the charge 
 was ordered. Captain B. F. Crail was severely wounded in 
 the first engagement at Six-Mile Creek, and Lieutenant J. J. 
 Veatch slightly, at Ebenezer Church. These were all the 
 casualties among the commissioned officers. Sergeant John 
 W. Delay of Company I, was killed at Columbus. 
 
 And thus the 3d Iowa Cavalry closes its brilliant history in 
 the War of the Bebellion ; for Lee has surrendered, and John- 
 son ; and Davis, the head of the Confederacy, is captured. 
 
 Colonel Noble is a small, black-haired, black-eyed man, with 
 good education, good ability, and of remarkable energy and 
 
606 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 courage. All declare him to be a perfect gentleman, and a 
 model soldier. 
 
 I am told that, as soon as news came of the firing on Fort 
 Sumpter, Colonel Noble began studying military law and tac- 
 tics. From that time forward, he devoted his entire energies 
 to military matters ; and, to-day, he is the best versed in mili- 
 tary law of any officer from Iowa. He has, in addition to his 
 many other excellent traits, a kind heart, and is watchful of 
 the interests of his men. He has no superior among the Iowa 
 colonels. 
 
COLONEL ASBURY B. PORTER. 
 
 FIRST COLONEL, FOURTH CxlVALRY. 
 
 AsBURY B. Porter was born in the State of Kentucky, 
 in the year 1808. At the time of entering the service, he was 
 a resident of Mt. Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa, where, for 
 several years, he had followed the business of a merchant and 
 trader. Pie first entered the service in May, 1861, as major of 
 the 1st Iowa Infantry ; and in that regiment he made a good 
 record. His conduct at the battle of Wilson's Creek was men- 
 tioned by Lieutenant-Colonel INIerritt in terms of much praise. 
 Why he was so unfortunate as colonel of the 4th Iowa Cavalry, 
 I am unable to say. He was the first Iowa colonel dismissed 
 the service of the United States, by order of the President. 
 Before receiving his dismissal, however, he had resigned his 
 commission, and returned to his home in Mt. Pleasant. He 
 left the service in the spring of 1863. 
 
 The 4th Iowa Cavalry, at the time of entering the service, 
 was made up of a fine body of men. The Mt. Pleasant 
 schools were largely represented in the regiment; and, in 
 addition to this, there was a larger per cent, of men with 
 families and homes than in any other Iowa regiment pre- 
 viously organized. Its outfit, too, was superior, especially as 
 regarded its horses. Colonel Porter served as his own inspec- 
 tor, and, being one of the best judges in the State of a good 
 horse, he mounted his men in magnificent style. The regi- 
 ment promised much, and yet it accomplished little worthy of 
 special note, under its original colonel. 
 
 The 4th Iowa Cavalry served first in Central and Southern 
 Missouri, and then in Arkansas; and the character of its labors 
 
 607 
 
608 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 were the same as were those of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, while 
 that regiment was stationed in Missouri. They can not be 
 detailed with interest. 
 
 Colonel Porter is a short, stocky man, with a broad, oval 
 face, beaming with much good nature. I speak of him as he 
 looked to me in the stage-coach, in the summer of 1863, on our 
 return from the gubernatorial convention. I did not know 
 who he was till after we had parted, and consequently formed 
 my judgment of his character without prejudice. He is famil- 
 iar and pleasing in his manners, and makes friends readily. I 
 judged him to be intelligent, and of an extremely social dispo- 
 sition, and thought he would be happy and at home with his 
 friends at a beer-table. 
 
COLONEL EDWARD FRANCIS WINSLOW. 
 
 SECOND COLONEL, FOURTH CAVALRY. 
 
 Edward F. Winslow was born in Kennebeck county, 
 Maine, on the 28th day of September, 1837. He was raised 
 and educated in Augusta, his native town, where he continued 
 to live till the spring- of 1856. In 1856, he came to Iowa, and 
 settled in Mt. Pleasant, where he entered the mercantile 
 business. He was engaged in this business at the time of 
 entering the service, in the fall of 1861. 
 
 Colonel Winslow enlisted in the war as captain of Company 
 F, 4th Iowa Cavalry. On the 3d of January, 1863, he was 
 promoted to a majority in his regiment, which rank he held 
 till the 4th of the following July, when he was mustered 
 colonel. Since promoted to his present rank, he has been in 
 command of his regiment but little. Pie commanded it during 
 the month of July, 1863, and also while it was at home on 
 veteran furlough. At all other times, if we except a few weeks 
 in the fall of 1863, when he was chief of cavalry to the 15th 
 Army Corps, he has been in command of a brigade of cavalry. 
 With the succession of Colonel Winslow to the command of 
 his regiment, a new and more fortunate chapter opened in its 
 history. Prior to that time, the discipline of the regiment 
 was bad, and its efficiency questionable. Indeed, I am told 
 that at one time mutiny was threatened; but, under the new 
 commander, order and confidence were soon restored. 
 
 A brief summary of the services of the 4th Iowa Cavalry, 
 
 subsequently to the time it left Helena in the spring of 1863 to 
 
 date, may be given as follows : It led the advance of General 
 
 Sherman's Corps in the march from Milliken's Bend, Louisiana, 
 39 609 
 
610 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 to Jackson, and thence to the rear of Vicksburg; operated 
 durhig- the siege of the city on the right-rear of the besieging 
 army, and in front of the line held by General Sherman on the 
 Big Bear Creek and the Big Black River ; returned with Sher- 
 man to Jackson after the fall of Vicksburg, marching thence 
 under General Bussey to Canton ; accompanied the expedition 
 across the country to Memphis, which passed through Yazoo 
 City, Lexington, Grenada and Panola, in August; took part 
 in the movement that was made in September, 18G3, to divert 
 the attention of the enemy while Sherman was en route witli 
 his corps from Memphis to Chattanooga; accompanied the 
 roconnoissance made, in October following, by Major-General 
 McPherson in the direction of Canton ; led the van of Sher- 
 man's army in the rapid march from Vicksburg to ^Meridian, 
 Mississippi ; came North on veteran furlough in the early 
 spring of 18G4 ; returned to the front in April, and reported at 
 Memphis, from which point it marelied on the expeditions of 
 General Sturgis against Forest, and on those of General 
 A. J. Smith against the same rebel leader; marched from 
 Memphis in pursuit of General Price in Missouri, in Septem- 
 ber, 1864; accompanied General Grierson in his raid from 
 Memphis down the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to Okalona, and 
 thence to Vicksburg ; and, finally, reporting to General Wilson, 
 accompanied that officer in his brilliant and successful march 
 through Alabama and Georgia, to Macon. 
 
 Two instances are given, where officers of the 4th Iowa, in 
 command of detachments of their regiment, distinguished 
 themselves in rear of Vicksburg. The following occurred just 
 after the investment of the city: "Being ordered to Haines' 
 Bluff on a reconnoissance, the regiment was halted at Mill 
 Dale, and Captain Peters [now lieutenant-colonel] with twenty 
 men of Company B, went to the point indicated in the order, 
 
EDWARD F. WINSLOW. 611 
 
 capturing seven men, nine large siege-guns, and a quantity of 
 ammunition, remaining in tlie works until the gun-boat De 
 Kail), which had been signaled by Captain Peters, came up and 
 received the prisoners, cannon, &c. Captain Peters and the 
 regiment are justly entitled to the credit of capturing this 
 strong-hold." 
 
 The other instance is that where Major Parkell, with a 
 detachment of one hundred and twenty-five men from Com- 
 panies A, K, F, and I, was suddenly surrounded while on a 
 scout in the vicinity of Big Black River. The enemy, whose 
 strength was estimated at not loss than six hundred, demanded 
 instant surrender; but the major, instead, resolved to fight his 
 way out, and succeeded. The fight was short, but most bitter, 
 as I have been informed by Captain Zollars of the regiment; 
 and, indeed, the list of casualties evidences as much. One 
 officer and ten enlisted men were killed, and the wounded and 
 captured numbered thirty-three. Lieutenant Joshua Gardner 
 was one of the killed, and Lieutenant ^y. J. McConnellee was 
 captured. 
 
 The operations of General Sherman in his expeditionary 
 march against Johnson, after the fall of Vicksburg, have been 
 fully detailed elsewhere, and can not be repeated with interest. 
 After returning from that expedition, the 4th Iowa Cavalry 
 rested near the Big Black till the 10th of August, and then left 
 on a raid through the country to Memphis. As already stated, 
 the line of march lay through Yazoo City, Lexington and 
 Grenada. This expedition was commanded by Colonel Wins- 
 low, and resulted in the destruction of much of the Mississippi 
 Central Railroad, and the burning of a large amount c;f railroad 
 stock. 
 
 The 4th Cavalry re-enlisted as a veteran regiment in the 
 winter of 18G3-4, and, immediately after its return from the 
 
612 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Meridian marcli, came North on veteran furlough. On the 
 expiration of its furlough, Colonel Winslow left in command 
 of it for the front, and was proceeding to Vicksburg, when he 
 received orders from General Sherman assigning him to duty 
 under General Sturgis, at Memphis. The regiment reached 
 Memphis on the 23d of Aj^ril, and from that time till the last 
 of July following was almost constantly in the saddle and on 
 the scout. Indeed, from that time till its arrival at Macon, 
 Georgia, nearly one year later, the regiment enjoyed little rest. 
 At Memphis, in the spring of 1864, the regiment was brigaded 
 with the 8d Iowa and 10th Missouri Cavalry, and all its subse- 
 quent history has been made with those regiments. The bri- 
 gade, from the time of its organization, has been under the 
 command of Colonel Winslow. 
 
 Among the operations participated in by the 4th Iowa 
 Cavalry, that of General Sturgis against Forest, made in the 
 early part of June, 1864, is prominent. If the expedition 
 terminated disastrously, it did not with discredit to this 
 regiment ; for few soldiers have ever shown greater patience, 
 endurance and courage in the hour of calamitous defeat than 
 did those of the 4th Iowa Cavalry, and I should add, of the 
 entire 2d Brigade. The regiment left Memphis on this expedi- 
 tion the 2d or 3d of June, marching by way of La Fayette, 
 Salem, Rucksville and Ripley, where it arrived in the forenoon 
 of the 7th instant. Thus far the march was made in an almost 
 incessant shower of rain ; but no enemy had been encountered. 
 That evening, however. Company C of the 3d Iowa Cavalry, 
 while out in search of forage, was attacked by rebel cavalry in 
 considerable force, and a sharp skirmish, lasting nearly an 
 hour, followed. In this skirmish two companies of the 4th 
 Iowa were engaged, and lost four men wounded. On the 8th 
 and 9th, the advance was continued in the direction of Gun- 
 town, or Baldwin, without opposition, though evidences of the 
 
EDWARD F. WINSLOW. 613 
 
 nearness of the enemy were seen all along the route. The 1st 
 Brigade of Cavalry led the advance on the morning of the 10th 
 instant, and was the first to engage the enemy in the disastrous 
 battle of Guntown, or rather of Brice's Cross Roads; for Gun- 
 town was nearly six miles distant from the battle-field. 
 
 Guntown, Mississippi, is situated in a region of country 
 which is made up of barren hills and difficult morasses. In 
 this same region of country the Hatchie, Tallahatchie and 
 Tombigbee Rivers take their rise. Just north of Brice's Cross 
 Roads, where the main battle was fought, was one of these 
 swamps; and through this, General Sturgis must march to 
 meet the enemy. The roads, which are narrow and difficult of 
 passage in their best stages, were, at the time in question, in a 
 wretched condition, rendered so from the incessant rains. 
 Indeed General Sturgis, to a large extent, attributed his defeat 
 to the condition of the weather and roads, and in that he was 
 doubtless correct ; but he offers no excuse for bolting down into 
 that difficult swamp with his whole train, while the rattle of 
 musketry was telling him of the presence of the enemy in 
 force, not more than two miles in advance. 
 
 On the evening of the 9th instant, Sturgis encamped at 
 Stubb's plantation, fifteen miles from Ripley, and some seven 
 miles from where the enemy were first encountered. The 
 march was resumed on the following morning, the cavalry 
 leaving their camp at five o'clock, and the infantry following 
 closely on their heels. The manner in which the engagement 
 opened, and its progress till the arrival of the infantry. Gen- 
 eral Sturgis gives as follows in his official report: 
 
 "On f/iis morning I had preceded the head of the infantry 
 column, and arrived at a point some five miles from camp, 
 when I found an unusually bad place in the road, and one that 
 would require considerable time and labor to render it practi- 
 cable. While halting here to await the head of the column, I 
 
614 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 received a message from General Grierson that he had ezieoun- 
 tered a portion of the enemy's cavalry. In a few minutes 
 more, I received another message, saying the enemy numbered 
 six hundred, and were on tlie Baldwin road; that he was him- 
 self at Brice's Cross Roads, and that his position was a good 
 one and he would hold it. He was then directed to leave six 
 or seven hundred men at the cross-roads to precede the infantry 
 on its arrival, in the march on Guntown, and, with the remain- 
 der of his force, to drive the enemy toward Baldwin, and 
 then rejoin the main body by way of the line of railroad, as I 
 did not intend being drawn from my main purpose. 
 
 '* Colonel McMillen now came up, and I rode forward toward 
 the cross-roads. Before proceeding far, however, I sent a staff 
 officer back, directing McMillen to move up his advance bri- 
 gade as rajaidly as possible, without distressing his troops. 
 When I reached the cross-roads I found nearly all the cavalry 
 engaged, and the battle growing warm ; but no artillery had 
 yet opened on either side. We had four pieces of artillery at 
 the cross-roads; but they had not been placed in position, 
 owing to the dense woods on all sides and the apparent impos- 
 sibility of using them to advantage. Finding that our troops 
 were being hotly pressed, I ordered one section to open on the 
 enemy's reserves. The enemy's artillery soon replied, and 
 with great accuracj^, every shell bursting over and in the 
 immediate vicinity of our guns. Frequent calls were now 
 made for reinforcements ; but until the infantry should arrive 
 I had, of course, none to give. Colonel Winslow, 4th Iowa 
 Cavalry, commanding a brigade, and occupying a position on 
 the Guntown road a little in advance of the cross-roads, was 
 especially clamorous to be relieved, and permitted to carry his 
 brigade to the rear. ******** 
 
 "About half-past one P. M., the infantry began to arrive. 
 Colonel Hoge's Brigade was the first to reach the field, and was 
 placed in position by Colonel McMillen, when the enemy was 
 driven a little. General Grierson now requested authority to 
 withdraw the entire cavalry, as it was exhausted and well nigh 
 out of ammunition. This I authorized as soon as sufficient 
 infantry was in position to permit it, and he was directed to 
 organize his command in the rear, and hold it in readiness to 
 operate on the flanks." 
 
EDWARD F. WINSLOW. 615 
 
 The rest may soon be told ; for alarm begun to seize on all. 
 The enemy, seeing their successes, pressed their victory with 
 great energy and determination, and the infantry line was 
 hardly formed before it was broken. General Grierson was 
 called on for cavalry to support the right flank, and it no sooner 
 met the enemy in that quarter than it was repulsed. An effort 
 to hold the left was equally unsuccessful. All saw that the day 
 was lost, and acted with indecision and irresolution. Sturgis 
 was already driven from the high ground, and beaten back on 
 his wagon-train. This, he made a spasmodic eflbrt to save; 
 but, seeing the enemy in heavy columns swinging by his left 
 flank, he gave the order to retreat. And such a retreat ! Every 
 thing but his army, and much of that was lost. For the portion 
 saved, he was indebted chiefly to the cavalry, and in no slight 
 degree to the Iowa cavalry regiments. It is positively asserted 
 that the 2d Brigade, of Grierson's Division, reached Collier- 
 ville (and the enemy made pursuit to that point) in a less 
 disorganized condition than any other brigade command of the 
 army. 
 
 The list of casualties of the 4th Iowa cavalry in the battle at 
 Brice's Cross Roads and in the retreat to Collierville is not 
 given. The regiment's historian. Adjutant Ambrose Hodge, 
 closes his account of this affair as follows : 
 
 " On arriving at Collierville, the men had been in the saddle 
 fifty-four consecutive hours, fighting the greater part of the 
 time without feed for their horses or provisions for themselves. 
 The regiment arrived at Memphis, on the 14th instant, the 
 men and horses being completely worn down by excessive labor 
 performed on this march. The distance traveled was three 
 hundred and fifty miles." 
 
 Following the disastrous expedition of General Sturgis, was 
 that of General A. J. Smith; and the latter was as successful 
 &s the former had been unfortunate. The 4th Iowa Cavalry 
 joined Smith on this march, and fought in the battle of Tupelo; 
 
616 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 but au account of this expedition has ah-eatly been given in 
 the sketch of Colonel Woods of the 12th Iowa Infantry. 
 Neither in this, nor in the second expedition of General Smith 
 against Forest, are the losses of the regiment stated. It was 
 during the absence of the 4th Cavalry, or rather of eleven com- 
 panies of it, in August, that Forest dashed into Memphis, on a 
 hurried call on General Washburne. Company C was left 
 behind, being detailed on provost-duty in the city, and was 
 the only company of the regiment that, actually encountered 
 Forest. In this affair, the company lost Lieutenant L. P. 
 Baker, severely wounded. It is reported as having' conducted 
 itself with much gallantry. 
 
 Next, in the history of the regiment, follows the expedition 
 against General Price in Missouri, an account of which has 
 been given in the sketch of Colonel Noble and his regiment. 
 During the Missouri Campaign, Colonel Winslow was severely 
 wounded. He was shot in the leg, while his brigade was 
 charging the enemy, on the Big Blue Biver, near Westport. 
 Though severely wounded, it is stated he refused to leave his 
 command till the enemy had been driven from the field. 
 
 In the charge made on the 2oth of October, near the Osage, 
 the 4th Iowa Cavalry captured two hundred and thirty-five 
 prisoners, and two stand of colors, and lost during the expedi- 
 tion four killed and twenty-six wounded. Lieutenant H. W. 
 Curtis, of Company F, was killed in the charge on the Osage, 
 and Major A. R. Pierce, commanding the regiment, was 
 severely wounded in the foot. Among those mentioned for 
 special gallantry during the campaign, were Major Pierce, 
 Captains Drummond, Dana and Lee, all commanding battalions 
 of the regiment, and Lieutenant and Acting Adjutant John S. 
 Keck. Company commanders, in all cases, managed their com- 
 mands in a manner highly creditable to themselves. 
 
EDWARD F. WINSLOW. 617 
 
 If we except the expedition made by General Grierson 
 through Mississippi, late in December, 1864, there remains but 
 one more important campaign to be recorded in the history of 
 the 4th Iowa Cavalry— that made under General Wilson 
 through Alabama and Georgia. 
 
 On the route from Missouri to the Military Division of the 
 Mississippi, and during the few weeks of rest that the brigade 
 of Colonel Winslow enjoyed before starting on the Macon 
 march, there is little of special interest; and I therefore pass at 
 once to the history of the memorable raid. Brevet Major- 
 General Wilson, with a cavalry corps numbering about twelve 
 thousand men, left Chickasaw on the Tennessee on the 21st of 
 March, 1865, for a destination known to few of his command. 
 The outfit was extensive and had been long in making; and it 
 was known to the command that the expectations of the com- 
 manding general were commensurate with his preparations, 
 and that was all. The rest, the future must disclose. The route 
 of the column was nearly south-south-east, till its arrival at 
 Montevallo. From that point, it was south to Selma, and 
 thence, nearly due east, to Montgomery, Columbus and Macon. 
 In this line of march was included four of the most important 
 inland cities of the Confederacy — important as places of note 
 and pride, and as manufacturing points. 
 
 Let me state, while I have it in mind, that, on the march in 
 question, the 3d and 4th Iowa Cavalry were attached to the 
 division of General Upton, (the 4th) and the 5th and 8th to 
 that of General McCook. These were the only Iowa troops 
 who accompanied the march. 
 
 The enemy first made a determined stand at Six-Mile Creek, 
 between Montevallo and Selma. They had just previously 
 occupied Montevallo, with the expectation of defending it ; 
 but, on the near approach of the Federal column, their hearts 
 
618 IOWA COLONELS AND BEGIMENTS. 
 
 failed them, and they fled in the direction of Selma. At Six- 
 Mile Creek, the enemy were under Clialmers, Roddy and 
 Lyon, with the inhuman wretch, Forest, as commander-in- 
 chief. The battle was fought on the last day of March, and on 
 that day the division of General Upton was in the lead of the 
 column. The enemy were found in a strong position, which 
 was defended by artillery; but after some skirmishing they 
 were charged and routed, losing their artillery and more than 
 two hundred prisoners. The second fight was at Ebenezer 
 Church, about twenty miles from Selma. Here the enemy 
 were no more successful ; for after a brief engagement they 
 were a second time routed and forced back toward Selma. 
 This battle was fought on the 1st of April. The following 
 day, General Wilson defeated Forest for the third time, and 
 entered and occupied Selma. 
 
 Selma, on the north bank of the Alabama, and one of the 
 chief railroad-centres of that State, was defended by two lines 
 of works, each swinging entirely round the city, and resting 
 on the right and left of the river bank. The outer line was 
 guarded by a strong palisade. This strong-hold was captured 
 by two divisions of the Federal troops — Generals Upton's and 
 Long's. General Long took position on the right, and General 
 Upton on the left. Line of battle was formed on the high 
 ground, and, after the usual skirmishing and signaling, an 
 assault was ordered. As in all successful charges, the work 
 was well and quickly done. With less than three thousand 
 men, the outer works were carried, in the face of artillery and 
 nine thousand muskets; and only some two thousand of the 
 latter were in the hands of the citizen militia. 
 
 In taking the outer line of works, the 3d Iowa Cavalry was 
 in the front, and the 4th, in reserve; but, in taken the second 
 line, the 4th held the front. Lieutenant George W. Stamm, of 
 
EDWARD F. WIXSLOW. G19 
 
 the 3d Iowa Cavalry, who wields a good pen and I believe a 
 good sword, says: "Immediately after we took possession of 
 fortifications, the 4th Iowa Cavalry were mounted, and rushed 
 on the flying foe with an impetuosity which nothing could 
 withstand. Weary, out of breath and heated with our double- 
 quick, we saw them pass us like a whirlwind, scattering death 
 and confusion among the Johnnies, while the brass band that 
 had boldly ventured to the front was playing the enlivening 
 strains of 'Yankee Doodle,' in singular unison with the rattle 
 of musketry and the shouts of victory." Thus Selma was 
 captured, the great military store-house and manufacturing 
 depot for the Confederates, in Alabama. The enemy lost many 
 killed and wounded, and about two thousand prisoners. 
 
 Montgomery fell without a struggle, as also did jNIacon, 
 Georgia ; but Columbus, Georgia, made a determined defense. 
 General Wilson appeared before the place at noon of the IGth 
 of April, and that evening carried it, as he had Selma, by 
 assault. Columbus is situated on the east bank of the 
 renowned Chattahoochie ; but the works that protected it from 
 the west, and which General Wilson was obliged to carry, 
 were on the west bank of the stream. Both above and below 
 the city, bridges spanned the Chattahoochie : the approaches 
 to each were covered by artillery, mounted in strong forts. 
 Rifle-pits and other defenses commanded the approaches in 
 every other quarter westward. The 2d Brigade of General 
 Upton's Division first approached the city, and when near the 
 works that defended the lower bridge made a charge with the 
 hope of carrying the position and gaining the bridge. They 
 were unsuccessful, being repulsed with much loss. Colonel 
 Winslow's First Brigade now coming up was sent back by the 
 commanding general, and directed to gain, by a circuitous 
 route, a position in rear of the upper bridge. The movement 
 
620 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 was successfully made, and at dusk in the evening a cliarge 
 was ordered which resulted in the fall of Columbus. As at 
 Selma, the 3d and 4th Iowa Cavalry were in the front line. 
 Indeed, there was little fighting done during the whole cam- 
 paign in which these regiments did not have part. 
 
 I have already said that the last fighting of the expedition 
 was done at Columbus. After resting here one day, General 
 Wilson marched on Macon ; but when near the city, he was 
 advised of the terms agreed on between Sherman and Johnson, 
 and informed that his entrance into the place would not be 
 opposed. The 4th Iowa Cavalry is now in camp at Macon, and 
 the war is virtually ended. 
 
 The loss of the regiment during the campaign was not very 
 severe. Captain E. R. Jones, Chief Bugler Tabor, and Sergeant 
 Beezley, were among the killed, and Quarter-Master Sergeant 
 Detrick and Sergeant Stocks among the wounded. The entire 
 loss of the regiment in killed and wounded was, I think, 
 twenty-five. Captain Jones was killed in the charge at Selma. 
 
 I never saw Colonel Winslow, but am told he has an intelli- 
 gent and pleasing countenance, and a feminine voice. He is a 
 man of great energy, great ambition and unlimited self-confi- 
 dence. All agree that he is a splendid officer. He has both the 
 courage and the skill to handle troops successfully in the face 
 of the enemy. His worst fault, if it can be termed a fault, is 
 his self-conceit, which sometimes discovers itself immodestly. 
 
COLONEL WILLIAM W. LOWE. 
 
 FIFTH CAVALRY. 
 
 W, W. Lowe, at the time of being mustered colonel of the 
 5th Iowa Cavalry, or Curtis Horse, was a captain in the regular 
 army, which is all I know of him. 
 
 The 5th Iowa Cavalry is not strictly an Iowa regiment, for a 
 majority of the men composing it are not citizens of Iowa. 
 The regiment was organized at Benton Barracks, near St. 
 Louis, Missouri, early in 18G2, and in pursuance of an order 
 from the War Department, "directing the organization of a 
 cavalry regiment, to be called the Curtis Horse." It was made 
 up of troops from Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota 
 and Illinois. M. T. Patrick was its lieutenant-colonel, and a 
 Nebraska man; Carl Schaffer de Boernstein, William Kelsay 
 and Alfred B. Brackett were its majors, the two former being 
 from Iowa, and the latter from Minnesota. Companies E and 
 F, and parts of Companies A, B, C and H, are from Iowa. One 
 company of the regiment, (L) known as the Irish Dragoons, 
 had seen service, and had proud antecedents. It formed part 
 of the command of Major Zagonyi, at the time he made his 
 brilliant charge into Springfield, Missouri, during the Fremont 
 Campaign. In the charge, it lost its captain severely wounded, 
 and its first-lieutenant killed. 
 
 The 5th Iowa Cavalry left St. Louis for the front, on the 8th 
 of February, 1862, and first served in Tennessee. Indeed, the 
 head-quarters of the regiment were maintained at Forts Henry 
 and Donelson and vicinity, a principal portion of the time 
 from the 12th of February, 1862, till the 5th of June, 1863, 
 
 when they were transferred, by order of General Rosecrans, to 
 
 621 
 
622 IOWA COLONELS AND IIEGIMI<:XT3. 
 
 Murfreesboro. The services of the oth Iowa, for the first year 
 and a half, were more arduous than brilliant. The regiment 
 was kept constantly on the scout. It took part in no severe 
 engagements, where the dead and wounded were counted by 
 scores, and consequently gained little distinction. While serv- 
 ing in North-Western Tennessee, the following are among the 
 most important operations of the regiment. 
 
 Immediately after the fall of Fort Donelson, a detachment 
 of the 5th Iowa under Lieutenant-Colonel Patrick moved up 
 the Tennessee, by order of General Grant, to destroy the 
 Memphis and Ohio Ilailroad-bridge, over the Tennessee Hiver. 
 The object of the expedition was successfully accomplished ; 
 and this was the regiment's first march. INIarch 11th, Captain 
 Craft led a battalion of the oth Iowa to Paris, Tennessee, with 
 a view of dispersing a rebel force under Colonel Clay King, 
 who was enforcing the rebel conscript-law in the neighbor- 
 hood. This expedition resulted in quite a serious engagement, 
 in which the regiment lost its fn-stmcn killed in battle; seven 
 were killed and wounded. Late in March, 1862, Comi)anies 
 C, I and M, of the regiment, were detached, and ordered on 
 duty with the Army of the Tennessee, then lying at Savannah. 
 Major Brackett commanded the detachment, which was absent 
 from the regiment for the period of five months. 
 
 The first serious misfortune which befel the regiment was 
 the loss of its gallant major, Carl Schaffer de Boernstein. He 
 was mortally wounded in the evening of the 6th of May, near 
 Loughridge's Mills, Tennessee, and died the next day. On the 
 3d of May, a detachment of the regiment, under command of 
 the major, had marched, by order of Colonel Lowe, beyond 
 Paris, to the neighborhood of the Obion River, for pur- 
 poses of reconnoissance. On the 6th instant, the detachment 
 had completed its marching for the day, and gone into camp. 
 
WILLIAM W. -LOWE. 623 
 
 Having thrown out pickets, they began preparing their supper, 
 when they were startled by firing on the pi.ket-line. The men 
 seized their guns, and, under the direction of tlie major, formed 
 line of battle; but they were almost instantly assaulted by a 
 superior rebel force under Colonel Clayborne, and, after a short 
 struggle, completely routed. The major was shot while cheer- 
 ing his men to continue the struggle. Lieutenant William T. 
 Hays, the regiment's historian, pays this gallant officer the 
 following tribute : 
 
 The untimely death of INIajor Schaffer was deeply deplored 
 by the regiment. A nobleman by birth, he left his fatherland 
 on account of political troubles, and sought an asylum in the 
 land of the free; and, in defense of the country of his adoption, 
 he poured out his blood on the battle-field. Only a short time 
 before his death, he had succeeded to his paternal titles and 
 estate of the Barony of Boernstein. The gallant major had 
 preferred service in the army of the United States, to a life of 
 inglorious ease. His body was forwarded to Dubuque, Iowa, 
 and attended to the tomb by a larger concourse of citizens than 
 had ever assembled there before on a similar occasion." 
 
 Captains Plaw and Van Minden were wounded in this same 
 engagement, at Loughridge's Mills. 
 
 From the 10th of May till the latter part of August, 1862, 
 the ;jth Iowa continued on the scout, but without any thing 
 happening worthy of special mention: during this time, Colo- 
 nel Lowe had command of Forts Henry and Donelson, and 
 also of Fort Heiman. 
 
 On the 26th of August, the rebel Colonel Woodward attacked 
 Major Hart at Fort Donelson, with a force, numbering about 
 six hundred. Colonel Low^e, who was at the time at Fort 
 Heiman, marched to the major's relief; but before his arrival 
 the enemy had been repulsed. He at once started in pursuit, 
 and came on the rebel pickets near the mines of the Cumber- 
 land Iron Works. A sharp engagement followed, in which 
 the regiment lost twelve killed and wounded: all the casualties 
 
624 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 were from Company B. Lieutenant McNeely was severely, and 
 Lieutenant Summers mortally wounded. 
 
 Of Lieutenant Milton S. Summers, Lieutenant Hays says: 
 "A more gallant officer never drew sword for his country. 
 Riddled with balls, he fell from his horse near the enemy's 
 cannon, and was surrounded by a crowd of them, who 
 attempted to bayonet him ; but, although unable to rise to his 
 feet, h(; cut at his assailants with his sabre, and split one of 
 them from the shoulder to the centre of his body, and cut the 
 hand of another nearly off. He fought with his sabre till it 
 become so bent as to be useless, and then shot five times with 
 his revolver, when the crowd of rebels, pressing on him from 
 all sides, wrenched his pistol from his grasp, and made him a 
 prisoner. When taken, he had seven minnie balls in his body, 
 and a bayonet- wound in his thigh." Lieutenant Summers 
 was a native of Illinois, and a resident of Glenwood, Mills 
 county, Iowa. 
 
 After this affair at the Cumberland Iron Works, the rebel 
 forces remained in the neighborhood of Fort Donelson for 
 many weeks, giving constant annoyance to the Federal troops. 
 Several expeditions were sent out to disperse them, and thus 
 the Fall and Winter, and following Spring passed. On one of 
 these expeditions, Lieutenant Gallagher, of Company L, was 
 killed. 
 
 On the 5th of June, 1863, the 5th Iowa Cavalry left its old 
 field of operations for one which, if it did not promise greater 
 activity, promised better reward. General Rosecrans sum- 
 moned it to Murfreesboro. That general was about assuming 
 the offensive against Bragg, and the 5th Iowa was among the 
 troops the Government gave him, to enable him to push his 
 operations to success. The regiment arrived at Murfreesboro 
 on the 11th of June, 18G3, and served under General Rosecrans 
 
WILLIAM W. LOWE. 62-5 
 
 till he was superseded. It was the only Iowa regiment in the 
 celebrated Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans began mov- 
 ing his army about the middle of June, and, from that time 
 till the rebel army was flanked and forced from its intrench- 
 ments, the 5th Iowa was constantly in the saddle, and riding 
 from one wing of the army to the other. After Bragg had 
 been forced back across the mountains, the regiment was sta- 
 tioned in the rear, to protect the line of communications, and 
 to guard supply-trains to the front. During the months of 
 July and August, it served, a chief portion of the time, at 
 Murfreesboro ; but, on the 6th of September, except Companies 
 I and K, left for McMinnville, Tennessee. 
 
 Early in October, 18G.3, the rebel General Wheeler appeared 
 in Middle Tennessee, threatening General Thomas' commu- 
 nications to the roar. He had crossed the mountains, and wsis 
 hourly looked for at almost any point along the line of the 
 Nashville and Chattiinooga Railroad. Accordingly, on the 4th 
 of October, Colonel Lowe, who was at the time in camp with 
 his regiment near Winchester, received orders to move in the 
 direction of Murfreesboro. On the 6th instant, he reached 
 Tullahoma, where he learned that Wheeler was in force at 
 Wartoace. He accordingly proceeded to Duck River Bridge, 
 where he left his train, and then moved rapidly against the 
 enemy. They were found in force in the woods near the town, 
 and engaged and driven in the direction of Shelby ville. The 
 5th Iowa made pursuit, pressed them through Shelbyville and 
 to the Tennessee River, which Wheeler succeeded in crossing, 
 by breaking his force up into small detachments. Having thus 
 escaped, he re-organized his troops, and moved out through 
 Tuscumbia. It was this same force which fought Sherman's 
 advance at Cherokee and other places, while that general 
 was on his way from Corinth to Chattanooga. 
 
 40 
 
626 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 After Wheeler had been driven across the Tennessee, the oth 
 Iowa Cavalry turned on the forces of Roddy, reported in the 
 vicinity of Iluntsville and Athens, but after marching as far 
 as Salem, Tennessee, turned back with its division to Mays- 
 ville, Alabama, where it arrived on the 17tli of October, 
 and went into camp. In November following, Major Young 
 of the 5th Cavalry performed a most successful raid along the 
 Tennessee Iliver, for which he received the special thanks of 
 Major-General Thomas, The fruits of the expedition are given 
 thus by Lieutenant Hays : 
 
 "In this expedition, in which the 5th Iowa Cavalry bore so 
 prominent a part, a rebel captain and eight soldiers were cap- 
 tured, nine large ferry boats captured and destroyed, (eight 
 of them from under the enemy's guns) two hundred fine mules 
 and horses captured, one mill in the possession and employ of 
 the enemy destroyed, and contrabands brouglit in to complete 
 the organization of a regiment then forming at INIaysville.'' 
 
 The following is from General Thomas : 
 
 •'BriGxVdier General George Crook, 
 
 Commanding 2d Cavalry Division, Maysville, Alabama. 
 
 " * * The major-general commanding directs that you tender 
 his thanks to Major Young, for the brave, energetic and 
 prudent manner, in which the expedition was conducted." 
 
 Major J. Morris Young is a native of Indiana, and an Iowa 
 man, having entered the service from Page county. 
 
 The month of December was passed in scouting through 
 Northern Alabama, principally along the Tennessee Iliver. 
 During the operations of this month, Sergeants McGuire and 
 Ireland, and Private Ireland, of the 5th Iowa Cavalry, were 
 the heroes of a story which deserves to be related at length. 
 
 "On the 19th of December, Major Brackett sent Sergeants 
 McGuire and Ireland, and Private Ireland, all of Company H, 
 to Paint Rock, with letters and dispatches. When within four 
 miles of Paint Rock, the party were captured by twenty-one 
 guerrillas, and taken to the mountains, where they were strip- 
 ped of their clothing and money. Private Ireland, who had 
 
WILLIAM W. LOWE. 627 
 
 , charge of the dispatches, secreted them inside his drawers, 
 
 I where the enemy failed to find them. Next morning, the 
 
 { prisoners were left under guard of two guerrillas, while th© 
 
 I balance of the gang went down the mountain to watch for 
 
 I more booty. Our brave boys watched their opportunity, 
 
 ! sprang on the guards, took their guns away from them, and 
 
 i told them to go down the mountain and give no alarm, and 
 
 ! their lives should be spared; but, after going about fifty yards, 
 
 j the guards drew their revolvers, (which our men, in the excite- 
 
 I ment, had overlooked) and commenced firing, but without 
 
 effect. Our men then fired, killing both the guerrillas, and 
 
 made their escape to camp. The bodies of the guerrillas were 
 
 found next day, where they fell, their companions having 
 
 decamped in such haste as to leave them unburied." 
 
 The 5th Iowa Cavalry re-enlisted as veterans in December, 
 and in the following month were granted veteran furlough. 
 Returning to tlie field in March, the regiment lay at Nashville 
 (except a part of it, which guarded railroad at Pulaski) till 
 the 8th of the following July, when it joined General Kosseau 
 at Decatur, preparatory to starting on the celebrated Alabama 
 raid. This was a most daring undertaking, and it will be 
 interesting to know the troops composing the command. They 
 were the 8th Indiana, 2d Kentucky, 9th Ohio, 5th Iowa and 
 4th Tennessee, (all cavalry regiments) and a section of artillery. 
 
 The object of this expedition was to make a diversion in 
 favor of General Sherman, then well on his way to Atlanta, 
 and to destroy important lines of rebel communication. It was 
 a complete success, and was made with less sacrifice of life and 
 property than any other like expedition of the war. 
 
 General Rosseau, equipped with fine horses, and with five 
 days' rations of bread and bacon and fifteen of sugar and coffee, 
 marched quietly out of Decatur, in the afternoon of Sunday, 
 the 10th of July, and the first night rested in Summerville. 
 Taking a south-easterly course, his line of march lay through 
 
628 IOWA COLONELS AND EEGIMENTS. 
 
 the following points : Summit, Blountsville, over Sand Moun- 
 tain, Ashville, Springville, Jackson's Ford, Talladega, Stone's 
 Ferry across the Tallapoosa River, Dadeville, and Lochepoga 
 on the line of the West Point and Montgomery Railroad. 
 Tfm was the objective point. The march progressed without 
 accident, until the arrival at Springville, on the Coosa River, 
 in the evening of the 13th of July. The 5th Iowa Cavalry 
 was, at the time in question, rear-guard, and was some three 
 or four hundred yards behind the main column, when Captains 
 Curl and Wilcox, riding forward in the interval between their 
 own regiment and the mule-train, were ambushed by guerril- 
 las. Being ordered to surrender, they turned back their horses 
 to escape, when the marauders fired, killing Captain Curl 
 instantly, and seriously wn)unding Captain Wilcox 
 
 Crossing the Coosa at Jackson's Ford, so christened from 
 General Jackson having crossed at that point during the Creek 
 War, the command marched in the direction of Talladega, 
 and, during the day, destroyed some extensive rebel iron 
 works. At Talladega on the line of the Blue Mountain and 
 Selma Railroad, General Rosseau burned a large depot, stored 
 with cotton and extensive rebel supplies, and destroyed the 
 telegraph and the railroad for a considerable distance. Loch- 
 epoga was finally reached in the evening of the I7th instant. 
 This, as I have said, was the objective point. It was situated 
 on one of the chief arteries of the Confederacy— that connect- 
 ing Atlanta and the East with Montgomery and the Gulf. 
 Its destruction would be an irreparable damage to the enemy, 
 and was a misfortune they never looked for. 
 
 The work of destruction was at once begun. All that night, 
 one-half of the command worked tearing up the road and 
 burning bridges and trestle-work, while the other half watched 
 for the enemy, and rested on their arms. Near Chehaw^, some 
 
WILLIAM W. LOWE. 629 
 
 ten miles west of Lochepoga, was a long line of trestle-work, 
 which, on the morning of the 18th instant, Major Beard of the 
 5th Iowa Cavalry, with a small command, was sent out to 
 destroy ; but he met the enemy twelve hundred strong a few 
 miles out, and was driven back. Reinforcements were sent for 
 and came up, when an engagement ensued, which resulted in 
 the defeat of the enemy and the complete destruction of the 
 road. That same afternoon, the 18th, General Rosseau left 
 Lochepoga, moving in the direction of West Point on the 
 Georgia and Alabama line. He passed through Auburn, and 
 as far east as Opelika, destroying the road all the way. 
 
 The enemy were now filled with alarm ; for rumor had mag- 
 nified the Federal force to fabulous numbers, and they looked 
 for a direct advance on Atlanta. Rebel troops were therefore 
 summoned from every quarter to West Point, where they were 
 to make a desperate stand. But Rosseau left them watching, 
 and quietly took himself in the direction of the Federal lines. 
 Leaving the West Point road at Opelika, he marched in a 
 north-easterly course, and, passing through La Fayette, Rock 
 Mills, Carrollton and Villa Rica, reached the Federal pickets 
 at Sweet Water Bridge, at noon of the 22d of July. That 
 evening he marched into Marietta. 
 
 The results of this expedition are summed up as follows: It 
 was out thirteen days, "during which time the command 
 marched three hundred and eighty miles, entirely in the ene- 
 my's territory, destroyed thirty-five miles of railroad, five 
 large depots filled with cotton and supplies for the rebel army, 
 one shot and shell manufactory, one locomotive and train of 
 cars, and captured many valuable horses and mules, inflicting 
 a loss on the enemy estimated at twenty millions of dollars. 
 All this was accomplished with a loss to us of one captain and 
 four privates killed, and one captain and eight privates 
 
630 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 wounded. All the above loss was in the 5th Iowa Cavalry, 
 except one man of the 8th Indiana Cavalry, wounded," 
 ample evidence, showing the part that regiment bore in the 
 brilliant and successful raid. 
 
 After a few days' rest, the 5th Iowa Cavalry started on the 
 McCook raid to the rear of Atlanta, a history of which luckless 
 affair will be found in the sketch of Colonel Dorr and his regi- 
 ment. The regiment lost in this raid one hundred and twenty- 
 one officers and men in killed, wounded and captured. Lieu- 
 tenant Andrew Guler was killed, and Lieutenant William T. 
 Hays, the regiment's historian, captured. Next in its history 
 is the advance on Jonosboro, which the regiment, with the 
 cavalry troops under Kilpatrick, led. In this movement, it 
 lost nineteen killed and wounded, the largest list of casualties 
 in proportion to the number engaged that was sustained by 
 any regiment in the engagement. 
 
 On the 8th of August, 1864, by special order of the War 
 Department, the veterans of the 5th Iowa Infantry were con- 
 solidated with the 5th Iowa Cavalry, and thus the noble oth 
 Infixntry lost its organization. The two commands were uni- 
 ted early in September, and, not long after, were sent back to 
 Nashville to be re-mounted and re-fitted for the field. At 
 Nashville, the regiment took part, under General Thomas, in 
 beating back Hood from that city ; and, finally, after several 
 weeks' rest, joined General Wilson in his brilliant march 
 through Alabama and Georgia. It is now stationed near 
 Macon, Georgia, with the prospect of being soon mustered out 
 of the service. 
 
COLONEL DAVID STOKELY WILSON. 
 
 FIRST COLOXEL, SIXTH CAVALRY. 
 
 David S. Wilson is a native of Steubenville, Ohio, where 
 he was born on the 18th of March, 1823. Both on the paternal 
 and maternal side he came of loyal stock. His father was a 
 Bevolutionary soldier, and later, for twenty years, was an 
 United States receiver of public moneys at Steubenville. 
 The father died when the son was six years of age, leaving 
 him to be cared for and instructed by his mother. Upon the 
 organization of the Iowa Territorial Courts, Thomas Wilson, 
 an older brother of David, received the appointment of Judge 
 of the Northern District. In 1841, David joined his brother 
 at Dubuque, and passed his first year in Iowa, in opening up 
 a farm of his brother's, near that place. The next year he 
 entered the office of the "Miner's Express," the old-time 
 Democratic organ at Dubuque, and shortly after purchased 
 an interest in the concern. He held the editorial depart- 
 ment. 
 
 In 1844, he was elected a member of the Territorial House of 
 Representatives, but with this exception confined himself to 
 the editorial duties of the "Express" till the declaration of 
 war with Mexico. Then he began enlisting a company for the 
 service, and succeeded so well as to secure a lieutenancy. He 
 was ordered with his command to relieve Captain, later Gen- 
 eral Sumner, who was stationed at Fort Crawford, Prairie du 
 Chien. Lieutenant Wilson continued in the service about three 
 years, a chief portion of this time being stationed at Fort 
 Atkinson, and having charge of the Winnebagos. This tribe 
 
 631 
 
632 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 of Indians he assisted in removing to their reservation in Min- 
 nesota. 
 
 While stationed at Fort Atkinson, I am told he devoted his 
 leisure moments to the study of law; and the knowledge thus 
 gained enabled him, soon after leaving the service, to enter the 
 law practice. lie opened an office in Dubuque, and made the 
 law his business till the breaking out of the rebellion. I should 
 not omit to state that in 1857 he was elected to the State Senate 
 from the Dubuque District. He was a democrat; but I need 
 not have added that, for he was elected from Dubuque. 
 
 The services of the Gth Iowa Cavalry, like those of the 7th, 
 are for the most part tame and uneventful. The regiment has 
 served constantly on the Western Frontier, with head-quarters, 
 the most of the time, at Sioux City. The history of its 
 marches and campaigns may be found in General Sully's 
 reports of his operations against the Indians in Dacotah Terri- 
 tory. In the latter part of August, 1863, Colonel Wilson 
 marched with his regiment on General Sully's expedition up 
 the Little Cayenne, and took part in the battle fought with 
 twelve or fifteen thousand warriors near the head-waters of 
 Elm Kiver. 
 
 The above is the most important engagement the regiment 
 ever took part in. 
 
 Colonel Wilson resigned his commission late in the spring of 
 1864, and was succeeded, in the colonelcy of the regiment, by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel M. Pollock of Dubuque. 
 
COLONEL SAMUEL W. SUMMERS. 
 
 SEVENTH CAVALRY. 
 
 Samuel W. Summers is a Virj:^inian, and the only native 
 of that State who has held a colonel's commission from Iowa. 
 He was born in the year 1820. In about the year 1842, he came 
 West and settled in Van Buren county, Iowa, where he began 
 the practice of law. A few years later, he removed to Ottum- 
 wa, Wapello county, where he continued his law practice, and 
 where he still resides. 
 
 In Colonel Summers' experiences may be seen the difficulties 
 
 and discouragements under which a young attorney labored, 
 
 in the early history of Southern Iowa. Fees were small, and 
 
 credit was small. Law cases were scarce, and money still 
 
 more so. Indeed, at that day things were done on a small 
 
 scale in this Western Country. If I allude to a few items of a 
 
 personal character, the colonel will excuse me; for they will 
 
 certainly do him no discredit. For three or four years after 
 
 coming to Ottumwa, he looked poor, lived poor, and was poor, 
 
 A five-dollar fee in those days was enormous, and to get it all 
 
 at once, and in cash was extraordinary good fortune. He had 
 
 little business and little money. I have been told by old 
 
 resident-merchants that it was no uncommon thing for him to 
 
 ask credit for the cheapest articles of merchandize. He was 
 
 never refused ; for the first fee he received was sure to find its 
 
 way into the pockets of his creditors. They say it was fully 
 
 four years before he could keep his head above water long 
 
 enough to take a long breath. But his perseverance and 
 
 economy at last conquered, and, in 1858, he had acquired 
 
 a respectable property. 
 
 633 
 
634 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Colonel Summers never held a public office. I think he 
 never sought one. There was no money in it. He was always 
 to be found in his office, and attending to his business. In 18G0 
 he accepted the nomination for district judge of his district on 
 the Bepublican ticket; but a few weeks later he withdrew his 
 name from the canvass. He never commanded any thing but 
 the business of his office, and the pockets of his clients, till he 
 commanded his regiment. He was commissioned colonel of 
 the 7th Iowa Cavalry the 8th of January, 1863, and on the 25th 
 of July following, was mustered into the United States ser- 
 vice. Like Colonels Wilson and Pollock of the Gth Iowa Cav- 
 alry, Colonel Summers was stationed during his whole term on 
 the Western Frontier. It might have been an arduous, but was 
 not a very dangerous service; for his antagonists were "the 
 red men of the forest" to fight and chase whom, some have 
 regarded as amusement. There is, of course, nothing brilliant 
 about his military record. He was in the service about two 
 years, and the principal portion of that time had his head- 
 quarters in Omaha, Nebraska Territory, where he slept on a 
 downy bed, and ate at a bountiful board. He was mustered a 
 citizen in the sjiring of 1865, in consequence, I am told, of his 
 regiment being reduced below the minimum of a regimental 
 organization. 
 
 The 7th Iowa Cavalry, from the day it went on duty in 
 Nebraska, till the time Colonel Summers left it, was broken up 
 into detachments, and stationed at different points in the vast 
 stretch of country lying between the Missouri River and the 
 Rocky Mountains. But to give a detailed account of the 
 movements made by the different detachments of the regiment, 
 is impossible in the limited space to which I am confined. I 
 can only allude to some of the most important ones. 
 
 In February, 1864, the regiment was stationed as follows: 
 
SAMUEL, W. SUMMEES. 635 
 
 Company A, Captain E. B. Murphy; Conapany D, Captain W. 
 D. Fonts, and Company H, Captain D. S. Malven, were sta- 
 tioned at Fort Kearney, under Major John S. Wood. Com- 
 pany G, Captain E. Hammer; Company F, Captain J. S. 
 Brewer, were stationed at Cottonwood Springs. Comi^any E, 
 Captain J. B. David, at the Pawnee Indian Agency. Com- 
 pany B, Captain John Wilcox, at Dacotah City, and Company 
 C, Captain J. C. Mitchell, at Nebraska City. Companies I, K, 
 L and ]M, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Pattee, were sta- 
 tioned at Forts Randall and Sully, and at Sioux City. These 
 last named companies were those which accompanied General 
 Sully on his Indian expeditions up the Missouri Biver in the 
 summer and fall of 1864. The heroes of Plum Creek and 
 Julesburg belonged to the 1st and 2d Battalions of the regi- 
 ment; but in neither of these affairs was there more than two 
 hundred and fifty men engaged. 
 
 Plum Creek is on the road from Fort Kearney to Denver, 
 and some thirty miles west of the former place. It consisted 
 of only some half-a-dozen dwellings or ranches at the time of 
 which wo speak. When the place was attacked in the fall of 
 186-4, Colonel Summers, with a small detachment of his regi- 
 ment, was stationed at Fort Kearney, having a few weeks 
 before relieved Major Wood of his regiment. Word was sent 
 to the colonel of the approach of the Indians, accompanied with 
 a request that he hurry to the relief of the place. He at once 
 began making preparations to march; but one thing after 
 another delayed, till nearly two hours had elapsed before his 
 regiment was in the saddle. The weather was dry and exces- 
 sively hot, and, to spare his horses, he moved with much 
 leisure. Indeed, it is said ten hours were consumed in travel- 
 ing the thirty miles. In the meantime the Indians had com- 
 pleted their work and fled. Some of his officers, who had no 
 care for government property, were clamorous to hasten the 
 
636 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 march, fearing that the Indians would be off before their arri- 
 val; but the colonel was resolute, preferring to forego the 
 prospect of glory, rather than run down and ruin his horses. 
 One of his officers in particular, Captain Edward B. Murjihy of 
 Company A, was so restive that the colonel had to threaten to 
 put him under arrest before he could be restrained ; but this 
 same captain, Colonel Summers has since said, was one of the 
 best officers of his regiment. 
 
 The colonel was more fortunate at Julesburg ; for there the 
 Indians came within striking distance, and lost by their rash- 
 ness one of their boasted chiefs. Julesburg is situated in the 
 extreme north-east corner of Colorado Territory. It is four 
 hundred miles west from Omaha, and two hundred east from 
 Denver, and is on the main thoroughfare from the Missouri 
 River to California. 
 
 At the time the attack was made on Julesburg, Colonel Sum- 
 mers, with Major O'Brien and Captain Murphy of his regiment, 
 chanced to be at Fort Rankin, near that place. On the eve- 
 ning before the attack, a stage-driver, or teamster, came in and 
 reported that the Indians were in the neighborhood, and had 
 fired on a train, then approaching from the west ; but the man 
 was known to be unworthy of belief, and little attention was 
 paid to his story. The next morning, however, the Indians 
 made their appearance on the prairie, and Colonel Summers 
 collected and mounted his men to give them battle. Including 
 the commands of Major O'Brien and Captain Murphy, he did 
 not have more than one hundred men ; and the Indians did 
 not number less than five hundred ; but they were concealed 
 behind some of the small hills that abound in that region, and 
 he could not learn their strength. He accordingly rode boldly 
 out to fight them, and moved in three detachments: Major 
 O'Brien was on the right. Captain Murphy in the centre, while 
 he held the left. 
 
SAMUEL W. SUMMERS. 637 
 
 Immediately on coming among the hills of which I have 
 spoken, he found himself confronted by a superior force; but 
 he opened the fight with great vigor. It had not progressed 
 long, however, before, looking to the right, he saw that 
 Major O'Brien was nearly surrounded, and the major, instead 
 of falling back was endeavoring to fight the Indians off. 
 The colonel at once sent word to him and to Captain INIurphy 
 to fall back to the fort. But in the meantime the Indians 
 had moved so far round to his own right and rear that, should 
 he attempt to reach the fort, he would probably be captured; 
 and he therefore, with a few of his men, made his escape to 
 a ranch only a few miles away. The Indians pursued Major 
 O'Brien and Captain Murphy to the fort, and a severe fight 
 ensued for its possession ; but they were finally beaten off. 
 It was through the courage of these officers only that the 
 place was saved from capture. Julesburg was then sacked, 
 after which, the Indians left. The next day, Colonel Sum- 
 mers went upon the field, and, finding the dead body of an 
 Indian chief, who had fallen by his own hands, stripped him 
 of his toggeries. I understand that he brought them to his 
 home as trophies, but have never had the pleasure of seeing 
 them. 
 
 The loss of the 7th Iowa Cavalry at Julesburg was about 
 fifteen; and all who were wounded and left upon the field 
 were murdered, and their bodies most shockingly mutilated. 
 Sergeant Alanson Hanchet, a brave and powerful man, after 
 killing seven Indians, was shot from his horse and left upon 
 the field. When the fight was over, the inhuman wretches 
 beat a hole in his head, and, filling it with powder, blew it to 
 atoms: they afterwards chopped his body into inches. Nearly 
 all the wounded had their legs and arms severed. 
 Soon after this affair, Colonel Summers started for Omaha; 
 
638 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 but before leaving, the citizens of Julesburg assembled and 
 passed resolutions, thanking him for his defense of the place. 
 They were grateful testimonials, and have been published in 
 several of the papers of Southern Iowa. 
 
 I have been told that many of the officers of the 7th Cavalry 
 have made frequent complaint because they were kept on duty 
 in the Indian country. Had this regiment served at the front, 
 there is no doubt it would have made a record, equal to that of 
 any other Iowa Cavalry regiment. 
 
 Colonel Summers is a slender, spare man, of great activity, 
 and weighing about one hundred and forty i)Ounds. He does 
 not have the appearance of vigorous health ; and yet, he is one 
 of the hardiest men of my actpiaintance. I have never known 
 hira to be sick. Pie has a small, restless, black eye, sunk well 
 in his head, and wearing, at will, a most unfriendly leer. You 
 would know, to look at him, that he was a sharp, shrewtl man. 
 He is sociable and agreeable, and would be generous and lib- 
 eral, if he loved money less. "Keep what you get," is his 
 motto. He will do any thing to accommodate a friend, except 
 to disembowel his wallet, or i)ut his property in ixtH, by 
 attaching his name to a note or recognizance. 
 
 The colonel is very common in his manners and dress, and 
 temperate and economical in his habits. 
 
COLONEL JOSEPH B. DORR. 
 
 EIGHTH CAVALRY. 
 
 The late Colonel Joseph B. Dork was a native of Erie 
 county, New York, where he was born the 6th day of August, 
 1825. He was educated at the common schools of Erie county, 
 where he continued to reside till the year 1847. In the fall of 
 that year he came West, and settled in Jackson county, Iowa, 
 and, in the year following, became the editor and proprietor of 
 the " Jackson County Democrat." That paper he continued to 
 edit and publish till the year 1849, when he established the 
 "Western Democrat and Common School Journal," the first 
 educational journal published in the State of Iowa. 
 
 After a residence of nearly five years in Jackson county, Mr. 
 Dorr removed to the city of Dubuque, where he soon after 
 became an associate editor of the "Dubuque Herald." In 
 1855, he became sole proprietor of the "Herald," which he 
 continued to publish till May, 1861. In justice to the colonel I 
 should state that, his editorial connection with that paper 
 ceased at the close of the Presidential Campaign of 1860. 
 Though always a member of the Democratic party, he was 
 never of the peace persuasion. From the beginning of our 
 present troubles, he was an earnest war man. 
 
 In the summer of 1861, Colonel Dorr assisted in raising the 
 12th Iowa Infantry, and on its organization, was made quarter- 
 master of that regiment. To an honest man, the position of 
 regimental quarter-master is the least desirable of all. Its 
 duties are difficult and arduous, and such as to render the offi- 
 cer extremely unpopular. With the common soldiers, to be a 
 
 quarter-master is almost synonymous with being a rascal. I 
 
 639 
 
640 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 believe that Quarter-Master Dorr discharged the duties of his 
 ofl&ce honestly and faithfully. He was eertainly popular with 
 his regiment. At Shiloh he distinguished himself. Volun- 
 tarily w. iving all claims to personal security, which are usually 
 considered as attaching to the office of quarter-master, he acted 
 as aide to Colonel "Woods on the field, and was with his regiment 
 taken prisoner. His services were appreciated by Colonel 
 Woods, for in his oflicial report he says : 
 
 "Quarter-Master Dorr, though his position did not require 
 him to go into action, volunteered to do so, and, throughout 
 the day, behaved in a brave and giUlant manner, daringly if not 
 recklessly exposing his person to the enemy. He made him- 
 self very useful in carrying messages, and in spying out the 
 positions and movements of the enemy, and firing on them as 
 occasion offered." 
 
 Colonel Dorr was commissioned colonel of the Sth Iowa Cav- 
 alry the 14th of April, 18G3 ; but was not mustered to that rank 
 till the 30th of the following September. He served in the 
 field with his regiment, being a considerable portion of the 
 time in command of a brigade, till the spring of ISGo. He 
 died of disease at Macon, Georgia, on the Sth of May, 1 S(i.'). He 
 was a most excellent citizen, and a splendid soldier. 
 
 The Sth Iowa Cavalry was rendezvoused and org-anized at 
 Camp llcndcrshott, Davenport, Iowa; was nuistered into the 
 United States service on the 30th of September, 1SG3; and a 
 few days later was ordered to report to ( Jeneral llosirrans, at 
 Chattanooga. The ri'giment left Iowa on the 17(h of ( )it<)ber 
 for Louisville, where it arrived on the lilst instant. 
 
 On the 17th of N()Vi'ml)er it had reached NashvilU"; but 
 Thomas hail in (lie meantime succeeded Kosecrans, and th(> 
 regiment was onh-red to rejtort to (ieneral A. ('. (lillem, who 
 Htationed it as follows: —'I'he 1st Hattalion and regimental 
 hcad-ijiiarters were at Wuvcrly; the .".d llattalion forty-iiiia- 
 
JOSEPH B. DORR. 641 
 
 miles west of Nashville, and the 2d Battalion some thirty 
 miles west of Nashville. The different battalions served at 
 these stations until the spring of 1864, doing patrol- and guard- 
 duty. During this time, no opportunity for distinction offered ; 
 but, to show that the duties of the regiment were arduous, it 
 need only be stated that the portion of Tennessee, where it 
 served was intensely disloyal, and infested with guerrillas. 
 
 "One expedition was made during December, 1863, which 
 deserves notice as an opening incident in the history of a new 
 regiment. On the 20th, Lieutenant Wilbur F. McCanon, 
 Company G, with forty men, crossed Duck River during a 
 violent storm of wind and rain, and under most disadvanta- 
 geous circumstances, the stream being swollen out of its banks 
 and running at a furious rate. The crossing was not efiPected 
 till after dark; but, without halting, he pushed out over the 
 low lands, already running with torrents from the overflowing 
 river, and, traversing a thickly-wooded country a distance of 
 fourteen miles, reached the rendezvous of a portion of Haw- 
 kins' men, and captured Captain Nance, one lieutenant, and 
 twelve men with their horses and arms. I had expected that 
 Colonel Hawkins and his staff with twenty-five or thirty of 
 his best men would be found there, but he had been too careful 
 of his life and liberty to trust himself within twenty miles of 
 the post for quarters. The party returned across the river by 
 day-light the next morning. Lieutenant McCanon is entitled 
 to much credit for his perseverance under difficulties." 
 
 In February, 1864, the rebel Roddy made his appearance in 
 Southern Tennessee, with a force estimated at four thousand 
 men, with two full batteries. He came as far north as Pulaski 
 and attacked that place, but wslh repulsed. Word was sent by 
 General Rosseau, commanding at Nashville, to Colonel Dorr 
 at Waverly, of the fact, with instructions to scout the country 
 south, and develop the intentions of the enemy. Captain 
 Burns with his company was, accordingly, dispatched to Cen- 
 treville, nearly forty miles distant ; but on arriving there the 
 captain learned that Roddy had retired across the Tennessee. 
 
642 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 His expedition however was not fruitless ; for on the return he 
 got word of a rebel recruiting party on its way to Western 
 Kentucky, and made pursuit. The chief of the party, which 
 was overtaken and captured, proved to be Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Brewer, of Forest's command. The colonel made a show of 
 fight, and would not surrender till quite severely wounded. 
 With him, were captured important dispatches. 
 
 Captains Evans, Root, Cummings, and Shurtz, of the 8th 
 Iowa Cavalry, are especially mentioned for their success in 
 hunting down scouting parties of the enemy while stationed in 
 the vicinity of the Nashville and North Western Railroad. 
 The following is a summary of the labors of the regiment, 
 before leaving for Chattanooga to join in the Atlanta Cam- 
 paign. 
 
 "The whole number of prisoners taken by the regiment, up 
 to the 12th of March, 1864, was between four and five hundred. 
 Over one thousand deserters from the rebel service came in and 
 took the oath of allegiance at the different posts of the regi- 
 ment, and more than seven thousand dollars in bonds were 
 taken from disloyal persons, to give no aid nor comfort to the 
 rebellion, and to assist in putting it down." 
 
 After refitting at Nashville, the 8th Iowa Cavalry proceeded 
 to Chattanooga, where it arrived on the 10th of April. It was 
 ordered to report immediately at Cleveland, where it was 
 assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, commanded 
 by General E. M. McOook. With this command, it led the 
 advance on Atlanta, and made its brilliant record. Colonel 
 Dorr commanded the brigade, and Lieutenant-Colonel Earner, 
 for a time, commanded the regiment. The brigade was com- 
 posed of the 1st Tennessee, 2d Michigan, and 8th Iowa Cavalry 
 regiments. To give a full account of the operations of the 8th 
 Iowa, from the 3d day of May, 1864, the time when, with its 
 division, it first moved against the enemy near Dalton, till the 
 
JOSEPH B. DOEPv. 643 
 
 march on Jonesboro late in the following August, which neces- 
 sitated the evacuation of Atlanta, is impossible. I will quote 
 briefly from the history of the regiment relating to the early 
 part of the campaign, to show the nature of its services. 
 
 " On the 3d of May, the regiment moved with the division 
 on Red Clay, by the Dalton road. On the 4th, the 8th was 
 posted so as to cover the road to the east, supported by and 
 supporting the 2d Michigan, on the Dalton road. On the 5th, 
 sent out a reconnoitering party from the 8th, under command 
 of Major Price, and found the enemy about four miles off on 
 the Dalton road. On the 6th, sent detachments from the 8th 
 and other regiments to scour the roads to our left. On the 7th, 
 the brigade, the 8th Iowa Cavalry in advance, moved down 
 the Dalton road, and, turning to the right, drove the enemy 
 out of Varnel's Station, which we occupied. Skirmishing con- 
 tinued all day with a considerable force, which made its 
 appearance on the high land to the left of the railroad. About 
 four P. M., received orders to move so as to cover cross-roads, 
 two miles west of the station, and had just commenced the 
 movement, when the enemy opened upon us with shell, 
 wounding a few men, and killing a few horses. On the 9th of 
 May, moved to a point on the railroad three miles south of 
 Varnel's Station, the 2d Brigade being upon our left. The 8th 
 took post across the railroad, the left of the regiment resting 
 on the ridge east of the railroad, one battalion being held in 
 reserve. The 2d Michigan was on the left of the 8th, and the 
 1st Tennessee on the right. In this manner, about ten A. M., 
 the brigade advanced on the enemy posted on the ridges, and 
 drove him back some three miles. The 8th having the advance 
 on the railroad encountered more opposition, but gallantly 
 pushed the enemy before them at all points, including his tem- 
 porary works on the ridge east of the railroad, which were 
 captured by Company E. Corporals Pease and Sharp particu- 
 larly distinguished themselves, and received promotion for it." 
 
 An instance occurred at Varnel's Station, which illustrates 
 the courage and gallantry of Colonel Dorr. The enemy were 
 posted in the edge of timber, and along a ridge which could 
 only be reached by passing up through a steep, open field, 
 
644 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 covered by the musketry and artillery of the enemy. The 
 strength of the enemy was unknown, as was also the fact that 
 they had artillery. Colonel Dorr, who was in command of his 
 brigade, and who wished to develope the strength of the 
 enemy, selected a company from his regiment (I think com- 
 pany E) and, placing himself at its head, charged up the 
 ascent nearly to the enemy's works. He was of course met by 
 a withering fire and compelled to retire precipitately. He 
 gained his former position, with the loss of only one man 
 wounded ; but, had not the fire of the enemy been as high as 
 it was, hardly a man of the party could have escaped. 
 
 On the 13th of May, the 8th Iowa Cavalry, with its division, 
 marched against the enemy at Ray's Gap, six miles west of 
 Tunnel Hill ; but before the command came up the enemy fled, 
 abandoning their strong works. The 8th arrived on the rocky 
 hights only in time to see Johnson fleeing from Dalton, and 
 Sherman sweeping through the place in pursuit. 
 
 The 8th Iowa led the advance over the Conasauga Biver, 
 near Resaca, and also over the Coosawattie, where Colonel Crit- 
 tenden feared to venture with a whole cavalry brigade. On 
 the 19th instant, near Cassville, the regiment, with its division, 
 run on the flank of the whole rebel army. General Stoneman 
 coming up with his cavalry command soon after, an attack 
 was planned and made, which resulted in forcing the enemy 
 back near the town. Majors Price and Root, Captain Hoxie 
 and Lieutenant McCanon are specially mentioned for gallantry 
 in this affair. On the 24th instant, McCook came on Jackson's 
 division of rebel cavalry at Burnt Hickory, and, during that 
 afternoon. Captain Walden of the 8th distinguished himself by 
 charging and routing a portion of the enemy from a strong 
 position. At Burnt Church, Lieutenant Anderson of the 8th 
 distinguished himself. 
 
JOSEPH B. DORR. 645 
 
 On the 5th of July, General McCook shifted his division 
 from the right to the left of Sherman's Army, and, pushing 
 on to the Chattahoochie, continued to hold different fords till 
 the 17th instant. The next day a portion of the 8th Iowa 
 crossed the river: it was the first cavalry on the Atlanta side 
 of the Chattahoochie. But, where the 8th Iowa Cavalry most 
 distinguished itself during the Atlanta Campaign, was on the 
 disastrous raid to cut the Atlanta and Macon Railroad near 
 Lovejoy's Station, Georgia. The object of the raid was success- 
 fully accomplished, but at a great sacrifice. 
 
 General McCook left his camp below Vinings' Station on the 
 Chattahoochie, about noon of the 26th of July, for the rear of 
 Atlanta. Moving down the west side of the river all that 
 afternoon and the following night, he crossed to the east side 
 by the Riverton Ferry, and marched south-east for Lovejoy's 
 Station. On the route, he passed through Palmetto, on the 
 Atlanta and West Point Railroad, and Fayetteville, and struck 
 the Atlanta and Macon Railroad, about noon of the 29th 
 instant. He had met opposition at only one place on the 
 march. At Palmetto, six hundred of the enemy confronted 
 him; but they were instantly driven off, and the depot build- 
 ings burned. Near Fayetteville, a large rebel train was 
 captured, with several prisoners. Instantly after reaching the 
 Macon road, the work of destruction begun. In two hour's 
 time, nearly two miles of the road were torn up and burned; 
 the telegraph wire was cut down; the water-tank and wood- 
 shed were burned, and also a number of platform and box cars, 
 standing on the track. General McCook started on the return, 
 about two o'clock in the afternoon; but the history of this 
 portion of the expedition I shall give in the language of 
 
 Colonel Dorr. 
 
 "The 1st Brigade was in the rear, in the retrograde move- 
 ment. About one mile west of Lovejoy's Station, Jackson's 
 
646 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Division of rebel cavalry were found on our road, and between 
 us and the 2d Brigade. Almost at the same moment, I 
 received orders from Colonel Croxton, commanding the bri- 
 gade, to move forward and attack the enemy. Tlie regiment 
 moved up at a trot, and soon came up with the brigade com- 
 mander, who ordered me to charge the enemy. I advanced at 
 a fost trot until within striking distance, when I ordered the 
 charge, an^Ji the regiment, right in front in column, dashed for- 
 ward gallantly on the enemy. The rebels were in column in 
 the road, and in line on the right and left of the road. Their 
 front line gave back rapidly under this headlong charge ; but 
 those in the rear and on the left of the road poured in a most 
 deadly fire, before which the head of the column went down 
 like grass before the scythe. That portion of the enemy's force 
 on the left of the road had been nwstly concealed from me by 
 the nature of the ground. I saw, just as the head of the col- 
 umn struck the enemy, that this portion of their force must be 
 routed, or the column in the road would be exposed to a flank 
 as well as a front fire. Instantly, I ordered the companies in 
 rear of the 1st Battalion into the field on the left of the road, 
 for the purpose of charging that portion of the enemy's line ; 
 but at this critical moment I discovered that they had not 
 come up, having been ordered by Colonel Croxton, as they 
 were following the 1st Battalion, to turn off" the road and form 
 in a field to the left. I had but two hundred and ninety-two 
 men with me on the raid, and, by this order, I was, without 
 notice, left with only about one hundred men to charge an 
 entire brigade, and that the best brigade in the rebel service, 
 being composed of the 3d, 6th, and 9th Texas. Indeed, it has 
 never been certainly ascertained that Jackson's whole division 
 was not in the field : a battle-flag, believed to be his, was seen 
 on the left of the road, and nearly reached by my men. * * " 
 
 In the fighting at this point, during which Colonel Dorr was 
 compelled to withdraw, the 8th lost, among the killed, Lieu- 
 tenant James Horton, acting adjutant, and Lieutenant J. H. 
 Cabb. "Both were as gallant young officers as ever drew a 
 sabre." The regiment then withdrew in the direction of New- 
 nan. 
 
 "During the night following, we continued the march 
 
JOSEPH B. DORR. 
 
 647 
 
 through swamps and over most difficult roads, portions of the 
 regimmt, under command of Major Isett and Root, operating 
 on the flanks and rear. About noon of the 30th, the head of 
 the column entered Newnan, when it unexpectedly came upon 
 Roddy's dismounted cavalry on their way to Atlanta. This 
 force,"^in addition to Wheeler's which came up soon after, gave 
 the enemy fully eight thousand men, and enabled them to 
 force back the Federal column, and occupy the road in front. 
 The 2d Brigade was in the front, followed by the Ist, Colonel 
 Harrison's Brigade being in the rear. Both the 2d Brigade 
 and Harrison's were slightly engaged. The 8th was ordered 
 to dismount in the road, where the command was halted, and or- 
 dered to throw up barricades, which was done. We remained 
 in this position for sometime without hearing any thing of the 
 enemy. While absent a few hundred yards from the regiment 
 on account of a wound received at Lovejoy's Station on the 
 29th, I received orders to move forward, and requested Captain 
 Sutherland, adjutant-general, who brought me the order, to 
 ^ive to Major Root, .who was with the regiment. In a few 
 moments I came up and found the regiment had made a 
 charge, one portion under Major Root, and the other under 
 Major Isett. The enemy gave way in confusion, and Major 
 Isett captured a large number of horses of Ross' Brigade. 
 General Hume, commanding a brigade, was captured by Lieu- 
 tenant George M. Detwiler, but was re-captured by the enemy, 
 too-ether with the gallant officer by whom he had been taken. 
 
 "The 8th had cleared the way. Captain Walden reported 
 this to me just as I came up, and it was also reported to the 
 brio-ade commander; and had the whole division then moved 
 forward, we should have been able to hold the road. But the 
 enemy so largely outnumbered that portion of the expedition- 
 ary forces engaged that they soon rallied and again occupied 
 the road ***** It was five o'clock when General 
 McCook determined to abandon his artillery, ambulances and 
 wounded. The artillery-carriages were cut down, and the 
 pieces spiked and heavily loaded with percussion or shell. 
 
 u About this time. Colonel Croxton, commanding the brig- 
 ade was reported missing, when I received orders to take 
 command of the brigade. Major Root having been missing 
 since the first charge, I directed Major Isett to take command 
 
648 IOWA COLONELS AND REGIMENTS. 
 
 Id thif irl; """ ""^ ' '""" '^"""^ '™"> captain Suther- 
 Ut the 8tli Iowa, there was not far from one hundred men 
 Which was, indeed, all that was left of the 1st Bri Je and of 
 these several were wonnded, and many of them ,^ttout an„f 
 having lost them in the fight. After abandoning the a" iMer, 
 
 to take a by-path through the woods, which entered the La 
 Grange road some little distance from the battle-fleld Just ^ 
 hheadotheeolumnwasenteringthe forest. Genera Mccook 
 
 ren ^^. . , ^ '"" ''"'* ^'''"'^ ""<* <='>«='^ "'^ »emy. I 
 
 replietl, 'I can.' He then ordered me to do so, saying- 'This 
 retreat must be protected.' I at once directed M^jor Isett to 
 form the regiment on the ground indicated, which was in pLn 
 sight of the enemy, who were then seen advancing. In this 
 position we were obliged to remain, seeing the enemy move 
 toward our flank, until the fragments of regiments, the sX! 
 glers and skulkers, who filled the road overlhich he co unfn 
 had moved, got out of the way. Every minute's delay iTnew 
 e&enecl our chances of escape; but there was no help for it and 
 the regiment, with a few exceptions, did their duty ^llaX 
 and «ilmly awaited orders. General McCook with the main 
 ^lumn was heard sharply engaged, as he successfully L^m: 
 
 The rest is soon told. Seeing that the enemy did not intend 
 to attack him in the position he then held, but that their object 
 was to cut him off and capture him. Colonel Dorr mounted his 
 command and continued the retreat. He first endeavored to 
 escape through timber to the left, but, finding that impractica- 
 ble, turned and hurried on after the retreating column. The 
 road led through heavy timber, and he had scarcely entered it 
 When he met the 4th Tennessee, returning at full run, with the 
 alarming story that they were cut ofl-. It ^vas impossible to 
 pass these frightened men in the narrow road, and the colonel 
 turned back to let them through, after which, he dashed down 
 the road, determined to cut his way out; but in the meantime 
 
JOSEPH B. DOER. 649 
 
 a whole rebel brigade had gained his immediate front, making 
 escape impossible. Some few of the regiment, striking out by 
 themselves, finally reached the Federal lines. All others were 
 made prisoners. 
 
 In speaking of the conduct of his regiment. Colonel Dorr 
 said: "In the engagement, which was of the severest char- 
 acter, the men and officers of the 8th behaved with a gallantry 
 and steadiness, which drew from General McCook a public 
 compliment on the battle-field. As on the day before, there 
 were but few exceptions to this, while there were many 
 instances of great gallantry displayed." And then follow the 
 names of Major Isett, Captain Morhiser, Captain, now Major 
 Shurtz, Captains Moore and Doane, Lieutenants Moreland, 
 McCanon, Loomis, Belfleld, Bennett, Pritchard, Anderson, 
 Morrow, Ogle, Detwiler, and Haight. He also adds a long list 
 of non-commissioned officers and privates. Lieutenant John B. 
 Loomis and Sergeant William Mitchell were among the killed; 
 and Captain, now IVIajor Shurtz, Lieutenant J. T. Haight and 
 Sergeants William PuUiam, (who afterward died) and T. M. 
 Thomas were among the wounded. 
 
 Colonel Dorr was retained a prisoner of war till the following 
 Fall, and was then exchanged. He re-joined his regiment the 
 7th of November, 1864, while it was stationed at Florence, 
 Alabama, and a few days before General Hood crossed the 
 Tennessee, and marched on Nashville. He commanded his 
 regiment in the engagements round Nashville, and in the 
 pursuit of the flying enemy; and, finally joined General 
 Wilson in his brilliant raid through Alabama and Georgia. 
 That was his last march ; for, as already stated, he died while 
 in camp with his regiment, near Macon. 
 
 The only time I ever saw Colonel Dorr was in the summer 
 of 1863, when he was traveling through the State on business 
 
650 IOWA COLONELS AND EEGIMENTS. 
 
 relative to his regiment, then being recruited. He was, at the 
 time, in company with an old Democratic friend, who, like 
 himself, was an earnest war man. In the course of conversa- 
 tion his friend suggested—" Why don't you go and talk with 
 
 Mr ?" (also a former party friend, but then, antibelliger- 
 
 enf.) " I'll tell you," he replied, " there is no use in talking to 
 him, till you whip out his friends." 
 
 Colonel Dorr was a man of about five feet eleven inches in 
 hight, and had, when I saw him, a stocky and vigorous 
 frame. The expression of his face, which was deeply bronzed 
 by exposure, was frank and manly. I judged him to be a man 
 of great energy, and of much practical ability. As a citizen, 
 he was held in the highest esteem ; and his death was deeply 
 mourned in Dubuque. His "kindness of heart," says the 
 " Times " " hardly knew bounds ; and appeals from needy ones 
 were never disregarded by him. Those who were most 
 intimate with him, and understood his motives, loved and 
 admired him most. The feeling among the Union men in 
 this city over the news of his death is that of sincere grief. 
 He leaves a wife and several children, for whom there is felt 
 a deep sympathy." 
 
 I have already said he was an excellent soldier. He was 
 brave to rashness, and his love for his men was unbounded. 
 The following is from a communication, sent by him to the 
 Adjutant-General of Iowa : 
 
 "I take the greater pleasure in incorporating their names in 
 this report, because the enlisted soldier, whose gallantry wins 
 promotion for his commanding officer, rarely reaps any other 
 reward than the consciousness of having done his duty. He 
 bleeds and dies for his country ; he wins her battles, and 
 crowns her standard with glory. At last, he occupies six feet 
 by two of his native soil, or that of a foreign land, and leaves 
 no void behind, except in the hearts of those who called him 
 father, son or brother." 
 
COLONEL MATTHEW M. TRUMBULL. 
 
 NINTH CAVALRY. 
 
 Matthew M. Trumbull is an Englishman, and about 
 thirty-eight years of age. Of the date of his immigration to 
 the United States, as, indeed, of all his early history, I am 
 ignorant. 
 
 Colonel Trumbull entered the service in the spring of 1861, 
 as captain of Company I, 3d Iowa Infantry, and served with 
 that regiment with distinction till November, 1862, having in 
 the meantime been promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. 
 The history of his military services while connected with the 
 above named regiment will be found in the sketch of Colonel 
 Wilson G. Williams. 
 
 After resigning his commission in the 3d Iowa, the colonel 
 returned to his home in Clarksville, Iowa, and soon after 
 received an appointment in the adjutant-general's office. He 
 was commissioned colonel of the 9th Iowa Cavalry in the fall 
 of 1863, and in the following Winter accompanied it to the 
 field. 
 
 There is little of general interest connected with the history 
 of the 9th Iowa Cavalry. Its field of service has been confined 
 to Arkansas, the head-quarters of the regiment having been 
 maintained a chief portion of the time at Brownsville, mid- 
 way between Duvall's Bluff and Little Rock. Its most active 
 and laborious service was performed while General Steele was 
 in a state of siege at Little Bock. During this time, it engaged 
 the enemy in frequent skirmishes, but none of them were of 
 much importance. 
 
 651 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Samuel M. Pollock, second colonel, 6tli Cavalry is a 
 native of Ohio: age, thirty-five. ' 
 
 Herman H. Heath, second colonel, 7th Cavalry, is a native 
 of New York: age, forty-two. 
 
 Hugh J. Campbell, second colonel, 18th Infantry, is a 
 native of Pennsylvania: age, thirty-three. 
 
 John Q. Wilds, second colonel, 24th Infantry, (mortally 
 wounded at Cedar Creek, Virginia) is a native of Pennsyl- 
 vania: age, forty. 
 
 GusTAVus A. Eberhart, second colonel, 32d Infantry, is a 
 native of Pennsylvania: age twenty-nine. 
 
 IOWA COLONELS OF THE ONE-HUNDRED-DAYS' SERVICE. 
 
 Stephen H. Henderson, 44th Iowa Infantry, is a native 
 of Tennessee: age, thirty-six. 
 
 Alvah H. Bereman, 45th Iowa Infantry, is a native of 
 Kentucky: age, thirty-six. 
 
 David B. Henderson, 46th Iowa Infantry, is a native of 
 Scotland: age, twenty-six. 
 
 James P. Sanford, 47th Iowa Infantry, is a native of New 
 York: age, thirty-two. 
 
 652 
 
INDEX 
 
 IOWA COLONELS. 
 
 453 
 
 Abbott, Charles H 553 
 
 Anderson, Daniel ' 
 
 16 
 
 Baker, Nathaniel B gg 
 
 Baker, James 22 
 
 Bates, John F g^ 
 
 Brown, Aaron Igg 
 
 Banbury, Jabez 289 
 
 Belknap, William W ^ 291 
 
 Byam, Eber C "" 445 
 
 Benton, Thomas H j,83 
 
 Bussey, Cyrus 652 
 
 Bereman, Alvah H 
 
 Curtis, Samuel B I53 
 
 Corse, John M 207 
 
 Oarsakaddon, David 255 
 
 Crocker, Marcellus M 303 
 
 Chambers, Alexander 851 
 
 Orabb, Benjamin 433 
 
 ConneU, John 608 
 
 Clark, George W 625 
 
 Cummlngs, Henry J. B 5^7 
 
 Coon, Datus E 59I 
 
 Caldwell, Henry C 652 
 
 Campbell, Hugh J ^^^ 
 
 Dodge, Grenville M 361 
 
 Dye, William McE 38I 
 
 Dewey, William ■■■" 639 
 
 Dorr, Joseph B ^ 
 
 > Edwards, John 565 
 
 Elliott Washington L 652 
 
 Eberhart, Gustavus A ^^^ 
 
 Geddes, James L 375 
 
 Graliam, Harvey " 339 
 
 Glasgow, Samuel L 421 
 
 Gilbert, James I 533 
 
 Garrett, John A 527 
 
 (Sower, James ^^ 
 
 Howard, Noel B 201 
 
 Herron, Francis J 227 
 
 Henderson, Paris P 2S5 
 
 Hare, Abraham M ggg 
 
^^* INDEX. 
 
 Hall, William 
 
 Hedrick, John M 337 
 
 Hillis, David B 295 
 
 Hill. Samuel G ...."."'"!!!...!..! ^^^ 
 
 Hughes, D. Henry ^^9 
 
 Hatch, Edward ............" ^^^ 
 
 Heath, Herman H ^^^ 
 
 Henderson, Stephen H ^^'^ 
 
 Henderson, David B ^^^ 
 
 652 
 
 Kinsman, William U 
 
 Kittredge, Charles W ^^^ 
 
 Kincaid, George W ^^3 
 
 521 
 
 Lauman, Jacob G 
 
 Lowe, William W ^^^ 
 
 MUls, Noah W ^^^ 
 
 Matthies, Charles L ^^ 
 
 McDowell, John A ^'^^ 
 
 Merrill, Samuel " ' ' ^^^ 
 
 Miller, WiUiam E ^^"^ 
 
 Mackey, Cyrus H " ^29 
 
 497 
 
 Noble, John W 
 
 597 
 
 Perczell, Nicholas 
 
 Porter, Asbury B 215 
 
 Pollock, Samuel M '^'^'^ 
 
 652 
 
 Eeid, Hugh T 
 
 Rankin, John W ..''"'_ 231 
 
 Kice, Elliott W ^'3 
 
 Rice, Samuel A ^^^ 
 
 4ST 
 
 Stone, William M 
 
 Steele, Frederick "^ 
 
 Smith, Milo '"' ^^^ 
 
 Smyth, William .3.'". ^^^ 
 
 Stone, George A .1....... ^^'^ 
 
 Small, William E !....."!"".! '^^'^ 
 
 Shaw, William T ^^^ 
 
 Shano, John 271 
 
 Summers, Samuel W ^'^^ 
 
 Scott, John ". *^^^ 
 
 Sanford, James P .... '*"^ 
 
 662 
 
 Tuttle, James M 
 
 Torrence, William M. G ^^ 
 
 Thompson, William '**'^ 
 
 Trumbull, Matthew M ^^^ 
 
 651 
 
 Vandever, William 
 
 195 
 
 Weaver, James B 
 
 Williams, Nelson G ^^ 
 
 Williamson, James A ^ 
 
 Worthington, William H. ^^' 
 
 Woods, Joseph J ^^ 
 
 243 
 
INDEX. 655 
 
 Wever, Clark K 881 
 
 Warren, Fitz Henry 551 
 
 Wlnslow, Edward F 609 
 
 Wilson, David S 631 
 
 Wilds, John Q 652 
 
 BATTLES AND SKIRMISHES. 
 
 Atlanta 79, 107, 121, 208, 240, 291, SOT 
 
 Alatoona 157,531 
 
 Arkansas Post 180, 407, 415, 454, 502 
 
 Big Black River Bridge 12,872,385 
 
 Big Blue ^ 47, GOl 
 
 Blue Mills 9, S7 
 
 Belmont 163, 171 
 
 Bentonville 1^1 
 
 Bayou Metoe 555 
 
 Boonville 566 
 
 Corinth 60, 68, 93, 135, 173, 189, 216, 238, 253, 290, 296, 306, 315 
 
 Chickasaw Bayou 119. 180, 407 
 
 Chattanooga.. 
 
 136 
 
 Champion's Hill 136, 140, 261, 328, 434 
 
 Camden 182 
 
 Columbia 213, 269, 41.3, 471 
 
 Cedar Creek 379,403 
 
 Cherokee 409,464 
 
 Canton 537 
 
 Columbus 605, 619 
 
 Cumberland Iron Works 623 
 
 Dallas ^60,174 
 
 Duvall's Bluff. 4:30 
 
 Elkin's Ford 1S2, 449, 515 
 
 Ebenezer Church 605 
 
 Fort Donelson 52, 59, 67, 24.5, 272, 623 
 
 Fort Hill 832 
 
 Foi-t De Russey > 424 
 
 Fort Morgan ^05 
 
 Fisher'sHiU 379,443 
 
 Farmington • ^67 
 
 598, 613 
 
 Guntown 
 
 Hartsville 
 
 Hager's Woods 
 
 Helena 
 
 Haine's Bluff < 
 
 luka 
 
 Island No. 10 
 
 Jonesboro v 
 
 Jackson 1M,154, 
 
 45, 36S, 544 
 85 
 
 446,489 
 
 610 
 
 133, 804, 817 
 
 168. 259. 
 
S56 INDEX. 
 
 Jenkin'8 Ferry 183, 450, 491, 498, 536 
 
 Julesburg 636 
 
 Kenesaw Mountain 121, 160, 239 
 
 Little Blue 47 
 
 Lookout Mountain 121,410 
 
 Little Kock 181, 447, 594 
 
 Little Oongaree 213, 470 
 
 Little Harpeth 580 
 
 Loughridge's Mills 622 
 
 Matamora 99,166 
 
 Mission Ridge 148, 157, 230, 836 
 
 Moscow 847 
 
 Milliken's Bend 391 
 
 Mark's Mills 516 
 
 Moro Bottom 562 
 
 Newtonia 47 
 
 New Hope Church 121 
 
 Nick-a-jack Creek 299 
 
 Nashville 508,678,649 
 
 Osage 47, 616 
 
 Oostanaula River 174 
 
 Opequan, [Winchester] 877, 401, 443 
 
 Port Gibson 10, 371, 432 
 
 Parker's Cross Roads 526 
 
 Prairie Grove 45, 202, 853, 361 
 
 Pea Ridge 88, 112, 117, 196, 584 
 
 Prairie de Anne 182, 449 
 
 Pleasant Hill 275, 427, 480 
 
 Poisoned Springs 348 
 
 Pittman's Ferry 882 
 
 Palo Alto 578 
 
 Resaca 121,160,389 
 
 Ringgold 411 
 
 Rutherford Creek 581 
 
 Springfield 45,345 
 
 ShUoh 9, 57, 67, 76, 93, 150, 186, 285, 248, 256, 273, 282 
 
 Savannah 121, 177 
 
 Spanish Fort 191, 395 
 
 Sterling Farm 355, 364 
 
 Sabine Cross Roads 440 
 
 Six-Mile Creek 605, 618 
 
 Sehna 605, 618 
 
 Tupelo 250, 599 
 
 Tilton 387 
 
 Yicksburg 12, 103, 190, 207, 225, 355, 455 
 
 Wilson's Creek „ 28, 148, 202 
 
 Westport 47 
 
 Yazoo Pass 222, 324, 514 
 
 
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