^ m 1 ^^ Qass_ '" Book. ~\ c.^ Governor ol Iowa Dedication of Monuments ERECTED BY THE STATE OF IOWA Commemorating the death, suffering and valor of Her Soldiers on the Battlefields of Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Shiloh, and in the Con- federate Prison at Andersonville NOVEMBER TWELFTH TO TWENTY-SIXTH NINETEEN HUNDRED AND SIX Compiled by Alonzo Abernethy, for the Committee f ts 1 i-(o4- Published in accordance with the requirements of Concurrent Resolution number five, Thirty-second General Assembly, BY W. C. HAYWARD, Secretary of State 0. OF a APP 10 1908 DES MOINES: EMORY H. ENGLISH, STATE PRINTER E. D. CHASSELL, STATE BINDER CONTENTS Page Letter of Transmittal - - - - - - 11 Introduction .-....-13 Colonel Alonzo Abernethy Personnel of Dedicating Party - - - - - 18 VICKSBURG Introductory - - - . - - 25 Secretary's Report - ..... 28 Colonel Henry Harrison Rood Presentation of Monuments to the Governor - . - 32 Captain J. F. Merry Acceptance and Presentation to the United States - - - 34 Albert B. Cummins, Governor of Iowa Acceptance for the United States . . - - 39 General Granville M. Dodge Address - - - - - - - - 48 J. K. Vardaman, Governor of Mississippi Oration .......51 Colonel Charles A. Clark Poem "Vicksburg" - - - - - - 63 Major S. H. M. Byers The Commission and its Work .... 73 Inscriptions on the Monuments - - - - - 77 ANDERSONVILLE Introductory - ..... 93 Presentation of Monument to the Governor - - - 96 Captain James A. Brewer Acceptance and Presentation to the United States - - 98 Albert B. Cummins, Governor of Iowa (5) 6 CONTENTS Page Acceptance for the United States - - . . . 102 General E. A. Carman Roll of Iowa Soldiers buried at Andersonville ... 108 The Story of Andersonville ... . . . HO Benjamin F. Gue, Ex-Lieutenant Governor of Iowa The Commission and its Work - - - - - 127 Inscriptions on the Monument - - - - - 128 CHATTANOOGA Introductory ....... 133 Lookout Mountain Address ....... 138 Colonel Alonzo Abernethy Address ■ - 142 General James B. Weaver Address ....... 145 Henry A. Chambers Address - ..... - 148 Albert B. Cummins, Governor of Iowa Sherman Heights Address ....... 152 Captain Mahlon Head Address - ..... - 154 Nathan E. Kendall Address ....... 156 Captain J. P. Smartt Address - ..... - 158 Albert B. Cummins, Governor of Iowa Rossville Gap Address ....... 163 W. L. Frierson, Mayor of Chattanooga Presentation of Monuments to the Governor - - - 164 Captain John A. Young CONTENTS . 7 Page Acceptance and Presentation to the United States - - 171 Albert B. Cummins, Governor of Iowa Acceptance for the United States - ... 176 General E. A. Carman Address 182 Major R. D. Cramer Address - ..... . 187 J. A. Caldwell The Commission and its Work .... 191 Inscriptions on the Monuments ..... 192 SHILOH Introductory - ..... 201 Exercises at the Regimental Monuments Address at Sixteenth Regimental Monument - - - 204 Lieutenant John Hayes Address at Fifteenth Regimental Monument ... 207 Major H. C. Mc Arthur Address at Sixth Regimental Monument ... - 212 Jesse A, Miller Address at Eleventh Regimental Monument - - - 215 Captain G. 0. Morgridge Address at Thirteenth Regimental Monument - - - 217 Captain Charles W. Kepler Address at Second Regimental Monument - - - 220 General James B. Weaver Address at Seventh Regimental Monument - - - 222 Major Samuel Mahon Address at Twelfth Regimental Monument - - - 226 Major D. W. Eeed Address at Fourteenth Regimental Monument ... 228 Colonel W. T. Shaw Address at Eighth Regimental Monument - - - 234 Private Asa Turner Address at Third Regimental Monument ... 239 Private J. A. Fitchpatrick Address 240 Albert B, Cummins, Governor of Iowa CONTENTS Exercises at the State Monument Page Presentation of Monuments to the Governor - 245 Colonel William B, Bell Acceptance and Presentation to the United States 249 Albert B. Cummins, Governor of Iowa Acceptance for the United States - - - 253 Colonel Cornelius Cadle Address ---._.. 256 General Basil W. Duke Address - - _ . . . - 261 W. K. Abernethy Address ----- - . 268 General James B. Weaver Address - . - . . - - 277 Nathan E. Kendall The Commission and its Work . _ _ . 289 Inscriptions on the Monuments - - - _ 290 In Conclusion - . . . . 301 ILLUSTRATIONS Albert B. Cummins, Governor of Iowa Iowa Memorial at Vicksburg Brigade Monument at Vicksburg . . - Bas-reliel "Grand Gulf on Vicksburg Monument Shirley House during siege of Vicksburg Shirley House, before and after Restoration Battery Monument at Vicksburg Vicksburg Park Monument Commission Cavalry Monument at Vicksburg Brigade Monument at Vicksburg Bronze Tablet Erected at Vicksburg - Iowa Monument at Andersonville Providence Spring at Andersonville View of Andersonville taken in 1864 Andersonville Prison Monument Commission Iowa Monument on Lookout Mountain View on Lookout Mountain showing Craven House, etc. Iowa Monument on Sherman Heights Iowa Monument at Rossville Gap View on Missionary Ridge - - - - View on Orchard Knob . . - Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge Commission View of Tunnel Hill, Missionary Ridge Regimental Monument Erected at Shiloh Monument Erected to General W. H. L. Wallace Shiloh Church - - - - - Iowa Monument at Shiloh . - - - Pittsburg Landing in 1862 Governor Cummins and Staff Shiloh Battlefield Monument Commission Frontispiece Facing Page 26 32 38 50 56 62 73 78 84 88 94 " 102 " 110 " 127 " 136 " 144 " 150 " 160 " 168 " 176 " 191 " 196 " 202 " 214 " 232 " 242 " 260 " 276 " 289 MAPS Vicksburg and vicinity during the siege / Andersonville Prison ^ Chattanooga and vicinity ^ Battlefield of Shiloh, first day (9) Between Pages 44-45 " 118-119 " 182-183 " 296-297 LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL To His Excellency, Albert B. Cummins, Governor of Iowa. Sir: In compliance with the provisions of chapter 190, Acts of the Thirty-first General Assembly, the undersigned sec- retaries of the various commissions authorized by the general assemblies of Iowa to erect monuments and memorials in honor of the Iowa troops who participated in the siege at Vicksburg, the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge and Shi- loh, and those who were confined in the Confederate military prison at Andersonville, have the honor to herewith submit a report of the ceremonies at the dedication of the monuments erected by the several commissions. Very respectfully, Henry H. Rood, Secretary Iowa Vicksburg Park Monument Commission. Daniel C. Bishard, Secretary Iowa Andersonville Prison Monument Commission. Alonzo Abernethy, Secretary Iowa Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge Monument Commission. John Hayes, Secretary Iowa Shiloh Battlefield Monument Commission. (11) INTRODUCTION The dedication of Iowa monuments on southern battlefields has been completed and their final transfer made to the care of the general government. The governor and commissioners have finished the task assigned, and found it a pleasant mission. They were courteously met and cordially treated by southern officials, who joined heartily, as occasion offered, in the cere- monies. They gave abundant assurance of their loyalty to the Union and their love of the old flag. For these evidences of a re-united people all hearts may well rejoice. The occasion, however, as one battlefield after another was visited, proved one of pathetic reminiscence. It brought out in bold relief the limitations and shortcomings of human nature. It illustrated the colossal blunder of introducing African slavery into the American colonies. Although three hundred thousand slaves had been imported before Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, the institution had been opposed by eminent men in America from the beginning. Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Franklin, Jay, and Hamilton, regarded it as an evil, inconsistent with the Declaration of Independence, and the spirit of Christianity, Jefferson even going so far as to say: "I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just." They had fled from one form of bondage in the old world, only to institute a worse form in the new. Eleven years later the pub- lic conscience of the nation foreshadowed the extinction of both slavery and the slave trade by the exclusion of slavery from the Northwest Territory in the ordinance of 1787, and the prohibi- tion of the slave trade in the constitution. Before the end of another eleven years, however, the institu- tion was encouraged and defended. It had become profitable. It tended to promote the development of the country and to (13 14 INTRODUCTION foster a class in ease and luxury. It spread over the south, and both prospered. Human nature made the succeeding history inevitable. Slavery had become a national and serious issue when Henry Clay devised the Missouri compromise in 1820. Before California was admitted in 1850 the great leaders of the nation, Webster and Calhoun, Clay and Hayne, Chase and Toombs, Seward and Hunter, Sumner and Jefferson Davis, all had foreseen the impending struggle, the irrepressible conflict, and were scanning the horizon of the future with unrest and concern. Slavery had divided and antagonized the American people before Stephen A. Douglas invented the doctrine of popular sovereignty in 1854, to settle the Kansas-Nebraska imbroglio regarding the extension of slavery. Before Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated, so able a man even as Alexander H. Stephens, who had already accepted the vice-presidency of the Southern Confederacy, in a public speech at Savannah, Georgia, February 21, 1861, made the following declaration : "The prevailing idea entertained by Jefferson and most of the leading statesmen at the time of the formation of the old constitution was that the enslavement of the African was in violation of the laws of nature, that it was wrong in principle, socially, morally, politically. Our new government (the South- ern Confederacy), is founded upon exactly the opposite idea, its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery — subordination to the superior race — is the natural and nor- mal condition." Slavery had blinded the conscience of half a nation of Ameri- can citizens; and slavery declared war when Beauregard fired on Fort Sumter, although the south still contends, as in 1861, that their people were patriotically defending their homes and the rights they held sacred. Dr. Channing- was right when he wrote Daniel Webster that slavery was the calamity of the south, not its crime; that the north should share the burden of putting an end to it. The INTRODUCTION 15 north did finally share in the burden, although not in the way suggested. It was only ended, if indeed the burden is yet ended, when the whole land was strewn with its wreckage. During the long, dark years of this mournful history, some other factors contributed powerful aid, notably the doctrine of states rights. Our forefathers had sought with passionate longing for escape from the wrongs and oppressions which had imbedded their fangs so relentlessly into all their past his- tory. Every form of authority was hateful to them, and the doctrine of states rights was a natural result. The theory of states rights as first enunciated by Jefferson, Madison and Mon- roe, proved later inadequate to the exigencies of the govern- ment, and was undergoing modification or abandonment, when later it was found to be a bulwark — the bulwark — of slavery; and the civil war was the logical result. These companion errors, slavery and states rights, had to be expiated in tears and blood, and north and south alike had to share in the burden of their obliteration. Thank God, slavery has vanished and the bulwark is no longer needed. We can all join in Grant's final prayer, "Let us have peace," a peace that shall abide and abide forever. The monuments we have dedicated, "emphasize in enduring form that the American people once had a cause of war, having its root in the very origin of the Republic, which they settled by an appeal to the sword without dishonor to either side. They mutely bear witness that it is impossible for another Ireland, or another Poland, to exist in America. They give expression to a national epic, the grandest and the noblest in the annals of time."* By the census of i860 Iowa had a population of six hundred and seventy-five thousand, of which number one hundred and six- teen thousand were subject to military duty, that is able-bodied men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five. Our state, though not yet fifteen years old when the battle of Bull Run was fought, sent seventy-five thousand volunteers to fight the battle for the Union, more than one-fifth of whom were in their graves before the surrender at Appomattox. Iowa boys de- serted the farm and the school, hastened to the front and led *Col. Josiah Patterson, national Shiloh commission, "Ohio at Shiloh," page 199. 16 INTRODUCTION the assault, shoulder to shoulder with the boys of Illinois, In- diana, Ohio and other neighboring states, on nearly every west- ern battlefield of the war from Wilson's Creek, Missouri, in 1 86 1, to Atlanta, Georgia, in 1864. Their casualties in killed, wounded and missing at Shiloh, Vicksburg and Chattanooga, three typical battlefields of the west, all under the matchless leadership of that matchless leader, Ulysses S. Grant, aggre- gated the appalling sum of 4,646; six hundred and fifty-six of this number surrendered their lives in these heroic struggles. If we include Iowa's "victims of the barbarities at Anderson- ville" we must add the two hundred and fourteen sons of Iowa whose headstones stand in the adjoining national cemetery, in the midst of which is erected the beautiful Iowa monument, crowned with its pathetic mourner. There in the short space of thirteen months, from March i, 1864, to April i, 1865, 12,912 weary souls took their flight, while their wasted and un- covered bodies were thrown into shallow ditches outside — practi- cally one thousand deaths per month. There were but forty- five deaths less among the 52,160 prisoners at Andersonville, than there were among the 175,811 Confederate prisoners in the twelve most noted Union prisons of the north, during the same period. Congress has established national military parks on five of the great battlefields of the war, two in the east, Gettysburg and Antietam, and three in the west, Chickamauga and Chat- tanooga, Shiloh and Vicksburg. Chickamauga and Chattanooga park was established in 1890, and contains 7,000 acres. Shiloh park, embracing 3,600 acres, was established in 1895 by a bill introduced by Iowa's brilliant congressman, David B. Henderson. The Vicksburg park, with an area of about 1,300 acres, was authorized in 1899. The government has expended large sums of money in improving and beautifying these parks; has macadamized the old roads which passed through the fields when the battles were fought and established extensive new ones throughout the parks and leading to them. It has placed thereon many markers, monuments and cannon, and invited states — north and south — to place memorials for their respective organiza- INTRODUCTION 17 tlons. Many northern states have already erected memorials in these parks, as have also a number of southern states. Since 1894 our state has appropriated money to mark the positions of Iowa regiments and place suitable memorial monu- ments and tablets on three of these historic fields of heroism and carnage and to erect a monument in the cemetery at Ander- sonville. Commissions were appointed and authorized to execute this work. The appropriations for the expense of the work were as fol- lows: Two for Shiloh, the first in 1896 and a second in 1902; total appropriation, $50,870.28. Two for Vicksburg, the first in 1900, and the second in 1902; total appropriation, $152,- 000.00. Two at Chattanooga, the first in 1894, and the second in 1902; total appropriation, $36,500.00. One at Anderson- ville, in 1904; appropriation $10,000.00. The total appro- priations aggregate $249,370.28. The work of these commissions had been done, and well done, when the Thirty-first General Assembly in 1906 provided for a joint dedication of Iowa's beautiful and imposing memorials by the several commissions on a single trip, their acceptance by the state through its governor, and their final transfer by him to the secretary of war. To pay the expenses of the commissioners and an Iowa military band an appropriation of $7,500 was made. Captain J. F. Merry, the genial general immigration agent of the Illinois Central railroad, chairman of the Vicksburg commission, arranged a round trip itinerary for the Iowa special train to convey the governor and members of his staff, the com- missioners and speakers. The low rate of one cent a mile was secured and advertised from all Iowa points to each of the four dedications and return. Also a one and a half cent rate for the round trip including the four dedications for all who desired to take it, and especially for members of the governor's and com- missioners' families, though never limited to them. For the convenience and comfort of these, a train of sleepers and diners was made up and named the "Governor's Special." Mon.— 2 18 INTRODUCTION The special left Des Moines for Chicago at nine o'clock Monday night, November 12th, and on Tuesday morning at ten o'clock left Chicago on its journey through the south. PERSONNEL OF THE OFFICIAL PARTY. Governor and Mrs. A. B. Cummins, General and Mrs. W. H. Thrift, Des Moines, Colonel and Mrs. G. E. Logan, Des Moines, Colonel and Mrs. H. B. Hedge, Des Moines, Colonel and Mrs. A. A. Penquite, Colfax, Colonel Chas. E. Mitchell, Marion, Major Geo. M. Parker, Sac City, Secretary and Mrs. W. B. Martin, Des Moines, Treasurer G. S. Gilbertson, Forest City, Judge G. S. Robinson, Sioux City, Hon. and Mrs. Chas. Aldrich, Boone, Hon. H. W. Byers, Harlan, Mr. and Mrs. T. E. McCurdy, Hazelton, Senator John Hughes, Williamsburg, Senator and Mrs. S. H. Harper, Ottumwa, Senator and Mrs. M. W. Harmon, Independence, Hon. W. V. Wilcox, Des Moines, Judge Jesse Miller, Des Moines, Hon. B. Murphy, Vinton, Hon. G. H. Ragsdale, Des Moines, John Briar, Des Moines, Edwin P. Peterson, Des Moines, Wm. Coalson, Des Moines, Captain and Mrs. J. F. Merry, Manchester, Judge L. C. Blanchard, Oskaloosa, Senator J. A. Fitchpatrick, Nevada, Hon. and Mrs. E. J. C. Bealer, Cedar Rapids, David A. Haggard, Algona, Hon. W. O. Mitchell, Kansas City, Mo. W. H. C. Jacques, Ottumwa, Colonel H. H. Rood, Mt. Vernon, Captain J. H. Dean, Des Moines, Colonel Chas. A. Clark, Cedar Rapids, INTRODUCTION 19 Rev. Dr. A. L. Frisbie, Des Moines, Major S. H. M. Byers, Des Moines, Captain and Mrs. J. A. Brewer, Des Moines, Secretary Daniel C. Bishard, Altoona, Mr. and Mrs. M. V. B. Evans, Beaman, Mr. and Mrs. W. C. Tompkins, Clear Lake, Rev. and Mrs. S. H. Hedrix, Allerton, Captain J. A. Young, Washington, Colonel Alonzo Abemethy, Osage, Dr. T. C. Alexander, Oakland, Captain E. B. Bascom, Lansing, Colonel A. J. Miller, Oxford, Hon. Mahlon Head, Jefferson, Miss Rena Head, Jefferson, Mr. and Mrs. F. P. Spencer, Randolph, Major J. D. Fegan, Clinton, Captain Frank Critz, Riverside, Superintendent S. B. Humbert, Cedar Falls, Mr. Elliott Frazier, Morning Sun, Major R. D. Cramer, Memphis, Mo., E. E. Alexander, Oakland, H. S. Young, Winfield, Colonel W. B. Bell, Washington, Mrs. Hervey Bell, Washington, Miss Cora Bell, Washington, Colonel and Mrs. Geo. W. Crosley, Webster City, Captain and Mrs. John Hayes, Red Oak, Miss Mary F. Hayes, Red Oak, Colonel G. L. Godfrey, Des Moines, Judge R. G. Reiniger, Charles City, Captain Geo. W. Morgridge, Muscatine, Captain and Mrs. C. W. Kepler, Mt. Vernon, Captain and Mrs. Daniel Matson, Mediapolis, James W. Carson, Woodbum, Mr. and Mrs. Asa Turner, Farrar, General James B. Weaver, Colfax, H^n. N. E. Kendall, Albia, 20 INTRODUCTION Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Alger, Villisca, W. H. H. Asbury, Ottumwa, S. W. Baker, Des Moines, A. Biggs, Anita, W. S. Browning, Winfield, J. F. G. Cold, Gladbrook, John G. Farmer, Cedar Rapids, Mr. and Mrs. Finlayson, Grundy Center, Spencer Frink, Tipton, Mr. and Mrs. John M. Grimm, Cedar Rapids, Donald Grimm, Cedar Rapids, Miss Anna Grimm, Cedar Rapids, Miss Anna Smouse, Cedar Rapids, Mrs. O. F. Higbee, Mediapolis, F. M. Hubbell, Des Moines, Mrs. W. G. Kiefer, Hazelton, Andrew Macumber, Winterset, W. H. Miller, Tipton, G. W. Miller, Independence, Mr. and Mrs. H. G. Moore, Wellman, H. W. Parker, Des Moines, John Rath, Ackley, A. C. Reeder, Tipton, J. A. Reeder, Tipton, Frank Rieman, Altoona, C. W. Reynolds, Grundy Center, J. G. Rounds, Des Moines, S. H. Rounds, Cedar Falls, E. A. Sherman, Cedar Rapids, Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Snyder, Cedar Falls, H. L. Spencer, Oskaloosa, T. P. Spilman, Ottumwa, H. D. Thompson, Des Moines, J. F. Traer, Vinton, C. L. Watrous, Des Moines, Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Willcox, Wellman, W. G. Wood, Albia, W. A. Wood, Ottumwa. INTRODUCTION 21 Band. Geo. W. Landers, Leader, William Bashaw, S. M. Haley, William Beckman, Paul Schaeffer, J. E. Wilkinson, L S. Shaf- fer, Forest Hammans, J. H. Grill, G. O. Riggs, W. A. How- land, C. M. Anderson, C. S. Crouthers, Charles Spayde, C. F. Pixley, Robert Dalziel, A. F. Whitney, William Dalziel, B. E. Meddig, John Dalziel, Wesley Rees, Charles Fuller, Elbert Pey- ton. VIGKSBURG INTRODUCTORY Captain J. F. Merry, chairman of the commission, proceeded to Vicksburg four days in advance of the date fixed for the dedi- cation of the Iowa monuments in order to complete the neces- sary preparations for that event. The official train arrived somewhat late on the morning of November fourteenth, and was met by Chairman Merry with a large number of carriages and other vehicles prepared to take the entire party on a drive through the national cemetery and along the investment lines. This enabled the visitors to see the beautiful cemetery, the monument erected therein in memory of the Twenty-fifth and Thirty-first Iowa; and beyond, the monuments of other com- mands, including those of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Illinois. The drive ended at the Baldwin's Ferry road and the whole party returned to the city. During the afternoon many took vehicles and visited special points upon the line of investment where their own commands had been engaged. As soon as the date for the dedication was fixed, the mayor and board of aldermen of Vicksburg, for themselves and for the citizens of Vicksburg, arranged to tender a reception in honor of Governor and Mrs. Vardaman, the members of the governor's staff and party; in honor of Governor and Mrs. Cummins, the members of his staff and party; in honor of Major General Grenville M. Dodge; and in honor of the Iowa Vicksburg park monument commission, the members of their party and friends. To this reception the citizens of Vicksburg and all northern visitors were cordially invited. The reception took place at eight o'clock in the evening, and proved a thoroughly delightful affair, the absence of Governor Vardaman on official business being the only flaw in the pleasure of the occasion. Throughout the evening music was furnished by the Fifty-fifth regimental band and punch was served by Vicksburg's charming women. The morning of the fifteenth was spent in sight-seeing and in (25) 26 VICKSBURG visiting the national military park. In addition to those who came on the official train about one hundred and fifty survivors of the campaign and siege, together with their families, were present in the city to witness and take part in the dedicatory exercises. The procession to the park formed at one o'clock, headed by Captain D. A. Campbell, marshal of the day, and his aid, Captain R. E. Walne. Next came the Iowa Band in a float. Following came carriages containing Governors Vardaman and Cummins, General Stephen D. Lee, Colonel Charles A. Clark, the members of Governor Vardaman's staff and the staff of Gov- ernor Cummins; Captain W. T. Rigby, chairman of the national park commission; Colonel J. G. Everest, one of the national park commissioners; General John Kountz, secretary and his- torian of the national park commission; Major B. W. Griffith; General John W. Noble; General Grenville M. Dodge; General J. B. Weaver; the members of the Iowa commission, and many other prominent men and women. The procession was a long one, although it contained no military organizations. The trains carried hundreds of visitors to the scene of the dedication, and when the hour for the ceremonies arrived, there were two thousand or more people gathered about the pavilion which had been erected for the occasion. The platform was decorated in the national colors and provided with seats for the invited guests. In front and to the left of the platform was seated a chorus of one hundred Vicksburg school-children. The fact that Captain J. F. Merry, chairman of the Iowa Vicksburg commission, was the father of the Vicksburg national military park, and that Captain W. T. Rigby, chairman of the national Vicksburg park commission, was also a gallant Iowa soldier and most efficient executive officer, predisposed the citi- zens of Vicksburg to extend a hearty and cordial greeting to the representatives of the state who had come to dedicate their monuments upon this notable field. From the beginning to the close of the visit of the Iowa party, the citizens of Vicksburg extended to them an hospitable welcome as was attested by the profusely decorated homes all along the route of the procession to the state memorial. Exercises at the Dedication of the Iowa State Monument at Vicksburg, Mississippi, November 15, 1906 1:30 P. M. Governor's Salute .... Warren Light Artillery of Vicksburg: Call to Order Captain J. F. Merry Chairman of the Commission Invocation Rev. Dr. A. L- Frisbie of Des Moines, Iowa "Almighty God, who art over all men and over all nations, the Everlasting Truth and Righteousness and Fatherhood and Love: Accept, we beseech thee, our supplications, and grant us, we beseech thee, answers to our requests, teaching us how and what we ought to ask. Give us, we beseech thee, the spirit of reverent, obedient children, whose desire is to honor thee and thy truth, thy wisdom and thy law, helping us to understand the lessons that are written there for our instruction, so that we may avoid those things which might destroy harmony among us. "Bless us, we pray thee, as we meet here on this patriotic occasion. May we come with no spirit of vindictiveness, but with a spirit of brotherhood and good citizenship and love for our common country. We pray thee that we may have the spirit of peace and mutual regard, and that throughout our nation. In the days to come, there may be still that common respect and sacred confidence which shall hold us sacredly together. We remember the days of conflict and struggle, when there was so much misunderstanding and opposition and bitterness. We pray that thou wilt teach us, as a people, and guide us on to that prosperity for which we hope. May we fulfill our part. May we do It well. (27) 28 VICKSBURG "We remember those who fell here. We cannot hallow nor consecrate this ground. We can only dedicate to the memory of the brave dead these monuments, which shall testify to their fidelity, their courage, their self-sacrifice, their loyalty to the principles in which they believed. "And now, while they rest so quietly about us, we pray that the great peace by which nations are blest may also fall upon us, and may be our permanent and blessed possession. "Hear us, help us and bless us. Bless us as a nation. Bless the president of the United States and those who are associated with him. Bless all of this convocation, these school children, those who bear middle life's burdens, and those of us who are advanced in years. Accept our thanks for thy multiplied good- ness. Hear us and bless us, and save the United States of America, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." Music Fifty-fifth Iowa Regimental Band Secretary's Report .... Henry Harrison Rood Secretary of the Commission Governor Cummins: During the Twenty-ninth General Assembly, in 1902, the state of Iowa, ever generous toward the men who served in her commands during the civil war, appropriated one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to erect monuments and tablets in the Vicksburg national military park, to commemorate the services of the thirty-two organizations which served in the cam- paign and siege of Vicksburg, March 29 — July 4, 1863. The act provided for the appointment of nine commissioners by the governor of the state to carry out its provisions. Acting by this authority you appointed on this commission the follow- ing persons: John F. Merry, Luclen C. Blanchard, Joseph A. Fitchpatrick, Elmer J. C. Bealer, David A. Haggard, William O. Mitchell, William H. C. Jacques, James H. Dean and Henry H. Rood. They met at Des Moines, May 21, 1902, and organized, electing Captain John F. Merry chairman, and Henry H. Rood secretary. VICKSBURG 29 They present on this occasion a partial and condensed report, reserving until the completion and acceptance of all the monu- ments and tablets a full report to be made to you, and through you to the legislature of the state. In explanation of the dedication of the completed monuments and tablets before the entire number has been finished and ac- cepted, they state that they yielded to the pressure of their comrades for this earlier date because the passing years are thinning their ranks so rapidly that many of them would by death or the Infirmities of age be prevented from attending. They were actuated also by the fact that dedication at this date would make It possible for the state In one general Itinerary to dedicate her monuments on this and other fields at the same time. This commission entered upon Its duties Impressed with the responsibility of Its position. The wise expenditure of the large appropriation, the selection of such designs as would be approved by the state at large and by the survivors of those who served here, and fitly honor the gallant spirits who died here, appealed profoundly to the minds and hearts of its members. They looked also beyond the present to that time, now alas too near, when all who took part in the great struggle for the possession or defense of this stronghold shall have passed away, and sought to place here such memorials as would ap- peal powerfully to succeeding generations of a great, united and expanding country. In October, 1902, the full commission visited Washington, Richmond and Gettysburg, to study examples of memorial art to be seen there, and later a sub-committee visited New York and Boston for the same purpose, and to interview sculptors and select one for the state memorial. These investigations resulted in the selection of Henry Hud- son KItson, of Quincy, Massachusetts, as the sculptor, and the suggestion to him by the commission of the general features of the state memorial. He cordially approved of the general features of the design as giving an excellent opportunity to unite the skill of the architect, and the art of the sculptor. Mr. KItson selected Mr. Guy Lowell, of Boston, as the archi- 30 VICKSBURG tect, and the present structure was finally decided upon and a contract was made with Mr. Kitson for its erection at a cost of one hundred thousand dollars. This contract was dated May 20, 1904, and because of the large amount of bronze work in the bas-reliefs and equestrian statue, he asked for four years' time for its completion. This will allow him until May 28, 1908, to complete the work. The study of the many questions involved in the discharge of these duties, the selection and development of designs and their working out under the hands of architect, sculptor and workman has been an experience of absorbing interest, and has presented many and grave problems for decision; the final re- sult is left to a thoughtful and discriminating people. It is our duty to say, Governor Cummins, that during this period you have given to the work of the commission intel- ligent and earnest sympathy and support. The commission, and especially the secretary, is under great obligations to Captain W. T. Rigby, chairman of the Vicks- burg national military park commission, who from the time of the appointment of this commission up to the present has given them freely of his time and effort. His thorough knowl- edge of the park and of the history of the commands engaged here has enabled him to give us advice and information of very great value, and we take this opportunity to thank him therefor. After competitive investigation the contract for the thirteen battery, regimental and brigade monuments was let to Mr. Edmund H. Prior of Postville, Iowa, for the sum of twenty- eight thousand five hundred dollars; later five hundred dollars was added to increase the size of the Third Iowa infantry monument, it being the only single regimental monument. Mr. Prior submitted designs which harmonized fully with the design for the state memorial, giving the same style of architecture to all the monuments, and making the effect of the whole series harmonious and pleasing. Bronze tablets attached to these smaller monuments, give the names of the commanding officers, the losses sustained by each command, the number of the battery or regiment, its brigade, division VICKSBURG 31 and corps, forming a complete battle history for the campaign of each. These thirteen monuments have been accepted by the commis- sion. The excellence of the material used, the beauty of the workmanship, and the accuracy of the setting has had the full approval of the commission. To further mark the positions and history of the Iowa troops, a contract for fifty-nine bronze tablets, to be set on substantial granite posts, was awarded after competition in de- sign and price to the Gorham Manufacturing company of Providence, Rhode Island, for seven thousand five hundred dol- lars. These mark camps, skirmish lines, the most advanced positions in assaults, and greatly aid in making the series of monuments and tablets give a full history of each command in the campaign. The fine proportions and exquisite beauty of these tablets will, it is believed, please all who examine them. The material used throughout in aU the monuments and tablets is granite (Barre), and United States standard bronze; the one the most indestructible material known to builders, the other equally enduring, lends itself under the hands of the skilled artist to forms of beauty and inspiration. The inscription on the state memorial is: "Iowa's Memorial to Her Soldiers Who Served in the Cam- paign and Siege of Vicksburg, March 29- July4, 1863." Between the stately doric columns of the state memorial six massive bronze tablets, four feet six inches by five feet six inches in size will be placed, depicting scenes in the progress of the campaign: — Grand Gulf (naval). Port Gibson, Jack- son, Champion Hill, Black River Bridge, Assault May twenty- second. When completed this noble structure of Greek archi- tecture, in its simplicity, its dignity and strength will fitly typify the American soldier of 1861-65. The six great bronze bas-reliefs present a series of pictures of the soldier in the supreme moment of battle; of such strength, 32 VICKSBURG beauty and power, as will make them (we believe) famous in the world of art; fairly pulsating with intense energy and action, they will convey to later generations a clear conception of the heroism of the period, and of the dress, accoutrements and arms, of the men who, on these seamed and rugged hills, grappled in fierce conflict. It is the hope of this commission that here, in this national park, which now and for centuries to come will be the point of greatest historic interest upon the shores of the Father of Waters, the state of Iowa has erected a memorial which will appeal to the spirit of unity, of patriotism and of culture of a united and happy people. Music, "America" . . . Vicksburg School Children Unveiling of Monument . Miss Grace Kendrick Rigby Miss Blnora Stanton Miss Fenton Mitchie Miss Preston McNeily National Salute Warren Light Artillery of Vicksburg Music Fifty-fifth lov^a Regimental Band "Nearer, My God, to Thee" "Dixie" Presentation to Governor of Iowa, Captain J. P. Merry Chairman of the Commission Governor Cummins, Ladies and Gentlemen: Some years after the memorable and amicable conference between General Ulysses S. Grant and General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox, when the question of establishing commemo- rative battlefield parks was being discussed, General Grant was heard to say that if any one of the events of the civil war was more worthy of commemoration than another, it was the cam- paign and siege of Vicksburg. No one acquainted with General Grant would charge him with selfish motives in giving expres- sion to such sentiments simply because Vicksburg was the place where he won his first great renown. It was simply because he was acquainted with every detail of that terrible conflict and appreciated then what so many have since, that the bravery J--::' Bjiit:,.:.k'I DiX: 'S7>J C BRIGADE MONUMENT ERECTED AT VICKSBURG VICKSBURG 33 and the valor of every soldier who participated in the cam- paign and siege of Vicksburg, whether he wore the blue or the gray, was entitled to everlasting remembrance. Engaged in that campaign were 227 Confederate and 260 Federal or- ganizations, 32 of which were composed of men enlisted from the prairie homes of the new but intensely patriotic state of Iowa. We do not claim that Iowa soldiers were superior to all others, but we do insist upon this and all other occasions that they were the equal of any, and nowhere during the civil war was their bravery more conspicuous than in the assault on Vicksburg, May 22, 1863. Since that day of carnage, Iowa has increased in population until today it has more than 2,000,- 000 of the happiest and most prosperous people on the face of the earth. Its commercial, industrial, educational and agri- cultural development has been phenomenal, but amid all these material changes the people of Iowa have never forgotten the part her troops had in making it possible for the Father of Waters to flow unvexed to the sea; and when the question of suitably commemorating their part in the battles that in 1863 waged over these black walnut hills and through these seemingly bottomless valleys, there was throughout Iowa but one senti- ment, and that decidedly favorable to it. To the Hon. E. J. C. Bealer, a member of the Iowa legislature and now a member of the Vicksburg monument commission, is due the credit of introducing in the Iowa legislature during the session of 1902 a bill for the appropriation of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to be expended in the construction of an Iowa state memorial, of Iowa regimental and battery monuments, and Iowa markers in the national military park at Vicksburg. That such a measure should have passed both houses without a dissenting voice and was promptly signed by His Excellency the Governor, who is with us on this occasion, indicates Iowa's loyalty to and her continued interest in her volunteer soldiers of the civil war. The commission appointed and charged with the patriotic duty of expending so large an amount of money realized to the fullest extent the responsibility this placed upon them. Mistakes may have been made, but if so they are trivial, and only such as are common to monument commissions every- M0D.-3 34 VICKSBURG where. We are especially proud of our state memorial, the original conception of which was from the brain of our re- spected secretary, Colonel H. H. Rood. We confidently believe that when completed, Iowa will enjoy the distinction of having at Vicksburg the most artistic and beautiful commemorative me- morial ever constructed in any park in any country — showing clearly that the commission made no mistake in the selection of Mr. Henry Hudson Kitson as its artist. Our thirteen brigade, regimental and battery monuments bearing the inscription of Iowa's thirty-two commands engaged here in 1863, and our fifty-nine regimental and battery mark- ers, unlike others in this or any other park, are beautiful and suggestive. And now, as chairman of the Iowa Vicksburg monument commission, it becomes my duty and is my pleasure to present to you, Governor Cummins, for dedication, this beautiful but incomplete state memorial, and to present to you for dedication and for transfer to the United States the thirteen monuments and the fifty-nine markers to which I have referred. Governor Cummins was introduced by Captain J. F. Merry in the following" words: "It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Governor Cummins of Iowa. He was not old enough to have a part in the civil war, but from the very moment that he was first inaugurated as governor, throughout the five years of his ad- ministration, he has never failed to do every thing in his power for the veterans of Iowa." Acceptance and Presentation to the United States Government Albert B. Cummins Governor of Iowa Governor Vardaman, Mr. President and members of the Vicks- burg monument commission, men of the war, both north and south, ladies and gentlemen: Speaking in behalf of the state of Iowa, I acknowledge with VICKSBURG 35 deep gratitude the exceeding kindness and boundless hospitality of the people of Mississippi, and the gracious courtesy of the distinguished governor of the commonwealth, and the mayor of Vicksburg. We have been royally received, and the memory of the cordial welcome we have experienced will endure so long as the recollection of this visit continues. I beg to assure you, Governor, that if in the future, any company of men and women from your state shall find their way within the borders of Iowa, our homes and our hearts will open wide their doors for friends from Mississippi. The duty of reciting the story of the tragedy which, forty- three years ago, was enacted here and especially the honorable part which the sons of Iowa played in the mighty drama of the nation's life, is assigned to one far better equipped than I to relate its joys and its sorrows, its lights and its shadows, its glories and its significance. There is no memory vivid enough to recall the scene; there is no tongue eloquent enough to paint the picture upon which the eye rested during those vital days of the civil war. Words only mar the vision which these old men see when their eyelids fall, and their consciousness is il- luminated only by the light of recollection, as it gleams through nearly half a century of time. If only they were here, I would stand mute in the presence of memories so patriotic, so profound, and so pathetic. In 1 86 1, Iowa had a population of but little more than a half million souls. From the beginning to the end of the civil war, she sent nearly eighty thousand of her young men to the defense of their country. The war had barely passed its mid- way stage, on the fourth day of July, 1863, and yet in the siege of Vicksburg and the battles which are grouped in that event, she had twenty-eight regiments of infantry, two regiments of cavalry, and two batteries. Of these, four hundred and twenty- two heroic spirits here surrendered their lives; eighteen hundred and sixteen were wounded; and one hundred and ninety-five were captured. It is to commemorate the courage and the virtues of these soldiers, the dead and the living, that a grate- ful state has here erected and now dedicates to their immortal fame, these monuments. So long as granite can endure, and 36 VICKSBURG bronze withstand the corroding touch of time, they will tell to succeeding generations the affection which Iowa feels for her heroes in the mightiest struggle known in the history of man- kind. I do not forget that I am speaking in the presence of men and the sons and brothers of men, who upon this blood-stained field opposed, with a courage never surpassed, the very men in whose honor I am here; but I remember that I am speaking to chivalrous southern men, whose hearts beat with loyalty to the Union and love for the old flag; who would fight for the one and die for the other as bravely and as willingly as patriots always fight and die for their country. Therefore, I know that candor without bitterness and free speech without prejudice can give no offense to them, and that I may venture without fear of embarrassment upon the expression of sentiments to which I must give voice if I would be honest with myself. The war of 1861 was fought, not to determine the status of the negro, but to establish the permanence of the Union. From the beginning of the Republic to the end of the war, a long line of distinguished statesmen (and they were not confined to the south) believed — honestly believed — that when any state ad- judged for herself that she had sufficient cause to withdraw from the Union, she might do so in peace, and in harmony with the constitution. On the other hand, an equally long line of renowned leaders believed — honestly believed — that there could be no peaceful disintegration of 'the Republic. It was inevitable from the first that, some time, the issue thus presented must be settled. In the very nature of things, there was but one arbiter for such a question. The battlefield was the only court that could render judgment upon an issue so vital and so funda- mental. It is not for me to debate the abstract justice involved m these differences of opinion. They were tried out in that last dreadful resort of passionate humanity, the perils of the camp, the fatigue of the march, and the awful shock of battle. The end came at last, after the north had called into the service more than two million seven hundred thousand men, and the south more than a million; after the lives of eight hundred VICKSBURG 37 thousand of the gallant children of the Republic had been laid upon the altar of war, and twice the number had been smitten with wounds. With this sacrifice complete, the issue was de- cided once and forever, and history has approved the judgment and has engraved upon her eternal pages the award of mortal conflict. The Union is indestructible, unless overthrown by successful revolution. With this decision, the country, north and south, is, I believe, content. With it has come a greatness and a glory of free institutions of which the south is not less proud than the north. It has given to the American name a lustre brighter than any other the world around. It has given to the American nation a place in the forefront of the march of civilization. It has given to the American citizen a dignity unequalled among the people of the earth. It has given to the flag of our country the most exalted station among all the em- blems of sovereignty blown by the breeze or kissed by the sun. The integrity of the Union is priceless, and its inexhaustible blessings are treasured as lovingly and shared as perfectly by the people of the south as they are by the people of the north. In the region from which I come, there remains not a shadow of ill-feeling, not a vestige of bitterness, and we look upon the star that shines for Mississippi, in the azure field of Old Glory, with the same pride that fills our hearts when we see the radiance of the star that blazes for Massachusetts. We sing "The Star Spangled Banner," and then the strains of "Dixie" rise melodiously into the air. I have touched this subject, not for the purpose of dwelling upon it, but in order to make a distinction which I think ought to be made upon such an occasion. These monuments are not reared to commemorate an event; they are not reared in memory of a cause; they are not reared as evidences of a vic- tory. They are reared to commemorate the worth of the individual soldier, and upon the same ground on which they stand as everlasting tributes to the courage and heroism of Iowa soldiers, there will stand the monuments built to do like honor to like courage and heroism of the soldiers of the Confederate army. Side by side, the monuments of the north and of the south will lift their heads through all the ages, in loving com- 38 VICKSBURG panionship, sacred to the memories of men who were willing to suffer and die for the thing which they believed to be right. In the judgment day of history, as well as in the judgment day of eternity, the motives of humanity are the tests of honor and salvation. Before these august tribunals. Grant and Lee, Sherman and Johnston, Sheridan and Jackson, and all the other noble spirits of the war, will stand as valiant commanders and followers who tried to do their duty, as God gave them light to see their duty ; and they will enter together the hallowed land reserved for those who live faithfully and die nobly. The greatness of a nation may depend upon the accident of strength and numbers, but the greatness of a man is not subject to the caprice of fortune. We have journeyed hither, there- fore, not so much to rejoice in the triumph of the war, as to testify our appreciation and prove our gratitude for the cou- rageous loyalty, the high character, the valorous deeds of the men who here bravely endured the extreme test of human pur- pose. We come to weave a garland about the memory of those who have gone beyond the river and to reverently salute those who are still in the land of the living. We, who enjoy the heritage of a citizenship bequeathed to us through their prowess in arms, can well pause a moment to pronounce a bene- diction upon the dead and sing praises in the ears of the living. What they did here, is written in the imperishable annals of the world and has become part of the civilization of mankind. In building these monuments, we contribute nothing to their fame, but we greatly add to our own power to serve our country with the same fidelity that distinguished them. Mr. President and gentlemen of the commission, I accept for our beloved state these monuments which you have erected, with care so loving, and supervision so scrupulous. You have performed the duty assigned to you with the utmost credit to yourselves and to the highest honor of your state. It has been, indeed with you, a labor of love, and you have carved into this granite and engraved upon this bronze the holiest affections of your hearts and the most sacred memories of your lives. I can only say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servants." 3 o VICKSBURG 39 As the governor of Iowa, I now dedicate these monuments to the holy purpose for which they have been established, to the honor of Iowa's soldiers in the battles and siege of Vicks- burg. I dedicate them as evidences of a patriotism so pure and true that succeeding generations may, as they pause to look upon them, learn how faithful, lovers of their country ought to be. And now, my dear friend, General Dodge, commissioned by the government of the United States to receive these monu- ments which Iowa has built for her soldiers engaged in the siege and battles of Vicksburg, I deliver them into your keep- ing. I am rejoiced to know that the government has selected you to take them from my hands. It is a proud moment when Iowa transfers these tributes of her love and affection to her most distinguished soldier. From now henceforth, the country for which some of these soldiers died and for which all of them suffered, will preserve and protect the offering which we now lay upon the altar of patriotism, and know that the spirit which renders homage to the men who heard and answered the call to duty in days gone by, will, should danger again be encountered, bring still greater hosts to the defense of the sovereignty of the flag and the perpetuity of free government. Captain J. F^. Merry, chairman of the commission: "You will all understand the joy that comes to every one of this commission when I say to you that of all the living men of the Federal army who participated in the civil war, there is not one whom we rejoice so much to have with us today as the man whom I now introduce. General Grenville M. Dodge." Acceptance for the United States Government General Grenville M. Dodge Representing the Secretary of War Governor Cummins: Other duties have prevented the secretary of war from being present here today to accept from your hands this magnificent 40 VICKSBURG tribute of the state of Iowa to her soldiers taking part in the Vicksburg campaign. It is a great honor to be selected by the United States govern- ment to receive and accept the monuments from the state of Iowa. It is a greater pleasure and a greater satisfaction for me to perform this duty as a citizen of that state. It probably is known to most of you that I was not present in the campaigns in front of Vicksburg, and for that reason it is an additional honor and pleasure for me to accept on behalf of the govern- ment of the United States the monuments here erected by the state of Iowa. This I do, fully appreciating the patriotism of that state in erecting this beautiful and appropriate monument in memory and honor of the officers and soldiers of the state, who performed such brave and effective duties upon this field. It is a singular fact that while I had no command in this important campaign, I was assigned by General Grant to a command he held far more important to the success of his army, than an immediate command under him, and that in his recom- mendation for promotions after this battle I was placed first upon the list. It is remarkable that none of the promotions that General Grant recommended after the battle of Vicksburg were made by the government for nearly one year, except the promotion of General John A. Rawlins to be a brigadier general, and he received this promotion because he took General Grant's report in person to W^ashington and appeared before the cabinet. One would think after such a great and complete victory that his recommendations would receive some consideration. The fact is, one officer who was not in the campaign, was promoted, and General Grant entered his protest against that promotion, stating that "the officers he recommended, who were here In this battle were far superior and performed far more important duties than the person promoted, and should have received the government's consideration and reward." You will find In the war records where General Grant several times in the following year pressed the promotion of the officers he recommended at the fall of Vicksburg. Washington did not then seem to hav^e VICKSBURG 41 fully appreciated Grant, and seemed loath to follow his sug- gestions. It was General Grant's intention that I should command a division in this campaign, but he changed his mind, and in a letter to me informed me that he had assigned me to com- mand two divisions at Corinth, Mississippi, fearing that Bragg might detach from his command a force and try to reach the Mississippi river north of Memphis, and in writing me in relation to this change of my command. Grant said he had assigned me to this duty because he knew I would stay there, which was a very pointed intimation to me that under no cir- cumstances was I to leave Corinth, no matter what force came against me, and as I read it today, it was not only a suggestion, but a compliment. As soon as Grant moved down the Mississippi, and placed his army on the levees he determined in his own mind that bold campaign to the south and rear of Vicksburg. Knowing he could not make it until the waters fell In April or May, he utilized the time and kept his troops busy in several plans for passing Vicksburg, or by using the Yazoo tributaries to make a landing to the north and east of Vicksburg. He had very little faith In these projects, although they tended to confuse the enemy and mislead them as to his real plan of campaign. He kept his own counsel as to this plan, knowing it would receive no support In Washington, but probably draw forth an order prohibiting it and also receive criticism from all mili- tary sources, as the plan was an absolute violation of all the rules and practices of war, as it virtually placed his entire com- mand at the mercy of the enemy, cutting loose from all the bases of support and supply, necessitating the taking with him of all the rations and ammunition he would use in the campaign. Nevertheless he never hesitated, though urged to abandon it by some of his ablest generals. Grant says he was Induced to adopt the plan first on account of the political situation which was threatening, the anti-war element having carried the elec- tions, and the Confederates were forcing our troops as far or farther north as when the war commenced. He knew that to abandon his campaign and to return to Memphis, the nearest 42 VICKSBURG point from which he could make the campaign by land and have a base and railroad from it, would be very disheartening to the government and the people. Grant ran the batteries and landed his forces on the east side of the Mississippi, and faced the enemy with fewer men than they had, and in the entire campaign when he planted himself in the rear of Vicks- burg, he had only 43,000 men, while the enemy had 60,000. In comparison as to boldness, the total ignoring of all former practices of warfare, the accepting of the probability of nine chances of failure to one of success, this campaign has never been approached in its originality and the wonderful grasp of its possibilities and great success. Viewing it from this stand- point it cannot be compared to any other known campaign. After Vicksburg the Confederacy was doomed, and Gettysburg coming at the same time, lifted the nation from the slough of despondency to the highest point of hope, enthusiasm and cer- tainty of success. Another reason that governed Grant in making this cam- paign against all the recognized principles of warfare as taught and known at that time, I have never seen stated. When Gen- eral Grant made his first campaign against Vicksburg, as you all remember, the capture of all of his supplies at Holly Springs caused him to abandon that campaign and fall back to the line of the Memphis and Charleston railroad, and in this movement back his troops were forced to live off the country. General Grant was astonished to find how efficiently they were supphed from the sparsely settled country, and he said that if he had had the experience that his retreat gave him before he made it, that instead of retreating toward the Memphis and Charleston railroad he would have pushed his army on toward Jackson and Vicksburg, carrying out the original plan of campaign. In discussing this matter with him afterwards he made the statement that he had no doubt if no accident or any action of the enemy prevented his army from swinging into the rear of Vicksburg he knew he could supply it from the country through which he was moving until he reached some safe base, and I have no doubt in my mind but what the experience he received on the retreat from Grenada was one of the principal reasons VICKSBURG 43 for his swinging his entire army to the rear of Vicksburg, cut- ting loose from his base of supplies and taking such chances. There is no doubt that this bold movement so deceived the enemy that it could only bring against our forces a portion, in- stead of the whole army, and thus enabled Grant to meet each force that came against him, defeating it and finally plant him- self in this city. There was one other reason that I think had great weight with him in this movement. When I first reported to General Grant and had command of the central division of the Missis- sippi, stretching from Columbus south, I was assigned to the duty of rebuilding the Mobile and Charleston railroad from Co- lumbus to Humboldt. In our campaign in Missouri I had con- siderable experience in the organization and handling of a secret service force within the enemy's lines. As soon as I reached Tennessee I raised a regiment of Tennesseeans which was known as the First Tennessee cavalry, and I utilized the men from that state to obtain information as to the enemy. My reports were made to General Quimby; they reached General Grant and they were pretty accurate. Everyone knows that the rumors of what the enemy has and does are always greatly exaggerated, and it was one of the rules and instructions that were given to these men, who went inside of the lines, to be careful and not exaggerate, so when their reports came and were sent to General Grant, they in time proved to be very accurate. His attention, he says, was attracted to them, and it was not long before he communicated with me and gave me full authority and full control of the secret service in his command. When making his first movement toward the Vicksburg campaign there had come into my lines a large number of Ala- bamians, loyal men, whom I organized into the First Alabama cavalry and through the utilizing of members of this regiment and through relatives who lived within the enemy's lines I was enabled to place a very efficient system of spies or secret service men at Jackson, Meridian, Selma, Montgomery and Atlanta. These men, who were thoroughly instructed how to count a company, a regiment, a brigade, a division and a corps, whether moving on foot or in cars, and who were also thoroughly in- 44 VICKSBURG structed to give us nothing but facts, not rumors, so far as I know never failed us. Their reports generally reached me through some member of their family or the family of some member of the regiment. These reports were sent to General Grant, so that he knew at all times while he was on both cam- paigns pretty nearly any force that was facing him, and when he made his movement to the rear of Vicksburg, and after the bat- tles of Jackson, Champion Hill and Black River, when John- ston's army was forming to relieve the siege, these spies became of untold benefit to General Grant, because all movements from Bragg or any other Confederate force was promptly noted and reported, and General Grant was given information in plenty of time to bring to his aid sufficient forces to meet Johnston's command. If you go to the war record you will notice that Schofield, from the department of Missouri, sent Grant from his com- mand nearly all his organized troops. From the department of Arkansas, commanded by Steele, was sent Herron's division and later came the Ninth corps under Parke, all the way from Knoxville, so that Grant had organized under Sherman's com- mand a new army facing Johnston, and at all times it equalled in force the army Johnston had under him. I remember the reports that came to me and went afterward to Grant, Johnston's force did not exceed 20,000 to 35,000, while the reports that came from the enemy's lines, and general belief, was that Johnston had accumulated an army of some- thing like 60,000. The information thus obtained by Grant enabled him at ail times to be master of the situation, and therefore, to force his siege and carry out the plans of his campaign without any doubt in his own mind that he was able to meet any force in his front or in his rear. These spies had instructions that when anything of great importance occurred and it would take too long to reach me, they should proceed directly and report to General Grant. In two or three cases they did this. In one case one spy was captured and imprisoned and two others in trying to reach him were killed. Many of these spies were detailed from our own regiments, and they took their lives in their hands and * "" • a 9 <« * S 5 9> 9 >• VICKSBURG 45 entered the enemy's lines, sometimes joining the Confederate regiments. Many of them were killed, many captured, tried and executed, and the experiences and reports that came to us from them were more daring and startling and far more inter- esting than any romance that was ever written. General Grant said afterwards that the value of this infor- mation to him in the campaign none could overestimate. It was always intended that none of the reports of these spies should ever go into the army records. Their names were never known to anyone except myself, but occasionally as you read the war records, you will see some of these reports, giving infor- mation forwarded by me. As the history of the war has been read and as shown in the war records, it has often been asked why it was that after every campaign of Grant's that his advice was not taken in following up the campaign immediately by another, especially when there were concentrated under him victorious armies ready to move successfully in any direction. After Donelson Grant desired to move directly south, and says that with his army and the army of Buell combined, they could have moved directly south to Vicksburg and opened the Mississippi river. After Corinth there was again an army of 100,000 men concentrated there, that could have moved to any part of the west successfully and victoriously without great opposition. Right after the Vicksburg campaign General Grant proposed occupying the Rio Grande frontier, because the French had entered Mexico, and to use immediately the rest of his army to capture Mobile and move on Montgomery and Selma, Ala- bama, and perhaps Atlanta, Georgia, using the Alabama river from Mobile as a base to supply his column, but again his great victorious army was scattered. Parke with the Ninth corps was returned to east Tennessee, and Sherman with the Fifteenth corps was started from Memphis to march along the Memphis and Charleston railway to the Tennessee river, and up that river slowly, evidently for the purpose of being in position to aid Rosecrans in his campaign against Bragg. 46 VICKSBURG In each case the armies were scattered and generally for six months or a year failed to accomplish any great work. Not until General Grant had assumed command of all the armies of the United States did they all move in unison. The great principle that he had often laid down was then put in force, and on the first day of May, 1864, every organized Federal force moved against the enemy in its front, so that under no cir- cumstances could the enemy as it had been in the habit of doing, transfer from one force to assist another, and thus throw a superior force against some one of our armies in active cam- paign, while the rest of our forces were lying idle. There is no doubt that the campaign of Vicksburg was the first blow that started and indicated to the Confederacy what the ultimate result would be. It was such a victory that there could be no possible excuse for their defeat, or under no circum- stance could they obtain any hope from it. Its results were far reaching; it was absolutely complete. The enemy surren- dered and the Mississippi river was opened throughout its entire length, never again closed, and the west half of the Con- federacy was split entirely in two, and from that time it was almost impossible for one part of it to re-enforce the other, and had the troops moved from Vicksburg, as recommended by Grant, directly on Mobile, captured that place, carried out the plans and ideas of Grant, that the Alabama river could be used as a base, and have captured Selma, Montgomery, and finally Atlanta, it would have gone far toward settling the question of the war in the west, and in all probability saved the great battles of Chickamauga, Chattanooga and Atlanta. General Grant during the time I served directly under him often spoke in praise of Iowa and Iowa troops. He designated the Second Iowa infantry as first at Donelson, and the Fourth Iowa infantry, the regiment I had the honor to once command, as first at Chickasaw Bayou. He reasoned that the efficiency of the Iowa soldiers came from the policy of the state in following almost literally the recommendations of the officers in the field when it came to replenishing their ranks and promoting and awarding her troops for their efficient work in the camp, on the march, or upon the field of battle. VICKSBURG 47 This action of the governor of the state gave a confidence to the soldiers in the field and hope of promotion and an assurance that he would get it if he deserved it. As adding to the spirit and efliciency of their command, the benefit of this policy can- not be overestimated. To Governor Samuel R. Kirkwood is entitled the credit of inaugurating this system, and every Iowa officer and soldier who served in the civil war gratefully recognizes this service and extends his thanks and pays his tribute to that great war gov- ernor. General Grant's treatment of the Confederate troops at the surrender indicated a statesman as well as a great general. It gave him a standing with the Confederate army and people that no other commander had, and it not only met the universal approval of our armies, but tempered and softened afterwards the action of all our officers in the west who had dealings with the enemy. When peace came his action at Appomattox following his action here gave him an influence with the Confederate states and people that was a lasting benefit to our whole country and the southern soldier vies with us today in doing honor to his memory. I cannot close without paying my tribute to the sculptor, who under the direction of the Iowa commission, has conceived and erected this beautiful and appropriate monument. The thanks of your state are due to him for his successful work, and Iowa will stand on this field as the peer of the other states in the recognition she has given, not only to her dead, but to the living who took part in these great campaigns. Music Vicksburg School Children "The Star Spangled Banner" Captain J. P. Merry, chairman: "The Iowa commission regard it as a great distinction that we have with us today Governor James K. Vardaman, of Mississippi, who will now address you." 48 VICKSBURG Address J. K. Vardaman Governor of Mississippi Governor Cummins, Mr. Chairman, Fellow Countrymen: The remarks that I shall make upon this occasion will neces- sarily be very brief. I come to you, my countrymen, com- missioned by the patriotic, loyal people of Mississippi, to place upon the brows of the beautiful women from Iowa the flowers of love and respect and to lay at the feet of our guests the choicest flowers of the most cordial hospitality in this greeting of welcome. I was not old enough, my fellow citizens, to participate in the memorable conflict which tried men's souls on this his- toric spot forty-five years ago, but I had a representative who gave the best there was in him to it, and I am here to join with you on this occasion to pay tribute of hospitality, ad- miration and love to him and his memory, as you are pleased to honor your heroic dead for what they did and suffered. I concur in the beautiful sentiment expressed by the great governor of Iowa when he said that in building that monument it is not your purpose to honor the men who fell upon this battlefield. You can not honor them. The man who died in defense of what he believed to be right, as God had given him to see the right — that man's cup, my countrymen, is full to overflowing. But you rather honor yourselves. You rear a monument more lasting than granite, more enduring than bronze, in the minds of the present generation and of posterity, the children yet to come, which shall live as long as heroism is a virtue, and the love of home and country and God animate the human heart. They are not dead. "They fell defeated, yet undying. Their names the very winds are sighing." I have often asked myself the question, when contemplating the scenes enacted nearly half a century ago upon this place, why was it necessary, why in the economy of God's providence was it necessary to sacrifice so much blood and so much treas- ure? Why could not the war have been avoided? I do not VICKSBURG 49 know. It must have been right, because the poet tells us that "that which is, is right." There is another question that I ask myself frequently, and I have been unable to answer it. Why, forty-five years after the matter had been settled in that court of might, after the decision had been entered, and the arbitrament proclaimed to the world, why was it that men of the same blood and bone and flesh should, for all this time, have been standing and looking at each other, sneering and quarreling like wild beasts or dyspeptic children? It must be because we have not known each other. I am glad to see the people of Iowa here today. I want you to come to see us often and I know your sons will fall in love with our daughters, as I am sure we will fall in love with yours. You are right, sir, when you say that the people of the south are loyal to the stars and stripes. It is with infinite pride that we refer to the fact that a southern man wrote the Declara- tion of Independence; that a southern man made it possible for that flag to float triumphantly and command respect upon every sea and in every land beneath the sun. We were fight- ing it — or rather, my father and his comrades were fighting it — for a while, but when the stars and bars trailed in defeat on that fatal day at Appomattox, the Confederate soldier, the sons and daughters of the south, accepted the irrevocable decision. And there has not been one day, from that time to this, when we were not all ready to surrender our hves in defense of it. And I want to say another thing to you, my countrymen. We are not only true to the stars and stripes, but we are true to the ideals — the highest, loftiest ideals — of American citizenship, and if I would not be charged with a little immod- esty, I might say (I believe it) that the ark of the covenant of American institutions is in the keeping of and will be defended by the sons and daughters of the men who followed the for- tunes of the stars and bars to defeat at Appomattox. There were issues left here for us to consider which my friend Gover- nor Cummins has touched upon which I want you to think about. We not only lost greatly by this conflict; we not only suffered great destruction of property, but we lost by death a great many of our best and purest. I want to say to you. Governor, that 50 VICKSBURG you made one mistake in the figures which you gave. Instead of having over one million men, we had only six hundred thousand. But I want to say in this connection that I do not care whether a man comes from the mountains of Vermont or from the hills of Massachusetts, or from the plains of Iowa or Illinois, if he is a thoroughbred American citizen, I do not care under what circumstances you find him, he is always patriotic. And when people talk to me about the solution of this great problem which you have left us here, I answer that a man who would give his life in defense of a sentiment, or a principle, if you please, as your comrades, as your hus- bands, as your sons and your brothers did here on this historic spot in 1863, when you shall know the truth about the situation here, you are going to respond like patriots with your ballots. These problems must be settled in love. They cannot be settled in hate. They must be settled by the generations yet to come. I mean by this that they must be settled by the third generation, and not by those who participated in that memorable conflict. I repeat, they must be settled in love, and not in hatred. But, my friends, I am reminded that it is now half past four o'clock, the sun is about to sink, and the orator of this occasion has yet to speak. Let me say to you again, that it affords us more than ordinary pleasure to have you with us. I am not extending you the conventional welcome as the offi- cial head of the state of Mississippi. It is not that. But speaking for every man, woman and child in this common- wealth, I say to you again, my countrymen, we are glad to have you here with us. If you men do not find here in Vicks- burg all that you want, if you will ask these people, I am sure they will give it to you. And if these ladies, who have accompanied your party, shall intimate to me that they want anything, I promise you that they shall have it, even if I have to call out the militia. I trust that your visit may be pleasant, and that as you go along on your itinerary you may see something more of the people of the south. I think they are the best people that 0DQ.2 * 0501 JC ■ C:& r m "p (P p (B in*? < ;2^ w o c p„ »^ 3 o p'2 o „ VICKSBURG 51 I have ever known anything about — except the people of Iowa. When you return home, you will conclude that there is no more difference between the people of the south and the people of the north than there is between the people of the west and the people of the east. There is a great difference between the people who inhabit great cities and the people who dwell in the country. The fact is that about all the patriotism we have now is found in the rural districts. Patriotism is not bom between great sky-scraping buildings. You will find it along the lakes, and beneath the shadow of the mountain peaks. You will find it upon the great plains, and as I said a moment ago, those who come from that portion of the country are usually broad-gauged, patriotic American citizens. Our ideals and our hopes and our aspirations are similar. We are glad to have you here, my friends. I beg your pardon for taking so much time, but now let me say again that it affords us infinite pleasure to have you with us. May you enjoy every moment spent in this sunny southland, and return to your homes in safety and happiness, and enjoy that pros- perity to which loyal, patriotic American citizens arc entitled. God bless you. Music Vicksburg School Children "Dixie " Oration Colonel Charles A. Clark Department Commander Iowa G. A. R. "Manhood is the one unchanging thing Beneath life's changing sky; And where it lightens once, from age to age Men come to learn, in grateful pilgrimage That length of days is knowing when to die." On this historic field the lightnings of patriotic manhood il- lumined the skies of a great people engaged in deadly conflict. We come in grateful pilgrimages, from the north and from the south, to dedicate monuments to the heroism and valor of our countrymen who here laid down their lives. In deadly and bloody clutch they struggled through ensanguined weeks, one 52 VICKSBURG dominated by patriotism for a perpetual Union, the other by patriotism for states of the Union engaged in efforts to organize a Confederacy which should endure until some of its component parts saw fit to set up a new government of their own. Each fought for the right as he saw the right, with a constancy and devotion only equalled by that of the other. This war was for the Union. The immortal Lincoln stated the issue fairly when he said: "Both parties deprecated war, but one of them would make war rather than let the nation survive, and the other would accept war rather than let it perish, and the war came; * * * neither anticipated that the cause of conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease." While the issue of war was pending both houses of congress passed a proposed constitutional amendment, and submitted it to the states for ratification, by which it was provided that the constitution itself should never be amended giving the general government jurisdiction over slavery. Lincoln in his inaugural distinctly accepted and endorsed this measure, saying it was already implied constitutional law. This would have made the in- stitution perpetual at the will of the states where it existed. The offer was rejected by the organization of the Confederacy as an independent government. Thereafter Fort Sumter was assailed and temporarily wrested from the national government, " and the war for the Union flamed up as naturally as our most inflammable substances burst into conflagration from a blazing torch hurled into their midst. Whoso hurled the torch, kindled the conflagration. In its very midst, and after torrents of blood had been shed, Lincoln refusing to be diverted from the primary purpose of the war, used these memorable words: "I would save the Union. I would save the Union without freeing any institution. The sooner the national authority can be restored, the nearest the Union will be 'the Union as it was.' If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time save slavery, I do not agree with them. If there be those who would not save the Union unless they could at the same time destroy slavery, I do not agree with them. VICKSBURG 53 My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave, I would do it; if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone, I would also do that. What I do about slavery and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall beheve what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause." His emancipation proclamation was made in pursuance of this avowed purpose and nothing else. He said, "I will keep the promise I have made to myself and my God," and he kept it. The destruction of slavery not only helped to save the Union, but it cleared the ground for the Union of today in which all interests of all sections are common and harmonious. Its existence was not chargeable to the south alone. The north tiad participated profitably in its estabhshment. Massachusetts, in the convention which framed the constitution, voted against prohibiting the slave trade prior to 1808, while Virginia voted for that prohibition. The crime was a national one, and its punishment fell upon all alike. If it did not fall upon all in equal measure, that was because it was the cause of the at- tempt to dissolve the Union, and it was found after patient ■effort with eyes unblinded by the tears of awful afflictions, and with judgments untouched by the ghastly hecatombs of victims who were sacrificed for the Union with slavery intact, that the cause of the war against the Union was one of its chief supports, and that its destruction would in a large measure destroy resistance to the preservation of the Union. And so amid the horrors of war, by and through the horrors of war, in even hotter, fiercer and more deadly conflict, this national crime which had brought its curse upon all, was eradicated forevermore. Thank God that slavery is ended. In this a united country rejoices today, regardless of old controversies and strifes. The blue and the gray who sleep beneath this 54 VICKSBURG scene of their deadly conflicts are alike honored by this con- summation. The one consciously, the other unconsciously, in an inevitable conflict, helped to work out the awful problem and to bring this blessing to the whole land. The conflict was inevitable. If we go back to the confed- eracy of the original thirteen states, we find that it was a mere rope of sand, where states voted and acted as states, with no executive head, and no form of authority for requiring obedience to its behests from any of its component parts. The constitution which declared the purpose of a "more perfect Union" was looked upon with distrust, north as well as south. Its ratification was hotly resisted, from fears of a centralized government. It was long in doubt in the empire state of New York, and never would have carried there but for the superhuman efforts of one man — Alexander Hamilton. Some of the northern states were the last to ratify, and then only be- cause the requisite number had already done so. From the first the right of a state to withdraw from the Union continued to be discussed both north and south. The conflict preceding the first election of Thomas Jefferson by the congress, and the methods in which it was sought to defeat the clearly expressed will of the people, put a great strain upon the government, while still in its experimental stage. A few years later the Hartford convention showed that the Union might be menaced by the north. The nullification measures of South Carolina were not abandoned because of the patriotic proclamations of Andrew Jackson, but because the congress gave South Caro- lina what she demanded. As the years went by the view of an inseparable Union developed more and more in the north, until the Union became entrenched in all hearts as a universal passion. The south drifted to the opposite view, and more and more held to the right of states to withdraw from the Union. Nothing was more certain than that at some time these opposing views and sentiments would come in conflict in the practical administration of the national government; and that, in the temper of both sides to the controversy, meant an inevitable appeal to arms. The hand of God has never been more manifest in the affairs of our common country than that VICKSBURG 55 the conflict should have come when it did. Delay would have made the peril to the Union more deadly, and the result more doubtful. Even before peace came from the long years of bloodshed and woe, the repeating rifle had become a practical arm, and modern artillery followed close upon its heels. The Union could only be defended by an offensive war, and the brave Confederates fought mainly upon the defensive. Modern arms and artillery would have increased their defensive power more than a hundred fold. The survivors of the Union armies know that the result was doubtful enough without the addition of this tremendous factor which might have turned the scale the other way. The frenzy which thrust the war upon us in 1 86 1, was, under the providence of God, the salvation of the Union in the arbitrament of battle to which it must have come at last, as certainly as effect follows cause in all human affairs. Let us be just to ourselves, then, and accept what history must record as the very essence of the conflict. The war was a war for the Union. There was room for honest differences of opin- ion and belief as to the right of states to withdraw from the Union. To be mistaken was human and not humiliation. The people of the Confederate States honestly believed in that right, and asserted it upon what they honestly believed to be just and sufficient grounds. With high and fervent loyalty and patriotism for the government they had set up, they fought with a courage and desperation of which none but American freemen are capable. They failed from sheer exhaustion before superior resources and numbers. Under the hand of God our magnificent national domain could only be developed and brought to its best by unshackled hands and unshackled minds of free men, and the blessings of American citizenship under one government and one flag. The defeat of the Confederate armies was not subjugation to debased or inferior conditions, else we should never have succeeded against our own race and our own brethern who fought with such transports of heroism and valor. It was the paradox of all history. It was rescue by military power, to elevation, and to the very blessings which we sought for ourselves and for the children's children of our brave adversaries no less than for our own. 56 VICKSBURG The Union was not to be destroyed. The war for its preser- vation was almost a holy crusade. It was waged, not for sub- jugation nor vengeance, but that those who fought against the Union might enjoy the same rights, liberties and blessings within it as those who fought for it. It was waged for the common welfare and the common safety of all. The destruction of the Union would have been the greatest crime of the ages. It would have been a deadly blow to self-government in America and in the world. It would have established the right to de- stroy a Union framed by all, at the will of a fragment, and the right of further sub-division at the will of other fragments, until chaos was substituted for order, and self-annihilation for the liberty, safety, and happiness of all, in which all had an equal voice. Deep was this conviction in the hearts of those who fought for the Union, and of those who supported the cause of the Union. They could say with Webster, "I have not ac- customed myself to hang over the precipice of disunion, to see whether with my short sight I can fathom the depths of the abyss below." They defended the abyss, equally refusing to be hurled into its yawning jaws, and to allow their misguided fellow countrymen to hurl themselves to destruction there. With many and varying fortunes, through years of unparalleled war, they forced the lines of battle ever farther from the fatal gulf until it closed behind them as peace dawned upon their battle-torn front. The gulf will not re-open ; the wounds of war are healed; we are one people, one country, one grand and inseparable Union. Thank God for that! Around these heights, in wild and bloody fury burst the storm of that war which made the Union what it is today. It was the culmination of a brilliant and successful campaign of the Union armies. Grant had abandoned his base of supplies, plunged into a hostile country, divided and in detail defeated the Confederate forces, and from the rear hurled his army, a tremendous thunderbolt of war, upon doomed and fated Vicks- burg. In nineteen days, and with five days' rations, he fought five triumphant battles, always with superior numbers under his banners; he marched one hundred and eighty miles, inces- santly skirmishing through a country abounding in defensive Front and west end vieiv before restoration Front and west end view after restoration THE SHIRLEY HOUSE A noted landmark within the Union lines at Vicksburg VICKSBURG 57 positions, until he stood with his army before fortifications which frowned where we stand today, and in successive assaults learned that their heroic defenders could roll back in bloody repulse even his victorious veterans. An Iowa regiment, the Twenty-second infantry, sustained the greatest loss on that bloody day. It effected a lodgment upon a salient and for some hours floated its flag from that hostile rampart. A squad of twenty heroes from its ranks entered the hotly defended angle, and of these only two returned alive. A large percentage of all the men it took in action went down in desperate conflict. A congressional medal of honor was awarded its color-bearer for his heroism. The devoted patriotism with which these men fought and died for their country is worthy to be treasured as a memorial on this occasion and for all timiC. The story of the siege which followed need not be narrated in detail. The population of the city lived in caves. Beautiful and delicately nurtured women endured with- out a murmur every form of privation and hardship, including hunger and famine. Their wailings over their dead amid such scenes of horror is one of the most awful pictures of war, to be contemplated only with tears after all the years that are gone. Heroic assailants and heroic defenders matched each other in deeds of daring and valor, through culminating horrors which moved to an Inevitable end. The rations of the besieged were reduced and tobacco in some measure took the place of meat. Their exhausting labors knew no respite. They were exposed, in the words of General Pemberton, to "burning suns, drenching rains, damp fogs and heavy dews." The besiegers, unused to the rigors of a southern mid-summer climate, suffered in greater degree from the same blistering suns, fogs, dews, and from pestilential and noxious vapors. Fell disease laid Its hand upon them. With tremendous and patient labor they pushed forward their approaches under a deadly and destructive fire from their decimated, hungry and gaunt, but sleepless and vigi- lant adversaries. On both sides It was a very delirium and nightmare of valor and incredible endurance. The end came on the anniversary of the birthday of American liberty and independence. It was honorable to both sides alike, and showed 58 VICKSBURG that the spirit of the day remained an unconquerable force in the proud and defiant natures of both the victor and the honor- ably paroled. Grant's losses in battle during the campaign and siege aggre- gated nearly ten thousand men. There is no record of his losses from death and disability through exposure, hardship and dis- ease, in the hospital, on the march, in the trenches, and in camp, but they were inevitably greater than his losses from bullets, and it is not improbable that the twenty-nine thousand sick, wounded, famished and enfeebled men surrendered by Pember- ton, had cost the Union commander an equal number of men from his own ranks. One-sixth of this entire loss had fallen upon thirty-two Iowa organizations who had been actors in this great drama of exalted heroism, and in whose memory Iowa today dedicates monuments which the skill of man can not make as imperishable as their fame and glory. Here, through their endurance and valor, in common with those who fought with them for one country and one flag, the tide of war was turned in favor of the Union in the west, as Gettysburg turned the tide in the east, and from that day the fate of disunion was sealed. Let history have its due. It is idle to avoid the question, was there a right in that prolonged and bloody conflict? We have called it the War of the Rebellion; we have called it the Civil War; Grant, in his memoirs, called it the War between, the States. The growth of fraternal feeling, and a broader view, have convinced all that the first designation is neither ju nor appropriate; the second is unmeaning; the third indicates nothing as to the issues involved, and besides, in five border states it was not war between the states, but war within the states — war of the most dreadful and deplorable type — and so "War between the States" is inaccurate and misleading. It was a War for the Union which was forced upon Lincoln and upon the government which he was sworn to uphold. It was a War for the Union which was waged and which triumphed, and never until that name is adopted will its very essence and mean- ing stand forth in the designation of the terrible crisis itself. Adopt that name and let those who will argue that war for the VICKSBURG 59 Union was wrong, and war for disunion was right, or that each were equally right, because of honest belief on the part of those who sought to rend the country in twain. Mutual regard and fraternity under the old flag and in an inseparable Union whose blessings all enjoy, and for which all now march to battle with equal courage and ardor, have brought the grand fruition for which the Union soldier, here and elsewhere, struggled, and suffered and died, but they have brought no palliative, and can bring none upon this one central and tremendous question. The War for the Union was right; the war for disunion was wrong. To say less than this would be treason to the motives and memo- ries of those who here, and on nearly two thousand other fields of battle, laid down their lives for the Union, no less than to the name and fame of the immortal Lincoln, and all of the mighty ones who served under and around him in the terrible and decisive era of American history. I have not now, and never had, any but the most profound admiration for the spirit of heroism with which the Confeder- ates fought us to the very verge of annihilation, and from the very depths of despair. This same sublime spirit, undaunted by disaster, undismayed in defeat, the common heritage thank God, of all Americans, has made the south and the nation what it is today. The very intensity and duration of the struggle, the torrents of the best blood of a noble people which were shed, brought the most dreadful ills upon the unsuccessful. Their industrial system was overthrown and paralyzed, presenting problems well nigh insoluble. Their homes were impoverished and filled with mourning and despair. They were not fitted by habit or training for the hard labors and painful frugalities which, practiced for generations, had laid the foundations of assured prosperity in the north, and which were now thrust upon them for the first time under conditions of exceptional severity. If Abraham Lincoln, that most marvelous man in all history for eighteen centuries, had lived, his God-like patience, tender sympathies, and great heart which throbbed for all humanity, might have found a way to mitigate and ameliorate the horrors which war had left to them as its frightful legacy. But he was struck down by the hand of an insane assassin, and a new horror 60 VICKSBURG was added where a divine spirit might have done its beneficent work. To all this was added military rule, very likely of longer and harsher duration than was necessary, and to military rule succeeded temporary governments, plundering an impoverished people until the forms of taxation and super-imposed public indebtedness amounted well-nigh to universal confiscation. In- creased alienation and bitterness were the wretched fruitage of these years. Could anything be added to such a lengthened catalogue of miseries? There is no higher testimony to American citizenship under a free government than that the southern people in less than a single generation, led by the sur- vivors of the War for the Union, should have surmounted all these difiiculties and most grievous afflictions, and have become prosperous and happy; that these should have made the new Union against which they fought a new source of honor and pride; that from such depths of impoverishment and sorrow they should have achieved success, and amelioration, if not the full surcease of their woes; and that in war with a foreign foe, they should have marched and fought under the old flag to glorious victory, commanded by their old leaders, Generals Wheeler and Fitzhugh Lee. Tell me where in history the like of this has been seen, and you will but recite another tale of marvelous triumph over ills, which will thrill the hearts of all men so long as they throb more quickly over the grandest and best achievements of our race. The men who wore the blue fought for a Union in which such constancy and endeavors on the part of their fellow countrymen might work out by peaceful methods results which shed new luster on American manhood. For four years, which seemed endless in their gloomy lapse, the Union soldiers, along a firing line of fifteen hundred miles faced incessant and deadly warfare. They fought in one hundred and twelve battles, in eighteen hundred and eighty-two general engagements, battles, skirmishes and affairs in which at least one regiment was en- gaged. This was one for every day of the war, with four hun- dred remaining. It is literally true that there was no day of the war when men were not falling by the bullets of their ad- versaries, and there was no hour of the war when the sound of VICKSBURG 61 musketry was not heard. The official records show that one hundred ten thousand and seventy Union men, and seventy- four thousand seven hundred and sixty-four Confederates were killed or mortally wounded in this ceaseless fusillade. There are no records of Confederate deaths during the last weeks of the war, and it is safe to place their total at ninety thousand men, or more than two hundred thousand men on both sides killed in action. The recorded Union loss from disease and other like causes was two hundred fifty-four thousand, seven hundred and thirty-eight; that of the Confederates, so far as known, fifty-nine thousand two hundred and ninety-seven and this does not tell half the dreadful story as to them, making a total on both sides from these causes, of three hundred fourteen thousand and thirty-five, which added to deaths in battle makes the grand total of five hundred fourteen thou- sand and thirty-five — more than half a million of known deaths of fellow countrymen in this phantasmagoria of blood. The unrecorded deaths from the effects of the war can only be con- jectured, but they surely aggregate other hundreds of thousands, and the ghastly total staggers all sober imagination. Through all this the Union soldier did not falter. His love of country sustained and led him on. The pages of all history recorded nothing grander than his devotion to the Union and the preservation of its liberties and blessings for his fellow countrymen through the ages to come. That devotion has given us the Union as we have it today, mighty and powerful, prosperous and happy, the hope of mankind in every clime, standing foremost among the nations, with its friendship and moral support more valued than offensive and defensive alliance of the most solemn character with kings, emperors or czar. It was the Union soldier In the ranks who wrought this mighty work under leaders whose fame and glory are assured. He, and his no less gallant adversary, gave us the heroic era of American history to which future generations will look back as their most glorious heritage. The mighty shades of the great ones who move in stately procession across the stage of history were the witnesses of his achievements and are illustrious because he did not fail. In saving the Union he kindled a 62 VICKSBURG beacon fire on the mountain-tops of human endeavor which to- day lights the world with its refulgence, and will throw its benign light adown the long vista of applauding ages to come. He stands the type of noble and unfaltering American man- hood, who, in conflict with his no less heroic fellow countrymen, settled the right of the Union to endure "one and inseparable, now and forever." His name as an individual will not long endure. Already the waters of oblivion take hold upon his feet, and in the not distant future, of all who suffered and fought and died in that terrific death-clutch, only the names of the great leaders and commanders will remain. But his deeds of matchless heroism, of desperate daring, of sublime devotion, of unconquerable determination, made sacred by such endless thousands who laid their lives as sacrifices upon the altars of their country, can never fade from the illumined pages of history. To the sacred memories of these men, thousands of whom here struggled and suffered and died, Iowa dedicates her monuments of bronze and marble today. Mighty were their deeds, untarnished is their fame, imperishable is their renown. They have earned the gratitude of their countrymen and of pos- terity and a place in the halls of the immortals. They will feel their own fame more secure to know that their adversaries are honored in like manner. All sleep or will sleep in the soil of a common and united country. The deeds of all will mingle in the common fame of American freemen, as the fraternal senti- ments of this hour mingle in honoring the dead of those who here gave their lives for the right as they saw the right. The glory due to each but adds new luster te the glory of the other. "By the flow of the inland river. Whence the fleets of iron have fled, Where the blades of the grave-grass quiver, ■ Asleep are the ranks of the dead ; Under the sod and the dew. Waiting the Judgment Day ; Under the one, the Blue ; Under the other, the Gray." BATTERY MONUMENT ERECTED AT VICKSBURG VICKSBURG 63 "No more shall the war-cry sever, Or the winding rivers be red ; They banish our anger forever When they laurel the graves of our dead ! Under the sod and the dew, Waiting the Judgment Day: Love and tears for the Blue ; Tears and love for the Gray." Captain J. F^. Merry, chairman: "We have in Iowa a poet of national reputation, and he has prepared a poem especially for this occasion: Major S. H. M. Byers." Poem, " Vicksburg " .... Major S. H. M. Byers Part 1. "Running the Batteries" Part 2. "Where Are They All Today" VICKSBURG By S. H. M. Byers. PART I. RUNNING THE BATTERIES. Would you like to know how the thing was done, How the Vicksburg batteries all were run, Four miles of sulphur, and roar of gun. That Grant's great army far below Might cross the river, and fight the foe ? Not a single boat had he anywhere, Nor barge, nor raft, that could dare to try The mighty stream that was rolling by. 64 VICKSBURG And between his troops and our fleet up there Were the Vicksburg batteries everywhere — Four miles of cannon and breastworks strong Stretching the whole dread way along. There was not a hill, nor a hollow then But had its guns and its hundred men To guard the river, and once, they say, A Federal gunboat tried to go From the fleet above to the troops below — But it hailed and rained and it thundered so Of cannon, and grapeshot all the way. That the captain said to his dying day — Whenever the talk on Vicksburg fell — "He traveled that night four miles of hell." Now this is the thing we had to try, We who were soldiers, not sailors, mark, To run three Federal steamboats by The river batteries in the dark. 'Twas in Sixty-three, and an April night; Soft, and cloudy, and half in sight Was the edge of the moon, just going down, Into the canebrakes dark and brown, As if it did not care to know What thing might happen that night below. Out on the river three steamers ride, Moored on the breast of the sweeping tide. Lashed to the side of each steamer lay River barges with bales of hay. And bales of cotton that soldiers knew Never a cannon had yet shot through. In the half-lit hold of each waiting ship Not a sound is heard from human lip. Yet a dozen soldiers there grimly stand — And they know the work they have in hand. VICKSBURG 65 Theirs, when bellows the cannonade, And holes in the sides of the ship are made, With boards, and cotton, and giinny-sack To keep the rush of the waters back; Theirs, no matter if all should drown, To keep the vessels from going down — For all Grant's army will hold its breath Till the forts are passed or they meet their death. 'Tis ten o'clock by the watch and more — Sudden, a lantern swings on shore — 'Tis the signal — "Start — lift anchor men," And a hundred hearts beat quicker then. And six great gunboats pass ahead — They will give the batteries lead for lead. Ten and a half — the moment nears. No sound of sail, or spars — The listening pilot almost hears The music of the stars. "Lift anchor men" — the silent few Down the dark river glide — God help them now as swift into The lane of death they ride. They round the bend, some river guard Has heard the waters plash. And through the darkness heavenward There is a lightning's flash. A sudden boom across our path, A sullen sound is flung — And we have waked the lion's wrath, And stirred the lion's young. /• ■ It was only a gun on the hills we heard, One shot only, and then was dumb, Mon.— 5 66 VICKSBURG To send to the lower batteries word, The foe, the terrible foe had come. And just as the echo had died away. There was such a flash of lightning came The midnight seemed to be turned to day, And the river shone as if all on flame. And indeed it was, for on either side, Barns and houses and bonfires burned, And soon in the conflagration wide. They saw our ships where the river turned. They saw our ships and a mighty roar — Bellowed after us in our flight — There wasn't a nook on the whole east shore But had a battery there that night. Thunder and lightning, and boom on boom; It was terrible in the chase, Never again till the crack of doom Will the Mississippi see such a race. For our gunboats answered them all along — Spite of the wounds on their sloping mail. And spite of the current swift and strong They let them feel of their iron hail. Two hours the terrible storm goes on With one of our boats in flames, And one of our barges burned and gone. Another the river claims. And the hull of one of our boats they broke. But we, in the hold below. We heard the thunder and felt the stroke. And checked the water's flow. VICKSBURG 67 And once we climbed to the deck o'erhead From out the Infernal place, Where we hardly heard what each other said Or looked in each other's face. Only a moment 1 Lord, what a sight! The bravest would hold his breath — For it seemed as if the river that night Were in the throes of death. Crash follows crash, worst follows worst, Thunder on thunder dire. As if some meteor had burst And set the world on fire. Two hours — the dang'rous deed is done ; Just as the dawn is by The heroic vessels, every one, Below the batteries lie. A shout, a cheer, a wild huzzah, Quick to the heavens flew When Grant and Sherman's soldiers saw The boats come rounding to. 68 VICKSBURG PART II. WHERE ARE THEY ALL TODAY? Who calls it forty years ago? To me 'twas yesterday, We ran the batteries of the foe And anchored In the bay. A thousand cheers our bosoms stirred, My comrades wept, they say, When Grant but spoke a kindly word ; Where are they all today ? Red shone the dawn, and there in line The g^lorious army stood, And ere the midnight stars shall shine Is ferried o'er the flood. Where yesternight the foeman kept Their bivouacs by the way Now thirty thousand bluecoats slept; Where are they all today ? By different roads our columns led Where'er we tracked a foe, And listening to our midnight tread They waited for the blow. By day, by night, we marched and fought In many a bloody fray. And many a grave was left forgot — Where are they all today? Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson fell, Great was the southern ire — At Champion Hills a taste of hell They gave us with their fire. VICKSBURG 69 Two hours, I saw my comrades fall — Begrimed in death they lay, The sulphurous smoke their funeral pall — Where are they all today ? Two hours of fire and tempest, then The foeman yield the place — McPherson and McClemand's men Are dangerous foes to face. They yield, for Logan's on their flank Who never lost the fray. Whose sword to foeman never sank — Where's Logan's sword today? And Hovey's pounding on their left, And Crocker's hurrying by, Fierce the assault, their line is cleft, What can they do but fly? Beneath the soft magnolia trees There the five thousand lay, Hands touching hands, knees touching knees, Where are they all today ? Yet wait, we struggle for the bridge Behind the flying foe. There from the low and wooden ridge The flags of Lawler go. A shout, a cheer, men may not dream Of such a charge again; But where are they who held the stream, And where are Lawler's men ? That very day with flags unfurled We circled Vicksburg town. And forty days and nights we hurled Death's missies up and down. By heaven it was a sight, at last. The host of Blue and Gray, 70 VICKSBURG The cannons' roar, the muskets' blast, Where are they all today? Filled with the pride of victories by To storm the works we willed, Two times the awful thing we try. Our dead their ditches filled. Two times they hurled us back, our men Writhing and wounded lay; Brave souls who charged on Vicksburg then, Where are they all today ? Where are the Hawkeye boys who fell In that dread holocaust, When cannon burst like blasts of hell And all the day was lost ? One flag, a little moment shone Above the men in gray. 'Twas theirs, 'twas theirs — though all alone. Where is that flag today? That very hour our circling lines The wondrous siege began. And burrowed pits and saps and mines Around the city ran. Like tigers fighting for their young The maddened men at bay Across our road their bravest flung — Where are they all today? To caves and hollows of the hills Their wives and children flew, Enduring all war's hideous ills. They were heroic, too. Courageous souls, war's thunder tone And lightnings round them play. And bursting shells like meteors shone — Where are they all today ? VICKSBURG 71 The roses on the garden walls A thousand odors fling, The blackbird to the throstle calls And still our bullets sing. The little children, scared at first. Along the commons play, While Porter's shells around them burst — Where are they all today? The laurel and magnolias bloom In colors white and gay. Yet Grant and Sherman's cannon boom, 'Tis Grant and Sherman's way. By saps and mines, we near the town, Defend it as they may, Their flags will soon be falling down — Where are their flags today? One morning thirty thousand men Laid down their arms and wept. Because they ne'er would see again The hills their valor kept. Our scanty bread with them we shared, As bravest soldiers may. They cheered us, who but now had dared. Where are they all today? The forts are ours, the mighty stream Unvexed flows to the main, A thousand miles our banners gleam, We've cut the south in twain. Where are the victors, where the foe — Where are the Blue and Gray, The hero souls of years ago — Where are they all today? Build to our own the marble bust Where the great river laves 72 VICKSBURG Yon hill that holds their honored dust — Their twenty thousand graves. The years go on, the living still, If Blue coat, or if Gray, May ask the mounds on yonder hill, Where are they all today? Benediction Rev. Mr. Hillhouse of Vicksburg "Almighty God, we pray that thy rich blessing may rest upon all of us gathered here, and upon all of the people through- out our great nation. We pray that thy almighty power may sustain us as a people, that thy wisdom may guide us, that thy love may uphold us, and that the exercises of this day may cre- ate in our hearts good fellowship and patriotism and peace, and to thee we will give all the praise, now and forever more. Amen." ICmVICKil5UI2CrPARK MONUMENT^ COMMI55ION THE COMMISSION AND ITS WORK MEMBERS. John F. Merry, Dubuque, Twenty-first Iowa infantry. Luclen C. Blanchard, Oskaloosa, Twenty-eighth Iowa in- fantry. J. A. Fitchpatrick, Nevada, Third Iowa infantry. E. J. C. Bealer, Cedar Rapids, Twenty-second Iowa infantry. David A. Haggard, Algona, Twenty-first Iowa infantry. W. O. Mitchell, Corning, Thirteenth Iowa infantry. W. H. C. Jacques, Ottumwa, Nineteenth Iowa infantry. Henry H. Rood, Mt. Vernon, Thirteenth Iowa infantry. James H. Dean, Des Moines, Twenty-third Iowa infantry. Chairman — John F. Merry, Dubuque. Secretary — Henry H. Rood, Mt. Vernon. The Twenty-ninth General Assembly appropriated "$150,- 000 for the purpose of perpetuating the memory and commem- orating the valor and services of Iowa soldiers in the campaign and siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863, by erecting brigade, regimental and state monuments and tablets on the Vicksburg national military park," and authorized the governor to appoint a commission of nine members, each of whom shall have been a member of an Iowa regiment or battery in the war of the rebellion, to let the contracts and superintend the erection of the monuments and tablets. Governor Cummins announced the appointment of the commission April 28, 1902. The commission met in Des Moines, May twenty-first and organized. In October they visited Washington, D. C, Gettys- burg, Pa., and Richmond, Va., to study memorial designs and to further inform themselves for the discharge of their duties. In July, 1903, a sub-committee visited New York and Boston to make a further study of memorial designs and to select a (78) 74 VICKSBURG sculptor, and in October of the same year the full committee visited Vicksburg and selected sites for the state, brigade and regimental monuments. March 30, 1904, the committee met at Des Moines and accepted the design for the state memorial prepared by Henry H. Kitson, of Boston, Mass., the sculptor selected by the commission. The commission entered into a contract with Mr. Kitson, March 30, 1904, for the erection of the state monument for $100,000, the same to be completed in four years from date and sooner if possible. On the same date a contract was entered into with Edmund H. Prior, of Postville, Iowa, for the erection of the thirteen brigade, regimental and battery monuments for the sum of $28,500, and at a subsequent meeting this sum was increased $500 to permit of the enlarge- ment of the only single regimental monument, the Third in- fantry. The various organizations are grouped into brigades as far as possible, and all of the monuments stand on Union avenue. In the discharge of their duties the commissioners have been governed from the beginning, as nearly as possible, by the following considerations : To set up on this field, one of the greatest and most crucial of the war, such monuments and tablets as will adequately mark the positions of the Iowa commands engaged, and emphasize the truth of history, that from Grand Gulf, where Iowa sailors served on the gunboats, through Port Gibson, Jackson, Cham- pion Hill, Black River Bridge, and the assaults of May nine- teenth and twenty-second, in fact at every point of contact, the soldiers and sailors of Iowa were at the forefront of battle, their flags and muskets fully abreast of their comrades from other states in the effort to open the Mississippi and sever the Con- federacy. Granite and bronze only have been used in the erection of the monuments. Both materials have been carefully tested and inspected. An inspector, employed by the commission, is pres- ent at the quarry at Barre, Vermont, to pass upon the fitness of every piece of granite. This inspection has been and is con- tinued as the structure is erected at Vicksburg, to insure that nothing but the most perfect of materials shall mark the heroic VICKSBURG 75 part taken by the soldiers of Iowa in the investment and siege of Vicksburg. The historical tablets, inscriptions on the smaller monuments, and the great panels in the central memorial, are of United States standard bronze which readily lends itself to this use, permitting of results in decoration and beauty of form not otherwise obtainable. It has been the purpose of the commis- sion to see that the tablets, monuments and state memorial shall in their spirit and decorations be typical of the men and events they commemorate, the whole set in a frame of simple and noble architecture, adorned with the highest conceptions of the sculp- tor's art. State Memorial. The design is a peristyle, semi-circular in form ; its dimensions are as follows : Feet. Inches. Total width 64 Depth from front of steps to back of monument 29 9 Height of monument from ground 26 8 Height of center portion from ground 29 10 Height from ground to base of columns 6 Height of columns 13 6 Height of entablature 4 6 Diameter of columns at base i Diameter of columns at neck i Height of bas-reliefs 4 6 Width of bas-reliefs 5 6 Width of pediment 18 Length of pediment from platform .24 Width across front and pylons. ... 7 6 Width of side pylons 5 Distance of columns on centers. ... 6 Depth of piers back of columns .... i 8 Distance of face of column in front of bas-reliefs 2 6 76 VICKSBURG Feet Inches Width of granite wall across rear at back of pediment 22 Width of tread of steps i 4 Length of court from base of column to base of column 50 The design is pure Greek, the columns are massive Doric and between are open spaces for six bas-reliefs, four feet and six inches by five feet and six inches in size, on which will be portrayed in bronze, the following scenes: Grand Gulf (naval). Champion Hill. Port Gibson. Black River Bridge. Jackson. Assault, May 22, 1863. The tablet in the central panel will contain a list of the regi- ments and batteries engaged in the campaign and siege, the number of troops and their losses. On the platform a bronze equestrian statue of heroic size will be placed, representing a soldier carrying the standard and entitled "The Standard Bearer." The broad platform and generous steps give a setting for the monument and will enable throngs to visit the memorial and be impressed with the bas-reliefs and other sculpture. The de- sign lends itself to the placing of inscriptions in a very advan- tageous form in the frieze and on the pylons. The complete effect of the bronzes, the inscriptions and the architecture will be of great beauty, and at the same time of great strength. This noble architectural structure will stand on Union avenue in front of the railroad redoubt. A curved driveway will leave Union avenue, pass in front of the monument and return to Union avenue. A sub-committee visited the residence of the sculptor, H. H. Kitson, at Quincy, Mass., in July, 1905, and inspected the clay models for the six large bas-reliefs. They found the models striking examples of the sculptor's skill, fairly throbbing with intense action and vividly portraying the various scenes. After making suggestions looking to the changing in minor detail of the designs the committee approved the models. VICKSBURG 77 The inscription on the face of the memorial is : lowers Memorial to her soldiers who served in the campaign and siege of Vicksburg, March 2g-July 4, 1863. The following inscription in raised bronze letters is proposed for the central panel of the pediment : IOWA Iowa Commands and Casualties. ARTILLERY. First battery, wounded i. Second battery, killed i, wounded 6, total 7. CAVALRY. Third regiment (Companies A, B, C, D, I, K) Fourth regiment, killed 9, wounded 16, missing 23, total 48. INFANTRY. Third regiment, killed i, wounded 18, total 19. Fourth regiment, wounded 13. Fifth regiment, killed 22, wounded 97, total 119. Sixth regiment. Eighth regiment, wounded 5. Ninth regiment, killed 37, wounded 82, total 119. Tenth regiment, killed 38, wounded 157, total 195. Eleventh regiment, killed i, wounded i, total 2. Twelfth regiment, killed i, wounded 2, total 3. Thirteenth regiment. Fifteenth regiment. Sixteenth regiment, wounded 2. Seventeenth regiment, killed 24, wounded 151, missing 4, total 179. Nineteenth regiment, wounded i. Twentieth regiment. Twenty-first regiment, killed 29, wounded 174, missing 10, total 213. Twenty-second regiment, killed 29, wounded 141, missing 19, total 189. Twenty-third regiment, killed 45, wounded 148, total 193. 78 VICKSBURG Twenty-fourth regiment, killed 36, wounded 125, missing 34, total 195. Twenty-fifth regiment, killed 5, wounded 27, missing 5, total 37. Twenty-sixth regiment, killed 7, wounded 34, total 41. Twenty-eighth regiment, killed 24, wounded 76, missing 17, total 117. Thirtieth regiment, killed 13, wounded 43, missing i, total 57. Thirty-first regiment, killed 3, wounded 20, total 23. Thirty- fourth regiment, killed 4, wounded 6, total 10. Thirty-fifth regiment, killed i, wounded i, missing i, total 3. Thirty-eighth regiment. Fortieth regiment. Aggregate, killed 330, wounded 1,347, missing 114, total 1,791. Brigade. Regimental and Battery Monuments. The same style is followed in these monuments as is used for the state memorial: Doric columns, entablatures, etc. Thus the same general design is carried out presenting an uniform and harmonious whole. The inscriptions are in bronze and give the history of each command during the campaign and siege. These monuments have been completed by the contractor and have been accepted by the commission. The beauty of their workmanship and the simple and noble lines of their design attract the attention of all visitors to the park and elicit unquali- fied praise. The word "Iowa" appears not only on each of the granite monuments but Is also on each bronze entablature. The inscriptions attached to each of the monuments are as fol- lows: Iowa Infantry Regiments in Second Brigade, First Division, Fifteenth Corps. twenty-fifth infantry: colonel GEO. A. STONE. Casualties: — In the assault. May 22, 1863, killed 5, wounded 27; missing 5, total 37; and during the siege, not reported. bra/i.LakYCc'iu-'!f «v*ii< CAVALRY MONUMENT ERECTED AT VICKSBURG VICKSBURG 79 Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 5, wounded 27, missing 5, total 37. THIRTY-FIRST INFANTRY: COLONEL WILLIAM SMYTH, MAJOR THEODORE STIMMING. Casualties: — In skirmish on Fourteen Mile Creek, May 12, 1863, wounded i ; in the assault, May 22, killed 3, wounded 19, total 22; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 3, wounded 20, total 23. Iowa First Battery. CAPTAIN HENRY H. GRIFFITHS. FIRST DIVISION, FIFTEENTH CORPS. Casualties: — In the battle of Port Gibson, May i, 1863, wounded i, credited to Second brigade, Fourteenth division. Thirteenth corps, to which the battery was temporarily attached ; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in battery during the campaign and siege : Wounded i . lowA Infantry Regiments Forming Third Brigade, First Division, Fifteenth Corps. FOURTH INFANTRY: COLONEL JAMES A. WILLIAMSON; LIEU- TENANT COLONEL GEORGE BURTON. Casualties: — In the assault, May 19, 1863, wounded 13 ; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege : Wounded 13. NINTH INFANTRY: MAJOR DON. A. CARPENTER; CAPTAIN FREDERICK S. WASHBURN; MAJOR DON. A. CARPENTER; COLONEL DAVID CARSKADDON. Casualties: — In the assault, May 19, 1863, killed 4, wounded 12, total 16; in the assault. May 2 2d, killed 18, wounded 60, 80 VICKSBURG total 78. Lieutenants Edward Tyrrell and Jacob Jones killed; Captain Florilla M. Kelsey, Captain Frederick S. Washburn and Lieutenant Leonard L. Martin mortally wounded; and during the siege, killed 15, wounded 10, total 25. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 37, wounded 82, total 119. TWENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY: COLONEL MILO SMITH. Casualties: — In the assault, May 19, 1863, killed 3, wounded II, total 14; in the assault May 22d, killed 4, wounded 23, total 27; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 7, wounded 34, total 41. THIRTIETH INFANTRY: COLONEL CHAS. H. ABBOTT; COLONEL WILLIAM N. G. TORRENCE. Casualties: — In the assault. May 19, 1863, wounded 7; in the assault May 22d, killed 13, wounded 36, missing i, total 50. Colonel Charles H. Abbott and Lieutenant J. P. Milliken killed. (Lieutenant Milliken had been commissioned, and was acting as Major of the regiment, but had not been mustered.) Lieutenant David Letner mortally wounded; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 13, wounded 43, missing i, total 57. lowA Second Battery. LIEUTENANT JOSEPH R. REED. THIRD DIVISION, FIFTEENTH CORPS. Casualties: — In the engagement at Jackson, May 14, 1863, M^ounded i; in the assault, May 22d, wounded 3; and during the siege, killed i ; wounded 2, total 3. Aggregate reported casualties in battery during the campaign and siege: Killed i, wounded 6, total 7. VICKSBURG 81 Iowa Infantry Regiments in Third Brigade, Third Division, Fifteenth Corps. EIGHTH infantry: COLONEL JAMES L. GEDDES. Casualties: — In the assault, May 22, 1863, wounded 5; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege : Wounded 5. twelfth infantry: major SAMUEL R. EDGINGTON; COL- ONEL JOSEPH J. WOODS; LIEUTENANT COLONEL SAMUEL R. EDGINGTON. Casualties: — In the assault. May 19, 1863, killed i, wounded I, total 2; and during the siege, wounded i. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed i, wounded 2, total 3. THIRTY-FIFTH INFANTRY : COLONEL SYLVESTER G. HILL. Casualties: — In the engagement at Jackson, May 14, 1863, killed I, wounded i, missing i, total 3 ; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed i, wounded i, missing i, total 3. - Iowa Third Infantry. COLONEL AARON BROWN, FIRST BRIGADE, FOURTH DIVISION, SIXTEENTH CORPS. Casualties: — On transport "Crescent City," en route to Vicks- burg, May 18, 1863, near Greenville, Mississippi, wounded 14; in skirmish, the evening of June 4th, wounded 2 ; and in skir- mish, the night of June 24th, killed i, wounded 2, total 3. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the siege: Killed I, wounded 18, total 19. Mon.-6 82 VICKSBURG Iowa Infantry Regiments in Second and Third Brigades, Seventh Division, Seventeenth Corps. FIFTH infantry (THIRD BRIGADE) : LIEUTENANT COLONEL EZEKIAL S. SAMPSON ; COLONEL JABEZ BANBURY. Casualties: — In the engagement at Jackson, May 14, 1863, wounded 4; in the battle of Champion Hill, May i6th, killed 19, wounded 75, total 94; Lieutenants Samuel B. Lindsay and Jerome Darling killed; in the assault, May 226., killed 3, wounded 18, total 21 ; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 22, wounded 97, total 119. TENTH INFANTRY (THIRD BRIGADE) : COLONEL WILLIAM E. SMALL. Casualties: — In the battle of Champion Hill, May 16, 1863, killed 36, wounded 131, total 167; Captain Stephen W. Poage, Lieutenant James H. Terry and Lieutenant Isaac H. Brown killed; in the assault, May 22, killed 2, wounded 26, total 28; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 38, wounded 157, total 195. SEVENTEENTH INFANTRY (SECOND BRIGADE) : COLONEL DAVID B. HILLIS; LIEUTENANT COLONEL CLARK R. WEVER; COLONEL DAVID B. HILLIS; COLONEL CLARK R. WEVER; MAJOR JOHN F. WALDEN. Casualties: — In the engagement at Jackson, May 14, 1863, killed 16, wounded 61, missing 3, total 80; Lieutenant John Ins- keep killed; in the battle of Champion Hill, May 16, killed 5, wounded 51, missing i, total 57; in the assault, May 22, wounded 5 ; in the assault following the firing of the mine under the Third Louisiana Redan June 25, killed 3, wounded 34, total 37; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 24, wounded 151, missing 4, total 179. VICKSBURG 83 Iowa Infantry Regiments Forming Third Brigade, Sixth Division, Seventeenth Corps. ELEVENTH INFANTRY: COLONEL WILLIAM HALL; LIEUTEN- ANT COLONEL JOHN C. ABERCROMBIE ; COL- ONEL WILLIAM HALL. Casualties: — In the assault, May 22, 1863, killed i, wounded I, total 2 ; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed i, wounded i, total 2. THIRTEENTH INFANTRY: COLONEL JOHN SHANE. Casualties: — No reported casualties in regiment during the campaign and siege. FIFTEENTH INFANTRY: COLONEL HUGH T. REID; COLONEL WILLIAM W. BELKNAP. Casualties: — No reported casualties in regiment during the campaign and siege. SIXTEENTH INFANTRY: LIEUTENANT COLONEL ADDISON H. SANDERS; MAJOR WILLIAM PURCELL; LIEUTENANT COLONEL ADDISON H. SANDERS. Casualties: — In the assault, May 22, 1863, wounded i ; and during the siege, wounded i. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during campaign and siege: Wounded 2. Iowa Infantry Regiments Forming Second Brigade, Fourteenth Division, Thirteenth Corps. TWENTY-FIRST INFANTRY: COLONEL SAMUEL MERRILL; MAJOR SALUE G. VAN ANDA ; LIEUTENANT COLONEL CORNELIUS W. DUNLAP. Casualties: — In the battle of Port Gibson, May i, 1863, wounded 17; in the engagement at Big Black River Bridge, 84 VICKSBURG May 17, killed 13, wounded 70, total 83; Lieutenant Henry H. Howard mortally wounded; in the assault, May 22, killed 16, wounded 87, missing 10, total 113, Lieutenant Colonel Cornelius W. Dunlap killed, Lieutenants Samuel Bates and William A. Roberts mortally wounded; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 29, wounded 174, missing 10, total 213. TWENTY-SECOND INFANTRY : LIEUTENANT COLONEL HARVEY GRAHAM; COLONEL WILLIAM M. STONE; MAJOR JOSEPH B. ATHERTON; colonel WILLIAM M. STONE; LIEU- TENANT COLONEL HARVEY GRAHAM; MAJOR JOSEPH B. ATHERTON; CAPTAIN CHARLES N. LEE. Casualties: — In the battle of Port Gibson, May i, 1863,. killed 2, wounded 21, total 23; in the engagement at Big Black River Bridge, May 17, wounded 2; in the assault. May 22, killed 27, wounded 118, missing 19, total 164, Captain James Robertson and Lieutenant Matthew A. Robb killed; and dur- ing the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 29, wounded 141, missing 19, total 189. TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY: LIEUTENANT COLONEL SAMUEL L. GLASGOW ; COLONEL WILLIAM H. KINSMAN ; COLONEL SAMUEL L. GLASGOW. Casualties: — In the battle of Port Gibson, May i, 1863, killed 9, wounded 26, total 35 ; in the engagement at Big Black River Bridge, May 17, killed 13, wounded 88, total loi, Colonel William H. Kinsman and Captain Richard L. McCray killed. Lieutenants Sylvester G. Beckwith and John D. Ewing mortally wounded; in the attack on Milllken's Bend, Louisi- ana, June 7, killed 23, wounded 34, total 57; and from June 19th to the end of the siege, not reported. 1 0"// A 2.. I Li :J;; BRIGADE MONUMENT ERECTED AT VICKSBURG VICKSBURG 85 Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 45, wounded 148, total 193. Iowa Infantry Regiments In Second Brigade, Twelfth Division, Thirteenth Corps. TWENTY-FOURTH INFANTRY: COLONEL EBER C. BYAM; LIEU- TENANT COLONEL JOHN Q. WILDS. Casualties: — In the battle of Port Gibson, May i, 1863, killed I, wounded 5, total 6; in the battle of Champion Hill, May 16, killed 35, wounded 120, missing 34, total 189, Cap- tain Silas D. Johnson, Captain William Carbee, and Lieutenant Chauncey Lawrence killed; and during the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 36, wounded 125, missing 34, total 195- TWENTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY: COLONEL JOHN CONNELL.f Casualties: — In the battle of Port Gibson, May i, 1863, killed 3, wounded 14, missing 3, total 20; in the battle of Champion Hill, May 16, killed 21, wounded 62, missing 14, total 97, Lieutenants Benjamin F. Kirby and John J. Legan killed. Lieutenant John Buchanan mortally wounded ; and dur- ing the siege, not reported. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 24, wounded 76, missing 17, total 117. lowA Infantry Regiments In Herron's Division. NINETEENTH INFANTRY: LIEUTENANT COLONEL DANIEL KENT, SECOND BRIGADE. Casualties: — From June 15, 1863, to the end of the siege, Wounded i. TWENTIETH INFANTRY: COLONEL WILLIAM MCE. DYE, FIRST BRIGADE. Casualties: — No reported casualties in regiment from June 15, 1863, to the end of the siege. 86 VICKSBURG THIRTY-FOURTH INFANTRY: COLONEL GEORGE W. CLARK, FIRST BRIGADE. Casualties: — From June 15, 1863, to the end of the siege, Killed 4, wounded 6, total 10. THIRTY-EIGHTH INFANTRY: COLONEL D. HENRY HUGHES, FIRST BRIGADE. Casualties: — Nio reported casualties in regiment from June 15, 1863, to the end of the siege. lowA Infantry Regiments On Exterior Line. SIXTH infantry: COLONEL JOHN M. CORSE, FOURTH BRI- GADE, FIRST DIVISION, SIXTEENTH CORPS. The regiment arrived at Haynes' Bluff, on transport, about June 12, 1863, and served on the exterior line at Haynes' Bluffs and Oak Ridge from that time to the end of the siege, without reported casualties. FORTIETH INFANTRY: COLONEL JOHN A. GARRETT, MONT- GOMERY'S BRIGADE, Kimball's division, SIXTEENTH CORPS. The regiment arrived at Satartia, on transport, about June 4, 1863, and served on the exterior line at or near Haynes' Bluffs from that time to the end of the siege, without reported cas- ualties. Iowa Cavalry Regiments On Exterior Line. THIRD CAVALRY: COMPANIES A, B, C, D, I, K, MAJOR OLIVER H. P. SCOTT, UNATTACHED. The detachment arrived in the Yazoo River, on transport, about June 10, 1863; it was engaged from that time to the end of the siege in skirmishing, outpost duty, and reconnais- sances, without reported casualties. VICKSBURG 87 FOURTH CAVALRY : LIEUTENANT COLONEL SIMEON D. SWAN, FIFTEENTH CORPS. The regiment was engaged in skirmishing, outpost duty and reconnaissances during the campaign and siege; it occupied Haynes' Bluff, May 19, 1863, and turned over the guns and stores abandoned there to the commander of the gunboat "De- Kalb." Casualties: — In skirmish on Fourteen Mile Creek, May 12, killed I ; and in action at Hill's plantation, near Birdsong Ferry, June 22, killed 8, wounded 16, missing 23, total 47; Lieutenant Joshua Gardner mortally wounded. Aggregate reported casualties in regiment during the cam- paign and siege: Killed 9, wounded 16, missing 23, total 48. TABLETS. Fifty-nine bronze tablets, attached to granite posts, have been erected on the field to mark the positions on the line of investment, the positions gained in the assaults of May 19th and 2 2d, the sharpshooters line and the camps of the thirty-two Iowa organizations engaged in the siege. In addition to these the United States has erected twenty-nine tablets. The granite posts are fifty-eight inches in length, set in the ground thirty inches, leaving them twenty-eight inches above the surface. The tablets are thirty-six by twenty-four inches, and at the top of each apj>ears the word "Iowa." Proposals for these fifty-nine tablets and posts were submitted by five of the leading bronze manufactories of the country, and the contract was awarded to the Gorham Manufacturing com- pany of Providence, Rhode Island. The tablets have been placed to mark the following positions of the various commands: Third Infantry: — Affair in the trenches, night of June 23; sharpshooters line June 9-July 4. Fourth Infantry: — Assault May 19; camp May 19- July 4; sharpshooters line May 23-July 4. 88 VICKSBURG Fifth Infantry: — Assault May 22 (forenoon position) ; as- sault May 22 (afternoon position); camp May 20- June 22; sharpshooters line June 5 -June 22. Eighth Infantry: — Assault May 22 ; camp May 22-June 1 1 ; sharpshooters line June 5-June 22. Ninth Infantry: — Assault May 19; assault May 22; sharp- shooters line May 23-July 4. Tenth Infantry: — Assault May 22 (forenoon position) ; as- sault May 22 (afternoon position); camp May 20- June 22; sharpshooters line June 5- June 22. Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Infantry: — (Skirmishers) Assault May 22. Twelfth Infantry: — ^Assault May 22; camp May 22-June 1 1 ; sharpshooters line June 5- June 22. Seventeenth Infantry: — Assault May 22 (forenoon posi- tion) ; camp May 20- July 4; sharpshooters line June 5-July 4. Nineteenth Infantry: — Sharpshooters line June 24- July 4. Twentieth Infantry: — Sharpshooters line June 24- July 4. Twenty 'first Infantry: — Assault May 22; camp May 21- July 4; sharpshooters line May 23-July 4; advanced sharp- shooters line June 19- July 4. Twenty-second Infantry: — Assault May 22; camp May 21- July 4; sharpshooters line May 23-July 4; advanced sharpshoot- ers line June 19- July 4. Twenty-third Infantry: — Camp June i6-July 4; advanced sharpshooters line June 19- July 4. Twenty-fourth Infantry : — Camp June 4- July 4 ; sharpshoot- ers line June 5-July 4; advanced sharpshooters line June 5- July 4- Twenty -fifth Infantry: — Assault May 22; sharpshooters line May 2 7- July 4. Twenty-sixth Infantry: — Assault May 19; assault May 22; sharpshooters line May 23-July 4. Twenty-eighth Infantry : — Camp June 4- July 4 ; sharpshoot- ers line June 5-July 4; advanced sharpshooters line June 5- July 4- Thirtieth Infantry: — Assault May 19; assault May 22; sharpshooters line May 23-July 4. ll'^°-%Wtllf^V*-''^'"'^ ''" 'V^^'iiWi^-^ mamsspmmes ^^^ ONE OF THE FIFTY-NINE BRONZE TABLETS MARKING THE POSITIONS OF IOWA COMMANDS DURING THE SIEGE OF VICKSBURG VICKSBURG 89 Thirty-first Infantry: — Assault May 22; sharpshooters line May 27-July 4. Thirty-fourth Infantry: — Sharpshooters line June 24- July 4. Thirty-fifth Infantry: — Assault May 22 ; camp May 2 2- June II ; sharpshooters line June 5 -June 22. Thirty-eighth Infantry: — Sharpshooters line June 24- July 4. ANDERSONVILLE INTRODUCTORY The Governor's special train left Vicksburg, Mississippi, for Andersonville, Georgia, at seven o'clock P. M. November fifteenth, but owing to delays from various causes it was im- possible to reach Andersonville for the dedication of the monu- ment on the sixteenth, as had been planned. Accordingly, a stop of several hours was made at Montgomery, Alabama. The train reached Andersonville at half past five o'clock on the morning of the seventeenth. It rained in the early morning but by nine o'clock the clouds parted and the sun shone brightly. At ten o'clock the train was drawn up on a siding close to the cemetery and the line of march was formed as follows: Fifty-fifth Iowa Regimental Band. One platoon 17th U. S. Inf. from Ft. McPherson, Georgia. Governor Cummins and Staff. Monument Commissions. Soldiers of the Civil War. Visiting friends and citizens. The march to the cemetery was a solemn tread to the sacred strains of martial music. In this city of the dead lie 13,838 men who wore the blue and gave up their lives for the flag that now waves over their graves. It was a march that will never be forgotten by those who took part in it, so sad, and so mournful. Seated on the speaker's stand facing the monument were, Governor Cummins, General Grenville M. Dodge, General E. A. Carman, U. S. A., and the members of the Andersonville monument commission with the exception of Captain M. T. Russell, whose health would not permit him to make the south- ern trip. (93) IOWA MONUMENT AT ANDERSONVILLE Exercises at the Dedication of the Iowa Monument at Andersonville, Georgia November 17, 1906 10:30 A. M. Call to Order Captain J. A. Brewer Chairman of the Commission Invocation Rev. S. H. Hedrix of Allerton, Iowa "Before we pray I wish to make one quotation from the Scripture. It was in the treasury in the temple at Jerusalem. The Savior of the World had spoken, as recorded in John 8 :30-32 : *As he spake these words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him. If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.' "With this philosophy now in our hearts and minds, let us all pray : "Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come ; thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven ; give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil : for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. "And our Father, we now pray that thou would'st guide us. We owe to thee every service that we can give. We owe to thee thanksgiving and praise for all the multitude of the tender mercies that thou hast thrown around about us, and we come here today with hearts full, in memory of these, our comrades, who suffered and died here as martyrs to a cause they loved. We thank thee, our Heavenly Father, that these men believed and that their comrades believed with them ; that (») 96 ANDERSONVILLE they so struggled and died, firm in the faith. Lord help us to see and know the truth, realizing that it alone can make and keep us free. "And now, dear Lord, do thou bless this great land of ours. Bless our President and all our institutions. May they be wisely directed, managed and controlled, with that wisdom that shall attain the very best results. Bless our Governor and the people of the state of Iowa whose great broad hearts have led them to do what they have done here and in other fields in this land. Help them to still cling to their homes, churches and schools, and build for time and eternity. We pray thee, our Father, as the work of this commission has been completed and has been well and wisely done, with hearts filled with love, that thou wouldst bless the members of the commission and lead them ever in the ways of truth. May thy name be glori- fied; may our flag forever wave, so that all shall be love and happiness and prosperity among us. Bless us in the further exercises of this day; keep us and guide us in the ways of love and truth, and at last save us in heaven. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen." Music Fifty-fifth Iowa Regimental Band "The Star Spangled Banner" Unveiling of Monument . . Mrs. Albert B. Cummins Presentation to the Governor of Iowa .... Captain J. A. Brewer Chairman of the Commission Governor Cummins, Comrades, Ladies and Gentlemen: We have now come to the second stage of our journey, pay- ing homage and tribute to the brave boys of Iowa, who gave their lives on southern battle fields and in southern prisons. Yesterday we paused to lay a garland on the graves of the brave at Vicksburg and in our weak way show our appreciation of the sacrifices made on that bloody field. Tomorrow we pass on to Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge and Shiloh, there to pay tribute to the valor and martyrdom of the Iowa boys whose blood ran red on those memorable fields of battle. ANDERSONVILLE 97 Today we pause for a short time to remember and to glorify men who fought on this field a battle waged not with guns and bayonets and the resounding scream of bullets, grape and can- ister as they plowed their way to death and destruction, ac- companied by mingled cries of suffering and victory; a battle devoid of the exhilaration of the shock of conflict as human energy and endurance strove for mastery in battle; a battle not ended with the setting of the sun over yonder oaks as the day ended; no- — these men whom we now honor fought a battle that began with their incarceration within the palings of the stockade, renewed from day to day, each one fiercer than the preceding; a mighty struggle of human endurance and of worldly passion for the necessities of life and of hunger and shelter and raiment and bodily ills against the wiles of an enemy ever endeavoring to make human existence an impossi- bility; a battle with little hope of an ending but that of death or the dishonor of renouncing the cause that they had sworn to defend. These men too were at Shiloh, Vicksburg, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. They too had often been footsore after the Icmg and weary march. They knew of the hardships and privations of troops in campaign and the full meaning of the roar of the battle and of the harvest of death on the bloody fields. But friends, it was denied them the quick death by a bullet. Their death was decreed to be slow and lingering, and that they in their devotion to duty should taste of the very dregs of the bitter cup of death. There was no cheer of victory to greet their ears, no waving folds of Old Glory to greet their eyes, no surgeon to dress their wounds or to ease their pains as they passed to answer the last roll. No — they fought their daily battles in silence, little dreaming that half a century after- wards the state they honored in their death would here do them honor. Their sufferings here in the battle of human endurance called for a strength of purpose and an unselfish devotion to cause that was unknown at Shiloh, Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge and Vicksburg. Far from any cry of victory, submerged in what forty years ago was a dense forest unhealthy by nature and made more so Mod.— 7 98 ANDERSONVILLE by the hand of man, was fought this battle. Locked In the embrace of a wilderness, cut off from friends and civilization they meekly suffered the burden of their lot, never yielding to life and dishonor in preference to death and honor. They died in behalf of a holy cause and what little we may do here today on behalf of the state of Iowa and her people can at best be but scant recognition of their great sacrifices. The Thirtieth General Assembly of Iowa, recognizing the devotion to duty of these men, appropriated $10,000 for the erection of a monument in commemoration of their valor and suffering, and the governor was instructed to appoint a commis- sion of five ex-prisoners of war to select the design and super- intend its erection. In accordance with this act Governor Cum- mins appointed W. C. Tompkins, M. V. B. Evans, M. T. Russell, D. C. Bishard and myself as commissioners. We have in our weak way endeavored to choose a design fitting to the purpose and to place thereon such inscriptions as will for the years to come stand as a mute, yet powerful reminder of Iowa's public recognition of the debt she owes these patriots. We trust that the granite of these blocks and the cement and lead which bind them together will withstand the ravages of all time, pointing as It were to the coming generations the history of men who died a slow and lingering death, steadfast in the faith they swore to defend. And now, your excellency, on behalf of the lowa-Andersonville prison monument commission I have the honor to present you, and through you to the people of Iowa, this monument. Acceptance and Presentation to the United States Government Albert B. Cummins Governor of Iowa Mr. Chairman, Gentlemen of the Andersonville Prison Monu- ment Commission, Prisoners of War, Ladies and Gentlemen: Words are meaningless things upon an occasion like this. I think we all understand that, but possibly you do not appreci- ate as I do at this moment that words are not only meaningless — inadequate — but they are difficult as well. Mr. Chairman, as ANDERSONVILLE 99 you have so well said, but a few hours ago we dedicated to the immortal renown of our boys who fought at Vicksburg, the memorials which a grateful state has erected to their memory. It was easy to speak as I stood upon that historic spot. It was easy to speak of the wild enthusiasm of the charge and the rushing splendor of the assault, for death seemed to be robbed of its terrors when accompanied with a glory so radiant and so complete. That hour was full of glowing memories. This hour is surcharged with the saddest recollec- tions that can fill the human heart. It seemed to me this morning that the clouds themselves were in harmony with the emotions that overcame these soldiers of the war and with the ceremonies through which we are passing. They were weeping in sympathy with the loyal people of the state of Iowa. As we stand where her brave sons suf- fered the extremest test of loyalty to the Union and to the flag, does it not fill your hearts with a new purpose, my dear friends, does it not fill them with a new adoration for human nature, when you remember that these boys suffered the unparalleled inhumanity of the prison and the infinite cruelties of the stock- ade rather than to surrender for a single moment their privilege to fight and to die for the Union, and for the sovereignty of the old flag? It seems to me that in all the lessons of history, in all the inspiration of bravery and courage, nothing can surpass the resolution which filled their hearts when, day after day, they saw their comrades go nameless into unknown graves, rather than desert the Union which they had sworn to pro- tect and to preserve. Ah! when I come to review the perils, the hardships, of the war, as I have done in many a patriotic moment, I never dreamed of the emotions which fill, crowd, and overcrowd my soul at this moment. I never knew that such a scene could be presented to the human eye. I have never looked upon anything so pathetic as these long lines of gleaming marble, each telling its story of a patriotic life and a faithful death. We cannot, however, ennoble them. It is for us to leave this beautiful, serene home of the dead, with still higher, with still nobler, with still more enduring resolu- tions that we of this generation will exemplify in our lives, will 100 ANDERSONVILLE exemplify in our devotion to the flag, the Union, and to hu- manity, the spirit which animated their faithful hearts. We do not understand the inscrutable mysteries of Providence; but we do know that we are commemorating another vicarious atonement, and it is well that our tears should fall here, consecrating its dear memories. The Republic of the United States had committed a mortal sin, and somewhere, somehow, in the plan of the Almighty, that sin must be expiated ; and it was expiated here, when these men laid down their lives for the Union, as my friend the chairman of the commission has well said, not inspired and cheered by the music of martial strains, not led on by the shriek and storm of shot and shell, but in the misery and the suffering of cruelty and want. Ah! as I look upon that pathetic memorial, erected by my beloved state, there ring in my ears, through forty years of time, the echoes of the Battle Hymn of the Republic : "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored ; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword ; His truth is marching -on." And then, I think of the awful carnage of war. Three hundred and sixty thousand of our boys laid down their lives that we might stand here free citizens of the Republic. Have you ever thought of the wives who had shared the joys and sorrows of these immortal spirits, of the mothers who had borne them, of the maids who had loved them; have you ever attempted to measure the infinite sacrifice that the people of America made, just to see to it that not a single star in the azure field of Old Glory should ever fade away, and that no stain should ever again mar the pure colors of its beautiful folds? And then, when I think of the scenes we are so sadly recalling, the Battle Hymn again comes to me : ANDERSONVILLE 101 "He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call re- treat; He is sifting out the hearts of men before his judgment seat; Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer him; be jubilant, my feet; Our God is marching on." And He did march on, until His truth was crystallized in the glories of a peace which preserved to every citizen of the Re- public the high dignities and the high privileges of independent manhood. Mr. Chairman, speaking on behalf of the state of Iowa, speaking on behalf of all her people, I congratulate you most cordially upon the beauty of the work that you have done. There (pointing to the monument) kneels Iowa, weeping, suf- fering, grieving for the sons she lost. She rests upon a column of enduring granite, that so long as time shall last will speak to generations yet to come, not only of the fortitude and the courage of these boys who lie buried here and who endured over there (pointing to the stockade) but will make them know that republics are not ungrateful. It will no longer be said that the people of a free country do not fondly remember those who have died that truth might live. I congratulate you upon the felicity of the design and upon the fidelity with which your commission has performed its work, and speaking again for the people whom you have so well represented, I thank you for this offering laid upon the altar of our patriotism. And now. General Carman, representing the government of the United States, even as our commission has placed this testi- monial in my hands, I deliver it into yours, knowing that it passes into the keeping of a government whose flag flies for all her citizens, without respect to condition in life, whether they be high or low, rich or poor, white or black. It flies for them all, and until freemen shall have lost the spirit which has animated the lovers of liberty in all the ages of the past, it will stream over this mansion of eternal rest, protecting and preserving this monument erected by the state of Iowa in loving memory of her beloved children who died in Andersonville. 102 ANDERSONVILLE Music Fifty-fifth Iowa Regimental Band "My Country, "Tis of Thee" Acceptance for the United States Government General K. A. Carman Representing the Secretary of War Governor Cummins, Mr. Chairman, Ladies ^ Gentlemen: We are on ground hallowed and consecrated by suffering and death. From February 15, 1864, to late In April, 1865, the Union prisoners held in an open stockade in yonder field num- bered 49,485, living men, packed like ants in an anthill, or like shoals of fish in the ocean. They were young men of all con- ditions, boys in fact, of birth and fortune, from the store, factory and farm, and, with few exceptions, constituted as gal- lant a portion of our armies as carried our banners anywhere. Of these, 12,912, or more than twenty-six per cent., died and were buried within this enclosure. Of those who died here, 214 were from Iowa. The average term of imprisonment was about four months. The greatest number at any one time was 33,114, on August 8, 1864, and the greatest number of deaths was in August, when about 2,000 died, of whom 300 died in one day — August tenth. It is a fearful and sad record, and both parties to the great contest have been held responsible for it. With no desire to be critical, I will state some historical facts. Colonel D. T. Chandler, a Confederate military inspector, an intrepid officer, and a humane one, reported to the Richmond authorities early in August, 1864, that the horrors of the prison were difficult to describe and its condition a disgrace to civilization. He strongly recommended that General Winder, in command of the post, should be removed, and "the substitu- tion in his place of some one who united both mercy and judg- ment with some feelings of humanity and consideration for the welfare and comfort of the vast number of unfortunates placed under his control — some one at least who does not advo- cate deliberately and in cold blood, the propriety of leaving them In their present condition until the number has been sufficiently reduced by death to make the present arrangement suffice for their accommodation." This report, a fearful in- dictment, was sent by General Cooper, the Confederate in- n a CodQ (I o oo 5:|. ?.? to ff 2 f» °(n p"^ 2 ™ o M (D <^ fO P^ O 1-1 O i^ as « " (K ^ So ANDERSONVILLE 103 spector general, to the Confederate secretary of war, August 28, 1864, with the endorsement that the condition of this prison was a reproach to the Confederacy as a nation. It is claimed that the Confederate government took measures to better the conditions, but those measures came so tardy that they ac- complished nothing. Some officials, and most of the southern press, justified the harsh and inhuman treatment meted out to the unfortunates in their power. On the other hand, some of the southern press denounced the treatment as humiliating to humanity and unbecoming and unworthy a civilized people who laid claim to being chivalrous and refined beyond all others; there were some in this vicinity, most of them women — God bless them- — whose sympathies went out to these unfortunates, and who ministered to the sick and spared them such delicacies as they could command, until forbidden to do so, and this womanly tenderness will be remembered, long after the names of those who seek to erect monuments to the memory of one whose cruelty was a shock to humanity shall have been for- gotten. The United States government was measurably guilty, also; it caused these unfortunate men to suffer, first upon a disagree- ment in the system of exchange, and later in accordance with the expressed views of General Grant, who, in a letter to Gen- eral Butler, the commissioner of exchange, wrote August 18, 1864: "It is hard on our men held in southern prisons not to ex- change them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. Every man (Confederate) released on parole, or otherwise, becomes an active soldier against us, either di- rectly or indirectly. If we commence a system of exchange which liberates all prisoners taken, we will have to fight on until the whole south is exterminated. If we hold those caught they count for no more than dead men. At this particular time, to release all rebel prisoners north, would insure Sherman's defeat, and would compromise our safety here." (Richmond and Petersburg.) On another occasion he said : 104 ANDERSONVILLE "I did not deem it advisable or just to the men who had to fight our battles to re-enforce the enemy with thirty or forty thousand disciplined troops at that time and an immediate resumption of exchange would have had that effect without any corresponding benefit." It was then argued, and is still contended, that from a purely military standpoint the policy of our government in not ex- changing prisoners was right; that while the Confederate pris- oners in Union prisons were well fed and in good condition, the Union prisoners in the south were ill fed, and would be restored to the government too much exhausted to form a fair set-off against the comparatively vigorous men who would be given in exchange; that it was less costly to feed a Confederate pris- oner, than to let him return to the ranks and fight, and that every suffering captive in southern prisons offset a fighting Confed- erate and was not inactive, but was virtually contribually in action, and those thousands at Andersonville and other points were really fighting the battles of their country as effectively as though in the forefront of battle, that those suffering, emaci- ated, dying men kept back from the lines confronting Grant and Sherman in 1864 nearly three times their number of able vet- eran Confederate soldiers, and, according to Grant, the very salvation of the country depended upon them. Their fate was a cruel one and their sufferings and sacrifices are known to every household in the land. The soldier who is struck down to death or wounds in battle is to be envied when compared with slow death by exposure and starvation. The soldier who fought in battle had more chances for his life and faced death upon but few occasions, but the battle here was con- stant — a daily and hourly struggle for life. The prisoner had nothing to inspire or encourage him, nothing but to face death in its most cruel form, and generally, he faced it unflinchingly. He looked death in the eye, and never questioned his own duty, nor repined against his government. He was offered freedom provided he should enlist in the ranks of the Southern Con- federacy, but he spumed liberty purchased at the expense of his patriotism and went to his death in obedience to his sense of duty to his country. Of the 188,000 prisoners taken by the ANDERSONVILLE 105 Confederates, less than 3,000 accepted the conditional offer of liberty; of the 17,873 patients admitted to the Andersonville hospital, only about twenty-five accepted the offer of liberty to save their lives, by taking the oath of allegiance to the Southern Confederacy. It is a glorious record to the patriotism of these men who remained true to their flag and their country. The world's history has shown no such devotion. Most of the survivors of this prison have gone to hallowed graves and the few who remain with us have about them some evidence of their sufferings, but they have the consciousness of having served their country in the hour of its great need and of transmitting to j>osterity a great lesson of patriotism. Those who died here were not only heroes but martyrs and have left us a rich legacy for all time, the sublime heroism they displayed in their unswerving devotion to the flag they loved under whatever infliction or temptation, and the declaration sealed with their lives, that they were content to suffer and die if the interest of their country demanded it. A grateful country cherishes the memory of the noble men who suffered and died here, and for all time will look upon them as models of heroic devotion to the flag of their country, under most trying circumstances. Here they sank to rest; here they lie — "On Fame's eternal camping-ground Their silent tents are spread. And glory guards with solemn round The bivouac of the dead." More than forty years have passed, the war is fast becoming a memory, the intensity of feeling which existed has passed away, and we are again one and undivided. We have instinct- ively followed in the footsteps of our English ancestry, our "kin beyond the sea." The animosities of the most sanguinary of their wars, the War of the Roses, a civil war, the most ferocious of any in the annals of warfare, a civil war between brothers and kinsmen, has long since been forgotten in cherish- ing the memory of the heroism of both sides. The Briton points with pride to the heroic deeds performed under the colors 106 ANDERSONVILLE of the red rose of York, and under the banner of the white rose of Lancaster. Each is his special pride and glory. One can see side by side in Westminster Abbey, the sepulchre of Eng- land's worthies, the broken banners and battered blades of the Roses, the white and the red; together are displayed the tro- phies of the Roundhead and the Cavalier, and the descendants of each "drawing in inspiration in the living present from the heroic past, have fought side by side a thousand battles to uphold the power and glory of the British Empire." So may it be in our beloved land, a true union on the lines of mutual respect, brotherly love, and a united patriotism. The years since the war cover a period of most marvelous development. The nation has grown in numbers from 33,000,- 000 people to over 85,000,000, and in wealth from $16,000,- 000,000 to $112,000,000,000, an increase of 700 per cent. In 1865 we had $550,000,000 in circulation; now we have $2,750,- 000,000 — $33.00 per capita, instead of $16.00. At the begin- ning of the war there were 31,000 miles of railroad in opera- tion; now there are 215,000. We have developed greatly in every direction, and in all branches of industry and endeavor. In this marvelous development the south has fully shared. The people of the fourteen southern states, in real and personal property, have $18,000,000,000, or $2,000,000,000 more than that of the nation in i860, although the population of the south is between 4,000,000 and 5,000,000 less than that of the whole country just before the war. And the splendid career of the south is yet in its infancy; with orderly liberty its future is assured. Can any one doubt that, to a great degree, the valor, patriotism and sacrifices of the Union soldier had much to do with this great development of the south? He saved it from suicide, and preserved it to the Union. Except for his efforts, instead of a union of states, there would have been a division, and no one knows whether the area now covered on this continent by the stars and stripes would be now occupied by two central governments, or by twenty warring sections, and the world would never have seen the marvelous growth of the south, nor the commanding position that the nation now holds among the powers of the world. ANDERSONVILLE 107 Governor Cummins, by direction of the secretary of war, and in behalf of the United States, whose territorial integrity and free institutions the men in these hallowed graves and their com- rades elsewhere living and dead, died and suffered so much to save, we accept this beautiful monument to the Iowa dead of Andersonville, and as long as grass grows and waters run, a grateful government will tenderly care for it, and the graves that surround it. Music Fifty-fifth Iowa Regimental Band "Nearer, My God, To Thee" Salute . Platoon Seventeenth United States Infantry Benediction Rev. S. H. Hedrix "And now, unto thee, our God, who is able to keep us, and whose truth is able to build us up and keep us free, to all that is great and good in this life, and to a life eternal in the joys of a heavenly home, in the Great Redeemer's name. Amen." Taps. 3:00 o'clock, p. m. Sacred Concert on the old prison grounds, at Provi- dence Spring. Appropriate and beautiful exercises were held here, consisting of brief remarks by Captain J. A. Brewer, chairman of the commission. Rev. A. L. Frisbie and Rev. S. H. Hedrix, and music by the Fifty- fifth Iowa regimental band. 108 ANDERSONVILLE Death Before Dishonor THE IMMORTAL ROLL Of Two Hundred and Fourteen Loyal Sons of Iowa Who Died While Confined in Andersonville Prison CAVALRY Name Austin, W Beers, D. S Beezly, N Billings, J. K. P... Cellan, J Chamberlain, J. B. Cobb, E Cox, W. A Cox,H Culver, W. V Delay, J. W Denoya, W. H Derickson, W. W. Estelle, D. W Farnsworth, S Harris, J Himes, D Ireland, J. S Jones, J. H Rank Corp. Sergt. Sergt. Sergt. Corp. Sergt. Sergt. Co, Reg't Name Junk, G. A King, E Littlejohn, L. J..., Loudenbeck, D. C. Macy, C. F Martin, J. B McCall, T. H Mercer, J. A Miller, T. J Pugh, A Rasser, A Richardson, J Smith, D Sutton, S Talbott, D. E Whitten, J. A Williams, S. H.... Wolfe, J. H Rank Q.M.8. Capt. Corp. Co. Reg't INFANTRY Name Rank Co. Reg't Name Rank Co. D F H B K G F E H A D E I G C D K P G F B H Reg't Aird, D Corp. G F K D C H H K K B C C H O D K G K F E B I 3 31 3 8 11 26 15 6 5 5 14 12 39 3 11 15 3 4 12 26 12 31 Collins, H. M Collins, M. J Sergt. 4 Alderman, W. H.. 3 Allen, M Collins, W. H 12 Ames, M. A Cooper, S Corp. Sergt. Corp. Corp. 5 Ashford, A. M Cowles, J. W Cox, E. D 5 Baird, J. L 5 Barnes, A. C Cromwell, G. W.. Crow, B 27 Barr, W. H 4 Bartsche, C. P Culbertson, S. B.. Davis, H Corp. 5 Bixter, D 17 Boylan, C Davis, J 15 Beadel, H Davis, T. M 3 Blngman, W. H... Dean, J. W 12 Blakely, G. H Demotte, L 5 Bowles, M. B Denslow, F 12U.S Buckmaster, F.... Dingman, W 31 Chapman, P. J Downer, D 12 Chenoweth, Wm.. Drlskell, S. P 26 Clark, D Eccles, F Lieut. 14 Clausen, H England, T 9 elevens, C Ennes, W. H Eubanks, C. J Corp. Sergt. 4 Coder, E 17 ANDERSONVILLE 109 infantry-Continued Name FerKuson, A. W... Ferguson, W. W.. Field, J. M Foster, S. B Fredericks, J. Q. A. Freel, J. W Gard, B. M Game, L Gothard, I Gender, J.... Gentle, G Graushoff, C Gray, J Hanson, J Hastings, J. B Heller, A Henson, M Hoisington, L. P.. Huffman, R. J. H. Hughes, Thos Hurley, I. B Jackson, L. W Jones, C Kennedy, B King, A King, C. L Knight, J. F Kolenbranden, H. Lambert, C. M Lanning, J. A Lathrop, M Lindsey, R Littlelohn,T. S.... Lord, L Loudenbach, I. M. Luther, J Mann, J Martin,: s. S Mason, W. H Maynard, I. V McAllister, A. P.. McCammon, W.T. McClure, Z. L McCoy, G. B McKune, J. E McMuUen, J McCuUouch, J. A. McNeill, J. W McNeeley, U Merchant, W Miller, E Miller, J Miller, F. M Moon, J Moon, James Moore, W. W Murray, J. I Myers, E Nichols, J. E Nash, B. E Noyes, C. H Nye, M O'Connor, R Osborn, F. L Overturf, G. W... Rank Sergt, SeVgt! Corp. Sergt. Corp. Lieut, Sergt Corp. Corp. Corp. Corp. Corp. Corp. Sergt Co. Reg't 12 1 16 17 12 9 17 39 13 12 14 5 13 5 9 16 11 12 i U i 16 5 11 4 12 4 14 13 31 5 5 39 39 15 17 5 12 12 12 7 26 16 5 Name Palmer, L Peck, J. E Peck, S Peterson, J Philpots, C. P Pitts, J. W Putnam, O Ratcliffe, E Reeve, T. F Reid, R. R Robertson, D Roe, M. J Rogers, A Rule, J. T Russell, E. W.... Sackett, C. W.... Sayre, W. H Seeley, N Shadle, J Shaw, M. W Schrienor, T Sherman, J Smice, W Smith, R. T Smith, C Smith, J. W Smith, C Sparks, M. T Starr, C. F Stattler, J. N Stevens, A. B Stoneman, J. F.. Stout, J. C Symmes, W. W... Taylor, T. W Thompson, M Thein, A. F Tippery, W Toikelson, N Tormey, J Trussell, G. W... Turner, H Volk, J. M Waggener, J. B.. Wahlrath, C. E... Walker, S. J Ward, O. R Wells, F Whelan, J White, W. M Whitenack, A. R. Whitman, O. K... Whitmire, J Williams, J. D... Wilson, P. D Wilson, P Widows. W. H... Wolfe, B. F Wolston, S. P.... Woodward, J Wright, C. G Wadsworth, B... Young, R. S Young, A. B Rank Corp. Corp. Corp. Sergt. Corp. Corp, Sergt. Sergt. Sergt. Co, Corp. Corp. Corp. Sergt. Sergt Sutler Corp. Reg't 9 12 12 26 31 16 27 4 9 16 13 12 4 10 4 12 5 9 16 5 6 3 16 10 26 13 5 5 30 30 6 8 5 3 7 5 3 5 16 10 6 14 5 3 5 7 3 5 26 12 9 6 14 14 5 12 8 8 13 9 12 U.S. 12 U.S. 8 39 THE STORY OF ANDERSONVILLE AS TOLD BY EX-I