Chicago Election

F. C. Sherman (Dem.) was elected Mayor to-day. The Democrats also elected their entire ticket. Will not be able to obtain majorities before the lines close tonight.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

BRIGADIER-GENERAL J. A. WILLIAMSON

SECOND COLONEL, FOURTH INFANTRY.

James Alexander Williamson, the successor of Major-General Dodge to the colonelcy of the 4th Iowa Infantry, is a Southerner by birth, and a good representative of the old-style chivalry. He is a native of Columbia, Adair county, Kentucky; where he was born on the 8th day of February, 1829. All that I know of his early history is, that he was educated at Knox College, Illinois, where he was known as a hard student and accurate scholar. In 1845, he removed to Iowa, and, ten years later, located in Des Moines, the present home of his family. His profession is the law, in the practice of which he was engaged just before entering the army.

Soon after the second call of the President for troops, in the summer of 1861, General Williamson enlisted in the volunteer service for "during the war." He was commissioned 1st lieutenant and adjutant of the 4th Iowa Infantry, on the 8th of August, 1861; since which time his history has been almost identical with the history of that regiment; and, as much as we admire the general's military career, we could not, if we would, pay him a higher compliment; for to no Iowa regiment is the State more largely indebted for its military renown than to the noble 4th Iowa. At Pea Ridge, its conduct was most gallant, challenging alike the admiration of friend and foe. General Curtis said: — "This regiment won immortal honors;" and General Van Dorn: — "I never saw troops stand up and fight so before."

During the thirty months subsequent to the 23d of January, 1862, the time when the 4th Iowa left Rolla, Missouri — in its march under General Curtis against General Price to Springfield and to the Ozark Mountains; from that point to Batesville and across the State of Arkansas to Helena; thence to Chickasaw Bayou and up the Arkansas River to Arkansas Post; from Milliken's Bend round through Grand Gulf and Jackson to the rear of Vicksburg, and then, after the fall of that city, back to Jackson; from Vicksburg to Memphis, and thence across the country to Chattanooga; and finally, in its march with General Sherman against Atlanta — its record is one continued series of achievements, unsurpassed for success and brilliancy.

That I do not speak of this regiment in too high terms of praise, the following order of General Grant is proof:

“HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI,
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, February 2d, 1864.


"The Board of officers of the 15th Army Corps, appointed to determine the battles each regiment and battery of that command are entitled to inscribe on their colors and guidons, have made the following award, in the case of the 4th Iowa Infantry : — Pea Ridge; First at Chickasaw Bayou; Arkansas Post; Vicksburg — siege and assaults on the 19th and 22d of May; Jackson; Chattanooga."

But this order is imperfect in details. The following are the skirmishes and engagements in which the 4th Iowa took part, previous to joining the campaign of General Sherman against Atlanta: —Pea Ridge; Chickasaw Bayou; Arkansas Post; Jackson (May 14th, 1863); siege and assaults at Vicksburg; Jackson (July 12th, 1863); Cherokee Station; Caney Creek; Tuscumbia; Lookout Mountain; and Ringgold. This too, including the battles that the 4th Iowa was engaged in on the Atlanta campaign, is the battle-record of General Williamson.

When Colonel, now Major-General Dodge, was assigned to the command of a brigade under General Curtis, he retained Adjutant J. A. Williamson upon his staff, and made him his acting assistant adjutant-general. At the battle of Pea Ridge, Lieutenant Williamson acted as aid-de-camp to Colonel Dodge, and, by his coolness and promptness, rendered important service. I might add, it was his good conduct in that engagement that made him lieutenant-colonel of his regiment; for Lieutenant-Colonel Galligan had resigned, for reasons which I will not mention. On the confirmation of Colonel Dodge as brigadier-general, Lieutenant-Colonel Williamson was promoted to the colonelcy of the 4th Iowa Infantry.

On the third day's fight at Chickasaw Bayou, Colonel Williamson, in command of his regiment, distinguished himself.

The fleet bearing the command of General Sherman entered the mouth of the Yazoo River, on the morning of the 26th of December, 1862, and proceeded up that stream until opposite Johnson's plantation, which lies on the south bank of the river, and some five miles below Maine's Bluff. At this point General Frederick Steele, in command of the 4th Division, 13th Army Corps, debarked his command, and, under instructions from General Sherman, sent out Blair's Brigade on the Johnson road, which leads to the Walnut Hills, in the direction of Vicksburg. That day reconnoissances were made, and that night a new point of attack was determined on. Accordingly, on the following morning, General Steele re-embarked with the brigades of Hovey and Thayer, (in the last of which were the 4th, 9th, 26th and 30th Iowa) and, moving further up the river, effected a landing just above the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou. From near this point to the Walnut Hills, a distance of four miles or more, extends a narrow, winding causeway, or levee, and over this was the only accessible way to the point of attack; for, on either side of the levee, the country is covered with brush and timber, and is so low that, at that time, much of it was under water. Along this highway, which had been obstructed by the enemy with brush and fallen trees, the brigades of Hovey and Thayer moved, till they had arrived in the vicinity of the bluffs—General Steele says, "within about eight hundred yards;" but it could hardly have been so near. "At this point the levee turned to the left, and continued in a curve for about eight hundred yards;" and, on its farther side, were the enemy's skirmishers and sharp-shooters. General Hovey's Brigade, which was in the advance, endeavored to remove the obstructions in its front, and dislodge the enemy's sharp-shooters; but the position was covered by the enemy's artillery on the bluff, which made it impossible. But this point gained, and still General Steele had little assurance of success; for the steep sides of the bluff were lined with rifle-pits, in which the enemy were lodged in force. The enemy's artillery, too, frowned down upon him from four different points. He believed it impossible to make a successful assault, and, falling back to the river, returned to Johnson's plantation. On the morning of the 29th instant, General Thayer's Brigade, being the first off the boats, was hurried rapidly forward. It was to be held in reserve, but the zeal of its commander led it directly to the front. "The 26th Iowa was detached to cut a road," and the 30th was met by General Steele, and turned to the right; but the 4th, under the lead of its gallant colonel, moved forward at double-quick, and was the first to enter the enemy's second tier of rifle-pits. It was for its gallant conduct at this point that the 4th Iowa was permitted to inscribe on its colors, "First at Chickasaw Bayou." But the regiment's bravery was of no avail, and that assault was mere butchery; for the whole of Pemberton's Vicksburg army was in possession of the bluffs.

The fact that General Sherman ordered, or permitted, that assault, was, with many, new evidence of his insanity; but it is now, I believe, well settled that the orders under which he acted were unconditional and imperative.

The engagement at Pea Ridge was more protracted and exhausting, but, for fierceness, it is in no way to be compared with that at Chickasaw Bayou. In each of these battles, the 4th Iowa was in the hardest of the conflict; but, considering the time it was engaged in each, its loss was fifty per cent. greater in the latter than in the former. Its loss at Chickasaw Bayou was one hundred and twelve, out of an aggregate of three hundred and fifty taken into the engagement. Lieutenants L. Pitzer, E. C. Miller, and J. H. Miller were among the killed and Colonel Williamson and Captain R. A. Stitt of Company F, among the wounded.

In the re-organization of the army before the final Vicksburg campaign, the 4th Iowa Infantry was assigned to the 15th Army Corps; and, with that command, it has served ever since. Its losses in the assaults on the enemy's works in rear of Vicksburg were heavy; and at Chattanooga, where, under General Osterhaus, it joined General Hooker in scaling Lookout Mountain, the loss in killed was especially heavy. In the march of General Sherman on Atlanta, it engaged the enemy at Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, and in the battles of the 22d and 28th of July, and at Jonesboro. Its conduct before Atlanta, on the 22d of July, was gallant in the extreme, as was also that of the 9th Iowa. An account of the part it acted, during that day, will be found in the sketch of the last named regiment.

In the march from Atlanta to Savannah, the 4th Iowa was brigaded with the 9th, 25th, 26th, 30th, and 31st Iowa regiments—the same troops who afterwards captured the city of Columbia, South Carolina. While in rear of Savannah, these troops had a compliment paid them, to which I should in justice allude. The brigade, General Williamson commanding, arrived in rear of Savannah, on the 11th of December, and, on the 20th instant, was one of the commands selected to carry the enemy's works, and force an entrance into the city. The assault was to come off on the morning of the 21st; but the night previous General Hardee fled. To appreciate the value of this compliment, it is necessary to understand the position of the brigade, and the character of obstacles to be overcome. Its position was in the low lands south-west of Savannah, and on the right of the road leading to the city. Five hundred yards in its front was the Little Ogechee, whose north-east bank was fortified, and held by the enemy: between its line and the river was the Grave Yard Battery. The bridge over the Ogechee was destroyed, and the waters of the stream, much swollen. The brigade was to cross on rafts, planks, and poles, placed by a storming party. It was a hazardous undertaking ; but, had not General Hardee fled, it would doubtless have been successfully accomplished.

The 4th Iowa Infantry has met the enemy in eight different rebel States—Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, and has never been repulsed; only once has it been compelled to yield the ground it had wrested from the enemy.

In closing an official statement of the services of his regiment called for by the Adjutant-General of Iowa, General Williamson says: It "stayed at Nashville a few days to get an outfit, and then started on the campaign against Atlanta, and has only halted in line of battle since, until its arrival at this place, on the 7th instant. This is not a regiment which has ordinarily been at 'posts.' I can hardly realize the meaning of the term. We have stopped a few weeks to rest after a campaign, but never had charge of any post since the regiment was really equipped for the field at Rolla, in the fall of 1861.

"Our records, reports, and returns are made from the place where we happened to be when they fell due, and one camp has been almost as much a 'post' with us as another."

Subsequently to the spring of 1863, General Williamson has been in command of the brigade to which his regiment has been attached; and during all this time has enjoyed, in an uncommon degree, the confidence of his superior officers. In proof of this I give the following instance: While Governor Stone was on a visit to the army before Atlanta, in the summer of 1864, he met General Sherman at his head-quarters. In the course of conversation, the names of different Iowa officers were introduced, when Governor Stone enquired: "Where, general, is Colonel Williamson?" "With his command and doing his duty, as he always is," was the reply; and only those who know General Sherman can appreciate the worth of this compliment.

General Williamson was not promoted to his present rank until the winter of 1864-5. Why such merit was so long unrewarded, has been a question much canvassed, and has produced not a little indignation, both in and out of the army. I give the following on the authority of a distinguished citizen of General Williamson's city: — On one occasion, the family of General Williamson being sick, that officer, knowing the long delay that would follow in obtaining a leave of absence through the regular channel, applied directly to the War Department. He obtained his leave and left for his home, after presenting his papers at corps head-quarters. The corps commander, who was, and still is jealous of his authority, was indignant; and from that time until the fall of 1864, although conceding the merit and claims of the general, declined to urge his promotion.

General Williamson is of medium hight [sic], and has a fine, symmetrical form. His full, gray eyes, which in his ordinary moods have a sort of absent and care-worn expression, tingle with intelligence and animation as soon as he becomes interested in conversation. In manners he is modest and reserved. He never begs favors. In New England he would be appreciated ; but, for a Western man, he lacks impudence.

The editor of the Cass County "Gazette," an intimate acquaintance of the general, speaks thus of him:

" Colonel Williamson is a refined, chivalrous gentleman, whom one must know to appreciate. To those who win his confidence, he is lavishly sociable; but, for those who treat him coolly, he has no smile or word of gladness. He rarely alters a deliberate opinion, and we know of but one exception; once of the best Democratic blood of the North, he is now a warm friend of Lincoln. He is a brave man. In battle his fine form moves near the van. He rides slowly, speaks with much calmness, and never becomes excited in action. Williamson is still a young man; but he is to-day a favorite of the people—especially in Middle and Western Iowa."

SOURCE: Stuart, A. A., Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 117-24

LIEUT. COL. FULTON

Athens county has reason to be proud of this gentleman who so nobly rallied the 53rd after the singular conduct of COL. APPLER in ordering it to retreat, and then himself leaving it to its fate and flying to the river. Col. FULTON fought bravely dring both Sunday and Monday commanding the 53rd during the whole time.

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, Thursday, April 24, 1862

The Fortifying of Ft. Randolph, &c.

NEW YORK, April 15.

Specials state that Western dispatches received at Washington report that Fort Randolph is being strongly fortified by the rebels.

The committee on the conduct of the war are about to investigate the causes of the late surprise at Pittsburg Landing.

Several civilians have been captured by rebels while curiosity hunting around Manassas.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Reports of Lieut. Col. George Burton, Fourth Iowa Infantry.

HEADQUARTERS FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY,
Lookout Mountain, November 25, 1863.

CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report that, agreeably to your order, about 7 a.m. of yesterday the Fourth Iowa Infantry moved forward and took a position on a hill immediately in front of Lookout Mountain, and near the Tennessee River, supporting the First Ohio Battery (Battery K, First Ohio Artillery) there planted.

About 11 o'clock, when the engagement became spirited on the right by the personal order of Brigadier-General Osterhaus, I sent forward 50 of my regiment as skirmishers, under command of Major Nichols, to the bank of the creek skirting the base of the mountain near the river, and engaged the attention of the enemy at that point. I also shortly afterward, by further direction of General Osterhaus, moved the regiment down the hill in advance of the battery, sustaining and relieving.

About 4 p.m. I received an order from Colonel -------, on the staff of Major-General Hooker, to report forthwith with the regiment to Brigadier-General Geary, commanding (Second) Division, (Twelfth) Army Corps.

I thereupon crossed the creek, and under the direction of General Geary, arrived and ascended the mountain, reaching a position assigned us near the cliffs about dark, and awaited orders. Soon afterward I relieved the Twenty-fourth (?) Ohio Infantry., who represented themselves as out of ammunition. Here our right rested on the base of the cliffs connecting onto the left of the Thirty-sixth Indiana, on line extending directly down the mountain, our left joining at right angles the right of the Thirty-first Iowa. While here the regiment assisted materially by its enfilading fire in repulsing two charges of the enemy, and must certainly have inflicted upon them a severe loss.

About 1 a.m. of to-day we were relieved by the Seventh Ohio. Too much praise cannot be awarded both officers and men for the coolness, promptness, and firmness with which they advanced to and held the various positions assigned them, in nearly every case under a heavy fire. Our loss in the day's engagement was 1 killed and 6 wounded, a list(*) in detail of which is hereby appended.

I have the honor to subscribe myself, sir, your most obedient servant,

GEO. BURTON,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Comdg. Fourth Iowa Infantry.

Capt. GEORGE E. FORD,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

–––

HEADQUARTERS FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY,
Camp near Ringgold, Ga., November 28, 1863.

LIEUTENANT: I have the honor to report that, about 10 a.m. of yesterday, we arrived at Ringgold, and were immediately ordered by Col. J. A. Williamson to follow the Seventy-sixth Ohio Infantry, and move by the right flank in rear of the center of that regiment for the purpose of supporting it. The Seventy-sixth Ohio at this time was in advance of us, moving to a point at the base of Taylor's Ridge, a short distance to the east of the town. On arriving at the base of the hill, I obeyed the order strictly until the regiment was half way up the ascent, when, at the request of the major commanding the Seventy-sixth Ohio, I brought my regiment into line immediately in his rear, still moving steadily forward. When near the crest of the hill, the men of both regiments, from the steepness and ruggedness of the ground and the heaviness of the enemy's fire, being somewhat deployed, the regiment was ordered to fix bayonets, and charge in line with the Seventy-sixth. The order was gallantly obeyed; the crest of the hill was taken and held for about ten minutes, when the enemy, being in heavy force, rallied in our front and charged upon our right and left flanks simultaneously, at the same time pouring upon us a heavy direct and enfilading fire. Under these circumstances, having no support, we were compelled to fall back about 30 yards down the hill, where we succeeded in holding our position until re-enforcements arrived. About 2 o'clock we again advanced and scaled the hill. The enemy, however, had by this time evacuated his position. Under the order of Col. J. A. Williamson, who was present, we now moved a short distance along the ridge toward the gap near the town, when we advanced down the hill and drove the enemy from the railroad bridge, which they were endeavoring to destroy. While the regiment was putting out the fire on the bridge nearest the gap, by further order of Colonel Williamson, I sent Major Nichols, with 40 men, to save the railroad bridge in advance on the road by which the enemy had retreated, which was also in flames.

Both officers and men merit the highest praise for their coolness and bravery during the day's engagement.

Our casualties were 7 killed, 24 wounded, and 1 missing. A list(*) in detail is hereto appended.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

GEO. BURTON,
Lieutenant-Colonel, Comdg. Fourth Iowa Infantry.

Lieut. LEMUEL SHIELDS,
Acting Assistant Adjutant-General.

*Omitted.

SOURCE: The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies During the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 31, part 2: NOVEMBER 23-27, 1863. – The Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign, p. 618-9

We understand that Thos. Grosvenor died . . .

. . . at Huntsville, Ala., on the 14th inst., of congestion of the brain. We were not acquainted with Mr. Grosvenor, but we understand that he was employed in the Sutler’s department of the 18th Regiment.

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, Thursday, April 24, 1862

CHAPLAIN ST. JAMES FRY . . .

. . . of the 63d Ohio Regiment was in town yesterday with money for many of the friends of soldiers in Capt. Picket’s company. The list will be found in another place.

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, Thursday, April 24, 1862

Report of Col. James A. Williamson, Fourth Iowa Infantry commanding Second Brigade.

HDQRS. SECOND BRIG., FIRST DIV., 15TH ARMY CORPS,
Camp at Ringgold, Ga., November 28, 1863.

CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report the action of this brigade in the battles of Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Ringgold, including all its movements from the 24th until the evening of the 27th instant.

The brigade is composed of the Fourth Iowa Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Col. George Burton; the Ninth Iowa Infantry, commanded by Col. David Carskaddon; the Twenty-fifth Iowa Infantry, commanded by Col. George A. Stone; the Twenty-sixth Iowa Infantry, commanded by Col. Milo Smith; the Thirtieth Iowa Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Col. A. Roberts, and the Thirty-first Iowa Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Col. J. W. Jenkins. At the hour named in the order of the night previous the brigade moved, following the First Brigade, to a point in front of Lookout Mountain, near where the attack was to be commenced, and formed line of battle by battalions en masse at deploying intervals. Very soon after my line was formed I received an order from you to send a regiment to support a battery on the hill immediately in front of Lookout Mountain, and commanding that portion of it when our troops were making the attack.

I detached my right regiment, the Fourth, and sent it to the place designated. Soon after this I received another order to send one more regiment, to report to yourself, for some purpose unknown to me. In obedience to the order, I sent you the Twenty-fifth.

The four remaining regiments I held in line until about 11 o'clock, when I received an order from General Osterhaus to send another regiment to support a battery of Parrott guns immediately in our front. In obedience to this order, I sent the Thirtieth.

I was then ordered to follow in the direction the First Brigade had taken with my three remaining regiments, which I did, until I arrived at the crossing of Lookout Creek, at which place General Osterhaus ordered my rear regiment (the Ninth) to remain and receive all the prisoners then there and those to be sent back. I crossed the creek with my two remaining regiments, when General Hooker in person sent another regiment (the Twenty-sixth) down the railroad to support some troops at a point or gap somewhere toward our left.

I then proceeded up the mountain side with my one remaining regiment (the Thirty-first), accompanied by General Osterhaus in person, with a part of his staff, and came up with the First Brigade at a point where troops not belonging to the First Division were in line, engaging the enemy. At this point I had some doubt as to where I should place my regiment on account of a dense fog which had settled down on the mountain side and prevented me from seeing the location of our troops, but soon found the line formed by a part of the First Brigade, and placed the regiment on the left of it. I was very soon joined by the Ninth and Twenty-sixth, which had been relieved and sent up to me, and placed them in line. At this place I learned from General Osterhaus that the Fourth Iowa had been sent forward early in the day, and that they were at that time somewhere up the mountain side; also that it had behaved well in the morning in driving the enemy from their breastworks. About 2 p.m. an aide-de-camp from General Hooker ordered me to relieve a regiment of General Geary's command, which was in the extreme front, under heavy fire and out of ammunition. I immediately sent my adjutant-general, Capt. George E. Ford, with the Thirty-first Regiment, to relieve the regiment, which was the -------.

While my adjutant was there he found the Fifty-fourth Ohio [?]--also of General Geary's command--was out of ammunition, and relieved it with the Fourth Iowa, which he found up at the front.

After these regiments had been eight hours under fire, they sent me word that their ammunition was nearly exhausted. I immediately informed General Osterhaus of the fact, and was informed by him that the Twenty-fifth and Thirtieth Regiments of my brigade, which had been left behind, must relieve them.

Captain Ford then started on foot in search of these regiments, but they had been ordered to different points, and could not be found, the captain returning after several hours' walk, nearly worn out by his unceasing exertion in the discharge of his duty.

In the meantime, before Captain Ford returned, I applied to General Geary, asking him to relieve my regiment, inasmuch as they had relieved his in the first instance. He refused to do it. I then took some ammunition from the remaining regiments with me to the regiments under fire, and afterward, at about 1 a.m. went to General Geary and procured 8,000 rounds of ammunition to replace what had been taken from my regiments.

Soon after 2 a.m., the enemy having previously ceased firing and retreated, General Geary relieved the Fourth and Thirty-first regiments, and they fell back to their places in line of battle.

Early in the morning of the 25th, the Thirtieth and Twenty-fifth Regiments, having been relieved by General Butterfield, of General Hooker's staff, reported to me, and took their positions in line, thus bringing my brigade together for the first time since the morning previous.

About 9 o'clock on the morning of the 25th, my brigade was ordered to march toward Missionary Ridge. When we arrived near the pass where the enemy made the first stand, I received an order to take two regiments and ascend the hill in the left of the gap or pass.

I accordingly took the Fourth and Thirty-first and pushed rapidly to the top, meeting with but little opposition. I pushed my skirmishers forward into the valley, where I expected to find the enemy, but they had gone. I remained on the top of the ridge for a short time, until the Ninth and Thirtieth Regiments came up (the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth having been ordered by General Osterhaus to take a position on the western slope of the ridge to keep back any flanking force of the enemy which might come from our left), when I went forward to the valley, and then moved out by the flank, through the gap, down the pass to the open ground, when I was ordered to make a short halt. While at the halt, 2 men of the Ninth Iowa captured Lieutenant Breckinridge, a son of Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge, of the Confederate Army. In obedience to orders, I again proceeded up the main road by the right flank, still leaving the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth in the position which had been assigned them. The road on which I marched was up on a ridge east of and parallel with Missionary Ridge. I had not proceeded far before I heard heavy firing toward the front, on the left flank.

I immediately ordered the Fourth Regiment detached, and deployed it as skirmishers on my left flank, and soon discovered that the enemy occupied that part of Missionary Ridge where I had been but a short time before, and then moved my brigade forward, in line of battle, obliquely to the right, closing up on the First Brigade, at the same time bringing my left forward, in line with General Cruft's division on my left. I then received orders from General Osterhaus to go rapidly forward in line.

This movement was executed gallantly by the four regiments of the brigade present going down the side of the ridge we were then on and up the steep ascent of Missionary Ridge, all the time under a heavy fire from the enemy, but driving them before us.

As I ascended the hill, I was in much doubt and perplexity as to whether I might not be inflicting severe injury on my own skirmishers, and also on the right of the division on my left.

This uncertainty kept me from reaching the summit as soon as I otherwise might have done; but, notwithstanding this, I think I may justly claim that one of my regiments (the Fourth) was the first to reach the top, and that the brigade was there as soon as any other troops.

I took a great number of prisoners, but could not state accurately how many, as I ordered them to be left behind under a very small guard, while the command pushed forward, and before I could ascertain the number they were turned over to the officer who seemed to be taking charge of all prisoners. The brigade captured as large a number as did any other command.

Many instances of personal bravery might be mentioned, but it must be sufficient to say that all of the regiments did well.

Lieut. W. M. Stimpson, of my staff (of the Thirtieth Iowa Regiment), received a wound in the head in the beginning of the engagement, but continued to discharge his duty until the end.

The brigade encamped on the field (here the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth came up, having been relieved) and took care of our wounded, and buried our dead during the night. On the following morning, after picking up a large number of arms, delivering them to ordnance officer, I moved forward, following First Brigade, and encamped for the night 4 miles east of Chickamauga Creek.

On the morning of the 27th, the brigade marched at 5 o'clock toward Ringgold, where it arrived about 10 o'clock and found the enemy strongly posted on a range of hills, known as Taylor's Ridge, a short distance to the east of the town. General Osterhaus ordered me to send one regiment to support the Seventy-sixth Ohio, of the First Brigade, which had been sent with a view to taking the hill. I immediately ordered the Fourth Regiment forward, instructing its commander to push forward and render all the assistance possible to the regiment in front, and then, in obedience to an order from General Osterhaus, I brought forward another regiment (the Thirty-first), and placed it along the railroad to act as sharpshooters, to cover the advance of the two regiments sent forward.

Finding that the two regiments sent up were meeting with stubborn resistance, I took two other regiments (the Ninth and Twenty-sixth) and went forward with them in person, advancing up the side of the hill (which might be more properly called a mountain) until I came in line with the Fourth Iowa and Seventy-sixth Ohio on their left.

In the meantime, before I could get the two regiments (the Ninth and Twenty-sixth) up, the Fourth Iowa and Seventy-sixth Ohio had advanced to the top of the hill, but for the want of support, after suffering severe loss, had been compelled to fall back a short distance (not more than 50 or 60 paces from the summit), where they were when I came up.

While I was gaining this position my two remaining regiments, the Twenty-fifth and Thirtieth, had in obedience to my order gone up to my left and were fast approaching the top, their skirmishers being not more than 75 paces from the summit, when three regiments (as I am informed of the Twelfth Army Corps) came up, one on the left of the Twenty-fifth-and one between the Twenty-fifth and Thirtieth, the other passing through the Twenty-fifth by the flank.

Colonel Stone ordered and begged them to go up on his left, but the officers in command said they had orders for doing as they did, and persisted in their course.

At this time the fire of the enemy had almost ceased, but they could be plainly seen making dispositions of their forces to repel the advance of these regiments. Colonel Stone cautioned them that the enemy would open a destructive fire on them if they went up in the manner they were going. They replied they would teach "Western troops a lesson," and advanced a short distance farther, when the enemy opened a terrific fire on them. They stood manfully for a minute or two, when they gave way, and came down like an avalanche, carrying everything before them, and to some extent propagating the panic among my regiments.

The fault of these regiments seemed to be more in the way in which they attempted to go up the hill than in anything else. While Colonel Stone preferred the method of taking it by skirmishing and cautiously advancing, the regiments above named tried to go up as if on parade where the men could barely have gone up by clinging to the rocks and bushes. Colonels Stone and Roberts did all they could to hold their men together, and soon succeeded in restoring order and confidence, and again went up the hill.

Having no support on the right, and those regiments on the left having given way in confusion, I found it would be folly to try to carry the hill until I should be re-enforced, and accordingly made the best disposition of my force to hold the ground already gained, and sent a messenger to inform General Osterhaus of the fact, and received from him an order to hold my position and await re-enforcements.

I held my position for a short time. No re-enforcements or support coming to my aid, and finding that the fire from the enemy had slackened, I again went forward and gained the top of the ridge and found the enemy retreating, and a strong force farther on burning the railroad bridge across East Chickamauga Creek.

I immediately went forward, keeping up a heavy fire, and drove them away before they accomplished their work.

I had the fire put out on the first bridge, and sent Major Nichols, of the Fourth Iowa, and a small party of men, who volunteered for the service, to put out the fire on the bridge farther on. This he accomplished, after driving a much larger force than his own away.

I cannot speak too highly of the conduct of Major Nichols throughout all the campaign, and especially in every action. First Lieut. Charles W. Baker, of Company C, and Second Lieut. Thomas H. Cramer, of Company K, Fourth Iowa, both distinguished themselves in the front of the fight, capturing prisoners from the very midst of the enemy. Lieutenant Cramer was instantly killed, after making a capture of a lieutenant and several men, and Lieutenant Baker mortally wounded (since dead) while heroically cheering the men on. Maj. Willard Warner, Seventy-sixth Ohio, and his officers and men won my unqualified admiration.

Many instances of heroic daring and bravery came under my observation, and would be reported specially if regimental commanders had furnished me the names of the parties.

Capt. George E. Ford, my assistant adjutant-general, was severely wounded in the leg while trying to prevent the troops on my left from giving way, during the engagement at Ringgold.

Lieut. L. Shields, aide-de-camp, also received a slight wound in the hip at the same time.

I am much indebted to my staff officers--Captain Ford, Captain Darling, and Lieutenants Shields and Stimpson -- for their efficient services.

Accompanying this report you will find list(*) of killed and wounded of the several regiments in the different engagements.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

J. A. WILLIAMSON,
Colonel 4th Iowa, Comdg. 2d Brig., 1st Div., 15th A. C.

Capt. W. A. GORDON,
Asst. Adjt. Gen., 1st Division, 15th Army Corps.

* Embodied in revised statement, p. 86.

SOURCE: The Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies During the War of the Rebellion, Series 1, Volume 31, part 2: NOVEMBER 23-27, 1863. – The Chattanooga-Ringgold Campaign, p. 613-7

WASHINGTON, April 15 [1862]

The Steamer Yankee, Capt. Eastman, arrived at the navy yard to-day, having left York River at 5 o’clock yesterday morning. The Yankee went about eight miles up the York river on Sunday night; and anchored off Gloucester Point, where the steamers Penobscot, Marblehead and Wachusett were already laying. The rebel batteries at the Point are said to be very extensive, mounting mostly 100 pounders, rifled. They tried the range of their guns on the steamer yesterday one mile, the shot falling very little short of one. The vessels then descended the river, and about three miles below the Point discovered a party of rebels building a battery on the north bank, when the Yankee opened fire at a distance of three quarters of a mile. The rebels seemed [loath] to abandon their works, and although the shells of the Yankee fell in their midst they did not leave the vicinity, but took refuge in the woods and behind some neighboring log huts. The Yankee, after firing some sixty or seventy shot and shell during an hour and a half, left. As the Yankee was leaving, the boats of the Marblehead were on the way to shore to burn the house behind which the rebels had taken refuge.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

A NOTED CHARACTER DIES - MARGARET FRENCH

With the death of the old colored woman, "Aunt Maggie," last Thursday evening an odd character who has haunted the streets of Leon for years was removed from our midst. Her history has been a strange one. Born a slave on a southern plantation in the ante-bellum days, nurtured as were the colored people of those times, who can wonder that her life has been otherwise than it has.

If all of the dead woman's history was known, what a strange recital of events it would be. "Aunt Maggie" has often told many of our people scraps of her early life, such as she could remember, and from such sources we state the following: "Aunt Maggie" was born on a plantation near Natchez, Miss. It is thought that her first master's name was Robinson. According to Maggie's story, Robinson would have made a fit companion for the cruel Legree of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" fame, for her back bore evidence of brutal whippings in great scars. Long before the war, Maggie's only daughter was separated from her. She related that one of her master's daughters was married to a man named French (presumably Gen. S.B. French of the rebel army) and she was bestowed upon the bride as one of the wedding gifts. About the same time, her daughter was given to another daughter of Robinson, who afterwards went to Europe with her husband, taking the colored girl along. From that time Maggie has been unable to obtain any trace of the lost child.

Nothing is known of Maggie's subsequent history until about the time the union army was marching upon Vicksburg when she allied herself with the army as customary with the negroes when the union soldiers were in the neighborhood of a plantation for any length of time. French was kind to her, however, and she adopted his name.

A mess from Company B, 4th Iowa Infantry, of which George Burton was originally captain, though later promoted to a lieutenant-colonelship, secured Maggie's services as cook. She remained with the regiment until after the battle of Mission Ridge, being present at the battle and also at Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, often times acting in the capacity of nurse. After the battle of Mission Ridge, Col. Burton resigned his command and came home to Leon bringing Maggie with him, arriving here in the latter part of l864.

Maggie at once entered the services of the family of John P. Finley. When Dr. Finley went to Des Moines as an examining surgeon the same year, Maggie accompanied the family to that place. In January, l865, Mrs. Finley died from a fever, after which Maggie contracted the disease and was sick some time. The Finley family then came back to Leon, bringing Maggie. She resided with them five years and then started out for herself, purchasing the lot on which her house now stands, just south of the Presbyterian Church, with her savings and aided by Mr. Finley. A small house which had been built for her on Dr. Finley's land was removed to her own lots and later, what now forms the main part of the house, was built.

Mattie's one matrimonial venture was far from a success. She was married to Richard R. Williams, October l, l885. Williams was a mulatto who came here and worked himself into Maggie's affections simply for the purpose of securing her money. He was of a thieving disposition and served in the Ft. Madison Penitentiary two years for house breaking at Garden Grove before he came here to live. After securing all of Maggie's money, said to have been in the neighborhood of $l,000, her savings for years, he deserted her. When last heard from, a few years ago, Williams was serving a sentence of sixteen years in a Texas prison for cattle stealing. Maggie secured a divorce from him almost two years ago.

Maggie's life is well known to every person in Leon. The drink habit fastened itself upon her, more especially the later years of her life. But she never turned a needy person from her door and was kind hearted in this respect to a fault. Her honesty was a marked trait; she was industrious, economical, saving, though far from stingy. Unscrupulous persons often took advantage of her and secured sums of money from her under the guise of loans. She was well known in all the neighboring towns, and a few years ago, all the big events, celebrations and the like, would find Maggie on hand, stylishly dressed, and "cutting a wide swath." She was acquainted with all the traveling men, doing their washing for them, and thus became known over the state.

Her age has always been a matter of conjecture, but it is presumed that it was but a few years less than eighty at the time of her death.

Short funeral services were held at her home Friday, conducted by Rev. Gurley and the remains were interred in the Leon Cemetery. Before her death, Maggie acknowledged waywardness, and expressed her repentance and we have reasons to hope that her future will be brighter than her past.

- Published in the Decatur County Journal, Leon, Iowa, July 8, l897. This article was transcribed by Nancee McMurtrey Seifert and posted on the Decatur County, Iowa Genweb site.

The Richmond Whig announces . . .

. . . that Mr. Swan of Tennessee has offered a resolution in the Confederate Congress proposing the immediate recall of the Commissioners sent to Great Britain, and the abandonment of all further attempts to conciliate the favor and secure the recognition of that government.

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, Thursday, April 10, 1862

BALTIMORE, April 14 [1862]

The passengers taken on board the Velva were taken before the U.S. Marshal to-day and strange to say, have all been released. Some of them profess that they were ignorant of the character of the vessel.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

A Missouri newspaper publisher . . .

. . . the proprietor of the Boone County Standard – has been tried by court-martial and found guilty of publishing news intended to give aid to the Rebels. The sentence includes banishment from Missouri during the term of the war, and the confiscation of the press and materials of The Standard office. The Secretary of War Approves this finding, and has issued an order directing that the proceedings in this case shall be a guide for military commanders in other departments.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 2

COL. GEORGE BURTON

Postmaster of Argonia, is what may be termed "a gentleman to the manor born," possessed of more than ordinary intelligence and that courteous bearing which wins for him friends wherever he goes. He comes of substantial Irish ancestry, and was born March 7, 1819, in the city of Dublin, where he spent the first thirteen years of his life. Then, equipped with only a limited education, he started out in the world for himself, embarking as cabin boy on an ocean vessel and from that time until 1842 his life was spent on the water — the sea and lakes. The next four years were occupied at various businesses and in 1846 he entered the volunteer service of the United States during the war with Mexico, being a member of Company G, Fourth Illinois Infantry, under Col. Ed. Baker. He served for one year and returned a Third Sergeant. He and ex-Gov. Richard Oglesby, who was then a Sergeant in Company K, frequently reported together. He served under Gen. Taylor until a part of the army was ordered to join Gen. Scott, and he participated in the battles of Vera Cruz, Natural Bridge, Cerro Gordo and other minor engagements. Later he was under the command of Gen. Shields and under Division Commander, Gen. Twiggs.

Upon retiring from the service Mr. Burton repaired to Tazewell County, Ill., where he operated a sawmill until 1849. Being seized then with an attack of the California gold fever, he set out overland across the plains and worked in the mines until the fall of 1850. In returning home he went down the coast as far as Cape St. Lucas, where the vessel "Louisa Boston" was sunk in the harbor of Mazatlan, and he rode a mule from there to Durango, and finally succeeded in reaching home safely after being chased in Mexico by the Apache Indians. He now resumed sawmilliug and was engaged in the mercantile business for probably two years. He in 1852, crossing the Mississippi, took up his abode in Decatur County, Iowa, where he operated as a general merchant three years and also engaged in farming. He became prominent in local affairs and was County Auditor for three years until the outbreak of the Civil War.

Watching the conflict which ensued with more than ordinary interest, Col. Burton in June, 1861, organized a military company in Leon, Iowa, of which he was elected Captain and which was assigned to the Fourth Iowa Infantry, under command of Col. Dodge. He fought at the battle of Pea Ridge, skirmishing all through Arkansas, was in the fight at Chickasaw Bayou, and then at Arkansas Post, Lookout Mountain, Mission Ridge, Ringgold, Ga., and Woodville, Ala. On the 2d of May, 1862, he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fourth Iowa Infantry. At the battle of Pea Ridge he was wounded by a canister shot through the left arm, and at Cherokee Station received a sabre cut in the left hand. He resigned his commission April 10,1864, and returning to Iowa resumed the duties of a private citizen.

Col. Burton became well-known in the Hawkeye State and in 1869 was elected Auditor of Decatur County, which office he held three years. Later, for the same length of time he engaged in the livestock business, purchasing cattle in Indian Territory, and selling them in Iowa. In 1875 he settled on a farm near Mayfield, this county, where he sojourned until 1883, coming that year to Argonia and engaging in the mercantile business. He also began speculating considerably. On the 2d of April, 1888, he was appointed to the office of Postmaster, the duties of which have since occupied his time and attention until February 1, 1890.

In 1848, Col. Burton was united in marriage with Miss Jane Waring, who died in 1863, leaving no children. In 1865, the Colonel contracted a second marriage with Miss Martha S. Walton. This lady was born in Ohio and is the daughter of George and Martha Walton who spent their last days in Iowa. Of this union there were no children. Mrs. Burton was a very excellent lady and a member in good standing of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The Colonel takes an interest in politics, voting the straight Democratic ticket. He is Past Grand in the I. O. O. F., belongs to the Encampment, is a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Chapter in Masonry.

The father of our subject was John Burton, a native of Dublin, Ireland, and a manufacturer of cotton cloth. The mother bore the maiden name of Martha Whitehead and she also was born in Dublin. They came to America in 1833, settling in Cleveland, Ohio, and about 1842. removed to Bloomington, Ill. There the mother died in 1835 and the father in 1848. Only two of the five children born to them are living — G. B. and Eliza, now Mrs. Burnes, the latter being a resident of Leroy, McLean County, Ill.

Portrait and Biographical Album of Sumner County, Kansas, Chapman Brothers, Chicago, Ill., 1890, p. 177-8

From Tennessee

PITTSBURG LANDING, April 14.

A force of 4,000 men on five transports left the Landing on Saturday night, accompanied by the gunboats Tyler and Lexington, proceeded up the Tennessee to a point near Eastport, Miss., where they landed and proceeded inland to Bear Creek bridge and destroyed the two bridges, on the Mobile & Ohio RR. One measured 121, the other 216 feet in length. A Cavalry force of 150 men was found there, who, after having four killed, skedaddled in the most approved southern style. The expedition returned Tuesday night without the loss of a man. This was one of the most successful operations of it’s kind during the war, completely cutting off communications of the main rebel body at Corinth, and the rest of the confederacy, except at New Orleans.

A flag of truce arrived at our outposts yesterday with Gov. Johnson’s son of Ky., asking the fate of his father.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

From Washington

Com. Dupont reports to the Department, under date of April 14th, that the ship Emily St. Pierre of Charleston, from Calcutta, was captured on the 18th ult. by the blockading squadron, she was sent to Philadelphia for adjudication.

The English sloops Caynel, of Nashua, N.P., was captured by the Susquehannah on the morning of the 3d, about two miles from the Charleston bar. She had cargo suitable for, and in great demand at the Southern port, she was also sent to Philadelphia for adjudication.

Another schooner was run ashore by the blockading vessels on Sullivan’s Island where she now remains a wreck.

The following dispatches have been received by the Secretary of War, dated Nashville, Tennessee: “On Saturday morning two expeditions were started for Huntsville on the cars. One under Col. Sill of the 23d Ohio, went east to Stevens, the junction of the Chattanooga and Memphis & Charleston Railroads, which point they seized, 2,000 of the enemy retreating with out firing a gun. Col. Sill captured five locomotives and a large amount of rolling stock. The other expedition, under Col. Turchin of the 19th Illinois, went west, arriving at Decatur, in time to save the railroad bridge, which was in flames. General Mitchell now holds 100 miles of the Memphis & Charleston RR.”

Mr. Kerrigan voted against the bill for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, but was left out of the list in telegraphing.


Tribune’s Special.

The bill emancipating slaves in the District of Columbia was laid before the president at 4 o’clock this evening.


Special to the World.

An officer of the 79th N.Y. reports that four of Gen. Banks’ men have been found tied to a tried with their heads shot off. Not credited.


WASHINGTON, April 14.

The president, to-day, in response to a resolution of the House transmitted voluminous documents, relating all the correspondence which has taken place since June last, relative to the affairs of Mexico. From a hasty glance at their contents, it appears that on the 3d of that month, Mr. Seward in writing to Mr. Corwin, informs him that intelligence wearing an air of authenticity, a design exists on the part of the insurgents of this country to gain possession of Lower California; and that the President expects him to exercise his best judgment, not only to thwart this scheme, but prevent Rebel armed vessels from finding shelter in Mexican ports, and from carrying arms through the territory of the Republic.

The defense of the Mexican sovereignty is urged upon the attention of that Government, and the declaration made that the United States does not desire to acquire any part of Mexico. On the 9th of June Mr. Corwin informed Mr. Seward that it had been his constant endeavor since his arrival at the City of Mexico, to possess the Mexican mind of the true cause of our difficulties, and thus enable them to estimate the danger which would result for any unfavorable termination of them. He was quite sure that while the Mexican government would endeavor to procure peaceful relations with all European Powers on fair terms, it regarded the United States it true and only reliable friend in any struggle which might involve its national existence.

Toward the close of July Mr. Corwin, in the course of his dispatch, incidentally remarks that Europe is quite willing to see us humbled and will not fail to take advantage of our embarrassments to execute purposes of which she would not have dreamed, had we remained at peace. This was said with reference to the joint intervention of England, France and Spain in the affairs of Mexico.

Mr. Seward, in writing to Mr. Corwin on the Sept. 2d, assures him that the president greatly desired that the political status of Mexico, as an independent nation, should be permanently maintained; and in December, after speaking of the joint intervention, states that the Govt. could not consent to his returning from Mexico, as desired.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

The news from the Shenandoah Valley indicates . . .

. . . that Jackson in concentrating his forces in the neighborhood of Mt. Jackson. He will probably fall back to Staunton, as Gen. Banks’ corps d’armee advances upon him, retarding our progress, however, by burning bridges.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 2

3rd Illinois Cavalry

Organized at Camp Butler, III., and mustered in August 27, 1861. Moved to St. Louis, Mo., September 25, thence to Jefferson City, Mo., and to Warsaw, Mo., October 1-11. Attached to Dept. of the Missouri to January, 1862. 3rd Brigade, Army of Southwest Missouri, to February, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, Army of Southwest Missouri, to May, 1862. 2nd Division, Army of Southwest Missouri, to July, 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Dept. of Missouri, to December, 1862. 3rd Brigade, Cavalry Division, District of Eastern Arkansas, December, 1862. Unattached, Sherman's Yazoo Expedition, to January, 1863 (Cos. "A," "E," "G," "K," "L" and "M"). Unattached, 13th Army Corps, Army of the Tennessee, Headquarters of Gen McClernand and Gen. Osterhaus, to August, 1863. (5 Cos., "B," "C," "F," "H" and "I," 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, March to June 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Division Cavalry, 16th Army Corps, to August, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, to January, 1864.) (Co. "D" at Headquarters 15th Army Corps to July, 1863, then with Arkansas Expedition to December, 1863.) Other Companies attached to Cavalry Brigade, 13th Army Corps, Dept. of the Gulf, to September, 1863. 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Dept. of the Gulf, to December, 1863, when rejoined Regiment in 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, to April, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, to June, 1864. 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, District of West Tennessee, to July, 1864. 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, District of West Tennessee, to November, 1864. 1st Brigade, 5th Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division Mississippi, to May, 1865. Dept. of the Northwest to October, 1865.

SERVICE.--Fremont's Campaign against Springfield, Mo., October 23-November 2, 1861. Moved to Rolla November 13-19, and duty there till January, 1862. Curtis' advance on Springfield February 2-13. Marshfield, Mo., February 9. Pursuit of Price into Arkansas February 14-29. Pott's Hill, Sugar Creek, February 16. Sugar Creek February 17. Bentonville February 17 Battles of Pea Ridge March 6-8. Expedition to Fayetteville March 15. March to Batesville, Ark., April 5-May 3. Talbot's Ferry, White River, April 19. Fairview, Little Red River, June 7 (Co. "L"). Scouts from Batesville June 16-17. March to Helena, Ark., June 26-July 14. Helena July 14. Duty near Helena, Ark., till December. Expedition from Helena to Arkansas Post November 16-21. Expedition to Grenada, Miss., November 27-December 5. Oakland December 3. Sherman's Yazoo Expedition December 22, 1862, to January 3, 1863. Chickasaw Bayou December 26-28. Chickasaw Bluff December 29. Expedition to Arkansas Post, Ark., January 3-11, 1863. Capture of Fort Hindman, Arkansas Post, January 10-11. Milliken's Bend January 21. Richmond January 29. 5 Companies, "B," "C," "F," "H" and "I," ordered to Memphis, Tenn., February, 1863. Other Companies remained on duty with 13th Army Corps to August, 1863. Company "D" with 1st Division, 15th Army Corps, to July, then with Arkansas Expedition till December, 1863.

Companies "A," "E," "G," "K," "L" and "M"--Operations from Milliken's Bend to New Carthage March 31-April 17, 1863 (Cos. "A" and "K"). Near New Carthage April 5 (Cos. "A" and "K"). Movement on Bruinsburg and turning Grand Gulf April 25-30. Battle of Port Gibson May 1. Near Black River May 5 (Detachment). Battle of Champion's Hill May 16. Big Black Fiver Bridge May 17. Siege of Vicksburg May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Edwards' Station June 10. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Edwards' Station July G. Near Baker's Creek July 7. Bolton's Depot July 8. Near Clinton July 8. Near Jackson July 9. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Brookhaven July 18. Moved to New Orleans, La., August. Campaign in Western Louisiana, operations in Teche Country October 3-November 30. Vermillion Bayou October 9-10. Opelousas and Barre Landing October 21. Washington October 24. Vermillionville November 5. Carrion Crow Bayou November 11. Vermillionville November 11. Camp Pratt November 20 and 25. Vermillionville November 25. Near Baton Rouge March 3, 1864 (Detachment). Jackson March 3, 1864 (Detachment). Livonia March 30. Near Port Hudson April 7 (Detachment). Companies rejoined Regiment at Memphis, Tenn., December, 1863. Companies "B," "C," "F," "H" and "I"--Coldwater and Cochran's Cross Roads May 15, 1863. Expedition from LaGrange, Tenn., to Senatobia, Miss., May 21-26. Senatobia May 23. Operations in Northwest Mississippi June 15-25. Scout to Germantown July 8. Mt. Pleasant August 5. Expedition from Memphis to Grenada, Miss., August 12-23. Grenada August 17. Mt. Pleasant August 25. Expedition from LaGrange to Toon's Station September 11-16. Montezuma September 16. Operations against Chalmers' in North Mississippi and West Tennessee October 4-17. Lockhart's Mills October 6. Salem October 8. Ingraham's Mills, near Byhalia, October 12. Wyatts', Tallahatchie River, October 13. Operations on Memphis and Charleston R. R. November 3-5. Operations on Memphis and Charleston R. R. against Lee's attack November 28-December 10. Ripley December 1. Near Moscow December 3-4. Near Corinth Dec. 23 (Detachment).

Company "D."--Expedition to Greenville, Black Bayou and Deer Creek April 2-14, 1863. Jackson, Miss., May 14. Siege of Vicksburg May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 4-10. Siege of Jackson July 10-17. Moved to Helena, Ark., July. Steele's Expedition to Little Rock, Ark., August 1-September 10. Bayou Fourche and capture of Little Rock September 10.

Regiment on Smith's Expedition ,from Colliersville, Tenn., to Okolona, Miss., February 11-26, 1864. Holly Springs, Miss., February 12. Near Pontotoc February 17. Houlka Swamp, near Houston, February 17. Near Okolona February 18. Ivey's Hill, near Okolona, February 22. New Albany February 23. Pontotoc February 24. Germantown May 9. Sturgis' Expedition from Memphis into Mississippi June 1-13. Brice's or Tishaming Creek, near Guntown, June 10. Ripley June 11. Near Holly Springs July 1. Smith's Expedition to Tupelo, Miss., July 5-21. Camargo's Cross Roads, near Harrisburg, July 13. Near Tupelo July 14-15. Old Town Creek July 15. Smith's Expedition to Oxford, Miss., August 1-30. Tallahatchie River August 7-9. Hurricane Creek and Oxford August 9. Hurricane Creek August 13-14 and 19. Forest's attack on Memphis, Tenn., August 21 (Detachment). Scout to Mayfield, Ky., and skirmish August 14-15 (Detachment). Moved to Clifton, Tenn., September 27. Operations in Tennessee and Alabama against Hood November-December. Expedition from Memphis to Moscow November 9-13. Shoal Creek, Ala., November 11. On line of Shoal Creek November 16-20. Duck River November 28. Franklin November 30. Battle of Nashville December 15-16. Pursuit of Hood December 17-28. West Harpeth River December 17. Richland Creek December 24. King's or Anthony's Gap, near Pulaski, December 25. At Gravelly Springs, Ala., till February, 1865. At Eastport, Miss., till May. Moved to St. Louis, Mo., thence to St. Paul, Minn. Operating against Indians in Minnesota and Dakota July 4 to October 1. Mustered out October 18, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 50 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Officers and 173 Enlisted men by disease. Total 234.

SOURCE: Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1022-3

1st Illinois Cavalry

Seven Companies, "A" to "G," organized at Alton, Ill., and mustered in July 3, 1861. (Cos. "I," "H" and "K" were not mustered with Regiment and never served with it.) Attached to Dept. of Missouri. Moved to St. Charles, Mo., thence to Jefferson City, Mexico, Hannibal and Lexington, Mo. Skirmish at Georgetown, Mo., August (Co. "C"). Siege of Lexington, Mo., September 11-20. Surrendered September 20. Reorganizing at Benton Barracks, Mo., till June, 1862. Guard supply trains and depots at Rolla, Houston, West Plains, etc. Mustered out July 14, 1862.

Company "H" organized at Alton, Ill., June 12, 1861. Company "I" organized at Alton, Ill., July 9, 1861. Company "K" organized at Alton, Ill., December 9, 1861. Companies "H" and "I" attached to Military District · of Cairo to February, 1862. 4th Brigade, 1st Division, Military District of Cairo, to March, 1862. Unattached, Army of Mississippi, to April, 1862. Cavalry Division, Army Mississippi, to June, 1862. District of Memphis, Tenn., to July, 1862.

SERVICE.--Skirmishes at Charleston, near Bird's Point, August 19-20, 1861. Fish Lake August 20. Underwood's Farm, near Bird's Point, October 14. Action at Belmont, Mo., November 7. At Cairo, Ill., and Bird's Point, Mo., till March, 1862. Operations against New Market, Mo., March 1-14, and against Island No. 10, Mississippi River, March 15-April 8. Duty at New Madrid till June, and at Memphis, Tenn., till July. Mustered out July 15, 1862.

Company "K" attached to Army of Southwest Missouri January to July, 1862. District of Eastern Arkansas, Dept. of Missouri, to October, 1862. Army of Southeast Missouri to December, 1862. Action at Warrensburg, Mo., March 28. Mustered out December 27, 1862.

Regiment lost during service 17 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 26 Enlisted men by disease. Total 43.

SOURCE: Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1021

XXXVIIth CONGRESS - - FIRST SESSION

WASHINGTON, April 15.

SENATE. – Mr. Wilkinson presented a resolution from the citizens of Minnesota praying Congress to call on all the people of the U.S., bond and free, to aid in the suppression of the rebellion, and assuring them the protection of the flag.

Mr. Trumbull, from finance committee, reported the House bill, without amendment, for establish a branch mint at Denver, Colorado.

Mr. McDougal called up the resolution calling upon the Secretary of War for information as to the causes of the delay in the trial of Gen. Stone. Mr McD. Alluded to the fact that it was now fifty days since Gen. Stone had been arrested and closely confined in a dark fort; without being able to learn why he was arrested. The manner of his arrest and his confinement seem to be more the result of a Venitian Council of Ten than that of an official act in a free Republic.

Mr. Wade defended the committee on the conduct of the war, and believed Stones arrest justifiable.

Mr. Wilson offered a substituted for the resolution calling on the President for all information not incompatible with the public interest, relative to the arrest of Gen. Stone.

Mr. McDougal desired it to go over till to-morrow, as he wished to reply.

Mr. Sherman, from conference committee, reported back to the naval appropriation bill.

After an executive session the Senate adjourned.


HOUSE. – Mr. Trowbridge called up the motion heretofore made by him to reconsider the vote by which, on the 24th of March, the House adopted a resolution requesting the Secretary of War to inform them of the cause, if any for the protracted delay in exchanging Col. Corcoran; and directing him to stop all exchanges until Col. Corcoran shall be released. Mr. Trowbridge wished distinctly to say, that it was no part of his desire to place any impediment in the way of the release of Col. Corcoran, and he protested and asked the House to join him in preventing the release of the other prisoners to be made subordinate to Col Corcoran.

After further consideration the resolution was amended so as to request the Secretary of war to inform the House the cause, if any, which has prevented the exchange of Cols. Corcoran and Wilcox and the other prisoners of war, held since July last.

The house resumed the consideration of the bill to regulate the franking privilege, being a codification of the laws upon that subject with amendments.

Mr. Colfax moved to lay the bill on the table. Agreed to by 58 to 48.

The House concurred in the reports of the committee of conference on disagreeing votes on the post office and navy appropriation bills.

Adjourned.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

The Department of the Rappahannock . . .

. . . the formation of which was mentioned the other day, is commanded by Gen. McDowel, and not by Gen. McClellan as announced. Gen. McClellan’s Department is still that of the Potomac, and his headquarters are now in the vicinity of Yorktown.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 2

Review: A Beckoning Hellfire: A Novel of the Civil War

A Beckoning Hellfire: A Novel of the Civil War
By J. D. R. Hawkins

On Christmas Eve, 1862 David Summers and his family learn of the terrible news of his father’s death, presumably at the hands of Yankee soldiers, at the battle of Fredericksburg a week earlier. The following spring, on a mission of revenge having waited until his eighteenth birthday, David enlists in the Confederate Cavalry with his best friend Jake Kimball. Together they set off on a trek that will lead them from their northern Alabama homes to Virginia where they join J.E.B. Stuart’s Cavalry.

Once in the cavalry, and having seen the elephant at Chancellorsville, and Brandy Station, the chivalric nobility of it war has lost its luster and David’s lust for revenge begins to wane. He has suffered a personal loss, and discovers that war is a brutal and bloody business, full of pain and suffering, as he sees those around him cut down, one after another, in the heat of battle.

“A Beckoning Hellfire,” is the first published novel of author J. D. R. Hawkins. Though there is much to like about her novel, but it has its problems as well. Sadly, Ms. Hawkins novel lacks originality, in both its structure and its content. She tells her story in a linear narration, and her plot is very predictable. Before their departure, Jake’s fiancé, Callie Mae Copeland, pulls David aside to tell him if Jake dies that she will marry him. David and Jake both take their own horses to the Confederate Cavalry, David’s, and Indian pony mix named Renegade, and Jake’s a nag named Ole Stella. Putting these two pieces of information together early on in her novel, Ms. Hawkins reveals too much of her plot to her readers too soon. There is little surprise for Ms. Hawkins’ readers when Jake’s horse dies of exhaustion, forcing him to join the Confederate Infantry and Jake’s own death in turn at Chancellorsville. Ms. Hawkins also relies a bit too heavily on the tried and true of Civil War fiction, case in point, when Jake and David enlist in the Cavalry, Jake’s father instructs him to put a piece of paper with the number eighteen written on it in his shoe so that when the recruiting officer asks him if he is over 18 he can honestly state yes. Scenes like this appear in many Civil War novels and movies (nearly this exact scene takes place in the 80’s television miniseries “The Blue and the Gray”).

Having said that, Ms. Hawkins does a very good job of developing David’s character arc; transforming his revenge driven exuberance to kill a few Yankees into the suffering and pain of seeing death and destruction all around him. Ms. Hawkins also does an exemplary job with her battle scenes, though brief, they are very well done, and she pulls no punches when it comes to showing her readers the blood and gore of a Civil War battlefield.

On the final page, after David, having received what seems to be a mortal wound at Gettysburg, alone and bleeding in a barn, came my biggest disappointment when I read the words: “To be continued…” For “A Beckoning Hellfire” is not a complete novel, but rather a half, or a third of one, as Ms. Hawkins has published on her blog, she has already written two sequels. As I anxiously await the continuation of David Summer’s story, I can’t help but wish it could have been told between the covers of a single volume.

ISBN 978-0-595-43531-9, iUniverse, © 2007, Paperback, 196 pages, $14.95

9th Illinois Infantry (3 Months)

Organized at Springfield, Ill., and mustered in for three months' service by Capt. John Pope, U.S. A., April 26, 1861. Moved to Cairo, Ill., and garrison duty there till July. Attached to Prentiss' Brigade. Expedition from Cairo to Little River June 22-23 (Cos. "C" and "H"). Mustered out July 26, 1861.

Regiment lost 9 by disease during service.

SOURCE: Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1047

Surrender of Fort Pulaski

BALTIMORE, April 15.

The Savannah Republican of the 12th announces the unconditional surrender of Fort Pulaski, in the previous day. Seven large breaches were made in the walls by our batteries of Parrott guns at King’s Landing, and all the barbette guns on that side and three casemate guns were dismounted. – Three balls entered the magazine.

Col. Olmstead, the rebel commander, signaled the day previous to the surrender that our fire was so terrible that no human being could stand upon the parapet for even a minute.


FORT MONROE, April 14.

A flag of truce went up to Craney Island this p.m., and brought back two Norfolk papers. They were taken to headquarters and although containing the important information of the unconditional surrender of Fort Pulaski, an effort was made in accordance with the policy that prevails here, to keep even good news from the representatives of the press. I am, however, able to give you the substance of the glorious news published in the Savannah Republican. The Republican says substantially that it learns with deep regret that after a gallant defense against guns mostly superior, Fort Pulaski surrendered at 2 p.m. yesterday, the 11th.

Corporal Law, of the Pulaski Guards, who did not leave Fort Thunderbolt until after the flag was hauled down, brings the intelligence of the successful event. The surrender was unconditional.

Seven large breaches were made in the south wall by the Federal battery of eight Parrott guns, at Knight’s Landing.

All the barbette guns on that side were dismounted, and also three casemate guns, leaving but one gun bearing on that point. A clear breach was made in the magazine. The balls used were conical, and were propelled with such force that they went clear through the walls at nearly every fire. Col. Almsted [sic], who was in command, telegraphed the previous evening that no one could stand upon the ramparts for a single moment, and that over 1,000 large shells had exploded within the fort.

The Republican publishes the above as a postscript to a part of its edition and makes comments, nor gives any particulars as to the number of men and officers in the fort at the time of the surrender. It says however, none of it’s defenders were killed and but four wounded.

A Richmond paper contains and editorial exhibiting considerable fear for the safety of that city. It intimates that the Monitor may attack, and the Galena and all armored vessels might easily come up James river, and by their invulnerability and powerful guns, take and keep possession of the city. To prevent such a result it proposes that the channel of James river shall be obstructed by stone, which it says is abundant for the purpose and should be used at once.

The Merrimac has not come out, and nothing has been seen of her to-day. The tide has been low and this may have kept her in.

Early in the morning a rebel tug ran out from behind Sewall’s Point, but soon returned.

Later in the day there was a large fire in the woods on the Point, apparently from the burning of the brush, and gave rise to some speculations that the rebels were building a new battery there.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

The Battle of Pittsburg

Up to the time of writing there has been no mention of Iowa officers or men – no intimation that a single Iowa Regiment was in the great battle of Sunday and Monday. This, like all the others fought in the West, is purely an Illinois fight, Chicago newspapers having a monopoly on the whole thing. When they get through beating their gongs, or when the mails bring along [accounts] from persons not belonging to the Chicago press-gang, the people of Iowa may learn something of the part taken by our State troops at Pittsburg – what their loss, &c., &c.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 2

THE WAR NEWS

The Armies near Pittsburg only Two Miles Apart.

The Battle of Pittsburg.

Official Estimate, 5,000 Federal Killed and Wounded.

2,200 Rebels Buried, and 2,200 taken.

TWELVE CANNON CAPTURED.

BEAUREGARD ASKED PERMISSION TO BURY THE DEAD.

Fort Pulaski Surrendered.

CHICAGO TAKEN BY THE [ENEMY].

More About the Battle.

ST. LOUIS, April 15.

Capt. Ligon, of Grant’s staff, bearer of Grant’s official report of the battle at Pittsburg, arrived here yesterday. He left the army on Friday night. Halleck arrived at Pittsburg on Friday, and immediately assumed command.

Grant, in his official report estimates our loss at 1,500 killed and 3500 wounded. The loss of the enemy in killed and left on the field is greater than ours; in wounded an estimate cannot be made, as many must have been sent to Corinth and other places. The loss of artillery was great, many pieces being disabled by the enemy’s shot, some losing all their horses and many men. Not less than two hundred horses were killed.

The rebel army has its outposts at the foot of Pea Ridge, extending eight miles from Corinth. The advance of the Federal troops is eight miles from Pittsburg, leaving a space of only two miles between the opposing armies. A battle may be brought on at any moment. We have the strongest assurance that our army is ready for the encounter.

CINCINNATI, April 15.

The Commercial has information from a reliable gentleman who left the battle ground on Thursday evening. He estimates our loss in killed from twelve to fifteen hundred, in wounded three thousand five hundred to four thousand, and missing two thousand five hundred. The rebels lost more killed than we did, and not so many wounded. About one thousand unwounded rebel prisoners were taken about twelve hundred wounded. Up to the time he left two thousand two hundred rebels had been buried.

Our troops retook on Monday all the batteries lost on Sunday, and captured twelve pieces from the enemy. The rebels were so confident of their ability to hold our camps, which they took on Sunday, that, with a single exception, they did not destroy them.

On Tuesday, Beauregard sent a flag of truce, requesting permission to bury his dead and saying, “owing to the heavy reinforcements you received on Sunday night and Monday, and the fatigue of my men, I deemed it prudent to retire and not renew the battle.” Permission was not granted. The bearer of the flag admitted that Beauregard received a slight wound in the left arm.

– Published in the Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, April 16, 1862, p. 1

9th Illinois Infantry (3 Years)

Organized at Cairo, Ill., July 26 to August 31, 1861. Attached to District of Cairo to September, 1861. District of Paducah, Ky., to February, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Cairo, February, 1862. 1st Brigade, 2nd Division, District of West Tennessee, and Army of the Tennessee to March, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, Army Tennessee, to July, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Corinth, to September, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Corinth, to October, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, District of Corinth, to November, 1862. 2nd Brigade, District of Corinth, 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. 2nd Brigade, District of Corinth, 17th Army Corps, to January, 1863. 2nd Brigade, District of Corinth, 16th Army Corps, to March, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division, 16th Army Corps, to September, 1864. Unattached, 3rd Cavalry Division, Cavalry Corps, Army of the Cumberland, to November, 1864. Unattached, 3rd Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division of the Mississippi, to July, 1865.

SERVICE.--Duty at Cairo, Ill., till September, 1861. Expedition to Paducah, Ky., September 5-6. Occupation of Paducah September 6, and duty there till February, 1862. Skirmish at Saratoga and Eddyville, Ky., October 26, 1861 (Cos. "B," "H" and "I"). Demonstration on Columbus, Ky., November 7-9. Reconnoissance to Fort Henry, Tenn., January 15-25, 1862. Operations against Forts Henry and Heiman February 5-6. Investment and capture of Fort Donelson, Tenn., February 12-16. Expedition to Clarksville and Nashville, Tenn., February 22-March 1. Moved to Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., March 1-10. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Duty at Corinth till March, 1863. Battle of Corinth October 3-4, 1862. Pursuit to Ripley October 5-12. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign November and December. Reconnoissance to Tupelo, Miss., December 13-19. Expedition to intercept Forest January 2-3, 1863. Regiment mounted March 15, 1863. Dodge's Expedition to Northern Alabama April 14-May 8. Burnsville April 14. Dickson and Lundy's Lane April 17. Dickson Station April 19. Rock Cut, near Tuscumbia, April 22. Florence April 23. Tuscumbia April 23. Town Creek April 28. Expedition from Burnsville to Tupelo, Miss., May 2-8. Tupelo May 4. King's Creek, near Tupelo, May 5. Expedition from Corinth, Miss., to Florence, Ala., May 26-31. Florence May 27-28. Hamburg Landing, Tenn., May 30. Moved to Pocahontas, Tenn., June 3. Expedition to Ripley, Miss., June 8-9. Raid to Ripley and New Albany, Miss., June 13-14. Forked Deer Creek and Orizaba June 13. Operations in Northwestern Mississippi June 15-25. New Albany June 19. Mud Creek Bottom June 20. Rocky Crossing, Tallahatchie River, June 20. Scout in West Tennessee July 8-15. Jackson, Tenn., July 13. Forked Deer Creek July 15. Scout through West Tennessee July 20-August 3. Expedition from Memphis, Tenn., to Grenada, Miss., August 12-23. Grenada August 17. Scouting in West Tennessee and North Mississippi September. Montezuma, Tenn., September 16. Bear Creek October 3. Operations in North Mississippi and West Tennessee against Chalmers October 4-17. Lockhart's Mills and Salem October 8. Ingraham's Mills, near Byhalia, October 12. Quinn and Jackson's Mill, Wyatt's, Tallahatchie River, October 13. Scouting in North Mississippi, North Alabama and Central Tennessee November. At Athens till February, 1864. Near Florence December 1, 1863. Athens, Ala., January 26, 1864. Near Tennessee River January 29. Near Moulton March 21. Near Decatur April 13. Flint River, Decatur, April 17. Atlanta (Ga.) Campaign May 1 to September 8, 1864. Conduct trains of 15th and 16th Army Corps from Huntsville, Ala., to Chattanooga, Tenn., May 1-5. Led advance of the Army of the Tennessee on Dalton, Ga., and scouting on flanks of army through the Atlanta Campaign, march to the sea and through the Carolinas. Demonstration on Dalton May 5-9. Snake Creek Gap May 9. Near Resaca May 10. Resaca May 13. Ley's Ferry, Oostenaula River, May 14-15. Rome Cross Roads May 16. Advance on Dallas May 19-25. Operations on line of Pumpkin Vine Creek and battles about Dallas, New Hope Church and Allatoona Hills May 25-June 5. Operations about Marietta and against Kenesaw Mountain June 10-July 2. Assault on Kenesaw June 27. Operations on line of Nickajack Creek July 2-5. Operations on line of the Chattahoochie River July 5-12. Peach Tree Creek July 19-20. Decatur and Battle of Atlanta July 22. Siege of Atlanta July 22-August 25. Flank movement on Jonesboro August 25-30. Battle of Jonesboro August 31-September 1. Lovejoy Station September 2-6. Operations against Hood in North Georgia and Northern Alabama September 29-November 3. Skirmish on Cave Springs Road, near Rome, Ga., October 12-13. March to the sea November 15-December 10. Near Milledgeville November 23. Sandersville November 26. Siege of Savannah December 10-21. Campaign of the Carolinas January to April, 1865. Whippy Swamp Creek, S.C., February 1. Rivers' and Broxton's Bridges February 2. Salkehatchie Swamp February 2-5. Edisto R. R. Bridge February 7. Walker's or Valley Bridge, Edisto River, February 8. Binnaker's Bridge, South Edisto River, February 9. About Orangeburg, North Edisto River, February 11-12. Columbia February 15-17. Phillips' Cross Roads March 4. Expedition to Florence, S.C., and skirmishes March 4-6. Fayetteville, N. C, March 11. South River March 15. Averysboro March 16. Near Benton's Cross Roads March 18. Battle of Bentonville March 19-21. Occupation of Goldsboro March 24. Advance on Raleigh April 9-13. Near Raleigh April 12. Morrisville April 13. Near Chapel Hill April 15. Bennett's House April 26. Surrender of Johnston and his army. March to Washington, D. C, via Richmond, Va., April 29-May 19. Grand Review May 24. Mustered out July 9, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 5 Officers and 211 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 200 Enlisted men by disease. Total 417.

SOURCE: Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1047-8

The Great Battle

The bloodiest and hardest contested, battle of the war, of modern times, has just been fought and won by the Union army in Tennessee. The two armies numbered probably more than 150,000 men, perhaps 200,000. The loss on our side is given at 18,000 – of the rebels at 35,000. We hope these figures are exaggerated, but fear they are not. Of course no list of killed and wounded can be published for some time. In fact we shall not have the full details for some days. Eleven Regiments of Iowa troops were in the battle, in fact we risk little in saying in the thickest of the fight, and many of our brave boys have doubtless fallen.

P. S. – Later news reduces our loss, we are glad to say to 5,000 killed, wounded and missing.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 2

2nd Illinois Cavalry

Organized at Camp Butler, Ill., and mustered in August 12, 1861. (Co. "M" mustered in December 30, 1861.) Moved to Fort Massac August 29, 1861; to Cairo, Ill., October 3, 1861 (6 Cos.), and to Paducah, Ky., November 1, 1861 (5 Cos.). Attached to Military District of Cairo, Dept. of Missouri, to February, 1862. Unattached, Army of Mississippi, to April, 1862 (Cos. "G," "H," "I" and "K"). District of Columbus, Ky., to November, 1862 (Cos. "E," "F," "G," "H," "I," "K" and "M"). (Cos. "A" and "B," 1st Brigade, 1st Division, Army Tennessee, to March, 1862. 2nd Division, Army Tennessee, to July, 1862.) Cavalry, District of Jackson, Tenn., to November, 1862 (Cos. "A," "B," "C" and "D"). Cavalry, 4th Division, Right Wing 13th Army Corps (Old), Dept. of the Tennessee, to December, 1862. 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, to March, 1863. Unattached, 13th Army Corps, Army Tennessee, to August, 1863 (Detachment). District of Columbus, Ky., 6th Division, 16th Corps, to May, 1863 (Detachment). 4th Brigade, District of Memphis, Tenn., 5th Division, 16th Army Corps, to August, 1863 (Detachment). Cavalry Brigade, 13th Army Corps, Dept. of the Gulf, to September, 1863 (7 Cos.). 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Dept. Gulf, to December, 1863 (7 Cos.). District of Columbus, Ky., 6th Division, 16th Army Corps, to December, 1863 (Detachment). Waring's Cavalry Brigade, Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, to January, 1864 (Detachment). 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, to June, 1864 (Detachment). 3rd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Dept. of the Gulf, December, 1863, to January, 1864 (7 Cos.). 4th Brigade, Cavalry Division, Dept. of the Gulf, to June, 1864 (7 Cos.). Unattached, Defences of New Orleans, La., to August, 1864. 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Dept. of the Gulf, to September, 1864. 3rd Brigade, Cavalry Division, Dept. of the Gulf, to February, 1865. Separate Cavalry Brigade, District of West Florida, to March, 1865. 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, District of West Florida, to April, 1865. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, Cavalry Corps, Military Division West Mississippi, to June, 1865. Dept of Mississippi to November, 1865.

SERVICE.--Duty in Military District of Cairo till February. 1862. Expedition to Belmont, Mo., November 6-7, 1861. Battle of Belmont November 7. Bertram, Mo., December 11. Charleston, Mo., December 13. Expedition to Camp Beauregard and Viola, Ky., December 28-31. Moved to Paducah, Ky., January 1, 1862. Expedition toward Fort Henry January 15-26. Operations against Fort Henry February 2-6 (Cos. "A" and "B"). Springfield February 12. Fort Donelson, Tenn., February 12-16 (Cos. "A" and "B"). Advance on Columbus, Ky., March 2 (6 Cos.). Operations against New Madrid and Island No. 10, Mo., February 28-April 8 (Cos. "G," "H," "I" and "K"). New Madrid March 2-3. Action, and capture of Columbus, Ky., March 3 (6 Cos.). Union City, Tenn., March 31 (Cos. "H" and "I"). Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7 (Cos. "A" and "B"). Monterey April 28-29. Purdy April 29. Advance on and siege of Corinth April 29-May 30 (Cos. "A," "B," "C" and "D"). Expedition down Mississippi River to Fort Pillow, Tenn., May 19-23 (Cos. "G," "H," "I" and "K"). Expedition from Clifton in pursuit of Biffle's, Forest's and Newsome's Cavalry July 22-23. Gayoso, Tenn., August 4. Trenton, Tenn., August 7. Merriweather Ferry, Obeon River, August 16 (Co. "C"). White Oak Ridge August 19. Bolivar August 30 (4 Cos.). Somerville September 14. Battle of Iuka, Miss., September 19 (Detachment). Expedition from Bolivar to Grand Junction and LaGrange, and Skirmishes, September 20-22 (Cos. "C," "H," "K" and "M"). Expedition from Columbus, Ky., to Covington, Durhamsville and Fort Randolph, Ky., September 28-October 5 (Cos. "D" and "L"). Battle of Metamora, or Hatchie River, October 5 (Co. "A"). Island No. 10 October 17 (Co. "L"). Woodville October 21 (Detachment). Clarkson October 28 (Co. "D"). Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign October 31, 1862, to January 10, 1863. Reconnoissance from LaGrange to Colliersville, Tenn., November 5 (5 Cos.). Reconnoissance from LaGrange to Lamar, Miss., November 5 (2 Cos.). LaGrange November 6. Worsham's Creek, Miss., November 6 (2 Cos.). Carthage Road, near Hartsville, November 28 (Co. "H"). Holly Springs, Miss., December 20 (Cos. "C," "F," "G," "H," "I" and "K"). Ripley December 23 (Cos. "H" and "M"). Knob Creek, near Ripley January 8, 1863. Horn Lake Creek, February 8, 1863. Moscow Station, Tenn., February 14. Expedition from Young's Point, La., to Greenville, and Cypress Bend, Ark., February 14-29 (Detachment). Fish Lake, near Greenville, February 23 (Detachment). Expedition from Helena, Ark., to Yazoo Pass by Moon Lake, and Coldwater and Tallahatchie Rivers, February 24-April 8 (Co. "E"). Near Bloomington, on Hatchie River, February 27. Operations against Fort Pemberton and Greenwood March 13-April 5 (Co. "E"). Fort Pemberton March 24 (Co. "E"). Operations from Milliken's Bend, La., to New Carthage March 31-April 17 (Detachment). Roundaway Bayou, Richmond, March 31 (Detachment). Richmond April 4 (Detachment). Scout from LaGrange, Tenn., into Mississippi April 10-11 (Detachment). James' Plantation, near New Carthage, April 8 (Detachment). Dunbar's Plantation, Bayou Boeuf, April 15 (Detachment). Expedition from Perkins' Plantation to Hard Times Landing April 25-29. Fort Pillow April 26. Phelps' and Clark's Bayous April 26. Choctaw Bayou, on Lake Bruin, April 28. Turning Grand Gulf April 25-30 (4 Cos.). Battle of Port Gibson May 1. Willow Springs May 3 (Co. "C"). Near Black River May 5 (Detachment). Sandy Creek May 5 and 9 (Detachment). Utica May 9 and 10 (Cos. "A" and "E"). Coldwater May 11. Raymond May 12 (Cos. "A" and "E"). Hill's Ferry May 13 (Detachment). Jackson May 14 (Cos. "A" and "E"). Walnut Hill May 15. Champion's Hill May 16. Siege of Vicksburg May 18-July 4. Assaults on Vicksburg May 19 and 22. Haines Bluff May 23 (Detachment). Mechanicsburg May 29 (Detachment). Expedition to Satartia June 2-8. Satartia June 4. Coldwater, near Hernando, Miss., Juno 19. Hernando June 20. Moscow Station, Tenn., June 29. Advance on Jackson, Miss., July 5-10 (4 Cos.). Ripley July 7. Near Baker's Creek July 7. Bolton's Depot and near Clinton July 8. Near Jackson July 9, Brookhaven July 18. Scout from Fort Pillow, Tenn., August 3 (Detachment). Denmark August 3 (Detachment). Expedition from Fort Pillow to Jackson, Tenn., September 19-25 (5 Cos.). Moved to Dept. of the Gulf August, 1863 (7 Cos.). Sterling's Plantation on Bayou Fordoche, near Morganza, La., September 29. Western Louisiana Campaign October 3-November 30. Carrion Crow Bayou October 18. Opelousas and Barre's LandIng October 21. Washington October 24. Carrion Crow Bayou November 3. Rogersville, Tenn,, November G (Co. "M"). Carrion Crow Bayou and Vermillionville November 11. Obion River, near Union City, Tenn., November 19 (Detachment). Merriweather Ferry, near Union City, November 19 (Detachment). Camp Platt, La., November 20. Bayou Portage, La., November 23 (Detachment). Vermillionville, La., November 25. Camp Pratt November 25. St. Martinsville December 3 (Detachment). Okolona, Miss., December 9 (Detachment). Madrid Bend, La., December 9 (Detachment). Expedition from Union City to Trenton, Tenn., January 22-27, 1864 (1st Battalion). Smith's Expedition from Colliersville, Tenn., to Okolona, Miss., February 11-26 (5 Cos.). Prairie Station, Miss., and Okolona, Miss., February 21. Ivy's Hill, near Okolona, February 22. Hopefield, Ark., March 14. Red River Campaign March 14-May 22. Advance from Franklin to Alexandria, La., March 14-26. Bayou Rapides March 20. Monett's Ferry and Cloutiersville March 29-30. Natchitoches March 31. Crump's Hill, Piney Woods, April 2. Natchitoches April 5. Bayou de Paul April 8. Sabine Cross Roads April 8. About Cloutiersville April 22-24. Monett's Ferry, Cane River Crossing, April 23. Alexandria April 28 and May 2-9. Retreat to Morganza May 13-20. Near Alexandria May 14. Mansura May 16. Near Moreauville May 17. Yellow Bayou May 18. Steamer "City Belle" May 30. Regiment united at Baton Rouge, La., July, 1864. Operations near Baton Rouge July 3-25. Near Barton's Ferry, Amite River, July 25 (Detachment). Bayou Letsworth August 11. Expedition to Clinton August 23-29. Olive Branch, Comite River and Clinton August 25. Expedition from Baton Rouge to Clinton, Greensburg, Osyka and Camp Moore October 5-9. Clinton October 6. Lee's Expedition from Baton Rouge to Brookhaven, Miss., and Skirmishes, November 14-21. Davidson's Expedition from Baton Rouge against Mobile & Ohio R. R. November 27-December 13. Campaign against Mobile and its defences March 17-April 12, 1865. Steele's march from Barrancas, Fla., to Fort Blakely March 18-31. Near Evergreen March 24. Muddy Creek March 26. Near Blakely April 1. Operations against Fort Blakely April 1-9. Expedition from Blakely to Claiborne April 9-17. Expedition from Blakely to Georgetown, Ga., April 17-30. Moved to Mississippi May, thence to Shreveport, La., June 14-21; thence to San Antonia, Texas, July 9-August 2. Mustered out November 22, 1865. Discharged at Springfield, Ill., January 3, 1866.

Regiment lost during service 8 Officers and 50 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 3 Officers and 173 Enlisted men by disease. Total 234.

SOURCE: Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1021-2

High Water

Last Friday the Cedar river commenced rising and continued to raise until about 4 o’clock, Monday morning, when it was at its greatest highth [sic], being some 10 or 11 feet higher than at ordinary stages. About noon on Sunday [it] was discovered that the water was cutting away the [abutment] at the north end of the bridge, and nothing [but] the most prompt and energetic action saved at least [the abutment] from destruction, and perhaps the entire structure. The same day about 8 P.M., the south end commenced giving away, and a delay of twenty minutes would probably have been sufficient time for the water to have swept away that portion of the bridge. Sunday night just before 12 o’clock, the race bridge went off with a fearful crash. At this point had been erected a sort of temporary dam to prevent the water inundating the mills below. Against this vast quantity of logs and drift-wood collected and the pressure proved too great for the structure, and away it went. The road leading to Cedar City, which is formed by an embankment thrown up through a slough jutting out of the river is cut through and [through] by the water, so as to be impassable. – the [railroad] pile bridge just east of the depot is destroyed – the water cut the piling out, and swept it away leaving the stringers which are only supported by their [extreme] ends which rest on the banks. Also the bridge [still a] little further east, by the tank house, is severely [illegible] and one pile taken entirely out. The damage to the railroad is such that no freight can be received or shipped at this point until the damage is repaired.

The race embankment on the river side, just above the mills was cut through, and the water continues to pour through the gap in great volumes. We hear of no other damage to private property other than the loss of some lumber and logs which were swept away from the mill when the race bridge went. C. Bozarth lost 2,000 feet, John Keller sixty dollars worth, and several others were losers in small quantities.

Sunday afternoon the waters rose with fearful rapidity and when night set in presented a rather appalling aspect. Though it was apparent to all that should the water continue to rise during the night as rapidly as it had during the day, the danger to the bridge and several buildings was imminent, yet but three men thought it worth while to stay and watch the freaks of the angry waters, and from ten till four o’clock these men were unceasingly employed in fighting back the devastating flood. They undoubtedly saved the river bridge from being swept away. During the night they discovered that the water had again commenced cutting away the abutment, and only with great difficulty succeeded in stopping the break. The water also commenced running over the road leading to the bridge and had they not been there to throw up an embankment to turn the water back, it would have swept away Barnum and Melendy’s new warehouse. The names of these three men are P. Melendy, Byron Culver, and Daniel Willard, and they deserve great credit for their exertions that night. The two latter had no personal interest at stake whatever, and deserve all the more credit on that account. It was a trying position in which to place three men, when there was work enough for fifty, and where so many interests were at stake. Yet they were true to their trust and during all of that long night, the battled for the victory and gained it. The bridge leading into town being gone, they could not go for help.

The water lacks a little of being within three feet as high as during the great flood four years ago. It is providential that we have had no rains, for if we had the business part of the town would surely have been inundated.

Thursday morning the water again commenced to rise, this morning being as high as at any previous time during the freshet. In consequence of there being no flood gate at the head of the race the water continues to pour through there with a constantly increasing force. The banks on either side of the race are slowly, but surely being cut away from the swift current. The damage already sustained must be near eight hundred or a thousand dollars. Mr. Henry’s new building and Darrah’s grocery store are in great danger of being undermined and swept down stream. The race must be damned [sic] at its head before the ravages of the water can be prevented to any extent. Maggarth’s blacksmith’s shop on the north bank of the race is about to take a dive; Barnum & Melendy’s warehouse has been in danger, but it is now thought to be averted by the forming of the breakwater out of tree tops, logs, brush, etc. Stead and Huffman saved their dry house by removing it.

The cause of the swift current through the race and the attending danger and loss, was the breaking away of the embankment just above the mills and the destruction of the bridge and temporary dam which were depended upon to keep the water back. Unless steps are immediately taken to shut off the water at the head of the race, we are afraid that we have as yet experienced but a small part of the damage which will result from allowing the water to pour through the channel uninterrupted – Cedar Falls Gazette.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 1

Medical Abuses in the Donelson Army – The Truth about the Neglect of the Sick and Wounded

{Special Correspondence of the Cincinnati Gazette}

SAVANNAH, Tenn., March, 31.

There has been some public complaint of the medical management in this District, and subsequent Congressional inquiry, finally abandoned “for want of facts.”

Let me furnish a few facts. I propose to state nothing except what I am prepared to prove, by abundant testimony, before any committee of investigation, Congressional or otherwise.

Surgeon H. C. Hewitt, of New York city, (a person who has at some time, I believe, had some sort of connection with the regular army,) has been, by virtue of the date of his commission, the Medical Director of Gen. Grant’s army, at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, and up to this point, in the Southern campaign. To the miserable incompetency and inefficiency of this man are traceable nearly all the abuses and neglects in the medical departments here that have been such fruitful sources of just complaint.

Take this as Surgeon Hewitt’s opening performance. It occurred at Paducah, before the advance up the Cumberland.

A private of the Ninth Illinois, who had been shot through the shoulder on one of the reconnoitering expeditions from Paducah, was bro’t into the hospital, four days after the wound had been received. Examination showed that the ball had passed through the pectoral muscle, shattered the bone, and injured the main artery of the arm. The parts were very much swollen and inflamed. Dr. Hewitt began by passing his fingers, unoiled, entirely through the wound thus causing the most exquisite pain, and almost throwing the unfortunate soldier into spasms. Subsequently the artery commenced bleeding very copiously. Dr. Hewitt undertook to tie it up, and instead of the artery, succeeded in tying up the nerve. Fifteen minutes afterward the soldier was dead. The doctor then got drunk, went reeling through the streets of Paducah in a state of beastly intoxication,, finally fell into a mud-hole in the main thoroughfare of the city, lost his spectacles, covered himself with filth, and wound up by being placed under arrest by Gen. Smith.

At Fort Henry, His courtesy to the captured rebel surgeons was in such marked contrast with his rudeness to those of our own army, as to provoke some comment. Offended at this, he denounced everybody that objected to his course as a d----d mobbite and no gentleman, and declared with emphasis – directing his remarks to Division Surgeon Fry, brother of the gallant Col. Fry of Kentucky, who distinguished himself in Zollicoffer’s defeat at Cliff Creek – that “if any man there dared doubt the honor and chivalry of Tilghman and his companions, he would challenge him to fight a duel.” Altercation followed, which ended in his calling Dr. Fry a liar, and in Dr. Fry’s promptly knocking him down.

No official notice was taken of the affair, except that Dr. Hewitt, without giving Dr. Fry any notice, selected a military commission, composed of one Missouri and two Illinois Colonels, to investigate it. He had the witnesses summoned himself, and of course made the best showing he could. The Missouri member of this self-selected jury of his at once gave verdict that the Medical Director should be stripped and required to endure thirty blows from Dr. Fry’s cane! The others agreed that Dr. Fry had only erred in waiting too long before resenting the insults but finally decided that Dr. Hewitt should present a written apology to Dr. Fry for insulting him and [that then] Dr. Fry should hive him a written apology for [striking] a superior officer. Dr. Fry refused to do anything of the kind, and there the matter rested.

I may as well add the fact – of little importance in itself, but showing the nature of the man – that some weeks afterward the Medical Director of our “grand army” was again knocked down, this time by a Second Lieutenant, for claiming some forage that he had no manner of claim to, and trying to interfere with the rightful owner in taking it away. As before, nothing further was heard of it.

At Fort Donelson, the Medical Director ordered surgeons to accompany their regiments into the midst of the battle, and yet forbade them to perform any operations on the field. Some surgeons having violated his orders, and by timely operations saved the lives of wounded soldiers, he rebuked them bitterly for their disobedience, telling them it was [their] duty to send back their wounded to him. What [other object] he had in breaking the custom by sending [his] surgeons into the fight, is not apparent.

Out of the numerous just causes for complaint, after the battle, one or two may be selected.

The day of the surrender, when his service were more urgently needed than at any other time, he again got drunk – so drunk as to be unable to walk without staggering, much less to perform surgical operations. He was seen in this condition by hundreds of soldiers and officers, including at least one Major General.

A large number of the wounded, together with many who had become sick from the effects of the terrible exposure and the excitement, where put aboard the steamer, Thomas E. Tutt. This steamer the Medical Director sent down to Mound City, without a Surgeon or assistant on board, and with the sick and wounded absolutely dependent on the charity of accidental passengers for nursing and medical attendance.

Much needless suffering grew out of the Medical Director’s unwillingness to give any information to Brigade and Regimental Surgeons, inquiring after their wounded and seeking to wait upon them. On this point I happen to give this extract from the report of one of the three Division Surgeons.

“The Surgeons of this Division generally complain of discourteous treatment on the part of Medical Director H. C. Hewitt, when manifesting an earnest solicitude for the wounded, and making inquiries as to the time and manner of their removal, and their ultimate destination, the Surgeons were rudely and offensively repulsed, without the desired information. They also complain that in the exercise of arbitrary power, they were deprived of the privilege of attending their own men, or dressing their wounds, when taken to the boats. The report of such conduct is to me a matter of deep regret, and against it I beg leave to protest.”

A subsequent portion of the same report expresses the fear that the mortality would be greatly and needlessly increased, (we all know how sadly the fear became a reality,) by sending of, on crowded steamboats, patients on whom amputations or other severe operations had been performed, where the hurry of moving, the displacement of dressings, and the pain of the incessant jarring, must add fearfully to their dangerous condition. There were plenty of good houses that might have been taken for hospitals for these men; there was abundance of surgical and, volunteer as well as from the officers; nurses could have been detailed to any extent required; there was no danger from the enemy; and in short, there was no excuse for the virtual murder of these wounded heroes, save the Medical Director so commanded.

There were other glaring cases, in which Surgeons who had little or no sickness in their regiments, asked permission to wait on their own wounded, so long as they were kept at Donelson, and were surlily [sic] refused and ordered back to their regiments; but enough has been given to illustrate the character of the medical management after our great victory.

After the present expedition up the Tennessee had begun, there was a great deal of sickness among the men, caused by their privations, lack of air, exercise, opportunities for bathing, cooking and the like on board the transports. The arrangements for some of the sick were miserable. Appeals to the Medical Director, and descriptions of the suffering of their sick by the surgeons elicited only the response, which I give word for word as he repeated the expression to different parties: “What of it? What’s the use of complaining? What did soldiers enlist for but to sicken and die and be killed?” And that as an answer to just complaints of neglect to our sick soldiers, from the Medical Director of one of the largest armies we have in the field!

At this time, when the sickness incident to a change of climate is at its hight [sic], there are divisions in our army almost absolutely destitute of the commonest medicines for the prevailing diseases. The depots at the headquarters of the Department in St. Louis are doubtless crowded with ample medical stores, but of what avail are they to the poor fellows dying her on the banks of the Tennessee? It is the duty of the Medical Director to have the proper supplies issued – Take this chance conversation I chanced to hear between a regimental surgeon and his surgeon of Division as an illustration of how the Medical Director performs his work.

“Pneumonia is very prevalent in our regiment. I want some medicines for it.”

“We have none. The medical director pays no attention to my requisitions.”

“Can’t you give me some syrup of squills?”

“I have none. Sent in requisitions for it long ago, but they are unnoticed.”

“Let me have some ipecac.”

“I have none.”

“Some opium or some of the fluid extracts.”

“I have none.”

“Diarrheas and dysenteries are very common. Can you let me have some morphia, or tannin, or kino?”

“Of one I have a very little, of the rest none at all.”

“Can you give me some quinine for our intermittents?”

“I have none.”

“Some Stimulants?”

“I had none, till to-day I succeeded in getting a barrel of common whiskey from a commissary.”

I do not mean to say that there was not the profusest abundance of all these things somewhere – perhaps in purveyor’s boats not three miles off – but I do say, that after repeated requisitions on the medical director, he left one entire division, as indicated above, destitute of the commonest remedies for the three commonest diseases of the camps.

As illustration of the way the Medical Director has been discharging other portions of his duty, take the following: A “sick leave” was granted to Assistant Surgeon Crane, of the Second Illinois Cavalry, and forwarded to the Medical Director through the proper channels, for approval. He indorsed it, “From the within it would appear that Dr. Crane is too ill to perform his duties. Service in the field now requires vigor, and I therefore recommend Dr. Crane to resign.”

Another sick-leave was granted to Surgeon Austin of the 23rd Indiana, drawn up in precisely the same terms, giving precisely the same reasons for granting the leave, and forwarded to the same Medical Director. He promptly approved it. And more: After remaining at home some time Dr. Austin returned and tendered his resignation, assigning as a reason, that his diseases would permanently disable him from discharging the duties of a Surgeon in the army. The Medical Director, after having recommended the Surgeon to resign because he asked for a short leave, prevailed upon the other, who had returned from a sick-leave convinced that he ought to resign, not to carry out his determination, promising him that he should be relieved from field service and given some easy place at a post hospital. The promise was fulfilled, and Dr. Austin is at Paducah, while his regiment is here without either surgeon or assistant.

The secret of the different action in the two cases is supposed to be that one doctor is a favorite with the Medical Director, and the other is not; but it remains to be decided how far such extraordinary conduct is in accordance with official oaths, common honor, or plain duty to the army.

I might fill columns with such details, might tell of brutality to parents looking for wounded sons, and and [sic] insult to surgeons who earnestly wanted to do their duty, but surely I have given enough.

Only let me add this Medical Director has on three or four occasions, each time in the presence of numerous witnesses, expressed this sentiment in almost precisely these words: “The Union is gone. It can never be reconstructed, and I don’t want it to be. I think and hope that our difficulties will crystallize into a strong military despotism, instead of our present form of government, and I hope to be fortunate enough to be one of the crystals.”

There are pictures, studiously drawn in neutral tints, which are all the more effective from their very lack of coloring. I have sought to make this simple recital such a picture. It were easy to make the facts above presented, and weave them into the bitterest of invectives against an incompetent, inefficient and unfaithful officer in the most responsible of positions. I have not thought it necessary. The facts are ample of themselves. Only let those who have control in these matters remember that we are here, if not the largest, certainly the second in size of all our national armies, with the enemy’s best General and his most formidable force hardly two day’s march from us; and that at the head of the surgical department for this army, so soon expecting to be engaged in the decisive contest of the war, we have an officer notorious for stupid blunders, cold-blooded neglect of the wounded, expressed disloyalty, and drunkenness when most needed on the field.

I have only to add, that for every statement made above I have chapter and verse, date and place, and names of witnesses.

AGATE.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 1

Why is a sheet of postage stamps like distant relations?

Because they are but slightly connected.

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, Thursday, April 24, 1862

The People of Accomac and Northampton counties, Virginia . . .

. . . or what is called the “Eastern Shore,” have voted by a large majority in favor of being joined to Maryland.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 1

4th Illinois Cavalry

Organized at Ottawa, Ills., and mustered in September 26, 1861. Moved to Cairo, Ills., October, 1861, and duty in that district till February, 1862. (Co. "A" detached as escort to General Grant, November, 1861, to August, 1863.) Attached to District of Cairo to February, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 1st Division, District of West Tennessee, to March, 1862. 2nd Division, Army of the Tennessee (Cos. "E," "F," "G," "H"). 4th Division, Army Tennessee (Cos. "I," "K," "L" and "M"), 1st Division, Army Tennessee (Cos. "A," "B," "C," "D"), to April, 1862. 5th Division, Army Tennessee, to July, 1862 (Cos. "E," "F," "G," "H", "I," "I," "K," "L," "M"). 1st Division, Army Tennessee, to July, 1862 (Cos. "A," "B," "C," "D"). 1st Division, District of Jackson, Tenn., to November, 1862 (Cos. "A," "B," "C," "D"). 5th Division, District of Memphis, Tenn., to November, 1862 (Cos, "E," "F," "G," "H," "I," "K," "L," "M"). Lee's 2nd Brigade, Cavalry Division, 13th Army Corps, (Old) Department of the Tennessee, to December, 1862, and 16th Army Corps to March, 1863. 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, to May, 1863. 1st Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, 16th Army Corps, to August, 1863. Winslow's Cavalry Brigade, 15th Army Corps, December, 1863. Winslow's Cavalry Brigade, 17th Army Corps, and District of Vicksburg, Miss., to April, 1864. Post of Natchez, District of Vicksburg, Miss., to December, 1864. 3rd Brigade, Cavalry Division, District of West Tennessee, to June, 1865. 1st Brigade, Cavalry Division, District West Tennessee June 1865.

SERVICE.--Reconnoissance of Columbus Ky. December 1861. Reconnoissance from Paducah Ky. to Fort Henry Tenn. January 15-25 1862 (Detachment). Expedition from Cairo into Kentucky January 16-21. Operations against Fort Henry Tenn. February 2-6. Fort Donelson Tenn, February 12-16 (Co. "I"). Expedition from Paducah Ky. to Tennessee River and operations about Crump's Landing Tenn. March 8-14. Expedition from Savannah to Yellow Creek Miss. and occupation of Pittsburg Landing March 14-17. Black Jack Forest March 16 (Detachment). Battle of Shiloh Tenn. April 6-7, Corinth Road April 8. Expedition to Bear Creek, Ala., April 12-13 (Cos. "E," "G," "H," "L" "M"). Pea Ridge April 15. Corinth Road April 24-25. Pea Ridge April 27. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. Raid on Mobile and Ohio R. R. April 29-May 14. March to Memphis, Tenn., June 1-July 21 (8 companies). Four companies operating in district of Jackson, Tenn., till November, and (eight companies) in District of Memphis, Tenn., till November. Tallahatchie Bridge, Miss., June 18. Near Holly Springs, Miss., July 1. Hatchie Bottom July 29. Grant's Central Mississippi Campaign October 31, 1862, to January 10, 1863, Double Bridges November 18, About Oxford December 1-3. Water Valley Station December 4. Coffeeville December 5. Expedition against Mobile and Ohio R. R. December 14-19. Ripley December 23. Bolivar and Middletown December 24. Scout duty in West Tennessee and North Mississippi, headquarters at Colliersville, Tenn., January to August, 1863. Centre Hill, near Germantown, January 27 (Detachment). Expedition from Colliersville March 8-12 (Detachment). Shelby County March 9. Expedition from Lagrange into Northern Mississippi April 29-May 5. Expedition from Lagrange to Senatobia May 21-26. Senatobia May 23. Operations in Northwest Mississippi June 15-25. Quinn's Mills and Coldwater June 16. Near Holly Springs June 16-17. Near Clinton July 8. Scout from Germantown July 16-20. Expedition from Memphis to Grenada, Miss., August 12-23. Craven's Plantation August 14 (Co. "M"). Grenada August 17. Moved to Vicksburg, Miss., August. Expedition from Vicksburg, Miss., to Monroe, La., August 20-September 2 (Battalion). Bayou Macon and Bayou Floyd August 24 (Battalion). Expedition from Big Black River to Yazoo City September 27-October 1 (Detachment). Morris Ford, near Benton, September 29 (Detachment). Ingraham's Plantation, near Port Gibson, October 10 (1st Battalion). Expedition toward Canton October 14-20. Canton Road, near Brownsville, October 15-16. Near Clinton and Vernon Cross Roads October 16. Bogue Chitto Creek October 17. Sartatia October 17. Robinson's Mill, near Livingston, October 17. Livingston Road, near Clinton, October 18. Expedition to Tallulah Court House November 10-13 (Detachment). Independence December 7 (Cos. "A," "B," "C," "D"). Moved to Natchez, Miss., December, 1863. Merriweather Ferry, Bayou Boeuf, December 13. Duty there and scouting in Southern Mississippi and Eastern Louisiana till December, 1864. Meridian Campaign February 3-March 2 1884. (Cos. "A," "B," "C," "D"). Chunky Station February 14. Washington March 29 (Detachment), Concordia July 25. Expedition from Natchez to Gillespie's Plantation August 4-6. Gillespie's Plantation August 5 (Detachment). Cross Bayou August 6. Bullitt's Bayou August 26. Consolidated to a Battalion of 5 companies October 14, 1864. Eight Mile Post, Natchez and Liberty Road September 6 (Co. "L"). Expedition from Natchez to Buck's Ferry and skirmishes September 21-26. Expedition from Natchez to Woodville October 4-11 (Detachment). Woodville October 5-6. Ordered to Memphis, Tenn., December. Grierson's Raid on Mobile and Ohio R. R. December 21, 1864, to January 15, 1865. Franklin Creek December 21-22. Verona December 25, 1864. Egypt Station December 28. Franklin January 2, 1865. Duty at Memphis till June. Expedition from Memphis to Marion, Ark., January 19-22. Expedition from Memphis into Northern Mississippi February 3-11. Expedition from Memphis to Brownsville, Miss., April 23-26. Consolidated with 14th Illinois Cavalry June 14, 1865.

Regiment lost during service 1 Officer and 31 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 1 Officer and 166 Enlisted men by disease. Total 199.

SOURCE: Dyer, Frederick H., A Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1023-4

The Quaker gun question is settled.

Rev. H. Mattison of New York says he counted eleven of them in the Centerville fortifications, and has shipped one of them to New York.

– Published in the Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, April 9, 1862

Gen. Sherman’s Official Report

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH DIVISION,
Tuesday, April 8, 1862.

Major Gen. Grant, Commanding Army in the Field

SIR. With the Cavalry, placed at my command and two Brigades of my fatigued troops I went this morning out on the Corinth road. One after another abandoned camps of the enemy lined the roads, with hospital flags for their protection. At all we found more or less wounded and dead. At the forks of the road I found the head of General Wood's division. At that point I ordered cavalry to examine both roads, and found the enemy's cavalry. Colonel Dickey, of the Illinois cavalry, asked for re-enforcements, I ordered General Wood to advance the head of his column cautiously on the left-hand road, whilst I conducted the head of the third brigade of the fifth division up the right-hand road. About half a mile from the forks was a clear field, through which the road passed, and immediately beyond a space of some 200 yards of fallen timber, and beyond an extensive camp. The enemy's cavalry could be seen in this camp, and after a reconnaissance I ordered the two advance companies of the Seventy-seventh Ohio, Colonel Hildebrand, to deploy forward as skirmishers, and the regiment itself forward into line, with an interval of 100 yards. In this order I advanced cautiously until the skirmishers were engaged.

Taking it for granted this disposition would clean the camp, I held Colonel Dickey's Fourth Illinois Cavalry ready for the charge. The enemy's cavalry came down boldly to the charge, breaking through the line of skirmishers, when the regiment of infantry, without cause, broke, threw away [their] muskets, and fled. The ground was admirably adapted to a defense of infantry against cavalry, the ground being miry and covered with fallen timber.

As the regiment of infantry broke, Dickey's cavalry began to discharge their carbines and fell into disorder. I instantly sent orders to the rear for the brigade to form line of battle, which was promptly executed. The broken infantry and cavalry rallied on this line, and as the enemy's cavalry came to it our cavalry in turn charged and drove them from the field. I advanced the [center] brigade upon the same ground, and sent Colonel Dickey's cavalry a mile farther on the road.

On examining the ground which had been occupied by the 77th Ohio we found fifteen dead and about twenty five wounded. I sent for wagons, and had all the wounded sent back to camp and the dead buried; also the whole camp to be destroyed. Here we found much ammunition for field pieces, which was destroyed; also two caissons, and a general hospital, with about 280 Confederate wounded and about 50 of our own.

Not having the means of bringing these off, Colonel Dickey, by my orders, took a surrender, signed by Medical Director Lyle and all the attending surgeons, and a pledge to report themselves to you as prisoners of war; also a pledge that our wounded would be carefully attended and surrendered to us to-morrow as soon as ambulances could go out. I enclose the written document, and a request that you cause to be sent out wagons or ambulances for the wounded of ours to-morrow, also that wagons be sent out to bring in the many tents belonging to us, which are pitched all along the road for 4 miles. I did not destroy them. However I know the enemy cannot move them. The roads are very bad, and the road is strewn with abandoned wagons, ambulances, and limber-boxes. The enemy has succeeded in carrying off the guns, but has crippled his batteries by abandoning the hind [limber] boxes.

The enemy has succeeded in carrying off the guns, but has crippled his batteries by abandoning the hind limber boxes of at least twenty guns. I am satisfied the enemy's infantry and artillery passed Lick Creek this morning, traveling all last night, and that he left behind all his cavalry, which has protected his retreat, that the signs of confusion and disorder mark the whole road. The check sustained by us at the fallen timbers delayed our advance, so that night came upon us before the wounded were provided for and dead buried, and our troops being fagged out by three days' hard fighting, exposure, and privation, I ordered them back to camp, where all now are.

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant,

Brig. Gen. W. T. SHERMAN,
Commanding Division

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, Thursday Morning, April 24, 1862

Interview With Civil War Preservation Trust President Jim Lighthizer

Michael Noirot at This Mighty Scourge has recently posted an excellent audio interview with Jim Lighthizer, president of The Civil War Preservation Trust. The interview is broken down into eight parts and is in the mp3 format. To listen to the whole interview, uninterrupted, I recommend downloading each segment first and then put them into a play list in a media player, such as Windows Media player. The entire interview runs just short of an hour and is very informative. Be sure not to miss the CWPT’s newly redesigned website.

Nashville Officials Taking the Oath

The Nashville Bulletin of the 1st has the following paragraphs:

We understand Councilman William Shane has taken the oath of Allegiance, was required by Gov. Johnson, and it was reported on the streets yesterday that Alderman Wm. S. Cheatham had taken the oath. We learn the following policemen have taken the oath: John Baugh, Captain, John Davis, Wm. Jackson, Wm. Mayhor, Joel Phillips, N. Davis, John Cavender, Wm. Yarborough and A. C. Tucker, of the regular police, and John Joice, Robert Scott and Wm. Frances, of the assistant police.

It was rumored yesterday that Mr. J. L. Meiggs, Superintendent of the Public Schools has been notified that he and all the teachers connected with the schools must take the oath of allegiance.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862, p. 1

77th Ohio Infantry

Organized at Marietta, Ohio, September 28, 1861, to January 5, 1862. Left State for Paducah, Ky., February 17, 1862. Attached to District of Paducah, Ky., to March, 1862. 3rd Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee, to May, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 5th Division, Army Tennessee, to July, 1862. 2nd Brigade, 5th Division, District of Memphis, Tenn., to August, 1862. Alton, Ill., to August, 1863. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, Arkansas Expedition, to January, 1864. 1st Brigade, 3rd Division, 7th Army Corps, Dept. of Arkansas, to April, 1864. 2nd Brigade, 3rd Division, 7th Army Corps, to May, 1864. 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, 7th Army Corps, to February, 1865. 3rd Brigade, 3rd Division, 13th Army Corps (New), Military Division West Mississippi, to June, 1865. Dept. of Texas, to March, 1866.

SERVICE.--Moved from Paducah, Ky., to Savannah, Tenn., March 6-10, 1862. Expedition to Yellow Creek, Miss., and occupation of Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., March 14-17. Expedition to Eastport, Miss., and Chickasaw, Ala., April 1. Battle of Shiloh, Tenn., April 6-7. Corinth Road April 8. Advance on and siege of Corinth, Miss., April 29-May 30. March to Memphis, Tenn., via LaGrange, Grand Junction and Holly Springs June 1-July 21. Duty there till August 27. Ordered to Alton, Ill., and duty there as guard of Military Prisons till July 31, 1863. Moved to Helena, Ark., July 31, thence to Duvall's Bluff August 22. Steele's Expedition to Little Rock, Ark., September 1-10. Bayou Fourche and capture of Little Rock September 10. Duty at Little Rock till September 23. Regiment reenlisted December 20, 1863, and mustered in as Veterans January 22, 1864, and moved to Columbus, Ohio. Returned to Little Rock March 1-17. Steele's Expedition to Camden March 23-May 3. Okalona April 2-3. Prairie D'Ann April 9-12. Camden April 15-18. Mark's Mills April 25, most of Regiment captured. Evacuation of Camden April 27. Jenkins' Ferry April 30. Duty in the Dept. of Arkansas till February, 1865. Regiment exchanged February, 1865, and ordered to New Orleans, La., February 9. Moved to Mobile Point, Ala., February 20. Campaign against Mobile and its defences March 17-April 12. Siege of Spanish Fort and Fort Blakely March 26-April 9. Occupation of Mobile April 12. Advance to Mt. Vernon April 13-22. Moved to Mobile May 12, thence to Texas June 1-9. Duty at Brazos Santiago and Brownsville and in the Dept. of Texas, till March, 1866. Mustered out March 8, 1866.

Regiment lost during service 2 Officers and 68 Enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and 2 Officers and 208 Enlisted men by disease. Total 280.

SOURCE: Dyer , Frederick H., A Compendium Of The War Of The Rebellion, Part 3, p. 1532-3