8th Iowa Regiment

Orville Fluke, of the 8th regiment, writes his father, Mr. T. K. Fluke, of this county, from Pittsburg under the date of the 8th inst. We make a few extracts from his letter. ‘Major Andrews of our regiment is dead. He was mortally wounded in the neck yesterday, and died this morning. One of Co. B just came in and says that Orlando (his brother) was wounded yesterday about noon in the arm, and has been sent down the river. I have also heard that the Captain of Co. F is among the killed.’ ‘The 8th did nobly, and bravely sustained the well earned reputation of our Iowa soldiers. They were in the thickest of the fight all the time. The were supporting a battery all day yesterday. The rebels repeatedly charged upon them to take it, but were driven back. They finally succeeded in flanking them, and as the 8th had not learned any such thing as retreat in their tactics, they were taken prisoners. The enemy then began to retreat and soon fled in confusion, leaving the arms of the 8th on the field.’

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 18, 1862, p. 1