Showing posts with label 12th MI INF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 12th MI INF. Show all posts

Sunday, October 13, 2019

Major-General Stephen Hurlbut: General Orders No. 112, October 8, 1862

GENERAL ORDERS No. 112.

HDQRS. 4TH DIV., DIST. OF WEST TENN.,       
Bolivar, Tenn., October 8, 1862.

Officers and soldiers of the Fourth Division! Comrades in battle! Partakers of the weary march and the long watches, by your discipline and courage the victory has been won; and the title of the “Fighting Fourth,” earned at Shiloh, has been burnished with additional splendor on the Hatchie.

We were ordered on a forlorn hope to the aid of our beleaguered brothers in arms at Corinth. The march was arduous, the undertaking desperate. My orders were to reach Rosecrans at all hazards and relieve him or perish.

By the blessing of the God of our Fathers and our Country the forces which assailed that indomitable garrison at Corinth were scattered and broken by their invincible courage before our turn came; but there was yet work for the "old Fourth." The heavy mass of the enemy were retreating by the State Line road, when, after crossing the Muddy, we met them. Each arm of this division, gallantly co-operating with the other—cavalry, infantry, and artillery—over a rough and dangerous country, overhill and through ravines, forest, thicket, and a desperate enemy, made no breach in the serried advance of this command. Aided by your brave comrades of the Sixty-eighth Ohio and Twelfth Michigan, from General Ross' command, field after field was swept, position after position seized and occupied, until the crowning struggle of the day came on for the occupation of the high grounds east of the Hatchie.  The bridge across that stream was carried at a charging step, the work of the artillery was done, that of the infantry commenced in deadly earnest.

Major-General Ord, a stranger to you, but to whom the division by its well-won reputation was no stranger, and who had hitherto led the advance, was struck at the bridge and disabled. The command then devolved upon your old commander. By misapprehension of the nature of the country across the Hatchie a large portion of the division had been massed in impracticable ground on the right of the road and exposed to a terrific fire of canister at short range. That you bore it without the possibility of active return speaks well for your discipline. Knowing the ground, I immediately determined to throw out the main force to the left, crown the hill-side, and flank the enemy, and it is among the proudest moments of my life when I remember how promptly the several regiments disengaged themselves from their temporary confusion and extended to the left, and with what a will they bent themselves to conquer the hill. In twenty minutes all was over, the crest was gained and held, the artillery rapidly in place, and the field of Matamora was won. The broken fragments of the Confederate Army recoiled before your solid advance; their main line of retreat was cut off and their troops forced over the broken ground east of the Hatchie. Our duty was accomplished. Our wounded, the bloody witnesses to the desperation of the fight, were to be cared for. Already the victorious column of Rosecrans was thundering on their rear. It was my duty to bring in the forces that remained to me.

You have returned to camp; no colors lost, not a man nor a gun missing. It is a triumph, and you, and I for you, have a right to be proud.

With you in this achievement were associated the Sixty-eighth Ohio and Twelfth Michigan Regiments. They were worthy to be with you, and their conduct receives the praise of their commanding officer.

And now the necessities of the service remove me from the immediate command of the Fourth Division. A promotion won by your courage and discipline removes me to a larger command. I wish you to understand from these my parting orders that I know full well that no regiment in my old division desired to be under my command when we met at Donelson. The reason why I know well, but care not to tell now.

Your respect I conquered at Shiloh, your regard I hope to have acquired since. Give to the officers who may succeed me the same prompt obedience, the same steady devotion to duty, and you will make me, wherever I am, proud of the high reputation of the Fourth Division.

Remember, every man and officer, that I here again publicly acknowledge that whatever I may have of military reputation has been won by you, and that I wear it only as coming from you, and that any misconduct or want of discipline on your part will grieve your old commander. Remember that I place my honor as well as your own in your hands, and that if I find a difficult place that must be held I shall call for the Fourth. I have no fears how you will answer.

Our dead—our glorious dead! The joy of victory is dimmed when we think of them. But they have died as they would wish—died in defense of the Union and the laws; died bravely on the red field of battle with their unconquered banner over them. Their comrades will avenge them. And when at last our victorious flag shall float over the national domain reconquered and united, and the weary soldier shall forget his toil in the endearments of home, around your firesides and among your children and your neighbors you shall recite as part of your glorious history how you swept the rebel hosts with every advantage of position across the Hatchie and crowned the opposing hill with a wall of fire and of steel that repelled the chosen troops of Van Dorn and Price.

Infantry, artillery, and cavalry of the Fourth Division, and your well-deserving companions of the Sixty-eighth Ohio and Twelfth Michigan, you have done your duty, each in his place and each at the right time. You have satisfied your general, and the country in due time shall know what is due to each of you. I bid you for a while farewell.

Officers and men, continue to deserve your lofty reputation, and then as heretofore you will receive the approbation of your general and strengthen his hands in the performance of his duties.

S. A. HURLBUT, 
Major-General.

SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume 17, Part 1 (Serial No. 24), p. 308-9

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

21st Missouri Infantry and Pickets of Peabody’s 1st Brigade Position Marker: Seay Field, Shiloh National Military Park


U. S.

21ST MISSOURI AND PICKETS OF
PEABODY’S (1ST) BRIG., PRENTISS (6TH) DIV.,
ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE
_____ _____ _____

The 21st MO. reinforced the reconnoitering party of 25th Mo. and the pickets of 12th Michigan and 4 companies of 16th Wis. At this place and engaged the Confederate advance 30 minutes, soon after sunrise Apr. 6, 1862.

Col. Moore, 21st Mo., was wounded.  Capt. Saxe, 16th Wis., was killed.  I was the first officer killed at Shiloh

Seay Field, looking south from Reconnoitering Road,
Shiloh National Military Park

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Everett Peabody

Colonel 13th (afterwards 25th) Missouri Vols. (Infantry), September 1, 1861; killed at Pittsburg Landing, Tenn., April 6, 1862.
______

THE Rev. William B. 0. Peabody, D. D., of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the son of Judge Oliver Peabody of Exeter, New Hampshire, and was born July 7, 1799. He married Eliza Amelia White, daughter of Major Moses White, who served in the army through the Revolution. Rev. Dr. Peabody was settled in Springfield, Massachusetts, in October, 1820, and remained with the same parish until his death, which took place in 1847. He was well known as a preacher, essayist, naturalist, and poet, and was universally respected for the pure and elevated character of his daily life. Those who remember the Springfield of forty years ago speak of Mrs. Peabody as lovely in person and manners, full of energy and public spirit, and taking a leading part in all the schemes for doing good which were in vogue at that day.

Their eldest son, Howard, died in infancy. The rest of the family consisted of one daughter and four sons, of whom Everett was the oldest. He was born in Springfield, June 13, 1830. There is little to be told about his childhood. He was a tall, athletic boy, fond of outdoor sports, and excelling in them. He was particularly skilful as a swimmer. Once, while swimming across the Connecticut, at Springfield, he was taken with the cramp when half-way across. One of his schoolmates swam out to him with a plank, by the aid of which Everett reached the shore. It is a curious circumstance that this schoolmate (since dead) was in the Rebel army at Shiloh, and afterwards said that as he was marching into the Federal camp he saw Everett's body on the field, and recognized it at once.

Everett was remarkably quick to learn, and was regarded as the most gifted boy of the family. He was fond of poetry, and would repeat page after page of Scott's poems, which were great favorites with the household. His father had a strong desire to send him to college, but had not the means to do so. Assistance was at last volunteered in such a manner that he could not refuse; and in 1845 Everett entered as Freshman in Burlington College, Vermont. He remained there but a year, and in 1846 entered Harvard as Sophomore.

At first his standing was very high, — so that one of his letters expresses the hope that he shall prove to be among the first eight scholars; and although he afterward seemed to care less about his rank, he had a part at Commencement when he graduated. He was fond of fun and frolic, and was rusticated, in 1847, for helping to make a bonfire on University steps. He was sent home to study with his father, and was at home when his father died, — his mother and only sister having died three years before. He finished the term of his suspension in the family of Rev. Rufus Ellis, then of Northampton.

While in college he never was a plodding student, but learned with singular ease and facility. I remember his asking me once to hear him recite a lesson of several pages, which he had been studying for half an hour; and I was surprised to hear him give the substance of page after page, having evidently fixed in his mind every point of importance in the lesson clearly and distinctly, while he troubled himself little about the precise phraseology. He had at this time acquired a good deal of facility in French and German, and had a great deal of miscellaneous information. His wit and love of fun made him a favorite companion at social entertainments; and he enjoyed such things himself, although not to excess.

During his last winter vacation, he made a visit to Philadelphia and Washington, and in the latter place gained an acquaintance who seemed to fascinate him a good deal, — Colonel Baker, then in Congress, and subsequently killed at Ball's Bluff. Colonel Baker confided to the young man a project of taking a party of fifty or a hundred men to California, for two years' service in the mines. Everett was delighted with the prospect of adventure involved in such an enterprise, and wrote home to his friends for aid and advice; but the project ultimately failed.

He graduated in 1849, and at once found employment at engineering on the Boston Water-Works, under Mr. Chesborough. Soon afterwards, he obtained a leveller's place on the Cleveland, Columbus, and Ashtabula Railroad. He thus describes his first experience of outdoor life: —

"February 3, 1850.

"Thank Heaven, I can support myself now; and if it is a pittance I live on, it is at least earned by my own right arm, which does not snarl and tell me I am extravagant, whenever I ask it therefor. And so au diable with money matters. Well, it's glorious, after all, going about in these old woods, with trees which seem to have borne the brunt of the tempests for a thousand years. Huge shafts, with buttress-like roots, and a flowering of Nature's own mosaic. Though our feet are wet and our hands cold, though we anticipate the sun and work like hodmen, there 's a luxury in it which I can feel, but not analyze. You might not think it poetry, but it is, — this wading through the swamps watching the clouds. We have nothing at the East to compare with these glorious clouds. We left off work last night about a mile and a half from the tavern where we now are. I started, along with about six of the party, and trudged through the swamp for a mile and a half or two miles, and then found ourselves four miles from the tavern, in a driving snow-storm, dark, and the walking not fit to be called walking. We came home very much fatigued."

This was the beginning of a Western residence of more than ten years, with but a few short visits to the home of his youth. He was successively employed on the Pacific Railroad (St. Louis), the Maysville and Lexington, Kentucky, the Maysville and Big Sandy, the Louisville and Frankfort, — always as assistant or resident engineer, but with always increasing salary and responsibilities.

At this time he was in splendid physical condition. His frame was large and powerful, his health was always good, and he was almost always very light-hearted and careless about the future. Except that he had a very strong ambition to rise in his profession, I never saw a man who troubled himself less about what the morrow might bring forth. At this time, the Hon. James Guthrie told the Hon. Edward Everett, if I remember his words correctly, that he thought Everett Peabody was "the best field engineer in the West." He was soon after appointed Chief Engineer of the Memphis and Ohio Railroad, with a salary of three thousand dollars. At a later period, — for everything connected with Western railroads was then fluctuating and uncertain, — he was employed as engineer of the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, and then of the Hannibal and St. Joseph's (Missouri) Railroad. Here he remained for three years.

Up to this time his letters to his brothers, which were numerous, showed simply the professional enthusiasm which might have been expected from his energetic and buoyant nature. As he grew older, however, the wearying effects of rough border life began to tell upon him, and the desire for home and for cultivated society became stronger and stronger. One of his brothers was married about this time; and his many letters to his new sister-in-law showed a tenderer side of his nature, and exhibited a plaintive longing that was almost pathetic. For a man of education and cultivated tastes to find himself at twenty-seven the permanent resident of a "boarding car" at the unfinished extremity of a new railway track, in the midst of an unbroken wilderness, in the dead of winter, was rather a dismal experience. The following letters speak for themselves.

"Boarding Cars, February 20, 1858.

"This Sunday evening, wearied out by a day of the most listless laziness, I can think of nothing to do, unless it be to write to you, my dear The heading of this letter may puzzle you. As it is well to have the snow off the track before we pull the engine wide open, I will explain.

"A train of cars is kept at the end of the track, and pushed forward as the track progresses. These migratory dwellings contain cars for the accommodation of the men who work, — a car for cooking and one for eating, and at the end of the train, a blue car, with a peaked roof, contains my office, one end of which is decorated with bunks and shelves, which serve as sleeping apartments. An I were skilful, I would delineate, in a few rapid strokes of the pen, the inside hereof; but the gift of sketching is denied me, and the mere statement that it contains a drawing-table, a stove, a desk, and the aforesaid shelves, would seem to go as far as words can do in describing.

"The aforesaid cars are now on an embankment about forty feet high, and the snow stretches away to the north and south. The trees are black and dreary-looking, and the wind goes howling by. Bitter cold it is, too, outside. But I have finished my frugal repast of bread and butter, and do not purpose exposing my cherished nose to the night air again. Mr. Kirby, one of my assistants, is reading the 'Autocrat' by my side . . .

"What a great thing a locomotive is, — a sort of Daniel Webster reproduced in iron. I always feel like taking off my hat, when I see one come elbowing up. During the past week I have been renewing my acquaintance with the levers, and getting able to ride the beast again. It gives one a singular consciousness of power to feel the machinery, and to know that the whole thing is under your control; that you can say to it, Thus far, or, Do this, or, Do that,— and it is done.

"But after all, vague reminiscences come back to me of ancient sleigh-rides, of pretty faces snuggling close to your side, of muffs held up before faces to keep off the wind, and gentle words. A good dash across the Neck would be glorious now. It seems to me the only case where our stiff Puritanic rigidity is overcome, — possibly by the still stiffer rigidity of the weather, — and where people seem 'to let themselves out' for fun and frolic generally, in our old home-land.

"Naught of that in this Western land. The fun and frolic is almost entirely men's fun; and, heavens! how much we would give for one good romp in the old land! There is fun enough, and wit and nonsense enough, out here; but, after all, it is hard and angular, and lacks entirely the refining influence which womankind infuses into man's life. But the weird sisters weave, and Atropos sits ready. Let her sit. I mean to get back before she takes the final suit, and see if I can't find youth and life again in the 'auld countree.'"


"April 18,1858.

"Why do you attack me so ferociously about a mild remark, that you Eastern people don't know how to love? You don't.

"I have no doubt you think you do. I have no doubt you think that this love — which, as you yourself say, becomes such a part of your nature that you don't show it, and, you might add (if it were not doggerel), know it — is strong passion and devotion; but it isn't. So far as it has any character, it is more habit than anything else. You lead — not you particularly, but all the Eastern people — two lives: one, the outside life of society (which is hypocrisy); the other, the life of love, family, or otherwise, which is real: and you have plenty of support for both, and very little care for either. But wait until you only have support for one, the outer, and none at all for the other, the inner. Wait till you have to treasure up memories of each little act of affection, in place of having the realities about you daily, and you knowing all the time that these very realities exist, and you can't get at them. Did you ever read of Tantalus, of Ixion, and the other reprobates? Wait till distance blinds you to the faults, and exalts the virtues, of your friends, and you love them with a love the more absorbing and complete because it finds no response in daily life, and because it is all your inner and real life. Then, my dear, you won't call me a truculent border ruffian.

"Pshaw! what nonsense for me to write this stuff for you to laugh at! I love my friends, and that, you know full well, that gave me leave or (if I might correct Shakespeare) provoked me to speak of it."


"Bloomington, Mo., December 16,1858.

"I have returned from a scouting expedition after game, cold, angry, and generally ill-humored. A 'Merry Christmas' to you all at home there.

"I send you a song which we shall sing to the tune of 'Benny Haven's, Oh!' at our Christmas supper.

'Our fires are blazing cheerily,
Our loaded tables groan,
The wine is circling merrily
Among us here alone.
But our thoughts are wandering sadly
To the days of long ago, —
To the days when we so gladly
Saw Christmas wassail flow.

'And the long years, whose passing
Hath left its many stings;
And the young hopes, whose glassing
Mirrored such noble things;
And the struggles we have fought through,
The sorrows we have borne,
And the objects we have sought, too,
All to our minds return.

'Our weary exile bearing
Far from those loved before,
Our hearts shall still be sharing
Their pleasures as of yore.
Then fill up bumpers, brothers;
As Christmas takes its flight,
We drink this toast together
To those at home to-night.'

"(A poor song, but mine own.)"


Early in 1859 Everett became partner in a firm organized for the purpose of building the Platte County Railroad, in Missouri, and he was appointed Chief Engineer, with complete control of the work and a salary of $3,000 per annum. He expected to make an independent fortune out of the contract, and would undoubtedly have done so, had he lived. His residence now became St. Joseph, Missouri. His employment involved a good deal of travelling, through a beautiful country, and an occasional attendance on the Legislature, as lobby-member, which he found less agreeable than instructive. His worldly prospects were bright. "I should not be surprised," he wrote, "if in two or three years each of us (there are three) should have an annual income of $20,000 or $25,000 from the road." His health and strength were in admirable condition; he described himself as "strong as an ox, and with vitality enough for a dozen of our young men of Boston." When, in the following summer (1860), he made his long-desired two months' visit at home, I noticed that, wherever we went, his commanding physique always attracted attention. He was six feet and one inch in height, and weighed two hundred and forty pounds. His motions were slow and steady, and his manners quiet and grave.

Such were his condition and prospects at the outbreak of the Rebellion. The following letter is the first record of his views upon the subject.


"St. Joseph, March 24, 1861.

"I received yours this morning. It will always be better to direct letters here than to any place whence I may happen to write you

"We have been fighting a gallant battle here for the Union, and have whipped our opponents at every point. We had a convention, called by the Legislature, for the purpose of carrying us out of the Union, filled with men who declared 'that the present grievances did not justify secession'; and we carried the State on that basis by a vote of sixty thousand majority. That convention has decided in favor of a national convention; and if one is held, we shall send the right kind of men, — men ready to compromise on some basis of settlement which will, in time, bring back the seceding States, and restore the Union. See that you do the same thing. If you drive the Border Slave States from you, and crush out us Union men who are fighting the battles here, there will be separation, and undoubtedly, sooner or later, war. We are satisfied here with Lincoln's Inaugural and Cabinet; but we have very little respect for a party which places him there to settle matters, and then ties his hands by passing no bills to give him the necessary power; which passes a high-tariff bill (to which we have no objections), and then provokes the violation of it by neither closing the Southern ports nor giving power to collect revenue outside of them.

"I am growing terribly bored with having nothing to do, and growing rusty. I shall have to pitch out somewhere before long. I shall probably make a trip out as far as Laramie this summer, in case nothing happens to prevent; and if I could get a good opening in any part of the world, I would wind up affairs here and start. Love to all.

"Yours, truly,
"EVERETT."


This letter shows that his residence of twelve years in the Border States had exerted the natural effect on his views, and that he looked on national affairs with the eyes of a Missouri Unionist, not of a New England man. The next letter shows him carried already far on by the enthusiasm of the war.


"St. Joseph, May 16,1861.

"Dear —, — Yours received this morning. The reason of my long silence is, that I made a trip — starting about April 10th — up to Fort Randal, a thousand miles up the Missouri River, and only returned about ten days ago.

"Everything has been in a state of excitement here, and about ten days ago was drifting toward thorough anarchy. I think the operations in St. Louis did no particular harm, and Harney's proclamation does a wondrous deal of good. He is a citizen of Missouri, and has the power to do what he says he will; and it is well known here that when he undertakes to do a thing he is apt to do it very roughly. Everybody knows him to be a pro-slavery man, and this takes, to a certain extent, the sting away from any exercise of authority he may make. Altogether an excellent appointment.

"Of course all business is dead. If I can get into the Regular service, in a high position, I shall join the army. I cannot yet tell whether I can muster influence enough to command a majority or a captaincy, but shall probably try and see what can be done.

"We apprehend, at present, no difficulty; and if we have one, it will not, I think, be lasting. I trust not.

"There is little to write about, except politics. The real issue in this State is between our damnable secession State government and old Harney; and as the Union men and Disunion men are each afraid of the other, and our State government is powerless, both from lack of money and of arms, I think that Missouri will be apt to be quiet, Harney's sword being thrown into that scale.

"I shall look to you presently, perhaps, to help me in my military views."


The following letter shows his first summons to military service. The volunteer corps here indicated was subsequently organized, and he was appointed its Major. It became the nucleus of the Thirteenth Missouri, and he was commissioned as its Colonel, to rank as such from September 1, 1861. After the capture of the regiment at Lexington, its number was given to another corps, and it was ultimately reorganized as the Twenty-fifth Missouri.


"HEAD-QUARTERS, DEPARTMENT WEST,
ST. LOUIS ARSENAL, May 31, 1861.

"SIR, — I am directed by Brigadier-General Lyon, commanding, to request you to repair at once to Fort Leavenworth, to confer with the commanding officer there in regard to the organization and equipment of a reserve corps in your city.

"I am, sir, very respectfully,

"Your obedient servant,

"CHESTER HARDING, JR.,
"A. A. G., 1st Brig. Mo. Vols.

“To E. PEABODY, Esq., St. Joseph, Missouri."


Major Champion Vaughan wrote soon after to General J. H. Lane: "There is no man in Northern Missouri so well calculated to give you all useful information as Major Everett Peabody, to whom I would urge upon you 'an attentive ear' in all matters he has to communicate. In the great crisis now upon Missouri, I believe no man is so likely to take hold of the helm with a manly resolution as Major Peabody, who combines in a happy degree those qualities which the occasion and the times demand."

Major Peabody's own letters now afford almost a continuous narrative:—


"CAMP LANDER, August 27, 1861.

“Dear —, — I am ordered to Kansas City, and expect roughness.

"I shall send home, in the course of a day or two, my contract with the Platte Railroad Company; and in case I go up, which is very likely, I want to have the rest of you take what I have made, and use it to the best advantage for all three.

"Good by, old fellow. I have a sort of presentiment that I shall go under. If I do, it shall be in a manner that the old family shall feel proud of it.

"Yours,
"EVERETT."


"LEXINGTON, September 24, 1861.

"Dear —, — Finding nothing to do at Kansas City, I moved down about eight hundred and fifty men to this place, on the 4th. On the 7th I started southward with Colonel Marshall (First Illinois Cavalry) in command, towards Warrensburg. After progressing, in his fashion, eighteen miles in two days, he returned here, leaving me in command of about nine hundred infantry and three hundred and fifty cavalry, with two six-pounders, and directed me to make a reconnoissance toward Warrensburg. I marched seventeen miles, and reached there at five in the evening.

"The rumors I had been hearing were, before twelve o'clock at night, reduced to certainty, — that the main body of the Missouri forces, under Price, Jackson, and Raines, were upon us, some twelve thousand strong. They were within five miles when I commenced my retreat, burning bridges, and delaying them as far as possible. I was none too quick; for, two hours after I arrived here, our pickets were driven in, and skirmishing began, and was continued during the night; they (mostly mounted) having made a forced march of thirty-five miles by a circuit, to cut us off.

"The next day (12th) we were attacked, first having severe skirmishing with their van, and afterwards a three and a half hours' cannonading, — we behind some hasty intrenchments; at evening they retired. We lost four killed and twenty-five wounded; they, about fifteen killed and thirty-five or forty wounded.

"From this time we worked assiduously at the trenches, which, however, were unfortunately situated, being below the top of the hill, so that the inside could be only partially protected by traverses from the cannonading and sharpshooting, and having no water inside the lines. Still we did the best we could. Colonel Mulligan, of Chicago, was in command (a good officer and a brave one), with a total of two thousand seven hundred men and about one thousand head of mules and horses; but seven hundred of our men were armed only with horse-pistols and sabres.

"On Wednesday last (18th), after constant skirmishing in the interval, the main attack commenced, and continued without intermission until five o'clock Friday evening, when Colonel Mulligan surrendered. During all that time our men had not in all a full meal of food or a pint of water to the man; of course there was no sleep. The enemy were receiving large reinforcements, and at the time of attack claimed to be thirty thousand strong, and were, I think, fully twenty thousand. Still we should have held out two or three hours longer, had it not been for cowardice or treason on the part of one of the Home Guards officers, (a butcher or stage-driver, I believe,) who, after one charge had been repulsed, and just as another was coming on, put out the white flag. Colonel Mulligan supposed it to be hoisted by the opposite side, and sent to General Price to know the meaning; and vice versa. Meanwhile they had surrounded us in enormous quantities, and were even in our ditches. The surrender was unconditional, and as the place had been kept eight days (ample time for reinforcements), and as, owing to the exhausted state of the men, we could not have held out over night, I am not certain that we could have done better. The loss is about equal, —between forty and fifty killed. We have one hundred and five wounded.

"On the second day of the three days' fight, toward evening, I had had some hot words, about a company of mine, with an officer of the Irish Brigade, and we had drawn our sabres, but postponed it at Colonel Mulligan's request; and I went off to look after the company, which had just charged a building outside the intrenchmcnts, occupied by their sharpshooters, and had taken it. I went through a very cross-fire from their sharpshooters, down to the building, just in time to find the building recharged by the enemy in overwhelming force. I brought up the retreat, and I tell you it was hot; but I got into the intrenchments safe, and was passing along, giving directions, when I was struck with a spent ball in the breast, which knocked me down, and seemed to deprive me of any power to move. I waited about half an hour, but did not recover, and the boys then undertook to carry me to the hospital. We had gone about ten yards when one was struck in the thigh, and dropped. Another came, and about five yards farther along I was struck by a slug, which went in behind the ankle, and passed round, lodging in the middle of the foot, about three fourths of an inch below the surface. It has been extracted, and I am doing well; although from the muscles and nerves concentrated in that place, and the lack of attention, it has proved a most painful wound.

"My men have been released, and sent home; some one hundred and thirty officers still here. If released on parole, I shall probably visit you, as I can do nothing in any way for three or four months to come.

"Fremont's proclamation has destroyed the chance of Missouri's remaining in the Union. Men are flocking in here by thousands. You will have to look to Virginia for success.

"Yours,
"EVERETT.

"The enemy had twelve or fifteen pieces of artillery; we had four. I have been highly complimented by both sides."


“ST. LOUIS, October 20, 1861.

"Dear —, — I am at last able to sit up and move about a little on crutches. The swelling is almost out of the foot, and the wound nearly healed up. I shall be able, in five or six weeks, to walk about freely, I think. Of course it is a great bore, but one must bear it.

"I ought to have written to you before, but I have had my room full of visitors, from the time I waked up in the morning till midnight; and as I knew others were writing, I neglected it.

"I have sent my officers up to St. Joseph, where I shall go when I have recovered sufficiently to move about. Those not on parole, and my friends in St. Joseph, are taking measures to reorganize the regiment; and there is, I believe, every prospect of my being released (or rather exchanged), being well, and being in command of fifteen hundred men in six weeks or two months, which will not be unsatisfactory. So you see the prospect is not gloomy.

"I have heard, comparatively, little of home affairs. Frank Huntington, who is here, tells me that the last time he saw you he thought you were looking quite unwell; and I have been fearful lest your infernal city life was gradually sapping your strength. I trust you are better now, and only urge care.

"As to affairs here, I place little confidence in General Fremont's catching Price. I think the object of Price's movement is to draw from St. Louis the whole strength of the Union forces, and entice them as far away as possible, so as to prevent reinforcements to the scattered squads of men at Ironton, Cape Girardeau, Bird's Point, Cairo, and Paducah.

"It is impossible to look into the future; but I augur little success here, unless Price gives Fremont battle, and that, as I have said before, I do not believe he will do. But we have been grossly and shamefully neglected. My men — four months or more in the service — have not received any clothing or pay, nothing but arms and ammunition; and my case is the rule rather than the exception.

"We are looking to Virginia now, with great anxiety and hope mingled. If a big blow is struck there shortly, it will simplify our task amazingly.

"Kindest love to all at home. Write constantly, and believe me,

"Yours, as ever."


"ST. LOUIS, November 26, 1861.

"Dear —, — I returned yesterday from St. Joseph, where I have been reorganizing my regiment, and received all your letters in a bunch. I cannot tell you how thankful I feel for the evidence of sympathy shown by you at home, for my poor boys, who have done more arduous service, fought better and suffered more than any other men in the service.

"Fortunately now everything is changed. We have received the only complete outfit for a regiment and for four companies of cavalry ever issued from the Western Department, and my boys are rallying back with a cordiality and kindness that make me feel proud of myself.

"The regiment was thoroughly disorganized and demoralized by the delays of the department in regard to payment. The recruiting officers flocked to St. Joseph like crows to the carrion, and induced about a hundred of my boys to join other regiments.

"About two weeks ago I went to St. Joseph, and all these boys applied to come back. The present prospect is that I shall rendezvous here. I have now about five hundred men, and we only commenced recruiting ten days ago.

*    *    *    *    *    *    *

"l am a nondescript animal, which I call a triped, as yet, but I trust in a short time to be on foot once more.

"Give my very best thanks for the presents you have sent me to the kind ladies who wrought them. Tell them that these evidences of kindness are intensely felt by those who receive them in the far West. You in Massachusetts, who see your men going off thoroughly equipped and prepared for the service, can hardly conceive the destitution and ragged condition of the Missouri volunteers in past time. If I had a whole pair of breeches in my regiment at Lexington, I don't know it; but I learned there that bravery did not depend on good clothes.

"I am sorry I have not written to you before, but I have been so busy I have not thought of it. Best love to all, and believe me,

"Yours, as ever."


"ARMY OF WEST TENNESSEE,
12 miles southwest Savannah, and 18 from Corinth, Miss.,
March 31, 1862.

"DEAR FRANK, — In camp again, with a good regiment and well equipped. We are in General Prentiss's Division (twelve regiments), and I command the leading brigade. As we are the left centre division, we expect rough work. I have a fine brigade; my own regiment at the right, the Twelfth Michigan, Sixteenth Wisconsin, and Eighteenth Missouri forming the balance. We arrived here on the 28th, and have a very pleasant camp, — the boys as lively as crickets, and everything working smoothly. It is funny to be called General; but the boys are all delighted, and I think will do good service at the proper time. The enemy is supposed to be about eighteen miles from us. We have an immense army, — how large we have no means of knowing; they say, however, one hundred and twenty odd regiments, and they are arriving at the rate of two or three a day.

"As I wrote you before leaving, I have left my contract with Judge Krum of St. Louis. In case I go under, my old assistants, Kilby and John Severance, can give you all the necessary information in regard to the property involved. Say to them all at home, that if we have good luck I shall win my spurs. Love to all.

"Yours,
"Ev."


This was the last letter received from him. Shortly after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, he was reported to be severely wounded, and one of his brothers set out to go for him. He heard of Everett's death at Cairo, but went on to the battle-field, to make arrangements for bringing the body home.

The newspaper narratives of the battle are very contradictory; but after careful study, the facts appear to be as follows. Everett felt that the army was in great danger of a surprise, and sent to General Prentiss on Saturday afternoon for permission to send out a scouting party. Receiving no answer, he sent it out without permission, on Sunday morning, between three and four o'clock. This party met the Rebel column advancing, and fell back, skirmishing.

Everett had his brigade in line before the attack in force came; this was distinctly stated to his brother by officers of the brigade. The Twenty-fifth Missouri mustered six hundred on the day after the battle, which it certainly could not have done, unless the retreat had been made in good order.

While the brigade was forming, General Prentiss rode up to Everett, and reprimanded him as follows: "You have brought on an attack for which I am unprepared, and I shall hold you responsible." He replied, "General, you will soon see that I was not mistaken." As a reply to the reprimand, the remark seems not precisely appropriate, and appears rather intended to remind General Prentiss of some previous conversation, in which Everett had in vain endeavored to induce the General to prepare for an attack like this. Viewed in this light, the answer seems decisive, and is another proof that, if he had been in higher command, the attack would have been differently received.

The right of the division, under General Prentiss, was captured en masse. Colonel Peabody's brigade received an attack which it could not support; and when he found it was giving ground, he rode to the front, and exposed himself recklessly, to keep the men from retreating. His Major, an old Texan ranger, did the same, and was also killed, receiving eleven wounds; while Everett received five, namely, in the hand, thigh, neck, body, and head.

He was apparently killed about fifteen minutes after the attack struck his line. The Colonel commanding the left regiment of the brigade has since testified that an orderly came from Everett to ask him if he thought he could hold his position. He replied that he thought he could. The orderly returned to his post, but presently came back once more with the statement that Colonel Peabody was killed. He was placed in a position where a chivalrous officer was devoted to almost certain death, and he behaved just as his friends would have predicted in such an emergency.

The following letter brought the announcement of his death.

"CAMP PRENTISS, IN THE FIELD,
NEAR PITTSBUBG, TENNESSEE, April 8, 1862.

"FRANK PEABODY, Boston.

"DEAR SIR, — I have but a few minutes to write, and will devote them to performing one of the most painful duties that have devolved on me during this war.

"Your brother, Everett Peabody, Acting Brigadier-General, and commanding the First Brigade of General Prentiss's division, was killed on the morning of the 6th of April, while gallantly urging forward the men of his brigade. The ball that killed him entered the upper lip, and passed out of the back of the head. A more gallant officer or truer gentleman has not laid down his life for his coon try.

"General Prentiss's division was the first in the fight, and it sustained severe repeated shocks during the day. The men fought with desperation, but were overpowered on the first day, and had to yield some ground to vastly superior numbers.

"Yesterday, the 7th, the enemy gave way, and General Grant, being reinforced by General Buell, has routed the enemy completely. The enemy, however, in the retreat, took all the effects of officers and soldiers. They have not left anything of the General's (E. Peabody) that I can find that I could send to you as a memento, — his sword, pistols, saddle, everything, gone. We will bury him this evening in his own camp, and will mark the place."I was his aid until after he fell. In haste,

"I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

"GEORGE K. DONNELLY,
Captain Co. I, 25th Mo. Vols."


His officers buried him in a gun-box, placing at his head a board with his name, and below it the couplet: —

"A braver man ne'er died upon the field;
A warmer heart never to death did yield."

His body was afterwards carried to Boston, where the funeral arrangements were taken in charge by the Governor of Massachusetts, May 16, 1861 [sic]. It was conveyed thence to Springfield, where, on the following day, in presence of an immense concourse, it was laid beside the remains of his mother, in the beautiful cemetery which his father had designed and planned.

His strong, simple, generous, manly nature reveals itself perfectly in his letters. He died under circumstances where continued life would have been certain to bring further distinction and usefulness; and he singularly fulfilled the prediction contained in a song which he had written, years before, for an anniversary of the Boston Cadets: —

"And if the army of a foe invade our native land,
Or rank disunion gather up its lawless, faithless band,
Then the arm upon our ancient shield shall wield his blade of might,
And we '11 show our worthy brethren that gentlemen can fight."


SOURCE: Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Harvard Memorial Biographies, Volume 1 p. 161-78

Friday, May 14, 2010

12th Michigan Infantry Position Marker: Shiloh National Military Park

U.S.

12TH MICHIGAN INFANTRY
PEABODY’S (1ST) BRIG., PRENTISS’ (6TH) DIV.,
ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE

ABOUT FIFTY MEN OF THE REGIMENT WERE ENGAGED HERE FROM 9 A.M. TO5 P.M. APRIL 6, 1862 AND WERE SURROUNDED AND CAPTURED WITH GENERAL PRENTISS.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB G. LAUMAN

FIRST COLONEL, SEVENTH INFANTRY.

Jacob Gartner Lauman was the fourth volunteer officer from Iowa, promoted to a brigadier. He was born in Tarrytown, Maryland, on the 20th day of January, 1813; but removed with his family, when young, to York, Pennsylvania. In 1844, he came West, and settled in Burlington, Iowa, Where, engaging in mercantile pursuits, he has since made his home. At the outbreak of the war, he took an active part in enlisting and mustering our volunteer troops, and, on the 11th of July, 1861, was commissioned colonel of the 7th Iowa Infantry — later, the heroes of Belmont.

While under the command of Colonel Lauman, the 7th Iowa was stationed and served at the following points: — Jefferson Barracks, Pilot Knob, Ironton, Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Missouri; Cairo, Illinois; Fort Holt, Mayfield Creek, Camp Crittenden and Fort Jefferson, Kentucky; and Norfolk and Bird's Point, Missouri. The regiment was stationed at the latter place, on the 6th of November, 1861, when it sailed on the Belmont expedition, the object of which was, "to prevent the enemy from sending out re-inforcements to Price's army in Missouri, and also from cutting off columns that I [Grant] had been directed to send out from Cairo and Cape Girardeau, in pursuit of Jeff Thompson."

On this expedition, the battle of Belmont was fought; and the conduct of Colonel Lauman in the engagement, together with that of his regiment, gave him his early popularity as a military leader. At Belmont, the 7th Iowa greatly distinguished itself, and received from General Grant, in his official report, the following mention: — "Nearly all the missing were from the Iowa regiment, (the 7th) who behaved with great gallantry, and suffered more severely than any other of the troops."

Just when the enemy had been driven from their camp, and down the steep bank of the Mississippi, Colonel Lauman, while giving Captain Parrott instructions with reference to the captured artillery, was disabled from a musket-shot wound in the thigh. He was taken back to the transports on one of the guns of Captain Taylor's Battery, just in advance of his regiment, and was only in time to escape that terrible enfilading fire that well nigh annihilated the rear of Grant's forces.

A remarkable incident occurred while the troops were re-embarking after the battle. It is well vouched for, and worthy of record. The last transport had just cut its hawser, and was dropping out into the stream, when the enemy suddenly appeared on the bank with artillery. One piece was hastily put in battery, and leveled on the crowded decks of the transport. The rebel gunner was just about pulling the lanyard, when a shell, from one of the Union gun-boats, burst directly under the carriage of the gun, throwing gun, carriage and all high in the air. The carriage was demolished, and, while still in the air, the gun exploded. The rebel gunner and several others were killed; and the lives of at least a score of Union soldiers were saved by this remarkable shot.

"It was after the retreat had commenced that Lieutenant-Colonel Wentz was killed. He died on the field of battle, like a true soldier; he was a truly brave man, and did his duty well and nobly. Lieutenant Dodge of Company B was killed, and Lieutenant Gardner, who commanded Company I, and Lieutenant Ream of Company C, mortally wounded. Among my officers, more or less severely wounded, you will find the names of Major Rice, Captains Harper, Parrott, Kittredge and Gardner, and 1st Lieutenant De Heus, (who commanded company A) of whose bravery I desire to speak in the most emphatic manner. I desire also to direct your attention to Captain Crabb, who was taken prisoner, and who behaved in the bravest manner. But I might go on in this way and name nearly all my command, for they all behaved like heroes; but there are one or two more I feel it my duty to name as deserving special mention. Lieutenant Bowler, adjutant of the regiment, and Lieutenant Estle, whose conduct was worthy of all praise, and private Lawrence A. Gregg, whose thigh was broken and he left on the field; he was taken prisoner and his leg amputated, but he died the same day, telling his captors with his dying breath, that, if he ever recovered so as to be able to move, he would shoulder his musket again in his country's cause."

"My entire loss in killed, wounded, prisoners and missing, out of an aggregate of somewhat over four hundred, is as follows: Killed, fifty-one; died of wounds, three; missing, ten; prisoners, thirty-nine; wounded, one hundred and twenty-four. Total, two hundred and twenty-seven."

Having recovered from his wound, Colonel Lauman re-joined his regiment; and at the battle of Fort Donelson was placed in command of a brigade, composed of the 2d, 7th and 14th Iowa, and the 25th Indiana. At Fort Donelson, the gallantry of his brigade — more especially that of the 2d Iowa — made him a brigadier-general. From what occurred just before the successful assault was made, it seems that the success of his troops was unlooked for by Colonel Lauman; for to Colonel Tuttle, who desired to lead the charge, he said: "Why, sir, you can't go up there; didn't I try it yesterday?'' And to the reply of Colonel Tuttle, that he would, if he lost the last man of his regiment, he said, "Oh, sir! you'll soon get that taken out of you." After the assault of the 2d Iowa at Fort Donelson, Colonel Lauman believed there was nothing that brave men could not accomplish.

After being promoted to the rank of a brigadier, General Lauman was assigned to the command of a brigade in General Hurlbut's Division, with which he fought in the left wing of Grant's army at Shiloh. Colonel Williams of the 3d Iowa having been disabled in that engagement, General Lauman succeeded him in the command of his brigade; which command he retained until the following October. He marched with Sherman and Hurlbut from Corinth to Memphis, after the fall of the former place; and, in the following Fall, when the enemy began to show activity in the neighborhood of Corinth, returned with Hurlbut to the vicinity of Bolivar, Tennessee; near which place he was encamped just before the battle of Iuka. To mislead the enemy under Price at Iuka, or, as General Grant expresses it, "to cover our movement from Corinth, and to attract the attention of the enemy in another direction, I ordered a movement from Bolivar to Holly Springs. This was conducted by Brigadier-General Lauman." On the 5th of October, General Lauman commanded his brigade in the battle on the Hatchie.

General Hurlbut's march from Bolivar to the Big Muddy, about two miles west of the Hatchie, has already been given in the sketch of Colonel Aaron Brown. The battle of the Hatchie, or Matamora, opened between the Federal and Confederate artillery, the former stationed on the bluffs, and the latter in the Hatchie Bottom. After a brief artillery duel, the 2d Brigade, General Veatch commanding, charged the enemy's infantry that had crossed the bridge to the west side of the stream, and routed them. Falling back across the bridge, they, with the balance of the rebel forces, took up a position on the opposite bluffs. General Ord, now coming to the front, determined to attack the enemy in their strong position, and accordingly ordered General Veatch to push his brigade across the bridge.

The topography of the battle-ground on the east side of the Hatchie, is thus well given by Lieutenant Thompson, of the 3d Iowa Infantry:

"Beyond the river there was about, twelve rods of bottom, and then there arose a very high and steep bluff. Along the brow of this, the enemy, rallying and reinforced, had formed new lines of battle, and planted artillery, which, from different points, enfiladed the road and bridge, and swept the field on both sides of the stream. Following up the river just above the bridge, it makes an abrupt elbow, and comes down from the east, running parallel to the road on the opposite side [of the bridge]. In this elbow, and on not more than half an acre of ground, a part of General Veatch's Brigade, according to the orders of General Ord, would have to deploy."

Crossing the bridge and filing to the left, it was possible to gain the enemy's right flank; for on that side of the road the north point of the bluffs could be passed; and what seems strange is that, a man of General Ord's ability should not have discovered this strategical point. The balance of General Lauman's Brigade, which was of the reserve forces, was now ordered across the bridge, and directed to file to the right, into the inevitable pocket. General Lauman, accompanied by his orderlies, led the advance. To cross the open field, and then the bridge, was a most perilous undertaking; for, on the bluffs on the opposite side, as has already been stated, the enemy's artillery was so planted as to give them a converging fire on both the field and bridge. General Lauman reached the opposite side in safety, followed by the other two regiments of his brigade, one of which was the 3d Iowa Infantry.

The battle was now raging with great fury, the enemy from their elevated position pouring a deadly, continuous fire on their helpless victims below, whose returning fire was almost wholly ineffectual. Confusion must soon have followed; but just then General Ord was wounded, and General Hurlbut assumed command. He at once crossed the bridge, and, in person, directed a flank movement around the bluffs to the left. The troops employed were the 46th Illinois, the 68th Ohio, and the 12th Michigan. The enemy's right flank was soon gained and turned, which compelled them to abandon the bluffs; — and thus the day was saved from disaster.

This pocket-blunder of General Ord, and the subsequent indiscretion of General Lauman, have been considered by some as connected with the latter's ill-fortune at Jackson, Mississippi, in the summer of 1863. The story is as follows: — In the winter of 1862-3, a supper was given in Memphis, where Generals Ord, Veatch, Lauman and others, were present. When the wine was passing, and all were merry, the affair on the Hatchie occurred to General Lauman, and he remarked to General Ord: —"General, that was a bit of a blunder, in putting us into that pocket, wasn't it?" (I may not give the language, but I give the idea.) General Ord, it is said, made no reply; but gave his eyes a wicked leer, which, even then, some thought meant mischief.

Soon after the battle of Matamora, General Hurlbut was made a major-general, and assigned to the command of the District of Jackson, Tennessee. General Lauman succeeded him in the command of his division.

If we except the march of General Grant into Central Mississippi, in which General Lauman joined with his division, his military history, for the six months following the battle of Matamora, is void of great interest. During this time, he had his head-quarters, first at Bolivar, then at Moscow, and then at Memphis. When Vicksburg was beleagured, he left Memphis to report to General Grant in rear of that city; and, on the fall of Vicksburg, marched with his division on the, to him, unfortunate campaign to Jackson. His position before Jackson, and what happened on the 12th of July, appear in the sketch of Colonel Aaron Brown, of the 3d Iowa Infantry. With reference to a further history of this affair, I shall only add an extract from the official report of General Sherman.

"On the 12th [July], whilst General Lauman's Division was moving up into position, dressing to his left on General Hovey, the right of his line came within easy range of the enemy's field artillery and musketry, from behind his works, whereby this division sustained a serious loss, amounting in killed, wounded and missing to near five hundred men. This was the only serious loss which befell my command during the campaign, and resulted from misunderstanding or misinterpretation of General Ord's minute instructions, on the part of General Lauman.

At the time of the occurrence of this misfortune, General Ord's head-quarters were to the right of the Clinton and Jackson road, and near where the left of his command rested. Near that of General Ord's, was the tent of Surgeon Wm. L. Orr of the 21st Iowa. When the heavy firing opened in front of General Lauman's command, Ord, in a tone of much surprise and alarm, called hurriedly to one of his aids: "What does that mean? what does that mean? Ride out there quickly and see." General Lauman was at once relieved of his command, and ordered to report to General Grant at Vicksburg. Upon his departure he issued the following order:


"Head-quarters Fourth Division, Sixteenth Army Corps,
In The Field, Near Jackson, Miss., July 12th, 1863.

"Fellow-soldiers :

Having been relieved from the command of the 4th Division by Major-General Ord, the command is turned over to Brigadier-General Hovey. To say that I part with my old comrades with sorrow and regret, is simply giving expression to my heart-felt feelings. I shall ever remember the toils and hardships we have endured together, and the glory which the Old Fourth has won on hard-fought fields, and the glory which clusters around their names like a halo — with pride and satisfaction.

"And now, in parting with you, I ask a last request, that, in consideration of your past fame, you do nothing, in word or deed, to mar it; but that you give to your present or future commander that prompt obedience to orders which has always characterized the division, and which has given to it the proud position which it now enjoys.

"Officers and soldiers, I bid you now an affectionate farewell.

"J. G. Lauman,
Brigadier-General."


But for his ill-fated blunder at Jackson, General Lauman would doubtless ere this have been made a major-general.

Reporting to General Grant, he was sent, I think, to an Eastern Department, and assigned a command somewhere in Northern Virginia; but before his arrival, the command had been given to another. He was then ordered to report to his home in Burlington to await further orders from Washington, which, thus far, he has failed to receive. The general, I am informed, has made frequent efforts to secure an investigation of the causes, whereby he was thrown under opprobrium, but without success. Rumor says that both Grant and Sherman have put him off with, "we have no time to convene courts-martial.''

The war is now closing, and he will, probably, go out of the service, without being restored to a command. Indeed, his health is broken down, and he is now totally unfit for service.

Like the majority of the Iowa general officers, General Lauman is of only middle size. His person is slender, and his weight about one hundred and forty pounds. He has a nervous, excitable temperament, and a mild, intelligent countenance.

As a military leader, he is brave to a fault, but he lacks judgment. He would accomplish much more by intrepidity, than by strategy; and, if his intrepidity failed him, he might lose every thing.

He has been a successful merchant, and stands among the wealthy men of Burlington. As a citizen, he has always been held in the highest esteem, and is noted for his kind-heartedness and liberality.

Source: A. A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 163–170

Thursday, May 21, 2009

COLONEL AARON BROWN

SECOND COLONEL, THIRD INFANTRY.

Aaron Brown was born in Mississippi, about the year 1822, and is the only native from that State who has held a colonel's commission from Iowa. He entered the service from the county of Fayette, Iowa, and was the first lieutenant of Captain Carman A. Newcomb's company. He was made captain, April 8th, 1862, and promoted to the majority of his regiment, after the resignation of Major William M. Stone. I am unacquainted with Colonel Brown's history, prior to his entering the service.

In resuming the history of the 3d Iowa, I shall go back to its encampment at Shiloh, where it rested immediately after the battle. It was the same whence it had marched on the previous Sunday morning to the bloody field. Its dead comrades it had gathered and buried; and now it rested and contemplated the scenes of the past conflict. It had won military glory; but was this an equivalent for its dead comrades just buried? All were sad, and yet all hearts swelled with secret and inexpressible joy at their miraculous escape from harm. Shiloh had taught the regiment a new lesson—to respect the valor of the enemy, and, needlessly, not to seek a new encounter; and such has been the experience of every regiment that has once met the enemy in a desperate engagement. No one will a second time leave his cot in the hospital to be present in battle, and yet there are hundreds of instances where this thing has been done by novices. Good soldiers soon learn to do their whole duty, and no more.

During the siege of Corinth, and for several months after, the 1st Brigade of the 4th Division was commanded by General Lauman; but neither the 3d Iowa, nor any other regiment of the brigade, met the enemy during the environment of that place. I of course, except the affairs on the skirmish line. Before the fall of the city, there was but one affair in front of the 3d Iowa, which approached to any thing like an engagement : this was the charge of the 8th Missouri, of General Sherman's command, to capture a block house, known as Russel's House. The charge was successful, and gave the regiment an enviable reputation; and it sustained its name well, for it was this same regiment that so distinguished itself nearly a year after, at Raymond, Mississippi. The position of the 4th Division before Corinth was to the left of General Sherman, that general holding the extreme right of the besieging army. While the 3d Iowa was lying in the trenches before Corinth, it was joined by Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, who had but just recovered from his sickness. "All welcomed him joyfully."

Much was expected of General Halleck at Corinth. He had command of the finest army that had ever been marshaled in the South West. The enemy, in his disasters at Shiloh, had lost his best general; his troops were dispirited; and it was expected, nay demanded, that Beauregard and his army be either routed or captured. But, if General Grant had been lazy in pressing the enemy after his defeat at Shiloh, so was Halleck cautious not to push him to a new engagement. He thought he would capture the whole thing, never dreaming, I suppose, but what Beauregard was fool enough to sit still and be surrounded.

But, presto change! At a quarter before six, on the morning of the 30th of May, a deafening explosion was heard in the direction of Corinth, and, instantly, dense clouds of smoke were seen rising over the city. But few wondered at the cause. Pope had told Halleck several days before that Beauregard was evacuating; and that time Pope told the truth. Many privates, even, could have told as much. Pope had begged eagerly for permission to swing the left wing against the enemy's works; but, No! The severe jar that all had just felt was caused by the explosion of the enemy's magazines. And so the enemy escaped, and the government gained — a little, sickly, strategical point. The whole army was at once put under arms, and marched, a part into Corinth and a part in pursuit of the enemy. With the divisions of Sherman and Hurlbut, there was a strife to see who would be first in the city: who was the winning party, I never learned. I only know that we, of Pope's command, were put in pursuit.

Corinth fell on the 30th of May, 1862, and, seven days later, Memphis was surrendered to Captain, now Rear-Admiral Charles H. Davis. On the 2d of June, and before the fall of Memphis, the 4th and 5th Divisions, under General Sherman, left Corinth, and marched west in the direction of the last named city. The object of this movement was, I believe, to co-operate with the fleet of Ellett and Davis in the capture of Memphis, and ultimately to open up the railroad between that place and Corinth. The news of the fall of Memphis reached these troops while they were camped on the high bluffs that overlook the Big Hatchie—that stream which, four months later, General Hurlbut's Division was to render historic. Before them, where they were then encamped, lay the future battlefield of Matamora.

After considerable delay at La Grange and Moscow, General Sherman resumed the march to Memphis, where he arrived with his command on the 21st of July. The 3d Iowa led the van of its division into the city. On the 6th of September following, General Hurlbut was ordered back in the direction of Corinth; and, on the departure of his division from Memphis, the 3d Iowa was again in the van.

On the 13th of September this command was encamped at a point on Spring Creek, where it remained till the 19th instant, when a detachment of it, consisting of the 1st Brigade and two battalions of the 2d Illinois cavalry, under General Lauman, marched south to create a diversion in favor of General Grant. It will be remembered that this was the date of the battle of Iuka; and the reason of this movement on the part of General Lauman will be found elsewhere. General Lauman's scouts came on the enemy in the vicinity of La Grange. They were moving north in force; the column, on the march, was a mile and a half in length. The force of Lauman being unequal to engage them, that general beat a hasty retreat, and marched till he came within supporting distance of General Hurlbut; but the enemy, although they pursued, declined to give battle. Northern Mississippi was at this time full of scouting parties of the enemy: they were actively developing their plans for the re-capture of Corinth and the destruction of General Grant's army. Price was disheartened by his defeat at Iuka; but Van Dorn resolved to strike again at Corinth.

While General Hurlbut was encamped near Bolivar, Tennessee, on the 3d of October, 1862, he received orders to march promptly in the direction of Corinth; and the next morning reveille beat at one o'clock. Soon after the column was in motion. He had his own division, and, in addition to these troops, the 68th Ohio and 12th Michigan, two regiments of Ross' command that had come down from Jackson. The march was to be made in light trim — only two wagons to the regiment. The ambulances were to go along, and the men knew that all this meant fighting. The march was pushed rapidly, and, just beyond Pocahontas, the cavalry van-guard came on the enemy's pickets. That night the column reached the Big Muddy, about two miles west of the Hatchie, and that same forenoon Van Dorn and Price had been repulsed and utterly routed at Corinth. All that afternoon, the enemy had been in rapid retreat in the direction of the Hatchie; but of all this General Hurlbut was ignorant.

The 1st Brigade had just stacked their arms, and were preparing supper, when it was reported that the cavalry in front were engaging the enemy. Instantly orderlies began flying to and fro, and for a time there was much apprehension; but the firing soon ceased and all remained quiet till morning. That night General Ord arrived from Jackson via Bolivar, and reported the defeat of the enemy and his subsequent retreat in the direction of the Hatchie. He would probably be met on the morrow, and all nerved themselves for the conflict. General Ord, who was the ranking officer, now assumed command of the forces. In the early part of the engagement which followed he was wounded, and retired from the field, leaving Hurlbut in command of the Federal forces. To Hurlbut, therefore, belongs the credit of that brilliant victory.

The battle of the Hatchie, or Matamora, was fought on the 5th of October, 1862, and was an unequal and most desperate engagement. It was good fortune for the 4th Division that the enemy had been previously routed and demoralized; and also that he was being hard pressed by Rosecrans: had this not been so, General Hurlbut and his command must have been certainly crushed. Even after the demonstration of the Federal cavalry of the previous evening, on the west bank of the Hatchie, the enemy never dreamed that there was any considerable force to resist his advance. He supposed it was a small cavalry command, sent forward to harrass him on his retreat. Therefore, on the morning of the 5th, he began pushing his infantry across the Hatchie with all confidence; his surprise can be imagined, when he met the division of Hurlbut. Beating a hasty retreat back across the bridge, he took up a strong position on the bluffs opposite; but the particulars of this engagement appear in the sketch of General Lauman. The 3d Iowa was one of the regiments that was filed to the right, into the pocket, and, with the other troops there stationed, was subjected to a murderous fire, without being able to protect itself, or return it. But for the movement round the bluffs to the left, General Hurlbut must have been defeated before Rosecrans came up.

The disproportion in killed and wounded of the 3d Iowa was unprecedented: two only were killed, while nearly sixty were wounded. One of the former was Lieutenant Dodd. He was struck by a shell just before reaching the bridge, and killed instantly. Captains Weiser and Kostman were wounded, as also were Lieutenants Hamill, Foote and C. E. Anderson. The latter was wounded just at the close of the battle, after having done his duty nobly. In their conduct in the battle, the men of the regiment vied with the officers; and their names should all be recorded, to go down in honor to posterity.

After the fighting had closed and the result of all three battles learned, there was both sadness and rejoicing. The 3d Iowa, with its division, marched back to Bolivar, and there tendered and received congratulations. General Hurlbut was lavish of his praises to all his troops: — "Comrades in battle, partakers of the weary march and long watches! the title of the Fighting Fourth, earned at Shiloh, has been burnished with additional splendor." He was now Mr. Hurlbut, and no longer General. His heart was as warm and tender as a woman's. But he had covered himself with glory, had been made a major-general, and was now taking leave of his division.

After the battle of the Hatchie, the seven subsequent months were not eventful to the 3d Iowa Infantry. General Lauman succeeded General Hurlbut in the command of the 4th Division, and under him the regiment remained, and, in the following spring, followed him to Vicksburg. It had in the meantime made many fatiguing marches, the most important of which was that under General Grant, through Central Mississippi to the Yockona. For many weeks it was stationed on guard-duty at Moscow, on the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. During these seven months, there had been many changes in the regiment, the chief one of which was the resignation of Colonel Williams, and the promotion of Major Brown to that rank.

On the 18th of May, 1864, the 3d Iowa left Memphis for Vicksburg. Its days of rest and quiet camp life had passed, and now, for many months to come, it was to endure the hardships and breast the dangers of active field service. With its brigade it sailed up the Yazoo River, at day-light of the 21st of May. The object was to open up communication with Sherman, then just forcing the enemy back into his inner-works at Vicksburg. It is claimed that companies G and K, of the 3d Iowa, were the first to occupy the enemy's strong works at Haine's Bluff; but about this there must be some mistake.

One incident in the passage of the 3d Iowa from Memphis to Vicksburg, I must not omit to mention. The Crescent City, on which the regiment was embarked, had arrived, in the afternoon of the 19th instant, at the bend of the river near Island No. 65, and was sailing on unsuspectingly, when it was suddenly opened on with two howitzers from the eastern bank. Thirteen men of the regiment were wounded at the first discharge, one of them mortally; but, before the guerillas had time to re-load, a gunboat came up and drove the wretches from their cover. This circumstance will be remembered, when I state that the 41st and 53d Illinois, having landed and pursued the guerillas without being able to overtake them, returned and burned to the ground the village of Greenville, some two miles below the scene of murder. If reports were true, its fate was merited, and for other reasons; for it was said that, early in the war, a father and his son, Union residents of Greenville, were headed up in barrels by the fiendish citizens, and rolled down the steep bank into the Mississippi.

Before Vicksburg, the services of the 3d Iowa were the same as those of the other troops, buried in the heated trenches around that beleaguered city.

I now hasten to the most eventful chapter in the history of the 3d Iowa Infantry — its charge on the enemy's works at Jackson, Mississippi, on the 12th of July, 1863. Vicksburg had fallen, and the 3d Iowa had marched with the forces of General Sherman against Johnson [sic], who, for several weeks, had been raising the siege—with official dispatches. On the advance of Sherman, Johnson had fallen back and planted himself behind his works at Jackson; and there he was on the 12th of July, in a state of siege, confronted and watched by three corps—the 9th, under Parke, on his right; the 15th, under Steele, in his front; and the 13th, under Ord, on his left. General Lauman was in Ord's command, and his division held the right of Sherman's army. And thus matters stood on the morning of the 12th of July.

At the date above mentioned, it was thought by General Ord that the position of Lauman's Division was too much retired. He therefore ordered it forward, so that its left should dress on the right of General Hovey, whose division, from right to left, came next in order. Its right was to be thrown forward so as to correspond with the advance on the left. The object was to shorten and strengthen the line, and not to bring on an engagement; nor would one have followed, but for the aspirations of an ambitious general, who was charged by his own men with hunting for promotion among the slaughtered and mangled soldiers of his command.

The scene of this merciless butchery is south of the city of Jackson, and between the New Orleans and Jackson Railroad and Pearl River. "At about 9 o'clock in the morning," (I quote from Major Crosley's official report) "the 3d Iowa, 41st and 53d Illinois Infantry, and the 5th Ohio Battery of six guns crossed the New Orleans and Jackson Railroad, at a point about two miles south of Jackson, and one mile from the enemy's works. After crossing, line of battle was formed, skirmishers thrown out, and the line ordered forward. After advancing about one-fourth of a mile, the line was halted; and the battery, placed in position one hundred yards in our rear, opened fire with shell, and continued to fire rapidly for about twenty minutes. The enemy replied promptly with two guns, getting our range the first shot. As soon as the battery ceased firing, the line again moved forward. We advanced half a mile through timber and a dense under-growth, our skirmishers meeting with no opposition, when, coming to the edge of an open field, the line was again halted. Here we were joined by the 28th Illinois, which took position on our right." There the line should have rested; but General Lauman now coming up, ordered it forward.

This was now the position: In front were open, undulating fields, cleared of every thing that could afford protection or cover, even down to corn-stalks; about four hundred yards in advance were the enemy's skirmishers, backed by reserves, and, a little further on, a strong line of works, so constructed as to give the enemy a concentrated fire on a charging column. Behind these works, in addition to two brigades of infantry, were fourteen cannon—more than two full batteries, whose dark mouths spoke almost certain death to assailants. There was in addition, a formidable abattis, constructed with occasional gaps, to pass which, it would be necessary for the charging party to break its line and assemble in groups. This formidable strong-hold was to be carried by less than one thousand men, and that, too, without any diversion in their favor.

The brigade advanced in compliance with orders, until it had reached, forced back and occupied the position of the enemy's skirmishers. The order had been to move forward; but Colonel Pugh, the brigade commander, believing there must be some mistake, again reported to General Lauman — this time in person. He explained to the general the point his command had reached, the position of the enemy, and the character of his works, and then waited for further orders; but they were still the same — to move forward. There could be no mistaking the general's purpose. All, from field-officers to privates, saw the situation; but, although the movement filled them with amazement, there was no faltering. Literally, they were to enter the jaws of death; but they would not sully their good name by disobeying orders.

The order to advance was given, and the whole line moved forward at double-quick and in perfect order, when — but what need of further recital? They were, of course, repulsed. Many, passing the abattis, advanced to within pistol-shot range of the enemy's works; they could go no further, and, after struggling a few moments, retreated precipitately. As soon as the exhausted, bleeding troops reached the edge of the timber, whence they had advanced before encountering the enemy's skirmishers, they rallied promptly, and, soon after, were marched back to the point on the railroad at which they had crossed in the morning. All the dead, and nearly all the wounded, were left upon the field; nor would the enemy allow them to be reached and rescued by flag of truce; and there they lay, mangled and bleeding, beneath the rays of the scorching sun, comrades in agony, as they had long been comrades in battle.

The escape of any from death was almost miraculous; and yet, in the 3d Iowa, the loss was only about fifty per cent. The regiment went into the engagement with an aggregate of two hundred and forty-one officers and men, and lost, in killed, wounded and missing, one hundred and fourteen. Company B lost all three of her officers, killed — the two Ruckmans and Lieutenant Hall. Colonel Brown was severely wounded. The loss of the 53d Illinois was greater than that of any other regiment. Among others, it lost its gallant colonel. He was struck by a charge of canister, and fell from his horse, literally torn in pieces. It is said that General Lauman wept when he looked on the remnant of his old brigade.

After the lamentable affair at Jackson, the 3d Iowa returned with its division to Vicksburg, and sailed thence to Natchez. In the following Winter it again returned to Vicksburg, and accompanied General Sherman on his march to Meridian. The regiment re-enlisted as veterans, and came North in the early spring of 1864. Returning to the front, it was ordered to join General Sherman, already on the march against Atlanta. Before the fall of that city, Colonel Brown, and a majority of the field- and line-officers resigned their commissions. In re-officering the regiment, a lieutenant was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy: it was entitled to no colonel, on account of the fewness of its numbers. On the memorable 22d of July, 1864, before Atlanta, the regiment was again put in the thickest of the fight, and lost heavily. Among the killed was its lieutenant-colonel, who had only the day before received his commission. The regiment was soon after consolidated with the 2d Iowa Infantry, and lost its organization as a regiment.

In closing this sketch of Colonel Brown and his regiment, I will add an extract from a letter of Captain J. H. Reid, of the 15th Iowa:

"Our men, captured on the 22d of July, were taken through Atlanta that day, and their names reported to the provost marshal-general, when they were marched to East Point the same night. In passing through the city, whenever a shell fell in the streets from our batteries, they cheered and sang, 'Rally Round the Flag.' Rebel officers told them to dry up, they were prisoners of war; but they answered, 'We will always cheer a Yankee shell.' A squad of rebel cavalry was passing through the streets with the flag of the 3d Iowa Infantry, captured after the color-sergeant fell, literally pierced through and through with bullets. Some of that regiment among the prisoners saw their old flag in the hands of the enemy. They made a rush for it, wrested it from its captors, and, amid torrents of threats and curses from the guards, tore it into a thousand shreds."

I never saw Colonel Brown; but, from what I can learn of him, he must be a large man, with phlegmatic temperament, and an easy-going disposition. He may not be a brilliant man, but he was certainly a brave and faithful officer.

SOURCE: Stuart, A. A., Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p 97-108