The Tenth regiment was ordered into quarters by the Governor in the latter part ol August, 1861. Nine full companies had assembled at the designated rendezvous by the 6th of September, and were mustered into the service of the United States by Capt. Alexander Chambers, United States Army, at Camp Fremont, near Iowa City, on the 6th and 7th days of September, 1861. The date of the completed muster of the tenth company (K) appears in the official record as October 11th, which would indicate that the company was not filled to the maximum until after the regiment had taken the field.
The names of its field and staff and company officers at organization will be found in the subjoined roster, and the subsequent changes, on account of death, promotion, resignation, or from whatever cause, will be found in the alphabetically arranged roster which follows, with the personal record of service opposite the name of each officer and enlisted man. These records have been compiled from the official reports of the Adjutant General of Iowa, supplemented by those on file in the War Department at Washington, in so far as access could be obtained to those records. It is more than possible that, with all the care that has been taken to make these records accurate, some errors have been made. When the magnitude of the work and the length of time which has transpired since the close of the war are taken into consideration, it will not be a matter for surprise —however much it is to be regretted — that all the mistakes as well as omissions revealed by these old records could not be discovered and corrected. It is believed that, in the main, these paragraphs will be found to properly represent the facts, briefly stated, connected with the personal service of each soldier of the regiment.
September 24, 1861, the regiment embarked on board transports at Davenport, for St. Louis, arriving there on the 27th. Here it received its arms, uniforms and camp equipments, and on October 1st was ordered to Cape Girardeau to aid in fortifying that place against a threatened attack of the enemy. From Cape Girardeau, the regiment engaged in an expedition which resulted in the dispersion of a rebel force under the command of Gen. Jeff Thompson. November 12th it was ordered to Bird's Point, and from that place engaged in several expeditions, in one of which — near Charleston — it had a sharp encounter with the enemy, resulting in a loss to the Tenth Iowa of 8 killed and 16 wounded [see note 1]. The regiment suffered greatly while at Bird's Point from sickness, the prevailing and most fatal malady being measles, the aggregate loss from November 12, 1861, to March 4, 1862, being 96 by death and by discharge on account of disease. It will thus be seen that in less than six months the regiment had suffered a loss of 120 men in killed and wounded and by death and discharge because of sickness. It was repeating the experience of the Iowa regiments which had preceded it, in the loss of a large number who could not withstand the hard conditions to which they were subjected by the change from the comforts of their home life to the hardships and exposure of the camp and the march during a winter campaign.
Early in March, 1862, the regiment was ordered to New Madrid, Mo., where it participated in the operations that led up to the evacuation of that place by the enemy; and a detachment from the Tenth Iowa, under Major McCalla, was first to enter the rebel works. It also assisted in the capture of Island No. 10, and in the pursuit of the enemy to Tiptonville, where 5,000 of the enemy and a large quantity of military supplies were captured. Following this brilliant achievement, the Tenth Iowa, now a part of the Union Army of the Mississippi, embarked on board transports and, in conjunction with the federal gunboats, made a demonstration against the rebel Fort Wright; but the army was abruptly recalled, just as these operations were fairly under way, to re-inforce the Army of the Tennessee, in its operations against the rebel stronghold at Corinth, Miss., and, proceeding up the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee rivers, the transports landed the troops at Hamburg, Tenn., from which point they marched to Corinth, and became part of the investing force in the siege which followed.
In the operations around Corinth, the regiment acquitted itself with great credit and received the warm commendation of its experienced commander, Colonel Perczel, for its gallant conduct in the skirmish with the enemy, May 26, 1862. Corinth was evacuated May 30, 1862, and the Tenth Iowa participated In the pursuit of the enemy until ordered to return, when it went into camp on Clear Creek, near Corinth, on June 15th, where it remained until June 29th, when it was sent on an expedition to Ripley, forty miles distant, and returned to its camp on Clear Creek, July 6th, where it remained until July 29th, when it marched to Jacinto and went into camp near that place, where it remained until September 18th. On that date, the rebel army under Generals Price and Van Dorn was in possession of Iuka, within striking distance of our camp, and General Rosecrans moved his troops (of which the Tenth Iowa formed a part) on the 19th of September, towards Iuka, and on the evening of that day the enemy met him, and the battle of Iuka began.
The Tenth Iowa occupied a most fortunate position in this battle, which enabled it to inflict heavy loss upon the enemy with but slight loss to itself. The manner in which the regiment was handled reflected great credit upon its commander. The following extract from the report of Colonel Perczel will show the great skill with which he executed the orders of his brigade commander, General Sullivan:
Agreeably to your orders, I advanced on September 19th about 5 P. M. with my regiment and a section of the Twelfth Wisconsin Battery, under Lieutenant Immell. After a short survey of our line of battle, I took position with seven companies, a cheval [see note 2] on the Iuka road, about a quarter of a mile ahead of our left wing. I sent three companies to the right into a dense wood; then I put my two pieces into position, and threw a few shells in an oblique direction, where I discovered the rebel lines. My three companies in the woods reported a full brigade of rebels advancing on our left wing, on which I withdrew them, and, leaving only one company for the observation of the enemy, I changed front perpendicular to our line of battle on the Iuka road. I planted my two pieces anew, and thus obtained a dominating flanking position. Being on a ridge, I could watch the enemy's movements, who had to cross a broken open field In order to attack our forces. They soon emerged from the woods, opened a heavy Are, and advanced on our lines. Their fire was returned, and I too opened with musketry and canister. The rebels wavered, fell back a little, but were soon rallied and advanced again, nothing daunted by our fire, which made great havoc in their ranks. They followed our left wing Into the woods, and for a short time there was no enemy In our sight; but suddenly a full regiment marched out from the woods on their side, offering their right flank to my fire, with the evident Intention to advance to the support of their forces already engaged. I opened instantly with canister and musketry, on which they fell back to the woods. • • • They attempted twice to advance but were driven back each time. We had the advantage of the ground. Our fire told fearfully upon them, while we suffered next to nothing. Their fire, up a steep hill, had been altogether too high. • • • Night coming on, I drew a little closer to our main body; but on the report of Company I, which I left to observe the enemy's movements, that a new body of rebels was advancing, I advanced again with three companies. As we approached, the enemy opened upon us, but owing to the darkness, and again to their up-hill firing, not a man was hurt. We returned the fire with great execution, as we found on the morning of the 20th the ground strewn with the bodies of their dead. • • •
At the close of his report, the Colonel thanks his officers and men for the promptness with which they executed his orders, and says, "The Tenth Iowa have proved themselves good soldiers." He further says, "I have to mention efficient services and assistance of our brave Major N. McCalla, and of my Adjutant, Wm. Manning, and also the able and brave manner in which Lieutenant Immell handled his two pieces of artillery."
The entire loss of the regiment in this battle was but 7 men wounded. It is but seldom that such effective service is performed in battle with such slight loss. In all the battles in which it was subsequently engaged, the Tenth Iowa was never so fortunate as to escape with so small a loss in proportion to the magnitude of the engagement and the number of the regiment engaged. Major General Rosecrans, who was the chief in command, says In his official report: “The Tenth Iowa, under Colonel Perczel, deserves honorable mention for covering our left flank from the assault of the Texas Legion."
Brig. Gen. C. S. Hamilton says, "An attempt to turn the left flank of my division by a heavy force of the enemy, moving up the open field and ravine on my left, was most signally repulsed by Colonel Perczel with the Tenth Iowa and a section of Immell's battery. So bravely was this attempt repulsed that the enemy made no more attempts in that direction."
Brig. Gen. J. C. Sullivan, who commanded the brigade to which the Tenth Iowa was attached, says, "The Tenth Iowa, with a section of the Twelfth Wisconsin Battery, was ordered to hold a road leading to our left and rear. The regiment held the position assigned them, and drove back a brigade of rebels which was advancing to take possession of the road. Colonel Perczel gallantly held his position, and by his determined stand led the enemy to believe we were in strong force at that point, and to desist from their attack." The commendations of these generals show that the service of the Tenth Iowa was most important, and that it was fully appreciated.
The next experience of the regiment under fire was in the battle of Corinth, on the 3d and 4th days of October, 1862. The position to which the Tenth Iowa was assigned on the first day of the battle was again a fortunate one, as will be seen by the following extract from the official report of its commanding officer, Major Nathaniel McCalla. After describing the position occupied — a shallow cut on the line of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad — he says:
While In this position the fire from their batteries was kept up, raking the ground, and would have done immense damage but for the fact that at this point where the line was formed on the track, there was a cut which formed a good shelter, their balls passing over our heads, many of them lodging In the opposite bank, so closely had they raked the ground. Seeing an attempt on the part of the enemy to move forward one of their batteries to a point on the railroad to our right, from which they could open upon us an enfilading fire, I ordered the regiment to file Into the dense woods in our rear by the left flank, having cleared the track In time to avoid a raking fire. I again formed a line of battle, and marched to the rear, under the incessant fire of their battery, whose firing had now become too high to do much damage.
The Major conducted his regiment through the woods to the left until he reached the main road leading directly to the front. On this road the enemy's pickets were discovered, and the regiment was immediately deployed as skirmishers, but the enemy did not advance, and the Tenth Iowa remained in line until morning. On the morning of the 4th, in obedience to orders, Major McCalla moved his regiment to a new position to the left and rear of the line he had occupied during the night, and went into line of battle in support of the Sixth Wisconsin Battery. Of the conduct of the regiment in the second day's battle Major McCalla reports as follows:
At about 10 A. M., the firing of the skirmishers In front of us became rapid, and the advancing columns of the enemy soon drove them back; but they rallied to a point directly in front of our line, and until they had retired to our rear, I could not order my regiment to fire; but as soon as the space In front was cleared I gave the order to commence firing, which was kept up with spirit, but without very materially checking the advance of the enemy, who approached us in overwhelming numbers. My men had fired from 15 to 20 rounds, when I perceived that numbers of the enemy were passing around the right and getting in the rear of my line, and also that the battery on my left had been silenced and taken, and the enemy pressing forward to the left of us. I ordered the regiment to fall back, which it did in good order, to a distance of about seventy-five yards, when I made a halt, facing about and again opening fire; but being unable to retain this position. I again ordered the regiment back under cover of the Twelfth Wisconsin, and Powell's batteries. Passing to the rear in line of battle, I halted at a position immediately between these batteries. I then marched forward and occupied the same ground from which we had retired, during the remainder of the battle. The casualties in the regiment were 6 men wounded on the first day, and one commissioned officer [see note 3] and 30 men wounded and 3 killed on the second day.
Major McCalla makes special mention of Capt. N. A. Holson, Acting Lieutenant Colonel, and Capt. Jackson Orr, Acting Major, also Wm. Manning, Adjutant, commending these officers for their assistance to him and for their coolness and courage. He also states that the line officers, without an exception, deported themselves with the greatest gallantry.
The brigade commander, General Sullivan, in his official report, says: "The Tenth Iowa sustained the brunt of the first attack of the enemy, until the regiment on their left gave way, and their flank was exposed, when they slowly fell back fighting."
After the battle of Corinth, the regiment had a short period of rest in camp, but, on November 1st, it was again on the move, participating in expeditions to Grand Junction, Davis Mills, Holly Springs and Moscow. It did not encounter the enemy in any of these movements.
From Moscow, the regiment marched with the army under General Grant down the line of the Mississippi Central Railroad. The objective point of the expedition was Vicksburg, but the capture of Holly Springs by the skillfully executed cavalry raid of the rebel General Van Dorn, and the destruction of the vast stores of supplies which General Grant had accumulated at that point, compelled the abandonment of the expedition and the prompt retreat of the Union army. It became necessary to at once dispatch a train of several hundred wagons to Memphis for supplies, and the Tenth Iowa was one of the regiments selected to guard this immense train over the long road to Memphis and back to meet the retreating army which had become reduced almost to the starving point, before the train met them upon its return with the needed supplies. After performing this important service, the regiment remained for one month in camp at White's Station, and then moved to Memphis, where, on the 4th of March, 1863, it embarked and proceeded down the river, to enter actively upon the greatest campaign thus far attempted during the war. The compiler of this sketch realizes with regret that the limitation of space to which he is restricted will not permit him to go into particularity of detail in describing the operations of the Tenth Iowa Infantry in this great campaign, or in those which followed, down to the close of the war. To do so would require a volume, instead of the few pages which follow.
The regiment accompanied the hazardous expedition through the tortuous windings of the Yazoo Pass, over two hundred miles from the Mississippi, and returned to Helena on the 9th of April, 1863. It now belonged to the Third Brigade of the Seventh Division of General McPherson's Seventeenth Army Corps, with which it participated in the brilliant series of battles at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills and in that sanguinary charge upon the enemy's works at Vicksburg on the 22d of May. In all of these engagements the regiment displayed the same valor and prompt obedience to orders which it had shown in all its preceding encounters with the enemy, but its splendid achievement and heavy loss at Champion Hills on the 16th of May, 1863, is considered by many of the survivors as not only by far the most notable record the regiment made during the Vicksburg campaign but of the entire war. In that hard fought battle the division to which the Tenth Iowa belonged was commanded by the gallant General M. M. Crocker of Iowa [see note 4]. The regiment here stood its ground in an open stand up fight, taking and returning the fire of the enemy at close range until its last round of ammunition was exhausted. On no part of the battlefield was the fighting so severe, persistent or protracted. Iowa was conspicuous in this battle, five of her regiments — the Fifth, Tenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-eighth — being engaged, and all acquitting themselves with great credit. The Tenth lost nearly one-half of its number engaged. Of its officers, Capt. Stephen W. Poage, Lieut. James H. Terry and Lieut, Isaac H. Brown, were killed on the field, and Capt. Robert Lusby, Capt. Nathan A. Holson, Capt. Albert Head, Lieut. John W. Wright, Lieut. A. L. Swallow, Lieut. Elbert J. Kuhn, Lieut. George Gregory and Lieut. William P. Meekins, were wounded. The total loss of the regiment in this battle was 158, 34 killed and 124 wounded.
On the 19th of May the regiment had reached the position to which it was assigned in the rear of Vicksburg, and became part of the investing force in the siege. The regiment participated in the charge on the 22d of May and lost 3 killed and 24 wounded. Here the gallant Captain Head was again severely wounded. The regiment remained on duty, in the trenches as sharpshooters, supporting batteries, and performing its full part in the siege operations until June 22nd, when It was transferred, with its brigade, to the defensive line on Black River to guard against the possible attempt of the rebel General Johnston to raise the siege by attacking the besieging force in the rear.
The regiment remained upon this important duty until after the surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, when it was immediately sent in pursuit of Johnston's army, which had been withdrawn to the defensive works around Jackson, against which the army under General Sherman promptly began siege operations, which ended on July 16th, upon the evacuation of Jackson by the forces under Johnston, and their retreat into the interior of Mississippi. Thus ended the Vicksburg campaign, with such satisfactory results for the Union army, and such disastrous results for the enemy. The victory had been won, however, at a tremendous cost. On both sides many thousands had been killed and wounded, and thousands more were to share their fate before the final triumph of the Union arms. On the 19th of July the Tenth Iowa returned to Vicksburg, and from there proceeded to Helena, Ark., with its division, where it remained until the last of September, when it was ordered to proceed to Memphis, there to unite with the Fifteenth Army Corps under Maj. Gen. Wm. T. Sherman, and to march across the country to Chattanooga, there to re-inforce the Army of the Cumberland and to deal another crushing blow to the enemies of the Union.
On the 17th of October the long and toilsome march was begun. For thirty-two days the army under Sherman pressed forward and, on the 19th of November, arrived at Chattanooga. There the great struggle was renewed around Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The Tenth Iowa participated in the storming of Missionary Ridge, November 25th, and performed its full share in that memorable contest, in which it seemed impossible that human valor could accomplish the task of scaling those formidable heights. The loss of the regiment in this engagement was 11 killed, 35 wounded and 6 captured, out of 250 engaged.
After this battle the Tenth Iowa was moved to Bridgeport, thence to Larkinsville, Ala., and thence to Huntsville, where it went into camp January 9, 1864. Here, in the beginning of February, the requisite number to retain the regimental organization re-enlisted as veterans and were mustered into the service on March 30, 1864.
No better test of patriotism could have been shown by these brave and devoted men. They knew what war meant, had experienced its hardships, privations and horrors on the march and on the battlefield. They longed most earnestly to return to home and loved ones and yet, so long as the supreme object, for which they had first enlisted remained to be accomplished, they were willing to still forego the comforts of home and all its dear associations. To thousands of these brave and true men, who subsequently died in battle or from sickness, the high resolve to serve their country to the end was typical of that most sublime feeling that ever dominated the action of a human being — the feeling of total self-abnegation.
On April 30th the regiment was ordered to Decatur, Ala. During its stay there it was engaged in fortifying the place and, by way of diversion from such hard labor, had occasional skirmishes with the enemy's cavalry. On the 15th of June, the re-enlisted men of the regiment received the long-looked-for and very welcome order to proceed to Iowa on veteran furlough. After a most enjoyable visit of thirty days at their homes, they returned to the field and rejoined their comrades at Kingston, Ga., on the 1st of August. The reunited regiment now took part in various expeditions directed mainly against the rebel General Wheeler's large cavalry force which, by skillful maneuvering, managed to avoid coming in contact with the Union troops, while Inflicting considerable damage by tearing up railroad track and capturing supplies. The regiment returned from the last of these expeditions on the 15th of September, and again went into camp at Kingston. In the meantime, the Union cavalry force had been increased sufficiently to drive the rebel General Wheeler across the Tennessee river, and to relieve the infantry from the duty of guarding the railroad.
On the 28th of September, 1864, the non-veterans (those who had not reenlisted) were mustered out of the service and departed for their homes in Iowa. It must be said here that these men who had honorably and faithfully fulfilled the terms of their full period of service, and who did not feel that it was their duty to make the further sacrifice of remaining to the close of the war, were entitled to the gratitude of every loyal citizen. They were honorably discharged and returned to their homes to receive the commendations of their neighbors and friends for their long period of service and sacrifice. Many of them were broken in health, many bore upon their persons the scars of wounds received in battle, and all had earned the high regard and cordial welcome which was everywhere extended to them upon their return.
Early in October the Tenth Iowa Veteran Infantry received about 150 recruits, a number a little more than equal to that of the non-veterans mustered out. On the 3d of October the regiment moved from Kingston to Cartersville, and thence to Atlanta, where General Sherman had concentrated his army, preparatory to beginning his march to Savannah.
The story of that great march through the State of Georgia, "from Atlanta to the Sea," has been immortalized in song, and has its place in history as one of the most remarkable military expeditions ever undertaken, or accomplished. The Tenth Iowa, as a part of the Third Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, participated actively in this great march, and in the reduction of the enemy's works around Savannah, the capture of Fort McAllister, the opening of communication with the federal fleet in the harbor, and the occupation of the city, on the 21st day of December, 1864, after which the regiment went into camp a short distance from the city and remained there until January 9, 1865. On the last named date, the concluding campaign of the war began. The regiment with its brigade and division crossed the river and entered the State of South Carolina, and began the long and toilsome march towards the North.
For nearly three months the march was continued, under the most difficult conditions; sometimes over almost impassable roads, wading through swamps, crossing swollen streams, through almost Incessant rains, and frequent skirmishes with the enemy, now rendered desperate by the certainty that their last line of resistance must soon be overcome. At last, after marching nearly five hundred miles, the Fifteenth Corps entered Goldsboro, N. C, on the 22d day of March, 1865, and went into camp for a season of rest and recuperation. Up to this time the troops had been compelled to subsist mainly upon such supplies as could be obtained from the country through which they passed, and which had often been found deficient, both in quantity and quality. Here, however, supplies were obtained in abundance from the seaboard, and the soldiers improved rapidly in health and strength.
The regiment left Goldsboro on the 7th of April. Their next halting place was at Raleigh, N. C, where they witnessed the capitulation of the rebel army under General Johnston and the removal of the last organized resistance to the Union army in its victorious march to Petersburg and Richmond, and on to Washington. Arrived at Washington, the regiment participated in the grand review, and afterwards returned to its camp near the city, where it remained until early In June, when it was ordered to Louisville, Ky., where it remained until the latter part of June, when it was ordered to proceed to Little Rock, Ark., where it arrived early In July. Here it remained until August 15, 1865, on which date it was mustered out of the service, and proceeded to Davenport, Iowa, where it was disbanded, and the men were sent to their homes.
The record of the Tenth Iowa Infantry is absolutely without blemish. In Its long and arduous service in ten of the states that were in rebellion against the Government, its many battles, its weary marches, its patient endurance of hardships, its implicit obedience to orders — in all that goes to make up a history of service well and faithfully performed, the regiment stands in the front rank of Iowa's splendid military organizations. No man who served in its ranks and contributed to its good record could leave a more glorious heritage to his posterity. The State of Iowa has honored itself in making provision for the permanent preservation in its archives of the military history of the men who fought for the maintenance of the Union in the great War of the Rebellion. So long as patriotism is honored among men will these records be perused by the loyal sons and daughters of the heroic men who gave their services to their country in her time of greatest need.
SUMMARY OF CASUALTIES.
Total enrollment 1319
Killed 63
Wounded 277
Died of wounds 35
Died of disease 135
Discharged for disease, wounds or other causes 288
Buried in National Cemeteries 60
Captured 17
Transferred 49
[Note 1.] Report of Lieut. Col. Wm. E. Small, Page 844, Vol. 2, Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863. Also Page 185 — 1866 Report.
[Note 2.] "A cheval." Placed so as to command two roads, or the space between two sides.
[Note 3.] Capt. Albert Head of Company F, wounded severely in the forehead.
[Note 4.] General Crocker entered the service as Captain of Company D, Second Infantry: was promoted to Major of that regiment, was the first Colonel of the Thirteenth Iowa Infantry, and was later promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers.
SOURCE: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Volume 2, p. 145-52
