Showing posts with label Sterling Farm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sterling Farm. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Twentieth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry

The ten companies which were assigned to the Twentieth Regiment were ordered into quarters by the Governor on dates ranging from July, 15 to August 15, 1862. The designated rendezvous was Camp Kirkwood, near Clinton, Iowa, and there the companies were mustered into the service of the United States on the 22d, 25th and 27th days of August, 1862, by Captain H. B. Hendershott, of the United States Army. The aggregate strength of the regiment at muster in was 904, rank and file [see note 1]. Like most of the regiments which had preceded it, the Twentieth had but a brief opportunity for instruction before leaving the State. It was armed with Enfield rifles, (at that time considered one of the most effective weapons,) was furnished with the usual equipment for active service, and, on the 5th of September, was conveyed down the river by steamboat to St. Louis, and upon its arrival there went into quarters at Benton Barracks, where it remained but a short time, and proceeded thence to Rolla, Mo., arriving there September 14th, and, two days later, started upon the march for Springfield, Mo., where it arrived September 24th, having covered a distance of 122 miles. In this, their first experience in marching, the men . suffered much hardship, because of the fact that they had not yet become inured to the exposure and fatigue of an active campaign. It was their first lesson in the hard school of the soldier in time of war. Fortunately for the regiment, Colonel Dye had been a Captain in the Regular Army and was a thoroughly trained soldier, and a few others among the officers and men had seen service as volunteers in other Iowa organizations. Having a leader with a military education and with the help of those who had had some actual experience in warfare, the officers and men made rapid progress in learning their duties as soldiers.

Upon its arrival at Springfield, the regiment was assigned to a brigade consisting of the Twentieth Iowa, First Iowa Cavalry, Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry, and one section of the First Missouri Light Artillery. This was the Second Brigade of the Second Division of the Army of the Southwest, commanded by General J. M. Schofield. The division was commanded by General Totten, and the brigade by Colonel Dye, of the Twentieth Iowa, leaving Lieutenant Colonel Leake in command of the regiment. The Twentieth Iowa was now about to enter upon a campaign which was to put to the severest test the bravery, fortitude and discipline of its officers and men. The hardships to which they had thus far been subjected were slight in comparison with those they encountered while marching and counter-marching in pursuit of their elusive enemy. From the 30th of September to the 7th of December, on which latter date the battle of Prairie Grove was fought, the regiment passed through an experience, the details of which are described with great particularity in the history of the regiment written by Colonel Dye, and in the prefix to the official report of Lieutenant Colonel Leake, describing the conduct of his regiment in the battle of Prairie Grove [see note 2]. The following extracts taken from Lieutenant Colonel Leake's report will serve to show some of the great hardships endured by the regiment during this period of its service:

. . . On the 15th day of October, at Cassville, Mo., the army was reorganized and called the "Army of the Frontier," the First Division under command of General Blunt, the Second Division under command of General Totten, and the Third Division under the command of General Herron. . . . The First Iowa Cavalry was taken from Colonel Dye's Brigade and transferred to the Third Division, and in its place a battalion of the Sixth Missouri Cavalry, under command of Major Montgomery, was assigned to the Second Brigade, Second Division. General Schofield still commanded the whole. Thus organized as an army, on the 28th of October, we had penetrated as far south as Fayetteville, Washington County, Arkansas, having driven the enemy before us. Beyond and south of that place, on the 30th of the same month, General Schofield retired from Fayetteville, and placed the army in position on the line of the road leading from Huntsville to Bentonsville, the First Division on Prairie Creek, six or seven miles west of Bentonsville, the Second division at Osage Springs, and the Third at Cross Hollows, to await the future movements of the enemy. The army remained in this position until the 2d of November, when, in pursuance of orders from Major General Curtis commanding the Department, the Second and Third Divisions commenced their return march to Missouri. The First Division under General Blunt retained its position west of Bentonsville. ... A few days afterwards intelligence was received that the post at Clark Mills, on the road from Springfield to Forsyth, garrisoned by five companies, three of State Militia, and two of the Tenth Illinois Cavalry, had been surrendered, and that the enemy were marching in large force on Springfield, to protect which the Second Division was moved on the 10th to Ozark, making the march of thirty-five miles in twelve hours. . . . The Second Division moved on the 17th, the night of the 17th, and the 18th, through a drenching storm westerly thirty-six miles to Camp Lyon. . . . Up to this time the regiment had marched since leaving Rolla the distance of 520 miles. We rested at Camp Lyon from all our fatigues and exposure until the morning of December 4th. During the stay at Camp Lyon, the men were provided with everything needed for comfort except shoes and stockings. Only one hundred pairs of shoes, one hundred and eighty pairs of infantry boots, and one hundred and eight pairs of socks could be obtained. These were distributed through the regiment to those who were most in need of them. No shoes had been provided since the first pair obtained before leaving Iowa, and they were almost entirely worn out by the continuous marching over hundreds of weary miles of stony road, and through numerous creeks and rivers.


On the evening of December 3d, a courier arrived at Camp Lyon with a message from General Blunt, asking for reinforcements, his division being threatened with attack by a greatly superior force of the enemy. General Blunt was a skillful officer and, as his troops consisted mostly of cavalry and mounted infantry, he had been able to elude the enemy and avoid a general engagement, but the rebel forces had cut off his retreat and he was in a very critical position. The Second Division promptly responded to his call for assistance and made a most wonderful record of forced marches, which are thus described by Lieutenant Colonel Leake, in continuation of his report from which the previous extracts were made:

On the morning of the 4th of December, reveille was beaten at one o'clock, and at four o'clock the regiment commenced its march. Between four and five o'clock P. M. it encamped on Flat Creek, having marched 25 miles. The next day we moved at 5 o'clock A. M., passed through Cassville and Keitsville, and encamped one and a half miles beyond the latter place, having marched twenty-one and a half miles. On the morning of the 6th, we left camp at 5 o'clock, passed through Pea Ridge and Sugar Creek, and reached Cross Hollows, Ark., at about 5 o'clock P. M., twenty-six and a half miles. Here we halted for rest and supper. At eleven o'clock P. M. we moved on, marching all night, passed through Fayetteville after daylight, and halted one mile beyond, on the road to Cane Hill, for rest and breakfast. After the lapse of about an hour and a half, having learned of the capture of a portion of the train of the First Arkansas Cavalry, a few miles beyond, I was ordered to detail a company under the command of a reliable officer, to protect our train (in addition to the regular division, and brigade guards, already large,) to which duty I assigned company B, under command of Captain Coulter; so that company B was deprived of the privilege of being in the engagement. We then marched on rapidly, until we arrived at the battlefield between eleven and twelve o'clock on the morning of the 7th, a distance of nine miles. The regiment thus marched the distance of one hundred miles in eighty consecutive hours, the last fifty-three and one-half of which we accomplished in thirty-one hours. Very many of the command marched with shoes so much worn that their feet were upon the ground, and were badly bruised and cut up by the stony road. Many of the boots furnished at Camp Lyon fitted the feet of the men so illy that they became inflamed and blistered by the continuous marching, and a few carried their boots in their hands and marched to the field in their bare feet, whilst many fell out by the way, unable to march farther. Under these circumstances, we went into the engagement with only two hundred and seventy enlisted men, and twenty-three commissioned officers.


From the foregoing description of the energetic manner in which the Twentieth Iowa, with its brigade and division, pressed forward by day and night marches to the relief of General Blunt's command, it will be seen that they were the first troops to engage the enemy. Continuing his report, Lieutenant Colonel Leake describes minutely the positions of the opposing forces at the commencement of the battle. The enemy was posted upon a heavily wooded hill, the approach to which was across a prairie about 1000 yards wide. General Blunt states in his official report that he had been skirmishing with the advance of the enemy, holding them in check until his reinforcements should arrive, but the enemy got between him and the troops coming to his assistance, and the battle had been raging for several hours before his division came up and attacked the enemy in the rear. He, therefore, furnished the reinforcement, instead of receiving it. The compiler again quotes from the report of Lieutenant Colonel Leake, as follows:

. . . These dispositions having been made at one o'clock P. M. the engagement was opened by the firing of a gun from the battery under the command of Lieutenant Marr. At about two o'clock the order was given to advance the battery, and I received orders to advance the regiment forward in support. We advanced in this order across the open field, to within about two hundred yards of the foot of the hill, and in front of the house of H. Roger, when the battery was ordered back, and the regiment left in that position. I presently received orders from Colonel Dye, in pursuance of which the regiment moved to the right into the adjoining field and in front of the orchard on the left of the house of Wm. Rogers, to check a movement of the enemy to outflank us on the right. At this time the Twentieth was on the extreme right of the Second and Third Divisions. This movement was executed under a galling fire which we returned, advancing to within a few paces of the edge of the orchard. At this time a force appeared on our right advancing up the valley. Fearing that we were being outflanked by the enemy, I was ordered to fall back across the field and take position behind a fence in our rear, which was executed in good order under fire. I then threw out companies A and F, under command of Captains Bates and Hubbard, from the right wing as skirmishers. Shortly after, a cavalry force appeared upon our right and rear, whereupon the skirmishers were recalled and a change of front made toward the approaching force, to the rear behind a fence running at right angles to the one from which we moved. Colonel Dye having sent forward and ascertained that the cavalry were from General Blunt's command, the Twentieth at once changed front and resumed its former position behind the fence fronting towards the orchard. We had scarcely taken this position when an aide from General Blunt reported to me that the forces which had come up the valley, and were taking position in the field on our right, was the command of General Blunt. I at once directed him to Colonel Dye, who was about 200 yards to the rear and left of me, who immediately sent word to General Herron of the arrival of reinforcements under General Blunt. This took place at about three and a half o'clock, as nearly as I can fix the time. Before this time the Nineteenth Iowa and Twentieth Wisconsin had charged up the hill on the extreme left, and had been driven back; after which the Twenty-sixth Indiana and Thirty-seventh Illinois had been ordered up in nearly the same place, and with a like result, so that when General Blunt arrived no infantry was engaged on our left. General Blunt at once sent forward a part of the First Indiana regiment as skirmishers. Colonel Dye reported to General Blunt and ordered me to make a charge with the Twentieth up the hill and on the left of, and operating with the forces of General Blunt. I moved the regiment rapidly forward in line of battle across the field, obliquing to the left; crossed the orchard fence, drove the enemy through the orchard, and advanced beyond the upper orchard fence and through the woods a short distance. . . . Fearing that the troops on our left wing had ascended the hill and advanced to our front, I saw directly in front of us a mass of troops moving down upon us. At almost the same instant they fired a volley under which the left wing recoiled nearly to the orchard fence, where they promptly rallied at my command and renewed the firing with great rapidity and, I think, effect. I received orders to retire behind the fence at the foot of the hill, and hold if, which movement was promptly executed by the regiment in good order, climbing the fence under a galling fire, lying down behind it, and continuing the firing between the fence rails. The moment we crossed the fence the orchard was shelled by the batteries of General Blunt's forces on the right in the field, and by that under command of Captain Murphy in position at the point from which we entered the action, from the combined effects of which, and our own firing, the enemy were driven back. . . . As soon as the enemy was driven from the orchard I was ordered to retire in good order from the fence and form in the middle of the field. As we commenced to retire, Major Thompson having been wounded and the left wing, not receiving the order to halt, promptly retired nearly to the fence from which we had advanced, I rode down, and at the command they returned and formed at the place designated. . . . This ended our active participation in the contest. About the time we had retaken our old position, the rest of General Blunt's Division had become heavily engaged with the enemy on our extreme right and remained so engaged until darkness closed the contest. . . The next morning before daylight, I formed the line of battle, and awaited the renewal of the action.


Soon after daylight it was discovered that the enemy had fled during the night, thus acknowledging defeat. The Union troops were so worn and exhausted from forced marches and the hard fighting of the previous day that they were in no condition to pursue the enemy. Lieutenant Colonel Leake in closing his report speaks in the highest terms of praise of the conduct of the Twentieth Iowa during the battle. He makes special mention of Major Thompson, who was wounded late in the action and, though suffering great pain, did not leave the field until the regiment retired. He also mentions the gallant conduct of Acting Adjutant, Lieutenant J. C. McClelland and Sergeant Major George A. Gray. Of the gallant Brigade Commander he says, "It will not, I trust, be improper for me to remark of my superior officer, Colonel William McE. Dye, commanding the Second Brigade, that by the entire self possession, the calm bravery, and the military ability he displayed on the field, he won the entire confidence of the regiment. Its affection he had gained before."

The loss of the regiment in the battle of Prairie Grove was 1 officer and 7 enlisted men killed; 5 officers and 34 enlisted men wounded. The Brigade Commander—Colonel Dye—warmly commended Lieutenant Colonel Leake for the excellent manner in which he handled his regiment during the battle, and also made special mention of Adjutant Lake of the Twentieth Iowa, who acted as Assistant Adjutant General upon his staff, and carried his orders to different points on the field under the fire of the enemy. While the subsequent record of the regiment is altogether an honorable one and deserves full description, the limitations prescribed for this historical sketch will not permit of the occupancy of much greater space in describing its future movements than has been devoted to its operations up to and including the battle just described. The compiler believes, however, that the events embraced in this period of the history of the regiment constitute a record not excelled for bravery and fortitude, and that it would have entitled the officers and men of the Twentieth Iowa to the lasting gratitude of the State and Nation had the record ended with Prairie Grove. The day after the battle the dead were buried with military honors. The wounded had received such care and attention as could be given in field hospitals, and they were subsequently removed to Fayetteville, where better facilities for their care were provided. The regiment remained in camp at Prairie Grove, enjoying a much needed rest, until the morning of December 27, 1862, when it again took up the line of march for Van Buren on the Arkansas river. The march was over the Boston Mountains, the cavalry leading the advance and skirmishing with the enemy, but, upon the approach of the Union troops, the enemy retreated across the Arkansas, and the town of Van Buren, a large quantity of supplies and several steamboats were captured. The boats and such portion of the supplies as could not be removed were destroyed, and the troops returned to their camp at Prairie Grove.

On Jan. 2, 1863, the regiment again took up the line of march, with its brigade and division. General Schofield had again assumed command of the Army of the Frontier. In the campaign which ensued, and which extended through the winter and into the spring, there was much hard marching, and the troops were exposed to alternate storms of snow and rain, marching over muddy and sometimes almost impassable roads, but everywhere the movements of the army as a whole, and in detachments, were directed against the rebel forces with the one purpose in view — that of driving the invaders from the State and placing the loyal citizens of Missouri in position to defend themselves from further invasion, and enabling the troops composing the Army of the Frontier to be withdrawn for the purpose of co-operating in the great expedition against Vicksburg. General Schofield's plans were successfully carried out, the rebel troops in his front being mostly withdrawn during the winter for the purpose of reinforcing their army in Mississippi, then preparing to resist the advance of the Union army under General Grant.

Towards the latter part of March, the regiment with its brigade and division was being gradually withdrawn from the Missouri frontier and moved towards the point where these troops had entered upon their first campaign. At length, on the 23d of April, 1863, the division marched into Rolla. The Twentieth Iowa had now been in active service about seven months. It had been engaged in many skirmishes and one hard fought battle. Its losses in killed and wounded, and from disease, had been heavy. April 24th the regiment was transported by rail to St. Louis. The following extracts from Colonel Dye's history of the regiment (heretofore alluded to in this sketch) describe its principal movements for a considerable portion of its subsequent service, beginning with its arrival in St. Louis:

Here we remained guarding the arsenal, and doing other important duties until May 15th. During a part of this time, First Lieutenant C. L. Drake, with company A, and a part of company F, embarked for Cape Girardeau, Mo., where he arrived in time to participate in the successful defense of that place against the assaults of the enemy. Companies D and G, Captains Torrey and Altmann, were also detached to quell mutinies at Benton Barracks. On the 1st of May the regiment arrived by rail at Pilot Knob, and remained there until June 3d. On the 5th, by hot marching arrived at St. Genevieve, and embarked with what remained of the regiment. ... A part of the Infantry and Artillery of the Second and Third Divisions, having now been organized into a division (detached from the Army of the Frontier) of two brigades, the Twentieth Iowa being a part of the First Brigade, proceeded on the 6th to reinforce the investing army at Vicksburg. We arrived at Chickasaw Bluff, on the Yazoo river, on the 11th. Returned and landed at Young's Point, crossed the peninsula to a point below Vicksburg, and took position on the 14th, on the extreme left of the investing forces, the First Brigade on the left, and the Twentieth Iowa, the second regiment from the right, where they remained until July 4th — the day of the surrender — participating in all the exposures and fatigues of that successful siege, being on duty in detachments almost continuously, either in the trenches or rifle pits; the troops not thus on duty standing to arms every day and night. Men were on duty as long as five successive days and nights, without other sleep than was stolen or involuntarily obtained under the guns of the enemy, while another relief was on duty. The regiment was very fortunate in losing during the siege by wounds only six enlisted men, three of whom died from their wounds.

At 9 a. m. on the 4th, part of the division, the Twentieth Iowa leading, marched into the works of Vicksburg, planting the first Union flag which floated over the extreme fort on the right of the enemy's works. As bad as the water used by our men was, the sickness was not so severe before the surrender, as when, by a relaxation of the system from the stimulant of excitement, intermittent and congestive fevers at once prostrated about one-third of the regiment. We remained in the works, collecting the surrendered material, until the 11th, when the division embarked with orders to reinforce the investing force of Port Hudson. When aboard, and about leaving, intelligence arrived of its surrender. The destination of the division was then changed to Yazoo City, where it arrived on the 13th, and by co-operation with the gunboats, (the De Kalb of which was destroyed by torpedoes,) captured the place, with a half dozen pieces of artillery, and a number of prisoners, after an ineffectual resistance of half an hour. On the 16th, we left to open communication with General Sherman, at Canton, Miss. This accomplished, we arrived on the 19th, on our return, at Yazoo City, and re-embarked. . . . By the 22d, we were again in camp within the works of Vicksburg, the regiment having lost by sickness about 280 men. Leaving the serious cases of sickness at Vicksburg, we embarked on the 24th of July, and arrived at Port Hudson on the 26th. During the siege of Vicksburg, the division had been attached to the Thirteenth Army Corps; it now became, and yet is, the Second Division of this corps. The troops remained on the boats until the 31st, when they were put into camp just in rear of Port Hudson. . . . We remained here until the 16th of August. During our stay, although about two-thirds of the men continued on the report for duty, probably three-fourths of the regiment were under medical treatment. On the 17th, arrived at Carrollton, La., losing, during our stay here, many of the men, from the protracted diseases of the summer. The regiment embarked here, without tents or knapsacks, and bivouacked, Sept. 7th, near Morganza, below the mouth of Red river. On the 8th, we marched to the Atchafalaya, driving the enemy to the opposite bank, a part of the division having a skirmish. We were absent but two days on this duty, yet the men suffered greatly from the heat (many being sun struck) and the want of good water. We remained at or near Morganza, almost constantly bivouacked, until October 10th. The knapsacks of the regiment did not arrive until about September 28th. Lieutenant Colonel Leake and two men (the former slightly wounded) were unfortunately captured, at Sterling Farm, Sept. 29th, While on duty, detached from the regiment [see note 3]. While at Morganza the men suffered alternately with heat and cold rains, being without shelter or change of clothing. On the 11th of October, encamped at Carrollton, La., where the regiment remained until October 23d, health much improved. . . . October 24th the division steamed out with sealed orders, and was overhauled by a severe gale, which was weathered by most of the vessels of the fleet November 1st, arrived in sight of Brazos de Santiago, (coast of Texas) and landed on the 4th, after making, with the Twentieth Wisconsin, an unsuccessful effort to land through the surf, at the mouth of the Rio Grande, in which seven out of ten surf boats, loaded with men, were either swamped or upset, losing, miraculously, however, only four men by drowning. A portion of the division, including company G, (provost guard of the division) proceeded to Brownsville, and a detachment of the regiment, under Lieutenant Carver, remained at the mouth of the river, whilst the regiment (with these exceptions) on the 6th crossed the Lagoon del Madre, to Point Isabel, where it remained, suffering from great scarcity of water, and want of cooking utensils and baggage, until the 13th. November 15th, the regiment re-embarked and landed, with a portion of the division, on the south end of Mustang Island, in the evening; At 9 a. m. on the 17th, it arrived at the north end of the island, (about 25 miles distant,) after a very fatiguing march, the men drawing by hand two pieces of artillery, carrying their knapsacks and sixty rounds of ammunition, this after about two weeks' confinement aboard ship. About one hundred of the enemy, with three pieces of heavy artillery, were at this end of the island, guarding the Aransas inlet. The enemy surrendered as soon as our forces appeared.


The regiment remained on Mustang Island about seven months. Out of wrecked lumber, procured on and near the island, they erected barracks. The monotony of garrison duty was varied somewhat by expeditions of detachments from the regiment to the main land. Some prisoners and a couple of schooners were captured, but no organized body of the enemy was encountered on these expeditions. It was the most restful period in the history of the regiment. On June 24, 1864, the regiment embarked at Mustang Island and was conveyed to Brazos Santiago, and from there it marched to Brownsville, Texas, where it remained, doing garrison duty until July 29th, when it started on its return to Brazos Santiago, and from there returned by sea to New Orleans, arriving there and going into its old camp at Carrollton, August 6th. Here it remained but a short time when it was conveyed by steamer to Fort Gaines, Ala., which, however, had surrendered before the arrival of the regiment. It disembarked at Mobile Point, and participated in the siege of Fort Morgan, which surrendered August 23, 1864. During all these movements Colonel Dye was detached from the regiment and in command of a brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Leake was still a prisoner of war, Major Thompson had resigned, and the regiment had alternately been under the command of Captains M. L. Thompson and Edward Coulter.

On September 7th the regiment proceeded by steamer to New Orleans and thence up the river to Morganza, La. During the voyage an accident occurred to the machinery of the vessel, and five men of the Twentieth Iowa were badly scalded by escaping steam; three of them jumped overboard and were drowned. At Morganza Lieutenant Colonel Leake rejoined the regiment, having regained his liberty by an exchange of prisoners. He received a glad welcome from the officers and men, who had become greatly attached to him and had complete confidence in his courage and ability. With full appreciation of this feeling towards him, he again assumed the command of the regiment

On the 12th of October orders were received to embark the command and move up the Mississippi to the mouth of White River, thence to Devall's Bluff, and disembark. There, and at Brownsville, the regiment was encamped until January, 1865. During this period of its service the Twentieth Iowa was part of the time engaged in scouting in the surrounding country, but was most of the time performing garrison duty and erecting fortifications. Many of its men were on the sick list, the prevailing disease being scurvy. A quantity of sanitary stores were sent to the regiment from Iowa, and were used with excellent effect, and when the regiment left Arkansas, on the 8th of January, the health of the men had greatly improved. Its next place of encampment was near Kennerville, La., where it remained until February 16th, on which date it embarked for Pensacola Bay, Florida, and, after a voyage without incident, went into camp at Florida Point, remaining there until the commencement of the Mobile campaign, in which it was an active participant. On the march to Mobile, which was very toilsome, the regiment attracted the attention of the Division Commander to such a marked extent as to cause him to make special mention of its conduct in a general order thanking all the troops under his command. The order is here quoted as follows:


General Orders No. 8.

Headquarters Second Division Thirteenth Army Corps.
In the Field Mar. 28, 1865.

I. The General commanding appreciates the ready and generous efforts of the troops in promoting this difficult march. These labors assure future success, and every patriot will feel grateful to the soldiers who have endured them. The General particularly thanks Lieutenant Colonel J. B. Leake, commanding the Twentieth Iowa Volunteers, for the valuable and rapid service of his regiment this morning, showing, by the amount done, how much can be accomplished by officers giving their personal interest and attention to their duty.

By order of Brigadier General C. C. Andrews,

GEORGE MONROE,
Assistant Adjutant General.


The regiment participated in the siege of Fort Blakely, performing all the duties assigned to it, but fortunately sustained only the single casualty of one man wounded. On April 14th, the regiment was conveyed across the bay to the city of Mobile, where it was engaged in the performance of provost guard duty until July 8, 1865, on which date it was mustered out of the service of the United States. The regiment was then conveyed to Clinton, Iowa, where it was disbanded July 27, 1865.

The record of the Twentieth Iowa is an honorable one. While the regiment was engaged in but one hard fought battle in the open field, it was no fault of its gallant officers and men that it did not participate in more of the great battles of the war. They went where they were ordered to go, and performed every duty required of them. They endured as much suffering upon the march, in bivouac, in camp and siege, as any regiment which the State of Iowa sent into the field. They are therefore entitled to the gratitude of every patriotic citizen of the State and Nation for the service they have rendered to both. Their names and the record of their service, contained in these pages, will be handed down to their posterity; and those who can trace their lineage to the brave and faithful men of the Twentieth Iowa may justly claim as proud a heritage as was ever bestowed upon the descendants of those who fought and suffered and died in a righteous cause.


SUMMARY OF CASUALTIES.

Total Enrollment 1026
Killed and drowned 20
Wounded 52
Died of wounds 7
Died of disease 130
Discharged for disease, wounds or other causes 183
Buried in National Cemeteries 66
Captured . 13
Transferred 39


[Note 1.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, Vol. 1, 1863, pages 718 to 750, Original Roster of the Regiment.

[Note 2.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, Vol. 2, 1863, pages 826 to 830. Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, Vol. 2, 1865, pages 1113 to 1120.

[Note 3.] Lieutenant Colonel Leake was in command of the Nineteenth Iowa and Twenty-sixth Indiana at the time he was wounded and captured.


SOURCE: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Volume 3, p. 341-8

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Nineteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry

The State of Iowa had sent into the field eighteen full regiments of infantry at the time President Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for 300,000 more volunteers, early in July, 1862. In prompt response to that call, and as the first contribution from Iowa under it, the Nineteenth Regiment was organized. The ten companies selected to compose the regiment were ordered into quarters by Governor Kirkwood between the dates Aug. 1 and Aug. 19, 1862, and were assembled at the designated rendezvous, Keokuk, Iowa, and there mustered into the service of the United States by Lieutenant Charles J. Ball, United States Army, on the 17th, 18th, 20th, 21st and 23d days of August, 1862. The aggregate strength of the regiment at muster in was 983 [see note 1].

The name "Lincoln" was chosen for its first camp, in honor of the President. In that camp, in the short interval that elapsed before the regiment took the field, the officers and men eagerly applied themselves to the study of their duties as soldiers, and learned something of the rudiments of the art of war, in which they were afterwards to become proficient, learning their hard lessons by actual experience in the severe training they received in active campaigns against the enemy.

The regiment was fully equipped for service in the field before leaving the State. On the evening of Sept. 3, 1862, Colonel Crabb received orders to embark his regiment and proceed to St. Louis, Mo., and, upon his arrival there, to report to the commanding officer at Benton Barracks. When the regiment reached the latter place it was at once assigned to quarters and was placed in the Brigade commanded by Brigadier General F. J. Herron, of Iowa. Oh the morning of September 11th, the regiment left Benton Barracks and proceeded by rail to Rolla, Mo. Upon its arrival at Rolla the regiment marched five miles from that place on the road leading to Springfield, and established its first camp in the State of Missouri. An active and aggressive campaign against the enemy was then about to begin, in which the men of the Nineteenth Iowa were to have their fortitude, courage and endurance put to the severest test. September 16th, the regiment took up the line of march toward Springfield, where it arrived after a toilsome march of 125 miles. There it remained until October 11th, engaged in constructing fortifications and guarding rebel prisoners. It then marched to Cassville, Mo., where the Army of the Frontier was organized and the Nineteenth Iowa was assigned to the division commanded by Brigadier General Herron of Iowa. The details of the operations of the regiment, in this and subsequent campaigns, can not be fully given in this sketch, on account of limitation of space to which the compiler is subjected, but he hopes to include all the main features of its service [see note 2].

October 17th, the regiment again marched southward and, from that date until December 7th, performed a wonderful series of marches and countermarches, in pursuit of a vigilant and elusive enemy. Major Bruce thus tersely describes those remarkable marches, which led up to and culminated in the battle of Prairie Grove:

October 17th, broke camp at Cassville, Mo.; marched southward four miles and camped for the night. October 18th marched southeward [sic] 31 miles and camped on Sugar Creek, Benton County, Arkansas; lay on our arms all night. General Blunt's division was camped near by. At 5 o'clock p. m. of the 20th broke up camp; made a night march over the Pea Ridge battle ground, and on to White River; crossed the river; water three feet deep, clear and cold. Oh the 22d marched 15 miles; halted and prepared supper. We were then within a distance of six miles from Huntsville, Ark.; fell in again at 6 p. m„ and made a night march of 14. miles to White River at a point below where we had first crossed, arriving at 2 a. m. on the morning of the 23d of October; bivouacked until 7 a. m. when, without waiting for breakfast, crossed White River, marched forward, much of the time on double quick, reaching the telegraph road at Bloomington at 12 m.; formed at once in line of battle, expecting an attack; remained in that position three hours and were then ordered forward on the main road to Cross Hollow, Ark., where we arrived at 5 p. m., and went into camp, having made a forced march of 100 miles in three days and three nights over a very rough and mountainous country, and having compelled the enemy to retreat across the Boston Mountains. Left Cross Hollow November 4, 1862, marched 15 miles and camped on Pea Ridge battle ground; November 5th, marched 20 miles and camped three miles south of Cassville. November 6th marched 32 miles and camped on Cane Creek. November 10th left camp on Cane Creek and marched 17 miles to Wilson's Creek. From there marched 12 miles and camped at Ozark, Mo. On the 14th Nov., marched 14 miles and camped on Sawyer's Creek. November 17th, again marched towards Ozark; reaching that place at 9 p. m. we marched four miles farther and bivouacked for the night. November 18th, marched 15 miles and camped on James River. It rained continually on this march and the roads were in a very bad condition. November 22d left camp on James River, marched 5 miles to Twin Springs and went into camp there. This camp was afterwards called Camp Curtis, and is 12 miles south of Springfield, Mo. On the 3d of December, at 2 p. m., broke up camp and started to reinforce the First Division under General Blunt, who was holding the enemy in check at Cane Hill, Ark.; marched 18 miles to Cane Creek and bivouacked for the night. On the 4th of December, marched 28 miles to Cassville and bivouacked for the night. December 5th, marched 24 miles to Pea Ridge, Ark. December 6th, marched 34 miles to Fayetteville, and rested a few hours. Left Fayetteville at 5 a. m. December 7th, marched 12 miles to Illinois Creek. Here we met the enemy, under General Hindman, and fought the battle of Prairie Grove [see note 3].


At the commencement of the battle, Lieutenant Colonel Samuel McFarland was in command of the regiment, and was killed early in the engagement. The command then devolved upon Major D. Kent, who continued in command until the close of the battle, and from whose official report the following extracts are made:

. . . The Nineteenth Regiment was ordered into line of battle at 12 o'clock m., Lieutenant Colonel Samuel McFarland commanding. By order of Colonel Orme, three companies were detached and deployed as skirmishers. The companies were A, B, and C, and owing to circumstances, Lieutenant Root, the acting Adjutant of the regiment, was ordered to take command. The skirmishers advanced under a heavy fire to a cornfield on the right of Company E, First Missouri Light Artillery, and were ordered to hold it at all hazards, which was done, until ordered to fall back and form in line of battle. The regiment was then ordered to the left of the white house on the hill to support the Twentieth Wisconsin, which was hotly engaged. The Nineteenth, led by Lieutenant Colonel McFarland, advanced steadily up the hill and across the orchard back of the house, when the Twentieth Wisconsin gave way. The Nineteenth still advanced to the fence adjoining the woods, when the enemy, who lay concealed, arose to their feet, three regiments deep, and poured a destructive fire upon us from three sides, which caused the regiment to waver and fall back to the battery on the left of the road leading up the hill. Here Lieutenant Colonel McFarland fell, shot through the body. I then took command and rallied what was left of the regiment, which had met with severe loss in the charge. I then left the men I had rallied in charge of Captain Roderick, Company K, and went to rally some scattered troops. While I was absent Colonel Orme rode up and ordered Captain Roderick to fall in and rally with the Ninety-fourth Illinois, and this force, led by Colonel Orme in person, drove back the enemy with great slaughter and held their position until ordered to fall back and reform. In the retreat of the Twentieth Wisconsin the color bearer was shot and let fall the colors, when the enemy made a desperate effort to get them, but a portion of the Nineteenth Iowa rallied and, getting possession of them, carried them off the field with their own.

Officers and men behaved nobly and fought desperately as if the fate of the battle depended on them alone. I will mention especially Captain Roderick of Company K, whom I left in charge of some scattered troops; also Captain Richmond of Company H, and Captain Taylor of Company G, also Lieutenant Brooks of Company D, who brought the colors off the field, and in doing so, was badly wounded. Others are equally meritorious, but they are too numerous to mention at present. . . .


Of the conduct of the three companies while on the skirmish line, Lieutenant Root made a supplementary report, which Major Kent embodied with his own, and which reads in part as follows:

. . . I advanced them to the right of Company E, of the First Missouri Battery, when the right wing, under Captain John Bruce, was attacked by a superior force of the enemy, but a few well directed shots drove them back. I would here notice the bravery of Captain Bruce and the men under him. After advancing up near the woods, the enemy came out of cover, showing a heavy body of infantry and two battalions of cavalry, who met with a warm reception from the right, under Captain Bruce, which made them scatter. At this time I received an order from Colonel Orme to fall back to the cornfield, so as to let the battery shell the woods, which was done in good order and held until I was ordered to rejoin the regiment [see note 4].


Major Kent reports the loss of the regiment in this battle as follows: Killed, commissioned officers 3, enlisted men 42; wounded, commissioned officers 5, enlisted men 140; missing 2. Total loss, 192. The battle of Prairie Grove was one of the most hotly contested of the war. The official report of General Herron states that he took into the engagement 3,500 men and that his total loss was 953. He speaks in the highest terms of the bravery of the Nineteenth Iowa and its gallant commander, Lieutenant Colonel McFarland, who was killed while leading his regiment in a desperate charge [see note 5]. The remarkable record of its exhausting marches in pursuit of the enemy, the fact that this was the first experience of the regiment in battle, and that it fought against greatly superior numbers, would alone have given it an honored place in history, had its service terminated with the battle of Prairie Grove.

The regiment bivouacked for the night on the battlefield and moved forward at daylight, expecting to renew the attack, but it was discovered that the enemy had retreated during the night, thus admitting defeat. The regiment then went into camp on the battlefield and engaged in the duty of burying the dead with the honors of war, and giving the wounded such care and attention as could be rendered in the field hospitals. The officers and men of the Nineteenth Iowa had thus had ample opportunity to become acquainted with the hardships and horrors of war, in but little more than three months from the date of their muster into the service. Death had sadly diminished their numbers at the very beginning of the long term for which they had enlisted, but had not affected their courage or determination to go forward in the faithful discharge of their duty as soldiers.

Soon after the battle, the Army of the Frontier engaged in another arduous expedition, in which the Nineteenth Iowa participated, and which resulted in the capture of Van Buren, Arkansas, together with a number of prisoners, five steamboats and a large amount of commissary stores. Returning from this expedition, the regiment, again went into camp at Prairie Grove, where it remained until January 2, 1863, when it again took up the line of march, moving from point to point and watching the movements of the enemy. February 15, 1863, the regiment, with two companies of the First Iowa Cavalry, was stationed at Forsyth on the Arkansas river, which place they occupied during the remainder of the winter. The regiment left Forsyth April 22d, and after a series of marches reached Salem, Mo., where it was temporarily attached to the First Division under the command of General Ewing. June 3d, the regiment marched to Rolla, from which place it was conveyed by rail to St. Louis, where General Herron's division was being concentrated, and embarked on steamers for Vicksburg, Miss. The regiment was then conveyed down the river, arriving at Young's Point June 10, 1863, and from that place moved to the rear of Vicksburg, where the siege was in progress, and was assigned to a place in the line of investment on the right of General Herron's division, which occupied the extreme left of the line of General Grant's army. During the remainder of the siege the Nineteenth Iowa performed its full share of duty. In his official report Lieutenant Colonel Kent describes in detail the arduous character of the work performed — advancing under cover of the night, digging rifle pits, planting batteries and siege guns to bear upon the enemy's works, skirmishing with the enemy and driving him from his advanced lines to his heavy fortifications and, upon the 4th of July, 1863, when the glad news of the surrender was received, the marching of his regiment inside the formidable works, which, fortunately, were not carried by assault, involving as it would have done, a costly sacrifice of life. The report highly commends the conduct of the officers and men during the siege and makes special mention of the constant and untiring energy of Major Bruce in the performance of his duties.

On the 12th of July, 1863, the regiment with its division participated in an expedition which resulted in the capture of Yazoo City on July 14th, the enemy evacuating the place on the approach of the Union troops, a number of prisoners being taken, together with the armament of the works, commissary stores and a large amount of cotton. The regiment engaged in several other expeditions within a radius of a hundred miles of Vicksburg, involving much hard marching, and the confiscating of horses, mules and cattle for the use of the army. On July 23, 1863, the regiment embarked on steamer at Vicksburg and was conveyed to Port Hudson, La., arriving there on the 26th, and remaining until August 12th. A number of men died from disease while at this camp, and there was a great deal of sickness. The next movement of the regiment was by steamer to Carrollton, La., where the entire Thirteenth Army Corps was encamped.

On the morning of the 5th of September, the regiment with its division started up the river upon an expedition to the mouth of Red River, where the enemy was seriously obstructing navigation, and had.captured a number of Federal transports. The regiment arrived at Morganza, twenty miles below the mouth of Red River, September 7th, disembarked and went into camp. The enemy was in force 12 miles from Morganza. Detachments from General Herron's division were sent out in the direction of the enemy, and frequent skirmishes had occurred, when, on the 12th of September, the Nineteenth Iowa, Twenty-Sixth Indiana and two pieces of artillery, were ordered to the front. This detachment moved out six miles, driving the enemy's pickets before it. It occupied this advanced position, skirmishing daily with the enemy, until September 29th, when the battle of Sterling Farm was fought, in which the regiment suffered heavy loss in killed, wounded and prisoners. Lieutenants Kent of company H, and Roberts of company K, were killed on the field. Captain Taylor, of company G, was mortally wounded. Major John Bruce wrote the official report of this engagement, which was so disastrous to that portion of the regiment which was engaged. As will be seen from the report which follows, there were but 260 of the Nineteenth Iowa engaged in the battle, that being the number present for duty at the time the regiment was sent to the front.


Headquarters Nineteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry,
Brownsville, Texas, Oct. 1.5, 1863.

GENERAL: I have the honor to submit to you a report of the part taken by my regiment in the engagement at Sterling Farm, fought on the 29th of September, 1863, in Point Coupee Parish, Louisiana. On the 5th day of September, the Second Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, commanded by Major General Herron, of which command the Nineteenth Iowa formed a part, embarked on board transports, and proceeded up the river to disperse a force under General Taylor, which was then on the west side below the mouth of Red River, seriously threatening the navigation of the Mississippi.

On the 8th of September the division was halted near Morganza, La., landed and proceeded to the interior, met the enemy's pickets about two miles from the river, drove them in, and drove the rebels back ten miles across the Atchafalaya. I was left with my regiment and two pieces of artillery to protect the transports at the river. The division returned to the transports on the 11th. On the 12th, the Nineteenth Iowa, Twenty-sixth Indiana, and two pieces of artillery, the whole under command of Lieutenant Colonel Leake of the Twentieth Iowa, were ordered out to feel the enemy. We met the enemy's pickets one mile from the river, drove them in, and soon found the enemy in considerable force. We skirmished with them and drove them back across the Atchafalaya. We then fell back to Sterling Farm seven miles in the interior from where the transports lay; from this point our advance and pickets skirmished almost daily, with the advance of the enemy. On the 29th, the enemy, having received reinforcements, turned our right and attacked us in the rear, cutting off our retreat. He at the same time attacked us on the front. My regiment was first called into action, met the enemy boldly and at short range, delivered a deadly volley, which compelled him to fall back. They, however, rallied again in overwhelming force, and after a firm and desperate struggle in which we were well supported by the Twenty-sixth Indiana, we were completely overpowered and compelled to surrender, many of our men, however, refusing to give up until their guns were taken from their hands by the rebels. The rebels were commanded by General Green in person and consisted of three brigades, in all a force of 5,000 men; our entire force there was about 500 men. My regiment had only about 260 in the action; many having been left sick in convalescent camps at Carrollton, La., they were not on the expedition. The fight was short, but deadly, considering the numbers engaged, the cane and high weeds concealing the lines until they approached within pistol shot. Many of our men escaped and came straggling into camp for two days afterwards. In the action we had killed two officers and eight enlisted men, wounded one officer (since died) and sixteen enlisted men, and eleven officers and 203 enlisted men taken prisoners. The loss in the Twenty-sixth Indiana was not so much as ours. The enemy's loss was fifty killed in the field and many more wounded. Great credit is due to the officers and men of my regiment, who fought bravely and desperately against fearful odds. The rebel officers acknowledged it was to them a dearly bought victory and were much chagrined at finding so small a capture after so vigorous a resistance. I was not in the engagement, having been ordered to New Orleans a few days prior. The regiment was at the time commanded by senior Captain Wm. Adams, Company B, who was taken prisoner.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN BRUCE,
Major Comd'g Nineteenth Iowa Vol., Infantry.

To N. B. Baker, Adjutant General of Iowa [see note 6].


The remainder of the regiment returned with the division to Carrollton, October 11th. Those who had escaped capture, together with those who had recovered from sickness and were again able for duty, now exceeded the number of those who were held by the enemy as prisoners of war.

On October 23d the regiment started upon an expedition, the objective point of which was Brownsville, Texas. The part taken by the Nineteenth Iowa in that important expedition is described in the official report of its commanding officer as follows:


Headquarters Nineteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry,
Brownsville, Texas, Dec. 1, 1863.

GENERAL: I have the honor to submit to you an account of the part taken by my regiment in the expedition against Texas, which was under the command of Major General Banks, and started from New Orleans on the 24th of October, 1863. On the 23d my regiment embarked on the steamer General Banks. The entire fleet consisted of sixteen vessels and three gunboats, all loaded with troops, provisions and munitions of war. On the 27th, the fleet sailed through the southwest pass, and came to anchor outside the bar. Went to sea on the 29th. On the 30th, we encountered a severe storm from the north. Our ship being overloaded, as well as old and frail, labored and strained alarmingly. The sea, striking very heavily under the guards and fantail, threatened to tear off the latter, rendering it necessary, in order to save life, to lighten the ship. This was at once done by heaving overboard eleven mules, one. battery wagon, forage, etc., after which she rode easier, but her leakage constantly increased, requiring the unremitting working of the pumps. On the 31st of October our fuel was nearly exhausted, and we were taken in tow by the Empire City. On the 1st day of November, we came in sight of land, and at 6 p. m. came to anchor off the bar at the Island of Brazos Santiago. On the 2d of November, we were the first of the fleet to cross the bar, and about noon effected a landing. The Nineteenth Regiment was the first command landed and its colors the first that floated on the breeze of that desolate island. I was at once ordered out, moved six miles to the front, and held the advance for three days, until a large part of the force was landed and came up. On the 6th of November our orders were to move forward, and after two days march up the Rio Grande, crossing the battlefields of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, we entered Brownsville, Texas, on the 7th, without opposition. The enemy had a small force, which evacuated the place on our approach. Previously, however, they fired the barracks of Fort Brown, and many private buildings, which were smouldering ruins when we took possession of the town. We captured a large amount of cotton, and stopped a large trade going on between Mexico and the so-called Confederate States. Colonel Wm. McE. Dye, of the Twentieth Iowa, commanding our brigade (Second Brigade, Second Division, Thirteenth Army Corps), was made commander of the post, and his brigade went into barracks in the town, where we still remain.

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN BRUCE,
Major Commanding Nineteenth Iowa Infantry.

To N. B. Baker, Adjutant General of Iowa [see note 7].


On the 1st of January, 1864, the regiment was still quartered in barracks at Brownsville, Texas. At that date, according to the report of Major Bruce, it had the aggregate number of 691 still borne upon its rolls, present for duty and absent, but among the absent were 213 of its officers and men who still languished in rebel prisons; and adding to these the sick and disabled in hospitals, and those upon detached duty, there were less than 400 men then present with the regiment and able for duty. On the 10th of March, 1864, Major John Bruce was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment. The regiment remained in Brownsville during the winter. On the 30th of March it left the barracks and encamped on the plain east of the town and near Fort Brown. In addition to the ordinary details for guard and picket duty, heavy details were now made for the purpose of restoring the ruined and dismantled fort. About the time the repairs were completed, guns mounted, and the fort put in good condition for defense, orders were received to prepare for its abandonment. Of the withdrawal of the troops from the Mexican frontier, Major Bruce wrote as follows:

About the 5th of July, we began to prepare for the evacuation of the place. This occupied considerable time. War material which had been collected had to be removed, and many refugees from the State, fleeing from rebel conscription and intolerance, had taken up their residence here. Even Mexican citizens, seeking asylum from the troubles of their own Government, sought the protection of the Stars and Stripes. These persons had to have time for the removal of their families and effects, and had to be provided with transportation to New Orleans and other places. The friends of the Mexican Government saw, with deep regret, the preparations for the evacuation of the line of the Rio Grande by the United States forces. During the occupation the most friendly relations were cultivated and maintained between our army and the Mexican army at Matamoras, then under command of General Cortinas, who adhered to the Mexican Government as represented by President Juarez. The occupation of this line by the United States forces inspired confidence among the friends of Mexican independence and operated as a strong moral power in staying the advance of the French in Northern Mexico. A sentiment of true sympathy, amounting in many cases to regret, pervaded our entire army that our international relations would not permit us at that time to give substantial aid to our sister republic in her struggle against French domination. During the progress of evacuation we were frequently threatened by the enemy. He attacked our pickets and made other demonstrations, but did not venture a general engagement for the possession of the place. On the 28th of July the evacuation of the town and fort took place. The whole command, under General Herron, marched out and camped the first night at San Martino. Afterwards the division halted at White's Ranch, and I was detained with my regiment at that place several days, covering the embarkation of the troops. On the 3d of August, I moved to the Island of Brazos Santiago, and the next day embarked on the steamer Corinthian with orders for New Orleans. Thus the line of the Rio Grande Was abandoned, except that a garrison was left to hold the Island of Santiago. Arrived at New Orleans on the 7th day of August, and was ordered into camp at Carrollton. Here we were much gratified at meeting the officers and men of the regiment who had been captured at the battle of Sterling Farm, on the 29th of September previous, and who had, on the 22d of July, been exchanged and were awaiting our arrival to join, the regiment. Ten officers, and one hundred and seventy enlisted men returned to us at this time. An account of their treatment by the enemy while prisoners, furnished me by S. F. Roderick, senior Captain of the regiment, who was one of their number, Is herewith submitted. . . . [See note 8.]


The report of Captain Roderick describes in detail the hardships endured by himself and the other members of his regiment, while confined in rebel prisons for a period of nearly ten months. They were moved from one place to another, and covered a distance of over 800 miles on foot, during the time they were in the hands of the enemy. The place where they were confined the longest was at Camp Tyler, Texas. This was a stockade, the walls of which were sixteen feet high; there was no shelter or protection of any kind from the weather, except some rude structures of logs and poles, built by the prisoners, and the food furnished was barely sufficient to sustain life. When they were first placed within the stockade they were entirely without shelter, and, for forty-eight hours, without food. They then received ten days' rations of corn meal, but had nothing to put it in, and for over thirty days had no vessels in which to cook the meal furnished them, except what they could borrow from their guards. The weather was cold, only a few of the men had blankets, and all were poorly clad, many of them being without shoes. Of course sickness was the inevitable result of such exposure and lack of food, and medical treatment was entirely inadequate. Near the close of his account Captain Roderick says: "At this time the scenes of human misery and suffering are beyond my power of description, and will only be known when some abler hand than mine shall write the history of the stockade at Tyler, Texas." The capacity for endurance of such hardships among these men of the Nineteenth Iowa was most remarkable, for the account states that, out of the 206 men of the regiment in confinement, there were but two deaths, while one deserted, thirty made their escape and one hundred seventy-three were exchanged [see note 9].

On the 14th of August, the regiment embarked at New Orleans, with orders to proceed to Pensacola, Florida, where it arrived on the 16th, and went into camp. From that place it took part in several expeditions, in one of which it lost one man killed in a skirmish with the enemy. December 6th the regiment again embarked and was conveyed to Fort Gaines, where it remained until the 14th, when it again embarked and, on the 15th, landed at East Pascagoula, Miss., and there joined the troops under command of General Granger, with Whom the regiment co-operated against the enemy. There were frequent skirmishes, but no general engagement, and the regiment sustained no loss. On Dec. 26, 1864, the regiment occupied a fortified position five miles from East Pascagoula, where it remained until the close of the year.

Early in January, 1865, the regiment returned to Pascagoula, where it remained until the close of the month and was then conveyed to Dauphin Island, Ala. Here preparations were begun for the next campaign, the results of which were to prove so important to the cause of the Union. Upon the arrival of the Sixteenth Army Corps from Tennessee, active operations against the enemy began. The regiment was assigned to a brigade composed of the Twentieth Wisconsin, Ninety-fourth Illinois, Twenty-third and Nineteenth Iowa regiments of Infantry and Battery "C" First Missouri Light Artillery. This was the First Brigade of the Second Division of the Thirteenth Army Corps. On the 27th of February the 'troops and camp equipments were conveyed by transports to Navy Cove near Fort Morgan. On the 17th of March the troops moved forward, the Thirteenth Corps taking the advance. The roads and the weather were bad. The men were frequently called upon to assist in getting the artillery over the almost impassable roads. It was hard and toilsome work, but the endurance of the soldiers was equal to the task. On the 22d of March, the advance had reached Fish river when the enemy's cavalry was encountered, but was able to offer only feeble resistance and the column moved on, arriving in front of Spanish Fort on the 26th. On the next day the rest of the army arrived, and by night the fort was completely invested, the First Brigade holding the extreme left of the line. Oh the 27th a general advance was ordered. The Nineteenth Iowa led the advance of its brigade. The enemy made a stubborn resistance, but finally fell back to the fort and its immediate defenses. Then commenced a series of regular siege operations, in which the Nineteenth Iowa performed its full share of duty under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John Bruce, whose official report of the part taken by his regiment is here given, as follows [see note 10]:


Headquarters Nineteenth Regiment, Iowa Infantry Volunteers,
Spanish Fort, Ala., April 14, 1865.

LIEUT. A. J. ROCKWELL, A. A. A. General, First Brigade,
Second Division, Thirteenth Army Corps.

SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report of the part taken by my regiment in the attack upon and reduction of Spanish Fort and its defenses. On the 27th of March, about noon, I was ordered forward; crossed the creek, deployed in line of battle, advanced Companies A and D in skirmish line through the thick brush, holding my line well out on my left to the bay. After ascending the hill, and in view of the fort, the enemy opened on my line with artillery, wounding a number of my men. Here we hastily threw up a line of works, and in the meantime Faust's Battery came up, opened on the enemy vigorously, and in a short time he ceased to return the fire. I again advanced, under orders, to get a position as near as possible to the enemy's works. The enemy, observing the movement, opened upon me with musketry, from his rifle pits, and from the front. He also opened with his artillery. In the advance I had a number of men killed and wounded. Under cover of the fallen timber, I protected my line as well as I could, while the artillery in my rear was playing with good effect on the rebel works. Darkness came on and I was ordered to throw up a line of defenses where I then was, which I did. After this the operations assumed the nature of a siege. We advanced our lines under cover of the night, by parallels, drove the enemy out of his pits, and occupied them. On the night of the 8th of April, the enemy abandoned his works, and we took possession of them. Annexed to this report, find list of the killed and wounded of my regiment. My casualties were but few after the advance of the first day.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

JOHN BRUCE,
Lieut. Col. Nineteenth Iowa Inft., Commanding Regt.


With the fall of Spanish Fort ended the battle history of the Nineteenth Iowa. On the 9th of April, Fort Blakely was captured by the troops under General Steele, and on the night of the 10th, Mobile and all its defenses were evacuated by the enemy. During the following month the regiment was employed, with other troops, in dismantling the forts around Mobile. It then moved to Dauphin Island, and remained there until June 14th, when it was ordered to return to Mobile and, soon after its arrival there, the officers and men were rejoiced by receiving the glad news that they would soon be permitted to return to their homes. On the 10th day of July, 1865, the regiment was mustered out of the service of the United States at Mobile, Alabama; on the 17th it embarked on. steamer for New Orleans, and was conveyed from there to Cairo, Ill., by steamboat, thence by rail to Davenport, Iowa, where it was disbanded Aug. 1, 1865, and the officers and men bade each other good-bye and returned to their homes. The day before the regiment disbanded, its commander issued the following address [see note 11]:


Headquarters Nineteenth Iowa Infantry Volunteers,
Davenport, Iowa, July 31, 1865.

FELLOW SOLDIERS; OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE NINETEENTH REGIMENT, IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.

On the eve of separation, it is perhaps no more than proper that I should address to you a few parting words. We have been together for three long, eventful years – years of surpassing interest in the history of our country, and of the world. Inspired by a common patriotic impulse, we joined hands on the altar of our country, and common sufferings, sacrifices and dangers have united us in the affectionate memory of the heart. You have borne yourselves well in the great struggle. No commanding officer has ever spoken of you otherwise than in commendation of your gallant services.

You have endured with patience and fortitude the hardships and dangers to which you have been exposed; you have cheerfully performed every duty required of you, whether on the field of battle or in the pauses of the conflict. You return from the victorious fields of the republic, conscious of having done your part in bearing aloft the banner of your country's nationality, and planting it on every hill and valley throughout the land. You will receive the congratulations of your friends, and a grateful country will not forget your services. Go, then, my comrades, put off the panoply of war, and enter the pursuits of peaceful industry; prove yourselves good citizens, as you have good soldiers. Forget not the principles for which you have victoriously contended, and for preserved life, health, and good government, forget not the debt of gratitude due to Almighty God. With the most profound sentiments of respect for the memories of our honored dead, and the liveliest feelings of kindly regard for all who have survived, I bid you, comrades all, farewell. I part from your command without the consciousness of one unkind feeling toward anyone of you. God bless you and grant you long life and health. May home soon gladden your eyes and cheer your hearts, and may demostic [sic] happiness meet you smiling at your gates.

JOHN BRUCE,
Lieut. Col. Nineteenth Iowa Volunteers.


Well and faithfully have the survivors of this splendid regiment observed the parting injunction of their gallant commander. In their various avocations in life they have remained true to the principles for which they fought. Many of them have answered the last roll call since the close of the great struggle for the preservation of their government, and comparatively few remain to peruse this brief sketch of the service performed by the regiment to which they belonged; but the children of the living and the dead, and their posterity to the latest generation, will refer with just pride to the record of personal service of their ancestors, as shown in the brief paragraphs in connection with their names in the roster which follows this history. The commonwealth of Iowa has, performed a high duty in thus preserving, not only the history of this splendid regiment, but the names of the men who marched and fought under its colors, and brought them back to their state to be placed among the clusters of honored flags which adorn the rotunda of its Capitol. With the lapse of time the Republic for which these brave men fought and suffered will grow stronger and more enduring, and with its growth and strength will increase the love and reverence for the memory of those who, in the time of their country's greatest need, rallied to her defense and saved her from destruction at the hands of a portion of her own rebellious children.


SUMMARY OP CASUALTIES.

Total Enrollment. 1132
Killed 58
Wounded 198
Died of wounds 40
Died of disease 93
Discharged for disease, wounds or other causes 209
Buried in National Cemeteries 85
Captured 216
Transferred 43


[Note 1.] Adjutant General's Report, State of Iowa, Vol. 1, 1863, Original Roster of the Regiment, pages 682 to 717.

[Note 2.] The compiler of this sketch has gleaned much of his material from the carefully prepared histories of the operations of the regiment, found in the reports of the Adjutant General of Iowa, for the years 1864, 1866 and 1867, pages 461 to 466, 284 to 286 and 589 to, 592, written by John Bruce, Major, Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, Nineteenth Iowa Infantry, and Brevet Colonel and Brigadier General. The student of the military history of Iowa is referred to these histories for a more extended account of the operations of this regiment.

[Note 3.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa 1864, pages 463-4.

[Note 4.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa 1866, pages 281-2.

[Note 5.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, Vol. 2, 1863, Report, page 832.

[Note 6.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa for year 1864, pages 461-2.

[Note 7.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa for year 1864, page 462 and map No. 43, War of the Rebellion Records.

[Note 8.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa for year 1866, pages 282, 284 and 285.

[Note 9.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1866, pages 283-4.

[Note 10.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa for year 1866, page 286.

[Note 11.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa for year 1867, Vol. 2, page 591.


SOURCE: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Volume 3, p. 225-34

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

COLONEL WILLIAM MCE. DYE

TWENTIETH INFANTRY.

William McE. Dye was born in the State of Pennsylvania, about the year 1831. At the time of entering the volunteer service, he was a captain in the regular army — I think, in the 8th Infantry. When promoted to the colonelcy of the 20th Iowa, his residence was in Marion, Linn county, Iowa. I know no more of his history.

The history of the 20th Iowa Regiment is nearly the same as that of the 19th. From the first, these two regiments have served together, and much of the time in the same brigade. With the 20th Wisconsin and 94th Illinois, they constituted Herron's Brigade, with which he marched from Rolla to Springfield, in September, 1862. Prairie Grove was the 20th Iowa's first battle, as it also was the first of the 19th. However, at the time of this action, the 20th regiment was attached to Totten's Division, (the 2d) the 19th being attached to Herron's (the 3d) — all of the Army of the Frontier, as organized on the 15th of the previous October. But, as has been previously stated, both Schofield and Totten being absent, General Herron marched to Blunt's relief, at Cane Hill, with both divisions, and chief in command.

For a further history of the battle at Prairie Grove, and more particularly for the part taken in it by the 20th Iowa, I shall refer to the interesting and official statement of Lieutenant-Colonel Leake; first premising, however, that the regiment entered the engagement in support of the three left guns of Captain Murphy's Battery, which, having been pushed across Illinois Creek, were put in position in the edge of the woods on the north side of the prairie.

"Immediately after forming in line, I was ordered to throw out a party of skirmishers, to protect our right and rear from surprise, for which service I detailed twenty men of Company A, under the command of First-Lieutenant C. L. Drake of that company. The 26th Indiana, the only infantry regiment in the 1st Brigade, of the 2d Division, was formed to the rear of, and between the 37th Illinois and the 20th Iowa. These dispositions having been made at one o'clock P. M., the engagement was opened by the firing of a gun from the battery, under command of Lieutenant Marr. At about two o'clock, the order was given to advance the battery, I receiving orders to move the regiment forward in support. We advanced in this order across the open field, to within about two hundred yards of the foot of the hill, and in front of the house of H. Roger, when the battery was ordered back, but the regiment left in its advanced position. I presently received orders from Colonel Dye, in pursuance of which the regiment moved to the right, into the adjoining field, and in front of the orchard on the left of the house of William Rogers, to check a movement of the enemy to out-flank us on the right. At this time, the 20th was on the extreme right of the 2d and 3d Divisions. This movement was executed under a galling fire, which we returned, advancing to within a few paces of the edge of the orchard."

"At this time, a force appeared on our right, advancing up the valley. Fearing that we were being outflanked by the enemy, I was ordered to fall back across the field, and take position behind a fence in our rear, which was executed in good order, under fire. I then threw out Companies A and F, under command of Captains Bates and Hubbard, as skirmishers. Shortly after a cavalry force appeared upon our right and rear, whereupon the skirmishers were recalled, and a change of front made toward the approaching force. Colonel Dye having sent forward and ascertained that the cavalry were from General Blunt's command, the 20th Iowa at once changed front, and resumed its former position behind the fence, fronting toward the orchard. We had scarcely re-taken this position, when an aid from General Blunt reported to me that the forces that had come up the valley and were taking position in the field on our right was the command of General Blunt

"Blunt at once sent forward a part of the 1st Indiana regiment as skirmishers. Colonel Dye reported to General Blunt, and ordered me to make a charge with the 20th up the hill, on the left of, and operate with the forces of General Blunt. I moved the regiment rapidly forward in line of battle across the field, obliquing to the left; crossed the orchard fence; drove the enemy through the orchard; and advanced beyond the upper orchard fence, and through the woods a short distance. The left wing being more severely engaged, the right had passed further in advance, when some of the Indianians came running back through the woods to the right, gesticulating violently, and pointing in the direction whence they came. At the same moment an officer shouted to me that we were firing on our friends. Seeing some men with United States overcoats on, I gave the order to cease firing, and rode toward the left. I feared that the troops on our left wing had ascended the hill, and advanced to our front; but I now saw directly in our front, a mass of troops moving down upon us. At nearly the same instant, they fired a volley, under which the left wing recoiled nearly to the orchard fence, when they promptly rallied at my command, and renewed the firing with great rapidity and, I think, with great effect.

"The Indiana regiment having fallen back, I received orders to retire behind the fence at the foot of the hill, and hold it, which movement was promptly executed by the regiment, and in good order, the men climbing the fence under a galling fire, lying down behind it and continuing their fire between the fence rails."

In this position the fighting of the 20th Iowa practically closed; for, so soon as the regiment left the orchard, Blunt's and Herron's artillery opened a vigorous fire on the enemy, and drove them back; and, though they kept up a fire till after dark from their retired position, they did not advance to renew the attack.

The loss of the 20th Iowa in this action was forty-seven. Lieutenant Harrison Oliver was the only commissioned officer of the regiment killed. He was a native of Massachusetts, and a young man, I am told of much promise. Lieutenants R. M. Lyth, T. G. G. Cavendish, Fred. E. Starck and E. Stowe were wounded. Seven enlisted men were killed, among whom were Sergeants T. B. Miller, and F. M. Steel. Major William G. Thompson, who acted with great courage, was quite severely wounded. He received high commendation from Lieutenant-Colonel Leake: "I was assisted in the discharge of my duties as commander of the regiment, by Major Thompson who, although exposed to the hottest fire, conducted himself with great gallantry and self-possession. He was wounded late in the action, and, though suffering great pain, did not leave the field until the command was safely withdrawn from under the fire of the enemy." The good conduct of Lieutenant J. C. McCelland, acting adjutant, was most highly commended, as was also that of Sergeant-Major George A. Gray. "The men acted throughout the engagement bravely and with entire self-possession, retiring under fire repeatedly, and rallying with the utmost promptness at the word of command." General Herron in his official report omits mentioning the name of Lieutenant-Colonel Leake, though I am told none showed greater coolness and determination on the field than he. "The conduct of Colonel W. McE. Dye was admirable."

From the date of the Prairie Grove battle till the fall of Vicksburg, and, indeed, till the arrival of Herron's Division at Carrollton, Louisiana, and its return to Morganzia, the history of the 20th Iowa will be found substantially recorded In the sketch of the 19th. Their fatiguing marches through the alternating mud and dust of Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas; their exposures in inclement weather; their labors before Vicksburg; their march from Yazoo City, across to the Big Black and back to the river; their trip to Port Hudson and Carrollton, and back to Morganzia — in all, their experiences are nearly the same.

The 20th Iowa was not in the action at Sterling Farm, though Lieutenant-Colonel Leake of the regiment was in command of the forces, which fought there and were captured. Only thirteen men of the regiment accompanied the colonel, and these served as mounted infantry, and were employed in scouting and as vedettes. On the day of the battle, they were stationed some eight miles distant from the main body, and at that point were attacked and routed by a portion of the same rebel force, which fought Colonel Leake. As stated in the sketch of the 19th Iowa, Lieutenant-Colonel Leake was captured, and shared all the hardships of the prison-life. He seemed to have been one of the chief counselors of the unfortunate captives; for, at the time Private Moorehead, of the 26th Indiana, was shot by the brute, Smith, the prisoners determined "to rise, massacre the small guard, and sack the neighboring town of Tyler;" but the colonel counseled moderation, and "calmed an excitement, which might have resulted in a rash outbreak that could only end in the destruction of all." Lieutenant-Colonel A. J. H. Duganne, a prisoner at Camp Ford, and the author of "Twenty months in the Department of the Gulf,” pays Colonel Leake the following compliment: "He was one of the most genial and intelligent officers that I met at Camp Ford."

The 20th Iowa remained with its division in the vicinity of Morganzia, until about the 10th of October, 1863, when it left on the return to Carrollton. General Banks was already organizing his forces, preparatory to his expedition into Texas; and Herron's Division was summond [sic] below, to join in this service. All things were in readiness late in October, and the 24th of that month Banks cut loose from the Crescent City, and steered for Brazos Santiago. He had an ample out-fit — sixteen vessels, loaded down with troops and supplies, and three gun-boats. The expedition promised much, but for some reason resulted in nothing substantial. The territory recovered, was all afterward abandoned. Indeed, General Banks, though a brilliant and most worthy man in some respects, has been unsuccessful or unfortunate, from the time of assuming command at New Orleans, forward to — I don't care how far. His operations at Port Hudson were not brilliant; his "Teche Raid" was only ordinary; his efforts at Sabine Pass, where a mud fort repulsed him, were inglorious; his movements up the Rio Grande, and along the Texan coast were substantially failures; and his expedition up the Red River an alarming disaster. Evidently, he is not fit for the field; though, as a military governor, he possesses merit.

An account of the passage from New Orleans to Brazos Santiago has been given in the sketch of Colonel Crabb, of the 19th Iowa. On arriving at the last named point, the 20th Iowa did not accompany its division to Brownsville; but crossing the Lagoon de Madre to Point Isabel, proceeded to Mustang Island, where it remained for several months.

When Canby and Granger were about to attack the forts at the mouth of Mobile Bay, the 20th Iowa with the other troops of its division were summoned to that department. The regiment took part in those operations, and, in the following Fall, moved up the Mississippi to Morganzia. For many weeks, it operated in Louisiana and Arkansas; but a history of these movements will be found elsewhere. It last served under General Steele, in the operations against Mobile, marching from Pensacola, Florida, via Pollard to the rear of Fort Blakely. Of the particular part it acted in this grand movement, I am unadvised.

I am told that Colonel Dye is a little above the medium in size; that he has a freckled face, sandy hair, light eye-brows, and bright blue eyes. He is either a relation or a friend of Ex-Governor Kirkwood, and, like that able, unpretending man, is careless in dress and unostentatious in manners. He ranks high as an officer, and is held in the highest esteem by General Canby.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 361-6

Monday, November 30, 2009

COLONEL BENJAMIN CRABB

NINETEENTH INFANTRY.

Benjamin Crabb, of the 19th Iowa Infantry, is a native of Ohio, and was born in the year 1821. I am ignorant of his early history, and of the time he first removed to Iowa. When I first knew him, he was the proprietor of a hotel in Washington, Iowa. I think that was his business at the outbreak of the war.

Benjamin Crabb first entered the service in the summer of 1861. He was captain of Company H, 7th Iowa Infantry. At the battle of Belmont, he distinguished himself, and was thus complimented by Colonel, afterward General Lauman: "I desire also to direct your attention to Captain Crabb, who was taken prisoner, and who behaved in the bravest manner." After being exchanged he re-joined his regiment, and remained with it till the 13th of August, 1862, when he resigned his commission, to accept the colonelcy of the 19th Iowa Infantry.

"This regiment was organized in the city of Keokuk in August, 1862, and was the first in the State under the President's call, dated July 2d, for 300,000 volunteers. The companies were mustered into the United States service, as they reported — the first, on the 17th day of August, and the last, on the 25th day of August, 1862: its aggregate number, at the date of organization, was nine hundred and eighty men."

The early history of the 19th Iowa, as also that of the 20th, was made under General F. J. Herron. Leaving Keokuk on the 4th of September, 1862, the regiment proceeded to Benton Barracks, Missouri, where it was assigned to a brigade, commanded by that officer. Its stay at Benton Barracks was only six days. Then, marching to the Pacific Railroad Depot, it proceeded by cars to Rolla.

The first three month's service of this regiment is made up of marchings and counter-marchings in Southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas. On some of these, the enemy were met in slight skirmishes; but the majority of them were characterized simply by that dragging, fatiguing monotony, which is unbearable, especially if the roads and weather be unfavorable. To show the nature of these services, I quote a portion of the regiment's record, which covers only six days of its service:

"October 17th — broke up camp at Cassville, Missouri; marched southward four miles and camped for the night. October 18th — marched southward thirty-one miles, and camped on Sugar Creek, Benton county, Arkansas; lay on our arms all night. General Blunt's Division was camped near by. At five o'clock P. M., of the 20th, broke up camp; made a night's march over the Pea Ridge battle-ground, and on to White River; crossed the river — water about three feet deep, clear and cold. On the 22d instant, marched fifteen miles; halted and prepared supper. We were then within a distance of six miles from Huntsville, Arkansas. Fell in again at six P. M., and made a night's march of fourteen miles to White River, at a point below where we had first crossed, arriving at two A. M., on the morning of the 23d of October; bivouacked until seven A. M., when, without waiting for breakfast, crossed White River; marched forward, much of the time on double-quick, reaching the telegraph road at Bloomington, at twelve M.; formed at once in line of battle, expecting an attack. Remained in this position three hours, and were then ordered forward on the main road to Cross Hollows, Arkansas, where we arrived at five P. M., and went into camp, having made a forced march of one hundred miles in three days and three nights, over a very rough and mountainous country, and having compelled the enemy to retreat across the Boston Mountains."

The month of November, as well as the previous one, was passed by the 19th Iowa and the greater part of the Army of the Frontier, in a constant chase from one point to another.

The country was full of rumors; the general officers in immediate command were young and ambitious, which, taken together, made the time pass most restlessly with the poor infantry troopers. Thus far the enemy had declined to stand and fight. They were not, however, without spirit. They were organizing; and the coming December was to test their prowess. November, 1862, closed with the divisions of Totten and Herron at Camp Curtis, near Wilson's Creek, Missouri, and that of Blunt at Cane Hill, Arkansas. The enemy had in the meantime organized, and were advancing to give Blunt battle; but a history of these events has been previously given. Herron struggled with the confident but cautious enemy till Blunt came up from Cane Hill, when the cloud that before had threatened almost certain destruction, broke and disappeared. The 19th Iowa was doubtless the banner regiment of the unequal and terrible battle of Prairie Grove; but the 20th Iowa is entitled to hardly less praise, as also is the 20th Wisconsin.

The records of the regiment thus modestly tell the story of this engagement:

"The 19th Iowa and 20th Wisconsin charged and broke the rebel centre, and took a battery, but were unable to hold it. Lieutenant-Colonel McFarland was killed dead on the field, while leading the regiment in this charge. Lieutenant Smith, of Company F; Lieutenant Johnson, of Company I; and Sergeant-Major C. B. Buckingham, were also killed on the field. Our whole loss was forty-five killed, and one hundred and fifty-five wounded. Captains Wright, of Company D; Paine, of Company I; Jordan, of Company B; and Lieutenant Brooks, of Company D; were severely wounded."

Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel McFarland was a brave and good man, and his loss was sincerely mourned. He was a native of Pennsylvania, a resident of Mount Pleasant, and first entered the service, as captain in the 11th Iowa Infantry.

After the battle of Prairie Grove, the 19th Iowa enjoyed its first rest since leaving Springfield in the previous October. It camped on the battle-field the night after the engagement, as though unwilling to part with its dead comrades, just buried. The regiment remained at Prairie Grove nearly three weeks; and then broke camp and, with its division, marched across the Boston Mountains to Van Buren, on the Arkansas. From Van Buren it returned to Prairie Grove. And now its marchings again became uninterrupted: indeed, from the 2d of January, 1863, when it left Prairie Grove for White River, till the 25th instant, when it went into camp near Forsyth, Missouri, it heard little else than the beat to "fall in," and the command, "forward." At Forsyth, it remained to guard the place, while its division proceeded to Lake Spring, Missouri.

Late in April, 1863, the regiment proceeded to Ozark, and from that point marched against Marmaduke, who was threatening the country in the vicinity of Hartsville; but it failed to meet the fleet-footed rebel. The services of the regiment in Missouri were now drawing to a close. On the 3d of June, it marched from Salem, Missouri, to Rolla, whence it proceeded by rail to St. Louis, and embarked on the transport Chautau for Vicksburg.

Such has been the character of service imposed on the Federal troops in Missouri — most annoying and fatiguing in its nature, and almost wholly destitute of honor. Had the 19th Iowa been retained in Missouri, and had it not fought at Prairie Grove, every man of it might have marched to his grave, and yet the regiment be without a record.

But little of the history of the 19th Iowa was made under Colonel Crabb. He remained with it, and in command of it, till its arrival at Springfield, in September, 1862. At Springfield he was made Commandant of the Post, and never I think joined it afterward. He was at Springfield, at the time that place was attacked by Marmaduke in January, 1863; and, after General Brown was wounded, assumed command of the Federal forces; and I am informed that he succeeded to the duties and responsibilities of the command with much honor. He resigned his commission in the following Spring, and returned to his home in Washington.

The 19th Iowa left St. Louis for Vicksburg, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Daniel Kent: it was one of the regiments of General Herron's Division, and, before Vicksburg, was on the right of that command. Its duties during the siege, and its triumphal march into the city after its surrender, Lieutenant-Colonel Kent gives as follows:

"Our fatigue duty consisted in digging rifle-pits, planting batteries and siege-guns to bear upon the enemy's works. This was continued and unremitting, (well named fatigue-duty) until the morning of the ever-glorious fourth day of July, when the glad news came to us that, Vicksburg had surrendered. We were then ordered to join in the march of the triumphant army, which we did; and now occupy a part of the enemy's works."

Private Thomas Fender, of Company I, was the only man of the regiment wounded during the siege.

After the fall of Vicksburg, the 19th Iowa joined in the expedition up the Yazoo River, which was made by General Herron's Division, and which is detailed elsewhere. On the return to Vicksburg, General Herron sailed with his command for Port Hudson; whence, after a few days' stay, he proceeded to Carrollton, Louisiana; and now soon follows the saddest page in the history of the 19th Iowa.

Early in September, the enemy appearing in force in the vicinity of Morganzia, General Herron was sent back to that point, where he operated for about a month. During these operations, the 19th Iowa was captured in the engagement at Sterling Farm, near the Atchafalaya. I quote from Major Bruce's official report:

"On the 29th instant, the enemy, having received reinforcements, turned our right and attacked us in the rear, cutting off our retreat. He at the same time attacked us in front. My regiment was first called into action, met the enemy boldly, and at short range, delivering a deadly volley, which compelled him to fall back. He however rallied again in overwhelming force, and, after a firm and desperate struggle, in which we were well supported by the 26th Indiana, we were completely overpowered and compelled to surrender. Many of our men, however, refused to give up until the guns were taken from their hands by the rebels.

"The rebels were commanded by General Green in person, and consisted of three brigades — in all, a force of five thousand men. Our entire force was about five hundred. My regiment had only about two hundred and sixty men in the action: many having been left sick in convalescent camps at Carrollton, Louisiana, were not present on the expedition. The fight was short, but deadly, considering the numbers engaged. The corn and high weeds concealed the enemy's lines, until they approached within pistol-shot. Many of our men escaped and. came straggling into camp for two days afterward."

The loss of the 19th Iowa in this action, was two officers and eight enlisted men killed, and one officer and eleven enlisted men wounded. Eleven officers and two hundred and three enlisted men were captured, and marched to prison at Camp Ford, Texas. Lieutenants Kent and Roberto of the regiment were among the killed. Captain Taylor, of Company G, was severely wounded, and died of his wounds soon after. The 19th Iowa constituted the first installment of Iowa troops, taken to Camp Ford; and its locality and surroundings may be given here with interest. I quote from a letter of Chaplain M. H. Hare, of the 36th Iowa, who, at a later day, was himself a prisoner of war in this wretched den.

"The prison-camp is one hundred miles south-west of Shreveport, Louisiana, and four miles from Tyler, Texas. It is situated on high table-lands, covered with pine and oak, and might be considered, for this country, healthy. There are about eight acres in the stockade. A spring in the south-west corner of the lot furnishes a good supply of water, impregnated with sulphur, and tolerably cool. Old prisoners say this water is healthy. The stockade is formed by placing logs, halved, upright, planted some two feet in the ground, and standing seven feet above the surface. The prisoners have to build their own quarters, and are very much in the condition of the old Israelites, who were required to make brick without straw."

The 19th Iowa was captured on the 29th of October, as already stated, and was at that time the fourth Iowa regiment that had been captured entire, or nearly so. Three others have since suffered the like misfortune. In April, 1864, the 36th was captured near More Creek, Arkansas; in July of the same year, the 16th was captured south-east of Atlanta; and, in the following October, the 17th was captured at Tilton, Georgia. The 19th Iowa were the first Iowa troops that, as prisoners of war, suffered great cruelties, on the west side of the Mississippi. Indeed, previous to this, the Confederate authorities at Richmond had not resolved on disabling their captives for further service, by exposure and starvation. But these were not the only cruelties practiced; for instance: "A private of the 26th Indiana regiment, named Thomas Moorehead, was one day near the guard-line, waiting for wood, when he was abruptly commanded to fall back. The Federal soldier was aware that an order had been promulgated forbidding prisoners to approach within three paces of the line, and he had halted, therefore, at a distance much greater. Nevertheless, in compliance with the sentry's demand, he was turning back, when the brute, whose name is remembered as Frank Smith, shot him, the ball passing through his body and shattering the arm of another prisoner, who stood near by. Moorehead, fatally hurt in the bowels, died the same night; and the wounded man was left without surgical assistance, other than could be afforded by a hospital-steward, captured soon after."

I have said the 19th Iowa were marched as prisoners of war to Tyler, Texas; but they had many sufferings before reaching that place. They were first sent to Alexandria, then to Shreveport, and from that point to Tyler. It is said their guard from Shreveport to Tyler, were rebel Red River steamboat-men, who practiced on them great cruelties. In the early winter of 1863-4, they were paroled for exchange, and marched back to Shreveport; but for some reason no exchange was effected, and after remaining at Shreveport all Winter they were again sent to Tyler. Their treatment on this march was more brutal than ever. Their course was marked by the blood from their swollen and lacerated feet. "Men, who failed to keep up from swollen feet, were lassoed and dragged by the neck. Many were wounded by blows from swords and muskets. Proper representations of this treatment were made to General Kirby Smith, but without effect." They were finally exchanged on the 23d of July, 1864, and delivered to Colonel Dwight near the mouth of Red River. Proceeding to New Orleans, their wretched condition excited much sympathy; and they were photographed in a group, and prints of the negative sent to all parts of the country.

Though it seems hardly possible, there are not wanting those who now clamor for an amnesty that shall shield the instigators of these enormous crimes from justice. For my part I will never cease to pray that blood may flow till all these inhuman wretches have suffered the full penalty of the law. Let our innocent blood be avenged, or peace will never be secure! Let all leading traitors die!

That portion of the 19th regiment which escaped capture at Sterling Farm, and its sick and convalescent at Carrollton and other points, were afterward united, and, under Major Bruce, joined in General Banks' expedition into Texas, late in the following October.

The above expedition left New Orleans, and, passing down to the Gulf through the South West Pass, anchored out side the bar in the evening of the 28th instant. On the morning of the 29th, it put to sea. The three-days trip across the Gulf will never be forgotten by Banks' old command. The majority of the troops were land-men, and, with pleasant weather and an even sea, would have experienced little pleasure; but the elements conspired against them. The morning of the second day out broke with a violent storm from the north, which lashed the waters into frightful commotion. Unfortunately, many of the troops were embarked on old and frail transports. These were loaded to the water's edge, and every surge of the heavy sea made them groan like huge monsters at bay. Several of the boats became leaky, and, to lighten them, mules, wagons, caissons, and forage were thrown overboard. The storm finally abated, and the whole fleet arrived at the Island of Brazos Santiago in safety. The bar was crossed on the second of November, and a landing effected. The 19th Iowa was the first regiment to land, and that was soon followed by the 20th.

Four days were consumed in disembarking the troops, unloading the baggage and supplies, and in reconnoitering. Then, —November 6th— a portion of Herron's Division, of which was the 19th Iowa, led the advance to Brownsville, which was entered on the evening of the next day, without opposition. Portions of the town were at the time in flames, as also were the barracks of Fort Brown. The town had been occupied by rebel troops; but they fled on the approach of the Federals. I should not omit to state that the country through which our troops marched was historic: the line of march led past the battle-fields of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. Large quantities of cotton captured, and the breaking up of a considerable trade between Mexico and the Confederacy, were the chief fruits of this military movement.

In the summer of 1864, that portion of the 19th Iowa which escaped capture returned to New Orleans, where it was joined by its comrades, just released from Tyler, Texas. The regiment then joined in the operations that resulted in the capture of the forts guarding Mobile Bay. Much of the fall of 1864, and of the following Winter, it passed at different points along the Mississippi, and operated with the forces that were changed from one point to another in Louisiana and Arkansas, to check-mate the movements of the enemy. It last served under General Granger in the operations against Mobile, being brigaded with the 20th Wisconsin, 23d Iowa, and the 94th Illinois. With its brigade, it held the extreme left of the Federal forces before Spanish Fort. In the reduction of this strong-hold, it suffered little if any loss.

Benjamin Crabb was the only colonel the 19th Iowa had. At the time of his resignation, the ranks of the regiment had been so depleted in action and by disease, as to reduce it below the minimum of a regimental organization. In justice to a gallant and faithful officer, I should state that the regiment, a chief portion of the time since the resignation of Colonel Crabb, has been commanded by Major John Bruce, a Scotchman by birth, and a resident of Keokuk, Iowa.

Colonel Crabb is a large, portly man, and has the appearance, on short acquaintance, of being easy-going and good natured. He walks like a lazy man, but his neighbors say he is not. He was an efficient officer, and left the service, I am told, on account of ill-health.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 351-60