No. 10.
Report of Col. Marcellus M. Crocker,
Thirteenth Iowa Infantry.
HDQRS. THIRTEENTH
REGIMENT IOWA INFANTRY VOLS.,
Camp near Pittsburg,
Tenn., April 8, 1862.
SIR: I have the honor to report the part taken by the
Thirteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the engagement with the enemy on
the 6th and 7th instant.
Early in the morning of the 6th the alarm was given, and
heavy firing in the distance indicated that our camp was attacked. The regiment
was formed in front of its color line, its full force consisting of 717 men,
rank and file. It was at once ordered to form on the left of the Second
Brigade, and proceeded to that position at a double-quick, and was then formed
in line of battle in a skirt of woods bordering on an open field to the left of
a battery. Here it remained for some time inactive, while the enemy's guns were
playing on our battery. In the mean time a large force of the enemy's infantry
were filing around the open field in front of our line, protected by the woods
and in the direction of our battery, opening a heavy fire of musketry on the
infantry stationed on our right and charging upon the battery. The infantry and
battery to the right having given way, and the enemy advancing at double-quick,
we gave them one round of musketry and also gave way. At this time we – as,
indeed, all our troops in the immediate vicinity of the battery – were thrown
into great confusion, and retired in disorder. Having retired to the distance
of 100 or 200 yards we succeeded in rallying and forming a good line, the
Eighth and Eighteenth Illinois Volunteers on our left, and having fronted to
the enemy, held our position there under a continual fire of cannon and musketry
until after 12 o’clock, when we were ordered to retire and take up a new
position. This we did in good order and without confusion. Here, having formed
a new line, we maintained it under incessant fire until 4.30 o’clock p.m., the
men conducting themselves with great gallantry and coolness, and doing great
execution on the enemy, repulsing charge after charge, and driving them back
with great loss.
At 4.30 o’clock p.m. we were again ordered to fall back. In
obeying this order we became mixed up with a great number of regiments falling
back in confusion, so that our line was broken and the regiment separated,
rendering it very difficult to collect it; but finally, having succeeded in
forming, and being separated from the brigade, we attached ourselves to the
division commanded by Colonel Tuttle, of the Second Iowa Volunteers, and formed
with his division in front of the encampment of the Fourteenth, Second, and
Seventh Iowa Volunteers, where we sustained a heavy fire from the enemy's
battery until dark, and there remained during the night on our arms. During the
day we were under fire of the enemy for ten hours, and sustained a loss of 23
killed and 130 wounded.
On the morning of the 7th we were ordered to continue with
Colonel Tuttle’s division and to follow up and support our forces that were
attacking and driving back the enemy. We followed them up closely, moving to
support the batteries until the enemy was routed, after which we were ordered
to return to the encampment that we had left on Sunday morning, where we
arrived at 8 o’clock p.m.
Our total loss in the action of the 6th and 7th is: Killed,
24; wounded, 139; missing, 9; total, 172.* The men for the most part behaved with great
gallantry, and the officers exhibited the greatest bravery and coolness; and I
call especial attention to the gallant conduct of my field officers,
Lieutenant-Colonel Price and Major Shane, who were both wounded in the action
of the 6th, and acknowledge my great obligations to my adjutant, Lieutenant Wilson,
who during the entire action exhibited the highest qualities of a soldier.
Respectfully,
&c.,
M. M. CROCKER,
Colonel Thirteenth
Iowa Infantry.
C. CADLE, Jr., A.
A. A. G., First Brigade, First Division.
__________
* But see revised statement, p. 100, and division return, p.
123.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
X (Serial No. 10), Part I, pages 131-2
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