BATTLE FIELD, PITTSBURG
LANDING,
April 26th, 1862.
EDITOR GAZETTE: – If your correspondent of the 11th has neglected
to keep you posted up as to our doings, &c., pray excuse me, for I have and
a more pressing engagement, which I
could not decline. – We, i. e., our
mess and Chaplain, had just finished our breakfast on the morning of Sunday,
April 6th, in the open air, and were discussing, quietly enough, the meaning of
the occasional volleys of musketry from the southwest, which, as heretofore,
might be from returning pickets; the men were preparing guns for Sunday
inspection, and the Chaplain was just turning into our sleeping tent for a
Bible, to pick a text for the day’s sermon, when lo! a squad of fugitives in
uniform came running through our camp with the cry of “the enemy are cutting us
to pieces!” followed hard by a mounted orderly dashing past to the tent of Col.
Hare, who commanded, to-day, our brigade.
The long roll beats, and in
fifteen minutes the Iowa 11th is in line of battle, under Lt. Col. Hall. The other regiments of our brigade, the 13th
Iowa, and the 8th and 18th Ill., are moved off half a mile to our left, while
the 2d brigade of McClernand’s division (the 11th, 45th, 20th, and 48th Ill.) are
between them and us, placing our regiment on the extreme right of McClernand’s
division, and of the whole line of battle, from 8 A. M. until 2 P. M.
I am thus particular as to our position, in order to show
where credit is due for some hard work claimed by the Ill. 11th and 45th, who
were next to us. We were hardly in line
before the scattered fugitives had grown to a huge crowd, and soldiers were
seen flying from the foe by thousands, and not a stray shot or shell from a
cannon came whistling past – our Chaplain brought us a specimen picked up in
lieu of his text – and in long and serried lines the compact masses of the foe
moved in sight. 75,000 to 90,000 of the
bravest and best drilled soldiers of the South, under Polk, Bragg and Hardee,
guided by Beauregard and Johnston, and surprised
our camp of five divisions, of less than 40,000 fighting men, and before 8 o’clock
A. M. had utterly routed two of these
divisions – Sherman’s and Prentiss’.
Look at the
map
of our battle field given in the Chicago Tribune
of the 16th inst., and you will see that the victorious enemy rushing on
from Sherman’s towards the river would fall upon McClernand’s and Hurlbut’s
divisions next, and they came upon us expecting an easy victory. Our regiment
had been detached to act as a reserve for the reinforcement of any part of our division
needing aid; but so overwhelming was the force of the enemy, now over three to one,
that within twenty minutes of our getting into line we were in the hottest of
the fight.
Repeated efforts were made to
turn our right flank, and as one brigade of the enemy became exhausted and
discouraged, it was withdrawn and fresh forces brought up.
For five hours we maintained the unequal contest and every
man fought as though he felt that the salvation of our army depended that day
on our holding our position until reinforcements should arrive. Twice after getting our first position were
we compelled to fall back to prevent the enemy from outflanking us, and for the
third time we charged upon the foe- although our ranks were reduced one third
by dead, wounded and those helping off the wounded – rolling back the storm of
war to our first position, and holding the enemy there until our ammunition was
expended and we were ordered back by Gen. McC. for more, at one P. M. We fought in the camp ground of the Ill. 11th
and 45th, and those of your Iowa readers who noticed the gallant fighting done
there ascribed to these regiments by Chicago reporters will justly be proud to
know that Iowa was there.
The account given by the special correspondent of the
Cincinnati Gazette, and copied into
the St. Louis and Chicago papers and by far the most accurate I have seen,
speaks thus: “Once more its right swept around
and drove the enemy a considerable distance,” &c. Iowa
was there, notwithstanding that no reporter, so far as I have seen has
noticed our gallant State except in disparaging terms, as unjust as
disparaging. I venture to say that no
troops ever did better fighting than did the Iowa 11th and 13th in McClernand’s
division, on the 6th; nor were the 8th, 12th, and 14th behind in valor, though
more unfortunate. They were taken
because of fighting too long and to obstinately. The 6th Iowa was one of our advanced
regiments, surprised in the morning. She
literally fought her way back to her friends, and first of all the outposts,
was in line for another fight. The Iowa
2d and 7th, as ever, did their duty,
and maintained their reputation, though, not placed in so prominent a part of
the field as some other regiments on the first day. And here I desire to correct an error of the
correspondent above alluded to.
The Iowa 15th and 16th were brought up just before noon, to
support McClernand’s right, where we were fighting and forming on our own old
parade ground, and were under fire nearly two hours before getting a chance to
pitch in, and when led up to take their place their place marched boldly and
gallantly up into the very jaws of death.
Our old soldiers say, that such a fire of musketry as we were opposed to
was never experienced before them in battle; and the two raw regiments, unused
to guns, having never practiced loading and firing, many having never seen a
cartridge until they received them that morning, were thrown into confusion,
and driven from the field; not, however, until a loss of 35 to 40 killed, and
250 wounded in the two regiments attested their courage and devotion. Courage and devotion are of little use
without discipline in such a fight.
Our regiment, as it fell back, obtained new supplies of ammunition
and returned to the fight – eight companies to the left of our line, and two
companies of rifles, B. and C, under Capt. Foster, were stationed with Birge’s sharpshooters
again on the right, now a mile nearer the river, and across a small creek, to
guard against the storming of a hill and log house which was admirably adapted
to the work of sharpshooters. We were here
subjected to a heavy cross-fire from two batteries; but as often as a force of
secesh showed themselves, they dropped
back very suddenly again. Our regiment
did good work on the left, and lent gallant aid in beating back the foe in his
last efforts to storm our lines. On the
next day our troops acted mostly as reserves, or as support to batteries, and
were but little exposed, compared to the risks of the first day.
Iowa went into the fight with ten regiments and one part of
a regiment (seven companies 14th,) in all some 5,500 effective fighting
men. 250 of these sleep on the battle
field; 1,200 are wounded, and some 1,400 are prisoners – prisoners because they
fought on while regiments from other States gave way and suffered them,
contesting every inch, to be surrounded by immense odds. These are facts, and yet because we send
soldiers and not reporters, must we get no credit; while no other State
(although all did well) can show such a record – one half her soldiers given in a single fight. Reporters on Grant’s staff make him the hero
of the fight and he praises his staff.
Now this tickle-me-and-I’ll-tickle-you sort of talk will not do; it can’t
make history. They may all be good
soldiers – in a horn – and write on
some safe nook, descriptions of charges which were never made. Why was this gallant army surprised? The people who have given sons, citizens,
husbands, to the country, ask why this needless slaughter, and these “errors of
omission” are not atoned for by “errors of commission,” for we fought all day
on Sunday without Generals. Nothing but undaunted bravery of troops and
the good conduct of company and regimental officers saved our army on that
terrible day. For while we had less than
25,000 men engaged on Sunday, more than half our total loss occurred on this
day.
The 11th buried on Tuesday and since, as a result of this
battle, 32 soldiers, and 160 wounded; the 13th nearly as many more. No officers distinguished themselves more for
cool courage than Lt. Col. Hall, commanding the 11th, and Col. Crocker,
commanding the 13th, while Col. Hare well maintained his ability to command a
brigade, until wounded and compelled to retire.
Maj. Abercrombie, of the 11th was wounded severely while ably seconding
Col. Hall.
I have already spun out this too long, but I would fain add
one or two incidents of a personal character.
As we were charging the third time on the enemy, Corporal Kersey, Co. B,
hand a finger on the left hand shot away, and immediately took out a pocket
knife and cut away the fragments of the wound, bound up the finger and was in
the fight all day and next saying as
he did it, “they can’t drive me out for one finger.”
As we rose over a short hill we could see the enemy
advancing down another, just across a small branch, and some fifteen rods
distant. A well directed volley sent the
most of them to the “about face.” The
standard-bearer, however, fell and Private Haworth, of Co. B, captured the
flag, the first trophy of the day, while the Captain (Foster) picked up the
rifle of a fallen rebel, just loaded, and blazed away at the retreating
foe. Capt. McFarland, of Co. G, did the
same thing, and both have their Enfield rifles as trophies of a first shot each
at the foe.
One spunky little Frenchman, Jo. Laplant, assistant wagoner
to Co. B, would not stay with the team, and so mixed in the fight in the
afternoon of Sunday, ventured too far, and was taken prisoner. Deprived of his gun and placed under a guard
of three men, to be taken back, he went very submissively along until two guards
went back to help off a wounded officer.
Watching his chance, he knocked down the guard, and with the rebel’s gun
hastened down to the river side, near the gunboats, where he lay all night and
came in next morning.
I notice it very extensively discussed whether we were
whipped on Sunday. Never! And wouldn’t have been, even if Buell had not reached
us. The truth is the rebels surprised
our camps and gained great advantages of us, until checked by McClernand and Hurlbut’s
Divisions in the morning. From that on
until 4 P. M., our forces slowly retired; but at 4 the gunboats threw their
weight into the doubtful scales, and the enemy, exhausted and spent, were
entirely checked. Lew Wallace, of our
army, came in with his division that night, and the balance was then in our
favor. We should have gained the next
day any way. Of course the arrival of two divisions of
Buell’s army, and especially of Buell himself, was most opportune; for our
disjointed, confused and fragmentary army was organized, and massed and
directed. Our numbers on Monday were
about 50,000. Everything then was like
clockwork, and the rebels who had the night before saved our camps and baggage
so as to use them, were on Monday night busted out too hastily to destroy what
they could not keep. We beat them back
on Monday over the ground they had gained the day before. – “Line upon line” Buell
hurled his brave troops at them, and they retreated, fighting every step, until
they reached the old battle ground of 8 o’clock Sunday morning, when they broke
and fled. The roar of cannon, the terrific
whiz of musketry suddenly cease, (except the occasional shots of pursuers,) and
naught remained by the peaceful quiet dead and groaning wounded.
In looking over the list of Iowa regiments I desire to pay a
tribute of deserved praise to the 3d Iowa Infantry. After the most heroic fighting on Sunday, in
which they lost every field officer and all their captains, they were led the
second day by Lieut. Crossly; and again won imperishable laurels by their
heroic conduct.
Yours, &c.
L.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette,
Davenport, Iowa, Wednesday Morning, May 7, 1862, p. 2
