Brevet Brigadier-General G. W. Clark

BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL G. W. CLARK.

COLONEL, THIRTY-FOURTH INFANTRY.

George Washington Clark, the original colonel of the 34th Iowa Infantry, is a native of Johnson county, Indiana, and was born on the 26th day of December, 1833. He was educated at Wabash College, Indiana, and resided with his father's family at the place of his nativity till the year 1856, which is all that I know of his early history. In the spring of 1856 he removed to Iowa, and became a resident of Indianola, Warren county, where he has since made his home. He is a lawyer by profession. Subsequently to his removal to Iowa, and prior to the spring of 1861, when he entered the service, he practiced his profession in Warren county. He was, I am told, a successful lawyer, and had, at the time of entering the service, a paying practice.

At the outbreak of the war, General Clark was the first man in Warren county to enroll himself a volunteer. In May, 1861, he assisted in raising Company G, of the 3d Iowa Infantry, which was the first company that went out from Warren county. He was commissioned a first lieutenant, and, on the organization of his regiment, was appointed regimental quarter-master, which position he held till the first of September, 1862, when he was commissioned colonel of the 34th Iowa Infantry. For meritorious services, he was, in the spring of 1865, made a brevet brigadier-general.

Up to the time of the capture of Arkansas Post, the history of the 34th Iowa is not very dissimilar from those of the 25th, 26th, 30th and 31st Iowa Infantry regiments. Late in the fall of 1862, these regiments had all, under orders, arrived at Helena, Arkansas, at which point General Grant was concentrating troops preparatory to making a descent on Vicksburg by way of Chickasaw Bayou. The expedition, which started late in December, under command of General Sherman, was a failure; but through no fault of the troops; for, during the three days' struggle in the brush and swamps that border Chickasaw Bayou, soldiers never fought better. The fact is, General Sherman did not succeed, simply because the obstacles to be overcome at that point were insurmountable. Had General Grant maintained his line of communication, and threatened Vicksburg from the east, the result would doubtless have been different; for he would have drawn a large portion of the rebel army out from the Walnut Hills.

Immediately after the unfortunate operations at Chickasaw Bayou, the Arkansas River Expedition was organized, which terminated in the capture of Arkansas Post. This brilliant affair was accomplished on the 11th of January, 1863, and partially atoned for previous disasters. The capture of these formidable works, in which the 34th Iowa took a prominent part, was a great disaster to the enemy in Southern Arkansas, and disconcerted him in his previously arranged plans of harassing the flank and rear of General Grant in his operations against Vicksburg. The following is from Colonel Clark's official report of the part his regiment took in the capture of this strong-hold:

"We had just returned from the bloody battle-field of Chickasaw Bayou, where we had been repulsed with terrible slaughter. Sherman's entire fleet came out of the Yazoo River on the 3d of January, and on the 9th steamed up the Arkansas River, to operate against Arkansas Post, arriving near there the same day. The following day was occupied in reconnoitering and skirmishing. Our (Steele's) Division marched all that night through the woods and swamps, through which it was impossible to take baggage-wagons or ambulances. At day light the next morning we found ourselves within range of the enemy's guns, from which he immediately opened on us. Our batteries were soon put in position, and commenced a vigorous reply. The artillery continued until about 12 o'clock M. At this time I received an order from General Steele to move my regiment rapidly to the front, which was promptly obeyed. I moved the regiment forward in line of battle, to a point within one hundred and fifty yards of the enemy's intrenchments."

This position was held till the place surrendered, and during this part of the action the gallant Captain Dan H. Lyons fell.

During the three weeks that followed the capture of Arkansas Post, the 34th Iowa saw their hardest service. After the capitulation, Colonel Clark was detailed with his regiment to escort the captured prisoners from that point to Camp Douglas; and, on the way, both the prisoners and their escort suffered untold hardships. Only three miserable transports were allowed the colonel, in which to convey his own command and the prisoners (numbering between five and six thousand) from the point of capture to St. Louis. It was mid-Winter, and on the trip the small-pox broke out. The boats were so densely crowded that they could not be policed, and became shockingly filthy; and in this accumulation of filth this loathsome disease was raging, adding each half-hour one to the list of mortality. The scene was most wretched and revolting. In writing to a friend Colonel Clark said: "During those two weeks, I witnessed more human suffering, than I had seen in all my life before."

On returning from Chicago to St. Louis, Colonel Clark was ordered with his regiment, in the early part of April, to Pilot Knob, to anticipate the reported movement of General Marmaduke on that place. For two months after, he commanded the Post and District of Pilot Knob and then joined the command of General Herron, which was en route for Vicksburg. General Herron arrived at Vicksburg on the 11th of June; and was assigned a position on the extreme left of General Grant's army. The 1st Brigade of his Division, to which the 34th Iowa belonged, was stationed near the Mississippi, which position it held till the surrender of the city.

On the morning of the 11th of July, General Herron's Division was embarked on transports, with orders to report to General Banks, at Port Hudson; but news now arriving of the surrender of that place, these troops sailed up the Yazoo River, constituting the force which captured Yazoo City, and subsequently marched out across the Big Black River, to Canton, to make a diversion in favor of General Sherman before Jackson. These operations closed, Colonel Clark sailed with his regiment down the Mississippi River; since which time he has served in the Gulf Department and the trans-Mississippi.

During the latter part of the fall of 1863, and through the following Winter, the history of the 34th Iowa savors somewhat of romance. Stationed at Fort Esperanga on Matagorda Island, which lies at the head of the Gulf of Mexico, and at the mouth of the Guadeloupe River, the men, when off duty, passed their time in wandering on the beach, and gathering curious shells. They even talked of associating Ceres and Flora, as consorts with their patron war-god, Mars. But these scenes closed on the opening of the Spring Campaign under Major-General Banks.

The troops, who joined in the Red River Campaign, have never had full credit for their heroic endurance of the perils and hardships they encountered, which may be attributable to the fact that, the campaign was only fruitful of disaster.

In the battles that were fought near Alexandria, the 34th Iowa took an active part, and sustained itself with credit; but the sufferings of the regiment in these battles and in the early part of the campaign, were not to be compared with those experienced on the memorable nine days' retreat to Simmsport and Morganzia. During these nine days and nights, there were no halts for rest and sleep, or only such as were required for repairing the roads, and constructing pontoons.

On the 28th of May, 1864, the 34th Iowa left Morganzia for Baton Rouge, where it remained till the latter part of July, when it sailed with the command of General Granger against the rebel forts at the mouth of Mobile Bay. The operations of Rear-Admiral Farragut and General Granger against Forts Powell, Gaines and Morgan were brief and brilliant; and the troops who joined in these operations may well feel proud of their achievements. On the 2d of August, 1864, General Granger effected a landing on Dauphin Island, and within twenty-one days from that time, each one of these forts was in the possession of our forces. The 34th Iowa was the first regiment to disembark on the west point of Dauphin Island. It was soon joined by the 96th Ohio, and a colored regiment; when the entire force, under command of Colonel Clark, with skirmishers well advanced and extending from shore to shore, marched forward in the direction of Fort Gaines. The night was dark and stormy, and an east wind beat a drenching rain directly in the faces of the troops. To any but soldiers, the occasion would have been dismal; but these brave fellows, trudging on through the mud and rain, were jocose and merry. Colonel Clark advanced about six miles, and to within two miles of the fort, when he halted and rested his command in line of battle. At day-light he was joined by the 67th Indiana, the 77th Illinois and the 3d Maryland; when, after slight demonstrations, the fort surrendered.

In the reduction of Fort Morgan Colonel Clark with his command also took a conspicuous part; and on its capitulation, on the morning of the 23d of August, led the escort, composed of his own regiment and the 20th Wisconsin, which was marched out to receive the garrison as prisoners of war. Subsequently to February, 1864, he has commanded a brigade. With this command, he distinguished himself at the battle of Middle Bayou, and was highly complimented for his coolness and bravery.

The Fall and Winter following the operations at the mouth of Mobile Bay were passed by the 34th Iowa on the Gulf coast and along the Mississippi. In January, 1865, the regiment was consolidated with the 38th Iowa Infantry, and under the new organization retained its old name and colonel.

For many months, the 34th Iowa was stationed at Barrancas, Florida: from that point, it marched with General Steele against Mobile, and took part in the assault and capture of Fort Blakely.

General Clark is a little above six feet in hight, and has a fine, well-developed form. He is a fine looking man, though, when I saw him, he was a little too fleshy; but at that time he was just from his home, and on the way to re-join his regiment.

General Clark is a man of gentlemanly deportment, and, I am told, has good ability, and much shrewdness. He has a good military record. One who has visited all the Iowa troops in the Gulf Department, speaks thus of him: "Colonel Clark stands high, and, with the officers in general, seeks not only the highest military efficiency, but also a good moral character for his regiment." The general took great pride in the drill and discipline of his old regiment. His regiment were proud of their name, and designated themselves the "star regiment."

In politics, General Clark is a Republican; though, I am told, he was never a political aspirant.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 501-6

MAJOR-GENERAL FREDERICK STEELE

FIRST COLONEL, EIGHTH INFANTRY.

Frederick Steele is a native of Delhi, Delaware county, New York, where he was born in the year 1819. He was the second regular army officer appointed to a field office from Iowa. Entering the West Point Military Academy in the year 1839, he was regularly graduated in 1843, and appointed a brevet 2d lieutenant in the 2d Infantry. He served with General Scott in the Mexican War, and greatly distinguished himself in the battles of Contreras and Chapultepec. He commanded his company at the capture of the City of Mexico, having been brevetted 1st lieutenant and captain, on account of gallant conduct in the two previous engagements.

On the declaration of peace, he reported, under orders, to General Riley, in California, and was made his assistant adjutant-general, which position he retained for several years. At the outbreak of the war, he was serving in Missouri, and, with the 1st Iowa Infantry, fought under General Lyon at the battle of Wilson's Creek. Captain Steele was commissioned colonel of the 8th Iowa Infantry, on the 23d of September, 1861; but his connection with this regiment was brief; for, his good conduct at Wilson's Creek coming to the ears of the War Department, he was, on the 29th of January, 1862, made a brigadier-general. If we except the time he served with Sherman around Vicksburg, in the spring and summer of 1863, and the time he served under General Canby, at Pensacola and around Mobile, in the spring of 1865, General Steele has, at all other times, held commands in Missouri and Arkansas. He was in command at Helena, Arkansas, in December, 1862, just before joining the expedition under General Sherman, which left that point in the latter part of that month for Chickasaw Bayou. On this expedition he commanded the 4th Division, 13th Army Corps; and, with two brigades of it, led the attack against the bluffs, over the long and narrow causeway that leads to the Walnut Hills from above the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou.

Immediately after this unfortunate affair, General Steele sailed with his command up the Arkansas River; and on the night of the 10th of January, 1863, marched to the rear of Arkansas Post, through the brushy swamps that were well-nigh impassable for infantry, and quite so for the ambulances and baggage-wagons. It is to the patience and valor of General Steele's troops that the country is chiefly indebted for the capture of these formidable works. We next find General Steele with Sherman, in command of his division on the final march against Vicksburg; and, after the fell of that city, on the second march against Jackson, in command of the 15th Corps. General Sherman approached Jackson in three columns, General Steele's command holding the centre, General Ord's the right, and General Parke's the left. On this march, "nothing worth recording occurred till the head of Steele's column was within six hundred yards of the enemy's line, on the Clinton road, when [July 9th, 8 A. M.] a six-inch rifle-shot warned us to prepare for serious work." Indeed, if we except the heedless affair of General Lauman, who commanded a division of General Ord's Corps, and the reconnaissance of Colonel, now General Corse, in command of the 6th Iowa and other troops, nothing of special interest occurred, during the eight day's siege of the city.

On the evacuation of Jackson by General Johnson, and after the destruction of the railroads and the rebel government property in and around the city, General Steele returned to Vicksburg; and, immediately after was appointed to the command of the Department and Army of Arkansas. He arrived at Helena on the 31st of July, 1863.

This was his first distinct and important command; and, for the manner in which he managed some matters of detail, he has been severely criticised. As a fighting-general, he proved himself all the loyal North could ask. It was the policy he adopted in governing the people of a subjugated district — nearly all of them bitter rebels—which lost him much of his early popularity; but, without questioning the wisdom of his plans, it is but just to say that, he was doubtless honest in his motives. He believed that the speedier way to bring a disaffected people back to a love of the Union was to treat them with kindness. He was right in principle: he only forgot that he was dealing with those who were rotten with treason, and totally destitute of principle.

General Steele left Helena for Little Rock, Arkansas, on the 10th of August, 1863, with an expeditionary army, numbering, of all arms, not quite twelve thousand men. On the 10th of September following, after forcing the enemy back step by step from Clarendon and across the Arkansas, he had compelled Generals Price and Marmaduke to evacuate Little Rock; and, on the evening of the same day, he received the city by formal surrender of the municipal authorities.

His successes were brilliant and, by General Grant, unlocked for; for, on the 12th of September, that general dispatched a seventeenth corps' division, (General John E. Smith's) from Vicksburg to reinforce him. News of the fall of Little Rock reached this division at Helena, and it marched to Chattanooga.

By this brief campaign, General Steele had restored to the Government nearly the entire State of Arkansas; for the enemy now disputed the possession of only a few counties in the south-western part of the State.

General Steele's next important move, which was made in conjunction with a similar one under Major-General N. P. Banks, was a failure, though history, I believe, will attribute it to no fault of the general. The object of this grand campaign was the capture of Shreveport, and the dispersion of the enemy in the Red River country, and, had General Banks escaped the serious disasters which overwhelmed his command at Sabine Cross Roads and Pleasant Hill, the object would doubtless have been attained.

General Steele left Little Rock on the 23d of March, 1864, and marching via Benton, Rockport and Arkadelphia, entered Camden at sun-down on the 15th of April. On this march he met and defeated the enemy under Price, Marmaduke, Shelby, Cabell and a score or more of others, of the ragged, epauletted chivalry, at Terre Noir Creek, Elkin's Ford, Prairie de Anne and north-west of Camden. When leaving Little Rock, it was doubtless General Steele's intention to march directly on Shreveport; for he crossed the Washita at Arkadelphia, and was directing his line of march nearly mid-way between Washington and Camden. Why did he enter Camden? On the 10th, 11th and 12th of April, he engaged the enemy at Prairie de Anne, and, from prisoners captured there, or from other sources, learned that the advance of Banks had not only been checked, but his whole command overwhelmed with disaster. The enemy, who at this point were in strong force in Steele's front, soon disappeared; and the general was not long in discovering that they were marching by a circuitous route to occupy Camden, and gain his rear. A race followed between himself and the enemy for Camden, which resulted, in the battle bearing that name. The battle was fought at the cross-roads, some seven miles west-north-west of the city.

Before reaching Camden, General Steele remained incredulous of the reports of General Bank's defeat; but after his arrival there he was convinced of their truth, and contemplated an immediate return to Little Rock. But, a large train of supplies reaching him in safety, he persuaded himself that he could maintain his position, and accordingly ordered the train to return to Pine Bluff for additional supplies. This is the train which was captured just north of the Moro Bottom; and this circumstance, some think, saved the balance of his army.

Having learned of the capture of his train, (and he had just before lost one sent out on a foraging expedition to Poisoned Springs) General Steele prepared for a rapid march back to Little Rock, where he arrived on the 2d of May. To show that fortune favored him, I give the following: After the capture of the train above referred to and the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Drake of the 36th Iowa, the rebel General Fagan was ordered to cross the Saline River, and intrench himself fronting Jenkin's Ferry, at which point Steele was to cross his army. For some reason, Fagan failed to comply with these orders, and, in consequence thereof, was relieved of his command and put in arrest. Had he complied with these orders, Steele must have surrendered to the rebel forces; for, without any enemy in his front, and after having burned the most of his own train, it was with the utmost difficulty he effected a crossing.

After General Steele's return to Little Rock, and during the entire time he was retained in command in Arkansas, he did little worthy of record. In January, 1865, he was relieved of his command, and ordered to report to Major-General Canby, at New Orleans. His last services were performed in the vicinity of Mobile. He was given a command, stationed at Pensacola, Florida, with which he marched against Mobile.

He took a prominent part in the capture of Fort Blakely; but a history of this affair will appear elsewhere.

General Steele is the smallest of the Iowa major-generals, or the smallest of the major-generals who have held colonel's commissions from the State; for he can hardly be called an Iowa man. He has a light complexion, lively, gray eyes, and hair, though originally brown, now heavily sprinkled with gray. He has a slender, wiry form, and a sharp, shrill voice. Nearly all army officers are occasionally profane: I know of but few exceptions, and General Steele is not one of them. He swears with precision, and with great velocity.

The general is passionately fond of a fine horse, and, in civil life, would be called a horse-jockey. It is reported that his horses have more than once appeared on the old race-course at Little Rock, where, competing with the steeds of the cavalry privates of his command, they have always borne off the stakes. The general, in his flannel shirt, would stand by a spectator of the sport, but nothing more.

General Steele is kind-hearted and humane, and easily approached, even by an humble private. It is this same kindness of heart, as I am informed, that tempered his rule while in command in Arkansas, and made him popular with the citizens and camp-followers, and unpopular with many in his army. In the field, he is really a fine officer; but he lacks firmness, and is unfit for a military governor. That which injured him not a little at Little Rock was his lack of judgment in selecting his staff officers. In this respect he was very unfortunate.

But he stands high in the confidence of General Grant, which is no common recommendation. The general is neat and tidy in his dress, and, when on duty, always appears in full uniform.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 179-84