From The Second Iowa Cavalry

BIRD’S POINT, Feb. 25, 1862

FRIEND SANDERS:  The second remains here, and have got pretty well fixed up; but only for a short time.  Orders have been received from the Colonel to turn over all the tents and baggage that can possibly be dispensed with, and the expectation is, that we will soon be on the move.

On Wednesday I was over at Cairo sighting about the gun and mortar boats.  The Benton, the largest of the gunboats, and the most complete, will be finished by the middle of next week.  She carries sixteen heavy guns, and her forward guns are being taken out and replaced with those still heavier.  The mortars are grim looking monsters four feet long and forty-seven inches in diameter across the muzzle – the bore thirteen inches.  They throw a shell weighing two hundred and thirty pounds four miles.  There is thirty of them – about half of them yet on the railroad track by the river; the others are on the boats.  The boats are about fifty or sixty feet long and twenty wide with an iron bulwark extending seven feet high above the deck, of half inch iron, [loopholed] for sharp shooters – one mortar on each boat.  When they give their compliments to the enemy look out for a victory.  They are at work on them day and night, and the fleet will perhaps be ready in eight or ten days.

I saw several hundred of the “Donelson birds” going from the boat to the cars for Chicago.  In reply to the question “How is affairs at Nashville?” put to an intelligent looking Tennessean among the lot, his reply was “When you get there you will find two-thirds of them as you are.”

The steamer D. G. Taylor was loading with the Government tobacco taken up the Tennessee river, and the small arms taken at Donelson were also being exchanged from another boat.  As they passed along from one to another, one’s taste for variety in the matter of fire arms could be fully gratified – here would come an old flint lock musket, then an percussion lock, then an old fashioned U. S. rifle in use years since, then a single barrel shot gun, or a double barrel, then an old fashioned game rifle, one half were of the last named kind.  Many a poor fellow will miss his squirrel gun next hunting time.  Every man must have furnished his own ammunition as it could not be very well issued to suit so many different styles and calibers of arms.  More anon.

DIFF.

(As the remainder of our correspondent’s letter relates to the prowess of the 2^nd Iowa regiment, obtained from conversation with returning soldiers, and is a repetition of that which we have already published, we omit it. – ED. GAZ.)

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Monday Morning, March 3, 1862, p. 2

Cairo News

CAIRO, May 16. – The steamer Gladiator arrived this afternoon from Pittsburg Landing. – Her officers report that when she left, there was a rumor at the landing that Beauregard had sent a flag of truce to gen. Halleck, asking for an armistice of ten days.  This was subsequently corroborated by deserters from the enemy’s lines.  The matter was said to have been under consultation when the Gladiator left.  It is proper to state that this report is not credited at headquarters here.

The following dispatch was received May 15.  There has been nothing of great importance received from the fleet within a day or two.

The Cincinnati has been got off the bottom of the river by the use of the steam pump, and after some work upon her bulkhead, will go up the river for repairs to-day.

The Memphis Appeal of the 11th contains a letter from a correspondent at Fort Pillow, who witnessed the battle of the 10th inst.  It disagrees with the report of Jeff Thompson sent yesterday, and fixes the loss of the rebels killed at eight and the wounded as high as sixteen.

Six deserters have just come aboard the Benton from Memphis.  They say that Memphis is being digged fine for recruit[s] and left to escape conscription.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 24, 1862, p. 4

When Commodore Foote left the Benton . . .

. . . the Flag ship of his Mississippi fleet, three loud, long and ringing cheers were given by the crew. – The commodore stood up on his crutches as the De Soto moved up the broad Mississippi, and with tremulous voice said, “God bless you all!  Heaven knows how hard it is for me to leave you!  Better and braver men than you never trod a deck.  I would much rather stay with you than go away.  But my duty to my country compels me to yield to stronger, though I hope not more willing hands.  God bless you all!”  As he looked at the Benton, perhaps for the last time, and saw the many familiar faces that fixed their kind eyes upon him so earnestly, his trembling had frequently sought is quivering lip, and nervously twitched his whiskers.  One could see his efforts to suppress his feelings, but nature prevailed, and the brave officer covered his wan face with a fan he held to dissipate the heat of the afternoon, and wept like a child.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington Iowa, Saturday, May 24, 1862, p. 3

From Cairo

CAIRO, April 22.

Special to the Chicago Times

The steamer Charley Bowen reached here to-day, from Paducah. From Capt. White, one of her passengers, I gather Pittsburg news of Sunday night. The weather in that quarter has been exceedingly unfavorable for movements of our army. For the last three days rain has fallen incessantly, and it is now an utter impossibility for the army to move on account of the great depth of the mud. Preparations, however, are going on steadily, so when the roads improve, the army will be in readiness for battle.

Beauregard is being constantly reinforced and the citizens of Memphis and New Orleans are throwing up their business occupation and flocking to his standard, believing on the ensuing battle depends the fate of the Valley of the Mississippi. It is thought by those who ought to know best that the majority of the Southern people are ready to throw down their arms and return to the Union, if they are defeated at Corinth; while the leaders are still as desperate as ever.

Major Belknap, of the 15th Iowa regiment, has been promoted to the Colonelcy of a Wisconsin regiment, for his gallant conduct at the battle of Pittsburg.

I have it from excellent authority, that every charge against Gen. Grant, will be shown to be groundless, and that facts not generally known, tend to exculpate him from any blame whatever. The charge among others, that he landed troops on the Pittsburg side of the river, contrary to the order of Gen. Halleck, is easily cleared up, by the fact that the whole opposite side of the river was flooded with at least three feet of water, making the debarkation of the troops on that side impossible. The impression is gaining ground that Gen. Grant not only acted prudently under the circumstances, but conducted himself with marked bravery throughout the battle.

Five of the rebel miscreants who fired on the steamer Minnehaha during her recent trip up the Tennessee, have been captured, together with a quantity of ammunition and a number of horses, bearing the U. S. marks. The rebels were to be shot.

Gen. Smith is lying dangerously ill at Savannah. His division was commanded at the battle of Pittsburg by Gen. W H. Wallace.

Capt. G. R. Gardner, Co. F, and Capt. R. R. Henderson, Co. H, 13th Ohio, reported killed in the battle of Pittsburg, are both alive, and though wounded, are doing well.

The gunboat Eastport, captured at Nashville, is now being rebuilt at Mound City. She is to be somewhat longer and narrower than the gunboats now in service, and is to be provided with a huge iron prow; otherwise she will be continued after the pattern of the Benton and other gunboats. She is to be completed in about four weeks. Capt. Pennock, the naval officer in command at this post, is superintending the construction of the Eastport.

The captain of the Minnehaha arrived here to-day, and brings particulars concerning the drowning of Gov. Harvey. The Governor was returning in company with a number of gentlemen of Wisconsin from Pittsburg, whither they had gone to relieve the wounded Wisconsin troops. At Savannah they stopped some time visiting the wounded in hospital, and at length started to return. The party were passing from the steamer Dunleith on board the Minnehaha, when Gov. Harvey lost footing and fell into the river. He endeavored to swim against the current, and while in this act Dr. Clarke, on of the Governor’s party plunged into the stream to his rescue. Before he could reach him, however, Gov. Harvey was carried under a coal boat, since when nothing has been heard of his body, though endeavors have been made to recover it. A reward of $1,000 been offered by the State for the recovery of the body.

The Postmaster at Cairo requests all postmasters in mailing letters for the army, which should properly be sent to his office for distribution, to put them in separate packages and endorse the letters “soldier’s letters, Cairo D. P. O.” The enormous increase of letters received makes this an absolute necessity.

The steamer Stringer arrived from Fort Pillow this morning, but brought nothing of importance from the fleet. She left our fleet on Sunday evening, and reports that there was no firing on either side during that day. A few shots were exchanged on Saturday, Mortar boats occasionally toss shell into the rebel fortifications. Nothing lively may be expected from the flotilla until after the battle of Corinth.

First Lieut. John Sec, Co G, 41st Ills., wounded in the battle of Pittsburg, died when coming down the river yesterday.

The river here is at least at a stand, and if any change is occurring is slowly receding.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 24, 1862, p. 2

The Operations of Commodore Foote’s Flotilla

CAIRO, April 18.

A man of known veracity from our fleet before Fort Pillow says the same strategic movement is to be acted on there as at No. 10. Gen. Pope is there, 5 miles above, with an army of 30,000 men. A canal is to be cut through the timber so as to come in below Pillow on the Arkansas side, large enough to take transports, etc., etc., through – then cross over and attack in the rear.

There are only 16 heavy guns at Fort Pillow, one 128-pounder – the water batteries mounting light cast-iron guns, overflowed. The mortars have already been playing away on the Fort.

When our gunboats got down near Fort Pillow they saw five rebel gunboats. The Benton gave chase, and went on with great speed – bore down on them, and opened. The rebels fired only one gun and then broke and run; being light, they got out of our way. A shell from the Benton burst over one of them tearing away her upper rigging, and cleaning off loose trash generally.

The rebel gunboats are the awfulest, scalyest looking things you ever saw. They are old river steamers with the upper decks torn off, there being only so much left of them as is needed to support the chimneys &c. Railroad iron is placed over the tops like the roof of a house. The guns stand on the lower deck without any sort of protection. They look as forlorn and God-forsaken as the Southern Confederacy will next 4th of July.

The steamer Imperial went to St. Louis to-night with 450 wounded, including 80 secesh – five of them surgeons.

Governor Kirkwood, of Iowa, has been here several days, trying to arrange from sending the Iowa sick to river towns, and has succeeded pretty well. Two hundred went up to-day from St. Louis (per order of Gen. Strong) to Keokuk. The Iowa folks have a Sanitary Commission of their own, and if their friends could be got to their cities their relatives could come down and take care of them.

A gentleman just up from Arkansas represents a strong Union feeling in that State, and says if Corinth goes in our favor Arkansas will wheel back into the Union.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Tuesday Morning, April 22, 1862, p. 2

By Telegraph

(Reported expressly for the Gazette.) THE WAR NEWS. Important Movements looked for on the Mississippi. Appropriation for the Steven’s Battery. Increased Efficiency of the Medical Department. The Rebel Force at Yorktown Exaggerated. AN ATTACK SOON TO BE MADE BY McCLELLAN. FEDERAL LOSS BY THE DESTRUCTION OF NORFOLK NAVY YARD. HIGH WATER AT CAIRO.

*~*~*~*~*

From Cairo. Correspondence of the Missouri Republican. CAIRO, April18. A Gentleman just from Pittsburg reports all the wounded taken away from that point. A skirmish took place at Savannah on Wednesday, between a detachment of our cavalry and a rebel picket guard; which were posted uncomfortable near, and very strong. The rebels were driven back, having 5 killed, 65 wounded. Refugees report that the rebels are fortifying at Lick Creek, half way to Corinth and strengthening their works at Corinth. Some state that trains are arriving and bring fresh troops through; while others say they are sending off stores preparatory to evacuation. CAIRO, April 18. The steamers Minnehaha and T. J. Patten were fired into by the rebels yesterday while ascending the Tennessee with troops. Upon the former one man was killed and one severely wounded. The Patten was uninjured. The Troops on the Minnehaha landed and burned a row of wooden buildings near which the firing originated upon the bluff in the rear, rebel guerillas were plainly visible in the interstices of the trees. Matters at Pittsburg drag their slow length along without perceptible change. We are gradually moving into the interior. Slowly, but surely, we advance and hold our positions. No more such Bull Run panics as characterized the fated Sabbath; and let us pray no more such slaughters. Ten Irish residents of Southern Illinois were arrested and brought into Paducah to-day, for preaching rebellion to the Egyptians. The will speedily be mad examples of. Captain Ferris of the 15th Illinois, died to-day at Paducah from the effects of a gunshot wound received at Pittsburg. Gen. Mitchell has burned the bridge across the Tennessee river at Decatur, Alabama, over which the Charleston and Memphis railroad passes, and thus effectually closed a rebel channel of communication eastward, whence the rebels have drawn liberally for troops and supplies. He has also burned the railroad bridge at Florence. He is now at Iuka, Miss. Recent intelligence from Corinth confirms previous reports of the magnitude of the enemy’s force and character of the efforts he has made to resist the onward march of the Federal army. A desperate stand will be made there, and our people must be prepared to hear of a terrible decimation of our troops. Gen. Halleck is cool and cautions, and will achieve success. The fight will commence soon. The steamer Planet arrived at Paducah this morning with the 71st Ohio, en route for Fort Donelson. This is one of the Regiments that ran so disgracefully at Pittsburg. Special to the Chicago Times. River rising very fast and has already attained a very [remarkable] height. It is up to the works of the break which flooded Cairo a few years since. It is over forty feet above low water mark. Great preparations are being made in anticipation of the water breaking through the levee. We have no special news from the Tennessee. Gen. Halleck has sent down an order prohibiting all civilians, including nurses, and the swarm of volunteer philanthropists who are seeking the battle-ground to gratify curiosity merely, from leaving Cairo. The wounded will be down here before the nurses can get up to savannah, and the other class are not wanted at all. What advices we have agree in saying that Gen. Halleck is infusing his masterly spirit of order and discipline into the army, and the belief that his strategic genius and executive ability will constituted a sure guard against future surprises, grows stronger every day. Rebel accounts state that Beauregard and the other leaders have become more cautious and less sanguine as these facts dawn upon them. Their soldiers will not flinch in the coming battle, as they have all been under fire now, which constitutes the hardening process. Those who retreated [in the Federal Army] were raw recruits, who had never been within sound of a gun. There were at one time ten thousand of them huddled on the river bank, whom blows, persuasion or curses would not move. An officer told me that in his excitement and indignation he could have seen the artillery turned on the solid mass of terror-stricken humanity without the least compassion. The movement on the Mississippi is deemed contraband. Important events will be looked for in that direction before long. Island No. 10 is occupied by Col. Buford, who has lately been promoted to a Generalship. Our gunboats had a brief engagement with four rebel gunboats on Sunday. Some dozen or more shots were exchanged and a shell exploded close over the Benton. No damage was done, and the rebel boats lost no time in retiring. Arrival of the pirate Sumter Prisoners. BOSTON, April 18. Thos. T. Tansall, late U. S. Consul at Tangier, and Mr. Myers, purser of the pirate Sumter, arrested at Gesiras, Morocco, arrived here today in the bark Harvest Home, to which they were transferred from the gunboat John. The prisoners were in irons, which were removed by order of Marshal Keyes, and they were sent to Ft. Warren to await instructions from the government. NEW YORK, April 19. The schr. John Roe at this port, reports, March 14th, 5 p.m., off Savannah, passed a propeller showing English colors, and after hauling them down, ran up the rebel flag. She was steering in the direction of Bermuda. – Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Monday Morning, April 21, 1862, p. 1

Gallant Exploit of Col. Roberts

He spikes a Rebel Battery During the late Gale --- Heavy firing at Point Pleasant.

{Special Dispatch to the Chicago Tribune.}

ON BOARD STEAMER V. F. WILSON,
ISLAND No. 10, April 2, 1862
(Via Cairo 3d inst.)

A most daring exploit was performed last night by Col. Roberts and fifty picked men from his regiment, the 42d Illinois. The night was intensely dark, and the previously reported gale of wind and thunderstorm prevailed. During the height of the storm, Col. Roberts and his men, in five yawls managed by crews from the gunboats, left the steamer Benton, and with muffled oars and under cover of darkness crowded down the stream in the direction of the upper battery. When within a few rods of it a blinding flash of lightning glared upon the water, revealing the boats to the sentries. They fired upon our men five or six shots, the balls whistling overhead and doing no damage. The sentinels then incontinently fled back to the camp, which is located some distance to the rear of the battery. Our men made no reply, but pulled up to the fortification, sprang over the parapet, and in three minutes time spiked all the guns, six in number. Col. Roberts himself spiking a huge eighty pound pivot gun. The boats then returned without a man receiving a scratch. The guns, which have all been newly mounted within the past two or three days, (having been previously dismounted by our cannonading,) were sixty-fours and eighties. The rebel steamer Grampus was lying near the battery, but mad no demonstration, fearing to come out in the stream.

The mortars kept up a very heavy bombardment this morning and the rebels replied with spirit from their floating battery. Their shots were well aimed but occasioned no damage. Very heavy and rapid firing was heard last night and this morning at Point Pleasant, or in that vicinity. We have no intelligence from there as yet.

The river has commenced falling – a fact in our favor.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 12, 1862

Special Dispatch in the Chicago Tribune

Special Dispatch in the Chicago Tribune

Cairo, April 11, 1862

Gov. Yates arrived here this morning from Springfield, en route for Tennessee, to look after the wounded of the Illinois regiments. He was welcomed with a salute from Cairo.

The Ohio Belle came in this morning with an invoice of rebel prisoners from Island No. 10. The Ohio Bell is a secesh boat captured at the Island, and is the craft which, upon the day of the general bombardment, came around the point with rebel officers on board, reconnoitering, and was fired at by the Benton.

Cairo is filled with physician, nurses and civilians from Chicago, Springfield, Indiana and Iowa, all desirous of going up the Tennessee. The civilians will all be disappointed, as Gen. Halleck, before his departure yesterday, issued stringent orders against granting passes. The 17th Wisconsin regiment, a Chicago battery, and Coggswell’s Iowa battery arrived this morning from Benton Barracks, St. Louis.

Affairs are quiet at Island No. 10. The prisoners are rapidly being sent off. The Benton, St. Louis and Mound City are at the Island, and the Carondelet and Pittsburg at Mound City.

A large number of wounded were brought down from Pittsburg this morning to the Mound City Hospital.

– Published in the Daily State Register, Des Moines, Iowa, Thursday, April 17, 1862