Monday, September 21, 2009

From The 16th Iowa Regiment

We received the following private letter last evening, and aware of the anxiety felt in regard to this regiment, take the liberty of publishing it:–

PITTSBURG, Tenn., April 7, 1862.

BROTHER ALFRED:

The “bloody 16th” has availed itself at an early day of an opportunity for its first battle – and the greatest battle has just been fought, or is now fighting, that ever occurred on this Continent. The forces engaged altogether amounted to perhaps 150,000 men, although the newspapers, will most likely gave each side that number. The rebels had the advantage in numbers the first day, but at the close of that day reinforcements commenced arriving from Buell’s army, conveyed across the river here by steamboats. But I can attempt no description of the great battle which some hours, raged fiercely at several far distant points at the same time. There are to-night thousands lying dead within a few miles of the place where I write, and some within a few yards.

The battle of Fort Donelson was a mere trifle in comparison with this, as I have been informed by two Generals where were at both places. In fact, there were more killed the first day here than all the time there – yet to-day, both sides largely reinforced, the battle raged still more fiercely than yesterday. The rebels gained a decided advantage yesterday, penetrating into our camp, destroying many tents, capturing a large number of prisoners, and seriously threatening the destruction or capture of our army. They fought bravely, and had a much larger number in the field than we had. The attack was sudden and able, Beauregard being their General, and for a time everything looked threatening. It was their last great desperate effort seemingly, and desperately fought out to the bitter end. This evening the rebel army is miles away, our army in pursuit, and our danger over – but the loss on both sides fearful. How far our Iowa regiments have suffered, and how many of their well known officers have been killed or captured, cannot now be told. There is every reason to believe the 12th and 14th regiments have been captured – others have lost severely in killed and wounded. I have just heard Lt. Col. Hall, of the 11th was slightly wounded. Capt. Bob Littler, of Co. B, 2d regiment, had one arm badly crushed by a ball, and it will likely have to be amputated. He did his duty nobly, and has effectually refuted the charges made against him on another occasion. Col. Reed [sic] of the 15th, was shot in the neck, but is not dangerously wounded. Col. Hare of the 11th, had his hand shattered. So it goes.

But I must tell you something of the 16th. We arrived here Friday night last, after a pleasant trip. It was, of course, very muddy. We had to make a road up a steep bluff to get out our wagons, mules, goods, &c. We were ordered to join Gen. Prentiss’ division, next to the advance line, nearly four miles out, and one of the first afterwards attacked by the enemy. We nearly succeeded in getting out there Saturday night. Had we done so, we would have lost all our property, and perhaps all our regiment. The move, however, was fortunately delayed till Sunday evening. – We then had everything ready to start when the booming of the cannon and volleys of musketry announced the battle. The 15th and 16th formed on the bluff, distributed ammunition, and by ten o’clock were on the march to battle – raw troops, only partially drilled, and utterly unpracticed in the use of arms. We ought never to have been put in the field under such circumstances – more especially in a battle between what proved between ourselves and experienced troops with a battery of sharpshooters. We marched out several miles – then a General, who, I don’t know, ordered us across an open field and partial return in the face of a battery. Our boys stood it very well for new soldiers, although bombshells burst over their heads, and several arms and legs were knocked off by cannon balls. He finally got them in what was designed as our “position” in an open space, near a battery, with their sharpshooters protected by large trees in open woods. It promised to be a clear case of butchery. The men laid down flat, half rising to fire. They did all they could, and held the position longer than more experienced troops probably would have held it. The regiments retired, but not in hurried confusion, when an attack was being made by a large body of troops in front and flank. Col. Chambers received a ball through is right arm, but only a flesh wound. Another ball shockingly tore his coat, struck the saddle, went into his coat pocket, tore several holes in his handkerchief, and then the ball was found in his pocket. I lost both my horses, Bally and Lettie, and my Wentz saddle and bridle – so am now on foot, but expecting hourly to confiscate a horse. Adj. McCosh rode Bally by special favor. The horse had his leg shattered, and was led off, but I suppose never got far. My Wentz mare received three balls before she fell, the last when I was trying to rally the 16th for a stand. – Before I arose the regiments were off the ground, and as I walked off, the bullets whistling around thick, I was the last man alive or unwounded on the ground. Dozens of regiments were broken [into] fragments during the day and men looking everywhere for their companies.

I rallied a portion of the regiment on our return, and led them out again. This time we were called with others to protect a battery, or series of them. Our men laid three hours under rushing cannon balls and bomb shells – nearly all fortunately aimed too high. These batteries of ours probably stemmed the rebel tide of victory for that day and kept them from planting a battery which would have been terribly destructive. From that position we were marched to the advance line, and there remained all night. From 7 a.m. till 11 p.m. I was in the saddle, excepting an hour when I had no horse to ride – had nothing to eat for twenty-four hours – sat up all night, the rain literally pouring down at intervals. I call that a pretty rough beginning, anyhow. To-day we were left to protect a battery, only needed in case of a reverse, and were not therefore in the fight.

Among our killed were Capt. Ruehl, of Dubuque, an excellent officer, and Lieut. Doyle, also of Dubuque. Capt. Zettler is dangerously wounded. Private Bowling, of Davenport is also badly wounded. Several non-commissioned officers, were killed; and a number of privates – among the latter Mr. Howell, Quartermaster’s Sergeant at Camp McClellan. I will try to send you the list that you may have it published.

But I must close. We have not had an opportunity yet of pitching our tents or getting to our baggage, and we will sleep in the rain and mud tonight uncovered except by our blankets, an single one each, and no overcoats, as they have been laid aside for fighting. We sleep just where we happen to be at night – and may be called on to march any day on the track of the flying but still hard fighting enemy. It is now late at night and I have had nothing to eat since breakfast, and that breakfast was a hard cracker, piece of fat bacon and coffee made out of coffee grains boiled whole. No chance for supper, although the boys have had theirs. But I rather like this life. It is novel anyhow, to me. I do not know when I can write to you again.

ADD. H. SANDERS

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

List of Killed and Wounded of the 15th Regiment Iowa Volunteers, in the Battle of Pittsburg, Tenn., Sunday, April 6th, 1862

{OFFICIAL REPORT OF SURGEON DAVIS.}


FIELD AND STAFF.

Wounded - Col H T Reid, flesh wound in neck; Major Wm Belknap, do in shoulder; Adjutant G Pomety, do in thigh, severely; Sergeant Major Alex Brown, left hip, severely.


COMPANY A.

Killed – 2d Lieutenant J B Penneman; Privates P H Kennedy, Wm Wood.

Wounded – Corporals W J McLenahan, hip severely; John Kinbrough, arm do; M Rhynsburger, hand do; Wm Hershburger, head do; Wm E Elsroad side do; Privates E Hopkins, leg severely; C S Stewart hand do; D Rhynsburger head do; F Lambard groin slightly; John F Evans do slightly. J D Simms Thigh Severely;Jacob Sells Hand do; Jacob Brown breast do; Henry Bunn shoulder do; David Klemeck leg slightly; Sergeants Robert G Forgrave hand slightly; A Hatfield leg do L C Brainard hand do.


COMPANY B.

Killed – Private Conrad Wenzel.

Wounded – 1st Sergt Henry Moreland, head slightly; Privates M Barnes mortally; B F Stoughsen, head severely; John Payne, shoulder do; Henry Edmonds, arm do; Robert Campbel, arm do; L M Green, leg slightly; J M Rogers, leg do.


COMPANY C.

Killed – Private Chas W Bardrick.

Wounded - Privates C L Kirk, in the leg severely; David Haff, in the shoulder severely; J S Warner, breast do; Charles Johnson, arm do; D Devour, arm do; henry Barrell hand do; G T Limbert, thigh do; W H Brown thigh do; S P Otry, leg do; Eden Hunt, leg do; J Youngblood, thigh do/ J Love, leg slightly; L L Loyd, slightyly; N H Griffith, slightly.


COMPANY D.

Killed – 1st Sergt Chas Fowler; Privates Jos Rhyne; Frederick Frick.

Wounded – 1st Lieut J S Porter; Privates Jno Holloway; W B Grey; G S Baird; J S Massler; Andrew Clark; M Rayburn; John Engle; Wm Winter; E M Gephart; G W Zimmerman; A J Roack; Henry Elms; W S Mesind; John Wellman; Charles Shriven; Samuel Buchanan.


COMPANY E.

Killed – J W Fouts, John McCord, George Peyton, Wm Clark.

Wounded – Capt R W Hutchcraft, in arm, severely; 1st Sert’t Wm Muir, do slightly; Serg’t W C Strider, do do; Corp Melvin Sweet, shot in hand; corp Vear Porter, severe. Privates. – Aaron Clingman, Severe, Ben Davis do, George Dehart thigh, John Miller do, W D Carver wrist slight; Isaac B Thatcher do, Jonathan Porter do; Wm McCary do; Silas Grove severe.


COMPANY F.

Killed – B F Russell, M W Thayer, Isaac Troth.

Wounded – Capt E C Blackmar, 1st Lieut P H Goode, finger off; corp F Blackmar, in leg – Privates. A M McKee, neck, severe; D Scott do; Wm H Irvin do; Wm Blair, slightly; W R Cooper do, F M Harmon do; G B Burry do; W Tiefford do; T Kelley do; John Ryerson do; I M Parson.


COMPANY G.

Killed – Private Granville Feagins

Wounded - Corps C L Mathews, slight; Nath IL Hoyse, head; Privates Joseph Amon, head, severely; Oscar E Ford, side, do; Miles Judkins, arm amputated; John White, hand, severely; Daniel Fisher, slightly; Henry Hooten, face, slightly, Harrison Morris, do;; W Metcalf, do; Truman Stone, do; John Toveral; do; Jacob McVay, slightly; Steven Overson, do; corporal C H Web, do.


COMPANY H.

Killed – Private Aaron Crill.

Wounded – 1st Lieut L W King, left leg, severely; 2d Lieut J A Danielson, Hip; 1st Sergt F M Platt, through left leg, severely; Sergt I S Cole, thigh, do; corporals N G Boynton, do; H G Vinceent [sic], right leg, amputated, Privates James Clark, severely; Samuel Clark, do; Sam Dicus, slight; J W Ellis, shot through hand and wrist; Jonathan Johnson, shot through left foot left arm and head; David Knauss, slight; Andrew Mosier, leg, slight, Joseph Whaley, foot, do; L Streeter, slight, Henry Frantz, do.


COMPANY I.

Killed – 2d Lieut R W Hamilton. Privates M H Wilson, James Doyle.

Wounded - Capt James G Day, hip, severely; Lieut I M Reid, neck, slight; Serg’t H Scheevers, shoulder, severe; corp G H Kuhn do do; corp B F Keck, abdomen, sever. Privates. – Robert Brisbin leg; Eclamer Chandler do; Albert Homewood do slight; Geo Haner hand; J B Jones breast severe; H Morgan wrist; I M Murphy hip, mortally; Melvin R Palmer severe; H N Vandervall do; Jackson Gracy slight; Isaac Johnson do; J Hall do, Wm Ward hand, severe; A A Rogers hip and leg, slight.


COMPANY K.

Killed - Privates John Holmes; John Winkler.

Wounded – Corporals H B Wyatt, slight, A R Wilcox, do. Privates W Bealer, do; James Crismore, do; W R Edmonds, do. G L Hunt do; W S Grave, do, J Ketchum, do; James Long, do; L. M Randolph, do, J Smith, do, G W Wallace, shot through foot severely; M M Young, slight; G W Hammonds, do, Perry Bird, do.


Additional Wounded – Private Robt. Hardman, reported missing turns out wounded in the face badly; Private Charles m Weelock, co A, reported missing, turns out badly wounded in the thigh.


MISSING AND SUPPOSED PRISONERS

Company A – Private A L Palmer.

Company K – Capt J M Hedrick; Private _ Johnson.

Company G – 2nd Lieut Hezekiah Fisk, Private Albert U Crosby.


– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Fall of Fort Craig

It will be recollected that after the late battle between Gen. Sibley’s forces and Col. Canby’s in New Mexico that Canby’s forces, the Federals, retreated to Fort Craig, and were surrounded by our troops. The New Orleans papers of the 1st inst. state that authentic news from San Antonio, affirms the surrender of the Fort. The surrender was unconditional. The Confederates are therefore the masters of New Mexico.

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Review: The Mule Shoe

The Mule Shoe
By Perry Trouche


Many students of the American Civil War often wonder what it must have been like. What did a battle look and sound like? What sights, sounds and smells did the average Civil War soldier experience during a battle? What is it like to face hostile enemy fire, to face life on a second by second basis, where to move of a fraction of an inch could mean the difference between life and death? What goes through a soldier’s mind during a battle? What does it feel like? What does it do to you, to your mind?

Walt Whitman wrote, “Future years will never know the seething hell and the black infernal background of countless minor scenes and interiors, (not the official surface courteousness of the Generals, not the few great battles) of the Secession war; and it is best they should not—the real war will never get in the books.” To a large degree, Mr. Whitman was right. For nearly a century and a half students of the war have combed through archives and libraries, read soldiers diaries and letters, official reports and newspaper accounts; scholars have written thousands upon thousands of books about Civil War. From these sources we try to extrapolate what it was like for the fighting men of both sides. And yet what we think we know cannot possibly compare to the experiences of those who participated in it.

How did the war, where killing could be random and from a distance or at point-blank range during hand-to-hand combat, affect the mental capacities of the soldiers who fought it? It is a question that can never be fully answered. The American Civil War occurred in an era before modern psychiatry, and “post traumatic stress” would not be a clinically diagnosed disorder for the next one hundred years.

A Charleston, South Carolina psychiatrist, Perry Trouche, has attempted to answer the question of how the war affected the mental health of the fighting men, not through a scholarly dissertation or a medical journal article, but instead though a work of fiction. A historical novel can take its reader places where works of nonfiction cannot: the inner world and thoughts of its characters.

Mr. Trouche’s protagonist, Conner DuMont, is a Confederate soldier, the “new boy” in the 12th South Carolina Infantry, a regiment of veterans in Samuel McGowan’s Brigade. It is May, 1864 in Spotsylvania, Virginia and the regiment has just taken its position in the salient which gives Mr. Trouche’s novel its name, “The Mule Shoe.” Surrounded on three sides by the Federal Army, the Mule Shoe salient was the scene of severe fighting and thus Mr. Trouche has succeeded in placing Conner, whose mental status, from the very beginning of the novel, is questionable at best, in the vortex of hell.

Written in a first person stream of consciousness style “The Mule Shoe” is a fascinating view of a Confederate soldier whose mental stability is on an ever increasing downward spiral, while experiencing all the horrors that 19th century warfare has to offer.

Throughout the novel Conner hears voices and sees hallucinations. He both converses and interacts with them, and they offer a running commentary, evaluating Conner and his actions, and occasionally giving conflicting pieces of advice. At first the voices and visions are of relatives and friends of his past, but as the battle rages on, and death occurs all around him, others join in. Reality and delusion blur and blend together. Eventually Conner’s inner psyche comes to his rescue, pulling him back, literally and figuratively, from the horrible carnage of the Mule Shoe salient to a place of calmness and serenity, a place of safety, where the horrors of war have been removed, where he can begin to heal.

Mr. Trouche has masterfully written a novel blending history and psychiatry. His characters are artfully crafted, and though much of the dialog is written in dialect, it always rings true. He may not have written the real war as soldiers on both sides may have experienced it, but he has done something very much like it.

ISBN 978-1932842333, Star Cloud Press, © 2009, Hardcover, 230 pages, $29.95

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Second Iowa Regiment

RECRUITING OFFICE.

ALL PERSONS WISHING TO ENLIST in this Regiment, which has already won a proud position, should apply at once to

LIEUT. J. G. HUNTINGTON,
Recruiting Officer,
No. 5 Franklin Block, over IOWA BOOK ROOMS.

mch 25-tf.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

Work Hands Wanted

Many of our citizens in the Eastern part of the State have left that section with their servants, and it is desirable that they should be employed in the cultivation of the unoccupied lands in the middle and Western Counties. We are told that there are thousands of acres of untenanted lands which will grow wheat, corn, irish potatoes, rye, barley, &c., and where pork and cattle can be raised abundantly. It is of immense importance that all the bread and meat which can be raised in North Carolina the present year, should be. At the prices now demanded for bread and meat, which they are by far too high, no class of men are making so much as the farmers who raise provisions. Let our Eastern people, therefore, who are in doubt about making a crop in the East, send or carry their hands up the country. A friend writes us that corn will mature in the Western Counties if not planted before the 5th of June. Mr. D. E. Ridenhour of Hold Hill, Rowan County, N.C., Writes us that he is anxious to hire several hands.

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Friday, September 18, 2009

Among the mountains of East Tennessee . . .

. . . a relentless warfare is carried on by the Union men. A deserter from the rebel ranks, arriving in one of the national camps, reports that the rebel soldiers dare not go out of their lines, being in mortal fear of the Union men. The rebels at Cumberland Gap are obliged to station pickets some distance from their camp to prevent the desertion of those impressed into their service. It is stated that from information from official sources the rebels intend making East Tennessee their point d’apui if driven from Virginia.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

SAN FRANCISCO, April 12

The Mexican mill on part of the Comstock silver lead, Washoe, was burned yesterday. Loss about $15,000.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

North Carolina State Bonds . . .

. . . were selling at 97½ in Richmond, Va., on the 7th.

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Unionism in the Mountains of North Carolina – “A Riot”

The Stars and Stripes are flying in the western counties of North Carolina. All through the mountain region the old flag can be seen, where brave men have collected together to defend it honor.

Soon after Newbern was captured an important engagement took place in the western part of the State between a large rebel force and the Union Home Guards, resulting in a complete rout of the former, who, it appears, lost all the guns belonging to one battery, all the camp equipage, wagons, and supplies of all kinds, belonging to the rebel force, with three companies of cavalry, which were entirely cut off, and obliged to surrender, or in other words, “were retained.” The Raleigh Standard called it a “most disgraceful riot,” which is truly a very polite term for a defeat. It appears that the Union men in the mountains had been hanging a notorious rebel character, one Col. Dodge, who had charge of the militia, and had resorted to a sweeping imprisonment; hence the difficulty.

The Union men are strongly in the ascendency through the western counties of this State, are all armed, and have a complete organization under competent leaders. The Standard says they have threatened to take Raleigh, and suggests the importance of fortifying the city in every direction, and a general fall back of their rebel forces in the State to that point. – Newbern cor. Of N. Y. Tribune.

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

BOSTON, April 15

A bill was reported in the Legislature to-day for the payment of $100,000 to the General Government, being the portion due from Massachusetts fo the twenty million national tax voted by Congress in August last.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

Louisburg Female College

Our readers have not, we trust, overlooked the advertisement of Mr. Southgate, who has taken charge of this College. It will be seen by an additional advertisement to-day, that the music department is in charge of a most accomplished Professor. From the reputation of Mr. S. and his accomplished lady, as instructors of young ladies in Norfolk, the public cannot mistake in patronizing this College. Louisburg is one of the most delightful villages in the state.

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

How the Three Iowa Regiments Happened to be Captured

A Correspondent of the Dubuque Times gives the following explanation of the manner of the capture of the 8th, 12th and 14th at the battle of Pittsburgh:

PITTSBURGH LANDING, April 10.

DEAR TIMES – Though the news of our fight at Pittsburg Landing will reach you long ere this does, I will venture a line. The whistling of bullets is not as unpleasant as I had anticipated. But for their effect, the [music] would be exhilarating. The Rebels attacked us on last Sunday morning, with Beauregard in command. The army on both sides was immense, and the carnage commensurate. The battle field was six miles long, and the range of the Minies [sic] and Dahlgreens [sic] will indicate the width.

On Sunday about 7 o’clock p.m. one portion of the line of our troops composed of several Iowa Regiments with Ohio troops on one flank, and Illinois troops on the other, seemed to be a point of special attack. The enemy charged with both infantry and cavalry. In this hour of peril, when every man ought to do or die, the Ohio and Illinois troops fell back, or rather took to their heels and fled, leaving the line something in the shape of a U, the middle of the letter being represented by the Eighth, Twelfth, and Fourteenth Iowa. This conduct on the part of the right and left flanks, while the Iowa boys stood their ground, gave the advancing enemy a chance to surround our boys which they were not slow to improve; and though they fought bravely, they could not escape. And they fought, till their officers saw that to continue the struggle was to sacrifice all the noble lives entrusted to their keeping, so what could they do but surrender?

Even then it was with difficulty that the boys could be induced to cease fighting, many of them preferring certain death to surrender.

But it was inevitable, and now those three noble Iowa regiments above named, are prisoners.

Where, in the meantime, were the troops who ought to have stood by the Iowa boys? Away down at the steamboat landing, huddled together like frightened sheep to the number of thousands!! And there they staid, and even refused to return at the command of distinguished officers, until the General in command ordered our own gun boats to commence shelling them if they remained disobedient!!!

Mr. Editor, these are rather stubborn facts more so because the organs of military renown, especially of Illinois, have sought of late to claim all the bravery for their own men.

On Sunday night, reinforcements under Gen. Buell began to arrive, and continued to pour in all day Monday. Beauregard found he had more than his match; and after a hard and very fruitless cope with the Western portion of the far famed “Anaconda,” he fled in ignominious disgrace on the evening of Monday. Our forces at once set out in hot pursuit – and further this deponent saith not.

We have had a hard battle, and the name of the dead and wounded, on both sides, is legion.

It is to be presumed that while we were engaged, “all was quiet on the Potomac,” but I assure you we had something to deal with besides wooden cannon.

Doubtless many will write, fully and truly, about the fight; but I took up my pen to tell you how it was that three Iowa regiments were successfully circumvented by armed rebellion in front, and cowardly perfidy in the rear; and having accomplished my truthful task, I add no more.

- Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

More Arrivals Through The Blockade

The Savannah News of Yesterday says: “ We are credibly informed that a steamer from a foreign port arrived at a Confederate port on Tuesday. She was fired at several times, but succeeded in running the blockade uninjured. We know that a sailing vessel also ran the blockade a few days since, and her captain has arrived in this city.”

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

BALTIMORE, April 16

The notorious secession print, the Maryland News, published this morning, quite boastfully, three columns of Southern news, which is taken from the Richmond Dispatch and Examiner of the 7th, 8th and 10th inst., and the Norfolk Day Book of the 12th inst., received in this city yesterday.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Rev. Thos. H. Stockton, Chaplain of the House . . .

. . . made the following prayer in the House on the 17th:

“We thank Thee for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. We thank Thee for the emancipation of slaves in the capital of our country. We thank Thee that our soil is now free from slavery, and that this air is now free air, and so shall remain forever. We accept this great blessing not as the result of human manifestation – not as a matter of party policy, but as a Devine intervention; as a development of another form of confirmation of Thy great and glorious purpose, to carry on and complete the whole work of human redemption. Therefore we bless and magnify Thy most excellent name, united with the churches of all lands, and of all ages in saying: Glory be unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end!”

– Published in the Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday April 26, 1862, p. 2

Conscription

We copy to-day, from the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph an able and interesting article on the subject of conscription. This writer protests as we do against conscription, as an invasion of the rights of the States, and as an engine of military despotism. – North Carolina, like Georgia, has responded with alacrity to every call for troops by the President. – Our state will soon have raised fifty regiments; and of these, thirty eight to forty will soon be in the field for the war. If the President wants forty more for the war, he can get them; but we must insist on volunteers and not conscripts; and these volunteers must be guaranteed the constitutional right of choosing their officers according to the plan adopted by the State. Volunteers for the war are simply militia for the war; and by the Constitution of the Confederate States, “the appointment of the officers” of the militia is expressly reserved to the States.

Conscription was recommended and attempted under the old government, in the war of 1812. In October, 1814, it was proposed by Mr. Monroe, acting Secretary of War, that the free male population of the United States should be formed into classes of one hundred men each – each class to furnish a certain number of men for the war, and replace them in event of casualty, or if any class proved delinquent, the men to be raised by draft on the whole class. “This plan,” says the Statesman’s Manual, vol. 1, p. 378, “was considered conscription, intended to be equally efficacious with the conscription established in France by Bonaparte. It was opposed as unconstitutional, oppressive and absurd, and when modified and introduced in the Senate, by Mr. Giles, in the form of a bill for the raising of eighty thousand men, after a long debate, and great efforts by the friends of the administration, the measure could not be carried through Congress, and of course failed.” It is stated in Hildreth’s history of the United States, vol. 3, page 541, that Mr. Wright of Maryland, and other vehement war men, were as zealous as the Federalists in their opposition to this measure. Indeed, it was defeated by Republicans and Federalists combined, many of the former being as hostile to it as the latter. And yet the necessity for conscription was much greater then than is now. A large party not only opposed the declaration of war against Great Britain, but continued to oppose it during its progress, and it was with difficulty that troops could be raised in some of the States. Such is by no means the case in this war. The people generally are in favor of it, and the States have vied with each other in raising and arming troops for both State and Confederate defence [sic]. There is, therefore, no good reason for urging a levy en masse on the people; and it is both wicked and dangerous to attempt to force free men to do what they have been doing, and will do voluntarily. We are inflexibly opposed to calling into the field, as hireling soldiers, all our fighting men between eighteen and thirty-five, and then disarming the remained of the population, as proposed by the President in his “request” to Maj. Ashe. Our liberties might not, in the end, be destroyed by such a course; but we are not willing to trust any man, or any government, of delegated powers, under any circumstances, with the exercise of such power. “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.”

We are glad to find that the press of the State is generally opposed to conscription. The last Fayetteville Observer says:

“So far as North Carolina is concerned, we can say with pride and pleasure, that she has gone ahead of all calls upon her for troops. The late requisition is a glorious example of this. The Governor, by direction of the President, called for five regiments, and more than ten have sprung forward. Is it not cruel, under such circumstances to impress all? Is it not unjust to require, when more that are needed are ready to go upon a mere request? We have reason to know that in some portions of the State, if not all, almost every man who ought to go is already enrolled, and gone or going. Here and there is found a man with a wife and a half a dozen to a dozen children dependent upon his labor alone for bread and his presence for protection; shall such men be carried of to the army? God forbid. If they all go, who is to raise the food for the family, to say nothing of the army? We tell the authorities, that there are already serious and alarming apprehensions upon this latter point. We lately received a letter from an upper county, begging us to call attention to the fears felt there that there will not be laborers enough left (in a section where there are few slaves,) to reap and save the crops of all small grain now nearly ready for the sickle.

Again: this measure proposes to retain, by law, all the twelve months’ volunteers now in the service (between 18 & 35) in violation of the solemn obligation, the plighted faith of the State and the Confederate States, that they should have a right to a discharge at the end of the twelve months. The mere statement of such a proposition brands it as – we are unwilling to use the term. But what sort of soldiers would men make who are thus treated? We say, beware!

We would have said something on this view – the political view – but it is so well and forcibly said by an eminent statesman in a letter just at hand, that we take the liberty of substituting his language instead of our own. It occurs at the end of a business letter, as follows: –

“I am gratified to see that the Observer has independence enough to object to the proposition to repudiate the paroles of our released soldiers. It proposes a process of absolution, scarcely less than Papal. But I regard the recent message of the President, asking for the power of conscription, as in effect looking to a military despotism, and I am greatly surprised that the Richmond Whig, which has manfully raised its voice against the proscription and favoritism of the administration, and the imbecility in office which has become its natural result, should have yielded its acquiescence in the policy. Give to the President a standing army consisting of all male citizens between the ages of 18 and 35, with power to call into the field as many as he pleases and when and where he pleases, without saying to the Governor of a State “by your leave,” and not only is the Constitution subverted, but personal liberty is no more. The power to declare and enforce martial law, and imprison citizens indefinitely without the right of habeas corpus to inquire into the cause of detention, is another wide step in the came direction. A panic prevails in the country, and those in authority have but to ask for power on the ground of “military necessity,” and the oldest and most sacred safeguards of freedom are yielded without question.

We must retain our self possession, and our liberties too, in the progress of this war, or we will look in vain for them at its close.

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

From Jamaica

NEW YORK, April 15.

By an arrival from Jamaica, we have papers of the 4th inst. A great fire occurred in Kingston on the 31st of March, and destroyed several entire streets. Loss estimated at £300,000.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

Monday, September 14, 2009

Gravesite: Brigadier General Joseph B. Palmer, CSA

Joseph B. Palmer
Nov. 1, 1825
Nov. 4, 1890
Section I, Lot 36-37
Evergreen Cemetery
Murfreesboro, Tennessee

Senator Gwin, of California . . .

. . . who was arrested by Lincoln and afterwards released, escaped to Richmond the other day. He says that the North is fully at work, and will use every means to crush out what the call the rebellion by the 1st of May.

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

From Fort Monroe

FORT MONROE, April 15 – 8:40 P.M.

Nothing has occurred since my dispatch this morning, to disturb the quiet. The fine weather is very favorable to the operations at Yorktown, and it is probable that Gen. McClellan will soon be able to open his batteries at the fortifications of the enemy.

The French Minister honored me with a visit this morning. He has gone to Norfolk, and will go to Richmond. On entering the fort, I gave him a salute of thirteen guns.

(Signed,) JNO. E. WOOL, Maj. Gen.

The Union and Lincoln guns were fired to-day to try their range. The shot from the former fell a short distance of Sewall’s Point.

A flag of truce for Norfolk to-day brought down two ladies; also the sword of the captain of the French war vessel Pronos, which was wrecked on the North Carolina coast.

A rumor was brought from Norfolk, which was current there, that Gen. Buell had been killed.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

Sergeant John Mackley, of Co. A, 2nd Iowa . . .

. . . arrived home on the Jeannie Deans last eveing. John was severely wounding in the right arm at the battle of Shiloh. He is getting along finely and says he “will soon be able to try ‘em again.” – {Gate

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Sunday, September 13, 2009

James C. Earp

Private, Co. F, 17th Illinois Infantry

Personal Characteristics:
Residence: Monmouth, Warren County, Illinois
Age: 20
Height: 5’8”
Hair: Light
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Fair
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Stage Driver
Nativity: Kentucky

Service Record:
Joined When: May 25, 1861
Joined Where: Peoria, Illinois
Period: 3 Years
Muster In: May 25, 1861
Muster In Where: Peoria, Illinois
Remarks: Discharged March 22, 1863 at Lake Providence, Louisiana, "Disability"


SOURCE: Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database

XXXVIIth Congress – FIRST SESSION

WASHINGTON, April 16.

HOUSE. – The following resolution was adopted from the judiciary committee:

Resolved, That the Government should not interfere with the free transmission of intelligence by telegraph, when the same will not aid the enemy or five some information concerning the military or naval operations on the part of this Government, except when it may become necessary, under authority of Congress, to assume the exclusive use of the telegraph for its won legitimate purposes, or to assert the right of priority in the transmission of its own dispatches.

Fourteen bills, with a joint resolution relative to forfeiting the property of rebels, and making it a penal offence for the army and navy to return fugitive slaves, and including kindred subjects, with the recommendation from the judiciary committee that they ought not to pass, came up to-day. No action taken on them.

Mr. Morrill, of the committee of ways and means, reported a bill appropriating $30,000,000 to pay volunteers; also $100,000 for the pay of bounty and pensions to officers and soldiers of the Western Department.

A message was received from the President, saying that he had signed the bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia.

The death of Mr. Cooper was announced, and the customary resolutions passed.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

The Latest News

We have deferred to the latest moment making up our summary of news. The reader will find but few additional particulars from the battlefield of Shiloh.

It appears that Gens. Johnston, Beauregard, Polk and Bragg had effected a union of their forces at Corinth, Mississippi, a few days before the battle. Corinth is about 90 miles East of Memphis, Tenn., at that point on the Memphis & Charleston Railroad where the Mobile & Ohio Railroad crosses it.

Gen. Grant, commanding the left wing of the Federals, supposed to be 60,000 strong, had pushed his column up the Tennessee River, and landed at Pittsburg, Tenn., a small town on the river, about twenty miles from Corinth. Of this movement our generals were fully aware. The were also advised that Gen. Buell had pushed on his column of 70,000 from Nashville, South, but with the evident design of forming a junction with Grant, at Pittsburg.

Gen. Johnston therefore determined to attack Gen. Grant before Buell could re-inforce [sic] him, destroy his army and return to Corinth.

The Number of our forces is not known; some say 90,000, but we judge that is a large estimate. Our forces moved against Grant on the 6th instant, whose advance column was within 18 miles of Corinth, at Shiloh Church. At an early hour the troops were engaged, and the battle was fiercely contested on both sides during the entire day.

Where all did so well, it would be invidious to particularize, but Gens. Johnston, Polk, Pillow, Breckinridge and Gladden are specially spoken as signalizing themselves. About 2 ½ o’clock, General Johnston fell, a ball having cut the large artery of his leg; he continued in the saddle until he fainted with loss of blood, and expired very soon after. – Gen. Breckinridge is said to have had two horses killed under him, and his clothes were badly torn. Special mention is made of the great valor of the Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana troops, but we have no doubt all fought well. Dispatches state that only 35,000 of Grant’s forces were engaged. – How many of ours is not mentioned. The loss on both sides is said to be heavy, but nothing is mentioned except that our loss is about 3,000, and that we took between 4 and 6,000 prisoners, among whom was Gen. Prentice [sic] and a number of other officers. Eleven car loads of Federal prisoners arrived at Chattanooga on the 9th.

The enemy was completely routed on the 6th, and driven to their boats, leaving in immense amount of ammunition, stores, and guns in our possession, and 100 cannon captured.

On Sunday night Gen. Buell arrived with heavy re-inforcements and attacked Gen. Beauregard vigorously on Monday morning. The battle raged on until 1 o’clock, when both parties seemed to haul off. Gen. Beauregard fell back to Corinth according to General Johnston’s plan, not having been able to save all of his ammunition, supplies and cannon taken from the enemy the day before.

A dispatch from Corinth on the 9th, to the Richmond Dispatch, says, we still hold the battlefield, and it is not though that the enemy will advance. It says that Morgan’s Cavalry on the 8th attacked the enemy in camp and killed a large number of them, and burned the tents of our forces which they had left.

It says that Gens. Gladden, Bushrod Johnson and Hindman were wounded, and at 2 o’clock the firing ceased mutually on both sides on Monday, and both armies fell back.

It is also stated that Gen. Van Dorn had joined Beauregard at Corinth with re-inforcements. Near that point the great battle is yet to be fought.

A gentleman of this City has received a letter from a friend in the west, who states that Ft. Smith had been evacuated by our forces on account of the destitution of forage and provisions in that region, and that Gen. Price had retired to the Arkansas river to obtain supplies. This therefore discourages the rumor of another fight with Curtis.

We learn from dispatches received by the Charlotte Bulletin on the 10th, that Com. Hollins had communicated to the War Department at Richmond that three of the enemy’s gunboats had passed Island No. 10. Of course they will encounter breakers below.

It is states also, that five Yankee batteries commenced the bombardment of Fort Pulaski below Savannah at 6 o’clock A.M., on that day. No fears were felt for the Fort.

We have nothing from the neighborhood of Newbern, except the skirmish given in another article.

A rumor prevailed in Norfolk, which however was believed to be unfounded, that about 300 of our militia had been captured by the Yankees between Elizabeth City and South Mills.

It is also reported that the Burnside fleet was concentrating at Edenton for a supposed advance upon Suffolk. It needs confirmation.

No news about Norfolk or from the Merrimac.

The reported fights on the Peninsula are believed to have been only skirmishes. The enemy was said to be entrenching four miles below Yorktown.

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Deaths of Iowa Soldiers In St. Louis

There were 85 deaths in the Military Hospitals and camps in the vicinity of St. Louis during the week ending April 19. Twenty of this number were prisoners of war. The remainder were from the loyal States including the following from Iowa.

April 14, Wm. Butler, corporal, Co. E, 16th Iowa
April 16, J. J. Talbott, Co. H, 3d Iowa
April 16, Seldon G. Kirkpatrick, Co. E, 2nd Iowa
April 18, Andrew Statten, Co. D, 2nd Iowa
April 18, T. B. Jones, Co. C, 6th Iowa
April 19, T. M. Sosebee, Co F, 15th Iowa
April 19, T. McMough, Co. I, 11th Iowa
April 19, C. Johnson, Co. E, 12th Iowa

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Gen. A. S. Johnston

The death of this distinguished General in the late battle, excites universal sorrow. Appropriate resolutions were adopted by both Houses of Congress, and they adjourned in respect to the occasion. During the speech of Mr. Barksdale of Miss., he read a private letter from Gen. Johnston to President Davis, explaining the reasons for his course in evacuating Bowling Green and Nashville, which exhonerates [sic] Gen. J. from all blame. We regret that we have not space for the letter in this issue. On the 8th President Davis sent in to Congress the following message:

To the Senate and House of Representatives of the Confederate States of America:

The great importance of the news just received from Tennessee induces me to depart from established usage, and make to you this communication in advance of official reports.

From telegraphic despatches [sic] received from official sources, I am able to announce to you, with entire confidence that it has pleased Almighty God to crown the Confederate arms with a glorious and decisive victory over our invaders.

On the morning of the 6th instant the converging columns of our army were combined by its Commander in Chief, General A. S. Johnston, on an assault on the Federal army, then encamped near Pittsburg, on the Tennessee river. After a hard fought battle of ten hours, the enemy was driven to disorder from his position and pursued to the Tennessee river, where, under cover of his gunboats, he was, at the last accounts, endeavoring to effect his retreat by aid of his transports.

The details of this great battle are yet too few and incomplete to enable me to distinguish with merited praise all of those who may have conspicuously earned the right to such distinction; and I prefer to delay my own gratification in recommending them to your special notice, rather than incur the risk of wounding the feelings of any, by failing to include them in the list. Where such a victory has been won over troops as numerous, as well disciplined, armed and appointed as those which have just been so signally routed, we may well conclude that one common spirit of unflinching bravery and devotion to our country’s cause must have animated every breast, from that of the commanding General to that of the humblest patriot who served in the ranks.

There is enough in the continued presence of invaders on our soil to chasten our exultation over this brilliant success, and to remind us of the grave duty of continued exertion until we shall extort from a proud and vain glorious enemy, the reluctant acknowledgement of our right to self-government. But an all-wise Creator has been pleased, while vouch safeing [sic] to us His countenance in battle, to afflict us with a severe dispensation to which we must bow in humble submission. The last lingering hope has disappeared, and it is but too true that General Albert Sydney Johnston is no more. The tale of his death is simply narrated in a dispatch just received from Col. William Preston, in the following words:

“General Johnston fell yesterday, at half-past two o’clock, while leading a successful charge, turning the enemy’s right and gaining a brilliant victory. A minnie ball cut the artery of his leg, but he rode on till from loss of blood he fell exhausted, and died without pain in a few moments. His body has been entrusted to me by General Beauregard, to be taken to New Orleans, and remain until directions are received from his family.”

My long and close friendship with this departed chieftain and patriot, forbid me to trust myself in giving vent to the feelings which this sad intelligence has evoked. Without doing injustice to the living, it may safely be asserted that our loss is irreparable; and that among the shining hosts of the great and the good who now cluster around the banner of our country, there exists no purer spirit, no more heroic soul, than that of the illustrious man whose death I join you in lamenting.

In his death he has illustrated the character for which through life he was conspicuous – that of singleness of purpose and devotion to duty. With his whole energies bent on attaining the victory which he deemed essential to his country’s cause, he rode on to the accomplishment of his object, forgetful of self while his very life-blood was fast ebbing away. His last breath cheered his comrades to victory. The last sound he heard was their shout of triumph. His last thought was his country’s, and long and deeply will his country mourn his loss.

JEFFERSON DAVIS

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Newton J. Earp

Fourth Sergeant, Co. F, 4th Iowa Cavalry

Marion Co. Enl. Nov. 11, 1861; prom. 8th Corp. Sep. 1, 1863; 7th Corp., date not reported. Reënl. Vet. Dec. 12, 1863, and reapp. 7th Corp.; prom. 6th Corp. Jan. 1, 1864; 4th Corp. May 1, 1864; 6th Serg. July 1, 1864; 4th Serg. Jan. 1, 1865. Mustered out June 26, 1865, Louisville, Ky., under G. O. 27 of 1865, Dep. of Ky., and telegram from Paymaster- Gen.'s office dated June 9, 1865, as convalescent in hospital.

Source: William Forse Scott, Roster of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry Veteran Volunteers, 1861-1865, p. 105

Special to the Chicago Tribune

The absence of official news from Pittsburg is in consequence of the want of telegraphic communication, the wires having been cut at several points in Tennessee by persons in the employ of the rebels. The Secretary of War has ordered that any one caught in this act of barbarism shall be shot on the spot. A man detected in cutting the wires in Virginia, was so served but a few days ago.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

The following are among some of the Iowa officers who . . .

. . . were taken prisoners at the battle of Pittsburg: Major Stone, of the Third Iowa; Capt. O’Neil, company A, Third Iowa; Lieut. Knight, company I, Third Iowa; Lieut. Waggoner, Company K, Third Iowa; Lieut. Merritt company G. Third Iowa and Capt. Bell, company H, 8th Iowa. – {St. Louis Democrat

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Friday, September 11, 2009

Virgil W. Earp

Private, Co. C, 83rd Illinois Infantry

Personal Characteristics:
Residence: Pella, Marion County, Iowa
Age: 19
Height 5’ 10½”
Hair: Light
Eyes: Blue
Complexion: Light
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Farmer
Nativity: Morgan County, Kentucky

Service Record:
Joined When: July 26, 1862
Joined Where: Monmouth, Illinois
Period: 3 Years
Muster In: August 21, 1862
Muster In Where: Monmouth, Illinois
Muster Out: June 26, 1865
Muster Out Where: Nashville, Tennessee
Muster Out By Whom: Capt. Chickering


SOURCE: Illinois Civil War Muster and Descriptive Rolls Database

Burnside

The Savannah News intimates that Gen. Burnside, who seems disposed to ravage our coast and if possible to advance into the State, is a native of North Carolina. We think this is a mistake. It is not a North Carolina name, and we have never heard of this intimation from any other source.

– Published in The North Carolina Weekly Standard, Raleigh, North Carolina, Wednesday, April 16, 1862, p. 1

Times’ Dispatch

An officer who left the National army before Yorktown, reports that he left Gen. McClellan in the best of spirits, and sanguine of his ability to drive the rebels out of Yorktown and Virginia. He says that when he left, the rebels were burning their barracks, an evidence of a preparation to evacuate or an expectation of being driven out.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

Wendell Phillips

Mr. Phillips has returned to Boston, and made a speech at Tremont Temple in that City. We quote a passage from the Boston Post’s report of his remarks:

Mr. Phillips said, the Democratic party rears its head. It gave me the benefit of an incessant advertisement. I owe audiences of thousands and ten of thousands to the fact that a fortnight before I approached a city, the Democratic press loaded its columns with advertisements for me. Cincinnati heralded me the most excellent advertisements, and sent me sealed as her apostle to the banks of the Mississippi. – {Laughter.} It was a Democratic endorsement that Cincinnati gave me. {Applause.} It opened my way to the hearts of the prairies so quickly that I was almost afraid men would suspect me of collusion.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Thursday, September 10, 2009

From Washington

WASHINGTON, April 15.

In the House to-day, Mr. Porter called up the bill, reported by him from the committee on the judiciary, amendatory of the act establishing a court for the investigation of claims against the United States. The bill passed.

Brig. Gen. Mitchell was nominated to-day for Major General, on the recommendation of the Secretary of War, for the gallant service in the capture of Huntsville, Decatur, and Stevenson Junction.

Count Liveinitzerain, late aid-de-camp to the Arch Duke Maximilian, Gov. of Mexico, has been tendered the appointment of the aid-de-camp upon Gen. Fremont’s staff.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

The following Telegraphic dispatch . . .

. . . from the gallant and active Gen. Mitchel, was on Wednesday evening, received by a friend and relative in New York.

HEADQUARTERS, THIRD DIVISION,
Huntsville, Apr. 15, 1862.

The enemy have burned bridges to stop my advance upon Chattanooga, and have used the same brilliant strategy to hold my columns back from Corinth; but for this we should have entered Tuscumbia and Florence. He have penetrated a magnificent cotton region, have taken and now hold and run more than 100 miles of railway, well stocked with machinery and in fin condition. I have abandoned the idea of ever coming nearer to an enemy than long cannon range. This is the third state through which I have hunted him without success.

O. M. MITCHEL, Brigadier General

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Review: Causes Won, Lost & Forgotten

Causes Won, Lost & Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know About the Civil War
By Gary W. Gallagher

How we remember the past doesn’t reflect on historical events as much as it reflects on the persons remembering them, individually as people, or collectively as a community or a nation. Studying how we choose interpret and remember the Civil War, and how our interpretations of it have changed over time, tells us where we’ve been, where we are now and how far we’ve come. Gary Gallagher, in his book, “Causes Won, Lost & Forgotten: How Hollywood and Popular Art Shape What We Know About the Civil War,” has given us just such a study.

Mr. Gallagher has chosen to focus his study to the last twenty-five years or so in films and the last forty years in popular art. Before he tells us where we are in our remembrances on the Civil War he tells us where we’ve been, and to do that he defines the four narrative traditions that emerged after the Civil War: 1.) “The Lost Cause,” The Confederacy fighting against overwhelming odds 2.) The Union Cause, 3.) The Emancipation Cause and 4.) The Reconciliation Cause. Of the four narrative traditions The Union Cause, popular both during and immediately after the war has fallen by the wayside in modern times, in part because it is not so easily depicted.

To be able to tell us where we are as a society in our remembrances of the Civil War, Mr. Gallagher first briefly tells us where we’ve been by taking a look at how motion pictures have portrayed the Civil War from the development of the medium until the mid 1960’s. Though he briefly mentions many movies, two stand out far and above the others, “The Birth of a Nation” and “Gone with the Wind.” Both films rely heavily on their “Lost Cause” foundations. Other films of the era focus to a greater or lesser degree on The Lost Cause and Reconciliation traditions. Films dealing with the Civil War practically vanished during the Vietnam era. But starting with the observances of the quasiquicentenial of the Civil War in the mid to late 1980s and Ken Burns’ 1991 PBS documentary “The Civil War,” the war itself has made a comeback in American memory.

For his study, Mr. Gallagher looked at 14 films: Glory, Dances With Wolves, Gettysburg, Sommersby, Little Women, Pharaoh’s Army, Andersonville, Ride with the Devil, Gangs of New York, Gods and Generals, Cold Mountain, The Last Samurai, The Confederate States of America and Seraphim Falls. With the notable exception of Gods and Generals the Lost Cause tradition has fallen by the wayside in film to join its brother The Union Cause. And in its place the Emancipation and the Reconciliation causes have taken root and blossomed.

In popular art however, Mr. Gallagher has observed just the opposite. Looking at advertisements for works of art in Civil War magazines over the last forty years, Mr. Gallagher has noted that pictures with a Lost Cause theme or featuring Confederate Army and its leaders by far and away out sell artworks featuring Union themes, the Federal Army or its leaders.

So why would the Lost Cause be in decline in films and be on the rise in art? Films are a greater reflection of the public in general, while works of art are often a personal choice and not displayed in public, but rather in the privacy of ones home or office. So while the Lost Cause may be vanishing from public view it certainly is firmly imbedded in our private psyches.

ISBN 978-0-8078-3206-6, The University of North Carolina Press, © 2008, Hardcover, 288 pages, Photographs, Endnotes & Index. $28.00

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Col. Moses J. White of Mississippi . . .

. . . the commander of Ft. Macon, it is said, is a nephew of Jeff Davis. Captain Stephen D. Poole, who commands one of the companies within the fort, was editor of the Beaufort Journal, and it is said he was offered the collectorship of the place by President Lincoln, but having a higher ambition, he refused the office, and in his chagrin joined the secession cause. He had always professed through his paper to be a strong Union man.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Com. Foote Ready to Attack Ft. Pillow

PHILADELPHIA, April 14.

A Special Dispatch from Washington to the Bulletin says that a dispatch was received by the War Department this morning, from Com. Foote, saying he is ready to attack Fort Pillow, having succeeded in getting a position for his gun boats on the river below the Fort. He has no doubt of success.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p 1

Report of Brig.-Gen. Hurlbut

Brig.-Gen. Hurlbut commanded the 4th Division at the battle of Pittsburg Landing or Shiloh. His report is too long for publication in these columns. He makes the following favorable mention of Lieut. Session of the 3d Iowa.

Col. Pugh desires special mention to be made of Lieut. F. Session, of the Third Iowa, A. A. A G. My own observation confirms his report and I recommend Lieut. Session to the favorable consideration of the Department.

Speaking of the Third Iowa he says:

So great were the casualties among the officers, that the Third Iowa Regiment went into action on Monday in command of a First Lieutenant.

No higher praise has been given to any who fought on that bloody field than to Brig.-Gen. Lauman and his Indiana and Kentucky regiments.

Brigadier-General J. G. Lauman, commanding the Third Brigade, took command early the day before the battle. The Brigade and their commander know each other now. I saw him hold the right of my line on Sunday with this small body of gallant men, only 1,717 strong, for three hours, and then, when changed over to the left, repel the attack of twice his force for a full hour, of hard fighting, closing by most gallant and successful charge, which gave him time to draw off his force in order and comparative safety. – His report renders full justice to his officers, among whom Col. Reed of the 44th Indiana was especially distinguished.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Monday, September 7, 2009

Second Iowa Infantry - Losses

SWEENY’S BRIGADE – DODGE’S DIVISION – SIXTEENTH CORPS

(1) Col. SAMUEL R. CURTIS, W. P.; MAJOR-GEN.
(2) Col. JAMES M. TUTTLE; BRIG.-GEN.
(3) Col. JAMES BAKER (Killed).
(4) Col. JAMES B. WEAVER; BVT. BRIG.-GEN.
(5) Col. NOEL B. HOWARD.


Total Enrollment: 1,291
Total Killed: 120
- Officers: 12
- Men: 108
Total Died of Disease, accidents, in prison, &c: 163
- Officers: 4
- Men: 159
Total Regimental Loss: 283


Breakdown By Company:

Field & Staff Officers - Total Enrollment: 17
Killed: 2
Died of Disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 2
Total Loss: 2

Company A - Total Enrollment: 117
Total Killed: 12
- Officers: 0
- Men: 12
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 11
- Officers: 0
- Men: 11
Total Loss: 23

Company B - Total Enrollment: 160
Total Killed: 10
- Officers: 1
- Men: 9
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 14
- Officers: 0
- Men: 14
Total Loss: 23

Company C - Total Enrollment: 115
Total Killed: 15
- Officers: 3
- Men: 12
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 18
- Officers: 1
- Men: 18
Total Loss: 33

Company D - Total Enrollment: 129
Total Killed: 9
- Officers: 0
- Men: 9
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 12
- Officers: 0
- Men: 12
Total Loss: 21

Company E - Total Enrollment: 127
Total Killed: 11
- Officers: 1
- Men: 10
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 19
- Officers: 1
- Men: 18
Total Loss: 30

Company F - Total Enrollment: 107
Total Killed: 17
- Officers: 2
- Men: 15
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 22
- Officers: 1
- Men: 21
Total Loss: 39

Company G - Total Enrollment: 151
Total Killed: 13
- Officers: 0
- Men: 13
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 21
- Officers: 1
- Men: 20
Total Loss: 34

Company H - Total Enrollment: 120
Total Killed: 8
- Officers: 1
- Men: 7
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 19
- Officers: 0
- Men: 19
Total Loss: 27

Company I - Total Enrollment: 133
Total Killed: 11
- Officers: 1
- Men: 10
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 11
- Officers: 0
- Men: 11
Total Loss: 22

Company K - Total Enrollment: 115
Total Killed: 12
- Officers: 1
- Men: 11
Total Died of disease, accidents, in prison, &c.: 16
- Officers: 0
- Men: 16
Total Loss: 28

Total of killed and wounded, 465; died in Confederate prisons (previously included), 16.


BATTLES: K. & M.W.

Fort Donelson, Tenn: 54
Shiloh, Tenn: 15
Corinth, Miss: 25
Dallas, Ga: 4
Nickajack, Ga: 1
Atlanta, Ga: 17
Jonesboro, Ga: 2
Eden Station, Ga., Dec. 7, 1864: 2


Present, also, at Siege of Corinth, Bear Creek, Ala.; Town Creek, Ala.; Resaca, Ga.; Rome Cross Roads, Ga.; Kenesaw Mountain, Ga.; Litttle Ogeeche River, Ga.; Siege of Savannah, Ga.; Columbia, S.C.; Lynch's Creek, S.C.; Bentonville, N. C.

NOTES.--Organized at Davenport, Iowa, in May, 1861. During the first year of its service it was stationed in Missouri, employed on guard duty at various points, and in protecting railroad communications. It left St. Louis February 7, 1862, proceeding by river transports to Fort Donelson, where, under command of Colonel Tuttle, it was engaged in the assault on the enemy's right. It was then in Lauman's Brigade of General C. F. Smith's Division, and led the attack of the brigade. Its casualties at Fort Donelson were 33 killed and 164 wounded; two color-bearers were killed, and two wounded, while eight of the nine men in the color-guard were killed or wounded. The regiment was engaged a few weeks later at Shiloh; it was then in Tuttle's Brigade of W. H. Wallace's Division; loss, 8 killed, 60 wounded, and 4 missing. Next came the Siege of Corinth, and on October 3, 1862, the battle of Corinth. At that battle the Second fought in Hackleman's Brigade of Davies's Division, its loss there amounting to 12 killed, 84 wounded, and 5 missing. Among the killed were Colonel Baker, Lieutenant-Colonel Noah W. Mills and four line officers; General Hackleman was also killed in this engagement.

The regiment wintered at Corinth, Miss, and in the fall of 1863 moved to Pulaski, Tenn. It reenlisted in the winter of 1863-64, and upon its return from its veteran furlough entered the Atlanta campaign, during which it was in Fuller's (1st) Brigade, Veatch's (4th) Division, Sixteenth Corps. After the fall of Atlanta it was transferred to Howard's (1st) Brigade, Rice's (4th) Division, Fifteenth Corps, with which it marched to the Sea and through the Carolinas. In November, 1864, the veterans and recruits of the Third Iowa remaining in the field were transferred to this regiment. The Second Iowa was mustered out July 12, 1865.

Source: William F. Fox, Regimental Losses in the American Civil War 1861-1865, p. 403

Sunday, September 6, 2009

BRIGADIER-GENERAL JACOB G. LAUMAN

FIRST COLONEL, SEVENTH INFANTRY.

Jacob Gartner Lauman was the fourth volunteer officer from Iowa, promoted to a brigadier. He was born in Tarrytown, Maryland, on the 20th day of January, 1813; but removed with his family, when young, to York, Pennsylvania. In 1844, he came West, and settled in Burlington, Iowa, Where, engaging in mercantile pursuits, he has since made his home. At the outbreak of the war, he took an active part in enlisting and mustering our volunteer troops, and, on the 11th of July, 1861, was commissioned colonel of the 7th Iowa Infantry — later, the heroes of Belmont.

While under the command of Colonel Lauman, the 7th Iowa was stationed and served at the following points: — Jefferson Barracks, Pilot Knob, Ironton, Cape Girardeau and Jackson, Missouri; Cairo, Illinois; Fort Holt, Mayfield Creek, Camp Crittenden and Fort Jefferson, Kentucky; and Norfolk and Bird's Point, Missouri. The regiment was stationed at the latter place, on the 6th of November, 1861, when it sailed on the Belmont expedition, the object of which was, "to prevent the enemy from sending out re-inforcements to Price's army in Missouri, and also from cutting off columns that I [Grant] had been directed to send out from Cairo and Cape Girardeau, in pursuit of Jeff Thompson."

On this expedition, the battle of Belmont was fought; and the conduct of Colonel Lauman in the engagement, together with that of his regiment, gave him his early popularity as a military leader. At Belmont, the 7th Iowa greatly distinguished itself, and received from General Grant, in his official report, the following mention: — "Nearly all the missing were from the Iowa regiment, (the 7th) who behaved with great gallantry, and suffered more severely than any other of the troops."

Just when the enemy had been driven from their camp, and down the steep bank of the Mississippi, Colonel Lauman, while giving Captain Parrott instructions with reference to the captured artillery, was disabled from a musket-shot wound in the thigh. He was taken back to the transports on one of the guns of Captain Taylor's Battery, just in advance of his regiment, and was only in time to escape that terrible enfilading fire that well nigh annihilated the rear of Grant's forces.

A remarkable incident occurred while the troops were re-embarking after the battle. It is well vouched for, and worthy of record. The last transport had just cut its hawser, and was dropping out into the stream, when the enemy suddenly appeared on the bank with artillery. One piece was hastily put in battery, and leveled on the crowded decks of the transport. The rebel gunner was just about pulling the lanyard, when a shell, from one of the Union gun-boats, burst directly under the carriage of the gun, throwing gun, carriage and all high in the air. The carriage was demolished, and, while still in the air, the gun exploded. The rebel gunner and several others were killed; and the lives of at least a score of Union soldiers were saved by this remarkable shot.

"It was after the retreat had commenced that Lieutenant-Colonel Wentz was killed. He died on the field of battle, like a true soldier; he was a truly brave man, and did his duty well and nobly. Lieutenant Dodge of Company B was killed, and Lieutenant Gardner, who commanded Company I, and Lieutenant Ream of Company C, mortally wounded. Among my officers, more or less severely wounded, you will find the names of Major Rice, Captains Harper, Parrott, Kittredge and Gardner, and 1st Lieutenant De Heus, (who commanded company A) of whose bravery I desire to speak in the most emphatic manner. I desire also to direct your attention to Captain Crabb, who was taken prisoner, and who behaved in the bravest manner. But I might go on in this way and name nearly all my command, for they all behaved like heroes; but there are one or two more I feel it my duty to name as deserving special mention. Lieutenant Bowler, adjutant of the regiment, and Lieutenant Estle, whose conduct was worthy of all praise, and private Lawrence A. Gregg, whose thigh was broken and he left on the field; he was taken prisoner and his leg amputated, but he died the same day, telling his captors with his dying breath, that, if he ever recovered so as to be able to move, he would shoulder his musket again in his country's cause."

"My entire loss in killed, wounded, prisoners and missing, out of an aggregate of somewhat over four hundred, is as follows: Killed, fifty-one; died of wounds, three; missing, ten; prisoners, thirty-nine; wounded, one hundred and twenty-four. Total, two hundred and twenty-seven."

Having recovered from his wound, Colonel Lauman re-joined his regiment; and at the battle of Fort Donelson was placed in command of a brigade, composed of the 2d, 7th and 14th Iowa, and the 25th Indiana. At Fort Donelson, the gallantry of his brigade — more especially that of the 2d Iowa — made him a brigadier-general. From what occurred just before the successful assault was made, it seems that the success of his troops was unlooked for by Colonel Lauman; for to Colonel Tuttle, who desired to lead the charge, he said: "Why, sir, you can't go up there; didn't I try it yesterday?'' And to the reply of Colonel Tuttle, that he would, if he lost the last man of his regiment, he said, "Oh, sir! you'll soon get that taken out of you." After the assault of the 2d Iowa at Fort Donelson, Colonel Lauman believed there was nothing that brave men could not accomplish.

After being promoted to the rank of a brigadier, General Lauman was assigned to the command of a brigade in General Hurlbut's Division, with which he fought in the left wing of Grant's army at Shiloh. Colonel Williams of the 3d Iowa having been disabled in that engagement, General Lauman succeeded him in the command of his brigade; which command he retained until the following October. He marched with Sherman and Hurlbut from Corinth to Memphis, after the fall of the former place; and, in the following Fall, when the enemy began to show activity in the neighborhood of Corinth, returned with Hurlbut to the vicinity of Bolivar, Tennessee; near which place he was encamped just before the battle of Iuka. To mislead the enemy under Price at Iuka, or, as General Grant expresses it, "to cover our movement from Corinth, and to attract the attention of the enemy in another direction, I ordered a movement from Bolivar to Holly Springs. This was conducted by Brigadier-General Lauman." On the 5th of October, General Lauman commanded his brigade in the battle on the Hatchie.

General Hurlbut's march from Bolivar to the Big Muddy, about two miles west of the Hatchie, has already been given in the sketch of Colonel Aaron Brown. The battle of the Hatchie, or Matamora, opened between the Federal and Confederate artillery, the former stationed on the bluffs, and the latter in the Hatchie Bottom. After a brief artillery duel, the 2d Brigade, General Veatch commanding, charged the enemy's infantry that had crossed the bridge to the west side of the stream, and routed them. Falling back across the bridge, they, with the balance of the rebel forces, took up a position on the opposite bluffs. General Ord, now coming to the front, determined to attack the enemy in their strong position, and accordingly ordered General Veatch to push his brigade across the bridge.

The topography of the battle-ground on the east side of the Hatchie, is thus well given by Lieutenant Thompson, of the 3d Iowa Infantry:

"Beyond the river there was about, twelve rods of bottom, and then there arose a very high and steep bluff. Along the brow of this, the enemy, rallying and reinforced, had formed new lines of battle, and planted artillery, which, from different points, enfiladed the road and bridge, and swept the field on both sides of the stream. Following up the river just above the bridge, it makes an abrupt elbow, and comes down from the east, running parallel to the road on the opposite side [of the bridge]. In this elbow, and on not more than half an acre of ground, a part of General Veatch's Brigade, according to the orders of General Ord, would have to deploy."

Crossing the bridge and filing to the left, it was possible to gain the enemy's right flank; for on that side of the road the north point of the bluffs could be passed; and what seems strange is that, a man of General Ord's ability should not have discovered this strategical point. The balance of General Lauman's Brigade, which was of the reserve forces, was now ordered across the bridge, and directed to file to the right, into the inevitable pocket. General Lauman, accompanied by his orderlies, led the advance. To cross the open field, and then the bridge, was a most perilous undertaking; for, on the bluffs on the opposite side, as has already been stated, the enemy's artillery was so planted as to give them a converging fire on both the field and bridge. General Lauman reached the opposite side in safety, followed by the other two regiments of his brigade, one of which was the 3d Iowa Infantry.

The battle was now raging with great fury, the enemy from their elevated position pouring a deadly, continuous fire on their helpless victims below, whose returning fire was almost wholly ineffectual. Confusion must soon have followed; but just then General Ord was wounded, and General Hurlbut assumed command. He at once crossed the bridge, and, in person, directed a flank movement around the bluffs to the left. The troops employed were the 46th Illinois, the 68th Ohio, and the 12th Michigan. The enemy's right flank was soon gained and turned, which compelled them to abandon the bluffs; — and thus the day was saved from disaster.

This pocket-blunder of General Ord, and the subsequent indiscretion of General Lauman, have been considered by some as connected with the latter's ill-fortune at Jackson, Mississippi, in the summer of 1863. The story is as follows: — In the winter of 1862-3, a supper was given in Memphis, where Generals Ord, Veatch, Lauman and others, were present. When the wine was passing, and all were merry, the affair on the Hatchie occurred to General Lauman, and he remarked to General Ord: —"General, that was a bit of a blunder, in putting us into that pocket, wasn't it?" (I may not give the language, but I give the idea.) General Ord, it is said, made no reply; but gave his eyes a wicked leer, which, even then, some thought meant mischief.

Soon after the battle of Matamora, General Hurlbut was made a major-general, and assigned to the command of the District of Jackson, Tennessee. General Lauman succeeded him in the command of his division.

If we except the march of General Grant into Central Mississippi, in which General Lauman joined with his division, his military history, for the six months following the battle of Matamora, is void of great interest. During this time, he had his head-quarters, first at Bolivar, then at Moscow, and then at Memphis. When Vicksburg was beleagured, he left Memphis to report to General Grant in rear of that city; and, on the fall of Vicksburg, marched with his division on the, to him, unfortunate campaign to Jackson. His position before Jackson, and what happened on the 12th of July, appear in the sketch of Colonel Aaron Brown, of the 3d Iowa Infantry. With reference to a further history of this affair, I shall only add an extract from the official report of General Sherman.

"On the 12th [July], whilst General Lauman's Division was moving up into position, dressing to his left on General Hovey, the right of his line came within easy range of the enemy's field artillery and musketry, from behind his works, whereby this division sustained a serious loss, amounting in killed, wounded and missing to near five hundred men. This was the only serious loss which befell my command during the campaign, and resulted from misunderstanding or misinterpretation of General Ord's minute instructions, on the part of General Lauman.

At the time of the occurrence of this misfortune, General Ord's head-quarters were to the right of the Clinton and Jackson road, and near where the left of his command rested. Near that of General Ord's, was the tent of Surgeon Wm. L. Orr of the 21st Iowa. When the heavy firing opened in front of General Lauman's command, Ord, in a tone of much surprise and alarm, called hurriedly to one of his aids: "What does that mean? what does that mean? Ride out there quickly and see." General Lauman was at once relieved of his command, and ordered to report to General Grant at Vicksburg. Upon his departure he issued the following order:


"Head-quarters Fourth Division, Sixteenth Army Corps,
In The Field, Near Jackson, Miss., July 12th, 1863.

"Fellow-soldiers :

Having been relieved from the command of the 4th Division by Major-General Ord, the command is turned over to Brigadier-General Hovey. To say that I part with my old comrades with sorrow and regret, is simply giving expression to my heart-felt feelings. I shall ever remember the toils and hardships we have endured together, and the glory which the Old Fourth has won on hard-fought fields, and the glory which clusters around their names like a halo — with pride and satisfaction.

"And now, in parting with you, I ask a last request, that, in consideration of your past fame, you do nothing, in word or deed, to mar it; but that you give to your present or future commander that prompt obedience to orders which has always characterized the division, and which has given to it the proud position which it now enjoys.

"Officers and soldiers, I bid you now an affectionate farewell.

"J. G. Lauman,
Brigadier-General."


But for his ill-fated blunder at Jackson, General Lauman would doubtless ere this have been made a major-general.

Reporting to General Grant, he was sent, I think, to an Eastern Department, and assigned a command somewhere in Northern Virginia; but before his arrival, the command had been given to another. He was then ordered to report to his home in Burlington to await further orders from Washington, which, thus far, he has failed to receive. The general, I am informed, has made frequent efforts to secure an investigation of the causes, whereby he was thrown under opprobrium, but without success. Rumor says that both Grant and Sherman have put him off with, "we have no time to convene courts-martial.''

The war is now closing, and he will, probably, go out of the service, without being restored to a command. Indeed, his health is broken down, and he is now totally unfit for service.

Like the majority of the Iowa general officers, General Lauman is of only middle size. His person is slender, and his weight about one hundred and forty pounds. He has a nervous, excitable temperament, and a mild, intelligent countenance.

As a military leader, he is brave to a fault, but he lacks judgment. He would accomplish much more by intrepidity, than by strategy; and, if his intrepidity failed him, he might lose every thing.

He has been a successful merchant, and stands among the wealthy men of Burlington. As a citizen, he has always been held in the highest esteem, and is noted for his kind-heartedness and liberality.

Source: A. A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 163–170

Saturday, September 5, 2009

From Yorktown

BEFORE YORKTOWN, April 15.

Yesterday morning a section of artillery was planted within half a mile of the rebel works. Fifteen shots were fired into their earthworks before they could bring their guns to bear, when we withdrew.

A fine view was had yesterday of the rebel works at Yorktown and Gloucester, from a house at the mouth of Wanlith’s Creek. Twenty-four guns were seen in the water battery at Yorktown and nine at Gloucester. At the latter place new works were being erected. The wharves were covered with commissary stores and the river dotted with sails.

On Saturday Corpl. Bean, Co. B, Berdan’s sharpshooters, was shot while on picket duty.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 2

The celebrated Whitworth battery . . .

. . . of six steel guns is now in actual service before Yorktown. This battery was presented to our government by loyal American citizens in England and France.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Friday, September 4, 2009

From Gen. Fremont’s Department – Skirmish with the Rebels

WHEELING, April 13, 1862

To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Sec’y of War:

A dispatch just received from General Milroy at Monterey, under date of yesterday, states as follows: "The rebels, about 1,000 strong, with two cavalry companies and two pieces of artillery, attacked my pickets this morning about 10 o'clock, and drove them in some 2 miles. I sent out re-enforcements, consisting of two companies 75th Ohio, two companies 2d Virginia, two 25th Ohio, and two of 32d Ohio, one gun of Captain Hyman's battery, and one company of cavalry, all under Major Webster. The skirmishing was brisk for a short time, but the rebels were put to flight with considerable loss. The casualties on our side were 3 men of the 75th badly wounded. The men behaved nobly."

J. C. FREMONT,
Major-General, Commanding

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, Thursday, April 24, 1862, p. 2

From Cairo

Special to the Chicago Times.

CAIRO, April 15.

No news of importance has reached us today from any quarter.

I am informed by a gentleman just from Pittsburg, that Gen. Halleck is actively engaged in organizing and equipping his army for such movements as may be deemed necessary to break up and scatter the opposing army. Now that Gen. Halleck has command in person, we feel easy, knowing that a master mind will direct the movements of our troops.

The steamer Blackhawk, with Gov. Yates and suite, and about 200 wounded, has just arrived from Pittsburg. She will proceed at once to Quincy with the wounded.

A large number of the wounded remained at Savannah. When my informant left, every house was full.

My informant, who accompanied Gov. Yates to Pittsburg , says that we only recaptured a portion of the guns taken by the enemy on Sunday, and that we only captured one of the enemy’s guns. Our loss in tents, baggage, mules, wagons, etc., is very great. Many of our officers and soldiers lost their clothing, except what they had on their backs. I have received nothing from our correspondents above or below.

Gen. Strong has just received the following dispatch, dated at Pittsburg:


Sick and wounded all off. Stop all sanitary commissions, nurses and citizens. We don’t want any more.

(Signed) H. W. HALLECK, Major General


Gen. Strong has telegraphed to Paducah that the hospitals at Mound City and St. Louis are full, and to have the hospital boats turned up to Louisville and Cincinnati.

An attempt has been made to poison some of our troops at Columbus. Four of these have died. Gen. Strong has ordered a portion of the meal which contains the poison to be sent to Chicago to be analyzed, and the party of the guilty of the outrage be arrested.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1

The Tone of the [Rebels] a Year Ago

The Columbia, (S. C.) Guardian just bout a year ago, had an article which was generally copied and approved by the secesh press, showing how easy it would be for the Confederates to whip and destroy the soldiers of the Union. We quite the following:

Months ago the minds of our people had settled resolvedly to meet any issue. Now the people of the North are in all the wild panic and confusion of war’s first alarms. We confront them, a cool. Collected foe, that will never give them time to recover from their surprise. We are ready for action – they are getting ready to prepare to act. They may raise plenty of men – men who prefer enlisting to starvation, scurvy fellows from the back slums of cities, whom Falstaff would not have marched through Coventry with – but these recruits are not soldiers, least of all the soldiers to meet the hot-blooded, thoroughbred, impetuous men of the South. Trencher soldiers, who enlisted to war on their rations, not on men, they are – such as marched through Baltimore – squalid, wretched, ragged and half-naked, as the newspapers of that city report them. Fellows who do not know the breech of a musket from the muzzle, and had rather filch a handkerchief than fight an enemy in manly open combat. White slaves, peddling wretches, small change knaves and vagrants, the off-scourings of the populace – these are the levied “forces” whom Lincoln suddenly arrays as candidates for the honor of being slaughtered by gentlemen – such as Mobile sent to battle yesterday. Let them come South, and we will put our negroes to the dirty work of killing them. But they will not come south. Not a wretch of them will [illegible] on this side of the border longer than it will take us to reach the ground and drive them over.

Mobile is sending forth to wage this war of independence the noblest and bravest of her sons. It is expensive, extravagant to put such material against the riff raff mercenaries whom the Abolition power has called out. We could almost hope that a better class of men would fall into the Northern ranks that our gentlemen might find foemen worthy of their steel, whom it would be more difficult to conquer, and whom conquering would be more honorable. For the present, however, we must not expect to find any foe worth fighting, with the exception of a few regiments, for the North is just getting ready, and will likely be whipped before it is ready.

This was public opinion among the rebels a year ago. They are probably undeceived as to the stuff of which Union soldiers are composed by this time.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Extract Of A Letter From The 75th Regiment

On the 12th inst. a messenger from Gen. Millroy, at Montery [sic], came to the 75th, encamped at Crab bottom, 6 miles out, ordering them up immediately. We received the order a little after 5 o’clock A. M., arrived at Monterey a little before 9 A. M., and about 10 our pickets began to fire rapidly. Two companies of the 75th, viz: D, Capt. Metcalf, and G, Capt. Swope, were ordered forward. They went up the mountain on [Staunton] pike in double quick time, met the enemy coming deployed as skirmishers and opened upon them. They had driven in our pickets some distance. Capt. Metcalf and his men behaved nobly, and actually drove back the rebels before other companies which were also sent forward could get there. One of our pickets who was so closely chased as to be compelled to hide behind some logs says the rebels had a regiment of infantry, two squadrons of cavalry, and two cannon, and that it took them ½ an hour to pan him. Two of Capt. Metcalf’s men were wounded, viz: Amos Dowler, in the shoulder, (no bone broken) doing well; Samuel McDonald, in the leg, amputated above the knee; doubt his recovery. No one else hurt in our regiment. On of the Virginia Cavalry was wounded in the leg, but not badly. A negro just in from McDowell (where the rebels were encamped) says they came back through that place in a hurry, and have gone to the top of the mountain beyond that place, that they had 5 cannon with them, and when they came down they said they intended to drive the d----d Yankees back to Ohio. We hope they may always drive them just that way. We have force sufficient to hold this place and will soon have enough to go on to [Staunton].

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens, Ohio, Thursday, April 24, 1862, p. 2

The Battle at Apache Pass

Kansas City, April 14.

The mail from Ft. Union has arrived, and brings us confirmation of the battle at Apache Pass, the main features of which were given in a dispatch from Denver City. Our forces numbered 1,350; the Texans, 1,800. Our loss in killed, wounded and missing was 150; the enemy acknowledged their loss to be for 300 to 400.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p 1

State Hahnemann Association

We have received the circular call for a convention to meet at Davenport on Wednesday, the 21st of May proximo, to form and Iowa Hahnemann Association. The call is quite numerously signed and is dated at Dubuque. From the enthusiasm manifested, and the character of those whose names are appended to the call, no doubt a large meeting will obtain. The inaugural address will be delivered by Dr. E. A. Guilbert of that city.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Review: Did Lincoln Own Slaves?

Did Lincoln Own Slaves?:
And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Abraham Lincoln
by Gerald J. Prokopowicz

Did you ever have a question about Abraham Lincoln but didn’t want to pull several books of a library shelf to find the answer? Have you toured the White House, the Lincoln Home, or any of the other various Lincoln sites and had a question that you thought others might think you stupid or uneducated for asking? Then Gerald J. Prokopowicz’s book “Did Lincoln Own Slaves?: And Other Frequently Asked Questions About Abraham Lincoln” is just the book for you.

This, as acknowledged by Mr. Prokopowicz in his introduction, is not a book directed towards Lincoln Scholars or history professors. This is a book intended to be read by the general American public. If you have read several books on Abraham Lincoln there is little, if anything, new to be discovered between its covers that you probably haven’t read elsewhere.

This slim tome is an encyclopedia of questions posed about Abraham Lincoln’s life and times, the man, the myths and the legends. Though there are probably several, I cannot think of a single question about Abraham Lincoln that is not answered in this book.

Written in a question and answer format, the book is broken into chapters covering specific segments of his Lincoln’s life: The Boy Lincoln, Rail-Splitter, Springfield, Politician, Speaker, President, Commander In Chief, Gettysburg, Emancipation, Lincoln The Man, Martyr and lastly, Legacy.

Mr. Prokopowicz does not speak down to his readers. He writes in an easily read, conversational style with a bit of tongue-in-cheek humor thrown in. His answers are often short and concise, but more complicated questions, such as Lincoln’s view of race, or emancipation, both deserve and receive longer answers. His book is aimed toward those who are curious about Abraham Lincoln, and though the author answers each question he also includes a section titled “For Further Reading” at the end of each chapter for those who would like to know more.

As Lincoln scholar, Mr. Prokopowicz has devoted much of his life to the study of the life and times of our 16th president. For nine years he served as the Lincoln Scholar at the Lincoln Museum at Fort Wayne, Indiana, and was the editor of its quarterly journal, “Lincoln Lore.” He is a member of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Advisory Committee, and the host of Civil War Talk Radio. He is currently the chair of the history department at East Carolina University.

ISBN 978-0-375-42541-7, Pantheon, © 2008, Hardcover, 352 pages, Illustrations, Photographs, Footnotes & Endnotes, Bibliography & Index. $24.95

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Private M. Allen Sprague

Company F, 7th Iowa Cavalry

May 9, 1865

Gov. Harvey, of Wisconsin . . .

. . . was drowned at Savannah, Tenn., on last Sunday Evening while passing from one boat to another. This is a sad affair. Gov. Harvey cheered the hearts of Wisconsin boys by his presence among them after the great battle of Shiloh, and was deeply loved by them. His loss at this time is a great calamity to his State.

– Published in The Athens Messenger, Athens Ohio, Thursday, April 24, 1862, p. 2

Geo. D. Allen . . .

. . . a deserter from Captain Leffingwell’s Company, 1st Cavalry, was caught here yesterday by Capt. Newman and sent up to the gridiron for safe keeping.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 2

DAMAGE BY THE RAIN

The violent storm of rain which passed over her night before last and yesterday morning, did considerable damage to culverts and streets in different parts of the city. The culvert on the Second street, near the burying ground, was not large enough for the immense body of water which came pouring into it; it consequently overflowed, washing away a good part of the street, and rendering it impassible so that it was fenced up. A portion of the street was also washed away near the culvert on Third street near Warren, from the same cause. – Fillmore street, between Third and Fifth, is badly cut up and rendered impassable. Some streets in East Davenport are also very much washed away. The culvert on Perry street near Eleventh is choked up or broken in. – there was probably other damage done by the storm. Mr. Baker, our efficient street commissioner, we presume, will have the damage repaired as early as possible, so that citizens will suffer no unavoidable inconvenience.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Thursday Morning, April 17, 1862, p. 1