THIRTY-SECOND INFANTRY.
John Scott, the commander of the Union forces at Blue Mills, Missouri, and one of the chief heroes at the battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, is a native of Jefferson county, Ohio, where he was born on the 14th day of April, 1824. He is a lawyer by profession, and was admitted to the bar in 1845, in Steubenville, Ohio, where he had pursued his legal studies. But, being without means, and seeing less certain subsistence in the practice of his profession, than in the business of teaching, he removed to Kentucky, where, for two or more years, he was engaged in conducting county academies and select female schools. He was a resident of Kentucky, at the time war was declared with Mexico, and volunteered in the 1st Kentucky Mounted Volunteers, Colonel Humphrey Marshall's regiment. The late Colonel W. M. G. Torrence, of the 30th Iowa, who, like Colonel Scott, was then engaged in teaching in Kentucky, was a member of the same regiment. But in his connection with the Mexican service, Colonel Scott was unfortunate. He was one of the party of seventy that, on the 23d of January, 1847, was captured at Encarnacion, and taken to the city of Mexico. He was retained a prisoner of war, until the following October, and then released at Tampico.
At the close of the Mexican war, Colonel Scott returned to Kentucky, and, locating in Mount Sterling, became the editor of the "Kentucky Whig." Soon after his return he published an account of his prison-life. He continued his residence in Kentucky until the year 1856, when he removed to Nevada, Iowa; though two years before he had visited the State in search of a home on free soil. In Kentucky, he was a man of influence — in his congressional district at least; though his principles were such as to attach him to the unpopular party. In the canvass made by General Scott for the Presidency, he took an active part, advocating the claims and merits of that officer; and at that early day he did not fail to warn the people of his adopted State of the suicidal policy of agitating the Slavery question.
In the fall of 1859, Colonel Scott was elected to the Iowa State Senate, to represent the counties of Hardin, Hamilton, Boone and Story, and was a member and holding a seat in that body at the time of accepting a commission in the volunteer service. He entered the war as captain of Company E, 3d Iowa Infantry, but, on the final organization of that regiment, was promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy. The early history of the 3d Iowa Infantry, and the part taken in the battle of Blue Mills, Missouri, by Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, in command of that regiment and the other Union forces, appears in the sketch of Colonel Wilson G. Williams.
Lieutenant-Colonel Scott was promoted to the colonelcy of the 32d Iowa Infantry, on the 10th day of August, 1862, and at once joined that regiment at its rendezvous near Dubuque. The 32d regiment, which was enlisted from the Sixth Congressional District, numbered at the time it was mustered into the service about nine hundred and thirty men. It was, as was the case with the majority of the Iowa regiments organized under the call of that Summer, made up from our best yeomanry. The first year and a half of its service was not eventful, and gave the regiment little reputation; for, from October, 1862, the date of its arrival at St. Louis, Missouri, until the month of March, 1864, it was stationed in detachments at Cape Girardeau, New Madrid, Fort Pillow, Columbus, and at other points along the Mississippi, on camp- and post-duty; and it rarely happens that incidents occur on such duty that attract general attention. In the case of this regiment, however, there was one such incident: it was widely talked of at the time; but its history with many was not understood.
It will be remembered that, in the latter part of December, 1862, Colonel, afterward General Forest, with a force estimated at from five to seven thousand men, made his appearance in Western Tennessee and Kentucky. It was on this same raid that Forest threatened Jackson, Tennessee, destroyed some thirty miles of railroad north of that place, and fought with the brigade of Colonel Dunham the battle of Parker's Cross Roads. On the 28th of December, 1862, Colonel Scott, under instructions from General Curtis, left Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to join six companies of his regiment, stationed at New Madrid, and occupying that place. By his instructions, he was to have oversight of the country from New Madrid to Cape Girardeau. On the afternoon of the 28th, he arrived at Columbus, Kentucky, and called on General Davies, then commanding at that place, for the purpose of consulting with him, and obtaining Information. On arriving at head-quarters, he found General Davies in conference with Generals Tuttle and Fisk, (both of the Department of Missouri) and in a state of great apprehension. The general believed the object of the enemy was the capture of Fort Pillow; and, assuming authority from General Curtis, ordered Colonel Scott to abandon New Madrid, and reinforce that place. The colonel remonstrated, and inquired for his authority; but, though the general failed to find the dispatch, he substantiated its substance by General Fisk. The colonel had no choice in the matter, for his duty as a subordinate officer was clear; but, though he entered upon it with apparent alacrity, I venture the assertion, he did not with a fully subordinate spirit. Hence it was that the government property at New Madrid and Island No. 10, was destroyed, in consequence of which, General Carr, unjustly, and without inquiry, placed Colonel Scott under arrest. But the finding of the commission, which was ordered to investigate the matter, was for the colonel a full vindication; for it found that "he did his duty, and was honorably acquitted of all blame." Naturally sensitive, and extremely jealous of his military record, the simple fact of his being put under arrest was a source of great mortification; but, to those who were acquainted with the circumstances, the affair was not only not detracting to him as a military man, but was a recommendation of great value.
I have stated that the 32d Iowa was stationed on camp- and picket-duty a principal portion of the time from October, 1862, until March, 1864. I should not however omit to state that, early in February, 1864, Colonel Scott, with a part of his regiment, accompanied General Sherman on his march to Meridian. In this expedition, and in that one under General Banks up the Red River, the regiment was brigaded with the 14th, and 27th Iowa, and the 24th Missouri. On the Meridian march, there was no general engagement, and, if I mistake not, the 32d Iowa, as a regiment, met the enemy for the first time in the assault and capture of Fort De Russey, an account of which affair is given in the sketch of General James I. Gilbert, formerly of the 27th Iowa.
Colonel Scott, in command of his regiment, sailed from Vicksburg for the mouth of Red River, on the 10th of March, 1864, his regiment forming a part of the 3d Division, 16th Army Corps, commanded by General A. J. Smith. On the evening of the 12th instant, the fleet bearing this command arrived at Simmsport, Lousiana, situated at the junction of Bayou Atachafalya with the Red River, and one of the places through which General Banks passed, while marching to invest Port Hudson.
From Simmsport to Alexandria, General Smith had no other aid or reinforcements than the gun-boat fleet of Admiral Porter; and between these two points was the strong work of the enemy, known as Fort De Russey. But Fort De Russey was captured, and Alexandria reached in safety, on the evening of the 15th instant. Some days after the arrival of General Banks with his command from Franklin, [Louisiana], the combined forces, numbering about fifteen thousand men, moved up the river — those of General Banks by land and the division of General Smith on the gun-boat fleet and transports. General Smith's command arrived at Grand Ecore on the 3d of April without incident; nor had General Banks on arriving at that point met the enemy in sufficient force to offer much resistance. At Grand Ecore, the troops rested for several days, as they had also done at Alexandria. The reason for these delays I have been unable to learn; and it may be true, as was at the time asserted, that General Banks, by his lazy activity, contributed to his own defeat. Report, too, burdens General Steele with a share of the odium; for he should have moved much sooner than he did, and rendered it impossible for the enemy to concentrate at long marches from Shreveport. But Providence, whose galled back has borne the blunders of centuries, was doubtless made the pack-horse of all these disasters, for one of these generals was retained in his command, and the other acquitted without censure. But we can not make history: we can only record it.
General Banks, with the command he had brought with him from the Gulf, marched out from Grand Ecore, on the Mansfield and Shreveport road, in the forenoon of the 5th of April, and two days later was followed by the division of General Smith. On the evening of the 8th instant, General Smith went into camp near Pleasant Hill; and that night every thing was put in readiness for an early and rapid march on the morrow; for, during nearly all that afternoon, he and his troops had heard, indistinctly, the reports of artillery at the front Notwithstanding the battle of Sabine Cross Roads was fought nearly twenty miles in advance of Pleasant Hill, and closed only after dark, yet, before eleven o'clock that night, the affrighted stragglers from the front came swarming past General Smith's encampment. As the night wore on, the confusion increased; and before two o'clock the stampede of footmen, horsemen and teams was appalling. Long before day-light, more than two thousand weak-hearted, terror-stricken men had fled to the rear, rehearsing as they rode or ran their stories of fearful disasters that had befallen General Banks.
In the meantime, those troops who had retained their organizations had hurried back, and a little after day-light had formed a line of battle about one and a half miles west of Pleasant Hill. At about ten o'clock of the following morning, the 32d Iowa, with its brigade, (which, by the way, had been put under arms a little after mid-night,) was ordered to the front, to report to General Banks. That officer turned it over to General Emery, who, sending it out on the Mansfield road, stationed it in the extreme front. Its position was on a small rise of ground, and at right angles with the road. In its rear was heavy timber, and in its front, open fields, which descended to a ravine. Beyond the ravine was timber, in which the enemy was already deployed in line of battle. As I have elsewhere stated, the 32d held the extreme left, and on that regiment's right was the 27th Iowa. The 24th Missouri held the right, and between that and the 27th, was the 14th Iowa, drawn up across the road. Between the 32d and 27th Iowa, was a small ravine, putting down into the one in front, which rendered the position of the 32d in a manner isolated. What made it still worse for the 32d Iowa was the timber, extending nearly up to its left, affording a fine cover for the approach of the enemy's flankers. A few yards in front of the 14th Iowa was the 25th New York Battery, double-shotted, and ready to receive the enemy. I would like to omit its mention; for, on the first dash of the enemy's cavalry, it fled to the rear, breaking through the ranks of the 14th Iowa, and knocking down and injuring several men.
After the line of battle was formed, skirmishers were sent to the front, who promptly engaged those of the enemy; and thus the day passed till about four o'clock in the afternoon, when the enemy's cavalry, galloping from their cover down into the ravine, made for the New York Battery. But when the head of the charging column came up the slope in front, it was received by a volley from almost the entire brigade. It seems hardly possible; but so accurate was the aim that, as was afterward learned by wounded men left in the enemy's lines, only four men of the front company escaped being either killed or wounded. Following this cavalry charge, came the enemy's infantry, in double line, when the desperate struggle begun.
To convey to the mind of the reader a true idea of what followed is impossible; but facts can be stated, which is more than the penny-a-liners, who first recorded the events of the battle, were able to do. Their accounts were disgusting; for so far were they from being correct that they even omitted to mention the names of the troops that did the chief fighting, while they recorded the names of many that fled at the first onset of the enemy. Iowa saved General Banks' army from rout and capture, and yet her brave sons, in any account that I have seen, were no where mentioned. The brigade of the irascible Colonel Shaw held the centre of the Union line of battle — it may be said, constituted that line; for the brigades on both its right and left were not only refused, but thrown many yards to the rear; and as soon as the enemy advanced they retired still further. In this position Colonel Shaw's Brigade received the enemy's infantry, which came up the slope leading to the ravine, in a long, unbroken line. Cheered with the recollections of their successes of yesterday, and seeing but a handful of men in their front, they came with a shout and at double-quick, confident of speedy victory, but their charge was repulsed. They charged once, twice, thrice, and were each time repulsed with slaughter. Disappointed but still determined, they then sought the flanks; when followed the most stubborn and gallant fighting of the day — especially on the part of the 32d Iowa. Making a detour through the woods to their right, (and they met no opposition, for the troops stationed in that quarter had long since retired) the enemy's skirmishers suddenly appeared in the rear of the 32d Iowa. The situation was most critical. Pressed in front, and the enemy closing on its rear, the regiment might have surrendered with honor; but Colonel Scott had been ordered to hold that position at all hazards, and it was not to be yielded. Swinging the left wing of his regiment round hastily to the rear, so that it formed an acute angle with the main line of battle, he presented a front on all sides to the enemy, and was still able to hold his position.
In the meantime, the 24th Missouri, on the right, was flanked, when Colonel Shaw, sending to General Smith for reinforcements, received orders to fall back, as the enemy was already in his rear; but Colonel Scott, from the isolated position of his command and from the fact that the balance of the brigade had yielded considerable ground, failed to be reached by the orderly sent to notify him of the order to retire, and he was left on the ground he had defended so gallantly. He was now surrounded on all sides by the enemy's lines; and why he with his command was not overwhelmed and captured I can not understand. Finally the Union forces rallying drove the enemy back to his original line, when Colonel Scott and his regiment were found on the ground they had been ordered "to hold at all hazards." For more than two hours it had been supposed by all that the regiment was captured; and the surprise and joy of its friends at finding it again in the Federal lines was unbounded. If in the history of the whole war there be an instance equal in all respects to the above, I have failed to learn it.
That I have in no way exaggerated the heroic conduct of the 32d Iowa in this engagement, its list of casualties is evidence. The regiment lost in killed and wounded more than one hundred and sixty, which, excluding the losses of its own brigade, exceeded the losses of General Banks' entire army. More than two-thirds of the 32d Iowa were put out of battle.
Lieutenant-Colonel Edward H. Mix was killed; and a majority of the line officers were either killed or wounded. Among those killed were Captain Amos B. Miller, Captain H. F. Peebles; Lieutenant Thomas O. Howard and Adjutant Charles H. Huntley. Captain Ackerman, and Lieutenants Devine and Wright were severely wounded.
Among the enlisted men, distinguished for their merit, who fell in this engagement, were Sergeants Hull, Goodell and Kane; Corporals Ballou, Modlin and Pettibone; Privates Anderson, Hoyt, Hewett, Hutchinson, Wood, and many others.
The night after the engagement, General Banks in council with his chief officers declared it impossible for the expedition to proceed further, and the next morning begun the memorable retreat. It is not so strange that the rebel chiefs, during that same night, came to the conclusion that the result of the day's fighting was against them, and that further resistance to the advance of the Federal army at that point was useless; for they had been defeated, notwithstanding the lack of energy (I can not say spirits) and co-operation on the part of the Federal general officers. Before day-light on the morning of the 10th of April, both armies began to retreat; and, to facilitate their flight, the Confederates spiked several of their cannon. But they soon learned their mistake, and returned, their advance reaching the hospitals, in which the Union wounded had been left, at about nine o'clock in the morning. From that time until General Banks reached Simmsport, they remained his master; and had it not been for an insignificant lieutenant-colonel who rescued the gun-boat fleet and transports they might have been his captors; for these he was not allowed to abandon.
On the return of the Red River Expedition, Colonel Scott tendered his resignation, which was reluctantly accepted, on the 31st of May, 1864. He was impelled to this course, I am informed, from the loss of his health in the recent campaign, and from the urgent claims of his family, which was broken up and in need of a home. He is at present living on his farm in Story county, and engaged in sheep-raising and horticulture. The following is from the history of the regiment published in the Adjutant-General's report for the year 1865:
"On the 14th of July was attacked by the enemy at Tupelo, Mississippi. Repulsed him with a loss to the regiment of four men wounded. July 15th, the regiment started back to La Grange, and camped at Old Town Creek, where it was attacked by the enemy, again repulsing him. Arrived at La Grange July 22d and at Memphis on the 24th. Left by railroad for Holly Springs, Mississippi, August 4th, and after marching to Waterford, Abbeville, Oxford, and back to Holly Springs, arrived at Memphis on the 30th.
"From September 5th to October 4th, the regiment was on the move to Jefferson Barracks, De Soto, and other points, and from October 2d to the 18th it was constantly marching to different points in Missouri. October 25th it left Saint Louis, Missouri, on transports for Nashville, Tennessee, and on arriving at that point immediately began intrenching. * *
"The regiment has traveled five thousand five hundred and ninety-four miles, two thousand three hundred and thirty-two miles of the distance on foot with the army. Its aggregate present for duty is three hundred and fifty-nine. Aggregate when mustered into service was nine hundred and eleven. Has received since muster-in two hundred and seventy-seven recruits: lost ninety-three men in battle, one hundred and seventy-seven by disease, one hundred and twenty-two discharged, twenty-nine transferred, and one missing. It is armed throughout with good, serviceable Springfield rifled muskets and complete accoutrements. Health and condition of clothing and camp equipage of the regiment is good."
Later, the regiment fought at the battles around Nashville, and then accompanied Smith to New Orleans, and took part in the capture of Mobile. During these operations it was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel G. M. Eberhart a son of the Rev. S. R. Eberhart formerly chaplain of the 12th Iowa Infantry. He is reported a most excellent officer.
I have seen many of the "Iowa colonels," and among others, Colonel John Scott. This is how it happened. The old Gladiator, which was returning me to my regiment at Memphis, stuck on a sand-bar above Devil's Island; and I put into Cape Girardeau for better quarters. On walking up into the St. Charles, I saw, perched in a chair in the north-east corner of the bar-room, a man that attracted my notice. His chair was tipped against the wall, one foot stuck on the front stretcher, and the other thrown across the leg thus supported. His elbows were resting upon the arms of the chair, his head thrown forward, and his hat drawn over his eyes. In the small space between his lap and his face was a newspaper, which he was reading. I thought I never saw a man doubled up so before, and walked round to take a better look at him; when, my impudence attracting his attention, he looked up to me as much as to say: "Who are you?" A prominent trait in his character I read in that glance.
Colonel Scott is a man of middle size, and compactly built. His hair and whiskers are more red than sandy, and his eyes gray and sharp. His round, florid features are set off by a pair of gold-mounted spectacles.
I believe him to be among the ablest and best informed men of Iowa; and yet he has that sort of something about him which has kept him back. It may be the trait to which I have alluded; for he is incorrigibly suspicious, and never gives his confidence to a stranger. When I wrote to him for information relative to his biography, he replied: "If I can be convinced that the book is not to be a catch-penny affair, I will furnish data;" but I could never convince him of that, and for what I have I am indebted to one of his friends. One thing is certain, Colonel Scott was never intended for a politician; and why, I believe, we heard no more of him in the army is, he always stayed at his quarters, and minded his own business. I venture the assertion that he never asked to be made a brigadier-general. Had he less of the negative about him, it would be well; for, with the same honesty, he would be a much more popular and useful man in society.
Colonel Scott's military record is without blemish. He was brave, a fair tactician, and a good disciplinarian.
SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 475-86
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Colonel John Scott
From Pittsburgh Landing
We give the following extracts from a private letter received last night:
PITTSBURGH LANDING, April 10.
ED. GATE:– This is the bloodiest battle ever fought on this continent – the fiercest and most desperate conflict of the campaign. Our loss is greater than at Ft. Donelson. The wounded are being cared for as fast as possible, and all that human hands and human sympathy can do is being done for our brave soldiers. – Our Iowa men have suffered severely; our loss not yet ascertained.
The 15th Iowa arrived on Sunday and entered at once into the engagement. Their loss as I have been able to gather was:
Co. Reid, wounded in the neck severely.
Major Belknap, in the back, slightly.
Capt. Hutchcraft, in the arm, severly.
Capt. Blackmar, in the back slightly.
Capt. Day, in hip.
Lieut. Perryman, killed.
Lieut. Hamilton, killed.
Lieut. Fisk, killed.
Lieut. J. M. Reid wounded in the neck, slightly.
Twenty-five privates killed.
Co. A, 2d Iowa, 2 killed, John A Hough one of them.
As soon as I can procure reliable lists will send them to you.
– Published in The Gate City, Keokuk, Iowa, Wednesday, April 16, 1862,
P. A. Dolbee, Company K, 14th Iowa . . .
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, May 3, 1862, p. 1
Colonel William Smyth
THIRTY-FIRST INFANTRY.
William Smyth was born in the year 1824. England, Scotland and Ireland are all represented among the Iowa colonels. Colonel William Smyth is the Irish representative.
His history, so far as I know it, is briefly as follows: He was born in Ireland, and emigrated to this country about the year 1838. A year or two later, he settled in Linn county, Iowa, where he has made his home ever since. He is one of the oldest residents of that county. He came to the State ignorant and poor; but educated himself, and is now wealthy and one of the ablest lawyers in Iowa. He was at an early day district judge of what is now the Eighth Judicial District. He was also one of our Code Commissioners. He is reported as being the only able and responsible man in his part of the State who has no enemies.
William Smyth entered the service as colonel of the 31st Iowa Infantry, one of the twenty-two infantry regiments organized in the State in the summer and fall of 1862. His commission, like those of eleven other Iowa colonels, bears date of the 10th of August, 1862. At the time of entering the service, he had, I am told, no military knowledge or training: he was made a colonel on account of his worth.
The services of the 31st Iowa, up to the arrival of Sherman at Savannah, can be learned in the histories of the 4th, 9th, 25th, 26th and 30th Iowa regiments. It joined these regiments at Helena, late in the fall of 1862, and has served with them ever since. The expedition to Chickasaw Bayou; that up the Arkansas River to Arkansas Post, and also that to near the Yazoo, known as the "Deer Creek raid;" the march to the rear of Vicksburg, and the protracted and exhausting siege of the city; the return march of Sherman to Jackson, Mississippi, in pursuit of Johnson; the movement of Sherman's Corps from the Big Black up the river to Memphis, in the fall of 1864, and thence to Corinth, and the march from Corinth to Chattanooga; the brilliant campaign of Sherman from Dalton to Atlanta; the pursuit of Hood to North Eastern Alabama, at the time he began his disastrous raid north; and, finally, the grand marches from Atlanta to Savannah, and from Savannah to Raleigh, are all embraced in the record of the 31st Iowa regiment.
There is little in the march from Atlanta of special interest; for, previous to the time it was begun, the rebel forces had become so scattered as to make resistance, on their part, feeble and ineffectual. With the exception of the cavalry, the Federal troops marched with little molestation, and with an abundance of supplies. It was rather an agreeable campaign than otherwise. On the other hand, the march from Savannah to Goldsboro was one of great hardship. The advance was made in the face of a foe too feeble, it is true, to offer much serious resistance, and yet strong enough to occasion much anxiety. In addition to this, much of the country over which the march lay, presented strong natural obstructions. One who accompanied General Sherman in his last grand campaign, gives the following picture of one of the advancing columns; and the experiences of all were nearly the same:
"If the head of the column is checked by bad roads, it masses and goes to work with a vengeance, assisting the pioneers. The object is to get the roads in such condition that the artillery-trains can pass. If the bottom be good and the water not sufficiently deep to damage the ammunition in the wagons, and the swamp not more than one mile across, we always bulge through. If our column is checked by the enemy, it deploys into position and fights a little, while other troops push ahead and flank the enemy. If several columns are checked, we deploy into position, (nicest maneuver in the world) press the enemy closely at all points, and, if no advantage occurs, pitch in and whip them like h—1. General Sherman never bothers us upon such occasions, unless we are getting a little too far round, or not quite far round enough, or a little too brisk; for he knows precisely what we are going to do. But if we get a little too fast, he always modestly makes his appearance and says: "Hold up a little there, boys, d—n it! wait till the 14th gets fairly in;" or words to that effect. To be sure, he does not say this so that we can hear him; for he speaks through the regular channel; but then we all know what General Sherman says.
"Advancing in line of battle through woods, brush, over logs, through swamps, down embankments, and over woodpiles, is easily done, because we all know how. We never think of keeping step, or touching elbows — pshaw! Each man knows just where he ought to be, and keeps his eye upon the spot where, theoretically, he is until he gets there. This may cost him a dozen flank movements on his own hook."
Though the above is a facetious picture of General Sherman's progress through the swamps and timber of South Carolina, it has in it less of fiction than of history.
When Sherman left Atlanta, his plan was, to use his own words, "to leave an army in the West, under Major-General G. H. Thomas, of sufficient strength, to meet emergencies in that quarter, while he conducted another army, composed of the 14th, 15th, 17th, and 20th corps and Kilpatrick's Division of cavalry, to the Atlantic slope, aiming to approach the grand theatre of war in Virginia, by the time the season would admit of military operations in that latitude." Hardee abandoned Savannah during the night of the 20th of December, and, twenty days later, the 15th and 17th Corps began embarking at Port Thunderbolt for Beaufort, South Carolina, preparatory to marching "to the grand theatre of war in Virginia." Near Beaufort, the 31st Iowa remained in camp with its brigade till the 27th of January, when it begun the march inland. The grand army moved in three columns, the 17th Corps on the right, the 15th in the centre, and the 14th and 20th Corps and Kilpatrick's Cavalry on the left. As already stated, Colonel Stone's Iowa Brigade, to which the 31st Iowa belonged, was attached to the 15th Corps, whose line of march was nearly due north till arriving at Columbia, after which it was directed north-east toward Fayetteville and Goldsboro, North Carolina. On this march, the 31st Iowa with its brigade met the enemy at three different points — on the Little Congaree Creek near Columbia, at Columbia, and near Bentonville, North Carolina.
The first engagement occurred on the 15th of February, 1865. That morning the 2d Brigade of the 1st Division, Colonel Calleson, led the advance and encountered the enemy soon after leaving camp; but they made little resistance till arriving at the Little Congaree, where, having taken up a strong position, they brought the head of the column to a halt. Next in rear of Colonel Calleson's Brigade was Colonel Stone's, which was at once ordered to the front and deployed in line of battle. The enemy were soon flanked without serious loss, and a crossing over the Little Congaree secured. With little delay, the march was continued in the direction of Columbia, where the army arrived in the afternoon of the 16th instant. Columbia, the South Carolina Capital, situated on the north bank of the Congaree and just below the junction of the Broad and Saluda Rivers, was one of the prettiest cities in all the South. It was formerly the centre of South Carolina politics and South Carolina wealth. When, in marching upon the high ground south of the river, the sight of the boasted city first greeted the eyes of the soldiers, they were filled with wonder at its beauty. Immediately in their front was the Congaree, hidden from view by a broad belt of pine timber; but over the tops of the tall, waving trees were plainly to be seen the handsome buildings and the beautiful surroundings of Columbia.
Only the 15th and 17th Corps marched on the city. The 14th and 20th crossed Broad River at Zion Church, and marched through Alston, destroying the road, and proceeding thence in the direction of Winnsboro. Of the two corps before Columbia, the 15th held the left and the 17th the right. The 3d Brigade, 1st Division, of the 15th, was the first organized command to cross Broad River. It was to the same command that Columbia was formally surrendered by the rebel mayor, on the morning of the 17th of February.
On the afternoon of the 16th instant, General Logan had effected a crossing of the Saluda, and pushed a portion of his command to near the west bank of Broad River. George A. Stone's Brigade was sent forward to the river bank, with instructions to cross the stream that night in pontoons, and cover the crossing of its corps the next morning — perhaps, to move on the city; for that is what was done. "The point determined on for crossing, was about one mile above the wreck of the bridge, and two miles above the city. It was expected to have effected a crossing by mid-night; but the current of the river was so very strong, the engineer did not succeed in getting a line across till three o'clock of the morning of the 17th instant. At ten minutes before four, I sent over two boat-loads of sharp-shooters under Captain Bowman of my staff, with instructions to have them placed as skirmishers, with the centre of the line opposite the landing, and at least seventy-five yards distant. He had particular instructions to keep his men quiet, and not to reply to any firing of the enemy, unless satisfied they meant an attack before the column could cross. I went over with the advance — the 31st Iowa — and made a personal reconnoissance of the ground."
The landing was effected on a crescent-shaped island, one or more bayous separating it from the main land. Here Colonel Stone assembled his command, or all except a portion of the 4th Iowa, which had not yet crossed, and at day-light charged the enemy. The struggle lasted but a few moments; for the main rebel army had already abandoned the city, leaving only a few regiments to delay the crossing. Colonel Stone marched directly on the city, and when near the suburbs, met a carriage flying a flag of truce, and bearing the rebel mayor, Goodwin. Terms of capitulation were tendered and accepted, when the Iowa Brigade, of the 15th Corps, entered and occupied Columbia. It was the proudest day these gallant troops had seen since entering the war.
Of the capture of Columbia, General Sherman says, in his official report:
"Under cover of this brigade, [Stone's] a pontoon-bridge was laid on the morning of the 17th. I was, in person, at this bridge, and at eleven A. M. learned that the mayor of Columbia had come out in a carriage, and made a formal surrender of the city to Colonel George A. Stone, 25th Iowa, commanding 3d Brigade, 1st Division, 15th Corps. About the same time, a small party of the 17th Corps had crossed the Congaree in a skiff, and entered Columbia from a point immediately west."
The night following the capture of Columbia, the greater portion of the city was burned; not, however, by the Federal soldiery, but by that rebel wretch, Wade Hampton, who had, for this very purpose, flooded the place with cotton. A high wind and bad whisky were the confederates of his wicked scheme. The sight was heart-rending. Decrepit old men, and helpless women and children, rushed wildly from their burning dwellings, and cried most piteously for help; but, though the soldiers exerted their utmost, it was long before they could stay the devouring element.
From Columbia, the line of march of the 15th Corps lay through Cheraw and Fayetteville, and thence to Goldsboro and Raleigh; but in all this distance the 3d Brigade of Wood's Division failed to meet the enemy, till arriving near Bentonville, on the route from Fayetteville to Goldsboro. In the battles that were fought near Bentonville, on the 20th and 21st of February, the Iowa Brigade took an important part. These were the last battles of the campaign, and decided the fate of General Johnson's army, if, indeed, it had not been decided before. In the march to Goldsboro, near which place the armies of Sherman and Schofield formed a junction, the Iowa Brigade held the post of honor — the rear-guard of its division and corps.
The results of the campaign, as regards Colonel Stone's Brigade, are summed up as follows:
"This brigade has been in four engagements, with the following loss: killed, seven; wounded, sixty-four; and missing, twelve. We have captured and turned over to the provost-marshal one hundred and forty-five prisoners of war. In the capture of Columbia, South Carolina, we took about five thousand stand of arms, immense quantities of ammunition and ordnance stores, and released forty Federal officers confined there. We have marched four hundred and eighty-five miles, built fifteen thousand and thirty-seven yards of corduroy road, and destroyed three miles of railroad."
The following is from the history of the regiment:
"Colonel William Smyth commanded the regiment from the time of its organization till the 13th of August, 1863, at which time, Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins being at home with wounds received at Vicksburg during the charge of May 22d, the regiment was commanded by Major Stimming, until August 22d, 1863, when Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins rejoined his command, and commanded the regiment from that date to February 1st, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins then taking command of the brigade, Major Stimming commanded the regiment from that date to March 10th, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins then commanded it to March 20th, at which time he went home on leave of absence, and Major Stimming again commanded to April 20th, 1864. Lieutenant-Colonel Jenkins returning, he commanded until May 1st, 1864, when Colonel Smyth, having rejoined the regiment, commanded from May 1st to September 26th, being then detailed to command the brigade. Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Jenkins has been in command from that date to the present time. * * The regiment was first armed with Prussian smooth-bore muskets; before taking the field actively, it was armed with Enfield rifle muskets. September 28th, 1864, it was armed with Springfield rifle muskets.
Colonel Smyth resigned his commission after the arrival of his regiment at Savannah. Accordingly, in the march from Beaufort, the 31st was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel J. W. Jenkins, who, during the campaign, was thrice complimented by his brigade commander for gallant conduct.
Colonel Smyth is a large man and rather portly. In his deportment he is kind, candid and dignified. His merit as a soldier consisted in his kind care for his men, and in his great bravery. He was not an apt tactician. I am told he would sit quietly upon his horse under a sharp fire of the enemy, while determining upon the proper command to be given to his regiment for some designated movement. Not long after entering the service, he was ordered by his brigade commander, while drilling his battalion, to throw it into a certain position. Not remembering the proper command, he rode up to his adjutant and enquired: "Lieutenant, what shall I say?"
SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 467-74
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
3rd North Carolina Cavalry / 41st Regiment North Carolina Troops
I received a nice e-mail form Bobby Edwards yesterday, and he kindly provided a link for the 3rd North Carolina Cavalry (also known as the 41st Regiment North Carolina Troops). The site has hundreds of pages of research, photographs and letters, and he points out the site is growing every day.
It is a myfamily.com site, but is open for everyone to view, however if you wish to contribute to the site, you will need to register and join the group.
http://www.myfamily.com/group/nc3rdcavalry
Hat-tip to Bobby for the link!
The Hon. Theodore Frelinghuysen . . .
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 2
The Dayton (O.) Journal . . .
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 2
Gen. Curtis and Gen. Sigel
A writer in the Missouri Republican, writing in defense of Gen. Sigel, closes his communication with the following authoritative contradiction of a libel perpetrated and widely circulated against Gen. Curtis:
I avail myself of this writing to contradict, on the authority of Gen. Sigel, that he was ever present at a conference of division commanders, at which “a surrender was seriously considered” at Pea Ridge; and I am satisfied that this and other rumors and extravagant statements which have gained currency in the newspapers are as distasteful as they are annoying to Gen. Sigel, and especially is he displeased with all those contrasts drawn between the German and the American, since it is his pride and honor to command an army nearly equally balanced with German and American, who are harmonious in camp, and equally valiant in battle. If the credit is claimed for either, injustice is done to the other.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 2
Transatlantic Blunders
The London Times owes it to the numerous blunders of its American reports, that on this side of the ocean it is no more called “The Thunderer” on the Thames, but the “Blunderer.” Only latedy it announced that Fort Henry on the river Constantine has been taken by Federal troops. French and German papers are not doing better. The Patrie communicates to its readers the intelligence that a bloody encounter had take place between Generals Henry and Donelson, which had been decided favorably to the Federal troops, by Artillery-General Foote; the Augsburg Allgemeine Zeitung if we are not mistaken lets General Donelson be captured. Another surprising piece of news is, that the troops of Gen. Stone have embarked and are sent to Fort Lafayette!
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 2
Mahony asks for Proof!
Every now and then Father Mahony, of the Dubuque Herald, flares up under the hot shot that we occasionally amuse ourselves into firing into his treasonable craft, and demands, with all the authority of a Southern slave driver, to know by what authority we accuse him of treason, what has he ever done to merit such an accusation! In his last issue he says: “We would like the GAZETTE, or any other paper who alludes to us in the same manner, to point out any treasonable doctrine ever uttered by us in any case, or under any circumstances.” We don’t keep files of his shoet [sic]; but remembering that some months ago we answered the same inquiry so emphatically that he did not dare gainsay us, we turned our files for the article. Almost the first paragraph our eyes lighted upon was one in which the Dubuque Herald, in alluding to a proposed secession amendment by its great prototype and namesake of New York, says, “For our part, we would willing accede to the amendment of the Constitution of the United States proposed by the seceded States.” Without looking further, we regard this as sufficiently treasonable.
But, why, we would ask, was the Dubuque Herald prohibited from circulating through the mails of Missouri by Provost Marshal McKinstry, if it were not on account of the treasonable doctrines it contained, and the effect it would have upon the rebels of that State? No, Father Mahony, we believe ferventy that if you had been required to take up arms for or against the Government of the United States, before the Southern Confederacy was in the descendancy, that you would have lovingly twined your arm around the aristocratic neck of ex-Fort Warren Jones, and gone with him to fight, where your every editorial shows your sympathies to be most deeply interested.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 2
Iowa Items
A child of Mr. John Loveless, of Marion county, was burned to death on the 31st ult. The mother went to a neighbor’s house a short distance off, leaving her two children at home. The eldest child, it is supposed, caught fire in its clothes, and started to where its mother had gone, and was found lying near the road with its clothes consumed and its body burned to a crisp.
Mr. George W. P. Bowman, writing to the McGregor Times, advocates the building of a horse railroad from McGregor westward. He estimates the cost at $5,000 a mile, including station-houses, one car to the mile, wells, &c., all ready for the receipt of freight. He estimates the annual expence [sic] on a road of 100 miles at $10,000, besides interest at 7 per cent on original cost, amounting to $35,000; and receipts on a freight business of 4,000,000 bushels of grain, and smaller items, exclusive of passengers, at $110,000. There is matter for serious consideration in his suggestion.
In the recent city election at Lyons there was a tie, on the Mayor. The same occurrence happened at Anamosa.
Nelson Sutherland, who murdered John Sparks, in Delaware county, last November, has been sentenced to eleven years confinement in the [penitentiary]. He has been sent to Fort Madison.
John W. Borland, of Johnson county, formerly a teacher in the Normal department of the State University, died recently at his residence.
Elias Fidler of Oskaloosa, was bitten by a rabid dog in February, and died of Hydrophobia on the 7th day of this month. He lingered with the disease three days before he died. He was a German, and left a family.
Brigadier General Dodge is now in St. Louis where he is suffering more than was anticipated from the wounds he received at Pea Ridge. He will remain at St. Louis until he recuperates.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 2
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Colonel William M. G. Torrence
SECOND COLONEL, THIRTIETH INFANTRY.
William M. G. Torrence, the successor of Colonel Abbott to the colonelcy of the 30th Iowa Infantry, was the eighth of the Iowa colonels who lost their lives in the service — Worthington, Baker, Mills, Dewey, Kinsman, Abbott, Hughes, and Torrence. Of those who lost their lives in battle, he was the fifth — Baker, Mills, Kinsman, Abbott, and Torrence.
Colonel Torrence was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he was born the 1st day of September, 1823. His parents were Presbyterians, of which church he was also a member. His mother died in his early infancy, and left him to the kind care of an esteemed and most worthy sister, who reared him with almost maternal tenderness.
In early manhood, he left his native State for Kentucky, where he became a school-teacher; and in this capacity he passed several years. He was engaged in school-teaching in Kentucky, at the time war was declared against Mexico; but, like Colonel Scott of the 32d Iowa, left the school-room and volunteered. He was a first lieutenant in that war, and a member of the 1st Kentucky Mounted Volunteers, commanded by the portly, perfidious Humphrey Marshall. His cool judgment and commendable courage in action won him distinction. He was highly complimented for the part he acted at the battle of Buena Vista, being tendered a commission in the regular army of the same rank as that which he held in the volunteer service; but he declined the honor, and, at the close of the war, returned home with his regiment.
In the latter part of 1847, Lieutenant Torrence came to Iowa, and settled in Keokuk, where he resumed his former occupation, and where he made his home till the outbreak of the rebellion. During his residence in Keokuk, he was for several years City Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the spring of 1861, he enlisted a company (A) for the 1st Iowa Cavalry, and was in June commissioned major of the first battalion of that regiment. In the winter of 1861-2, he served with his battalion in Central Missouri, and had command of posts in Howard, Pettis and Cooper counties. At Silver Creek, in January 1862, he engaged and defeated the rebel Colonel Poindexter, capturing and destroying his camp and his train. While a member of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, he served with credit to himself, and was equally successful as a post-commandant, and as a leader of expeditions to hunt out and punish guerrillas. He was a terror to the Missouri bushwhackers.
On the 3d of May, 1862, for reasons unknown to me, Major Torrence resigned his commission, and returned to his home in Keokuk.
After the call of the President for additional troops in the summer of 1862, Major Torrence again volunteered, and was made lieutenant-colonel of the 30th Iowa Infantry. In October, 1862, he accompanied his regiment to the field, and was with it in all its subsequent campaigns and engagements. At Arkansas Post, where he commanded his regiment, he particularly distinguished himself; and at the memorable charge against the enemy's works at Vicksburg, where Colonel Abbott was killed, he bore himself with equal gallantry. On the 29th day of May, 1863, he was commissioned colonel of the 30th Iowa; and, from that day till the 21st of October, 1863, he remained in command of his regiment.
The history of the 30th Iowa during the colonelcy of Colonel Torrence covers the siege of Vicksburg; the march to Jackson under General Sherman after the surrender of Vicksburg, and a portion of the march from Memphis to Chattanooga. It was on the last named march that the colonel was killed.
An account of all the above operations has already been given in the sketches of other officers and regiments, and can not be repeated with interest. This however should be said in justice to the 30th Iowa: no regiment from the State surpasses it in gallant and meritorious services; and, of the Iowa troops called out in the summer of 1862, no regiment has done more fighting, and few have done as much. In the face of the enemy, it has always conducted itself with conspicuous gallantry, challenging the admiration of both its brigade and division commanders. From the time of its entering the field to the present, the 30th has served in the same division with the 4th, 9th, 25th, 26th and 31st Iowa regiments.
The services of the 30th Iowa, and of the Iowa troops before Vicksburg, were arduous and exhausting. After operations had settled down into a regular siege, the troops suffered chiefly from the intense heat in the trenches, and from the want of good water. The labor in digging the approaches, and of constructing new forts and planting artillery, was the hardest and most dreaded. The Federal camps were so securely established back behind the hills, as to render them comparatively safe from the enemy's scattering musketry, and from the ponderous missiles of their artillery. The skirmish-line was the place of chief danger; and yet, the skirmish-line was the scene of much amusement. Regiments took their regular turn on the skirmish-line, every two or three days, usually going out in the morning, and holding their posts for twenty-four hours. They were protected by old logs, fallen trees, and slight earth-works. Every man had his chosen place — in the crotch of a fallen tree, at the end of a log, behind a stump, or somewhere; and the regular day for his regiment at the front, was sure to find him there, unless he had been struck by a "Johnnie," or left sick in camp. Thousands to-day can go to the very spot where, during the siege of forty-five days, they slammed away.
A favorite amusement with many of the men, was to stick their hats on the end of their guns, and then, thrusting them just above the works, invite the "Johnnies" to "hit that." It was nothing uncommon, too, for the men to "take a game of seven-up." It is wonderful what indifference to danger men acquire from being constantly exposed to it.
The greater portion of the months of August and September, 1863, were passed by the 30th Iowa in camp on Big Black River. In the latter part of September, the regiment marched with its brigade to Vicksburg, and proceeded thence by boat to Memphis. Going by rail from Memphis to Corinth, It marched thence for Chattanooga. The 30th was attached to General Osterhaus' Division, which marched out to Tuscumbia, Alabama, to call the attention of the enemy from Sherman's real line of march. It was on that march that Colonel Torrence was killed.
He was shot by the enemy, in ambush, just beyond Cherokee Station and among the wild hills of northern Alabama. I remember the day well. It was in the afternoon of the 21st of October, and stormy and dismal. The troops of John E. Smith's Division, being only about seven miles in rear of Osterhaus', could hear the firing distinctly. That night no baggage was unloaded, and we slept in a cold, drizzling rain. We expected to be thrown to the front the next morning, and all were gloomy. But the next morning we remained in camp, and watched the ambulances that were bearing to the rear the dead and wounded of Osterhaus' Division: when the dead body of Colonel Torrence went past, there were not a few sad hearts among the Iowa troops. The Colonel was shot through the breast while at the head of his regiment, and died almost instantly.
The following, as nearly as I can learn, are the circumstances under which Colonel Torrence was killed; and General Osterhaus was severely censured by some, for the part he acted. The enemy were met just beyond Cherokee. Between the Federal and Confederate forces was an open field, bordered by dense timber; and Osterhaus' line of march was eastward in the direction of Tuscumbia. Forming his line, he advanced across the field, when the enemy fell back into the woods, in their rear. Colonel J. A. Williamson, in command of the brigade to which the 30th Iowa was attached, on arriving at the edge of the timber, left his command in line, and rode forward to reconnoitre. On returning, he met Colonel Torrence advancing with his regiment by the flank, and said to him: "How is this, Colonel? you are not obeying orders." Colonel Torrence, lifting his hat, and in his bland, gentlemanly way, replied: "I am acting under the orders of General Osterhaus." Colonel Williamson then rode back to the balance of his command, but had hardly re-joined it, when a volley of musketry was heard down the road.
Colonel Torrence had discovered the enemy only an instant before they fired, and was just deploying his regiment in line. He was shot through the breast, and, as I have before said, fell from his horse, and died almost instantly.
In the skirmish near Cherokee, (for so it was called) the loss of the 30th Iowa was twenty-seven in killed, wounded and missing. Captain William H. Randall was among the killed. He was a native of Indiana, and a resident of Birmingham, Van Buren county. Brave, modest and unassuming, he was deservedly one of the most popular officers of his regiment.
If I ever saw Colonel Torrence, I did not know him; but I am told he was a tall, slender man, with agreeable manners and affable address. At the time of his death, his head was heavily sprinkled with gray. He was a good scholar, and, judging from his official papers, a man of good taste and judgment. He was a Christian gentleman, and, as a citizen, held in the highest esteem.
The following is an extract from his last communication sent to the adjutant-general of Iowa:
"Head-quarters 30th Regiment Iowa Volunteers,
Iuka, Mississippi, October 13th, 1863.
"N. B. BAKER, Adjutant-General of Iowa:
"Accompanying this, you will receive two flags, worn out in the service. They were carried by the 30th Iowa during their marches a distance of five thousand seven hundred miles, between October 26th, 1862, and October 10th, 1863."
Quite in contrast is the following extract from the report of an Iowa officer, whose name I will not give.
"Exposed to every danger, they were ever conspicuous for their cool, daring courage, and the ardor of their souls, blended with pure love for their country, beamed from their countenances, and hung about them, ' Like the bright Iris, o'er the boiling surge.'"
SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 461-6
Colonel Charles Henry Abbott
The late Charles H. Abbott of the 30th Iowa Infantry was born in Concord, New Hampshire, on the 25th day of January, 1819. His ancestors were Puritans. His grand-father of the sixth generation was George Abbott, who, coming from Yorkshire, England, settled in Andover, Massachusetts, in the year 1643. Of that patriarch's grand-children, numbering seventy-three, thirty settled in Andover. The others wandered through New England and the Middle Colonies, where they made themselves homes. The family is one of the oldest in the country, and also one of the most numerous and widespread. Nathaniel Abbott, the colonel's great-grand-father, was a captain in the Provincial Army, and served through the French and Indian wars. His grand-father, Joshua Abbott, was a captain under Warren, and commanded a company at Bunker Hill; and his father, also christened Joshua, a Congregational minister. The latter died at Norfolk, Virginia, in about the year 1828. The Rev. John S. C. Abbott, the celebrated author and historian, is a cousin of the late colonel, as is also Jacob Abbott, an author of some note.
The subject of this memoir, who was the youngest of eight children, left New England at the age of sixteen for New York, whence, after a few months' residence, he removed to Michigan. In 1850 he left Detroit, and, coming to Iowa, settled in Louisa county. Later he removed to Muscatine. His business in Iowa was that of a farmer, land-agent and banker. In 1853 he married Miss Julia Beach, an accomplished lady and a daughter of the Rev. John Beach of Michigan. Two little boys remain to her as her only hope.
Colonel Abbott entered the service in the summer of 1862, as colonel of the 30th Iowa, and commanded his regiment in the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, and in the charge against the enemy's works at Vicksburg, on the 22d of May, 1863. In the last named engagement he was killed, while leading his regiment. Of the Iowa colonels, he was the third to fall dead or mortally wounded in battle.
The operations of the 30th Iowa, while under the command of Colonel Abbott, will be found substantially recorded in the sketches of Brigadier-General, then Colonel Williamson, of the 4th, and Colonel Milo Smith, of the 26th Iowa regiments. The 30th Iowa was not engaged at Chickasaw Bayou, though it had four men wounded, while lying under the enemy's guns, on the third day of the battle — one corporal and three enlisted men.
At Arkansas Post, the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Torrence, Colonel Abbott being sick. In this action, it was under fire for about three hours. It engaged the enemy from behind their works on the left, and, lying down, kept up an incessant fire, till the white flag was hoisted. The regiment suffered quite severely in killed and wounded: five were killed, and thirty-nine wounded. Among the wounded were Captains R. D. Cramer and Uley Burk; Lieutenants H. L. Creighton and W. L. Alexander; Sergeant-Major Clendening, and Sergeants York, Detwiler and Gregg. The following is from Lieutenant-Colonel Torrence's report:
"There is nothing further which I deem it my duty to mention, save that both officers and men generally acted well for new troops. I might mention to you with great propriety a few instances of cool and commendable courage, displayed by some of the men, they having fallen under my immediate notice during the action; but I forbear mentioning any save one, and that is the case of James M. Smith, a private of Company C, a single young man, not yet arrived at his majority. * * * His conduct on the battle-field, in the late engagement, was such as to secure implicit confidence in his courage and ability." The night following the engagement was one of great fatigue to the 30th Iowa; for it was detailed to guard prisoners, and to escort them inside the fort, and was not relieved till after midnight. The "Deer Creek raid" follows next in the history of the regiment, an account of which is elsewhere given; and next, the march to the rear of Vicksburg and the environment of that city. In this march, the regiment was attached to the 15th Army Corps — Sherman's — and marched by way of Grand Gulf to Jackson, and thence to the rear of Vicksburg. General Sherman's account of the advance from Jackson will be read with interest. The 30th Iowa, it should be remembered, was attached to Steele's Division.
"On the morning of the 16th, [May] I received a note from General Grant, written at Clinton, reporting the enemy advancing from Edward's Depot, and ordering me to put in motion one of my divisions toward Bolton, and to follow with the others as soon as I had completed the work of destruction ordered.
"Steele's Division marched at ten A. M., and Tuttle's followed at noon. As the march would necessarily be rapid, I ordered General Mower to parole the prisoners of war, and to evacuate Jackson as the rear of Tuttle's division passed out. I paroled these prisoners because the wounded men of McPherson's Corps had been left in a hospital in charge of Surgeon Hewitt, to the mercy of the enemy, who I knew would re-enter Jackson as soon as we left. The whole corps marched from Jackson to Bolton, nearly twenty miles, that day; and the next morning resumed the march by a road lying to the north of Baker's Creek, reaching Bridgeport, on the Big Black, at noon. There I found Blair's Division (which, with one of McClernand's Divisions, and a wagon-train had been left near New Auburn) and the pontoon-train. The enemy had a small picket on the west bank in a rifle-pit, commanding the crossing; but, on exploding a few shells over the pit, they came out and surrendered — a lieutenant and ten men. The pontoon bridge was laid across under the direction of Captain Freeman, and Blair's and Steele's Divisions passed over that night. Tuttle's followed the next morning. Starting with the break of day, we pushed on rapidly and by nine and one-half A. M. of May 18th the head of the column reached the Benton road; and we commanded the Yazoo, interposing a superior force between the enemy at Vicksburg and his forts on the Yazoo. Resting a sufficient time to enable the column to close up, we pushed forward to the point where the road forks, and sending forward on each road — the 13th Regulars to the right, and the 8th Missouri to the left, with a battery at the forks, I awaited General Grant's arrival."
From this point, Sherman, by Grant's order, gained a position in front of the enemy's works north of Vicksburg. Steele's Division led the advance, and, by a blind road on the right, winding through rugged, precipitous hills, came up squarely to the Mississippi above the city. This happened on the morning of the 19th instant; and that morning a cheering sight greeted the eyes of the soldiers, who, for two weeks, or more, had been shut completely out from God's country. In plain view were the old camping-grounds at Young's Point; and, only five or six miles away, the Union fleet loaded down to the guards with government rations. Looking southward, the sight was less cheering. "Vicksburg was in plain view, and nothing separated us from the enemy but a space of about four hundred yards of very difficult ground, cut up by almost impassable ravines, and his line of intrenchments."
Without that line of intrenchments, bristling with hostile bayonets, and defended by artillery, with black, gaping mouths staring madly at you through embrasures, the sight would have been magnificent; for the dome of the court-house and the tall spires of wealthy churches looked up through the waving branches of luxuriant shade-trees, which dotted the hills and hill-slopes in all parts of the city. Splendid private residences, too, adorned with all the taste of modern art, reflected their beauty in the morning and evening sun.
The first charge against the enemy's works was made on the 19th of May, the day concerning which I have just now spoken. General Grant's reasons for making this charge, and the results which followed, he gives as follows:
"I was not without hope of carrying the enemy's works, relying upon their demoralization, in consequence of repeated defeats outside of Vicksburg; and I ordered a general assault at 2 P. M. on this day. The 15th Army Corps, from having arrived in front of the enemy's works in time on the 18th to get a good position, were enabled to make a vigorous assault. The 13th and 17th Corps succeeded no further than to gain advanced positions, covered from the fire of the enemy."
Neither this charge, nor the one made three days later, was successful; and is it strange? It is rather wonderful that every man who joined in these assaults was not left, either dead or wounded, under the guns of the enemy.
The character of the country for miles around Vicksburg is hilly and broken; and the nearer you approach the city the wilder and more impracticable it becomes. The hills lie, as a general thing, I believe, in great parallel, semi-circular ridges, with Vicksburg as the centre; but they lap each other, and shoot out spurs in every direction, thus forming deep, winding ravines, which were filled, as a general thing, with underbrush, and standing and fallen timber. The works around Vicksburg were constructed by the best engineers the Confederacy could boast; and not a ravine was there which approached these works that was not swept by artillery and enfiladed by musketry. The hill-sides were precipitous, and in many places obstructed: these were also swept by a front and enfilading fire. None who know the ground will say that I have drawn too strong a picture.
Grant failed to carry the enemy's works on the 19th instant. The following are his reasons for attempting it on the 22d.:
"I believed an assault from the position at this time gained could be made successfully. It was known that Johnson was at Clinton with the force taken by him from Jackson, reinforced by other troops from the east, and that more were daily reaching him. With the force I had, a short time must have enabled him to attack me in the rear, and possibly succeed in raising the siege. Possession of Vicksburg at that time would have enabled me to turn upon Johnson, and drive him from the State, and possess myself of the railroads and practicable military highways, thus effectually securing to ourselves all territory west of the Tombigbee; and this, before the season was too far advanced for campaigning in this latitude. I would have saved the government sending large reinforcements, much needed elsewhere; and finally, the troops themselves were impatient to possess Vicksburg, and would not have worked in the trenches with the same zeal, believing it unnecessary, that they did after their failure to carry the enemy's works."
There was one other reason, I believe, which influenced General Grant in making the assault, of which from some cause he does not speak. Valorous Falstaffs at the North, some of them wearing civic honors and others at the head of influential public presses, had long croaked of indecision and inactivity. Such (and they were legion) could not be appeased, except by blood; but even now he had not closed their twaddling lips; for they prated of the "useless sacrifice." Now that he wears triumphal honors, they fawn about him like so many worthless curs; but I know he spurns them with contempt.
Twice it has been my fortune, myself removed from danger, to witness the fierce conflict of two contending armies. Once, standing on a high hill on the north bank of the Tennessee, I saw the veterans of Howard assail the enemy and drive them from their works on Orchard Knoll, back of Chattanooga. I also had previously witnessed the bloody and unsuccessful charge of the 22d of May, at Vicksburg: that was the grandest and most terrible sight I ever looked on. The high ground east of Fort Hill and near the White House was the standpoint; and I can now recall the whole scene, as though it had passed but yesterday. Here was Grant's look-out, and, near him, were McPherson and Logan. Sherman was already advancing on the right; and soon McClernand was boasting that he had captured three forts, and was master of his position. I heard a lieutenant-colonel announce this to Logan, when that general yelled with an oath to the new brigadier, Leggett, "to move at once on the enemy's works in his front, or he would arrest him."
All this time, and for more than an hour previous, above an hundred pieces of artillery had been booming, and throwing their ponderous projectiles into and above the enemy's works. Porter, during the same time, was tossing his big mortar shells into the doomed city. Huge volumes of smoke in front, and on the right and left, were rising lazily in the air, revealing the most interesting and anxious part of the scene — the infantry. There they were — some winding their long lengths through the deep ravines, to gain their designated positions, and others, further on, deployed on the hill-sides, and, with their bodies thrown forward, working their way up toward the enemy's works. So intent was I in watching those in front that I did not observe others. These, soon arriving near the summit of the hill across which stretched the enemy's works, raised the battle-cry, and dashed forward. I began to hope there was no enemy to oppose them, or that they would not fire; but at that very instant, the smoke from at least two thousand muskets leaped down in their very faces. Horrors! It seemed as though three-fourths of them fell. The line did not waver: the men were butchered; for I saw only a few run hurriedly back down the hill. By reports afterward made, however, the casualties could not have been as large as I suppose: many of the men, while enveloped in the smoke, must have sought and found cover.
The 30th Iowa was under Steele, away on the extreme right, and beyond my observation; but it joined in the same general charge, a portion of which I have given. Among the many gallant men who fell that day, on the slopes and ridges that encircle Vicksburg, was the lamented Colonel Charles H. Abbott. He was struck in the chin by a musket-ball, which, passing through his throat, came out at the back of his neck. He fell instantly and was carried from the field. His last words were words of cheer to his men. He never spoke after he was shot, and lived only about three hours. He died and was buried near the spot where he fell; and the valley beneath whose turf he was temporarily laid was designated by General Sherman as "Abbott's Valley." His body was afterward removed to Muscatine and buried on the banks of the majestic Mississippi. Iowa, "the land of flowers," and the State he loved so well is the shrine of his mortal remains. Brave, good man! he lived worthily and died nobly; and his name stands among the first on the State's Roll of Honor.
SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 453-60
First Session -- 37th Congress
WASHINGTON, April 18. – HOUSE – Mr. ALDRICH reported a bill providing for the examination of claims for Indian depredations in New Mexico.
The House went into committee of the whole on the Pacific Railroad bill.
Mr. SHEFFIELD opposed the bill.
The committee rose, and the further consideration of the bill was postponed till Monday week. Several private bills were passed.
Adjourned till Monday.
WASHINGTON, April 21. – HOUSE – Mr. EDWARDS introduced a bill making appropriation for destitute widows and heirs of volunteers who have died, been killed, or may be killed in the service. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.
Mr. ELLIOTT offered a motion that the Secretary of the Treasury be requested to communicate a statement of expenditures of money in the Department of the West.
Mr. BLAKE offered a motion that the Secretary of War be directed to cause the necessary blank forms to be distributed among the sick and wounded soldiers and their relatives, in order that they may obtain the back pay and bounty due to said soldiers.
Mr. COX, of Ohio, submitted the following: Resolved, that the Secretary of War inform the House of the following facts. 1st. What has delayed the reply to the resolution of this House calling for information as to the age, sex, condition, &c., of the Africans moved in Gen. Wool’s Department, and what number of slaves has been brought into this district by the army officers or other agents of the Government from the State of Virginia since the enemy abandoned the possession of Manassas and their lines on the Potomac. 3d. What number of fugitives from Maryland and Virginia are now in the city of Washington, their sex, and probable ages; what number is now and has been sent to Frederick, Maryland. 5th. How many are now fed and supported by the United States; by what authority were both old and young, male and female, sent by rail to Philadelphia, and at whose expense, and the proposes for which they were sent. If the Secretary has not the means to answer the enquiries to take the necessary steps to obtain the information.
On motion of Mr. LOVEJOY the resolution was tabled by a vote of 65 against 31. The Republicans generally voting in the affirmative.
On motion of Mr. PORTER, a resolution was adopted instructing the Committee on Invalid Pensions to report a bill providing pensions for disable soldiers of the present war.
The House reconsidered the vote by which the resolution was today adopted calling for the expenditures of the Western Department, and then rejected it.
Mr. DIVIN’S resolution requesting the Attorney General to bring suit against Gen. Fremont and Mr. [Bard] to recover money obtained on the order of Fremont, was taken up.
Mr. DIVEN continued The extravagance of the expenditures in the St. Louis fortifications; the money having been drawn without any form of law.
Mr. COLFAX disapproved of the St. Louis contracts, but the circumstances under which they were undertaken offered an extenuation for them. Why did gentlemen wait until General Fremont was in the face of the enemy before their [malignity] pursued him – why not wait until the end of the war instead of so acting as to cause him to lose the confidence of his army in front of the foe.
Mr. BLAIR replied to Mr. Colfax, that St. Louis never was in danger excepting from Gen. Fremont who brought there a gang of Californians to the prejudice of the good name of the people of Missouri. He was partly influential in placing Gen. Fremont in command in the west, but he had suffered for it and he hoped he would be pardoned.
SENATE. – The President pro. tem. presented petitions in favor of the bankrupt law; also in favor of a ship canal from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.
Mr. LANE, of Indiana, presented a petition from the free colored [citizens] of the Untied States, praying for setting aside portions of the territory outside of the National lines, for their colonization and maintenance in Central America.
The memorial was respectful and deserving of the attention of Congress. He desired it should be read and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, which was agreed to.
Mr. LANE said while he did not believe that free colored people where entitled to all the rights or privileges of white citizens of the U. S., nevertheless favored their just right to petition, a right awarded even among the most despotic Governments of Europe. It was evident that slaves were freed, and by our armies. – Something must be done with them and emancipation, an apprenticeship or other measures adopted for them. It is not in accordance with the genius of our institutions, that these people should be returned to slavery. He alluded to the great bloodless and moral triumph of freedom in the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, as fully equal to the armies by the chivalric and brave sons of the west.
Messrs. HOWE and HOWARD presented memorials from the citizens of Wisconsin and Michigan praying for a ship canal from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river.
Mr. DOOLITTLE presented a joint resolution from the Wisconsin Legislature, tendering to the President of the United States an approval of his course. He said these resolutions passed almost unanimously.
The resolutions were received, and the House resolution for supplying the Smithsonian Institute with a copy of Wilkes’ expedition was taken up.
Mr. HALE supposed they would pass the resolution and have the books sent to the Smithsonian Institute, as the two most gigantic humbugs ought to go together.
Mr. DOOLITTLE spoke in favor of the resolution in regard to Brig. Gen. Stone.
Mr. WADE replied to him.
Mr. POWELL offered a resolution calling on the Secretary of State for the names of all persons residents of the State of Kentucky who have been arrested by his order and confined in forts and camps as prisoners since the first of September, also the number and age of those who has been released, and the number, name and ages of those retained.
Mr. SUMNER objected and the resolution lies over under the rule.
The resolution calling for information in relation to the arrest of Brig. Gen. Stone was then taken up.
WASHINGTON, April 21 – SENATE. – The debate continued at great length, when Mr. McDOUGAL accepted Mr. WILSON’S resolution in place of his own, calling on the President, if not incompatible with the public interest, for all the information relative to the arrest and imprisonment of Brig. Gen. Stone, which then passed.
The confiscation bill was then taken up.
Mr. DAVIS obtained the floor.
Executive session – adjourned.
HOUSE – Mr. DIVIN’S resolution was tabled.
The resolution of Mr. ALDRICH instruction the Judiciary Committee to report back the bill for the trial and punishment of military officers charged with swindling, was passed.
Adjourned.
WASHINGTON, April 22 – SENATE. – Several petitions for emancipation and bankrupt law were presented.
Mr. CLARK, from the Select Committee on the case of Senator Stark of Oregon, made a report, but whether adverse or not was not stated. Ordered to be printed.
Mr. ANTHONY presented a resolution calling on the President for copies of all orders of the commanding general’s instructions, &c., given to Gen. Sherman, lately commanding the S. C. Department. Mr. Anthony said the credit of Fort Pulaski belonged to Gen. Sherman, and he believed that the correspondence could or would show that he had discharged all the duties required of him. If Savannah had not been taken it was because he had acted in accordance with [orders]. He didn’t desire to deprive the North of anything.
The bill for the establishment of the department of Agriculture was taken up and the substitute of Mr. Wright for the bill was rejected.
Mr. FOOTE moved to amend the bill by a substituted providing for a statistical and agricultural Bureau.
Pending a vote the bill to confiscate the property and free the slaves of rebels was taken up.
Mr. DAWES objected.
HOUSE. – Mr. McPHERSON presented a petition in favor of the establishment of a Professorship of German in the West Point military Academy on the ground of the value of the study and its practical utility, in view of the number of Germans in the army and the richness of German literature in military science.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 4
Monday, December 28, 2009
Brevet Brigadier-General T. H. Benton
COLONEL, TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY.Thomas Hart Benton, Jr., is a nephew of the celebrated American statesman and author, whose name, at his uncle's own request, he bears. He is a native of Tennessee, and was born in Williamson county of that State, on the 5th day of September, 1816. His father, Samuel Benton, was quite a noted man. In 1817, the year after his son Thomas' birth, he left Tennessee for Missouri; and settled in St. Louis. In 1822, he returned to Tennessee, and settled in Shelby county, near the present city of Memphis, which was then a mere village. In 1835, he left the States, and emigrated to Texas, which was at that time an independent Republic. During his residence there, he served one term in the Texan Congress. He died in 1846. Young Benton accompanied his father in all his migrations.
Colonel Benton's education is academic, and was acquired at the Huntington Academy, Tennessee. His collegiate course was brief: he passed only a portion of the year 1835 at Marion College, Missouri. In 1839, he came to Iowa, and located in Dubuque, where he lived till 1854. During his residence in Dubuque, he was first teacher, and then merchant. In 1846, he went to the State Senate from the Dubuque District, and served in Iowa's first General Assembly. He was elected, in 1848, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and, at the close of his three-years' term, was re-elected for a like term. The nomination for the same position was again tendered him; but he declined it, and the same year removed to Council Bluffs, his present home.
It would seem that Iowa had but one scholar; for, in 1858, Colonel Benton was elected Secretary of the Board of Education, under the new State Constitution. This office he held for the two subsequent terms, and was its incumbent at the time of entering the service. On the 10th of August, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the 29th Iowa Infantry; and, on the 1st of the following December, mustered into the United States service. For gallant conduct in the different campaigns in which he joined in Arkansas, Colonel Benton, in the spring of 1865, was made brevet brigadier-general.
The history of the 29th is nearly the same as are those of the 33d and 36th Iowa regiments. In the latter part of December, when the enemy were threatening Columbus and other points on the Mississippi, Colonel Benton was ordered with his regiment from Benton Barracks to Columbus. No attack was made, and in a few days he sailed down the river to Helena, Arkansas. In January, 1863, he accompanied General Gorman on the White River Expedition—one in which the troops were subjected to great fatigue and exposures, but which, it is said, was fruitless, on account of the non-co-operation of the fleet. After his return from this expedition, he remained at Helena till the latter part of February, when he joined the Yazoo Pass Expedition, under General Ross. In the early part of April, General Ross, under orders from General Grant, returned with his command to Helena, where Colonel Benton remained with his regiment during the following Summer, and took part in the brilliant engagement of the 4th of July. This was a contest for the great gala day of the nation, and will ever have a prominent place in the history of our civil war. The following extract I take from Colonel Benton's official report:
"My men were under a severe fire for more than five hours, and it affords me the greatest pleasure to speak of both officers and men in terms of the highest commendation, for their coolness and courage during the entire action. I saw no flinching or wavering during the day. It is proper to add that several of my officers and men, who were excused from duty in consequence of physical disability, left their quarters and joined their respective companies, when the signal gun was fired.
"I would not do justice to an accomplished officer, should I fail to acknowledge the efficient services of Lieutenant-Colonel R. F. Patterson, during the action; and the special obligations I am under for the thorough instruction previously given by him to both officers and men, in the responsible duties and obligations of the soldier."
The loss of the 29th Iowa at Helena was seven killed and twenty-four wounded. Two of the latter were hurt mortally, and died soon after.
Early in August, 1863, the 29th Iowa joined the Arkansas or Little Rock Expedition, under General Steele, and was present at the capture of Little Rock. On the Little Rock march, Colonel Benton was in command of a brigade, composed of the 29th and 33d Iowa and the 28th Wisconsin regiments.
After passing the fall of 1863 and the following Winter, at Little Rock, the 29th Iowa, under its colonel, joined General Steele on the Camden march, and on this campaign saw its hardest service, and made the most interesting portion of its history. The object of the campaign has been already given. Had it been successful, it would have relieved the entire State of Arkansas from Confederate rule. In the expedition, the 29th Iowa marched two hundred and fifty miles, and lost in action one hundred and forty-two officers and men.
General Steele left Little Rock on this celebrated march on the 23d of March, 1864. General Banks in his course up the Red River was already approaching Natchitoches. The destination of both armies was Shreveport. Passing through Benton, Rockport, and Arkadelphia on the Washita River, and thence south-west across the Little Missouri, Steele arrived on the 10th of the following April, at Prairie de Anne — one of the prettiest little spots in wild Arkansas, or the whole "Sunny South." At Prairie de Anne, as already stated, he learned the probable fate of his expedition. There he learned of Banks' defeat; and, with Banks defeated and driven back, he, with his small army, could not hope for success, against the combined rebel forces. General Steele then pushed for Camden, which he reached on the 15th instant.
In this expedition, the enemy was first met on the tenth day's march, and near Terra Noir Creek, some four miles south of where General Steele had camped the night before. On the morning of the 2d of April, the day in question, Colonel Benton, with his regiment and two pieces of artillery, was assigned the perilous position of rear-guard to the supply- and transportation-train, consisting of about four hundred and fifty wagons. The day before the enemy's scouts had been frequently seen; and it was known that the rebel General Shelby, with ten thousand cavalry, was in the neighborhood. Steele's main force, and a large portion of the train had already crossed the creek, when Shelby first made his appearance. Colonel Benton, having himself disposed his forces, was barely in time to anticipate the dash of the gallant rascal, who, believing the entire train at his mercy, came on with the greatest celerity. Finding himself foiled, Shelby, after a spirited little contest, retired, and Colonel Benton, resuming the march, hurried up to the train. But after crossing the creek, he was again attacked by the enemy's skirmishers, who, from this point to three miles south of the creek, continued to harass his rear. Having now reached a commanding ridge, Colonel Benton halted his command in line of battle, and engaged the enemy for over an hour, and until he was reinforced by the 50th Indiana, brought back by General S. A. Rice.
The history of that entire day's march is but a repetition of the above, with the exception that the forces engaged on both sides were being constantly reinforced. Late in the afternoon and near where General Steele had left the Washington road, Shelby was joined by Cabell, and Colonel Benton by the 9th Wisconsin Infantry. Here another engagement followed, when the enemy, being again repulsed, retired for the night. On the morning of the 4th of April, the battle of Elkin's Ford, on the Little Missouri River, was fought. Colonel Benton, although under fire with his regiment, was not engaged. The march through Prairie de Anne was attended by a series of skirmishes and engagements; though none of them were bitterly contested. Jenkin's Ferry on the Saline River was the great battle of the campaign, and there Colonel Benton and his regiment most distinguished themselves.
Steele occupied Camden from the evening of the 15th to the night of the 26th of April, and then left on the return to Little Rock. During all this time, the enemy had been devising plans for his capture. Before he left they had sufficient forces to attack and defeat him at Camden, but this they did not do; for their object was the capture of his army; and so confident were they of the success of their plans that, a rebel officer offered to wager large sums of money that General Steele would not see Little Rock, except as a prisoner of war. Had the rebel General Maxey, with his five thousand men, been purposely less vigilant in watching Steele at Camden, their schemes might have ripened into success; for Steele might have maintained himself by foraging several days longer, but this Maxey would not allow: he would pounce on every foraging party sent out, thus compelling Steele to rely on his supply-trains from Pine Bluff. When the last train sent back was captured with its escort, he, of course, could do nothing but retire. The last Federal troops left Camden just before mid-night of the 26th of April, taking the road via Princeton and Jenkin's Ferry.
On the evening of the 28th of April, the retreating army encamped at Princeton, sixteen miles south of the ferry. The march was resumed early on the following morning, and proceeded unmolested till some ten miles out from camp, when, in the midst of a most terrific thunder-storm, the rear-guard was opened on by the enemy's artillery. Price and Kirby Smith had come up by forced marches, having crossed the Washita some twenty-five miles below Camden; and from this point, till Steele's advance reached the ferry, they continued to harass his rear. A pontoon-bridge had to be constructed, which, with the swollen waters of the river and the black darkness of the night, was well-nigh impracticable. There were also other difficulties to overcome, but these will be mentioned elsewhere.
With all these obstacles to overcome, only the artillery and Carr's Division of Cavalry were able to reach the north bank of the Saline before day-light broke. It would have been impossible, had there been more time, to cross the train; for the wagons were all sunk to their axles in miry quick-sands. The whole bottom was a vast mud-bed, and nearly the entire train and stores had to be burned. How the artillery was crossed I can not understand. In the meantime the enemy had made their dispositions, and were advancing to the attack. Carr was at once dispatched with his cavalry to Little Rock, while the infantry halted to fight the battle of Saline River. I should state that a portion of the infantry was sent over the river to guard the artillery. Only about five thousand were left on the south bank.
The battle opened at day-light and on the part of the enemy with artillery. His force was not less than ten thousand — two rebels to one Federal, and the Federals had no artillery. Further particulars of this engagement will be found in the sketch of the late gallant General Rice, who was in command of our forces, and who received a wound, from the effects of which he died not long after.
The 29th Iowa held the right of the line of battle, and half-knee deep in mud and water fought with the most determined bravery from the beginning to the end of the engagement. The gallant charge, which captured the enemy's artillery (the only artillery on the ground) was made by this regiment in connection with the 2d Kansas (colored). One hundred and eight in killed and wounded was the list of casualties of this noble regiment. The colonel escaped uninjured, though his horse was shot dead under him.
Returning to Little Rock with the balance of the forces, the 29th Iowa went into camp where it remained for nearly a year. In February, 1865, it was ordered to New Orleans, where it was attached to the forces of General Canby. Its last services were, in aiding to reduce the strong forts that defended Mobile. The particular part that it acted, I have been unable to learn.
Colonel Benton received his commission as brevet brigadier-general, while stationed with his command at Mobile Point, Alabama, and just before the forces marched from that place, against Spanish Fort. The rank is only complimentary: in justice, his commission should have made him a full brigadier.
General Benton is six feet in hight, and has a well-formed person. He has dark brown hair, a light complexion, and mild, blue eyes. He lacks the dignity and majesty that characterized his late distinguished uncle. Like his uncle, however, he has large self-esteem, and full confidence in his ability. If he wants any thing, he asks for it directly, and not through another; and, if he has done any thing, he does not affect modesty and refuse to let it be known.
In religion, General Benton is a Methodist, and in politics, an ardent Republican. He was formerly a Democrat, but left that party in 1860.
His military record is not a glaring one: indeed, there have been few brilliant ones made in the department where he has chiefly served. But no officer in the army has a more honorable record than he. Great confidence has always been placed in him by his superior officers. After General Steele had lost a great portion of his train near Camden, his chief hope of relief was in the safe escort of a provision-train of one hundred and ninety wagons, forty miles out on the Pine Bluff road, and in charge of a few convalescents, under Colonel Mackey, of the 33d Iowa. The responsible and dangerous duty of bringing this train through in safety was assigned to Colonel Benton, with a force consisting of only two regiments of infantry, four pieces of artillery, and a small squadron of cavalry.
SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 445-52
First Session – 37th Congress
Mr. MORRILL stated that he had been assured that the commanding General who failed to reinforce the two Vermont companies who suffered severely at Yorktown, was drunk and had fallen off his horse into the mud.
Mr. Morrill was asked for, but declined to give the name of the General.
An unsuccessful effort was made to lay the fifteen or sixteen confiscation bills on the table, but the motion to do so was lost , by yeas 39, nays 60.
Mr. BINGHAM’S substitute, providing for the capture and condemnation of the enemy’s property, and to indemnify the United States for expenses incurred in the suppression of the rebellion was agreed to, 62 against 48, and the House adjourned.
SENATE – Mr. DAVIS spoke two and a half hours against the bill without concluding, when there was an Executive session, and then Senate adjourned.
The select committee to whom was referred the question of the loyalty of Senator Starke [sic], of Oregon, reported, to-day, that he is disloyal to the Government of the United States, having found that for many months prior to November he was an ardent advocate of the rebellion, and after the formation of the Rebel constitution, openly declared his admiration for it, and warmly avowed his sympathy with the rebel cause.
It subsequently appeared that the committee found that Senator Starke is disloyal to the government of the United States.
A caucus of the Republicans in Congress is called for to-morrow night.
WASHINGTON, April 23 – SENATE – Mr. TRUMBULL presented a petition from W. C. Jewett for a defensive stand still policy at Yorktown to secure a reserve force of 250,000 men.
Mr. TRUMBULL from the Judiciary Committee reported a resolution in relation to the pay of the first Senators and Representatives from the State of Minnesota, which was passed.
Mr. HALE offered a resolution that the Military Committee inquire if any General in the army before Yorktown had exhibited himself drunk in the face of the enemy, and if any measures had been taken for the trial and punishment of such officer.
Mr. SUMNER suggested the subject be referred to the Committee on the Conduct of the War.
Mr. HALE referred to the statement of Mr. Morrill in the House yesterday, and stated that he thought it high time some notice should be taken of these things. If officers thus leave brave men to be slaughtered like beasts, no punishment is too great for them.
Mr. FOSTER said the Senate had not taken high ground enough. The Senate should never have confirmed men known to be intemperate. It becomes us to weed our garden first and correct our laxity and he was pained to say criminality in this respect.
Mr. FOOTE said that the General referred to has not been confirmed.
Mr. HALE said that the Senate had not taken high ground enough, but if officers were so drunk that they could not sit on their horses he tho’t some notice ought to be taken of it. The resolution was adopted.
Mr. DAVIS introduced a bill prescribing an additional oath for Grand and Petit Jurors in the United States Court.
The bill recognizing the independence of Hayti [sic] and Liberia, and the appointment of a diplomatic representation was taken up.
Mr. SUMNER said thus far our Government friendly to new Governments, had turned aside from these nations. He thought that it was time to put an end to this, an anamoly [sic] in history.
Mr. SUMNER continued his speech in favor of the recognition of Hayti and Liberia, and concluded by saying, by recognizing these two nations we only tardily follow the example of the principal nations of the world.
The bill was then postponed until to-morrow and the confiscation bill was then taken up.
Mr. DAVIS resumed his remarks in opposition to the bill. He said that he had already detained the Senate at some length on this question, but he considered that in the importance of its effect the bill had no parallel. He contended that Congress had no right to pass such a bill under the war power.
HOUSE – The House resumed the consideration of the confiscation bill which was pending when the adjournment took place yesterday and upon which the main question had been ordered – the bill was tabled by a vote of 54 against 48.
The next bill taken up was to facilitate the suppression of the rebellion and prevent the recurrence of the same. It authorizes the President to direct our Generals to declare the slaves of rebels free, and pledges the faith of the United States to make full and fair compensation to loyal men who have actively supported the Union, for any losses they may sustain by virtue of this bill.
Mr. OLIN understood that the committee on Judiciary had agreed substantially that none of the confiscation bills referred to them ought to pass.
Mr. THOMAS of Mass., remarked that the committee recommended that none of the confiscation bills pass.
Mr. OLIN said that the disposition of the House and the country was that there should be some legislation on the subject; as the Judiciary committee could not agree on the matter, he proposed that a select committee of seven be appointed to take the subject into consideration, such a committee being [untrammeled] the House might anticipate a proper measure of legislation.
Mr. DUNN was glad to hear Mr. Olin’s suggestion. The subject of confiscating Rebel property, was one of the most difficult questions before congress, and the decision of which was involved the restoration of the Government to is former state of prosperity. He congratulated the House and country, that this morning, there had been laid upon the table, a bill which if it had been passed would have disgraced the civilization of this age. (Exclamations on the Democratic side of “good,” “good;” “that’s so.”) It was a bill which, at one fell swoop, would have impoverished the people generally – from old age down to innocent childhood.
WASHINGTON, April 23. – HOUSE – Mr. COLFAX advocated the appointment of a Select Committee.
Mr. DUNN was opposed to a sweeping confiscation bill. He wanted a distinction made against leaders.
Mr. BINGHAM maintained the propriety of a law to punish all who willfully rebel by depriving them of their property.
Mr. LEHMAN was opposed to confiscation bills. He looked on the march of our armies as the proper mode of suppressing the rebellion and re-establishing the Constitution.
Mr. HICKMAN claimed that the Constitution gave the President ample power without Congressional action.
Mr. Crittenden was against all confiscation measures which would tend to exasperate the war and postpone the time of putting down the rebellion.
After further debate, without action the House adjourned.
SENATE. – Mr. SHERMAN offered an amendment specifying persons to whom confiscation should apply, including those who may hereafter hold office under the rebels.
WASHINGTON, April 24. – HOUSE. – Mr. VALANDIGHAM offered a resolution requesting the President to transmit to the House, if not compatible with the public interest, copies of the correspondence between the French and Unites States Governments, as may have been received within the last two months, relative to the present troubles in America. Referred to the committee on Foreign Affairs.
Mr. ALDRICH from the committee on Indian Affairs, reported a bill authorizing a treaty to be made with the Indians of Utah, with a view to purchasing lands.
Also a bill authorizing a treaty with the Nevajoe [sic] Indians, of New Mexico, defining their limits and extinguishing their titles to lands outside of the United States. Referred to the committee of the Whole.
The House resumed the consideration of the confiscation bills from yesterday.
Mr. LOVEJOY, said that while this government is engaged in a serious war to put down the rebellion, it was seen this unnatural and parricidal insurrection has sympathizers and advocates on this floor. Those who defend slavery are the defenders of the rebellion, for slavery and rebellion are synonymous. They are unchangeable terms. Wherever slavery is there is rebellion. It is the corner stone, pillar and support. He took the position that either slavery or the Republic must perish. He would tell the gentleman from Kentucky, (Crittenden,) and all other advocates and defenders of the system, and those who cry themselves hoarse, in attempting to throw the protection of the Constitution around it, that it is the desire of the Republic that it should cease to exist. – There is no city of refuge for it. Like an infernal assassin, it has its knife drawn, and is endeavoring to strike it at the heart of the Republic. We are bound to strike the monster, and gentlemen need not cry the Constitution for its defence [sic]. It shall be said, “be slain in the name of my country and my God.”
He denied that slavery has any quarter or recognition in the Constitution. He argued that it was their right duty to destroy slavery because slavery is destroying or will destroy the Republic. He was in favor of the restoration of the Union with the right to stand on the American soil anywhere and proclaim his sentiments. He wanted to stand anywhere on American soil without the enforcement of a despotism to make him hold his tongue. He wanted to speak in South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana, without the fear of lynching or a coat of tar and feathers. The gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Crittenden) asked what would four millions of slaves do turned loose. This term was used as if the slaves were wild beasts. Now he (Mr. Lovejoy) had this to say: At present he let them alone to take care of themselves, which they were abundantly able to do. The slaveholders had better turn their attention to another point, namely: What will they do when they cease to live on the unrequieted sweat and toil of slaves? He denied that he and his friends want to make this an antislavery war, but the only way to put down the rebellion and restore the Union was to destroy slavery.
Mr. ROSCOE CONKILING expressed himself in favor of the confiscation bill, to amplify the punishment of treason. He wanted to punish the ring leaders of the rebellion, and have reimbursement of the expenses incurred in suppression the rebellion. The subject was referred to a select of seven.
The House went into committee of the Whole, and took up the bill making appropriations for bounties to widows, and the legal heirs of Volunteers.
Mr. ROLLINS, of Missouri, made a speech against the Rebellion, and complimented Mr. Lincoln for his efforts in behalf of the Union. He was opposed to any and all extreme measures and for prosecuting the war on the principle laid down at the extra session, that when the supremacy of the Constitution and Laws are established the war ought to cease.
SENATE.
A communication was received from the War Department, transmitting copies of contracts made by that Department, for 1861.
Mr. GRIMES presented 420 petitions from beer and malt liquor manufacturers, asking fro a reduction in the proposed tax on beer and malt liquors.
Mr. BROWNING presented similar petitions.
Mr. POWELL moved to take up the resolution offered by him concerning the arrest of civilians in Kentucky, &c.
Mr. SUMNER opposed taking the resolution as independent.
Mr. POWELL did not see why the Senator should make any opposition to the resolution. It simply asked how many citizens of the free States have been dragged from their homes without warrant of law and called on tyrants and usurpers to know where they are and what their names are.
They are free white men, if they had been negroes the Senator from Massachusetts would make no opposition to the resolution. He (Sumner) was extremely pained about the wrongs of the negro but white men had some rights, and he wanted the Secretary to tell us why and what for these men were thus unlawfully dragged to prison without any charge of crime being bro’t against them.
Mr. SUMNER said the Senator from Kentucky had made an inflammatory speech and had called a high officer of the Government a tyrant and usurper. In the event of the resolution being taken up, the whole question must be gone into. If the Secretary of War was a tyrant and usurper, there were men arrested who were traitors.
Mr. POWELL (in his seat). Who are they? Name them.
MR. POWELL said that some of the men who have been arrested are as loyal as the Senator from Massachusetts (Sumner). He defied the Senator to point out any law by which the Secretary of State can carry off citizens of Kentucky and imprison them in the forts of Massachusetts and New York.
The bill for the recognition of Hayti and Liberia, being the special order was taken up.
Mr. DAVIS moved to substitute, authorizing the President to appoint a Consul to Liberia and a Consul to Hayti, with power to negotiate treaties. He was opposed to sending any ambassadors to those countries. If they send ministers here, and send a full blooded negro, he could demand to be received on equal terms with white men. He knew that a big negro fellow was admitted to the Court of France as Minister from Hayti, but he (Davis) wanted no such exhibition. He was sick and disgusted with the subject of slavery in the Senate.
Mr. SUMNER said the senate would bear him witness that he had said nothing about slavery on this bill, the Senator from Kentucky did that. The Senator from Kentucky might banish all fear of any social difficulty. He (Sumner) was sure that no representative from Hayti would ever force himself where he was not wanted. He said the Committee had come to the conclusion that we should be represented by diplomatic agents in those countries and this was in accordance with the precedents of this Government, and the example of other Nations.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 3
A man twenty-eight years old was married . . .
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1863, p. 4
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Salutary effects of American Travel
The Paris Moniteur of March 30, states that the Princess Clothilde Napoleon is in the fifth month of her pregnancy.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 4