The Government is so occupied in striking at the heart of rebellion in the seceded States, that it has not given that attention to the territory of New Mexico which, under other circumstances, it would have received. The consequence has been that the few troops stationed there have had to contend against a superior force of the most daring rebels that are engaged in the effort to subvert the Government. Hordes of these scoundrels, inured to privations that admirably fit them for camp life, have swarmed up from Texas, and, led by daring men, have boldly attacked our troops and driven them back, step by step, until they have nearly reached Fort Union on the North. Kit Carson still remains at Fort Craig, some three hundred miles south, but having only seven hundred men at his command. A vigorous onslaught of the enemy in force, would drive that bold man from his position or oblige him to surrender.
Had Wm. Gilpin, ex-Governor of Colorado territory, instead of holding the regiments he organized in the gold mines, for months in idleness, sent them to the succor of the troops in New Mexico, this state of affairs might have been prevented. In no portion of the Union have our troops contended with greater bravery then in New Mexico, but owing to their location and comparative insignificance of numbers, and the public mind being engrossed in scenes nearer home, very little attention has been given to the struggle of these brave men, to prevent the inroads of the rebels.
A little incident was narrated us a few evenings since by Judge Hubbell, of Albuquerque, that shows the fierceness with which both parties fight. – Although it may have been in print, the particulars have not been given with that minuteness to which so fierce recontre is entitled. A company of one hundred mounted Texans attacked a force of eighty-five of our men engaged in guarding a battery. The former went in, as they boasted, with the determination of “cleaning out the d----d Yankees and showing them another Bull Run on a smaller scale.” At the first fire our men emptied fifty-seven saddles! The balance of the Texans, no way disconcerted, hastily dismounted, and with a bowie knife strapped to each mans wrist and a revolver in each and, rushed upon the loyal troops. The latter gave way not an inch, but with bayonet fixed advanced into the charge. Then followed the most terrible had-to-hand fight recorded in this war. Both parties fought for life, and with a determination unequalled. We know not who long the struggle lasted, but when it ceased only five of the brave but misguided Texans remained alive, and but eight of the Federal troops were left to boast of the victory they had so terribly achieved.
With so many troops at its command our Government should not allow the brave loyalists of New Mexico to be driven from their homes, and the few Federal regiments stationed there to be cut to pieces by these Texan banditti. Without delay sufficient force should be sent thither to drive back the rebels and recover the property of our loyal citizens that has been seized upon an confiscated by the rebels. In no event should those noble men, Col. Canby and Kit Carson, be sacrificed upon the unholy altar of rebellion. They should be rescued immediately from the perilous position they now occupy.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 2
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The War in New Mexico – An Incident
Death By Lightning
We regret to learn that a son of Mr. Thomas Cook of Salem township, this county, was killed by lightning on the morning of the 15th inst. Mr. Cook and other members of the family were severely shocked, but sustained no serious injury. The deceased was 12 years old, and a very promising child. – Mount Pleasant Jour. 13th.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 2
A New Paper
Mr. G. W. Todd, of Des Moines, formerly of the Iowa State Journal, and Mr. Bentley, of the Bloomfield Clarion, are about to establish a Democratic paper at Burlington, to be styled the Argus. The Des Moines Register truthfully says:
“If this paper follows the example of the Dubuque Herald, Babbitt’s Bugle of the State Journal of 1861, the good people of Burlington will kick it into the Mississippi river! But if, on the other hand, it pursues a course of straight loyalty to the Government, and refuses to snigger in its sleeve over the repulse of Federal armies, and withal maintains a decent respect for the opinions of such Democrats as Coolbaugh and Hall, it may not meet the hapless fate which has thus far overwhelmed every Democratic paper started in Burlington.”
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 2
“If this paper follows the example of the Dubuque Herald, Babbitt’s Bugle of the State Journal of 1861, the good people of Burlington will kick it into the Mississippi river! But if, on the other hand, it pursues a course of straight loyalty to the Government, and refuses to snigger in its sleeve over the repulse of Federal armies, and withal maintains a decent respect for the opinions of such Democrats as Coolbaugh and Hall, it may not meet the hapless fate which has thus far overwhelmed every Democratic paper started in Burlington.”
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 2
Mahony gets Mad
Father Mahony, of the Dubuque Herald, garbles an extract from the reply we made him, exposing his guilty treason, and then for want of argument, like an old fish-workman of Billingsgate, tries to overwhelm us with expletives; piling them up in a racy style that shows his familiarity with foul language before he consorted with gentlemen, until working himself into a perfect fury, he stops at a half column, and agonizingly exclaims, “we waste our space in giving him so much notice!”
He reminds us of the terribly profane old fellow, of the Judge Clagett school, who was ascending a hill with a wagon load of flour when one of the bags came untied and left a wake of its precious contents all the way behind. Several wags observing it, and aware of the old man’s propensity, ascended the hill to inform him and witness the floodgate of his wrath break loose. – The old man looked around, then coolly surveying the group before him, with an inkling of their object twinkling from his eyes, exclaimed, “Gentlemen, it’s no use, I can’t do the subject justice!”
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 2
He reminds us of the terribly profane old fellow, of the Judge Clagett school, who was ascending a hill with a wagon load of flour when one of the bags came untied and left a wake of its precious contents all the way behind. Several wags observing it, and aware of the old man’s propensity, ascended the hill to inform him and witness the floodgate of his wrath break loose. – The old man looked around, then coolly surveying the group before him, with an inkling of their object twinkling from his eyes, exclaimed, “Gentlemen, it’s no use, I can’t do the subject justice!”
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 2
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The War News
Affairs about Yorktown Progressing.
Rebel alarm at the Progress of General Mitchell.
Guerillas at work on the Tennessee.
HEAVY BOMBARDMENT AT FORT JACKSON.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Rebel alarm at the Progress of General Mitchell.
Guerillas at work on the Tennessee.
HEAVY BOMBARDMENT AT FORT JACKSON.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Special to Post
WASHINGTON, April 25.
It is reported here that the rebels at Norfolk, fearing attack upon that city have abandoned the channel of Elizabeth river with vessels, which are to be sunk on the approach of our gunboats.
Reverdy Johnson has written a letter which he attempts to prove the unconstitutionality of the act passed by Congress for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.
All civilians are now refused passes to Old Point.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
It is reported here that the rebels at Norfolk, fearing attack upon that city have abandoned the channel of Elizabeth river with vessels, which are to be sunk on the approach of our gunboats.
Reverdy Johnson has written a letter which he attempts to prove the unconstitutionality of the act passed by Congress for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia.
All civilians are now refused passes to Old Point.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
From Fort Monroe
FORT MONORE, April 24.
A flag of truce was sent to Norfolk on Wednesday, with dispatches. No newspapers were received.
On the return of the flag of truce, the steamer Nellie Baker proceeded with a flag of truce to receive a number of wounded taken by the rebels in a recent skirmish near Elizabeth City. They were brought down from Norfolk in a schooner in tow of a rebel tug.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
A flag of truce was sent to Norfolk on Wednesday, with dispatches. No newspapers were received.
On the return of the flag of truce, the steamer Nellie Baker proceeded with a flag of truce to receive a number of wounded taken by the rebels in a recent skirmish near Elizabeth City. They were brought down from Norfolk in a schooner in tow of a rebel tug.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
XXXVIIth CONGRESS – FIRST SESSION
WASHINGTON, April 24.
SENATE. – The confiscation bill was taken up. Mr. Collamer opposed it.
Mr. King moved an amendment to Mr. Sherman’s amendment, so as to include all persons giving aid to the enemy or levying war. Disagreed to.
Mr. Sherman’s amendment, which limits confiscation to persons holding certain offices under the rebels, was adopted – yeas 27; nays, 11.
Mr. Browning’s bill was postponed until tomorrow.
The bill recognizing Hayti and Liberia was taken up and passed – 32 against 7.
After executive session adjourned.
WASHINGTON, April 25.
Mr. Sherman presented resolutions from the Legislature of Ohio, concerning the rebel prisoners and Columbus, Ohio, saying that the loyal feeling of the people of Ohio had been outraged by the fact that the rebel prisoners at Camp Chase were allowed to retain their slaves by order of Col. Moody, thus establishing slavery in Ohio, and solemnly protesting against this outrage upon the loyalty of the people of Ohio. The resolutions were accompanied by a note from Gov. Tod, saying that the negroes had been sent there as prisoners without permission, and that Col. Moody was obliged to take care of them.
Mr. Sherman said, the fact was, the negroes were sent there with their masters as prisoners, and did serve their masters, but he believed no blame could be attached to Col. Moody or the Governor of Ohio, for thus Maj. Jones, the Inspector at Camp Chase, reported matters all right there.
Mr. Grimes asked if any steps had been taken to free these negroes, as he supposed them to be free by the act of last summer, being captured in the service of the enemy.
Mr. Sherman replied, that no steps had been taken that he knew of. The negroes, he believed, were still there.
Mr. Wilson said he should call up the matter on Monday. He thought some action ought to be had on the subject.
Mr. Trumbull presented a petition for the construction of a ship canal to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi river.
Mr. Latham introduced a bill to quiet certain land titles in the State of California. – Referred.
Mr. Cowan introduced a bill to amend the act of April 30th, 1790. He said he should move to refer this bill and all other bills concerning the punishment of rebels and the confiscation of their property, to a select committee of five.
The chair suggested that if this motion meant to include the confiscation bill now before the Senate, it would be more appropriate to move when the bill should be taken up.
The motion was then withdrawn for the present.
The bill for the line of steamships from San Francisco to Shanghai, was taken up and passed by yeas 26, nays 16.
Mr. Wade introduced a bill concerning private actions against public officers. Referred to the judiciary committee.
On motion of Mr. Wilson, of Mass., the Senate went into executive session, and adjourned till Tuesday.
HOUSE. – When the House adjourned yesterday, the resolution of Mr. Hutchins was pending to censure Mr. Vallandigham for words spoken in debate against Senator Wade, &c. The Speaker stated that this was a question of privilege on which Mr. Vallandigham had raised a point of order. After citing from the rules of the House, the Speaker under all the circumstances sustained Mr. Vallandigham’s point of order, and thus was disposed of the question of privilege.
The House considered, but came to no conclusion, the bill appropriating $6,000,000 for bounties for widows and legal heirs of such volunteers as were called out under the act of July last, and have died or may be killed.
The report of the select committee on government contracts was taken up, and after some lengthy remarks by Mr. Davis, the consideration of the subject was postponed till Monday.
Adjourned.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
SENATE. – The confiscation bill was taken up. Mr. Collamer opposed it.
Mr. King moved an amendment to Mr. Sherman’s amendment, so as to include all persons giving aid to the enemy or levying war. Disagreed to.
Mr. Sherman’s amendment, which limits confiscation to persons holding certain offices under the rebels, was adopted – yeas 27; nays, 11.
Mr. Browning’s bill was postponed until tomorrow.
The bill recognizing Hayti and Liberia was taken up and passed – 32 against 7.
After executive session adjourned.
WASHINGTON, April 25.
Mr. Sherman presented resolutions from the Legislature of Ohio, concerning the rebel prisoners and Columbus, Ohio, saying that the loyal feeling of the people of Ohio had been outraged by the fact that the rebel prisoners at Camp Chase were allowed to retain their slaves by order of Col. Moody, thus establishing slavery in Ohio, and solemnly protesting against this outrage upon the loyalty of the people of Ohio. The resolutions were accompanied by a note from Gov. Tod, saying that the negroes had been sent there as prisoners without permission, and that Col. Moody was obliged to take care of them.
Mr. Sherman said, the fact was, the negroes were sent there with their masters as prisoners, and did serve their masters, but he believed no blame could be attached to Col. Moody or the Governor of Ohio, for thus Maj. Jones, the Inspector at Camp Chase, reported matters all right there.
Mr. Grimes asked if any steps had been taken to free these negroes, as he supposed them to be free by the act of last summer, being captured in the service of the enemy.
Mr. Sherman replied, that no steps had been taken that he knew of. The negroes, he believed, were still there.
Mr. Wilson said he should call up the matter on Monday. He thought some action ought to be had on the subject.
Mr. Trumbull presented a petition for the construction of a ship canal to connect Lake Michigan with the Mississippi river.
Mr. Latham introduced a bill to quiet certain land titles in the State of California. – Referred.
Mr. Cowan introduced a bill to amend the act of April 30th, 1790. He said he should move to refer this bill and all other bills concerning the punishment of rebels and the confiscation of their property, to a select committee of five.
The chair suggested that if this motion meant to include the confiscation bill now before the Senate, it would be more appropriate to move when the bill should be taken up.
The motion was then withdrawn for the present.
The bill for the line of steamships from San Francisco to Shanghai, was taken up and passed by yeas 26, nays 16.
Mr. Wade introduced a bill concerning private actions against public officers. Referred to the judiciary committee.
On motion of Mr. Wilson, of Mass., the Senate went into executive session, and adjourned till Tuesday.
HOUSE. – When the House adjourned yesterday, the resolution of Mr. Hutchins was pending to censure Mr. Vallandigham for words spoken in debate against Senator Wade, &c. The Speaker stated that this was a question of privilege on which Mr. Vallandigham had raised a point of order. After citing from the rules of the House, the Speaker under all the circumstances sustained Mr. Vallandigham’s point of order, and thus was disposed of the question of privilege.
The House considered, but came to no conclusion, the bill appropriating $6,000,000 for bounties for widows and legal heirs of such volunteers as were called out under the act of July last, and have died or may be killed.
The report of the select committee on government contracts was taken up, and after some lengthy remarks by Mr. Davis, the consideration of the subject was postponed till Monday.
Adjourned.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
More Captures
BALTIMORE, April 25.
The U. S. gunboat Hercules, Capt. Dungan, has arrived here with another prize and two important persons, one of whom has been long engaged in the contraband trade in passing mails and dispatches between secessionists here and rebeldom. – The government agents have been looking for this man since last fall. He is wealthy, and has been a most unscrupulous secessionist. His name is withheld for the present. The Hercules subsequently paid a visit to Great Wicomico river, and captured the schooner Alagonquin, with a cargo which was no doubt taken from Baltimore.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
The U. S. gunboat Hercules, Capt. Dungan, has arrived here with another prize and two important persons, one of whom has been long engaged in the contraband trade in passing mails and dispatches between secessionists here and rebeldom. – The government agents have been looking for this man since last fall. He is wealthy, and has been a most unscrupulous secessionist. His name is withheld for the present. The Hercules subsequently paid a visit to Great Wicomico river, and captured the schooner Alagonquin, with a cargo which was no doubt taken from Baltimore.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Monday, March 8, 2010
From Burnside’s Expedition
NEW YORK, April 25.
The Newbern Progress, of the 19th, says that ten days before Burnside captured Newbern, some 700 men assembled in Iredell county, west of Raleigh, and hoisted the stars and stripes. A force was sent from Newbern to reduce them, and about twelve were killed.
It is reported that 92 rebel cavalry were captured at Newport, including a Colonel.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
The Newbern Progress, of the 19th, says that ten days before Burnside captured Newbern, some 700 men assembled in Iredell county, west of Raleigh, and hoisted the stars and stripes. A force was sent from Newbern to reduce them, and about twelve were killed.
It is reported that 92 rebel cavalry were captured at Newport, including a Colonel.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Arrangements for the Wounded
SPRINGFIELD, Ill., April 25.
The steamer Black Hawk left Quincy last night for the Tennessee river, completely fitted up by Gov. Yates to receive 400 wounded Illinois soldiers, in the event of another battle near Corinth. She also takes up large quantities of supplies for hospitals in that vicinity. Gov. Yates will dispatch several other boats on the same errand, as soon as they can be fitted out.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
The steamer Black Hawk left Quincy last night for the Tennessee river, completely fitted up by Gov. Yates to receive 400 wounded Illinois soldiers, in the event of another battle near Corinth. She also takes up large quantities of supplies for hospitals in that vicinity. Gov. Yates will dispatch several other boats on the same errand, as soon as they can be fitted out.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
From Fort Wright
Special to the Democrat.
GUNBOAT FLOTILLA, April 23.
All quiet here if we except two mortar boats remaining in position, which occasionally throw shells over at the fort. The rebels have not replied to-day. None of their gunboats can be seen. The weather is fair. The flood has overrun all the plantations and houses along the river, and great distress prevails among the inhabitants along the banks, some of whom would give all they possess to have their families removed from their houses, which the water threatens to carry down the river.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Tax Proposition
NEW YORK, April 25.
The Chamber of Commerce has adopted a memorial to Congress, proposing the raising of two hundred and fifty millions of dollars by taxation as follows: From all sales of goods and merchandise and other property at retail and wholesale a tax of one per cent, yielding, memorialists believe the amount of $115,000,000; from the tariff the sum of $50,000,000; from a tax on cotton of two cents per pound $24,000,000; from a tax on tobacco of two cents per pound $30,000,000; from a tax on liquors 25 cents per gal., $25,000,000; from an excise or tax on malt liquors, 5 cents per gal., $8,000,000; from a direct tax on real and personal property, $12,000,000. Total, $264,000,000.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
The Chamber of Commerce has adopted a memorial to Congress, proposing the raising of two hundred and fifty millions of dollars by taxation as follows: From all sales of goods and merchandise and other property at retail and wholesale a tax of one per cent, yielding, memorialists believe the amount of $115,000,000; from the tariff the sum of $50,000,000; from a tax on cotton of two cents per pound $24,000,000; from a tax on tobacco of two cents per pound $30,000,000; from a tax on liquors 25 cents per gal., $25,000,000; from an excise or tax on malt liquors, 5 cents per gal., $8,000,000; from a direct tax on real and personal property, $12,000,000. Total, $264,000,000.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
From New Orleans
FORT MONROE, April 24.
TO HON. E. M. STANTON:–
The Norfolk Day Book of this morning has a telegram for New Orleans, dated 23d inst., from which the following information is obtained:
There has been a heavy and continued bombardment of Fort Jackson all night. – It was still progressing. The rebels in the fort represent themselves still cheerful, with an abiding faith in their ultimate success. They state they are making repairs as best they can. Their barbette guns are still in working order, though most of them had been disabled at times. They assert that we have fired 25,000 thirteen inch shells, of which fifteen fell in the fort. They think our ammunition must soon become exhausted, but assert that they can stand it as long as we can.
(Signed,)
JOHN TUCKER,
Asst. Sec’y of War.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
TO HON. E. M. STANTON:–
The Norfolk Day Book of this morning has a telegram for New Orleans, dated 23d inst., from which the following information is obtained:
There has been a heavy and continued bombardment of Fort Jackson all night. – It was still progressing. The rebels in the fort represent themselves still cheerful, with an abiding faith in their ultimate success. They state they are making repairs as best they can. Their barbette guns are still in working order, though most of them had been disabled at times. They assert that we have fired 25,000 thirteen inch shells, of which fifteen fell in the fort. They think our ammunition must soon become exhausted, but assert that they can stand it as long as we can.
(Signed,)
JOHN TUCKER,
Asst. Sec’y of War.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Southern News
NEW YORK, April 25.
Ex-Lieut. Gov. Koenrner, of Ill., has been designated to the post of Minister to Spain in place of Carl Schurz, provided the latter intends not to return.
We have a statement from the Atlanta (Ga.) Confederacy Stating that the Northern Alabama and Western Georgia are completely at the mercy of Gen. Mitchell, whose present position is declared to be such, at Gunter's Landing, that he can at once proceed to Rome, take that city, burn down the foundries and capture all the arms, take possession of the engines on the railroad, and not only cut off reinforcements and means of retreat from the rebel Gen. Kirby Smith, who was alleged to be marching towards Huntsville, but leave at the same time the rebel forces at Knoxville, Greenville and Cumberland Gap, together with all Western Virginia, completely exposed.
The Richmond Examiner, of the 22d, speaking of affairs at Yorktown, says: “Our troops have cut a canal between the York and Warwick rivers, which gives us a water front across that whole stretch of country, which must contribute materially to the strength of our position.”
The Examiner further states that on Saturday last our troops were engaged in throwing up entrenchments, and at daylight on Sunday they were completed and guns mounted within 1,000 yards of the rebels’ position.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Ex-Lieut. Gov. Koenrner, of Ill., has been designated to the post of Minister to Spain in place of Carl Schurz, provided the latter intends not to return.
We have a statement from the Atlanta (Ga.) Confederacy Stating that the Northern Alabama and Western Georgia are completely at the mercy of Gen. Mitchell, whose present position is declared to be such, at Gunter's Landing, that he can at once proceed to Rome, take that city, burn down the foundries and capture all the arms, take possession of the engines on the railroad, and not only cut off reinforcements and means of retreat from the rebel Gen. Kirby Smith, who was alleged to be marching towards Huntsville, but leave at the same time the rebel forces at Knoxville, Greenville and Cumberland Gap, together with all Western Virginia, completely exposed.
The Richmond Examiner, of the 22d, speaking of affairs at Yorktown, says: “Our troops have cut a canal between the York and Warwick rivers, which gives us a water front across that whole stretch of country, which must contribute materially to the strength of our position.”
The Examiner further states that on Saturday last our troops were engaged in throwing up entrenchments, and at daylight on Sunday they were completed and guns mounted within 1,000 yards of the rebels’ position.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Special to Tribune.
An officer from Corinth, according to the Atlanta Confederacy, reports that the Confederate lines extend over the recent battle ground, and that the Unionists are nine miles beyond there. Active preparations are being made by both armies for the grand decisive struggle at hand.
Beauregard is being heavily reinforced, and skirmishes daily occur between the advance guards.
Mobile papers assert that Nashville has been evacuated, and 4,000 Union prisoners taken.
Gen. Kirby Smith, with a large force is, according to the Atlanta Commonwealth, at Bridgeport, within 17 miles of Huntsville. The evacuation of the latter place by the Yankees is predicted.
Refugees from Norfolk state that the rebels are building another Merrimac of smaller tonnage, and that four more are now building at Norfolk.
The rebel Congress adjourned on Monday last to the 2d Monday in August.
The bill organizing a battalion of sharpshooters was passed on the last day.
The flag and seal report was indefinitely postponed. R. M. T. Hunter was elected President of the Senate pro tem.
The rebel Senate passed the House bill appropriating $150,000 for the construction of a railroad between Galveston and New Orleans.
The President to-day nominated Colonel Tuttle, of the Iowa 2d Regiment, to be Brigadier General of Volunteers.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Beauregard is being heavily reinforced, and skirmishes daily occur between the advance guards.
Mobile papers assert that Nashville has been evacuated, and 4,000 Union prisoners taken.
Gen. Kirby Smith, with a large force is, according to the Atlanta Commonwealth, at Bridgeport, within 17 miles of Huntsville. The evacuation of the latter place by the Yankees is predicted.
Refugees from Norfolk state that the rebels are building another Merrimac of smaller tonnage, and that four more are now building at Norfolk.
The rebel Congress adjourned on Monday last to the 2d Monday in August.
The bill organizing a battalion of sharpshooters was passed on the last day.
The flag and seal report was indefinitely postponed. R. M. T. Hunter was elected President of the Senate pro tem.
The rebel Senate passed the House bill appropriating $150,000 for the construction of a railroad between Galveston and New Orleans.
The President to-day nominated Colonel Tuttle, of the Iowa 2d Regiment, to be Brigadier General of Volunteers.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
From Virginia
NEW MARKET, April 24.
To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Sec’y War:
Our advance guard, Col. Donelly Commanding, took three prisoners to-day, at a point nine miles beyond Harrisonburg. – One of them says he belongs to the 10th Virginia regiment. This regiment has been on the Rappahannock, the prisoner says, but has now joined Jackson, at his present location near Stannardsville.
(Signed) N. P. BANKS.
HEADQUARTERS DEPT. OF VIRGINIA,
April 24, 1862.
To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Sec’y War:
Assistant Surgeon Warren, unconditionally released with 17 prisoners and 4 attendants, arrived this evening from Norfolk. The were all wounded and left on the field in the affair of the South Mills. The troops of the United States consisted of 3,000 men, under command of Gen. Reno. The surgeon says the rebels reported only a Georgia regiment and three pieces of artillery as being used in the engagement.
The Norfolk Day Book reports a heavy bombardment at Fort Jackson on the Mississippi. Gen. Lovett is represented as saying it was terrific. It was still continued at the latest advices.
(Signed) John E. Wool, Maj. Gen.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Sec’y War:
Our advance guard, Col. Donelly Commanding, took three prisoners to-day, at a point nine miles beyond Harrisonburg. – One of them says he belongs to the 10th Virginia regiment. This regiment has been on the Rappahannock, the prisoner says, but has now joined Jackson, at his present location near Stannardsville.
(Signed) N. P. BANKS.
HEADQUARTERS DEPT. OF VIRGINIA,
April 24, 1862.
To Hon. E. M. Stanton, Sec’y War:
Assistant Surgeon Warren, unconditionally released with 17 prisoners and 4 attendants, arrived this evening from Norfolk. The were all wounded and left on the field in the affair of the South Mills. The troops of the United States consisted of 3,000 men, under command of Gen. Reno. The surgeon says the rebels reported only a Georgia regiment and three pieces of artillery as being used in the engagement.
The Norfolk Day Book reports a heavy bombardment at Fort Jackson on the Mississippi. Gen. Lovett is represented as saying it was terrific. It was still continued at the latest advices.
(Signed) John E. Wool, Maj. Gen.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Times’ Dispatch
A gentleman arrived here to-day, directly from Gen. McClellans’s headquarters, and reports that our forces have greatly the advantage of the enemy, as time will show, that our sharpshooters are the terror of the rebel gunners and that our approaches command the rebel entrenchments. Everything is working as well as the most sanguine could wish.
On Monday last there was firing between two rebel regiments within the rebel works causing much commotion in our camp. It continued so long and so severe that it was mistaken at first for a regular assault on our out posts, and the long roll was beaten in our camp. It turned out that one of their regiments were firing into another, which returned the fire with spirit. Our forces could distinctly see them carry off the dead and wounded. The affair is believed to have been a mutiny and measures taken to quell it. The Virginians now being forced into the service at the point of the bayonet, resist as far as they can, more especially those being drafted and forced into regiments from other States, to fill the latter to their respective quotas. It is supposed the mutiny grew out of something of the sort.
Information was received in our headquarters at Yorktown, that the rebels were concentrating a large force at Gordonsville, hoping to bag Gen. Banks, and that it was their intention to allow McDowell to get across the Rappahannock and then precipitate a superior force upon him.
The Richmond Examiner, of the 22d says:
“Official dispatches received yesterday state that the bombardment of the forts below New Orleans continued during the whole of Saturday, and that there were no [casualties] on our side. It is stated that the enemy’s armament, owing to the shallowness of the water cannot bet sufficiently near to the forts to bother the walls to any extent, that there is no possibility of reducing them but by shelling the garrison out.”
[Note: this article is a continuation of the column headed “From Washington.”]
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
On Monday last there was firing between two rebel regiments within the rebel works causing much commotion in our camp. It continued so long and so severe that it was mistaken at first for a regular assault on our out posts, and the long roll was beaten in our camp. It turned out that one of their regiments were firing into another, which returned the fire with spirit. Our forces could distinctly see them carry off the dead and wounded. The affair is believed to have been a mutiny and measures taken to quell it. The Virginians now being forced into the service at the point of the bayonet, resist as far as they can, more especially those being drafted and forced into regiments from other States, to fill the latter to their respective quotas. It is supposed the mutiny grew out of something of the sort.
Information was received in our headquarters at Yorktown, that the rebels were concentrating a large force at Gordonsville, hoping to bag Gen. Banks, and that it was their intention to allow McDowell to get across the Rappahannock and then precipitate a superior force upon him.
The Richmond Examiner, of the 22d says:
“Official dispatches received yesterday state that the bombardment of the forts below New Orleans continued during the whole of Saturday, and that there were no [casualties] on our side. It is stated that the enemy’s armament, owing to the shallowness of the water cannot bet sufficiently near to the forts to bother the walls to any extent, that there is no possibility of reducing them but by shelling the garrison out.”
[Note: this article is a continuation of the column headed “From Washington.”]
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
From Washington
WASHINGTON, April 24.
The Senate in executive session to-day confirmed the nomination of Horatio King, ex-Postmaster General, as one of the commissioners under the act for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. – The Board will organize immediately.
Mr. Hutchins’ resolution censuring Mr. Vallandigham for alleged violation of the rules and decorum of the House, by making use of denunciatory language against Senator Wade, after quoting from the latter’s recent speech in the Senate, will com up to-morrow for final action.
The participants in the colloquy, Messrs. Vallandigham and Blake, exhibited intense earnestness. The scene for a while was exceedingly spirited, but abruptly terminated by adjournment.
The ratifications of the Seward-Lyons treaty for suppression of the African salve trade, will soon be exchanged. The main points are, mutual right of search without regard to the number of vessels to be emptied, and the summary trial and punishment of those engaged in illegal traffic.
The Yankee has arrived from the neighborhood of Fredericksburg, and reports that one day this week the [Anacostia] while passing Lowry’s point, on the Rappahannock, was fired into by a small body of rebel infantry. She threw a few shells at them which caused them to rapidly disperse. The flotilla is still actively engaged in seizing rebel crafts. It has captured 16 schooners.
WASHINGTON, April 24.
The Senate to-day by unanimous vote ratified the Seward Lyons treaty recently negotiated for the suppression of the slave trade.
The French Minister, after his return here, visited the State Department and had a long interview with Seward.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
The Senate in executive session to-day confirmed the nomination of Horatio King, ex-Postmaster General, as one of the commissioners under the act for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. – The Board will organize immediately.
Mr. Hutchins’ resolution censuring Mr. Vallandigham for alleged violation of the rules and decorum of the House, by making use of denunciatory language against Senator Wade, after quoting from the latter’s recent speech in the Senate, will com up to-morrow for final action.
The participants in the colloquy, Messrs. Vallandigham and Blake, exhibited intense earnestness. The scene for a while was exceedingly spirited, but abruptly terminated by adjournment.
The ratifications of the Seward-Lyons treaty for suppression of the African salve trade, will soon be exchanged. The main points are, mutual right of search without regard to the number of vessels to be emptied, and the summary trial and punishment of those engaged in illegal traffic.
The Yankee has arrived from the neighborhood of Fredericksburg, and reports that one day this week the [Anacostia] while passing Lowry’s point, on the Rappahannock, was fired into by a small body of rebel infantry. She threw a few shells at them which caused them to rapidly disperse. The flotilla is still actively engaged in seizing rebel crafts. It has captured 16 schooners.
WASHINGTON, April 24.
The Senate to-day by unanimous vote ratified the Seward Lyons treaty recently negotiated for the suppression of the slave trade.
The French Minister, after his return here, visited the State Department and had a long interview with Seward.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Friday, March 5, 2010
From Cairo
(Special to the Chicago Journal.)
CHICAGO, April 25.
The steamers Choctaw, and Belle Memphis arrived last evening at 9 o’clock, which left Pittsburg Landing early on Thursday morning. They were fired into 35 miles below Pittsburg by a band of guerillas from behind their dwellings on the left bank of the Tennessee. The Choctaw received 7 shots and her mate killed. The [Belle] Memphis received 12 shots, mortally wounding a negro boy who was blacking boots. In the mate’s room near the pilot, one ball entered the keyhole of the pilot house door lock. The guerillas fired at the house to draw our men out on deck.
The roads at Shiloh are reported improving. Skirmishing between pickets continues. Our army goes forward in a solid column.
The water has risen nearly two inches since yesterday noon, and still rising rapidly. Inundation seems imminent. Lower Mississippi fearfully overflowed, causing the greatest loss of property ever known there by flood.
It is determined soon to evacuate Mound City Hospital. The inmates are to be removed to other points, were ample accommodations are being provided.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
CHICAGO, April 25.
The steamers Choctaw, and Belle Memphis arrived last evening at 9 o’clock, which left Pittsburg Landing early on Thursday morning. They were fired into 35 miles below Pittsburg by a band of guerillas from behind their dwellings on the left bank of the Tennessee. The Choctaw received 7 shots and her mate killed. The [Belle] Memphis received 12 shots, mortally wounding a negro boy who was blacking boots. In the mate’s room near the pilot, one ball entered the keyhole of the pilot house door lock. The guerillas fired at the house to draw our men out on deck.
The roads at Shiloh are reported improving. Skirmishing between pickets continues. Our army goes forward in a solid column.
The water has risen nearly two inches since yesterday noon, and still rising rapidly. Inundation seems imminent. Lower Mississippi fearfully overflowed, causing the greatest loss of property ever known there by flood.
It is determined soon to evacuate Mound City Hospital. The inmates are to be removed to other points, were ample accommodations are being provided.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
From Yorktown
NEW YORK, April 25.
Reliable information places Gen. Lee in command of the rebels at Yorktown. Gen. Johnston did not remain. All rebel stores, ammunition, and baggage has been moved three miles to the rear of Yorktown. Contrabands say the rebels had nearly 200 killed and wounded in the recent affair at Lee’s Mills.
A gang of 3,000 negroes who were at work on a dam had a dozen killed, were stampeded by our shells, and had to be forced back with bayonets.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Reliable information places Gen. Lee in command of the rebels at Yorktown. Gen. Johnston did not remain. All rebel stores, ammunition, and baggage has been moved three miles to the rear of Yorktown. Contrabands say the rebels had nearly 200 killed and wounded in the recent affair at Lee’s Mills.
A gang of 3,000 negroes who were at work on a dam had a dozen killed, were stampeded by our shells, and had to be forced back with bayonets.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Local Matters
SALE POSTPONED. – It will be seen by our advertising columns that the sale of Government property at the Fair Grounds is postponed till further notice.
TEACHERS’ EXAMINATION. – The monthly examination of candidates for teachers’ certificates will take place to-day, beginning at 9 o’clock, at the brick school house, corner of Sixth and Warren streets.
PULPIT AND ROSTRUM. – This is the title of an elegant pamphlet serial containing reports of the best sermons, lectures, orations, etc., published by E. D. Barker, 135 Grand street, New York, at the low price of $1.00 for twelve numbers. We know of no way in which such a mass of good reading can be obtained so cheaply.
IMPROVEMENTS. – The season for erecting new buildings, repairing and renovating old ones, fixing up fences, setting out trees and plants and shrubbery, and improving appearances generally, has commenced, and although less is doing in the way of new buildings the present season than in some former years, yet there is probably more than last year; while there is considerable activity in minor improvements. We have already noticed Mr. Forrest’s ‘conversion of a church’ and Mr. Moore’s new bakery. Mr. John Hornby is putting up a neat two-story frame building for Mr. D. C. Eldridge, on the east side of Perry between Fifth and Sixth streets. Mr. Eldridge expects to move into it next week. Mr. G. Thiele, butcher, is putting up a brick building on Brady, above Fourth street, which he intends to occupy as a butcher shop. Re-roofing has been done to a great extent; shingle roofs in all cases taking the place of composition ones. The last change of the kind we notice is on the building on the north corner of Front and Brady streets. We are informed that Mr. Lahrmann intends to put a shingle roof on his entire block. Shade trees are being set out in many parts of the city, to probably as great an extent as in any former year.
A RUNAWAY. – Yesterday afternoon a team came dashing down Brady street, past the Postoffice [sic], in a furious manner, taking the side-walk in front of Macklot’s bank, and brought up against the corner of the building with such violence as to knock out a portion of the brick. A good many people were standing on the corner at the time, and had to travel pretty fast to get out of harm’s way. There is an ordinance against allowing horses to stand in the streets unhitched, and we hope the authorities will see to enforcing it.
TO THE LADIES. – Just received at Farrand’s, a large assortment of infants’ and misses’ Straw Goods – trimmed and untrimmed – to which we invite the attention of those desiring goods of this description, believing that we can offer superior inducement in style and low price of the article. Call and examine.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Thursday, March 4, 2010
To Soldiers' Friends
Those expecting money from soldiers will be glad to know that a large amount has arrived for them. – About 150 packages have arrived at the U. S. Express office, where those interested may call.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Correspondence
A contemporary, speaking of the correspondence published by the papers of Iowa, from our brave boys in the various regiments that have gone from this State, says that he intends to cut out and preserve in a scrap book every letter, in attestation of the bravery of the Hawkeye troops and their service in defense of the Government. The idea is a good one, as the record will be a glorious one for our State. In this connection we may state, that the GAZETTE has published more letters from our boys engaged in putting down the rebellion than any two papers in the State. And almost every instance have these letters been unsolicited being the voluntary offerings of men accustomed to write, who have selected the GAZETTE as the most extended medium for their circulation. At least this is the reason they have given for choosing this paper for their publication. Coupled with this fact is another which demonstrates its truth. At least three-fourths of the letters we have published have been written by citizens of other counties, in all of which papers are published. As other papers in our State are continually prating of their circulation and influence, we give these facts simple to show the GAZETTE’S standing, which, without boasting, we are willing to compare with any paper in the State of Iowa.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Shameful Treatment of Soldiers
Complaints are frequently made of the ill treatment of sick and wounded soldiers on their way home. Yesterday we mentioned a case of extortion on a small scale at LaSalle; and this morning we have to tell of a shameful maltreatment on the part of some steamboat men and the officers of a railroad. Five sick soldiers, of the Second Cavalry, who arrived on the same train as the one mentioned yesterday, had rough usage from the time they left Cairo till they reached the Illinois Central Railroad. They took deck passage on the Emma Duncan, having been furnished with proper passes, and their means not allowing them cabin fare. One of them inquired what part of the boat his ticket would entitle him to occupy, when a young fellow sitting near said, “D----d dirty soldiers! Put them in the hold; its good enough for a d--- soldier!” He was not reproved by the officers of the boat, if indeed, he was not one himself. One of the men, John C. McHone, was robbed of $50 – all of the money he had except about two dollars in silver. On the Terre Haute and St. Louis road, the same sick soldiers were crowded into the smoking car, where they were compelled to breath the foul air arising from the fumes of tobacco smoke, and an exceedingly filthy car, and were denied what their tickets clearly entitled them to, seats in the passenger cars. On the Illinois Central and Chicago and Rock Island road they were kindly treated, and have no complaint whatever to make against them. It is disgraceful that any men should maltreat, either directly or by negligence, any poor, sick, disable men, who are unable to help themselves, and more especially when these men are soldiers, who have become so disabled in the service of their country. If no other persuasions can be made to reach the ears of such men, the press should keep the world posted as to who they are and their whereabouts, that they may be shunned by all good people.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Iowa At Corinth
In the battle soon to take place at Corinth, Iowa will be represented by twelve and probably fifteen regiments, viz: 2d, 3d, 6th, 7th, 8th, 11th, 12th, 13, 14th, 15th, 16th infantry and 2d cavalry, and probably the 5th, 10th and 17th regiments. Some of these regiments, as the 8th, 12th and 14th, will be feebly represented, being mostly prisoners of war, while others, as the 2d and 7th, have been so badly cut up in the battles in which they have already engaged, that they cannot muster many troops.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry
The organization of the Fifteenth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry began prior to Sept. 5, 1861, but the precise date is not revealed in the report of the Adjutant General of the State. His report for the year 1863, however (Vol. 1, Page 547), shows that company B of this regiment was ordered into quarters Sept. 5, 1861, and the entire ten companies of which the regiment was composed were ordered into quarters by Governor Kirkwood on dates ranging from Sept. 5, 1861, to Feb. 13, 1862. Keokuk, Iowa, was the place designated for the rendezvous of the regiment and, at that place, the ten companies were mustered into the service of the United States, on dates ranging from Nov. 1, 1861, to Feb. 22, 1862, by Capt. Charles C. Smith and Lieut. C. J. Ball, United States Army. The aggregate strength of the regiment at muster in was 1,127, rank and file [see note 1].
The compiler of this historical sketch has adhered to the official reports and returns found in the War of the Rebellion Official Records, published by authority of the Secretary of War, and the official data contained in the military archives of the State of Iowa, covering the period embraced in the service of the regiment. The record of personal service shown opposite the name of each officer and enlisted man in the subjoined roster has also been obtained from the official sources above indicated, supplemented by such information as could be procured from the War Department in Washington and other reliable sources. Some of these records will be found to be incomplete and, no doubt, some are incorrect. This is of course much to be regretted, but every effort has been made to prevent errors and omissions. The reader is referred to the introductory article to this volume, which shows some of the difficulties encountered in obtaining the facts with reference to these individual records. Suffice it to say that as much care has been exercised to secure a correct record for the enlisted man as for that of the officer. The compiler also wishes it understood that only the outlines of history of the long and faithful service of the regiment could be given within the limitations prescribed by the act of the General Assembly of the State of Iowa which authorized the publication of this work.
The short time the regiment remained in rendezvous at Keokuk was utilized to the best advantage by the officers and men, in drilling as best they could without muskets, going through some of the simpler movements of company and battalion drill and applying themselves to the study of tactics and army regulations. Among the officers, Adjutant George Pomutz and Major William W. Belknap had the advantage of having received some military training, but the large majority of both officers and enlisted men were utterly without experience and had to acquire, in the brief time which elapsed before they were called upon to face the enemy in the field, such knowledge of their duties as soldiers as would enable them to acquit themselves with credit and honor to the State that sent them to the front to re-inforce their comrades, who had already met the enemy in several hard fought battles. In this state of unpreparedness the regiment left Keokuk on the 19th day of March, 1862, and was conveyed by steamboat to St. Louis and, upon its arrival there, marched to Benton Barracks, where troops were being concentrated, and given such instruction as was possible before proceeding to join the Army of the Tennessee, then encamped at Pittsburg Landing. At Benton Barracks the regiment received its arms, accoutrements and general equipment.
On the morning of April 1, 1862, the regiment marched to St Louis, where it embarked, with orders to report to General Grant at Savannah, Tenn. Arriving, the night before the commencement of the battle of Shiloh, Col. Hugh T. Reld, commanding the regiment, was ordered to proceed to Pittsburg Landing, and there disembark his command and report to General Prentiss. The regiment arrived at Pittsburg Landing on the morning of April 6, 1862. In his official report Colonel Reid states that, upon reaching Pittsburg Landing, he proceeded at once to report to General Prentiss, and found that officer and the division under his command already under the fire of the enemy. Colonel Reid was ordered to bring his regiment forward as soon as possible. He at once rode back to the landing and ordered his regiment to disembark quickly. As fast as the men reached the shore they formed in line of battle, ammunition was distributed, and guns were loaded for the first time since the men had received them. At this time an order was given by a member of General Grant's staff directing Colonel Reid to hold the position in which he had formed, to prevent stragglers from the battlefield from reaching the landing. The regiment remained in that position for about an hour, when an order came from General Grant to Colonel Reid to advance to the support of General McClernand's division, some two miles to the front. The Sixteenth Iowa Infantry was included in this order, and the two regiments moved promptly forward under the direction of a staff officer of General McClernand. A great many soldiers were met, retreating from the battlefield, while the roar of battle In front indicated that a desperate conflict was in progress, in which the enemy was succeeding in pressing the Union forces toward the river. The situation was such as to test to the utmost the courage of these men who were fresh from their homes, unused to the dreadful scenes transpiring about them, with the boom of cannon and crash of musketry sounding nearer each moment, and with the panic-stricken and wounded streaming to the rear; yet they pressed steadily forward. The following extract from Colonel Reid's official report will show how bravely his regiment conducted itself when it came into action, and while under the fire of the enemy [see note 2].
Our flag staff was shot through and our colors riddled with bullets; for two hours, from 10 to 12 o'clock, we maintained our position, our men fighting like veterans. The undersigned [see note 3] was severely wounded by a musket ball through the neck, which knocked him from his horse, paralyzed for the time, but recovering in a short time, remounted and continued in command throughout the fight. Fifteen of the thirty-two commissioned officers who went on the field had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoners; twenty-two officers and men had been killed, and one hundred and fifty-six wounded. • • • The enemy were attempting to outflank us on the right and left, we were unsupported by artillery or any other regiment except the gallant Sixteenth, which had also suffered severely. It became necessary for the two regiments to retreat or run the risk of being captured, and by order of General McClernand the retreat was made. Portions of the regiments rallied and fought with other divisions later in the day and on Monday. Where nearly all fought with bravery it might seem invidious to particularize, but I hope to do no one injustice by specially pointing out those whose personal valor, during the action, came under my notice. Lieutenant Colonel Dewey had his horse shot under him; Major Belknap was always in the right place, at the right time, directing and encouraging officers and men as coolly as a veteran; he was wounded but not disabled, and had his horse shot under him, but remained on the field performing his duty on foot Adjutant Pomutz distinguished himself during the action for his coolness and courage; he, too, was wounded. Captains Kittle of company A, Smith of company B, Seevers of company C, Madison of company D, Hutchcraft of company E, Cunningham of company G, Day of company I, Hedrick of company K, who was captured in a charge upon the enemy, all distinguished themselves for their gallantry and courage in leading forward and encouraging their men; Captain Blackmar of company F, was wounded in the action and disabled; First Lieutenant Goode of same company also wounded ; Captain Clark, of company H, was not in the engagement, having been left sick in the hospital at St. Louis; Captains Hutchcraft and Day were both severely wounded ; Second Lieutenant Penniman of company A, and Hamilton of company I, were killed while bravely performing their duty. First Lieutenant King and Second Lieutenant Danielson of company H were both severely wounded while acting well their part, thus leaving the company without a commissioned officer. First Lieutenants Studer of company B, Porter of company D, Craig of company B, Hanks of company G, J. Monroe Reid of company I, who, though wounded himself, continued in command of the company after the Captain was disabled and the Second Lieutenant killed, and Eldridge of company K, all deserve special praise for the manner in which they conducted themselves on the field. Second Lieutenants Lanstrum of company B, Brown of company E, Herbert of company C, and Sergeant Major Brown, who was severely wounded, conducted themselves well on the field. The non-commissioned officers generally were at their posts and performed their duty. The Color Sergeant, Newton J. Rogers, who fought in the First Iowa at Springfield, gallantly bore our standard forward and planted It among the enemy where it was bravely maintained and defended by portions of companies C, E, I and K It must be remembered that this regiment had just received its arms and that the men had never had an opportunity of learning the use of them until they came on the battlefield; that they had just landed and were attached to no brigade, and fought the enemy without the support of artillery, in a position from which more experienced troops had been compelled to retire. • • • We have no means of learning the loss of the enemy in this engagement except from what they told some of our wounded men, who were taken prisoners and left behind the next day, when the enemy made their final retreat; but from this source we learned that they had forty men killed In the Immediate vicinity of our colors, and a large number wounded. • • • While we mourn our comrades In arms, the gallant dead, whose lives were sacrificed on the altar of their country, we are solaced with the belief that a grateful people will. In after times, pay a proper tribute to their memory.
At the close of his report Colonel Reid expresses his obligations to Quartermaster Higley, Surgeon Davis, Assistant Surgeon Gibbon and Chaplain Estabrook, for the faithful and efficient manner in which they discharged the duties of their respective offices. Colonel Reid states that the total loss of his regiment at the battle of Shiloh was 186. In the tabulated returns of casualties, as shown by the official records [see note 4], the total loss is given as 185, and this slight discrepancy is readily accounted for, as stated by Loren S. Tyler, who compiled the history of the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry (published In 1887) in which he gives a tabulated statement of losses, by companies, showing an aggregate loss of 213, and says, "Without original lists of casualties, it is impossible to make a list that will agree with the number stated in the reports of battle, as, after the reports have been forwarded to headquarters, other casualties are always found." Adjutant Pomutz states that the number of the regiment engaged was 760, and gives the total loss as 188 [see note 5]. The loss was, therefore, very nearly one-fourth of the number engaged.
The compiler has given more space to the account of this first battle in which the regiment was engaged than he will be able to give to those which followed. With the highest appreciation of its subsequent splendid achievements on other battlefields, he considers the battle of Shiloh as having been the severest test of the courage and fortitude of the officers and men of the regiment to which they were subjected during their long term of service. No regiment ever acquitted itself with greater credit in its first battle.
Soon after the battle the regiment was attached to a temporary brigade, consisting of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa, and Eighteenth Wisconsin, Infantry, of which Colonel Reid of the Fifteenth Iowa was in command, and which took part in the advance upon Corinth, Miss., to which place the defeated rebel army had retreated, and where, behind strong earth-works, it grimly awaited the attack of the Union army. April 27, 1862, marked an important event in the career of the regiment, for upon that date it became a part of the brigade consisting of the Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Regiments of Iowa Infantry, known as Crocker's Iowa Brigade, and which achieved great distinction by its subsequent brilliant achievements in battle. The history of these four Iowa regiments for the remainder of the war is largely identical. They remained together until they were mustered out, their terms of service expiring about the same time.
The Union lines continued to advance upon Corinth, and laid siege to that stronghold. The Brigade, under command of the gallant and gifted Col. M. M. Crocker, of the Thirteenth Iowa, took part in the arduous siege operations which ensued, and which ended on the morning of May 30, 1862, the enemy having evacuated Corinth during the previous night. The army of the Tennessee at once took possession of the abandoned works. During the month of June the regiment and brigade were encamped near Corinth. On June 27th the Fifteenth Iowa moved Inside the works and acted as provost guard for the post, Major Belknap acting as Provost Marshal.
At the end of July the regiment, with its brigade and division, under the command of General Tuttle, was ordered to march to Bolivar, to re-inforce the troops at that important post. Soon after reaching Bolivar, General Tuttle was ordered to another command, and Colonel Crocker succeeded him in command of the division. The command of the brigade now devolved upon Colonel Reid, who detailed Adjutant Pomutz as Assistant Adjutant General. The enemy, in large force, continued in the vicinity of Bolivar for several weeks, and an attack was constantly threatened; but this proved to be a ruse, intended to draw away from Corinth a sufficient number of Union troops to enable the rebel forces to recapture that important post. When the real purpose of the enemy was discovered, by his sudden appearance at Iuka and capture of that place, the Fifteenth Iowa, with its brigade, was ordered to return to Corinth, and thence to Iuka, where it assisted in the operations against the enemy. But only one of the regiments of the Brigade was ordered forward and became engaged in the battle of Iuka; this was the Sixteenth Iowa, which fought bravely and lost heavily in that engagement on Sept. 19, 1862.
The brigade now returned to Corinth, where, on the 3d and 4th of October, 1862, it took part in the hard fought battles in and around that place. The Fifteenth Iowa occupied an advanced position and suffered heavy loss. The following extracts from the official report of Col. M. M. Crocker, brigade commander, will show how well the regiment performed its duty in these battles:
About 5 o'clock on the morning of the 3d Inst., the brigade formed, two regiments (the Eleventh and Thirteenth) in line of battle facing the west, and the Fifteenth and Sixteenth in close column by division in rear of the line. The regiments remained in that position, with skirmishers deployed in front, receiving an occasional cannon shot, until about 3 o'clock, when, the division on the right having fallen back, a change of front was ordered. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth were then formed in line of battle perpendicular to the first line and the Eleventh and Thirteenth in close column by division in the rear.
In this position the brigade remained until about 4 P. M., when orders were received to again change front so as to connect the right of the brigade with the left of General Davies' division, its left to rest in the direction of Battery E. After the execution of this order had been commenced notice was received from General McKean that the division was to move back inside the inner fortifications, and an order received that the Eleventh and Thirteenth Regiments form in line of battle a quarter of a mile in rear of the line formed by the Fifteenth and Sixteenth, in front of and parallel to the road over which the artillery of the division must pass, and the brigade to protect the movements of the rest of the division and the artillery.
The execution of the order to move back had just commenced when the enemy, in greatly superior force, attacked the front line — the Fifteenth and Sixteenth. The officers and men of these regiments, acting with signal determination and bravery, not only held the enemy in check, but drove him back, and held their position until notice was received that the artillery had passed safely to the rear, when they were ordered to fall back and form in line of battle on the right of the second line, which they did in good order, the enemy declining to follow. This engagement lasted three-quarters of an hour; the firing was incessant, and the regiments, especially the Fifteenth, suffered severely.
I deem it my especial duty to particularly mention Lieutenant Colonel Belknap, who commanded the Fifteenth Regiment. This regiment was under the hottest fire, and Colonel Belknap was everywhere along the line, mounted, with sword in hand, encouraging by voice and gesture his men to stand their ground. Lieut Col. Addison H. Sanders, who commanded the Sixteenth, is entitled to great praise. He rode along the line of his regiment amid the storm of bullets, encouraging his brave boys who had so lately suffered at Iuka to remember their duty, and although severely wounded remained with his regiment until it marched off the field. Majors Cunningham, of the Fifteenth, and Purcell, of the Sixteenth, did their whole duty, and conducted themselves with great bravery.
Colonel Crocker then describes the positions occupied by his brigade after passing inside the fortifications at Corinth; the part it performed behind the works during the engagement of October 4th, in which it suffered but few casualties; the pursuit of the retreating enemy, in which his whole brigade participated, and which continued until the evening of October 8th, and the return to Corinth on the 13th; and, near the close of his report, says:
The Brigade, during the protracted movements of the battle and pursuit, encountering every hardship and privation incident to such campaigning, behaved with great fortitude, meeting every danger and hardship cheerfully; and I acknowledge my obligations to all the field officers for their cheerful, hearty and intelligent co-operation. Col. H. T. Reid of the Fifteenth Iowa, though prostrated by illness and unable to be in the field during the first day's engagement, on the second day left his sick bed, joined his command, and, though unable to ride his horse, remained with his regiment, traveling in an ambulance until the pursuit was abandoned. Lieutenant Lanstrum of the Fifteenth Iowa, who acted as aide, deported himself as a good and faithful soldier. The loss of the brigade occurred principally in the engagement on the 3d instant, the Fifteenth suffering most. The killed, wounded and missing are as follows, namely: killed 14, wounded 110, missing 22. Total 146 [see note 6]
The tabulated report of casualties gives the losses of the brigade by regiments, as follows:
Eleventh Iowa, Killed 3, wounded 8, missing 10, Total, 21
Thirteenth Iowa, Killed 1, wounded 14, missing [0], Total, 15
Fifteenth Iowa, Killed 11, wounded 67, missing 8, Total, 86
Sixteenth Iowa, Killed 1, wounded 20, missing 6, Total, 27
Total loss of Brigade l49 [See note 7.]
It will thus be seen that, in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth alone, the regiment had sustained an aggregate loss of 334, not including its smaller losses during the siege and its minor encounters with the enemy around Bolivar, which would considerably increase this aggregate. With less than eight months of its three years' term of service completed, it had made a record as a fighting regiment that would have entitled it to a most prominent place in history, if its service had ended with the battle of Corinth. The record of the long series of campaigns and battles through which the regiment was yet to pass must be condensed into a space not exceeding that already occupied, and to this difficult task the compiler now commits himself.
Upon its return to Corinth the regiment went into camp, where it remained for several weeks. The weather grew cold and the troops were preparing for winter quarters, when, on November 2d, orders came to take up the line of march for Grand Junction, at which place the command arrived on November 5th, and where a part of the troops, that were to participate in the expedition against Vicksburg, were being concentrated. On November 28th the troops were put in motion for the South, the Third Brigade of the Sixth Division of Hamilton's Corps (Crocker's Iowa Brigade) taking the advance. The Fifteenth Iowa, with its brigade, took a prominent part in the operations of that great expedition which penetrated to the interior of Mississippi, and was well on the way towards Vicksburg when a strong force of the enemy's cavalry succeeded in getting in the rear of General Grant's army, captured Holly Springs, where the immense stores of supplies for the use of the army had been accumulated, destroyed the supplies, and thus compelled the retreat of the army towards Memphis. During this retrograde movement the soldiers suffered greatly from exposure to frequent storms and from lack of sufficient food.
The regiment, with its brigade and division, reached Memphis on the 13th of January, 1863. On January 18th, the expedition against Vicksburg was renewed, this time by way of the Mississippi River. The regiments and brigades of the Sixth Division, including Crocker's Iowa Brigade, embarked on a fleet of fifteen steamers and were conveyed down the great river to Milliken's Bend, a short distance above the mouth of the Yazoo River. Here the troops disembarked and went into camp. From this point a detachment from the brigade — consisting of details from the Fifteenth Iowa and the other regiments, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Belknap — was mounted and sent upon a couple of reconnoitering expeditions, in which they came in contact with the enemy and lost one man killed and several wounded.
On the 20th of January, 1863, the Third Brigade and the Sixth Division were transferred to Major General McPherson's Seventeenth Army Corps, Brigadier General McArthur retaining command of the division, and Colonel Crocker of the brigade. On February 8th the command embarked and was conveyed to Providence, on the Louisiana shore, seventy miles north of Vicksburg, where it disembarked and went into camp. Here the cutting of the canal — to connect Lake Providence with the Mississippi — was begun and continued until the 16th of March, when it was completed. It was an arduous undertaking, participated in by all the troops, in which the Fifteenth Iowa bore its full part. During the first days in March, the regiment and brigade were subjected to a rigid inspection by William E. Strong, Inspector General of the Seventeenth Army Corps, who highly commended the officers and men for their soldierly bearing, excellence in drill and the manual of arms, and the correct manner in which the records were kept, and concludes his report as follows: "Once more I say that the Third Brigade, commanded by Col. M. M. Crocker, are an honor to the division and corps to which they are attached, and an honor to the army of the Tennessee, an honor to their friends at home, to their State and to their country, and I know from their record in the field, that they must be a terror to the foe."
On March 10th, Lieutenant Colonel Belknap was detached from the regiment and appointed Provost Marshal of the Seventeenth Corps. The regiment with its brigade left Lake Providence April 21st, and, from that time until the close of the "Vicksburg campaign, was actively engaged in important movements, contributing its full share to the accomplishment of the grand result — the surrender of the rebel stronghold on the 4th of July, 1863.
About the time the command moved from Lake Providence, Colonel Crocker — whose appointment as Brigadier General had been confirmed — was assigned to the command of the Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, and was thus separated from the brigade which bore his name and whose splendid conduct, under his command, had been a most important factor in securing his promotion. Col. H. T. Reid, having been promoted to Brigadier General, was assigned to the command of the First Brigade of the division; Colonel Hall of the Eleventh Iowa, who was the senior officer present for duty, became commander of the Third Brigade, and Lieutenant Colonel Belknap — who was soon after promoted to Colonel — returned from staff duty and took command of the regiment.
On the 26th of April the regiment and brigade marched to Holmes' Plantation and remained in camp there until May 11th. On May 13th, marched to Hard Times Landing, and crossed by boat to Grand Gulf, south of Vicksburg. The subsequent movements of the Fifteenth Iowa up to and including July 4th — the date of the surrender of Vicksburg — are described in the official report of Colonel Belknap, showing the numerous positions to which it was assigned during the progress of the siege, and the important service it performed, being part of the time on duty in the trenches and part of the time engaged in guarding against an attack by the rebel General Johnston's army from the rear. At the time of the surrender the regiment occupied a position near Messenger's Ferry, in view of Johnston's army. At the close of his report Colonel Belknap says: "The men of this regiment have endured the hardships of these severe marches and the trials of the campaign without a murmur. Whether at work in the trenches or acting as sharpshooters, they have evinced an alacrity, zeal and courage which deserves full commendation, and in every movement I have had the full co-operation of every officer of the command."
After the surrender of Vicksburg the regiment with its brigade took part in the expedition against Johnston, which ended with the evacuation of Jackson by the rebel forces on July 16th. The Third Brigade, now under the command of Colonel Chambers of the Sixteenth Iowa, returned towards Vicksburg, halting at Black River until relieved by other troops, when it marched to Vicksburg and went into camp north of the city. Here a considerable number of the men were given a thirty days' furlough and some of the officers were granted leave of absence for the same length of time, Colonel Belknap among the number.
On the 21st of August the regiment, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Hedrick, participated in an expedition against a force of the enemy occupying a fortified position at Monroe, La., on the Washita River. After a toilsome march and considerable skirmishing, by the cavalry which led the advance, the regiment formed in line — with the other Union forces — in front of the enemy's position, but, after a brief skirmish, the rebel forces retreated, abandoning the town and a considerable quantity of military stores. The object of the expedition having been accomplished, the troops returned to Vicksburg, where they arrived Sept. 3, 1863.
Colonel Chambers, of the Sixteenth Iowa, having been promoted to Brigadier General, was assigned to the command of the Sixth Division on September 11th, and Colonel Hall of the Eleventh Iowa again took command of the brigade, which moved to a new camp south of Vicksburg. Here the regiment was engaged in the performance of camp and garrison duty, varied only by participation in several expeditions into the country, in which it did not come into contact with the enemy. From the middle of September, 1863, to the last of January, 1864, the regiment was almost entirely relieved from active operations in the field. This long period was employed to the very best advantage by Colonel Belknap in instructing his officers and men in the proper discharge of their duties in camp, on the march and in battle. This capable and energetic officer felt a just pride in the high state of discipline and efficiency to which his regiment had attained. He had the satisfaction of witnessing the good results of his instruction in the splendid conduct of his regiment in the subsequent campaigns and battles in which it was engaged, and which are all too briefly described in the remainder of this historical sketch.
Near the close of the year 1863, in response to the call of the Government, three-fourths of the men of the Fifteenth Iowa had re-enlisted for three years, or during the war, to date from the expiration of their original term of service. On the 3d of February, 1864, the regiment, with its brigade and division, again took up the line of march and became part of the army, under command of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, which penetrated far into the interior of the State of Mississippi. While the regiment did not come into actual contact with the enemy on this expedition, it sustained its full share of the hardships incident to a long march in winter without tents and often without sufficient rations. The regiment returned to its camp at Vicksburg on the 4th of March. On the 13th, that portion of the regiment which had re-enlisted started on veteran furlough to their homes in Iowa, being conveyed by steamer to Keokuk, which place they reached on March 22d, and each soldier was given a furlough of 30 days from that date; at the expiration of which they returned to Keokuk and were conveyed, by way of Cairo, Ill., and Paducah, Ky., to Clifton, Tenn., where they landed May 6, 1864. From Clifton the command marched to Pulaski, Tenn., and thence to Huntsville, Ala., where the non-veterans of the regiment, under command of Major Pomutz, had previously arrived, and the regiment was reunited. In the meantime. General Crocker had been compelled to relinquish the command of the division, on account of poor health, and Gen. W. Q. Gresham had succeeded him as division commander. Major General McPherson, having been promoted to the command of the Army of the Tennessee, was succeeded by Maj. Gen. Frank P. Blair, Jr., as commander of the Seventeenth Army Corps. It was with deep regret that the regiment and brigade witnessed the departure of their old commander, General Crocker, to whom they had become greatly attached.
And now the great campaign, which was to have such a decisive effect, was about to begin. The regiment, with its brigade, division and corps, marching through the mountainous districts of northern Alabama and Georgia, by way of Rome, Kingston and Allatoona, reached Ackworth June 8th and there joined McPherson's Army of the Tennessee, the Seventeenth Corps occupying the extreme left of Sherman's Grand Army, composed of the Armies of the Cumberland, Tennessee and Ohio.
From Ackworth to Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain, Noonday Creek, Brushy Mountain, Nick-a-jack Creek, Turner's Ferry and the Chattahoochee, the regiment with its brigade pushed steadily on, skirmishing with the enemy almost constantly and driving him from one after another of his strongly entrenched positions, all of which were bravely and stubbornly defended. These heavy skirmishes often rose to the dignity of a battle; indeed, it might be said that it was a regular series of battles, in which the Fifteenth Iowa sustained its full share of the fighting. General Sherman made this statement: "It is impossible to state accurately our losses in one separate battle; for the fighting was continuous, almost daily, among trees and bushes, on ground where one could rarely see a hundred yards ahead." Up to the 22d of July the Fifteenth Iowa had lost nearly one hundred in killed and wounded. In the battles of the 21st, 22d and 28th of July, near Atlanta, the regiment lost heavily. The official reports of Col. Wm. W. Belknap show in detail the splendid conduct of his regiment in these engagements. Space will only permit brief quotations from these reports. Of the charge of the regiment on the 21st he says: "At 8 o'clock on the morning of the 21st, skirmishing having been constant after daylight, the order was received from Colonel Shane commanding brigade, to advance on the enemy's works in front. • • • The whole front line advanced rapidly with cheers to the crest of the hill in full view of the rebel works, and fought with valor and determination. • • • In front of the Fifteenth Iowa a battery of several guns, previously masked, opened upon us with grape and canister, and when the line was ordered to retire it did so in good order, notwithstanding the withering fire from the battery. The attack was successful in enabling Force's brigade to hold the hill on our left, and compelling the evacuation of the line by the enemy on the next morning. The officers and men of the regiment did their duty, as they always do." • • •
After describing the different positions occupied by his regiment in that tremendous battle of July 22, 1864, in which the Fifteenth and the other regiments of the Iowa Brigade so greatly distinguished themselves. Colonel Belknap depicts the closing scene of that terrible conflict, as follows:
The enemy fought bravely and obstinately, and many of them were shot down fighting at the muzzles of our guns. The Forty-fifth Alabama, led by Colonel Lampley and Major Freeman, advanced on our line, but was instantly repulsed, every man within view being killed or captured. The Fifteenth Iowa captured two field officers, a captain and many men of this regiment, and the Lieutenant Colonel of the Thirty-eighth Tennessee. The bearer of the regimental battle flag was shot down by Private Crowder of company C, and the commanding officer of the regiment had the satisfaction of personally capturing Colonel Lampley, commanding officer of the Forty-fifth Alabama. • • • The regiment mourns the loss of its gallant dead. Veterans and recruits fought side by side, and testified their bravery and devotion. • • • Lieut. B. M. Gebhart, of company D, was the only officer killed; wounded severely at Shiloh, captured there and a prisoner for months, he returned to his regiment, bravely did his duty, and died a soldier's death. The army has in its ranks no braver man. My thanks are due to Adj. E. H. King and all the officers and men of the regiment for their gallantry that contributed so eminently to the success of the day. We had 380 men in line, 131 of whom were killed, wounded or captured [see note 8]. • • •
After a brief respite, the regiment went into battle on July 28, 1864, and again gloriously sustained the honor of the flag. The combined losses of the regiment in these three days of battle were 190 men and officers out of 428 engaged, making an aggregate loss of forty-five per cent. No regiment that participated in the great Atlanta campaign made a better record.
Col. Wm. W. Belknap was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General July 30th, and was assigned to the command of his old Iowa brigade. Maj. George Pomutz was at the same time — at his own request — relieved from staff duty at corps headquarters, and, returning to his regiment, assumed command, in the absence of Lieutenant Colonel Hedrick [see note 9], who was severely wounded in the battle of July 22d. The regiment and brigade continued in constant and active service to the close of the great campaign, and the list of killed and wounded grew longer. On the 1st of September the enemy evacuated Atlanta. The regiment and brigade took part in the pursuit of Hood's army, and in all the operations of the division and army corps after the fall of Atlanta. In his very complete and carefully detailed history of the regiment [see note 10], from its organization to its final muster out of the service, Lieut. Col. George Pomutz gives a statement showing the remarkable experience of the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry during the campaign and up to the fall of Atlanta. The statement is here quoted as follows:
The Fifteenth Iowa was under fire during the siege of Atlanta, on the following days:
In June, from 10th to 30th inclusive, north of Atlanta, 20 days.
In July, from 1st to 16th inclusive, north of Atlanta, 16 days.
In July, from 20th to 26th inclusive, east of Atlanta, 7 days.
In July, from 27th to 31st inclusive, west of Atlanta, 5 days.
In August, from 1st to 26th inclusive, southwest of Atlanta, 26 days.
In August, from 28th to 31st inclusive, southwest of Atlanta, 2 days.
In September, from 1st to 5th inclusive, southeast of Atlanta, 5 days.
Number of days: 81 days.
Days of battles or advances upon the enemy, or of repulsing the enemy's attacks:
June 15th, 19th, 23d, 27th: 4 days
July 4th, 5th, 20th, 21st, 22d, 28th: 6 days
August 17th, 20th, 28th, 31st: 4 days
September 1st, 2d: 2 days
Total days: 16 days
On the 19th of October, 1864, the non-veterans, whose term of service had expired, were conveyed by rail to Chattanooga, and were there mustered out of the service. These men were entitled to the honor of having faithfully performed their duty and of serving the full term for which they had enlisted. The end of the great war was evidently near, and the soldiers who had reenlisted, together with the recruits constantly joining them, gave the Government an army amply sufficient for the final crushing out of the rebellion.
The veteran regiment, and the recruits which had been assigned to it, now entered upon the closing campaigns of the war. During the long and arduous march from Atlanta to the sea, and from Savannah through the Carolinas to Richmond and on to Washington, the regiment and brigade, Its numbers greatly augmented by recruits which joined it on the way, performed every duty with the same alacrity and fidelity which had characterized it in the past. There was much fighting yet to be done, but there were no great battles fought; the enemy, while stubbornly and bravely resisting the advance of the Union army, not being strong enough to seriously impede its progress. The rebel General Johnston surrendered his army on the 26th of April, 1865, and, from that time, the march towards the North was unobstructed. On the 19th of May the long march was ended, and the regiment went into camp at Alexandria near Washington.
May 24, 1865, General Sherman's army passed in review before the President and Lieutenant General Grant. Conspicuous among the troops in that splendid pageant was the Iowa Brigade whose first commander, the gallant General Crocker, was then in Washington, suffering from the malady which had compelled him to leave the field, and from the effects of which he died soon afterwards. On June 1st the Army of the Tennessee was ordered to Louisville, Ky. The troops were conveyed by rail to Parkersburg, on the Ohio river, and thence by steamboat to Louisville, where the Fifteenth Iowa arrived June 12th, and remained in camp until July 24, 1865, on which date it was mustered out of the service of the United States. It then proceeded by rail to Davenport, Iowa, where it received final payment, was disbanded, and the men returned to their homes. Before disbanding, Lieut. Col. George Pomutz [see note 11] issued a farewell order, in which, after recounting the experience of the regiment amid the trials, dangers and hardships of war, he concludes as follows:
Soldiers of the Fifteenth Iowa: — Your record is a noble one. For three and a half years you have borne the banner of the stars and stripes, the emblem of the power and unity of our Government; at the same time as the exponent of your own determination to assist in upholding that Government and its laws, you have carried and defended that banner through a distance marched, and traveled, of seven thousand eight hundred ninety-eight miles, since March, 1862. Out of the aggregate number of 1,763 men who have been members of the regiment since its organization, 1,051 are out, a fearful proportion of whom comprises those killed, the deceased and those crippled and disabled for life. Proof enough of the devotion of the members of the regiment to our Government and its laws. Then let our actions and deeds show, when we return to our own firesides, that we are the foremost in obeying the laws of the country we have been fighting to uphold, that we are determined to let our future conduct ever be that of peaceful citizens in time of peace, as it has been that of true warriors in time of war [see note 12].
This patriotic injunction has been faithfully observed by the survivors of the Fifteenth Iowa, whose record as citizens has been kept up to the high standard of their military service. Many of them have been important factors in the development and upbuilding of this great commonwealth, which has discharged a high duty in thus endeavoring to honor the memory of the brave men it sent forth to battle for the principles of justice and human liberty, as exemplified by the Government of the United States of America.
SUMMARY OF CASUALTIES.
Total Enrollment 1926
Killed 65
Wounded 416
Died of wounds 80
Died of disease 198
Discharged for wounds, disease and other causes 332
Captured 83
Transferred 32
Buried in National Cemeteries 168
[Note 1.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863, Vol. 1, Pages 537 to 582, inclusive, showing original roster of the Regiment.
[Note 2.] Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863, Report, Vol. 2, Page 800.
[Note 3.] Colonel Hugh T. Reid.
[Note 4.] War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 10, Page 106.
[Note 5.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1866, Page 200.
[Note 6.] War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 17, Page 358.
[Note 7.] War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 17, Page 176. "Revised Statement."
[Note 8.] War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 38, Pages 606 to 807, inclusive.
[Note 9.] Col. J. M. Hedrick, who was so severely wounded at Atlanta — July 22, 1864 — as to disable him for active service, was detailed for special duty as a member of a General Court Martial in Washington, D. C, and was retained upon that duty until Aug. 11, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service. He received the brevet rank of Brigadier General March 13, 1865. After the close of the war he made a most honorable record in public and private life. He died at his home in Ottumwa, Iowa, Oct 8, 1886.
[Note 10.] Adjutant General's Report, State of Iowa, 1866, Pages 197 to 267, inclusive.
[Note 11.] Lieut. Col. George Pomutz was a native of Hungary, where he received a military education. He came to America in 1848, and was one of the most loyal defenders of his adopted country. After the close of the war he was appointed Consul General of the United States at St. Petersburg, Russia, and died there Oct. 12, 1882.
[Note 12.] Adjutant General's Report, State of Iowa, 1866, Pages 266-267.
SOURCE: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Volume 2, p.883-94
The compiler of this historical sketch has adhered to the official reports and returns found in the War of the Rebellion Official Records, published by authority of the Secretary of War, and the official data contained in the military archives of the State of Iowa, covering the period embraced in the service of the regiment. The record of personal service shown opposite the name of each officer and enlisted man in the subjoined roster has also been obtained from the official sources above indicated, supplemented by such information as could be procured from the War Department in Washington and other reliable sources. Some of these records will be found to be incomplete and, no doubt, some are incorrect. This is of course much to be regretted, but every effort has been made to prevent errors and omissions. The reader is referred to the introductory article to this volume, which shows some of the difficulties encountered in obtaining the facts with reference to these individual records. Suffice it to say that as much care has been exercised to secure a correct record for the enlisted man as for that of the officer. The compiler also wishes it understood that only the outlines of history of the long and faithful service of the regiment could be given within the limitations prescribed by the act of the General Assembly of the State of Iowa which authorized the publication of this work.
The short time the regiment remained in rendezvous at Keokuk was utilized to the best advantage by the officers and men, in drilling as best they could without muskets, going through some of the simpler movements of company and battalion drill and applying themselves to the study of tactics and army regulations. Among the officers, Adjutant George Pomutz and Major William W. Belknap had the advantage of having received some military training, but the large majority of both officers and enlisted men were utterly without experience and had to acquire, in the brief time which elapsed before they were called upon to face the enemy in the field, such knowledge of their duties as soldiers as would enable them to acquit themselves with credit and honor to the State that sent them to the front to re-inforce their comrades, who had already met the enemy in several hard fought battles. In this state of unpreparedness the regiment left Keokuk on the 19th day of March, 1862, and was conveyed by steamboat to St. Louis and, upon its arrival there, marched to Benton Barracks, where troops were being concentrated, and given such instruction as was possible before proceeding to join the Army of the Tennessee, then encamped at Pittsburg Landing. At Benton Barracks the regiment received its arms, accoutrements and general equipment.
On the morning of April 1, 1862, the regiment marched to St Louis, where it embarked, with orders to report to General Grant at Savannah, Tenn. Arriving, the night before the commencement of the battle of Shiloh, Col. Hugh T. Reld, commanding the regiment, was ordered to proceed to Pittsburg Landing, and there disembark his command and report to General Prentiss. The regiment arrived at Pittsburg Landing on the morning of April 6, 1862. In his official report Colonel Reid states that, upon reaching Pittsburg Landing, he proceeded at once to report to General Prentiss, and found that officer and the division under his command already under the fire of the enemy. Colonel Reid was ordered to bring his regiment forward as soon as possible. He at once rode back to the landing and ordered his regiment to disembark quickly. As fast as the men reached the shore they formed in line of battle, ammunition was distributed, and guns were loaded for the first time since the men had received them. At this time an order was given by a member of General Grant's staff directing Colonel Reid to hold the position in which he had formed, to prevent stragglers from the battlefield from reaching the landing. The regiment remained in that position for about an hour, when an order came from General Grant to Colonel Reid to advance to the support of General McClernand's division, some two miles to the front. The Sixteenth Iowa Infantry was included in this order, and the two regiments moved promptly forward under the direction of a staff officer of General McClernand. A great many soldiers were met, retreating from the battlefield, while the roar of battle In front indicated that a desperate conflict was in progress, in which the enemy was succeeding in pressing the Union forces toward the river. The situation was such as to test to the utmost the courage of these men who were fresh from their homes, unused to the dreadful scenes transpiring about them, with the boom of cannon and crash of musketry sounding nearer each moment, and with the panic-stricken and wounded streaming to the rear; yet they pressed steadily forward. The following extract from Colonel Reid's official report will show how bravely his regiment conducted itself when it came into action, and while under the fire of the enemy [see note 2].
Our flag staff was shot through and our colors riddled with bullets; for two hours, from 10 to 12 o'clock, we maintained our position, our men fighting like veterans. The undersigned [see note 3] was severely wounded by a musket ball through the neck, which knocked him from his horse, paralyzed for the time, but recovering in a short time, remounted and continued in command throughout the fight. Fifteen of the thirty-two commissioned officers who went on the field had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoners; twenty-two officers and men had been killed, and one hundred and fifty-six wounded. • • • The enemy were attempting to outflank us on the right and left, we were unsupported by artillery or any other regiment except the gallant Sixteenth, which had also suffered severely. It became necessary for the two regiments to retreat or run the risk of being captured, and by order of General McClernand the retreat was made. Portions of the regiments rallied and fought with other divisions later in the day and on Monday. Where nearly all fought with bravery it might seem invidious to particularize, but I hope to do no one injustice by specially pointing out those whose personal valor, during the action, came under my notice. Lieutenant Colonel Dewey had his horse shot under him; Major Belknap was always in the right place, at the right time, directing and encouraging officers and men as coolly as a veteran; he was wounded but not disabled, and had his horse shot under him, but remained on the field performing his duty on foot Adjutant Pomutz distinguished himself during the action for his coolness and courage; he, too, was wounded. Captains Kittle of company A, Smith of company B, Seevers of company C, Madison of company D, Hutchcraft of company E, Cunningham of company G, Day of company I, Hedrick of company K, who was captured in a charge upon the enemy, all distinguished themselves for their gallantry and courage in leading forward and encouraging their men; Captain Blackmar of company F, was wounded in the action and disabled; First Lieutenant Goode of same company also wounded ; Captain Clark, of company H, was not in the engagement, having been left sick in the hospital at St. Louis; Captains Hutchcraft and Day were both severely wounded ; Second Lieutenant Penniman of company A, and Hamilton of company I, were killed while bravely performing their duty. First Lieutenant King and Second Lieutenant Danielson of company H were both severely wounded while acting well their part, thus leaving the company without a commissioned officer. First Lieutenants Studer of company B, Porter of company D, Craig of company B, Hanks of company G, J. Monroe Reid of company I, who, though wounded himself, continued in command of the company after the Captain was disabled and the Second Lieutenant killed, and Eldridge of company K, all deserve special praise for the manner in which they conducted themselves on the field. Second Lieutenants Lanstrum of company B, Brown of company E, Herbert of company C, and Sergeant Major Brown, who was severely wounded, conducted themselves well on the field. The non-commissioned officers generally were at their posts and performed their duty. The Color Sergeant, Newton J. Rogers, who fought in the First Iowa at Springfield, gallantly bore our standard forward and planted It among the enemy where it was bravely maintained and defended by portions of companies C, E, I and K It must be remembered that this regiment had just received its arms and that the men had never had an opportunity of learning the use of them until they came on the battlefield; that they had just landed and were attached to no brigade, and fought the enemy without the support of artillery, in a position from which more experienced troops had been compelled to retire. • • • We have no means of learning the loss of the enemy in this engagement except from what they told some of our wounded men, who were taken prisoners and left behind the next day, when the enemy made their final retreat; but from this source we learned that they had forty men killed In the Immediate vicinity of our colors, and a large number wounded. • • • While we mourn our comrades In arms, the gallant dead, whose lives were sacrificed on the altar of their country, we are solaced with the belief that a grateful people will. In after times, pay a proper tribute to their memory.
At the close of his report Colonel Reid expresses his obligations to Quartermaster Higley, Surgeon Davis, Assistant Surgeon Gibbon and Chaplain Estabrook, for the faithful and efficient manner in which they discharged the duties of their respective offices. Colonel Reid states that the total loss of his regiment at the battle of Shiloh was 186. In the tabulated returns of casualties, as shown by the official records [see note 4], the total loss is given as 185, and this slight discrepancy is readily accounted for, as stated by Loren S. Tyler, who compiled the history of the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry (published In 1887) in which he gives a tabulated statement of losses, by companies, showing an aggregate loss of 213, and says, "Without original lists of casualties, it is impossible to make a list that will agree with the number stated in the reports of battle, as, after the reports have been forwarded to headquarters, other casualties are always found." Adjutant Pomutz states that the number of the regiment engaged was 760, and gives the total loss as 188 [see note 5]. The loss was, therefore, very nearly one-fourth of the number engaged.
The compiler has given more space to the account of this first battle in which the regiment was engaged than he will be able to give to those which followed. With the highest appreciation of its subsequent splendid achievements on other battlefields, he considers the battle of Shiloh as having been the severest test of the courage and fortitude of the officers and men of the regiment to which they were subjected during their long term of service. No regiment ever acquitted itself with greater credit in its first battle.
Soon after the battle the regiment was attached to a temporary brigade, consisting of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa, and Eighteenth Wisconsin, Infantry, of which Colonel Reid of the Fifteenth Iowa was in command, and which took part in the advance upon Corinth, Miss., to which place the defeated rebel army had retreated, and where, behind strong earth-works, it grimly awaited the attack of the Union army. April 27, 1862, marked an important event in the career of the regiment, for upon that date it became a part of the brigade consisting of the Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Regiments of Iowa Infantry, known as Crocker's Iowa Brigade, and which achieved great distinction by its subsequent brilliant achievements in battle. The history of these four Iowa regiments for the remainder of the war is largely identical. They remained together until they were mustered out, their terms of service expiring about the same time.
The Union lines continued to advance upon Corinth, and laid siege to that stronghold. The Brigade, under command of the gallant and gifted Col. M. M. Crocker, of the Thirteenth Iowa, took part in the arduous siege operations which ensued, and which ended on the morning of May 30, 1862, the enemy having evacuated Corinth during the previous night. The army of the Tennessee at once took possession of the abandoned works. During the month of June the regiment and brigade were encamped near Corinth. On June 27th the Fifteenth Iowa moved Inside the works and acted as provost guard for the post, Major Belknap acting as Provost Marshal.
At the end of July the regiment, with its brigade and division, under the command of General Tuttle, was ordered to march to Bolivar, to re-inforce the troops at that important post. Soon after reaching Bolivar, General Tuttle was ordered to another command, and Colonel Crocker succeeded him in command of the division. The command of the brigade now devolved upon Colonel Reid, who detailed Adjutant Pomutz as Assistant Adjutant General. The enemy, in large force, continued in the vicinity of Bolivar for several weeks, and an attack was constantly threatened; but this proved to be a ruse, intended to draw away from Corinth a sufficient number of Union troops to enable the rebel forces to recapture that important post. When the real purpose of the enemy was discovered, by his sudden appearance at Iuka and capture of that place, the Fifteenth Iowa, with its brigade, was ordered to return to Corinth, and thence to Iuka, where it assisted in the operations against the enemy. But only one of the regiments of the Brigade was ordered forward and became engaged in the battle of Iuka; this was the Sixteenth Iowa, which fought bravely and lost heavily in that engagement on Sept. 19, 1862.
The brigade now returned to Corinth, where, on the 3d and 4th of October, 1862, it took part in the hard fought battles in and around that place. The Fifteenth Iowa occupied an advanced position and suffered heavy loss. The following extracts from the official report of Col. M. M. Crocker, brigade commander, will show how well the regiment performed its duty in these battles:
About 5 o'clock on the morning of the 3d Inst., the brigade formed, two regiments (the Eleventh and Thirteenth) in line of battle facing the west, and the Fifteenth and Sixteenth in close column by division in rear of the line. The regiments remained in that position, with skirmishers deployed in front, receiving an occasional cannon shot, until about 3 o'clock, when, the division on the right having fallen back, a change of front was ordered. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth were then formed in line of battle perpendicular to the first line and the Eleventh and Thirteenth in close column by division in the rear.
In this position the brigade remained until about 4 P. M., when orders were received to again change front so as to connect the right of the brigade with the left of General Davies' division, its left to rest in the direction of Battery E. After the execution of this order had been commenced notice was received from General McKean that the division was to move back inside the inner fortifications, and an order received that the Eleventh and Thirteenth Regiments form in line of battle a quarter of a mile in rear of the line formed by the Fifteenth and Sixteenth, in front of and parallel to the road over which the artillery of the division must pass, and the brigade to protect the movements of the rest of the division and the artillery.
The execution of the order to move back had just commenced when the enemy, in greatly superior force, attacked the front line — the Fifteenth and Sixteenth. The officers and men of these regiments, acting with signal determination and bravery, not only held the enemy in check, but drove him back, and held their position until notice was received that the artillery had passed safely to the rear, when they were ordered to fall back and form in line of battle on the right of the second line, which they did in good order, the enemy declining to follow. This engagement lasted three-quarters of an hour; the firing was incessant, and the regiments, especially the Fifteenth, suffered severely.
I deem it my especial duty to particularly mention Lieutenant Colonel Belknap, who commanded the Fifteenth Regiment. This regiment was under the hottest fire, and Colonel Belknap was everywhere along the line, mounted, with sword in hand, encouraging by voice and gesture his men to stand their ground. Lieut Col. Addison H. Sanders, who commanded the Sixteenth, is entitled to great praise. He rode along the line of his regiment amid the storm of bullets, encouraging his brave boys who had so lately suffered at Iuka to remember their duty, and although severely wounded remained with his regiment until it marched off the field. Majors Cunningham, of the Fifteenth, and Purcell, of the Sixteenth, did their whole duty, and conducted themselves with great bravery.
Colonel Crocker then describes the positions occupied by his brigade after passing inside the fortifications at Corinth; the part it performed behind the works during the engagement of October 4th, in which it suffered but few casualties; the pursuit of the retreating enemy, in which his whole brigade participated, and which continued until the evening of October 8th, and the return to Corinth on the 13th; and, near the close of his report, says:
The Brigade, during the protracted movements of the battle and pursuit, encountering every hardship and privation incident to such campaigning, behaved with great fortitude, meeting every danger and hardship cheerfully; and I acknowledge my obligations to all the field officers for their cheerful, hearty and intelligent co-operation. Col. H. T. Reid of the Fifteenth Iowa, though prostrated by illness and unable to be in the field during the first day's engagement, on the second day left his sick bed, joined his command, and, though unable to ride his horse, remained with his regiment, traveling in an ambulance until the pursuit was abandoned. Lieutenant Lanstrum of the Fifteenth Iowa, who acted as aide, deported himself as a good and faithful soldier. The loss of the brigade occurred principally in the engagement on the 3d instant, the Fifteenth suffering most. The killed, wounded and missing are as follows, namely: killed 14, wounded 110, missing 22. Total 146 [see note 6]
The tabulated report of casualties gives the losses of the brigade by regiments, as follows:
Eleventh Iowa, Killed 3, wounded 8, missing 10, Total, 21
Thirteenth Iowa, Killed 1, wounded 14, missing [0], Total, 15
Fifteenth Iowa, Killed 11, wounded 67, missing 8, Total, 86
Sixteenth Iowa, Killed 1, wounded 20, missing 6, Total, 27
Total loss of Brigade l49 [See note 7.]
It will thus be seen that, in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth alone, the regiment had sustained an aggregate loss of 334, not including its smaller losses during the siege and its minor encounters with the enemy around Bolivar, which would considerably increase this aggregate. With less than eight months of its three years' term of service completed, it had made a record as a fighting regiment that would have entitled it to a most prominent place in history, if its service had ended with the battle of Corinth. The record of the long series of campaigns and battles through which the regiment was yet to pass must be condensed into a space not exceeding that already occupied, and to this difficult task the compiler now commits himself.
Upon its return to Corinth the regiment went into camp, where it remained for several weeks. The weather grew cold and the troops were preparing for winter quarters, when, on November 2d, orders came to take up the line of march for Grand Junction, at which place the command arrived on November 5th, and where a part of the troops, that were to participate in the expedition against Vicksburg, were being concentrated. On November 28th the troops were put in motion for the South, the Third Brigade of the Sixth Division of Hamilton's Corps (Crocker's Iowa Brigade) taking the advance. The Fifteenth Iowa, with its brigade, took a prominent part in the operations of that great expedition which penetrated to the interior of Mississippi, and was well on the way towards Vicksburg when a strong force of the enemy's cavalry succeeded in getting in the rear of General Grant's army, captured Holly Springs, where the immense stores of supplies for the use of the army had been accumulated, destroyed the supplies, and thus compelled the retreat of the army towards Memphis. During this retrograde movement the soldiers suffered greatly from exposure to frequent storms and from lack of sufficient food.
The regiment, with its brigade and division, reached Memphis on the 13th of January, 1863. On January 18th, the expedition against Vicksburg was renewed, this time by way of the Mississippi River. The regiments and brigades of the Sixth Division, including Crocker's Iowa Brigade, embarked on a fleet of fifteen steamers and were conveyed down the great river to Milliken's Bend, a short distance above the mouth of the Yazoo River. Here the troops disembarked and went into camp. From this point a detachment from the brigade — consisting of details from the Fifteenth Iowa and the other regiments, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Belknap — was mounted and sent upon a couple of reconnoitering expeditions, in which they came in contact with the enemy and lost one man killed and several wounded.
On the 20th of January, 1863, the Third Brigade and the Sixth Division were transferred to Major General McPherson's Seventeenth Army Corps, Brigadier General McArthur retaining command of the division, and Colonel Crocker of the brigade. On February 8th the command embarked and was conveyed to Providence, on the Louisiana shore, seventy miles north of Vicksburg, where it disembarked and went into camp. Here the cutting of the canal — to connect Lake Providence with the Mississippi — was begun and continued until the 16th of March, when it was completed. It was an arduous undertaking, participated in by all the troops, in which the Fifteenth Iowa bore its full part. During the first days in March, the regiment and brigade were subjected to a rigid inspection by William E. Strong, Inspector General of the Seventeenth Army Corps, who highly commended the officers and men for their soldierly bearing, excellence in drill and the manual of arms, and the correct manner in which the records were kept, and concludes his report as follows: "Once more I say that the Third Brigade, commanded by Col. M. M. Crocker, are an honor to the division and corps to which they are attached, and an honor to the army of the Tennessee, an honor to their friends at home, to their State and to their country, and I know from their record in the field, that they must be a terror to the foe."
On March 10th, Lieutenant Colonel Belknap was detached from the regiment and appointed Provost Marshal of the Seventeenth Corps. The regiment with its brigade left Lake Providence April 21st, and, from that time until the close of the "Vicksburg campaign, was actively engaged in important movements, contributing its full share to the accomplishment of the grand result — the surrender of the rebel stronghold on the 4th of July, 1863.
About the time the command moved from Lake Providence, Colonel Crocker — whose appointment as Brigadier General had been confirmed — was assigned to the command of the Seventh Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps, and was thus separated from the brigade which bore his name and whose splendid conduct, under his command, had been a most important factor in securing his promotion. Col. H. T. Reid, having been promoted to Brigadier General, was assigned to the command of the First Brigade of the division; Colonel Hall of the Eleventh Iowa, who was the senior officer present for duty, became commander of the Third Brigade, and Lieutenant Colonel Belknap — who was soon after promoted to Colonel — returned from staff duty and took command of the regiment.
On the 26th of April the regiment and brigade marched to Holmes' Plantation and remained in camp there until May 11th. On May 13th, marched to Hard Times Landing, and crossed by boat to Grand Gulf, south of Vicksburg. The subsequent movements of the Fifteenth Iowa up to and including July 4th — the date of the surrender of Vicksburg — are described in the official report of Colonel Belknap, showing the numerous positions to which it was assigned during the progress of the siege, and the important service it performed, being part of the time on duty in the trenches and part of the time engaged in guarding against an attack by the rebel General Johnston's army from the rear. At the time of the surrender the regiment occupied a position near Messenger's Ferry, in view of Johnston's army. At the close of his report Colonel Belknap says: "The men of this regiment have endured the hardships of these severe marches and the trials of the campaign without a murmur. Whether at work in the trenches or acting as sharpshooters, they have evinced an alacrity, zeal and courage which deserves full commendation, and in every movement I have had the full co-operation of every officer of the command."
After the surrender of Vicksburg the regiment with its brigade took part in the expedition against Johnston, which ended with the evacuation of Jackson by the rebel forces on July 16th. The Third Brigade, now under the command of Colonel Chambers of the Sixteenth Iowa, returned towards Vicksburg, halting at Black River until relieved by other troops, when it marched to Vicksburg and went into camp north of the city. Here a considerable number of the men were given a thirty days' furlough and some of the officers were granted leave of absence for the same length of time, Colonel Belknap among the number.
On the 21st of August the regiment, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Hedrick, participated in an expedition against a force of the enemy occupying a fortified position at Monroe, La., on the Washita River. After a toilsome march and considerable skirmishing, by the cavalry which led the advance, the regiment formed in line — with the other Union forces — in front of the enemy's position, but, after a brief skirmish, the rebel forces retreated, abandoning the town and a considerable quantity of military stores. The object of the expedition having been accomplished, the troops returned to Vicksburg, where they arrived Sept. 3, 1863.
Colonel Chambers, of the Sixteenth Iowa, having been promoted to Brigadier General, was assigned to the command of the Sixth Division on September 11th, and Colonel Hall of the Eleventh Iowa again took command of the brigade, which moved to a new camp south of Vicksburg. Here the regiment was engaged in the performance of camp and garrison duty, varied only by participation in several expeditions into the country, in which it did not come into contact with the enemy. From the middle of September, 1863, to the last of January, 1864, the regiment was almost entirely relieved from active operations in the field. This long period was employed to the very best advantage by Colonel Belknap in instructing his officers and men in the proper discharge of their duties in camp, on the march and in battle. This capable and energetic officer felt a just pride in the high state of discipline and efficiency to which his regiment had attained. He had the satisfaction of witnessing the good results of his instruction in the splendid conduct of his regiment in the subsequent campaigns and battles in which it was engaged, and which are all too briefly described in the remainder of this historical sketch.
Near the close of the year 1863, in response to the call of the Government, three-fourths of the men of the Fifteenth Iowa had re-enlisted for three years, or during the war, to date from the expiration of their original term of service. On the 3d of February, 1864, the regiment, with its brigade and division, again took up the line of march and became part of the army, under command of Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman, which penetrated far into the interior of the State of Mississippi. While the regiment did not come into actual contact with the enemy on this expedition, it sustained its full share of the hardships incident to a long march in winter without tents and often without sufficient rations. The regiment returned to its camp at Vicksburg on the 4th of March. On the 13th, that portion of the regiment which had re-enlisted started on veteran furlough to their homes in Iowa, being conveyed by steamer to Keokuk, which place they reached on March 22d, and each soldier was given a furlough of 30 days from that date; at the expiration of which they returned to Keokuk and were conveyed, by way of Cairo, Ill., and Paducah, Ky., to Clifton, Tenn., where they landed May 6, 1864. From Clifton the command marched to Pulaski, Tenn., and thence to Huntsville, Ala., where the non-veterans of the regiment, under command of Major Pomutz, had previously arrived, and the regiment was reunited. In the meantime. General Crocker had been compelled to relinquish the command of the division, on account of poor health, and Gen. W. Q. Gresham had succeeded him as division commander. Major General McPherson, having been promoted to the command of the Army of the Tennessee, was succeeded by Maj. Gen. Frank P. Blair, Jr., as commander of the Seventeenth Army Corps. It was with deep regret that the regiment and brigade witnessed the departure of their old commander, General Crocker, to whom they had become greatly attached.
And now the great campaign, which was to have such a decisive effect, was about to begin. The regiment, with its brigade, division and corps, marching through the mountainous districts of northern Alabama and Georgia, by way of Rome, Kingston and Allatoona, reached Ackworth June 8th and there joined McPherson's Army of the Tennessee, the Seventeenth Corps occupying the extreme left of Sherman's Grand Army, composed of the Armies of the Cumberland, Tennessee and Ohio.
From Ackworth to Big Shanty, Kenesaw Mountain, Noonday Creek, Brushy Mountain, Nick-a-jack Creek, Turner's Ferry and the Chattahoochee, the regiment with its brigade pushed steadily on, skirmishing with the enemy almost constantly and driving him from one after another of his strongly entrenched positions, all of which were bravely and stubbornly defended. These heavy skirmishes often rose to the dignity of a battle; indeed, it might be said that it was a regular series of battles, in which the Fifteenth Iowa sustained its full share of the fighting. General Sherman made this statement: "It is impossible to state accurately our losses in one separate battle; for the fighting was continuous, almost daily, among trees and bushes, on ground where one could rarely see a hundred yards ahead." Up to the 22d of July the Fifteenth Iowa had lost nearly one hundred in killed and wounded. In the battles of the 21st, 22d and 28th of July, near Atlanta, the regiment lost heavily. The official reports of Col. Wm. W. Belknap show in detail the splendid conduct of his regiment in these engagements. Space will only permit brief quotations from these reports. Of the charge of the regiment on the 21st he says: "At 8 o'clock on the morning of the 21st, skirmishing having been constant after daylight, the order was received from Colonel Shane commanding brigade, to advance on the enemy's works in front. • • • The whole front line advanced rapidly with cheers to the crest of the hill in full view of the rebel works, and fought with valor and determination. • • • In front of the Fifteenth Iowa a battery of several guns, previously masked, opened upon us with grape and canister, and when the line was ordered to retire it did so in good order, notwithstanding the withering fire from the battery. The attack was successful in enabling Force's brigade to hold the hill on our left, and compelling the evacuation of the line by the enemy on the next morning. The officers and men of the regiment did their duty, as they always do." • • •
After describing the different positions occupied by his regiment in that tremendous battle of July 22, 1864, in which the Fifteenth and the other regiments of the Iowa Brigade so greatly distinguished themselves. Colonel Belknap depicts the closing scene of that terrible conflict, as follows:
The enemy fought bravely and obstinately, and many of them were shot down fighting at the muzzles of our guns. The Forty-fifth Alabama, led by Colonel Lampley and Major Freeman, advanced on our line, but was instantly repulsed, every man within view being killed or captured. The Fifteenth Iowa captured two field officers, a captain and many men of this regiment, and the Lieutenant Colonel of the Thirty-eighth Tennessee. The bearer of the regimental battle flag was shot down by Private Crowder of company C, and the commanding officer of the regiment had the satisfaction of personally capturing Colonel Lampley, commanding officer of the Forty-fifth Alabama. • • • The regiment mourns the loss of its gallant dead. Veterans and recruits fought side by side, and testified their bravery and devotion. • • • Lieut. B. M. Gebhart, of company D, was the only officer killed; wounded severely at Shiloh, captured there and a prisoner for months, he returned to his regiment, bravely did his duty, and died a soldier's death. The army has in its ranks no braver man. My thanks are due to Adj. E. H. King and all the officers and men of the regiment for their gallantry that contributed so eminently to the success of the day. We had 380 men in line, 131 of whom were killed, wounded or captured [see note 8]. • • •
After a brief respite, the regiment went into battle on July 28, 1864, and again gloriously sustained the honor of the flag. The combined losses of the regiment in these three days of battle were 190 men and officers out of 428 engaged, making an aggregate loss of forty-five per cent. No regiment that participated in the great Atlanta campaign made a better record.
Col. Wm. W. Belknap was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General July 30th, and was assigned to the command of his old Iowa brigade. Maj. George Pomutz was at the same time — at his own request — relieved from staff duty at corps headquarters, and, returning to his regiment, assumed command, in the absence of Lieutenant Colonel Hedrick [see note 9], who was severely wounded in the battle of July 22d. The regiment and brigade continued in constant and active service to the close of the great campaign, and the list of killed and wounded grew longer. On the 1st of September the enemy evacuated Atlanta. The regiment and brigade took part in the pursuit of Hood's army, and in all the operations of the division and army corps after the fall of Atlanta. In his very complete and carefully detailed history of the regiment [see note 10], from its organization to its final muster out of the service, Lieut. Col. George Pomutz gives a statement showing the remarkable experience of the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry during the campaign and up to the fall of Atlanta. The statement is here quoted as follows:
The Fifteenth Iowa was under fire during the siege of Atlanta, on the following days:
In June, from 10th to 30th inclusive, north of Atlanta, 20 days.
In July, from 1st to 16th inclusive, north of Atlanta, 16 days.
In July, from 20th to 26th inclusive, east of Atlanta, 7 days.
In July, from 27th to 31st inclusive, west of Atlanta, 5 days.
In August, from 1st to 26th inclusive, southwest of Atlanta, 26 days.
In August, from 28th to 31st inclusive, southwest of Atlanta, 2 days.
In September, from 1st to 5th inclusive, southeast of Atlanta, 5 days.
Number of days: 81 days.
Days of battles or advances upon the enemy, or of repulsing the enemy's attacks:
June 15th, 19th, 23d, 27th: 4 days
July 4th, 5th, 20th, 21st, 22d, 28th: 6 days
August 17th, 20th, 28th, 31st: 4 days
September 1st, 2d: 2 days
Total days: 16 days
On the 19th of October, 1864, the non-veterans, whose term of service had expired, were conveyed by rail to Chattanooga, and were there mustered out of the service. These men were entitled to the honor of having faithfully performed their duty and of serving the full term for which they had enlisted. The end of the great war was evidently near, and the soldiers who had reenlisted, together with the recruits constantly joining them, gave the Government an army amply sufficient for the final crushing out of the rebellion.
The veteran regiment, and the recruits which had been assigned to it, now entered upon the closing campaigns of the war. During the long and arduous march from Atlanta to the sea, and from Savannah through the Carolinas to Richmond and on to Washington, the regiment and brigade, Its numbers greatly augmented by recruits which joined it on the way, performed every duty with the same alacrity and fidelity which had characterized it in the past. There was much fighting yet to be done, but there were no great battles fought; the enemy, while stubbornly and bravely resisting the advance of the Union army, not being strong enough to seriously impede its progress. The rebel General Johnston surrendered his army on the 26th of April, 1865, and, from that time, the march towards the North was unobstructed. On the 19th of May the long march was ended, and the regiment went into camp at Alexandria near Washington.
May 24, 1865, General Sherman's army passed in review before the President and Lieutenant General Grant. Conspicuous among the troops in that splendid pageant was the Iowa Brigade whose first commander, the gallant General Crocker, was then in Washington, suffering from the malady which had compelled him to leave the field, and from the effects of which he died soon afterwards. On June 1st the Army of the Tennessee was ordered to Louisville, Ky. The troops were conveyed by rail to Parkersburg, on the Ohio river, and thence by steamboat to Louisville, where the Fifteenth Iowa arrived June 12th, and remained in camp until July 24, 1865, on which date it was mustered out of the service of the United States. It then proceeded by rail to Davenport, Iowa, where it received final payment, was disbanded, and the men returned to their homes. Before disbanding, Lieut. Col. George Pomutz [see note 11] issued a farewell order, in which, after recounting the experience of the regiment amid the trials, dangers and hardships of war, he concludes as follows:
Soldiers of the Fifteenth Iowa: — Your record is a noble one. For three and a half years you have borne the banner of the stars and stripes, the emblem of the power and unity of our Government; at the same time as the exponent of your own determination to assist in upholding that Government and its laws, you have carried and defended that banner through a distance marched, and traveled, of seven thousand eight hundred ninety-eight miles, since March, 1862. Out of the aggregate number of 1,763 men who have been members of the regiment since its organization, 1,051 are out, a fearful proportion of whom comprises those killed, the deceased and those crippled and disabled for life. Proof enough of the devotion of the members of the regiment to our Government and its laws. Then let our actions and deeds show, when we return to our own firesides, that we are the foremost in obeying the laws of the country we have been fighting to uphold, that we are determined to let our future conduct ever be that of peaceful citizens in time of peace, as it has been that of true warriors in time of war [see note 12].
This patriotic injunction has been faithfully observed by the survivors of the Fifteenth Iowa, whose record as citizens has been kept up to the high standard of their military service. Many of them have been important factors in the development and upbuilding of this great commonwealth, which has discharged a high duty in thus endeavoring to honor the memory of the brave men it sent forth to battle for the principles of justice and human liberty, as exemplified by the Government of the United States of America.
SUMMARY OF CASUALTIES.
Total Enrollment 1926
Killed 65
Wounded 416
Died of wounds 80
Died of disease 198
Discharged for wounds, disease and other causes 332
Captured 83
Transferred 32
Buried in National Cemeteries 168
[Note 1.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863, Vol. 1, Pages 537 to 582, inclusive, showing original roster of the Regiment.
[Note 2.] Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863, Report, Vol. 2, Page 800.
[Note 3.] Colonel Hugh T. Reid.
[Note 4.] War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 10, Page 106.
[Note 5.] Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1866, Page 200.
[Note 6.] War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 17, Page 358.
[Note 7.] War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 17, Page 176. "Revised Statement."
[Note 8.] War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 38, Pages 606 to 807, inclusive.
[Note 9.] Col. J. M. Hedrick, who was so severely wounded at Atlanta — July 22, 1864 — as to disable him for active service, was detailed for special duty as a member of a General Court Martial in Washington, D. C, and was retained upon that duty until Aug. 11, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service. He received the brevet rank of Brigadier General March 13, 1865. After the close of the war he made a most honorable record in public and private life. He died at his home in Ottumwa, Iowa, Oct 8, 1886.
[Note 10.] Adjutant General's Report, State of Iowa, 1866, Pages 197 to 267, inclusive.
[Note 11.] Lieut. Col. George Pomutz was a native of Hungary, where he received a military education. He came to America in 1848, and was one of the most loyal defenders of his adopted country. After the close of the war he was appointed Consul General of the United States at St. Petersburg, Russia, and died there Oct. 12, 1882.
[Note 12.] Adjutant General's Report, State of Iowa, 1866, Pages 266-267.
SOURCE: Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers During the War of the Rebellion, Volume 2, p.883-94
John A. Rowan, Co. B, 8th Regiment . . .
. . . of this county, who was wounded at the battle of Pittsburg, arrived home yesterday. He says that twice on the battle field he gave acting Colonel Sanders, of the 16th, a drink out of his canteen. Mr. Rowan had the end of the fore finger of his right hand, the trigger finger, shot away. He is home on a short furlough.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
John Tate . . .
. . . a member of the Iowa 7thRegiment, Co. A, died in Muscatine on Thursday last. He fought with distinguished bravery at Belmont. His age was 47 – a little beyond the legal maximum.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 26, 1862, p. 1
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
THE WAR NEWS
A New Military Bill.
Sea and Lake Fortifications – Armories and Arsenals – Improvement in the Military and Naval Academies.
Officers Dismissed of Negligence
A Brilliant Affair at Elizabeth City.
RUMORED RESIGNATION OF SECRETARY WELLS [sic] DENIED.
Opening of the Mail Letting Proposals.
AFFAIRS IN MEXICO.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 1
Sea and Lake Fortifications – Armories and Arsenals – Improvement in the Military and Naval Academies.
Officers Dismissed of Negligence
A Brilliant Affair at Elizabeth City.
RUMORED RESIGNATION OF SECRETARY WELLS [sic] DENIED.
Opening of the Mail Letting Proposals.
AFFAIRS IN MEXICO.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 1
From the South
CAIRO, April 23.
Special to Chicago Times.
The steamer Desoto arrived to-day from the flotilla off Ft. Pillow, having on board the first shipment of cotton sent up the river since the commencement of hostilities.
A citizen of Kentucky connected with the government secret service returned on board the Desoto from a visit to Memphis. He was sent thither by one of our Generals in the field, and having obtained information of value to the Government, is making his way back. He brings Memphis papers of the 17th and New Orleans of the 15th. At the latter place the battle of Pittsburg was pronounced a splendid success of the Confederate army. The people were jubilant over the achievement, and enlisting of forced levies was going throughout the valley of the Mississippi with rapidity.
He was at Corinth, and estimates the forces present at fully 150,000. The conscription act passed by the Confederate Congress, and under its provisions all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 & 35 were enrolling themselves for the defense of the Confederacy. The approaching contest is expected to result in the deliverance of the Southern soil from the presence of the Yankees, who are characterized as Goths and Vandals. Their great stand is to be made at Corinth, and in the result of the battle is deemed to depend on the fate of the Confederacy. Nor do the Southern people doubt the issue of the contest.
The churches in New Orleans have given up their bells to be made into cannon. The women are yielding up their jewelry to enrich the Southern treasury, and throughout the South there rules a universal feeling of enthusiasm and sympathy for the cause.
Entire confidence is reposed in the ability of Beauregard to whip the enemy and reclaim the country, so that the result of defeat is not discussed.
The report of the wounding of Beauregard is false.
The remains of A. S. Johnston were received at New Orleans with impressing demonstrations, and after lying in state for two days in the City Hall, were placed in the receiving vault of the St. Louis cemetery in that place. Great preparations were being made for a grand funeral pageant on the burial of the deceased chieftain.
The citizens of Memphis are manifesting considerable alarm for the safety of their city. The greatest exertion is being made to put the defenses of the city in the best possible condition. Two new gunboats are already on their stocks, and will be ready for their armament in a week. These are to be named Beauregard and Arkansas, and are to be rendered almost impregnable by shot or shell. The former is defended by compressed cotton placed between her timbers. Her sides will exceed five feet in thickness. The Arkansas is iron plated.
Both gunboats will be provided with powerful engines, and will be constructed according to the most approved principles of naval architecture – besides being fitted with enormous rams of iron projecting from their bows. With the latter they expect to run down our fleet, and destroy it at their leisure.
Ft. Harris, just above Memphis, is being thoroughly fortified, and the rebels declare they will contest the passage of the Yankee flotilla down the Mississippi mile by mile.
On the river between Memphis and Ft. Pillow the rebels have twelve gunboats.
At Memphis the citizens desperately declare they will burn their property, rather than give it to the Yankee hordes. The expediency of burning the buildings is being discussed.
At Chattanooga on Saturday night a large fire was observed in the direction of the rebel camp.
Our scouts report that the enemy are drawing in their lines, and it is supposed that they are destroying their commissary stores, which cannot have conveyed owing to the bad state of the roads.
The weather here has been very unpleasant, and it has rained for nearly a week. The roads are almost impassable. Health of the army is good. Gen. Halleck is renovating and making great improvements since his arrival.
The report the Lieut. Col. Moore and Maj. Warden of the 13th Michigan regiment, were wounded at the battle of Pittsburg, is a mistake. I saw them both. – Their regiment made a forced march of 38 miles, and arrived on the battlefield on Monday p. m. The regiment acquitted themselves nobly.
The body of Gov. Harvey has not yet been recovered, and everything that can bee done for the recovery of the body is being done.
The Tennessee river is still rising, but slowly.
Our pickets encountered some strolling rebels last night and captured about 20, including a Captain.
Quite a number of deserters come in every day.
Large reinforcements arrived here to-day.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
From Fort Monroe
FORT MONROE, April 23.
Small boats arrived to-day from Norfolk, containing several refugees. They report the Merrimac at Gosport Navy Yard having iron shields placed over her portholes. She was expected out again in a few days. She was aground the last day she was out, as was generally supposed.
Nothing is said in Norfolk about the bursting of a gun, and is doubtless incorrect.
Capt. Buchanan was thought to be alive. He was wounded by a rifle shot in the thigh.
The steamers Jamestown and Beaufort went up James river Friday and Yorktown Sunday to obtain coal, and took in tow a number of schooners loaded with iron, to be rolled into plates at Tredegar works. Four gunboats had been launched at Norfolk, and 4 more were being constructed, some of them to be plated.
The previously reported engagement between Burnside’s troops and a Georgia regiment, took place Saturday. The Union troops numbered 500; the rebels were the 3d Ga. regiment, Col. Wright. The fight was on the canal above Elizabeth City. – Rebel loss 15 killed, 35 wounded. It is said they ran on being attacked; were poorly equipped; lacked arms and ammunition.
A refugee who visited Richmond last week, states that there are but few troops there or at Norfolk; mostly gone to Yorktown.
One of the refugees was a sailor on the steamer Fingal. He left Savannah March 1st. He reports great consternation there. The Fingal and other vessels are in the harbor.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
Small boats arrived to-day from Norfolk, containing several refugees. They report the Merrimac at Gosport Navy Yard having iron shields placed over her portholes. She was expected out again in a few days. She was aground the last day she was out, as was generally supposed.
Nothing is said in Norfolk about the bursting of a gun, and is doubtless incorrect.
Capt. Buchanan was thought to be alive. He was wounded by a rifle shot in the thigh.
The steamers Jamestown and Beaufort went up James river Friday and Yorktown Sunday to obtain coal, and took in tow a number of schooners loaded with iron, to be rolled into plates at Tredegar works. Four gunboats had been launched at Norfolk, and 4 more were being constructed, some of them to be plated.
The previously reported engagement between Burnside’s troops and a Georgia regiment, took place Saturday. The Union troops numbered 500; the rebels were the 3d Ga. regiment, Col. Wright. The fight was on the canal above Elizabeth City. – Rebel loss 15 killed, 35 wounded. It is said they ran on being attacked; were poorly equipped; lacked arms and ammunition.
A refugee who visited Richmond last week, states that there are but few troops there or at Norfolk; mostly gone to Yorktown.
One of the refugees was a sailor on the steamer Fingal. He left Savannah March 1st. He reports great consternation there. The Fingal and other vessels are in the harbor.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
PITTSBURG LANDING, April 23, [1862]
The gunboat Tyler, while reconnoitering up the Tennessee river, captured the rebel steamer J. Robb near the mouth of Crane Creek. This is one of the boats which eluded out first expedition up this river, after the fall of Ft. Henry. Her name has been changed to Lady Tyler. Weather rather more pleasant.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
Monday, March 1, 2010
The Prayer of the Chaplain of the House
The Chaplain of the House, in his prayer this morning gave thanks for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, and that the air of the Capitol is now free. – Washington co. N. Y. Herald.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
“The Republican party is a party of spoils,”
. . . says the Democrat in its leader of yesterday. “Stop thief,” cries the pursued burglar, as he leads off in a foot race and tries to detract attention from himself.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
An eminent American . . .
. . . formerly a Democrat, who as for some time past resided in Europe, writes a letter from which we quote as follows:
“we are crazy if we preserve the status of slavery. I should as soon think of preserving a mad dog that had bitten and killed my children."
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
“we are crazy if we preserve the status of slavery. I should as soon think of preserving a mad dog that had bitten and killed my children."
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
Gov. Kirkwood
So soon as the news of the terrible fight at Pittsburg came, and that large numbers of the brave Iowa troops were killed and wounded, our faithful and indefatigable Governor repaired to Cairo, where he has since been, rendering the sick and wounded all the assistance in his power. The Iowa boys may rest confident in the belief that whatever Samuel J. Kirkwood can do for them in his individual capacity, or as Governor, will be done. – Iowa City Republican.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
Traveling Correspondence
ON BOARD TRANSPORT NEBRASKA,
CAIRO, April 18, 1862
EDITOR GAZETTE:– Having arrived here at noon to-day from St. Louis, I immediately began to make arrangements to move down the river to the “Pope’s” territory, and had begun to think it somewhat doubtful about securing a passage that way, owing to the scarcity of boats about here and the uncertainty of getting a pass form the commanding General here; when all at once my doubts were dispelled by the giant steamer Nebraska, of Memphis, heaving to from up the river and on her way down to New Madrid; wherever it might be. In less than one hour after I landed here, I was on board her with my passage secured and ready for exploit. The water is entirely too high here to make it interesting to write anything adescriptive [sic] about Cairo or its surroundings, but suffice it to say that in the way of mud and that of the most disagreeable quality and the different style of odors, that about here, certainly places this city far ahead of its illustrious predecessor on the banks of the muddy Nile.
The river here is from ten to fifteen feet above the level of the city, and in some places along the levee it looks as if a foot and a half more rise would flood the city, and the water seaps through now so fast that the pump engine has to run day and night to keep it off the sidewalks. As for the barracks over at Fort Holt and Bird’s Point, the tops of them are just visible. – One of the old Mayors of St. Louis, who has lived there for the last thirteen years told your correspondent that this is the first time he ever saw the Mississippi so high in April.
Ever since I left St. Louis I have had painful evidence of the late terrible conflict at Pittsburg. On our way down last night our boat tied up during a storm beside the John J. Roe, on which were some two or three hundred of the poor mangled fellows. I soon found some of the 6th Iowa [boys], and was not a little surprised to find among them my old friend, Lieut. Jo. Halladay, of Burlington, badly wounded in the thigh, and several other Burlington boys. Here at Cairo, about every fifth solder we meet is limping on a crutch or carrying his arm in a sling.
This evening, at the St. Charles Hotel, I had a very interesting talk with Dr. Edwards of Dubuque, surgeon of the Iowa 3d. He had just come down from the battle ground, having left there last evening. He relates a great many incidents about the great battle. He was glowing in his praises of the valor and heroic bravery of the officers of the Iowa regiments and their men, that were in his division. He speaks especially height of Lt. Col. Add. Sanders, who, he says, was always in the hottest part of the fight. While the Dr. was performing an operation, he heard some one coming in the room gaily singing “Old Bob Ridley,” and on looking around he saw Capt. Littler with his shattered arm, who remarked to the Dr. with inimitable sang froid, that he wanted his arm taken off instantly. The Dr. dressed it, and says if he could have had a chance to attend it he could have saved it.
10 P. M. – There has been an entire change in the programme since writing the foregoing, caused by the appearance of Gen. Pope and staff on board the Crescent City, which has just steamed up at our side. He is on his way up the Tennessee to join Gen. Halleck. His whole command are on their way up the river, and already four or five transports loaded with troops are lying around us. I have just been aboard the Crescent City and had a first view of the man who is so good at playing the bag game with all it variations. Our boat, loaded with commissary stores, will start in one hour, with the fleet, for Gen. Halleck’s army, and my destination, instead of being Memphis via No. 10, New Madrid and Fort Pillow, will be Memphis via Gen. Halleck’s army and Corinth, and it is not probable that we will reach there before you receive to or more communications from your correspondent,
GAMBIER.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Iowa Wounded at Keokuk
A large number of sick and wounded soldiers arrived at Keokuk last Sunday morning on the steamer Empress. Among the names are the following of Iowa soldiers, with their regiments and companies:
SECOND REGIMENT.
C E Dunn, Co G, arm; W H Laird, co I, shoulder.
SIXTH REGIMENT.
N M Larimer, co C, sick; Jas Johnson, co C, sick; L S T Hatton, co E, both hips.
SEVENTH REGIMENT.
W H Vanlandingham, co C, right leg.
EIGHTH REGIMENT.
Daniel Welch, co A, will lose and arm; J L McCulloch, co B, head – slight; John S Christian, co B, left thigh; Jacob Walker, co B, breast; Amos Meritt, co B, leg and arm; W Logan, co B, left side; R Murray, co B, arm; John A Rowan, co B, hand; D J Palmer, co C, shoulder; Mathew Mawhinry, co C, lame knee; Lt E B Plumb, co C, sick; Jacob F Boyer, co C, sick; L M Blakeley, co D, arm; Mason Ogan, co D, leg; Julius Gardner, co D, knee; W H Wolf, co E, right shoulder; B F Wolf, co E, shoulder; W P Wilkin, co E, sick; Melvin Dean, co F, neck; J M Williams, co F, lost left arm; Jacob Harr, co G, elbow; J S Davis, co H, arm; Luther Colvin, co H, hip; E M Blizzard, co H, arm and neck; J L Billings, co H, arm.
ELEVENTH REGIMENT.
John Cochran, co F, left thigh.
THIRTEENTH REGIMENT.
John H Stanly, co C, right shoulder.
FOURTEENTH REGIMENT.
M F Pottorff, co I, sick.
FIFTEENTH REGIMENT.
Jacob Browne, co A, right shoulder; J S Warner, co C, breast; J M Youngblood, co C, right thigh; David Hoff, co C, shoulder; J T Tinbrell, co C, thigh; S P Awtry, co C, leg; C L Kirk, co C, knee; H Burrill, co C, hand and arm; Marian Bayburn, co D, right arm; W F Grey, co D, left hip; Andrew Clark, co D, shoulder; Henry Elmer, co D, left arm; Ben Davis, co E, back of ear; V Porter, co E, left shoulder; George Dehart, co E, left groin; A McKee, co F, neck; John Hoyt, co G, hand; Miles W Judkins, co G, lost left arm; Jas Clark, co H, right thigh; J S Cole, co H, left thigh; H G Vincent, co H, lost a foot; Jonathan Johnson, co H, head and foot; B F Keck, co I breast; Geo H Kuhn, co I shoulder; H B Wyatt, co K, leg; Levi Randolph, co K, jaw; A R Wilcox, co K, thigh.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
SECOND REGIMENT.
C E Dunn, Co G, arm; W H Laird, co I, shoulder.
SIXTH REGIMENT.
N M Larimer, co C, sick; Jas Johnson, co C, sick; L S T Hatton, co E, both hips.
SEVENTH REGIMENT.
W H Vanlandingham, co C, right leg.
EIGHTH REGIMENT.
Daniel Welch, co A, will lose and arm; J L McCulloch, co B, head – slight; John S Christian, co B, left thigh; Jacob Walker, co B, breast; Amos Meritt, co B, leg and arm; W Logan, co B, left side; R Murray, co B, arm; John A Rowan, co B, hand; D J Palmer, co C, shoulder; Mathew Mawhinry, co C, lame knee; Lt E B Plumb, co C, sick; Jacob F Boyer, co C, sick; L M Blakeley, co D, arm; Mason Ogan, co D, leg; Julius Gardner, co D, knee; W H Wolf, co E, right shoulder; B F Wolf, co E, shoulder; W P Wilkin, co E, sick; Melvin Dean, co F, neck; J M Williams, co F, lost left arm; Jacob Harr, co G, elbow; J S Davis, co H, arm; Luther Colvin, co H, hip; E M Blizzard, co H, arm and neck; J L Billings, co H, arm.
ELEVENTH REGIMENT.
John Cochran, co F, left thigh.
THIRTEENTH REGIMENT.
John H Stanly, co C, right shoulder.
FOURTEENTH REGIMENT.
M F Pottorff, co I, sick.
FIFTEENTH REGIMENT.
Jacob Browne, co A, right shoulder; J S Warner, co C, breast; J M Youngblood, co C, right thigh; David Hoff, co C, shoulder; J T Tinbrell, co C, thigh; S P Awtry, co C, leg; C L Kirk, co C, knee; H Burrill, co C, hand and arm; Marian Bayburn, co D, right arm; W F Grey, co D, left hip; Andrew Clark, co D, shoulder; Henry Elmer, co D, left arm; Ben Davis, co E, back of ear; V Porter, co E, left shoulder; George Dehart, co E, left groin; A McKee, co F, neck; John Hoyt, co G, hand; Miles W Judkins, co G, lost left arm; Jas Clark, co H, right thigh; J S Cole, co H, left thigh; H G Vincent, co H, lost a foot; Jonathan Johnson, co H, head and foot; B F Keck, co I breast; Geo H Kuhn, co I shoulder; H B Wyatt, co K, leg; Levi Randolph, co K, jaw; A R Wilcox, co K, thigh.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
Mr. Vallandigham, of Ohio . . .
. . . consorted with traitors, made Breckinridge his “bosom friend” after that shameless wretch had made the rebel confession his faith, partook of a banquet at the hands of the secessionists of Baltimore last summer, and denounced the war as an iniquitous raid upon the rights and liberties of “our Southern brethren.”
And this man was the master-spirit of the late meeting at Washington for the reorganization of the Democratic party! Who can doubt that his whole purpose was and is to subserve the interest of the rebels? Cin. Gaz.
And the Democrat of this city endorsed Vallandigham’s efforts to reorganize the Democratic [party]!
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
And this man was the master-spirit of the late meeting at Washington for the reorganization of the Democratic party! Who can doubt that his whole purpose was and is to subserve the interest of the rebels? Cin. Gaz.
And the Democrat of this city endorsed Vallandigham’s efforts to reorganize the Democratic [party]!
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
A brother of Daniel Craig, of Richmond, Indiana . . .
. . . had three sons and one son-in-law, who enlisted in the army, in one of the Iowa regiments, and were stationed at Cairo. The three sons and the son-in-law have all died recently, in the space of five days of each other. Such are the trophies of war.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
Beauregard calls the late battle field “Shiloh.”
We presume that his Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin, will [abdicate] now for the prophecy of the Patriarch Jacob, was that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come. – Lou. Journal.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
Saturday, February 27, 2010
From The 2d Iowa Cavalry
ABOARD STEAMER CITY OF ALTON
ABOVE FORT WRIGHT (OR PILLOW.)
Wednesday April 16, 1862
FRIEND SANDERS:– The army under Gen. Pope, yet remains aboard the fleet at this place, some reconnoitering is being done. Some of our mortar boats have taken a position on the upper side of the bend and throw shell into the fort. Yesterday the rebels replied, their shell reaching over the point and striking in the river in the vicinity of the gunboats. The weather is very warm, too much so for pure comfort. Yesterday on of the little tugs having been left alone a few minutes took fire and was soon burned to the water’s edge. This evening clouds began to gather and as night closed in the wind, lightning, and roar of heaven’s artillery, betoken an approaching storm, about dark signs were made throughout the fleet for a move. Steamers brightened up their fires, and all preparations were made for casting loose, but as yet, 9 p.m., no move has been made. The night is very dark, and the rain comes down in torrents. This boat is so crowded that every space, including hurricane deck and texas, is crowded with sleepers, but to-night on account of the storm all are crowded below leaving scarcely standing room.
Gen. Schuyler is aboard this boat. He is a strait well built man, about five feet ten inches, spare features, black hair, and whiskers, dark complexion, and from all appearances, one entirely fitted for a commanding officer. Pleasant, affable, industrious energetic, attentive to the various trusts committed to his care, he is constantly found personally superintending the execution of business and seeing that the interests of those under his command are properly cared for.
April 17th, P. M. – It stormed all last night and to-day until noon, now clearing off,. Amid the storm all the command of Gen. Pope, except one division cast loose from the landing and at daylight this morning headed up stream. We are perhaps bound for a trip up another river and to be in at Corinth. More anon.
April 18th, P. M. – We landed at New Madrid last evening. It rained hard all last night and most of the day. The river had fallen some the first of the week, but it is now rising fast, being three feet higher than when we left New Madrid.
We were detained at New Madrid until near evening, awaiting the arrival of the Choteau, having on board a portion of Gen. Hamilton’s division. She is an old boat and becoming disabled. The Alton, as good a boat as floats, now has her in tow.
This river is fast making history, and places heretofore unnoticed and unknown have suddenly assumed a prominent place on the page of history, and acquired a significance that will invite the traveler’s attention for generations to come. Among them is Island No. 10. As we neared the Island the thousands of troops flocked to the hurricane deck, texas and every available position to get a fair sight of the famed spot. It has most truly a formidable position. The Island is high and well fortified. Approaching from above, a continuous line of fire from at least a mile of batteries on the Island, and for two miles on the main land, could be concentrated at any given object on the river. To Commodore Foote and Gen. Pope is due the credit of jointly wresting from the rebels their strongest foothold, and capturing an army without the loss of a single life. They were not caught napping and surprised.
We will take on at Cairo ten days forage and provisions. I will mail this at Cairo and the next from – well, I’ll let you know in time.
Yours, &c..
DIFF.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
ABOVE FORT WRIGHT (OR PILLOW.)
Wednesday April 16, 1862
FRIEND SANDERS:– The army under Gen. Pope, yet remains aboard the fleet at this place, some reconnoitering is being done. Some of our mortar boats have taken a position on the upper side of the bend and throw shell into the fort. Yesterday the rebels replied, their shell reaching over the point and striking in the river in the vicinity of the gunboats. The weather is very warm, too much so for pure comfort. Yesterday on of the little tugs having been left alone a few minutes took fire and was soon burned to the water’s edge. This evening clouds began to gather and as night closed in the wind, lightning, and roar of heaven’s artillery, betoken an approaching storm, about dark signs were made throughout the fleet for a move. Steamers brightened up their fires, and all preparations were made for casting loose, but as yet, 9 p.m., no move has been made. The night is very dark, and the rain comes down in torrents. This boat is so crowded that every space, including hurricane deck and texas, is crowded with sleepers, but to-night on account of the storm all are crowded below leaving scarcely standing room.
Gen. Schuyler is aboard this boat. He is a strait well built man, about five feet ten inches, spare features, black hair, and whiskers, dark complexion, and from all appearances, one entirely fitted for a commanding officer. Pleasant, affable, industrious energetic, attentive to the various trusts committed to his care, he is constantly found personally superintending the execution of business and seeing that the interests of those under his command are properly cared for.
April 17th, P. M. – It stormed all last night and to-day until noon, now clearing off,. Amid the storm all the command of Gen. Pope, except one division cast loose from the landing and at daylight this morning headed up stream. We are perhaps bound for a trip up another river and to be in at Corinth. More anon.
April 18th, P. M. – We landed at New Madrid last evening. It rained hard all last night and most of the day. The river had fallen some the first of the week, but it is now rising fast, being three feet higher than when we left New Madrid.
We were detained at New Madrid until near evening, awaiting the arrival of the Choteau, having on board a portion of Gen. Hamilton’s division. She is an old boat and becoming disabled. The Alton, as good a boat as floats, now has her in tow.
This river is fast making history, and places heretofore unnoticed and unknown have suddenly assumed a prominent place on the page of history, and acquired a significance that will invite the traveler’s attention for generations to come. Among them is Island No. 10. As we neared the Island the thousands of troops flocked to the hurricane deck, texas and every available position to get a fair sight of the famed spot. It has most truly a formidable position. The Island is high and well fortified. Approaching from above, a continuous line of fire from at least a mile of batteries on the Island, and for two miles on the main land, could be concentrated at any given object on the river. To Commodore Foote and Gen. Pope is due the credit of jointly wresting from the rebels their strongest foothold, and capturing an army without the loss of a single life. They were not caught napping and surprised.
We will take on at Cairo ten days forage and provisions. I will mail this at Cairo and the next from – well, I’ll let you know in time.
Yours, &c..
DIFF.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
A new counterfeit $3 note . . .
. . . State Bank of Ohio, Piqua Branch, has just made its appearance. They are easily detected. The word “Prest.” Is badly printed, being nearly one third larger than on the genuine notes. The counterfeit is intended to be a fac simile of the genuine.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
From the drift of the leader in yesterday’s Democrat . . .
. . . one would be led to conclude, that its sapient editor thought the immediate effect of the passage of the act of emancipation in the District of Columbia would be, to raise the tone of society in Washington! It may have that effect eventually; but it is too soon to anticipate such a result, as it will require years for it to recover from the injuries inflicted by the late Democratic administration.
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 25, 1862, p. 2
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