U. S.
* * *
HEADQUARTERS, 1ST BRIGADE
5TH DIVISION,
ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE
COL. JOHN A. McDOWELL,
6TH IOWA,
COMMANDING
* * * * *
ESTABLISHED MARCH 19TH
1862
See Also:
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Official Reports of the Battle Of Shiloh: No. 67 - Capt. John Williams, 6th Iowa Infantry
No. 67.
Report of Capt. John Williams,
Sixth Iowa Infantry.
HEADQUARTERS SIXTH IOWA
INFANTRY,
Pittsburg Landing,
Tenn., April 10, 1862.
COLONEL. Having assumed command of the regiment by your
order, I have the honor to make the following official report of the Sixth Iowa
Infantry during the recent engagement:
On Sunday morning, when the attack was made on General
Grant's center, the regiment was immediately brought into line of battle, and
was then moved about 50 yards to the front along the edge of the woods. Company
I was thrown out as skirmishers, and Companies E and G were moved to the left
and front of our line to support a battery just placed there. We were in this
position for more than two hours, when we were ordered to fall back to the rear
of our camp on the Purdy road.
The battle at this time was raging fiercely in the center
and extending gradually to the right. The line was slowly yielding to a vastly
superior force, and it now became evident that we must change our position or
be entirely cut off from the rest of the army. The regiment then marched by the
left flank about 600 yards; crossed an open field about 150 yards wide; took a
position in the edge of the woods, and formed a new line of battle, which was
again succeeded by another line nearly perpendicular to the former, the right
resting close to the Purdy road.
It was here Lieutenants Halliday and Grimes were wounded and
carried from the field, thus preventing them from distinguishing themselves, as
they undoubtedly would have done had they been spared to take part in the
desperate and severe struggle that soon ensued. It was here that Companies D
and K, on picket duty at Owl Creek, joined the regiment by a circuitous route,
the enemy having already got between them and the regiment.
The regiment did not remain here long, however, but moved by
the left flank in an easterly direction about half a mile, over a broken and
open field, and again entered the woods. A new line was formed, and the
regiment moved forward to meet the advancing foe. The line of battle –at this
time diagonal to the enemy's – was immediately changed to front them, and it
was here that the regiment withstood a shower of leaden hail and bullets which
now was pouring in upon it with deadly effect. Notwithstanding a vastly
superior force and with no support, the regiment gallantly maintained this
position for more than two hours, and when it became apparent that no succor
was coming to it, and after the enemy had already turned our right flank and
began pouring a galling cross-fire upon it, the regiment was ordered to retire.
It fell back in good order and was assigned to the support of batteries near
the river. At this stage of the battle I was wounded and carried from the
field. From authentic sources I learn, however, that the regiment, under
Captain Walden, remained at the batteries all night.
The next day the regiment was not formed as a regiment, but
a detachment, under Lieutenants Minton and Allison, was connected to an
Illinois regiment, and the major portion, under Captain Walden, voluntarily
joined Colonel Garfield's command, and participated in the engagement
throughout the day until the enemy fled in great confusion.
In regard to the bravery, coolness, and intrepidity of both
officers and men too much cannot be said. Where all did so well to
particularize would seem invidious; suffice it to say the officers, with one or
two exceptions, are deserving the highest praise. The men were at all times
cool and as free from fear or confusion as if they were on dress-parade.
The list of casualties, which I append below, fully attests
the severity of the contest.
The following is the number of killed, wounded, and missing
in the two days’ engagement :*
Killed
|
64
|
Wounded
|
100
|
Missing
|
47
|
Total
|
211
|
Total number engaged less than 650.
I have the honor to
be, yours, respectfully,
JOHN WILLIAMS,
Captain, Commanding Regiment.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
X (Serial No. 10), Part I, pages 256-7
Abisha Sanders
ABISHA SANDERS, farmer and stock raiser, living on section
5, Knox township, was born in Perry County, Ohio, April 2, 1848, a son of Jesse
and Epsey (Battin) Sanders, the father being a native of Georgia, and the
mother born in Columbiana County, Ohio. They were the parents of nine children –
Benjamin, Matilda, Simeon, Myrom, Clarinda, Jesse, John, Sarah and Abisha.
Abisha spent his youth on a farm, his education being obtained in the common
schools. He enlisted in the defense of
his country at the early age of fifteen years, he being one of the youngest
soldiers in the company. He joined Company B, Tenth Ohio Cavalry, in February,
1863, and participated in many engagements, and was with Sherman in his grand
march to the sea. He was in General
Kilpatrick’s command. He
was honorably discharged at Cleveland, Ohio, in August 1865, when he returned
to his home in Perry County, Ohio.
October 21, 1868, he was married to Phebe Travis, of Perry County, and they
have eleven children living – Matilda, Albert S., Stella A., Effie Alice,
Carrie Irena, Ora Centennial, Orle F., Vernon P., Charlotte, Lora Blaine, and
an infant unnamed. Mr. Sanders has been a resident of Clarke County, Iowa,
since the spring of 1878, when he located on his present farm in Knox Township.
His farm contains 200 acres of as good land as can be found in Clarke County,
and is all under a high state of cultivation. Mr. Sanders is a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic, belonging to Post No. 189. In politics he is a Republican.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 294
Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Tuesday, December 24, 1861
We raised a flag pole today and ran up the Stars and Stripes
high in the air, amidst cheering and singing the old song, “Columbia.”
“Long may it wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”
This afternoon we went over town and compelled all the
secessionists to take the oath. Quite a number of the boys are sick with bad
colds, the result of the hard exposure coming up on the stock cars the other
night.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B.,
Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 26
Monday, October 15, 2012
Official Reports of the Battle of Shiloh: No. 66 – Col. John A. McDowell, 6th Iowa Infantry, Commanding the 1st Brigade, 5th Division, Army of the Tennessee
No. 66.
Report of Col. John A.
McDowell, Sixth Iowa Infantry, commanding First Brigade.
HEADQUARTERS FIRST
BRIGADE, FIFTH DIVISION,
Camp, Shiloh, Tenn.,
April 9, 1862.
At the first alarm of the enemy's attack, Sunday, the 6th,
the line of the First Brigade was formed, as per previous orders, to hold the
Purdy road and the right front. Two companies of the Sixth Iowa were detached
to defend the bridge crossing Owl Creek and one of the 12-pounder howitzers of
the Morton Battery placed to command the crossing on the hill at the right of
our encampment. About 8 o'clock the line was thrown forward to the brow of the
hill, and the remaining guns of the Morton battery brought up to command the
several openings to the front, and from this position several shots were fired
on the enemy's masses, not then formed into line, and the Fortieth Illinois
Infantry were ordered forward and to the left to support the right of the Fourth
Brigade, in which position they became warmly engaged, when the order came to
fall back to the Purdy road. This was accomplished with difficulty, from the
extended front of our line, at that time three-quarters of a mile in length, on
and over a broken and wooded surface, and at the time when the only passable
(the main) road was filled by the teams of the brigade. Yet the change of
position and front was just accomplished when the order to send the battery to
the center was received. The five guns were immediately dispatched. The other,
from the position of guarding the bridge, not coming up in time, remained with
the brigade, as the passage by the road had in the mean time been cut off.
In this position and front a few rounds were exchanged, and
the skirmishers were again thrown forward. When it was known that we were cut
off from the center by the enemy in force on the center and across the road and
by a large force in the old field on our left and their cavalry to the left and
rear, the howitzer was placed on our left front under cover, and the enemy
driven from the field by a few discharges of canister. Soon after, at about 10
o’clock, Major Sanger brought the order to move to the center and rear. This
was accomplished as soon as possible under the annoyance of the enemy's
skirmishers. Here our front was again changed to the former front of the
general line of engagement.
By the general’s order the Fortieth Illinois was advanced to
support of the batteries in the center, and the opening filled by the Sixth
Iowa, being flanked from its position on the right to the center, leaving the
Forty-sixth Ohio on the right and a little to the rear. These dispositions
remained unchanged for a period of nearly two hours, when, at about 12.30 o’clock,
the enemy, finding no opposition on the right, brought a large force to our
right and fronting our flank, causing us to suffer a cross-fire from superior
numbers both on the front and flank. It was here that the brigade suffered its
greatest loss.
In passing to the right through the thicket and crossing the
ravine I was thrown from my horse and severely shocked, and was at that time
moving to have the Forty-sixth fall back behind the crest, when Colonel
Worthington changed front and gave the enemy the first fire. The Fortieth had
gone forward against the enemy's battery so far as to become entirely separated
from the rest of the command. At a little past 1 o’clock the Forty-sixth were
ordered to retreat, and lost in this retreat 14 killed and a large proportion
of their wounded. The Sixth fell back with less loss.
Afterwards, during the day and the day following, different
portions of each regiment were attached to other commands, and of the Sixth
Iowa and Fortieth Illinois these fragments were detained with Colonel Garfield
and General Nelson, by the order of the general commanding, until Tuesday and
Wednesday respectively.
The behavior of my men and of their officers, almost without
exception, was creditable, and of this I shall in another manner properly
notice.
Respectfully,
JNO.
ADAIR McDOWELL,
Colonel Sixth Iowa, Commanding First Brigade.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
X (Serial No. 10), Part I, pages 254-5
Andrew J. Ronk
ANDREW J. RONK, farmer and stock-raiser, section 11, Madison
Township, was born in Greenbrier County, Virginia, August 24, 1842. His father,
George W. Ronk, was a native of the same State, born in Roanoke County, but is
now deceased. He being a farmer, our subject was reared to agricultural
pursuits, receiving such education as the rude log-cabin subscription schools
of his neighborhood afforded. In 1861 he
went to Canton, Fulton County, Illinois, where he remained about eight years,
working at coopering, wagon-making and carpentering. He was a member of the
State militia during the John Brown raid in 1861, and was sent into the
Confederate army, but after serving four months he deserted, and joined the
Union troops in Illinois, enlisting in the Sixty-seventh Infantry, Company F,
and was appointed Orderly Sergeant. March
10, 1864, he was married to Rachel Briley, and to them have been born eight
children – George W., Edith M., Daisy G., John A., Cecil H., Ora B., Olive U.
and Amy P. Mr. Ronk came to Clarke
County, Iowa, in the fall of 1870, and has since made his home on section 11,
Madison Township, where he has 183 acres of fine land. In politics he is a
Democrat, taking an active interest in that political party, and June 30, 1886,
he attended the State Nominating Convention held at Des Moines. Mr. Ronk never
seeks official honors, but has served his township several terms as trustee,
with credit to himself and his constituents. He is a member of the Masonic
fraternity
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 294
Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Monday, December 23, 1861
We arrived at California about sunup, almost frozen; it
cleared off during the night and a cold northwest wind was blowing. Leaving the
train we entered the several churches in town and built fires to warm by,
Company E going into a Catholic church, where the sexton and his wife brought
us some hot coffee. We then put into winter quarters, occupying vacant houses and
storerooms and made all the “secesh” skedaddle. The companies in quarters here
are B, E, G, K and H, under command of Lieut. Col. William Hall. We just
learned why it was that we were rushed up here last night. It had been reported
at Jefferson City that a train with “secesh” prisoners was to pass through this
place today, bound for St. Louis, and that their sympathizers in this locality
were planning a raid on the train to liberate the prisoners.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s
Civil War Diary, p. 25-6
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, September 3, 1861
Cairo, Illinois
September 3, 1861.
YOUR very kind letter was received at Jefferson City, and
would have been answered at once but for the remark that you were about to
start for New York city and would not receive it for some days. I should be
most pleased to have you pay me the visit here, or wherever I may be, that you
spoke of paying me there.
In regard to the appointment of Mr. Rawlins,1 I
never had an idea of withdrawing it so long as he felt disposed to accept, no
matter how long his absence. Mr. Rawlins was the first one I decided upon for a
place with me, and I very much regret that family affliction has kept him away
so long. The past would have been a good school of instruction for him in his
new duties; the future bids fair to try the backbone of our volunteers. I have
been kept actively moving from one command to another, more so perhaps than any
other officer. So long as I am of service to the cause of our country I do not
object, however.
General Fremont has seen fit to intrust me with an important
command here, my command embracing all the troops in southeast Missouri and at
this place. A little difficulty of an unpleasant nature has occurred between
General Prentiss and myself relative to rank, he refusing to obey my orders;
but it is to be hoped that he will see his error, and not sacrifice the
interest of the cause to his ambition to be senior brigadier general of Illinois,
as he contends he is.
In conclusion, Mr. Washburne, allow me to thank you for the
part you have taken in giving me my present position. I think I see your hand
in it, and admit that I had no personal claims for your kind office in the
matter. I can assure you, however, my whole heart is in the cause which we are
fighting for, and I pledge myself that, if equal to the task before me, you
shall never have cause to regret the part you have taken.
__________
1 John A. Rawlins (1831-1869), joined General
Grant's staff in August, 1861, and served with him to the close of the
rebellion. He became Secretary of War in March, 1869. Grant was greatly
attached to him, and deeply mourned his death.
SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 1-2 & 111
Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, January 23, 1862
Head-Quarters District of Cairo,
Cairo, January 23, 1862.
THE bearer, Captain A. S. Baxter,2 who goes to
Washington by my order, in hopes of doing something for the relief of this much
distressed portion of our Army, is at present my District Quartermaster. I am
at last satisfied that I have an efficient and faithful servant of the
Government in Captain Baxter, and anything that you can do to further the
object of his mission will not only be regarded as a personal favor to myself,
but will serve to advance the cause you and I both have so much at heart.
Captain Baxter can tell you of the great abuses in his Department here and the
efforts I have put forth to correct them, and consequently the number of secret
enemies necessarily made. I am desirous of retaining Captain Baxter in his present
position, and if promotion to a higher grade is necessary to enable me to do
so, I would very much desire that the promotion be given.
__________
2 While the world was honoring General Grant on
the seventy-fifth anniversary of his birth, Algernon Sidney Baxter (1819-1897),
one of the earliest members of his staff, was dying. He was a son of the Chief
Justice of Vermont, and at the age of seventeen went to Boston, the Mecca of
most New England boys. When the war began he was a merchant in St. Louis, where
he became acquainted with Grant. He immediately abandoned business for the
army, serving on the General’s staff at Fort Donelson and Shiloh, with the rank
of captain. At Shiloh, Baxter carried to General Lew Wallace that celebrated
dispatch which has caused so much dispute. Grant, in his “Personal Memoirs,”
says: “Captain Baxter, a quartermaster on my staff, was accordingly directed to
go back and order General Wallace to march immediately to Pittsburg by the road
nearest the river. Captain Baxter made a memorandum of this order. . . .
General Wallace has since claimed that the order delivered to him by the
captain was simply to join the right of the army.” Baxter’s condition of health compelled him
soon after to leave the service, when he entered Wall Street, pursuing a
successful career in the great metropolis, where he died at the age of seventy-eight.
He was the last survivor of those who served on Grant's staff in the battles of
Fort Donelson and Shiloh.
SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 3 & 111-2
Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, February 21, 1862
Fort Donelson, Tennessee,
February 21, 1862.
SINCE receiving your letter at Fort Henry events have
transpired so rapidly that I have scarcely had time to write a private letter.
That portion of your letter which required immediate attention was replied to
as soon as your letter was read. I mean that I telegraphed Colonel C. C.
Washburn,3 Milwaukee, Wis., asking him to accept a place on my
staff. As he has not yet arrived, I fear my dispatch was not received. Will you
be kind enough to say to him that such a dispatch was sent, and that I will be
most happy to publish the order the moment he arrives, assigning him the
position you ask.
On the 13th, 14th, and 15th our volunteers fought a battle
that would figure well with many of those fought in Europe, where large
standing armies are maintained. I feel very grateful to you for having placed
me in the position to have had the honor of commanding such an army and at such
a time. I only trust that I have not nor will not disappoint you. The effect
upon the community here is very marked since the battle. Defeat, disastrous
defeat, is admitted. Yesterday I went to Clarkesville4 with a small
escort, two of our gunboats having preceded me. Our forces now occupy that
place, and will take possession of a large amount of commissary stores,
ammunition, and some artillery. The road to Nashville is now clear, but whether
my destination will be there or farther west can't yet be told. I want to move
early, and no doubt will.
__________
3 Cadwallader Colden Washburn (1818-1882),
colonel Second Wisconsin Cavalry, October 10, 1861; brigadier general, July 16,
1862; and major general, November 29, 1862. After the Civil War he was elected
to Congress and in 1872, became Governor of Wisconsin. Later he was an
unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate. His brother, also a
Congressman, wrote the family name with a final "e," but in no
instance within the editor's knowledge did Grant ever add that letter when
writing to Mr. Washburne
4 Suit was brought after the war for about one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars by the owners of whiskey in Clarkesville,
destroyed as a matter of precaution by a chosen committee, to prevent its
falling into the hands of the victorious Northern army, said to be advancing on
the town, — its commander being reported as intoxicated, and utterly unable to
control his troops. The owners brought suit in 1865 against the members of the
committee, consisting of the wealthiest citizens of the town. At the first
trial the jury disagreed as to whether Grant was drunk or sober, the decision
in the case turning on that point; in the second the verdict was that the
commander was intoxicated, and on the third trial that he was perfectly sober,
so that the committee finally lost their case and were compelled to pay, but
not the full value of the whiskey, as the parties compromised the case,
receiving about twenty per cent. of its value. This statement was received in
August, 1897, by the writer, from a United States District Judge of Tennessee,
who was one of the counsel employed in the curious case.
SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 4-5 & 112-3
Major General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, March 22, 1862
Savannah, Tennessee,
March 22, 1862.
I HAVE received two or three letters from you which I have
not answered, because at the time they were received I was unwell and busy, and
either your brother or Rowley were about writing. I am now getting nearly well
and ready for any emergency that may arise. A severe contest may be looked for
in this quarter before many weeks, but of the result feel no alarm.
There are some things which I wish to say to you in my own
vindication, not that I care one straw for what is said individually, but
because you have taken so much interest in my welfare that I think you are
fairly entitled to all facts connected with my acts.
I see by the papers that I am charged with giving up a
certain number of slaves captured at Fort Donelson. My published order on the
occasion shows that citizens were not permitted to pass through our camps to
look for their slaves. There were some six or seven negroes at Donelson, who
represented that they had been brought from Kentucky to work for officers, and
had been kept a number of months without receiving pay. They expressed great
anxiety to get back to their families, and protested that they were free men.
These I let go, and none others. I have studiously tried to prevent the running
off of negroes from all outside places, as I have tried to prevent all other
marauding and plundering.
So long as I hold a commission in the army I have no views
of my own to carry out. Whatever may be the orders of my superiors and law I
will execute. No man can be efficient as a commander who sets his own notions
above law and those whom he has sworn to obey. When Congress enacts anything
too odious for me to execute, I will resign.
I see the credit of attacking the enemy by the way of the
Tennessee and Cumberland is variously attributed. It is little to talk about it
being the great wisdom of any general that first brought forth this plan of
attack. Our gunboats were running up the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers all
fall and winter watching the progress of the rebels on these works. General
Halleck no doubt thought of this route long ago, and I am sure I did. As to how
the battles should be fought, both McClellan and Halleck are too much of
soldiers to suppose that they can plan how that should be done at a distance.
This would presuppose that the enemy would make just the moves laid down for
them. It would be a game of chess, the right hand against the left, determining
beforehand that the right should win. The job being an important one, neither
of the above generals would have intrusted it to an officer whom they had not
confidence in. So far I was highly complimented by both.
After getting into Donelson General Halleck did not hear
from me for near two weeks. It was about the same time before I heard from him.
I was writing every day, and sometimes as often as three times a day. Reported
every move and change, the condition of my troops, etc. Not getting these,
General Halleck very justly became dissatisfied, and was, as I have since
learned, sending me daily reprimands. Not receiving them, they lost their
sting. When one did reach me, not seeing the justice of it, I retorted, and
asked to be relieved. Three telegrams passed in this way, each time ending by
my requesting to be relieved. All is now understood, however, and I feel
assured that General Halleck is fully satisfied. In fact, he wrote me a letter
saying that I could not be relieved, and otherwise quite complimentary.
I will not tire you with a longer letter, but assure you
again that you shall not be disappointed
in me if it is in my power to prevent it.
SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 6-9
Major General Ulysses S. Grant to Congressman Elihu B. Washburne, May 14, 1862
Camp near Corinth,
Mississippi,
May 14, 1862.
THE great number of attacks made upon me by the press of the
country is my apology for not writing to you oftener, not desiring to give any
contradiction to them myself. You have interested yourself so much as my friend
that should I say anything it would probably be made use of in my behalf. I
would scorn being my own defender against such attacks except through the
record which has been kept of all my official acts, and which can be examined
at Washington at any time. To say that I have not been distressed at these
attacks upon me would be false, for I have a father, mother, wife, and children
who read them, and are distressed by them, and I necessarily share with them in
it. Then, too, all subject to my orders read these charges, and it is
calculated to weaken their confidence in me and weaken my ability to render efficient
service in our present cause.5 One thing I will assure you of,
however, – I can not be driven from rendering the best service within my
ability to suppress the present rebellion, and, when it is over, retiring to
the same quiet it, the rebellion, found me enjoying. Notoriety has no charms for me, and could I
render the same services that I hope it has been my fortune to render our just
cause without being known in the matter, it would be infinitely preferable to
me.
Those people who expect a field of battle to be maintained
for a whole day with about thirty thousand troops, most of them entirely raw,
against fifty thousand, as was the case at Pittsburg Landing while waiting for
re-enforcements to come up, without loss of life, know little of war. To have
left the field of Pittsburg for the enemy to occupy until our force was
sufficient to have gained a bloodless victory would have been to leave the
Tennessee to become a second Potomac. There was nothing left for me but to
occupy the west bank of the Tennessee and to hold it at all hazards. It would
have set this war back six months to have failed, and would have caused the
necessity of raising, as it were, a new army.
Looking back at the past, I can not see for the life of me any important
point that could be corrected. Many persons who have visited the different
fields of battle may have gone away displeased because they were not permitted
to carry off horses, fire arms, or other valuables as trophies. But they are no
patriots who would base their enmity on such grounds. Such, I assure you, are
the grounds of many bitter words that have been said against me by persons who
at this day would not know me by sight, yet profess to speak from a personal
acquaintance.
I am sorry to write such a letter, infinitely sorry that
there should be grounds for it. My own justification does not demand it, but
you are entitled to know my feelings. As a friend I would be pleased to give
you a record weekly at furthest of all that transpires in that portion of the
army that I am or may be connected with, but not to make public use of. . . .
__________
5 About the same period the General says in a
letter to his father: “You must not expect me to write in my own defence, nor
to permit it from any one about me. I know that the feeling of the troops under
my command is favorable to me, and so long as I continue to do my duty
faithfully it will remain so. I require no defenders.” In his second inaugural
address Grant gave expression to his sense of the injustice done to him by
shameful and vindictive criticism, saying in conclusion, “Throughout the war
and from my candidacy to the present office, in 1868, to the close of the last
presidential campaign, I have been the subject of abuse and slander, scarcely
ever equalled in political history, which to-day I feel that I can afford to disregard,
in view of your verdict, which I most gratefully accept as my vindication.”
SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Editor, General Grant’s Letters to a Friend 1861-1880, p. 10-12 & 113-4
From Washington
From the Sunday
Mercury.
EDITOR T. T.:– Sunshine has at last resumed specie payment,
my boy, and every man that chooses can walk under golden beams once more. The sacred soil is drying up as rapidly as an
old maid after forty-two, and boot-blacks begin to quote at high figures. The General of the Mackerel brigade is so
blissful at having a polish on his boots once more, that he puts them on the
mantle-piece every time he enters a room, and treads on all the toes he can
find in the street. The latter operation,
has pronounced much profanity, especially among the chaplains.
Speaking of the chaplains, reminds me of a reverend veteran
who attended the soul of Captain Bob Shorty yesterday, and found it in a high
state of preservation. Captain Bob
Shorty rashly over estimated his power of endurance, and undertook to read
Fremont’s defence. When he got to the
twenty-first column he was seized with vertigo, and only recovered to find
himself taking the measure of a bedstead, with a chaplain standing by him.
“My friend,” says the parson, “I consider it my duty to tell
you that you’re a very sick man, and I take this opportunity to remind you of
your latter end.”
Captain Bob Shorty scratched his head and says he:
“Am I bound of the kingdom?”
“You may recover,” says the chaplain, “but now is the time
to settle your worldly affairs, if you don’t.
Think of your wife and progeny.”
“My wife!” says Captain Bob Shorty, hysterically. “Ah, there’s a woman for you!”
“Is she a worthy help-mate?” says the chaplain.
“Why,” says Captain Bob Shorty, she’s mate and Captain both
in my ship. She’s frugal” – says Captain
Bob Shorty – “she’s amiable, she’s neat, and she’s got only one fault in the
world.”
“Ah!” says the chaplain “only one fault? Then she must be an uncommon woman.”
“Yes,” says Captain Bob Shorty, dreamily, “my wife’s only got
one fault in the world – she loves another chap better than she does me.”
At this juncture, my boy, the chaplain was seized with a
severe cough; but as soon as he recovered he assumed a very grave expression,
and says he:
“My friend let me beseech you to forget worldly things for a
moment, and think of something more needful.”
“Drive on,” says Captain Bob Shorty.
The chaplain gave a grievous snuff, and says he:
“Is there not something above all created things that you
feel in need of now? Suppose my friend,
that you were out at sea in a terrible storm, with the thunder roaring and the
lightning flashing, and the rain falling in torrents all around you, what would
you do to make yourself feel peaceful?”
“You say the rain was falling in torrents?” says Captain Bob
Shorty.
“Yea verily,” says the chaplain.
“I think,” says Captain Bob Shorty, reflectively – “I think
I should call for an umbrella and something hot.”
Upon hearing this beautiful answer, my boy, the chaplain buried
his face in his hands.
“So should I,” he murmured – “so should I.”
“Depend upon it, my boy, there is a bond of sympathy between
all men, that no difference of education or circumstances can sever; and when
some nice touch of nature causes it to contract, it seldom fails to bring men
together on the common platform of whisky hot.
It would afford me great pleasure, my boy, to report a great
victory for our cause in Virginia, but no such result is yet visible to the eye
in a state of nudity.
The gunboats to break the rebel blockade have not started up
the Potomac yet, owing to a mistake by the General of the Mackerel Brigade.
Some months ago, my boy, the General gave an order to the
Eastern contractor for a couple of peculiarly made gunboats for this service;
but happening to pass the White House, shortly after, saw what he took to be
the models of two just such gunboats protruding out of one of the windows. Thinking that the President had concluded to
attend to the matter himself, he immediately telegraphed the contractor not to
go on with the job.
Quite recently, the contractor came here again, and says he
to the General:
“I’d like to see the models of those White House gunboats.”
The General conducted him toward the White House, my boy,
and the two stood admiring the models, which protruded from the window as
usual.
Pretty soon a Western Congressman came along, and says the
contractor to him: “Can you tell me sir, whether these models of gunboats up
there are on exhibition?”
“Gunboats!” says the Western chap, looking up. “Do you take those for gunboats?”
“Of course,” says the contractor.
“Why you durned fool!” says the Congressman, “Those are the
President’s boots. The President always
sits with his feet out of the window when he’s at home, and those are ends of
his boots.”
Without another word, my boy, the General and the contractor
turned gloomily from the spot, convinced they had witnessed the most terrific
feet of the campaign.
Yours, sedately,
ORPHEUS C. KERR.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye,
Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 29, 1862, p. 1
Another Victory in Eastern Kentucky
The Rebels under
Marshall Routed at Pound Gap – Camp Equipage and Arms Captured.
(Correspondence of
the Cincinnati Gazette.)
CAMP BROWNLOW, PIKETON,
KY.,
March 18th, 1862.
Gen. Garfield left this camp on the 14th inst., at the head
of six hundred men, detailed in about equal numbers from the 42d and 40th Ohio
and 22d Kentucky regiments and McLaughlin’s Cavalry, destined for Pound Gap. –
That point was reached on Sunday morning last, after a march of thirty-seven
miles, performed in something less than two days. The enemy were taken by surprise, dislodged
from their stronghold, and driven routed and discomfited from the field. The entire camp, with its equipage,
consisting of numerous log huts, canvas tents, subsistence stores, wagons, and
all the trappings of camp life, together with some three hundred squirrel
rifles, fell into our possession. In the
absence of means of transportation, all but what the boys could carry on their
backs, was submitted to the flames. It
was a brilliant victory, and the entire detachment returned this morning,
without loss or damage to a man. With
many hearty congratulations for recent brilliant victories everywhere and all
around the land.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye,
Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 29, 1862, p. 1
Official Reports of the Battle of Shiloh: No. 49 – Report of Capt. Matthew M. Trumbull, 3rd Iowa Infantry
No. 49.
Report of Capt. Matthew M.
Trumbull, Third Iowa Infantry.
HEADQUARTERS THIRD IOWA
INFANTRY,
April 17, 1862.
SIR: I have the honor to report the part taken by the Third
Iowa Infantry in the action of the 6th and 7th instant.
The Third Iowa occupied the extreme right of the Fourth
Division, being the first regiment of Col. and Actg. Brig. Gen. N. G. Williams’
brigade, and was posted during a greater portion of Sunday at the fence near
the cotton field. The enemy repeatedly threw large bodies of infantry against
us, but never with success. He was repulsed every time, and with great
slaughter. The regiment was also subjected to a storm of grape, canister, and
shell, which lasted several hours. The Third Iowa maintained its ground until
evening and did not then give way until the troops on their right and left had
been broken and we were entirely outflanked and almost surrounded. The regiment
was then compelled in a great measure to cut its way out.
Of the firmness, coolness, and courage of the men under a
heavy fire it will be unnecessary for me to speak, as they were almost
constantly during the battle under the immediate eye of the general commanding
the division.
The regiment went into battle on the second day under the
command of First Lieut. G. W. Crosley, of Company E, and, as I am well assured,
nobly maintained the honor of the flag.
Should I designate meritorious officers I should have to
name nearly every officer in the regiment. I think, however, none will feel
envious if I specially mention Lieutenant Crosley.
I desire to call the attention of the general commanding the
division to the gallantry and good conduct of Sergt. James Lakin, of Company F,
who carried the colors on the first day, and of Corp. Anderson Edwards, of Company
I, who carried the colors on the second day, of the battle.
Our loss is heavy. I herewith inclose a list of our killed,
wounded, and missing.*
I have the honor to remain, sir, very respectfully, your
obedient servant,
M. M. TRUMBULL,
Captain, Third Iowa Infantry, Commanding
Regiment.
Brig. Gen. STEPHEN A.
HURLBUT, U.S. A.,
Commanding Fourth Division, Army of the Tennessee.
_______________
* Embodied in the
revised statement, p. 103
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume
X (Serial No. 10), Part I, pages 219
Peter Rinner
PETER RINNER, farmer and stock-raiser, section 23, Madison
Township, was born in Germany, near the river Rhine, November 14, 1831. His
father, Peter Rinner, came with his family to America in 1836, and settled at
Lockport, Ohio, where he died nine weeks after his arrival. Our subject, on the
death of his father, was taken by David Stiffler, of Beaver Dam, Tuscarawas
County, Ohio, by whom he was reared to agricultural pursuits. He entered the United States army during the
Mexican war when in his sixteenth year, under Scott, and was at the battles of
St. Augustine, wounded at Cherebusco, Mellina, Del Ray, Chapultepac, and at the
taking of Mexico. He reentered the United States service in 1850, and spent two
and a half years in teaching recruits. He then entered the cavalry of the
Second United States dragoons in 1855, remaining in the service till February,
1864, when he was discharged as Second lieutenant. During the late civil war he participated in
the battles of First Bull Run, after which battle he carried the first white
flag to the rebel army. Williamsport, battle of the Wilderness, the seven days
fight on the peninsula, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Gettysburg, Culpeper, and
others of minor importance. Before the war of the Rebellion he was engaged in
fighting with Indians in Utah, and while there part of the time his company had
but two ounces of flour for each man for their daily allowance, and for a while
they lived on nettles cooked as greens. He served his country as a soldier
fifteen years and eight months. Mr.
Rinner came to Iowa in 1864, locating at Des Moines, where he remained till
1871. He then came to Clarke County, where he has since followed farming and
stock-raising on his present farm, where he has 126 acres of well-improved
land. He began life a poor boy, but his habits of industry and economy have
been crowned with success, he having acquired his present fine property by his
own efforts. Mr. Rinner was married
January 14, 1874, to Diantha Gray, a daughter of William Gray, of Rush County,
Kansas. They have had six children, four still living – Franklin P., Margaret
E., George L. and Katherine D. Mr. Rinner still has in his possession his old
sword which was given him by General Pleasanton.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 341
Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Sunday, December 22, 1861
It snowed all day, the snow falling in large flakes, and the
weather is fast turning colder. I was detailed on camp guard and with my
overcoat on walked my beat for two hours at a time. At about 4 o'clock in the
afternoon five companies of our regiment received marching orders to go at
once, and striking our tents we hastened down to the railroad station on the
bank of the river, where we had to stack arms and wait four hours for the
train. The weather by this time had turned intensely cold and we were compelled
to build fires to keep warm, but no firewood was at hand. The boys spied a lot
of canoes stored away for the winter under a warehouse; these we appropriated
and had used up forty or fifty of them before our train finally came. When the
train did come, we discovered to our dismay that it was made up of stock cars,
bedded with straw. We boarded the cars at 8 p. m. and settling ourselves as
comfortably as possible, with our rifles in hand started at midnight for
California, Missouri.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B.,
Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 25
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Presidents of the United States Living at the Outbreak of the Civil War
Martin Van Buren, died July 24, 1862
John Tyler, died January 18, 1862
Millard Fillmore, died March 8, 1874
Franklin Pierce, died October 8, 1869
James Buchanan, June
1, 1868
Abraham Lincoln,
died April 15, 1865
8th Illinois Infantry Monument: Duncan Field, Shiloh National Military Park
ILLINOIS
8TH INFANTRY
1ST BRIGADE – HARE
1ST DIVISION – McCLERNAND
ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE
8TH INFANTRY
COMMANDED BY
1. CAPT. J. M. ASHMORE, WOUNDED
2. CAPT. W. H. HARVEY, KILLED
3. CAPT. R. H. STURGESS
This line was held from 9:30 A.M. until 11:00 A.M., April 6,
1862, when the regiment was forced back to a position behind the Duncan
Field. It lost in the battle, 1 officer
and 29 men killed; 1 officer and 90 men wounded; 3 men missing; total 124.
Official Reports of the Battle of Shiloh: No. 18 - Col. James M. Tuttle, Commanding the 2nd Division and 1st Brigade, Army of the Tennessee
No. 18.
Report of Col. James M. Tuttle, Second Iowa
Infantry, Commanding
Second Division and First Brigade.
HEADQUARTERS FIRST
BRIGADE, SECOND DIVISION,
Pittsburg, Tenn.,
April 10, 1862.
GENERAL: I have the honor to report the part taken by the
First Brigade in the action of the 6th and 7th instant, as well as such other
regiments and corps as were under my command during the engagement.
On the morning of the 6th I proceeded with my brigade,
consisting of the Second, Seventh, Twelfth, and Fourteenth Iowa Infantry, under
the direction of Brig. Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, and formed line on the left of
his division. We had been in line but a few moments when the enemy made their
appearance and attacked my left wing (Twelfth and Fourteenth Iowa), who
gallantly stood their ground and compelled the assailants to retire in
confusion. They again formed under cover of a battery and renewed the attack
upon my whole line, but were repulsed as before. A third and fourth time they
dashed upon us, but were each time baffled and completely routed. We held our
position about six hours, when it became evident that our forces on each side
of us had given way, so as to give the enemy an opportunity of turning both our
flanks. At this critical juncture General Wallace gave orders for my whole
brigade to fall back, which was done in good order. The Second and Seventh
Regiments retired through a severe fire from both flanks and reformed, while
the Twelfth and Fourteenth, who were delayed by their endeavors to save a
battery which had been placed in their rear, were completely cut off and
surrounded and were compelled to surrender.
In passing through the cross-fire General Wallace fell
mortally wounded, and as you were reported wounded, and Captain McMichael
informing me that I was the ranking officer, I assumed command of the division
and rallied what was left of my brigade, and was joined by the Thirteenth Iowa,
Colonel Crocker; Ninth Illinois, Colonel Mersy; Twelfth Illinois,
Lieutenant-Colonel Chetlain, and several other fragments of regiments, and
formed them in line on the road, and held the enemy in check until the line was
formed that resisted the last charge just before dark of that day.
On Monday morning I collected all of the division that could
be found and such other detached regiments as volunteered to join me, and
formed them in column by battalion, closed in mass, as a reserve for General
Buell, and followed up his attack until we arrived near the position we had
occupied on Sunday, when I deployed into line in rear of his force, and held my
command subject to his orders. The Second Iowa and Twelfth Illinois were called
on at one time. The Second was sent to General Nelson's division, and was
ordered by him to charge bayonets across a field on the enemy, who were in the
woods beyond, which they did in the most gallant manner, the enemy giving way
before they reached them. The Seventh Iowa, under orders from General
Crittenden, charged and captured one of the enemy's batteries, while the
Thirteenth Iowa rendered General McCook valuable service near the close of the
engagement.
On Tuesday, the 8th, when our forces were again called to
arms, I called out the Second Division, and all obeyed the call with alacrity
except Col. Crafts J. Wright, of the Thirteenth Missouri, who refused to obey
orders, and did not make his appearance during the day. The division remained
on the field all day, and were ordered to return to camp after dark.
The officers and men under my command behaved nobly and
gallantly during the whole time, with the exception above named. The officers
deserving special mention in this report are so numerous that I will confine
myself to field officers alone: Lieutenant-Colonel Baker, of the Second Iowa;
Lieutenant-Colonel Parrott and Major Rice, of the Seventh Iowa; Colonel Woods,
Twelfth Iowa; Colonel Shaw and Lieutenant-Colonel Lucas, of the Fourteenth
Iowa, particularly distinguished themselves for bravery and ability on the
field. Colonel Crocker, of the Thirteenth Iowa, although not belonging to my
command originally, was attached to it on Sunday evening, and remained with my
division until Monday evening. He proved himself to have all the qualities of a
good and efficient officer, and was prompt to duty when the enemy was to be
met. Colonel Mersy, Ninth Illinois, also proved himself a brave and efficient
officer. Colonel Morton, commanding Second Brigade, and Colonel Baldwin, Third
Brigade, on the last day turned out their brigades promptly and marched in
column to the outposts. Colonel Woods, of the Twelfth Iowa, was twice wounded,
and when the enemy was driven back on Monday he was recaptured, and is now
here, unfit for duty.
Appended I send you a list of the casualties of the brigade
only, as others will report directly to you.*
Very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
J. M. TUTTLE,
Colonel, Commanding
First Brigade, Second Division.
Brig. Gen. JOHN McARTHUR,
Commanding Second Division.
_______________
*Embodied in McArthur’s report, p. 148. See also revised statement, p. 101.
SOURCE: The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the
Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series I, Volume X (Serial No. 10), Part I, pages 148-50
James H. Read
JAMES H. READ, grocer, Osceola, established his business at
this point in 1867. Soon after he formed a partnership with J. C. Harrison
under the firm name of Read & Harrison. This partnership continued until
1878 when he sold out and went to Kansas, returning in the fall of 1880, and
January 1, 1881, opened up his present business. He is well established and
carries a complete stock of groceries. He is well known to the public, and
defies competition. Mr. Read was born in
Beardstown, Illinois, August 2, 1839. His father, Haywood Read, was a native of
Maine, and his mother, Ann (Black) Read, was a native of Kentucky. They settled
in Beardstown where his father carried on the mercantile trade, and also
operated a flouring mill. His business was carried on very extensively. At one
time he was elected Mayor of Beardstown. He died in California in 1851, and his
wife died in Henry County, Iowa, in 1852.
James remained at home until eleven years of age, then lived with a
farmer until he was fifteen, then went to Wisconsin pineries, working in mills
and as a raftsman, and in the fall of 1859 went to Texas and served one year as
a cow-boy. In the fall of 1860 he returned to Illinois, and enlisted as a
private in Company K, Forty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Infantry, and served until
May, 1863, when he was promoted to First Lieutenant, Third United States Heavy
Artillery, and was mustered out with the rank of Captain, April 30, 1866,
having served four and a half years. September
16, 1866, Mr. Read was married to Miss Hannah M. Waller, of Henderson County,
Iowa [sic]. They removed to Osceola April 1, 1867. He has served one year as
alderman in Osceola. He is a member of the Odd Fellows order, the Knights of
Pythias, Grand Army of the Republic, and Good Templars.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 293-4
Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Saturday, December 21, 1861
Nothing of importance today. I went on guard. There is some
talk of making Jefferson City headquarters for the various detachments of the
army within fifty miles of this place.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B.,
Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 25
Friday, October 12, 2012
Munch’s Battery Position Marker: Eastern Corinth Road, Shiloh National Military Park
U. S.
MUNCH’S BATTERY,
1ST MINNESOTA LT. ART.,
PRENTISS’ (6TH)
DIV.,
ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE
_____ ___ ____ ___ _____
This battery with 6 guns went into action here at 7.30 A.M.
April 6, 1862, and was engaged until 9 A.M. when it retired to the Hornet’s
Nest.
The Battle at Island 10
FOURTH DAY.
Monday, March 17. –
Last night was one of unusual clearness and the river and shores were bathed in
the most delicious moonlight. If
painters need any business, when the grim dogs of war are baying, they would
have reveled in the scene. Although I
was surrounded by all the fearful paraphernalia of war, there was nothing to
disturb the serenity of the night. No
sounds were audible save the plash of the water, the snarling trumpet calling
our pickets afar off, and the sound of the bells upon the gunboats as they
called the hours. The forenoon was
consumed until 10 o’clock in supplying the mortar rafts with shells and powder
from the ammunition boats. About
half-past ten the mortars commenced practice, occupying the same position as
the day before excepting two, which were moored on the left bank about three
miles below the upper battery. Two of
the mortars shelled the rebel encampments round the point, the fire of the
others concentrating upon the upper battery.
About 11 o’clock, the gunboats took position. The Benton, Cincinnati and St. Louis lashed
together, slowly dropped down the river and opened fire upon the same battery. –
The scene now became animated in the extreme, the ball being fairly
opened. I took a position on shore, near
the point and alongside the mortars, to witness their practice. The firing of a mortar is the very poetry of
a battle. A bag of powder weighing from
eighteen to twenty pounds is dropped into the bore of the huge monster. The derrick drops the shell in; the angle is
calculated; a long cord is attached to the primer; the gunner steps out upon
the platform, and the balance of the crew upon the shore. The Captain gives the word, the gunner gives
his cord a sudden jerk, a crash like a thousand thunders follows, a tongue of
flame leaps from the mouth of the mortar, and a column of smoke rolls up in
beautiful fleecy spirals, developing into rings of exquisite proportions. One can see the shell as it leaves the mortar
flying through the air, apparently no larger than a marble. The next you see of the shell, a beautiful
cloud of smoke bursts into sight, caused by the explosion. Imagine ten of these monsters thundering at
once, the air filled with smoke clouds, the gunboats belching out destruction
and completely hidden from sight in whirls of smoke, the shell screaming
through the air with the enemy sending their solid shot and shell above and
around us, dashing the water up in glistening columns and jets of spray, and
you have the sublime poetry of war. An
incident, however, will show how completely the battle may lose its poetry and
develop into a stern and suggestive reality.
FIFTH DAY.
TUESDAY, March 18, 1862. – The firing of our boats yesterday
very seriously damaged the upper fort, and at an early hour this morning some two
or three hundred men could be discovered busily at work repairing the
breaches. The Benton at once dropped
down and commenced using her bow rifles with the happiest effect, causing a
complete suspension of labor upon the works, the laborers running pell-mell to
the nearest shelter. The Benton
continued her practice until the mortars commenced, when she ceased
firing. The gunboats have been idle
to-day, the mortars occupying the time exclusively and making some excellent shots. Several shells have been lodged in the head
of the Island. The mortar practice is
rapidly improving, and at the present rate of improvement will warm up the
rebel encampment and fortifications to a degree which must cause a speedy
evacuation.
This morning I visited Com. Foote. He expressed himself confident of reducing
the place, but says it will take time.
He is fighting the battle at fearful odds. The gunboats are too unwieldy and
unmanageable to fight down stream in the mad current, which sweeps round the point
with irresistible fury. Should one of
them become crippled, no power could save her from falling into the hands of
the rebels, or being entirely destroyed by their floating battery. Still the Flag Officer is hopeful. Undaunted by the difficulties which stare him
in the face, by the mean, despicable lack of sympathy with his plans upon the
part of certain army officers and others high in power, thus thwarting him in his
endeavors to expedite matters to a successful issue. He will yet cut the Gordian knot by a splendid
victory, and clear the river to Memphis and thence sweep triumphantly to the
Balize.
– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye,
Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, March 29, 1862, p. 1
Brigadier General Leonard F. Ross
LEONARD FULTON ROSS, one of the youngest Brigadier Generals
whom Illinois has the distinction of having furnished during the war, is, with
the exception of Generals Cook and Logan, the only native Illinoisan of the
entire number. His father moved to Illinois from New York in 1821, and settled
in Fulton co., upon the site of Lewistown, the present county seat, at a period
when there were but two other white families within what are now the limits of
the county. Here he was born, July 18th, 1823. Passing his childhood upon the
frontier, where the principal portion of the population consisted of roving
bands of Indians, and in a village which derived its only importance from the
fact of its being an Indian trading post, his early opportunities for acquiring
the education of the schools were of course limited, but it may well be doubted
if the habits of activity, enterprise and observation engendered by these
circumstances were not ample compensation for any such deficiencies. At the age
of seventeen he was sent to Jacksonville, where he passed some years in study,
and having completed the prescribed course, entered a law office as student,
and was admitted to the bar in 1845. In November of the same year, he married
Catharine M., daughter of R. C. Simms, Esq. The Mexican war breaking out the
following year, upon the first call for volunteers he enlisted as a private in
Company K, 4th Regiment Illinois Volunteers, commanded by the gallant Baker,
for whom he entertained an enthusiastic admiration, and between whom and himself
at a subsequent period there sprung up a warm personal friendship. After serving
in the ranks for two months, he so gained the confidence and esteem of his comrades,
that, by a vote of the company, he was promoted to 1st Lieutenant, to fill a
vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Lieut. G. W. Stipp. During his term of
service he was in command of the company about five months, including the time
of the investment and capture of Vera Cruz, and the battle of Cerro Gordo,
where he exhibited such distinguished gallantry as to elicit especial
commendation from Col. Baker. Previous to the battle he commanded the
body-guard of Gen. Shields, while making a difficult and dangerous reconnoissance
of the ground preparatory to the anticipated engagement. In January, 1847, Gen.
Scott desiring to send important dispatches from Metamora to Gens. Taylor and Patterson
at Victoria, Lieut. Ross cheerfully undertook the perilous duty, and
accomplished his mission successfully, making his way safely through a populous
and hostile country a distance of two hundred and fifty miles, accompanied only
by a guide, an interpreter, and an escort of nineteen men.
On returning to his home at the close of the war, he, somewhat
to his surprise, found himself the most popular man in his county, and a
candidate for Probate Judge. For six years he filled this and other important
county offices, and then declining further political honors, he turned his attention
to business, dealing in real estate, merchandising, etc., and meeting with the
most gratifying success. One of the most public-spirited citizens of the community
in which he resided, he always contributed liberally, both of money and personal
efforts, to advance its business and educational interests.
On the breaking out of the rebellion, notwithstanding all his
political affiliations had been with the Democratic party, he at once became an
advocate of the most active and vigorous measures for maintaining the integrity
of the Government, and while many of his old political associates were
hesitating between their wish to preserve the Government and their reluctance
to aid an Administration to which they were politically opposed, he promptly
raised a company and tendered it to the Governor. It was accepted, and ordered
to rendezvous at Peoria; and when a regimental organization was effected, May 20th,
1861, Capt. Ross was unanimously chosen Colonel of what has since been known as
the 17th Regiment Ill. Volunteers. His services in the field since that time
are too recent and too well known to require particular mention. His regiment, while
he commanded it, was almost constantly in active service, marching very many
hundreds of miles through Missouri and Kentucky, most of the time in unsuccessful
pursuit of a retreating enemy. At the battle of Fredericktown, fought by a
brigade commanded by Col. Plummer, the rebel force having been unexpectedly
encountered in ambush while Col. Plummer was some distance in the rear, Col.
Ross was in command of the forces, and had made his disposition of the troops
with such skill and rapidity, and attacked the rebels with such vigor, that the
battle was virtually over before Col. Plummer appeared upon the field. During
this engagement, Col. Ross had his horse shot under him. The troops engaged in
this affair moved from Cape Girardeau on the 18th of October, and returned on
the 25th, marching over 160 miles, and winning the first of the brilliant
series of victories that crowned our arms in that fall campaign. During a
portion of the winter, Col. Ross commanded the post at Cape Girardeau. His regiment
was ordered up the Tennessee river in February, while he was called home by
heavy domestic afflictions, and he joined it only in time to participate in the
last day’s fighting at Fort Donelson.
In April, 1862, Col. Ross was promoted to Brigadier General,
having been in command of a brigade since the capture of Fort Donelson. After
the evacuation of Corinth, he was assigned to the command of a division, and stationed
at Bolivar, Tenn., which he has surrounded with a cordon of fortifications,
erected by negro labor, that renders it impregnable; while the firm and
vigorous policy he has pursued has secured the entire loyalty, “voluntarily or
otherwise,” of the population for many miles around.
SOURCE: James Grant Wilson, Biographical Sketches of Illinois Officers Engaged In the War Against the
Rebellion of 1861, p. 108-10
Adam C. Rarick
ADAM C. RARICK, a successful and enterprising farmer and
stock-raiser, is a native of Darke County, Ohio, born July 5, 1841. At the age
of eleven years he was taken by his parents, Philip and Sarah (Chenoweth)
Rarick, to Jay County, Indiana, where the mother died in 1862. The father still
makes his home in Jay County, being now about seventy-eight years of age. Adam C. Rarick remained in Jay County till
attaining the age of nineteen years, when, in 1860, he came to Clarke County,
Iowa. He received but a limited education in the district schools, but by
private study he secured a fair education, and the first winter spent in Clarke
County, he was engaged in teaching school.
In July, 1861, he enlisted in defense of the union, in Company F, Sixth
Iowa Infantry, serving till the close of the war. He participated in the
battles of Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Jackson, Chattanooga, and Atlanta, and
was with Sherman on his march to the sea. He was honorably discharged at
Louisville, Kentucky, July 7, 1865, being mustered out at Davenport, Iowa. He
then returned to Clarke County, and has since been successfully engaged in
agricultural pursuits. He was married in
the fall of 1866, to Miss Lizzie Adkins, daughter of Wyatt Adkins, an old
resident of Clarke County. Of the seven children born to this union, four are
living – Wyatt W., Earley E., Chester C. and Jesse J. In 1875 Mr. Rarick removed to his present
farm, where he has 340 acres located on sections 17 and 18, of Ward Township,
his land being all well improved. He is an enterprising citizen and is classed
among the self-made men of Clarke County, he having begun life here without
means, but by his persevering industry and good management has prospered in all
his undertakings. He is a successful stock-raiser, and has at present on his
farm 120 head of high-grade short-horn cattle. He lost a fine barn by fire in
July, 1883, which has since been replaced by a more substantial and commodious
one. Mr. Rarick has served two terms as
assessor, and was clerk of his township for four years. He has also served on
the School board. He is a member of the Knights of Pythias.
SOURCE: Biographical and Historical Record of Clarke
County, Iowa, Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago, Illinois, 1886 p. 397-8
Diary of Alexander G. Downing: Friday, December 20, 1861
We finished cleaning our clothing and accouterments and
spent the rest of the day in cleaning up our camp and parade ground, besides
bringing in firewood from the timber near by. When we got back we found the
Thirteenth Iowa here in camp, having arrived on the11th day of the month,
during our absence.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B.,
Clark, Downing’s Civil War Diary, p. 25
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