Iowa Items

A child of Mr. John Loveless, of Marion county, was burned to death on the 31st ult. The mother went to a neighbor’s house a short distance off, leaving her two children at home. The eldest child, it is supposed, caught fire in its clothes, and started to where its mother had gone, and was found lying near the road with its clothes consumed and its body burned to a crisp.

Mr. George W. P. Bowman, writing to the McGregor Times, advocates the building of a horse railroad from McGregor westward. He estimates the cost at $5,000 a mile, including station-houses, one car to the mile, wells, &c., all ready for the receipt of freight. He estimates the annual expence [sic] on a road of 100 miles at $10,000, besides interest at 7 per cent on original cost, amounting to $35,000; and receipts on a freight business of 4,000,000 bushels of grain, and smaller items, exclusive of passengers, at $110,000. There is matter for serious consideration in his suggestion.

In the recent city election at Lyons there was a tie, on the Mayor. The same occurrence happened at Anamosa.

Nelson Sutherland, who murdered John Sparks, in Delaware county, last November, has been sentenced to eleven years confinement in the [penitentiary]. He has been sent to Fort Madison.

John W. Borland, of Johnson county, formerly a teacher in the Normal department of the State University, died recently at his residence.

Elias Fidler of Oskaloosa, was bitten by a rabid dog in February, and died of Hydrophobia on the 7th day of this month. He lingered with the disease three days before he died. He was a German, and left a family.

Brigadier General Dodge is now in St. Louis where he is suffering more than was anticipated from the wounds he received at Pea Ridge. He will remain at St. Louis until he recuperates.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 2

Colonel William M. G. Torrence

SECOND COLONEL, THIRTIETH INFANTRY.

William M. G. Torrence, the successor of Colonel Abbott to the colonelcy of the 30th Iowa Infantry, was the eighth of the Iowa colonels who lost their lives in the service — Worthington, Baker, Mills, Dewey, Kinsman, Abbott, Hughes, and Torrence. Of those who lost their lives in battle, he was the fifth — Baker, Mills, Kinsman, Abbott, and Torrence.

Colonel Torrence was a native of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, where he was born the 1st day of September, 1823. His parents were Presbyterians, of which church he was also a member. His mother died in his early infancy, and left him to the kind care of an esteemed and most worthy sister, who reared him with almost maternal tenderness.

In early manhood, he left his native State for Kentucky, where he became a school-teacher; and in this capacity he passed several years. He was engaged in school-teaching in Kentucky, at the time war was declared against Mexico; but, like Colonel Scott of the 32d Iowa, left the school-room and volunteered. He was a first lieutenant in that war, and a member of the 1st Kentucky Mounted Volunteers, commanded by the portly, perfidious Humphrey Marshall. His cool judgment and commendable courage in action won him distinction. He was highly complimented for the part he acted at the battle of Buena Vista, being tendered a commission in the regular army of the same rank as that which he held in the volunteer service; but he declined the honor, and, at the close of the war, returned home with his regiment.

In the latter part of 1847, Lieutenant Torrence came to Iowa, and settled in Keokuk, where he resumed his former occupation, and where he made his home till the outbreak of the rebellion. During his residence in Keokuk, he was for several years City Superintendent of Public Instruction. In the spring of 1861, he enlisted a company (A) for the 1st Iowa Cavalry, and was in June commissioned major of the first battalion of that regiment. In the winter of 1861-2, he served with his battalion in Central Missouri, and had command of posts in Howard, Pettis and Cooper counties. At Silver Creek, in January 1862, he engaged and defeated the rebel Colonel Poindexter, capturing and destroying his camp and his train. While a member of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, he served with credit to himself, and was equally successful as a post-commandant, and as a leader of expeditions to hunt out and punish guerrillas. He was a terror to the Missouri bushwhackers.

On the 3d of May, 1862, for reasons unknown to me, Major Torrence resigned his commission, and returned to his home in Keokuk.

After the call of the President for additional troops in the summer of 1862, Major Torrence again volunteered, and was made lieutenant-colonel of the 30th Iowa Infantry. In October, 1862, he accompanied his regiment to the field, and was with it in all its subsequent campaigns and engagements. At Arkansas Post, where he commanded his regiment, he particularly distinguished himself; and at the memorable charge against the enemy's works at Vicksburg, where Colonel Abbott was killed, he bore himself with equal gallantry. On the 29th day of May, 1863, he was commissioned colonel of the 30th Iowa; and, from that day till the 21st of October, 1863, he remained in command of his regiment.

The history of the 30th Iowa during the colonelcy of Colonel Torrence covers the siege of Vicksburg; the march to Jackson under General Sherman after the surrender of Vicksburg, and a portion of the march from Memphis to Chattanooga. It was on the last named march that the colonel was killed.

An account of all the above operations has already been given in the sketches of other officers and regiments, and can not be repeated with interest. This however should be said in justice to the 30th Iowa: no regiment from the State surpasses it in gallant and meritorious services; and, of the Iowa troops called out in the summer of 1862, no regiment has done more fighting, and few have done as much. In the face of the enemy, it has always conducted itself with conspicuous gallantry, challenging the admiration of both its brigade and division commanders. From the time of its entering the field to the present, the 30th has served in the same division with the 4th, 9th, 25th, 26th and 31st Iowa regiments.

The services of the 30th Iowa, and of the Iowa troops before Vicksburg, were arduous and exhausting. After operations had settled down into a regular siege, the troops suffered chiefly from the intense heat in the trenches, and from the want of good water. The labor in digging the approaches, and of constructing new forts and planting artillery, was the hardest and most dreaded. The Federal camps were so securely established back behind the hills, as to render them comparatively safe from the enemy's scattering musketry, and from the ponderous missiles of their artillery. The skirmish-line was the place of chief danger; and yet, the skirmish-line was the scene of much amusement. Regiments took their regular turn on the skirmish-line, every two or three days, usually going out in the morning, and holding their posts for twenty-four hours. They were protected by old logs, fallen trees, and slight earth-works. Every man had his chosen place — in the crotch of a fallen tree, at the end of a log, behind a stump, or somewhere; and the regular day for his regiment at the front, was sure to find him there, unless he had been struck by a "Johnnie," or left sick in camp. Thousands to-day can go to the very spot where, during the siege of forty-five days, they slammed away.

A favorite amusement with many of the men, was to stick their hats on the end of their guns, and then, thrusting them just above the works, invite the "Johnnies" to "hit that." It was nothing uncommon, too, for the men to "take a game of seven-up." It is wonderful what indifference to danger men acquire from being constantly exposed to it.

The greater portion of the months of August and September, 1863, were passed by the 30th Iowa in camp on Big Black River. In the latter part of September, the regiment marched with its brigade to Vicksburg, and proceeded thence by boat to Memphis. Going by rail from Memphis to Corinth, It marched thence for Chattanooga. The 30th was attached to General Osterhaus' Division, which marched out to Tuscumbia, Alabama, to call the attention of the enemy from Sherman's real line of march. It was on that march that Colonel Torrence was killed.

He was shot by the enemy, in ambush, just beyond Cherokee Station and among the wild hills of northern Alabama. I remember the day well. It was in the afternoon of the 21st of October, and stormy and dismal. The troops of John E. Smith's Division, being only about seven miles in rear of Osterhaus', could hear the firing distinctly. That night no baggage was unloaded, and we slept in a cold, drizzling rain. We expected to be thrown to the front the next morning, and all were gloomy. But the next morning we remained in camp, and watched the ambulances that were bearing to the rear the dead and wounded of Osterhaus' Division: when the dead body of Colonel Torrence went past, there were not a few sad hearts among the Iowa troops. The Colonel was shot through the breast while at the head of his regiment, and died almost instantly.

The following, as nearly as I can learn, are the circumstances under which Colonel Torrence was killed; and General Osterhaus was severely censured by some, for the part he acted. The enemy were met just beyond Cherokee. Between the Federal and Confederate forces was an open field, bordered by dense timber; and Osterhaus' line of march was eastward in the direction of Tuscumbia. Forming his line, he advanced across the field, when the enemy fell back into the woods, in their rear. Colonel J. A. Williamson, in command of the brigade to which the 30th Iowa was attached, on arriving at the edge of the timber, left his command in line, and rode forward to reconnoitre. On returning, he met Colonel Torrence advancing with his regiment by the flank, and said to him: "How is this, Colonel? you are not obeying orders." Colonel Torrence, lifting his hat, and in his bland, gentlemanly way, replied: "I am acting under the orders of General Osterhaus." Colonel Williamson then rode back to the balance of his command, but had hardly re-joined it, when a volley of musketry was heard down the road.

Colonel Torrence had discovered the enemy only an instant before they fired, and was just deploying his regiment in line. He was shot through the breast, and, as I have before said, fell from his horse, and died almost instantly.

In the skirmish near Cherokee, (for so it was called) the loss of the 30th Iowa was twenty-seven in killed, wounded and missing. Captain William H. Randall was among the killed. He was a native of Indiana, and a resident of Birmingham, Van Buren county. Brave, modest and unassuming, he was deservedly one of the most popular officers of his regiment.

If I ever saw Colonel Torrence, I did not know him; but I am told he was a tall, slender man, with agreeable manners and affable address. At the time of his death, his head was heavily sprinkled with gray. He was a good scholar, and, judging from his official papers, a man of good taste and judgment. He was a Christian gentleman, and, as a citizen, held in the highest esteem.

The following is an extract from his last communication sent to the adjutant-general of Iowa:


"Head-quarters 30th Regiment Iowa Volunteers,
Iuka, Mississippi, October 13th, 1863.

"N. B. BAKER, Adjutant-General of Iowa:

"Accompanying this, you will receive two flags, worn out in the service. They were carried by the 30th Iowa during their marches a distance of five thousand seven hundred miles, between October 26th, 1862, and October 10th, 1863."


Quite in contrast is the following extract from the report of an Iowa officer, whose name I will not give.

"Exposed to every danger, they were ever conspicuous for their cool, daring courage, and the ardor of their souls, blended with pure love for their country, beamed from their countenances, and hung about them, ' Like the bright Iris, o'er the boiling surge.'"

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 461-6

Colonel Charles Henry Abbott

FIRST COLONEL, THIRTIETH INFANTRY.

The late Charles H. Abbott of the 30th Iowa Infantry was born in Concord, New Hampshire, on the 25th day of January, 1819. His ancestors were Puritans. His grand-father of the sixth generation was George Abbott, who, coming from Yorkshire, England, settled in Andover, Massachusetts, in the year 1643. Of that patriarch's grand-children, numbering seventy-three, thirty settled in Andover. The others wandered through New England and the Middle Colonies, where they made themselves homes. The family is one of the oldest in the country, and also one of the most numerous and widespread. Nathaniel Abbott, the colonel's great-grand-father, was a captain in the Provincial Army, and served through the French and Indian wars. His grand-father, Joshua Abbott, was a captain under Warren, and commanded a company at Bunker Hill; and his father, also christened Joshua, a Congregational minister. The latter died at Norfolk, Virginia, in about the year 1828. The Rev. John S. C. Abbott, the celebrated author and historian, is a cousin of the late colonel, as is also Jacob Abbott, an author of some note.

The subject of this memoir, who was the youngest of eight children, left New England at the age of sixteen for New York, whence, after a few months' residence, he removed to Michigan. In 1850 he left Detroit, and, coming to Iowa, settled in Louisa county. Later he removed to Muscatine. His business in Iowa was that of a farmer, land-agent and banker. In 1853 he married Miss Julia Beach, an accomplished lady and a daughter of the Rev. John Beach of Michigan. Two little boys remain to her as her only hope.

Colonel Abbott entered the service in the summer of 1862, as colonel of the 30th Iowa, and commanded his regiment in the battle of Chickasaw Bayou, and in the charge against the enemy's works at Vicksburg, on the 22d of May, 1863. In the last named engagement he was killed, while leading his regiment. Of the Iowa colonels, he was the third to fall dead or mortally wounded in battle.

The operations of the 30th Iowa, while under the command of Colonel Abbott, will be found substantially recorded in the sketches of Brigadier-General, then Colonel Williamson, of the 4th, and Colonel Milo Smith, of the 26th Iowa regiments. The 30th Iowa was not engaged at Chickasaw Bayou, though it had four men wounded, while lying under the enemy's guns, on the third day of the battle — one corporal and three enlisted men.

At Arkansas Post, the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Torrence, Colonel Abbott being sick. In this action, it was under fire for about three hours. It engaged the enemy from behind their works on the left, and, lying down, kept up an incessant fire, till the white flag was hoisted. The regiment suffered quite severely in killed and wounded: five were killed, and thirty-nine wounded. Among the wounded were Captains R. D. Cramer and Uley Burk; Lieutenants H. L. Creighton and W. L. Alexander; Sergeant-Major Clendening, and Sergeants York, Detwiler and Gregg. The following is from Lieutenant-Colonel Torrence's report:

"There is nothing further which I deem it my duty to mention, save that both officers and men generally acted well for new troops. I might mention to you with great propriety a few instances of cool and commendable courage, displayed by some of the men, they having fallen under my immediate notice during the action; but I forbear mentioning any save one, and that is the case of James M. Smith, a private of Company C, a single young man, not yet arrived at his majority. * * * His conduct on the battle-field, in the late engagement, was such as to secure implicit confidence in his courage and ability." The night following the engagement was one of great fatigue to the 30th Iowa; for it was detailed to guard prisoners, and to escort them inside the fort, and was not relieved till after midnight. The "Deer Creek raid" follows next in the history of the regiment, an account of which is elsewhere given; and next, the march to the rear of Vicksburg and the environment of that city. In this march, the regiment was attached to the 15th Army Corps — Sherman's — and marched by way of Grand Gulf to Jackson, and thence to the rear of Vicksburg. General Sherman's account of the advance from Jackson will be read with interest. The 30th Iowa, it should be remembered, was attached to Steele's Division.

"On the morning of the 16th, [May] I received a note from General Grant, written at Clinton, reporting the enemy advancing from Edward's Depot, and ordering me to put in motion one of my divisions toward Bolton, and to follow with the others as soon as I had completed the work of destruction ordered.

"Steele's Division marched at ten A. M., and Tuttle's followed at noon. As the march would necessarily be rapid, I ordered General Mower to parole the prisoners of war, and to evacuate Jackson as the rear of Tuttle's division passed out. I paroled these prisoners because the wounded men of McPherson's Corps had been left in a hospital in charge of Surgeon Hewitt, to the mercy of the enemy, who I knew would re-enter Jackson as soon as we left. The whole corps marched from Jackson to Bolton, nearly twenty miles, that day; and the next morning resumed the march by a road lying to the north of Baker's Creek, reaching Bridgeport, on the Big Black, at noon. There I found Blair's Division (which, with one of McClernand's Divisions, and a wagon-train had been left near New Auburn) and the pontoon-train. The enemy had a small picket on the west bank in a rifle-pit, commanding the crossing; but, on exploding a few shells over the pit, they came out and surrendered — a lieutenant and ten men. The pontoon bridge was laid across under the direction of Captain Freeman, and Blair's and Steele's Divisions passed over that night. Tuttle's followed the next morning. Starting with the break of day, we pushed on rapidly and by nine and one-half A. M. of May 18th the head of the column reached the Benton road; and we commanded the Yazoo, interposing a superior force between the enemy at Vicksburg and his forts on the Yazoo. Resting a sufficient time to enable the column to close up, we pushed forward to the point where the road forks, and sending forward on each road — the 13th Regulars to the right, and the 8th Missouri to the left, with a battery at the forks, I awaited General Grant's arrival."

From this point, Sherman, by Grant's order, gained a position in front of the enemy's works north of Vicksburg. Steele's Division led the advance, and, by a blind road on the right, winding through rugged, precipitous hills, came up squarely to the Mississippi above the city. This happened on the morning of the 19th instant; and that morning a cheering sight greeted the eyes of the soldiers, who, for two weeks, or more, had been shut completely out from God's country. In plain view were the old camping-grounds at Young's Point; and, only five or six miles away, the Union fleet loaded down to the guards with government rations. Looking southward, the sight was less cheering. "Vicksburg was in plain view, and nothing separated us from the enemy but a space of about four hundred yards of very difficult ground, cut up by almost impassable ravines, and his line of intrenchments."

Without that line of intrenchments, bristling with hostile bayonets, and defended by artillery, with black, gaping mouths staring madly at you through embrasures, the sight would have been magnificent; for the dome of the court-house and the tall spires of wealthy churches looked up through the waving branches of luxuriant shade-trees, which dotted the hills and hill-slopes in all parts of the city. Splendid private residences, too, adorned with all the taste of modern art, reflected their beauty in the morning and evening sun.

The first charge against the enemy's works was made on the 19th of May, the day concerning which I have just now spoken. General Grant's reasons for making this charge, and the results which followed, he gives as follows:

"I was not without hope of carrying the enemy's works, relying upon their demoralization, in consequence of repeated defeats outside of Vicksburg; and I ordered a general assault at 2 P. M. on this day. The 15th Army Corps, from having arrived in front of the enemy's works in time on the 18th to get a good position, were enabled to make a vigorous assault. The 13th and 17th Corps succeeded no further than to gain advanced positions, covered from the fire of the enemy."

Neither this charge, nor the one made three days later, was successful; and is it strange? It is rather wonderful that every man who joined in these assaults was not left, either dead or wounded, under the guns of the enemy.

The character of the country for miles around Vicksburg is hilly and broken; and the nearer you approach the city the wilder and more impracticable it becomes. The hills lie, as a general thing, I believe, in great parallel, semi-circular ridges, with Vicksburg as the centre; but they lap each other, and shoot out spurs in every direction, thus forming deep, winding ravines, which were filled, as a general thing, with underbrush, and standing and fallen timber. The works around Vicksburg were constructed by the best engineers the Confederacy could boast; and not a ravine was there which approached these works that was not swept by artillery and enfiladed by musketry. The hill-sides were precipitous, and in many places obstructed: these were also swept by a front and enfilading fire. None who know the ground will say that I have drawn too strong a picture.

Grant failed to carry the enemy's works on the 19th instant. The following are his reasons for attempting it on the 22d.:

"I believed an assault from the position at this time gained could be made successfully. It was known that Johnson was at Clinton with the force taken by him from Jackson, reinforced by other troops from the east, and that more were daily reaching him. With the force I had, a short time must have enabled him to attack me in the rear, and possibly succeed in raising the siege. Possession of Vicksburg at that time would have enabled me to turn upon Johnson, and drive him from the State, and possess myself of the railroads and practicable military highways, thus effectually securing to ourselves all territory west of the Tombigbee; and this, before the season was too far advanced for campaigning in this latitude. I would have saved the government sending large reinforcements, much needed elsewhere; and finally, the troops themselves were impatient to possess Vicksburg, and would not have worked in the trenches with the same zeal, believing it unnecessary, that they did after their failure to carry the enemy's works."

There was one other reason, I believe, which influenced General Grant in making the assault, of which from some cause he does not speak. Valorous Falstaffs at the North, some of them wearing civic honors and others at the head of influential public presses, had long croaked of indecision and inactivity. Such (and they were legion) could not be appeased, except by blood; but even now he had not closed their twaddling lips; for they prated of the "useless sacrifice." Now that he wears triumphal honors, they fawn about him like so many worthless curs; but I know he spurns them with contempt.

Twice it has been my fortune, myself removed from danger, to witness the fierce conflict of two contending armies. Once, standing on a high hill on the north bank of the Tennessee, I saw the veterans of Howard assail the enemy and drive them from their works on Orchard Knoll, back of Chattanooga. I also had previously witnessed the bloody and unsuccessful charge of the 22d of May, at Vicksburg: that was the grandest and most terrible sight I ever looked on. The high ground east of Fort Hill and near the White House was the standpoint; and I can now recall the whole scene, as though it had passed but yesterday. Here was Grant's look-out, and, near him, were McPherson and Logan. Sherman was already advancing on the right; and soon McClernand was boasting that he had captured three forts, and was master of his position. I heard a lieutenant-colonel announce this to Logan, when that general yelled with an oath to the new brigadier, Leggett, "to move at once on the enemy's works in his front, or he would arrest him."

All this time, and for more than an hour previous, above an hundred pieces of artillery had been booming, and throwing their ponderous projectiles into and above the enemy's works. Porter, during the same time, was tossing his big mortar shells into the doomed city. Huge volumes of smoke in front, and on the right and left, were rising lazily in the air, revealing the most interesting and anxious part of the scene — the infantry. There they were — some winding their long lengths through the deep ravines, to gain their designated positions, and others, further on, deployed on the hill-sides, and, with their bodies thrown forward, working their way up toward the enemy's works. So intent was I in watching those in front that I did not observe others. These, soon arriving near the summit of the hill across which stretched the enemy's works, raised the battle-cry, and dashed forward. I began to hope there was no enemy to oppose them, or that they would not fire; but at that very instant, the smoke from at least two thousand muskets leaped down in their very faces. Horrors! It seemed as though three-fourths of them fell. The line did not waver: the men were butchered; for I saw only a few run hurriedly back down the hill. By reports afterward made, however, the casualties could not have been as large as I suppose: many of the men, while enveloped in the smoke, must have sought and found cover.

The 30th Iowa was under Steele, away on the extreme right, and beyond my observation; but it joined in the same general charge, a portion of which I have given. Among the many gallant men who fell that day, on the slopes and ridges that encircle Vicksburg, was the lamented Colonel Charles H. Abbott. He was struck in the chin by a musket-ball, which, passing through his throat, came out at the back of his neck. He fell instantly and was carried from the field. His last words were words of cheer to his men. He never spoke after he was shot, and lived only about three hours. He died and was buried near the spot where he fell; and the valley beneath whose turf he was temporarily laid was designated by General Sherman as "Abbott's Valley." His body was afterward removed to Muscatine and buried on the banks of the majestic Mississippi. Iowa, "the land of flowers," and the State he loved so well is the shrine of his mortal remains. Brave, good man! he lived worthily and died nobly; and his name stands among the first on the State's Roll of Honor.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 453-60

First Session -- 37th Congress

WASHINGTON, April 18. – HOUSE – Mr. ALDRICH reported a bill providing for the examination of claims for Indian depredations in New Mexico.

The House went into committee of the whole on the Pacific Railroad bill.

Mr. SHEFFIELD opposed the bill.

The committee rose, and the further consideration of the bill was postponed till Monday week. Several private bills were passed.

Adjourned till Monday.


WASHINGTON, April 21. – HOUSE – Mr. EDWARDS introduced a bill making appropriation for destitute widows and heirs of volunteers who have died, been killed, or may be killed in the service. Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Mr. ELLIOTT offered a motion that the Secretary of the Treasury be requested to communicate a statement of expenditures of money in the Department of the West.

Mr. BLAKE offered a motion that the Secretary of War be directed to cause the necessary blank forms to be distributed among the sick and wounded soldiers and their relatives, in order that they may obtain the back pay and bounty due to said soldiers.

Mr. COX, of Ohio, submitted the following: Resolved, that the Secretary of War inform the House of the following facts. 1st. What has delayed the reply to the resolution of this House calling for information as to the age, sex, condition, &c., of the Africans moved in Gen. Wool’s Department, and what number of slaves has been brought into this district by the army officers or other agents of the Government from the State of Virginia since the enemy abandoned the possession of Manassas and their lines on the Potomac. 3d. What number of fugitives from Maryland and Virginia are now in the city of Washington, their sex, and probable ages; what number is now and has been sent to Frederick, Maryland. 5th. How many are now fed and supported by the United States; by what authority were both old and young, male and female, sent by rail to Philadelphia, and at whose expense, and the proposes for which they were sent. If the Secretary has not the means to answer the enquiries to take the necessary steps to obtain the information.

On motion of Mr. LOVEJOY the resolution was tabled by a vote of 65 against 31. The Republicans generally voting in the affirmative.

On motion of Mr. PORTER, a resolution was adopted instructing the Committee on Invalid Pensions to report a bill providing pensions for disable soldiers of the present war.

The House reconsidered the vote by which the resolution was today adopted calling for the expenditures of the Western Department, and then rejected it.

Mr. DIVIN’S resolution requesting the Attorney General to bring suit against Gen. Fremont and Mr. [Bard] to recover money obtained on the order of Fremont, was taken up.

Mr. DIVEN continued The extravagance of the expenditures in the St. Louis fortifications; the money having been drawn without any form of law.

Mr. COLFAX disapproved of the St. Louis contracts, but the circumstances under which they were undertaken offered an extenuation for them. Why did gentlemen wait until General Fremont was in the face of the enemy before their [malignity] pursued him – why not wait until the end of the war instead of so acting as to cause him to lose the confidence of his army in front of the foe.

Mr. BLAIR replied to Mr. Colfax, that St. Louis never was in danger excepting from Gen. Fremont who brought there a gang of Californians to the prejudice of the good name of the people of Missouri. He was partly influential in placing Gen. Fremont in command in the west, but he had suffered for it and he hoped he would be pardoned.


SENATE. – The President pro. tem. presented petitions in favor of the bankrupt law; also in favor of a ship canal from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.

Mr. LANE, of Indiana, presented a petition from the free colored [citizens] of the Untied States, praying for setting aside portions of the territory outside of the National lines, for their colonization and maintenance in Central America.

The memorial was respectful and deserving of the attention of Congress. He desired it should be read and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, which was agreed to.

Mr. LANE said while he did not believe that free colored people where entitled to all the rights or privileges of white citizens of the U. S., nevertheless favored their just right to petition, a right awarded even among the most despotic Governments of Europe. It was evident that slaves were freed, and by our armies. – Something must be done with them and emancipation, an apprenticeship or other measures adopted for them. It is not in accordance with the genius of our institutions, that these people should be returned to slavery. He alluded to the great bloodless and moral triumph of freedom in the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia, as fully equal to the armies by the chivalric and brave sons of the west.

Messrs. HOWE and HOWARD presented memorials from the citizens of Wisconsin and Michigan praying for a ship canal from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi river.

Mr. DOOLITTLE presented a joint resolution from the Wisconsin Legislature, tendering to the President of the United States an approval of his course. He said these resolutions passed almost unanimously.

The resolutions were received, and the House resolution for supplying the Smithsonian Institute with a copy of Wilkes’ expedition was taken up.

Mr. HALE supposed they would pass the resolution and have the books sent to the Smithsonian Institute, as the two most gigantic humbugs ought to go together.

Mr. DOOLITTLE spoke in favor of the resolution in regard to Brig. Gen. Stone.

Mr. WADE replied to him.

Mr. POWELL offered a resolution calling on the Secretary of State for the names of all persons residents of the State of Kentucky who have been arrested by his order and confined in forts and camps as prisoners since the first of September, also the number and age of those who has been released, and the number, name and ages of those retained.

Mr. SUMNER objected and the resolution lies over under the rule.

The resolution calling for information in relation to the arrest of Brig. Gen. Stone was then taken up.


WASHINGTON, April 21 – SENATE. – The debate continued at great length, when Mr. McDOUGAL accepted Mr. WILSON’S resolution in place of his own, calling on the President, if not incompatible with the public interest, for all the information relative to the arrest and imprisonment of Brig. Gen. Stone, which then passed.

The confiscation bill was then taken up.

Mr. DAVIS obtained the floor.

Executive session – adjourned.


HOUSE – Mr. DIVIN’S resolution was tabled.

The resolution of Mr. ALDRICH instruction the Judiciary Committee to report back the bill for the trial and punishment of military officers charged with swindling, was passed.

Adjourned.


WASHINGTON, April 22 – SENATE. – Several petitions for emancipation and bankrupt law were presented.

Mr. CLARK, from the Select Committee on the case of Senator Stark of Oregon, made a report, but whether adverse or not was not stated. Ordered to be printed.

Mr. ANTHONY presented a resolution calling on the President for copies of all orders of the commanding general’s instructions, &c., given to Gen. Sherman, lately commanding the S. C. Department. Mr. Anthony said the credit of Fort Pulaski belonged to Gen. Sherman, and he believed that the correspondence could or would show that he had discharged all the duties required of him. If Savannah had not been taken it was because he had acted in accordance with [orders]. He didn’t desire to deprive the North of anything.

The bill for the establishment of the department of Agriculture was taken up and the substitute of Mr. Wright for the bill was rejected.

Mr. FOOTE moved to amend the bill by a substituted providing for a statistical and agricultural Bureau.

Pending a vote the bill to confiscate the property and free the slaves of rebels was taken up.

Mr. DAWES objected.


HOUSE. – Mr. McPHERSON presented a petition in favor of the establishment of a Professorship of German in the West Point military Academy on the ground of the value of the study and its practical utility, in view of the number of Germans in the army and the richness of German literature in military science.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 4

Brevet Brigadier-General T. H. Benton

COLONEL, TWENTY-NINTH INFANTRY.

Thomas Hart Benton, Jr., is a nephew of the celebrated American statesman and author, whose name, at his uncle's own request, he bears. He is a native of Tennessee, and was born in Williamson county of that State, on the 5th day of September, 1816. His father, Samuel Benton, was quite a noted man. In 1817, the year after his son Thomas' birth, he left Tennessee for Missouri; and settled in St. Louis. In 1822, he returned to Tennessee, and settled in Shelby county, near the present city of Memphis, which was then a mere village. In 1835, he left the States, and emigrated to Texas, which was at that time an independent Republic. During his residence there, he served one term in the Texan Congress. He died in 1846. Young Benton accompanied his father in all his migrations.

Colonel Benton's education is academic, and was acquired at the Huntington Academy, Tennessee. His collegiate course was brief: he passed only a portion of the year 1835 at Marion College, Missouri. In 1839, he came to Iowa, and located in Dubuque, where he lived till 1854. During his residence in Dubuque, he was first teacher, and then merchant. In 1846, he went to the State Senate from the Dubuque District, and served in Iowa's first General Assembly. He was elected, in 1848, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and, at the close of his three-years' term, was re-elected for a like term. The nomination for the same position was again tendered him; but he declined it, and the same year removed to Council Bluffs, his present home.

It would seem that Iowa had but one scholar; for, in 1858, Colonel Benton was elected Secretary of the Board of Education, under the new State Constitution. This office he held for the two subsequent terms, and was its incumbent at the time of entering the service. On the 10th of August, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the 29th Iowa Infantry; and, on the 1st of the following December, mustered into the United States service. For gallant conduct in the different campaigns in which he joined in Arkansas, Colonel Benton, in the spring of 1865, was made brevet brigadier-general.

The history of the 29th is nearly the same as are those of the 33d and 36th Iowa regiments. In the latter part of December, when the enemy were threatening Columbus and other points on the Mississippi, Colonel Benton was ordered with his regiment from Benton Barracks to Columbus. No attack was made, and in a few days he sailed down the river to Helena, Arkansas. In January, 1863, he accompanied General Gorman on the White River Expedition—one in which the troops were subjected to great fatigue and exposures, but which, it is said, was fruitless, on account of the non-co-operation of the fleet. After his return from this expedition, he remained at Helena till the latter part of February, when he joined the Yazoo Pass Expedition, under General Ross. In the early part of April, General Ross, under orders from General Grant, returned with his command to Helena, where Colonel Benton remained with his regiment during the following Summer, and took part in the brilliant engagement of the 4th of July. This was a contest for the great gala day of the nation, and will ever have a prominent place in the history of our civil war. The following extract I take from Colonel Benton's official report:

"My men were under a severe fire for more than five hours, and it affords me the greatest pleasure to speak of both officers and men in terms of the highest commendation, for their coolness and courage during the entire action. I saw no flinching or wavering during the day. It is proper to add that several of my officers and men, who were excused from duty in consequence of physical disability, left their quarters and joined their respective companies, when the signal gun was fired.

"I would not do justice to an accomplished officer, should I fail to acknowledge the efficient services of Lieutenant-Colonel R. F. Patterson, during the action; and the special obligations I am under for the thorough instruction previously given by him to both officers and men, in the responsible duties and obligations of the soldier."

The loss of the 29th Iowa at Helena was seven killed and twenty-four wounded. Two of the latter were hurt mortally, and died soon after.

Early in August, 1863, the 29th Iowa joined the Arkansas or Little Rock Expedition, under General Steele, and was present at the capture of Little Rock. On the Little Rock march, Colonel Benton was in command of a brigade, composed of the 29th and 33d Iowa and the 28th Wisconsin regiments.

After passing the fall of 1863 and the following Winter, at Little Rock, the 29th Iowa, under its colonel, joined General Steele on the Camden march, and on this campaign saw its hardest service, and made the most interesting portion of its history. The object of the campaign has been already given. Had it been successful, it would have relieved the entire State of Arkansas from Confederate rule. In the expedition, the 29th Iowa marched two hundred and fifty miles, and lost in action one hundred and forty-two officers and men.

General Steele left Little Rock on this celebrated march on the 23d of March, 1864. General Banks in his course up the Red River was already approaching Natchitoches. The destination of both armies was Shreveport. Passing through Benton, Rockport, and Arkadelphia on the Washita River, and thence south-west across the Little Missouri, Steele arrived on the 10th of the following April, at Prairie de Anne — one of the prettiest little spots in wild Arkansas, or the whole "Sunny South." At Prairie de Anne, as already stated, he learned the probable fate of his expedition. There he learned of Banks' defeat; and, with Banks defeated and driven back, he, with his small army, could not hope for success, against the combined rebel forces. General Steele then pushed for Camden, which he reached on the 15th instant.

In this expedition, the enemy was first met on the tenth day's march, and near Terra Noir Creek, some four miles south of where General Steele had camped the night before. On the morning of the 2d of April, the day in question, Colonel Benton, with his regiment and two pieces of artillery, was assigned the perilous position of rear-guard to the supply- and transportation-train, consisting of about four hundred and fifty wagons. The day before the enemy's scouts had been frequently seen; and it was known that the rebel General Shelby, with ten thousand cavalry, was in the neighborhood. Steele's main force, and a large portion of the train had already crossed the creek, when Shelby first made his appearance. Colonel Benton, having himself disposed his forces, was barely in time to anticipate the dash of the gallant rascal, who, believing the entire train at his mercy, came on with the greatest celerity. Finding himself foiled, Shelby, after a spirited little contest, retired, and Colonel Benton, resuming the march, hurried up to the train. But after crossing the creek, he was again attacked by the enemy's skirmishers, who, from this point to three miles south of the creek, continued to harass his rear. Having now reached a commanding ridge, Colonel Benton halted his command in line of battle, and engaged the enemy for over an hour, and until he was reinforced by the 50th Indiana, brought back by General S. A. Rice.

The history of that entire day's march is but a repetition of the above, with the exception that the forces engaged on both sides were being constantly reinforced. Late in the afternoon and near where General Steele had left the Washington road, Shelby was joined by Cabell, and Colonel Benton by the 9th Wisconsin Infantry. Here another engagement followed, when the enemy, being again repulsed, retired for the night. On the morning of the 4th of April, the battle of Elkin's Ford, on the Little Missouri River, was fought. Colonel Benton, although under fire with his regiment, was not engaged. The march through Prairie de Anne was attended by a series of skirmishes and engagements; though none of them were bitterly contested. Jenkin's Ferry on the Saline River was the great battle of the campaign, and there Colonel Benton and his regiment most distinguished themselves.

Steele occupied Camden from the evening of the 15th to the night of the 26th of April, and then left on the return to Little Rock. During all this time, the enemy had been devising plans for his capture. Before he left they had sufficient forces to attack and defeat him at Camden, but this they did not do; for their object was the capture of his army; and so confident were they of the success of their plans that, a rebel officer offered to wager large sums of money that General Steele would not see Little Rock, except as a prisoner of war. Had the rebel General Maxey, with his five thousand men, been purposely less vigilant in watching Steele at Camden, their schemes might have ripened into success; for Steele might have maintained himself by foraging several days longer, but this Maxey would not allow: he would pounce on every foraging party sent out, thus compelling Steele to rely on his supply-trains from Pine Bluff. When the last train sent back was captured with its escort, he, of course, could do nothing but retire. The last Federal troops left Camden just before mid-night of the 26th of April, taking the road via Princeton and Jenkin's Ferry.

On the evening of the 28th of April, the retreating army encamped at Princeton, sixteen miles south of the ferry. The march was resumed early on the following morning, and proceeded unmolested till some ten miles out from camp, when, in the midst of a most terrific thunder-storm, the rear-guard was opened on by the enemy's artillery. Price and Kirby Smith had come up by forced marches, having crossed the Washita some twenty-five miles below Camden; and from this point, till Steele's advance reached the ferry, they continued to harass his rear. A pontoon-bridge had to be constructed, which, with the swollen waters of the river and the black darkness of the night, was well-nigh impracticable. There were also other difficulties to overcome, but these will be mentioned elsewhere.

With all these obstacles to overcome, only the artillery and Carr's Division of Cavalry were able to reach the north bank of the Saline before day-light broke. It would have been impossible, had there been more time, to cross the train; for the wagons were all sunk to their axles in miry quick-sands. The whole bottom was a vast mud-bed, and nearly the entire train and stores had to be burned. How the artillery was crossed I can not understand. In the meantime the enemy had made their dispositions, and were advancing to the attack. Carr was at once dispatched with his cavalry to Little Rock, while the infantry halted to fight the battle of Saline River. I should state that a portion of the infantry was sent over the river to guard the artillery. Only about five thousand were left on the south bank.

The battle opened at day-light and on the part of the enemy with artillery. His force was not less than ten thousand — two rebels to one Federal, and the Federals had no artillery. Further particulars of this engagement will be found in the sketch of the late gallant General Rice, who was in command of our forces, and who received a wound, from the effects of which he died not long after.

The 29th Iowa held the right of the line of battle, and half-knee deep in mud and water fought with the most determined bravery from the beginning to the end of the engagement. The gallant charge, which captured the enemy's artillery (the only artillery on the ground) was made by this regiment in connection with the 2d Kansas (colored). One hundred and eight in killed and wounded was the list of casualties of this noble regiment. The colonel escaped uninjured, though his horse was shot dead under him.

Returning to Little Rock with the balance of the forces, the 29th Iowa went into camp where it remained for nearly a year. In February, 1865, it was ordered to New Orleans, where it was attached to the forces of General Canby. Its last services were, in aiding to reduce the strong forts that defended Mobile. The particular part that it acted, I have been unable to learn.

Colonel Benton received his commission as brevet brigadier-general, while stationed with his command at Mobile Point, Alabama, and just before the forces marched from that place, against Spanish Fort. The rank is only complimentary: in justice, his commission should have made him a full brigadier.

General Benton is six feet in hight, and has a well-formed person. He has dark brown hair, a light complexion, and mild, blue eyes. He lacks the dignity and majesty that characterized his late distinguished uncle. Like his uncle, however, he has large self-esteem, and full confidence in his ability. If he wants any thing, he asks for it directly, and not through another; and, if he has done any thing, he does not affect modesty and refuse to let it be known.

In religion, General Benton is a Methodist, and in politics, an ardent Republican. He was formerly a Democrat, but left that party in 1860.

His military record is not a glaring one: indeed, there have been few brilliant ones made in the department where he has chiefly served. But no officer in the army has a more honorable record than he. Great confidence has always been placed in him by his superior officers. After General Steele had lost a great portion of his train near Camden, his chief hope of relief was in the safe escort of a provision-train of one hundred and ninety wagons, forty miles out on the Pine Bluff road, and in charge of a few convalescents, under Colonel Mackey, of the 33d Iowa. The responsible and dangerous duty of bringing this train through in safety was assigned to Colonel Benton, with a force consisting of only two regiments of infantry, four pieces of artillery, and a small squadron of cavalry.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 445-52

First Session – 37th Congress

WASHINGTON, April 22. – HOUSE – On motion of Mr. MORRILL, of Vermont, it was resolved that the President should be requested to strike from the rolls, the name of any army officer has been known to be habitually intoxicated by the use of spirituous liquors, while in the service.

Mr. MORRILL stated that he had been assured that the commanding General who failed to reinforce the two Vermont companies who suffered severely at Yorktown, was drunk and had fallen off his horse into the mud.

Mr. Morrill was asked for, but declined to give the name of the General.

An unsuccessful effort was made to lay the fifteen or sixteen confiscation bills on the table, but the motion to do so was lost , by yeas 39, nays 60.

Mr. BINGHAM’S substitute, providing for the capture and condemnation of the enemy’s property, and to indemnify the United States for expenses incurred in the suppression of the rebellion was agreed to, 62 against 48, and the House adjourned.


SENATE – Mr. DAVIS spoke two and a half hours against the bill without concluding, when there was an Executive session, and then Senate adjourned.

The select committee to whom was referred the question of the loyalty of Senator Starke [sic], of Oregon, reported, to-day, that he is disloyal to the Government of the United States, having found that for many months prior to November he was an ardent advocate of the rebellion, and after the formation of the Rebel constitution, openly declared his admiration for it, and warmly avowed his sympathy with the rebel cause.

It subsequently appeared that the committee found that Senator Starke is disloyal to the government of the United States.

A caucus of the Republicans in Congress is called for to-morrow night.


WASHINGTON, April 23 – SENATE – Mr. TRUMBULL presented a petition from W. C. Jewett for a defensive stand still policy at Yorktown to secure a reserve force of 250,000 men.

Mr. TRUMBULL from the Judiciary Committee reported a resolution in relation to the pay of the first Senators and Representatives from the State of Minnesota, which was passed.

Mr. HALE offered a resolution that the Military Committee inquire if any General in the army before Yorktown had exhibited himself drunk in the face of the enemy, and if any measures had been taken for the trial and punishment of such officer.

Mr. SUMNER suggested the subject be referred to the Committee on the Conduct of the War.

Mr. HALE referred to the statement of Mr. Morrill in the House yesterday, and stated that he thought it high time some notice should be taken of these things. If officers thus leave brave men to be slaughtered like beasts, no punishment is too great for them.

Mr. FOSTER said the Senate had not taken high ground enough. The Senate should never have confirmed men known to be intemperate. It becomes us to weed our garden first and correct our laxity and he was pained to say criminality in this respect.

Mr. FOOTE said that the General referred to has not been confirmed.

Mr. HALE said that the Senate had not taken high ground enough, but if officers were so drunk that they could not sit on their horses he tho’t some notice ought to be taken of it. The resolution was adopted.

Mr. DAVIS introduced a bill prescribing an additional oath for Grand and Petit Jurors in the United States Court.

The bill recognizing the independence of Hayti [sic] and Liberia, and the appointment of a diplomatic representation was taken up.

Mr. SUMNER said thus far our Government friendly to new Governments, had turned aside from these nations. He thought that it was time to put an end to this, an anamoly [sic] in history.

Mr. SUMNER continued his speech in favor of the recognition of Hayti and Liberia, and concluded by saying, by recognizing these two nations we only tardily follow the example of the principal nations of the world.

The bill was then postponed until to-morrow and the confiscation bill was then taken up.

Mr. DAVIS resumed his remarks in opposition to the bill. He said that he had already detained the Senate at some length on this question, but he considered that in the importance of its effect the bill had no parallel. He contended that Congress had no right to pass such a bill under the war power.


HOUSE – The House resumed the consideration of the confiscation bill which was pending when the adjournment took place yesterday and upon which the main question had been ordered – the bill was tabled by a vote of 54 against 48.

The next bill taken up was to facilitate the suppression of the rebellion and prevent the recurrence of the same. It authorizes the President to direct our Generals to declare the slaves of rebels free, and pledges the faith of the United States to make full and fair compensation to loyal men who have actively supported the Union, for any losses they may sustain by virtue of this bill.

Mr. OLIN understood that the committee on Judiciary had agreed substantially that none of the confiscation bills referred to them ought to pass.

Mr. THOMAS of Mass., remarked that the committee recommended that none of the confiscation bills pass.

Mr. OLIN said that the disposition of the House and the country was that there should be some legislation on the subject; as the Judiciary committee could not agree on the matter, he proposed that a select committee of seven be appointed to take the subject into consideration, such a committee being [untrammeled] the House might anticipate a proper measure of legislation.

Mr. DUNN was glad to hear Mr. Olin’s suggestion. The subject of confiscating Rebel property, was one of the most difficult questions before congress, and the decision of which was involved the restoration of the Government to is former state of prosperity. He congratulated the House and country, that this morning, there had been laid upon the table, a bill which if it had been passed would have disgraced the civilization of this age. (Exclamations on the Democratic side of “good,” “good;” “that’s so.”) It was a bill which, at one fell swoop, would have impoverished the people generally – from old age down to innocent childhood.


WASHINGTON, April 23. – HOUSE – Mr. COLFAX advocated the appointment of a Select Committee.

Mr. DUNN was opposed to a sweeping confiscation bill. He wanted a distinction made against leaders.

Mr. BINGHAM maintained the propriety of a law to punish all who willfully rebel by depriving them of their property.

Mr. LEHMAN was opposed to confiscation bills. He looked on the march of our armies as the proper mode of suppressing the rebellion and re-establishing the Constitution.

Mr. HICKMAN claimed that the Constitution gave the President ample power without Congressional action.

Mr. Crittenden was against all confiscation measures which would tend to exasperate the war and postpone the time of putting down the rebellion.

After further debate, without action the House adjourned.


SENATE. – Mr. SHERMAN offered an amendment specifying persons to whom confiscation should apply, including those who may hereafter hold office under the rebels.


WASHINGTON, April 24. – HOUSE. – Mr. VALANDIGHAM offered a resolution requesting the President to transmit to the House, if not compatible with the public interest, copies of the correspondence between the French and Unites States Governments, as may have been received within the last two months, relative to the present troubles in America. Referred to the committee on Foreign Affairs.

Mr. ALDRICH from the committee on Indian Affairs, reported a bill authorizing a treaty to be made with the Indians of Utah, with a view to purchasing lands.

Also a bill authorizing a treaty with the Nevajoe [sic] Indians, of New Mexico, defining their limits and extinguishing their titles to lands outside of the United States. Referred to the committee of the Whole.

The House resumed the consideration of the confiscation bills from yesterday.

Mr. LOVEJOY, said that while this government is engaged in a serious war to put down the rebellion, it was seen this unnatural and parricidal insurrection has sympathizers and advocates on this floor. Those who defend slavery are the defenders of the rebellion, for slavery and rebellion are synonymous. They are unchangeable terms. Wherever slavery is there is rebellion. It is the corner stone, pillar and support. He took the position that either slavery or the Republic must perish. He would tell the gentleman from Kentucky, (Crittenden,) and all other advocates and defenders of the system, and those who cry themselves hoarse, in attempting to throw the protection of the Constitution around it, that it is the desire of the Republic that it should cease to exist. – There is no city of refuge for it. Like an infernal assassin, it has its knife drawn, and is endeavoring to strike it at the heart of the Republic. We are bound to strike the monster, and gentlemen need not cry the Constitution for its defence [sic]. It shall be said, “be slain in the name of my country and my God.”

He denied that slavery has any quarter or recognition in the Constitution. He argued that it was their right duty to destroy slavery because slavery is destroying or will destroy the Republic. He was in favor of the restoration of the Union with the right to stand on the American soil anywhere and proclaim his sentiments. He wanted to stand anywhere on American soil without the enforcement of a despotism to make him hold his tongue. He wanted to speak in South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana, without the fear of lynching or a coat of tar and feathers. The gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Crittenden) asked what would four millions of slaves do turned loose. This term was used as if the slaves were wild beasts. Now he (Mr. Lovejoy) had this to say: At present he let them alone to take care of themselves, which they were abundantly able to do. The slaveholders had better turn their attention to another point, namely: What will they do when they cease to live on the unrequieted sweat and toil of slaves? He denied that he and his friends want to make this an antislavery war, but the only way to put down the rebellion and restore the Union was to destroy slavery.

Mr. ROSCOE CONKILING expressed himself in favor of the confiscation bill, to amplify the punishment of treason. He wanted to punish the ring leaders of the rebellion, and have reimbursement of the expenses incurred in suppression the rebellion. The subject was referred to a select of seven.

The House went into committee of the Whole, and took up the bill making appropriations for bounties to widows, and the legal heirs of Volunteers.

Mr. ROLLINS, of Missouri, made a speech against the Rebellion, and complimented Mr. Lincoln for his efforts in behalf of the Union. He was opposed to any and all extreme measures and for prosecuting the war on the principle laid down at the extra session, that when the supremacy of the Constitution and Laws are established the war ought to cease.


SENATE.

A communication was received from the War Department, transmitting copies of contracts made by that Department, for 1861.

Mr. GRIMES presented 420 petitions from beer and malt liquor manufacturers, asking fro a reduction in the proposed tax on beer and malt liquors.

Mr. BROWNING presented similar petitions.

Mr. POWELL moved to take up the resolution offered by him concerning the arrest of civilians in Kentucky, &c.

Mr. SUMNER opposed taking the resolution as independent.

Mr. POWELL did not see why the Senator should make any opposition to the resolution. It simply asked how many citizens of the free States have been dragged from their homes without warrant of law and called on tyrants and usurpers to know where they are and what their names are.

They are free white men, if they had been negroes the Senator from Massachusetts would make no opposition to the resolution. He (Sumner) was extremely pained about the wrongs of the negro but white men had some rights, and he wanted the Secretary to tell us why and what for these men were thus unlawfully dragged to prison without any charge of crime being bro’t against them.

Mr. SUMNER said the Senator from Kentucky had made an inflammatory speech and had called a high officer of the Government a tyrant and usurper. In the event of the resolution being taken up, the whole question must be gone into. If the Secretary of War was a tyrant and usurper, there were men arrested who were traitors.

Mr. POWELL (in his seat). Who are they? Name them.

MR. POWELL said that some of the men who have been arrested are as loyal as the Senator from Massachusetts (Sumner). He defied the Senator to point out any law by which the Secretary of State can carry off citizens of Kentucky and imprison them in the forts of Massachusetts and New York.

The bill for the recognition of Hayti and Liberia, being the special order was taken up.

Mr. DAVIS moved to substitute, authorizing the President to appoint a Consul to Liberia and a Consul to Hayti, with power to negotiate treaties. He was opposed to sending any ambassadors to those countries. If they send ministers here, and send a full blooded negro, he could demand to be received on equal terms with white men. He knew that a big negro fellow was admitted to the Court of France as Minister from Hayti, but he (Davis) wanted no such exhibition. He was sick and disgusted with the subject of slavery in the Senate.

Mr. SUMNER said the senate would bear him witness that he had said nothing about slavery on this bill, the Senator from Kentucky did that. The Senator from Kentucky might banish all fear of any social difficulty. He (Sumner) was sure that no representative from Hayti would ever force himself where he was not wanted. He said the Committee had come to the conclusion that we should be represented by diplomatic agents in those countries and this was in accordance with the precedents of this Government, and the example of other Nations.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 3

A man twenty-eight years old was married . . .

. . . to a woman sixty-tree years old, in Newburyport, the other day. The Herald says the mans was apparently well please with his new relation, and the woman was as “tickled as a child with a rattle.”

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1863, p. 4

Salutary effects of American Travel

The Paris Moniteur of March 30, states that the Princess Clothilde Napoleon is in the fifth month of her pregnancy.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 4

Surrender of Slaves by the Army

SPEECH OF SENATOR GRIMES.

On motion of Mr. Wilson of Massachusetts, the senate proceeded to consider the following resolution, submitted by him on the 3d of April:

“Resolved, That the Committee on Military Affairs and the Militia be directed to consider and report whether any further legislation is necessary to prevent persons employed in the military service of the United States from aiding in the return or control over persons claimed as fugitive slaves, and to punish them therefore.”

Mr. GRIMES. I Propose to amend the resolution by adding to it:

“And to report what reorganization of the army in its Personnel or otherwise, may be necessary to promote the public welfare, and bring the rebellion to a speedy and triumphant end.”

It is, of course, to be expected that there will be great differences of opinion among the friends of the Government as to the manner in which the present war should be conducted. – Such differences are the natural results of our various domestic institutions, systems of education, modes of thought, degrees of civilization, and of individual opinions of necessities of our situation. But there are certain great fundamental principles upon which one would think, all ought to agree. We certainly ought to do nothing and suffer nothing to be done calculated in any degree to repel or paralyze the efforts of our friends at home, who are doing everything in their power to encourage and sustain the soldiers in the field. While inculcating the necessity of the strictest obedience to military duty, it should be constantly bourne in mind that ours are a citizen soldiery, soon to return to the bosom of civil society, and that the performance of no unsoldierly duty should be required of them that would be calculated to impair their [self-respect], diminish their regard for their officers, incite them to rebel against discipline, or taint their reputations at home. It must not be expected that the natural instincts of humanity will be stifled by military orders, and surely our soldiers should not be required to assist in the perpetration of acts against which ever enlightened sentiment of their hearts revolts. One would think that all men would agree in pronouncing that a cruel and despotic order which repels the Divine precept: “inasmuch as ye did it not to one of least of these ye did it not to me,” and arbitrarily forbids the soldier to bestow a crust of bread or a cup of water upon a wretched, famishing fugitive escaping from our own as well as his enemy. Yet, Mr. President, I grieve to say that there are those high in rank in the service of the United States who have sought to break down the spirit of manhood, which is the crowning glory of true soldiers, by requiring them to do acts outside of their profession which they abhor, and to smother all impulses to those deeds of charity which they have been taught to believe are the characteristics of Christian gentlemen.

It was known to the country at an early day after the commencement of the war, that some military commanders were abusing the great power intrusted to them, and were employing the Army to assist in the capture and rendition of fugitive slaves, not in aid of any judicial process, but in obedience to their own unbridled will. The effect of this assumption of unauthorized power was to incite the soldiery to disobedience, and to arouse the people in the necessity of proper legislative restraints. It was in compliance with the popular sentiment on this subject that Congress enacted the additional article of war, which was approved on the 13th of March last, and which declared that

“All officers or persons in the military or naval service of the United States are prohibited from employing any of the forces under their respective command for the purpose of returning fugitives from service or labor, who may have escaped from any persons to whom such service or labor is claimed to be due, and any officer who shall be found guilty by a court martial of violating this article shall be dismissed from the service.”

It was intended by this article to prevent the military service from becoming odious to the people who support the war, and degrading to those who have volunteered to fight under our banners. It simply declares that the Army of the United States shall not be perverted from the legitimate use for which it was raised, while it interferes in no degree with the claim of any man to a person alleged to be a slave; it leaves questions of that character to be settled, and rights of that description to be enforced by others than the military authority. The intention of those who voted for that article was, not to abridge any man’s rights, but to leave every one to his legal remedies as though no war existed.

How is this new article of war enforced? It has been promulgated to the army it is true. It may not be openly and avowedly violated. Soldiers may not hereafter be required to actually perform the humiliating office of fastening manacles upon the limbs of persons said to be slaves, nor to escort them to the residence of their masters; but the experience of the last few days has taught us that, notwithstanding the new article of war, our military officers suffer their camps to be invaded by armed detachments of slave-hunters, without the support of any process of law, who there attempt to shoot, ruin and kill with impunity those whom they claim to be slaves, while our soldiers are required to stand indifferently by and witness the inhuman work. There seems to be a purpose in some quarters to do by indirection what cannot be done directly. The object being to serve the slave-holders, whether loyal or rebel, (and they are generally rebels,) there seems to be a disposition on the part of some officers to travel around a law which they dare not break through. Unable any longer to compel the soldiers to engage in the search, capture, and rendition of slaves, they now authorize slave-hunters, armed with pistols and military orders, to traverse their camps in search of their prey, and, by threat of military punishment, attempt to compel the soldiers to remain quiescent witnesses of the atrocities that may be committed. There is no controversy about the fact, that the evidence is overwhelming and is to be found on every hand. – Only last week, General Joseph Hooker, a native of Massachusetts, in command of a division of our army, issued an order, of which the following is a copy.


HEADQUARTERS, HOOKER’S DIVISION,
CAMP BAKER, LOWER POTOMAC,
March 26, 1862.

To Brigade and Regimental Commanders of this Division:

Messrs. Nally, Gray, Dummington, Speake, Dent, Adams, Price, Posey and Cobey, citizens of Maryland, have negroes supposed to be with some of the regiments of this division; the Brigadier General Commanding directs that they be permitted to visit all camps of his command, in search of their property, and if found, that they be allowed to take possession of the same, without any interference whatever. Should any obstacle be thrown in their way by any officer or soldier in the division, they will be at once reported by the regimental commanders to these headquarters.

By command of Brigadier General Hooker.
JOSEPH DICKINSON, A. A. General.


It will be observed that this order authorizes nine persons, citizens of Maryland, to visit the camps of Hooker’s division, without any judicial or other process than this military order, and there search for slaves “without any interference whatever,” and “should any obstacle be thrown in their way, by any officer or soldier in the division,” they are threatened with instant report to headquarters and a consequent court-martial punishment. The appearance and conduct of this band of marauders produced precisely the result that might have been anticipated. In describing it, I use the language of the officer in command of one of the regimental camps which they visited and attempted to search:


HEADQUARTERS SECOND REGIMENT,
EXCELSIOR BRIGADE, CAMP HALL, March 27,

Lieutenant: In compliance with verbal directions from Brigadier General D. E. Sickles, to report as to the occurrence at this camp on the afternoon of the 26th instant, I beg leave to submit the following:

At about 3 30 o’clock, P. M., March 26, 1862, admission within our lines was demanded by a party of horsemen, (civilians,) numbering perhaps, fifteen. They presented the lieutenant commanding the guard with an order of entrance from Brigadier General Joseph Hooker, commanding division, (copy appended,) the order stating that nine men should be admitted. I ordered that the balance should remain without the lines; which was done. Upon the appearance of the others, there was visible dissatisfaction and considerable murmuring among the soldiers, to so great an extent that I almost feared for the safety of the slaveowners. At this time General Sickles opportunely arrived, and instructed me to order them outside the camp, which I did, amidst the loud cheers of our soldiers. It is proper to add, that before entering our lines, and within about seventy-five or one hundred yards of our camp, one of their number discharged two pistol shots at a negro, who was running past them, with an evident intention of taking his life. This justly enraged our men.

All of which is respectfully submitted.

JOHN TOLEN,
Major Commanding, Second Regiment, E. B.

Lieut. J. L. Palmer, Jr., A. D. C. and A. A. A. G.


Mr. President, are such scenes as were witnessed in this camp calculated to promote discipline and to inspire respect for the officers in command, or affection for the Government that tolerates them? Doubtless, such officers will find methods to gratify their tastes in this direction, but I trust that they will not long be permitted to torment better men than themselves, who happen to be their inferiors in rank. Is it unreasonable to ask the Government to see to it that the spirit of the law of Congress shall not be evaded by indirection; and that examples of passion and violence and murder shall not be exhibited in our camps with the connivance or under the authority of our military officers?

The Senator from Ohio made to us, a few days ago, a most extraordinary statement of the condition of affairs at the capital of his own State. In one of the military camps in the city of Columbus, are several hundred rebel prisoners of war. Some of them are attended by colored servants, claimed as slaves. These servants have been transported at Government expense, fed, clothed, and doctored by the Government; and while the rebel officers are allowed the freedom of the city upon parole, the servants are strictly guarded and confined in camp by our own soldiers. The free State of Ohio is virtually converted by the order or by the assent of a military commander, and against the wishes of the people, into a slave State; and that order is enforced by men in our employment and under our pay. And this state of things does not exist in Columbus alone. Much indignation was felt and expressed in the state of Illinois, where the same practice was allowed to prevail among the prisoners captured at Fort Donelson. The greater part, if not all, of these prisoners, who had slaves attending them at the camp near Chicago, were transferred soon after arriving there, the Government paying the cost of transporting both whites and blacks. Whether this transfer was prompted by a knowledge of the popular indignation that had been excited, and a fear lest the tenure by which the prisoners held them as slaves was hourly becoming more and more insecure, I will not undertake to say.

How long, think you, will this method of dealing with the rebels be endured by the freemen of this country? Are our brothers and sons to be confined within the walls of the tobacco warehouses and jails of Richmond and Charleston, obliged to perform the most menial offices, subsisted upon the most stinted diet, their lives endangered if they attempt to obtain a breath of fresh air, or a beam of God’s sunlight at a window, while the rebels captured by those very men are permitted to go at large upon parole, to be pampered with luxuries, to be attended by slaves, and the slaves guarded from escape by our own soldiers? Well might the General Assembly of the State of Ohio ask, in the language of a Committee of their Senate:

“Why were these slaves taken at all? They were not, and had not been in arms against the Government – their presence at Fort Donelson was not even voluntary. Why are they retained in prison? They have done no wrong – they deserve no punishment. Is it to punish rebel officers with servants? And was it for this they were transported at the expense of the Government and are now subsisted at her cost? Is our constitutional provision thus to be made a nulity, and slavery practically established in Ohio? And this under the protection and at the expense of the Federal Government.”

Mr. McDougall. Will the Senator allow me to ask a question of the Senator from Ohio?

M. Grimes. Yes, Sir.

Mr. McDougall. Was it stated that the slaves of Tennessee were kept as prisoners of war in Ohio? I did not understand you so to state it.

Mr. Sherman. Slaves were captured at Fort Donelson, brought to Ohio, and put in the same prison with their masters, and kept there.

Mr. McDougall. And held as prisoners?

Mr. Sherman. Held there and rendered menial service to those officers.

Mr. McDougall. I understood you to state that they waited on their masters; but I did not understand you to state that they were held by the Government of the United States.

Mr. Sherman. They were held by the Government of the United States, and draw rations now, and are supported by the Government of the United States. I will state for the benefit of my friend that I have here a letter from the chairman of the committee of the Senate who made the report.

Mr. Grimes. The Senator will permit me to go on, and it can be read afterwards.

Mr. Sherman. Certainly.

Mr. Grimes. In the month of February last, an officer of the third regiment of Iowa infantry, stationed at a small town in Missouri, succeeded in capturing several rebel bridge-burners, and some recruiting officers belonging to Price’s army. The information that led to their capture was furnished by two or three remarkably shrewd and intelligent slaves, claimed by a Lieut. Col. in the rebel army. Shortly afterward the master dispatched an agent, with instructions to seize the slaves and convey them within the rebel lines, whereupon the Iowa officer himself seized them and reported the circumstances to headquarters. The slaves soon understanding the full import of Gen. Halleck’s celebrated order No. 3, two of them attempted an escape. This was regarded as an unpardonable sin. The Iowa officer was immediately placed under arrest, and a detachment of the Missouri State militia – men in the pay of this Government and under the Command of Gen. Halleck – were sent in pursuit of the fugitives. The hunt was successful. The slaves were captured and returned to their traitor master, but not until one of then had been shot by order of the soldier in command of the pursuing party.

Mr. President, how long shall we permit such conduct as this to go unrebuked? Does any one suppose that the people will quietly submit to the imposition of taxes to support a State militia in the field that is to be employed in the capture of slaves for the benefit of officers of the rebel army? Is it supposed that the Senators from Iowa will silently, patiently permit the gallant officers from that State to be outraged in the manner I have described?

It is quite time, Mr. President, that some definite policy should be established for the treatment of escaped slaves; and I am of the opinion that congress has been grossly derelict in permitting the evil to go so long unregulated and unchecked. We have almost as many diverse systems of dealing with this class of persons as we have military departments. In one military district fugitive slaves have been pursued, flogged, and returned to their masters by our army; in another they have been simply pursued and returned without flogging; in another they have been pursued and shot in the attempt to return them; in another they have been termed “contraband,” and received within our lines in the mixed character of persons and property. In the absence of any authoritative declaration of Congress, none of these modes may be held to be in conflict with law other than the law of common sense and common decency.

It is obvious that the article of war which I have quoted does not meet the case presented by Major General Halleck in his order No. 3 – That celebrated manifesto declares in substance that all persons from the enemy’s country shall be excluded from our lines. That plain purpose of the order is to prohibit fugitive slaves from escaping from the rebellious districts, and thereby securing their freedom. It was doubtless competent for Gen. Halleck to issue such an order, and it is equally competent for Congress, which has made and continues to make articles of war for the government of the Army and Navy, to countermand it. And, sir, it ought to be countermanded. I will not pause to discuss the humanitarian features of the question. – Public policy, no less than popular feeling, demands that order No. 3 be forever erased. – There never was a war waged in the history of the world where the means of acquiring information of the enemy’s position and numbers from people in his own midst was more ample than here, and there never was one where the commanding officers have suffered more from lack of such information. Order No. 3 proposes to incorporate the fatuity and blindness which remained unwritten in other military departments into a historical record and a public advertisement. It proposes to warn all persons against bringing information of the enemy’s movements to our camps under penalty of being turned back to receive such punishment as the enemy may choose to inflict for betraying them, or for running away and betraying combined. No organization of secret service can meet all the requirements of an army operation in an enemy’s country, unless aided by some portion of the inhabitants of the country. – What folly, then, to wall out and repel the very inhabitants who might bring us the information we most need, and who have everywhere shown an eagerness to do so!

It is the undoubted right and duty of every nation, when engaged in a righteous war – and no other than a righteous war is justifiable at all – to avail itself of every legitimate means known to civilized warfare to overcome its enemies. What will be thought by posterity of this nation, if, in the present emergency, we not only fail to employ the evidence which Providence seems to have placed at our disposal, but actually seek every opportunity to exasperate and drive from our support those who are anxious to serve us? Were the Russian nobles now engaged in a rebellion against their Government, would we not regard their emperor as guilty of the greatest folly if he not only declined to enlist the serfs of his empire to aid in suppressing the insurrection, but repelled them from his service and allowed his generals to return them to his rebellions nobles, to be used by them in overthrowing his authority? And can any one tell me the difference between the case I have put and our own?

The whole history of the world does not exhibit a nation guilty of such extreme fatuity as has marked the conduct of our Government in its treatment of the colored population since the present war began. It seems to be impossible to convince ourselves that war, with all of its attendant responsibilities and calamities, really exists, and that future generations will not hold those guiltless who refuse to use any of the means which God has placed in their hands to bring it to a speedy and successful termination. History will pronounce those men criminals who, in this crisis of the nation’s fate, consult the prejudices of caste or color, and regard the interests of property of paramount importance to the unity of the nation.

It is useless to attempt to blink out of sight the great issues before us; issues that must be settled, and settled by us. It were wiser and more manly to meet them squarely and at once. We are in the midst of the greatest revolution that ever occurred in ancient or modern times. Such armies as are now marshaled in hostile array on this continent, in point of numbers, equipment, and expense, have been hitherto unknown in the annals of mankind. We are imposing burdens in the form of taxes that will be felt by unborn generations. We are suffering much now; we expect and are willing to suffer more. And Why: Because we desire to preserve the integrity of our nation; because we believe that Heaven designed us to be one people with one destiny; the freest and happiest on earth. It was to preserve that unity of our national existence that our sons and brothers have gone forth to do battle. For this it was that the gallant men of Iowa have freely, triumphantly, laid down their lives at Wilson’s Creek, Blue Mills, Belmont, Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, and Pittsburg. And shall we, after these great sacrifices of life and treasure, hesitate about employing any of the instrumentalities in aid of the country that are known to civilized warfare? Shall we not be recreant to our high trust if we doubt or delay in this particular?

This war will go on until rebellion is subdued. Upon this point there need be no controversy. Rely upon it the north-western States will submit to no temporizing or compromising policy. They are too much in earnest; they have suffered to much already; they know too well what they would be compelled to suffer in the future to allow treason to go unpunished. It is because they desire to prevent the recurrence of the rebellion that they demand that it shall now be thoroughly crushed out. Among things necessary to be done to fully accomplish this purpose, we must conquer and hold all of the forts and strong positions on the south Atlantic and Gulf coasts. How shall they be garrisoned when captured? This is a question we shall soon be compelled to answer; and I am prepared for its solution. I answer it unhesitatingly that we should garrison them, in whole or in part, by soldiers of African descent; that instead of returning slaves to their rebel masters to fight against us, we should employ them in our own military service.

I know very well that this proposition encounters at once all the prejudices that have been engendered by differences of race, education and social position; but let us look at it a moment soberly and practically. It is assumed as admitted by all that the southern forts must be captured and strongly garrisoned for some years to come. They are situated in a warm and enervating [climate], and the particular location of nearly all of them renders them more than unusually unhealthy, even for that section of the country. In addition to the forts already established, we shall be compelled to build new ones. The rebels rely upon the diseases of their climate to decimate our northern army in the summer and autumnal months; and their confidence is well placed. Our troops will wither before the fevers of the Gulf coast as vegetation does before the blast of the [sirocco]. Now, we have in our midst thousands of hardy, athletic, colored men, fitted by nature to endure the heat and miasma of the tropics, and some of them accustomed to it, who are panting to be employed in the capacity of soldiers. Many of them having been in a state of bondage, have been abandoned by their masters, and are now thrown upon us for support. Some of them were forced by our enemies into their military service, and have deserted from it. They implore our protection, and we must give it if we would not become a “scorn and derision” among the nations of the earth. They have shown on divers occasions, both on sea and land, that they belong to a warlike race. They are obedient and teachable. They can be subsisted much cheaper than white soldiers, can perform more labor and are subject to fewer diseases in a warm climate.

Now, with these facts before us, shall we refuse to employ them? What substantial reason can be given for not doing so? Is it because they have not the proper capacity for command? Then give them white officers, as is done by the British Government to the same race, by the French Government to the Arabs, and by the Russian Government to the Tartars and other semi-barbarous soldiers within that empire. Is it because they do not possess the average courage of soldiers? In addition to the testimony in disproof of this, furnished a few days ago by the Senator from Massachusetts, (Mr. Wilson,) I refer you to your vessels of war, where you have hundreds of these men employed, and none more valiant. Is it because they are not obedient to command? The whole history of the race shows the contrary, for if there is any one thing for which they are remarkable more than another, it is their confiding submission to the will of their superiors. Is it said that we have white soldiers enough for all of our purposes? True we have a large army, composed of men of unsurpassed valor and patriotism, who if we require it, will sacrifice their lives for their country, whether by the sword or by disease; but I would, if I could, recall a portion of them to their homes and to the industrial pursuits of life. Am I told that the enrollment of colored soldiers will be regarded by the army as humiliating to them? Mr. President, those public men fail to comprehend the character of American soldiers who suppose that they are fighting for mere military glory, or that in this critical hour they are controlled by ignoble prejudice against color or race. They are citizens as well as soldiers. They want the rebellion speedily crushed and the supreme authority of the law established leaving social and political questions to be settled afterwards. They feel that the desertion of every colored soldier, artificer or laborer from the rebellious States withdraws aid and support from the rebellion, and bring it so much nearer to an end. They cannot understand, nor can I, that refined casuistry that justifies us in converting the enemy’s horse or ox to our use, and in turning their inanimate engines of destruction against themselves, but denies us the right to turn their slaves, their animate hostile engines in human form, to the same purpose. – They cannot imagine why it is that some gentleman are so willing that men of the African race should labor for them, and so unwilling that they should fight for them.

What a wonderful difference of action and sentiment there is on this subject between the officers of the Army and Navy. While officers of the Army have disgraced themselves, annoyed and incensed their subordinates, dishonored the country, and injured the public service by the promulgation of their ridiculous orders about slaves, no officer in the Navy, thank God has ever descended to follow their example. – Their noble, manly, generous hearts would revolt at the idea of having imposed upon them the humiliating duty of capturing and returning fugitive slaves. They serve their country not slaveowners. They think that duty to the country requires them to avail themselves of the service of these people instead of driving them back to their masters, or suffering them to starve; and they act upon this conviction. – At the taking of Hatteras, one of the large guns of the Minnesota was wholly manned and worked by persons called “contrabands,” and no gun on the ship was better served. These people are, it is well known, remarkable for the proficiency they soon acquire as cannoneers – On the same ship as a boat’s crew, every one of whom, including the coxswain, is a colored man and there are none more skillful, or render more satisfactory service to the officers of the vessel. The whole country knows the service rendered by them to Commodore Dupont and to the vessels under his command. They have acted as pilots, and in the most important positions, and I have the authority of the two superior officers of that fleet for saying that they have never been deceived or mislead by any one of them. I am convinced that our expedition to the south Atlantic coast would not have [been] so successful as it has been but for the slaves found there, and who were employed by our naval officers. There are more or less of them on all our vessels of war. – They are efficient men, and their presence produces no discord among the crews.

Mr. President, I whish to be distinctly understood. I advocate no indiscriminate arming of the colored race, although I frankly confess that I would do so were it necessary to put down the rebellion. I do not favor this proposition merely because of its anti-slavery tendency. I approve it because it will result in a saving of human life and in bringing the rebellion to a speedier termination. It is my business to aid in bringing this war to a close by conquering an unconditional peace in the least expensive and speediest manner possible. Acting upon this idea of my duty, and believing that humanity and the best interests of the country require the enrollment of a few colored regiments for garrisoning the southern forts I shall vote, whenever an opportunity shall be afforded me, for converting a portion of the colored refugees into soldiers, instead of forcing them back into servitude to their rebel masters and their rebel government. We may hesitate to do this. Our hesitation will cost us the valuable lives of many of our own race who are near and dear to us. Our hesitation to use the means which Providence seems to have placed in our hands for crushing the rebellion may carry desolation to many a loyal hearthstone. But we must adopt this policy sooner or later, and in my opinion, the sooner the better. The rebels have this day thousands of slaves throwing up intrenchments and redoubts at Yorktown, and thousands of them performing military duty elsewhere; and yet we hesitate and doubt the propriety of employing the same race of people to defend ourselves and our institutions against them. Mr. President how long shall we hesitate?

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p 4

Skirmish

NEW YORK, April 22. – Advices per the Marion, from Port Royal the 19th, states, that a surveying party of 200 of the 8th Michigan, landing at Wilmington, were surprised by about 800 rebels who poured on then an effective fire, killing and wounding several. The Federals returned the fire and went gallantly into the fight. The rebels after a short stand retreated in order. An Adjutant of the 8th Michigan was killed with 12 or 13 others, and 25 or 30 wounded; the rebel loss unknown.

Ft. Pulaski is so much injured as to be unfit for a work of defense.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 4

Washington News

WASHINGTON, April 21. – A message reached the Senate to-day from the President, touching the arrest of ex-Secretary Cameron at the insistence of Pierce Butler. The President avows Butler’s arrest to be his act done under his authority and avers that it was justified by State necessity.

The nomination of Col. Tuttle of the 2nd Iowa as a Brigadier General has been determined upon.

Gen. Rosecrans is in command of a corps, and he will soon be heard from.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 4

Floods in Canada

MONTREAL, April 21. – There are heavy freshets prevailing throughout Lower Canada. Many villages are flooded, and there has been great destruction of property.

The locks and dams near Ottawa are in danger.

The Western trains have been interrupted for the last three days. The road is washing out near [Cornwall], but is expected to get right to-day.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, April 26, 1862, p. 4