Civil War Notebook

“Sambo, what you tink ob de future state.”

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 06:01:00 +0000

“I tink him very long one!” “But I mean do you tink de wicked will be condigned to eberlastin’ misery?” “I don’t tink no such ting. I tink Gabriel ‘minister de oaf and let em go?”

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

Brownlow in Philadelphia

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

PHILADELPHIA, April 18.

Parson Brownlow was received at Independence Hall, by the city authorities this morning, with speeches of the heartiest welcome. He replied in a characteristic address of some length.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 1

“You would be very pretty, indeed,” . . .

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 14:26:00 +0000

. . . said a gentleman patronizingly to a young lady, “if your eyes were only a little larger.” “My eyes may be very small, sir, but such people as you don’t fill them.”

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

The Storming of Ft. Pulaski

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:45:00 +0000

NEW YORK, April 18.

The Steamer McClellan arrived from Port Royal, 14th. The frigate Vermont was being towed in as the McClellan came out.

The following is an account of the capture of Fort Pulaski:

On the morning of the 10th, Gen. Gilmore sent to the Fort, demanding unconditional surrender. Col. Olmstead replied that he was there to defend, not to surrender, the Fort. Our batteries having fired a few rounds, shot away their flag, but it was replaced, and the firing kept up till sunset. Gen. Gilmore then placed a battery at Poat [sic] Point, only sixteen hundred yards from the Fort, to breach the walls, and commenced firing at midnight for that purpose with Parrott and James guns. On the morning of the 11th, two breaches were discovered on the south-east face of the Fort, which at noon assumed huge proportions; and about two o’clock the rebel rag was hauled down and the white flag displayed, and the fort surrendered – Col. Olmstead stating that it was impossible to hold out longer – our rifle shots reaching the magazine and most of his guns being disabled.

The 7th Connecticut regiment took possession that night.

The Union loss is one killed and one slightly wounded. The rebel loss is three badly wounded and 385 prisoners. One hundred and five prisoners are on board the McClellan in charge of Col. Morrill, aid to Gen. Hunter.

By the McClellan we learn that Jacksonville had been evacuated, and our troops arrived at Hilton Head on the steamer Cosmopolitan on the 15th.

WASHINGTON, April 18.

The following was received at the War Department to-day, from Gen. Hunter, commanding in S. C.:

PORT ROYAL, April 17.

We opened our batteries on Ft. Pulaski on the morning of the 10th inst. After 30 hours continuous firing a practicable breach was made, and preparations for storming were about to commence, when the rebel flag was struck.

We have captured 47 guns, 7,000 shot and shell; 40,000 lbs. powder; [300] prisoners, with their small arms and accoutrements, and a good supply of provisions. One of our men was killed; none wounded.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 1

COLONEL ALEXANDER CHAMBERS

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 07:12:00 +0000

SIXTEENTH INFANTRY.

Alexander Chambers is thirty-two years of age, and a native of the State of New York. I know little more of his history prior to his entering the volunteer service except that he was a lieutenant of the 18th Regular Infantry, and a resident of Owatonna, Minnesota. After the war broke out, and before he was made colonel, he served as a mustering officer of Iowa troops. He was the United States mustering officer of the following Iowa regiments: the 1st, 2d and 4th Cavalry; and the 1st, 2d, 3d, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th Infantry. Though not an Iowa man, his military services certainly go to the credit of the State. He was commissioned Colonel of the I6th Iowa, in February, 1862, and served with this rank till the winter of 1863-4, when he left the volunteer service and returned to his former position as captain in the 18th Regular Infantry; for he had been promoted to a captaincy, in the summer of 1861.

Colonel Chambers' first engagement, which was also the first of his regiment, was Shiloh. In that action he was slightly wounded. The position of his regiment in the first day's battle was on the right of the l5th Iowa, and the part it sustained sufficiently appears in the sketch of General H. T. Reid. In the closing paragraph of an official statement concerning this engagement, Colonel Chambers says:

"The field officers were particularly cool under a destructive fire, and rendered great assistance. The horses of all the field and staff officers were killed or wounded, evidently showing an intention on the part of the enemy to pick off the most prominent officers. Captains Ruehl and Zettler, both gallant men, were killed or mortally wounded, and 1st Lieutenant Frank N. Doyle, a brave and efficient officer, was also killed. The loss during Sunday's fight was two officers and sixteen non-commissioned officers and privates killed, and nine officers and twenty-four non-commissioned officers and privates wounded, and fifteen non-commissioned officers and privates missing."

Among the wounded officers, were Captains A. Palmer, E. S. Fraser, and E. M. Newcomb; and Lieutenants Lewis Bunde, J. H. Lucas, G. H. Holcomb, and Henry Meyer. It was reported that the regiment did not conduct itself with credit, but its losses tell a different story. The conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel A. H. Sanders was especially gallant, as it ever after was, in the face of the enemy.

It is elsewhere stated that immediately after the battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing, the Iowa Brigade was organized, and that the organization was preserved till the close of General Sherman's campaign through the Carolinas, in the spring of 1865. The 16th Iowa was the junior regiment of this brigade, and much relating to its history will be found in the sketches of Generals Crocker, Reid, Belknap and Hedrick, and Colonels Hall and Shane. But the 16th has a chapter in its history, not to be found in those of the other regiments of its brigade. It fought Price at Iuka; was conspicuous upon the field, and suffered terribly in killed and wounded. Next to the 5th Iowa Infantry, it lost more heavily than any other regiment on that bloody field.

"For some ten days or more before the final move of the rebel army under General Price, eastward from the Mobile and Ohio Railroad, it was evident that an attack upon Corinth was contemplated, or some change to be made in the location of that army. This caused great vigilance to be necessary, on the part of our cavalry, especially that to the southern front, under Colonel Mizner. The labor of watching and occasional skirmishing was most satisfactorily performed, and almost every move of the enemy was known as soon as commenced. About the 11th of September, Price left the railroad — the infantry and artillery probably moving from Baldwin, and the cavalry from the roads north of Baldwin, toward Bay Springs. At the latter place, a halt of a few days seemed to have been made; likely, for the purpose of collecting stores and reconnoitering our eastern flank. On the 13th of September, the enemy's cavalry made their appearance near Iuka, and were repulsed by the small garrison under Colonel Murphy of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry, still left there to cover the removal of stores, not yet brought into Corinth. The enemy appeared again in increased force on the same day, and, having cut the railroad between there and Burnsville, Colonel Murphy thought it prudent to retire to save his force."

How the 16th Iowa became separated from its brigade and fought with Rosecrans at Iuka happened thus: When Colonel Murphy was attacked by the enemy, he sent back for reinforcements: Colonel Crocker was directed to send a regiment to his support. The 16th Iowa was ordered forward, and thus formed a junction with General Rosecrans. In speaking of the part the 16th and other regiments of his command bore at Iuka, General Rosecrans says:

"The 16th Iowa, amid the roar of battle, the rush of wounded artillery-horses, the charges of a rebel brigade, and a storm of grape, canister and musketry, stood like a rock, holding the centre, while the glorious 5th Iowa, under the brave and distinguished Matthies, sustained by Boomer, with his noble little 26th Missouri, bore the thrice-repeated charges and cross-fires of the rebel left and centre, with a valor and determination, seldom equaled, and never excelled by the most veteran soldiery."

So far as I can learn, the killed and wounded of the 16th Iowa at Iuka numbered about sixty-five. Colonel Chambers was wounded and obliged to turn his command over to Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders. Lieutenant and Adjutant George Lawrence, a gallant young officer, was killed. Captain A. Palmer and Lieutenant J. H. Lucas of Company C, were both wounded, as they had also been at Shiloh. Lieutenants Alcorn and Williams were also wounded, both severely. Iuka was the 16th Iowa's second engagement, and their courage and intrepidity, on that field, was a triumphant answer to all insinuations of former ungallant conduct. They were the heroes of their brigade, and when they marched back to re-join it they were looked on with admiration, and received the eager gratulations of their sister regiments.

Next in the history of the regiment is the battle of Corinth, a full account of which Has been given elsewhere; It lost its commanding officer at Iuka, and suffered the same misfortune at Corinth. Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders was severely wounded in the thigh, in the afternoon of the first day's fight. Of this gallant officer's conduct, Colonel, afterward General Crocker says:

"Lieutenant-Colonel Add. H. Sanders, who commanded the 16th, is entitled to great praise. He rode along the line of his regiment, amid the storm of bullets, encouraging his brave boys, who had so lately suffered at Iuka, to remember their duty, and, although severely wounded, remained with his regiment until it marched off the field."

Major William Purcell succeeded Colonel Sanders in the command of the regiment. Its loss in the engagement I have been unable to learn, but, next to the 15th Iowa, it suffered more severely than any other regiment of its brigade. Major Purcell was slightly wounded, but not so severely as to compel him to leave the field. Captain C. W. Williams was taken prisoner. Color-Sergeant Samuel Duffin, and Color-Corporals McElhaney, Eighmey and Karn are mentioned for their gallant conduct on the field.

The pursuit of the defeated and dispirited rebel army to the Hatchie, and the return to Corinth; the march to the Yockona late that same Fall; the trip down the Mississippi to Young's Point, and the operations around Vicksburg; the march to Mechanicsville, up the Yazoo; the expedition to Jackson, and the escape of Johnson; the raid to Monroe, Louisiana, and, later, that to Meridian, Mississippi; the long and tedious march from Clifton on the Tennessee, to North-western Georgia, In the Spring of 1864, and the operations of the Iowa Brigade on the memorable Atlanta Campaign, will be found in the sketches of those officers and regiments, whose histories they help to make up. The 16th Iowa Infantry took part in all these operations.

It has already been stated that Colonel Chambers resigned his commission in the winter of 1863-4. Subsequently to that date, the 16th Iowa has been commanded by that excellent officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders. Indeed, for many months prior to the resignation of the former officer, Colonel Sanders commanded his regiment; for, on the departure of General Crocker to assume command of the 7th Division, of his corps, Colonel Chambers succeeded him in the command of the Iowa Brigade.

I pass now to the most interesting and exciting chapter in the history of the 16th Iowa — a chapter which, could I write it as it was made, would equal any passage in war-literature. Certainly no regiment in all Sherman's grand army of "ninety-eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven men" can furnish an instance of greater and more distinguishing valor, than that of which I write.

How Sherman, having crossed the Chattahoochie, threw his army by a grand right-wheel around Atlanta, with the Army of the Tennessee — Blair, Logan and Dodge — on the left, I have written elsewhere. In the sketch of General Belknap, I have also given an account of the enemy's opening attack, which, for suddenness and desperation, would have done credit to the best marshals of France. The 22d of July, and the assault on Sherman's left, are the day and the battle of which I speak. The 16th Iowa "was posted upon the left of the 11th Iowa, and in the immediate front of the 13th Iowa, the 15th Iowa being upon the left and upon a prolongation of the line of the 13th, the brigade being the left of the 4th Division, which held the left wing of the Army of the Tennessee." The 16th Iowa, therefore, held the extreme left and front of Sherman's victorious legions — a post of honor deserving double honor, on account of its gallant defense. "Companies B and G, under the respective commands of Captain Henry Lefeldt and Lieutenant Timm, were deployed as skirmishers in front, connecting on the right with the skirmishers of the 11th Iowa, and on the left with those of the l5th." This position had been taken up, and these dispositions had been made, (earthworks in front of each regiment having been in the meantime constructed) on the previous afternoon. And it is proper to state in this connection that the left of the Army of the Tennessee had not joined in the general advance made by Sherman's army on the morning of the 22d.

As elsewhere stated, the ground occupied by the Iowa Brigade was open, with the exception of being covered with under-brush; but, immediately after taking up the position, the 11th, 15th, and 16th Iowa had "policed" in their front, from thirty to fifty yards. No enemy could pass that line under cover, and to come within it was almost certain death. The skirmish line was posted in the thicket beyond.

Just before noon of the day in question, General Giles A. Smith, in person, had directed Colonel Sanders to have his regiment ready to fall in at a minute's notice, adding, "you must hold your works to the last, as the safety of the division may depend on the delay occasioned the enemy at this point." This was the last order received by Colonel Sanders from his superior that day. Already the reign of ominous silence, which commonly precedes great battles, portended the approaching conflict, and, hardly had General Smith rode back to his head-quarters, when the roar of musketry along the skirmish line signaled the advance of the enemy. It was sharp and spiteful, and told the brave boys, who sprung for their guns and the trenches, that a desperate struggle was at hand. Instantly the skirmishers, with anxious faces, made their appearance, and came running back to the works. They were sent back by Colonel Sanders, but had scarcely entered the thicket, when they were fired on and again driven back. The enemy were coming in heavy line of battle, and closely on the heels of their own skirmishers, while the 16th Iowa, crouched in their trenches and, with their muskets pointed toward the threatened point, awaited their approach. "When you fire, fire low, but don't fire a gun till you receive my command, no matter how near they come," were the orders of Colonel Sanders, and they were strictly obeyed. Then followed a moment of anxious, protracted suspense and then the opening battle.

The enemy advanced their line boldly into the clearing in front of the Sixteenth's works, and, with bayonets fixed and their pieces at a charge, began raising their accustomed shout, when Colonel Sanders gave the order to fire — first to the rear rank, and then to the front. " The response was a terrific and deadly volley from one rank, followed immediately by another, and then a continuous, rapid firing, as fast as eager, experienced soldiers could load and discharge their guns. The result of our fire was terrible. The enemy's line seemed to crumble to the earth; for even those not killed or wounded fell to the ground for protection. Another heavy line of the enemy advanced, and was repulsed in the same terrible manner. Officers and men worked enthusiastically, and guns became so heated that they could not be handled, the powder flashing from them as the cartridges were dropped in. The officers prepared the cartridges for the men, and helped them load their guns. More splendid firing, or more effectual in its results, was never before witnessed in the army." I have taken the above from Colonel Sander's report; for, should I make the same statement myself, it would pass for fiction.

Simultaneously with the attack on the 16th, the 11th and 15th Iowa were charged in their works. The left of the 15th had no protection, and, as the enemy came swinging round to its rear, it had no alternative but to draw out of its works and retire. The 11th Iowa was dislodged in like manner. But just before this occurred, the enemy in front of the 16th (the 2d and 8th Arkansas and two companies of Texan troops) put up the white flag and surrendered as prisoners of war. When they arrived in Colonel Sanders' rear, he found that he had two prisoners for every man in his ranks. But there were other prisoners to the left, or men whom Captain Smith claimed as prisoners, but who refused to throw down their arms. Learning this, Colonel Sanders hurried down to the left, and began disarming them himself, but he had taken the guns of only two, when he was surrounded by a rebel squad, who demanded: "Surrender, Sir, and we won't hurt you." Startled by such a demand, he turned and looked about him. For the first time he now saw that the works of the 13th and 15th Iowa in his rear were in the possession of the enemy. Believing that he had held his works "to the last," and hoping that he might break away and escape with his regiment to the rear of the 11th Iowa, he sprung away, and, with the exclamation — "I am not talking of surrender now," hurried back to his command. The rebels stared in wonder and none fired at him except a rebel captain, who instantly after was shot dead by Captain Lucas of the 16th Iowa.

On reaching the right of his regiment, the last hope fled; for the works of the 11th Iowa were already in possession of the enemy. The regiment was thus surrounded, and had no choice but to surrender or be butchered. The 16th Iowa was the sixth Iowa regiment to be captured nearly entire. "The regiment numbered, on the morning of the twenty-second, four hundred and twenty-five effective men: of these, a fatigue detail of three officers and eighty men was made in the morning, most of whom were captured afterward, while fighting in front of field-works near by."

During the Atlanta Campaign, or rather up to the 23d of July, the 16th Iowa lost in killed, wounded and captured, three hundred and sixty-eight men. Of these, twenty were killed, and one hundred and six wounded. Private Charles M. Stark was the first man of the regiment killed. He was shot through the head on the 14th of June, and while on picket near Big Shanty, Georgia. From the 14th of June to the 22d of July following, hardly a day passed without adding one or more to the regiment's list of casualties; and to show the character of warfare in which the regiment engaged, it may be stated that, of the twenty killed, nine at least were shot through the neck or head. Quarter-master-Sergeant John W. Drury was the only man killed by a shell, and Corporal James Huntington, the only one killed by a solid shot. Lieutenant George H. Holcomb was one of the killed, and among the wounded were Captains Hugh Skillings and Peter Miller, and Lieutenants Thomas A. Burke and Samuel Duffin: the latter afterward died of his wounds.

The greater part of the enlisted men of the 16th Iowa, who were captured on the 22d of July, were exchanged in September, 1864; but the officers were held until the following Winter and Spring. The regiment has closed the interesting portion of its history in the siege of Atlanta, and in the Savannah and Carolina Campaigns, all of which operations have been fully detailed.

I am told Colonel Chambers is a trim, black-haired, black eyed gentleman, with the airs and deportment of a regular army officer. He was a severe disciplinarian, and, by reputation, ranked well with the Iowa Colonels. After the fall of Vicksburg, he was appointed by the President a brigadier-general; but the appointment failed confirmation in the Senate. His status defeated him; he was neither an Iowa nor a Minnesota man. Iowa would indorse his appointment, provided he was credited to Minnesota, and Minnesota, vice versa. He is the only Iowa officer who was killed by having too many friends.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 303-12

“O, mother! Do send for the doctor!” . . .

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:01:00 +0000

. . . said a little boy of three years. “What for my dear?” “Why, there’s a gentleman in the parlor who says he’ll die of Jane don’t marry him – and Jane says she won’t!”

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

BREVET BRIGADIER-GENERAL J. M. HEDRICK.

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:20:00 +0000

THIRD COLONEL, FIFTEENTH INFANTRY.

John Morrow Hedrick is a native of Indiana, the State which stands third, in the number of her sons, who, in Iowa, have been honored with colonel's commissions. He is a son of J. W. Hedrick, Esq., a resident of Wapello county, and an intelligent and influential farmer.

General Hedrick was born in Rush county, Indiana, the 16th day of December, 1832. In the year 1846 he accompanied his father's family to Iowa, where he has since resided. His means of education were limited. He never entered the halls of an academy or a college as a student. He acquired his education at the Common Schools, and at his father's fireside; but, notwithstanding his limited advantages, he had, at the age of seventeen, qualified himself for a teacher. From the age of seventeen to that of twenty, he passed his Winters in teaching, and his Summers on his father's farm. In 1852, he entered a mercantile house as clerk. Soon he became a partner in the business, and, ere long, proprietor of the house. With the exception of two years, when he was engaged in the real-estate business, his entire attention, from 1852 till the beginning of the war, was turned to mercantile pursuits. But he was unfortunate in some investments. In 1857-8, he had risked much in land speculations; and, like the great majority of those who at that time dealt in wild lands, suffered pecuniary losses.

In August, 1861, General Hedrick closed out his business in Ottumwa, for the express purpose of entering the service, and, before the close of that month, had enlisted a sufficient number of men to entitle him to a first lieutenant's commission. Before entering the service, he had held commissions as second lieutenant and captain in an independent military company of the city of Ottumwa; but this company existed only in name, and the knowledge of military matters, which he derived from his connection with it, was of no importance: indeed, in this respect, he was as purely a civilian as any officer that has gone out from the State.

General Hedrick was commissioned 1st Lieutenant of Company D, l5th Iowa Infantry, the 20th day of September, 1861, and on the 23d of the following December was made quartermaster of that regiment. While the regiment was at its rendezvous in Keokuk, he was promoted to the captaincy of Company K, and with this rank he entered the field.

Shiloh, as has already been stated, was the 15th Iowa's first battle; and the part taken by the regiment in this engagement has been already given. Captain Hedrick here distinguished himself, and was wounded and taken prisoner. At the time the regiment made its partially successful assault against the enemy, and just when the left wing was overpowered and forced back by overwhelming numbers, he was wounded, and instantly surrounded and captured. Being taken to the rear he, with about two hundred and fifty other officers, was forwarded to Corinth, and thence by rail to Memphis; where he arrived on the night of the 8th, near mid-night. Hustling the prisoners rudely from the cars, the Confederates huddled them, both officers and men, into a large store-room, where they guarded them that night, and where, for the first time since their capture, they issued them rations. It had been more than fifty hours since they had tasted food, and now they received only raw bacon and rotten bread.

But in the meantime the issue of the battle having been decided, the enemy became apprehensive, not only of the capture of Corinth, but of Memphis; for a fleet of Union gunboats was, at that very time, lying only a few miles above the city. The Union prisoners were therefore, on the morning of the 9th, hurried on board the cars, in order to be sent South; but for some reason the train did not leave till evening.

At that time, the fiendish cruelties practiced by the Confederates upon all Union people within their lines, had not purged the city of Memphis of all Union sentiment; for, during the entire day of the 9th, hundreds of her citizens crowded closely around the carefully-guarded train, which contained the prisoners, speaking kind words and, whenever occasion offered, tendering more substantial testimonials of their sympathy. But the story of the sufferings of Union prisoners of war has been often told, and need not be here repeated.

The sojournings of Captain Hedrick in the South, and the route he traveled with his brother officers, may be given with interest. Leaving Memphis on the evening of the 9th of April, he was taken, first to Jackson, Mississippi; from Jackson to Meridian; from Meridian to Mobile; from Mobile up the Alabama River to Selma; and from Selma to Talladega, where for two weeks he was quartered with his brother officers in a vacant Baptist College. From Talladega he was taken back to Selma, where he remained two months; from Selma to Montgomery; from Montgomery to Atlanta; from Atlanta to Madison; and from Madison to Richmond, via Augusta, Columbia, Raleigh and Weldon. At Richmond Captain Hedrick was paroled, after a prison-life of six months and seven days, and entered our lines on the 18th day of October, 1862.

After remaining several weeks with his family at Ottumwa, he learned that he was exchanged, and at once returned to his regiment. He re-joined it on the 9th of February, 1863, at La Fayette, Tennessee, and was immediately promoted to the majority, his commission dating the 17th of January, 1863. On the 22d of the following April he was made lieutenant-colonel; and with this rank he won his chief laurels. When, after the fall of Atlanta, Colonel Belknap was made a brigadier-general, Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick was promoted to the full colonelcy of the 15th Iowa Infantry, his commission dating the 20th of August, 1864. He was breveted brigadier-general in the spring of 1865, for gallant services in the Atlanta Campaign.

As has already been stated, the l5th Iowa saw its hardest service in General Sherman's campaign against Atlanta. Just before returning home on veteran furlough, the regiment had accompanied General Sherman on the Meridian march, which, however, is celebrated only for the rapidity of the movement, and the large amount of rebel property destroyed; and still earlier the regiment had joined in the siege of Vicksburg, and in the subsequent march on Jackson; but in none of these movements was it in any general engagement. It did not accompany its corps on the march through Bruinsburg, Port Gibson, Raymond and Jackson, to the rear of Vicksburg; but with its brigade was stationed at Grand Gulf.

In the march to Monroe, Louisiana, which, considering its length, is the hardest with one exception that was ever made by the Iowa Brigade, the 15th Iowa was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick. The expedition was commanded by Brigadier-General Stevenson, and left Goodrich's Landing above Vicksburg, about the middle of August, 1863. The line of march, which was almost due west, lay across the broad bottom-lands that, for nearly fifty miles, stretch westward from the Mississippi. These bottom-lands, lying as they do below Lake Providence, had in the previous Spring received rich deposits from the Lake Providence Canal; and the road, which was narrow and straight, was bordered with the most luxuriant vegetation, in many places the weeds being twelve feet high. There was hardly a breath of air stirring, and, from morning till night the troops for the most of the way had no protection from the burning rays of the sun. The weather too was dry, and the dust almost suffocating. In addition to all this, the timber and the rank and dense vegetation was thickly inhabited by snakes of all kinds, and of the most fabulous size — enemies which the troops held in much greater terror than the few hostile rebels who hovered in their front. The only alleviating circumstance in this expedition seemed to be that the country had never been ravaged by our army, and supplies were abundant. Of the two hundred and eighty-one men of the 15th who started on this march, sixty had to be brought back to the river in wagons and ambulances. Several too, who were unable to bear the fatigue, were left within the lines of the enemy, in care. of Surgeon Gibbon.

The fruits of the expedition, which was some twenty days out from Vicksburg, were small. Monroe, the terminus of the Vicksburg and Monroe Railroad, was entered without opposition, the enemy abandoning the place, crossing the Washita, and destroying their pontoons. A few prisoners were captured, and a small quantity of Confederate stores destroyed.

The march of the Iowa Brigade with the greater portion of its army corps from Clifton, Tennessee, to the front at Kenesaw Mountain, has already been given. On the morning of the 2d of July, 1864, the 17th Army Corps formed the left of Sherman's army before Kenesaw. The Iowa Brigade held the right of its corps. Already, Sherman had despaired of dislodging the enemy from their strong-hold in his front, and that night he ordered a flank movement to the right, by way of Nick-a-jack Creek. Just at dusk, the 17th Corps, which was to hold the advance, broke camp, and, with the division of Giles A. Smith in the lead, took up its line of march down the valley, just in rear of the main line of works in the centre and on the right. The movement was a surprise to the enemy; and yet, the character of the country to be passed, which was broken and heavily timbered, enabled them to make much resistance. Keeping a considerable force of cavalry with light artillery constantly in the front, they would halt at every commanding point along the road, and, with their artillery, supported by their cavalry, dismounted, harass [sic] the advance. These positions, in nearly every instance, had to be charged.

During two days of this march, (the 4th and 5th of July) Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick, with four companies of the 15th Iowa, and four of the 16th, as skirmishers, led the advance. On the second day's march, the following incident occurred: on a heavily-wooded point, the enemy was found in position, and the reserves brought up and deployed, for a charge. Instantly, as the charge was ordered, the Iowans swept recklessly down through the ravine, and up the opposite slope to the crest, where the enemy had just shown themselves. They gained the point, and now for the pursuit. With a shout, they started down through the brush, each man striving for the lead, when — bang! bang! bang! went the enemy's artillery from the hill not more than seventy-five yards in advance. A deadly volley of musketry followed, when the boys, returning as quickly as they went, reported to their officers: "Damn 'em, they are right up there!"

Soon after discovering Sherman's movement to Nick-a-jack Creek, the enemy evacuated Kenesaw and Marietta, and hurried to their left, where, on the morning of the 6th, they showed sufficient force to prevent a further advance; for their position was a strong one on the hills that lay on the east side of Nicka-jack Creek, and near where that stream forms a junction with the Chattahoochie. From the 6th of July to the 10th, the time was passed in skirmishing with the enemy; but, in the meantime, General Sherman had entered Marietta, and passed up the Chattahoochie fifteen miles to Roswell, where he secured a crossing. That stream was now passed, and the capture of Atlanta made certain. This happened on the morning of the 10th instant; and in the afternoon and evening of the same day, the enemy abandoned their works on the Nick-a-jack, and crossed the Chattahoochie. A tedious march up the valley past Marietta, and the 17th Corps also crossed the river at Roswell, and led the advance to Decatur, which was entered with little opposition, on the evening of the 19th instant. (In giving the movements of the 17th Corps, I am also giving the movements of the 15th Iowa, and of the other regiments of the Iowa Brigade.)

The advance from Decatur to the south-east side of Atlanta, on the 20th, was fiercely contested; but the enemy, at nightfall, had been successfully forced back to their defenses around the doomed city. On the following morning, followed the fierce assault of the 21st, which was unsuccessful, and in which the 15th Iowa lost some fifty in killed and wounded; but the great battle of the campaign, and the one in which the l5th Iowa suffered most, and most distinguished itself, was that fought on the afternoon of the day following.

After the engagement of the 21st, the Iowa Brigade marched to the extreme left of its corps, and took up a position as a sort of picket-reserve; and in this position it was assaulted near the hour of dinner-call, on the following day; but a description of this engagement has been already given.

Colonel Hedrick was wounded in the early part of the engagement, and just before his regiment was forced back. He was shot with a minnie ball directly over the spine, in the small of the back. The ball, striking and cutting his sword belt in two, was turned slightly to the left; and, passing down across the ilium, came out near the lower point of the hip. Completely paralyzed by the wound, he was at once placed upon the shoulders of two men to be taken to the rear when he instantly received another shot through the left fore-arm. The first wound was supposed to be mortal; and, but for his vigorous constitution, it must have proven so. For many weeks he was kept upon his back, and even now he can not move about without the aid of crutches. Having partially recovered, he was detailed on a court-martial in the city of Washington, where he is still serving.

Since the battle of the 22d of July, before Atlanta, the 15th Iowa has been commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Pomutz, a Hungarian by birth, and, I am told, a good officer. The services of the regiment, since the fall of that place, are comprised in the march from Atlanta, via Savannah, to Raleigh and Washington.

Of General Hedrick as a military man, I dare not speak as I otherwise would, were he not my fellow-townsman. All who know his military history concede that he is an officer of great worth.

In person, he is tall and slender, with spare features, dark-brown hair, and large, dark eyes. He is an energetic and rapid talker, and expresses his opinions with great positiveness; which he can do with safety, since he has much general information. He has a firm step, and a hearty laugh; is hopeful, cheerful and self-confident, and endures reverses with great fortitude. He is as much esteemed as a citizen, as he is admired as a soldier.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 295-302

Latest from Yorktown

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:20:00 +0000

BALTIMORE, April 17.

The following is from the special correspondent of the American. There are no indications of the re-appearance of the Merrimac. The French steamer Gazendi is still at Norfolk, awaiting the return of the French Minister from Richmond, where it is presumed he has gone to insure the safety of the tobacco purchased by the French government.

At intervals last night and this morning, heavy cannonading could be heard in the direction of Yorktown.

A party of deserters, who came into our lines report the arrival of Jeff Davis in the rebel camp, and that it was understood he would take command in the approaching battle. They represent the enemy to be in great force, and the work of entrenching to be progressing throughout the Peninsula. Reinforcements were constantly arriving from Norfolk, Fredericksburg and even North Carolina; and the rebel Generals openly declare their intention to make this the great battle of the war, and the strongest conviction is expressed of a triumph over the federal forces and driving them from the Peninsula.

There is almost constant skirmishing going on by the riflemen, and occasionally shot and shell are thrown with great rapidity. There was quite a heavy skirmish this morning, beyond Warwick Courthouse on the James river. The enemy attempted to turn our left flank. The attack was made in quite heavy force, but the enemy were repulsed. Their loss is thought to have been quite heavy. We lost about a dozen killed and wounded.

FT. MONROE, April 17.

To-day has been the warmest of the season thus far.

The Weather and the tide are most favorable for the appearance of the Merrimac, but nothing unusual has been seen in the direction of Sewall’s Point.

At Yorktown firing took place during last night and this morning, without producing much effect on either side. Some six or eight of our men were killed during that time, all but one of whom, it is reported, were in Gen. Sedgwick’s division.

WASHINGTON, April 18.
The following dispatch was received to-day at the War Department, from General McClellan:

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE POTOMAC, April 18.

At about midnight the enemy attacked Smith’s position, and attempted to carry his guns. Smith repulsed them handsomely, and took some prisoners. I have no details, but will forward them as soon as my aids return. The firing was very heavy. – All is now quiet.

SECOND DISPATCH.

The position occupied yesterday by Smith was entrenched last night, so that we have been able to prevent the enemy from working to-day, and have kept his guns silent. The same result at the batteries at Hyatt’s Mills.

Dispatch to the War Department. – Yorktown was shelled by our gunboats, and four barges, but without effect. There has been a great deal of firing from the Yorktown land batteries.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 1

The following proclamation . . .

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:07:00 +0000

. . . was lately announced by the native crier at Cape Coast, West Africa: “The Gubner says ebery pig what lib for street he die; ebery pig what lib for house he lib. God sabe de Queen.”

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

Swiss Water Proof, Plaid, and Middlesex Cloakings,

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:33:00 +0000

New Dress Goods, extra quality Steel Spring Skirts, Kid Gloves, all styles and colors, and the best and cheapest stock of Dry Goods in the city can be found at Wadsworth’s.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 1

"Sir,” said the secretary of the hospital . . .

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:03:00 +0000

. . . at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to a gentleman who had given a sum of money to the hospital, “I have to thank you for your very happy donation, which perhaps you would like to appear in the papers?” “Like to appear!” answered the old gentleman, losing his temper in a moment, “like to, indeed! Why, what else do you think I gave the money for?”

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

Deaths of Soldiers

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Noah J. Cummings, Company E, 61st Illinois, and John C. Bush, Company H. 29th Illinois, died in the Keokuk Post Hospital, on Tuesday, April 22d.

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

Review: Sickles At Gettysburg

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:41:00 +0000

Sickles at Gettysburg
By James A. Hessler

There are few people in history that stirred up as much controversy in their lifetimes as did Dan Sickles in his, and the subtitle of James Hessler’s recent biography, “Sickles at Gettysburg,” covers nearly all of it: “The Controversial Civil War General Who Committed Murder, Abandoned Little Round Top, and Declared Himself the Hero of Gettysburg.”

Mr. Hessler has written a fascinating biography of Daniel Edgar Sickles. It seems nearly everything in Sickles life is up for debate, even the exact date of his birth, as historical records differ, and even the General contradicts himself in various documents. Though briefly touching on other subjects, Mr. Hessler has done a good job of limiting his biography of Dan Sickles, concentrating it on the action on that fateful second day of July, 1862 and the ensuing controversy of Sickles’ actions on that day, and the debate that lasted for decades, while the General lived, and continues on, to a lesser extent, even today.

Even before the outbreak of the Civil War, and the Battle of Gettysburg, Dan Sickles had already made a name for himself, having used New York City’s Tammany Hall political machine, he became a United States Congressman. But the rising star of Dan’s political career, quickly came crashing to the earth when he, a rumored womanizer himself, shot and killed, Phillip Barton Key, his wife’s lover, and the son of Francis Scott Key, the author of “The Star Spangled Banner.” Never one to let adversity block his path, Daniel E. Sickles was the first person to successfully use temporary insanity as a defense, and was found “not guilty.”

Possibly seeking to rehabilitate his reputation with the public, once the Civil War broke out, he organized four regiments of infantry in New York, soon to be named “The Excelsior Brigade” and was himself appointed as a colonel of one of the regiments. Despite opposition from congress, Sickles was eventually appointed a Brigadier General and given command of the brigade. Shortly thereafter he was promoted to Major General and given command of the III Corps of the Army of the Potomac.

The single most controversial aspect of Sickles military career, and possibly of his life would end up to be his actions on the battlefield of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 2, 1863, when either by insubordination or a misunderstanding of General George Meade’s orders, he abandoned his position on Cemetery Ridge and moved his III Corps approximately three-quarters of a mile forward to the peach orchard, in advance of the line of the rest of the Union Army, and nearly out of supporting distance from it. It was there that Sickles, was struck in the leg by a cannon ball, causing a severe injury, due to which the leg had to be amputated.

Sickles and those who supported him would spend the next five decades defending the move to the Peach orchard, and Mr. Hessler, gives a fair and balanced assessment of the argument in support and against Sickles’ actions. The author, is a steady moderated voice, leading his readers through the decades long debate, and doesn’t take one side or the other. He instead lets his readers decide the merit of the arguments for themselves, but does point out, that Sickles reputation is forever tarnished, not by his actions on that hot and humid day in July, but in his attempts to bend the historical record, in which ever way he needed, to present himself and his actions in the most favorable light.

Despite the many flaws in Dan Sickles’ character, Mr. Hessler also relates how Sickles was largely responsible for the preservation of the battlefields of Gettysburg, and the eventual creation of the Gettysburg National Battlefield, a legacy he left for generations to enjoy and study.

Dan Sickles is a complex historical figure, and James Hessler has done an exemplary job in writing his biography. His book is well researched and easily read. It is easy to hate Dan Sickles for the way in which he conducted his life, but had he conducted his life any other way, he would have never been so interesting. “Sickles at Gettysburg” is biography how it should be written.

ISBN 978-1932714647, Savas Beatie, © 2009, Hardcover, 432 pages, Photographs, Illustrations, Maps, End Notes, Bibliography & Index. $32.95

Rev. Mr. Oxnard . . .

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:59:00 +0000

. . . Congregational Minister at Moline, we learn from the Independent, was aroused about one o’clock last Tuesday morning by some person ringing his door bell. He raised the window, and inquired who was there, when the person at the door discharged a pistol at him, but without effect. Who this person was, or his object is a mystery.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 1

Neglect of the Wounded

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 22:39:00 +0000

A correspondent of the Cincinnati Times, writing from Pittsburg on the 12th, thus speaks in reference to the treatment of our wounded:

The horror of horrors connected with this battle, is the treatment of the wounded. In the first place, there were poor facilities for treating them; and in the second place, there were not a fifth enough surgeons to attend to them. I would gladly draw a veil over the horrors on this point, but duty to our gallant volunteers, demands that the truth be told. A large number of the wounded had crawled or been carried to the bluff opposite the Landing, on Sunday and Monday. Some found the shelter of tents, but others lay out in the open air. There those men lay, without a surgeon or attendant, without a mouthful to eat or drink, until Wednesday morning.

They groaned and died with no one near to pity them, and the dead and the dying lay there together. On Wednesday morning one surgeon was sent to them, and one attendant with hard crackers and water! And that was their treatment until they either died or were conveyed to one of the boats which presently came to the relief of the wounded.

If spirits of the heroic dead could return to earth, the shades of the murdered wounded of the battle of Pittsburg, should haunt the halls of Congress day and night. I say murdered, for with an efficient medical department, hundreds who are now dead or will die, would have been saved to their friends and their country.

At present, nearly a week after the battle, many of the wounded are not fully cared for. They are lying about in tents, upon straw, with no nourishment, and exposed to the weather. Several boat loads have been shipped away: but still many, very many, are here. I now write in the cabin of the Tycoon, with four rows of them in front of me.

Our boat, the first one of the Cincinnati Sanitary Commission, arrived at three o’clock. By eight o’clock her cabin, her guards, and her decks, were filled with the wounded. How thankful the poor fellows were when laid on soft beds, between clean sheets, and stimulated by nourishing diet. They forgot their wounds, their pains and hurts, and laid down and sweetly slept.

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

WILLIAM W. BELKNAP.

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:12:00 +0000

William W. Belknap, of Keokuk, was the second Colonel. Heredity asserts itself in the transmission of the chivalric spirit of the father to the son as well as in the perpetuity of those other traits, mental and moral, which the psychologist and the social philosopher love to trace with such minute care. The soldier is the sire of soldiers! Some men take up the sword as naturally as others do the pen or plow. It only requires the opportunity to develop the penchant. In every lonely, wind-swept country grave-yard there are the ashes of unknown Miltons. The epics that remained unsung upon their lips would have fired men to nobler accomplishments and purer purposes, — but the circumstances that shaped their destinies cast in different moulds those who would have sung them; the philosophers and scientists who have never been developed are unnumbered; the teachers worthy to lead men and the statesmen who might have guided the ship of state in any storm and who yet died unknown, is beyond count. But that spirit, which animates the soldier — that martial valor — rises to the surface under different circumstances, more untoward conditions. When the shock of war breaks upon a nation, when a crisis in civil affairs arises which must needs be arbitrated by arms, then there comes the stern sense of duty, coupled with the grim pagentry and high glory of war which fans into flame the latent embers of chivalry that have slumbered in the breasts of men. Here heredity and intellect assert themselves. The men born to command, command; those born to obey fall into the ranks and fill a noble part not less glorious for being less conspicuous.

Admitting the truth of the premises we have established it is not surprising that William W. Belknap was one of the earliest to enter the service in the war for the Union. It is not surprising that he achieved distinction and left the service with a brilliant record as a soldier and a leader. He came of a line of soldiers. His father, William G. Belknap, was for years a distinguished officer of the regular army, entering the service in 1813, when but a boy. He was appointed a third Lieutenant by President Madison and served with marked gallantry in that last struggle with Great Britain. Later he served in the Florida and Mexican wars, participating in all the battles fought by General Taylor — serving for a time on the staff of that officer and being brevetted Brigadier-General for gallantry in the battle of Buena Vista. While still in the service in Texas in 1851 he died.

In the town of Newburgh, New York, in 1829, the subject of this sketch was born, and there he spent his boyhood. When nineteen years of age (1848) he graduated from Princeton College; and at once entering upon the study of the law with Hugh Caperton, of Georgetown, D. C., he was admitted to the bar of the District by Judge Cranch in 1851. The young attorney, with a shrewdness of intuition which stood him in good stead later in life, saw the possibilities which yet lay before the Great West. Already the avenues to success at the East were blocked by the number of worthy applicants. The West, with its untried possibilities and its wider scope for the development of talent he preferred to the East, and in July of the same year in which he was admitted to the bar we find our young attorney hanging out his shingle in Keokuk. The professional ability of young Belknap commanded the respect of the older practitioners at the bar, and shortly after his location he formed a partnership with Hon. R. P. Lowe, who became afterwards Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the State and later Governor. It was not long before the talent of the young lawyer began to assert itself in the new community. While there was a vigorous energy about the frontier communities which the later generations may have missed, still there was not the competition of talent which comes with older civilization and broader means of general culture. A strong, talented man must of necessity forge to the front and take precedence; so after his marriage in 1854 to Miss Cora Le Roy, of Vincennes, Indiana, (a sister-in-law of General Hugh T. Reid, who died in 1862), General Belknap began taking the local political leadership. As a result he was elected to the Legislature from Lee County at the first session held in Des Moines, in 1857-8. Then Belknap was an enthusiastic Douglas Democrat. It was the argument of war which changed his politics and made him a Republican.

The first real evidence of military spirit which the young lawyer showed was when he entered the “City Rifles," a crack military company which he afterwards commanded, and which furnished many officers of ability and high rank to the Volunteer forces. In its ranks, or as its Captain, he attained a proficiency in aims which profited him in the most trying times. There was little to indicate that the service seen in the streets and parks of Keokuk was ever to be useful in more earnest frays; but in fact it was the basis of that broader military education finished in the field and which eventually made of the Captain of militia one of the most brilliant commanders of his day. The "City Rifles" were famous for their proficiency in drill and their perfect discipline, so that when Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood commissioned Wm. W. Belknap as Major of the 15th Iowa Infantry in November, 1861, he placed over the raw recruits a man, who, though coming from the ranks of professional civilian life, was in point of ability and courage competent to lead his men forth to battle. He became Lieutenant Colonel on the resignation of Lieutenant-Colonel Dewey, August 1, 1802. On the promotion of Col. Reid to a brigadier generalcy he became Colonel on April 22, 1863, vacating the latter position when promoted by President Lincoln July 80, 1864.

The first battle in which the 15th engaged was Shiloh. It was a bloody baptism for the new Iowa Regiment and yet it was a glorious one. It was at that fight, too, that Major Belknap was wounded and had his horse shot under him. He also on that field came under the personal observation of the great leader — General Grant, and from that time dates the intimacy which was afterwards to so closely associate these two men. At Shiloh the discipline and drill of the men came into full play and that of none in the whole vast army were better. Major Belknap had himself drilled the officers in a hall in Keokuk previous to taking the field and as a result there was a degree of perfection which would have been highly creditable to regular soldiers. The intrepidity of the commander also inspired his men.

In the report made by Colonel Hugh T. Reid of the part taken by the Regiment in the battle of Shiloh, he writes as follows:

"Major Belknap was always in the right place at the right time directing and encouraging officers and men as coolly as a veteran; he was wounded, but not disabled, and had his horse shot under him, but remained on the field performing his duty on foot."

Colonel M. M. Crocker, commanding the 3d Brigade, Sixth Division, in the battle of Corinth on October 3, 1862, says:

"This engagement lasted three-quarters of an hour; the firing was incessant, and the Regiments, especially the 15th, suffered severely. I deem it my especial duty to particularly mention Lieutenant-Colonel Belknap who commanded the 15th Iowa. This Regiment was under the hottest fire, and Colonel Belknap was everywhere along the line, mounted, with sword in hand, encouraging, by voice and gesture, his men to stand their ground.”

Colonel William Hall, commanding the 3d brigade, Fourth Division Seventeenth Corps, in the battle of Atlanta, July 22, 1864, in which engagement General McPherson, the able and beloved commander of the Army of the Tennessee, was killed, speaks as follows:
"Where all officers and men did their duty I can make special mention of hut few. * * * * Colonel Belknap, commanding the I5th Iowa, displayed at all times the highest qualities of the soldier, cheering his men by his voice, and encouraging them by his personal disregard of danger."

General Giles A. Smith, commanding the Fourth Division, Seventeenth Corps in the same action, says:

"Many individual acts of heroism have occurred. * * * Colonel Belknap, of the 15th Iowa Volunteers, took prisoner Colonel Lampley, of the 45th Alabama, by pulling him over the works by his coat-collar, being several times fired at by men at his side. Colonel W. W. Belknap, 15th Iowa, displayed all the qualities of an accomplished soldier."

On July 29, 1864, General Morgan L. Smith, commanding the Second Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, addressed General Giles A. Smith, commander of the Fourth Division, Seventeenth Corps, as follows:

"The General commanding thanks you for the assistance rendered him yesterday by sending to his support the 15th Iowa and 32d Ohio Regiments under the command of Colonel William W. Belknap. The General also thanks Colonel Belknap and his brave men for the efficient manner in which they performed their duty." This was the battle of Ezra Church, near Atlanta.

He not only had a minute and personal knowledge of all the details of company organization, but he knew every man by name and was more familiar with their needs than many of the company officers. As a result his men were devoted to him. A fact which strengthened the regard in which he was held, and which gave his men the utmost confidence in him, was the utter absence of personal fear on his part, and his willingness to share whatever dangers or hardships befel those he commanded. This characteristic was illustrated by a little incident which occurred while the Regiment was lying at Benton Barracks in St. Louis. A gentleman came in one day who was selling steel vests—delicately wrought shirts of mail which were bullet-proof. Major Belknap examined them approvingly, but firmly said, "I think they are good things but I could not buy one because I would not ask my men to go into a fight under any less advantageous conditions than I would. If the Government will furnish them to the soldiers I will gladly buy one."

General Belknap served in the Army of the Tennessee to the end. At the battle of Corinth he commanded his Regiment and was commended for his skill and gallantry by General Crocker in his report as Brigadier-Commander. Then-for a time he was on the staff of General McPherson, Corps Commander. He was conspicuous in the siege of Vicksburg and Atlanta, and in the latter campaign won his principal renown, being always at the front and enjoying full opportunities for all his tactical knowledge and natural bravery.

At the battle of Pittsburg Landing, Major Belknap was shot in the shoulder. In company with an officer of the Regiment he went to the landing and he found it crowded with disorganized men. Turning to his companion he said, "Don't let us go down there," and reversing his steps he rallied over a hundred men and went into the fight again. After the battle, General Grant placed him in command of the 18th Wisconsin Regiment which had lost all its field and many of its line officers.

He commanded his own Regiment in the battles of Atlanta on July 21,22 and 28, 1864, and in the bitterly contested battle of July 22 distinguished himself anew by the intrepidity of a single act. The fight had become a hand-to-hand one on the breastworks, the loss on both sides was terrible and every man fought as though the result depended upon his individual efforts. It was then that Colonel Belknap, catching the Confederate Colonel Lampley, of the 45th Alabama, dragged him over the breast-works and made him prisoner. Eight days after, Colonel Belknap was made Brigadier-General of Volunteers and placed in command of "Crocker's Iowa Brigade," composed of the 11th, 13th, l5th and 16th Iowa Regiments. General John M. Hedrick, of Ottumwa, lately deceased, succeeded to the colonelcy of the Regiment.

The march "to the sea" of that famous brigade under the command of General Belknap was a part of one of the most glorious epochs in the military history of this country. Then came the siege of Savannah and the final battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, which preceded the surrender of General Johnston's army. That Grand Review in which General Belknap participated in Washington, was a fitting climax to his brilliant military career, and there is but little to recall after that. He was assigned to the command of the Fourth Division, Seventeenth Corps,was the last commander of that famous Corps at the time of its muster out, and was brevetted Major-General early in 1865.

We said the war made General Belknap a Republican. It was at the election held in the field in 1864 that he cast his first vote with that party. That vote was for Abraham Lincoln.

At the close of the war General Belknap was offered a field officer's position in the regular army, but he declined it, preferring to remain in civil life, and in 1866 he was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the First District of Iowa. The collections for that District aggregated millions, its work was exacting and complicated, but when, three years later, he relinquished that office and the immense accounts were settled, it was found that there was a deficiency of just four cents, and not even an enemy had the hardihood to say he had embezzled that amount. It was regarded as remarkable that the difference should be so insignificant after years of duty and when the accounts were at once so large and so complicated.

The first really important public event — or at least the one which again brought him into conspicuous public notice — in the life of General Belknap after the close of the war, occurred in 1867 at the great reunion in Chicago. General Belknap delivered the address for the Army of the Tennessee in the evening and it was such a marvelous piece of fervid oratory, so beautiful in its rhetoric and lofty in its tone of patriotism and love, that the great audience, which embraced the most distinguished men of the Nation, was fairly carried away by it.

General Belknap was offered several high positions in the Revenue Service, by President Grant, which he declined, and was appointed Secretary of War by him in 1869, and served in that capacity until March, 1876, when he resigned. The records of his administration and the verdict of subsequent events show how well the duties of his office were performed. It was during the early years of his tenure of office that the measures for the reconstruction of the South were in process of formation and operation, and the number of delicate and vital questions arising were dealt with so skillfully that few of them ever needed readjustment. On the charge that he had used his office for personal profit he was impeached by the House of Representatives during a time of great excitement and the bitterest political enmities. The Senate tried the case and acquitted General Belknap. His friends of to-day are the ones who have known him best in his private and public life and neither the clamor of envious politicians nor the inuendoes of secret enemies have ever shaken their faith in his truth, his honesty or his patriotism.

General Belknap succeeded Governor Buren R. Sherman, of Iowa, as the President of Crocker's Brigade, a society of the old members being formed almost six years ago. It is a flourishing body composed of the men — now no longer lusty with the strength of young manhood, but veterans beginning to feel the weight of years—whom the General commanded.

The General resides the greater part of the time in Washington City where he has a large law practice in addition to being Iowa's Representative in the settlement of war claims. However, he still retains a beautiful home on the bluff at Keokuk, overlooking the great river.

He married in 1869 Miss Tomlinson, daughter of Dr. John Tomlinson, of Kentucky, who died in 1870, while he was Secretary of War. His present wife was her sister, and is a lady of much culture and grace. He has two children, a son by his first wife, Hugh Reid, who occupies a position of trust in the service of the Baltimore and Ohio road, and a daughter, Alice, by his present wife.

It is a grateful task to those who knew and honored him, to sketch the life of a man who, in spite of his soldierly bravery, is too modest to do it himself. General Belknap seems to have been one of those men less moulded by circumstances than he was adapted to the condition which created those circumstances. He was never in any position which he did not fill well. In civil and military life he was true to himself and his principles — the peer of any man — the sycophant at no door. His command was not so often "go" as it was "come." And in the future he will stand out as one of the boldest and grandest figures, that strong manliness, great intelligence, and a Nation's peril combined to produce.

MORTIMER A. HIGLEY,
1st Lieut. and Quarter-Master 15th Iowa Vols.
Brevet Major and Ass't Commissary of Subsistence.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May, l887.

The story of the Great Rebellion will be the fruitful theme of poet and philosopher down to the latest beat of recorded time. From the pen of the historian will fall great volumes of political philosophy, showing the play and clash of ideas, the friction of political opinions which resulted in the most stupendous civil war of the century. The military critic will write of tactics, of grand and minor strategy, and show how battles were fought and won. But there is a human side to this great military upheaval, and this is the side that lies nearest the hearts of the people. The flesh that was pierced and the blood that was spilled bring their harvest of sorrow. In some manner or form each family has its skeleton, whose grim and ghastly visage will not down at their bidding.

The sudden transition from peace to war will never be understood by this generation. To-day the people are prosperous and happy in civil pursuits, the country basks in the smiles of the profoundest peace. To-morrow the land is filled with armed soldiers who seem to have sprung from the ground in a night. Swords and bayonets flash back the light of the noonday sun; the air resounds with martial music and the voice of command. The very earth shakes with the tread of armed men. Companies and Regiments are organized and sent rapidly to the front. How these men bore themselves in the field is a story that should be told by every Company and Regiment.

But the interest and history of a Regiment centers largely round its Commander. Upon his intelligence depend their comfort, their lives, their good name. In William W. Belknap the 15th Iowa had a Commander endowed by nature with the rarest gifts for high command. By education, Belknap was a trained scholar; by instinct, he was a soldier. At Wagram he could easily have led the charge of Macdonald, a charge that routed a magnificent army and shattered an empire. At Waterloo he could have led the Old Guard with the same desperate valor of Cambronne. In his blood were mixed strange currents which seldom flow together.

He had in him the gentleness of a woman and the sturdy courage of the warrior. The hand that could indite the tenderest lines to the loved ones at home, could wield the sword like an Ajax. He had the voice of Stentor and the arm of Hercules. No word of bravado ever escaped him. Men who knew this polished gentleman in peace were slow to believe him what he was in war. In camp he is seen in the hospital, or in the tents with the soldiers, writing letters for those who are stricken with disease, or disabled by wounds. In discipline he was exacting to severity; delinquent officers were shown no quarter. Under his magic touch his Regiment stood like a wall of adamant at Corinth, Vicksburg and Atlanta. He knew every soldier by name, and every soldier knew him for a personal friend, and held for him an affection surpassing the love of woman. And yet this man, when the fight was on, seemed to have been created expressly by the Almighty to ride the whirlwind, and direct the storm of battle.

See him on the 22d of July at Atlanta. His camp is in the thick woods. He and three comrades are quietly eating their dinner. The pickets are driven in with a rush. The forest is in a moment filled with the smoke and blaze and roar of musketry. A great battle has begun, one that may decide the fate of Sherman's army. But there is no demoralization. That wonderful voice of magic power cleaves the air like the blast of a bugle and men are lifted by it to the highest plane of daring and duty. This brigade is on the extreme left, "in the air," unsupported, and this Regiment on the left of the Brigade. They are attacked in front, on the flank and rear. But they hesitate not a moment; they knew they were in the hand of a Master. They knew that a retreat meant the wholesale slaughter of their comrades and the possible rout of Sherman's army, and they determined to hold their position to the last man.

Here Belknap was in his glory. His alert military intelligence took in the situation at a glance. He seemed to be everywhere at the same moment, directing and encouraging the men, pausing only an instant to lift a Confederate Colonel over the breast-works With the ease with which he would land a trout from a rivulet of the Adirondacks.

For hours the battle raged, but the victory was ours. Here in this valley of death this Iowa Regiment, under the leadership of this magnificent soldier, added to the fame of the Iowa Brigade a name for dauntless heroism which the people of Iowa will never let die. The man who could produce such veterans, and inspire them with his own sublime and majestic courage, was a man of no ordinary mold. Since Thermopylae the world has seen no braver day.

This was Belknap in war. In civil life he has given the world a spectacle of moral grandeur no less deserving the admiration of mankind.

His impeachment was born in base conspiracy. Throughout the severe ordeal of a Senatorial trial, he bore himself with silent bravery. His conduct there and his manly demeanor since, captured his enemies, and fastened his friends more firmly.

A great orator has said, "the time will come when the world will pronounce Belknap a moral hero." With those who know the man and the facts, that time has already come. By his comrades, officers and men, he was loved and adored as no man was ever loved before, and they girt him about with his own bright baldric of honorable renown, crown him with the garland of laurel he has so fairly won, and commend him to those historic and immortal pages where stands the shining record of his country's glory.

The fame of Iowa in the war was surpassed by no State in the Union. Her valorous sons have filled her borders with a great wealth of widowhood and orphanage, but they have given her shield a resplendent lustre, a lustre upon which the coming generations of Iowa youth will gaze in admiration forever.

WM. H. GIBBON,
SURGEON 15TH IOWA VOLUNTEERS.
BREVET LT. COLONEL.

Chariton, Iowa, May, 1887.

SOURCE: History of the Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry, p. 18-30

WINFIELD, Scott Co., April 17, 1862.

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:10:00 +0000

EDITOR GAZETTE – Dear Sir : In your issue of the 16th inst., I see the result of the work of the member Finance Committee of Blue Grass Township, up to the 16th. I herewith send you the result of one day’s work in Winfield:

William D. Quinn, $4.30; John C. Quinn, $1; Mary Ann Knouse, $1; David Knouse, $1; John Knouse, $1; Robert Brownlie, $8; Jacob Kettenring, $1; Charles Bohsted, 1; James Watson, 1; Alexander Brownlie, 5; James Brownlie, $5; A. W. Brownlie, 1; Jno McManus, $1; Francis Darnell, $2; Andrew Bell, 2; Henry J. Vandeve, $1; William Murison, Jun., 25c; William Murison, Sen’r., 50c; H. M. Thomson, $5; John R. Thompson, $1;John Hawkes, 50c; Thomas Grieve, Jr., $1; William Grieve, $1; John Pollock, 2; Mary Henry Hartz, $1; Casper [Sclephel], 50c; A. Peterson, $1; Carsten Hartz, $1;John Robertson, $2; George Baughman, $2; C. H. Ficke $2; James H. Hopkins, $1; M. A. Dowden, 50c; John R. Sanders, Hictory Grove township, 50c; James Quinn, $3. Total 64.05.

I have forwarded $55 of the above amount to the Corresponding secretary of the Scott Co. Soldiers’ Relief Association. I hope to be able soon to give you a good account of Winfield.

JAMES QUINN,
Member of Finance Com. Winfield Twp.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport, Iowa, Saturday Morning, April 19, 1862, p. 1

Gen. Mitchell’s Division

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:54:00 +0000

The column of Gen. Mitchell numbers about 12,000 men. – With the great advantages he has gained in breaking up the main channel of rebel communication, there is no doubt of his ability to maintain his position.

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

Gen. Scott . . .

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:25:00 +0000

. . . upon hearing of the battle of Pittsburg Landing, is reported to have said that no more field encounters between large armies were likely to take place during the course of the present war, that hereafter the rebels would fight behind intrenchments, or scatter in small parties to harass the Union armies.

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

BRIGADIER-GENERAL W. W. BELKNAP.

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:07:00 +0000

SECOND COLONEL, FIFTEENTH INFANTRY.

William Worth Belknap, the successor of Colonel Reid to the colonelcy of the 15th Iowa Infantry, is a son of the late General Belknap, who, as a colonel, distinguished himself in the Mexican War. Entering the United States Army in 1812, the late General Belknap continued in the service till the day of his death. For his efficient services in the Mexican War, he was made a brevet brigadier-general. He died in Texas soon after the publication of peace, and near the fort bearing his own name. He was, at the time of his death, traveling in an ambulance from one portion to another of his command.

William, the subject of this sketch, was born in the year 1830, at Newburg, New York. He was named after General William J. Worth, a warm friend of his father's family. In about the year 1856, he came to Iowa, and located in the city of Keokuk. Prior to coming to Iowa, General Belknap had studied the law, and, soon after settling in Keokuk, he entered upon its practice. As a lawyer, he was quite successful. He is one of the few young attorneys, who, settling at that day in the city of Fast Living and High Prices, was able to secure a paying practice, and establish himself as a permanent resident. He was engaged in the practice of his profession at the outbreak of the war, and till as late as the fall of 1861, when he abandoned it to enter the service.

In compliment for his successful efforts in assisting to recruit the 15th Iowa Infantry, he was commissioned major of the regiment. With this rank he accompanied it to the field. On the promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel Dewey to the colonelcy of the 23d Iowa Infantry, he was made lieutenant-colonel, and still later — the 22d of April, 1863 — was commissioned colonel, vice Colonel Reid, promoted to a general officer.

If we except General Belknap's services at the battle of Corinth, where he distinguished himself, his military record, that has made his name familiar in Iowa, and secured his appointment as brigadier-general, was almost wholly made in General Sherman's campaign against Atlanta. The same is true of his old regiment. Brigaded with the 11th Iowa, the 13th and 16th ever since the spring of 1862, the history of the l5th Iowa is almost identical with that of these regiments. It took part in the battle of Corinth, October 3d and 4th, 1862; but, with this exception, the l5th, with the balance of the Iowa Brigade, escaped every hard-fought battle until the spring of 1864; and this, too, notwithstanding it was always in the front, and present in the Department that, of all others, was characterized by its bloody battle-fields and vigorous campaigns.

Of the different regiments of the Iowa Brigade, the l5th most distinguished itself at the battle of Corinth. The following is from Colonel Crocker's report, the brigade commander:

"The execution of the order to move back had just commenced, when the enemy, in greatly-superior force, attacked the front of the line (the 15th and 16th Iowa). The officers and men of these regiments, acting with signal determination and bravery, not only held the enemy in check, but drove him back, and held their position, until notice was received that the artillery had passed safely to the rear, when they were ordered to fall back and form in line of battle on the right of the second line, which they did in good order, the enemy declining to follow. This engagement lasted three-quarters of an hour. The firing was incessant, and the regiments, especially the l5th, suffered severely. I deem it my especial duty to particularly mention Lieutenant-Colonel Belknap, who commanded the 15th regiment. This regiment was under the hottest fire, and Colonel Belknap was everywhere along the line, mounted, and with sword in hand encouraging, by voice and gesture, his men to stand their ground." * * *

The opening of General Sherman's campaign in the spring of 1864, forms a new and sanguinary chapter in the history of the Iowa Brigade. Returning from veteran furlough, the brigade proceeded to the front at Kenesaw Mountain, after which, for nearly sixty days, it was almost constantly under fire; and its scores of killed and wounded, during this period, are witnesses of its conspicuous gallantry. From the time the enemy was flanked at Kenesaw Mountain, till he was forced back to and into his entrenchments at Atlanta, there were few engagements in which this brigade did not take part. But the greatest battle of the campaign was precipitated, just at the time it was supposed the contest for the Gate City had closed.

During the greater part of the night of the 21st of July, 1864, the rumbling of artillery, and the confusion so common in the movements of large bodies of men, were distinctly heard by our troops, in the direction of the enemy; and it was supposed by many that, General Hood was evacuating Atlanta; McPherson thought otherwise, and was anxious and watchful. In the disposition of our forces in this engagement, the 17th Army Corps held the left, and on the extreme left of this corps, was the Iowa Brigade. The position held by this brigade, was a commanding ridge on the east side of the McDonough road, and almost at right angles with the main line of battle, which was west of, and nearly parallel with, the above named road. The head-quarters of the 15th Iowa were not more than two and a half miles north of the Atlanta and Macon Railroad, and about three miles south-east of the city of Atlanta. The country on every side was broken, and for the most part, heavily wooded; but that portion lying in the direction of the Macon road, was more especially so. In this dense timber, General Hood had massed his forces on the evening of the 21st instant. At a little after twelve o'clock on the afternoon of the 22d, Colonel Belknap and Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick had just seated themselves for dinner, when the first gun of the sentinels was fired. The suddenness of the enemy's attack was unprecedented. Colonel Belknap had barely time to buckle on his sword, and hurry from his head-quarters to the front of his regiment, when the line of skirmishers was driven in. Almost at the same instant, the enemy was seen coming at double-quick, and in a line of battle, nearly at right angles with that of General Blair's along the McDonough road. In the suddenness of his attack, the rebel general was aping Napoleon. He doubtless expected to force in our line, as one would slide in the sections of a telescope, thus crowding the Army of the Tennessee together in hopeless confusion; but he had reckoned without his host. The Iowa Brigade, having hastily formed, met and repulsed the assaults of the enemy in their front; when, his centre being repulsed, his left and right wing swung round to the Federal front and rear. And in this way, is accounted for the almost incredible story of our troops fighting, first on the one, and then on the other side of their intrenchments. Subjected to a galling artillery-fire, and now well-nigh surrounded, Colonel Belknap had no other alternative than to retire, which he did, in a north-westerly direction, and across the McDonough road. During that afternoon, the 15th Iowa fought in seven distinct positions; and its losses are proof of the stubbornness with which each was contested. The following were among the gallant dead: Lieutenants Logan W. Crawford and E. M. Gephart. The latter was killed in the regiment's fourth position. Seeing, as he thought, a small detachment of the enemy in cover not far distant, he rallied a few volunteers, and rushed out to capture them; but they proved to be quite a large force. He turned to retreat to his regiment, but was shot before he reached it. He was a young man of much promise.

The loss of the 15th Iowa in killed, wounded and missing, was one hundred and fifty-three. Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick was severely wounded, as was also his brother, Captain Hedrick. Lieutenant W. P. L. Muir was wounded for the fourth time in the head, and was captured. Lieutenants Evans and Scheevers were also severely wounded.

At one time during the engagement, the 15th Iowa was assaulted by the 45th Alabama Infantry, Colonel Lampley. The 15th in this instance was protected by earth-works, and literally slaughtered its assailants, while they were rushing to the onset with the most determined bravery. Only a few of the entire rebel regiment reached the foot of the works, and of these, one was killed, and the others either wounded or captured. Colonel Lampley was captured by Colonel Belknap in person. Connected with this charge of the 45th Alabama, was an amusing incident. A young boy, of the genuine chivalry, was among the party that reached the foot of the works. After the assault had been repelled, and the firing had slackened, Colonel Belknap stepped up on the works to secure his prisoners ; but he had no sooner exposed his person than the young boy fired on him. The ball passed under his chin and cut through his whiskers. He was enraged and, seizing the boy by the hair of the head, dragged him over the works; but, in spite of himself he could not help admiring the pluck of the young rascal.

For his gallantry in this and in other battles of the campaign, Colonel Belknap, on the recommendation of General Sherman, was appointed a brigadier-general. After receiving his commission, he succeeded Colonel Hall of the 11th Iowa, in the command of the Iowa Brigade, which he has held ever since.

General Belknap is about five feet, eleven inches in hight, and rather portly. His eyes, which are dark-blue and very expressive, are his handsomest feature. In his manners he is rather dignified; but he is educated and refined, and a favorite in the social circle.

In the legal practice, he did not excel as an advocate. He made no pretensions to oratory; but, in preparing a case for trial, he had few equals. It was a rare thing for a demurrer to be sustained to one of his pleadings.

At the time of entering the army, he was reputed an able and honorable business-man. In the army he has been known as a good disciplinarian, a brave officer, and a warm friend to the soldier. His neighbors in Keokuk look upon his brilliant military career with much pride.

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 289-94

State Items

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:58:00 +0000

A strange and improbable story is in circulation at Marion, about a man who went South from that town last spring. It is said that he has sold his wife (who was of rather dark complexion) into slavery, and is himself in the rebel army. He was formerly a justice of the peace at Marion.

NAMES. – Chieftain Green, great Mogul of a tribe of Indians over in Marshall county has been paying Des Moines a visit. He is well posted in the Indian names of our rivers, and we append some specimens of his classic lore. The Indian name of Des Moines is Keosauqua; of Raccon and North Raccoon is Aspenseva; of Middle Raccoon is Tetasabeva; of South Raccoon is Sesquomeskeva. – State Register.

A train of 78 Wagons passed through Lyons recently from Belvidere, Ill., on their way to California.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 18, 1862, p. 2

An Official Report of the losses of the [14th] Iowa . . .

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:00:00 +0000

. . . at the battle of Pittsburg, was received by the Adjutant General yesterday. From it [we] make the following summary:

STAFF OFFICERS. – Col. Shaw, Lieut. Col. Lucas, Adjutant Tyner, Sergeant Major Matson and Com Sergeant Dott – all missing.

Co. D, Killed 1; Wounded 3; Missing 23
Co. E, Killed 1; Wounded 6; Missing 28
Co. F, Killed 1; Wounded 1; Missing 31
Co. G, Killed 2; Wounded 6; Missing 42
Co. H, Killed 0; Wounded 6; Missing 41
Co. I, Killed 2; Wounded 3; Missing [29]
Co. K, Killed 0; Wounded 2; Missing 37
Total, Killed; 7; Wounded, 27; Missing; [231]

{Clinton Herald

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

The Part Taken by the 13th Ohio Regiment in the Fight

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:56:00 +0000

(Correspondence of the Cincinnati Commercial.)

{OFFICIAL REPORT.}

BATTLE FILED PITTSBURG LANDING,
April 8th, 1862.

Frank J. Jones. A. A. G. –

SIR: – I have the honor to submit the following statement of the part taken by eight companies of the 13th Regiment O. V. I. , under my command, in the action of April 7th inst., near Pittsburg Landing, On Tennessee river. After having passed the previous night in awaiting orders near the Landing, my regiment, a part of the 14th Brigade, under Acting Brigadier General [W.] S. Smith, marched out to a position in the center, about one and a half mile distant. The 13th Ohio Regiment occupied the center of the brigade. An advance of the rebels on our lines took place about 8 A. M., and during a sever struggle and through a heavy shower of musketry and artillery, this regiment, in connection with the remainder of the brigade, charged upon the rebels, and succeeded in capturing three pieces of artillery, viz two 6-pounds, and one 12-pound howitzer, belonging to the Washington battery. After spiking one of the guns, and meeting with a severe loss, [the enemy appeared] in force, and succeeded in compelling us, with their fresh troops and superior numbers, to fall back about 400 yards, when reinforcements [reached us] and a new line of battle was formed, and in regular order we recommenced the fight under a heavy fire of canister.

While charging the rebel battery and retiring from it, four of our commissioned officers and many of our non-commissioned officers and privates fell, killed or wounded while manfully and courageously performing their duties.

The enthusiasm and perservering bravery of my command, as exhibited in this charge, were highly commendable. The officers and men seemed determined to accomplish the object in view, and although our plans [were] for the time frustrated by unforeseen causes, the spirits of the men never for an instant failed them but each succeeding attempt to overpower the enemy was made with renewed courage and confidence in their abilities.

In the afternoon and towards the close of the battle, the regiment was reformed, and with the major portion of the brigade changed its position down the road and to the right of that occupied in the morning.

A sudden dash of the enemy was made on Mendenhall’s Battery, which had been posted on the roads in advance of us. Our lines were immediately placed under command of acting Brigadier General W. S. Smith, and the 13th Regiment O. V. I., forming a part of the first line of attack, charged upon, drove back the enemy, and again captured the rebel battery, which we had failed to hold in the morning. This charge was brilliant and decisive. The position was held against a strong effort of the rebels to regain possession of their battery.

I have the honor to be, &c.,
Lt.-Col. J. G. HAWKINS,
Commanding 13th Reg. O. V. I.

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

Gen. Grant’s Official Report

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:47:00 +0000

HEADQUARTERS DIST. OF WEST TENN.,
PITTSBURG, April 9, 1862.

Capt. N.H. McLane, A. A. Gen. Dept. of the Mississippi, Saint Louis, Mo.

CAPTAIN: It becomes my duty again to report another battle fought between two great armies, one contending for the maintenance of the best government ever devised, the other for its destruction. It is pleasant to record the success of the army contending for the former principle.

On Sunday morning our pickets were attacked and driven in by the enemy. Immediately the five divisions stationed at this place were drawn up in line of battle, ready to meet them. The battle soon waxed warm on the left and center, varying at times to all parts of the line.

The most continuous firing of musketry and artillery ever heard on this continent was kept up until night-fall, the enemy having forced the entire line to fall back nearly half way from their camps to the landing. At a late hour in the afternoon a desperate effort was made by the enemy to turn our left and get possession of the landing, transports, &c. This point was guarded by the gunboats Tylor [sic] and Lexington, Capts. Gwin and Shirk, U. S. N., commanding, four 20-pounder Parrott guns and a battery of rifled guns. As there is a deep and impassable ravine for artillery or cavalry, and very difficult for infantry, at this point, no troops were stationed here except the necessary artillerists, and a small infantry force for their support. Just at this moment the advance of Major-General Buell's column (a part of the division under General Nelson,) arrived, the two generals named both being present. An advance was immediately made upon the point of attack, and the enemy soon driven back. In this repulse much is due to the presence of the gunboats Tylor and Lexington, and their able commanders, Captains Gwin and Shirk. During the night the divisions under Generals Crittenden and McCook arrived.

Gen. Lew Wallace, at Crump's Landing, 6 miles below, was ordered at an early hour in the morning to hold his division in readiness to be moved in any direction to which it might be ordered. At about 11 o'clock, the order was delivered to move it up to Pittsburg, but owing to its being led by a circuitous route did not arrive in time to take part in Sunday's action.

Before the close of the action the advance of Gen. Wood’s division arrived in time to take part in the action. My force was too much fatigued from two day’s hard fighting, and exposure in the open air to a drenching rain during the intervening night, to pursue immediately. Night closed in quietly and with heavy rain, making the roads impracticable for artillery the next morning. Gen. Sherman, however, followed the enemy, finding that the main part of the army had retreated in good order. Dead bodies of the enemy and many graves were found. I enclose herewith the report of General Sherman, which will explain more fully the result of the pursuit. Of the part taken by each separate command, I cannot take special notice in this report, but will do so more fully when reports of divisions [sic] commanders are handed in.

During the night all was quiet, and feeling that a great moral advantage would be gained by becoming the attacking party, an advance was ordered as soon as day dawned. The result was a gradual repulse of the enemy at all parts of the line from morning until probably 5 o'clock in the evening, when it became evident the enemy was retreating.

General Buell, coming on the field with a distinct army under his command, and which did such efficient service, commanded by himself in person on the field, will be much better able to notice those of his command who particularly distinguished themselves than I possibly can.

I feel it a duty, however, to a gallant and able officer, Brig. Gen. W. T. Sherman, to make a special mention. He not only was with his command during the entire two days' action, but displayed great judgment and skill in the management of his men. Although severely wounded in the hand the first day his place was never vacant. He was again wounded, and had three horses killed under him.

In making this mention of a gallant officer no disparagement is intended to the other division commanders - Maj. Gens. John A. McClernand and Lew. Wallace, and Brig. Gen. S. A. Hurlbut, B. M. Prentiss, and W. H. L. Wallace, all of whom maintained their places with credit to themselves and the cause.

General Prentiss was taken prisoner in the first day's action, and W. H. L. Wallace severely, probably mortally, wounded. His Assistant Adjutant, Capt. William McMichael, is missing; probably taken prisoner.

My personal staff are all deserving of particular mention, they having been engaged during the entire two days in conveying orders to every part of the field. It consists of Col. J. D. Webster, Chief of the Staff; Lieut. Col. J. B. McPherson, Chief Engineer; assisted by Lieuts. W. L. B. Jenney and William Kossak; Capt. J. A. Rawlings, A. A. Gen. W. S. Hillyer, W. R. Rawley, and C. B. Lagow, Aides-de-Camp, Col G. G. Pride, Volunteer Aid, and Capt. J. P. Hawkins, Chief Commissary, who accompanied me upon the field.

The medical department, under the direction of Surgeon Hewitt, Medical Director, showed great energy in providing for the wounded and in getting them from the field regardless of danger.

Colonel Webster was placed in special charge of all the artillery, and was constantly on the field. He displayed, as always heretofore, both skill and bravery. At least in one instance he was the means of placing an entire regiment in a position of doing most valuable service, and where it would not have been but for his exertions.

Lieut. Col. McPherson, attached to my staff as Chief of Engineers, deserves more than a passing notice for his activity and courage. All the grounds beyond our camps for miles have been reconnoitered by him, and plats carefully prepared under his supervision, giving accurate information of the nature of approaches to our lines.

During the two days' battle he was constantly in the saddle, leading troops as they arrived to points where their services were required. During the engagement he had one horse shot under him.

The country will have to mourn the loss of many brave men who fell at the battle of Pittsburg, or Shiloh, more properly. The exact loss in killed and wounded will be known in a day or two. At present I can only give it approximately at 1,500 killed and 3,500 wounded.

The loss of artillery was great, many pieces being disabled by the enemy's shots, and some losing all their horses and many men. There were probably not less than 200 horses killed.

The loss of the enemy, in killed and left upon the field, was greater than ours. In wounded the estimate cannot be made, as many of them must have been sent back to Corinth and other points.

The enemy suffered terribly from demoralization and desertion. A flag of truce was sent in to-day from General Beauregard. I inclose [sic] herewith a copy of the correspondence.

I am, very respectfully, your ob’t serv’t.

U. S. GRANT,
Major-General, Commanding.

– Published in The Davenport Daily Gazette, Davenport Iowa, Friday Morning, April 18, 1862, p. 2

Rural Suggestions

jdm1968@comcast.net (Jim Miller) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 14:41:00 +0000

A farmer should never be ashamed of himself or his business. He should have dignity enough to respect his calling and if need be eloquence enough to magnify [it.] He should have independence enough to set a price on the products of his industry, and not depend so much on the oily tongue of the market-man or trader. He should have a shop well stocked with tools, where he can make or repair farm implements, or learn his boys the art. He should have a library of his own, take agricultural and other papers, and keep posted on current events. A few dollars spent in books or papers is a better investment than loitering about public places or talking up others’ defects.

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