USA > Iowa > A history of the Sixth Iowa infantry > Part 10
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On August 14th, in consequence of the prevailing evils, General Sherman issued his general orders with specific and stringent regulations governing the privilege grant- ed to officers and enlisted men to visit the city, as follows:
In consequence of the abuse of the privilege, passes given to officers and soldiers are hereby limited to the time between guard mounting in the morning and tattoo at night.
When an officer or soldier wishes to remain absent from his regiment and stay in the city overnight he must obtain from his commanding officers and his brigadier a special leave of absence, specifying the reason of his visit to the city.
All officers and soldiers found by the provost guard in the city without passes at any time, or after 10 o'clock at night with- out special leave from their brigadiers, will be arrested and con- fined for the night and sent in the morning to the guard of
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Colonel MeDowell's brigade -- soldiers to work on the fortifi- cations one week, officers to be confined to their tents in arrest.
It is hereby made the duty of the brigade commander [Col. MeDowell] of the Second Brigade, Fifth Division, to or- ganize his guard so as to compel all prisoners confined under this order to labor nine hours each day on the forti- fications. Prisoners who will not work are not entitled to rations, and must be put on short diet. .
The regiment of infantry on duty as provost guard in the city and the cavalry detailed for the same purpose are hereby declared to be on guard duty the time of their detail, and are subject to the conditions of the forty-fifth Article of War.
The strict and literal enforcement of the orders caused many frolicsome young soldiers to pile up dirt on the fortifications at Fort Pickering for nine long hours each day. for a week. It was no joke, once was enough.
Company and battalion drills were inaugurated for forenoon and afternoon with regimental and brigade mounts daily, camp policing every morning, and regi- mental parades each evening. These, with the large de- tails, made daily to work on the fortifications, did much to occupy the whole time of the men and thereby dimin- ished the opportunity for visiting the city.
On August 16th, pursuant to general orders from the War Department for the discharge of all regimental bands, members of the band were mustered out and hon- orably discharged from the service, as follows: Richard Maddern, leader; Sigismond I. Gates, Adelbert Hawkins, Aaron S. Johnson, William Maddern, bugler, William Matthews, Morris Peck, Edward Pipe, George Robertson, Samuel R. Sample, Augustus Santo, and Julius C. Wright. The band had attained great proficiency under the direction of its skilled leader, and was recognized
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throughout the division as one of the very best musical organizations in the army. The music furnished by it at all ceremonies and at the concerts given daily at head- quarters was a source of great pleasure and heartily en- joyed by all. Nearly all of the members were first class musicians, who took great pride in the organization and its reputation as musicians and soldiers. It caused sin- cere regret, on the part of every soldier in the regiment, when the band was disbanded.
The enlisted men detailed as musicians in the band were ordered back to their companies as follows: David Silversmith, Moses T. Johnson, Henry Fulton, and Sam- uel M. Titus. Levi A. Best and John H. Glenn had died during the winter, while in Missouri; Charles Hirt, Al- pheus W. Kelley and George W. Titus had been dis- charged for disability; Joseph [ James?] M. Skelly had been transferred to the 42nd Illinois, and John B. Thomp- son had been a prisoner of war in the hands of the enemy, since Shiloh.
On August 23rd, General Sherman reviewed his whole division, the ceremony being held on the drill grounds in front of Fort Pickering, where the maneuver was made with great display of military pomp and soldierly bear- ing. Seven thousand men marching with military pre- cision in solid columns with bands playing and colors waving presented a scene of magnificent military splen- dor which was grandly inspiring.
General Bragg's movement to Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee with the bulk of the Corinth army was a sure indication that the forces at Memphis would not be dis- turbed for some time, so that the duties settled down to a daily routine of drills, fatigue duty, ceremonies, and guard duty.
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Traffic on the river had assumed great proportions and business in the city had been resumed in nearly all branches of trade. Civil laws governed in all matters pertaining to citizens and their business -when not furnishing aid and comfort to the enemy. United States greenbacks and Tennessee scrip constituted the currency in use, gold and silver being a very scarce commodity as a circulating medium in the city. All Tennessee scrip passed current and was interchangeable for greenbacks at par.
The comfortable means of travel by steamer on the river afforded pleasant and cheap transportation for those desiring to visit their friends and relatives in the army. The wives of many of the officers in the regiment availed themselves of the liberal rules and visited with their husbands in the camps. The father, mother, and sister of Colonel Corse were among the visitors at head- quarters, and another pleasant party was the wives of Captain Saunders, Captain Walden, and Lieutenant Bashore. Many others made pleasant visits during the months the regiment was in camp in the city, and, in a few instances, mothers and sisters were called to the city to nurse the sick and wounded men of the regiment.
Twenty-five of the men who were captured at Shiloh by the enemy and held as prisoners of war were exchanged and returned to duty in the regiment during the month: The losses during the month were: 18 discharged for dis- ability, 2 died of wounds, 1 died of disease, 2 dropped for desertion; total loss, 23 men. The regiment was mus- tered for pay on the last day of the month, in quarters.
On September 11th, the regiment went on provost guard duty again and was stationed by detachments and companies in different parts of the city, as on the former
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tour of duty. At the end of the week, September 18th, the 70th Ohio relieved the regiment and it returned to camp in much better condition than it did at the end of the first tour. The rest of the month was occupied in regular routine duties about the camp and not a few bri- gade drills.
On October 1, 1862, the whole division was paraded in grand review in the afternoon on the big common and drill ground in front of the fort, followed with a brigade drill by McDowell's brigade with General Sherman in command. This was witnessed by a large audience of citizens from the city and soldiers from the other camps.
The threatening demonstrations by the enemy under Generals Van Dorn and Price, in the vicinity of Corinth, caused General Hurlbut's division to be ordered east along the line of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. The splendid victory gained by General Rosecrans at Corinth, over the combined forces of Price and Van Dorn, put new life and spirit in the troops throughout the de- partment.
An election was held in the regiment for State and county officers as provided for in the special act of the Iowa legislature, granting the right to vote while serving in the army. The whole number of votes cast for State officers was 358, of which 288 were cast for the Republi- can ticket and 66 for the Democratic.
The country on the opposite side of the Mississippi River, in the State of Arkansas, had become a fruitful field for scouting and foraging parties from the camps on the bluffs. Despite the vigilance of the gunboat, al- ways at anchor in the middle of the river opposite the city, small parties of from four to six soldiers would suc- cessfully evade the guards and cross the river in small
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boats procured along the levee. The country contained an abundance of corn, melons, potatoes, and fruits - cul- tivated and wild in the woods -- and, a seeming friendly hospitality existed, on the part of the planters and citi- zens found on that side of the river. But the frequent attacks made on passing steamers, above and below the city, by partisan bands of the enemy, causing loss of life and the destruction of large cargoes of government stores, resulted in severe retaliation on the planters and the de- struction of their property and plantations, in the vicin- ity of the depredations. The injured people were so en- raged over the destruction of their homes and property that they took advantage of every opportunity to re- venge their losses and assailed with fatal effect some of the small parties of venturesome soldiers invading their neighborhood. On October 14th, Charles Stevens, private in Company D, while engaged on an expedition in the forbidden territory, was mortally wounded by a gun- shot fired by a citizen ambushed in the swampy thicket, and died the next day.
Thursday, October 23rd, the regiment went on provost guard duty in the city for the third time. Under the in- telligent and skillful instruction of Lieutenant-Colonel John M. Corse the regiment had acquired a proficiency in drill and all ceremonial duties, of a high order of excel- lence. Not only the Colonel, but every individual member of the regiment was proud of the soldierly bearing of the command, and embraced every opportunity to dis- play their gentlemanly bearing and soldierly qualities. The tour of guard duty in the city was seized upon as a favorable occasion to show the regiment to advantage, while passing through the city to report for duty. The arms, uniforms, and accouterments were all cleaned, pol-
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ished and burnished, until they fairly glistened in the sun. Every man in ranks was critically and minutely inspect- ed by Colonel Corse in the company quarters, and, when formed on the regimental parade ground, every button, buckle, and strap was fast in its proper place, and each man had his hair trimmed, beard shaved, and shoes pol- ished. The men were formed according to height, from right to left of the companies, giving a uniformity and neatness of appearance, which elicited favorable criti- cism, stood the crucial test of inspection by the exacting Colonel, and, above all, was satisfying to the proud spirits of the men in the ranks.
Colonel Corse and Adjutant Ennis, mounted on spirit- ed horses at the head of column, followed by the regi- mental drum corps and the ten companies - equalized with 60 men in each company -- marched through the sally-port of Old Fort Pickering en route to the city hall, where the regiment reported for duty. On reaching the street, column of platoons was formed, and [Musician George] Gutches set the pace with "Jaybird". The whole regiment marched as one man, with platoons dressed, eyes to the front, and guns at right shoulder shift. While in march the column was changed, from platoons to column of companies, to column in four ranks and back to column of platoons, the movements being ex- ecuted in splendid style and with precision of movement.
At the corner of Jackson Park, the column changed di- rection to the right, while marching in column of com- panies. Just at the point for observing the movement to advantage were located quite a number of Confeder- ate officers, who were in the city as prisoners of war awaiting exchange, and as each company wheeled to the right with admirable precision of alignment they mani-
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fested their appreciation of the soldierly bearing of offi- cers and men by a vigorous clapping of their hands. Colonel Corse never experienced a prouder day in the whole course of his military career, than he did on that day, while leading the six hundred men of the Sixth Iowa, through the streets of the city of Memphis, Tennessee. On October 30th, the regiment was relieved by the 48th Ohio and returned to the camp at Fort Pickering.
This third tour of duty was marked by greatly im- proved conditions in the city and its government as com- pared with the first week had by the regiment on the same duty, on the advent of the army in the possession of the city. The discipline among officers and men of the com- panies had been so much improved that the duty was per- formed without the demoralizing effects, resulting from the first tour in the city.
On October 22nd, Major John Williams resigned on account of disability caused by wounds received at Shiloh, and Captain Alexander J. Miller of Company G was promoted to the vacancy. Captain Brydolf, having been commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the 25th Iowa Infantry Volunteers and having departed for his new command, First-Lieutenant William H. Clune, of Com- pany H, was commissioned as Captain of Company I, and at once assumed command of the company. On Octo- ber 31st, the regiment was mustered for pay in the after- noon.
During the first part of November, the troops embraced in the District of Memphis, commanded by General Sher- man, and a large reenforcement of new regiments arriv- ing from the northwestern States were organized into two divisions, consisting of five brigades of infantry, ten batteries of field artillery, one regiment and one battalion
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of cavalry, with an aggregate strength - present and absent - of 23,807 men, and present in line for duty - 19,572 men and 48 guns of field artillery. Brigadier- General Morgan L. Smith commanded the First and Fourth brigades, and Brigadier-General J. W. Denver commanded the Second, Third, and Fifth brigades. By an order of November 12, 1862, Colonel McDowell re- tained command of the Second Brigade, composed as fol- lows: 40th Illinois, Lieutenant-Colonel James W. Boothe; 46th Ohio, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles C. Wal- cutt; 6th lowa, Lieutenant-Colonel John M. Corse; 13th United States Infantry, Major Daniel Chase. The ar- tillery included the celebrated batteries of Captains Al- len C. Waterhouse, Axel Silfversparre, and William Cogswell; the cavalry consisted of the 6th Illinois, com- manded by Colonel Benjamin H. Grierson, and Major Christian Thielemann's battalion.
On November 5th, the whole force of over 20,000 men was paraded in grand review, at 4 p. m., on the parade and drill grounds in front of Fort Pickering. They made a most magnificent military display which was wit- nessed by a very large audience from the city. In the closing paragraph of the orders, completing the organi- zation of the troops, General Sherman said:
The commanding general expects all officers now to vie with each other in the display of soldierly zeal. . . Let all marches and military movements be conducted in compact, good order, in cheerfulness and silence, and honor and fame will be our certain reward.
Pursuant to instructions in special orders, District of Memphis, a detachment composed as follows: 72nd Ohio, 6th Iowa, 6th Missouri, 6 companies of the 32nd
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Wisconsin, Thielemann's cavalry, and Bouton's battery, all under the command of Colonel Buckland, rendez- voused on Monday, November 10th, at 9 a. m., at the camp of the 54th Ohio, on the Hernando road, for special service. All were provided with 60 rounds of ammuni- tion, five days rations and forage, and there was one wagon and one ambulance for each regiment, squadron, and battery.
The command marched out on the Hernando and Pigeon Roost road and camped for the night, having traveled a distance of 10 miles. November 11th, the troops marched at 6 a. m., halted at 11 a. m., started again at 4 p. m., and continued the march until after dark, the distance marched being 15 miles. It rained during the afternoon and far into the night, making the roads heavy for marching, and the whole situation about the camp very uncomfortable, especially for troops who had been so elegantly provided for while doing post duty in a large city. November 12th, the detachment marched 8 miles to Germantown, on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, where the command went into camp at 10 a. m., and remained during the day and the following night. November 13th, the march began at 6 a. m. After march- ing 15 miles the troops reached camp in Fort Pickering, at 1 p. m. The expedition was devoid of results, except that it imposed four days of very wearisome marching on the men.
The routine duties of camp and the usual daily cere- monies prevailed at Fort Pickering until November 25th, when marching orders were promulgated, to take effect the next day. The orders had been fully anticipated by all who had given any heed to the active preparations for field service, going on for the past twenty days. The
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nice big Sibley tents, with which the regiment was sup- plied, were turned in and new shelter tents issued - a half tent to each man -- which were appropriately dubbed "pup" tents by the men.
In many respects the four months encampment in the city, during the most pleasant season of the year, had proved pleasant and profitable to the command. Sup- plies of rations and equipment had been issued in abund- ance, mails had been received regularly, daily papers had been delivered in the camps, and much genuine enjoy- ment had been secured in the city attending church, so- cieties, theaters, the circus, and military ceremonies. Many had formed quite an extended circle of pleasant and friendly acquaintances, which were broken away from with many sincere regrets.
X THE YOCKNA MARCH
On Wednesday, November 26, 1862, the camp in Fort Pickering was struck at 7 a. m., and McDowell's brigade marched out and joined the rest of the division on the Pigeon Roost road, where all took up the line of march in the direction of the Coldwater River.
Many sincere regrets were expressed by the men at bidding farewell to the city of Memphis, with all its pleasant surroundings and associations, to enter upon a long and hazardous campaign deep into the interior of the enemy's country, exposed to inclement weather, hard marching, severe tests of endurance, sickness, personal hardships, and the most critical danger in the presence of a brave and vigilant enemy.
The military situation in West Tennessee and North Mississippi, summed up at the beginning of the campaign, was substantially as follows: the Union forces were sta- tioned at Memphis and Jackson, Tennessee, and Corinth, Mississippi, with the Memphis and Charleston Railroad as the base line. General Grant was in command and the master spirit directing the general advance into the in- terior, with Vicksburg as the grand objective. The forces were organized with a center column, starting from Jackson, Tennessee, and composed of 15,608 effec- tive men and 38 pieces of artillery, commanded by Ma- jor-General James B. McPherson, and moving south along the line of the Mississippi Central Railroad. A column, starting from Corinth, and comprising 13,484
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men and 45 pieces of artillery, commanded by Major- General Charles S. Hamilton, was designated as the left wing. The Memphis column with 19,572 men and 48 pieces of artillery, commanded by Major-General William T. Sherman, was designated as the right wing. All con- verged on Holley Springs, Mississippi, with an aggre- gate strength of 48,664 men and 131 guns.
The severe punishment received by the Confederates, under General Earl Van Dorn and General Sterling Price, in October, at Iuka and Corinth, caused them to seek shelter with their shattered forces behind the Talla- hatchie River, south of Holley Springs, where they hoped to recruit their thinned ranks and restore the morale of their troops. The suspension of General Beauregard from the active command of the Confederate army, after the evacuation of Corinth; the movement of General Bragg into Middle Tennessee with the bulk of the Corinth army, and the dispatch of large detachments of cavalry in the same direction had greatly reduced the available forces for the defense of North Mississippi, and had tak- en some of the ablest commanders to other fields. Every available detachment and command of Confederate troops, however, had been concentrated at the camps on the south side of the Tallahatchie River, where Lieuten- ant-General John C. Pemberton had recently assumed command, with General Sterling Price and General Mansfield Lovell in command of the two organized corps of infantry and General Earl Van Dorn in command of the cavalry corps. The strength of the army assembled on the Tallahatchie was 30,223 men of all arms present for duty, with a reserve force at Grenada and Jackson consisting of 17,918 men present for duty and available in an emergency. The aggregate force in the field to re-
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sist General Grant's movement was 48,141 men. The enemy had outposts, consisting of strong detachments of cavalry, posted at Ripley, Holley Springs, Byhalia, and Hernando, guarding in the direction of Corinth, Grand Junction, and Memphis. The central column of the Union advance had progressed south to Davis' Mills and Holley Springs, meeting with some resistance and in- curring slight loss.
General Denver's division marched 8 miles the first day and camped for the night on the Nonconnah Creek, where the camp was pitched with the shelter tents for the first time. As usual at the beginning of a campaign the men found the loads in their knapsacks a burden beyond their strength to carry and the process of sorting out such articles as could best be dispensed with commenced at once.
November 27th, the column continued the march on the Pigeon Roost road and camped on Coldwater River, having traveled a distance of 16 miles. November 28th, the troops broke camp at an early hour, crossed the Cold- water stream, passed through the pleasant little village of Byhalia and camped on a large creek, a tributary of the Coldwater, the distance marched being 12 miles. November 29th, the Sixth Iowa went on picket guard and made a reconnoissance to the front for a distance of two miles, driving in the enemy's pickets and then returned to a good defensive position near the camps of the di- vision, where the whole regiment was stationed as the advance guard for the column. Sunday, November 30th, the division marched 6 miles south to Chulahoma and went into camp during a heavy downpour of rain. Mon- day, December 1, 1862, the division remained in camp during the day in the midst of great discomfort to the
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troops, on account of the heavy rain during the after- noon and night before. Artillery firing was heard dur- ing the day in the direction of the Tallahatchie River, where the enemy was reported to be in great force and well fortified.
December 2nd, the division marched all day in the rain and camped at Wyatt on the Tallahatchie River, covering a distance of 10 miles. December 3rd, the troops re- mained in camp all day, while the Second Division was engaged in constructing a bridge across the river. De- cember 4th, the regiment furnished a large detail to work on the bridge at the river. A heavy rain continued throughout the day, flooding the whole country and mak- ing the roads practically impassable. December 5th, the division broke camp at 8 a. m., crossed the river on the newly constructed bridge, and camped at College Hill af- ter marching a distance of 9 miles. The depth of the mud in the Tallahatchie bottoms was designated as "no bottom".
At the approach of the converging columns of the Union army the Confederates evacuated their position and the strong defensive works erected by them along the line of the Tallahatchie River, and fell back to a new po- sition south of Oxford, not having made any serious re- sistance to the advance of the Union forces. General Grant concentrated all his troops in the vicinity of Ox- ford, when the first stage of the campaign was terminated with a complete Union victory.
Considering the narrow country roads traveled over, which were made almost impassable by the frequent hard rains, the march from Memphis to the Tallahatchie had been rapid, sorely taxing the animals in the artillery, the heavy ammunition and supply trains, and causing great
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fatigue and intense suffering among the troops, especial- ly those of the newly arrived regiments, some of whom had been less than a month away from their homes.
Nearly every soldier had accumulated a large supply of good serviceable clothing, blankets, and many little articles of convenience while in camp at Memphis, which, on starting from that city, all were reluctant to part with and overloaded the knapsacks by trying to retain them. The soldier's gun and 40 rounds of ammunition in his cartridge box, and an extra 20 rounds in his knapsack, a canteen and haversack with three days rations, alto- gether made a load for each man to carry, weighing from 60 to 80 pounds, which none but the strongest were able to successfully contend with.
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