USA > Iowa > A history of the Sixth Iowa infantry > Part 11
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41
The reported extensive plundering of plantations in the country passed through, by small bands of soldiers straggling from the columns, had caused General Sher- man to issue, on December 6th, stringent orders couched in his usual plain and vigorous language, as follows :
Our mission is to maintain, not to violate, all laws, human and divine. Plundering is hurtful to our cause and to the hon- orable tone which characterizes the army of a great nation.
The Government of the United States undertakes to pay, clothe, and feed her troops well, and is prepared to do it. The officers and soldiers have no right to look to any quarter for compensation and subsistence. By existing orders the quarter- masters and commissaries of brigades may take corn-fodder and any species of forage, and cattle, hogs, sheep, meal, or any species of subsistence stores, which property they account for to the Government (in the same manner as if purchased, leav- ing to the proper authorities of our Government) to pay for the same or not according to loyalty of the owner. Fire-wood can be taken by the troops from the standing or fallen timber, or
1
147
THE YOCKNA MARCH
even rails, when such timber is not to be had; but the taking of chickens, turkeys, pigs, or anything by soldiers is as much pill- age and stealing as though committed in our own coun- try.
Each brigadier will hold each colonel or commander of a regiment responsible that when any of his men leave their ranks and pillage not only shall the stolen articles be turned into the brigade quartermasters or commissary, but that the soldiers be punished by fine or otherwise by sentence of a field offi- cer.
Colonels of regiments will cause the Articles of War to be read to their men now, and repeat it every month, and impress on them that they are employed to do the work of their Govern- ment and not their own will, and that we are in a hostile country where large armies, though unseen, are maneuvering for our destruction. To be ready we must act in concert, pre- pared to move in any direction at a moment's notice, and this would be impossible if men are allowed to roam about the coun- try plundering at will.
The order also provided that the giving of a false alarm by the firing of a gun should be punished; that soldiers must never leave their ranks without the order of their brigadier; and that an officer and a sufficient number of men should be detailed by each brigadier to collect cattle, hogs, sheep, or any kind of subsistence, to be issued to the troops as part of their regular supplies.
The orders had a very salutary effect on the troops and resulted in the enforcement of a most rigid discip- line throughout the army. Many soldiers of the Sixth Iowa were arrested and summarily punished as provided in the orders, for foraging in the country on their own account. In some instances men were tied up by their thumbs for a whole night and compelled to march during the day tied to a wagon; non-commissioned officers were
11
148
SIXTH IOWA INFANTRY
summarily reduced to the ranks for the slightest infringe- ment of the orders.
While passing a plantation on the march to the Talla- hatchie, Lieutenant Bashore commanding Company D, shot and killed a turkey that was perched in a tall tree, with a gun taken from one of his men in the ranks of the company, for which he was placed under arrest. A gen- eral court-martial was convened, while the division was camped at College Hill, to dispose of numerous cases and Lieutenant Bashore was put on trial for shooting the tur- key. Before the case was fully tried the court was dis- solved by the officers composing it being ordered to other and distant fields of operations. Lieutenant Bashore re- turned to duty in command of his company and no further proceedings were had, and thus a gallant officer was saved from a sentence of humiliating reprimand or something worse.
On Sunday, December 7th, General Sherman's com- mand was reviewed by General Grant in the afternoon. On December 9th, the division was reviewed by General Sherman, when he took occasion to deliver a short speech to each regiment, bidding them farewell, before leaving for Memphis with the 13th Regulars and two divisions of his army corps to compose a part of an expedition form- ing there to proceed down the Mississippi River and go against Vicksburg.
On December 11th, camp at College Hill was broken and the whole division marched south, a distance of 8 miles, and camped on Clear Creek. On December 12th, the march was continued to the Yockna [ Yocona] River, a distance of 12 miles. On Sunday, December 14th, gen- eral inspection was held in the forenoon and church ser- vices in the afternoon. Company and battalion drills
149
THE YOCKNA MARCH
had been resumed while the army was halted along the line of the Yockna. Despite the precautions taken, many men were prostrated with chills and fevers.
On December 1Sth, orders by the President were read on parade, dividing the troops of the Department of West Tennessee and the Department of Missouri, operating on the Mississippi River, into four army corps. Com- manders were assigned as follows: 13th Army Corps, General John A. McClernand; 15th Army Corps, General W. T. Sherman; 16th Army Corps, General S. A. Hurl- but; and 17th Army Corps, General J. B. McPherson.
In making the assignments for the organization of the new corps, the command of General J. W. Denver was designated as the First Division of the 17th Army Corps. It was composed of two brigades as follows: 40th Illi- nois, 12th and 100th Indiana, 46th Ohio, and 6th Iowa, Colonel McDowell commanding; 97th and 99th Indiana, 53rd and 70th Ohio, Colonel Cockerill commanding; Cheney's, Bouton's, and Cogswell's Illinois, and Muel- ler's Indiana batteries. The total strength of the division was 5550 men and 16 guns. The other three divisions composing the corps were commanded by General J. A. Logan, J. G. Lauman, and G. M. Dodge, with Colonel B. H. Grierson in command of the brigade of cavalry. The aggregate strength of the 17th Army Corps present was 30,456 men and 67 guns. The total strength of the four army corps, composing the Army of the Tennessee, was 93,816 men and officers present, with an aggregate strength, present and absent, of 121,051, and 153 guns.
Sunday, December 21st, was devoted to inspection of the troops and religious services in the afternoon. Marching orders for the next morning were read at pa- rade in the evening.
150
SIXTH IOWA INFANTRY
On December 20th, General Grant directed Colonel Ed- ward Hatch, 2nd Iowa Cavalry, commanding the brigade of cavalry, to take all the effective cavalry force south of the Yocknapatalfa River and make a demonstration as far toward Grenada as he could go without serious re- sistance and thence return to Oxford, destroying thoroughly all bridges on railroads and wagon roads and all mills on the line of march. On the same day, General Van Dorn, commanding the Confederate cavalry, had at- tacked Holley Springs and overcome the small garrison, and had destroyed a million dollars worth of army sup- plies and paroled 1500 prisoners. The destruction of the supplies at Holley Springs made it impracticable for the army to advance any farther, hence the orders to march to the north side of the Tallahatchie River.
December 22nd, the whole division broke camp at an early hour and commenced the movement back to the Tal- lahatchie, traveled a distance of 12 miles, and camped for the night on Clear Creek. By order of General Mc- Pherson, all the empty wagons in the train were filled during the day with forage accumulated in the country, and the commissary seized all provisions, such as cattle and hogs, and took them along. All wagon bridges on the route of march were destroyed.
It was while the column was halted by the roadside during the day that a gentlemanly looking old man, mounted on a spry moving "critter", came along the road and "Loppy" Stewart, one of the mounted foragers, ban- tered the old man to trade horses. His quick compliance with the suggestion to dismount, and let his mare be tried under an army saddle, showed at once his genial good na- ture and quick perception of a trying situation. After prancing the old mare up and down the road a time or
151
THE YOCKNA MARCH
two, Stewart said: "Well, old man, it's a trade". With an expression of countenance as comical as it had appear- ed genial, the old man replied: "Sir, I am nigh onto sev- enty-five years old and I have traded horses more'n a hun- dred times, but this is the first time I ever swapped horses without having anything to say in the deal". Willing hands assisted the old gentleman to replace his saddle on his mare, when he galloped away with victory beaming on his good natured face.
It was while collecting forage and stock and while in the act of chasing a sheep through the camps, that "Jeff", the regimental dog, was shot and seriously wounded by an officer of the regular army. The dog being a univer- sal pet in the regiment, the incident caused much excite- ment and some hostile demonstrations, but better counsel prevailed and the dog soon recovered.
On December 23rd, the march was continued and the column passed through College Hill and Abbeville to the Tallahatchie River at the railroad bridge. Here it crossed on a pontoon bridge and went into camp one mile from the river on an elevated and bleak position on the edge of the timber overlooking the broad cultivated cot- ton fields on the Tallahatchie bottoms.
The fortifications constructed by the enemy along the line of the Tallahatchie were models of engineering skill and were solidly constructed earthworks, which had re- quired a great expenditure of labor by slaves and by soldiers detailed from the army. A direct assault on any portion of the line by the Union army during the advance would have proved disastrous. The Confederates were made to abandon their strongly fortified position by the Union columns appearing on their flanks, turning the po- sition and endangering their communications. Their re-
152
SIXTH IOWA INFANTRY
treat was precipitate, causing great hardships and ser- ious demoralization in their army.
In the beautiful college town of Oxford, the seat of the State university and the center of wealth and culture in that section, the scene during the retreat south beggars description. It was told by those who remained how the long columns of troops, tired, wet, and soiled, poured through the town, accompanied by carriages, buggies, and even carts, filled with terror-stricken, delicate ladies, whole families carrying with them their household goods and negroes. The scene was truly one of indescribable confusion and excitement - one of those gloomy pictures of war so'distressing in all its circumstances. Thus it was that the Confederates retreated, day after day, in drenching rainstorms and over roads in a terrible con- dition, through Water-valley, Coffeeville, and to Grena- da, amid the roar of artillery and unprecedented suffer- ing. The occupation of the territory by the Union army for a short period, its enforced retreat and the destruc- tion of all bridges and mills, and stripping the country of nearly every vestige of forage and subsistence completed the ruin of wealthy planters and the devastation of a beautiful and productive country.
On December 24th, the weather was cloudy and cold with a bleak north wind chilling everybody to the bone. The event of the day though, was Colonel McDowell's issue of a full "gigger" [jigger-less than a gill] of com- missary whiskey to each man in the regiment. Orders were also issued throughout the command to put the troops on half rations, a result of the destruction of the army stores and supplies at Holley Springs.
Christmas, December 25th, was cold and dreary, caus- ing much painful suffering among the troops, many of
153
THE YOCKNA MARCH
whom were thinly clad and limited to a single blanket, on account of not being able to carry a heavy load, on the long marches and over the muddy roads. Company D, Lieutenant Bashore commanding, was detailed and de- parted as escort for the division wagon train, ordered to Memphis for supplies.
On December 27th, the whole regiment escorted a for- aging train to the country for supplies, passing through Wyatt and out on the Panola road to a large plantation, where it went into camp for the night and the wagons were loaded with corn. The command returned to camp the next day with the loaded train, having marched 20 miles. Company D returned to the regiment the same evening, the orders to escort the train to Memphis, having been countermanded at Chulahoma.
December 29th, the whole command broke camp on the Tallahatchie and marched to Holley Springs, a distance of 16 miles. The troops were camped at the outer edge of town, where on the next day a regular camp was laid out, the ground nicely policed and the camp pitched pre- paratory to remaining for an indefinite period. The weather continued cold and very disagreeable, with heavy rains and some snow. On December 31st, an inspection of the regiment was held. The troops were also mus- tered for pay, the year's service being terminated.
At the close of the year, the Confederates had the pres- tige of decided success in the recent military operations inaugurated by the Union commanders in North Missis- sippi and at Vicksburg, which had resulted in General Grant's main column falling back to the north side of the Tallahatchie and the defeat in the Yazoo Valley of Gen- eral Sherman's expedition against the fortified strong- hold at Vicksburg.
:
154
SIXTH IOWA INFANTRY
General Van Dorn's success in his raid on the Union line of communication at Holley Springs had put him in high favor with the Confederate authorities and the army, and had demonstrated that a large mounted force commanded by a bold leader was to be a formidable fac- tor in all future operations.
General N. B. Forrest, another bold Confederate lead- er hovering in the vicinity with a well equipped command, was quick to follow up the recent successes by pushing in- to West Tennessee with his whole cavalry command, where he compelled several small garrisons guarding the railroad to surrender. But his operations were finally broken up and his whole force driven out of the territory, with some loss in men and material, while large quanti- ties of the stores and arms, captured by him with the garrisons, were recovered.
Numerous bands of partisans, in companies and bat- talions commanded by bold and skilled leaders, were ac- tive in all the territory from the Tallahatchie River north to the Ohio River, and especially along the lines of railroad operated by the Union forces. Chief among these bold and relentless partisans were Colonels W. C. Falkner and Robert V. Richardson, Major G. L. Blythe, Captains [J. F. ? ] White and Solomon Street, who con- fined their operations to the vicinity of Holley Springs and La Grange.
The wholesale destruction of all species of property in the country - by friends and foes - had so exasperated the inhabitants throughout the section, who composed the membership of the partisan organizations, that a most wanton destruction of human life was inaugurated by both sides. Murders and cowardly assassinations were of daily occurrence, and the destruction of palatial plan-
155
THE YOCKNA MARCH
tations, in retaliation, was prosecuted relentlessly, and that in spite of the most stringent orders to the contrary.
The direful effects of the Confederate cavalry raid were in evidence everywhere about the beautiful little southern city of Holley Springs, in the burned store buildings, depot, armory, hospitals, and private dwell- ings. General Van Dorn's Confederate cavalry had rushed into the town at daylight, meeting with but slight resistance. The Union garrison was surprised and 1500 men were surrendered and paroled as prisoners of war before they were aware of the real situation. The in- human and barbarous treatment of critically ill soldiers in the hospitals will ever stand against the men who per- petrated the fiendish acts, as almost unparalleled in the cruelties of war. 10
The beginning of the new year found the contending forces in the Western Department disposed as follows : General Grant and General McPherson at Holley Springs, with the divisions of Logan, Denver, and Lauman, num- bering, in addition to staff officers, 20,522 men present for duty and 60 guns; two small brigades of cavalry com- manded by Colonel [B. H. ] Grierson and Colonel [A. L. ] Lee - all under the direction of Colonel T. Lyle Dickey as Chief of Cavalry -numbering about 3500 men and 7 guns, who were engaged scouting the country from the Mobile and Ohio Railroad to the Mississippi River; Gen- eral Dodge, at Corinth; General Hamilton, at La Grange; General Sullivan, at Jackson; General Veatch, at Mem- phis; and, Generals Sherman and McClernand, command-
10 The incident referred to was the burning of a Union hospital and the forcing of one hundred and fifty sick Union soldiers to rise and march a distance under a threat of being shot. - War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Series I, Vol. XVII, Pt. 1, pp. 510, 511.
156
SIXTH IOWA INFANTRY
ing the expedition down the Mississippi River, at Vicks- burg. The aggregate number of effective men for duty in the department was 93,816 and 153 guns.
The Confederates were mostly concentrated at Grena- da, Mississippi, where they were strongly fortified. Gen- eral Johnston commanded the department, with General Pemberton at Vicksburg, Generals Price and Lovell at Grenada, and Generals Van Dorn and Forrest com- manding the cavalry divisions. The aggregate strength was about 60,000 men. General Van Dorn was at Pon- totoc, Mississippi, with about 8000 men, and General Forrest had crossed the Tennessee River and, for the time, was operating in Middle Tennessee, south of Nash- ville. 11
Thursday, January 1, 1863, found the men of the Sixth Iowa in camp at Holley Springs where they were engaged performing daily routine duty, consisting of heavy de- tails for outpost and camp guards, company and battalion drills, and dress parades -- when it was not raining.
On Sunday, January 4th, the usual general inspection was held in the forenoon, and religious services in the afternoon, conducted by the regimental Chaplain, the Reverend John Ufford. January 6th, the regiment broke camp at an early hour and marched north with the di- vision, passed through the village of Salem and camped for the night, having traveled 15 miles. January 7th, Wolf River, at Davis' Mills, was crossed and camp made, after a distance of 10 miles had been marched.
During the evening, a small squad went to a planta- tion beyond the outposts where they were fired on from
11 From December 11, 1862, to January 3, 1863, Brigadier-General N. B. Forrest was operating in Western Tennessee. - War of the Rebellion : Official Records, Series I, Vol. XVII, Pt. 1, pp. 593-597.
-
157
THE YOCKNA MARCH
the house, and Noah Carmach, musician in Company E, was shot and instantly killed. The affair being reported at regimental headquarters, Lieutenant-Colonel Corse commanding the regiment, selected companies E, I, and K, and proceeded in hot haste to the plantation, where the dead body of Carmach was found lying in the front yard, where he had fallen. The plantation belonged to Robert W. Smith, a wealthy and influential citizen in that section, who was an ardent supporter of the south- ern cause, and if any armed troops had been there they had escaped before Colonel Corse and his avenging party arrived. A thorough search of the premises was made and W. P. Kremer, of Company I, procured a small tin- type picture of a young man which was identified by a nearly white slave girl as the son of the proprietor of the premises, who, she said, had shot and killed Carmach in the early evening. A pass was also found in the house, as follows :
Headquarters 13th Army Corps,
Department of Tennessee,
La Grange, Nov. 13, 1862.
Mr. R. W. Smith has permission to come from his home south- east of La Grange to this place and return, good for four days. By command of Major-General Grant,
William S. Hillyer, Colonel and Provost Marshal General.
These war relics had no real intrinsic value, but Mr. Kremer, who became an extensive book maker and pub- lisher in the city of New York, placed a keeping value upon them. The dwelling house and many of the out- buildings on the plantation were fired and entirely con- sumed, when the companies returned to camp at daylight in a drenching rainstorm, with Carmach's body.
158
SIXTH IOWA INFANTRY
Friday, January 9th, the command marched to Grand Junction, Tennessee, the crossing of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and the Mississippi Central Rail- road, where the brigade went into camp and commenced erecting winter quarters. The work was greatly im- peded by heavy rains and continued inclement weather, which caused great discomfort to all.
General Grant had withdrawn all his troops from North Mississippi back to the line of the Memphis and Charles- ton Railroad, where the commands designated to garri- son the posts along the line commenced erecting winter quarters.
The success attending the Union army in the Western Department during the first half of the expired year and the favorable progress made in the summer and early fall were almost eclipsed by the withdrawal of the army from North Mississippi and the serious repulse sustained at the Chickasaw Bluffs, on the Yazoo River, near Vicks- burg.
The elections in the northern States during the fall had resulted adversely to the administration party in several of the great States. This greatly encouraged the anti-war party to think that a peaceful compromise of the war would soon follow, and caused corresponding depression and discouragement throughout the army.
President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, free- ing the slaves, had placed the government and the army up against the real issue, and thus the real bone being contended for by the prosecution of the war was laid bare. Many who had been enthusiastic at the beginning were becoming lukewarm and sought honorable opportun- ity to get out of the army. The dark cloud hanging over the destiny of the country and the depressed spirit ap- pearing among the soldiers caused the gallant soldier and
159
THE YOCKNA MARCH
patriot, General John A. Logan, to issue an address to the army that rang out clear and distinct, like a bell in the night :
I am aware that influences of the most discouraging and treasonable character, well calculated and designed to render you dissatisfied, have recently been brought to bear upon some of you by professed friends. Newspapers, containing treason- able articles, artfully falsifying the public sentiment at your homes, have been circulated in your camps. Intriguing politi- cal tricksters, demagogues, and time-servers, whose corrupt deeds are but a faint reflex of their more corrupt hearts, seem determined to drive our people on to anarchy and destruction. They have hoped, by magnifying the reverses of our arms, base- ly misrepresenting the conduct and slandering the character of our soldiers in the field, and boldly denouncing the acts of the constituted authorities of the Government as unconstitutional usurpations, to produce general demoralization in the army, and thereby reap their political reward, weaken the cause we have espoused, and aid those arch traitors of the South to dismember our mighty republic and trail in the dust the emblem of our national unity, greatness, and glory.
Let me remind you, my countrymen, that we are soldiers of the Federal Union, armed for the preservation of the Federal Constitution and the maintenance of its laws and authority. Upon your faithfulness and devotion, heroism, and gallantry, depend its perpetuity. To us has been committed this sacred inheritance, baptized in the blood of our fathers. We are sold- iers of a Government that has always blessed us with prosperity and happiness. It has given to every American citizen the largest freedom and the most perfect equality of rights and privileges ; it has afforded us security in person and property, and blessed us until, under its beneficent influence, we were the proudest nation on earth.
Let us stand firm at our posts of duty and of honor, yielding a cheerful obedience to all orders from our superiors, until, by our united efforts, the Stars and Stripes shall be planted in
160
SIXTH IOWA INFANTRY
every city, town, and hamlet of the rebellious States. We can then return to our homes, and through the ballot-box peacefully redress all our wrongs, if any we have. . March bravely onward! Nerve your strong arms to the task of overthrowing every obstacle in the pathway of victory until with shouts of triumph the last gun is fired that proclaims us a united people under the old flag and one government! Patriot soldiers! This great work accomplished, the reward for such service as yours will be realized; the blessings and honors of a grateful people will be yours.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.