USA > Iowa > A history of the Sixth Iowa infantry > Part 24
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Pursuant to orders previously received from army headquarters, the Sixth Iowa struck camp in the early morning of October 4th, and marched with the First Di- vision in the direction of the Chattahoochee River, pass- ing through the fortifications and old camps, occupied during the siege, northwest of the city of Atlanta. The works built and occupied by the enemy in front of the position held by the 15th Army Corps during the month of August were found to be very strong, if not absolute- ly impregnable to assault. The column crossed the Chat- tahoochee River, near the railroad bridge, and went into camp for the night at the Smyrna Camp Meeting Grounds, having marched 21 miles over very bad roads.
The aggressive operations inaugurated by General Hood, immediately following the visit of President Davis at Palmetto caused the pleasant camps about Atlanta to be broken up and the troops put in march on the retro- grade campaign. General Hood crossed his three infan-
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try corps to the north side of the Chattahoochee River at Campbellton, on September 30th, marched north to the vicinity of Lost Mountain and took a position fronting towards and covering Kenesaw Mountain. There he de- tached General Stewart's corps, on October 3rd, and this organization struck and destroyed the railroad and cap- tured the garrisons guarding at Big Shanty and Ac- worth, numbering 425 men.
At 4 p. m., October 4th, Major-General French, with his division of three brigades, was detached by General Stewart and sent against Allatoona, where a large re- serve supply of army stores and provisions was stored. After thoroughly destroying the railroad from Big Shanty to Acworth, by burning the ties and twisting the heated rails, General Stewart rejoined General Hood at New Hope Church with his two remaining divisions, on the evening of October 4th. Such was the situation when the troops from Atlanta arrived at the Smyrna Camp Meeting Grounds and at Marietta.
On October 5th, the troops marched to Kolb's farm, two and a half miles south of Marietta, and took a posi- tion covering the roads leading out to Lost Mountain and Dallas, where the enemy was in heavy force. The corps remained in the position during the 6th and 7th and then, on the 8th, marched through Marietta and around the east end of Kenesaw Mountain, on the Marietta and Big Shanty wagon road, and camped in the plain two miles north of the mountain. The army, except the 20th Corps which had been left to garrison the city of Atlanta, was in position extending from Kenesaw to Allatoona, offering battle to General Hood's army, still at New Hope Church. From the crest of Kenesaw Mountain General Sherman had used the signal corps to direct the move-
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ments of his army. He signaled to General Corse at Rome to reenforce the garrison at Allatoona with a bri- gade of troops from his division, sending the message over the heads of Stewart's men engaged in tearing up the railroad at Big Shanty and Acworth.
On October 5th, at a very early hour in the morning, General French had invested the position at Allatoona with his division of 4347 men. His command embraced the brigade of Brigadier-General W. H. Young, com- posed of the 29th and 39th North Carolina, 9th, 10th, and 14th, and 32nd Texas regiments; Brigadier-General F. M. Cockrell's brigade of Missouri troops; Brigadier-Gen- eral C. W. Sears' brigade of Mississippi troops, composed of the 4th, 35th, 36th, 39th, and 46th regiments, and the 7th battalion; Cowan's Mississippi battery, Lookout Ten- nessee battery, and Pointe Coupee Louisiana battery.
The Union garrison at Allatoona, commanded by Bri- gadier-General John M. Corse, embraced the 4th Minne- sota, 450 men; the 93rd Illinois, 290 men; 7 companies of the 18th Wisconsin, 150 men; and the 12th Wisconsin battery, 6 guns; aggregate, 890 men. These were a part of the Third Division, 15th Army Corps, and were com- manded by Lieutenant-Colonel J. E. Tourtellotte, 4th Minnesota. They composed the railroad guard and gar- rison for the station. General Corse arrived at Alla- toona Station, at one a. m., on the morning of the 5th, on the cars, with Colonel Richard Rowett's brigade of the Fourth Division of the 15th Army Corps, composed of 8 companies 39th Iowa, 280 men, Lieutenant-Colonel James Redfield commanding; 9 companies 7th Illinois, 267 men; 8 companies 50th Illinois, 267 men ; 2 companies 57th Illi- nois, 61 men; and a detachment of the 12th Illinois, 155 men ; total, 1054 men ; aggregate force, 1944 men.
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At the first break of day the skirmishing commenced at the outposts and the fighting was pressed with great determination by the enemy on all sides of the position, forcing the outposts and detachment to take refuge in the forts situated on the summit of the ridge, on either side of the deep railroad cut. At 8:30 a. m., General French preemptorily demanded the surrender of Alla- toona and its garrison, "to avoid a needless effusion of blood", to which General Corse at once replied: "We are prepared for the 'needless effusion of blood' when- ever it is agreeable to you".
At 10 a. m., the enemy had massed their forces and be- gan the assault with great fury, carrying the rifle-pits and small redoubts, forcing the defenders into the two main redoubts. There they maintained the fight for four hours against the repeated assaults of their gallant foes, who, at 2 p. m., were broken and driven in squads and frag. mentary commands to the shelter of the rough ground, where they sullenly maintained the fight, from behind every stump and log, within musket range of the forts. At 3:30 p. m., the defeated Confederates marched away to New Hope Church, where they rejoined General Hood's main army, leaving their dead and severely wounded, on the battlefield. Union loss -killed 142, wounded, 352, prisoners 212, total 706. Confederate loss -killed 134, wounded 474, prisoners 281, total SS9 men.26 The Confederates mourned the loss of a large number of distinguished officers, many of whom had served from the beginning of the war. The Missouri brigade had killed or mortally wounded, 2 Majors, 3 Cap-
26 Major General S. G. French, in his official report, gives his loss as follows: killed, 122; wounded, 443; missing, 234; a total of 799. - War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Series I, Vol. XXXIX, Pt. 1, p. 818.
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tains, 6 Lieutenants, and 1 Ensign. Colonel W. H. Clark, of the Mississippi Brigade, was killed while leading his men in the charge.
In his report of the battle made at the time, General Corse said :
The gallant Colonel James Redfield, of the Thirty-ninth Iowa, fell shot in four places, and the extraordinary valor of the men and officers of this regiment and the Seventh Illinois saved to us Allatoona.
Eight companies of the 39th Iowa were engaged in the battle, with 10 officers and 274 men present. Of these there were killed, 5 officers and 35 men; wounded, 1 offi- cer and 51 men ; missing 2 officers and 76 men ; aggregate, 170 men. Of the 10 officers taken into action, 5 were killed, 1 wounded, and 2 taken prisoner. There were left at the close of the engagement 112 men and 2 officers for duty in the regiment.
General Corse was severely wounded in the head, at one p. m., by a rifle-ball that rendered him insensible for a half hour, just at the most critical period of the battle, but on his restoration to consciousness, and, while in the midst of the dead and dying, he urged the few unhurt officers and men, still left around him in the little fort, to renewed exertion, assuring them that General Sherman would soon be there with reinforcements. He so im- pressed every officer and enlisted man in his command, with his indomitable spirit, that they were inspired with heroic courage and to the performance of deeds never surpassed and seldom equalled in the history of wars.
The gallant dead of the Union garrison, whose deaths caused such grief in so many northern homes, have their names and the history of their heroic deeds and tragic death inscribed in the records of the nation, and their
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memory will ever be enshrined in the hearts of a patriotic people. An imperishable halo of glory will ever cluster around the thrilling scenes enacted at Allatoona, on that day.
General Sherman was at the signal station all day, on the crest of Kenesaw Mountain, while the battle was in progress at Allatoona, sending and receiving messages for the maneuvering of his army, which was actively en- gaged in the pursuit of General Hood, on his northern raid. Lieutenant Charles H. Fish, signal officer of the 15th Army Corps, was in charge of the Kenesaw station and Lieutenant Jolin Q. Adams, United States Signal Corps, was in charge of the Allatoona station. It was during the battle, at 10 a. m., that Lieutenant Adams flagged a message to Kenesaw, announcing the arrival of General Corse with reinforcements, and again, when the enemy had commenced to withdraw in the afternoon he sent a message to General Sherman, stating that they were all right and General Corse wounded.
The Honorable J. W. Mckenzie, a distinguished judge of Iowa - now deceased - was a flagman at the Alla- toona Station and received honorable mention for cool- ness and bravery while flagging messages under a sharp fire from the enemy's sharpshooters.
The next day after the fight, at 2 p. m., General Corse had flagged to Captain L. M. Dayton, Aide-de-Camp to General Sherman, who was on Kenesaw Mountain, the following message: "I am short a cheek bone and one ear, but am able to whip all hell yet. My losses are very heavy." At 4:10 p. m., Captain Dayton replied as fol- lows: "Saw your battle. Am here all right. Have sent you assistance. Am sorry you are hurt. General is mindful of you." General Sherman expressed his ap-
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preciation of the service rendered at Allatoona, by Gen- eral Corse and the troops engaged, in special field orders, as follows: "The thanks of this army are due, and are hereby accorded to General Corse, Colonel Tourtellotte, officers and men, for their determined and gallant de- fense of Allatoona".
The result of a battle is, sometimes, entirely changed by a very slight miscarriage in the execution of the plans. At sundown, on October 4th, while at Acworth with his division on the march to Allatoona, General French dis- patched a small troop of cavalry, in charge of an officer, to strike the railroad as near the Etowah railroad bridge as possible, and to take up rails and hide them, so as to prevent trains from reaching Allatoona from the north with reinforcements. Had the officer succeeded in carry- ing out the instructions given him, probably General Corse would have been delayed and would not have reached the Allatoona station in time to save it and the million rations stored there, as he did in the middle of the night.
On Sunday, October 9th, the army remained in position north of Kenesaw Mountain during the day, where all army movements were practically suspended, on account of the deep mud and bad roads, caused by the recent hard rains. It seems like a paradox, but it was nevertheless true, that the two great armies were exactly reversed in the po- sitions held by them in June. General Johnston then oc- cupied the lines covering the railroad about Kenesaw, while General Sherman was at New Hope extending his lines around to the railroad at Allatoona and Acworth.
On October 10th, the command made a forced march to Kingston, 38 miles distant, with scarcely a halt. The column passed through Big Shanty, Acworth, Allatoona ;
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crossed the Etowah River, near the railroad bridge, on a pontoon bridge; passed through the county seat town of Cartersville and camped at night near Kingston - mak- ing a most remarkable march, considering the rough mountainous character of the country passed over and the muddy condition of the roads. That a large com- mand of foot soldiers were transferred in a day from the base of Kenesaw Mountain to the plains in the vicinity of Cassville, crossing en route the Allatoona Mountains, the Etowah River, a large and swollen stream, and were camped at night in position ready to resist the enemy, seems almost incredible. Probably there never was an- other army so capable of performing such an extraordi- nary feat of physical endurance.
General Hood had left the vicinity of Dallas and New Hope on the Sth, crossed the Coosa River below Rome and was, on the 10th, marching north with his whole army. The First Division remained in position at Kings- ton on the 11th and then marched to Rome on the 12th, where the troops camped near the hospitals. On Octo- ber 13th, the whole force started north en route to Resa- ca, passed through Adairsville and Calhoun, arrived at Resaca early in the morning on October 15th and at once pushed out on the main road leading to Sugar Valley and Snake Creek Gap, where the enemy was posted in heavy force in the position first occupied by the Army of the Tennessee at the beginning of the campaign. With Stewart's and Lee's army corps, General Hood had de- stroyed the railroad from Resaca to Tunnel Hill, north of Dalton and near Chattanooga, had compelled the gar- risons at Tilton and Dalton to surrender, and in person had demanded the surrender of the garrison and forts at Resaca, but had been so gallantly resisted that he
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marched away without serious effort to capture the place.
The enemy was found in Snake Creek Valley, occupy- ing the works built by General Harrow's division in May. The force was small and after a short resistance fell back north through the gap, with the rest of the army then in the valleys on both sides of Taylor's Ridge. The route of march during the day took the troops over interesting ground, including the positions held by both armies in May, affording them an opportunity to view the strong position and works held by the enemy at Resaca, to pass over the battlefield and revisit the graves of those who fell in that historic engagement.
A blockade, with felled trees and all manner of obstruc- tion in the very narrow pass through Snake Creek Gap, delayed the advance skirmishers and pioneers for awhile, but the infantry column hardly ceased to march, going over the trunks of trees and through the obstructions, while the pioneer corps cleared the way for the artillery and wagon trains. Before midnight, the 15th Army Corps, with wagon trains and artillery, was all through and in camp at the west end of the gap, with orders to continue the pursuit of the enemy, who had abandoned the railroad and was fleeing west through the valleys to Summerville.
At 7 a. m., October 16th, General Woods' First Divi- sion broke camp and leading the advance of the 15th Corps, struck the enemy's pickets at Villanow. They re- tired, skirmishing until they reached their supports post- ed in strong breastworks in Ship's Gap. This rugged mountain pass was fortified on both sides and was by nature a very strong position. Dispositions were soon made by General Woods, which resulted in the taking of the position after a spirited engagement with loss on both
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sides in killed and wounded. The Second Brigade was formed in line of battle as support to the attacking forces and was under the enemy's artillery and musketry fire during the engagement.
The whole corps passed over Taylor's Ridge and camped in the rich Chickamauga Valley, where much needed subsistence for both men and animals was found in abundance. The valley was cleared of the enemy, they having all fled south in the direction of Gaylesville. On October 17th, the corps passed through La Fayette, reach- ed Summerville the next day, crossed the Chattanooga River at Trion Factory, camped on the 19th at Alpine, and on the 20th pushed on, marching to the right on the Shinbone Valley road, via Davis' Cross-Roads, to Gayles- ville. On the 21st, the 15th Corps marched on the old Alabama road and took up a position on Little River, with one brigade across the river towards Blue Pond. All of Sherman's pursuing army was concentrated about Gaylesville and the further pursuit of General Hood's army, which was then at Gadsden, was declared termi- nated.
The rich and fertile valleys lying between the moun- tain ranges down to the Coosa River afforded an abund- ance of corn, flour, meal, sweet potatoes, pigs, cattle, sheep, and poultry. Foraging parties were sent out in every direction to gather it in and the army feasted on the good things of the country.
Political campaign speeches in pamphlet form were dis- tributed among the soldiers, which aroused much politi- cal enthusiasm throughout the army. The speeches of General Logan and General Schurz were the prime favorites in the Army of the Tennessee.
The bands played sweet music, the soldiers sang songs
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and cheered for generals and rabbits, and everybody was merry and happy. While in camp the sad news of Cap- tain John L. Bashore's tragic death in Poweshick County, Iowa, was received. He had been shot and killed while serving as Assistant United States Marshal, making ar- rests of persons evading the draft and of deserters from the army. The members of the Sixth Iowa, and officers and men throughout the brigade and division, offered sympathizing expressions of their deep sorrow, and many kindly tributes to his memory and of his gallant service in the army.
It was at this camp that there occurred an exodus of old officers who were mustered out and took final leave of the regiment. The list embraced: Lieutenant-Colo- nel Alexander J. Miller, Dr. Albert T. Shaw, Quarter- master Peter F. Crichton, Captain Charles T. Golding, First-Lieutenant Hezekiah C. Clock, 27 Captain Leander C. Allison, Captain James J. Jordan, Captain George R. Nunn, First-Lieutenant Edwin F. Alden, Second-Lieu- tenant Oliver F. Howard, Captain George W. Holmes, and First-Lieutenant William H. Arnold. Not all of these officers named were present with the command at the time, many of them being absent in hospitals at Chat- tanooga and other points still farther north; but all of those who were present were bid a cordial and friendly farewell by the men in the regiment. The parting with Lieutenant-Colonel Miller was attended with much re- gret and there were many expressions of kindly regard from officers and men in the regiment by whom he was held in the highest esteem for his resolute and sturdy
27 Hezekiah C. Clock was Captain of Company C at the time of his discharge, having been commissioned May 11, 1864. - Report of the Ad- jutant General of Iowa, 1866-1867, Vol. I, p. 77.
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character, his kindly and equitable bearing toward all, and his unflinching bravery as a soldier.
A cavalry reconnoissance sent out in the direction of Gadsden returned and reported a large force of the enemy, under General Joseph Wheeler, intrenched at Blount's place, near King's Hill. On Monday, October 24th, General Osterhaus, with instructions to try the strength of the enemy, broke camp in the afternoon with the First and Second divisions of the 15th Army Corps, Battery B, First Michigan and the First Iowa Battery, marched 9 miles to Leesburg and camped for the night.
Very early the next morning the command took up the line of march to King's Hill, skirmishing constantly with the enemy to Blount's place, where they made a feeble stand behind slight works and then fled to their main fortified position in Turkeytown Valley - 5 miles be- yond. There the enemy was found intrenched at the far- ther end of the valley, from where they opened on the ad- vancing columns with artillery. The First Division formed the left flank with the Second Brigade on the left of the line and the Sixth Iowa deployed as skirmishers covering the flank and extending to the river.
The two batteries were placed in position and opened fire, the skirmishers formed across the valley, facing the enemy's fortifications, when the engagement commenced with a roar of artillery and a crackling fire of musketry. The bugles sounded the charge and simultaneously all the lines rushed forward exposed to a sweeping fire from the enemy's artillery and small arms, and when at close range opened a rapid fire on their fortified line, whereupon the enemy abandoned their works and fled precipitately. No further pursuit was made and the command returned to Blount's place and camped in the enemy's works for the night. The next day the whole force marched back to the
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camp on Little River where it arrived on the 26th, hav- ing marching 48 miles and having completely broken up the enemy's outpost in Turkeytown Valley.
The direct pursuit of General Hood's army having been abandoned, the 4th and 23rd corps were sent to General Thomas in Tennessee, while the 14th, 15th, and 17th corps received orders to prepare for another long and difficult campaign. A refitting with all necessary equip- ment, paying the troops, issuing rations and all adminis- trative duties were pushed in all departments with great energy and signal dispatch.
All officers and enlisted men, whose terms of service had expired or those who were unable to stand a long march, were sent north, together, with all surplus bag- gage and transportation. At the same time the artillery was reduced to the ratio of one battery to each infantry division. The batteries of Captain F. De Gress, Captain W. Zickerick, Captain A. F. R. Arndt, and Captain Fred- erick Welker were retained with the four divisions of the 15th Army Corps, a total of 18 guns.
General Hood was left with his three infantry corps and Wheeler's and Forrest's cavalry corps concentrated in the vicinity of Decatur and Tuscumbia on the south side of the Tennessee River in North Alabama, ready to cross into Middle Tennessee on his invasion campaign. The three Union army corps commenced the movement for the return to Atlanta. The pontoon bridges having been laid in the Coosa River, the trains moved in ad- vance on the afternoon of October 28th and were all across at daylight on the 29th. Then the troops followed during the day and as the 15th Corps was the last to cross at Cedar Bluff, the pontoons were taken up by them and all other bridges and boats destroyed.
The route of the 15th Army Corps led through Cave
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Spring, Cedartown, Yellow Stone, thence across the Dug- down Mountain, through New Babylon and Powder Springs to Vining's Station at the Smyrna Camp Meeting Grounds, where the command arrived in the afternoon of November 5th, without particular incident en route.
Preparations for the contemplated campaign through Georgia were vigorously prosecuted throughout the army, by sending all baggage not absolutely necessary on the march, all sick and wounded, field and general hospitals, surplus stores, and equipment of every kind, back to Chattanooga and Nashville. Each soldier was newly and thoroughly equipped, putting the troops in the best possible light marching order.
In the regiments and detachments of the States author- izing the troops to vote while serving in the field, an election was held on November 8th, when the men voted for President, and for State and county officers. The Sixth Iowa cast 204 votes, of which 201 were for Abra- ham Lincoln and 3 for General George B. Mcclellan. During the evening, after the election, there was great enthusiasm throughout the camps and an impromptu meeting was held at the 15th Army Corps headquarters which was addressed by several distinguished public speakers - General Osterhaus, the Corps Commander, speaking in German.
On the 9th of November, the Sixth Iowa received six months pay. There being no public means for sending money home a Captain of the 100th Indiana was detailed and authorized by General Howard to receive the money in the Second Brigade, take it to Indianapolis, Indiana, and there express it to the parties to whom the packages were addressed. The packages of currency delivered to him for transmittal filled a large army clothing box and
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amounted to many thousands of dollars. That he and the ten men detailed to guard him ran the gantlet of the ma- rauding bands and forces of the enemy's cavalry along the line of the railroad back to the Ohio River at Louis- ville, reached Indianapolis in safety, and delivered every package without the loss of a dollar, was discharging a high and responsible trust with great courage and strict fidelity.
On November 12th, the Army of the Tennessee de- stroyed the railroad from Big Shanty to the Chatta- hoochee River, a distance of 22 miles, brigades being as- signed to certain portions of the road and the regiments deployed along the track, so that the destruction was al- most simultaneous all along the whole distance. The destruction was complete and thorough, ties being burned, rails twisted, and all bridges and culverts de- stroyed.
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