USA > Iowa > A history of the Sixth Iowa infantry > Part 28
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The right wing of the army was now assembled in the vicinity of McPhersonville, 30 miles out from Beaufort and 50 miles north of Savannah. The left wing was crossing the Savannah River on pontoon bridges at Sis- ter's Ferry, 40 miles above the city of Savannah, en route to unite the columns on the line of the South Carolina Railroad, connecting Charleston with Augusta, Georgia.
On the 1st day of February, 1865, the great campaign through the Carolinas was begun. The column of the 15th Corps moved out at 7 a. m., the Second Brigade lead- ing the advance of the infantry column, which was pre- ceded by the 7th Illinois and the 29th Missouri regiments of mounted infantry. The road traveled on crossed num- erous streams and swamps, and was blocked with felled trees, rail barricades and defended at all convenient van- tage points by the enemy's cavalry dismounted. These were pushed back from all their positions, after strong
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resistance, by the mounted infantry supported by the Second Brigade. This proved to be a day of incessant skirmishing and at several of the stands made by the enemy, the whole advance forces were engaged. The First Division camped for the night in the pine woods, near Whippy Swamp Post Office, and built breastworks covering the advance position of the corps column. The distance marched during the day was 15 miles.
The troops bivouacked there in the Carolina swamp with full knowledge that the army had again cut loose from communications and had entered upon another haz- ardous campaign in the very heart of the enemy's coun- try. Many predictions were indulged in, while gathered around the pine-knot campfires, as to the destination of the expedition and the probable chances of all getting through safely. No one below the rank of an army com- mander had knowledge of the plans for the campaign and the probable destination of the army, but, such was the implicit confidence had in the commander, that none doubted ultimate success. The initial movements of all columns pointed to the center and heart of the State of South Carolina, which afforded the long sought oppor- tunity to make the people of that State - the first to raise the secession flag - feel the cruel severities of the war.
All the orders and regulations for the march from At- lanta to Savannah were adopted for the new campaign. February 2nd, the First Division having held the advance of the corps column the first day and the Second Bri- gade, the advance in the division column, according to the rules for alternating the division, took its place as the rear of the corps column, and the brigade became the rear guard for the column.
The troops and trains of the corps commenced moving
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out on the roads leading to the front at an early hour and continued passing through the camp of the brigade until 4 p. m., when the last man and the last team had gone forward. This gave the men an opportunity to view the magnitude of an army corps and its equipment for field service. The Second Brigade took up the line of march as rear guard and continued it by short marches and long halts, caused by the slow progress made by the wagon trains, until a late hour, when a halt was made for the night. The distance for the day was 6 miles.
February 3rd, the rain, which had poured down during the night, filling the creeks and swamps to overflowing, continued with a slow drizzling rain throughout the day. The advance of the column was contested at the crossings of all the streams and swamps, but the enemy was usual- ly driven away by the mounted infantry, which con- tinued to hold the advance. The First Division camped for the night, holding a position at the bridge over Jack- son's Creek. The distance marched during the day was 15 miles.
To effectually cut the fifty mile swath contemplated and to facilitate the marching of the columns, the four army corps marched on parallel roads all converging toward the interior of the State to points on the line of the Charleston and Augusta Railroad, which was desig- nated as the base for the first stage of the campaign.
The whole face of the country was intersected with in- numerable streams spreading over a wide extent of bot- tom and flowing in sluggish channels, with intervening swamps and marshes impracticable for roads, except by continuous corduroy and bridging. To build the roads and extricate the wagons and artillery from the mire, heavy details of men were made each day. These were
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wading through water and mud from morning until night, while the marching columns were almost constantly in water, often knee deep and sometimes waist deep.
February 4th, at 6 a. m., the First Division marched forward to the vicinity of Augley's Post Office and on to Buford's bridge on the Big Salkehatchie River, a dis- tance of 10 miles. Here the formidable works of the remy were found abandoned, the bridge over the river destroyed, and all small bridges over lagoons broken down. After a hot contest and much wading in the water and mud, the 17th Army Corps effected a crossing and flanked the enemy out of all his strongly fortified posi- tions defending the line of the Salkehatchie River. The strong works abandoned at Buford's bridge were occu- pied by the advance troops of the First Division, without firing a shot. The Sixth Iowa went on picket guard at sundown.
On February 5th, the column advanced 5 miles and camped. The troops threw up light earthworks and the advance pickets kept up a scattering fire during the day. Orders were issued limiting foraging details to the small- est number of men necessary for the service. Those detailed were to be selected with special reference to their fitness for the hazardous duty, and the officers in com- mand were to be held responsible for the conduct of the men. The vigilance of the enemy's cavalry had caused several parties of irregular foragers to come to grief, with several casualties in killed and wounded. A few men captured had been roughly treated on account of some acts of marauding committed by stragglers in the country.
February 6th, the Third Division, General John E. Smith commanding, took the advance with the mounted
1
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infantry at the head of the column. Skirmishing com- menced at once, and, at the Little Salkehatchie River, the enemy was found in considerable force, with the bridge destroyed and the enemy in position on the opposite side of the river, prepared to resist the crossing. The mount- ed infantry was quickly disposed up and down the river to search for fords and available crossings, while the brigades of the Third Division were placed in position for a direct front attack. The First Division, General Charles R. Woods commanding, moved up in support, the troops were massed by brigades in column of regiments and the wagon trains corralled in the open fields just out of range of the brisk fire opened by the enemy with small arms and artillery.
The enemy's position was especially strong, being cov- ered along the entire front by the stream, bordered with tangled swamps on the side approached. At the command to advance, the lines went forward in gallant manner, through mud and water in the face of the enemy's galling fire, crossed the stream and completely routed them from their fortifications, all along the river. The bridges were soon rebuilt and the whole corps, including the wagon trains, crossed over and went into camp during the after- noon around Springtown Meeting House. The distance for the day was 10 miles.
The enemy made some further show of resistance dur- ing the day in the open fields beyond the camps, but was quickly driven away by the advance skirmishers. The night set in with rain, which continued with great sever- ity throughout the night, flooding all the low lands. The great discomfort caused, to the individual soldier, by the incessant downpour of rain only marked the ratio of grief throughout the army.
February 7th, the advance on the South Carolina Rail-
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road was commenced at 6 a. m. The First and Second divisions, in that order, in stripped fighting trim, unin- cumbered with trains, except ordnance wagons and am- bulances, took the advance, while the Third Division was assigned to guard the trains for the whole corps. The . Second Brigade was again in the advance of the column. On the near approach to the railroad, the 46th Ohio, 97th Indiana, and the 103rd Illinois regiments, forming the advancing line of battle supported by the rest of the bri- gade, became sharply engaged with the enemy's cavalry forces at Midway Station. The crack of the Spencer and Springfield rifles soon sent the enemy fleeing north to the swamps of the Edisto River.
By 12 noon, two brigades were engaged at tearing up the railroad track, piling up the ties and rails prepara- tory to burning them and twisting the rails. The First Division camped two miles north of the railroad and threw up a line of works covering the approach by the Cannon's bridge road. The Second Division covered approaches toward Orangeburg, while the Third Divi- sion was south of the railroad, guarding the trains from that direction. Large details from all the commands were engaged at destroying the railroad.
February 8th, all of the commands remained in camp, the weather being clear and pleasant. The foragers came in well laden so that all were furnished with plenty to eat. The 15th and 17th corps were still engaged at de- stroying the railroads - the 17th east to the Edisto Riv- er and the 15th west to Blackville - a distance of 20 miles. The left wing of the army extended along the railroad from Blackville west to Windsor and effectually destroyed the track. Occupying the line of the railroad completed the first stage of the campaign.
On February 9th, the First Division marched west 27
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along the railroad, ten miles, to Graham's Station and camped for the remainder of the day and night. Heavy artillery firing was heard in the direction of the Edisto River, where the Second Division had gone to effect a crossing.
February 10th, the Second Brigade was engaged all day at tearing up and burning the railroad track. The manner of destroying railroad track is described thus: a line of men is placed along the track extending for a mile or two, and, when the command is given, the men seize the end of the ties and turn them over like prairie sod. The process of turning over the track is followed by loud cheering of the men until the sound dies away in the far distance. With the aid of many hands the ties are hastily pried loose from the iron rails, placed in huge piles with the rails balanced across the top, fires kindled under them, the rails heated red hot in the middle and wrapped around trees, where they cooled and were ruined forever as railroad iron.
The labor of destroying railroad tracks and building corduroy roads through the swamps was the most dis- agreeable and exacting duty the men were required to perform on the campaign. Never did the men of the Second Brigade lie down at night, on mother earth, with such tired bodies as they did at Graham's Station, after the destruction of the South Carolina Railroad.
During the morning of the 11th, all the columns marched north to the crossings on the South Edisto Riv- er, the Third Division leading the 15th Corps column, followed by the First Division. The river was crossed at Holman's bridge on the pontoons laid by the Second Division, which had preceded the movement and had crossed the day before. The advance on Columbia, the
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capital of the State, was now fairly inaugurated as the second stage of the campaign.
The Fourth Division of the 15th Army Corps had re- mained at the city of Savannah until January 27th, when it marched forty miles up to Sister's Ferry and crossed the Savannah River on the pontoons, along with the troops of the left wing of the army. General John M. Corse, commanding the division, found the wagon roads leading through the great swamps almost impassable,
but with his characteristic energy all obstacles were over- come and the division rejoined the corps on the Edisto in the vicinity of Poplar Springs. Here all four divi- sions were again camped in position supporting the 17th Corps, then advancing on Orangeburg. The Second Bri- gade was camped in the pine woods on the Orangeburg road, where they received mail brought from Savannah by the Fourth Division.
On February 12th, the command marched two miles and halted until midnight, then crossed the North Edisto River on the pontoons, marched out one mile and camped for the remainder of the night with the Sixth Iowa on picket guard.
The most of the white inhabitants of the country passed through had taken their goods and chattels far into the great swamps for better security against pillaging. This was a most fatal error for it furnished the best oppor- tunity for unauthorized marauding parties to rob and destroy, without fear of detection.
For the next two days, the 15th Corps marched in two columns, the Second and Third divisions on the east side of Caw Caw Swamp and the First and Fourth divisions on the west side, on dim plantation roads through dense pine forests, where the great turpentine and resin camps
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and factories are located. The flowing pine sap from the scarified trees had been set on fire and the whole woods had become a terrific conflagration, where men and animals were almost stifled by the fierce heat and suffo- cating smoke.
At the close of the second day, the First Division emerged from the pine woods and dismal swamps into the high country in the brakes of the Congaree River, crossed Sandy Run, camped in line of battle formed across the main Orangeburg and Columbia wagon road, near Wolf's plantation, and fortified the position. The advance guard had skirmished with the enemy during the evening, and, in the night, their cavalry made a dash on the out- posts, capturing Lieutenant David Rorick, 31st Iowa, picket officer, and three of his men. In the early part of the evening a hard rain set in and continued throughout the night.
February 15th, the First Division, General Charles R. Woods commanding, broke camp at daylight and led the 15th Corps column on the Columbia road. The Second Brigade, Colonel Robert F. Catterson, 97th Indiana, com- manding, had the advance, with the 40th Illinois deployed as advance skirmishers. The enemy made stubborn re- sistance and the skirmishers were soon hotly engaged. Yelling and firing as they advanced, they drove the enemy's cavalry forces out of a number of well construct- ed rail barricades. The regiments of the Second Bri- gade, in light marching order, kept close up to the ad- vance skirmishers and at about every mile the enemy was found well posted in a barricade, when the brigade would be formed in line of battle and advance under sharp firing until the force was routed and sent scampering back to the next fortified position.
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After driving them in that manner for five or six miles they were found posted at Little Congaree Creek in strong earthworks, manned by infantry and artillery. The divisions of the 15th Army Corps were rapidly brought forward and formed in battle array. The Sec- ond and Third brigades of the First Division, in line of battle, stretched across the Columbia road facing the works at the bridge, and the First Brigade closed up as a reserve line. Generals Sherman, Howard, Logan, Woods, Hazen, Smith, and Corse, all appeared on the field at- tended by a full complement of staff officers and mounted escorts, making a brilliant and imposing military dis- play.
The Second Brigade was posted to the right of the road in the Congaree bottom, extending to the river. The bottom had recently been overflowed and was then covered with thin slush and slimy mud, shoemouth deep. The situation was a very trying one for the men, when the enemy opened a brisk fire with his artillery, because it was impracticable to lie down in the sea of mud to better avoid the screeching shot and shell that were flying un- comfortably close over their heads. The troops bravely withstood the ordeal until a battery was brought forward and opened fire, which drew the fire of the enemy's guns and relieved the men in the lines, whether it did the enemy any damage or not.
The dispositions having all been made and the troops eager for the fray, the bugles sounded the charge and with a battle yell the lines advanced in gallant style, the Sixth Iowa leading in the brigade line along the wagon road directly in front of the bridge, over which the enemy was driven in great haste. The bridge had been pre- viously covered with loose cotton saturated with turpen-
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tine, which was fired by the enemy in his retreat. The men of the Sixth Iowa, together with others, removed the burning cotton and quickly quenched the blazing bridge with water carried in their hats from the creek, spanned by it.
The First Division was at once marched across the creek on the bridge and formed in line of battle in a large cotton plantation in plain view of the city of Columbia, the capital of South Carolina. The enemy's forces had retreated to the farther side of the plantation where they were formed in battle array, about a mile away. The fighting by the skirmishers was spirited, and the battle was greatly accelerated by a sharp artillery duel partici- pated in by several batteries on each side. The rest of the corps were brought forward and formed in line of battle, and the whole line moved forward about a mile and fortified its position. The spectacle of an army corps of 15,000 troops, all in full battle array, moving over the open plantations with flags and banners waving, together with the crackling fire of small arms and the roar of artillery, all combined to make a scene of military splendor, inspiring and grand to behold.
At dark the kindled camp fires disclosed the position and the enemy opened fire with his heavy guns located in batteries on the opposite side of the river. The fire con- tinued at intervals of five minutes throughout the night, and the hugh shells dropping in the camps caused some loss of life as well as a sleepless night. The men of the 6th Iowa were disturbed by several of the shells falling in their midst, but, fortunately, without injury to anyone.
XXV THE MARCH TO FAYETTEVILLE
February 16th, at daylight, the pickets advanced and found that the enemy had retreated across the Congaree River to the city of Columbia. The whole corps was then advanced up the south bank of the river to a point on the State road opposite the center of the city where they stacked arms. With special permission from Gen- eral Sherman, Captain De Gress placed a section of his Parrott guns in position on the bank of the Congaree River at the south end of the burned wagon bridge and opened fire on the city, three shots striking the new State House building and one bursting in the railroad depot, causing straggling soldiers and a large number of citizens to flee from it in great confusion.
Volunteer details from the Sixth Jowa and other regi- ments were engaged as skirmishers sharpshooting at the enemy, in the fortifications on the opposite side of the river. Citizens and soldiers, who attempted to pass through the streets of the city, were kept dodging for their lives.
The Second Division, General Hazen commanding, marched up to the Saluda Factory, on the Saluda River, four miles above the city and laid the pontoons. Here the whole corps crossed over during the afternoon and evening, and camped on the peninsula between the Salu- da and Broad rivers - some of the troops not getting into camp until late in the night.
February 17th, the First Division advanced to cross
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Broad River, the north fork of the Congaree, which is formed by the junction of the Saluda and Broad rivers just above the city. Here the fine wagon bridge span- ning the Broad River had been burned and destroyed by the enemy.
The Third (Iowa) Brigade, Colonel George A. Stone commanding, was ferried over Broad River by means of the pontoon boats, and gallantly drove the enemy from a range of hills on the road leading into Columbia. The Sixth Iowa assisted the engineers and pontooniers in lay- ing the pontoons in the river, which was done under a brisk fire from the enemy's sharpshooters, posted on the opposite bluffs. Eight pieces of artillery were placed in position and opened fire on the forces causing the an- noyance, which sent them whirling over the hills in the direction of Columbia, four miles below, closely followed by the Iowa Brigade.
The Mayor, attended by a small delegation of promi- nent citizens, met the advancing troops a short distance outside of the limits and made formal surrender to Colo- nel Stone, who at once advanced his brigade into and took full possession of the city, without meeting any further organized resistance. The Second and First bri- gades - in that order - crossed over Broad River on the completed pontoon bridge and immediately followed after the Iowa Brigade. Marching in column with ranks well closed up, flags waving and bands playing, they entered the city in good order and fine style at about 12 o'clock noon.
The bugles sounded the halt just as the head of the column reached the vicinity of the old State House, when Colonel Robert F. Catterson gave the order and the Second Brigade stacked arms in the principal street lead-
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ing through the city - to remain for twenty minutes. The men soon began to slip away from the line of guns and scatter about through the streets and into the stores and shops. Citizens, soldiers, and negroes - men, wom- en, and children - had congregated in great swarms, and much excitement and confusion prevailed.
In some of the cellars entered there were found barrels of liquor, which were rolled into the street and the heads knocked in. Soldiers and citizens then helped them- selves, dipping into the open barrels with cups, canteens, and, in some instances, carrying it away by the bucketful. Tobacco and provisions were also seized and carried away in great quantities. After considerable time had been thus spent in riotous drinking and promiscuous plun- dering, the bugles sounded attention, the men fell in at their guns in the stacks and the march was continued to the opposite side of the city, beyond the Columbia and South Carolina Railroad tracks, where the First and Second Brigades were placed in camp and threw up light breastworks, the Sixth Iowa being posted as picket guard for the division and going on duty at sundown.
The troops of the 15th Corps continued to arrive and pass through the city during the afternoon, after which they went into the camps that circled around the out- skirts of the city. Straggling soldiers, singly and in squads, from the adjacent camps, continued to congre- gate in town, where all joined indiscriminately in the gen- eral confusion, wanton plunder, and pillage of the strick- en city and helpless people. The scene as witnessed at sundown beggared description, for men, women, and children, white and black, soldiers and citizens, many of whom were crazed with drink, were all rushing frantically and aimlessly through the streets, shouting and yelling
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like mad people. The efforts of Colonel Stone, with his Iowa Brigade as provost guards in the city, to preserve order and protect persons and property, seemed to be en- tirely futile.
Large quantities of baled cotton had been taken from the warehouses and piled in the middle of the street by the Confederates preparatory to destroying it before surrendering the city but probably, on account of the fu- rious gale prevailing at the time it had not been fired by the enemy as contemplated. The bands on many of the bales had been broken so that the loose cotton had been scattered everywhere by the high wind, filling every nook and corner about the streets and buildings. Even the large ornamental trees, which made the streets of the city noted for their beauty, were made white with the in- flammable material. In the early part of the evening the cotton was ignited and almost instantly a conflagration spread through the streets and over the city, raging like a prairie fire, consuming buildings and whole blocks in the heart of the city, creating one vast conflagration and sweeping to destruction millions of dollars represented in the many palatial homes, costly churches, public build- ings, and other property which were swallowed up in the awful holocaust.
The Iowa Brigade was relieved at night by the First Brigade, Brigadier-General William B. Woods command- ing, who, heartily aided by his officers and men, used all the facilities at hand and adopted every practicable meas- ure suggested to quench the fire and restore order. But, owing to the fact that there was no effective fire depart- ment or water system in the city, and since the town was crowded with a raging mob of straggling soldiers and homeless citizens, who were not disposed to have the
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