USA > Iowa > A history of the Sixth Iowa infantry > Part 31
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Corps and army badges were not recognized and adopt- ed throughout the western armies as early in the war as they had been in the Army of the Potomac. It was at the battle of Lookout Mountain that a soldier wearing the red star badge of the 12th Army Corps hailed an Irishman with the question: "What corps do you be- long to?" "Fifteenth", came the genial answer. "What is the badge of your corps?" quizzed the Yankee. Clapping his hand on his cartridge box, the Irishman re- plied, "Forty Rounds!" The incident was related to General Logan, commanding the 15th Corps, who at once announced the cartridge box as the emblem and badge of the corps.
It never received official sanction until the army was entering upon the Carolina campaign at Savannah and
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Beaufort, when orders were published [ February 14, 1865] to the army, describing the badge as follows:
A miniature cartridge box, black, one-eighth of an inch thick, fifteen-sixteenths of an inch wide, and thirteen-sixteenths of an inch deep, set transversely on a field of cloth or metal one and five-eighths of an inch square; above the cartridge box plate will be stamped or marked in a curve the motto "Forty Rounds". The field on which the cartridge box is set will be red for the First Division, white for the Second Division, blue for the Third Division, and yellow for the Fourth Division. For the headquarters of the corps the field will be parti-colored, of red, white, blue and yellow. The badge will invariably be worn upon the hat or cap.
On April 9th, orders were issued adopting a corps flag, as follows: the corps flag was to be of silk or bunt- ing with a fly of five feet six inches and a hoist of five feet ; the field was to be quartered with the division colors - red, white, blue, and yellow - with a yellow fringe; in the center of the field was to be placed the corps badge, a cartridge box of regulation size, with the inscription over the box in gilt letters, "Forty Rounds". The First Di- vision flag was to be the same size as the corps flag; with the field red and fringe yellow ; with corps badge and mot- to; the Second Division, white field; the Third Division, blue field; the Fourth Division, yellow field. Brigade flags were to be swallow tailed, five feet from the peak to the end of the swallow tail, three feet to the fork, and four feet five inches on pike. The field of the flag was to be of the division color, and besides the fringe, it was to have a border of one of the corps colors other than the particular division color in the order of the brigade. For instance, the Second Brigade, First Division, was to have the field red, border blue, fringe yellow, cartridge box equidistant between pike and fork of swallow tail
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with the motto above box. The flags were to be used to designate corps, division, and brigade headquarters, and were to accompany the several commanding officers on the march, and in action were to designate the position to the troops and to the commanding officers. All wag- ons and ambulances were to be marked with their ap- propriate badges.
On Saturday, April 1st, the Sixth Iowa came out in a brand new suit of blue, with new hats and new shoes. All looked so clean and neat, and presented such a sameness of appearance that it was difficult to recognize one from another.
The evening parades, with an average of two hundred men and officers in line and a fine drum and fife corps, were interesting and pleasing ceremonies performed daily in a creditable and soldierly manner. The regular Sunday inspection the next morning was made with more than the usual care, when everything connected with the equipment and the men themselves was found to be in superb condition, ready for the new campaign.
Goldsborough, the county seat of Wayne County, North Carolina, situated on the Neuse River, was an inland railroad crossing, fifty miles southeast of Raleigh, the State capital. It had a population of twelve or fifteen hundred people at the beginning of the war. It was a strategic point in all military operations which gave it far more than ordinary importance.
The granting of passes to those who desired to visit their friends in other commands of the army was much appreciated. A day or two away from routine duty, spent in the genial company of friends and relatives, was high- ly appreciated and enjoyed by large numbers through- out the army. In such pleasant manner the two weeks of camp-life were too soon ended, and the orders announe-
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ing the new campaign, to be inaugurated against John- ston's army and Raleigh, the capital of North Carolina, on April 10th, was published to the army.
The army was reorganized to consist of three grand divisions of two army corps each: the Army of the Ten- nessee, 15th and 17th corps, constituting the right wing, commanded by Major-General O. O. Howard; the Army of the Ohio, 23rd and 10th corps, forming the center, commanded by Major-General John M. Schofield; the Army of Georgia, 14th and 20th corps, constituting the left wing, commanded by Major-General Henry W. Slo- cum; while the Cavalry Division was commanded by Major-General Judson Kilpatrick. The whole army was under the supreme command of Major-General William T. Sherman. No material changes were made in the brigade, division, and corps organizations, or com- manders, all remaining substantially the same as they had been during the last campaign.
The strength of the army present for duty, April 10, 1865, was: right wing, 28,834; left wing, 28,063; center, 26,392; cavalry, 5,659; aggregate, 88,948 men and 97 guns. The strength of the Confederate army, present for duty at the same time, camped about Smithfield and Raleigh was: the Army of Tennessee - remnants of J. E. Johnston's and J. B. Hood's old army - 10,260; D. H. Hill's division, 1778; W. J. Hardee's and R. F. Hoke's corps, 11,756; Wade Hampton's and Joseph Wheeler's cavalry, 7542; aggregate 31,336 men.
Monday, April 10, 1865, pursuant to orders, the whole army was put in motion, the columns marching on all the roads leading to Smithfield and Raleigh, where all the Confederate forces were assembled to make a last heroic stand.
The troops bade farewell to their pleasant camps about
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Goldsborough with some keen expressions of regret. While they believed the prospect for peace was bright, the war was not yet over, and lying in comfortable camps would not end it. They were tired of marching and fighting; but, like General Sherman, they believed that, and that only, would end it.
The 15th Army Corps, General Logan commanding, held the right of the line, with the First Division on the extreme right, in the grand forward swoop of the army on Raleigh. The line from right to left covered a dis- tance of thirty miles, enveloping Johnston's army at Smithfield. The army was finely equipped, the men in splendid physical condition, and all were hopeful and buoyant of spirit.
The Sixth Iowa, in its accustomed place in the brigade column, marched through the streets of Goldsborough and out on the wagon road leading north along the Wel- don Railroad. The enemy was found at the crossing of Nahunta Creek, but the resistance made by the small force did not impede or delay the advance forces of the column.
Sharp skirmishing continued throughout the day be- tween the small parties and commands, until evening, when the cavalry showed themselves with great boldness. When driven away, nothing was left except the smould- ering campfires they had so hastily abandoned. The First Division went into camp for the night, near Na- hunta, on the Weldon Railroad, at 5 p. m., and threw up light field works covering the position as the extreme right flank of the army. The distance marched was 16 miles. It rained all the afternoon.
At 6 a. m., the next morning, the column marched out on the road leading toward Beulah, and passed through the enemy's abandoned fortifications. The advance
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guard skirmished all the forenoon with the enemy's cav- alry, who made a stand at Great Swamp and very stub- born resistance at Beulah. The head of the column ar- rived at Folk's bridge on Little River at 11 a. m., routed 1500 cavalry guarding the crossing; repaired the bridge, and, at 4 p. m., crossed to the west side; camped for the night, at sundown, at the forks of the Smithfield and Pineville roads; having marched 15 miles. It rained again during the afternoon, causing the roads to be heavy.
April 12th, the troops broke camp at daylight and marched out on the Smithfield road. Skirmishing com- menced at once with the enemy's outposts, who were guarding all the roads leading to their fortified position at Smithfield, and to the city of Raleigh. The resistance was only slight and caused very little impediment to the advance of the column. The head of the column was turned to the right, during the afternoon, on the Raleigh road, where the First Division went into camp in an open field near Pineville, having marched a distance of 14 miles.
The announcement of the surrender of General Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, to General Grant at Appomattox Court House, on April 9th, was made by an officer of General Howard's staff to the marching troops during the afternoon. It was hailed with shouts of joy and prolonged cheering by the men all along the column. The frantic tumult dying down would soon break out afresh, extending along the line until it died away in the distance like the roar of reced- ing thunder in a storm tempest. All could now see the end, and recognized the fact that only a short shift with Johnston's army, and all would be over.
April 13th, the column marched 15 miles, crossed the
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Neuse River on a pontoon bridge and camped for the night five miles out from the city of Raleigh. The an- nouncement was made during the evening in the camps that the advance forces of the army on the direct road had received the surrender of and had occupied Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina, where General Sher- man had established headquarters in the Governor's mansion. The news was received by the troops with great demonstrations of joy, the hilarity being kept up until a late hour at night.
On April 14th, the troops broke camp at 8 a. m., took up the line of march in the rear of the Third Division, crossed Walnut Creek and entered Raleigh. On the edge of the suburbs of the city, the Second Brigade was halted, the regiments closed up, and the command formed in column of companies, with all the music assembled at the head of the brigade. Colonel Catterson, attended by his staff in full dress, led the column through the broad streets of the beautifully embowered city, passing in re- view at the capitol grounds, where Generals Sherman, Howard, Logan, and many other distinguished generals and officers of the army were stationed.
The fifteen hundred men, rank and file, composing the Second Brigade, marched superbly and the whole com- mand from the Colonel commanding down to the last man in the rear rank appeared to good advantage, and received the approving plaudits of the thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers, and of the citizens, who lined the streets the entire route through the city. The march was continued out on the Hillsborough road for three miles, where the division camped on the west bank of Beaver Dam Creek, on the right hand side of the road. The distance marched during the day was 9 miles.
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April 15th, the men remained idle in camp all day, in a steady downpour of rain. All understood that the halt was being made, while negotiations were pending for the surrender of General Johnston's army. April 16th, all hostile demonstrations were suspended, pend- ing negotiations for a general peace and the ending of the war.
The First, Second, and Third divisions of the 15th Army Corps were encamped about Raleigh, and the Fourth Division, General Corse commanding, was twenty miles away at Morrisville supporting the cavalry advance of the army. The other corps of the army were all advanced west of Raleigh, in the direction of the Haw River and all operating towards Greensborough, where General Johnston, with the remnants of the Confeder- ate army, was located for the next stand.
On April 17th "Our noble President has been assassi- nated and is dead", was the startling announcement, made to the troops, as they were idly lounging about their camps, of the assassination and death of President Abraham Lincoln, by J. Wilkes Booth, at Washington City. General Sherman made official announcement of the sad news to the army, in the following words :
The general commanding announces, with pain and sorrow, that on the evening of the 14th instant, at the theatre in Washington City, His Excellency, the President of the United States, Mr. Lincoln, was assassinated by one who uttered the State motto of Virginia [Sic Semper Tyrannis].
At first many doubted the reliability of the news, but the awful reality of its truthfulness was confirmed and accepted with universal grief throughout the army, and with sincere sorrow by most of the disbanded and sur- rendered Confederate soldiers congregated in the city.
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The few remaining citizens were seemingly dazed with fear that vengeance might be resorted to by the troops, and that all officials and the now helpless people of the southern States would be held responsible for the awful calamity. Discussing the possible consequences, it was recognized by all to be the most distressing and fatal calamity that could have happened, just at that particu- larly critical period, when white-winged peace was hov- ering over a long time distracted country and war im- poverished people. The defeat of General Grant's army in Virginia would not have had such a sad and depress- ing effect upon the officers and men of Sherman's army, as did the death of the great President.
Severe rainstorms prevailed for two days and nights making everything drear and uncomfortable about the camps, and causing the roads to again become almost impassable for army operations. Many of the officers and men of the Sixth Iowa took advantage of the liberal pass privileges, as did the rest of the commands, and visited the city, viewing the public buildings and State institutions, in and about the city. The State House, or capitol building, was the most attractive. It was situ- ated in a beautiful inclosure in the heart of the city, filled with giant oak trees more than a hundred years older than the city itself. The great bronze statue of George Washington at the entrance to the capitol building was a most striking figure, which was viewed with great ad- miration by all the visiting soldiers.
The institutions for the blind and the deaf and dumb were especially interesting and the daily exercises had were entertaining and highly appreciated by all, who cared for and sympathized with the unfortunate of hu- manity. On account of the successful management of
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the institutions by the superintendents and teachers, who maintained them through the hard times and stringent period of the war, General Slocum, who was present to witness the exercises, informed the officials in charge that he would furnish an abundance of supplies, from the army commissary, for all the institutions in the city, assuring to them subsistence for all their inmates. One of the very affecting incidents that occurred during the exercises was the rendering of the touching song, "The Vacant Chair", by a blind woman, an inmate of the in- stitution, who furnished her own accompaniment on the piano. The song caused tears to bathe the bronzed cheeks of the many soldiers present.
The two daily papers published in the city only missed being issued one day, on account of the change in mili- tary occupation. In their announcements of policy, they stated that the only material change would be in the price of the paper. In the Confederacy it sold for fifty cents, but now, that they were back in the Union, under the folds of "Old Glory", the price would be ten cents, in "Uncle Sam's " money.
The capitol grounds were a place of rendezvous for the men of Lee's and Johnston's disbanded armies, who straggled into the city on their way home. Hundreds and thousands of Union and Confederate soldiers daily congregated in the cooling shade of the beautiful park, where the war and future aims and prospects in life were freely discussed ; but sad and discouraging was the prospect for the grizzled Confederates.
General Carl Schurz, serving as Chief of Staff at the headquarters of General Slocum, on the solicitation of both Union and Confederate soldiers there assembled, delivered an impromptu speech, of great power and ef-
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fect, from the steps leading up into the capitol building. Had the spirit of reconciliation, the patriotic sentiment, the sound logic, and the wholesome advice, so eloquently set forth by him, prevailed in the subsequent policy of the government toward the conquered people of the South, much of sectional bitterness and political acri- mony would have been averted.
On April 19th, the First Division broke camp at an early hour in the morning, marched through the city and went into camp one mile north of town, in a beautiful pine grove, where all four divisions of the 15th Army Corps were again united on one camping ground. The old Confederate barracks that had been erected there were torn down and the lumber used to build temporary shelter for the troops, making the prettiest camp enjoyed by the command, for a long time.
The negotiations between General Sherman and Gen- eral Johnston for the surrender of the latter's army and all the rest of the organized Confederate forces throughout the South, resulted in a personal interview by the great leaders. An agreement setting forth the terms and conditions of surrender was signed, which, when formally ratified at Washington, would insure peace from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. Suspension of hostilities was announced to the army in orders, where- upon all demonstrations ceased and the army remained in the camps established where the advancing columns had been halted by the orders.
. April 20th, the orders suspending hostilities and the verbal promise of General Sherman that the army would soon be marching home, via Washington City, were re- ceived in the camps by the troops with great demonstra- tions of joy and prolonged cheering throughout all the commands.
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The 10th Army Corps was reviewed in the city by Gen- eral Sherman. The corps, as organized and commanded by Major-General A. H. Terry, was composed of three divisions of three brigades each, thirty-nine regiments of infantry and three field batteries, with an aggregate present of 15,692 men. The most attractive feature of the ceremony to the men in Sherman's army was a whole division of colored troops. Of especial interest to Iowa men was the presence and splendid marching of the 22nd, 24th, and 28th Iowa regiments in the First Division.
On April 21st, the new camp was baptized by an all forenoon rain. The rain ceased and the 23rd Army Corps, Major-General Jacob D. Cox commanding, was reviewed in the city during the afternoon by General Sherman. He was attended by a large number of famil- iar general officers and their retinues of superbly capari- soned staff officers, all stationed at the State House grounds. The corps numbered 18,216 men present, and made a grand military display.
April 22nd passed over as a quiet day, both in the camp and city. Northern newspapers, on sale in the city, were purchased and eagerly scanned for news of the final end- ing of the war, and the probable date for starting home.
On April 23rd, the Second Brigade, Colonel Catterson in command, performed the ceremony of grand review at their camp in the forenoon. There were largely in- creased numbers in the ranks, on account of absent offi- cers and men having joined their commands at Raleigh. These had been absent, sick and wounded, in northern hospitals and had returned to the army, via the coast route. Fifty-two officers and men joined the Sixth Iowa who had been absent since the army left Atlanta, on the march to the sea.
April 24th was marked by a grand military spectacle,
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and a review of the 17th Army Corps, by General Sher- man and General Grant. General Grant had arrived at Raleigh during the early morning with the rejected terms of surrender agreed upon by General Sherman and General Johnston. Notice of the rejection was at once dispatched to General Johnston, at Greensborough, and orders were published to the army announcing that the suspension proclaimed in orders on the 19th would terminate at 12 noon on Wednesday, the 26th instant, when hostilities would be resumed, according to the plans and orders suspended by the truce. The Sixth Iowa furnished a large detail for picket guard at night.
The next day, on receipt of the notice of the govern- ment's rejection of the agreement, General Johnston at once renewed negotiations, proposing a modification of the terms to meet the requirements of the authorities at Washington, and asked for an armistice and a meeting to arrange details. This was readily assented to by Gen- cral Sherman, and April 26th, at 12 o'clock noon, at Bennett's house, near Durham's Station, was fixed upon as the time and place of meeting.
At the time and place set a new convention was entered into by the parties, as follows:
1. All acts of war on the part of the troops under General Johnston's command to cease from this date.
2. All arms and public property to be deposited at Greens- borough and delivered to the ordnance officer of the United States Army.
3. Rolls of all the officers and men to be made in dupli- cate, one copy to be retained by the commander of the troops, and the other to be given to an officer to be designated by General Sherman, each officer and man to give his individual obligation in writing not to take up arms against the Govern-
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ment of the United States until properly released from this obligation.
4. The side-arms of officers and their private horses and baggage to be retained by them.
5. This being done, all the officers and men will be per- mitted to return to their homes, not to be disturbed by the United States authorities so long as they observe their obli- gation and the laws in force where they may reside.
W. T. Sherman,
Major-General, Commanding U. S. Forces in North Carolina. J. E. Johnston,
General, Commanding C. S. Forces in North Carolina. Raleigh, N. C., April 26, 1865.
Approved : U. S. Grant, Lieutenant-General.
General Sherman had directed that the troops be held at rest during the renewed negotiations for peace, but well in hand, prepared to move when receiving orders to renew hostilities. On April 27th, special field orders were published from army headquarters announcing to the troops the final agreement of surrender made with General Johnston, which terminated the war.
In consequence of the troops being held in place ready to renew the forward movement, there was no regular review had by the 15th Army Corps for General Grant ; but, in its stead, he was accompanied by General Sherman and a great retinue of distinguished officers of the army, on a tour of inspection through the corps camps, where he was received by the troops with enthusiastic demon- strations.
Intelligent, painstaking labor is the prerequisite to success in any calling, and particularly so in the profes-
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sion of arms. The proficiency attained in drill and mili- tary bearing by the officers and men, and the fine person- al appearance of the rank and file, together with the skill and good taste displayed in fitting up such pretty camps, all reflected industry, discipline, and the highest honor and credit, on the part of the whole command.
To be inspected and march in grand review before the two greatest generals of the war, Grant and Sherman, was an inestimable privilege. It inspired the hearts of the veteran soldiers with the highest and noblest conscious- ness of manliness and pride, as patriots, soldiers, and citizens, and it prompted and stimulated continued energy and diligence in the faithful performance of duty, with strict observance of military discipline, raising their ac- quired standard in military courtesies and gentlemanly civilities to equal the enviable reputation acquired for physical endurance and noble courage so heroically won in the campaigns and on the battlefields.
The reviews had in the city, by several army corps, afforded an opportunity for its citizens to witness a dis- play of the grandeur and power of the army and the na- tion, which certainly did arouse the old time sentiment of loyalty to the Union, now so happily restored, by the Johnston-Sherman agreement for peace.
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