USA > Iowa > Wayne County > Biographical and historical record of Wayne and Appanoose counties, Iowa, containing a condensed history of the state of Iowa; portraits and biographies of the governors of the territory and state; engravings of prominent citizens in Wayne and Appanoose counties, with personal histories of many of the leading families, and a concise history of Wayne and Appanoose counties > Part 53
USA > Iowa > Appanoose County > Biographical and historical record of Wayne and Appanoose counties, Iowa, containing a condensed history of the state of Iowa; portraits and biographies of the governors of the territory and state; engravings of prominent citizens in Wayne and Appanoose counties, with personal histories of many of the leading families, and a concise history of Wayne and Appanoose counties > Part 53
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 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80
July 4 the regiment again started to Jackson and there participated in what is known as the battle of Jackson. Return- ing, it went into camp on the 29th of July, on Black River, fourteen miles in rear of Vicksburg. The regiment lay in camp at this place until September 22, when it em-
barked on steamer and went to Memphis, where it landed and immediately set out on the campaign to Northern Georgia, via Corinth, Tuscumbia, Eastport, Iuka and intermediate points to Chattanooga, where it arrived, after a long weary march, on the 23d of November. It participated in the battle of Lookout Mountain on the 24th, and in the battle of Missionary Ridge on the 25th, and again in the battle of Ring- gold on the 27th.
December 3 the regiment went into camp at Bridgeport, Alabama, and moved from thence to Woodville, where it re- mained in camp until February 26, when it started home on veteran furlough. In April the regiment again left Iowa to re- turn to the field ; stayed at Nashville a few days to get an outfit, and then started on the campaign against Atlanta and only halted in line of battle until its arrival at East Point, Georgia, September 7, 1864. From this time on the Fourth was with Sherman's army in its memorable cam- paign before Atlanta, through Georgia and the Carolinas, and the final review in Wash- ington. It was mustered out of service at Louisville, Kentucky, July 24, 1865, and paid and disbanded at Davenport.
A few weeks before this, however, Colo- nel Williamson was made a Brigadier- General; and from an eloquent farewell address made to his fellow-soldiers in the Fourth, the following extract is taken :
" In taking leave of you, I deem it but right to briefly allude to our past associa- tion as soldiers. Four years ago we left our homes and loved ones to fight for the Union cause. Then we numbered 1,000 men. We were undisciplined and knew nothing of war, but we did know that our country needed our services, and that was enough. Since then we have had more than 300 added to our ranks. To-day our whole number is less than 400. Where are the 1,000 of our missing companions ? Most
513
THE CIVIL WAR.
of them have fallen on the battle-fields from Pea Ridge to Columbia. Some have been discharged on account of wounds received in battle; but the saddest thing of all re- mains to be told: some were starved to death in Southern prison pens. An enemy claiming to be chivalous and brave com- mitted the dark, damnable deed of starving our brave men to death! God alone can
avenge these ' murders most foul.' To us the work is not fully given. Human means are inadequate. You, the survivors of our glorious old regiment, will, I hope, very soon be permitted to go home and enter again upon the duties and assume the re- sponsibilities of citizens of the Republic, and of yours, the young State of Iowa, for which you have helped to make so glorious a name during the war.
" It need not be said to men like you, who have fought on more than thirty differ- ent battle-fields; who under Curtis won immortal honors at Pea Ridge and made the memorable march through Missouri and Arkansas in mid-summer; who were ordered by General Grant to inscribe ' First at Chickasaw Bayou' on your ban- ners ; who were under Sherman at Chicka- saw Bayou and Arkansas Post; who were under Grant through the entire campaign of Vicksburg, including Jackson and Bran- don ; who marched from Vicksburg to Chattanooga under Sherman ; who fought with Hooker above the clouds at Lookout Mountain, and were with him at Mission- ary Ridge and Ringgold ; who were under Sherman through the entire Atlanta cam- paign, and participated in every battle; and who again, under their great leader, made the famous 'march to the ocean' and thence to Washington to be good citizens.
" Whatever may be said to the contrary, none can appreciate peace and civil gov- ernment better than those who have so freely offered lives in war to secure these blessings."
TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY.
This regiment rendezvoused and organ- ized in August, 1862, and contained one full company, D, from this county. This company organized by electing Samuel L. Glasgow, Captain; James W.Glasgow, First Lieutenant, and Hiram Evans, Second Lieutenant. Samuel L. Glasgow was com- missioned, however, as Major, and James W. Glasgow became the Captain; Hiram Evans, First Lieutenant, and J. B.Ormsby, Second Lieutenant. Major Glasgow was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel in December, 1862 ; Colonel in May, 1863, and brevetted Brigadier-General in May, 1865. Captain J. W. Glasgow resigned in August, 1863, and was succeeded by Hiram Evans, who resigned in January, 1864. J. B. Ormsby resigned as Second Lieutenant in April, 1863. W. M. Littell was Third Sergeant at first; became Second Sergeant in the spring of 1863; First Lieutenant in August, 1863 ; Captain in January, 1864, and held · that position at the close of the war. Frank Crathorne was promoted from Second Ser. geant to Orderly in April, 1863; First Lieu- tenant in January, 1864, and was discharged as such at the close of the war. Aquilla Standifird was promoted from Orderly to Second Lieutenant in April, 1863, and re- signed in January, 1864.
The Twenty-third left for the war in the autumn of 1862, and in March, 1863, found itself at Millikin's Bend, Louisiana, where General Grant was concentrating a large army for the coming campaign, which had for its object the reduction of Vicksburg, Mississippi. In the organization of the troops that followed their concentration at this point, the Twenty-third Iowa was as- signed to a brigade with the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Iowa and the Eleventh Wisconsin, Colonel C. L. Harris of the lat- ter commanding, and designated the Second Brigade, Fourth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, Brigadier-General Eugene A. Carr
514
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
commanding division, and Major-General John A. McClernand commanding corps.
Soon after the brigade received march- ing orders, and on the morning of the 12th of April proceeded to Richmond, Louisi- ana. Having succeeded in driving a small body of the enemy's cavalry from the latter place, it marched via Carthage to Perkins' Landing, and went into camp to await the remainder of the corps. Thus arriving, all proceeded down the river on transports and landed at Hard Times, opposite the mouth of Black River, and near Grand Gulf, where the enemy had erected fortifi- cations and powerful water batteries on a bluff commanding the entrance to the river. On the morning of the 29th the fleet, headed by the gunboat Benton, moved down and engaged the rebel batteries, and after a terrible bombardment, which lasted several hours without any perceptible suc- cess except dismounting some of their guns, the project was abandoned. The Thirteenth Army Corps then received orders to march, and moved down the levee three miles below Grand Gulf. On the next morning the corps proceeded down the river in transports sixteen miles, when it landed and marched towards Fort Gib- son. The Second Brigade, to which the Twenty-third belonged, was placed in the extreme advance. Colonel Harris, who had thus far been in command, was taken sick and the command of the brigade de- volved upon Colonel Stone, of the Twenty- second. In the battle that followed, the brigade behaved most gallantly, being the most conspicuous organization in the charge upon and pursuit of the enemy. Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon both offi- cers and men who well sustained the honor of their gallant young State, for their uni- versal bravery on this well-fought field, the first in which they had ever been engaged.
May 4 Colonel Stone was relieved of the command of the brigade by General M.
K. Lawler, who led his regiment at Black River bridge in an engagement which was stamped as the most brilliant of the cam- paign. The Twenty-third Iowa, led by the gallant Colonel Kinsman, was in the van, and suffered severely, the Colonel be- ing among the slain. The trophies of this daring and magnificent movement by the Second Brigade alone were between fifteen and twenty pieces of artillery, more than the whole brigade itself numbered in pris- oners, and several thousand stand of small arms.
The corps then marched to Vicksburg and participated in the unsuccessful assault there made by General Grant. The bat- tle cry there was " Remember Kinsman!" The Twenty-third took part in the siege that followed, and after the capitulation marched with Sherman to Jackson. Colo- nel Stone was now again placed in com- mand of the brigade, but shortly left, having been chosen Governor of Iowa, and Colo- nel Harris succeeded to the command. The next active service was in the disas- trous Red River expedition of General Banks, after which the Thirteenth Corps was discontinued. The Twenty-third was engaged from this time on in movements and duties of an inconspicuous nature, but none the less necessary and arduous, in Louisiana and Texas. It was mustered out of the service of the United States at Har- risburg, Texas, July 26, 1865.
THIRTY-FOURTH INFANTRY.
The companies comprising this regiment were raised in August, 1862, and in the fol- lowing named counties : Four in Warren, three in Lucas, two in Decatur and one in Wayne. Of this last company J. N. Mc- Clanahan was Captain, J. B. Hatton, First Lieutenant, and B. F. Jared. Lieutenant Hatton afterward became Captain, and W. T. Kelly and Ransom G. Arnold became Lieutenants. From a history of the regi-
515
THE CIVIL WAR.
ment by Colonel G. W. Clark, the follow- ing is taken. "The last company arrived at Burlington on the 17th of September, 1862. I arrived there the same day, and finding all the companies present that had been designated to form the Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry Volunteers, I immediately assumed command in obedience to orders from His Excellency, Governor S. J. Kirk- wood. I at once commenced preparations to have the regiment mustered into the U. S. service. For the want of a muster- ing officer, however, I did not get the regi- ment mustered in until the 15th day of Oc- tober, 1862. Requisitions were immediately made out for arms, accouterments, cloth- ing, camp and garrison equipage, and a full supply of all these articles was procured at Davenport within a very few days after we were mustered in. During the remain- der of our stay at Camp Lauman (this was the designation of rendezvous), the time was industriously occupied in drilling.
" On the 22d of November, 1862, the reg- iment embarked for Helena, Arkansas, via St. Louis. While en route to Helena there was much suffering among the men for want of sufficient room and accommoda- tions on the transports. Arrived at Helena on the 5th of December, 1862, and reported to Brigadier-General Steele, commanding district of East Arkansas. Remained at Helena until the 21st of December. While there the small-pox broke out in the regi- ment. Notwithstanding this alarming de- velopment, we were taken by Generał Steele in his division, with which he subse- quently joined Major-General Sherman's expedition against Vicksburg. After we joined Sherman, our division was called the Fourth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps. My regiment was assigned to the Third Brigade of this division, commanded by Brigadier-General J. M. Thayer, and was with it in all its operations on the 27th, 28th and 29th of December at Chicka- 51
saw Bayou and the Bluffs of the same name.
" The hardships and disasters of Sher- man's repulses at Chickasaw Bluffs can never be comprehended by any except the brave and hardy men who were there and survived them. The humiliation and misery consequent on a useless and senseless slaughter were greatly aggravated by the inclemency of the weather. When these un- fortunate operations on the Yazoo were ended, we moved out of this loathsome and poisonous stream ; and our fleet was next halted at the mouth of White River, Ar- kansas. In the meantime Major-General McClernand had arrived and taken com- mand of the army. It was here that Gen- eral McClernand organized his expedition against. Arkansas Post.
" McClernand's fleet reached the neigh- borhood of Arkansas Post on the evening of the 9th of January, 1863. By this time cases of small-pox had become quite numer- ous in the regiment, and with the various other diseases produced by being cooped almost a month on a dilapidated old trans- port, my effective force was greatly re- duced. In the active operations of the Ioth and IIth, resulting in the capture of the garrison, my regiment bore a meritorious part.
" After the battle, the Thirty-fourth Iowa was detailed as a guard for the prisoners, and again embarked on transports. The long confinement we had already endured on a crowded boat had almost destroyed the health of the regiment. I was ordered to take my regiment and five companies of another, and guard the prisoners, five thou- sand in number, to Chicago. For this pur- pose I was furnished three of the poorest boats in the fleet. If we had been previously crowded, we were now literally packed and jammed. An aggregate of sixty-five hundred men in three boats! It was mid winter, and the weather excessively cold.
516
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
The cases of small-pox had multiplied in the regiment, and before we reached St. Louis this disease broke out among the prisoners. The unserviceable condition of our boats, and the fact that we had to col- lect fuel as we could find it along the river, rendered our trip slow and tedious. We were two weeks going from Arkansas Post to St. Louis. The human suffering during this trip exceeded anything I have ever witnessed in the same length of time.
" After leaving all the cases of small-pox and the men sick with other diseases at St. Louis, I proceeded to Chicago with the prisoners. Left them at Camp Douglas and returned to Benton Barracks, where I ar- rived on the 5th of February, 1863. My regiment was totally broken down. The officers and men were nearly all sick. The hardships and privations of the preceding two months were beyond human endurance. I have now been in the service three years and a half, and I have never seen anything so ruinous and demoralizing as the two months' campaign made by my regiment just preceding its arrival at Benton Bar- racks. When we arrived there, we were the most sickly, depressed and melancholy set of soldiers I ever saw. During the following month, the mortality in the regi- ment was frightful. We remained at Ben- ton Barracks until the 20th of April. While there the deaths and discharges greatly re- duced the aggregate of my regiment.
" As the health of the men gradually im- proved, they were put on duty. About the ist of April they were sent to City Point, on James River, Virginia, with prisoners. On the 20th of April I was ordered with my regiment, now 300 present for duty, to Pilot Knob, Missouri, which place was threatened by the rebel General Mar- maduke. On arriving there I was put in command of the post, and soon after I was assigned to the command of the sub-district of Pilot Knob, which left the regiment
in charge of Lieutenant-Colonel Dun- gan.
" The camping-grounds at this place were pleasant and healthful, and the sani- tary condition of the regiment improved very rapidly while there. On the 3d of June I received orders to march with my regiment to St. Genevieve, on the Missis- sippi River, and join General Herron's army, which was about to embark for Grant's army, then besicging Vicksburg. When I left Pilot Knob, there were 400 men present for duty with the regiment.
" Arrived at Vicksburg. and took posi- tion on the extreme left of the investing forces, on the 15th day of June. The hard- ships of this siege were almost unprecc- dented, but the severe ordeal which my men passed through the previous winter pre- pared them for the hardest service. Dur- ing the siege I lost several men killed and wounded, but very few by disease. While other regiments were melting away into the hospitals, mine was often compliment- ed by General Vandever, commanding the division, for keeping up its strength and efficiency. On the 10th of July, our di- vision (now Second Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, Herron commanding,) was embarked on transports for the purpose of joining General Banks and assisting in the reduction of Port Hudson. Before we left the wharf, however, we received intel- ligence of the surrender of that garrison, and we were immediately ordered in the opposite direction. We moved into the Yazoo River and up it to Yazoo City, which we attacked on the 13th, and captured on the 14th of July. On the 16th and 17th, marched under General Herron, in the di- rection of Canton, Mississippi, for the pur- pose of making a diversion in favor of General Sherman, then engaging Johnston at Jackson. We crossed Big Black River, and finding that Canton and Jackson had both been taken we returned to Yazoo
THE CIVIL WAR.
517
City. The rapidity of this march and the intensity of the heat produced great ex- haustion among the troops and several deaths from sun-stroke. We now returned to Vicksburg, where the men were em- ployed in filling up the ditches and prepar- ing the place for defense.
"On the 25th our division started on transports for the Department of the Gulf. Arrived at Port Hudson on the 27th, where we remained in camp three weeks. This proved to be a very unhealthy location for us, and sickness increased in my regiment, as it did in all the others of the division, at an alarming rate. We moved from here on the 25th, and arrived at Carrolton, Loui- siana, on the 26th of August. Here we found the other divisions of the Thirteenth Army Corps. Went into camp, and the men recuperated very rapidly. While here the entire corps was reviewed twice by Major-General Banks, and once by General Grant. Our camping-grounds here were very fine, and everything seemed condu- cive to the benefit of the troops ; but we were allowed to enjoy this recreation only a few days. On the 5th of September our division was ordered on board transports, leaving tents standing and the sick and convalescents in them. Not a tent or any baggage except that carried by the men and officers was allowed to be taken. On the 7th of September we disembarked at Morganza, a small town on the west bank of the Mississippi River, thirty-five miles above Port Hudson. Here we remained until the 9th of October. In the meantime two regiments of our division, the Nine- teenth Iowa and Twenty-sixth Indiana, and detachments from various other regiments, were captured at an outpost on the Atcha- falaya River. I lost from my regiment one officer, Lieutenant Walton, and five men taken prisoners, and one man mortally wounded.
" After an absence of about five weeks,
without tents, cooking utensils, or change of clothing, we returned to our camp at Carrollton. On the 24th of October, our division embarked on Gulf stream. After a tedious and boisterous voyage of two weeks, we landed on the island of Brazos de Santiago, on the 8th of November. From there we marched to Brownsville, Texas. After a few days' rest my regiment, with Forrest's battery, was ordered to return to the Gulf. Arrived at Point Isabel on the 13th November and embarked on a ship the following day. Joined an expedition under Brigadier-General Ransom, and sailed up the coast 110 miles to Aransas Pass, which separates Mustang Island from St. Joseph Island. We landed on the latter. After a little time we were joined by Major-General Washburn, with one brigade of his division (First Division, Thirteenth Army Corps). The force then marched to the head of the island, forty miles, crossed Cedar Bayou to Matagorda Island, and marched to the head, where the rebel fort Esparanza is situated. My regiment took a prominent part in the engagement preceding the evacuation of this fort. Remained in the vicinity of Fort Esparanza, alternately on Matagorda Island and the Matagorda Peninsula, until the 20th of April.
" On the 20th of April we embarked for New Orleans. Immediately on our arrival there we were transferred to river boats, and started to re-enforce General Banks, then making his celebrated campaign on Red River. We reached Alexandria, Lou- isiana, on the 27th of April. There we met Banks's army. He was falling back on that place, and his advance column had just ar- rived when General McClernand, with our division (First Division, Thirteenth Army Corps), joined it. The disappointments, vexations and disasters of this expedition are so well known, and other Iowa regi- ments in it suffered so much more than mine, that I shall content myself with say-
5IS
HISTORY OF WAYNE COUNTY.
ing that after skirmishing with the enemy around Alexandria for about three weeks we started on our retreat to the Mississippi River. Whatever may be said against this campaign, I am glad there is one thing that can be said in its favor. The retreat was most successful. Porter's fleet, at one time supposed to be hopelessly lost, was brought triumphantly away, and the twelve miles of wagon train were successfully guarded and protected to the Mississippi River. We were constantly harassed by the pur- suing enemy, but in every attack he was repulsed and severely punished. I had the honor to command the brigade which formed the rear guard a large part of the way, and my regiment, with others of the brigade, was frequently engaged by the enemy but without material loss. We crossed the Atchafalaya River at Simms- port, and struck the Mississippi at Morgan- zia, Louisiana. A few days after we arrived here our division was ordered to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We remained there six weeks as a part of the garrison of that place. The duty was comparatively light, and our camping ground excellent. This was the longest and pleasantest rest the regiment ever had.
" In July I had notice that I was to go to the Army of the Potomac. I was sent to Algiers, opposite New Orleans, to em- bark. While we were waiting there for transportation, the expedition against the forts at the mouth of Mobile Bay was or- ganized under command of Major-General Granger, and my regiment was taken along. We disembarked on the west end of Dauphin Island on the 28th of July, and marched that night to within two miles of Fort Gaines. We immediately commenced the siege, and before the morning of the 5th of August, when Admiral Farragut ran his fleet by the forts, the land forces had several batteries planted within short range, and the infantry had driven the
rebel pickets into the fort and built a com- plete line of breastworks across the island in rear of the fort. The next morning after the fleet ran into the bay, Gaines sur- rendered. During this short but vigorous siege my regiment lost only one man killed. Immediately after the surrender and dis- position of the prisoners, we were moved across the bay to Mobile Point, and com- menced our operations against Fort Mor- gan. This fort proved to be more formida- ble and obstinate than Gaines. We gradually approached with our intrench- ments until our mortars and siege guns were within 500 yards of the fort. Never did men work with more alacrity than while building these circumvallations around Fort Morgan. Every man could see the propriety and utility of what was being done.
" The preparations for the attack were completed on the night of the 22d, and the bombardment commenced by daylight on the morning of the 23d of August. I never witnessed more terrific cannonading. The fort was assailed from three different di- rections. From the north and south by gunboats, and from the east by the land bat- teries. The stream of shot and shell into the fort was almost incessant from daylight of the 23d until daylight of the 24th, when the enemy displayed a white flag, and sig- nified his desire to capitulate. He exhib- ited a great deal more pluck than discre- tion, as his capture was inevitable from the moment we got in the rear of the fort. Yet he held out until we had pounded the fort into ruins over his head. During the morn- ing the stipulations of the surrender were agreed on between Major-General Granger, commanding our forces, and Brigadier- General Page, commanding the fort. At the time designated for the formal surren- der to take place I was ordered to report with my regiment at the fort for the pur- pose of conducting the ceremonies. It was
519
THE CIVIL WAR.
to be 2 o'clock P. M. Precisely at this hour I marched up in front of the fort-the band playing ' Hail Columbia.' Formed line of battle in front of sally-port, through which the prisoners soon commenced issuing. They formed a line parallel with and ten paces in front of mine. The scene was intensely interesting and impressive. Rebel officers were ordered to the front and cen- ter, and the men ordered to stack arms, and the officers to surrender their swords into the hands of a staff officer detailed for that purpose. During the ceremonies a national salute was being fired, the band was playing patriotic airs, and just as the rebel officers commenced giving up their swords the rebel flag was hauled down, and the stars and stripes were again un- furled to the breeze where they had proudly waved for many years prior to the Rebellion. Being selected as the regi- ment before which the rebel garrison should surrender, was regarded by all as a compliment, and was higly appreciated by the officers and men of the regiment.
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.