USA > Iowa > Polk County > Des Moines > Des Moines, the pioneer of municipal progress and reform of the middle West, together with the history of Polk County, Iowa, the largest, most populous and most prosperous county in the state of Iowa; Volume I > Part 27
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The disappearance of gold is emphasized by a brief item in the Register of January 22, announcing that an obscure paper, "published somewhere," had actually received a gold dollar for publishing a marriage notice !
Under the impetus of the new demand of the army, 9.611 hogs had been packed in Des Moines from the commencement of the season, down to the 27th of January.1
1 Rollins & Harmon had packed 540; Keyes & Crawford, 1.850; A. Y. Rawson, 2,500; and H. Stephenson & Co., 300. These figures added to the number packed by Tuttle & Co .. and A. W. Rollins & Co., make the total.
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On the same day was reported the establishment of a telegraph office in Des Moines. "A week or two since, when the eastern mails arrived . . . the post- office was jammed to its utmost capacity with a crowd anxious to catch a glimpse of the war news from the river dailies." The Register editor feels an honest pride in the enterprise which renders his readers "independent of slow coaches and postal irregularities."
Announcement is made late in January that the latest substitutes for coffee are carrots and sweet potatoes. A few days later a paper recommends sorghum molasses as a substitute-the molasses boiled to the consistency of taffy and then allowed to burn. This is one of the indirect results of the war.
"In view of the embarrassing times, the donation party given at the residence of Rev. Thompson Bird on the 23d of January" was "a remarkable success."
Late in January the roads were in such condition that for several days in succession no mail from the east and south was received. The suspense of those long days of waiting for news from loved ones at the front can well be imagined. Lieutenant Timoney, of the Fifteenth United States Infantry, reported suc- cess in obtaining recruits in Des Moines during the month of January.
Major Bennett, of the Tenth Iowa, returned to Des Moines on the 26th of January. One object of his visit was to aid in accomplishing a brigade organiza- tion for Iowa troops, all of whom were anxious to be led by Iowa generals.
The case of William M. Hill, of Maquoketa, Iowa, arrested and indicted for treason, became the subject of so much comment, based chiefly on misrepresenta- tion, that Provost Marshal H. M. Hoxie, in the Register of January 29, printed a lengthy communication relating the actual facts, which, briefly told, were as follows :
Hill's trial was set for January 7, and a special jury was summoned for the purpose. On the 3d, Hoxie received a notice from the district attorney, then in Washington, of his purpose to enter a nolle in the case, pursuant to instructions from the attorney general. On the 5th Hoxie received an order from Secretary Seward commanding him to arrest and convey Hill to Fort Lafayette, as soon as he should be discharged from civil custody. His duty was clear. On the evening of the 8th he made the arrest at the Demoine House. There was no resistance-no scene. Hill quietly made arrangements for the journey, and the two started for Fort Lafayette. On the 10th they were met on the cars by the deputy sheriff of Scott county, Iowa, who served upon Hoxie a writ of habeas corpus, issued by Judge Linderman, on application of James Grant, attorney. Hoxie delivered his prisoner to the county jail for safe keeping. After due con- sultation, he resolved to disregard the writ, following the established precedent in the case of military prisoners. He took the prisoner and on the 16th deliv- ered him to the commandant at Fort Lafayette. The report published in the papers that Hill had been kidnapped, and delivered in chains, and otherwise inhumanly treated was indignantly denied. "At no time was any unnecessary hardship practiced upon the prisoner."
The Register of January 29, contains an editorial stating that at one of the hotels in Des Moines daily and nightly secret meetings were held, the leading spirit of which was Henry Clay Dean. The object of these meetings was to throw obstacles in the way of the government, state and national. In one of these meetings, in Dean's room, it was decided to hold an indignation meeting at the State Capital to denounce the arrest and imprisonment of General Jones and Mr. Hill, this meeting to be the initial demonstration in a movement to revolutionize public sentiment in Iowa. The proposed meeting was never held. The hotel referred to was the Demoine House; but the editor absolved the pro- prietor from responsibility for the conduct of his guests in their own rooms.
The pluck and patriotism of the period found illustration in the case of young William H. Goodrell, of Des Moines. In the spring of '61 he enlisted in the First Iowa. At the battle of Wilson's Creek he was severely wounded. He was subsequently discharged. Early in February, '62, fully recovered from
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his wound, he reënlisted in Captain Smith's company, 15th Iowa, and returned to duty.
A younger brother of Madison Young, the well known Des Moines attorney, who went to the war in Captain Crocker's company, was afterwards discharged for disabilities, and came home to die.
On the 8th of February, news of the "glorious victory" at Fort Henry crowded out much local news.
During the month of February, Lieutenant Hopkins, of the Tenth Iowa Infantry, obtained numerous recruits at the Capital city.
The editor of the Dallas County Union visited Des Moines early in February, and in his next issue recorded his conclusion that the Capital city was destined to become "the emporium of Iowa. Give it an outlet for the market of central Jowa productions,-build a railroad or two to diverge east and west, and Des Moines will take a stride that will astonish the most sanguine.
The officers and men of the Fourth Iowa Infantry, early in February, for- mally expressed their thanks to the Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Societies of Des Moines and other cities of Iowa for stores greatly needed at a time when so many were prostrated by disease.
Henry Clay Dean was announced to preach in the M. E. church on the East side one Sunday in February; but the stove-pipe refused to draw, the smoke became suffocating and the audience stampeded. Frank Palmer, in the Register said: "Carnal-minded people might not regard this as a judgment, but we do."
Col. John W. Rankin, authorized to raise a regiment to be known as the Seventeenth Iowa Infantry, arrived in Des Moines about the middle of February, and engaged a room at the Demoine House, and through the press expressed a desire to confer with members of the legislature and others as to recruiting districts, and as to reliable and upright men who might be willing to join the regiment.
On the 17th of February, that well-remembered day, when Des Moines joined with the General Assembly in celebrating the union victory at Fort Donelson, Governor Kirkwood gave a public dinner to everybody at the Demoine House. The enthusiastic Palmer, of the Register, in his report of the event says: "Never was there a happier time since the stars sang together in the morning of the universe, and all the sons of God shouted for joy! The table was surrounded with faces glowing with the exhilaration of victory! It was a gay and festive time, full of life, spirit and enthusiasm."
The one occurrence to mar the enjoyment of the day was the serious injury sustained by Butler Sells, son of the Secretary of State. Sells was carrying a basket full of cartridges with which to feed "Little Giant," a famous cannon which had been dragged up Capitol Hill and planted in front of the State House, when someone dropped fire into the basket. In the explosion which followed, the young man was severely injured.
A vivid picture of the effect of the Fort Donelson victory on the General Assembly has been left us, from the hand of Charles Aldrich, then clerk of the Iowa House.2 The news of the victory reached Des Moines the next day. Aldrich was calling the House roll when he saw Palmer, of the State Register, enter the hall, evidently much excited. He soon reached the desk of Speaker Clark. Clark "sprang to his feet, in the very midst of a roll-call, shouting at the top of his sonorous voice, 'General Grant has captured Fort Donelson !' "
"Then followed a scene which, in the language of highly-wrought novels, 'beggars all description.' The members sprang to their feet with the wildest cheers and loudest hurrahs that ever woke the echoes of the old Capitol building. The members went fairly wild, hugging each other, shaking hands, cheering, and in every possible manner giving way to expressions of extravagant delight.
2 Lathrop's Life of Kirkwood, p. 206.
Your Friend
Ozean
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I were close together most of the time. He fought bravely. Lieutenants Ensign and Godfrey also did bravely. Sergeant Doty was among the bravest of the brave, and died like a hero. We lost some noble young men, one out of every three, either killed or wounded."
W. S. Moore, of Company E, relates that Sergeant Doty, "who was killed before reaching the works, stood in front of the line masticating a hard cracker, and was heard to remark, with an air of thoughtlessness, that he wished to die with a full stomach. Many remarks of astonishing frivolity were indulged in as we stood in line ready to move, and there was no evidence that any one real- ized the gravity of the situation." 4
On the 20th of February, Adjutant-General Baker gave to the press a dis- patch from General Halleck which read:
"The Second Iowa Infantry proved themselves the bravest of the brave. They had the honor of leading the column which entered Fort Donelson."
The telegram was received in the Capital City with many expressions of satisfaction.
A lengthy letter from Capt. N. W. Mills, of Co. D, Second Iowa, written to his brother Frank, on the 17th, was not published till the 28th of February. Speaking of Company D, he said: "There were many instances of bravery in all the companies. I was so proud of mine that I felt like hugging them." The Captain wrote that as the regiment entered the fort, next day, and saw the Confederates drawn up in line for the surrender, "the feeling of pride, exulta- tion and exaltation that possessed us was worth the dangers we had passed.
Every one felt that individually he was a hero. To express it in Sergeant Marsh's language -- 'Every man among us weighed a ton.'"
Captain Mills wrote that it was impossible to arrange for sending the bodies of their dead comrades home, "or it would have been done. Their names were carved on their head-boards, and deep into a tree close by."
William Christy of Company D, Second Iowa, wrote his father full details of the storming of Fort Donelson, with news of sad local interest at the time. He wrote that while the Second Iowa was marching toward the second intrench- ment, and within two hundred yards of the enemy, the Iowa boys began to fall. He added :
"Theodore Weeks fell by Bill Callender's side. Sergeant Doty fell right by my side, shot through the heart. The following persons were wounded : Corporal Ragan, Hayden, Cree, Slatten, Nagle, John Coombs, Patrick, Brenton, Larrence. Ragan shot through the thigh, not dangerous; Hayden, through the head; Cree, in the arm; Slatten, in three places, one in the head, one in the arm, and one in the leg; I think he will recover. Nagle, in the foot; Coombs, in the arm; Patrick in the neck; Brenton, in the arm; Larrence, by a spent grape, in the neck; Dreher, in the head; and Lieutenant Ensign in the groin. He will get well."
As evidence that the war was over in Missouri, Colonel Crocker sent Judge Casady a program of a celebration of Washington's birthday in Jefferson City, Mo., in which the Colonel directed the military operations.
About the middle of February, Captain W. H. Hoxie, a brother of the U. S. Marshal, and Lieutenant Rees, opened a recruiting office for the new Seven- teenth regiment, on Second street, near Hippee's drug store, and "a brisk recruit- ing" was reported in the press.
At about the same time, Lieutenant Timoney, at G. H. Turner's office on Court avenue was recruiting the ranks of the 15th U. S. Infantry, Major Ander- son's old regiment. He reported he had been "successful beyond his expecta- tions."
Late in February, Adjutant General Baker concluded arrangements with the Western Stage Company, for the transportation of sick and wounded soldiers,
4 Midland War Sketches. The famous charge at Fort Donelson, W. S. Moore, Mid- land Monthly, Des Moines, v. 5, p. 179.
COL. N. W. MILLS
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"and, with a liberality worthy of all commendation, Colonel Hooker in behalf of the company" agreed "to convey the sick and disabled at one half fare and the wounded in battle free."
William Ragan, a law student in the office of Thomas F. Withrow, Des Moines, was severely wounded at Donelson, and Mr. Withrow was reported as making arrangements for his removal to Des Moines.
Soon after the fall of Donelson, Lewis Jones, of Des Moines, received the sad news that his son Tarpley, of Company D, Second Iowa, was killed in battle. Later, the father was relieved by.a belated letter from Tarpley explaining that the report originated in the fact that he was missing. Inside the first intrench- ments, the rebels were pursued within two or three hundred yards of the second entreachments, and then waited for reinforcements. After an hour and a half, Colonel Tuttle ordered his men to fall back slowly to the first entrenchments. Tarpley writes :
"I did not hear the order, and remained behind a small enbankment which had been thrown up for a single gun. Three of the boys were with me. On looking around we found that were all alone, the Regiment having retired. I started in the direction of the regiment, but finding I was right between two fires, and the balls whistling past me from each way, I dropped down into a hollow, expecting to reach my regiment by another road. In a short time, I found myself in front of another battery, and exposed to the fire of a regiment of infantry. Knowing I could not possibly pass them alive, I laid down among some fallen trees where I remained until dark. I had a pretty cold berth, for the
ground was covered with snow. . As soon as dark came, I slipped out past the rebel guard, but in a short time found myself a prisoner, as I thought, in the hands of the rebel picket guard. They placed me between two of them and started off to camp with me. We had not gone far when they asked me what regiment I belonged to; and when I told them, they knew I was one of their own men. Their colonel, suspecting I was a spy, kept me in custody until about ten o'clock before I could convince him that I was what I professed to be.
"After I was dismissed, I started again for the regiment, but being in a strange country, I lost my way, and wandered around the whole night hunting the boys.
The next morning when the fort was surrendered, I heard the cheering, and soon found my way to the regiment. Several of the boys had thought they had seen me fall. The captain had ordered that Sergeant Doty should be buried on the right, Theodore Weeks next to him, and me on the left."
Lieut. J. Hopkins spent some time in Des Moines, late in February and early in March recruiting for the IOth Iowa. His headquarters were at the Cottage House.
The death of Adjutant-General Baker's daughter, about fourteen years of age, occurred at Clinton, March I. The general was with the child to the last, and was much broken in spirit by the loss.
Sergeant Ed. L. Marsh, of Company D, Second Iowa, was made sergeant- major in reward for gallant conduct at Donelson.
Dr. Weeks was, on March 4, still in the south, his sad mission being to bring back to Des Moines the remains of his son Theodore, killed at Donelson. The haversacks, blankets, etc., belonging to Weeks and Doty were sent home by express.
Dr. S. C. Brownell, of Des Moines, who went south with Governor Kirk- wood after the battle of Fort Donelson, returned early in March bringing a cor- rected list of the killed and wounded of the Second Iowa Infantry.5 The list included the following members of Company D:
Sergeant Nathan W. Doty, killed instantly ;
Private T. G. Weeks, killed instantly ;
Ist Lieut. E. T. Ensign, severely wounded, groin and thigh ;
5 Published in the State Register, March 8, 1862.
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2nd Sergeant G. L. Godfrey, slightly wounded, leg ; Corporal William Ragan, severely wounded, thigh; Private Wm. H. Brenton, slightly wounded, hand ; Private Casper H. Brody, severely wounded, leg ; Private John H. Coombs, severely wounded, leg ; Private Peter Dreher, slightly wounded, head ; Private J. H. Hayden, severely wounded, head ; Private Andrew Slatten, severely wounded, leg ; Private Thomas Ward, slightly wounded, head; Private J. Q. Williams, slightly wounded, arm; Private David Yant, slightly wounded, arm; Private W. L. Cady, slightly wounded, head ; Private P. G. Noel, slightly wounded, head ; Private J. Cooper, slightly wounded, head ;
Private Joseph Gardinier, slightly wounded, arm;
Private John Nagle, slightly wounded, arm.
Adjutant General Baker returned to the capital on the IIth. On reaching his home in Clinton, Iowa, he found all the members of the family ill, so ill that when the funeral of his daughter occurred, he was the only remaining member of the family able to attend the funeral. The General brought back with him "evi- dences of sleepless vigils."
Lieut. J. H. Browne, late of Company D., Second Iowa, now of Colonel Rankin's 17th Iowa, opened a recruiting office in Des Moines in March, with headquarters at the Blodgett House.
Major Byers' Vivid Picture of the Second Iowa at Donelson.
Major Byers' version of the story of the Second Iowa's quick transition from technical disgrace to real honor and glory such as rarely come to a body of soldiers, reads as follows : 6
"It was due to Gen. Grant's personal endeavors that the Second Iowa was in the fight at all. From its station in St. Louis, it had been ordered by Halleck to join Gen. Curtis in the west. Had it gone, it would have been at Pea Ridge instead of Donelson. At the time of the order to go to Curtis, Gen. Grant hap- pened to be in St. Louis, when Tuttle, the. Colonel of the Second, visited the General and asked him to protest against the order. He found Grant alone, quietly smoking a cigar on the balcony of the Planter's House. There was a long, quiet talk about the prospects in the North-they were not very bright just then, and Grant himself was having difficulty in convincing Halleck that the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers were the right road into the Confederacy. He still had hopes of permission to try the plan. It was, however, not wholly his own plan. Gen. C. F. Smith approved the course ; so did Flag Officer Foote, and Sherman and others. 'If I can go,' said Grant, 'I want your regiment with me.' It was a big, new full regiment of Iowa boys. The General accompanied the Colonel to Halleck's headquarters. The order to go west was rescinded, and while Grant was marching over from Henry to Donelson, Col. Tuttle was ordered to put his regiment on a steamer and hurry with other steamers full, up the Cumberland, to help him.
"The roll beat, and the men assembled at quarters. The Colonel went to the train to start the ladies of his family north and say farewell to them. On his return to his regiment, he saw it, to his utter amazement, marching to the trans- ports with folded colors and with silent drum. The Second Iowa was in dis- grace. Some of the men had violated discipline, and the whole regiment, by the order of the post commander, Gen. Hamilton, was being punished. Tuttle flew into a rage, hurried to Hamilton, hurried to Halleck, and the storm of words had the ardor of a battle. Almost open mutiny was talked of. The
6 Byers-Iowa in War Times, pp. 95-10I.
GEN. ED. WRIGHT IN 1863
1
GEN. N. B. BAKER
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harsh order was not revoked. 'But go to the front,' said Gen. Halleck to the angered Colonel-'Go to the front; Gen. Grant shall give you a fighting chance, and no man shall, if you prove heroes, be so quick to let the country know it as myself.' " 7
"In an hour's time the ropes were loosed, and the steamer, crowded with irate men, pulled down the river, using every means to overtake the fleet, to hurry to Grant, and by deeds of valor wipe the stigma from the regimental flag. At the mouth of the Cumberland, the pilot, a secession sympathizer, as were most of the lower river pilots of that day, concluded he would take the boat no further. 'I can't, you know. I am not a Cumberland river man. You must get a special pilot.' A special pilot was sought for, but none was to be found in Paducah, and none in Smithland. 'Now, can't you?' said the Colonel again to the obstinate pilot. 'We must go up the river at once.' 'I can't and I won't,' added the man of the tiller. 'Won't you,' shouted the Colonel, suddenly reach- ing for something in his breast pocket. 'Now take that wheel, and run this boat straight up the river.' The whistle blew, the bell rang, the ropes were loosed, and the boat went on her way: while for hours, sitting or standing beside the pilot, was an officer with his hand on his breast pocket, helping the pilot to steer his boat up the Cumberland. It was an incident preparatory to graver events. In sight of Donelson, the fleet is overtaken, the troops get ashore, the pilot breathes easier, and Gen. Grant has put the Second Iowa in Smith's division, and at a point where it will have a 'good fighting chance.' The very next day, the 15th, the chance is to be given. Already there had been heavy fighting at Donelson, and almost the first battle cries that met the ears of the Second Iowa were, 'the assaults have failed.'
"An assault on the extreme left by Smith's division, including all the Iowa troops, was determined on at once. The fighting chance had come. The chief of staff rode all along the line toward the left, crying to the soldiers: 'Fill your cartridge boxes, quick, and fall in. The enemy is trying to escape.'
"Gen. Smith, in person, ordered Lauman's brigade to assault. The Second Iowa was at the left of the brigade, the Seventh Iowa next, the Twenty-fifth Indiana next, and the Fourteenth, led by Col. Shaw, at the right. 'The attack was made,' says Shaw, 'by regiments in double column, left in front.' Col. Tuttle, with the left wing of his regiment, led the assault, his right wing following with the other regiments in order.
" 'Can you go into the intrenchments?' said the gray-haired veteran, the trained soldier, Gen. Smith, to Col. Tuttle. 'Yes,' was the prompt response ..
"Smith scarcely believed it possible for his men to absolutely take the forti- fications in his front, nor could he be sure that Gen. Grant intended more than a violent demonstration, to mislead the enemy, while his troops elsewhere on the line should make some other movement, before being driven to resort to a siege.
"It was no child's playground, that five hundred yards of rough ascent covered with fallen trees, with sharpened limbs, with the long line of rifle pits, and, back of these, a determined, angry foe. Already the rebel troops could be seen rushing back from their left, to defend their intrenchments. The sun had come out brightly, as if to witness a spectacle. The wind and the snow were almost gone, and the birds, frightened from the thundering cannon on the far right all the forenoon, were again chirping in the woods around the assembling columns.
" 'Fix bayonets! forward, and without firing !' came the order. Col. Tuttle
7 The Second Regiment was guarding McDowell College, in St. Louis, at this time. The building was used as a prison for Rebels, but the rooms containing the museum and specimens belonging to the college, remained as in time of peace. Some vandal, possibly of the Second Regiment, and possibly not, robbed this museum of part of its contents. As the Second Iowa was guarding it, it was held responsible for the outrage, and the whole regiment was disgraced by orders .- S. H. M. Byers.
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drew his sword and marched slowly ahead, his half regiment following. Not far behind, led by Lieut .- Col. Baker, followed the other half of the regiment. No man spoke-no shot was fired. Soon, as the Second regiment reaches the abatis, the line deploys a little right and left to get round the obstacles in its way-extends itself-and then opens from the entrenchments a storm of shot and shell and minie ball. No man falters. Quietly and stubbornly the lines advance, picking their way among the fallen trees: Capt. Cloutman is shot dead. A ball tears through the body of Capt. Slaymaker. 'Go on,' he cries, 'your work is there.' Men and officers fall all around. But no one hesitates. The column has started to take the entrenchments. Closer and closer approach the Union lines. Hotter and hotter grows the rebel storm of shot and shell. No orders are given. Only, 'Steady, boys'-'brave boys.' Every man is his own commander, and works his way up, firing still no shot; but with tightly grasped rifle, sharp bayonet and gleaming eye, faces the death in the trenches. Suddenly there is a cry-the lines are reached. 'Give them hell, boys,' shouts the big Colonel, and the boys of Iowa are over the entrenchments, pouring a flood of bullets after the Rebels, who are flying across a ravine and over to an inner line of breastworks. There they halt, and a pitched battle ensues for the captured ground. It is in vain that fresh rebel regiments hurry to the contest. The men who charged so daringly will not give up the ground. And other regiments are climbing the abatis to help them.
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