History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 31

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574

USA > Iowa > Buchanan County > History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches > Part 31

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There are no mealy-mouthed people among us now. There was a time when some of us would quake and turn pale at the announcement of a Union victory, lest slavery was in peril; but, thank God, that time is [passed. Those people have disappeared; we are now united; we are now one-one in heart, one in mind, one with the soldiers for the suppression of the rebellion; and, soldiers, we say, now always, "Strike till the last armed foe expires," till the rebellion is crushed, till the country is saved.

And let me, soldiers of the Iowa Fifth, revert to another short chapter in your history. 1 refer to the ever memorable, the ever to be remembered, march from Vicksburgh to Chattanooga, to relieve that division of the Union army. Hardly in the history of the world has been another such an undertaking performed with such alacrity and cheerfulness. W'e imagine, now, we see you on that march, on half rations, on quarter rations, then on less-half clad, bare-headed, bare- footed, sore-footed, tearing up your blankets and other garments to make moccasins for your sore and blistered feet and legs, and at the same time joyous, shouting, onward the "Battle Cry of Freedom." Then, after marching this incredible distance in so short a time, plung- ing at once into the thickest of the fight on Mission Ridge, hurling destruction and death like a whirl-wind among the ranks of the foe.

Soldiers ! for these deeds we honor vou, and teach our children to honor you, and will ever do so. Around our hearth stones shall your praises ever be sung.

Again we welcome you home to the bosom of your families, the em-

braces of your friends, to the hospitalities of the citizens and fair ladies now awaiting you at the court house. And here let me remind you, the ladies of our county have ever been thoughtful of you, and have "continued to labor earnestly for your comfort; and thus will they do, for, be assured, if true patriotism is to be found, it is among the Amer- ican women.

Soldiers, welcome home ! welcome home !

The "veterans," numbering about thirty, had already re-enlisted, and had returned, after an absence of nearly three years, to spend a furlough of thirty days with their families. The citizens of the county seat, and the friends of the men from all parts of the county who met them at this place, united to make their reception an expression of the warm admiration which was every- where entertained for them. After the reception at the depot, and the address of welcome, they were escorted by a large concourse of people to the court house, where, as in Dubuque, a table had been spread and was served by fair hands; where culinary art and refinement of taste had done their utmost to please the eye and tempt the palate. To honor the brave men, who were the guests of the people of the county, and to charm them into a brief forgetfulness of the hardships through which they had passed during those years of absence, was the one impulse that swayed the entire community.

We copy from the Independence Conservative of April 12, 1864, the names of these returned heroes:

Quartermaster C. Waggoner, Commissary C. Noble, Lieutenant W. S. l'eck, Orderly M. S. Bryan, Sergeant William Bunce, S. C. Allison, Joseph Anson, J. Donnivan, J. B. Gaylord, E. Chittester, J. G. Mc- Kenzie, P. Putnam, J. C. Perham, James B. Wolf, J. Rea, J. F. Phelps, M. Williams, J. Richards, F. Johnson, F. Paine, H. McQueen, H. Whaite, C. Brockway, S. Rouse, H. A. Sprague, C. Brooks, R. Safford, W. H. Brown, T. Robinson.

We are glad to append here the

LAST MUSTER ROLL OP THE "INDEPENDENCE GUARDS."

The veterans rejoined the brigade at Decatur, Ala- bama, May 14, 1864. On the thirtieth of July follow- ing, the non-veterans of the regiment were honorably mustered out of the service, and the veterans were after- wards transferred to the Fifth Iowa cavalry, in which organization it remained as company G, Fifth Iowa vet- eran volunteer cavalry, until the close of the war.

On the ninth of August, 1865, the following names (we take them as we find them), formerly members of company E, Fifth infantry, were mustered out of the service, at Edgefield, opposite Nashville, Tennessee:

COMMISSIONED OFFICER.

Second Lieutenant William H. Peck.

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

Sergeant William Bunce.

Commissary Sergeant Madison J. Bryan.

Corporal Moses H. Robinson.

Corporal Edward Rhoderick.

Corporal Heeley C. Sprague.

Corporal Mahlon Williams.

PRIVATES.

William H. Brown, Charles Brockway, Elijah Chittester, John Donovon, D. Donovon, William F. Johnson, Henry McQueen, Peter Putnam, John Richards, Samuel E. Rouse, Thomas Robinson, Jerry Rae, Rufus W. Safford, Herman Sprague, Henry J. Whait.

Commissioned officer.

Non-commissioned officers.

Privates 15

Total 22

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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

ONE HUNDRED DAYS MEN-WHY CALLED INTO THE FIELD -HOW MANY RAISED BY BUCHANAN COUNTY.

Under the head of one hundred days men, we are to speak of the last effort, on the part of the Government, to add to the strength of the Union forces by enlistment. "In the summer of 1864" (says Ingersoll, from whose volume our resume of the history of those regiments con- taining Buchanan county companies is drawn,) General Grant in Virginia, and General Sherman in Georgia, being actively engaged with large armies against the enemy, the governors of the northwestern States proposed to the General Government, to send into the field a con- siderable number of troops for a short term of service, who might relieve others on guard and garrison duty at the rear; and thus be the means of adding largely to the force of drilled and disciplined men at the front. It was thought that, of those who had served for some time in the army against the rebellion, but had been discharged for good reason, and of others who would like to serve for a short period, a large army might be speedily raised to our posts and take care of our communications in rear of the theatre of the war, and thus enable veteran soldiers of equal number to reenforce the armies actively engaged in the field. The proposition at first met with consider- able hostility from the authorities, but was at length adopted; the term of service being established at one hundred days.

Governor Stone accordingly issued his proclamation, calling on the State to contribute, of its citizens, troops for the service proposed; and they responded by offering the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth and Forty-seventh regiments, and the Forty-eighth battalion of infantry; in all three thousand nine hundred and one men. These troops came from all parts of the State, and were the voluntary offering of our people who gave them for the special service contemplated, without expectation of any credit on the general calls for volunteers.

Few counties of the State responded to this last call more promptly or more liberally than Buchanan ; furnish- ing, as she did, more than double her quota, had the aggregate been drawn equally from all the counties; or, had all the counties equalled her in the number furnished, the aggregate would not have fallen much below double the number actually raised.

The enlistments were mainly made in May; many of the companies leaving for their rendezvous during that month, and being mastered early in June. Charles F. Herrick, of Independence, who had taken an active interest in the formation of the company, was elected captain; and, increased by the addition of some twenty men from Blackhawk county, the one hundred days men of Buchanan county left Independence for Davenport, on Wednesday the eighteenth of May.

At Davenport they were equipped and assigned as company D), to the Forty-seventh regiment. The brief period of absence anticipated, and the nature of the service assigned to these men naturally detracted much from the intensity of apprehension which had been a feature of former leave-takings between the soldiers de- parting for the war and their friends at home. But though the time was comparatively short, a hundred mischances might befall; and though none could predict the terrible ordeal through which the fated company was

to pass, when the time of departure arrived the hearts of all followed the departing defenders of their country's rights; and, as heretofore, crowds of relatives and friends attended them to the depot and bade them "God-speed."

John H. Leatherman, an old member of the Iowa Ninth, who was wounded at Pea Ridge, and discharged from the service in consequence thereof, and who had re- enlisted in Captain Herrick's company, met with a serious accident, as the cars were moving away from the depot. He was waving his hand to his friends, when his arm came in contact with a grain-spout running out from one of the ware-houses near the track, dislocating it at the shoulder. But it would seem that the stuff of which heroes is made is somewhat tougher than the sinew that "strikes out from the shoulder" as Mr. Leatherman in- sisted on proceeding with his company.

We copy, from the report of the adjutant general, the roster of the officers and Buchanan men of company D, Forty-seventh regiment.

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

Captain Charles F. Herrick.

Captain Lewis S. Brooks

First Lieutenant Lewis S. Brooks. Lieutenant Arthur E. McHugh.

Second Lientenant Arthur E. McHugh.

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

First Sergeant Sidney C. Adams.

Sergeant Daniel W. Hopkins.

Second Sergeant Daniel W. Hopkins.

Sergeant John H. Leatherman.

Third Sergeant John H. Leatherman.

Third Sergeant John F. Clarke.

Fourth Sergeant John F. Clarke.

Fourth Sergeant Isaac E. Freeman.

Fifth Sergeant William McKenney. First Corporal Augustus H. Older.

Second Corporal James 1), Hill.

Fourth Corporal George B. Bouck.

Fourth Corporal John Hook.

Fifth Corporal Orrville D. Boyles.

Sixth Corporal Morton J. Sykes. Seventh Corporal Simmons P. Mead.

Eighth Corporal George S. Jackson.

Musician William M. McHugh.

Musician Hamilton Taylor.

Wagoner Thomas Lincoln.

PRIVATES.

Thomas Abbott, Lyman F. Bouck, Ralph R. Briggs, George I'. Benton, Addison C. Beach, Jed Brockway, George C'asebeer, Gustav Cairo, James A. Calvin, Howard M. Craig, Francis M. Fritzinger, Orville Fonda, Lewis H. Gehman, William H. Gaige, Dewitt Gurnsey, Stephen L. Greely, Henry Holman, George L. Hayden, Henry R. Johnson, George T. King, Royal Lowell, [esse H. Long, Lansing D. Lewis, Frank Landerdale, Hugh Mccullough. B. Franklin Munger, Theodore F. Messenger, William H. H. Morse, Tillman Ozias, Samuel E. A. Ripley, Alexander Ramsey, David Sellers, Alexander W. Spald- ing, Frank L. Sherwood, William S. Scott, William Stevens, Charles D. Thompson, William C. Vaneman, Alden R. Wheeler, Eliott Weatherbee.

The Forty-seventh regiment was sent to Helena, Ar- kansas, where, as will be seen from the correspondence of Lieutenant Brooks, many contracted disease from which they died at that post or after their return to their homes in Iowa. The services of these men were of great value to the National cause, and they were acknowledged by the President of the United States in an appreciative order, couched in terms which must have been very grat-

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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

ifying to those to whom it was addressed, and which, we feel sure, will be read with deep interest by their children at the present day, for whom it is transcribed into these pages :

EXECUTIVE MANSION, 1

WASHINGTON CITY, October 1, 1864. 5

Special executive order, returning thanks to the volunteers for one hun- dred days, from the States of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wiscon- sin:

The term of one hundred days, for which volunteers from the States of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin volunteered under the last call of their respective governors in the months of May and June, to aid in the recent campaign of General Sherman, having expired, the President directs an official acknowledgement of their patriotic services. It was their good fortune to render efficient service in the brilliant oper- ations in the southwest, and to the victories of the National arms over the rebel forces in Georgia, under command of Johnston and Hood. On all occasions and in every service to which they were assigned, their duty as patriotic volunteers was performed with alacrity and courage, for which they are entitled to, and are hereby tendered, the National thanks through the governors of their respective States.

The Secretary of War is directed to transmit a copy of this order to the governors of Indiana, Illinois, lowa, and Wisconsin, and to cause a certificate of their honorable services to be delivered to the officers and soldiers of the States above mentioned, who recently served in the military force of the United States as volunteers for one hundred days. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

THE FINAL TRIUMPH AND REJOICING.

A few brief revolving months, crowded with brilliant successes, followed the return of the one hundred days' men; and the great struggle, which had so long filled the land with mourning, was over. How suddenly were the sorrow and darkness changed to light and laughter. Youths and maidens, you whose fathers, mothers, and elder brothers it may be, passed through that time of fiery trial, ask them to describe to you some of those demonstrations of a joy that knew no bounds, which filled the universal heart when the announcement of Lee's surrender was flashed over the land. In the happy heyday of your youth, you shrink from the contemplation of the pain and sorrow that had gone before; try, then, to gain some adequate conception of the peril and an- guish from which your fathers and mothers were then delivered, by dwelling upon the intensity of their trium- phant rejoicing when the assurance came that war should be no more, and that the precious inheritance bequeathed by the founders of our beneficent Government was saved from the machinations of traitors, to be transmitted to their children. The joy was as all-pervading as the air or the sunlight. From ocean to ocean, everything that symbolized with exaltation and exultation was made the medium of expressing a satisfaction too great for expres- sion. When you have heard what was done in this hour of triumph at Independence, or any other place, be sure that the same or similar manifestations were being made everywhere. By midsummer of 1865 the disbanding of the troops commenced, and in a few weeks the defenders of their country in her sanguinary struggle for National existence, had returned to their homes. Everywhere were they received as heroes worthy of the highest meed of praise.

As soon as suitable arrangements could be made after the return of all the Buchanan soldiers, a reunion and welcome was tendered them by the citizens, on which occasion they were the honored guests of the people,

and but one desire animated the entire population of the county, which was to give expression to the estimation in which the services of these heroic men were held by all true patriots. On the day appointed, Saturday, the sixteenth of September, which proved to be most auspi- cious, three hundred, of the four companies and subse- quent enlistments, were gathered at the county seat. Five thousand of their fellow citizens, it was estimated, attended in the capacity of hosts and cntertainers. A triumphal arch had been erected with suitable mottoes and decorations, and the principal blocks on Main street were gay with wreaths and flags. Ladies joined in the procession which followed the brave three hundred bear- ing their battle flags. At their head was borne a beauti- ful banner, displaying the inscription,

"THUS WE WELCOME OUR HEROES HOME FROM THE WARS." " Dulce est pro patria mori."

Among the distinguished guests from abroad, none were more welcome or more honored than Major General Vandever, the former gallant colonel of the Iowa Ninth. In the eloquent address which he delivered, he almost justified a slight change in the oft quoted line of the poet, which would make it read,

"The tongue is mightier than the sword,"

A most eloquent and appropriate address of welcome was delivered by the Rev. J. M. Bogg, and was ably re- sponded to by one of the heroes of the day, Colonel Jed Lake, on behalf of the military.

A feast, fit for the occasion, for the people's guests, was spread in Mr. Older's beautiful enclosed grove, where it was evident that every resource of the culinary art had been taxed to bury hard fare and hard-tack for- ever from the sight and memories of those whose deeds all delighted to celebrate. The delicate viands amply discussed, Mayor Woodward, as toast master, introduced many glowing gems of sentiment, which elicited noble thoughts clad in eloquent words-as their worthy setting.

Our record of Buchanan county in the Rebellion, may be already too long-we are glad that the bulk of the matter contained in it is simply a transcription of the current war literature of the times, and we close with one of the sentiments offered at the soldiers' reunion and welcome in 1865, which, after a lapse of sixteen years, is still the aspiration of every patriot heart:

The north and the south-may they be reunited by cords that no traitor's hand can sever.

HONORS PAID TO THE MARTYRED PRESIDENT.

Here, as everywhere, the news of the assassination of the lamented President Lincoln, broke in upon universal and jubilant rejoicing. Main street had been made gay with flags in honor of the restoration of the National emblem to its rightful place over Fort Sumter, in obedience to the murdered President's order, and throughout the country, on the fourteenth of April, at 12 o'clock M., flags had been given to the breeze and cannon had thundered the Nation's joy. The flags still floated on Saturday morning, but the overflowing joy was changed to overwhelming grief.

'The next issue of the city papers appeared with

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HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

columns draped in mourning and with full particulars of the tragedy which had shrouded the Nation in gloom.

A meeting was called by authority of the mayor of Independence, D. S. Lee, esq., that the citizens might consult upon the proper action to be taken to carry out the recommendations contained in the proclamation of the governor of the State. Arrangements were made at this meeting of the citizens to observe the day set apart by the governor, the twenty-seventh of April, 1865, as a day of humiliation and prayer, in view of the recent great National calamity. It was also recommended that places of business should be closed on that day, and that the citizens refrain from all secular vocations and enjoyments, and meet to testify, by prayer and humilia- tion, the great grief felt at the loss of the noble life that had fallen-their profound sorrow at this great calamity to the country and to humanity.

Preparations were also made for proper exercises on the day President Lincoln was to be buried at his old home, at Springfield, Illinois. The programme provided for the firing of cannon every half hour during the day, commencing at sunrise; the suspending of all business between the hours of 10 o'clock A. M. and 2 o'clock P. M., and the draping of all business houses and private dwellings in mourning.

On Wednesday following the assassination, the day fixed for the moving of the funeral cortege from Wash- ington at noon, Judge Burt adjourned the court at half- past 11 A. M., in accordance with recommendations from Washington that such observance should be made all over the land.

Owing to the limited time after the arrival of this rec- ommendation, no formal observance was made. By means of handbills, however, a large concourse of the leading citizens and ladies of the place was called together at the court house. The bell was tolled with "minute peals" from 12 to I o'clock, when the services at the court house commenced. Rev. Mr. Boggs of the Presbyterian church presided, and Rev. Mr. Fulton of the Baptist church opened the exercises with prayer. Rev. Mr. Eberhart, Baptist minister from Cedar Falls, was then introduced and enchained the audience with an eloquent address which was received with deep, silent, and tearful attention, broken only by occasional subdued but irrepressible applause. Mr. Eberhart's address was marked by "thoughts that breathe and words that burn," and none who were so fortunate as to listen to his eloquent and patriotic utterances will ever lose the remembrance of them. He was followed by brief and appropriate addresses from Rev. Mr. Fulton and Judge Burt.

The Rev. Mr. Bambo, of St. James' Episcopal church, and the Rev. Mr. Boggs of the Presbyterian church preached memorial sermons on the death of President Lincoln in their respective churches on the Sunday fol- lowing his assassination, and memorial and patriotic res- olutions were passed by the various religious societies and social organizations of the place.

On the fast day appointed by State authority, all places of business in Independence were closed, and a

more than Sabbath stillness pervaded the streets. The union services which were held at the court house were attended by such a concourse as was never before seen in the town at a religious service. The tragic death of President Lincoln, who had so endeared himself to the American people, had deeply impressed all classes; and every occasion was gladly embraced to do honor to his memory.

AFTER THE RETURN.

The following historical sketch from the Bulletin will be found interesting, and will explain itself:

SKETCH OF COMPANY H, TWENTY-SEVENTH IOWA.

QUASQUETON, August 14, 1865.

MR. EDITOR :- In answer to your favor of the eleventh instant, de- siring a complete history of company H, Twenty-seventh Iowa infantry, I reply that my time is so occupied that I cannot furnish you with a full history of the company, but I will give you a brief sketch which you are welcome to do with as you please.

Company H, Twenty-seventh Iowa infantry, was organized on the twenty-seventh of August, 1862, and mustered into the United States service on the twenty-ninth of the same month, at Dubuque, Iowa. [The list of officers is omitted here, being already given in the roster of the company, taken from the adjutant general's report .- E. l'.]

The company was mustered out at Clinton, lowa, on the eighth day of August, 1865, numbering, all told, forty-two. The term of service was twenty-one days less than three years.

The company has been in fifteen engagements, in which but one man, Charles Canton, was killed and seventeen wounded. Corporal Low, and Edward E. Mulick, color bearers, were severely wounded at Pleas- ant Hill, Louisiana, April 9, 1864, and fell into the hands of the rebels. John Buck, died at Moscow, Tennessee, July 22, 1863, from an acci- dental gunshot wound received while on picket duty. Twelve died from disease, as follows: Joseph H. Black died in convalescent hos- pital, Memphis, Tennessee, December 4, 1864; two days thereafter his discharge papers were received; Charles Coleman died at Independence, lowa, October 14, 1862; Isaac Gill died at Brownsville, Arkansas, Sep- tember 8, 1864; Jacob Glass died at Jackson, Tennessee, February 15, 1863; George Hathaway died at Holly Springs, Mississippi; Walter B. Lanfeer died at Cairo, Illinois, December 8, 1863; John McBain died at Mound City, Illinois, December 9, 1862; Joseph Moore died at Jackson, Tennessee, March 14. 1863; Bartemas McGonigil died at Jackson, Tennessee, March 18, 1863; John Older died at Memphis, Tennessee, May 12, 1865; Benjamin Sutton died at Fort Snelling, Minnesota, October 28,- 1862; John A. Tift died at Memphis, Ten- nessee, November 30, 1862.

There were forty discharged previous to the mustering out of the company. George G. Gaylord was discharged to enable him to ac- cept a commission as lieutenant in a battery of heavy artillery. Our surgeon, Sylvander W. Bowker, was discharged at Jefferson Barracks September 24, 1864, and died two days thereafter while in the hospital. Four, Matthew T. Brown, Jeremiah Irwin, Isaac T. Lee, and Christian Waller, the only drafted men in the regiment, were discharged in June, 1865, their term of service expiring September 30, 1865. The remainder were discharged for physical disability.

Thirty-two were transferred; thirteen of whom, being recruits, were transferred to the Twelfth lowa Infantry. Two, Charles H. Lewis and Dr. H. H. Hunt, were transferred to the non-commissioned regiment staff, and were soon after discharged to enable the former to accept a commission of first lieutenant and adjutant, and the latter to accept a commission of assistant surgeon to the Twenty-first lowa volunteer infantry.

The following is a list of officers, non-commissioned officers and privates who were finally mustered out of the service:

COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

Captain O. Whitney. First Lieutenant W. G. Donnan. Second Lieutenant G. W. Smyzer.

NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS.

First Sergeant Charles W. Evans. Sergeant James A. Laird. Sergeant Danicl Andrews. Sergeant Emanuel Miller.

1 2.4

HISTORY OF BUCHANAN COUNTY, IOWA.

Sergeant Henry E. A. Diehl. Corporal Harrison H. Love. Corporal William Morgan. Wagoner Benjamin Miller.

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History of Buchanan County, Iowa, with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 31

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902 Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers Number of Pages: 574

Author: Williams bros., Cleveland, pub. [from old catalog]; Riddle, A. G. (Albert Gallatin), 1816-1902
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams brothers
Number of Pages: 574