USA > Iowa > Butler County > History of Butler County, Iowa: a record of settlement., Volume 1 > Part 15
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Lenhart, Washington, Butler Murray, Daniel, Butler county.
county. Whitted, Lewis J., Butler
Maynard, Curtis, Butler county.
county.
Miller, James M., Butler
county.
COMPANY H
Beecher, Albert R., New Hartford.
COMPANY I
Bourquin, Louis, New Hartford.
COMPANY K Beebe, Eli H., Butler county.
NINTH INFANTRY
A few Butler county volunteers enlisted in the Ninth Regi- ment Iowa Infantry. They are as follows:
COMPANY D
Manwarin, Emery, Butler county.
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COMPANY E
Hanstad or Hemstad, Herman, Butler Center.
.
COMPANY G
Larue, Francis, Butler county. Myers, John M., Shell Rock. . Leverich, Willard, Shell Rock.
COMPANY I
Considine, Patrick, Butler Cen- Inman, Frank E., Butler Cen- ter ter
Inman, Chester W., Butler Cen- ter
Porcupile, James H., Butler Center
Inman, Daniel W., Butler Cen- ter
So far as is known there were no Butler county soldiers in the Tenth and Eleventh Regiments of Infantry.
TWELFTH INFANTRY
One company of the Twelfth Infantry, Company E, was raised by William Haddock, of Waterloo, who recruited a number of members for this company in and around Butler Center. This regiment was mustered into the United States service at Dubuque, between October 17th and November 25th, 1861. Three days after the last company was mustered, the regiment left Dubuque and proceeded to St. Louis, Mo. It was then ordered to proceed to Cairo, Ill., where it was placed under the orders of General Grant. It took part in the Fort Henry and Fort Donelson campaign, in which on the 15th of February it suffered its greatest loss.
In his official report Col. J. J. Wood says: "Every commis- sioned officer of the regiment performed his duty without flinch- ing. The same may be said of the non-commissioned officers and privates, with a few exceptions."
In the battle of Shiloh this regiment formed a part of the division of Gen. W. H. L. Wallace, the division composed of the Second, Seventh, Twelfth and Fourteenth Regiments of Iowa Infantry, which was destined to save the day for the Union army on Sunday, April 6, 1862. In the report of this battle par- ticular mention is made of Captain Haddock as having performed well his part. The colonel says: "Non-commissioned officers and men stood bravely up to their work and never did men behave
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
better. At the close of this first day's fight the regiment had lost many officers by being either killed or wounded, the com- mand devolving on a captain. The enemy so closely surrounded the regiment that to have held out longer would have been to suffer complete annihilation. It was therefore compelled to sur- render. It is no disparagement to any of the other regiments who participated in this extreme battle to say that the service rendered by the brigade, to which the Twelfth belonged, which included also the Eighth and Fourteenth Iowa, which stemmed the tide of battle at the front, with the victorious enemy on both flanks pushing the remainder of General Grant's army to its last line of resistance, was of transcendent importance in deciding the fortune of that first day's battle."
Afterward the remnants of the brigade were consolidated into an organization known as the Union Brigade. The Twelfth Iowa had an aggregate of only seventy-five men-three commis- sioned officers and seventy-two men-when it was assigned to the Union Brigade. This detachment of the Twelfth was under com- mand of Lieut. David B. Henderson, who rendered important service during the advance upon and siege of Corinth. Among the wounded were D. B. Henderson, who lost his left leg. Lieutenant Henderson was later promoted colonel of another infantry regiment and subsequent to the Civil war served the people of the third congressional district of Iowa as its represen- tative in Congress.
About half of the regiment who had been captured at Shiloh were paroled and sent to St. Louis, Mo., to await the exchange. The rest remained in prison during the summer and fall. Many died in prison and many were incapacitated for further service. They were finally sent to Libby prison, in Richmond, Va., and finally paroled on the 20th of November, 1862. Among the soldiers of the Twelfth who were confined in Libby prison was G. Hazlet. a member of Company C, from Fayette county, who, subsequent to the Civil war, was for nearly forty years a resident of Butler county.
In the winter of 1862-3 the regiment was reorganized and in the following year took part in the Vicksburg campaign and later still in the Red River campaign. In 1864 the regiment took part in the campaign against the Confederate General Price in Arkansas and in the latter part of that year it repeated its splen- did fighting record in the battle of Nashville. In the spring of
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1865 it took part in the operations against Mobile. During the remainder of that year it did garrison duty in the south and was not mustered out of the service of the United States until the 20th of January, 1866, at Memphis, Tenn. Butler county soldiers in this regiment were as follows:
COMPANY E
Jeremiah Margretz,
Sergeants Butler Harvey Smith, Jr., Willoughby
Center
C. V. Surfus, Boylan's Grove Corporals
E. R. Bird, Butler Center; J. C. Stewart, Butler Center
Privates
Ahrens, John, Boylan's Grove Hoisington, Hiram, Butler
Beckwith, William H., Butler Center
Center
Hoisington, John, Butler Cen- ter
Bird, R. L., Butler Center
Bird, W. O., Shell Rock
Boylan, Thomas, Boylan's
Grove
Carter, John B .. Clarksville
Davis, Samuel, Shell Rock
DeMoss, James, Boylan's
Johnson, Charles, Butler Cen- ter Mason, George, Butler Center Myers, Alexander, Shell Rock Pomeroy, William L., Butler county
Grove
DeMoss, Thomas, Boylan's
Grove
Spears, William, Butler county Strong, Nelson, Boylan's Grove
Early, T. M., Boylan's Grove Williams, Philo, Butler county
COMPANY K De Witt, Reuben A., Shell Rock
FOURTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY
. The organization of the Fourteenth Iowa Infantry was attended by circumstances which were somewhat peculiar. Three of the
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Hubbard, George, Butler Cen- ter
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
ten companies assigned to it by Governor Kirkwood-Companies A, B and C-were ordered to go into quarters at Iowa City on dates ranging from the 1st to the 7th of October, 1861, and they were there mustered into the service of the United States by the 25th of October. Seven companies, D to K, inclusive, were ordered into quarters at Davenport and were mustered into the service by the 6th of November, 1861. By order of the war depart- ment, Companies A, B and C were transferred to the Forty-first Regiment of lowa Infantry and sent to Fort Randall, Dakota territory, to operate against the Indians. To fill the vacancy thus occasioned three new companies were organized, which were later known as A, B and C. The new Companies A and B did not join the regiment until the end of its first year's service and the new Company C did not become a part of the regiment until June, 1863. The original Company A of the Fourteenth contained a number of Butler county recruits. They are commonly given as members of the Forty-first Infantry, to which these companies were transferred. However, as their first enlistment was in the Fourteenth, their names are given below in connection with this regiment. The new Company C was recruited in this section of the state, and as will be noted in the list below, contained a large number of Butler county soldiers.
At first the service of the Fourteenth Infantry refers to that of Companies D to K, inclusive. The regiment comprising these companies took part in the Fort Henry and Fort Donelson cam- paign, formed a part of the division of Gen. W. H. L. Wallace at Shiloh, and were with the other regiment of the division when it surrendered as prisoners of war the evening after the first day's fight. The total loss of the seven companies engaged in the battle of Shiloh were 273 killed, wounded and captured. It can justly be claimed by its heroic commander, Colonel Shaw, that no more efficient and important service was performed by Union troops than upon that heroic battlefield. The survivors of the regiment were consolidated into the Union Brigade, which they served with credit until the regiment was exchanged and reorganized.
The service of the reorganized regiment was in connection with General Bank's Red river campaign. On the 10th of March, 1864, the regiment left Vicksburg for the mouth of the Red river. The capture of Fort DeRussey was a brilliant and remarkable military exploit. Special mention is made in the report of the conduct of the Fourteenth Iowa which led the advance in attack
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
upon this fort. From Fort DeRussey the brigade proceeded to Alexandria and thence it proceeded to Pleasant Hill, La. Of the total loss of 753 sustained in the battle of Pleasant Hill by the five brigades which took part in the engagement, the brigade com- manded by Colonel Shaw of the Fourteenth Iowa, lost 484.
After returning to Vicksburg the regiment enjoyed a brief rest, then moved up the river where it took an important part in the expedition, participating in the battles of Tupelo and Town Creek, Miss. Its subsequent service was largely by detachments but in every instance the service was performed with honor. In November, 1864, the regiment was conveyed to Davenport, Iowa, where it was mustered out. A number of reenlisted men and recruits formed what was known as the Residuary Battalion of the Fourteenth Iowa, but before it could be sent to the front its service was no longer required for active duty.
It has been said of this regiment: "The record of service of the Fourteenth Regiment of Iowa Volunteers is one of the best. Its survivors can justly claim that during the long years in which they marched and fought and suffered, they never wavered in their devotion to their Government and its flag. Their children and children's children may well be proud of the legacy of heroism they have inherited. The writer extends a soldier's greeting to the survivors of the old Fourteenth Iowa and on behalf of the state which has made provision for the preservation of this record extends greeting to the families and relatives of those whose memory they cherish and honor and who will ever be commended as an example and inspiration to all loyal and liberty loving people of the state."
A list of soldiers in the Fourteenth follows:
COMPANY A
.
Sergeant E. C. Bristol, New Hartford
Privates
Barker, Albert C., Swanton Dailey, Anthony, Butler county Gilbert, James M., Clarksville Leffler, Godfrey, Parkersburg
McClane, Campbell, New Hart- ford
Mann, Isaac B., New Hartford
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Smith, Benjamin F., Boylan's Smith, Orrin C., Boylan's Grove Grove Wemple, Philip, Parkersburg
Smith, Isaac A., Willoughby This company was later transferred to the Forty-first Infantry.
COMPANY C
First Lieutenant John Braden, Butler Center
Second Lieutenant William Stoughton, Shell Rock
Sergeants Henry Beckwith, Shell Rock; A. A. Cook, Butler Center Valentine Spaur, Clarksville
Corporals
Miles Chitester, Butler county Thomas L. Cotton, Shell Rock
Henry P. Considine, Butler
county
Frank E. Inman, Butler Center John H. Margretz, Butler
D. B. Henderson, Butler county Center Thomas C. Wetsel, Butler county
Privates
Bird, Eli, Butler Center
Boylan, Cornelius, Clarksville
Boylan, William H., West Point Butger, George, Butler county Couch, Manderville, Butler county Cummins, John R., Butler county
Dawson, Martin, Butler county
Halstad, William R., Butler county
McAllester, Asahel P., Shell Rock
Myers, Uriah, Butler county
Stuart, Charles, Butler county
Wetsel, James T., Butler county Winchell, Lyford H., Shell Rock
FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY COMPANY H
Allen, David C., Union Ridge Allen, James W., Union Ridge Bartholomew, Ezra, Boylan's Grove
Park, John M., Boylan's Grove Webster, Wheeler R., Union Ridge
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EIGHTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY COMPANY H
Corporal E. B. Brown
TWENTY-FIRST IOWA INFANTRY COMPANY
Sergeants Daniel Haine, Aaron Moss
Corporal Ransom H. Gile
Hall, William Hart, Francis Inman, Walter
Privates Moss, Jacob Sturtz, Jacob
THIRTY-SECOND INFANTRY
Two full companies of the Thirty-second Infantry were recruited in Butler county. These were Companies E and G, cap- tained by John R. Jones, of Shell Rock, and C. A. L. Roszell, of Clarksville. The companies comprising this regiment were recruited in the summer and early fall of 1862. They rendezvoused at Dubuque, where on the 6th of October they were mustered into the service of the United States. John Scott, of Story county, was colonel and E. H. Mix, of Shell Rock, lieutenant colonel.
In November, 1862, the regiment left for St. Louis, where they remained a few days, when six companies under Colonel Scott proceeded to New Madrid, Mo., and the remaining four com- panies under Maj. G. A. Eberhart, of Blackhawk county, went down the river to Cape Girardeau. This separation of the regi- ment continued until the spring of 1864 and was the prolific cause of annoyance and extra labor. Of the Butler county com- panies, E remained with the detachment under Colonel Scott and G with that of Major Eberhart.
In the spring of 1863 Major Eberhart's detachment operated against the Confederate General Marmaduke in and around Cape
1
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Girardeau. Here on the 24th of April they were with the other troops, comprising General McNeil's command invested by a force of 10,000 Confederate troops under Marmaduke. A flag of truce with a demand for unconditional surrender was sent to the Union commander and he was given thirty minutes for decision. General McNeil sent back a flat refusal in one minute and requested a credit of twenty-nine minutes from the Confederate general. The attack, however, did not commence until the morning of the 26th, when reinforcements under General Vandever ran down the river, forcing the Confederates to retire.
In July the detachment was joined to the Reserve Brigade of the First Cavalry Division, Department of Missouri, and partici- pated in the memorable march which terminated in the capture of Little Rock, Ark. In August they took part in the expedition up the White river, marching and fighting through scorching heat, marching over parched ground with the air at times filled with flying dust. Reaching a stagnant lake, called Dead Man's lake. the men plunged into it and drank greedily of the filthy water, although it was covered with a green scum.
Hard marching, bad water and the intense heat of summer caused a great amount of sickness. When they reached Duval's Bluff, a small side-wheeled steamer came up the river and took on board a load of sick and wounded men. "Not a spot on that boat from the border deck to the hurricane deck but was covered with a sick man. Sick men were piled away on that hurricane deck in the broiling sun, wherever a man could be laid. Is it any wonder that on that run of about four hours, twenty-six men died on that boat-one of them a corporal of Company G-James H. Carter."
The rest of the month was spent in marching through the burning heat and torrential rain. The command had little or no rations except such as they managed to forage from the surround- ing country. No sanitary or sutler supplies reached them and much of the ordinary soldier's fare was unfit for use. As one of the soldiers expressed it, "Much of the hard tack had too much life."
Later the detachment was sent to Little Rock, where it was relieved for a time except of the care of its own sick. A number of the men died there. Yet Little Rock proved to be a very healthy place, and while there the company, considering its reduced con- dition, improved very rapidly. This Arkansas expedition was
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
one of the most destructive of life of any campaign in the war. General McPherson, medical director, afterwards said at Vicks- burg that the sending of the four companies through on that campaign to keep up with the cavalry was a burning shame, one of the outrages of the war.
They remained at Little Rock until the middle of October and then removed to Benton, twenty-five miles distant. They then returned to Little Rock, where they remained until January, 1864, when they were ordered to report to Brig .- Gen. A. J. Smith, at Vicksburg.
In the meantime, the six companies under Colonel Scott had proceeded from New Madrid to Fort Pillow, where they remained on garrison duty for nearly six months. The command embarked for Columbus, Ky., went into camp and there the regimental headquarters remained for seven months, Colonel Scott being com- mander of the post most of the time. In July this portion of the regiment was divided into detachments, Company E being placed at Fort Quimby, not far from Columbus. The other companies located at scattering points in the vicinity. From this on until January, 1864, the history of most of these detachments is devoid of particular interest. In January, 1864, the six companies again assembled and embarked for Vicksburg. Later they were assigned to the second brigade, having seen practically no active service and none whatever as a command.
It is probable there was not a single organization in the whole army under Major-General Sherman that welcomed the oppor- tunity of active service as gladly as did these companies of the Thirty-second. On their return from Vicksburg they found Major Eberhart and his four companies, and the whole regiment was joined, the first time since the 1st of November, 1862.
Shortly thereafter the regiment was ordered to the Depart- ment of the Gulf and took part in the disastrous Red river campaign. In this campaign the Thirty-second suffered more severely perhaps than any of the other regiments. It formed a part of Gen. A. J. Smith's command, which left Vicksburg on March 9th, on transports, accompanied by gun boats. At the mouth of the Red river this fleet was joined by Admiral Porter with a large fleet, including several ironclads. The fleet disembarked from the trans- ports at Semmesport and immediately commenced the march on Fort DeRussey. In the assault the Thirty-second was on the right
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and it was the men on the right who took the fort, as the Con- federate prisoners afterwards said.
From Fort DeRussey they embarked for Alexandria, at which point General Smith formed a junction with the column that had marched up from New Orleans. On the 7th of April it took part in the battle of Pleasant Hill, where the brigade to which it belonged, commanded by Colonel Shaw, belonging to the Four- teenth Iowa, stood the brunt of the fight, being longer in battle and fighting longer than any other in the hardest of the contest, the last to leave the field, and losing three times as many officers and men as any brigade engaged.
In his report of the battle, Gen. A. J. Smith says: "Of Colonel Scott, Thirty-second Iowa, it is sufficient to say that he showed himself worthy to command the Thirty-second Iowa Infantry-a regiment which, after having been entirely surrounded and cut off from the rest of the command, with nearly one-half its number killed or wounded, among them many of the best and prominent officers, forced its way through the enemy's lines and was again in line, ready and anxious to meet the foe, in less than thirty minutes." No regiment ever fought with a sublimer courage than did the Thirty-second on the battlefield of Pleasant Hill. Its heroism and sacrifices were worthy of a better fate than a retreat from the scene of its splendid daring and glory.
In this engagement the regiment suffered the loss of its lieu- tenant colonel, E. H. Mix, a Butler county soldier, and many other officers and men were either killed or wounded. In all 210 officers and men were reported killed, wounded and missing after this battle.
As mentioned above, in connection with the history of the Fourteenth Iowa, Colonel Shaw's brigade, including the Thirty- second, covered the retreat of the army to Grand 'Ecore. Of the rear guard action at Bayou de Glaize, Colonel Shaw says: "To Colonel Gilbert, of the Twenty-seventh Iowa, Major Eberhart of the Thirty-second Iowa, Captain Crane of the Fourteenth Iowa, and their commands, is due the safety of the army. Had they failed to move in the position assigned them with less celerity or failed to hold it after taking it, our left in the rear would have been overwhelmed and never could have saved us, not even the fighting qualities of the Sixteenth Corps."
On the 10th of June the regiment reached Memphis, from which point it marched with General Smith's forces on the
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
Tupelo campaign. Returning to Memphis, it joined in the Oxford expedition and then took part in the pursuit of General Price through Missouri. This was a campaign of severe marching but not of battle. The regiment marched at least six hundred and fifty miles, averaging twenty miles a day across the state and back again. After halting a few days at St. Louis, it marched to Cairo, where it arrived November 27th. From here it was moved to Nashville, where it took part in the battle brought on by Gen- eral Hood on December 15th and 16th. In this engagement the Thirty-second was warmly engaged and won credit for daring and efficient behavior. It captured five guns and many prisoners and lost about twenty-five killed and wounded. This closed the campaign for 1864.
In 1865, after doing some garrison duty, it took part in its last campaign under the command of Gen. E. R. S. Canby against Mobile .. After the fall of Mobile it remained for some time in Alabama and was finally moved to Clinton, Iowa, where it was mustered out August 24, 1865. Following is a list of the Butler county members of this famous regiment :
Lieutenant Colonel E. H. Mix
COMPANY B Privates
Falsom, Jacob G. McDonald, Archibald Needham, Edward E.
COMPANY C Gilbert, Mills B.
COMPANY D Bourquin, Louis
COMPANY E Captain John R. Jones
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
First Lieutenant Alonzo Converse
Second Lieutenant John F. Wright
1
Marshall Kelley Samuel German Edward A. Glenn
Sergeants
William H. Guy Ovid Hare Samuel E. Hayden
Corporals
William M. Martin
Wesley H. Long Robert Stanley
Robert Inman
Alexander March Clark Speedy Albert O. Royce Jacob Hinkle
William H. Burham
Musicians John Burham
Wagoner Nathan Olmstead
Privates
Ackerman, Lawrence
Lewis, Wilbert L.
Asprey, Joseph
March, William
Albright, Elias D
Mead, Rollins P.
Broque, Mordecai B.
Mix, William N.
Blackman, Anson
Mix, Charles E.
Blass, John W.
Newcomb, Orlando S.
Blackman, E. W.
Needham, Edward E.
Bolton, George
Copeland, George R.
Brookman, Albert H.
Conner, John N.
Burgess, Eli S.
Codner, Oliver
Brannic, Francis Billhimer, Henry
Churchill, James N.
Kimmel, Bacheus F.
Collins, Henry C.
Ketchem, William H.
Clayton, Dow
Leverich, James P.
Dunning, Abram
Dunning, William H. Dodge, Mordecai
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Langdon. John B. Lewis, Charles
Codner, George G.
HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY
185
Dickison, John Ede, Richard T. Ferris, Theodore H. Foster, Francis G.
Olmstead, Oren P.
Putnam, Fletcher C.
Plummer, Daniel C.
Parriott, Jasper
Flood, William
Peck, Josiah
Griffith, John W. Hartman, Matthew
Quinn, James W.
Henderson, David M.
Roberts, Benjamin
Hedrick, Moses
Rockwell, Myron
Hannant, Robert
Royce, Amos O.
Howard, James N.
Sumner, John C.
Sperry, James N.
Sowash, George
Stockdale, William
Sperry, John
High, Isaac
Smith, James
Hough, Nehemiah R.
Thomas, Henry
Jones, Nathan Jones, Henry O.
Turner, Jesse
Whitney, Samuel B.
Williams, William H.
Wilson, Ezra .S.
Needham, Perrin O.
Olmstead, Robert L.
Wheeler, Solomon
Waters, Julius A.
Williams, George H.
Zelmer, George E.
COMPANY F
Champlin, William R. Pierce, Moses Yaw, Marcellus
COMPANY G
Captain Charles A. L. Roszell
First Lieutenant Charles A. Bannon
Vol. 1 -12
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Hall, Calvin Hites, Elijah Houck, Thomas Hinkle, Jacob
Knight, Hinkley Kimmel, George W.
Wilcox, Austin
Orvis, Franklin E.
Olmstead, Wallace W. Olmstead, Theodore
Quimby, John
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HISTORY OF BUTLER COUNTY Second Lieutenant Daniel Haine
Sergeant William Poisal
John McCain Daniel W. Kinsley Emanuel Surfus
Corporals
Roselle Kane Uriah Farlow George H. Burton
James Butler
Musician Archison Wilson
1
Wagoner J. Rush Brown
Privates
Anderson, Benjamin
Clark, Daniel N.
Allen, Sylvester
Doty, Aaron
Allen, William V.
Harter, Aaron M.
Allen, George L.
Hardman, James L.
Bishop, Harvey A.
Kane, Roselle
Boon, Sylvester M.
Keller, Richard
Boon, Warren
Lenhart, John Martin, John
Boon, Sidney W.
Boon, James H.
Maffit, Apollos W.
Burton, George H.
Miller, Francis M.
Bishop, William C.
Miller, Elias
Boggs, Albert
Miller, James M.
Babcock, Joseph
Muffler, William
Brooks, Henry
McClellan, George
Beetles, David
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