History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 54

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002

USA > Iowa > Hardin County > History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 54

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).

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

ing, and went into camp near Castor river. Completing the bridge over this stream, it returned to the Cape, reaching that post on the 5th of May. Here it remained on gar- rison duty till the 11th of July, when it again marched for Bloomfield. Having remained there a few days, at work on the fortifications, it was attached to the Re- serve Brigade, First Cavalry Division, De- partment of the Missouri, and on the 19th started on the memorable march, which ended with the capture of Little Rock, Arkansas.

The command reached Clarendon on the 8th of August. Early on the morning of the 13th the detachment started up White river. The expedition lasted three days, and was quite a brilliant success. The fleet went up White river to the mouth of the Little Red river, and then proceeded up that stream to the town of Searcy, where two steamers were captured and a pontoon bridge destroyed. When ten miles below Searcy on the return, the fleet was attacked by three hundred rebels, who directed their principal fire on the prize "Kaskaka," which was manned by half of Company D, under Lieutenant William D. Templin. The steamer was near the shore from which the attack was directed, but made a gallant defense. The rebels were driven off with a loss of more than twenty killed. The loss in Company D, was one killed and five wounded. Before reaching White river, the fleet was again attacked, but the assailants were quickly driven. off, with loss, and without any casualty on board. Large quantities of public property were destroyed, and a number of prisoners captured during the expedition . In the heavy skirmish at

Bayou Metoe, on the 27th, the detachment was engaged, losing one killed and two wounded.

The day the command reached "Dead Man's Lake," the scorching heat of that day, the parched ground marched over, the air at times filled with the flying dust, is one not easily to be forgotten. The stagnant pond bearing that name covered with green scum, yet the men burning with thirst plunged in and drank greedily of the filthy water.

The two trips from Duvall's Bluffs to Brownsville, as guard to the cavalry train, were trips of hard marching in hot weather, and of suffering for water for man and beast, and from heat and dust. The sick on this march certainly received no extra care, at first shipped to Helena, and then to Clarendon, on White river.

About the 21st of August, a small steamer, a stern-wheeler, sailed up the White river loaded with sick and conva- lescent soldiers. It was one of the hottest of August days in this climate, when she run from Clarendon to Duvall's Bluffs, 45 miles, in four hours. Not a spot on that boat, from the border deck to the hurricane deck, but was covered by a sick man. Sick men were piled away on that hurri- cane deck in broiling sun, wherever a man could be laid. Is it any wonder, on that run of about four hours, twenty-six men died on that boat ?- one of them a Corporal of Company G (Carter).

On the 25th day of August another march of that twenty-six miles across those prairies of Prairie county, Ark. About 11 o'clock that night we filed into the little court house yard at Brownsville. Just as we filed in, General Davidson stepped to

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

the fence and said, "Boys, lie down quickly and take some rest, for I will need you at an early hour." Then turning to another officer, he said, "These brave boys have marched 500 miles, and kept up with my cavalry." By 3 o'clock next morning we were astir, and at 4 were in line and on the move. A march of nine miles brought us to the rebel outposts, skirmishing three and a half miles to the brow of the hill, and after manouvering, etc., halt a mile to the bank of "Bayou Metaire." The whole movement during the day was only a bush whacking affair. In the evening we fell back to the top of the hill to support a battery. . There dark found us. The battery and all other troops had left. One detachment alone was on the field, with the rebels closing around us, when we withdrew and fell back that night to a corn-field near Brownsville; and about 1 o'clock at night, at the word "halt," the boys dropped on the ground and lay down between corn rows. No alignment en- campment was made. The night was dark, as dense , black clouds o'respread the sky, and soon the rain came down in tor- rents; but there the boys lay-what else could they do? About 9 A. M. it broke away; but, oh! the mud, mud! We had no rations, but soon found a patch of sweet potatoes and had a sweet potato breakfast.

The detachment remained two days in camp in the timber near, and then moved to the old cavalry camp north of town, where our sick boys had been kept in a double log house on the edge of the prairie, . and at a little grove of a few scattering oaks, and near a pond of stagnant water. · On the 31st of August, 1863, the day

was very hot, and hence the train was ordered to go through. to Duvall's Bluffs in the night. All the detachment was ordered to go as guard. The whole de- tachment able to go was ordered on the trip. We could raise only forty men, and some twelve or fifteen of them were unable to march, but were ordered to go, as they could be piled on the wagons, and could use their guns in case of an attack. This was a serious camp ground to the detach- ment. A few days and not a well man was in that camp, and not many men able to care for the sick. It had been used as . a cavalry camp until the very ground was crawling with filth. Every nook and cor- ner of the old house, every spot on the floor, porch and hall, was covered by a sick man. Everything that could be done under the circumstances was done for the sick by those who could do. But we were in advance of the main army and supplies. No sanitary or sutler supplies had reached us, and much of the ordinary soldiers' fare was unfit for use. Mnch of the "hard-tack" had too much life. I can now see some boys breaking their hard-tack into small bits and blowing out the things of life.

On the 6th of October, occurred the first death. Then Wm. A. Spurlin, one of the brightest and best of young men, was laid in an humble soldier's grave. On the 8th he was followed by Henry Cantonwine. On that day we moved to another camp south of town, in a nice little grove. One day's rest there, and the command was ordered to Little Rock. The sick were . brought, and laid down on the sand in the hot sun before the old log tavern hospital. That very sand was crawling with "gray

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

backs." As the command moved away, Geo. Macy lay on a cot under a little tree, dying, and soon another of the young men of our company, Wilson Bond, was added to that group of humble graves. There we laid four of the young men of our Com- pany, side by side.

Their young lives were ended, Their young spirits fled, And now they are sleeping In peace with the dead.

Every spot in that old log tavern that could be occupied, was covered by a sick man. How many of those brave boys, were buried in that little graveyard, I never knew.

On the removal of the detachment to Little Rock, it was relieved for a time from all guard or other duty, except the care of its own sick, by order of General Davidson, adding that the care of its own sick in camp, was all it was able to do. But death had then fastened his cold, icy hand upon a number of boys. Calvin M. Sayıe, John L Sayıe, Jesse Shultz, Nathan R. Austin and Ira G. Christian were soon numbered with the dead. Little Rock proved to be a very healthy place for us, and while there the company, considering its reduced condition, improved very rapidly. It may not be generally known that that Arkansas expedition of General Steele's, was one of the most destructive of life, of any campaign of the war. Steele started with 1,200 men; he received re- enforcements of at least three brigades, making at least 15,000 effective men; 100 would cover all his loss in killed and wounded, and yet by. the time he had possession of Litttle Rock, and was fairly settled down to his gambling and horse

racing, he had barely 5,100 effective men fit for duty. And of General Steele I will say that he had no sympathy in common with a Union Soldier save his opposition to the abstract idea of secession.

General McPherson, Medical Director, afterwards at Vicksburg, said that the sending of our four companies through on that campaign to keep up with the cavalry, was a burning shame, one of the outrages of the war, and no wonder the men were used up; they remained at Little Rock until the middle of October, when it moved to Benton, twenty-five miles distant. It returned to Little Rock, where they remained till January, 1864, when it started to Memphis, which place it reached on the 5th of February. Here it was ordered to report to Brigadier-General A. J. Smith at Vicksburg. It reached Vicks- burg on the 9th, and remained there till the 27th, when it marched out to Black river to await the army on its return from the interior. .

Meanwhile, Colonel Scott established his headquarters at New Madrid, and assumed command of the post. On the 17th of December, 1862, he sent out a detachment of one hundred men, under Captain Peebles, who went as far as St. Francis river, bringing back several pris- oners, much public property, and valuable information.

On the 28th of December, Colonel Scott destroyed the public property, and evacu- ated New Madrid, by order of General Davies, after which he proceeded to Fort Pillow, reaching there on the 29th. They remained at Fort Pillow for nearly six months, in the performance of garrison duties . The command embarked for

Jean Boya

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

Columbus, Kentucky, on the 17th and 18th of June, 1863, in detachments, and went into camp there on the 19th, and there regimental headquarters remained for more than seven months, Colonel Scott being most of the time in command of the post.

On July 10th, Union City, in Tennessee, was captured by the rebels. The command hastened to that place, but arrived too late to find the enemy; but buried the dead and cared for the wounded, and returned. The command was, soon afterward, again di- vided into fractions. Companies B and I, under command of Captain Millier, alone remained at regimental headquarters; Com -- pany C, was attached to the Fourth Mis- souri Cavalry; Company E was placed at Fort Quinby, not far from Columbus, whilst Companies H and K, Captain Bensen commanding, proceeded down the river to Island No. Ten. From this time forth, until January, 1864, the history of each of these detachments, except that of Com- pany C, is devoid of remarkable events. This detachment was most actively em- ployed during most of this period, and the labors of officers and men were arduous in the extreme. They scouted a wide extent of country infested by guerrillas; marched oftentimes a considerable distance from Columbus, going out in all weather, by night as often as by day. They braved many perils and endured many hardships.

In the month of January, 1864, these six companies were brought together, and soon embarked for Vicksburg, where they were assigned to the Second Brigade. Per- haps there was not a single organization in the whole army under Major-General Sherman, that so gladly commenced that

singular campaign, as the command under Colonel Scott. If the battalion left Vicks- burg joyfully, its return was still more joyful, for here were found Major Eber- hart and his four companies, and the whole regiment was together for the first time since November, 1862. The re-union brought great satisfaction to officers and men. Shortly after the re-union of the regiment it was ordered to the Depart- ment of the Gulf, and there accompanied the disastrous Red River Expedition.

In this expedition the Thirty-second Iowa suffered more severely, perhaps, than any other regiment in the expedition. It formed a part of General A. J. Smith's command, consisting of ten thousand in- fantry and three batteries of artillery,- which left Vicksburg on March 9th on transports, accompanied by gunboats. At the mouth of Red river this fleet was joined by Admiral D. D. Porter, with a large fleet, including several iron-clads. Some miles from where the Red river enters into the Mississippi it separates into two streams, which come together again very near the mouth; from the southern one of these two streams flows Achafalaya river. The fleet entered Red river by the southern stream, and passed thence into Achafalaya, proceeding as far as Semmes- port, where the troops disembarked on the night of the 13th, and immediately commenced a march on Fort De Russey. The halt was not ordered till the army had marched some seven miles. It was twenty eight miles from here to Fort De Russey. Nevertheless, the army marched that distance the next day, constantly har- rassed by rebel cavalry; delayed once, two hours at a stream over which a bridge had

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

to be made; attacked the fort and carried it by storm before sundown, and before the gunboats arrived. In this assault, the Thirty-second was on the right, and "the men on the right took the fort," said the prisoners. Colonel Shaw, command- ing brigade, speaks in unqualified praise of all the officers and men in his command. The loss was slight on either side. Of the Thirty-second, one man was killed and two were wounded.

At Fort De Russey, re-embarked and proceeded to Alexandria, where the troops again disembarked, and remained nearly two weeks At this point the column under Gen. Smith formed a junction with the column which had marched from New Orleans. The boats could not be taken over the rapids while laden, so the troops marched to Cotile Landing, some twenty- five miles up the river. Here our .regi- ment had its first battalion drill, with all the companies in line, since leaving Du- buque, in November, 1862. On April 3, the command again embarked, and reached Grand 'Ecore on the next evening, where it remained till the morning of the 7th, when it marched to the front of the battle of Pleasant Hill, where the brigade to which the Thirty-second belonged, com- manded by Colonel Shaw, of the Four- teenth Iowa, stood the brunt of the fight, being the first in the battle, fighting longer than any other, in the hardest of the con- test, the last to leave the field, and losing three times as many officers and men as any brigade engaged.

"Of Colonel John Scott, Thirty-second Iowa " says the brigade commander, "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 of 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." It is certain no regiment ever fought with a sublimer courage than did the Thirty-second on the battle-field of Pleasant Hill. Its heroism and its sacrifices were worthy of a better fate than a retreat from the scene of its splendid daring and its glory. The fame of its gallant conduct spread all over Iowa, as it would have spread over the whole country had the commanding general accepted the victory which the troops had given him. But sad losses befell the regi- ment. Lieutenant-Colonel Mix was slain on the field, also many of the officers were either slain or wounded. The regiment lost, in all, two hundred and ten officers and men, killed, wounded and missing; most of the missing were also wounded -. any so reported, no doubt slain. lowa gloried in the fame of her honored sons, and wept for their dead comrades who fell on the stricken field. The following beautiful lines were written by Mrs. Caro- line A. Soule, upon hearing of the sad losses sustained by the Thirty-second at Pleasant Hill:

Cold are the sleepers Wrapt in their shrouds- Pale are the weepers The battle has bowed;

Softly they slumber, Our soldiers in death- While hearts without number

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

Cry, with hushed breath- O God, are they dead!

Pale are the sleepers, Like marble they lie- Sad are the weepers, Tear-stained their eyes; Quiet they slumber, Soldiers entombed, While hearts without number, All shrouded in gloom, Cry-O, are they gone!

Calm are the sleepers, Taking their rest- Sad are the weepers,

Joyless their breasts;

Softly they slumber, Our soldiers to-day,

While hearts without number Cry, only this way, Can our battles be won ?

Colonel Shaw's brigade covered the retreat of the army to Grand 'Ecore, when the Thirty-second regiment, after a move- ment up Red river to aid the fleet in escaping from imminent peril, went into encampment. It joined in the retreat down the Red river on the 21st, and fre- quently met light bodies of the enemy in skirmish. The retreat from Alexandria to the Mississippi was also harassed by the enemy, and considerable skirmishing took place at Bayou La Morge, Marksville and Bayou de Glaize, in both of which the regiments took part. Colonel Shaw in his report of the latter battle, says to "Colonel Gilbert, 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 into the position assigned them (although a difficult one, that of changing front under fire) with less celerity, or failed to hold it steadily after taking it, our left and rear

would have been enveloped by overwhelm- ing numbers, and nothing could have saved us-not even the fighting qualities of the Sixteenth Army Corps."

The regiment reached Memphis on the 10th of June, from there the command moved to Moscow, and thence to La Grange in the latter part of June. From this point it marched with General Smith's forces on the Tupelo campaign. It re- turned to Memphis, and having encamped there about ten days, joined in the Oxford expedition. The next active campaign in which the Thirty-second took part, was in Missouri in the pursuit of Price. It was a campaign of severe marching for the infantry, but not of battle. The regiment, not well provided for such a campaign, marched at least six hundred and fifty miles, averaging twenty miles a day. It marched across the State and back again. Halting a few days at St. Louis, it moved to Cairo by steamer, arriving November 27th.

From here it moved to Nashville, which was soon afterwards besieged by the rebel General Hood. In the battle of Nashville, December 15th and 16th, the Thirty-second, fighting. in General Gilbert's Brigade, was warmly engaged, and won great credit for daring, efficient behavior. It captured a battery of five guns and many prisoners, and lost about twenty-five killed and wounded. With the pursuit of the de- feated rebels, closed the campaigning of the regiment for the year 1864, in face of the enemy .

Early in 1865, the regiment marched to Clifton, Tenn, whence it moved by steamer to Eastport, Miss. Its next and last cam- paign, was that of Mobile, under Major-

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

General E. R. S. Canby. Throughout those laborious and difficult operations, the Thirty-second performed its part faithfully, skillfully and honorably. It remained in Alabama some time after the fall of Mobile, and was mustered out at Clinton, Iowa, August 24, 1865, during the following summer. Returning to Iowa, the Thirty- second Iowa was in due time disbanded, the officers and men left from the ravages of three years service, receiving every- where along the line of their journey, the kind greetings and hearty welcome of a grateful people, whose hearts had been with them through all their hardships.

FORTY-FOURTH INFANTRY.

COMPANY G.

Corporals : William H. Henthorn, Warren D. Lathrop.

Musician : Jacob D. Wickham.

Privates :

Bolden, Francis M., Jones, William H.,

Burlingame, Elon,

Livengood, Thomas M.,

Clampet, Thaddeus M., Moran, Edgar,

Castle, Henry A., McCormick, James F.,

Castle, Frank W .,

Price, Bailey M. V.,

Frantz, William, Sawyer, Amos F.,

Hutson, Calvin W., Townsend, Nathan,

Hauser, Elias J., Williams, George W.,

FIFTY-FOURTH INFANTRY.

COMPANY K.

Charles F. Buffin.

FIRST CAVALRY.

COMPANY B. George W. Wheeler.

COMPANY F.

Privates :

George, William,

Palmer, Abraham,

Jones, Henry P.,

VETERAN.

Henry P. Jones.

COMPANY G.

Captain :

James D. Thompson.

Sergeant :

William W. Babcock.

Corpora! : Joel G. Lounsberry.

Privates :

Bradfield, Harry S., Rice, Stephen G.,

Bronson, Edward P., Rice, Samuel A.,

Baker, William H., Rumbaugh, W. H.,

Burke, Stephen, Speers, George W.,

Clinkenbeard, Edw. L., Sharar, Joseph,

Detrick, George, Sanderson, Frank F.,

Drake,. Samuel D.,

Sanderson, Luther W.,

Doan, Daniel H.,

Vest, John,

Ellsworth, George,

Vest, Thomas J.,

Higgenbotham, R. M., Willis, Sylvester P.,

McCall, William J.,

Wheeler, George W ., -

Penn, Jonathan,

Wright, James,

Penn, Charles, Wentworth, Jerome B.

Phillips, George,

ADDITIONAL ENLISTMENTS.

Furment, John M., McMillen, Earl K.,

Hadley, James H., Rose, Samuel A.,

Hall, Howard,

Turner, Palmer B.

Kibbee, Charles H.,

VETERANS. First Lieutenant : Elkanah S. Foster.

Privates : Babcock, Wiliam W., Rice, Samuel A.,

Clinkenbeard, Edw. L., Vest, John, Detrick, George, Wentworth, Jerome B.,

Ellsworth, George,

COMPANY I. Martin Lillie.

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

FIRST CAVALRY.

The first regiment of volunteer cavalry raised in Iowa was recruited from a large section of the State-from Lee county to Floyd, and from Alamakee to Decatur, with Fitz Henry Warren as Colonel and Charles E. Moss as Lieutenant-Colonel.

The regiment remained in camp near · Burlington till the early part of October. By the middle of the month, the regiment, numbering about one thousand two hun- dred men, was in Benton Barracks. The First and Second battalions were soon sent into the field; the Third remained at Ben- ton Barracks. The eight companies which marched into the field were engaged the entire winter of 1861-2, hunting down guerrilla men in Missouri. The same companies, in the month of February, made a successful raid on Warsaw, cap- turing several Confederate officers, among them Brigadier-General Price, son of the distinguished Major-General. They were the terror of the Missouri outlaws. On the 16th of August, moved to Sedalia; but, meantime, Colonel Warren, with a large detachment of officers and men, marched northward to reinforce Blunt, then threat- ened with attack by a large force under Coffee. They were unable to come up with the enemy. In this chase, Colonel Warren marched about 300 miles, after which they returned to Camp Warren, where they remained till the 20th of Sep- tember. Here, Colonel Warren received his commission as Brigadier-General, and, bidding a kind farewell to his comrades of the First, departed for other fields of duty.

The First Cavalry took part in all the skirmishes and raids of the Army of the

Frontier. In the battle of Prairie Grove they took quite a conspicuous and gallant part. They took a very active part in the capture of VanBuren, the First Iowa Cav- alry leading the column in the most daring foray that had taken place. The First lead in the chase after Marmaduke, skirmishing more or less with his rear guard during the entire march. They were in the cam- paign against Little Rock, and performed many gallant deeds of daring, and ren- dered as effectual service to the Union as any regiment in the service, and, through- out the whole of its active career, left no single blot on its bright record.

SECOND CAVALRY. FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS. Major-R. M. C. Kirtland.

COMPANY B. Sergeant : William S. Crawford. Privates :

Goodwin, Henry,

Hass, Job L.

VETERAN. Job L. Hass.

COMPANY F. Sergeants :

Richard McKirtland,

Salman Powers.

Corporals :

Josephus Hartman, Charles Knell,

Sylvester Church, Charles E. Estebrook.

Sylvanus Kinnan,

Saddler : Elliott Loomis.

Privates :

Bolden, James B., Luppold, William,

Baker, Sylvester K.,

Powers, Salmon,

Estebrook, Azro,

Pyne, Charles M.,

Eaton, Alonzo T., Sawyer, Seth W.,

Gliddon, Wilder B., Todd, Henry W.,

Grant, Henry,

Treat, Robert M.,

Hunter, William H., Kelling, James,

Westgate, Sidney S.

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HISTORY OF HARDIN COUNTY.

VETERANS. Corporals :

Josephus Hartman,

Henry W. Todd.

Privates : Baker, Sylvester K., Wood, William H.

FOURTH CAVALRY.

COMPANY L. Q. M. S .- Asher Adams.

SIXTH CAVALRY.

RECRUITS,

Whose companies are unknown :

Allen, William, Kennedy, John,

Ball, Erastus,

Mckenzie, James,

Church, Sylvester,

Martin, David S.,

Dillon, Daniel, McCormick, J. F.,

Hadley, S. Grant, Reynold, Martin,

Jones, William V., Taylor, William E.

NINTH CAVALRY.

COMPANY G. Captain : S. B. Cunningham. Corporals :

Hiram Dobbins, Nathaniel N. Simpson.

Saddler : Daniel Hathaway.

Privates :

Crippen, John W.,

Hadlock, Orville,

Dobbins, Joshua, Johnson, John,

Hockett, Levi, Martin, Benjamin F.,

Havens, Benjamin, Rumbaugh, G. W.,

Hadlock, Hirah, Wing, Henry O.

COMPANY H. Privates :

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History of Hardin county, Iowa, together with sketches of its towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 54

Author: Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 1002

Author:
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 1002