History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago counties, Iowa; together with sketches of their cities, villages, and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 104

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 950

USA > Iowa > Kossuth County > History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago counties, Iowa; together with sketches of their cities, villages, and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 104
USA > Iowa > Winnebago County > History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago counties, Iowa; together with sketches of their cities, villages, and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 104
USA > Iowa > Hancock County > History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago counties, Iowa; together with sketches of their cities, villages, and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 104

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 WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

flanked them from their works. Hatch crossed the river on the 2d of December, and joined Col. Lee, commanding cavalry division, at Oxford, skirmishing much on the way, and capturing on this day more than 100 prisoners. Col. Dickey, 4th III- inois Cavalry, having assumed the com- mand of the division, the battle of Cof- feeville was fought on the 5th, wherein the Unionists sustained a severe defeat, and were saved from utter route by Col. Hatch, who, as well as Col. Lee, had de- murred to the advance which brought our troopers so near destruction at the hands of a vastly superior force. The regiment here lost twenty-two killed and wounded, and was filled with chagrin at this un- necessary defeat, the more so, because, be- fore Col. Dickey took command, the cavalry had advanced sixty miles without disas- ter, and had sent 1,500 prisoners to the rear; the command retired to the Yocana river; on the 14th, marched on a raid to the southeast, going to Tupelo and Oka- lona, and destroying large quantites of forage and commissary stores; returning by Pontotoc, Col. Hatch there learned that Van Dorn was moving against IIolly Springs, and advised that he be harassed and delayed by the troopers, but Col. Dickey not seeing the importance of the advice disregarded it, whereby Van Dorn accomplished the defeat of the whole ex- pedition; Hatch was again in motion on the 21st, but now forming the rear-guard of the army, retiring northward, and de- stroying the railway to a complete wreck between Coffeeville and the Tallahatchie; on Christmas day the brigade saddled up for a rapid march eastward with the object of intercepting Van Doru at Oka-

lona; in this, notwithstanding the swift- ness of his march, Col. Hatch failed, and on the 28th returned to camp, when the campaign closed. The regiment marched to La Grange, Tenn., and went into winter quarters.

The campaigns of the year 1863 were everywhere memorable, and were, in fact, decisive of the contest in favor of the Un- ion arms. The capture of Vicksburg, the de- feat of Lee at Gettysburg, the great victory at Chattanooga, placed the military power of the insurgents in a waning condition, and made their defeat a mere question of time. These, the three great events of the year, were accompanied by innumer- able lesser achievements, which, combined with the others, made patent the fact that the armies of Union volunteers were the most accomplished troops, the most effi- cient soldiers, the world had ever seen. Perhaps the Vicksburg campaign was bet- ter illustrative of this than any other, and not only because of the bravery, en- durance and all soldierly qualities of the troops directly engaged, but of those also who took part in the campaign, indirectly and at a distance, many of whom, indeed, took part therein so indirectly and at a distance, that careless thinkers might not have thought of any connection at all be- tween the auxiliaries and the principal command.

The troops whose cantonments were along our frontier lines in Tennessee and Mississippi, gained by the campaigns of 1862 -- Henry, Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, in May, and Corinth in October-were Gen. Grant's auxilaries, and many of these commands, though they never saw Vicksburg, had a good right

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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

to inseribe that victory on their ban- ners. Among the most active of these was the 2d Iowa Cavalry, whose services during the first part of the era under consideration, especially, were not only brilliant, but of great value to the Union arms.

Leaving winter quarters at La Grange the 10th of March, 1863, Col. Hatch, for about one month, was actively engaged in operations over a considerable portion of northern Mississippi-preventing the concentration of rebel forces, capturing and destroying property, and in many cases inflicting damage on the insurgents -marching several hundred miles alto- gether, and performing several exploits of great skill and daring. These opera- tions over, Col. Hatch, commanding bri- gade, made preparations for that move- ment known as

THIE GRIERSON RAID.

The orders for this expedition were made known in camp on the afternoon of April 16. The column, consisting of the 2d Iowa, the 6th Illinois, the 7th Illinois, with five pieces of light artillery, two- pounders, was to move early the next morning, with the object of cutting the railroad and telegraph communications with the rebel army at Vicksburg, in the rear of that city, of inflicting damage gen- erally upon the enemy's resources in een- tral Mississippi, having done which, it was to make way by the best route it could find into the Union lines in the De- partment of the Gulf. On the night of the 16th, Col. B. H. Grierson, 6th Illinois, arrived at La Grange and assumed com- mand of the expedition, by virtue of seniority of rank.

On the next morning the column started on this wild march, and bivouacked for the night near Ripley. Here Col. Hateh separated from the principal command, moving at some distance to the left, skir- mishing all day of the 18th with Smith's regiment of partisans. He rejoined the column a few miles south of Pontotoc, and led the advance thence, avoiding Houston, to Clear Spring, abont thirteen miles southeast of Houston. Col. Hatch now had under his command only about 500 men, Major Love having returned to La Grange with a considerable detach- ment, including, I believe, troopers from all the regiments in the column. At Clear Spring, Col. Hatch again left the column with his regiment, and took no further direct part in the raid. Col. Grier- son moved on, and, after destroying many miles of railway and telegraph, immense quantities of property, making a snecess- ful diversion in favor of Gen. Grant, marching through sunshine and storm, surmounting almost insurmountable diffi- eulties, reached Baton Rouge on the 2d of May. "This expedition," says Gen. Grant himself, "was skillfully condneted, and reflects great credit on Col. Grierson and all of his command. It has been one of the most brilliant cavalry exploits of the war, and will be handed down in his- tory as an example to be imitated." Col. Grierson's name at once became the syno- nym for energy and pluck, and he was most justly promoted for his gallant achievement.

But it is probably true that Col. Hatch insured the success of the expedition, in like manner as Sherman, on a grander seale, insured the success of our arms on

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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

Missionary Ridge, himself bearing the heavy brunt of battle and appearing to be defeated, whilst other corps and other generals pressed on to the glorious victory which his immolation was placing within their power. On the morning of the 21st Col. Grierson pushed on directly south- ward from Clear Spring, leaving orders with Col. Hatch to proceed to the railroad at West Point, destroy the railroad bridge over the Oka Tibbyhah south of that, place thence move rapidly south ward to Macon, and, having there destroyed the railroad and government stores, return northward to La Grange by such ronte as might be found practicable. Inasmuch, however, as Col. Hlatch was in the first place to at- traet the attention of the enemy to him- self, and to conceal by a stratagem the march of Grierson-which he did so sue- cessfully as to give the principal column nearly two days' start of the forces which had concentrated against it-it was very soon discovered that Ilatch would have all that it was within the power of man to do to accomplish a retreat for his own command.

Spending some time in obliterating Col. Grierson's trail, Hatch marched in the di- rection of West Point, but had proceeded only about ten miles, when, at the village of Palo Alto, he was attacked in rear and on both flanks by a force consisting of Smith's regiment of partisan ranger-, Bar- toe's regiment and Inge's battalion, all under Gen. Gholson, whilst between him and West Point was an Alabama regiment with several pieces of artillery. Willing to continue the deceit upon the enemy, who supposed they were attacking Griersons's main column, Ilatch made a most gal-

lant fight, nsing his little two-pounder, his revolving rifles and his carbines to the best advantage, driving the ene- my some three miles, capturing arms and horses, and retaking a company which had been ent off on the first attack. Yet he kept his men so well concealed behind hedges and fences that he suffered no loss, whilst the rebels acknowledged that twenty-five of their number had been killed and wounded.

Correctly judging that the time con- sumed in the skirmish at Palo Alto had given the rebels opportunity to guard the railroad at and below West Point, Hatch moved on northward. He was in the face of an enemy who largely outnumbered him, who was entirely familiar with the country, and who had a friend in every citizen. Nevertheless, Hateh continued his retreat to LaGrange, where he arrived in safety, and withont mentionable loss, on the 26th. He had attacked Okalona, driving before him the enemy's cavalry and State militia, burning barracks for 5,000 men, and destroying stores and am- munition; he had repulsed Chalmers with loss, near Birmingham and Molino; he had marched by by-ways, and bridle-paths, and through swamps and fields where there were no roads at all; he had crossed one stream in the entirely unique manner of throwing the horses bodily over the bank into the river, driving them in the right direction with long poles, and catch- ing them as they emerged on the other side, the men themselves crossing on a "foot-log," and carrying their saddles on their backs; he had, besides the damage inflicted on the enemy already noted, eap- tured fifty rebels, and killed and wounded

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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

not less than twice as many more, and taken nearly 250 horses and mules, so that when he marched into camp at LaGrange his troops were, upon the whole, better mounted than when they had left there ten days before.

Immediately after his return to La Grange, Col. Hatch took command of a brigade just formed, consisting of his own regiment, the 6th Iowa Infantry, mounted, a regiment of west Tennessee cavalry, and four pieces of artillery. The com- mand soon moved on a raid southward, going as far as Okalona, and returning the 5th of May, with 300 captured horses and mules, more than a score of prisoners, and a number of negroes. In a few days it marched in a southwesterly direction to Senatobia, some eighty miles from La Grange, and having captured many horses and mules, returned after an absence of five or six days. On the countermarch, Hateh was attacked at Wall Hill by Chal- mers, but our gallant riders and the little guns soon sent them scampering to the right about. It is stated that in consid- eration of his warlike genius, the fair ladies of Senatobia presented him a crinoline petticoat and a corn-cob pipe.

The encampment of the regiment re- mained at LaGrange till near the last of August, where the labors and tastes of the men made comfortable and agreeable quarters, so that the summer in this healthful and pleasant locality passed happily by. But not without much ac- tivity and adventure away from the en- campment. The principal events of the summer were: 1. A raid to Panola, nearly 100 miles south west of LaGrange,. which resulted in the capture of much

property and the laying waste of a wide extent of country in retaliation for guer- rilla attacks on steamboats navigating the Mississippi. 2. The march against Forrest, who had entered Tennessee, and the skirmish of Jackson, on the 13th of July, in which the rebels were driven from the town and severely punished, the 2d lowa losing Lieutenants John K. Hum- phreys and Frauk L. Stoddard, wounded, and two men missing. In this engage- ment the Union loss was fourteen, that of the rebels more than 175. 3. The raid on Grenada. On this expedition Major Coon commanded detachments from the 2d Iowa, 3d Michigan and 11th Illinois, numbering 500 well mounted men. The raid was most successful, Major Coon, after reaching Grenada through great difficulties from the enemy and from storms, destroying two depots, sixty loco- motives, 500 cars of all kinds, machine shops, two large flouring mills, and a large number of army wagons, and re- turning in safety on the 23d of August, after an absence of eleven days, and an achievement worthy of all admiration.

A few days afterwards the regiment moved to Memphis, and remained there in quiet till the 1st of November. The regiment, Lieut .- Col. Hepburn command- ing, then marched to Colliersville, to the relief of the garrison, threatened by Chalmers with a heavy body of troopers, and came up just in time to have a fight, in which the rebels were most decidedly whipped, losing forty-one slain on the spot, about 200 wounded, and fifty pris- oners, among the latter being eight com- missioned officers, ineluding one brigadier- general. The battle was followed by a

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IHISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

galloping pursuit of the enemy for not less than ten miles, nor did the chase sur- eease till the rebels had placed themselves beyond the Tallahatchie. The regiment, returning by LaGrange, went into camp at Colliersville on the 14th, where it spent a quiet fortnight.

On the 28th, Col. Hatch, commanding a brigade consisting of his own regiment, the 6th and 9th Illinois, and eight pieces of artillery, moved northward for the pur- pose of luring the rebel general, S. D. Lee, then at Oxford with a considerable force, into a movement in the same direc- tion. Hesucceeded. On December 1, Hatch marched rapidly from the vicinity of Cov- ington, some forty-five miles north of the railroad, for Pocahontas, whither Lee was reported as marching. Pocahontas is twenty miles westward of Corinth. Hatch reached Middletown, some miles west of Pocahontas, on the 2d, and learned that Lee was threatening Salisbury, still fur- ther west. There was skirmishing on the 3d, with slight loss on either side. On the next day, Lee, making a feint attack on LaGrange, delivered real at- tack against Moscow, ten miles further west, and which was garrisoned by Col. Kendrick, formerly of the 2d Iowa, with a few hundred black soldiers. Col. Hatelı was not deceived by the feint. He moved swiftly to Moscow, and there fought a considerable battle, which resulted in a decided Union triumph. Sixty slain rebels were left on the field, and the enemy lost heavily in wounded and prisoners. Hatch lost eleven killed, thirty wounded, and forty missing. He was himself danger- onsly wounded, being shot through the Inng with a minnie ball. He kept the

field, however, passing from place to place in an ambulance, till the rebels had re- treated. Forrest, meanwhile, moved into Tennessee, with some 3,000 men. A large foree both of infantry and cavalry was sent into the field to oppose him, but it met with ill success. Forrest got away with a large number of conseripts. Major Coon, commanding brigade (Capt. Graves being in command of the regiment) made an energetic pursuit, but was ordered to countermarch about the time he came up with the enemy. This closed the opera- tions of the regiment for the year. In- deed, the regiment reached the encamp- ment at Colliersville on the last day thereof.

The 2d of January, 1864, it broke camp there, and on the 4th, pitched tents at Memphis, where it remained about one month, receiving during this period of repose a large number of recruits. On the 5th of February the regiment moved to Germantown, and there joined the column under Gen. W. Sooy Smith, which marched into Mississippi with the object of aiding and at the proper time joining Gen. Sherman, who was already sweeping like a whirlwind toward Meridian. Gen .. Smith failed. The history of his failure is well known. On the retreat from West Point, there was much tighting and in all of it the 2d Iowa bore conspicuous part, at one time fighting and retreating for sixty consecutive hours, and saving the whole column by its bravery and its en- durance. At the battle near West Point, Lieut. Dwire, of company F, was killed, and several men were wounded, and the losses of the regiment in the subsequent engagements were heavy. On this expedi-

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IIISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

tion Lieut .- Col. Hepburn was in command of the brigade, Major Coon having com- mand of the regiment. It reached camp at Germantown on the 26th.

Thence it moved to Memphis, and a sufficient number having re-enlisted to make the regiment a veteran organization, the 2d Iowa Cavalry, Veteran Volunteers, were there mustered into the service in that capacity on the 28th of March. At this time the regiment numbered 1,088, of whom 360 were veterans. There were many recruits, so that there was a large command with a long term of service ahead. The 7th of April, the veterans started home on furlough. As they reached Muscatine, the morning of the 14th, they were greeted, at the home of their old colonel, now Gen. Hatch, with salvos of artillery, and were treated, upon landing, to a repast such as the fair ladies of that hospitable city are noted for pre- paring. They were met elsewhere with the heartiest cordiality.

The 15th of the following month the veterans reassembled at Davenport. Major Coon had been promoted to the colonelcy, whilst the late Captain's C. C. Horton, Gustavus Schmitzer and Charles P. Moore, now appeared as majors. They reached Memphis on the 29th, having halted some days at St. Louis, where they were re- mounted, and halting some time at the former place were armed with Spencer's seven-shooting carbines.

In the summer of 1864, it took part in Gen. A. J. Smith's campaign into central Mississippi, participating, but with slight loss, in the battle of Tupelo. It also joined the column which moved as far as Oxford in the same direction, when it was

recalled by reason of Forest's raid on Memphis. On this latter march, Gen. Hatch commanded the division of cavalry, Col. Coon a brigade, Major Horton the regimen', as in the former expedition was the case as to the last two, and in both the 2d Iowa maintained its reputation for bravery and activity, whilst the superiority of its arms rendered it the most dangerous foe which the enemy could meet. Return- ing from the Oxford raid our regiment reached White's station, a few miles south of Memphis, the 5th of September, and there going into camp formed an outpost which it garrisoned during the remainder of the month.

The regiment then moved by forced marches into middle Tennessee, where Forrest was doing much damage to country and the smaller garrisons along our lines of occupation, Rousseau de- feated him, before Hatch, by the utmost celerity of movement, could reach him, and the latter remained in the vicinity of Clifton till the close of October. Then, under orders to join Gen. Sherman in Georgia, he moved to Pulaski, arriving November 1, where the orders were countermanded, and he was required to give his assistance to Gen. Thomas in repelling the invasion now threatened by Hood.

Now it was from this time forth until Hood's grand army was driven in rout and ruin pell-mell from Tennessee, that Gen. Hatch and his whole command of troop- ers, being the 5th Cavalry Division, gained their brightest and their greatest renown. There were other regiments of horse from Iowa which during this period of constant vigilance, of almost daily

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IIISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

skirmishing, of great, decisive battles, won proud celebrity, as there were also Iowa regiments of foot. So there were regiments from other States which on the same wide field of operations performed their whole duty as manfully, as soldierly as any troops that ever marched or fought, but among them all the 2d Iowa Cavalry was not surpassed.

Early in November, Hood had a corps at Florence, Ala., on the northern bank of the Tennessee, and here he gathered one of the best Confederate armies which ever fought against the Union. About ten miles east of Florence a stream ealled Shoal creek flows from the north into the Tennessee. Along this stream, Hatch, with his division of cavalry, observed the enemy, again becoming the "eye of the army," the main part of which was far in the rear. He remained here for fifteen days, during which he made many reeou- noissances, and had several heavy skir- mishes with the enemy, Col. Coon's bri- gade almost always taking leading part therein, and the 2d Iowa doing a large share of the marching and fighting. Major Moore at one time, Major Sehmit- zer at another, and Major ITorton at an- other, with the battalions, were conspicu- ous. During this period of activity it was almost constantly raining, and the troops were without tents. Moreover, the men had to get their own subsistence and forage for their horses from the surround- ing country. On the 20th, Hood advaneed northward, Hatch disputing his advanee, but falling slowly baek before the over- whelming numbers. There was a fight at Lawrenceburg on the 22d, another at Campbellville on the 24th, and there was

scarcely an hour in which there was not a skirmish. At midnight of the 24th, the command reached Columbia and for the first time within a month passed within lines of infantry. By this time the horses of the 2d were nearly all worn out. But the men were remounted on steeds pressed into the service from the surround- ing country. On the 29th, the Union forces retreated to Franklin, Col. Coon, during most of the day, forming with his brigade the rear guard of the army, his troopers moving in column of squadrons. In the battle of Franklin which followed, Col. Coon did effective service on our left wing.

On the 2d of December our regiment reached Nashville, and moving across the the river to Edgefield, there found tents and knapsaeks which the men had not seen since leaving White's Station, the last of September. Here ten days, much of which time was intensely eold, were spent in camp. On account of the want of wood, there was much suffering. The 12th the command reerossed the Cumberland, and in the battle of Nashville, fought the 15th and 16th. Gen. Hatch's division took a most brilliant part, here practically serv- ing as infantry. The 2d was in the severest of the fight. It joined, mounted,in the pur- suit, and, fighting a considerable battle at Little Harpeth Creek on the 17th, at Ruth- erford Creek on the 18th, and again near Pulaski on Christmas day, followed the defeated rebels to near Huntsville, Ala., when, wheeling to the right, the com- mand marched to Eistport, Miss., arriv- ing Jan. 11, 1865, and went into winter quarters.

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HISTORY OF WINNEBAGO COUNTY.

In the battle of Nashville and in the pursuit of Hood, Col. Coon's brigade had done as gallant, meritorious service as any command in the grand army which gained this great victory. It had captured 1,186 prisoners, among whom were one general, two field and eight line officers, fifteen pieces of artillery, more than 1,300 small arms, about thirty wagons and am- bulances, one stand of division colors, and three stands of brigade colors. In the campaign the 2d Iowa Cavalry had suf- fered a loss of sixty-one, of whom four- teen were slain outright on the field of battle.

The regiment moved from Eastport to Gravelly Springs, where it spent a fort- night, and then returned to winter quar- ters, whence, the 19th of February, Major Schmitzer moved to Tuscumbia with a detachment, and thence to Russellville, re- turning not long afterwards, having made a successful reconnoissance. With this expedition, the history of the 2d Iowa Cavalry, so far as operations against the enemies of the country were concerned, was brought to a close. It was disarmed in March, 1865.

Afterwards, during the spring and sum- mer it remained in detachments at differ- ent points in northern Alabama, and northern Mississippi, being again armed with new Spencer carbines, mounted on mules and horses, and engaged in perform- ing the dry duty of preserving order over a considerable extent of country. And in the performance of duties of this kind, valuable to the country, but without inci- dents of noteworthy interest, the com- mand finished its career. It was mustered out of service in the autumn, and proceeding

to Davenport, Iowa, was there disbanded in the month of October, and thus closed the record of as gallant a body of troop- ers as ever mounted steed or drew sabre in any age or in any country.

IIONORED DEAD.

The names of those who were killed or died in the service are here given. The list is not long, but these brave men who laid down their lives in the defense of the Union are none the less to be honored. They offered as a sacrifice on the altar of their country's preservation, their best gifts-their life's blood. They were will- ing to fight and bleed, aye, to die, if nec- essary, to preserve the Union. Their graves are scattered all over the south, and although all signs of the once new made mound have been obliterated ; though the slab that once marked their last resting place may have crumbled and mingled with earth, yet their names will remain green in the hearts of the people, and their brave deeds will be stamped in- delibly on historie page. Language falls far short of the meed of praise due these brave lads, who suffered and died that the Union might be perpetuated. May their suffering, their death and their rude burial upon the hot and dusty battle-fields of the south, all tend to strengthen the land for which they died, and make patriot- ism's watchword, " "T'is sweet and honor- able to die for one's country."

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History of Kossuth, Hancock, and Winnebago counties, Iowa; together with sketches of their cities, villages, and townships, educational, civil, military, and political history; portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, Part 104

Author: Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co. Number of Pages: 950

Author:
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Springfield IL : Union Publishing Co.
Number of Pages: 950