USA > Iowa > Muscatine County > History of Muscatine County, Iowa, from the earliest settlements to the present time, Volume I > Part 17
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
The summary of casualties in the regiment is as follows : Total enrollment, nine hundred and fifty-nine; killed, thirteen; wounded, one hundred and forty- one; died of disease, seven ; died of wounds, five; missing in action, four.
THIRTY-FIFTH IOWA REGIMENT.
The Thirty-fifth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry was sworn into the service of the United States on the 18th of September, 1862. There were nine hundred and fifty-seven officers and men in the regiment. Colonel Sylvester G. Hill was in command. James H. Rothrock was lieutenant colonel, Henry O'Connor major. Having had a little more than a month for drill and disci- pline at Camp Strong, the regiment moved by rail to Cairo, Illinois, arriving November 24. The regiment performed duty at Cairo, Mound City, Columbus, Kentucky and Island No. 10 during the winter. A detachment first moved to Columbus to assist in repelling a threatened attack and was soon followed by the remainder of the regiment. The whole command remained at Columbus about one month and then moved to Island No. 10 but soon moved back to Cairo. In March, 1863, a heavy detachment went to Fort Heiman, on escort duty, and about the same time two companies proceeded to the interior of south- ern Illinois in search of deserters.
VICKSBURG.
The winter and early spring having been thus spent in these uninteresting operations-but not without considerable improvement in soldierly duties-the regiment embarked on the 12th of April and in due course of time joined the army under Grant in the vicinity of Vicksburg. Remaining in an unspeakably disagreeable encampment about a fortnight, the regiment took up the line of march in the grand campaign, being attached to General Mathies' Third Brigade
134
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
of Tuttle's Third Division of Sherman's Corps. The regiment took part in the capture of Jackson and on the 18th of May went into line in front of Vicks- burg. It was in the line of reserves during the assault on the 22d. The com- mand took direct part in the siege until the middle of June, when it retired from the trenches and a few days afterward joined the army of observation and marched to Black River. Here the regiment was engaged on unusually heavy picket duty until the capitulation, whereupon it moved with the expedi- tionary army against Jackson. In the campaigns, both of Vicksburg and Jack- son, Colonel Hill's command performed every duty assigned it with credit, but its casualties were not heavy. They numbered less than a score killed, wounded and captured.
From Jackson the regiment returned to the vicinity of Vicksburg in the latter part of July and went into camp on Bear Creek. Here it remained in perfect quiet for about three months. There were meanwhile several changes among the command. Lieutenant Colonel Rothrock and Major O'Connor had resigned, and had been succeeded by Captains William B. Keeler and Abraham John, respectively. There had also been several changes in the line officers. The latter part of October the command joined in reconnoisance to Browns- ville, in which it had slight skirmishing with the enemy but sustained no loss.
IN TENNESSEE.
Early in November the regiment broke camp near Vicksburg and moved up the river to Memphis. It marched thence to La Grange, whence the right wing, Major John commanding, moved to Middleton, and the left wing, Captain Bur- meister, to Pocahontas, Colonel Hill at this time being absent on leave and Lieutenant Colonel Keeler on special duty at General Tuttle's headquarters. The operations of the regiment in Tennessee, where it remained until the latter part of January, 1864, were unimportant, consisting rather of scouts made by small parties than of movements of the command at large. The 25th of Jan- uary, Colonel Hill moved to Memphis and thence at once began the voyage to Vicksburg but did not arrive in time to take part in the Meridian expedition. The command pitched tents on Black river and waited the return of the army. On the 10th of March, the regiment embarked on the steamer Baltic at Vicks- burg and moved with the forces under General A. J. Smith at the department of the gulf, to take part in the Red River expedition. Colonel Hill commanded the brigade and Lieutenant Colonel Keeler commanded the regiment. The Thirty-fifth did not bear a prominent part in the capture of Fort DeRussey, being in reserve on that occasion, but in all the principal operations of the division after that, during the entire campaign, it was conspicuously engaged. It gained distinguished honor by the affair at Henderson's Hill on the 22d.
RED RIVER CAMPAIGN.
Returning to Alexandria, the regiment soon joined in the further movement up Red River. It took part in one or two operations of no great importance in the vicinity of Comti, on the left bank of the river, some distance above Grand
135
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
Ecore and on the 9th of April was heavily engaged at the battle of Pleasant Hill, where it lost many gallant officers and men. Captain Henry Blanck was here slain by the same ball which killed Private Peter Harrison. In the many skirmishes in the retreat through Alexandria, the Thirty-fifth had its due share but without loss except a few men slightly wounded. But at the battle of Yel- low Bayou May 18th, the regiment was hotly engaged and lost nearly forty killed and wounded. It was here that Captain Burmeister received a mortal wound and here that young Frederick Hill, the colonel's son, fell dead by his father's side, his head pierced with a ball. An expression of deep sorrow es- caped the colonel and he continued in the performance of his duties until the rebels had met with as thorough a defeat as ever befell an army. Five days afterward the regiment went into camp at Vicksburg, having lost nearly a hun- dred officers and men killed and wounded.
TAKE CHICOT.
On the 4th of June, General Smith put his troops aboard transports and moved up the Mississippi. Two days later the battle of Lake Chicot took place. It was a short but severe battle, resulting in the complete defeat of the enemy. Perhaps no command ever exhibited more admirable gallantry than the Thirty- fifth at this combat. Coming suddenly upon the enemy in force, it stood like a stone wall to its position. The fight lasted only a few minutes, during which the regiment lost about twenty killed and wounded. Major 'Abraham John, commander, was mortally wounded, while Captain William Dill was severely wounded. Major John died the same evening, deeply lamented by the entire command. The regiment then proceeded to Memphis, where it engaged in the battle of Tupelo, in which engagement thirty-eight men were lost.
Early in September the regiment left Memphis for Brownsville, Arkansas. From this time until the middle of November it was engaged in most energetic marching after Price, first in Arkansas and then in Missouri. During this period it marched several hundred miles, many of the men much of the time without shoes, and all of them frequently without sufficient food. It was a campaign of great severity as to marching, the command traversing nearly the whole length of Arkansas and marching and countermarching across Missouri but not fighting, so far as foot soldiers were concerned. Hence, when the regi- ment returned to St. Louis November 15, there were no casualties to report. On the 23d the regiment embarked with General A. G. Smith's forces, and moved to the reinforcement of Major General Thomas in Tennessee.
HILL IS KILLED.
In the battle of Nashville, which resulted in one of the greatest triumphs of the war, the Twelfth and the Thirty-fifth were in the brigade, commanded by Colonel Hill of the former regiment. Chaplain Frederick Humphrey of the Twelfth, after finally describing the operations of Hubbard's and McMillan's brigades, thus speaks of Hill's troops: "Meantime, Hill's men, who had borne the brunt of the battle of Tupelo and had now witnessed the splendid charges
136
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
of their comrades, were eager to emulate their heroism and stormed the for- midable redoubts far in the front. As the corps continues wheeling to the left, an opportunity is soon presented to gratify their importunate demands. About six hundred yards in advance of the brigade near the Hillsboro Pike, on a high and bastion-like ridge is another strong redoubt, whose rebel Napoleons re- double their fire and seem striving to make good the loss of the two first re- doubts and hurl back our advancing columns. Shot and the fragments of shell fill the air. The roar of artillery, like Niagara's, is incessant and the flash of the exploding shells quickly follow each other like the vivid flashes of lightning. An officer in another brigade said to me, 'Those guns are more annoying to our lines than any other rebel battery. The guns must be silenced and the redoubt captured without delay.' Colonel Hill saw that it could only be carried by direct assault in front and immediately ordered a charge. The boys welcomed the order with a battle cheer, fixed bayonets, and under a terrific fire of shot, min- nie-balls and bursting shells, with uniform step and steady columns they de- scend a gentle slope, cross a ravine and on the double quick move in front of the enemy's fire up the hill to their works. Sergeants Clark and Grannis of the Twelfth Iowa, in advance of the charging line, first planted the regimental banner and the national colors upon the rebel battlements. The brave Colonel Hill, mounted on horseback, and gallantly leading his brigade to the assault, fell from his horse, shot through the head just as his troops were carrying the breastworks of the enemy. The men rushed forward to avenge the death of their lamented commander. The enemy had hastily limbered up the guns of the fort, withdrawn them to a redoubt a distance of about three hundred yards and again opened with grape, cannister and musketry upon our men, just as they entered the first redoubt. Continuing to advance without orders, the brigade charged across the Hillsboro Pike in the face of another torrent of fire, up to the second redoubt, captured its guns, caissons, horses, one headquarters and thirteen baggage wagons and two hundred and fifty prisoners."
LIVE ON SHELLED CORN.
The Thirty-fifth marched in pursuit of the rebels as far as Pulaski. There it turned to the right, marched to Clifton on the Tennessee and went into camp January 2, 1865. Six days afterward the command embarked for Eastport, Mississippi, where it encamped for a month, the troops living on shelled corn part of the time. For this there was no good reason, communication being at all times open to Cairo. The encampment was in a pine forest, where the men constructed rude quarters, as they supposed, for the rest of the winter.
On the 5th of February the regiment embarked on the steamer Magenta and moved by the Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi to Vicksburg. Having en- camped near that city a few days, it moved to New Orleans, and on the anni- versary of Washington's birthday pitched tents on the very field where Andrew Jackson had defeated the British army a little more than fifty years before. From this historic ground the Thirty-fifth moved early in March to take part in the campaign of Mobile, the last in which the regiment joined, as it was the last important operation of the war. In this campaign the regiment, Lieutenant
137
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
Colonel Keeler commanding, bore an honorable share throughout, but with re- markably small loss.
After the occupation of Mobile the regiment marched to Montgomery, where it remained about a fortnight and then moved by steamer to Selma. Here the command remained until July 21st, when it received a welcome order to start for home. It was mustered out at Davenport, August 10th, but disbanded and was finally paid at Muscatine six days afterward, on which occasion there was a happy reunion of all the old soldiers of Muscatine county and as hearty a re- ception as volunteers ever received anywhere.
ELEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY.
Ten companies, composing the Eleventh Iowa Infantry, were ordered into quarters by the governor on dates ranging from August 20 to September 23, 1861. The designated rendezvous was Camp McClellan, near Davenport, Iowa, and there, on dates ranging from September 14 to October 19, 1861, the ten companies with field and staff and company officers were mustered into the service of the United States for the term of three years by Captain Alexander Chambers, of the United States army. The total number, rank and file, to muster in was nine hundred and twenty-two. The regiment was one of the number required to complete the quota of the state of Iowa under the procla- mation of the president, dated July 23, 1861. Its first field, staff and company officers were: Colonels, Abraham M. Hare and Benjamin Beach; assistant sur- geon, D. P. Johnson; adjutants, Cornelius Cadle and Frederick P. Candee ; quartermasters, Richard Cadle and Henry Le Jarboe ; chaplain, C. H. Reming- ton ; sergeant major, Lyman Banks; drum major, John M. Dunn. The records show that the regiment was well armed, clothed and equipped before leaving the state and that it had made some progress in drill and in learning the duties of the soldier while at Camp McClellan. November 16th the regiment em- barked at Davenport on the steamer Jennie Whipple and proceeded to St. Louis, arriving there on the 19th and going into quarters at the camp of instruction in Benton Barracks. Here it remained until the 8th of December, receiving in- struction in drill and camp duty, in which it became fairly proficient before taking the field for active service against the enemy. It left St. Louis December 9, 1861, and from that date was engaged in a winter campaign, suffering much from hardship and exposure. It went first to Jefferson City, then up the Mis- souri to Boonville, from which point it sent out scouting parties but only found small bodies of the enemy which, being mounted and familiar with the country, scattered upon the approach of the Union troops. The regiment soon returned to Jefferson City.
THE FIRST WINTER.
On the 23d of December a detachment of five companies was sent by rail to California, Missouri, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Hall. The other five companies under command of Colonel Hare, in whose honor Colonel Hare Circle of this city was named, went to Fulton, Missouri. While the records do not show any official report of the operations of these two detachments during
138
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
the remainder of the winter and while no event of special importance seems to have transpired, the service performed was important because of the fact that the presence of these Union troops and others, stationed at different points in Missouri insured protection to the lives and prosperity of Union citizens. A large number of rebel soldiers had been raised in that state and had joined the rebel army then in camp on its southwestern border, while small bands infested almost every county and many depredations were committed, notwithstanding the presence of the Union troops. Early in March the two detachments of the Eleventh Iowa were ordered to St. Louis and March 10, 1862, the regiment was again united and two days later was being transported by steamboat down the Mississippi river to Savannah, Tennessee, where it remained until March 23, and then moved to Pittsburg Landing, becoming a part of the great army then being concentrated at that point and destined to soon be engaged in one of the greatest battles of the war.
IN ARMY OF TENNESSEE.
The Eleventh Iowa was assigned to the First Brigade of the First Division of the Army of the Tennessee. Major General John 'A'. McClernand com- manded the division and Colonel A. M. Hare of the Eleventh Iowa was in command of the First Brigade. Colonel Crocker's regiment, the Thirteenth Iowa, was also attached to this brigade. Early on the morning of April 6, 1862, the firing on the picket lines in front and to the right and left of the camps of the First Brigade indicated the advance of the enemy in force, and the long roll promptly called the troops into line. Preparations to meet the at- tack were instantly made. The Eleventh Iowa was detached from its brigade at the very beginning of the battle and during both days received its orders direct from general officers, and at no time was the regiment directly con- nected with any other organization during the battle, except Dresser's battery.
Colonel Hare says in his report as brigade commander that he placed the Eleventh Iowa and the battery on the right of the Second Brigade to form a reserve line, and at the close of his report he says that he did not see his own regiment or battery after they took the position to which he had assigned them in the morning. Colonel A. M. Hare says that early on the morning of the 6th, at the first alarm, he formed his brigade in front of their respective en- campments in readiness to remove promptly upon the receipt of orders from his division commander.
COLONEL HARE WOUNDED.
Colonel Hare was severely wounded at 4:30 p. m. on the 6th, and Colonel M. M. Crocker, of the Thirteenth Iowa, was left in command of the brigade until the close of the battle on the 7th. At the close of his official report he says: "Of Dresser's battery and the Eleventh Iowa, I can say nothing except that I found what was left of them in camp upon my return on the evening of the 7th, they having been separated from the brigade during all the time it was under my command." Lieutenant Colonel Hall, who commanded the Eleventh Iowa, has described in detail the different positions occupied by his
139
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
regiment during the remainder of the battle. In the terrible and protracted contest with the enemy in their first position, the men fought until their ammu- nition was exhausted. General McClernand then ordered another regiment to occupy its place, while the Eleventh Iowa was ordered to the rear long enough to procure a fresh supply of ammunition, when it again proceeded to the front, this time under the personal order and direction of General Grant, and was soon engaged in fierce conflict with the enemy at close range. At this point Lieutenant Colonel Hare detailed twelve men from Company G of his regiment to take charge of two abandoned twelve howitzers, which they used with good effect against the enemy, although they were without training in the handling of artillery. In every position to which it was assigned, the regiment rendered effective service. When darkness ended the fighting of the first day, the regi- ment lay upon its arms in line of battle, exposed to the heavy rain which began to fall soon after the firing had ceased, without food, but with undaunted cour- age, ready to renew the conflict at the coming of daylight.
On the morning of the 7th the regiment was ordered to the front and went into action in support of a battery. It was now the enemy's turn to be driven from one position to another. Late in the afternoon the enemy was in full retreat and the battle ended in a complete victory for the Union army.
The regiment returned to its camp sadly diminished in number, but while the survivors mourned for their brave comrades lying dead upon that historic battlefield, they rejoiced in the victory won and in the consciousness that the regiment had performed its full duty. At the close of his report Lieutenant Colonel Hall commended his officers and men for their bravery and good con- duct in battle and makes special mention of Captain John C. Marven, who had not been able for duty for ninety days and who arose from a sick bed to go into battle. The gallant First Lieutenant John F. Campton, of Company E, was killed while bravely discharging his duties. The loss of the regiment was as follows : killed, thirty-three; wounded, one hundred and sixty; missing, one; total, one hundred and ninety-four. Among the gallant wounded were Colonel A. M. Hare, Lieutenant Colonel William Hall, Major John C. Abercrombie and Captain Charles Foster.
Soon after the battle of Shiloh the regiment was assigned to a brigade com- posed as follows: The Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Regiments of Iowa Infantry under the command of Colonel M. M. Crocker of the Thir- teenth Iowa. From the date of the organization of this brigade, April 27, 1862, down to the close of the great war, these four regiments served together, and while it was commanded by different officers, it retained the name of Crocker's Iowa Brigade. It won for itself a reputation that reflected great honor upon its state.
The Eleventh Iowa participated in the advance upon the siege of Corinth and after the evacuation of that rebel stronghold, May 30, 1862, went into camp there. July 28th, the Eleventh Iowa was ordered to Bolivar, Tennessee, where it assisted in the construction of defensive works and guarding the railroad. Colonel Hare resigned on account of disability contracted from wounds and sickness on the 31st of August, 1862, and Lieutenant Colonel Hall was pro- moted to colonel. From Bolivar the regiment was ordered to Corinth and
140
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
thence to Iuka, but a few days before the battle at the latter place it was again ordered to Corinth, arriving there just before the battle of the 3d and 4th of October. In these two days of battle the Eleventh was for the greater part of the time held in reserve.
Crocker's Brigade participated actively in the pursuit of the rebel army. In November it started on the expedition under General Grant through central Mississippi, which failed to accomplish the result expected on account of the capture of the enemy of the garrison at Holly Springs. In the spring of 1863 the Eleventh Iowa entered upon the greatest campaign it had thus far taken. It left Lake Providence on the 23d of April, 1863, and from that time until the surrender of Vicksburg was actively identified with all the operations of the brigade and division.
MUCH SUFFERING.
'After the surrender of Vicksburg and the evacuation of Jackson, the Eleventh Iowa, together with other troops of this brigade and the army which had been engaged in the great campaign, enjoyed a period of well earned rest. About the middle of August the Iowa Brigade, with the Third Division of the Seventeenth Corps and a considerable force of cavalry and artillery, constitut- ing an expeditionary force of about five thousand men, embarked on steamers and moved to Goodrich's Landing. After landing, they began a long and toil- some march into Louisiana, penetrating to Monroe, and returning to Vicksburg September 3d. The results accomplished by this expedition were meagre, while the suffering endured by the soldiers engaged in it was very great. Many died from the effects of the hardships to which they were subjected and many never fully recovered from the diseases contracted while passing through that malarial region during the hottest days of the summer. Upon its return from the ex- pedition, the brigade went into camp, where it remained until early in February, 1864, when it participated in the famous Meridian expedition under General Sherman. Although this expedition was conducted in midwinter and the men were without tents and subsisted almost wholly upon the country through which they passed, they suffered less than they did on the Louisiana expedition, while the results accomplished were of very great importance. Before starting upon the Meridian expedition a majority of the men of the Eleventh Iowa had re- enlisted for another term of three years and had earned the title of veterans. Early in March the veteran organization was granted a furlough of thirty days to begin after reaching Iowa. They embarked at Vicksburg on the steamer Continental, which conveyed them to Davenport, from which place they de- parted for their respective homes.
April 22, 1864, the veterans of the regiment again assembled at Davenport. Many recruits had joined them and with its ranks thus greatly strengthened, the regiment at once proceeded upon its long journey to the front. At Cairo, Illinois, the regiment boarded transports and were conveyed to Clifton, Tennes- see, at which place it landed and marched to the mountains of Georgia, where it joined the army under General Sherman, then engaged in one of the most remarkable campaigns in the military history of the world. The Iowa brigade was reunited, the other three regiments having returned from veteran furlough
141
HISTORY OF MUSCATINE COUNTY
and joined the army at Ackworth, Georgia, June 8, 1864. In this campaign the Eleventh Iowa first came under fire at Kenesaw Mountain. After the enemy had been driven from that stronghold, the regiment, with the Iowa brigade, participated in the operations at Marietta, and on until the enemy was encoun- tered in strong force in front of Atlanta.
After the fall of Atlanta the Eleventh Iowa had several weeks of rest. It then joined in the pursuit of Hood's army into northwestern Alabama. By the middle of November it returned to Atlanta and when the great march to the sea began, the regiment with its brigade was in its place in line. Arriving at Savannah, another period of several weeks' rest and recreation was enjoyed.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.