USA > Iowa > Story County > History of Story County, Iowa; a record of organization, progress and achievement, Volume I > Part 27
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It being now nearly night we camped on the battlefield, were called up about one o'clock a. m. and moved about a quarter of a mile to support a battery, there being some fear that an attack might be made. Here again we lay on our arms until morning, when we moved on into Port Gibson without further opposition, arriving there about noon of May the 2nd. We remained in camp, in Port Gibson, until the 8th of May when we started for Jackson, Miss., passing through Clinton, Raymond. Bolton, etc., and on the evening of the fourteenth, after an all day's forced march, through a steady rain. we camped within seven miles of Jackson. During the night a courier came in saying the Johnnies had evacuated Jackson, and with orders for us to counter-march toward Champion-Hills, so on the morning of the 15th. we started back over almost the same road that we traveled the day before. and were ready for the battle of Champion Hills on the sixteenth, but for- tunately for us, we were not called upon to take any active part in that ter- rible engagement. On the night of the sixteenth we camped at Edwards Station, going into camp about 9 o'clock, tired and hungry but nothing to eat.
On the morning of the 17th we were on the march again at four o'clock. and soon found the enemy strongly entrenched at Big Black River. Again the 23rd lowa occupied the extreme right of the battle line. We marched to the right through a strip of woods till we struck the river, which being very low left an almost perpendicular wall of from six to eight feet high. with room enough between this bank and the water to march. So under protection of this bank we marched down till our right ( which was Co. . A) was within two hundred yards of the confederate fortifications. At ten o'clock, we were ordered to fix bayonets and charge their works which we (lid in good shape. Now please bear in mind that these fortifications that 1 speak of. as being one or two hundred yards away, were to our right, or west of us, while we, in making the charge, had to go some three or four hun- dred yards south, and swing to the west, around the south end of their works, thus cutting off the retreat of some seventeen hundred confederates. whom we captured but at a terrible loss to us. The brunt of this charge fell on M. K. Lawler's brigade, of which the 23rd, was a part, and the heaviest blow was on the 23rd lowa, as you will see by the losses. The total loss in the 13th army corps, was 279, the loss in Lawler's brigade alone, was 221, while the 23rd regiment lost 101. These losses include killed and wounded, and the whole loss was practically sustained in three minutes' time. Company A lost two killed and ten wounded, four of whom died in a few days of their wounds. Brigadier General Lawler at the conclusion of his report of this battle, says: "The Twenty-third Jowa Volunteers which had borne such a distinguished part and suffered so severely in the charge
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was placed as a guard over the prisoners and by order of Major General U. S. Grant, was permitted to take them as far north as Memphis, where we turned them over to the commandant of the post."
We turned the prisoners over on the twenty-seventh of May, and im- mediately returned to Young's Point, on the west side of the Mississippi, where we arrived on the thirtieth. Late in the evening of June sixth, the 23rd regiment was ordered to immediately embark for Milliken's Bend, to the support of the garrison at that place which was being threatened by the enemy. Fortunately or otherwise for Company A, ( whose history I am writing ) we had nearly all been sent out on picket, before this order was received, and consequently had a very small representation in this terrible hand to hand conflict. The garrison at Milliken's Bend, consisted of a small body of colored troops numbering about 800, who were utterly untrained in the art of war, the 23rd Iowa being the only white troops there, and it num- bered less than 200. On the morning of June the 7th, they were attacked by a brigade of confederates numbering 2,500, under command of H. E. McCulloch, with 200 cavalry. The 23rd lowa lost 23 killed and 41 wounded. Company A sustained no loss in this action.
After the battle we dropped down to Van Buren hospital with the wounded. And the next day went on down to Young's Point. On the eighth we went over to the rear of Vicksburg, and took our place in the general siege. On the second of July we were called out and made a forced march out toward Big-Black-River under General Lawler, then back again on the third, and I do not know to this day what we went out there for. Vicks- burg surrendered on the fourth. On the fifth Company A and the balance of the regiment started for Jackson. Miss., again, with about 60 men in the regiment. Reached Jackson on the fourteenth but not in time to take part in the fight, were back to Vicksburg on the twenty-sixth of July, where we re- mained till the thirteenth of August, when we went on board a steamboat bound for Carlton, La. where we arrived and went into camp on the 20th. On the evening of Sept. 4th we marched to Algiers opposite New Orleans, where we took the cars to Bayou-Bouf, where the company arrived that night and went into camp until the eleventh of September, when we moved to Brashear City, from Broisier to Burwic. Oct. 6th camped about 50 miles west of Brashear City, then to Vermillion and Opelousas and Iberia, where we remained till November 8th. Then out to near Franklin, Burwic Bayou, where we took cars to Algiers where we arrived at five o'clock p. m .. Nov. 14, 1863. On the 16th we embarked at 5 o'clock p. m. on board the steam- boat Crescent bound for Texas. The 17th was a calm day, but the 18th, 19th and 20th were very stormy days. Company F lost one man from being washed overboard. On the evening of the 27th, we arrived off Mustang Island, 70 miles from Matagorda bay. On Nov. 29th the regiment pro- ceeded with the expedition against Fort Esparanza which commanded the entrance to Matagorda Bay. We crossed St. Joseph's and Matagorda Is- lands and arrived in front of the fort on Dec. Ist. But the enemy had blown
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up their magazines and evacuated the fort the night before, thus saving many valuable lives.
We went into camp on the peninsula at DeCrou's Point, where we re- mained until Jan. 3rd 1864, on which date the 23rd with other troops em- barked for Indianolia, that town being occupied by a force of rebels, who on the appearance of the vessels carrying Union troops evacuated the town, and retreated to the interior. Here we were quartered in houses, for about three weeks, when we again moved to oll Indianolia and went into winter quarters, on the 18th of Jan. 1864. Here we remained until the 13th of March, when we started back to Fort Esperanza where we arrived the 14th, and went into camp about 5 miles from the fort remaining there till the 26th of April, when we again went aboard ship bound for New Orleans, where we arrived on the evening of the 28th of April, started up the river on the 4th day of May, on board the Madison, and on the 6th stopped at the mouth of Red river and ran up the river to Fort DuRussy, the river being so obstructed we could go no further. We returned to the mouth of Red river and landed on the 11th. On the 12th camped opposite the mouth of Red river and stayed till the 17th, when we ran up the Red river and down the Atchafalaya to Semmes Port. Marched all night of the 20th, and up to 9 p. m. of the 21st and arrived on the 22nd of May at Morganza where we remained till May 30th, when we marched 30 miles to the southwest on a scout and returned again on June 2nd to Morganza where we remained until July 13th when we took passage on board the steamboat Katie Dale bound for Vicksburg. Changed boats at Natchez for the Gray Eagle and arrived at Vicksburg at 2 a. m. on the morning of the 15th. Here we again changed boats this time for the oldl White Cloud. ( which took us down the river in 1863) and on the 16th started for the mouth of White river where we ar- rived on the 18th. The 21st we started up White river and landed at St. Charles on the 23rd of July where we lay in camp till the 6th day of August, when we again went on board the White Cloud and started back down the river and landed at Morganza and went into camp on the 13th of August. where we stayed till the first day of October, 1804. Oct. ist and 2nd we marched out to Semmes Port. And on the oth and ioth we marched back again to Morganza. On the 11th took boat for Du Valls Bluffs where we arrived and went into camp on the 18th. We remained in this camp until Nov. oth. From this time on we were mostly on the move and doing gar- rison duty working on fortifications, etc., until March 27th, 1865, when we took port in the siege and capture of Spanish Fort, which the enemy evac- uated on the night of April the 8th. Then commenced another series of marches and counter marches back and forth until the news of Johnson and Lee's surrender was confirmed, and we were finally sent back over into Texas where we spent another month moving from place to place. Until as the records show we were mustered out at Harrisburg. Texas, on the 26th of July, 1865, and started for God's county and were disbanded at Daven- port. Iowa, on the 11th of August. 1865.
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HOTEL AMES,
HOTEL
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MAIN STREET, AMES
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The average age of the 58 men who served in Company A, 23rd Iowa, from Story County, was a fraction over 24 years. 15 of the 50 boys who went out with the company in August, 1862, went through to Harrisburg, Texas, and were discharged with the regiment at that place. Of the other 35 twenty died of disease, 10 were discharged for disability, two died of wounds, two were discharged for wounds and one was killed in battle. Of the eight who came to us as recruits, five were transfered to the 29th Iowa, two were discharged for disability and one died of disease. The company traveled on wheels 1, 157 miles, on boat 8,291 miles and marched 1,497 miles. Total miles traveled, 10,945. These figures are taken from data kept at the time and are practically correct.
On the morning of the 27th of July (the morning after our second re- turn from Jackson) just 10 months and 8 days after leaving Des Moines, there were just 5 men able to answer "here" at morning roll call and 4 of these were from Story County and are still living, and are, S. P. O'Brien of Ames, who has been totally disabled for several years, Chris Torkelson of Story City, Iowa, Sever Tesdal of Slater, Iowa, and Willis Gossard of Ogle County, Ill. (I am indebted to O'Brien and Torkelson for this information, but their memory fails them to locate the fifth man.)
In concluding this narrative I feel that it is but just that I should say that I have been greatly handicapped from the fact that none of our regi- mental officers, (except Col. Dewey, who died at Patterson) ever made any official report of any of the engagements we were in, so I have had to de- pend upon the reports of our brigade commander's personal memoranda kept at the time, and memory. And in this connection I wish to express my thanks to Captain W. M. Little of Corydon, Iowa, captain of Company D, to whom I am greatly indebted for memoranda, dates, etc. I also kept a daily diary myself until the surrender of Vicksburg. In this narrative I have endeavored to give the plain unvarnished facts. I regret that some person more able than myself was not selected to write this history. Un- doubtedly there are many incidents of interest that have been overlooked. As stated the dates have been gathered from memoranda kept from day to day and are in the main correct. Company A had a fine set of officers of whom she was proud, and I believe her officers had confidence in, and were proud of their men and you will pardon me if I say that I believe Story County is proud of the record made by the boys she sent out in Company A, 23rd Iowa. And no less proud of the boys she sent and the records they made in the various other regiments that went out in the '60s.
T. J. MILLER.
Vol. I-16
CHAPTER XXIII.
THIRTY-SECOND IOWA INFANTRY.
Company K of the Thirty-second, was probably more exclusively a Story County organization than was any other of the commands enlisted here or in this vicinity. It was enlisted mostly in August. 1862. and was mustered into service on October 6, 1802. and its first officers were: Rev. Joseph Cadwallader. of Story County, captain; Gideon Wheeler of Marshall County, first lieutenant and afterwards captain: George Child of Story County, second lieutenant and afterwards first lieutenant. Captain Cad- wallader was a very popular preacher from the south part of the county and later became regimental chaplain. Sergeants, who subsequently reached the grade of second lieutenant, were Vincent Tomlinson and William .1. Fallas. The regimental organization also pertained in a very especial degree to Story County. The regiment was organized from the fifth and sixth congressional districts of the state. comprising most of the north half of the state, and it was understood from the beginning that the regiment would be commanded by Col. John Scott of Nevada. Col. Scott had come to Nevada in 1856, had come in a short time to be recognized as the leading citizen of the county, had been tendered the nomination for state representative in 1857, and had been nominated and elected to the state senate in 1859. He had been the first captain of Company E of the Third Infantry, had been immediately promoted to the lieutenant-colonelcy upon the organization of the 3d regiment ; and by reason of his gallant service in the field and general standing in the state, was naturally the choice of Gov. Kirkwood for the command of the regiment, which in the autumn of 1862 was to be raised in this portion of the state. Col. Scott was authorized by the governor to choose his own regimental staff. and he very fortunately chose T. C. Mc- Call, then representative in the general assembly and in after years both representative and senator, for his regimental quartermaster. llis adjutant was never a resident of Story County ; but for the most of his active life. he was a familiar figure and much beloved friend with very many of the Story County people. This was Hon. Chas. Aldrich. then editor of the Hamilton Freeman, at Webster City ; later publisher of the Marshall Times ; previously chief clerk of the general assembly, and in later years, representa- tive therein and curator of the State Historical Library.
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With the assurance that the regiment would thus be commanded by a Story County citizen, and with the prospect of exceptional prominence and opportunity in the regiment for Story County men, it is not surprising that the company which was to go from Story County to this regiment should have been very easily recruited. The regiment was mustered into service at Dubuque on the 6th of October; but it was not until November 16th that it started by boat down the Mississippi to St. Louis, where it ar- rived on the 22d. Major General S. R. Curtis was there in command, and at the very beginning of its service, he made for the regiment an assignment that was not appreciated at the time, and which, for nearly a year and one- half, was prejudicial to the general interest of the regiment as a military unit. This assignment was to send four companies, A, D, F and G under Major Eberhart to Cape Girardeau. The other six companies, under com- mand of Col. Scott, and including K from Story County, were sent to New Madrid.
The work to which these separate divisions of the regiment were as- signed, was to watch bushwhackers, chase guerrillas, and to try to keep the supposedly peaceful citizens of southern persuasion in southeastern Mis- souri from interfering too much with the traffic up and down the river. This service was trying and arduous and important but inglorious and af- fording very little satisfaction. At one time, the regiment was still further split up, Companies B, E and I, under Captain Miller, being transferred to Columbus, Kentucky ; Company C, under Captain Peebles, being mounted and doing cavalry service around Union City, Tennessee, and Companies H and K, under Captain Benson, being what was left at headquarters on Island No. 10. During a part of this time, Col. Scott was in command of the post at Columbus, Kentucky, while Lieutenant Colonel Mix was serving as member of a court martial at Cairo. During the occupation of New Ma- drid by the six companies, the rebels raided in that vicinity in large force, and Col. Scott was imperatively ordered by the union commander nearest him, at Columbus, Kentucky, to evacuate Ft. Madrid, and transfer his force across the river. This he did with many regrets, and the movement was quite unsatisfactory to Gen. Curtis, who, being at St. Louis, was distant from the theatre of action, but was in general command of the department of Mis- souri. The controversies arising out of this incident were one of the circum- stances rendering unpleasant the earlier service of this regiment; although the strict compliance with the orders of a superior officer relieved Col. Scott of any blame for what was undoubtedly an ill advised action by the com- mander at Columbus.
Very much of the field record of the regiment and particularly of the record of the companies under Major Eberhart at Cape Girardeau, is fur- nished by Sergeant J. M. Boyd of Company F, who was a good observer, had literary qualities and kept a diary. A fair sample of the sort of service the various companies went through in southeastern Missouri, between November of 1862, and the early part of 1864, is furnished in a report by
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Sergeant Boyd of an excursion which the four companies made from Cape Girardeau westward. in March, 1863. The Sergeant says: "The 14th of March brought marching orders for Bloomfield, the county seat of Stoddard County, Missouri, and the boys rejoiced at the prospect of release from gar- rison duty. Arriving at Bloomfield on the 16th, the detachment was camped east of town near Henry Miller's big spring. Miller's big log house becom- ing headquarters and boarding house for our officers. Here for the soldier was another term of guard duty, picketing the roads and guarding the old log jail, generally well filled with rebel prisoners. These prisoners presented a medley of humanity. One of them was a Baptist minister of Alabama, with the rank of first lieutenant in the rebel army, an educated and accomplished gentleman. Another was a Methodist preacher from Kentucky. Another claimed to be a native of French Guiana. South America. He no doubt had been an adventurous fellow, had seen much of the world and could tell many thrilling stories of his adventures and hair-breadth escapes by sea and by land. Many an hour was spent in social chat by the guards and some of the prisoners, sitting on the ground along the guard line. One day a cavalry officer brought in a squad of prisoners and turning them over to the sergeant of the guard said. 'There is a hard one, look out for him. point- ing to a man that some of the other prisoners called Judge Taylor. He was a stout, well built man of muscle and nerve, and no doubt a man of great physical ability and endurance. His countenance and skin looked as though he had been steeped in filth and tobacco juice. His clothes and butternut suit were dirty and filthy. His physiognomy would indicate much low cun- ning, and native shrewdness, mixed with a disposition of cruelty. He was the spokesman and leader among the swamp bushwhackers, who infested the swamps and low lands of southeastern Missouri, and bore the titles of judge provost, marshal and recruiting officer. Just after he was passed into the guard lines, his wife approached the line with a change of clothing. The sergeant of the guard was required to carefully examine the clothing and pass his thumb and finger over every seam to see that they contained noth- ing contraband. This was easily done with the clothes brought by the wo- man ; for, if they were not clean, but if the dirt was boiled in, the gray-backs were boiled dead; but when the sergeant was compelled to stand over the old judge while he changed suits and examine the cast off clothes before turning them over to the woman, then came the tug of war. To hold his nose as far away as possible from the stench, and to hold the clothes away so that the gray-backs might not fall upon himself were the two main points, but every seam was carefully examined, despite the falling gray-backs, while officers and soldiers, standing by, enjoyed the sport at the sergeant's expense.
"One of the most notorious of these bushwhackers was a desperado, known as Jack Cato, who boasted that he had made at least eighty Union men bite the dust. Some forty rods down the hill, east of the old jail, was a piece of timber land, and at the point of the timber was a tree, a large limb or branch spreading over the plowed ground, on the upper side of which
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the bark was worn off, and Jack boasted that it was done by the rope, hang- ing Union men thereon. Three Union men were caught, and made to dig three graves under that tree. The first was hung and thrown into the first grave. The second one hung and put into the second grave. The third was hung up and then let down and ordered to go and report to the Yankees, and his grave left open. Just as the first ray of light could be seen in the east on a beautiful April morning, Jack was taken from jail, marched to that grave, where a rough coffin was placed, required to about-face and kneel upon the coffin, when the unerring bullet from the gun of one of the guards, selected for that purpose, sped to his heart. He fell upon his coffin, with a terrible oath on his lips, and soon filled a felon's grave. On the night before the execution of the wretched man, some of the boys were on guard at the jail, and when they informed him of his fate, he swore that he did not care; he had had his satisfaction in killing Union men, at least 80 Yankees had died from the shot of his rifle when they did not know he had the drop on them. Chaplain Wood called to see him, but was only met by defiant sneers and curses."
While Col. Scott was in command of the post at Ft. Pillow, another in- cident occurred which was illustrative of the service of the regiment and of the conditions under which the service was rendered, and of this incident an interesting souvenir has remained for nearly fifty years in the sheriff's office of this county, Capt. Geo. Child told the story in a letter to W. G. Allen, who was then postmaster at Nevada, the letter being written at Ft. Pillow, Tennessee, on March 18, 1863. At the time, Col. Scott had just returned to his command, after a temporary absence for the purpose of explaining to his superiors his evacuation of New Madrid. The explanation, as before noted, had been conclusive so far as he was concerned; although no ex- planation was ever quite satisfactory as to General Davis, in accordance with whose orders the evacuation had taken place. The souvenirs mentioned are some shackles of excellent but unusual design, which the sheriff of Story County has found occasion to use sometimes, when especially hard char- acters have come into his charge. They were acquired by Captain Child under circumstances related in his letter, and by him sent home and de- posited for safe keeping with the proper officer of Story County. Captain Child's letter is of permanent value and the bulk of it is inserted here :
"Captain Cadwallader and Lieut. Wheeler, Quartermaster McCall and Adjutant Aldrich with sixteen men have just returned from a little scout. On the evening of the 16th a man came into camp and went to the provost marshal and asked for a permit to take two black men out to Ripley, a little town some twenty-five miles from here, and try them for stealing. The permit was granted by the provost, the black men chained and taken out of our lines. Col. Scott, hearing of this, ordered the provost under arrest and sent Capt. Cadwallader to bring them back. Accordingly the captain started yesterday morning in pursuit, and after traveling twenty-five miles they came upon them, finding them at the same house where they captured the
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Rebel Cushman, who broke jail at Columbus, Kentucky, a short time ago. They found the two black men chained together and digging up a stump, with a man standing over them with a gun. This, understand, they were having to do after traveling on foot for twenty-five miles over bad roads with their arms tied behind them. And more than that, after coming up to the poor black men our men found a large lot of hickory and willow, as large at the butt as a broom-handle and eight feet long. James M. Applegate told me that he could not reach around the pile and lift it. They were just cut for the purpose to whip these men; and more than that, they had gotten paddles made with holes in them to beat and blister them, and then they say they wash them with salt and water. This is the Union as it was. God only knows how many of these poor creatures have lost their lives by this treat- ment. The captain was just in time to save these men from that cruel punishment. I think there are one or two Democrats spoiled by that trip. and if the boys had caught them whipping the negroes, they surely would have been hurt, if nothing more. Captain Cadwallader presented me with the shackles with which the two black men were chained, and I will send them by John McBarnes to the sheriff of Story County for the use of the county until called for. MeBarnes will start for home in a few days, and 1 hope some of my Democratic friends will call and see the shackles."
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