USA > Iowa > Tama County > History of Tama County, Iowa, together with sketches of their towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history, portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens > Part 62
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On the 14th of February General Wash- burne left Ilelena with a considerable army for the purpose of removing obstruc- tions from the Yazoo Pass, prepartory to the movement soon afterwards made by this meandering route upon Fort Pember- ton. Great trees had been felled into and across the Pass. These were removed by the troops dragging them from the Pass with cables. By incredible labor a nav- igable channel was secured. In this hard work the Twenty-eighth participated, the men making of themselves amphibious an- imals for a week. Soon after their return to camp, Colonel Miller resigned, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Connell. Captain B. W. Wilson was soon commis- sioned Lieutenant-Colonel.
On the 11th of April, the Twenty-eighth, forming, with the Twenty-fourth Iowa, Forty-seventh Indiana, Fifty-sixth Ohio, and two batteries of artillery, the Second Brigade, Colonel Slack, Forty-seventh Indiana, commanding, of the Twelfth Division, Thirteenth Army Corps, started on the campaign which in a little less than three months resulted in the capitulation of Vieksburg. In this laborious and glori-
ous campaign our regiment participated, cheerfully performing its share of the labors, and acquiring its share of the honors, in a brigade, and division, and corps, which lagged behind none either in hard work or hard fighting. The command was first under fire at the battle of Port Gibson, May 1. Colonel Connell, in his official report, says, "With regard to the conduct of the officers and men during the action, I can truly speak in terms of high- est commendation. Although they had marched all the day and night previous to the engagement, carrying three days' rations and one hundred rounds of cartridge to the man, and never been under fire be- fore, they fought with that fearless spirit and determination which has always ehar- acterized the American soldier." The loss of the regiment was one killed and sixteen wounded. From this time till the battle of Champion Hills, on the 16th, the Thir- teenth Corps was constantly marching, manœuvering, or skirmishing with the enemy, deceiving him, holding him in cheek, and in every possible way rendering aid to Sherman and MePherson moving on Jackson, in all which movements the Twenty-eighth, of course, joined. In the battle which took place on the 16th, for some hours with varying success, but at last resulting in a signal victory, the officers and men of the regiment fought like vet- erans. Hovey says, "Of the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-eighth Iowa, in what language shall I speak! Scareely more than six months in the service, and yet no troops ever showed more bravery, or fought with more valor. Of them and their command- ers, the State of Iowa may well be proud." The truth may pardon the tautology. It is
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certain that in this fierce contest, all the Union troops fought with courage and tenacity, and that the troops of Iowa were among those most highly distinguished. The Twenty-eighth here lost one hundred, in killed, wounded, and missing-twenty- two killed, sixty-five wounded, and thirteen missing. Four companies came out of the fight without a commissioned officer. The regiment remained at Edwards' Station till the 20th, when it moved to the Big Black river, remaining there in guard of the bridge until the 24th, when it marched for Vicksburg. On the 25th it took posi- tion near the centre of the left wing of the investing army, where it remained, in the performance of the heavy duties of the siege till the capitulation. Here several were killed, and many wounded. Much sickness prevailed, and a number died.
On the very day of the capitulation the regiment received orders to march with three days' rations. On the morning of July 5th, it moved toward Jackson, march- ing that day to the Big Black river. Death, wounds and sickness had so reduced the command that only two hundred and fifty men were able to join in the march. Major Lynch had resigned on account of ill health, and had been succeeded by Cap- tain John Meyer, a gallant and intelligent officer. Reduced in numbers, but not damaged in spirit, the command marched on Jackson, skirmishing once or twice with the enemy, till it reached its position in front of the works defending the capital. The army remained here laying irregular siege to Jackson, till the rebels evacuated the city, and our troops took possession of their works. On the morning of the 25th, our regiment took up its line of march for
Vicksburg, and by a rapid, severe move- ment in broiling hot weather reached that place on the evening of the 27th.
The regiment was soon afterward trans- ferred to the Department of the Gulf. It remained in Vicksburg two or three days, and then moved by steamer to Natchez. Ilere and near by it remained a few days, and again embarking, passed down to Carrollton, a place a short distance from New Orleans. Ilere it went into camp in a pleasant location, and remained nearly a month, the men gained health and strength, and much needed clothing. . The 13th of September, the Twenty- eighth joined a considerable force under General Franklin, and moved into Western Louisiana, on an expedition which lasted until near the close of the year. After sundry halts the army encamped near Opelousas, and without having accom- plished any beneficial results. visible to the naked eye, began a retrogade move- ment about the Ist of November. The countermarch had scarcely begun, when the enemy commenced to harass our lines, so that there was considerable skirmish- ing. The Unionists turned on their pur- suers onee or twice, making considerable marches westward, but the whole expedi- tion may be dismissed with the remark that it was of no value to our arms. Colonel Connell's regiment, returning to New Orleans under orders to embark for Texas, arrived at Algiers on the evening of Christmas day.
Awaiting transportation, the troops of the Twenty-eighth had a fine opportunity to make themselves miserable in the mud. Transportation not being forthcoming, the order for their movement to Texas was
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countermanded about the middle of Janu- ary, 1864. They moved across Lake Pont- chartrain, and went into encampment not far from its northern shore at Madison- ville. Here several weeks of pleasant weather, in bright contrast to that which they had encountered in the Bayou Teche country, were heartily enjoyed, whilst the labors on fortifications rather gave whole- some exercise than disliked drudgery to the troops. The command remained at Madisonville till the latter part of Feb- ruary, during which period it was con- siderably strengthened by recruits and a number of men returning to duty from the hospital. "We began to feel," says Chaplain Simmons, "that we were a regi- ment again."
Colonel Connell arrived in New Or- leans with his command on the 1st of March, and, crossing the Mississippi, went into encampment at Algiers. A few days thereafter he moved by train to Brashier, and crossing the bay of that name, en- camped on its western shore, to await the arrival of the other troops who were to march by the same route on the Red River expedition. The regiment now numbered five hundred and fifty men on duty, was in the finest spirits, and under the best discipline. Anticipating a suc- eessful campaign, the troops cheerfully left their eneampments on the 12th, and marched up Bayou Teche. Passing through a beautiful country, by Franklin, Opelou- sas and Washington, the column reached Alexandria on the Red River, where it was joined by General A. J. Smith, with detachments of the Sixteenth and Seven- teenth Corps, and Admirable David D. Porter, with a considerable fleet. .
The difficulties of navigation delayed the fleet, caused a halt of the forces under General Banks at Alexandria. Nor is it any more than simple justice to General Banks to state that much of the disaster of the campaign was attributable to Ad- miral Porter, who, nevertheless, was con- stantly fulminating reports - the most magnificent lies of which history hath any record-but had to depend, after all, for the safety of his fleet, upon the energy and genius of a backwoodsman. Certain drunken generals did the rest of the busi- ness of bringing the expedition to its sad results. But this is to anticipate. The latter part of March the army left Alex- andria. The Division to which the Twenty- eighth was attached marched to Natchi- toches, a distance of eighty-five miles, in less than four days. Here Quartermaster Thomas Hughes, an old printer, began the publication of a "live" daily journal from an office confiscated by our troops. It was continued several days with great sueeess.
When General Banks' advance was attacked by the enemy in the vicinity of Mansfield, our regiment was many miles in the rear. It pressed on with other troops of the Thirteenth Corps to the front, and took part in the battle of Sabine Cross Roads, losing in that engagement about eighty officers and men, killed, wounded and missing. Colonel Connell was himself severely wounded, and cap- tured by the enemy, and, Lieutenant- Colonel Wilson and Major Meyer being absent on recruiting service, the command of the regiment devolved upon Captain Thomas Dillin. It was in this action also that Quartermaster Hughes was captured.
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Adjutant J. G. Strong, Lieutenants H. Weaver and O. F. Dorrence were among the wounded. The battle was a repulse, turned into defeat by poor generalship on the Union side. The troops fell back toward Pleasant Hill, leaving their dead and many of their wounded in the hands of theenemy. A retreat of a few miles brought them to the Nineteenth Corps, which checked the rebels, and, with the help of the troops retreating, ought to have gained a decisive victory.
General A. J. Smith re-enforcing Banks with a part of his command, the Battle of Pleasant Hill was fought the next day, wherein the brigade of Colonel Shaw, Fourteenth Iowa, and that of Colonel Hill of the Thirty-fifth were conspicuous, the non-veterans of the Twelfth, the Four- teenth, the Twenty-seventh, the Thirty- second, and the Thirty-fifth regiments from our State suffering much more heavily than any other equal number of troops engaged. But in this bloody battle, made a victory by the valor of the troops, in spite of inebriated and incompetent generals, neither the Twenty-fourth nor the Twenty-eighth Iowa took part. They were marching toward Grand Ecore in guard of trains, General Banks having really put his army in retreat, as though he had accepted Sabine Cross Roads as an irretreivable disaster. Our dead and wounded were, therefore, left upon a field which they and their comrades had fairly won, and from which the enemy retreated in disorder to and be- yond the field of Mansfield. The victorious Unionists, in sullen obedience to orders, retreated to Grand Ecore.
Ilere the army halted and fortified,
awaiting the fleet which was in trouble above. Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson now rejoined his regiment, bringing a number of recruits. We need not dwell upon the details of the regiment's further connec- tion with this expedition. Marching by Alexandria, where the army again halted to get Porter out of difficulties by himself insurmountable-he, of course, being en- gaged in the long-hand reporting busi- ness-and by Marksville, it reached Mor- ganza.on the 22d of May, after a retreat of many hardships and exposures, in the face of a barasing enemy. Through all the campaign the regiment maintained its discipline and its unconquerable spirit. It passed from the command of Banks to that of Canby, reduced indeed in strength by the losses it had sustained by the recent expedition, but animated by the same manly courage which had carried it proud- ly through the victories of Thompson's and of Champion's IIills. The greatest praise of the western troops who made the Red River campaign is, that under other generals, on no more equal fields, they always fought well, and were always vic- torions.
The Twenty-eighth made a march to the Atchtafalaya, in search of the enemy, and after four days returned to Morganza, whence it embarked for Carrollton, arriv- ing about the middle of June. Colonel Connell soon rejoined the regiment, and was greeted by his command with the most enthusiastic welcome. There were many wet eyes among his hardy troops, as he stepped from the cars, an armless sleeve hanging by his side. The command moved to Kennerville, but was soon ordered west- ward with forces moving thither against
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Diek Taylor, as was stated. The regiment went by cars to Thibodeaux, and encamped. llere the troops had an old-fashioned cele- bration of the 4th of July. Without having seen the enemy they returned to Algiers two days afterwards.
The 22d of July, the Twenty-eighth em- barked on the good ship "Arago," and after a discouraging delay caused by the vessel running aground, bade farewell to Louisiana on the 23d, and on the 2d of August, landed at Alexandria, Virginia, after a voyage of great hard- ship on account of the extremely hot weather and the crowded condition of the ship. Moving by ferry to Wash- ington, the regiment halted one night not far from the National Capitol, and next day, marching by Georgetown, went into beautiful encampment near the village of Tennallytown. The Twenty- eighth had been preceded in its arrival at Washington by the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-second, these three regiments being all the lowa troops which ever passed through the national metropolis till Gen- eral Sherman's troops passed through in review after the military power of the rebellion had been crushed. It is but to mote from the journals of the city, to say that the Iowa regiments which marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in the summer of 1864, attracted marked attention and received the unmixed admiration of the immense crowds of citizens who saw their manly appearance and soldierly bearing.
The regiment remained near Tenally- town about a fortnight, when it joined in the march of those troops who went thenee to join the army under General Sheridan, about to commence the brilliant offensive
campaign of the Shenandoah Valley. Not dwelling upon the movements which pre- ceded the battle of Winehester, or Opequan as it is officially known, it will suffice here to state that in this engagement the Twenty- eighth fought in the thickest of the con- fliet, and lost nearly ninety of its officers and men, killed and wounded. Captain John D. Palmer was slain on the field, Captain Seott Houseworth mortally wound- ed. Adjutant J. G. Strong was twice wounded, but did not leave the field. Captains J. B. Wilson and J. W. Carr, and Lieutenants Charles E. Haverly, D. S. Dean, J. C. Summers and M. O'Hair were more or less severely wounded. "Too much eannot be said," says Lieutenant- Colonel Wilson, " in praise of officers and men. Not an officer flinched, not a man gave way."
The victory gained, the regiment joined in the pursuit immediately after the battle, and slept that night in bivonae beyond Winchester. It was a cold night, but thinking of their comrades lying stark and stiff on the field of battle, the men thought not of their own discomforts. General Sheridan pressed on after the retreating foe, and on the 22d gained the victory of Fisher's Hill. In this battle the Twenty- eighth was again prominently engaged, and captured six of the enemy's guns in battery, a large quantity of ammunition and many prisoners, but lost only four men wounded.
After this battle there was comparative quiet in the Shenandoah Valley till just a month had elapsed after the battle of Winchester. There were, indeed, recon- noissances, and on the 9th of October General Custer, with his cavalry division,
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gained a fine victory by one of his dashing exploits, in which he drove a superior force of troopers many miles up the valley and captured all his artillery and many prisoners ; but both armies rested, and the rebels brought up re-inforcements, for the period mentioned. The Union army was posted in a strong position, strength- ened by works along the hills of Cedar Creek, which empties into the north branch of the Shenandoah, about two miles below Strasburg. Cavalry guarded the north branch down to its mouth, opposite Front Royal. The line extended in a northerly course from left to right, Crook's Eighth Corps on the left, Emory's Nineteenth in the centre, and Wright's Sixth on the right, the whole being some five miles in length. Custer and Merritt, commanding cavalry divisions, were in reserve at the time of the battle we are about to describe, nearly in the rear of the right. Powell's cavalry was extended in picket from Crook's left down to Front Royal. Our line, then across the entire valley, ran thus :- Custer, Merritt, Wright, Emory, Crook, Powell, General Sheridan being absent on important business at Washington. Wright was in command of the army, Ricketts, of the Sixth Corps. The 17th of October, Custer, on the right, had a severe skirmish, and repulsed the enemy. The next day a reconnoissance was made from the left toward Strasburg and Fisher's Hill, but no signs of the enemy's approach were discovered. Dispatches were captured, however, which made it certain that Early had been re-in- forced for the express purpose of "smashing up Sheridan."
thousand men, consisting chiefly of the divisions of Kershaw, Ramseur, Gordon, Pegram and Wharton, which had been arranged unperceived behind Fisher's Hill, moved forward to attack, about midnight of Tuesday the 18th. In the foggy, chilly morning, Kershaw marched past Crook's left, and took position directly in his rear. Meanwhile the rest of Early's command had marched to Cedar Creek with equal silence and celerity, and like the flanking column, without alarming onr pickets or officers of the day. His positions being gained close upon our picket lines, the enemy rushed to the attack just before day-break. Advancing in columns of regiments, he fairly trampled down Crook's pickets and dashed into his intrenchments, capturing many prison- ers and a number of guns before the Unionists had returned a shot. Crook's whole corps was soon routed, the left flank of the army turned, and Powell's cavalry cut off. The Nineteenth Corps was not so completely surprised, but its left gave way before the impetuous attack, and it was scarcely broad daylight before the enemy occupied the intrenchments, both of the Eighth and Nineteenth Corps, and had compelled our whole army to retreat; for the Sixth Corps, fighting at right angles with its original line, was essentially covering the retreat of the other forces. The rebels, with their own artillery, with twenty-four of our own guns turned on us, and with terrible musketry fire, contin- ued to inflict fearful casualty upon our forces. The Sixth Corps checked the impet- nous rush of the enemy, but did not stop his advance. Ricketts' services were most
Early, with a force of about twenty-five | gallant and valuable, and by covering the
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retreat as he did he enabled the officers to rally the troops, who had become disor- dered early in the day. Nevertheless, the exultant enemy continued to press on, with the seeming inflexible determination of carrying out his original object to the letter by actually smashing up Sheridan. It was not long after nine o'clock when the enemy gained Middletown, having driven our army five miles from its intrenchments on Cedar Creek.
Shortly afterwards the tide of battle turned. Wright had not despaired of the day, but the arrival of Sheridan, who had come from Winchester as fast as horse could carry him, dispelled the gloom which was settling upon the army. He rode on his foaming charger along the ranks, and was received everywhere with cheers. Ile said his troops must sleep that night in their tents on Cedar Creek. The army became hopeful, then enthusiastic. The very vigor of the enemy's attack and pursuit had fatigued him, and there was a lull in the battle. The Union army, meantime, was disposed near Newtown, the Sixth Corps in the centre, Emory on the right, Crook on the left.
About one o'clock the enemy again attacked with renewed vigor. But, after a long and desperate struggle, he was repulsed. Sheridan then charged in turn. A tremendous fire of artillery and musketry greeted our troops. Their lines were broken, and they fell back in momentary disorder. They were quickly re-formed, and the whole army again pressed forward in a splendid charge, resistless as the rising tide. Despite stout resistance, Middletown was carried and the enemy driven in retreat before our victorious
legions. He left guns, clothing, haversacks, and other debris of a routed army, behind him. Ile did not stop till he had gained the line of the Cedar Creek, and from this he was quickly driven through Strasburg to Fisher's Hill. Our twenty- four captured guns were retaken, and as many more of the enemy's fell into our hands. The cavalry vigorously pursued the enemy, and some of the infantry went to Strasburg, but the main army went into eamp at nightfall on Cedar Creek, the de- feat of the morning having been turned into a victory, decisive of the campaign. The rebels kept up their retreat through Woodstock to Mount Jackson, where they halted and intrenched themselves.
By this great victory immense materiel of war fell into our hands, but it is proba- ble the losses in slain and wounded were greater on the side of the Unionists than on that of the rebels. We lost about 1,300 prisoners, whilst the rebels lost about 1,500. Our killed and wounded numbered more than 5,000. But it was one of the most inspiriting victories of the war, and most justly placed General Philip Sheri- dan among the great captains of the age. It was the magnetic power of his personal influence which turned a great defeat into a great victory, and made Cedar Creek forever memorable as the Marengo of the Rebellion.
In this engagement there were two reg- iments besides the Twenty-eighth from Iowa, the Twenty-second, Colonel Harvey Graham, and the Twenty-fourth, Lieuten- ant-Colonel J. Q. Wilds. These were prominent in the action and lost many of- ficers and men hors-de-combat. Lieuten- ant-Colonel Wilds on this field received
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the wound from which he soon after- wards died. It is a melancholy fact, that not long after his death, his wife and children died of disease, so that his name can only live in the grateful recollection of his countrymen, who can never forget his long career of usefulness and gallant- ry. Major Ed. Wright was also wounded on this field, as were Captains A. R. Knott, E. H. Pound, A. M. Loomis, and Lieutenant C. H. Kurtz. The total loss of the Twenty-fourth was more than ninety, officers and enlisted men. The Twenty- second fought in the same Division with the Twenty-eighth, and with its accus- tomed gallantry. It lost during the battle between seventy and eighty officers and men, killed, wounded and missing. There were no officers slain, but Captain Alfred B. Cree, Captain George W. Clark, and Lientenant Nicholas C. Messenger were severely wounded. Captain Lafayette F. Mullins, Captain Charles Hartley, and Lieutenant Edward J. Dudley were wound- ed, and Lieutenant Robert W. Davis was captured by the enemy.
The Twenty-eighth, fighting in the Fourth Brigade of Grover's Division, was engaged early and late in this severe con- test. When the Eighth Corps gave way at the very commencement of the battle, Grover's Division, on the left of the Nine- teenth Corps, changed front to the left, and the reg ment went into action at once. By the failure of a Maine regiment to con- nect on its right it was left in an exposed position, but it held it manfully till driven back by overwhelming numbers. Right here the command lost nearly fifty men killed and wounded. Falling back about half a mile, the regiment was rallied, and
again offered a stout resistance to the ene- my. Here Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson was severely wounded and horne from the field, and Captain Reimenschneider slain. The command devolved upon Major John Meyer, who led the regiment through the rest of the battle with great skill and conrage, and who declares in his official report that no officers or soldiers ever fought better or more bravely than those of his command on the field of ('edar Creek. As they had been among the last. to retire, so they were among the first to press forward in the charge, and in the pursuit, when the tide of battle had been turned in favor of the Unionists. The loss of the regiment during the day's con- test was nearly one hundred, killed, wounded and prisoners.
The regiment joined in the pursuit of the enemy, returning to camp two days after the battle, to find its former snng quarters in a somewhat ruinous condition. The 27th it marched to Martinsburg in guard of a train ; returned to Cedar Creek; and again to Martinsburg early in Novem- ber. It moved still again to the front on the 10th, skirmishing with the enemy for several days. About the middle of the month, quiet being restored, the regiment went into winter quarters of its own con- struction, but remained in them only till the latter part of December, when it moved to Stephen's Depot, above Harper's Ferry, and in a terrible storm again built quarters on the supposition that the command was permanently located for the rest of the winter. The regiment was abont this time transferred to the brigade of Brevet Brigadier-General Mollineaux, to which the Twenty-second had for many months
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