USA > Iowa > History of the Fifteenth Regiment, Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry, from October, 1861, to August, 1865, when disbanded at the end of the war > Part 21
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XI. The divisions now commanded, respectively, by Brigadier- Generals Quinby, Logan, and McArthur, are designated to re- enforce the expedition operating down the Mississippi river, Major- General J. B. McPherson to command the whole.
XII. Brigadier-General McArthur's division will at once em- bark on transports and proceed down the river to report to Major- General McClernand for orders until the arrival of Major-General McPherson with the remainder of his command.
XIV. Troops on this expedition will want immediately in their own hands all the ammunition required by previous orders. They will move with three day's cooked rations in haversacks and seven day's additional on hand .
ยท By order of
MAJOR-GENERAL U. S. GRANT. JNO. A. RAWLINS, Assistant Adjutant General .
January 18th the 15th and 16th Iowa were embarked on the steamer Minnehaha ( the same that carried the 15th Iowa from St. Louis to Pittsburg Landing in April, 1862), and the several regi- ments and batteries of the 6th division were embarked on fourteen
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other steamers, the Platte Valley being the flagship. On the 20th the 6th division had 6,115 men present and 16 pieces of artillery . On this day the fleet started toward Vicksburg, where several corps were already stationed on the Louisiana side of the river, now to try unitedly the solution of the great military problem which had just proved a failure to the winter expedition on land, and also at Chickesaw Bayou.
The fleet arrived on the 23d at Milliken's Bend, La., one and a half miles above the mouth of the Yazoo river, where about a hun- dred other steamers were landed along the Louisiana shore. The regiment, with the brigade, went into camp January 25th, near Dr. Parker's magnificent plantation, where trees and grass in the sur- rounding country evidenced the near approach of spring. The eye met nature's green in every direction, the breezes light and warm, the sky cloudless deep blue.
After landing at Duckport, the 15th marched to the estate of one , departed, but he had erected several Queen Ana- nias cottages, before going, and in them the companies were quar- tered. Across Louisiana avenue the line officers had pitched their tents, that is, those of 'em had who were without assistants to do so. Naturally the 15th sent out pickets, among them a jolly gang who devised marvelous tales to interest the natives, and cause them to obey said gang with marked celerity. So as the caravans from the interior, laden with the fat of the land and the sweets thereof, arrived at the lines, they were halted just inside the border, and the natives informed that the Gineral was sick, or had gone to New York, and they could not go to the landing until he returned or recovered, but 'smother day they could. Then while a part of the gang received the duties imposed by the United States on im- ports, others would assess and collect tithes for the state, the rail- roads, the alimentary kanawl, the school-marms, home and foreign missions, and " else things." In this way the larder and fire-place of one of the above cottages was insured against famine, by these
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Bold Bandits of the Prairies, who would eat, drink and be merry, for on the morrow man born of woman, and enlisted in the 15th Hawkeyes, might be of few days and short of rations.
Especially was this the case in the palatial castle, garrisoned by C and H Companies; and from the wing held by the latter, after the evening meal, (when flour had gin out), would arise sounds of revelry by night, and the melodious notes of the Arkansas traveler, mingled with orders to swing that lady, first couple forward and by the right flank back, then all hearers knew a stag-dance was a whooping, and one so exclusive, that to prevent any intrusion by those not invited officially, all portholes and openings were closed securely beforehand. Then on went the dance, long after Prof. Metz's metropolitan band had delivered their evening concert, and as the Colonel retired for the night, he gave unto the officer of the day and night, full control of the Parish. Still the dances continued until ladies and gents were nearly exhausted, when they would ad- journ. This was all right until Captain Job Throckmorton was officer of the day, and he felt called on to suppress the ball; where- upon, after taps had sounded, Job rapped on the outer door of the castle and a lady said: " Gway from dar white man," and to other rappings, spirits informed him they were in Executive Session and could admit no one, so the party on the outside retired and held a council of war with himself, and decided on strategy, me boy! Going to Captain Edwards' shebang across the Avenue, he worried Orderly Crawford out of the sleep of the just, and together they advanced on the citadel, and Throcky sounded a parley, but the house declined a joint session. "Whose voice was that," asked Throcky, in a low voice of Crawford, who replied: "Alf B-s," and B was entered on Throcky's book of fate. "And who spoke then," he said. The Sergeant answered, "Steve F -- n," and he was duly entered; and before long the O. D. had enrolled Bill W-s, Ben M -- 1, Jim Mc -- e, Ceph H -- s, Bill A-y, Jake E-y, John F-s, Pike G-t, Dixie H-n, and P. Murphy, Esq. Then the
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party on the outside, thinking he had all, retired in good order, while the party inside sang: "Oh! the pertaters they grow small; a-n-d they plant 'em in the fall; a-n-d they eat 'em tops and all, in Saint Joe." Then they whooped up Liza Jane, and ho'ed it way into the small hours, and retired to their downy couches (down on the floor.
Next morning the above dozen received pressing invitations to attend the opening of the Bastile at the west end, which they eag- erly accepted, remaining there as guests for several days. Mean- while the United States Court, for the Northern District of Louisi- ana, opened in due form, and to the cries of ye sheriff (thinking he was in distress ), they chipped in $13 a head, the equivalent of their late ball tickets. So thoroughly did this squad enjoy army life that every one veteraned, and 6 were wounded and 5 captured, 11 of the 12, in less than a month, at Atlanta.
While troops of McClernand's corps were engaged in cutting and widening the canal across the neck of the Mississippi, opposite the rebel stronghold at Vicksburg, a strong detail of 180 men were mounted on mules and the expedition sent January 30th, under Lieutenant-Colonel Belknap, of the 15th Iowa, to reconnoitre in the direction of Richmond, twenty-five miles west of Vicksburg, where large numbers of cattle, horses and mules had been hid in the neighboring timber. The expedition met the enemy around Richmond, had a fight of one hour, in which one man was killed and several wounded, but could not accomplish the capture of the animals on account of the instructions being to return next day . Another similar expedition started out on February 1st, to which Captain C. Cadle, Jr., A. D. C. was attached, who was wounded by a minie ball marking his ear.
General Orders No. 210, War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, dated December 18th, 1862, having placed Major-General James B. McPherson in command of the 17th Army Corps, the 6th Division of General John McArthur, and 7th Division of Gen-
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eral J. F. Quinby, both heretofore under General Hamilton, were assigned to constitute part of the said 17th Army Corps, by Gen- eral Orders No. 6, from Headquarters Department and Army of the Tennessee, dated Memphis, January 20th, 1863.
February 8th, the 2d and 3d Brigades of MeArthur's division were ordered to embark at once. The 15th and 16th Iowa marched on board the steamer Maria Denning, and February 9th the fleet started with these two brigades and arrived at Providence, La., about seventy miles north of Vicksburg, on the 10th. Both brig- ades disembarked, and found the first brigade of the division in camp there. The 3d brigade went into camp on the north side of Lake Providence, one and three-quarter miles west of the town, on the plantation of General Sparrow, known to have been a member of the rebel senate at Richmond, Va. February 23d General Lo- gan's division, also part of the 17th Army Corps, arrived from Memphis, and went into camp south of the aforementioned lake. *
By the arrival of General J. B. McPherson, commanding 17th corps, at Providence, February 26th, the work of connecting the Mississippi river with the lake, by cutting the canal wide enough to admit the largest boats to the lake, and from there to the Bayous Macon and Tensas, was taken up and was progressing vigorously towards completion. The regiment, in common with other troops of the corps, gave heavy details alternately to this very hard work, the rain being incessant for weeks, converting the ground they were working into sinking mud, and resulting in the increase of the number of the sick day by day .
During the first days of March, all troops belonging to the 17th corps were ordered to be ready for inspection by the Inspector Gen- eral of the corps.
The 15th Iowa passed through a rigid and minute inspection on the 5th of March. This was the first thorough inspection ever
*No. of guns iu Regimeni, February 25th, 401; No. of cartridges, 30,870; average, 72 rounds per man.
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made according to the prescribed requirements of the Army Reg- ulations since the regiment entered the service. After the inspec- tion of the general appearance of the men, the arms and equip- ments, and the contents of knapsacks of the men were inspected singly, and one by one, and before any company was dismissed from the parade ground, the commander thereof had to answer how many he had present, absent, sick present, sick absent, aggregate, etc., and was ordered to take his company through the manual of arms, then to start by wheeling out, and to march his men in com- pany front, by the right flank, again by company or by platoon into line, etc. Next came the inspection of the regimental and com- pany records and books, then the camp and tents of the men, the records of the medical and quartermaster departments, the interior of the hospital and quartermaster tents. The regimental books and records attracted the notice and unqualified approbation of the Division Commander, as well as of the Inspector General, by their general plan, interior arrangement, and the completeness of the military history of each member of the command, in every particu- lar item agreeing with the entries of the field and monthly returns from the organization of the regiment to the day of inspection. The Inspector General, lately from the Eastern Army, pronounced the records of the regiment to be the most complete he had seen.
March 10th Lieutenant-Colonel Wm. W. Belknap was detached from the regiment to serve on the staff of General James B. Mc- Pherson as Provost Marshal of the 17th Corps.
At night, on the 16th of March, the minute guns fired at the levee announced the cutting of the dam of the Mississippi. The waters of the river, fifteen feet higher than the surface of the lake, were rushing into the same with such vehemence and noise as to make one remember the falls of Niagara. Soon the wide spread- ing and rapidly increasing inundation overflowed large tracts of land, and especially the country north of the lake, which compelled the regiments of the 3d brigade, March 16th, to move their camp
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four miles north of Providence, which, however, being in a low cotton field, was abandoned, March 26th, and the brigade brought on board the latan to five miles south of the town, encamping on the Bass plantation. April 2d, Captain John M. Hedrick, K Com- pany, acting Major, (since Cunningham's resignation at Memphis, January 20th), received commission as Major of the regiment .
HE DID NOT PASS.
When the headquarters of General James B. McPherson, com- manding the 17th Army Corps, were at Lake Providence, the undersigned was a private in the 15th Iowa infantry of Crocker's Iowa Brigade and McPherson's corps, but was on detached ser- vice as chief clerk to General Wm. W. Belknap, who was then Lieutenant Colonel and Provost Marshal on the staff of General McPherson. All persons who passed outside of our lines were compelled to procure passes from Colonel Belknap before they could pass our pickets. There was a large quantity of cotton in the vicinity of Lake Providence and quite a number of patriotic (?) men from the north, who loved cotton more than they did their country, were following the army stealing cotton, which they shipped north and sold at enormous prices. One evening, while sitting with Colonel Belknap in his tent, a Jew approached and was admitted, when the following conversation and incident took place :
" Ish Brovost Marshal Pelknap in?" "He is, sir; I am that ofhi- cer," said Belknap. " Vell, Colonel, I vould like a bass to go outside your lines ." " What for? " said the Colonel." " I vant to get some gotton vot vas outside." " Do you own the cotton?" " No, I don't own it, but off I don't get it tem rebels vill burn it up." " I do not give passes for such purposes, nor to men who are too cowardly to shoulder a musket at such a time as this!" said Belknap firmly. The Jew took from his pocket a large roll of greenbacks, and extending the hand that held them toward Bel-
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knap, said: " Colonel, der ish ten tousand tollars vot I vill gif you off you vill gif me a bass for sixty tays." Belknap caught the man by the throat, turned him around with his face toward the opening of the tent and giving him four or five kicks, said: " You d-d thief, get out of here. There is a steamer at the landing, that will start in a few hours, and if I find or hear of you being in this department after that boat has left here I will have you shot." The Jew made a bee line for the steamer and was never again seen in that portion of the army . This was not the only time that Belknap was tempted while I was his clerk, and notwith- standing all reports to the contrary, we have always believed him to be an honest man, and would not believe otherwise if an angel from Heaven were to come down and tell us so. Since the war we have conversed with a large number of soldiers who served under Belknap and we have to find a single one who does not re- gard him as one of the bravest men who donned the blue, and one of God's noblemen, an honest man.
WM. A. GEBHARDT, A Company.
WE RUN A STEAMBOAT ON DRY LAND.
The last week in February, with others of the 15th, I was de- tailed to transfer the steam tug, J. A. Rawlins, from the Mississippi to the lake, by order of General J. B. McPherson, commanding the 17th Corps. With ropes and tackle we got her over the levee and dragged her by inches along Main street in Providence to the west end of that street, then south across where other details were digging on the canal, then west to southeast corner of lake, a good mile and a half from the river, and launched her into the classic lake. The time occupied in this feat was about ten days. The ostensible purpose of placing the boat on the lake was to find a passage down through Bayou Black into Bayou Macon; but it was also thought that our Generals and their gay and festive staffs had no serious objections to enjoy boat rides on the beautiful lake. For
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many a time staff officers came to us, with an order from the General commanding or the Provost Marshal to run the boat out to the west end of the lake. The objective point being Widow Black- burn's wine cellar, (although the orders did not so state.) These trips being made at night (it is supposed the staff were too busily engaged day time to permit of their absence,) and never reaching the landing on our return before 1 or 2 o'clock A. M.) I have made these trips three and four nights in succession. But the boat was frequently utilized in army movements. The engineer of the boat was a civilian, and had been pressed in with the boat, and was anxious to get away, and he detailed me as engineer. When I first saw the cut in levee it was four feet wide, and the fall into first basin (south of the town ) about eleven feet, then about four feet fall from this basin ( through canal ) into the lake. Next morning the shute was 200 feet wide, and supposed to be twenty feet deep, and looked as if one-half of the Mississippi . was coming through it.
J. THATCHER, E Company.
THRILLING EXPERIENCE OF THE GENERALS WHO WERE NEARLY SHIPWRECKED.
About the 25th of March, General McPherson ordered the tug J. A. Rawlins to run up the canal, out of Lake Providence and into the basin in front of his headquarters; the fall at this time was some three feet and the distance only about 100 yards; we had to burn some commissary bacon to get sufficient steam to accomplish the feat. After reaching the landing Generals McPherson, Logan, McArthur and other officers came on board, and we were ordered to run out to the west end of the lake some eight miles. This tug was a canal boat with an engine in the stern and a cabin towards the bow, and not decked over between. The water was deep enough on either side of the canal to run the boat, but there were trees and bushes in the way; the current was running at a
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fearful rate; our bow lay towards the river, and as we swung out the current caught us and carried us clear across the canal before we could turn the tug down stream. The pilot rang for full steam and I pulled the throttle wide open, and looking forward saw the pilot was trying to get her back into the canal, with a big tree in front of us and about the boat's length ahead. The bow came just inside of the tree knocking the bark off, but the stern concluded to go the other side of the tree, the bow gaining ten feet, when the stern swinging . crosswise of the current struck a tree, and General McArthur and others showed their agility in a way far more sudden than graceful, coming down from the roof of the engine-room into the hold in a confused mass; while the undersigned lost his grip on the throttle and tried to " grab a root," but had to jump and shut off that institution. Generals McPherson and Logan were "hors de combat" on the hurricane deck. The tug careened up stream and the water was just coming over the gunwale when the tree at the stern gave way or she would have sunk and broken in two. She then swung around and was hard aground. We got out a life line to the southern shore and run the Generals to land in the yawl. Nobody being severely hurt, they enjoyed the adventure greatly and cracked their jokes over each others alarming situations, etc., very freely. They went to their headquarters telling us to get the tug into the lake and they would come aboard and have their pleasure trip continued. A few nights later General McPherson, and a party with a band came on board, and we ran to the landing at Widow Blackburn's. Orders were left to be ready to start at a moment's notice, they saying, " They were going to make a call at that house." The band played on the porch until after midnight, and having a full head of steam and plenty of water in boiler, I concluded to blow off some mud at the mud valve. Going to turn it back, the wrench broke and the boiler ran empty before I could stop it. Pulling out the fire I set two men at work filling the boiler, when just at this critical
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moment the party arrived at the boat to return. Imagine my con- sternation when the pilot (who was also captain of the tug) com- menced cursing me; when General McPherson grabbed him by the back of the neck and said: " Hold on, captain, or I will order you under arrest at once, I presume the engineer was doing what he thought was his duty . " Then he said: " We will go back and have some more fun;" then, " Engineer, when you get steam whistle for us." Back they went, and when I had steam I
whistled, but it was 2 o'clock in the morning before they returned. I mention this incident to show the genial good nature of General McPherson, and how jealously he guarded his soldiers against any impositions. This captain of the tug was a civilian.
J. THATCHER, E Company.
THE IOWA BRIGADE, SEVENTEENTH CORPS.
REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL.
Headquarters Seventeenth Army Corps. Lake Providence, La., March 10, 1863. 5
COLONEL M. M. CROCKER, Commanding Third Brigade, Sixth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps:
I have the honor to herewith inclose to you an extract from my inspection report of the 6th division so far as it relates to your command :
Iowa may well be proud of the 3d brigade, of the 6th division, Col. M. M. Crocker, commanding. It is composed of the fol- lowing troops, viz: 11th Iowa Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel Aber- crombie, commanding; 13th Iowa Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel John Shane, commanding; 15th Iowa Infantry, Colonel H. T. Reid, commanding; and the 16th Iowa Infantry, Colonel Alex. Chambers, commanding. It turned out for inspection 1,935, rank and file. It was a sight to see, and a sight seldom seen. I have no desire, nor is it proper to pronounce a eulogy upon the 3d bri-
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gade, but it would not be doing the 3d brigade and its gallant com- mender justice did I fail in giving them credit and praise which is justly and honestly due them; did I fail in expressing, so far as I am capable, my satisfaction and my admiration at the manner in which the brigade acquitted itself throughout the entire inspection.
Since I have been a soldier it has so happened that I have seen many brigades of many different army corps, both in eastern and western armies, but never have I seen a brigade that could com- pete with this Iowa brigade.
I am not prejudiced in the slightest degree. I never saw any of the officers or soldiers of the command until the day when I saw them in line of battle, prepared for inspection.
It made my heart swell with honest pride, and I envied the Colonel commanding the brigade, and the commanding officers of these four Iowa regiments, when I stood on the right of their lines, one after another, and saw them drill and go through their different evolutions in the manual of arms; every rifle flashed in the sunlight and moved as one; when they ordered arms it was " ordered arms," and nothing else; one sound and no more; when they charged bayonets in line of battle the point of every bayonet was at the height of the eye, and the small of the stock rested against the hip at exactly the same instant; when they broke into column of companies, wheeling upon fixed pivots, it was like clock-work-perfect.
In every regiment will be seen many large men, but take this brigade together and I never saw such a splendid body of men. I passed down the ranks in front and rear; I saw every man in the brigade, and I can fully say that I saw no small men, no " pony squad." The 4th section of every company was just as large as the Ist; the guns, ammunition, accoutrements and equipments were in most excellent condition; nothing was needed, everything was complete.
19
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I cannot say that any one regiment of the brigade appeared bet- ter than another; they all appeared so well. The 11th was the strongest; it had 528 enlisted men and 20 officers present for duty. The 13th had 470 enlisted men and 22 commissioned officers; the 15th had 428 enlisted men and 29 commissioned officers; the 16th had 405 enlisted men and 33 commissioned officers. In the entire brigade there was not to exceed a dozen men unable to be present on inspection. In the different hospital tents of the brigade I counted eleven men, and not one of them was confined to his cot, but appeared to be having a holiday; in short, were convalescent. In this connection there is one thing I wish to mention, and that is, the intelligence and ability of the line officers of the 3d brigade. Every one of them was fully posted, knew all about his company, the number of men present for duty, the number absent and where they were, the number sick and those on detached service. I speak of this for the reason that many of the commanding officers of companies whom I have heretofore met on inspection, are not in the slightest degree acquainted with their companies, know nothing about their commands, and cannot account for their men without referring to the Orderly Sergeants. Of the company, the hospit- als, the commissary and quartermaster departments, the company and regimental books, the transportation, also, it is useless for me to say anything. Look at the Army Regulations and see what instructions are laid down, and what is required of troops in the field, and then you will exactly know how I found the 3d Brigade of the 6th Division of the 17th Army Corps.
Once more I say that the 3d brigade, commanded by Colonel M. M . Crocker, are an honor to the division and corps to which they are attached, and an honor to the Army of the Tennessee, an honor to their friends at home, to their state and to their country, and I know from their record in the field that they must be a terror to the foe. I am, Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
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