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 40
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The officers and men of the 15th Iowa did their duty during the whole of the severe winter campaign, full and well, whatever position they were ordered to occupy, whatever work or duty was assigned to them, under all circumstances and emergencies, either while on the march or engaged with the enemy. In no instance was the regiment, or any part thereof, known to be either slow, tardy, or deficient in the execution of any order that was intrusted to it during the most arduous and most exhausting days of the campaign. On the contrary, it received on many occasions the uni- form approval and special commendations of the several superior headquarters for the promptness, energy and thoroughness with which the officers and men of the regiment always performed the duties and the work required of, or intrusted to them, and
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when brought under fire, officers and men, behaved with marked gallantry and efficiency, such as could not fail to attract attention and merit the uniform praise and commendation of the superior headquarters, witnessing as they did their brave and noble conduct on the field, especially at Garden's Corner, near Pocotaligo, at Big Salkahatchie, (in both of which the 15th Iowa alone, of the troops of the brigade and division, was under fire) and at Benton- ville. While this deservedly honors the men, it reflects great credit upon their officers, who, besides attending to their various im- portant duties connected with an active campaign, paid unremitting attention to the large number of new recruits of the command, and by constant instruction fitted them for all the practical purposes and requirements of military service and discipline.
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The new base of New Bern having been connected by railroad with Goldsboro, (now becoming the temporary outpost of the Grand Army, ) all hands were at once put to work to entirely refit, recuperate and recruit the several commands. Most of the men belonging to the 15th Iowa, who were in Tennessee or in the north during the fall campaign against Hood and against Savannah, and could not join their companies before, now arrived, and re- joined the regiment at Goldsboro .*
Lieutenant-Colonel J. M. Hedrick having been absent with leave on account of wounds received July 22d, 1864, and from Dec. 30th,
*The 13th Iowa, heretofore the smallest regiment of the 3d Brigade, about equal 10 4 com- panies of the 15th Iowa, received some 350 recruits, and 50 returning from hospitals, all of whom had been kept in Tennessee after the command left Atlanta for the sea. They now made the 13th once more look like a full regiment. Several hundreds arrived for the 11th and 16th Iowa and the 32d Illinois. The members thus received by the 5 regiments compos- ing the 3d Brigade, made an aggregate on the brigade returns of over 4,000 men, equal to a division formerly. Captain Ryder of the 32d Illinois received commission as Lieutenant- Colonel; Captain Smith of the 16th Iowa, commission as Major, and later by the muster out of Lieutenant-Colonel Add H Sanders as Lieutenant-Colonel. In the 11th Iowa, the regi ment not having the required mimimun number of aggregate, Captain Ben Beach received commission as Lieutenant-Colonel and was mustered in as such in December 1864, at King's Bridge before Savannah. In the 13th Iowa, Lieutenant-Colonel Wilson then on the staff of General Howard and Captain Kennedy in command of the regiment were commissioned as Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel respectively and mustered in as such at Beanfort, before entering upon the Carolina campaign in January. Major Marshall of the 13th, resigned after having arrived with the recruits for his regiment at Goldsboro.
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1864, detached on General Court Martial at Wheeling, W. Va., while at Washington on his way to join the regiment, was detailed as a member of the General Court Martial sitting at Washington, by special Order No. 137, War Department, Adjutant General's office, dated March 21st, 1865.t
Headquarters 3d Brigade, 4th Division, 17th A. C. Goldsboro, N. C., March 25, 1865. 5 1 Captain Ad. Ware, Jr., Assistant Adjutant General 4th Division, 17th Army Cops:
CAPTAIN :- I have the honor to make the following brief report relative to the movements of this brigade in the late cam- paign:
Leaving Savannah on the 6th of January, it moved from Poco- taligo on the 29th of the same month, entered Orangeburg on Feb- ruary 12th, and Columbia, the capital of the state of South Carolina, on the 18th of February. Camped near Cheraw, S. C., on March 3d; near Fayetteville, N. C., on March 11; and entered Goldsboro, N. C., March 24th; having been transported 60 miles and marched 4841/2 miles, corduroying the roads, rebuilding the bridges and traveling much of the distance through swamps which had to be waded by the men.
On February 7th, the 11th Iowa Infantry, Lieutenant Colonel Ben. Beach, marched from Midway to the bridge over the Edisto river, which was defended by the rebels, and compelled them to evacuate their position and destroy the bridge.
On February 17th, a detachment of the 13th Iowa Infantry, under command of Lieutenant Colonel Kennedy, accompanied by Lieutenants W. H. Goodrell and H. C. McArthur of the 15th Iowa, of my staff, crossed the Congaree river to Columbia, while a portion of the enemy were in the city, marched through town, and planted, in advance of all others, the colors of that regiment, on both the old and new capitol buildings. Colonel Kennedy and
+Distance marched, during March, was from the 3d to the 24th, 208 miles.
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his men deserve great credit for the successful accomplishment of this movement.
On March 20th, near Bentonville, N. C., the brigade went into position; and on the 21st a new line being established, the skirmish line was ordered to advance, which it did, driving the rebel skirmishers from their pits and actually charging a heavy line of battle of the enemy, only retiring when opposed by an over- whelming force. Our loss on the skirmish line was 25. Few fields show more traces of severe fighting than the ground occu- pied by this gallant line.
My thanks are especially due Lieutenant W. H. Goodrell, brigade picket officer, for the manner in which he handled his men on that day.
On the campaign the following amount of railroad has been de- stroyed: Feb. Sth, three and a half miles of S. C. R. R. between Midway and the Edisto river; Feb. 13th, two miles of Columbia branch S. C. R. R., near Orangeburg; Feb. 18th, one and one-half miles Charlotte R. R., between Columbia and Winsboro; Feb. 19th, one mile Charlotte R. R. ; Feb. 20, one mile same road; Feb. 22d, two miles same road; total eleven miles.
The duties of the campaign have been performed and the trials of the march endured cheerfully by both officers and men, for which they all have my thanks.
I am, Captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, WM. W. BELKNAP. Brig. Gen., Commanding 3d Brigade. Official-O. D. Kinsman, A. A. Gen'l.
GENERAL ORDERS, NO. 5.
Headquarters.3d Brigade, 4th Division, 17th A. C. Goldsboro, N. C., March 25, 1865. }
The brigade commander thanks the officers and men of this command for the zeal with which the labors of the late campaign
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have been performed, the fortitude with which the trials of the march have been endured, and the ready obedience which has been given to every order, however severe the duties required .
The officers and men on the skirmish line, on March 21st, near Bentonville, N. C., are, with few exceptions, deserving of especial mention. Driving the pickets of the enemy, they actually charged a heavy line of battle, retiring only when opposed by an over- whelming force; few fields show more traces of severe fighting than does the ground occupied by this gallant line.
On the march, and in the performance of other duties, which test the character of the soldier, the conduct of this brigade in this campaign, assures it the fame it has previously won.
By order of BRIG. GEN. WM. W. BELKNAP. O. D. KINSMAN, Asst. Adjt. Gen.
On the 8th of April, special orders No. 145, from War . Depart- ment A. G. O. dated March 25th, 1865, were received, mus- tering out Lieut. Col. J. M. Hedrick, to date March 21st, 1865, and mustering him into the service again as Colonel same regiment, to date March 22d, 1865. He was in possession of the commission as Colonel of the regiment, October 28th, 1864, while on leave wounded in Iowa, but could not be mustered in as such, how- ever, by reason of a War Department order, requiring all com- missioned officers, who receive promotions while absent from their regiments, invariably to be mustered in on their new com- mission by the Assistant Commissary of Musters of their own command in the field. By reason of the Colonel's absence and he being unable to be mustered in as Colonel, Major Pomutz (in command of the regiment since August 1st, 1864) could not be inustered in as Lieutenant Colonel, although holding a commission for the same, dated October 28th, 1864, received at Marietta before the Savannah campaign. April 9th, he was mustered in to take rank from March 23d, 1865, and on the sanie day Capt. J. S. Porter, of
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Co. D, was mustered in as Major, on appointment received January 1st, 1865, to take rank from March 24th, 1865.
Thus after more than 8 months, the regiment again had two field officers present with it, just on the very eve of the closing campaign of the war.
In General Sherman's report of that campaign he says: "I can- not even, with any degree of precision, recapitulate the vast amount of injury done the enemy, or the quantity of guns and materials of war captured and destroyed. In general terms, we have traversed the country from Savannah to Goldsboro, with an averaged breadth of forty miles, consuming all the forage, cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, cured meats, corn meal, &c. The public enemy, instead of draw- ing supplies from that region to feed his armies, will be compelled to send provisions from other quarters to feed the inhabitants. A map herewith, prepared by my Chief Engineer, Colonel Poe, with the routes of the four corps and cavalry, will show at a glance the country traversed. Of course, the abandonment to us by the enemy of the whole sea-coast, from Savannah to New Bern, North Carolina, with its forts, dock-yards, gun-boats, &c., was a necessary incident to our occupation and destruction of the inland routes of travel and supply. But the real object of this march was to place this army in a position easy of supply, whence it could take an ap- propriate part in the spring and summer campaign of 1865. This was completely accomplished on the 21st of March, by the junction of the three armies and occupation of Goldsboro.
In conclusion, I beg to express in the most emphatic manner my entire satisfaction with the tone and temper of the whole army. Nothing seems to dampen their energy, zeal, or cheerfulness. It is impossible to conceive a march involving more labor and ex- posure, yet I cannot recall an instance of bad temper by the way, or hearing an expression of doubt as to our perfect success in the end. I believe that this cheerfulness and harmony of action reflects upon all concerned quite as much real honor and fame as "battles
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gained," or "cities won," and I therefore commend all, generals, staff officers, and men, for these high qualities, in addition to the more soldierly ones of obedience to orders and the alacrity they have always manifested when danger summoned them "to the front." _. "
" RECOVER ARMS."
AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT ESCORTS A HENRY RIFLE.
I hereby certify that on or about the 24th of December, 1864, while on drill with my company near Savannah, Ga., a Henry rifle [which was my private property and carried by me when on duty ] was stolen from the stack of guns made by the company, which was drilling without arms. The gun was a new one, and num- bered [4,440]. I have since seen the gun in the hands of one -- Parks, of Company A, 26th Illinois Infantry, 15th Army Corps, but he refused to give it to me, saying " he procured it from a man of the 20th Army Corps, but that if he could see the 20th Corps man, and get his money back, he [Parks ] would return me the gun.
JOHN D. SLOCUM, Private H Co., 15th Iowa Veteran Infantry. Station in the Field, S. C., date March 2, 1865.
Headquarters l5th lowa Veteran Infantry; in the Field, S. C., March 2, 1865: Respectfully forward to Captain C. W. Kepler, Provost Marshal 3d Brig., 4th Div., 17th A. C. By order of Major Pomutz; W. C. Stidger, Adjutant.
Headquarters 3d Brig., 4th Div., 17th A. C .; in the Field, S. C., March 3, 1865: Respectfully forwarded to Lieut. J. D. Herbert, Provost Marshal, 4th Div., 17th A. C. By order of Brig. Gen. Wm. W. Belknap; C. W. Kepler Captain and Provost Marshal.
Headquarters 4th Div., 17th A. C .; in the Field, S. C., March 3, 1865: Respectfully forward to Major John C. Marvin, Provost
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Marshal 17th A. C. By order of Bvt. Maj. Gen. Giles A. Smith; J. D. Herbert, Lieutenant and Provost Marshal 4th Division, 17th A. C.
Headquarters 17th A. C., office Provost Marshal, Cheraw, S. C., March 4, 1865: Respectfully forwarded to Col. James Wil- son, Provost Marshal General, Department and Army Tennessee. E. T. Miller, Captain and Ass't Provost Marshal 17th A. C.
Headquarters Army of Tennessee, office Provost Marshal Gen- eral, Cheraw, S. C., March 4, 1865: Respectfully referred to Major F. C. Gillette, Provost Marshal 15th A. C. James Wilson, Colonel Provost Marshal General, Army Tennessee.
Headquarters 15th Army Corps, office of Provost Marshal, near Neuse River, N. C., March 21, 1865: Respectfully forwarded to the commanding officer of the 26th Regiment Illinois Veteran In- fantry, who will investigate the matter referred to within, and if a gun answering the description be found in his regiment, he will at once forward it to these Headquarters. By order of Major Gen- eral John A. Logan; Frank C. Gillette, Major and Provost Mar- shal 15th Army Corps.
Headquarters 26th Illinois Infantry Volunteers; in the Field, March 23d, 1865: Respectfully returned, together with the gun described, which was obtained from the 33d New Jersey, 20th A. C. Ira J. Bloomfield, Lieutenant-Colonel 26th Illinois Infantry.
Headquarters 15th A. C., office of Provost Marshal, Goldsboro, N. C., March 25th, 1865: Respectfully returned, together with the within described gun, to Colonel Wilson, Provost Marshal General, Army of the Tennessee. Frank C. Gillette, Major and Provost Marshal 15th A. C.
Office Provost Marshal General, Army of the Tennessee, Golds- boro, N. C., March 26th, 1865: Respectfully returned, with the gun described within, to Major John C. Marven, Provost Marshal 17th Army Corps; James Wilson, Colonel Provost Marshal Gen- eral, Army of Tennessee.
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Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
Headquarters 17th A. C., office Provost Marshal, Goldsboro, N. C., March 26, '65: Respectfully forwarded, with gun, to Lieu- tenant J. T. Herbert, Provost Marshal 4th Division. By com- mand of Major General F. P. Blair; Jno. C. Marven, Major and Provost Marshal 17th A. C.
Headquarters 4th Div., 17th A. C., office Provost Marshal, Goldsboro, N. C., March 27, 1865: Respectfully forwarded, with gun, as described within, to Captain C. W. Kepler, Provost Mar- shal 3d Brigade. By order Brevet Major-General Giles A. Smith; J. D. Herbert, Lieutenant and Provost Marshal 4th Div.
Headquarters 3d Brig., 4th Div., 17th A. C., Goldsboro, N. C., March 27, '65: Respectfully forwarded to Major Geo. Pomutz, commanding 15th Iowa Infantry; also the within described gun. By order of Brig. Gen. Belknap; C. W. Kepler, Captain and Pro. Marshal.
Headquarters 15th Iowa Inf., Mar. 27, 1865: Respectfully for- warded with within described gun to Capt. N. W. Edwards, Co. H, 15th Iowa Inf., who will return the gun to John D. Slocum, Co. H, 15th Iowa, if there is a man by that name in said company. By order of Major Pomutz; W. C. Stidger, Adjutant, 15th Iowa Infantry.
PART XIII.
THE CLOSING CAMPAIGN.
RETURN NORTH. RALEIGH. JONES' STATION. PROPOSITIONS FOR SURRENDER. RETURN TO RALEIGH. REVIEW BY GEN- ERAL GRANT. "FORWARD" AGAIN. JONES' STATION. SUR- RENDER BY JOHNSTON OF HIS ARMY AND NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA. HARD MARCHING TO PETERS- BURG. RICHMOND., WASHINGTON. GRAND REVIEW. LOUIS- VILLE. MUSTERING OUT. FAREWELL ORDERS OF GRANT, SHERMAN, LOGAN, BLAIR AND POMUTZ.
While the army was rapidly being refitted and equipped at Goldsboro, General Sherman returned from his trip to City Point 36
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[General Grant's headquarters ), on the 30th of March, and appli- cations for leaves of absence and furloughs were at once stopped. April 6th the news was officially published of the great battle fought around Petersburg and Richmond on the 31st of March, and 1st and 2d of April, and that both places were in possession of the Union army.
SPECIAL ORDERS NO. 18. Headquarters 15th Iowa Veteran Infantry, Goldsboro, N. C., April 9, 1865. 5
Captain Job. Throckmorton, of F Company, of this Regiment, will at once turn over to Wm. C. Stidger, Adjutant of the Regi- ment, the amount of money confiscated by him under orders from these headquarters, from the gamblers and card players, while he was acting as Officer of the Day, during the expedition from Atlanta to Savannah, Ga., in November and December last.
Adjutant Stidger will convert the money thus received towards paying for the brass drums bought by the regimental sutler for this command. By order of
GEORGE POMUTZ, Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding. W. C. STIDGER, Adjutant.
On April 9th, General Grant's famous dispatch " Let us finish the job now," was announced. All preparations were rapidly made, and on the 10th four columns of Sherman's army started on the new campaign-the 15th Corps being the extreme right, 17th Corps the right centre; 14th Corps the extreme left, and the 20th Corps the left centre; the left wing moved south of the Neuse river and the right wing north of it on parallel roads. The gen- eral direction was towards Raleigh.
General Smith's 4th Division, 17th A. C., being in the rear of the corps, and the spongy, miry ground being deeply cut by the
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trains of the front divisions during whole days and nights of march, was occupied in corduroying the road over two-thirds of the entire distance made. The 15th Iowa, being in the rear of the division, marched all night, pioneering the last of the train through the bottomless mire, and overtook the brigade and division next day, crossing the Little river at Whiteley's Mills. From April 11th, the command corduroyed the road, the whole of the distance made daily, throughout the entire march, until it fairly struck the solid, rolling ground and rocky, mountainous country towards evening of the 13th. It crossed the Neuse river on the 14th, passed through Raleigh same day, and went into camp two miles west of the city .
On the 15th, while marching in a heavy rain storm that rendered the roads in some places almost impracticable, the command re- ceived official intelligence of the rebel Johnston's "parleying for a surrender," which like electricity went from the head of the column to the rear, eliciting unbounded expressions of joy and satisfaction. A temporary bivouac was formed near Jones' sta- tion, on the Greensboro railroad, the troops awaiting the result.
While in camp here, on the 17th of April, the news of assassi- nation of President Lincoln was received, by which the feelings of the troops were thrown into a state of intense exasperation against any that wore the clothing usually seen in the southern states since the commencement of the war. It reflects credit on the officers for having proven themselves at this time able to keep their men within the bounds of strict discipline.
April 19th, the command marched back to within two miles of Raleigh and went into camp. While here, the camp being pre- sumed to be probably the last one before the close of the war, the men of the 15th Iowa, in common with those of the rest of the. brigade, favored by a suitable ground, made one of the finest look- ing camps laid out during the war, it becoming a topic of curiosity and an object of newspaper illustration.
While in this camp the troops of the 4th Division werc reviewed
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by General Smith, its commander, on the 23d, and the whole corps passed in review before General Sherman in Raleigh, in presence of its former and oldest commander, General U. S. Grant, on April 24th.
The terms of the former proposition for surrender not having been accepted by the government, the troops on the 25th resumed their march; the 17th Corps arriving at Jones' station that day.
Next day ( the 26th) official intelligence was received by the troops of the acceptance by Johnston of the government's terms of surrender, these including his entire army and department, con- sisting of Georgia and North and South Carolina.
On the 27th, the brigade, division and corps returned to its for- mer camp near Raleigh, and received orders to be ready to march to Petersburg, on its way to Washington.
Thus the campaign, that promised to be lively with desperate conflicts on the part of the enemy, came to a sudden close. The career and antagonism of Johnston against Sherman, which com- menced in the rear of Vicksburg in the summer of 1863, came to a final end; the once formidable army he opposed to the progress of the army of the Military Division of the Mississippi used up in a hundred battles as killed, or crippled, or captured, and the rest scattered, run down and surrendered.
Within the year past that army had been fought, constantly de- feated, and driven from one stronghold to another, from one river, mountain, pass, railroad centre, city, state to another, until its last ditch had been reached. When it was forced there, however, its old boasted self reliance and bravery were gone, the men demoral- ized and panic stricken, imperious to any appeal, order or threat, their leaders without counsel or expedients, and entirely helpless. There never was an army more completely conquered, ruined and destroyed than Joe Johnston's rebel Army of the Tennessee.
The 32d Illinois, since November 10th, 1864, attached to the 3d Brigade, was detached from the same April 28th and with the
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14th and 15th Illinois, formed the 2d Brigade of the 4th Division.
The "Job having been finished," the four corps of the Military Di- vision of the Mississippi were started on April 29th on their way north; the 15th Corps taking the extreme right, the 17th Corps the right centre; the 14th and 20th Corps on the left; all marching on parallel roads, converging towards Petersburg.
The 15th Iowa in the lead of brigade, division, and its corps, crossed the Neuse river, and after marching 14 miles, went into camp with the command, to wait for the other corps to take the parallel roads assigned to them. While in this camp, throughout the next day, (Sunday, April 30th ), the men of the regiment were reminded in orders that the country through which it would now pass having been surrendered, the inhabitants thereof had a claim to protection in their persons and property, that all foraging hence- forth was strictly prohibited; and that none were to leave the ranks during the entire march; which order was strictly complied with. Marched in April 110 miles.
May 1st, the brigade, with its division and corps, passed Forest- ville and crossed the Cedar Creek; crossed Tar river on the 2d; crossed Sandy creek and passed Ridgeway and Warrenton depot on the 3d; crossed the Roanoke river at Robinson's ferry on pon- toons, and the Virginia state line on the 4th; struck the plank road at Price's mill on the 6th, and Dinwidie Court House early on the morning of the 7th; passed the fortifications at Hatcher's run at noon and went into camp at Petersburg in the afternoon of same day; having marched 162 miles in seven days, averaging over 23 miles a day in the intense heat of an unusually early southern summer.
May 8th, the 15th with brigade marched through Petersburg in order of review before General Howard, commanding the Army of the Tennessee, and General Blair, commanding the 17th Corps, reached Manchester on the 9th, and went into camp in full view of the city of Richmond, where it remained two days,
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May 12th, crossed James river, and passed through Richmond . On 13th passed the Chickahominy bottom and camped near Han- over Court House. Crossed on the 14th, the Pamunky river; and on the 15th the Mat, Ta, Po and Ny creeks, and arrived at noon of the 16th at Fredericksburg, crossing the Rappahannock river. On the 18th the command waded the Occoquan river; and on the 19th, went into camp near Alexandria. Thus the command marched 169 miles in less than 7 days, averaging 24 miles a day, in an in- tense heat, and in a constant cloud of dust.
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