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 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53
On the 19th of November, 1861, Company G started in wagons for Eddyville about 30 miles distant, then the nearest railroad sta- tion. We reached Eddyville about 5 o'clock p. M. of same day, and the loyal and hospitable citizens of that place entertained us in their homes until next morning at 5 o'clock, when we took train for Keokuk, our place of rendezvous. Arriving at Keokuk at 10:40 o'clock A. M., November 20th, 1861, we were immediately
..
DANL, EMBREE 2NP LIEUT CO. G ISTH IOWA VOLS.
.
S. C. SMITH. CO. G 15TH IOWA VOLS.
69
Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
marched to the camp of the Regiment on the bluffs over-looking the " Father of Waters" north of the city. On the 25th of same month Company G was mustered into service by Captain C. C. Smith, U. S. A., under proclamation of the President of the United States, dated July 23d, 1861.
On the following New Years day Company G was greatly cheered by being made the happy recipients of a most excellent dinner from the hands of the loyal people of Keokuk. It is need- less to say that the boys did ample justice to the delicious viands.
On January 8, 1862, Wm. Bidgood, of Company G, died of congestion of the brain. This was the first death in the company, and caused many sober reflections.
ALBERT M. BROBST, Company Historian .
H. COMPANY.
November 12, 1861, Mr. Daniel B. Clark, of Council Bluffs, commenced recruiting a company in that city on the 30th. He started with eight wagons, carrying 42 men; arrived at Eddyville December 7th, and via Keokuk and Des Moines railroad at the rendezvous at Keokuk on the 8th, coming 210 miles in wagons over frozen roads, and 90 miles in cars. Mr. Clark soon returned to the Bluffs; on January 5, 1862, one-half of the company were reported sick, engaged with the measles.
During the month a second squad of 20 men arrived, and Febru- ary 13th Mr. Clark left for Keokuk with 28 more recruits, in stages on runners, as it was good sleighing. At noon it commenced snowing furiously, and continued all night. Before dark it was necessary to detail two men to walk in advance as guides, and they could only keep the road by walking on the old sleigh ruts. The night was dark, very cold and windy; to-day we would call it a Montana blizzard. It was the most violent storm that winter.
70
History of the Fifteenth Regiment
The drivers and guides could see but a few yards ahead, and had to be relieved often. The men suffered greatly, and were compelled to get out and walk to prevent being frozen. In this way the de- tachment came across the prairies all night and next day until a trail was found the drivers could follow, and they arrived at the ren- dezvous February 21st.
This company was raised in Pottawattamie and Harrison coun- ties; nine brethren joined at Keokuk. It was designated “H Company," and with 95 men was mustered into the United States service on December 13, '61, and February 22, '62, with DANIEL B. CLARK commissioned Captain from December 13, '61. He took a serious cold from exposure on his last trip across the state, losing his voice for weeks, and at St. Louis was taken sick and left there in hospital, and has never fully recovered. He rejoined com- pany on May 22d, but feeling that he was disabled for active ser- vice, resigned June 7, '62, at Corinth, Miss. He is now Secretary of the Pottawattamie County Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance Company, and resides at Council Bluffs, Iowa.
JOHN A. DANIELSON, of Calhoun, Harrison county, was our second Captain, vice Clark resigned. He signed the roll Novem- ber 12, '61, being the first man to enlist in the company, and soon after its arrival at Keokuk, was appointed the first Orderly Ser- geant, and made out the first morning reports, first pay rolls, de- tailed its first guards, drew its first camp equippage ; hence, he was " First in war, first to draw Company rations, and first in the hearts of his Companymen." At the election of officers he was unani- mously elected Second Lieutenant, and was appointed a member of the Board of Survey that held an inquest on those Shoddy Black Overcoats, (that you could easily see through three or four thick- nesses), and condemned the price charged, of steen dollars or more down to three dollars.
He watched closely the interests and welfare of his men, and at the battle of Shiloh, First Lieutenant King being wounded, he took
71
lowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
command. About 2 o'clock P. M. he was severely wounded in right hip. Private J. E. Rice carried him a quarter of a mile back to a ravine. Stopping to rest, a wounded man of the 16th rode up on a wounded horse. On being asked to let the Lieutenant ride behind him, he replied, " Yes, if you can get on." Rice assisted him to mount and he was taken to the " Minnehaha," where Ser- geant Gibbon dressed his wounds, and he was sent to Savannah and then to Keokuk. Returning he was promoted Captain June 8, '62. The march from Corinth to re-enforce Bolivar, Tenn., convinced him that he could not endure hard marching.
He was kind, sociable, a friend to all the men, a good officer, and was beloved by the whole company, who sincerely regretted his wounds disabled him and compelled him to resign on September 13, '62. He is now engaged in farming and raising fine stock, and resides at Missouri Valley, Harrison county, Iowa.
WILLIAM M. SWANSON, of Lyons, was third Captain, vice Danielson, resigned; promoted from First Lieutenant A Company, he took command on November 14, '62. He was tall, active and a dashing looking officer, and had the reputation of being the best one in the Regiment on skirmish drill. In this he took especial pride. It was soon evident that H Company was not his affinity, for in a way that was "child-like and bland " they would decline to assist him in an emergency, like being mired, or when it was dull in camp arrange a military diversion as part of their school of the soldier, (in which he did not instruct them ), and shell his head- quarters at Lake Providence, (and later the Guard House, which had been named Fort Murphy by its then sole occupant). This he did not seem to enjoy so fully as expected, and on March 30, '63, he resigned. Nothing has been heard of him since.
NELSON W. EDWARDS, of Council Bluffs, was the fourth and last Captain, vice Swanson, resigned. He enlisted as private No- vember 14, '61; was elected Second Sergeant in December, at Keo-
72
History of the Fifteenth Regiment
kuk; Capt. Clark was left sick at St. Louis, both Lieutenants and First Sergeant Platt being severely wounded at Shiloh. He was in command of the company until relieved by Lieutenant C. M. Reynolds, of D Company; then served as First Sergeant until pro- moted Second Lieutenant June 8, '62; First Lieutenant February 13, '63, and Captain March 31, '63. He was a pleasant and efficient officer, thoroughly posted in the regulations and tactics, and ever ready to render any courtesy in his power, and was well liked by the whole company. He was slightly wounded at Shiloh and at Kenesaw Mountain. With two exceptions, he was in continuous command from his promotion to Captain until the company was disbanded August 4, '65. Then he was a railroad contractor for several years; married in 1870, and soon after located in Moulton, Iowa, and became connected with the Moulton Record. Was editor, postmaster and mayor in 1875, and was admitted to the bar in '79, and secured a large practice in that and adjoining counties. He was a good friend and neighbor, a kind husband and father, but after a brief illness he died from a complication of diseases in his 43d year, on March 3, 1882.
STEPHEN W. KING, of Council Bluffs, was, on the organization of the company, December 13, '61, at Keokuk, unanimously elected First Lieutenant. Had the company been entitled to a General, like F Company, they would have elected him to that position with the same unanimity, for on the trip across the state he looked closely after their comfort, and proved to them it was not his first cam- paign. It was generally understood that his knowledge of com- pany and battallion drill, and all things military, he acquired by personal observation of the Army on the Plains. He was tall, well built, had the " set up" of one who had experienced the drill, and was the handsomest man in H Company. From date commis- sioned, he was most of the time in command of the company until seriously wounded in left leg in battle of Shiloh, April 6, '62, and sent North. His left foot amputated, and disabled for life, he was
73
Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
mustered out on August 31, '62. He had by his manly, soldierly qualities so won the hearts of his men, who respected and loved him, that it was a sad day for them when informed he would not return. He is reported to reside at Wheelock, Texas.
NELSON W. EDWARDS was the second First Lieutenant, vice King, mustered out. See fourth Captain.
HENRY CLAY MCARTHUR was the third and last First Lieu- tenant, and no one is more entitled to credit for the efficiency of our company, and none more loved by the boys, than Mac.
He was born in Circleville, Ohio, August 27, 1839; moved to Keosanqua, Iowa, in April, 1856, and was engaged in business there at the outbreak of the war. Full of patriotism when the flag of our country was assailed, he enlisted in the three months service, but the company not being accepted, he joined E Company of our Regiment in August, '61. Our beloved and lamented General John M. Hedrick, was recruiting K Company and observing Mac's soldierly qualities, had him transferred to that company, and pro- moted Second and Orderly Sergeants.
At the battle of Shiloh, that baptism of blood for the 15th Iowa, Mac was foremost in the fight and was wounded in the left hip slightly. In the slow advance on Corinth Mac was seized with a complication of diseases and sent North, not, however, until he fell in the ranks on battallion drill, and was carried unconscious to camp. This severe sickness caused his absence for several months. During the summer he was detailed on recruiting service at Keo- kuk with Major Belknap, where he did good work; rejoined Reg- iment that fall and was promoted to First Lieutenant H Company April 16, '63; was in command of company August 10 to Septem- ber 10, '63; then detailed as Acting Adjutant to October 1, and from October 2 to November 9, '63, in command of B Company, and was Acting Quartermaster February 1 to March 6, '64, during the Meridian Raid.
74
History of the Fifteenth Regiment
He was always eagerly watching the interests of his men, en- forcing discipline, prompt on duty, yet a comrade in every particu- lar when off duty. He soon won the respect and love of every soldier in the company, and when or where " Little Mac" led, H Company followed, and he always went where duty called. On July 21, '64, while leading our company in that bloody charge be- fore Atlanta, he was shot down, struck by a large piece of shell in left hip, but would not allow himself to be carried from the field until he was assured the assault had ended. That night word came from field hospital that Mac would not recover, and several officers and men went over to see him. Mac noticed his comrades felt he would not live, and said, " Look here, boys, I am not going to die; I am better than two dead men yet;" and no doubt his good nature and strong determination to live carried him through the trying scenes of the next few days and saved his life. Colonel Hedrick said the next thing he knew of him was, that on the very next day Mac was stealing a grave. See account of same after the battle of July 22, '64. His wound disabled him for duty until January, '65, when he rejoined Regiment at Savannah, Ga.
His Shiloh wound in left hip, and same hip being terribly man- gled at Atlanta, prevented him from marching, and he was detached January 4, '65, as Aide-de-Camp to General Wm. W. Belknap, commanding Brigade. The night after we bivouacked in sight of Columbia, S. C., Mac unearthed two old dug-outs, and assisted by Lieutenant W. H. Goodrell, F Company, and by working all night, they were accepted as serviceable next morning by that part of the United States Government on the spot without the usual trial trip. But the Lieutenants soon made it, with other daring spirits, crossing the river in them, and planted the first United States flag over the Rebel Capitol. See this exploit forward on February 17, '65, and H Company claims her share of the honor in the promi- nent part our First Lieutenant McArthur took in the affair.
75
lowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
When brevet Major General W. W. Belknap was assigned to command the Fourth Division, and later the 17th Corps, Mac accompanied him, and was always a prompt, courteous and efficient officer, and was mustered out with Regiment. For gallant and meritorious conduct he was brevetted Captain and Major United States Volunteers. Returning to private life he moved to Memphis, Mo., and engaged in the drug business. On February 5, 1870, he was appointed United States Revenue Assessor for Third Col. District of Missouri, and relieved May 20, '73, by act of Congress abolishing the office. Then the press of his district, regardless of party, paid him the tribute of being one of the most efficient, ener- getic, competent and faithful Internal Revenue officers in the ser- vice .
Mac continues the same energy in his daily life that he displayed in the service, and has accumulated considerable property. He has a charming wife, two sons and a daughter. In August, 1886, he removed to Lincoln, Nebraska. Mac has a warm side and hearty greeting for all old soldiers, especially for the 15th boys, and in return is given a warm welcome at all reunions, and he generally contributes his share in making the occasion interesting.
" COURT FOURS." JOHN A. DANIELSON was Second Lieuten- ant on formation of company, and promoted Second Captain, which see.
The second was NELSON W. EDWARDS, promoted First Lieu- tenant and Fourth Captain, which see.
The third Second Lieutenant was LOGAN CRAWFORD, of Cal- houn. He enlisted November 27, '61, and was an honest, kindly man, always ready for duty, or with pleasant words to cheer or willing hands to aid any one. At the battle of Corinth he was severely wounded in the head, and appointed First Sergeant De- cember 28, '62, vice Gammond, discharged, and promoted Second Lieutenant February 13, '63. He was the engineer who surveyed and superintended the digging of the Iowa and Mississippi canal,
76
History of the Fifteenth Regiment
from A Company to left of E Company, in the camp below Vicks- burg, which insured the boys from being washed away in later overflows while encamped there. He was again severely wounded, shot through left lung, and captured in battle of Atlanta July 22, '64, and taken to Macon, Ga., thence to Charleston, S. C., and was exchanged in the harbor there December 13, '64, but disabled for other campaigns by wounds and prison life. He was mustered out on February 19, '65. He lives at Missouri Valley, Iowa, and for some years has been Surveyor of his county.
The fourth Second Lieutenant was JAMES M. HOFFNAGLE, commissioned February 29, '65, formerly First Sergeant. He was called Doc for short, not because he was short as you may suppose. He enlisted as private December 24, '61, on the left of the company, and ascended the military scale and won a Corporal's and a. Ser- geant's chevrons, but for some unknown cause, he was like several of our Sergeants, retired on less pay and became a reform-ed pri- vate, but immediately set out to win new honors, and by an act of Providence, ( La.,) he interviewed Tom Wilson and gained valua- ble information which defeated a proposed plan to bankrupt the guard house, and prevented the squad from skipping North. Doc's star was rising, and on September 28, '63, he was appointed First Sergeant, vice Rice, deceased. Doc was a quiet man, a good fel- low, generally liked by the boys, and was in command of the com- pany from June 29 to July 14, '65, and became a disbanded volun- teer with company August 4, '65. His address is not known.
In addition to the above officers the company was also commanded by Lieutenants Reynolds, D Company; Swanson, A Company ; Shannon, C Company; Throckmorton, F Company; and Craig, E Company ; 167 men joined H Company, and during its first three months' service in the field it had ten Commanders. Its Roll of Honor shows 140 casualties.
Barnes Post, No. 103, G. A. R., of Mondamin, and Bedsanl Post, No. 202, of Magnolia, Iowa, are named to perpetuate the
.
77
Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
memory of two of our comrades. At midnight, August 3d, 1865, the company started on its last march (to the pay-master ) and about 2 A. M. of the 4th it was disbanded in a soaking rain as usual.
Whether they were fighting or building works in a half dozen States ,digging canals in Louisiana, wading rivers and swamps in Georgia and Carolina, corduroying roads or twisting railroads in many places, corraling fast stock at Vicksburg, or " Hold on, Słoke, we bet twenty on the ace," they were always ready for any duty, and although hard service once reduced them until there were not enough men present to make one stack of arms, they rallied and were jolly soldiers, A 1 foragers, and as bully boys as any that wore the Blue.
L. S. TYLER,
Historian H Company.
I COMPANY.
The military history of Company I covers a long period of active service in the field. Its first battle was Shiloh, April, 1862; its last battle Bentonville, N. C., February, 1865. It was the first com- pany to re-enlist as Veteran Volunteers in the Seventeenth Army Corps at Vicksburg, Mississippi, in 1863. This part of its history is mentioned hereafter.
Company I lost more men in casualties, caused by death from disease, and being killed, wounded and captured in battle, according to its numerical strength, compared with other companies, than any other company in the Regiment during its long term of active ser- vice in the field.
Always at the front, conspicuous in every action, ready and will- ing for duty in every emergency, the surviving members of this little band may well be proud of the part they took in the war which saved the Union and gives us to-day a united and prosper- ous country.
78
History of the Fifteenth Regiment
To look back now to the days when, filled with enthusiasm and the hot young blood of youth, enlisted men of Company I, came to Keokuk as new recruits to do their first duty as soldiers in the win- ter of 1861-2, reminds me that in this brief sketch, so long a period has elapsed, many things must be omitted.
It is twenty-five years, a quarter of a century, which has glided by like a shadow, with its days and months and years, with the rush of events of every day life, with their sunshine and storm, during which we have thought more about making money to buy bread and butter than about our military services in the field.
General Hedrick, our gallant comrade in arms, who has crossed the great river of death from paralysis, caused by his wounds before Atlanta July 22, 1864, was an inimitable and amusing story teller. When interrupted in the midst of telling one of his many stories, which were legion, he always stopped and said to the party correct- ing and interrupting him: "Very well; if you know the story better than I do, go on and tell it yourself."
If any one else knows the story of Company I better than I do, let him tell it himself, and he will have my thanks.
In this rapid review of its history, if any member of Company I does not get his deserts it is not my fault. I am ready and willing to do full justice to every gallant soldier of the company, so long under my command. But the half cannot now be told, as Queen Shebe said after seeing the glory and magnificence of Solomon.
I had the first appointment October 18, 1861, as recruiting officer for a company in Colonel Reid's Regiment, and was transferred from Company A, Second Regiment Iowa Infantry, November, 1861. Lloyd D. Simpson, of Keokuk, also had a recruiting com- mission for the same purpose. Having 40 men between us they were consolidated and made Company I. I was elected and mus- tered in as First Lieutenant December 1, 1861, from which date I had command until January 24, 1862, when Lloyd D. Simpson
GED. W. KIRKPATRICK. IST LIEUT. CO.I 15TH IOWA VOLS.
.
79
Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
was elected Captain and Robert W. Hamilton as Second Lieuten- ant, the company being full. Captain Simpson resigned before we left. Keokuk, and after his resignation I was elected Captain; but soon after our arrival at St. Louis it was found two days after the resignation of Captain Simpson, James G. Day, First Lieutenant of Company F, who had not been elected, which was then required, was appointed Captain of the company January 26, 1862, and took command, which he held until the 6th of April, 1862, when he was wounded and disabled in the battle of Shiloh, where Second Lieu- tenant Robert W. Hamilton, who was a gallant and efficient and popular officer, was killed. Captain Day, after being wounded, turned over the command of the company to myself, and rode off the field on the horse of Colonel Alexander Chambers, who was' also wounded.
Getting leave of absence, wounded he went North; returned on the 3d of July, 1862, to Corinth, Miss., and at my request was transferred to be Captain of Company F, whose Captain and First Lieutenant had resigned, and I was promoted Captain of Company I July 4, 1862.
We return now to the early days or recruiting period and our winter quarters at Keokuk, in Barracks, in 1861, '62. The counties of Marion, Clark, Lee and Van Buren furnished nearly all the re- cruits; a few came from other counties from Illinois and Missouri.
That winter was very severe, and the men suffered much from measles, which was epidemic, and in some cases proved fatal. As a sequel of measles many have also since suffered from diseases of lungs, eyes, and deafness.
That winter while I had command as First Lieutenant I let every man have a pass to go out at night who asked for it. Some went to see their friends, others to see their girls, and to Dutch dances in Holland town, but I impressed it upon them to get recruits.
80
History of the Fifteenth Regiment
On Sabbath day, all who desired, went to some church- marched there in a body. Captain Simpson was an Episcopalian, . and read the service in the absence of the Rector of St. John's Church.
He held going to dances was very immoral. On one occasion he was drilling the company on Main street. In his fine, shrill voice he gave the order as they were drawn up in column, "touch elbows to the left, gentlemen ! gently ! g-e-n-t-lee! gentlemen!
Then he made them a speech about the propriety of starting a Sunday-school class in quarters, and concluded his address with the words, " Gentlemen! I want to make Company I the best drilled Company, as well as the most moral Company, in the Regiment !" His eloquent words took deep root. All but about five of his friends, who held to his views, petitioned him to resign, and he sent in his resignation, and Company I continued to be the most moral company in the Regiment.
Cornelius Van Hout, of Eddyville, who was a Catholic and at- tended that church, was told by some mischief-loving waggish young rooster of the company, one Sunday morning, when after inspection, the men fell into line to march that day to the Metho- dist church, that he too had to go to the Methodist church. He was horrified, and protested against going to any other church except his own, and wringing his hands in his agony, blubbered out in a voice full of tears and broken with sobs, "I'll go and see the Priest and see what She says about it." When I told the story to Father De Cailley, our merry and fun-loving Priest, he was very much amused.
Cornelius went to his own church, however, without having to go first to see the Priest.
The new recruits had a good time at Keokuk, and after our arrival at Benton Barracks, and on the way up the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing, playing pranks on the many odd and sus.
81
Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
ceptible characters who took everything said to them by way of a joke, as said in good earnest, and believed it to be true. John Stigman, a Holland Dutchman, and George Walters, a German, were much worried .
From all parts of the quarters you could hear them cry out: You! John Stig-ga-man! Then he would rave.
Isaac N. Hewitt, now dead, who was a soldier in the Mexican war, made Walters believe he had to carry a ham of meat, besides his knapsack, on the march. Stigman deserted in disgust, joined the 21st Missouri Infantry, and was killed at Shiloh April 6, 1862; Walters deserted at Corinth, and died in the State Insane Asylum at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, in March, 1865.
The wags sought new victims.
Furnished with arms and equipments at St. Louis, without hav- ing loaded or fired a musket, we marched out of Benton Barracks leading the column of four full Regiments with their new blue uni- forms through the streets of St. Louis. With the music of all the bands, and flags and banners flying to take transport steamers from the landing via Cairo and Paducah, Ky., up the Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh), presented a grand spectacle. The streets were crowded with people who witnessed it with evident admiration. They all reached Shiloh in time to participate in the first day of that great battle, commencing early on the Sunday morning of April 6, 1862. What is a remarkable fact, every Col- onel of these four Regiments on that day was under fire and shot. Colonel Jacob T. Tindall, 23d Missouri, had his head shot away by a cannon ball. Colonel Jas. S. Alban, of the 18th Wisconsin, was mortally wounded and died next day. Colonel Alex. Chambers, of the 16th Iowa, was severely wounded in the arm and shoulder, and Colonel Hugh T. Reid, of the 15th Iowa, was shot through the neck and fell from his horse, paralyzed for the time, but recov- ered consciousness, remounted his horse, and continued in command of Regiment, and died from the results of his wound August 21, 6
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.