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 9
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Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
about two hours afterwards I doubt whether I appreciated it so highly.
The Regiments took arms and marched off with great spirit . It was pleasant to see the elastic step and enthusiastic manner of offi- cers and men. We had not gone far before we met quite a column of wounded and stragglers drifting in toward the landing. Many of them told us their Regiments were " cut to pieces."
To some of the wounded I gave stimulants and temporary dress- ings and passed them on to the landing. One man I saw leaning against a tree some thirty yards from the road, his hat off, and his gun beside him. His countenance was ashen, and he seemed in great distress. I went up and spoke to him, but he did not answer; he was quite dead. He had got that far back and sat down to rest, and his life had oozed away from a gaping wound in his side.
After marching about two miles we entered an open field of about eighty acres. It was surrounded with high timber in which was a growth of underbrush as high as a man's head, which afforded excellent cover for an army. Our two Regiments were marching by the flank across this field, when about the middle of it we were greeted with a tremendous infantry and artillery fire from front and flank. Our guide had blundered, and by some strange mishap we had been led between the divisions of our army and were thrown against the solid line of the enemy. Colonel Reid was soon dan- gerously wounded and borne from the field bleeding freely from a wound which at the moment was thought to be mortal. Lieuten- ant-Colonel Dewey, though in the battle, was in fact on the sick list, and unequal to the occasion. But Major Belknap, though severely wounded, was equal to the demands of this supreme mo- ment of peril. He had inherited the military genius and high courage of his father, and nature had given him a fine figure and a magnificent voice for command. He rallied the Regiment with great ability and showed those military qualities which afterwards
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won him great distinction as a soldier and commanded the admira- tion and affection of officers and men.
My duties as a surgeon were now to begin in earnest. The ground seemed covered with dead and wounded. I had noticed a deep ravine to the rear and left of the Regiment, and directed the wounded to be carried there. It was probably fifty yards from the level of the field to the bottom of the ravine, which was grown up with heavy timber and underbrush as before described.
I found many wounded soldiers here who had drifted back into the shelter from the earlier fights of the morning. Some belonged to Ohio Regiments and others were from Indiana and Illinois. There was no surgeon there but myself, and I went to work to do the best I could. There were men wounded in almost every con- ceivable way. Some with a leg or an arm shot away, others shot through the lungs and dying slowly from shock and inter- nal hemorrhage. Several were dreadfully torn and mangled by pieces of shells and had assumed that deadly ashen hue that im- mediately precedes dissolution. The pain and anguish depicted upon the countenance of these can never. be erased from the mem- ory of one who has ever seen them. As quickly as possible I or- ganized my nurses and all others who were not hurt into a hospital squad and set them to giving temporary dressing to the slightly wounded, and administering stimulants and making them as com- fortable as possible, while I attended to the more serious cases. Of course amputations were out of the question under the circum- stances, but I cut out many bullets and gave morphine to many who were suffering greatly. Some drifted into the ravine from my own Regiment, who were so badly injured that they lived but a few moments. Adjutant Pomutz was assisted into the ravine dan- gerously wounded. The tremendous roar of the battle grew louder and nearer. Shot and shell went hissing and screaming over the ravine and occasionally falling into it. At last I could hear the commands of Regimental and Company Commanders with dis-
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tinctness, but supposed them to be our troops, who had fallen back to the edge of the timber to form a new line and make a stand. The underbrush was so dense the troops could not be readily seen, and I was so intent upon assisting the wounded and organizing my field hospital that I failed to note that the Confederate line of bat- tle was forming less than a hundred yards from us. I heard a sol- dier say, "that is the rebel line of battle." . Almost the next instant the ravine was swept with a cyclone of musketry, shot and shells, which cut the limbs of the trees; they fell in great profusion and did some injury to the men. One man, who was suffering from a gun-shot wound of the leg, had his bowels torn out by a piece of shell. It seemed strange that it did not kill him instantly, but he was perfectly conscious for fifteen minutes after, when, as I left him, I gave him a large dose of morphine, which I hope softened the pains of his dying moments.
The first volley had scarcely spent itself, when I was aroused to the seriousness of the situation by an irreverent remark of Adju- tant Pomutz. His wound had been dressed, and I had directed him to lie down and be quiet, as I feared excessive hemorrhage. When the volley had passed over the ravine the Adjutant raised himself upon his arm, and, taking in the situation at a glance, re- marked " this is a h-1 of a place for a hospital." I directed sev- eral men to assist the Adjutant out of the fire and to the boats if possible-where a few hours after I found him-but how he got there without getting more bullets through him I could never com- prehend, as he must have made his escape through a veritable leaden hail. Many more of the wounded managed in some way to crawl through the brush and get to the rear through the north- ern end of the ravine, which was near the road and much better covered with brush and timber than the other end. This, how- ever, was soon occupied by the Confederates, which made escape by that route impossible. It now began to look serious for the few of us who remained, for it was evident the enemy was nearly
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ready to charge down the ravine. To go up the hill directly op- posite the enemy was not feasible, as there happened to be little covering of brush on the side toward the landing, and would have resulted in our being complimented with an undue share of the enemy's ammunition. Our ravine ran somewhat circuitously toward the east, and in about a quarter of a mile broadened out into a ten acre field which was grown up with oats. Near the mouth of this ravine was a tree covered with a dense matting of grapevine, which we succeeded in reaching without discovery, and into which we climbed and were perfectly concealed from the enemy, though we could see them plainly . But to remain there was to be cap- tured in a few minutes. I proposed to the men that we should quietly get down to the lower limbs of the tree, and at a given signal from me we should all jump at once and run to the north- east across the open field, in full view of the Rebel line of battle, striking for a high point on the other side which was well covered with timber and brush, and which would afford concealment and protection. This little campaign was admirably executed, and while we were greeted with a heavy volley from the Rebel brigade which faced the field, we all got over without a scratch. When I was a boy I was considered a good runner, but I have never felt as satisfied with my speed as on this occasion. On this point of land we found four pieces of artillery that had just been abandoned and near them a few soldiers and an officer wearing a green sash, and as this denoted my branch of the service, I was curious to make his acquaintance, and soon recognized him as an old friend, Dr. Cornyne of St. Louis. He proposed that we should collect some of the men and work the battery. I told him I knew noth- ing about working the big guns, but he said he had been a member of an amateur artillery company at home, and he thought that with my help and that of the soldiers we could pick up, we might do some good work. We soon gathered together about twenty men and worked the battery for near half an hour, during which time
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Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
two of the guns were disabled and one of the caissons exploded by the concentrated and splendid gunnery of the enemy. Dr. Cornyne was as brave a man as ever lived, and for his gallantry on this occasion, was made Colonel of the 10th Missouri Cavalry, and was complimented in general orders by Gen. Grant. His military career was brief, for soon after the organization of his regiment he was killed by one of his officers whom he had accused of cow- ardice.
The enemy charged upon our position and our little squad fell back in good order to the landing, where I took up the amputating knife, and in a few days did more surgery than falls to the lot of the average practitioner in a life-time. The boats were now rap- idly filling with wounded and dying soldiers. Col. Moore, of the 21st Missouri, Volunteers, was, I believe, the first commanding officer whose leg was amputated at Shiloh. He had been out on the picket line early in the morning and had been shot through one of his legs below the knee, badly crushing the bone and requiring amputation . Dr. Davis had him on the table ready for the opera- tion, and I assisted him in taking off his leg . The Colonel swore roundly until he got under the influence of chloroform, and if I am not mistaken, his first words after he came from under its influence were of a very sulphurous character against those who had rebel- led against the " best government on earth," The steamer Minne- haha was under the charge of Dr. Davis and myself, and all day and far into the night we were busily engaged in performing al- most every operation known to military surgery. About midnight we were completely exhausted, and many of the sorely wounded men had fallen asleep. Many of the surgeons were sickened by their bloody work, and were unable to do more and had gone to sleep, haunted by gory dreams and dreadful thoughts of the mor- row. Our boat was passing backward and forward across the river carrying the advance of Buell's command. The roar of the bat- tle had grown nearer and nearer, Our little army had fought for
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History of the Fifteenth Regiment
every inch of ground, but when night drew her sable curtain over the bloody scene our army was gathered in a short, but compact line near the landing. The men lay down on their arms in a drenching rain, and sought sleep and rest, but the surroundings were favorable to neither .
At daylight, April 7th, 1862, the ball opened furiously on both sides, and many shot and shell came whistling over the boats, re- minding the surgeons that they were a little too near the line of battle to perform surgical operations with the steady nerves re- quired in such delicate work. About 10 o'clock we heard a yell which seemed to shake the ground. It was a genuine " Yankee yell," and immediately after the firing grew more distant, and we knew the day was ours. The battle was won and now came the herculean task of the surgeons to take care of the wounded. We had the Confederate wounded to look after also, which gave us a total of about ten thousand. The worst cases of sick and woun- ded were rapidly sent North to the general hospitals, and the army was soon ready for more heavy work, but were a long time in get- ting it.
Now came the reign of Halleck-the reign of a book soldier -- the reign of picks and spades, the reign of tedious camp life and camp diarrhea-the latter the worst scourge and deadliest enemy of the soldier. To the tortures of Tantalus it had an added phys- ical suffering and wasting which nothing at our command seemed capable of staying. More fatal than bullets, its poisonous effects upon the blood continued with many long after the smoke of bat- tle had cleared away, producing other diseases which made life a burden.
By the Ist of June Corinth was taken and our army encamped about it, and the first great campaign in which our Regiment was engaged was finished. Soon after the capture of Corinth Dr. Davis accepted an appointment as Assistant Surgeon Volunteers and left the Regiment .
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Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
He was a surgeon of rare skill and well up in the literature of the profession, and deservedly popular with officers and men, but he had not the nerve for long and continuous heavy operating; he said it made him "blood sick." My association with him I regard as one of the most pleasant episodes of my army life, and I dearly cherish his memory. He afterwards became a medical director of a division where his duties were more clerical and more to his taste. After the war Dr. Davis was appointed to a position in the Reve- nue Department, and was assigned to New Mexico, where he died, to the best of my recollection, about 1870. I took his place as Surgeon of the Regiment and held it until my term of service ex- pired, and was mustered out December 22, 1864.
My place as Assistant Surgeon was filled by Dr. W. W. Nel- son, who was born in Wayne county, Ohio, November 30, 1834. He came with his parents to Van Buren county, Iowa, in the fall of 1845, where he was employed on his father's farm until of age, then attended Washington College. He attended his first course of medical lectures at the Iowa State University Medical Depart- ment at Keokuk, Iowa, the winter of '58 and '59, and a second course at the Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa., where he graduated in the spring of 1860.
He practiced medicine for two years in Van Buren county, when he was commissioned by Governor Kirkwood as Assistant Surgeon of the 15th Iowa Infantry August 19, "'62; was mustered into the United States service by Lieutenant Charles J. Ball, 13th Infantry United States Mustering Officer, September 14, '62, at Keokuk, Iowa; joined his Regiment at Iuka, Miss .; remained with it until November, when he was taken sick with malarial fever and lay in the general hospital at Corinth, Miss., for two or three weeks, suf- fering severely, and recovering, joined his Regiment at Grand Junction, Tenn.
In the spring of 1863 he was ordered to take charge of the small- pox hospital at Lake Providence, La., by order of General Mc- 8
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Pherson. After one month was relieved and placed in charge of the 6th Division Pioneer Corps, commanded by Captain Davis, of the 32d Illinois; returned to his Regiment in August, 1863, and had charge of the sick of the Brigade when the Regiments made their march to Monroe, La.
Being again ill in camp near Vicksburg, he was treated by Dr. McClellan, of the 16th Iowa; then, by order of General Grant, was given leave to proceed North for twenty days, at the expiration of which time he rejoined his Regiment, taking charge of two com- panies detached on duty at the Arsenal near Vicksburg, and also had charge of Pioneer Corps and Engineer Regiment, commanded by Captain John Wilson. He remained with the above commands until the spring of 1864, when he was relieved and placed in charge of the non-veterans and recruits of the Iowa Brigade.
He was in charge of this detachment until their respective com- mands joined them ( from veteran furlough) near Huntsville, Ala.
Assistant Surgeon Nelson was here placed in charge of the 3d. Iowa Veteran Infantry, commanded by Colonel Aaron Brown, and remained with this Regiment until it was consolidated with the 2d Iowa Veteran Infantry, which occurred near Jones' plantation, Ga., on Sherman's March to the Sea, on or about Dec. 1,.1864.
Dr. Nelson again joined his Regiment, and from December 22d, the date of Surgeon Wmn. H. Gibbon's muster out (by reason of expiration of term of service, ) he was in charge of the Regiment, and for the last seven months of the service was the only medical officer with the command. He was mustered out with his Regi- ment at the close of the war at Louisville, Ky., July 24, 1865.
In the fall of 1865 he located in Birmingham, Van Buren county, Iowa, where he superintends a farm as well as practices his profes- sion. He spent one year visiting California with his family; has performed several capital operations with success, and is classed with the best in his profession in southern Iowa.
Dr. Hezekiah Fisk, of Indianola, Iowa, First Lieutenant of Com-
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Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry.
pany G, captured in battle at Shiloh, rejoined the Regiment at Lafayette, Tenn., January 6, 1863, and was appointed Second As- sistant Surgeon March 7, 1863. He was a man of high moral sentiments, a fervid Christian and consistent member of the Meth- odist Church, and a physician of rare skill and devotion to his pro- fession. The whole Regiment mourned his untimely death, and each officer and private soldier felt a deep personal grief. During the siege of Atlanta Dr. Fisk was in ill health nearly all the time. On the 17th of August, 1864, he sent a note to me while I was detailed as one of the operators at the Division Hospital, with a request that I would come and see him, as he wanted to consult with me concerning his health, and about getting a leave of absence. I went to him at once, and found him in an arbor of green boughs, put up just in the rear of our breast-works. He was lying on a little bunk made of poles and covered with cotton he had gathered in the neighborhood. He told me of his poor health, and wanted me to assist about the leave of absence. I persuaded him to wait for a few days, as such an application was regarded with great dis- favor except in extreme cases . 3 While sitting in his chair by his bedside, I noticed bullets from the rebel lines were dropping very close to me, one passing just over my head, another about two feet to my right and striking the ground about ten feet in advance of me, then another to the left. At the time I thought but little of it, supposing them to be random bullets. After we had talked possi- bly fifteen minutes, Dr. Fisk being in a much more cheerful mood, I got on my horse and rode back to the hospital, a distance of half a mile. I had just arrived and dismounted when an orderly came in great haste, saying Dr. Fisk had been shot directly after I left him. I returned to him immediately, and found he had been shot in the back near the left shoulder blade, the ball ranging down- ward. He was much shocked and already considerably weakened by internal hemorrhage. I took him to the hospital and gave him every care and attention, and the next day took him to the general
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hospital at Marietta. He seemed to bear the ride well, and I began to hope his wound might not be fatal. But still he had that pecul- iar numbness of the feet which indicated a serious spinal lesion. About 9 o'clock I left him for a few minutes, hoping he might go to sleep. When I went back he was still awake. I gave him a small dose of morphine, adjusted his pillow, and asked him if he thought he could take a nap. He replied in his humorous way that he thought he could "make an average crop of it." The next instant he was dead, and the world had lost one of its best and truest men .
The campaigns of Shiloh and Vicksburg told severely upon the health of the men. The radical change of life, the exposure, the drinking of creek water, together with the casualties of battle, had reduced the Regiment about one-fourth, so that when we entered upon the Atlanta campaign, the Regiment in its physique and MORALE
morals was undoubtedly one of the most effective in the service. This result was largely due to the exceptionally good quality of the men themselves, and to the soldierly traits of Colonel Belknap, whose genius for command was the inspiration of all. When off duty he was frequently seen in company quarters in familiar chat with line officers and men, and in this way gained an individual and biographical knowledge of each one, which was invaluable to him in the matter of promotions, and made him seem the personal friend of every man in the Regiment. And yet he was a skillful tactician and a thorough disciplinarian . In battle his stentorian voice could be heard above the roar of musketry, while his tremendous energy was an example to officers and men, which gave the Regiment great prestige for daring and endurance.
In looking back over my army life I find much food for pleasant reflection. I was acquainted with almost every man in the Regi- ment, and some of the warmest friendships I ever formed were with the private soldiers. A surgeon's efficiency depends largely upon his individual acquaintance with the men. Bad management
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on the part of the surgeon can greatly impair the usefulness of a Regiment. Want of discrimination in making up the " off duty " list will rapidly demoralize a Regiment. Respect for the surgeon is soon lost by putting men on duty who should be off, and leaving off duty those who should be on. A thorough personal knowledge of the men is the only remedy.
As I have already occupied more space than that allotted to me, I must now say farewell to my old Regimental friends, officers and men. How shall I ever forget my genial friend and companion at the rear of the Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel J. M. Hedrick? I owe him a great debt of gratitude for his cheery words and inimit- able humor. His dreadful wound is slowly wasting his strength, but the heart of every man in the Regiment goes out in sympathy for him in his suffering.
Looking back through the vista of twenty years and recalling our army life, its grand and stirring incidents are still vivid and fresh in our memory, undimmed by the lapse of time and the cares of the rolling years. As the Cavalry horse takes his place in the line at the call of the bugle, so a soldier when he hears the old, familiar martial airs, in imagination takes his place in the ranks, hears the rattle of the musketry, and the boom of the cannon, sees the ground strewn with the dead and dying, and feels his pulse leap with that inspiring thrill which none but a soldier in action can ever know.
But we have made our last march, and fought our last battle; we have buried our beloved comrades by every stream, from bloody Shiloh to the Sea, and shall soon cross the river, whence there is no return, and camping on the other side we will sing the old songs and joyously greet each other in the last Grand Review .
W. H. GIBBON,
Surgeon 15th Iowa Volunteers.
Chariton, Iowa, May, 1887.
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History of the Fifteenth Regiment
PART III.
OUR FIRST ROSTER .- THE 1000 MEN WANTED. "FALL IN" 1113 STRONG.
ORIGINAL ROSTER FIFTEENTH IOWA INFANTRY.
FIELD AND STAFF.
"A" COMPANY, "B" COMPANY, "C" COMPANY, "D" COMPANY,
"E" COMPANY, "F" COMPANY, "G" COMPANY,
"I" COMPANY, "H" COMPANY,
"K" COMPANY,
COMPANIES UNKNOWN.
Fifteenth Iowa Infantry. Roster of Field and Staff.
NAMES.
RESIDENCE.
Nat- ivity.
RANK.
Date of Date of going into must'r into Quarters. U. S. Serv.
REMARKS.
Hugh T. Reid
50 Keokuk,
Ind. Colonel.
Nov 1, '61 Feb 22, '62 Com. Nov. 1, '61, wd. severely in neck at Shiloh
William Dewey
50 Sidney,
Mass. Lt. Col. Nov 1, 61 Nov 6. '61 Com. Nov. 1, '61, Pro. Col. 23d Iow. Aug. 1,'62. N. Y. Lt. Col. Oct 7, '61 Aug 1, '62 From Major, Wd. severely left arm at Corinth
William W. Belknap
31 Keokuk,
N. Y . Major.
Oct 7, '61 Dec 7, '61 Com. Oct. 7. '61. Wd. shoulder at Shiloh.
Wm. [. Cunningham
36 Knoxville,
Va. Major
Oct 24, '61 Aug 1, '62 From Capt G. Co. Wd, left arm at Corinth.
George Pomutz
34 New Buda.
Hgry Adjutant.
Dec 23, '61 Dec 23, '61 Wounded in thigh at Shiloh.
Mortimer A. Higley
23 Cedar Rapids Conn Qr. Master Sep 17, 61 Feb 20, '62 From 1st Lieutenant A. Co.
Samuel B. Davis
35|Atchison, Ks Ohio. Surgeon Feb 22, '62 Feb 23, '69 1)td. Med. Div. 3d Brig & 6th Div. Army Tenn.
William H. Gibbon
29 Chariton,
Md. Ass't Surg. Nov 2, '61 Nov 30, '61 Pro. Surg'n Dec. 1, '63.
William W. Estabrook 34 Clinton,
N B. Chaplain. Feb 22, '62 Com. Dec. 2, '61.
Jesse B Penniman Alexander Brown Rufus H. Eldredge
Andrew Mitchell
25 Cedar Rapids Scotl. Q. M. Serg Sep 23, '61 Nov 16, '61 Fr 2d Corpl. A. Co. Red to rks. Sept. 3, '62 pro.
James H Flvnt
92 Des Moines,
Oct 15, '61 Nov 9, '61 From 6th Corpl. B. Co [4th Ser. Oct. 18, 62.] N. Y. Q. M. Serg
Robert W. Cross
Ind. Com. Serg Nov 4. '61 Nov 9, '61 Pro. Qr. Mr. 23d Iowa Aug. 11, '62.
Elisha W. Elliott
Henry F. Felgar
Lucius Boudinot
44 Polk City,
Ohio. Hosp. Stwt Nov 15, '61 Dec 1, '61 Fr. Private E. Co. Died Keokuk. Feb. 20, '62. V. J. Hosp. Stwt Oct 10, '61 Nov 9. '61 Fr. Priv. B. Co. Dischg'd disability Sept. 1, '62. N. Y. Hosp. Stwt Jan 21, '62 Feb 13, '62 From Private K. Co.
Cornelius Inglefield
39 Knoxville,
Nathan A. Leonard
43 Oskaloosa,
Vt. Drum Maj Oct 22, '61 Oct 30, '61 Fr. Mus'en B. Co. Dischg'd disblty July 11, '62 Penn Drum Maj Oct 24, '61 Nov 25 '61 From Drummer G. Co.
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