USA > Iowa > History of the Thirtieth Iowa Infantry Volunteers : giving a complete record of the movements of the regiment from its organization until mustered out > Part 13
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
-
٠
126
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
until three-fourths of the regiment had crossed the road, when our proximity to the rebels on my left and in the road, caused very so -. vere skirmishing. Two regiments of the second division now came up on my left rear, I think the 6th Missouri and the 30th Ohio. One of them, the 6th Missouri, deployed as skirmishers. I made arrangements with the officer commanding the last mentioned reg- iment to join the two regiments with mine, and at a given signal the 25th Iowa and the 6th Missouri should make a charge. The charge proved entirely successful, although at a severe loss in the 25th Iowa. We drove the enemy's skirmishers, composed of Hoke's division from the Virginia army, back to their works, across the swamp, clearing the road and opening communication with the fourteenth corps. The officers and men of the 25th . Iowa be- haved handsomely and fought desperately. Lieutenant Colonel Pal- mer commanding the regiment, and Capt. Allen, acting major, who lost his right leg in the engagement, deserve notice for ex- posing themselves freely and for the gallant manuer in which they cheered their men forward.
At night I retired to a new line and my place was occupied by other troops. I have already sent you the list of casualities and the number of prisoners captured.
On the 21st inst. I had orders to erect a new line of works on the skirmish line, and at 10 o'clock p. m. I moved three regiments to the front line, the 4th Iowa on the right, connecting on the left of the first brigade, Brevet Brigadier General Woods commanding, the 30th Iowa in the center and the 9th Iowa on the left. The 25th and 31st Iowa were in the rear, held in reserve. We put up a tem- porary line of works under fire of the enemy, and at 2 o'clock I re- ceived orders to charge the enemy's skirmish line, one hundred and fifty yards in my front in good skirmish pits. We captured the pits with but slight loss, but the enemy evinced so much determination to regain them that the fighting became very sharp. The enemy's main line of battle, behind good works, was by actual measure- ment but one hundred yards from these skirmish pits, and he fired from the works by volley. At three different times they followed up the fire by volley by an assault on my skirmishers. Their men swarmed over works and charged gallantly, but I had reenforced the line till I had nearly a line of battle, and our incessant firing prevented him from charging as a perfect organization, and every charge was repulsed. The order came to me so positively to hold the ground I had already gained, from Generals Howard and Logan, that I should have done so or ruined the brigade. At
127
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
night I relieved the skirmishers' line with the 31st lowa, Lien- tenant Colonel Jenkins commanding. Colonel Jenkins managed the new line admirably. It rained a good deal during the night, but his men worked faithfully, and he put np quite a strong line of works so near the enemy that the conversation had to be carried on in a whispers.
Captain Teale of the 4th Iowa deserves especial notice for his gallantry in holding the most exposed and dangerous part of the line. I regret to annonnce this gallant young officer was severely wounded in the leg. Lieutenant-Colonel Nichols and Major Ander- son, of the Ith lowa, deserves mention for voluntarily going on the skirmish line when there was some wavering manifested. Capt- ain Bowman, of my staff, also exposed himself freely, and deserves notice. I mention these offers from personal observation, as twice during the day I deemed it my duty to go on the skirmish line myself. The other officers on theskirmish line, Captain In- man, 9th Iowa, Lientenant Shields 4th Iowa, Lieutenant Sharp, 9th lowa, Lieutenant Reffley, 30th lowa, are all reported to me to have behaved well and set a good example to their men. The loss in the skirmish line was quite severe. I sent you an official list of casualties the same night, and the prisoners cap- tured.
On the morning of the 22nd, half an hour before day, I rode out to the advance post, and ordered a patrol forward to feel of the enemy; but it was discovered that he had left during the night. I at once sent word to the general commanding the division, and with a detachment of the 31st, followed him. Everything indicat- ed a precipitate retreat; a few stragglers were picked up; some of . their dead and wounded were found near the roadside, uneared for; and quite a number of small arms, haversacks and clothing were found scattered, in their deserted camp.
Just at sunrise I ran onto their rear guard, composed of cavalry, and my detachment being too small to fight it, I covered the road with a few men to make an effect, and ordered some ten or fifteen men as skirmishers to annoy the enemy until a regiment, the 31st Iowa, which I had just ordered up, should arrive.
Very soon after this onr entire division moved to Bentonville, where we remained during the day, and at sundown we returned to the camp we had left in the morning. The graves of seventeen rebel officers in my front indicate that the enemy suffered severely in killed and wounded. On our march to Goldsboro', on the 23rd inst., I had the good fortune to have the post of honor-rear gnard
128
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
for the Army of the Tennessee. The rear of my command fell npon the 25th lowa. On the 21th inst. I was ordered to remain at the pontoon bridge over the Neuse viver, near Goldsboro', to cover the crossing of our corps train, and on the 26th inst. I re- joined the division in camp near Goldsboro'.
During the campaign just closed, this brigade has been in four engagements with the following loss: killed, 7; wounded, 64; niiss- ing 12. We have captured and turned over to the provost marshal 145 prisoners of war. In taking Columbia, South Carolina, we captured 13 pieces of artillery about, 5, 000 stands of arms, immense quantities of ammunition and ordinance stores, and release l forty officers confined there. We have marched 185 miles, built 15, 037 yards of corduroy roads, and destroyed three miles of railroad. The brigade is in excellent health and spirits, but very ragged.
My thanks are due all my staff officers, Captain John H. Bell, 25th Iowa, acting assistant quartermaster general; Lieutenant Sam W. Snow, 25th Iowa, acting assisting adjutant general; Capt. A. Bowman, 9th Iowa; Lieutenant Baron H. Crane. 25th lowa; Lieu- D. Roriek, 31st lowa, how in the hands of the enemy, and J. W. Gilman, 31st Iowa, acting assistant quartermaster, for the zeal and earnestness with which they have discharged their whole duty in the campaign just ended.
I am, captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEORGE A. STONE, Colonel 25th Iowa Volunteers,
Commander of the Brigade. To Captain Fred H. Wilson, Acting Assistant Adjutant General. First Division, Fifteenth Army Corps.
The following is General Logan's farewell address to the Army of the Tennessee:
HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE, LOUISVILLE, KY., July 13, 1865. OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS OF THE ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE:
The profound gratification that I feel in being authorized to release you from the enormous obligations of the camp, and return you, ladened with laurels, to homes where warm hearts welcome you, is somewhat embittered by the painful reflections that I am severing the ties that trials have made true, time made tender, suffering made sacred, perils made proud, heroism made honorable, and fame made forever fearless of the future. It is no common oe-
129
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
casion that demands the disbandment of a military organization, before the resistless power of which mountains bristling with bay- onets have bowed, cities have surrendered. and millions of brave men have been conquered.
Although I have been but for a short period your commander, we are no strangers; affections have sprung up between us during the long years of doubt, gloom and carnage we have passed through together, nurtured by common perils, sufferings and sacrifices, and rivited by the memories of valiant comrades whose bones re- pose beneath the sod of a hundred battle fields, nor time nor dis- tance will weaken or efface. The many marches you have made, the dangers you have despised, the haughtiness you have humbled, the duties you have discharged, the glory you have gained, the destiny you have discovered for the country in whose cause you have conquered, all recur at this moment in all the vividness that marks the scenes through which we have just passed.
From the pens of the ablest historians of the land are daily drifting out upon the current of time, page upon page, volume upon volume of your heroje deeds, and floating down to future generations, will inspire the student of history to admiration, the patriotic American with veneration for his ancestors, and to the lover of republican liberty, with gratitude for those who, in a fresh baptism of blood, reconstructed the powers and energies of the republic to the cause of constitutional freedom. Long may it be the happy fortune of each and every one of you to live in the full fruition of the boundless blessings you have secured to the hu- man race. Only he whose heart has been thrilled with admiration for your impetuous and unyielding valor in the thickest of the fight can appreciate with what pride I recount the brilliant achieve- ments which immortalize you and enrich the pages of our national history.
Passing by the earlier, but not less signal triumph of the war, in which most of you participated, and inscribed upon your banners such victories as Donnelson and Shiloh, I recall two campaigns, sieges and victories which challenge the admiration of the world, and elicit the unwilling applause of all Europe.
Turning your backs upon the blood-bathed heights of Vicksburg, you launched into a region swarming with enemies, fighting your way and marching without adequate supplies, to answer the cry for succor that comes to you from the noble but beleagered army at Chattanooga.
Your steel next flashed among the mountains of Tennessee and
130
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
your weary limbs found rest before the embattled heights of Mis- sion ridge, and there with dauntless courage you breasted again the enemy's destructive fire, and shared with your comrades of the Army of the Cumberland, the glories of a victory than which no soldier can boast a prouder.
In that unexampled campaign of vigilent and vigorous warfare from Chattanooga to Atlanta, you freshened your laurels ar Resaca, with grappling with the enemy behind his works, hurling him back dismayed and broken. Pursuing him thence, marking your path by graves of fallen comrades, you again triumphed over su- perior numbers at Dallas, fighting your way from there to Kene- saw, and under the murderous artillery that frowned from its rug- ged heights, with a tenacity and constancy that finds few parallels, you labored, fought and suffered through the boiling rays of a southern mid-summer sun, until at last you planted your colors upon its topmost heights.
Again, on the 22nd of July, 1861, rendered memorable through all the time for the terrible struggle you so heroically maintained under disasters, and that saddest of all reflections, the loss of the exemplary soldier and popular leader, the lamented MePherson, your matchless courage turned defeat into glorious victory.
Ezra Chapel and Jonesboro' added new luister to a radient record, the latter unbarring to you the proud gate city of the south.
The daring of a desperate foe in thrusting his legions northward, exposed the country in your front, and though rivers, swamps and enemies opposed, you boldly surmounted every obstacle, beat down all opposition, and marched forward to the sea. Without any act to dim the brightness of your historic page, the world rang pland- its when your labors and struggles culminated at Savannah, and the "old starry banners" waved once more over the walls of one of the proudest cities of the sea board.
Scarcely a breathing spell had passed when your colors faded from the coast and your colummms plunged into the swamps of the Carolinas. The suffering's you endured, the labors you per- formed, and the successes you achieved in these morasses deemed impossible, forins a creditable episode in the history of the war. Pocotaligo, Salkahatchie, Edisto, Branchville, Orangeburg, Colum bia, Bentonville, Charleston and Raleigh, are names that will ever De suggestive of the resistless sweep of your columnms through the territory that cradled and nurtured, and from whence was sent forth on its mission of crime, the disturbing and disorganizing spirit of secession and rebellion.
£
131
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
The work for which you pledged your brave hearts and brawny arms to the government of your fathers you have nobly performed. You are seen in the past, gathering in the gloom that envelops the land, rallying as the guardians of man's honest heritage, forgetting the thread unwoven upon the loom, quitting the anvil and abandoning the workshops, to vindicate the supremacy of the laws and the authority of the constitution. For years having struggled in the bloodiest and most destructive war that ever drenched the earth with human gore: step by step you have borne our standard, until today, over every fortress and arsenel that rebellion wrench- ed from us, and over city, town and hamlet, from the lakes to the gulf and from ocean to ocean, proudly floats the "starry emblem" of our national unity and strength.
Your rewards, my comrades, are the welcoming plaudits of a grateful people, the consciousness that in saving the republic you have won for your country, renewed respect and power at home and abroad; that in the exampled era of growth and prosperity that dawns with peace, there attached mightier wealth of pride than ever before to that loved boast, "Iam an American citizen."
In relinquishing the implements of war for those of peace, let your conduct ever be that of warriors in time of war, and peaceful citizens in time of peace. Let not the luster of that bright name that you have won as soldiers, be dinnned by any improper acts as citizens, but as time rolls on let your record grow brighter and brighter still. JOHN A. LOGAN, Major General.
.
The following general orders were issued by General Sherman as a farewell to his command:
[Special Field Orders No. 76. ]
HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI. IN THE FIELD, WASHINGTON, D. C., May 30, 1865. The general commanding announces to the Armies of the Temes see and Georgia, that the time has come for us to part. Our work is done, and armed enemies no longer defy us. Some of you will go to your homes, and others will be retained in military service till further order .
1
二
132
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH JOWA INFANTRY.
And now that we are about to separate, to mingle with the civil world, it becomes a pleasing duty to recall to mind the situation of national affairs when, but little more than a year ago, we were . gathered about the cliffs of Lookout mountain, and all the future was wrapped in doubt and uncertainty.
Three armies had come together from distant fields, with separ- ate histories, yet bound by one common cause --- the union of our country, and the perpetuation of the government of our inheri- tance. There is no need to recall to your memories Tunnel Hill, with Rocky Face Mountain and Buzzard Roost Gap and the ugly forts of Dalton behind.
We were in earnest, and paused not for danger and difficulty. but dashed through Snake Creek Gap and fell on Resaca; then on to the Etowah, to Dallas, Konesaw; and the heats of summer found us on the banks of the Chattahoochee, far from home, and depend- ant on a single road for supplies. Again we were not to be held back by any obstacle, and crossed over and fought four bard bat- tles for the possession of the cita lel of Atlanta. That was the crisis of our history. A doubt still clouded our future, but we solved the problem, destroyed Atlanta, struck boldly across the state of Georgia, severed all the main arteries of life to our enemy, and Christmas found us at Savannah.
Waiting there only long enough to fill our wagons, we again be- gan a march which, for peril, labor and results, will compare with any ever made by an organized army. The floods of the Savannah, the swamps of the Combahee and Edisto, the "high hills" and rocks of the Santee, the flat quagmires of the Podee and Cape Fear rivers, were all passed in midwinter, with its floods and rains, in the face of an accumulating enemy; and, after the battles of Av- erysboro' and Bentonsville, we once more came out of the wilder- ness, to meet our friends at Goldsboro'. Even then we paused on- ly long enough to get new clothing, reload our wagons and again pushed on to Raleigh and beyond, until we met our enemy sucing for peace, instead of war, and offering to submit to the injured laws of his and our country. As long as that onemy was defiant, neith er moutains, nor rivers, nor swamps, nor huager, nor cold, had checked us; but when he, who had fought us hard and persistently, offered submission, your general thought it wrong to pursue him farther, and negotiations followed, winch resulted, as you all know, in his surrender.
How far the operations of this army contributed to the final ov- erthrow of the confederacy and the peace which now dawns upon
133
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
us, must be judged by others, not by us; but that you have done all that men could do has been admitted by those' in authority, and we have a right to join in the universal joy that fills our land be- cause the war is over, and our government stands vindicated before the world by the joint action of the volunteer armies and navy of the United States.
To such as remain in the service, your general need only remind you that success in the past was due to hard work and discipline, and that the same work and discipline are equally important in the future. To such as go home, he will only say that our favored country is so grand, so extensive, so diversified in climate, soil and productions, that every man may find a home and occupation suit- ed to his taste; none should yield to the natural impatience sure to result from our past life of excitement and adventure. You will be invited to seek new adventures abroad; do not yield to the temp- tation, for it will lead ouly to death and disappointment.
Your general now bids you farewell, with the full belief that, as in war you have been good soldiers, so in peace you will make good citizens; and if, unfortunately, new war should arise in our country, "Sherman's army" will be the first to buckle on its old armor, and come forth to defend and maintain the government of our inheritance.
By order of Major General W. T. Sherman,
L. M. DAYTON, Assistant Adjutant General.
The following general orders are General Grant's farewell to the . union armies:
[General Order No. 108] WAR DEPARTMENT, ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C., June 2, 1865. SOLDIERS OF THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES:
By your patriotic devotion to your country in the hour of danger and alarm -your magnificent fighting, bravery, and endur- auce -you have maintained the supremacy of the union and the constitution, overthrown all arms in opposition to the enforcement of the law and of the proclamations forever abolishing slavery - the cause and pretext of the rebellion, and opened the way to the rightful authorities to restore order and inaugurate peace, on a permanent and enduring basis on every foot of American soil.
Your marches, sieges and battles, in distance, duration, resolu-
134
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
tion and brilliancy of result, dim the lustre of the world's past military achievements, and will be the patriots' defense and right in all time to conte.
In obedience to your country's call, you left homes and family and volunteered in its defense. Victory has crowned your valor and secured the purpose of your patriotic heart; and with the grat- itude of your countrymen, and the highest honors a great and free nation can accord you, will soon be permitted to return to your homes and family, conscious of having discharged the highest duty of American citizens.
To achieve these glorious triumphs, and secure to yourselves, your fellow countrymen and your posterity, the blessing of free insti- tutions, tens of thousands of your brave comrades have fallen, and sealed the priceless legacy with their lives. The graves of these, a faithful nation bedews with tears, honors and memories, and will ever cherish and support their stricken families.
U. S. GRANT, Lieutenant General.
The following congratulatory letter was issued by Governor W. M. Stone:
STATE OF IOWA, EXECUTIVE OFFICE, DES MOINES, July 12, 1865.
SOLDIERS OF IOWA:
The conspicuous and honorable part you have borne in the arduous struggle for the preservation of our national government, has excited the admiration of your countrymen and secured for yourselves an imperishable nanie. Your constancy and patience so often tried, your patriotism and valor universally acknowledged, have culminated in the triumph of national authority, and the perpetuity of the union which our fathers established.
With your bayonets the name of Iowa has been carved upon the brightest pages of history. From the banks of the Des Moines you fought your way to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic seaboard, stacking your arms at the close of the war, on the banks of the Potomac, in the shadow of the nation's capitol. Such marches, sieges, and battles, the world has never witnessed before, either in ancient or modern times; surpassing in conception, and boldness of execution, the world renowned campaigns of Cyrus or Alexander, Caesar or Napoleon, they will give historic grandure to the age, and render immortal the glory of their arnis.
135
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
In the name of the people of Iowa, whose country you have saved and whose state you have honored, I bid you a heartfelt welcome to your homes, and extend to you the assurance of their pride in your fame, and their lasting gratitude for your heroic achievements. Nobly have you maintained the honor of your state in every campaign and battle, and faithfully redeemed the confi- dence reposed in your valor.
Looking upon your now thinmed ranks, we are mournfully reminded of your many comrades, shumbering in their lonely graves, in the fields of glory where they died. Your banners, torn by the storms and dimmed by thesmoke of battle, we shall receive and deposit among the other valued memorials of your fame. The remembrance of your honorable scars and many vic- tories will be reverently cherished and transmitted as a part of the common heritage. Soldiers in war, you return as citizens to mingle with your friends and engage in the pursuits of peace.
Committing to the care of a generous people, the widows and orphans of those who have fallen, we invoke for the surviving he- roes the continued guidance of Him who sheltered them amid the trials and dangers of the war.
W. M. STONE, Governor.
CHAPTER VIII.
OUR REUNION.
A poem changed and revised by the Major of the regiment, to meet the history of services rendered by the 30th Iowa, and for re cital by his daughter, Ada B. Creamer, at the regimental reunion at Brighton, Iowa, September 29th and 30th, 1886.
The skies o'er head are soft and clear, For autumn rules the varied year, And in the field and in the wold, The stately trees are garbed in gold. Behold how clear the rivers run Southward beneath the October's snu: And everywhere on hill and plain, The garners hold their stores of grain. A right you have to meet once more To talk and fight your battles o'er; Oft to recall the lonely march Beneath the star-bespangled arch, The dreary post, the red redonbt Where comrades, brave, were mustered ont And campfires, whose cheerful gleams Light np the gray haired soldier's dreams, For twenty-odd years sweet peace has spread Her wings above your gallant dead ;. And summer's breezes love to wave The silken grass above each grave. Not as you went away, you stand Together here, a little band Is all we see: yet long ago
137
HISTORY OF THE THIRTIETH IOWA INFANTRY.
We saw the winds your banners blow, We heard your war drums beat tattoo. We saw your well filled ranks of blue, And laughed to see the sun- god set On fire each loyal bayonet.
We saw you march a thousand strong From Keokuk; through a cheering throng,
And thought, though but a child, with pain, That all would not come back again. And all did not come back again, ah, no! Some slumber where they met the foe; In peace they sleep this autumn day,
Where blazed the campfires of the gray. 'Tis not for me in rhyme to sing . The deeds that still are echoing Adown the corridors of fame, Where glory carves the soldier's name.
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.