USA > Iowa > Iowa colonels and regiments: being a history of Iowa regiments in the war of the rebellion; and containing a description of the battles in which they have fought > Part 9
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At day-light on the morning of the 7th, the troops of Carr's Division were put hurriedly under arms, and marched north- ward. None but Carr and his brigade commanders knew the object of the movement ; for it was supposed the enemy would make their attack from the south and south-west. But no time was given for breakfast, and all knew there must be danger from an unexpected quarter. Colonel Dodge, having marched his brigade a mile or more, turned eastward, along what was known as the White River road. Companies E and K, of the 4th Iowa, constituted the van-guard, they being followed by one section of the 1st Iowa Battery. Suddenly the sharp barking of musketry was heard. Dodge had come upon the enemy's cavalry, reconnoitering for the advance of their infantry; but this force was soon dispersed, and pursued through the timber and past the rough and rocky hills, beyond and around which was Cross Timber Hollows. Dodge took up his position on these hills, with the enemy beyond in the fallen timber. Colonel Vandever, with his brigade, was to the left on the Springfield road; and there the severe fighting first began. Vandever's line was soon broken, and forced back, and Dodge had no alternative but to retire. In the meantime, the enemy were moving round Dodge's right. Gaining the ground out of the fallen timber, they swung round to the south, and, the first intimation he had of their approach, they were moving in heavy masses through open country to pass his right, and cut him off. Promptly changing position "by the right flank, file left," the colonel threw his handful of troops along an old fence, with timber on his right and left, and an open field in his front; in the latter, the enemy were forming for a charge. At this alarming juncture, he had only two regiments-the 4th lowa and 35th Illinois. The enemy
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outnumbered him nearly ten to one; and, in addition, they were supported by artillery. Concealing his men behind the fence, Colonel Dodge awaited their approach. After a vigorous cannonading, their infantry came sweeping across the field in magnificent style and with a hideous yell, expecting little opposition; but they were met with a deadly fire and driven back. The charge was renewed several times, and each time repulsed. Nor could they force Colonel Dodge from his position, till they began moving columns past his right and left flank. It was the fighting of the 4th Iowa and 35th Illinois, in this position, that so challenged the admiration of General Van Dorn, and other rebel officers.
The services of Colonel Dodge at Pea Ridge ranked those of every other brigade commander: there were none to dispute with him this honor. He was here a second time wounded, and soon after sent to St. Louis, in charge of the surgeon of the 3d Iowa cavalry.
The important services of Colonel Dodge were now recog- nized by the Government; and he was, on the 31st of March, 1862, made a brigadier-general. Early in June of the same year, he was made Post Commandant of Columbus, Kentucky, and, on the 28th of the same month, was assigned to the command of the Central Division, Army of the Tennessee, with head-quarters at Trenton. On the 30th of the following October, he assumed command of the District of Corinth ; and the magnificent works, erected for the defense of that place, were planned and constructed under his personal supervision. From October, 1862, till the 8th of July, 1863, when by order of General Hurlbut he assumed comnand of the left wing of the 16th Army Corps, General Dodge was engaged repeatedly with the enemy under Forrest, Van Dorn, Chalmers, Ruggles and Ferguson; and, in every engagement and expedition, he was successful. In addition to his other labors in the summer
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of 1833, he organized five regiments of colored troops, and several companies of heavy artillery, also colored troops.
In the fall of 1863, General Dodge was transferred, with his command, from Corinth to Pulaski, Tennessee. He left his old field of operations late in October, following on with the rear of Sherman's army, then en route for Chattanooga, but a history of these movements I have given elsewhere. Estab- lishing his head-quarters at Pulaski, he began opening the Nashville and Decatur Railroad, and by Spring had the task nearly completed.
General Dodge most distinguished himself in the Atlanta campaign. The troops of his command were the same that he had commanded on garrison- and railroad-duty. Among them were three lowa regiments-the 2d, 7th and 39th. He joined General Sherman at Chattanooga, early in May, and soon marched out to Dalton, General Johnson's boasted stronghold. Through nearly this entire campaign he held the right of Sher- man's army ; but the details of his services on this march will be more fully given in the sketches of the Iowa regiments of his command. For his gallant and important services in this campaign, he was made a major-general, and there are few officers who have more richly earned the rank.
The general was wounded for the third time, before Atlanta. It happened thus: the morning in question he went out to the trenches of the skirmish line, sporting a new hat, trimmed with a brilliantly polished bugle. If I am rightly informed, some important movement was on hand, in which he was to take part, and, prior to moving, he exposed his head at one of the loop-holes under the head-log, to make observations. The sun, which was shining brightly, reflected on the bugle of his hat, making a fine target for the enemy's sharp-shooters. The rebel's aim was so accurate that the ball struck near the bugle, and, going through the general's hat, passed round under the
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scalp. It did not prove fatal, though for several weeks it dis- abled him for service. This accident occurred early in August, after which he came North, and never after returned to his old command.
On recovering from his wound, he was first placed in com- mand at Vicksburg, Mississippi ; but, in a short time after, succeeded General Rosecrans in Missouri. He is still in com- mand of that department, with head-quarters at St. Louis.
During the present war, no officer, whether of the regular or volunteer service, has made a better record than Major-General Dodge. One officer from our State has made a more brilliant one-General Corse; but that general's services are in no manner to be compared with those of General Dodge. His duties have been varied, and in many instances have involved the greatest responsibility and complexity; but he has met with uniform success in every department of his labors, and has never been relieved from a command unless it was by orders assigning him to another and more important one. His worth has been appreciated by General Grant, who, on more than one occasion, has tendered him high compliments. During operations around Vicksburg, General Dodge was in command at Corinth, one hundred and fifty miles removed from the former city; and yet General Grant stated officially, I am credibly informed, that there was no officer of Dodge's rank in his army to whom he was more indebted for his suc- cess in capturing the stronghold.
In person, General Dodge is a small man, weighing only about one hundred and thirty pounds. I never saw him but once, which was in the summer of 1862, as I was passing through Trenton, Tennessee, at that time the general's head- quarters. He was standing upon the depot platform, and was in conversation with Lieutenant W. S. Burke, of the 17th Iowa. From the lieutenant I afterwards learned that this was the
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gallant, distinguished General Dodge, and I confess I was surprised. He is slightly stooping in the shoulders, and, at first sight, does not look like the man he is. He has a fine eye, though, which, after seeing his shoulder-straps, was the first thing that attracted my attention.
But he has the following distinguishing traits of character, for without them he could never have accomplished what he has. He has an iron will, a mind rich in expedients, and a perseverance that is active and untiring : these traits, with promptness of action, and a judgment remarkably matured for a man of his years, have conspired to make him in fact, as he is in rank, one of the best officers of our army. If Iowa has been honored by her troops in the field, she has been equally honored by her general officers; and in this respect she is indebted to no one more than to General Dodge.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL J. A. WILLIAMSON.
SECOND COLONEL, FOURTH INFANTRY.
JAMES ALEXANDER WILLIAMSON, the suecessor of Major- General Dodge to the colonelcy of the 4th Iowa Infantry, is a Southerner by birth, and a good representative of the old-style chivalry. He is a native of Columbia, Adair county, Ken- tucky ; where he was born on the 8th day of February, 1829. All that I know of his early history is, that he was educated at Knox College, Illinois, where he was known as a hard student and accurate scholar. In 1815, he removed to Iowa, and, ten years later, located in Des Moines, the present home of his family. ITis profession is the law, in the practice of which he was engaged just before entering the army.
Soon after the second call of the President for troops, in the summer of 1861, General Williamson enlisted in the volunteer service for "during the war. " He was commissioned 1st lieu- tenant and adjutant of the 4th lowa Infantry, on the Sth of August, 1861; since which time his history has been almost identical with the history of that regiment; and, as much as we admire the general's military career, we could not, if we would, pay him a higher compliment; for to no Iowa regiment is the State more largely indebted for its military renown than to the noble 4th Iowa. At Pea Ridge, its conduct was most gallant, challenging alike the admiration of friend and foe. General Curtis said : - " This regiment won immortal honors;" and General Van Dorn :- "I never saw troops stand up and fight so before."
During the thirty months subsequent to the 23d of January, 1862, the time when the 4th Iowa left Rolla, Missouri -in its
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march under General Curtis against General Price to Spring- field and to the Ozark Mountains; from that point to Batesville and across the State of Arkansas to Helena; thence to Chicka- saw Bayou and up the Arkansas River to Arkansas Post; from Milliken's Bend round through Grand Gulf and Jackson to the rear of Vicksburg, and then, after the fall of that city, back to Jackson; from Vicksburg to Memphis, and thence across the country to Chattanooga ; and finally, in its march with General Sherman against Atlanta-its record is one continued series of achievements, unsurpassed for success and brilliancy.
That I do not speak of this regiment in too high terms of praise, the following order of General Grant is proof:
" HEAD-QUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE MISSISSIPPI, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, February 28, 1864.
"The Board of officers of the 15th Army Corps, appointed to determine the battles each regiment and battery of that com- mand are entitled to inscribe on their colors and guidons, have made the following award, in the case of the 4th Iowa Infan- try : - Pea Ridge; First at Chickasaw Bayou; Arkansas Post ; Vicksburg-siege and assaults on the 19th and 221 of May; Jackson; Chattanooga. "
But this order is imperfect in details. The following are the skirmishes and engagements in which the 4th Iowa took part, previous to joining the campaign of General Sherman against Atlanta: - Pea Ridge; Chickasaw Bayou; Arkansas Post; Jackson (May 14th, 1863); siege and assaults at Vicksburg ; Jackson (July 12th, 1863); Cherokee Station; Caney Creek; Tuscumbia; Lookout Mountain; and Ringgold. This too, including the battles that the 4th Iowa was engaged in on the Atlanta campaign, is the battle-record of General Williamson.
When Colonel, now Major-General Dodge, was assigned to the command of a brigade under General Curtis, he retained Adjutant J. A. Williamson upon his staff, and made him his Deting assistant adjutant-general. At the battle of Pea Ridge, Lieutenant Williamson acted as did-de-camp to Colonel Dodge,
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and, by his coolness and promptness, rendered important service. I might add, it was his good conduct in that engage- ment that made him lieutenant-colonel of his regiment; for Lieutenant-Colonel Galligan had resigned, for reasons which I will not mention. On the confirmation of Colonel Dodge as brigadier-general, Lieutenant-Colonel Williamson was promo- ted to the colonelcy of the 4th Iowa Infantry.
On the third day's fight at Chickasaw Bayou, Colonel Wil- lianison, in command of his regiment, distinguished himself.
The fleet bearing the command of General Sherman entered the mouth of the Yazoo River, on the morning of the 26th of December, 1862, and proceeded up that stream until opposite Johnson's plantation, which lies on the south bank of the river, and some five miles below Haine's Bluff. At this point Gene- ral Frederick Steele, in command of the 4th Division, 13th Army Corps, debarked his command, and, under instructions from General Sherman, sent out Blair's Brigade on the Johnson road, which leads to the Walnut Hills, in the direction of Vicksburg. That day reconnoissances were made, and that night a new point of attack was determined on. Accordingly, on the following morning, General Steele re-embarked with the brigades of Hovey and Thayer, (in the last of which were the Ith, 9th, 26th and 30th lowa) and, moving further up the river, effected a landing just above the mouth of Chickasaw Bayou. From near this point to the Walnut Hills, a distance of four miles or more, extends a narrow, winding causeway, or lovee, and over this was the only accessible way to the point of attack; for, on either side of the levee, the country is covered with brush and timber, and is so low that, at that time, much of it was under water. Along this highway, which had been obstructed by the enemy with brush aud fallen trees, the brigades of Hovey and Thayer moved, till they had arrived in the vicinity of the bluffs-General Stecle
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says, "within about eight hundred yards;" but it could hardly have been so near. "At this point the levee turned to the left, and continued in a curve for about eight hundred yards; " and, on its farther side, were the enemy's skirmishers and sharp-shooters. General Hovey's Brigade, which was in the advance, endeavored to remove the obstructions in its front, and dislodge the enemy's sharp-shooters; but the position was covered by the enemy's artillery on the bluff, which made it impossible. But this point gained, and still General Steele had little assurance of success; for the steep sides of the bluff were lined with rifle-pits, in which the enemy were lodged in force. The enemy's artillery, too, frowned down upon him from four different points. He believed it impossible to make A a successful assault, and, falling back to the river, returned to Johnson's plantation. On the morning of the 29th instant, General Thayer's Brigade, being the first off the boats, was hurried rapidly forward. It was to be held in reserve, but the zeal of its commander led it directly to the front. "The 26th Iowa was detached to cut a road," and the 30th was met by General Steele, and turned to the right; but the 4th, under the lead of its gallant colonel, moved forward at double-quick, and was the first to enter the enemy's second tier of rifle-pits. It was for its gallant conduct at this point that the 4th Iowa was permitted to inseribe on its colors, "First at Chickasaw Bayou." But the regiment's bravery was of no avail, and that assault was mere butchery; for the whole of Pemberton's Vicksburg army was in possession of the bluffs.
The fact that General Sherman ordered, or permitted, that assault, was, with many, new evidence of his insanity; but it is now, I believe, well settled that the orders under which he acted were unconditional and imperative.
The engagement at Pea Ridge was more protraeted and exhausting, but, for fierceness, it is in no way to be compared
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with that at Chickasaw Bayou. In each of these battles, the 4th lowa was in the hardest of the conflict; but, considering the time it was engaged in each, its loss was fifty per cent. greater in the latter than in the former. Its loss at Chickasaw Bayou was one hundred and twelve, out of an aggregate of three hundred and fifty taken into the engagement. Lieutenants L. Pitzer, E. C. Miller, and J. H. Miller were among the killed; and Colonel Williamson and Captain R. A. Stitt of Company F, among the wounded.
In the re-organization of the army before the final Vicksburg campaign, the 4th Iowa Infantry was assigned to the 15th Army Corps; and, with that command, it has served ever since. Its losses in the assaults on the enemy's works in rear of Vicksburg were heavy; and at Chattanooga, where, under General Osterhaus, it joined General Hooker in scaling Lookout Mountain, the loss in killed was especially heavy. In the march of General Sherman on Atlanta, it engaged the enemy at Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, and in the battles of the 22d and 28th of July, and at Jonesboro. Its conduct before Atlanta, on the 22d of July, was gallant in the extreme, as was also that of the 9th Iowa. An account of the part it acted, during that day, will be found in the sketch of the last named regiment.
In the march from Atlanta to Savannah, the 4th Iowa was brigaded with the 9th, 25th, 26th, 30th, and 31st Iowa regiments-the same troops who afterwards captured the city of Columbia, South Carolina. While in rear of Savannah, these troops had a compliment paid them, to which I should in justice allude. The brigade, General Williamson commanding, arrived in rear of Savannah, on the 11th of December, and, on the 20th instant, was one of the commands selected to carry the enemy's works, and force an entrance into the city. The assault was to come off on the morning of the 21st; but the
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night previous General Hardee fled. To appreciate the value of this compliment, it is necessary to understand the position of the brigade, and the character of obstacles to be overcome. Its position was in the low lands south-west of Savannah, and on the right of the road leading to the city. Five hundred yards in its front was the Little Ogechee, whose north-east bank was fortified, and held by the enemy: between its line and the river was the Grave Yard Battery. The bridge over the Ogechee was destroyed, and the waters of the stream, much swollen. The brigade was to cross on rafts, planks, and poles, placed by a storming party. It was a hazardous under- taking ; but, had not General Hardee fled, it would doubtless have been successfully accomplished.
The 4th Iowa Infantry has met the enemy in eight differ- ent rebel States-Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, and has never been repulsed; only once has it been compelled to yield the ground it had wrested from the enemy.
In closing an official statement of the services of his regiment called for by the Adjutant-General of Iowa, General William- son says: If "stayed at Nashville a few days to get an outfit, and then started on the campaign against Atlanta, and has only halted in line of battle since, until its arrival at this place, on the 7th instant. This is not a regiment which has ordina- rily been at 'posts.' I can hardly realize the meaning of the term. We have stopped a few weeks to rest after a campaign, but never had charge of any post sinee the regiment was really equipped for the field at Rolla, in the fall of 1861.
"Our records, reports, and returns are made from the place where we happened to be when they fell due, and one camp has been almost as much a 'post' with us as another."
Sub-equently to the spring of 1863, General Williamson has been in command of the brigade to which his regiment has
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been attached; and during all this time has enjoyed, in an uncommon degrec, the confidence of his superior officers. In proof of this I give the following instance: While Governor Stone was on a visit to the army before Atlanta, in the summer of 1861, he met General Sherman at his head-quarters. In the course of conversation, the names of different Iowa officers were introduced, when Governor Stone enquired: " Where, general, is Colonel Williamson ?" "With his command and doing his duty, as he always is," was the reply; and only those who know General Sherman can appreciate the worth of this compliment.
General Williamson was not promoted to his present rank until the winter of 1861-5. Why such merit was so long unre- warded, has been a question much canvassed, and has produced not a little indignation, both in and out of the army. I give the following on the authority of a distinguished citizen of General Williamson's city :- On one occasion, the family of General Williamson being sick, that officer, knowing the long delay that would follow in obtaining a leave of absence through the regular channel, applied directly to the War Department. He obtained his leave and left for his home, after presenting his papers at corps head-quarters. The corps commander, who was, and still is jealous of his authority, was indignant ; and from that time until the fall of 1864, although conceding the merit and claims of the general, declined to urge his promo- tion.
General Williamson is of medium hight, and has a fine, symmetrical form. His full, gray eyes, which in his ordinary moods have a sort of absent and care-worn expression, tingle with intelligence and animation as soon as he becomes inter- ested in conversation. In manners he is modest and reserved. He never begs favors. In New England he would be appreci- ated; but, for a Western man, he lacks impudence.
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The editor of the Cass County "Gazette," an intimate acquaintance of the general, speaks thus of him :
"Colonel Williamson is a refined, chivalrous gentleman, whom one must know to appreciate. To those who win his confidence, he is lavishly.sociable; but, for those who treat him coolly, he has no smile or word of gladness. He rarely alters a deliberate opinion, and we know of but one exception ; once of the best Democratie blood of the North, he is now a warm friend of Lincoln. He is a brave man. In battle his fine form moves near the van. He rides slowly, speaks with much calm- ness, and never becomes excited in action. Williamson is still a young man ; but he is to-day a favorite of the people -- espec- ially in Middle and Western Iowa."
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COLONEL WILLIAM HORD WORTHINGTON.
FIRST COLONEL, FIFTH INFANTRY.
WILLIAM H. WORTHINGTON, who was shot dead before Corinth, in the spring of 1862, by a frightened sentinel, was linked by blood to the earliest and most distinguished families of the country-on the paternal side to the Virginia line of Madisons, and to General Andrew Lewis, the Virginia soldier, who was recommended by General Washington as "Com- mander-in-chief of the American Army:" on the maternal side, to the Slaughters, also a distinguished Virginia family. HIis grand-father, Colonel Gabriel Slaughter, who emigrated to Kentucky in its earliest history, was twice elected lieutenant- governor of that State-first with Governor Scott, and last with Governor George Madison-and each time succeeded to the administration of the government, as survivor of the governor elect. He was also the colonel of a Kentucky regi- ment which fought with General Jackson at the battle of New Orleans. His faithfulness and ability as an executive officer, and his gallantry at the battle of New Orleans, have been commemorated by his adopted State, in the crection of a fine monument to his memory.
Colonel Worthington's grand-father, Edward Worthington, a Marylander, was also an early and distinguished settler in Kentucky. His father, the Rev. John Tolly Worthington, D. D., a devoted Christian and zealous patriot, is still living, and a resident of Pittsfield, Illinois. William H. Worthington was born at Harrodsburg, Kentucky, on the 2d day of Novem- ber, 1828. He lost his mother in early infancy, and was adopted, reared and educated by his maternal grand-uncle,
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Major William Hord, also a distinguished Kentucky gentle- man. I am thus particular in giving the colonel's lineage, for his military enthusiasm was of ancestral inheritance.
His primary education Colonel Worthington received in the schools of Louisville, at that time the residence of Major Hord; and it was there, while under the instruction of a Polish officer, that he first gave token of that military spirit which, in despite of his untimely fate, has made his name celebrated in the history of our State. Having graduated at Bacon College, Harrodsburg, Kentucky, he was, at the age of nineteen, mar- ried to Miss Anna Eliza, daughter of Dr. Tomlinson, a lady of reputed beauty and intelligence; aud now, throwing aside his books, he began life on a farm. This calling soon proved uncongenial to his tastes, and he abandoned it for the law. After being admitted to the bar, he opened an office in his native town; and, though his professional studies had been chiefly of his own shaping, he soon gave promise of future eminence. In 1857 he moved to Iowa, where, establishing himself in a lucrative practice, he made his home till the beginning of the war.
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