USA > Iowa > Delaware County > Manchester > Reunion of the 12th Iowa V.[eteran] V.[olunteer] infantry 1st-8th, 1880-1903 > Part 4
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TWELFTH IOWA F. F. INPANTRY.
And when he takes me on his knee, I love the best to hear The stories of fus army life, Though off it brings a tear; He tell me of the dult day's spent In sickness and in pain ; Of weary marches, long and sad, Through sunshine and through rain;
With ach ing limbs and weary heart; With clothes allmud and slect; With scarce a crumb of food or drink ; And oh! such tired feet Were in that long and fainting march! Brave comrades faltered by the way; Bach shared with each the burden, For many a dreary day.
And of the blood stained battle field, Where guus and cattnons rot ; The grass, tled one was bright and green, All red with hanan gore. Where off he's seen his comrades fall, And could not : top to save Till they drove the banded traitors back ; Then scooped a stallow grave,
And placed Them there with tender hands, As brother would for brother, Smoothing away the tangled locks, Andclipping one for mother. Sorrowing me ther your lot is blessed, Though your treasures left are few, Since you give for your country's good the best, Godever gave to you.
Then oft he'll tell of days That passed so slowly by, In obel picons'cingy wallk Where they were left to die. Columbia's wavest sons, our boys so true, To die for want of food And kindly care; shame, shame, traitors, To waist such precious blood!
I do not wonder papa loves His brother soldiers so; And wishes off his girl could be A soldier, brave asyon; But il she can't a soldier be, Or lead a soldier's life, Perhaps, when she is older grown, She'll be a soldier's wire. Soldiers, then wegive you welcome; A royal welcome, too; Right eagerly we'll grasp the band Of those who wore the blue, In days of darkness, dire and dread, To you so staunch and true, Our all we owe, our bagner bright, our coun- try's fame; God bless the "Boys in Blue."
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.HARDTACK AND COFFEE -The Reserves from which we daily drew Nerve and Inspiration." Response by Capt. E. B. Soper, Emnetsburg.
Capt. Soper, of Emmettsburg, rose to the fourth toast. He said he was not quite so full of his subject as he had been on former occasions. Why the committee chose him to respond to this toast was a mystery to him, antess it was because he had a faculty of stowing away large quantities of those commodities. Why hardtack was so mich abused he could not say, nor where it got its name. Where the shard" came from he could understand. but where they got the "tack" was beyond his investigation. But, after all, hardtiek was the soldier's friend. We were glad to have it with us, and when we had it not, we wished we had. No better or more healthy food could the soldier have than the mouth abused hardtack. Coming to coffee, the Captain said he would take the liberty to read a short description of coffee and itseffects on the human . system. The soldier needed just such a thing to sustain him. There was never an army so well fed as ours during the rebellion, and hard- tack and coffee were the substantials.
Miss Verda Kelsey then sang "is the Battle Over." Mrs. A. J. Brown playing organ accompaniment, and she sang it in a manner to call forth tumultuous applause
On motion of Col. D. B. Henderson, Miss Kelsey was made an honorory member of the Twelfth lowa, amid a storm of cheers, the boys shouting till it seemed the roof of the hall would be lifted off.
.THE GIRLS WE LEFT BEHIND US -The only Power that has made Pris- oners of us all." Response by Harvey Smith, Waterloo.
Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Comrades of the 12th lowa :
I feel particularly honored to-day for having been selected to re- spond to this toast of: The Girls We left Behind Us. Ialways liked the girls we left behind us, and I plead guilty to the charge of being partial to them. The State of Iowa furnished her full quota of brave soldiers and sent them to the held, but she at the same time like a good general, held in reserve a force equal to any emergency, in the loyal Irne hearted Girls we left behind us.
Oh, how we used to think of them, who though absent. were still to memory dear, and wish we could be with them. We used to dwell upon their kindness, and when we used to receive letters from the Dear Girls we left behind us. how we used to read them over again, and ponder over the words of cheer therein contained. Words of cheer and kind- ness which served to encourage us in the camp, on the march, on the battlefield. in the siege, and in the prison pens of the South. Words of hope which nerved us on to greater exertion and nobler achievements. Oh! how we used to watch for those letters. And Dear Girls we left behind us, did you think, did you know what a noble thing you were doing when you used to write those cheering letters, bright and ra- diant with kind words of hope and cheer ? I remember oh. so well when after we had been on a long campaign and returning to where the mails could reach us, how eagerly we received the contents, and some of the Boys used to receive a great many letters addressed in a feminine hand, and when asked who their letters were from. they invariably replied, oh from my sisters - and I tell you some of the boys had a great many sis- ters, judging from the number of letters they used to receive. Many of us carried next our hearts photographs of the Girls we left behind us. And we used to often take them out and fondly gaze on them through the mist of gathering tears. And then when at times we grew more confident, the boys would show each other the pictures they had of "the Girls we left behind us." and as we would look them over, we would ask, why who is this, John ?-- oh, that is my sister Mary, and then we
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TWELFTH IOWA Y. F. INFANTRY.
would ask who is this, John ? And he would reply, that is my sister Jane. And so it was clear through the whole list. And I tell you some of those boys had the biggest lot of grand good looking sisters I ever heard of or saw in my life. I used to think they were particularly for- tumate in having so many splendid looking sisters. Oh, Dear Girls we left behind us, your thoughts were often with us, breathing prayers for our safety and success. And when the armed host moved forward to the grand assault, the loyal heart beats of the brave and true hearted Girls we left behind us kept time to our onward march. And then when the war was ended and the last armed foe surrendered and we returned home, all flushed and erowned with the laurel wreath of victory, how the Girls we left behind us met us at the gate, and proceeded to make "Prisoners of usall."
We laid our trophies at their feet and gladly surrendered uncondi- tionally, though how they accomplished this wonderful result I never could fully determine. Perhaps I can no better describe it than in the words of the old song-
"Lovely woman is the sugar, Spoons us poor itten seemed to be, Matrimony is hot water, love is like a cup of tea."
and when the whole unwritten history of this war shall be made up, and every heart throb of woe and endurance be written down -- high up on ihe roll of fame ought to b . inscribed in letters of imperishable gold, the names of the Girls we left behind us.
Mr. President, I can not close this response without an allusion to those of the Girls we left behind us, who have ore this passed from earth. Let us cherish their memory, follow their example, tread the radiant pathway of their virtues as in ascending brightness it leads us safely over the valley of shadows, to that land beyond the river.
"THE WIVES, MOTHERS, DAUGHTERS AND SWEETHEARTS OF THE TWELFTH IOWA None suffered more, none complained less. Our Flag their Flag. Their Homes Our Hearts." Response by Lieut. .. E. Simpson, Dubuque, Iowa.
Mr. President and Comrades :-- This toast wonld bave found a warm response in the hearts of the Twelfth Jowa in the daysof 6561. And finds a no less hearty one to-day, among us the survivors of our noble regiment. There were but few, if any at all, who went away with us, who did not leave behind some loved one, mother, wife, daughter, sis ter or sweetheart, to endure and suffer the pangs and heart-aches of separation, Ours was to go, to do. to dare. We had the excitement of camp life. the frequent change of scene, and all the glitter, glory and pomp of war, to distract our attention and occupy our thoughts. But theirs was to remriin at home, with their accustomed round of quiet. home duties to perform, to suffer and wait.
Poets may sing, Historians may write, and the story can never be half told, of the agonizing suspeuse of the mothers. wives and sweet- hearts, of the Twelfth, eighteen years ago-as the wires brought the news of a great battle being fought on the banks of the Tennessee, of our defeat; then our victory, then came the news of the capture of our regiment. What words of mine, comrades, ean convey even in a slight degree the agony and suspense of these loved ones at home ? That dear old gray headed motber, who had given up her son, and in many cases her sons, that the Union might be saved ; the wife who had seen her husband ; the sister her brother; the sweetheart her "soldier boy": go away to war .- ( And here Mr. President, let me remark, that we in a measure forget what terrors that word war, brought with it in 1861-2, to a people maccustomed to fighting and blood-shed. ) All of this was with tears and heart-pangs. But when the news came from Shiloh, it seemed to them, and it was to many, the death knell to all their hopes. No truer words could be said than those of our toast : None suffered more and none complained less," is equally true.
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FIRST RECAION OF THE
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History tells us all along its pages, of woman's love and devotion; not only to her own bat to her country. she has in all ages borne her full share of the hardships and burthens of war. And the women of our own dear country failed not, in its hour of peril, -- faithful, fearless, devoted. They were found in the hospital, cheering all, caring for the sick and wounded. At their homes unceasing in their efforts, in col- lecting supplies to go forward to the front. All over our broad prairies could be witnessed scenes of patriotism and sacrifice, before which the stories of the mothers and matrons of ancient Greece and Rome pale. There are hearts turning toward us to-day-prayers of mothers and sisters, all over Northern lowa. Comrades tell how they came to wish them a pleasant time at our Reunion, and express their continued love for the "Old Twelfth."
The mother and sister of John Stillman who fell shot through the brain at Donelson are with us in their thoughts and prayers to-day. Poor Jolm -a noble, gallant soldier. Well i remember with comrade Rogers we carried him to the rear in hopes we might catch one last word. But within the hour, just as the last ray of the sun touched the tops of the noble oaks that formed that Southern forest, John's soul went home to the God who gave it, as pure as the snow on which he ly.
That noble Scandinavian mother, Mrs. Steen, of Winneshick county, who, having seven sous-all good men and true, sent six to the defense of the Union ; three of whom -- John, Henry and Theodore, went with us in the Twelfth. Her thoughts are with us to-day.
With what love and affection every member of the Twelfth is held by a mother like Mis. Nelson Burdick of Decorah, who having five sons, all of them splendid specimens of " lowa Boys" sent them all to do bat- te for the Union, and only two returned- Corporal Nelson Burdick. her youngest son, who died from disease and hardships incurred with you in rebel prisons, and Lientemint A. A. Burdick, who was killed at the battle of Tupelo by a solid shot from the rebel batteries, both honored members of the Twelfth lowa.
Such women are cemented to the Twelfth with ties that time only strengthens. And when and wherever we may meet we shall always have a place in their he ats second to none. We meet to join hands in friendly grasp. We tell of these scenes of suffering with no vain boast. We have no desire to make up the past, nor dwell upon its strug- ggles. With charity towards all, enjoying as we are the blessings of peace so hardly won, at such a cost of suffering both mental and physi- cal, to the men and women of that time.
But the lesson taught cost too nmich, and we can not afford to have it lost. So we tell the story, that our children may learn what the Union is to us- that they may cherish it dearly, love it as warmly, and be as ready to sacrifice and suffer for it, against foes within, and without, as the men and women of ISSt did. And as we the story tell, and the lesson teach, do not let us fail to make clear to them and draw the lines distinct between loyalty and disloyalty, patriotism and treason.
Mr. President and Comrades, I know of no more fitting way to close the response to this toast, than by asking yon to join me, in three hearty cheers for "The Wives, Mothers. Daughters and Sweethearts of the Twelfth lowa-None suffered more, none complained less. Our dag their flag-Their homes our hearts. "
Mrs. W. N. Boynton, then favored the andience with "The Battle Prayer," in her usual finished and effective manner, and was heartily encored, when she gave "The Star Spangled Bammer," with great effect, and to the great delight of the boys.
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MIVELPIR IOTAT. F INFANTRY
"HISTORY OF THE TWELFTH TOWA VETERAN VOLUNTEER INFANTRY." Readall the First Reunion of the Regiment, at Manches- ter, lowa, April 6th, ISSO, by Capt. Wm. M. Henderson, Co. (. Leroy, Minn
Dear comrades of the Twelfth we meet again. We call the roll and former ties renew ; We pitch our camp in quietude and peace, At Manchester the pleasant rendesvous.
W'e hear again the morning reveille, Our glorious banner once again is seen ; We eat together at the self same mess, And drink once more from out the same canteen.
We greet each other with a friendly grasp, We see fond welcome in each beaming eye ; Each face suggests some memory of the past, The camp, the march, the thrilling battle cry.
We fight our battles over once again, Resumed the march pursued with blistered feet; Again in thought you mount the picket guard, A silent sentinel on your lonely beat.
The lowa Twelfth was raised with speed and care, Throughout the Northeast counties of the State ; liardin, Lion. Blackhawk and Delaware, Winneshick, Allamakee, Jackson and Fayette.
Mardin county heads the list with "." As stalwart boys as over wore the bine ; Always on hand for battle, work. or play. When mustered in they numbered ninety-two.
Then ninety men came marching from the north. From Democratic steady Allamaker : All hardy sons of toil and noble worth, 'Those were the boys of gallant Company "B"
"(" Company left their homes in old Fayette, To follow the destiny of their country's star; Leaving their books. their college. and their State, One hundred students in the art of war.
Company " D." the youthful sons of Linn, Proud to uphold the banner of their State ; And all resolved the Union's cause must win, A splendid Company, munbering ninety-eight.
Blackhawk county gave us Company "E," Who hated slavery and the rebel rag : Ninety-four as steady honest mien. As ever fought for country and for tag.
Dela ware county so generous of her sons, Resolved to make the starry banner safe ; She, ever ready with her men and guns. (ave ninety nine brave men in Company " F."
Winneshick gave the Regiment. Company "(," Those noble sous of Scandinavian sires ; Ninety men chivalrous and free, As ever fought for freedom's sacred fires.
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Dubuque and Delaware at last combine. And both mited, gave us Company "it ;"> Eighty-two brave men as ever formed a line, Or vanquished treason in its latest ditch.
Eighty-five strong men. resolved to win or die, Guided by duty, patriotism and reason ; Yes, JJackson county gave us Company "!," Who struck hard blows at slavery and treason.
Delaware county gave us still another. Company " K" came, numbering eighty four ; She bade them like the ancient spartan mother, Return victorious, or return no more.
Another Company merits special mention. Familiar since the days of Roderick Dhu; All soldiers on the war path after chickens, Invariably belonged to Company "Q."
How fitting that in Delaware yon meet, And on her soil that war worn banner raise ; there will the Twelfth her loyal people greet. And tender her our grateful meed of praise.
The Regiment began its training and restraint, Camp Union was not destitute of charms : Those carly drills were borne without complaint, And formed a friendly brotherhood in arms.
The field and staff selected and commissioned, Without the usual jealousy or hate; Woops by training in the stern profession, A better officer never left the State.
Even now, when in the peaceful walks of life, We hear the Colonel's words without abridgment ; Fall on our cars so measured, calm, and slow, FALL IN TWELFTH IOWA REGIMENT.
Colonel Coulter was a splendid fellow. As brave a man as ever met the foe ; I war of peace his measured accents mellow, Fell from his honored lips by far too slow.
Brodibeck, by example, was a gallant soldier, His stern commands all indicated tight ; Bnt winter campaigns try the strongest men. The snows of Donelson took him from our sight.
Yonr Chaplains, sentinels on the walls of Zion, At times sont forth the glorious gospel cry ; Chaplains like sinners, have their hour of weakness, When they are not just quite prepared to die.
On dress parade, when all so trim and neat, The pride or terror of the diligent ; The report and orders never seemed complete, Without the legend, U. E. Duncan, Adjutant.
Our Surgeons were skillful, genial and good, Though hardened somewhat by the toils of war ; Stern Parker. Huif, and gracious Underwood, The rugged Finley, and patient Barr.
TWELFTH IOW! E. F. INPANTRY. 35
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What contrasts mork the soldier's chequered life, Regardless of what he was, or might have been ; His training for the purpose of war, Make men combined a terrible machine.
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A change of base from lowa to Missouri. To Benton Barracks. where two months you slaid ; The better to withst ind the rebel fury, By training in Division and Brigade.
At St. Louis, the Regiment battled with disease, Eighty soldiers died at one fell swipe ; Death and contagion came on every breeze, Black measles of the most malignant type,
From Benton Barracks eagerly you go, Marching orders came extremely lucky ; Raported to General Grant at Cairo, Andi campe I in the field at Sutituland in Kentucky.
Embarked in transports on the Tennessee. To reach and invest Port Henry from the land ; You arrived in time to see the rebels ffee, The cautious Johnmies d'are not make a stand.
'Then on to Donelson, that mysterious stronghold, Who's rugged slopes inspired the mind with ane ; The rebel defenders, confident and bold, Within their works and bristling abettis.
The very heavens conspired at your defeat, Ponred on your hoa Is an aval inche of storm ; Chilled each sentinel on his cheerless beat, And wrapped in snow, etch sleeping soldier's form.
Yei from nis wintry bed, each warrior rose. Shook from his freezing limbs the clinging snow ; Rushed gally up the slopes with shouts and blows, And hke a tempest swept the vanquished foe.
The rebel flag at last has disappeared. And with it all the venom it engendered ; And in its place a pure white flag is reared, Buenan ! Honnan ! Fort Donelson has surrendered.
The rebel eamon hush their wild alarms, The musketry suspend its leaden showers ; TmuereEN THOUSAND prisoners stack their arms. And rugged D melson at last is ours.
Even victory brought you many throes of grief, Dear comrades dead, and absent friends who weep ; In silence, and with fitting service brief, Yon left them to their last and dreamless sleep.
From Metal Landing, on the Tennesse Again you stem that river's rising flood ; To till an appointment at the Shiloh church, And take your Sunday's baptism of blood.
Just eighteen ye irs ago this pleasant day, For nine long hours your deadly muskets rattle ; Firm as a rock you barred the rebel way. Held your ground and saved the ill stared battle.
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FIRST REUNION OF THE
Shiloh was fought without a general head, Its history incomplete, even to this hour : Blundering incompetence piled up your dead, Your manhood alone withstood the rebel power.
Unknown to the Twelfth, that on its left and right, The foe had penetr ded with slaughter dire ; Still unsupported you maintained the Ight, Engulfed in a vortex of the rebel fire.
Your Colonel wounded General Wallace dead, Ninety-seven soldiers wounded on the field : Sixteen dead comrades on their gory bed, And still the bleeding Twelfth refused to yield
Environed and beset on every side, By rebel hosts encompassed like a wall ; At live r. at. you ceased to stem the tide Of battle, with the dark and bloody pill
Your courage largely saved that field of blood Yon held the rebels from the Femmesse; "Till Buel's troops began to cross the flood. The Twelfth was lost, the Union army Ir "
Our buried comrades on the Temessee. For long bath slept beside its rippling waves ; And SWBBray ton, blessed MARTYRS of the irte A Nation guir Is their e onsper ated grives
Here began your terms of prison life, Your fearful sofferings, who alas ! can tell ? DEATH Dy STARVATION. HEARTLESS means of strife, Your jailors seemed the very FIENDS of hell
Still unsubdued by dead line or stockade, Your patient conrage glorified your State ; Surrounded by your gallant old Brigade. The Eighth and Fourteenth lowa shared your fate.
But what a fate, -- surpassing all beliet : Can heaven be kind. and tardy justice lagt Cold and exposure doth angment your grief -- Your famished bodies clothed in filth and rags
Exposed to och surly guard's revengefnl mood, The vermin infested sands your only bed ; The Dirty cater that brought your LoATHSOME food, Removed yom Branreb and UNTIMELY dead.
No ray of light to cheer the fearful gloom, You hear some COMRADE with his hitest breath, Pray for release before the AWFUL tomb Close round him in that CHARNEL house of death.
Humanity and progress both demand, That this fair land may ne'er behold again ; Such willful disregard of heaven's command, As marked the horrors of the prison pen.
Our dead in prison 'tis a sacred spot. Where traitors laid those martyrs of the Nation ; No cause on earth could prosper with the blot Of soldiers slain by DAMNED assassination .
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Peacefully they sleep in distant Southern graves, The land of sunshine, towers and clinging vines : Where summer winds like sweet _ Botian harps. Sing their sad requiem through the lonely pines.
The fragments of the troops escaping capture, By whatsoever duties were de laved ; Were all combined without a shade of rapture, And styled the UNFORTUNATE UNION BRIGADE.
And like anfort mates of every class, Required to perform twice what they did before ; At guarding rations, railroad, bridge or pass, Or doing out-post duty for the corps.
The advaner was made on Comixin under HALLECK ; A change of tacties was at once began : The sword was cast aside for spade and mattock, And War was waged on the EunorRAN plan.
After long weeks of labor in the trenches, Great Corinth, the objective point was won : The spoils of war were countless Negro wenches, And one dismounted, ponad rous. wooden gun.
Hallock returned each colored refugee, Refused his information and assistance; The friends of freed our stood agnast to see, This General foster slavery and resistance.
Corinth was made the base of operations. On Vicksburg, by the line of Holly springs ; Vast supplies and half a million rations, Were stored within its Fort oneirek d rings.
The REBELs tiring of their own provisions, Black-strap molasses, corn and tasteless rice ; Advanced on Corinth in three grand divisions, Under Villpagne, Van Dorn and Price.
The Union Brigade as usual were on hand. Marching out to meet them, a committee on deception ; To amuse the rely's and bring them to a stand, Till Corinth was re-enforced for their reception.
To the very letter the orders were obeyed, To form in line of battle under fire ; And meet the rebel colman undismayed, Repel his charge, then steadily retire.
All day long the rebel column charged, And step by step you doggedly retreat ; And hour by hour the forees were enlarged, Preparing for the rebels sure defeat .
General Price became impatient of delay, And urged his worred forces to the fight ; To capture corinth 'ere the close of day, And feed his soldiers from the stores at night.
Here for the night the rebel charge was stayed, The darkening woods with drunken clamor tilled : Here night was welcomed by your thined Brigade, And here your General Heiekehman was killed.
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FIRST REUNION OF THE
bach fifteen minutes through th antonin might. The rebels sent Their mess. nyeis of hell ; 'To quiet your nerves and make your slumber light . With soldier's Inflaby, a bursting shell.
The morning found both armies in their place, And ready to unseat the book of tate ; The Union Brigade now ocenpied the space. Between Forts Krehardson and Robinnett.
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