USA > Iowa > Jasper County > Newton > Third reunion of Iowa Hornets' Nest Brigade : 2d, 7th, 8th, 12th and 14th infantry, held at Newton, Iowa, Wednesday and Thursday, August 21 and 22, 1895 > Part 5
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
Shortly after 4.30 the Union lines on our right and left gave way and orders came for us to fall back. When, to our consternation, we found the rebels in heavy force on both our lanks, yelling like de- mons and rapidly closing their two columns together behind us-all the time pouring a hailstorm of lead into our ranks. Orders then came to save ourselves as best we could. We run the gauntlet and part of us got out-the rest were killed, wounded or captured. When we reached a position and again formed our lines, the sun was down. At this time Gen. Grant came along on foot and talked to us and urged us to stand firm and hold our line. lle wasn't drunk then and didn't look like he had been.
Suddenly a column of rebel cavalry galloped into position in front of us and halted. Their line extended as far as we could see to the right and to the left. We expected a charge and formed our lines four deep with fixed bayonets-the front line kneeling. We hoped they wouldn't charge and they didn't. Darkness was coming on as they wheeled and rode away. Without dinner or supper we lay down, each man holding his gun. The constant firing of our heavy guns from the batteries near the river and on the gunboats, the shells shrieking over our heads, the arrival and deploying of Buell's anay, which was going on all night, and the thoughts of our missing comrades, banished sleep from our eyes. We could hear the mournful
33
IOWA HORNETS' NEST BRIGADE.
cry of the wounded who were on the field before us. and the dismal thoughts of what the morrow might bring for us made the night most terrible When morning came. Buell's army took the lead and we followed in reserve. The rebels fell back constantly and it was a "picnic" compared with the day before.
I have heard a theory that the taking of prisoners by rebels, Sunday afternoon, so diverted the attention of their men that an hour or more of precious time was lost, so that night came on before their victory was complete. I beg leave to advance another theory: Gen. Johnson, commander of the rebel army, was mortally wounded while mounted on his horse and leading a charge near the "Hornets' Nest." I want to picture to you tonight one of " the boys from lowa" firing the shot which brought the leader down. The consternation at his loss and the delay incident to a change of commanders consumed that precious hour. Had Johnson lived and carried out the plans he so well began, his victorious army would have destroyed the already shattered army of Grant, and reached the Tennessee river in time to prevent the crossing of Buell's command. Had this great disaster befallen Grant, his chances for the presidency would have been slim. indeed, and the train of events might have taken a very different course. So I say, that one shot, fired, in all probability. by an lowa soldier, may have saved thousands of lives and millions of money. The victorious army of Johnson could have cleaned out Buell and marched worth through Tennessee and Ken- tucky, whose citizens would have flocked to their victorious standards until he might have marched on Cincinnati with an army of an hundred thousand men and easily captured it which course of events would have easily prolonged the war five years,
No man can boast of a greater admiration of Gen. Grant than 1, but up to that date ode element was lacking. He hadn't learned to dig ditches. Had he fortified his army at Shiloh the rebels would never have attacked him. The men were lying there for several weeks in idleness and the work of erecting a line of heavy trenches would have done them good. The failure to do this cost the country dear, and nearly changed the fate of the war. It taught Grant a les- son he never forgot. From that day on he never moved his army ten feet to the front without intrenching it. Shiloh was the most des- perate and bloody battle which. up to that time, had been fought on American soil. This is the statement of history. Of the 73,000 men engaged on both sides, fully 20,000 were killed, wounded or captured. The calor of the American volunteer soldier was fully established and we heard no more of the boast that one rebel could lick five Yankees.
The question of whose soil was going to be invaded was settled at Shiloh. From that day on, the war in the southwest was waged on the enemy's soil, so that Shiloh is considered by many as one of the most decisive battles of the war.
I visited this battlefield last April and went over the ground with men who fought on both sides. We found the exact spot where the Hornets Nest brigade held their line We found the old sunken road and I located a large oak tree whose top had been shot off by a shell at the left of the 7th lowa. After thirty-three years, bullets and shells can be found quite plentifully, and it was amusing to see the visitors picking bullets ont of the fence rails and wood piles, these having been made from trees which stood at the time of the battle. The old camps have a young growth of timber on them, so they don't look natural. We mixed with the people who were present in thons"
34
IOWA HORNETS' NEST BRIGADE.
ands at the reunion. Some were cordial: some were not very enthu- siastic about our presence, but they nearly all had relies of the battle to sell to the northern visitors. The Government has bought some two thousand acres of land where the battle was fought and is con- verting it into a National Park. A National Cemetery, on a beauti- tul eminence overlooking the river, contains the remains of many thousands of the heroes who fell at Shiloh, many being arranged in groups by regiments; but the list of those marked "unknown" was fearfully large.
Sergeant Knight, late of Company "E" 7th lowa, whose home was at Keokuk, is in charge. The rebel dead still lie where we buried them, in the open woods, in long trenches side by side. I met a man with a spade and we stopped and talked it over. He was a rebel and had been locating the position of his regiment and had found the skeletons of three men partially uncovered. He thought they were his comrades and had given them a new burial.
Nearly one-fourth of Grant's army at Shiloh was from lowa. Iowa boys were in the thickest and hottest of the fight. The Hornets' Nest Brigade was from Iowa. The men who stood shoulder to shoulder in those stirring times will soon be gone: their ranks are already thin-more are on the other side than remain here. While we live, let us ask lowa to do something to mark the spot where our comrades shed their blood for the common good of all. Other states have their monuments at Gettysburg and Chicamauga, showing the spots on which their soldiers did deeds of valor. Let us resolve tonight, as citizens of Iowa, that we will see to it that our legislature appropriates a liberal sum to erect enduring shafts of marble or granite on the spot where new lustre was added to the name of lowa by her gallant sons.
There followed one of the finest features of the evening called, "Shiloh's Field by Night," composed by Judge D. Ryan and rendered by Miss Cora Mel Patten. It was well written and Miss Patten showed great elocutionary power in the delivery. The production was based on a true pathetic incident that occurred on that memora- ble night. The singing of some male voices of parts of "Jesus Lover of My Soul" added force and realism to it.
SILLON'S FIELD BY NIGIFT -A PICTURE. "THE HYMN OF THE HOR- NETS' NEST BRIGADE."
All day long the battle had raged. Night spread her broad wings over the field. Darkness ended the day's battle. The two armies, about equal in numbers, had covered the field "thick with other clay." No field in modern history can tell such a tale of carnage. No battle of the war of the Rebellion bought victory at such fearful cost.
It was Baster Day, A. D. 1862. The Army of the Tennessee on the western shore of the river. between swollen, danking streams, had pitched their tents. The rains and clouds of yesterday had disap- peared. Heaven's blue dome, pure and bright, bent above them; the sun shone out in splendor. Above the heads of that great army, birds sang their sweetest music amid the branches of the teeming forest. Trees were putting on Spring's vestments of green. Buds and blossoms, everywhere bursting into new life, fit emblems of the Resurrection Morn, laded the air with delicate, sweet perfumes.
"But hush! Hark! A deep sound strikes like a rising knell!".
35
IOWA HORNETS' NEST BRIGADE.
Well out, and at the front 'tis heard repeated again and yet again. Who could guess that a great battle has begun! No, 'tis but artillery practice. Hark! "The heavy sound breaks in once more." This time, amid their deep intonations, is heard the rattle of musketry. Nearer and nearer upon the air is borne the "long roll" of the ratti- ing drums and the bugle call " To urms!"
"And there was hurrying to and fro." The approaching sound of conflict told but too plainly that the surging tide of the first fierce onset was sweeping before it the Union arms. Stubbornly they held their ground. Fiercely fighting. they contested every foot of ground, falling back. Now, under arms, the whole army "to the rescue" hastened to the front. Then, "swiftly forming in the ranks of war," the tide of battle was arrested. Here. front to front, every availa- ble man of the two armies grappled in the struggle. All day through the battle raged. surging backward and forward, now losing ground, now regaining; struggling, writhing and bleeding. hilt to hilt. like two giants contending in deadly combat.
From the "morning gun" till the "evening gun" how changed! Heaven's blue dome is shut out by the smoke of battle, hanging black and low like a pall. The sun. no longer "pure and bright," has, like the field it shown upon, taken on a redder hue. wrapped in its sable and battle-smoked mantle. It sinks out of sight, as if refusing long- er to witness the work of human slaughter. The songs of the birds have given place to the whistle of bullets and the screech of shells. Blossoms and flowers have taken on a deeper dye. The sturdy oaks are torn and shattered as when a tornado in its course leaves the forest rent and strewn.
Night separated the combatants. The armies, exhausted and bleeding, withdrew to bivouac on the "gory beds" til the, marroy's sun would light them again to battle.
Between the lines, mingled one with another, lay thousands of killed or wounded, here one in blue, there one in gray.
Night drew on. Oh, that long and dreary night! Oh, that night of horrors! From the gaping and bleeding wounds of thousands, the unstannched life-blood was ebbing in blackest darkness. With none near but those disabled or cold in death, the wounded lay all night on that horrid field.
The noise of battle had given place to the confused sounds of bivouacing armies, seeking position for a night's repose, doubtless the morrow's line of battle.
The night was well spent ere the armies slept. Hushed was the roar of battle and, in its stead, cries of the wounded were heard, broken only by the loud roar from the gunboats, whose shrieking she Is at short but regular intervals all night long were hurled upon that field. The aim of the guns was directed. as well as might be, at the lines of the bivou teing enemy: but, with seemingly fateful certain- ty, they fell among the helpless wounded on the field.
But hark! what is that new sound that breaks in on the ear? Is it the sounds of awakening guns, or do reinforcements signal to us- or to them? Ah! see the red lightning "painting wrath on the sky," and hear the loud thunder resound! It is as if Heaven's batteries replied to earth's feeble ordnance. Quick flashes scarce divide the lond peals of thunder. The storm, full of wrath, bursts with sudden fury, making blacker still, but for the lightning, the blackness of that black night.
36
IOWA HORNETS' NEST BRIGADE.
When the night was well advanced, before the storm came on, out beyond and in front of the position held during the day by " The Hornets' Nest Brigade," and where the carnage was the thickest on that field, a voice was heard singing. Striking contrast! Strange place! Sweet voice! Dear soul! Mark!
" Jesus, lover of my soul. Let me to thy bosom fly!"
With this strain the voice ceased, as if the last expiring breath were expended in a dying effort. What to him now was yesterday's battle! What of to-morrow's dread conflict to come!
". He has slept his last sleep, he has fought his last battle. No sound can awake him to glory again.
Short was the interval before the same inspiration, that litted the singer above the field of battle to other realms, was caught up and this time two voices were heard:
"Jesus lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fy! While The nearer waters roll. While the tempest still is high :"
With the bursting of the storm, and while the tempest still was high, the song ceased. At length the storm spent its tury and was gone; but the wounded soldiers, now drenched with the raunt that had cooled their fevered flesh, were still there. With the disappearing storm again arose from that field of the dead and the dying the sweet melody-this time sung by a chorus of voices:
" Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fy! While the nearer waters roll, While the tempest still is high. Hide me, Oh! my Savior, hide, Till the storm of life is past, Safe into the haven guide, Oh, receive my soul at last ! " Other refuge have I none Hangs my helpless soul on thee. Leave, Oh, leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me! All my trust on thee is stayed. All my help from thee I bring, Cover my defenseless head With the shadow of thy wing!"
The soldiers of the North and the soldiers of the South -their voices blended! There went up from that battle-field the sure promise of a glorious Union -- one religion, one kindred, one country, one flag!
When morning cam ,, some of those voices were hushed. In the darkness of night the iey finger of death had touched the parched lips, and tongues that had sung so sweetly the night before were for- ever still! The refuge of which they had sung had been attained! Others were rescued by comrades who in yesterday's battle had fiercely. savagely fought, but who now, with touch as tender and gen- tle as that of a loving mother, bound up the wounds and ministered to the wants of comrades. Possibly some who sung there that night are here to join hands and voices with us now. This hymn is, and of right ought to be, "The Hymn of the Hornets' Nest Brigade."
After a solo, "Tender and True," sung by Mrs. Ella Eberhart, came a well written and interesting paper by Capt. E. B. Soper,
37
IOWA HORNETS' NEST BRIGADE.
12th la. that was especially interesting to those who belonged to what was called the Union Brigade, comprising members of the sever- al Regiments who were not taken prisoners at Shiloh, and were formed into one Regiment. This also being the first public re- cognition of the Brigade by an address given at any of our re- unions:
THE UNION BRIGADE.
The 12th lowa was camped near the river bank, below the landing. on a high bluff, over-looking the river. When the Regi- ment went out to the fight on Sunday morning, there were left m camp only the convalescents, who were unable to don their ac- contrements and march ont to the fight; and all who went out with the Regiment were either killed, wounded or taken prisoners. That news of the fate of their comrades only reached those in camp the second day of the battle and when the rebels were driven off the field. squads of each company who were able to walk, under the lead- ership of N. G. Price, of company D, who had by a ruse escaped after capture by the enemy, sought the bodies of their comrades and bunk-mates among the killed on the battlefield, and wounded comrades among the multitude brought to the landing by the ambu- lance corps. Such search was continued until the bodies of all those, who from the reports of the wounded, were known to have been killed, were found, and given a soldier's burial on a point of the bluff over-looking the river, with headboards to their graves, upon which was inscribed their name, company, regiment and cause of death.
After the dead were buried and the wounded, who were found on the battlefield or who escaped from the enemy during their removal from the battlefield toward Corinth, had been cared for and sent away on hospital boats, those remaining made the best of their situ- ation and surroundings, and lived at case and in comfort in the camp until the 27th of April, 1862, when there came from division head- quarters a general order creating an aggregation designated as the Union Brigade, composed of the remnants of the captured regi- ments, namely: the 8th, 12th and Hth lowa and 58th Ilinois, organiz- ing them into companies and designating their commanders. As the 12th had more men taken prisoners at Shiloh than any other regi- ment, it had much fewer men than any of the other regiments: con- sequently, the 12th was formed into one company and the others into three companies each: the 12th Iowa constituted company E, of the Union Brigade, as it organized. Each of the ten companies constitu- ting the brigade was officered by a commissioned officer acting as captain, and commissioned or non-commissioned officers acting as lieutenants: no field officers in any of the tour regiments were present for duty, and Captain Healy of the 5th linois was designated as acting colonel. Capt. Fowler of the 12th lowa was acting lieu - tenant colonel. and Captain Kittle of the 5th Hlinois was acting major.
The organization was perfected, ( not, however, without "kick- ing"), and the unnecessary baggage, tents and camp equippage turned over to the Quartermaster department, and on the 29th day of April, 1862, the Union Brigade for the first time. fell into line, accordingly as it had been constituted by the order, and. with the balance of the Ist Division, broke camp, and moved forward over the battlefield, past Shiloh church. toward Corinth, forming the advance line of the Federal army.
38
IOWA HORNETS' NEST BRIGADE.
The appearance of the battlefield, with its acres upon acres of dense under-growth absolutely mowed by minie balls, and trees and saplings girdled. and large trees trimmed of their humnbs by cannon balls, showing where the tremendous fighting had taken place, was observed and commented upon.
'The advance on Corint' was constantly contested. Every ad- vance was made in line of battle, preceded by a strong line of skir- mishers. When the popping on the skirmish line got hot, lines were dressed up at favorable positions and a strong line of rifle pits speed- ily constructed, every other man holding two guns and his file mate industriously using the shovel or ax, relieving each other every minute or two. The roar of musketry on the skirmish line did much toward hastening the work. Soldiers who had shown every evidence of being constitutionally tired were frequently seen working with the utmost energy and vigor.
The advance line was constructed under circumstances above described on the evening of the 29th of April. 1862. On the 36th, the whole army was mustered for pay, except the Union Brigade, whose rolls were not yet made out; as each of the ten companies in each of the four regnents included in the organization had to be mustered separately. and as many of the companies had no officers or non-com- missioned officers competent to do the work. there was considerable delay. The writer describes making ont the rolls of his own and two other companies of the 12th lowa, with a cracker bos for a table. a pocket ink stand and a borrowed pen, under the shade of a tall oak tree, in the open air. As all the men belonging to the company had to be carried on the rolls, whether present or absent, and the dead, the sick, the wounded and the missing accounted for, and three copies of each roll made, the task was not a light one, but was finally ac- complished and the regiment mustered for pay.
For thirty days. the advance on Corinth continued: some days our lines being thrown forward a mile or two, and some time> remaining two or three days in one place, but always well fortified. Frequently we stood or sat all day nider arms, and customarily slept with our belts and cartridge boxes on, our guns by our side and not infrequent- ly in the trenches.
On the 29th of May, 1862, our lines were within half a mile of the rebel trenches around Corinth. During that night. unusual noises were heard by the pickets, followed near morning by a series of ex- plosions. At daylight, our pickets advanced and the rebel lines were found deserted. A pursuit followed: the retreating Confederates passed south down the Mobile & Ohio Railroad: the Union Brigade followed. passing through Danville and Rienzi to Booneville, Missis- sippi, but returned to camp about three miles south of Corinth, on the Mobile & Ohio road where the entire Brigade remained until about the 15th of August. 1862, when the Union Brigade was sent to Danville. Mississippi, the first station south of Corinth and about ten miles distant. The two months spent at camp Montgomery were des- titute of exciting incident: po drill or other duty from eight a. m. to six p. m., but as it was our first summer south, the heat was very op- pressive, and the days were spent in the shade of the large oak trees which abounded in the camp: each individual amusing himself ac- cording to his taste and inclinations. Every few days, squads of convalescents arrived from Northern hospitals and by the time we left camp Montgomery, all those wounded at Shiloh, who were ever after tit for duty, as well as those who had been left at St. Louis. sick or had been sent away from Pittsburg Landing. returned to the com-
.
39
IOWA HORNETS' NEST BRIGADE.
mand, swelling the number of the 12th lowa present for duty, to about one hundred and fifty men. One of the other regiments whose numbers had been diminishing was consolidated into two companies, and the 12th re-organized into two companies and thereafter consti- tuted during the remainder of the life of that organization, com- panies E and K, of the Union Brigade.
When in August, 1862, the forces of Price and Van Dorn began to concentrate in Mississippi, the Union forces were posted at conveni- ent points to meet and watch their movements: the Union Brigade was sent to Danville, where under command of Lieut. Col. Coulter, of the 12th lowa, it remained until the Ist of October. The principal employment of the command while at Duville was foraging and doing guard duty, the daily detail for which was one hundred and twenty-five men. Fresh meats, vegetables and fruits were abundant, and many of the boys here saw for the first time growing peanuts and persimmons. While the men came on guard every three or four days, yet the weather was fine, living good, and it is doubtful whether in our whole army experience a more enjoyable six weeks were passed than those speut at Danville.
About the time of, and subsequent to the battle of luka. occas- ional shots were exchanged between the picket, and the rebel car- ahy, but no attack upon us was made, although of course we remained in a constant state of readiness.
On the 2nd day of October, orders came to break camp and abandon the post, and on the same evening we withdrew towards Corinth, across the Tuscumbia river, where we halted for the night. and the next morning, after destroying the bridge over the stream. resumed our march, reaching corinth in the afternoon, after a very hard aud fatiguing march over dusty roads. without water, npon one of the liottest days of the season, and were ordered out on the Chewalla road to take our places with our brigade. We formed a part of the First Brigade. commanded by General Hackleman, of Indiana, the Second Division commanded by Gen. J. E. Davies, Army of the Tennessee.
About a mile out from Corinth we met the Division retiring before the enemy. and re-forming the line of battle near the white house, we took our place on the extreme left of our Brigade, a little to the north and west of the town, between the two railroads that crossed each other at that point, and throwing ourselves on the ground, we rested. awaiting the enemy's attack. After shelling the woods in which our position was located, as long as they thought desirable, the enemy advanced in two unbroken and continuous lines of battle, ex- tending to the right and left of us as far as we could see and flanking our extreme left. We ponred volley after volley into the advancing lines with seemingly little effect, as they continued to advance, with the characteristic rebel yell: the onset was so heavy that the line broke and fell back about as fast as their legs would carry them, through the woods, into the abattis and thence at night fall. within the fortifications, where the survivors of the command gathered. The men remained lighting behind trees and stumps, the rebel forces which made a reconnoisance received so warm a reception they did not advance. There was some desultory fighting, but no serions at- tack was made that evening. That night hardtack and raw onions were distributed with raw bacon, and a hearty meal made, after which, stretched upon the earth beside the loaded rifles. with cart- ridge boxes for a pillow, the clear sky for a covering, a dreamless sleep restored the exhausted soldiers. During the night. dispositions
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.