Chapter XIII
Pictures included in this chapter are of
General William Vandever,
Battle of Pea Ridge and Colonel H. H. Trimble.
Ninth Iowa Infantry
In July, 1861, immediately after
the disastrous defeat of the Union army at Bull Run, Hon. William
Vandever, the Republican member of congress from the second district
of Iowa, tendered to secretary Cameron of the War Department a
regiment to be raised in his district. His offer was promptly
accepted and in a few weeks recruits were gathering at Dubuque. The
regiment was composed of companies enlisted largely from the
counties of Jackson, Jones, Buchanan, Clayton, Fayette, Black Hawk,
Winneshiek, Howard, Bremer, Linn, and numbered nine hundred and
seventy-seven men. The field and staff officers were William
Vandever, colonel; F. J. Herron, lieutenant-colonel; W. H. Coyle,
major; William Scott, adjutant; F. S. Winslow, quartermaster; Benj.
McClure, surgeon; A. B. Kendig, chaplain. A few days after being
mustered into service on the 24th of September, 1861, the
regiment was sent to Benton Barracks, near St. Louis. For three
months it was engaged in guarding the railroad from Rolla to
Franklin and in drilling in camp of instruction. On the 22d of
January, 1862, joining the Army of the Southwest, under General
Samuel R. Curtis, Colonel Vandever was placed in command of the
Second Brigade, consisting of the Ninth Iowa, Twenty-fifth Missouri,
Third Illinois Cavalry, and the Third Iowa Battery; this brigade was
in General Carr’s Division. The army marched to Springfield, in
pursuit of General Price. He retreated to Arkansas, followed by
General Curtis. In a skirmish at Sugar Creek the Ninth was under
fire. Here was encountered a large force of the enemy supported by a
battery and charging under a sharp fire, it was driven in confusion
from its position. On the 4th of March Colonel Vandever,
with a portion of his brigade, was sent to Huntsville, fifteen miles
distant. He there learned that General Price had received heavy
reinforcements from McCollough and Van Dorn and that the Confederate
army, 40,000 strong, was now marching rapidly north under Major
General Van Dorn, to attack Curtis. Vandever, in order to rejoin
Curtis and avoid Van Dorn, was obliged to make a circuit of about
forty miles. Starting at four o’clock in the morning, in a snow
storm, in a forced march of fourteen hours, he reached Pea Ridge,
where Curtis had taken position and formed his lines of battle. His
little army numbered but 10,500 men of all arms, with forty-nine
pieces of artillery. General Sigel, at Bentonsville, with part of
two divisions, on the morning of the 6th, started to join
Curtis.
Battle of Pea Ridge
General Sigel was bringing up a small
detachment of his command some distance in the rear, when he as
attacked by the enemy and cut off from his main body. Help was soon
sent and by sharp fighting his detachment was relieved with a loss
of about thirty. Curtis now completed his lines, formed along the
bluffs and ridges of Sugar Creek. In front was a broad valley,
through which he expected the enemy to approach. In the rear of his
army, which extended along the creek for several miles, was a broken
plateau called Pea Ridge and still farther in the rear was the deep
valley of Cross Timbers. The enemy approached on the extreme right
of the Union lines, moving around to strike the flank and rear of
the Union army at the same time, expecting with his greatly superior
force to drive it in confusion and destroy it. Curtis saw his design
and hastily reformed his lines, bringing his army face to face with
the enemy. In order to gain time to complete his new line of battle,
as his little army was almost surrounded, Curtis ordered an attack
on the Confederate flank, led by General Osterhaus. The Third Iowa
Cavalry and other detachments of horse were in this opening charge,
and assailed the enemy with great vigor, but after a desperate
struggle were driven back with heavy loss of men and one battery.
The sacrifice, however, enabled Curtis to place his army
advantageously in the new position just as the heavy columns of the
enemy swept down on Carr’s Division. And now the battle was on. One
thousand Indians, under Pike, aided the confederates with fierce war
cries, tomahawks and scalping knives, adding to the horrors of one
of the great battles of the war. On this part of the line the
Dubuque Battery, under Captain Hayden, opened on the advancing
enemy, doing great execution. The Confederates made a fierce charge
upon the battery, captured one gun, but the Ninth Iowa poured a
deadly volley into them, covering the ground with their dead.
Dodge’s Brigade, on the right, was assailed and a section of the
First Iowa Battery, under Lieutenant David, opened fire on the
lines. The brigade for two hours held its position against greatly
superior numbers. Colonel Vandever’s Brigade, after a stubborn fight
and heavy loss, had been slowly driven back, Dodge firing his last
round of ammunition into the confederate ranks, and General Curtis
ordering the Fourth Iowa to charge bayonets, the enemy was driven
back.
In this day’s battle the Iowa
regiments suffered severely, nearly two hundred each had been the
losses of the Fourth and Ninth regiments. The latter had not a field
officer left on duty. Lieutenant-Colonel Herron was taken prisoner
and promoted to Brigadier-General for gallant conduct. Major Coyle
and Adjutant Scott were wounded. When darkness put an end to the
conflict the situation of the army was serious. All day it had
fought with heroic courage against the best Confederate army of the
south-west, ably commanded and outnumbering Curtis’ men two to one.
The losses had been heavy and the right wing, after a most desperate
struggle, had been forced from its position, while the enemy was
still encircling it in front and rear. All night was spent by Curtis
in forming a new line of battle and there was little sleep in the
camp. Early on the morning of the 8th the battle was
renewed all along the lines by a heavy fire of artillery. This was
followed by a general advance of the Union army, which charged with
such fierce determination and unflinching courage that the
Confederate lines began to weaken. The batteries were now pouring in
such a deadly fire that a number of Confederate positions were
taken. The enemy’s lines began to waver before the steady storm of
shot and shell, but as Davis, Sigel and Carr closed in on them with
volleys of musketry, they were met by a deadly fire at short range,
which rapidly thinned our ranks. Slowly the confederates were
crowded out of the woods into the open field, where their lines were
broken, and the men at last turned and fled in confusion.
The Confederate army suffered very
severely in this battle. Two distinguished Generals, McCulloch and
McIntosh, were killed, and Generals Price and Slack were wounded,
besides the loss of minor officers and men of not less than 2,500.
The Union loss was two hundred and three killed and a little more
than 1,000 wounded and prisoners. The Ninth Iowa lost two hundred
and eighteen men; the Fourth, one hundred and sixty; the Third
Cavalry, fifty; the two Iowa batteries, thirty-nine.
Ingersoll says of this battle:
“Whether considered in reference
to the skill with which the troops were maneuvered or the valor with
which they fought, the battle of Pea Ridge must be placed among the
most memorable and honorable victories of the war. In a field far
removed from General Curtis’ base of supplies, in a country much
better known to the enemy than to him; that enemy outnumbered him
more than two to one. Yet he defeated him so thoroughly, that his
scattered squads were driven in panic far away to the south.”
Iowa men had borne a most
conspicuous part in this great battle and contributed largely to the
glorious victory.
The commanding General, Samuel R.
Curtis, was an Iowa Congressman who had resigned his seat at the
beginning of the war to enter the army. In this campaign and battle
he had exhibited the rare qualities of an able and successful
military commander. It is not too much to say that no General of the
Union army won a victory against such superior numbers and no one
fought a more difficult battle, requiring rare exercise of skill and
resources to meet the sudden and unexpected emergencies of the
battle-field. Colonels Vandever and Dodge, of Iowa, were in command
of brigades. Colonel Dodge and Lieutenant-Colonel Herron, who
commanded the Ninth, was wounded. These three Iowa regiments and the
brigades commanded by Dodge and Vandever were in the thickest of the
two days’ battle, and none surpassed them in coolness, courage and
stubborn fighting. The First and Third Iowa batteries also did
excellent service.
“The Fourth and Ninth Iowa,” says
General Curtis, “won imperishable honor,” and Colonels Dodge and
Vandever are especially commended. Among the killed of the Ninth
were Captains Drips and Bevins, and Lieutenant Rice, while
Lieutenants Kelsey, Neff and Captain Towner were wounded, the army
took up its march to Helena. While in camp here, the Ninth Regiment
was presented with a stand of beautiful silk colors by a committee
of ladies, of Boston, in appreciation of its gallant conduct at Pea
Ridge. In November Colonel Vandever was promoted to
Brigadier-General. The Ninth was now assigned to Thayer’s Brigade of
Steele’s Division, and joined Sherman’s army in the expedition
against Vicksburg. It took part in the disastrous Battle of
Chickasaw Bayou, after which it went to Milliken’s Bend, where
General McClernand succeeded to the command of the army. During the
year 1862 the regiment had lost by death, capture and discharge,
three hundred and twenty-five men, and gained fifty-six by
enlistment, so that it numbered seven hundred and twenty-six at the
beginning of 1863. The new year opened with the capture of Arkansas
Post, after which the Ninth was sent with the army to Young’s Point,
opposite Vicksburg. The encampment was in a swamp near the river,
where for long weeks, amid rain and floods, the camp was nearly
submerged. Sickness and death were thinning the ranks, and acres of
graves were made in the oozing swamps. The army was at last driven
by the floods to the levee, where, cooped up between the river and
the vast overflowed stretch of lowland, the men had to lie in their
camps day after day, listless and despondent. As the floods
increased malaria invaded every camp, the swamps and graveyards were
overflowed, and the dead had to share with the living the narrow
levee, the only land above the all-pervading waters. Here, amid the
gloom and despair that prevailed, hundreds of the bravest and
noblest young men of western homes sickened and died, with the sad
thought that none of the glory of the battle-field would temper the
tidings of their fate to distant friends, and their deaths could
contribute nothing to aid the great cause they had volunteered to
serve. For more than two months the Ninth suffered in these swamps.
In June, 1863, Captain Carskaddon,
of Company K, was promoted to colonel of the regiment, as
Lieutenant-Colonel Herron had been made a Brigadier-General on the
29th of November of the same year he was again promoted
to Major-General; and major Coyle was promoted to
lieutenant-colonel; Captain Carpenter, of Company B, became major
and Lieutenant Mackenzie, adjutant.
The Ninth next marched with General
Steele in his expedition to Greenville, Mississippi, and after its
return in April, joined in Grant’s campaign against Vicksburg. It
sent with Sherman in the movement against Jackson which resulted in
its capture.
In June, 1863, Captain Carskaddon,
of Company K, was promoted to colonel of the regiment, as Lieutenant
Herron had been made a Brigadier-General on the 29th of
November of the same year he was again promoted to Major-General;
and Major Coyle was promoted to Major-General; and Major Coyle was
promoted to lieutenant-colonel; Captain Carpenter, of Company B
became major and Lieutenant Mackenzie, adjutant.
The Ninth next marched with General
Steele in his expedition to Greenville, Mississippi, and after its
return in April, joined in Grant’s campaign against Vicksburg. It
was sent with Sherman in the movement against Jackson which resulted
in its capture. The regiment returned to the army before to the army
before Vicksburg on the 18th of May, and took part in the
assault of the next day, in which it lost a number of men. In the
general assault of the next day, in which it lost a number of men.
In the general assault of the 22d, the Ninth made a gallant fight
under the lead of Captain Washburn, who was three times wounded in
the charge and died from his injuries at his home on the 16th
of June. Among the killed in this charge were Captain F. M. Kelsey,
and Lieutenant Jones, Tyrell and Wilbur. Lieutenants Little and
Sutherland were among the wounded. Sergeant J. M. Elson, the color
bearer, while gallantly scaling the earthworks, was shot through
both thighs and, as he fell, the flag was seized by Lieutenant
Granger and brought off the field. During the siege the regiment
lost one hundred and twenty-one men, killed and wounded. Immediately
after the surrender, the Ninth was sent with Sherman against General
Johnston’s army, and participated in the siege and capture of
Jackson. Colonel Williamson, of the Fourth Iowa, now took command of
the brigade in which were the Ninth and other Iowa regiments,
marching to Chattanooga to participate in the brilliant campaign
under Grant.
On the 23d of November, after a
march of three hundred miles, their tents were pitched at the foot
of Lookout Mountain. Twenty four hours later the Ninth was charging
up the steep and rugged mountain side and fighting the great battle
up above the clouds. It joined in the pursuit of Hood’s beaten and
flying army, fought at Ringgold, and on the 27th was
again moving against the enemy. Its losses in these engagements were
three killed and sixteen wounded. Winter quarters were at Woodville,
Alabama, where early in January, 1864, about three hundred of its
members reenlisted as veterans. A month’s furlough enabled them to
return to their homes. At Dubuque a royal reception greeted them and
citizens return to their homes. At Dubuque a royal reception greeted
them and the citizens gave them an ovation that testified their
appreciation of the many gallant deeds of the regiment. At their
various homes the veteran soldiers received the warmest welcome that
loyal people could bestow. Many recruit were added to the regiment,
and in March, under command of Major George Granger, the successor
to Major Carpenter (who had died of consumption), it returned to
Woodville. On the 1st of May, Colonel Carskaddon, who had
been absent on account of illness, joined the regiment and it took
up the line of march from Chattanooga to join in Sherman’s Atlanta
campaign. For four months it participated in the hard marches,
skirmishes, sieges and battles of that expedition. It took part in
the battles of Resaca, Dallas, New Hope, Big Shanty, Keneshaw,
Chattahoochee River, Decatur, Atlanta, Jonesboro and Lovejoy. The
losses in these engagements were fourteen killed and seventy-six
wounded and missing. In the battle before Atlanta, on the 22d of
July, the left wing of the army was furiously assailed by Hood.
General McDe Grass’ Battery of twenty-four pound Parrott guns had
been captured, the left wing forced back and its center broken.
Colonel Williamson in command of the Second Brigade, consisting of
the Fourth, Ninth and Twenty-fifth Iowa, was ordered to charge on
and recapture the lost battery. There was a deep ravine in front and
through it the brigade moved with firm tread, climbed the steep
banks and charge with great impetuosity straight upon the battery.
So fierce was the assault on the flank that the enemy had scarcely
time to fire before overwhelmed by the Fourth and Ninth Iowa, the
guns were recaptured and turned on the foe. This gallant charge was
under the eye of the commanding general and was one of the most
brilliant episodes of that great battle. In the fight of the 28th,
Colonel Carskaddon was wounded. After the fall of Atlanta the Ninth
marched with the army to Savannah, which was taken December 21st.
During the march to Savannah the Ninth was under command of the
regiment sailed to Beaufort, South Carolina. Colonel Carskaddon,
whose term of service had expired, was honorably discharged on the
29th of December, and Major Alonzo Abernethy succeeded to
the command of the regiment. He was a brother of Lieutenant-Colonel
Jacob Abernethy of the Third Iowa, who was killed in the battle
before Atlanta July 22d. Both had entered the service as sergeant
and rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. On the 19th
of June, 1865, Major Alonzo Abernethy was promoted to that rank.
The northward march began on the 26th
of January, 1865, and the regiment reached Alexandria, Virginia, on
the 19th of May. In the last campaign it had done hard
service in the swamps of South Carolina, building corduroy roads,
bridges, and erecting intrenchments. In skirmish and battle it
always fought with bravery. The regiment was in the Iowa Brigade
under Colonel Stone, which held an important point in the capture of
Columbia. It was in the grand review at Washington, after which, at
Louisville, on the 18th of July, it was mustered out of
the service, numbering at the time five hundred and ninety-five men.
Lieutenant-Colonel Coyle, who had been absent from the regiment for
two years, serving as Judge Advocate in the Department of Kentucky
and one the staff of General J. M. Palmer, was mustered out of the
service at the same time. During the term of service the Ninth Iowa
Infantry had marched more than 4,000 miles, been transported by
railroad and steamer more than 6,000 and participated in the
skirmishes and battles of Pea Ridge, Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post,
Jackson, assault and siege of Vicksburg, siege of Jackson, Brandon,
Cherokee, Lookout Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold, Resaca,
Dallas, New Hope, Big Shanty, Kenesaw, Chattahoochee, Atlanta,
Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, Savannah, Columbia and Bentonsville. It
had furnished the service Major-General Herron, Brigadier-General
Herron, Brigadier-General Vandever and Judge Advocate Coyle.
Tenth Iowa Volunteers
This regiment was made up of
companies raised in the counties of Polk, Boone, Warren, Tama,
Madison, Greene, Jasper, Poweshiek and Washington. It numbered nine
hundred and thirteen men, who went into camp at Iowa City and were
mustered into service in September and October, 1861. After which,
at Cape Girardeau, the men were drilled. The first field and staff
officers were: Nicholas Purczel, colonel; W. E. Small,
lieutenant-colonel; J. C. Bennett, major; W. P. Davis, surgeon; T.
W. Jackson, adjutant; John Truesdale, quartermaster; D. W. Tolford,
chaplain. On the 13th of December the regiment went into
winter quarters at Bird’s Point. On the 8th of January,
1862, Colonel Purczel was sent with his regiment to capture a body
of Rebels reported to be at Charleston, twelve miles distant. The
night was dark, the rain falling in torrents and the line of march
led through swamps, where the roads were nearly impassable. While
slowly feeling their way in storm and darkness, the men were
suddenly fired upon by an enemy in ambush and thrown into confusion.
Quickly rallying, the regiment returned fire in the direction of the
concealed foe, the strength of which was unknown. The enemy was soon
dislodged and scattered and the regiment marched on beyond
Charleston. The Tenth lost in this first fight, eight men killed and
sixteen wounded. In February the regiment joined General Pope’s New
Madrid expedition. That place was defended by five regiments of
infantry and several companies of artillery, and strongly fortified
by earthworks, upon which were mounted twenty-one heavy guns. Six
gunboats, carrying from four to six heavy guns each, were anchored
along the shore between the upper and lower redoubts. Thus the
approaches to the town were commanded by direct and cross-fire with
at least sixty guns of heavy caliber. General Pope sent a detachment
of infantry with a battery of Parrott guns, under command of Colonel
Plummer, twelve miles below to seize Pleasant Point and there
blockade the river. The enemy had now been heavily reinforced from
Island Number Ten, having in all 9,000 infantry, a large addition to
its artillery and nine gunboats. The siege guns reached General Pope
on the 12th of March and early on the morning of the 13th
a vigorous bombardment began. The trenches were steadily extended
nearer the town, and by night the army was within easy musket range.
A furious thunder storm broke over the armies at night, and under
cover of the noise and darkness, the Confederate army evacuated the
town. The Tenth Iowa was the first to enter the place and learn that
the enemy had fled in a panic, leaving artillery, tents, ammunition,
horses, mules, wagons and camp supplies for an army of 10,000 men,
to fall into the hands of the victors. The Union army lost but
fifty-one men in the siege. General Pope’s army was immediately sent
to support the gunboats of Commodore Foote in an attack upon Island
Number Ten. After a vigorous bombardment of twenty-three days, this
stronghold was also evacuated on the 7th of April. The
trophies of this victory were one hundred and twenty-three pieces o
heavy artillery, nearly 7,000 prisoners, 7,000 stands of small arms,
several steamboats and wharf boats filled with stores, 2,000 horses
and mules, 1,000 wagons and a vast amount of ammunition and army
stores. The Iowa regiments that took part in this successful
campaign were the Fifth, Tenth, and Second Cavalry. Soon after,
General Halleck absorbed General Pope’s army in his march against
Corinth, and the Tenth Iowa took part in the so-called siege. The
Tenth went into camp at Corinth, where for months it was kept on
duty, suffering greatly from sickness. Week after week through the
hot summer the men were kept in idleness, the long sultry days
bringing nothing but drill and sickness to vary the depressing
monotony. Many died and many contracted disease which caused their
discharge. In September the regiment participated with Rosecrans’
army in the bloody Battle of Iuka, where it repulsed two separate
charges of Texas regiments and won special commendation of the
commanding general. In the desperate two day’s Battle of Corinth
which soon followed, the Tenth, under Major McCalla, in General
Sullivan’s Brigade, made a most gallant fight, of which Major
McCalla says in his report:
“During both days I was assisted
in the field by Captain N. A. Holson, acting lieutenant-colonel;
Captain Jackson Orr, acting major; and Lieutenant William Manning,
adjutant; who acted throughout with great coolness and courage and
to whom large credit is due. The line officers without exception
deported themselves with great gallantry, and to the men under my
command too much praise cannot be given for their courage, endurance
and strict obedience to orders.”
The regiment lost three
killed and thirty-seven wounded, among the latter was Captain Albert
Head.
The regiment was with General Grant
in the Oxford campaign and later at Memphis, where it went into
winter quarters. Colonel Purczel had resigned in November, 1862, and
was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel Small. Major Bennett had
resigned in November, 1862, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel
Small. Major Bennett had resigned in January of the same year, and
Captain McCalla was promoted to the vacancy. Dr. Davis resigned in
April, and R. J. Mohr was appointed surgeon. Adjutant Jackson also
resigned in April and was succeeded by Lieutenant John Delahayed.
The next active service of the Tenth was under General Quimby
against Fort Pemberton which was bombarded for several days without
success. The regiment soon after joined General Grant’s army at
Milliken’s Bend, and was in the great campaign which captured
Vicksburg. In this campaign the Tenth Iowa bore a conspicuous part,
fighting bravely at Raymond on the 12th, at Jackson on
the 14th and at Champion’s Hill on the 16th of
May. General Quimby being ill, his division was under command of
General Crocker, of Iowa, and the Tenth was in a brigade under
Colonel Boomer, in McPherson’s Corps. At Jackson the corps did the
largest share of the fighting and then turned west to cooperate with
the main body of Grant’s army, which was concentrating to meet
General Pemberton, marching from Vicksburg to resist Grant’s
progress toward that city. Pemberton had taken a strong position on
a high hill on the plantation of a Mr. Champion. To the right of the
road a dense forest extended some distance down the hill, opening
into cultivated fields on a gentle slope and broad valley. Here
Pemberton, with 25,000 men, had posted his army, commanding the
roads by which Grant was advancing. The divisions of Logan and
Crocker were soon in the thickest of the fight, where the heavy
rattle of musketry for an hour and a half had not been surpassed in
any battle of the war. Hovey, who had been holding his ground
tenaciously against greatly superior numbers, was finally forced
slowly back, when Crocker and Logan reinforced him, and were soon in
retreat, so vigorously pursued that much of their artillery and many
prisoners were captured. There were many Iowa regiments in this
greatest battle of this campaign, and none fought with greater
bravery than the Tenth. When Crocker came to the aid of Hovey, this
regiment, with the brigade, was thrown into the vortex of as
desperate a struggle as ever was witnessed on the field and helped
turn the tide of battle. But Boomer’s brigade was immolated in the
conflict and the loss of the Tenth was fearful, reaching nearly
fifty per cent of its entire number. Among the killed were Captain
Poag and Lieutenants Terry and Brown, while Captains Lusby, Head,
Kuhn and Hobson and Lieutenants Meekin and Gregory were wounded.
Soon after the battle the Tenth was with the army before Vicksburg.
It was in the assault of the 22d, making two gallant charges on the
impregnable works. Colonel Boomer, commanding the brigade, was
killed in one of the charges and Captain Head was severely wounded.
After the surrender, the Tenth marched with Sherman against Johnston
and after his retreat again returned to Vicksburg, remaining for two
days for two months garrison duty. Near the close of September it
was transferred to the fifteenth Corps and marched with Sherman to
Chattanooga. General Matthies, of Iowa, had succeeded to the command
of the brigade after the death of the gallant Boomer, and the Tenth
took part in the brilliant battles which Grant fought in and about
the city. Here, many of its best officers and men perished in the
storming the defenses and bravely facing the death–dealing
batteries. The soldiers never faltered in the line of duty and
everywhere sustained the high reputation won on many battle-fields.
At Missionary Ridge the Tenth won
high honors. At three o’clock on the 24th of November,
General Sherman moved against Missionary Ridge, where General Bragg
was strongly posted on that range of hills. The Tenth Iowa, with its
brigade and division, marched down through the timber and low bottom
land to the assault. Reaching the first hill on a high range beyond,
the enemy was seen strongly fortified and in force, and against this
position the Seventh Division directed its attack the next day. The
Union army had won Lookout Mountain and on the night of the 24th,
held the entire line from the north side of Lookout Mountain through
the Chattanooga Valley to the north end of Missionary Ridge. General
Bragg was now defeated and was fighting to save his army, artillery
and baggage. The point against which the Fifth, Sixth, Tenth and
Seventeenth Iowa regiments were directed on the 25th,
covered Bragg’s line of communication to the rear, and if this hill
were lost Bragg’s defeat would be disastrous. The Tenth, with its
brigade, moved at eleven o’clock to reinforce General Ewing,
marching over an open field to low ground covered with underbrush
and advancing to the attack on the hill. The artillery fire was
terrible. Solid shot, shell, grape and canister at short range form
forty pieces of artillery, smote their ranks, mowing down the men by
scores. No troops could stand against it and a retreat was ordered.
General Matthies fell severely wounded; it was next to Champion’s
Hill the most terrific artillery fire the Tenth ever encountered.
After the close of the Chattanooga campaign the regiment went into
winter quarters at Huntsville, Alabama, and, during the months of
January and February, 1864, nearly three hundred of the men
reenlisted, converting it into a veteran regiment.
Colonel Small had left the service
in August, 1863, and was succeeded by Lieutenant-Colonel P. C.
Henderson; Major McCalla became lieutenant-colonel and Captain
Robert Lusby was promoted to major. The Tenth was sent with General
Thomas in a movement against Johnston in Tennessee and in April was
ordered to Decatur, Alabama. In June the veterans were granted a
furlough, retuning to duty in the latter part of July, and were
stationed along the Chattanooga and Atlantic Railroad, having
headquarters at Kingston, Georgia. The Tenth was next in the
expedition under Generals Steadman and Rousseau against Wheeler, and
in the march to the sea, taking part in the battles around Savannah.
In the campaign through the Carolinas it made a gallant passage of
the Salkahatchie River, crossing waist deep under a heavy fire from
the enemy posted behind earthworks and, with another regiment,
dislodging the Confederates. The Tenth was with the advance upon
Columbia, and was warmly engaged at Cox Bridge on the Neuse River in
North Carolina at the opening of the Battle of Bentonsville. It
moved with the army to Goldsboro and Raleigh, and was at the
surrender of Johnston’s army of nearly 37,000 men on the 21st
day of April, 1865, which event virtually ended the war.
The Tenth soon after went to
Washington and participated in the grand review of May 24th.
From there it was sent to Louisville, and thence to Little Rock and
was not mustered out until the 15th of August. It
numbered at that time little more than three hundred men and had the
following field and staff officers: Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Silsby,
Adjutant H. S. Bowman, Surgeon R. J. Mohr, Chaplain W. G. Kephart.
The regiment entered the service over nine hundred strong and had
received thereafter about three hundred recruits; so that during its
four years of camp life, hard marches and battles it had lost from
disease, wounds, disability and death as many men as it took into
the service. Such are the ravages of war. The flag of the Tenth Iowa
Volunteers, deposited in the capitol of the State, is entitled to
have inscribed upon its war-worn folds the names of Charleston, New
Madrid, Island Number Ten, Farmington, Iuka, Corinth, Raymond,
Jackson, Champion’s Hill, Vicksburg, Missionary Ridge, Decatur,
Salkahatchie, Columbia, and Bentonsville. |
