Col. Joseph J. Woods

WOODS

Posted By: Ken Wright (email)
Date: 10/17/2008 at 16:23:36

The Story of Iowa, William J. Petersen
Lewis Historical Publishing, Inc., 1952

12th REGIMENT OF IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

The 926 men of the Twelfth Iowa Infantry were mustered in late in the fall of 1861, with Joseph J. Woods of Jackson County as colonel. Woods was a native of Ohio and a West Point graduate. While in barracks at St. Louis, the regiment, composed largely of men from northeast Iowa, suffered severely from sickness, losing about 75 men by death. The regiment was assigned to General Grant and was with him in the capture of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson, winning praise for its gallantry. Next came Shiloh, where the courageous Twelfth withstood repeated enemy charges at the “Hornet’s Nest,” the point where the hottest and bloodiest conflict raged. More than 150 men of the Twelfth were killed or wounded and more than 400 were finally captured, 80 of them subsequently dying in Southern prisons. The 150 members of the Twelfth, who escaped capture or death, were assigned to the Union Brigade.

Reorganized later, the Twelfth served with Grant at Vicksburg and then marched with Sherman against Johnston. In January, 1864, a large portion of the regiment re-enlisted as veterans and after a furlough home, returned to take part in the Battle of Tupelo and in February of 1865 aided in the capture of Mobile. It was finally mustered out at Memphis, Tennessee, in January of 1866.