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Roster and Record of Iowa Troops In the Rebellion, Vol. 2

By Guy E. Logan

HISTORICAL SKETCH

TENTH REGIMENT IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

The Tenth regiment was ordered into quarters by the Governor in the latter part of August,

1861. Nine full companies had assembled at the designated rendezvous by the 6th of September,

and were mustered into the service of the United States by Capt. Alexander Chambers, United

States Army, at Camp Fremont, near Iowa City, on the 6th and 7th days of September, 1861. The

date of the completed muster of the tenth company appears in the official record as October 11th,

which would indicate that the company was not filled to the maximum until after the regiment

had taken the field.

The names of its field and staff and company officers at organization will be found in the

subjoined roster, and the subsequent changes, on account of death, promotion, resignation, or

from whatever cause, will be found in the alphabetically arranged roster which follows, with the

personal record of service opposite the name of each officer and enlisted man. These records

have been compiled from the official reports of the Adjutant General of Iowa, supplemented by

those on file in the War Department at Washington, in so far as access could be obtained to those

records. It is more than possible that, with all the care that has been taken to make these records

accurate, some errors have been made. When the magnitude of the work and the length of time

which has transpired since the close of the war are taken into consideration, it will not be a

matter for surprise however much it is to be regretted— that all the mistakes as well as omissions

revealed by these old records could not be discovered and corrected. It is believed that, in the

main, these paragraphs will be found to properly represent the facts, briefly stated, connected

with the personal service of each soldier of the regiment.

September 24, 1861, the regiment embarked on board transports at Davenport, for St. Louis,

arriving there on the 27th. Here it received its arms, uniforms and camp equipments, and on

October 1st was ordered to Cape Girardeau to aid in fortifying that place against a threatened

attack of the enemy. From Cape Girardeau, the regiment engaged in an expedition which resulted

in the dispersion of a rebel force under the command of Gen. Jeff Thompson. November 12th it

was ordered to Bird's Point, and from that place engaged in several expeditions, in one of

which—near Charleston—it had a sharp encounter with the enemy, resulting in a loss to the

Tenth Iowa of 8 killed and 16 wounded. * The regiment suffered greatly while at Bird's Point

from sickness, the prevailing and most fatal malady being measles, the aggregate loss from

November 12, 1861, to March 4, 1862, being 96 by death and by discharge on account of

disease. It will thus be seen that in less than six months the regiment had suffered a loss of 120

men in killed and wounded and by death and discharge because of sickness. It was repeating the

experience of the Iowa regiments which had preceded it, in the loss of a large number who could

not withstand the hard conditions to which they were subjected by the change from the comforts

of their home life to the hardships and exposure of the camp and the march during a winter

campaign.

* Report of Lieut. Col. Wm. E. Small, Page 844, Vol. 2, Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863. Also

Page 185—186 Report. 10 (140)

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Early in March, 1862, the regiment was ordered to New Madrid, Mo., where it participated in

the operations that led up to the evacuation of that place by the enemy; and a detachment from

the Tenth Iowa, under Major McCalla, was first to enter the rebel works. It also assisted in the

capture of Island No. 10, and in the pursuit of the enemy to Tiptonville, where 5,000 of the

enemy and a large quantity of military supplies were captured. Following this brilliant

achievement, the Tenth Iowa, now a part of the Union Army of the Mississippi, embarked on

board transports and, in conjunction with the federal gunboats, made a demonstration against the

rebel Fort Wright; but the army was abruptly recalled, just as these operations were fairly under

way, to reinforce the Army of the Tennessee, in its operations against the rebel stronghold at

Corinth, Miss., and, proceeding up the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee rivers, the transports

landed the troops at Hamburg, Tenn., from which point they marched to Corinth, and became

part of the investing force in the siege which followed.

In the operations around Corinth, the regiment acquitted itself with great credit and received

the warm commendation of its experienced commander, Colonel Perczel, for its gallant conduct

in the skirmish with the enemy, May 26, 1862. Corinth was evacuated May 30, 1862, and the

Tenth Iowa participated in the pursuit of the enemy until ordered to return, when it went into

camp on Clear Creek, near Corinth, on June 15th, where it remained until June 29th, when it was

sent on an expedition to Ripley, forty miles distant, and returned to its camp on Clear Creek, July

6th, where it remained until July 29th, when it marched to Jacinto and went into camp near that

place, where it remained until September 18th. On that date, the rebel army under Generals Price

and Van Dorn was in possession of Iuka, within striking distance of our camp, and General

Rosecrans moved his troops (of which the Tenth Iowa formed a part) on the 19th of September,

towards Iuka, and on the evening of that day the enemy met him, and the battle of Iuka began.

The Tenth Iowa occupied a most fortunate position in this battle, which enabled it to inflict

heavy loss upon the enemy with but slight loss to itself. The manner in which the regiment was

handled reflected great credit upon its commander. The following extract from the report of

Colonel Perczel will show the great skill with which he executed the orders of his brigade

commander, General Sullivan:

Agreeably to your orders, I advanced on September 19th about 5 P. M. with my regiment and

a section of the Twelfth Wisconsin Battery, under Lieutenant Immell. After a short survey of our

line of battle, I took position with seven companies, a cheval,* on the Iuka road, about a quarter

of a mile ahead of our left wing. I sent three companies to the right into a dense wood; then I put

my two pieces into position, and threw a few shells in an oblique direction, where I discovered

the rebel lines. My three companies in the woods reported a full brigade of rebels advancing on

our left wing, on which I withdrew them, and, leaving only one company for the observation of

the enemy, I changed front perpendicular to our line of battle on the Iuka road. I planted my two

pieces anew, and thus obtained a dominating flanking position. Being on a ridge, I could watch

the enemy's movements, who had to cross a broken open field in order to attack our forces. They

soon emerged from the woods, opened a heavy fire, and advanced on our lines. Their fire was

returned, and I too opened with musketry and canister. The rebels wavered, fell back a little, but

were soon rallied and advanced again, nothing daunted by our fire, which made great havoc in

their ranks. They followed our left wing into the woods, and for a short time there was no enemy

in our sight: but suddenly a full regiment marched out from the woods on their side, offering

their right flank to my fire, with the evident intention to advance to the support of their forces

already engaged. I opened instantly with canister and musketry, on which they fell back to the

woods. They attempted twice to advance but were driven back each time. We had the advantage

of the ground. Our fire told fearfully upon them, while we suffered next to nothing. Their fire, up

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a steep hill, had been altogether too high. Night coming on, I drew a little closer to our main

body; but on the report of Company 1, which I left to observe the enemy's movements, that a

new body of rebels was advancing, I advanced again with three companies. As we approached,

the enemy opened upon us, but owing to the darkness, and again to their up-hill firing, not a man

was hurt. We returned the fire with great execution, as we found on the morning of the 20th the

ground strewn with the bodies of their dead.

* "A cheval." Placed so as to command two roads, or the space between two sides.

At the close of his report, the Colonel thanks his officers and men for the promptness with

which they executed his orders, and says, "The Tenth Iowa have proved themselves good

soldiers." He further says, "I have to mention efficient services and assistance of our brave Major

N. McCalla, and of my Adjutant, Wm. Manning, and also the able and brave manner in which

Lieutenant Immell handled his two pieces of artillery."

The entire loss of the regiment in this battle was but 7 men wounded. It is but seldom that

such effective service is performed in battle with such slight loss. In all the battles in which it

was subsequently engaged, the Tenth Iowa was never so fortunate as to escape with so small a

loss in proportion to the magnitude of the engagement and the number of the regiment engaged.

Major General Rosecrans, who was the chief in command, says in his official report: "The Tenth

Iowa, under Colonel Perczel, deserves honorable mention for covering our left flank from the

assault of the Texas Legion."

Brig. Gen. C. S. Hamilton says, "An attempt to turn the left flank of my division by a heavy

force of the enemy, moving up the open field and ravine on my left, was most signally repulsed

by Colonel Perczel with the Tenth Iowa and a section of Immell's battery. So bravely was this

attempt repulsed that the enemy made no more attempts in that direction."

Brig. Gen. J. C. Sullivan, who commanded the brigade to which the Tenth Iowa was

attached, says, "The Tenth Iowa, with a section of the Twelfth Wisconsin Battery, was ordered to

hold a road leading to our left and rear. The regiment held the position assigned them, and drove

back a brigade of rebels which was advancing to take possession of the road. Colonel Perczel

gallantly held his position, and by his determined stand led the enemy to believe were in strong

force at that point, and to desist from their attack." The commendations of these generals show

that the service of the Tenth Iowa was most important, and that it was fully appreciated.

The next experience of the regiment under fire was in the battle of Corinth, on the 3d and 4th

days of October, 1862. The position to which the Tenth Iowa was assigned on the first day of the

battle was again a fortunate one, as will be seen by the following extract from the official report

of its commanding officer, Major Nathaniel McCalla. After describing the position occupied—a

shallow cut on the line of the Memphis & Charleston Railroad—he says:

While in this position the fire from their batteries was kept up, raking the ground, and would

have done immense damage but for the fact that at this point where the line was formed on the

track, there was a cut which formed a good shelter, their balls passing over our heads, many of

them lodging in the opposite bank, so closely had they raked the ground. Seeing an attempt on

the part of the enemy to move forward one of their batteries to a point on the railroad to our

right, from which they could open upon us an enfilading fire, I ordered the regiment to file into

the dense woods in our rear by the left flank, having cleared the track in time to avoid a raking

fire. I again formed a line of battle, and marched to the rear, under the incessant fire of their

battery, whose firing had now become too high to do much damage.

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The Major conducted his regiment through the woods to the left until he reached the main

road leading directly to the front. On this road the enemy's pickets were discovered, and the

regiment was immediately deployed as skirmishers, but the enemy did not advance, and the

Tenth Iowa remained in line until morning. On the morning of the 4th, in obedience to orders,

Major McCalla moved his regiment to a new position to the left and rear of the line he had

occupied during the night, and went into line of battle in support of the Sixth Wisconsin Battery.

Of the conduct of the regiment in the second day's battle Major McCalla reports as follows:

At about 10 A. M., the firing of the skirmishers in front of us became rapid, and the

advancing columns of the enemy soon drove them back; but they rallied to a point directly in

front of our line, and until they had retired to our rear, I could not order my regiment to fire; but

as soon as the space in front was cleared I gave the order to commence firing, which was kept up

with spirit, but without very materially checking the advance of the enemy, who approached us

in overwhelming numbers. My men had fired from 15 to 20 rounds, when I perceived that

numbers of the enemy were passing around the right and getting in the rear of my line, and also

that the battery on my left had been silenced and taken, and the enemy pressing forward to the

left of us. I ordered the regiment to fall back, which it did in good order, to a distance of about

seventy-five yards, when I made a halt, facing about and again opening fire; but being unable to

retain this position, I again ordered the regiment back under cover of the Twelfth Wisconsin, and

Powell's batteries. Passing to the rear in line of battle, I halted at a position immediately between

these batteries. I then marched forward and occupied the same ground from which we had

retired, during the remainder of the battle. The casualties in the regiment were 6 men wounded

on the first day, and one commissioned officer and 30 men wounded and 3 killed on the second

day.

Major McCalla makes special mention of Capt. N. A. Holson, Acting Lieutenant Colonel,

and Capt. Jackson Orr, Acting Major, also Wm. Manning, Adjutant, commending these officers

for their assistance to him and for their coolness and courage. He also states that the line officers,

without an exception deported themselves with the greatest gallantry.

The brigade commander, General Sullivan, in his official report, says: "The Tenth Iowa

sustained the brunt of the first attack of the enemy, until the regiment on their left gave way, and

their flank was exposed, when they slowly fell back fighting."

After the battle of Corinth, the regiment had a short period of rest in camp, but, on November

1st, it was again on the move, participating in expeditions to Grand Junction, Davis Mills, Holly

Springs and Moscow. It did not encounter the enemy in any of these movements.

From Moscow, the regiment marched with the army under General Grant down the line of

the Mississippi Central Railroad. The objective point of the

TENTH INFANTRY 149

expedition was Vicksburg, but the capture of Holly Springs by the skillfully executed cavalry

raid of the rebel General Van Dorn, and the destruction of the vast stores of supplies which

General Grant had accumulated at that point, compelled the abandonment of the expedition and

the prompt retreat of the union army. It became necessary to at once dispatch a train of several

hundred wagons to Memphis for supplies, and the Tenth Iowa was one of the regiments selected

to guard this immense train over the long road to Memphis and beck to meet the retreating army

which had become reduced almost to the starving point, before the train met them upon its

return with the needed supplies. After performing this important service, the regiment remained

for one month in camp at White's Station,* and then moved to Memphis, where, on the 4th of

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March, 1863, it embarked and proceeded down the river, to enter actively upon the greatest

campaign thus far attempted during the war. The compiler of this sketch realizes with regret that

the limitation of space to which he is restricted will not permit him to go into particularity of

detail in describing the operations of the Tenth Iowa Infantry in this great campaign, or in those

which followed, down to the close of the war. To do so would require a volume, instead of the

few pages which follow.

* Capt. Albert Head of Company F, wounded severely in the forehead.

The regiment accompanied the hazardous expedition through the tortuous windings of the

Yazoo Pass, over two hundred miles from the Mississippi, and returned to Helena on the 9th of

April, 1863. It now belonged to the Third Brigade of the Seventh Division of General

McPherson's Seventeenth Army Corps, with which it participated in the brilliant series of battles

at Port Gibson, Raymond, Jackson, Champion Hills and in that sanguinary charge upon the

enemy's works at Vicksburg on the 22d of May. In all of these engagements the regiment

displayed the same valor and prompt obedience to orders which it had shown in all its preceding

encounters with the enemy, but its splendid achievement and heavy loss at Champion Hills on

the 16th of May, 1863, is considered by many of the survivors as not only by far the most

notable record the regiment made during the Vicksburg campaign but of the entire war. In that

hard fought battle the division to which the Tenth Iowa belonged was commanded by the gallant

General M. M. Crocker of Iowa.*

* General Crocker entered the service as Captain of Company D, Second Infantry; was promoted

to Major of that regiment, was the first Colonel of the Thirteenth Iowa Infantry, and was later

promoted to Brigadier General of Volunteers.

The regiment here stood its ground in an open stand up fight, taking and returning the fire of

the enemy at close range until its last round of ammunition was exhausted. On no part of the

battlefield was the fighting so severe, persistent or protracted. Iowa was conspicuous in this

battle, five of her regiments—the Fifth, Tenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-eighth—

being engaged, and all acquitting themselves with great credit. The Tenth lost nearly one-half of

its number engaged. Of its officers, Capt. Stephen W. Poage, Lieut. James H. Terry and Lieut.

Isaac H. Brown, were killed on the field, and Capt. Robert Lusby, Capt. Nathan A. Holson, Capt.

Albert Head, Lieut. John W. Wright, Lieut. A. L. Swallow, Lieut. Elbert J. Kuhn, Lieut. George

Gregory and Lieut. William P. Meekins, were wounded. The total loss of the regiment in this

battle was 158, 34 killed and 124 wounded.

On the 19th of May the regiment had reached the position to which it was assigned in the rear

of Vicksburg, and became part of the investing force in the siege. The regiment participated in

the charge on the 22d of May and lost 3 killed and 24 wounded. Here the gallant Captain Head

was again severely wounded. The regiment remained on duty, in the trenches as sharpshooters,

supporting batteries, and performing its full part in the siege operations until June 22nd, when it

was transferred, with its brigade, to the defensive line on Black River to guard against the

possible attempt of the rebel General Johnston to raise the siege by attacking the besieging force

in the rear.

The regiment remained upon this important duty until after the surrender of Vicksburg, July

4,1863, when it was immediately sent in pursuit of Johnston's army, which had been withdrawn

to the defensive works around Jackson, against which the army under General Sherman promptly

began siege operations, which ended on July 16th, upon the evacuation of Jackson by the forces

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under Johnston, and their retreat into the interior of Mississippi. Thus ended the Vicksburg

campaign, with such satisfactory results for the Union army, and such disastrous results for the

enemy. The victory had been won, however, at a tremendous cost. On both sides many thousands

had been killed and wounded, and thousands more were to share their fate before the final

triumph of the Union arms. On the 19th of July the Tenth Iowa returned to Vicksburg, and from

there proceeded to Helena, Ark., with its division, where it remained until the last of September,

when it was ordered to proceed to Memphis, there to unite with the Fifteenth Army Corps under

Maj. Gen. Wm. T. Sherman, and to march across the country to Chattanooga, there to reinforce

the Army of the Cumberland and to deal another crushing blow to the enemies of the Union.

On the 17th of October the long and toilsome march was begun. For thirty-two days the army

under Sherman pressed forward and, on the 19th of November, arrived at Chattanooga. There the

great struggle was renewed around Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge. The Tenth Iowa

participated in the storming of Missionary Ridge, November 25th, and performed its full share in

that memorable contest, in which it seemed impossible that human valor could accomplish the

task of scaling those formidable heights. The loss of the regiment in this engagement was 11

killed, 35 wounded and 6 captured, out of 250 engaged.

After this battle the Tenth Iowa was moved to Bridgeport, thence to Larkinsville, Ala., and

thence to Huntsville, where it went into camp January 9, 1864. Here, in the beginning of

February, the requisite number to retain the regimental organization re-enlisted as veterans and

were mustered into the service on March 30, 1864.

No better test of patriotism could have been shown by these brave and devoted men. They

knew what war meant, had experienced its hardships, privations and horrors on the march and on

the battlefield. They longed most earnestly to return to home and loved ones and yet, so long as

the supreme object for which they had first enlisted remained to be accomplished, they were

willing to still forego the comforts of home and all its dear associations. To thousands of these

brave and true men, who subsequently died in battle or from sickness, the high resolve to serve

their country to the end was typical of that most sublime feeling that ever dominated the action

of a human being—the feeling of total self-abnegation.

On April 30th the regiment was ordered to Decatur, Ala. During its stay there it was engaged

in fortifying the place and, by way of diversion from such hard labor, had occasional skirmishes

with the enemy's cavalry. On the 15th of June, the re-enlisted men of the regiment received the

long-looked-for and very welcome order to proceed to Iowa on veteran furlough. After a most

enjoyable visit of thirty days at their homes, they returned to the field and rejoined their

comrades at Kingston, Ga., on the 1st of August. The reunited regiment now took part in various

expeditions directed mainly against the rebel General Wheeler's large cavalry force which, by

skillful maneuvering, managed to avoid coming in contact with the Union troops, while inflicting

considerable damage by tearing up railroad track and capturing supplies. The regiment returned

from the last of these expeditions on the 15th of September, and again went into camp at