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

By Guy E. Logan

HISTORICAL SKETCH

TWELFTH REGIMENT IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

The ten companies composing the Twelfth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry were ordered

into quarters by Governor Kirkwood on dates ranging from Sept. 14 to Oct. 10, 1861, under the

proclamation of President Lincoln bearing date July 23, 1861. The companies were mustered

into the service of the United States by Capt. E. C. Washington, United States Army, at

Dubuque, Iowa, on dates ranging from Oct. 17 to Nov. 25, l861. The total enrollment at muster

in was 981, rank and file.

Only three days after the last company was mustered, the regiment left Camp Union, near

Dubuque, and proceeded by railroad to St. Louis, Mo. Upon its arrival there it marched at once

to Benton Barracks, where troops were being concentrated and instructed in company and

battalion drill and the other duties of the soldier, in order that they might be prepared to take the

field against the enemy at the earliest possible date. This period of preparation was utilized to the

utmost advantage. The regiment remained in this huge camp of instruction until Jan. 27, 1862. It

had gained much in the knowledge of the manual of arms and the military movements that would

be necessary when it came into contact with the enemy. It was now about to enter upon a

campaign which would put to the test the courage and fortitude of its officers and men, and in

which it was to learn its first severe lessons in actual warfare.

The regiment was ordered to proceed to Cairo, Ill., where it received orders from General

Grant and embarked on steamers which landed at the mouth of the Cumberland river, and here

the regiment made its first encampment in the field, Jan. 31, 1862. On the 5th of February it

again embarked and was conveyed, by way of Paducah, Ky., to a point four miles below Fort

Henry, where it landed and joined the force which was to co-operate with the gunboats, under

Commodore Foote, in an attack upon the fort. Owing to the almost impassable condition of the

roads, the troops did not arrive until the gunboats had compelled the evacuation of the fort and

secured possession of it.

On the 12th of February, the regiment was assigned to Cook's brigade of Smith's division and

ordered to Fort Donelson, where it arrived the same day and became part of the investing force.

Its first position was to the left of the Dover road, where it lay in line of battle during the night,

ready for action. During the three days' siege which followed, and which ended in the surrender

of the fort and its garrison, the Twelfth Iowa rendered most important and efficient service. It

was on the afternoon of February 15th that the regiment suffered its greatest loss, while

supporting the charge of Colonel Lauman's brigade. Col. J. J. Woods was in command of the

regiment and wrote the official report of its conduct, in which he makes special mention of the

bravery and efficiency of Lieutenant Colonel Coulter, Major Brodtbeck, Adjutant Duncan,

Lieutenant Dorr, Surgeon Parker and Assistant Surgeon Finley, Sergeant Major Morrisey and

Color Bearer Sergeant Grannis. The Colonel concludes his report as follows: "Without further

particularizing, every commissioned officer of the regiment performed his duties without

flinching. The same may be said of the non-commissioned officers and privates, with but few

exceptions."

The regiment remained at Fort Donelson, occupying the quarters built by the rebel soldiers,

until March 12, 1862, when it marched to Metal Landing on the Tennessee river, where it

embarked on steamers and was conveyed to Pittsburg Landing. There it landed on the 21st of

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March and was assigned to a brigade composed of the Second, Seventh, Twelfth and Fourteenth

regiments of Iowa Infantry, commanded by Col. J. AI. Tuttle of the Second Iowa. This was the

First Brigade of the Second Division, commanded by Gen. W. H L. Wallace, a division which

was destined to save the day for the Union army on Sunday, the 6th of April, 1862.

The compiler of this historical sketch has a just appreciation of the subsequent splendid

record of service of the Twelfth Iowa Infantry, and regrets that the limitation to which he is

subjected will not permit a detailed history of all its operations, but he feels that the importance

of its service at Shiloh requires a greater amount of space than can be devoted to any of the

battles in which it was afterwards engaged. Col. J. J. Woods, who commanded the regiment, and

who was severely wounded, gives a detailed account of its operations, over his signature, which

is not in the form of an official report and which is not dated, but which substantially agrees with

the official report of Col. J. M. Tuttle, who commanded the brigade. This account is here quoted

in full, as follows:

On the morning of April 6, 1862, the rebels having attacked our advanced lines at Shiloh

Tenn., the Twelfth Iowa Infantry Volunteers was rapidly formed and joined the other regiments--

Second, Seventh and Fourteenth of the Iowa Brigade, being of the First Brigade, under Brigadier

General Tuttle, of the Second Division under General Wallace. The brigade was marched to near

the field beyond General Hurlbut's headquarters, and formed in line of battle, the Second and

Seventh on our right the Fourteenth on our left. The Eighth Iowa of Prentiss' division was on the

left of the Fourteenth, forming an angle to the rear with our line. An open field lay in front of our

right. Dense timber covered our left. A small ravine was immediately behind us. In this position

we awaited the approach of the enemy. Soon he made a bold attack on us, but met with a warm

reception, and we soon repulsed him. Again and again did he attack us, trying vainly to drive us

from our position. He failed to move us one inch from our position. On the contrary, we repulsed

every attack of the enemy and drove him back in confusion. Thus matters stood in our front until

about 4 o'clock P. M., at which time it became evident, by the firing on our left, that the enemy

was getting in our rear. An Aid-de-Camp rode up and directed me to face to the rear and fall

back, stating, in answer to my inquiry, that I would receive orders as to the position I was to

occupy. No such orders reached me, and I suppose could not.

* The loss of the regiment at Donelson was two killed and twenty-eight wounded. See list, Page

440-41 report of Adjutant General of Iowa for year 1864.

Report of Adjutant General of Iowa for year 1863, Vol. 2, Page 796.

The Second and Seventh Iowa had already gone to the rear, and, on reaching the high ground

between our position and General Hurlbut's headquarters, we discovered that we were already

surrounded by the enemy, caused by no fault of our own, but by the troops at a distance from us,

on our right and left, giving way before the enemy. Seeing ourselves surrounded, we

nevertheless opened a brisk fire on that portion of the enemy who blocked our passage to the

landing, who, after briskly returning our fire for a short time, fell back. A brisk fire from the

enemy on our left (previous right) was going on at the same time. Seeing the enemy in front

falling back, we attempted by a rapid movement to cut our way through, but the enemy on our

left advanced rapidly, coming in behind us, pouring into our ranks a most destructive fire. The

enemy in front faced about and opened on us at short range, the enemy in our rear still closing in

on us rapidly. I received two wounds, disabling me from further duty. The command then

devolved on Captain Edgington, acting as field officer. The enemy had, however, already so

closely surrounded us that their balls which missed our men took effect in their ranks beyond us.

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To have held out longer would have been to suffer complete annihilation. The regiment was

therefore compelled to surrender as prisoners of war. Lieutenant Colonel Coulter was much

reduced by chronic diarrhoea, and Major Brodtbeck was suffering from rheumatism. Being

myself the only field officer on duty, at my request Captain Edgington acted as a field officer,

the duties of which he performed in an able and efficient manner. Quartermaster Dorr, though his

position did not require him to go into action, volunteered to do so, and throughout the day

behaved in a brave and gallant manner, daringly, if not recklessly, exposing his person to the

enemy. He made himself very useful in carrying messages and spying out the positions and

movements of the enemy, and firing on them as occasion offered; energetic and efficient in his

own department, he would fill a higher one with credit to himself and honor to the service.

Adjutant Duncan proved himself on this, as on all occasions, a faithful and efficient officer.

Captains Earle, Warner, Stibbs, Haddock, Van Duzee and Townsley performed well their part,

as did all the Lieutenants in the action, in a prompt and willing manner. The non-commissioned

officers and men stood bravely up to their work, and never did men behave better. In the death of

Lieutenant Ferguson, of company D, the regiment lost one of its best drilled officers and a

gallant soldier. It also lost a good man and good officer in the death of Lieutenant Moir of

company A.

J. J. WOODS,

Colonel Twelfth Iowa Volunteers.

Colonel Woods does not give a list of the killed, wounded and captured, the aggregate loss of

the regiment, in the battle of Shiloh, but, in his outline history of its organization and operations,

Maj. Samuel G. Knee* states that at the time of its surrender it had lost 16 men killed and 97

wounded, and that about 400 were captured. The official tabulated statement of losses gives the

aggregate loss of the Twelfth Iowa at Shiloh as 479.t A foot note to this return states: "A number

of the captured and missing were also wounded." The statement of Major Knee may therefore be

considered as a close approximation to the actual number of killed and wounded,

notwithstanding its variance from the tabulated return, increasing the aggregate loss of the

regiment to 513. It is no disparagement to any one of the other eight Iowa regiments that

participated in the historic battle of Shiloh to say that the service rendered by the Eighth, Twelfth

and Fourteenth, which stemmed the tide of battle at the front, with the victorious enemy on both

flanks pushing the remainder of General Grant's army to its last line of resistance, was of

transcendent importance in deciding the fortune of that first day's battle.

* Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1865, Vol. 2, Page 1077.

t Series 1, Vol. 10, War of the Rebellion Records. Part 1, Page 101. Tabulated return of

casualties of battle of Shiloh April 6-7, 1862.

Adjutant General's Report 1865, Vol. 2, Page 1077, and report of Colonel Coulter

Commanding Union Brigade.

Soon after the battle the remnants of the Eighth, Twelfth and Fourteenth Iowa, and Fiftyeighth

Illinois, consisting of those who had escaped capture, together with the slightly wounded,

those who had been on furlough and detached service at the time of the battle, and the

convalescents returned from hospital, were consolidated into an organization which was

designated as the "Union Brigade," although it numbered but 478, rank and file, when

organized, and its maximum strength—Oct. 1, 1862—was but 631. The Twelfth Iowa had an

aggregate of only 76—3 commissioned officers and 72 enlisted men—when it was assigned to

the "Union Brigade." This detachment of the Twelfth was under the command of the gallant

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Lieut. D. B. Henderson, and rendered efficient service during the advance upon and siege of

Corinth. Its most conspicuous service was in the battle of Corinth, Oct. 3-4, 1862, where it

sustained a loss of 39 killed, wounded and missing out of 80 men engaged. Among the wounded

at Corinth were Lieut. D. B. Henderson, who lost his left leg, Capt. Allen E. Webb and Lieut. J.

R. C. Hunter. During a considerable part of the time that the "Union Brigade" was maintained it

was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Coulter of the Twelfth Iowa, who was also wounded at

Corinth, but was sufficiently recovered to resume command on the 11th of December, 1862 and,

few days later, received the following order:

Special Orders, No. 62.

Headquarters Division of Corinth, Corinth, Miss., Dec. 17, 1862.

The formation known as the Union Brigade is hereby dissolved. The Eighth, Twelfth, and

Fourteenth Iowa Infantry will proceed to Iowa tomorrow, the 18th inst., under the charge and

command of Lieutenant Colonel Coulter, and report to Adjutant General N. B. Baker, of Iowa,

for re-organization. *

* See Historical Sketch or the operations of the "Union Brigade."

By order of G. M. Dodge, Brig. Gen'l.

L. H. EVARTS, A. A. Gen'l.

In compliance with this order, the officers and men belonging to the designated detachments

started for Iowa, but the rebel General Forrest, with his cavalry command, had partially

destroyed a portion of the line of railroad over which they were to pass, the repairing of which

consumed so much time that they did not reach Davenport until Jan. 7, 1863. In the meantime,

about half of the Twelfth Iowa who had been captured at Shiloh were paroled and sent to Benton

Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., there to await exchange. The rest remained in prison during the

summer and fall. Many died in prison, and many others were unfitted by their sufferings for

further service. They were finally sent north to Libby Prison, in Richmond, Va., thence to

Aiken's Landing, where they were paroled on the 20th of November, 1862. They were then sent

to Annapolis, Md., and thence to St. Louis, where they joined the other detachment of paroled

prisoners. The detachment which had been sent to Davenport, Iowa, remained there during the

winter of 1862-3 and was sent to St. Louis, arriving there on the 29th of March, 1863, and

proceeded to Benton Barracks, where all of the survivors of the regiment were again assembled,

under the command of Colonel Woods. The paroled prisoners had been exchanged and the

regiment was ordered to prepare to again take the field. Capt. S. R. Edgington was promoted to

Lieutenant Colonel and Capt. J. H. Stibbs to Major, these officers succeeding Lieutenant Colonel

Coulter and Major Brodtbeck who had resigned. There were numerous other changes which will

all be found noted upon the roster which follows this sketch.

On the 9th of April the regiment embarked on steamers and proceeded down the river to

Duckport, La., where it landed and was assigned to the Third Brigade of the Third Division of

the Fifteenth Army Corps. The Fifteenth Corps was commanded by Gen. W. T. Sherman, the

Third Division by Brig. Gen. J. M. Tuttle, of Iowa, while the Brigade—consisting of the Eighth

Iowa, Colonel Geddes, the Twelfth Iowa, Colonel Woods, and the Thirty-fifth Iowa, Colonel

Hill—was commanded by Brig. Gen. Charles L. Matthies, also of Iowa. On the 2d of May, 1863,

General Sherman's division moved from Duckport, La., and participated in the memorable

campaign which ended in the surrender of Vicksburg on the 4th, the evacuation of Jackson on

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the 17th, and the capture of Brandon on the 20th of July. From the beginning to the end of its

arduous campaign, upon the march, in battle, and in the trenches at Vicksburg and Jackson, the

Twelfth Iowa performed its full duty and received the commendations of its regimental, brigade

and division commanders. The results of this campaign were very important. The capture of

General Pemberton and his entire army at the surrender of Vicksburg, and the losses sustained by

the enemy in the various battles which led up to and during the siege, together with those which

followed, to the close of the campaign, aggregated more than 50,000 men, and dealt a staggering

blow to the rebel cause.

The regiment went into camp on Black River, eight miles in rear of Vicksburg, and enjoyed a

season of comparative rest until the 10th of October, when it engaged in an expedition in the

direction of Canton, Miss. It had a slight engagement with the enemy near Brownsville, where it

captured and destroyed a cavalry camp. Returning from this expedition, the regiment remained in

camp until early in November, when it was ordered to Memphis and, upon arriving there, was

assigned to the Third Brigade of the First Division of Major General Hurlbut's Sixteenth Corps,

and was stationed at Chewalla, ninety miles from Memphis, to guard a section of the railroad.

On the 25th of December, 1863, 298 men—a large majority of those present for duty—reenlisted

as veterans, and were re-mustered into the service for three years or during the war, on

the 5th day of January, 1864. On the 1st of February, 1864, the regiment was ordered to return to

Memphis, and thence, down the river to Vicksburg, where it arrived too late to participate in the

celebrated Meridian expedition of which it was to have formed a part. It remained in camp until

the return of that expedition, when orders were received by Col. J. J. Woods to proceed with the

men who had re-enlisted—330 in number—on veteran furlough to their homes in Iowa. The

veterans arrived at Davenport, Iowa, on the 22d of March, and were given a furlough for thirty

days from that date. On the 22d of April they had reassembled at Davenport, and, a few days

later, were again on their way to the South. On the 2d of May they were again in camp near

Memphis. In the meantime, the men of the regiment who had not re-enlisted were temporarily

attached to the Thirty-fifth Iowa and, with that regiment, took part in the Red River campaign.

This detachment numbered only about seventy men. They were engaged in the battle of Pleasant

Hill and other engagements, under command of Gen. A. J. Smith, and lost several of their

number in killed and wounded. The survivors of this detachment rejoined the regiment in

Memphis about the middle of June.

On the 14th of May, six companies of the regiment, under the command of Lieut. Col. J. H.

Stibbs, were ordered to the mouth of White River, Ark., for the purpose of establishing a military

post at that point. Lieutenant Colonel Stibbs performed the duty assigned him and, on the 1st of

June, was ordered to return to Memphis with four companies of his detachment, and to leave two

companies as a garrison for the post. Companies A and F, under command of Capt. J. R. C.

Hunter, were detailed for this important duty. The building of the stockade at the post had not

been entirely completed when, on the night of the 22d of June, the little garrison was attacked by

a largely superior force of rebels, consisting of the Tenth Missouri (rebel) regiment under

command of Colonel Lawler. The attack was sudden and determined and, at the weakest point in

the stockade, the enemy gained a temporary lodgment, but they were met with such prompt and

stubborn resistance that they soon fled, leaving twenty killed and mortally wounded upon the

field, a Lieutenant and Major among the number. Those who were wounded and able to retreat

did so, and the rebel loss in killed and wounded was probably double the number of those left

behind. Captain Hunter reported the loss of the garrison as one killed, and five so severely

wounded that they died within a short time after the engagement. Corporal George D. Hunter,

who was killed, and Sergeant Isaac Cottle, who was the first to die from the effects of his wound,

were among the first to meet the attack of the enemy, and both exhibited great bravery, as did

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every one of that little band of the Twelfth Iowa, numbering in all but forty-eight effective men

with muskets. For thus gallantly defending their post, Captain Hunter and his little command

were highly commended by General Buford, commanding the District of Helena.

On the 16th of June, 1864, the eight companies of the regiment, under command of

Lieutenant Colonel Stibbs, with Colonel Woods of the Twelfth Iowa commanding the brigade,

started upon an expedition through Mississippi. On the 13th, 14th and 15th of July, 1864, the

regiment was engaged in battle near Tupelo, Miss., and lost in the three days' fighting 64 in

killed and wounded. Lieutenant Colonel Stibbs describes in detail the part taken by his regiment

in each day's battle. The following extracts from his report will serve to show how well the

Twelfth Iowa sustained its reputation as a fighting regiment on that bloody field:

On the 13th, about 2 P. M., while marching as guard for the supply train and support for

Muhler's Sixth Indiana Battery, we were heavily attacked on our right flank by Maley's

Mississippi brigade at a point where the timber and underbrush were so dense as to make it

almost impossible to maneuver the men. Having learned by my flankers the point at which the

enemy were striking, I moved my command so as to meet their front fairly, and then as nearly as

possible concealed my men in the brush and awaited the attack. We allowed the enemy to

advance, without firing a shot, until they were within twenty paces, when we poured a volley

into their ranks. This threw them into confusion, and, after a sharp fight of twenty minutes, we

drove them from our front with heavy loss. Our loss during this action was one man killed, one

officer and eleven men wounded and one missing.

On the morning of the 14th, at Tupelo, I posted my command on the right of the Pontotock

road. In front of, and running parallel with our line, was a heavy rail fence, which we threw

down in such a manner as to form a good protection against small arms. My regiment was the

first to receive the enemy's attack. We held our position under a heavy fire for about two hours,

when, our ammunition being exhausted, we were ordered to the rear, and our place taken by the

Seventh Minnesota. Companies E and H being furnished ammunition were allowed to remain at

the front, and were thus kept constantly engaged during the entire action. The other companies,

after receiving a fresh supply of ammunition, again moved forward and took position in front,

and remained engaged until ordered to charge, when we moved forward on the double quick,

driving the enemy from our front and capturing a number of prisoners. Our loss during this day

was one officer and six men killed and thirty-nine men wounded.

On the morning of the 15th, my regiment formed the left center of the brigade line. We had a

substantial breastwork of cotton bales in our front, which served as an admirable protection

against the enemy's sharp shooters. We took full part in the fight of the day, losing one man

killed, and three wounded. My command numbered on the first day's fight 295 muskets. Our loss

during the three days' fighting was one officer and eight men killed, one officer and fifty-f