1

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

By Guy E. Logan

FIFTEENTH REGIMENT IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

The organization of the Fifteenth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry

began prior to Sept. 5, 1861, but the precise date is not revealed in the report of the Adjutant

General of the State. His report for the year 1863, however (Vol. 1, Page 547), shows that

company B of this regiment was ordered into quarters Sept. 5, 1861, and the entire ten

companies of which the regiment was composed were ordered into quarters by Governor

Kirkwood on dates ranging from Sept. 5, 1861, to Feb. 13, 1862. Keokuk, Iowa, was the place

designated for the rendezvous of the regiment and, at that place, the ten companies were

mustered into the service of the United States, on dates ranging from Nov. 1, 1861, to Feb. 22,

1862, by Capt. Charles C. Smith and Lieut. C. J. Ball, United States Army. The aggregate

strength of the regiment at muster in was 1,127, rank and file. *

*Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863, Vol. 1, Pages 537 to 582, inclusive, showing

original roster of the Regiment.

The compiler of this historical sketch has adhered to the official reports and returns found in

the War of the Rebellion Official Records, published by authority of the Secretary of War, and

the official data contained in the military archives of the State of Iowa, covering the period

embraced in the service of the regiment. The record of personal service shown opposite the name

of each officer and enlisted man in the subjoined roster has also been obtained from the official

sources above indicated, supplemented by such information as could be procured from the War

Department in Washington and other reliable sources. Some of these records will be found to be

incomplete and, no doubt, some are incorrect. This is of course much to be regretted, but every

effort has been made to prevent errors and omissions. The reader is referred to the introductory

article to this volume, which shows some of the difficulties encountered in obtaining the facts

with reference to these individual records. Suffice it to say that as much care has been exercised

to secure a correct record for the enlisted man as for that of the officer. The compiler also wishes

it understood that only the outlines of history of the long and faithful service of the regiment

could be given within the limitations prescribed by the act of the General Assembly of the State

of Iowa which authorized the publication of this work.

The short time the regiment remained in rendezvous at Keokuk was utilized to the best

advantage by the officers and men, in drilling as best they could without muskets, going through

some of the simpler movements of company and battalion drill and applying themselves to the

study of tactics and army regulations. Among the officers, Adjutant George Pomutz and Major

William W. Belknap had the advantage of having received some military training, but the large

majority of both officers and enlisted men were utterly without experience and had to acquire, in

the brief time which elapsed before they were called upon to face the enemy in the field, such

knowledge of their duties as soldiers as would enable them to acquit themselves with credit and

honor to the State that sent them to the front to reinforce their comrades, who had already met

the enemy in several hard fought battles. In this state of unpreparedness the regiment left Keokuk

on the 19th day of March, 1862, and was conveyed by steamboat to St. Louis and, upon its

arrival there, marched to Benton Barracks, where troops were being concentrated, and given such

instruction as was possible before proceeding to join the Army of the Tennessee, then encamped

2

at Pittsburg Landing. At Benton Barracks the regiment received its arms, accouterments and

general equipment.

On the morning of April 1, 1862, the regiment marched to St. Louis, where it embarked, with

orders to report to General Grant at Savannah, Tenn. Arriving, the night before the

commencement of the battle of Shiloh, Col. Hugh T. Reid, commanding the regiment, was

ordered to proceed to Pittsburg Landing, and there disembark his command and report to General

Prentiss. The regiment arrived at Pittsburg Landing on the morning of April 6, 1862. In his

official report Colonel Reid states that, upon reaching Pittsburg Landing, he proceeded at once to

report to General Prentiss, and found that officer and the division under his command already

under the fire of the enemy. Colonel Reid was ordered to bring his regiment forward as soon as

possible. He at once rode back to the landing and ordered his regiment to disembark quickly. As

fast as the men reached the shore they formed in line of battle, ammunition was distributed, and

guns were loaded for the first time since the men had received them. At this time an order was

given by a member of General Grant's staff directing Colonel Reid to hold the position in which

he had formed, to prevent stragglers from the battlefield from reaching the landing. The regiment

remained in that position for about an hour, when an order came from General Grant to Colonel

Reid to advance to the support of General McClernand's division, some two miles to the front.

The Sixteenth Iowa Infantry was included in this order, and the two regiments moved promptly

forward under the direction of a staff officer of General McClernand. A great many soldiers were

met, retreating from the battlefield, while the roar of battle in front indicated that a desperate

conflict was in progress, in which the enemy was succeeding in pressing the Union forces toward

the river. The situation was such as to test to the utmost the courage of these men who were fresh

from their homes, unused to the dreadful scenes transpiring about them, with the boom of cannon

and crash of musketry sounding nearer each moment, and with the panic-stricken and wounded

streaming to the rear; yet they pressed steadily forward. The following extract from Colonel

Reid's official report will show how bravely his regiment conducted itself when it came into

action, and while under the fire of the enemy. *

*Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863, Report, Vol. 2, Page 800.

+ Colonel Hugh T. Reid.

Our flag staff was shot through and our colors riddled with bullets; for two hours, from 10 to

12 o'clock, we maintained our position, our men fighting like veterans. The undersigned was

severely wounded by a musket ball through the neck, which knocked him from his horse,

paralyzed for the time, but recovering in a short time, remounted and continued in command

throughout the fight. Fifteen of the thirty-two commissioned officers who went on the field had

been killed, wounded, or taken prisoners; twenty-two officers and men had been killed, and one

hundred and fifty-six wounded. * * * The enemy were attempting to outflank us on the right and

left, we were unsupported by artillery or any other regiment except the gallant Sixteenth, which

had also suffered severely. It became necessary for the two regiments to retreat or run the risk of

being captured, and by order of General McClernand the retreat was made. Portions of the

regiments rallied and fought with other divisions later in the day and on Monday. Where nearly

all fought with bravery it might seem invidious to particularize, but I hope to do no one injustice

by specially pointing out those whose personal valor, during the action, came under my notice.

Lieutenant Colonel Dewey had his horse shot under him; Major Belknap was always in the right

place, at the right time, directing and encouraging officers and men as coolly as a veteran; he was

wounded but not disabled, and had his horse shot under him, but remained on the field

performing his duty on foot. Adjutant Pomutz distinguished himself during the action for his

3

coolness and courage; he, too, was wounded. Captains Kittle of company A, Smith of company

B, Seevers of company C, Madison of company D, Hutchcraft of company E, Cunningham of

company G, Day of company I, Hedrick of company K, who was captured in a charge upon the

enemy, all distinguished themselves for their gallantry and courage in leading forward and

encouraging their men; Captain Blackmar of company F, was wounded in the action and

disabled; First Lieutenant Goode of same company also wounded; Captain Clark, of company H,

was not in the engagement, having been left sick in the hospital at St. Louis; Captains Hutchcraft

and Day were both severely wounded; Second Lieutenant Penniman of company A, and

Hamilton of company I, were killed while bravely performing their duty. First Lieutenant King

and Second Lieutenant Danielson of company H were both severely wounded while acting well

their part, thus leaving the company without a commissioned officer. First Lieutenants Studer of

company B, Porter of company D, Craig of company E, Hanks of company G, J. Monroe Reid of

company I, who, though wounded himself, continued in command of the company after the

Captain was disabled and the second Lieutenant killed, and Eldridge of company K, all deserve

special praise for the manner in which they conducted themselves on the field. Second

Lieutenants Landstrum of company B, Brown of company E, Herbert of company C, and

Sergeant Major Brown, who was severely wounded, conducted themselves well on the field. The

non-commissioned officers generally were at their posts and performed their duty. The Color

Sergeant, Newton J. Rogers, who fought in the First Iowa at Springfield, gallantly bore our

standard forward and planted it among the enemy where it was bravely maintained and defended

by portions of companies C, E, I and K. It must be remembered that this regiment had just

received its arms and that the men had never had an opportunity of learning the use of them until

they came on the battlefield; that they had just landed and were attached to no brigade, and

fought the enemy without the support of artillery, in a position from which more experienced

troops had been compelled to retire. *** We have no means of learning the loss of the enemy in

this engagement except from what they told some of our wounded men, who were taken

prisoners and left behind the next day, when the enemy made their final retreat; but from this

source we learned that they had forty men killed in the immediate vicinity of our colors, and a

large number wounded. While we mourn our comrades in arms, the gallant dead, whose lives

were sacrificed on the altar of their country, we are solaced with the belief that a grateful people

will, in after times, pay a proper tribute to their memory.

At the close of his report Colonel Reid expresses his obligations to Quartermaster Higley,

Surgeon Davis, Assistant Surgeon Gibbon and Chaplain Estabrook, for the faithful and efficient

manner in which they discharged the duties of their respective offices. Colonel Reid states that

the total loss of his regiment at the battle of Shiloh was 186. In the tabulated returns of casualties,

as shown by the official records,* the total loss is given as 185, and this slight discrepancy is

readily accounted for, as stated by Loren S. Tyler, who compiled the history of the Fifteenth

Iowa Infantry (published in 1887) in which he gives a tabulated statement of losses, by

companies, showing an aggregate loss of 213, and says, "Without original lists of casualties, it is

impossible to make a list that will agree with the number stated in the reports of battle, as, after

the reports have been forwarded to headquarters, other casualties are always found." Adjutant

Pomutz states that the number of the regiment engaged was 760, and gives the total loss as 188.+

The loss was, therefore, very nearly one-fourth of the number engaged.

* War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 10, Page 105.

+ Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1866, Page 200.

4

The compiler has given more space to the account of this first battle in which the regiment

was engaged than he will be able to give to those which followed. With the highest appreciation

of its subsequent splendid achievements on other battlefields, he considers the battle of Shiloh as

having been the severest test of the courage and fortitude of the officers and men of the regiment

to which they were subjected during their long term of service. No regiment ever acquitted itself

with greater credit in its first battle.

Soon after the battle the regiment was attached to a temporary brigade, consisting of the

Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa, and Eighteenth Wisconsin, Infantry, of which Colonel Reid of the

Fifteenth Iowa was in command, and which took part in the advance upon Corinth, Miss., to

which place the defeated rebel army had retreated, and where, behind strong earth-works, it

grimly awaited the attack of the Union army. April 27, 1862, marked an important event in the

career of the regiment, for upon that date it became a part of the brigade consisting of the

Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth Regiments of Iowa Infantry, known as Crocker's

Iowa Brigade, and which achieved great distinction by its subsequent brilliant achievements in

battle. The history of these four Iowa regiments for the remainder of the war is largely identical.

They remained together until they were mustered out, their terms of service expiring about the

same time.

The Union lines continued to advance upon Corinth, and laid siege to that stronghold. The

Brigade, under command of the gallant and gifted Col. M. M. Crocker, of the Thirteenth Iowa,

took part in the arduous siege operations which ensued, and which ended on the morning of May

30, 1862, the enemy having evacuated Corinth during the previous night. The army of the

Tennessee at once took possession of the abandoned works. During the month of June the

regiment and brigade were encamped near Corinth. On June 27th the Fifteenth Iowa moved

inside the works and acted as provost guard for the post, Major Belknap acting as Provost

Marshal.

At the end of July the regiment, with its brigade and division, under the command of General

Tuttle, was ordered to march to Bolivar, to reinforce the troops at that important post. Soon after

reaching Bolivar, General Tuttle was ordered to another command, and Colonel Crocker

succeeded him in command of the division. The command of the brigade now devolved upon

Colonel Reid, who detailed Adjutant Pomutz as Assistant Adjutant General. The enemy, in large

force, continued in the vicinity of Bolivar for several weeks, and an attack was constantly

threatened; but this proved to be a ruse, intended to draw away from Corinth a sufficient number

of Union troops to enable the rebel forces to recapture that important post. When the real purpose

of the enemy was discovered, by his sudden appearance at Iuka and capture of that place, the

Fifteenth Iowa, with its brigade, was ordered to return to Corinth, and thence to Iuka, where it

assisted in the operations against the enemy. But only one of the regiments of the Brigade was

ordered forward and became engaged in the battle of Iuka; this was the Sixteenth Iowa, which

fought bravely and lost heavily in that engagement on Sept. 19, 1862.

The brigade now returned to Corinth, where, on the 3d and 4th of October, 1862, it took part

in the hard fought battles in and around that place. The Fifteenth Iowa occupied an advanced

position and suffered heavy loss. The following extracts from the official report of Col. M. M.

Crocker, brigade commander, will show how well the regiment performed its duty in these

battles:

About 5 o'clock on the morning of the 3d inst., the brigade formed, two regiments (the

Eleventh and Thirteenth) in line of battle facing the west, and the Fifteenth and Sixteenth in close

column by division in rear of the line. The regiments remained in that position, with skirmishers

deployed in front, receiving an occasional cannon shot, until about 3 o'clock, when, the division

on the right having fallen back, a change of front was ordered. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth were

5

then formed in line of battle perpendicular to the first line and the Eleventh and Thirteenth in

close column by division in the rear.

In this position the brigade remained until about 4 P. M., when orders were received to again

change front so as to connect the right of the brigade with the left of General Davies' division, its

left to rest in the direction of Battery E. After the execution of this order had been commenced

notice was received from General McKean that the division was to move back inside the inner

fortifications, and an order received that the Eleventh and Thirteenth Regiments form in line of

battle a quarter of a mile in rear of the line formed by the Fifteenth and Sixteenth, in front of and

parallel to the road over which the artillery of the division must pass, and the brigade to protect

the movements of the rest of the division and the artillery.

The execution of the order to move back had just commenced when the enemy, in greatly

superior force, attacked the front line—the Fifteenth and Sixteenth. The officers and men of

these regiments, acting with signal determination and bravery, not only held the enemy in check,

but drove him back, and held their position until notice was received that the artillery had passed

safely to the rear, when they were ordered to fall back and form in line of battle on the right of

the second line, which they did in good order, the enemy declining to follow. This engagement

lasted three-quarters of an hour; the firing was incessant, and the regiments, especially the

Fifteenth, suffered severely, I deem it my especial duty to particularly mention Lieutenant

Colonel Belknap, who commanded the Fifteenth Regiment. This regiment was under the hottest

fire, and Colonel Belknap was everywhere along the line, mounted, with sword in hand,

encouraging by voice and gesture his men to stand their ground. Lieut. Col. Addison H. Sanders,

who commanded the Sixteenth, is entitled to great praise. He rode along the line of his regiment

amid the storm of bullets, encouraging his brave boys who had so lately suffered at Iuka to

remember their duty, and although severely wounded remained with his regiment until it

marched off the field. Majors Cunningham, of the Fifteenth, and Purcell, of the Sixteenth, did

their whole duty, and conducted themselves with great bravery.

Colonel Crocker then describes the positions occupied by his brigade after passing inside the

fortifications at Corinth; the part it performed behind the works during the engagement of

October 4th, in which it suffered but few casualties; the pursuit of the retreating enemy, in which

his whole brigade participated, and which continued until the evening of October 8th, and the

return to Corinth on the 13th; and, near the close of his report, says:

The Brigade, during the protracted movements of the battle and pursuit, encountering every

hardship and privation incident to such campaigning, behaved with great fortitude, meeting every

danger and hardship cheerfully; and I acknowledge my obligations to all the field officers for

their cheerful, hearty and intelligent co-operation. Col. H. T. Reid of the Fifteenth Iowa, though

prostrated by illness and unable to be in the field during the first day's engagement, on the

second day left his sick bed, joined his command, and, though unable to ride his horse, remained

with his regiment, traveling in an ambulance until the pursuit was abandoned. Lieutenant

Landstrum of the Fifteenth Iowa, who acted as aide, deported himself as a good and faithful

soldier. The loss of the brigade occurred principally in the engagement on the 3d instant, the

Fifteenth suffering most. The killed, wounded and missing are as follows, namely: killed 14,

wounded 110, missing 22. Total 146.*

* War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 17, Page 358.

The tabulated report of casualties gives the losses of the brigade by regiments, as follows:

6

Eleventh Iowa, Killed 3, wounded 8, missing 10, Total 21

Thirteenth Iowa, Killed 1, wounded 14, missing ..... Total 15

Fifteenth Iowa, Killed 11, wounded 67, missing 8, Total, 86

Sixteenth Iowa, Killed 1, wounded 20, missing 6, Total, 27

Total loss of Brigade..........................................................................+ l49

+ War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. I7, Page 176. "Revised Statement."

It will thus be seen that, in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth alone, the regiment had sustained

an aggregate loss of 334, not including its smaller losses during the siege and its minor

encounters with the enemy around Bolivar, which would considerably increase this aggregate.

With less than eight months of its three years' term of service completed, it had made a record as

a fighting regiment that would have entitled it to a most prominent place in history, if its service

had ended with the battle of Corinth. The record of the long series of campaigns and battles

through which the regiment was yet to pass must be condensed into a space not exceeding that

already occupied, and to this difficult task the compiler now commits himself.

Upon its return to Corinth the regiment went into camp, where it remained for several weeks.

The weather grew cold and the troops were preparing for winter quarters, when, on November

2d, orders came to take up the line of march for Grand Junction, at which place the command

arrived on November 5th, and where a part of the troops, that were to participate in the

expedition against Vicksburg, were being concentrated. On November 28th the troops were put

in motion for the South, the Third Brigade of the Sixth Division of Hamilton's Corps (Crocker's

Iowa Brigade) taking the advance. The Fifteenth Iowa, with its brigade, took a prominent part in

the operations of that great expedition which penetrated to the interior of Mississippi, and was

well on the way towards Vicksburg when a strong force of the enemy's cavalry succeeded in

getting in the rear of General Grant's army, captured Holly Springs, where the immense stores of

supplies for the use of the army had been accumulated, destroyed the supplies, and thus

compelled the retreat of the army towards Memphis. During this retrograde movement the

soldiers suffered greatly from exposure to frequent storms and from lack of sufficient food.

The regiment, with its brigade and division, reached Memphis on the 13th of January, 1863.

On January 18th, the expedition against Vicksburg was renewed, this time by way of the

Mississippi River. The regiments and brigades of the Sixth Division, including Crocker's Iowa

Brigade, embarked on a fleet of fifteen steamers and were conveyed down the great river to

Milliken's Bend, a short distance above the mouth of the Yazoo River. Here the troops

disembarked and went into camp. From this point a detachment from the brigade— consisting of

details from the Fifteenth Iowa and the other regiments, under command of Lieut