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Roster and Record of Iowa Troops In the Rebellion, Vol. 5

By Guy E. Logan

HISTORICAL SKETCH

THIRTY-FOURTH REGIMENT IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY

Of the ten companies composing the Thirty-fourth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry,

four were organized in the County of Warren, three in Lucas, two in Decatur, and one in Wayne.

The organization of the regiment was authorized by Governor Kirkwood, in response to the

Proclamation of President Lincoln, bearing date July 2,1862, and the companies were ordered to

assemble at the designated rendezvous,—Camp Lauman, near Burlington, Iowa,—where they

were to receive the necessary preliminary instruction prior to entering the service of the

government. The last company arrived at the rendezvous of the 17th of September, 1862 of the

same day, Colonel George W. Clark—who had been selected by Governor Kirkwood to

command the regiment—arrived, and at once assumed command, and issued the necessary

orders for the preparation of the muster rolls of the different companies and the field and staff

Officers. It was not until the 15th of October, however, that the mustering officer arrived, upon

which date the regiment was mustered into the service of the United States, by Lieutenant

Charles J. Ball of the Regular Army. Upon the completion of the muster, the rolls showed the

aggregate strength of the regiment was nine hundred fifty-one men, rank and file. The term of

service was for three years, of during the war. Requisitions were immediately made out for arms,

accouterments, clothing, camp and garrison equipage, and the regiment was supplied with all

these articles within a few days after it was mustered in.

1 Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1863, Vol. 3, pages 101 to 131 inclusive. Original Roster

of the Regiment.

During its stay at Camp Lauman the regiment suffered greatly from an epidemic of measles,

six hundred of its men being attacked by that disease. Later, pneumonia became quite prevalent,

as a sequel to the measles, and many deaths occurred before the regiment left the State. The

weather had turned cold, and the soldiers, not having become inured to the hardships and

exposures incident to life in camp, were passing through that experience inevitably connected

with the life of the soldier—contention with sickness—which proved far more destructive than

the bullets of the enemy. As will subsequently be seen, the Thirty-fourth Iowa was, during the

greater portion of its term of service, subjected to the ravages of disease to an unusual degree. of

November 22, 1862, the regiment embarked of transport and was conveyed to Helena, Ark.,

where it arrived of December 5th, and was assigned to the division commanded by General

Steele. Soon after its arrival at Helena, the regiment was subjected to an epidemic of smallpox,

from which it suffered greatly. of December 2, 1862 the men and Officers of the regiment, who

were able for duty, joined the expedition of General Sherman against Vicksburg, by Way of

Chickasaw Bayou. The troops commanded by General Steele composed the Fourth Division of

the Sixteenth Army corps and the Thirty-fourth Iowa formed a part of the Third Brigade,

commanded by Brigadier General John M. Thayer, and participated in all the movements and

operations of that brigade, during those disastrous days of battle, December 27, 28 and 29, 1862,

at and in the vicinity of Chickasaw Bayou. Colonel Clark. refers to these operations, and to those

which immediately followed them, in his official report to General Baker, as follows:

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The hardships and disasters of Sherman's repulses at Chickasaw Bluffs can never be

comprehended by any except the: brave and hardy men who were there and survived them. The

humiliation and misery, consequent upon. A useless and senseless slaughter, were greatly

aggravated by the inclemency of the *Bather. When these unfortunate operations of the Yazoo

were ended, we moved out of this loathsome and poisonous stream, and our fleet was next halted

at the mouth of White River, Ark. In the meantime Major General McClernand had arrived and

taken command of the army, and it was here that he organized. His expedition against Arkansas

Post.

McClernand's fleet reached the neighborhood of Arkansas Post on the evening of January 9,

1863. by this time cases of smallpox had become quite numerous in the regiment, and, with the

various other diseases introduced by being cooped almost a month on a dilapidated old transport,

my effective force was greatly: reduced.

In the active. Operations of January 10 and 11, 1863, which resulted in the capture of

Arkansas Post and its garrison, the Thirty-fourth Iowa bore its full part and rendered most

conspicuous service. In the. Report to the Adjutant General of Iowa, heretofore referred to, the

compiler finds the following account of the part taken by the: regiment in that stubborn conflict:

HEADQUARTERS THIRTY-FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY, BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS, NOV.

12, 1863.

N. B. BAKER, Adjutant General of Iowa:

Sir: having mislaid the copy; of my official report of the. part taken by my regiment in the.

battle or Arkansas Post, I will, have to content myself with giving, you a few of the main facts

from: memory. We had just returned from the bloody field of Chickasaw Bluff, where we had

been repulsed with terrible slaughter. Sherman's entire fleet came out of the Yazoo River on the

3d of January, and, on the 9th, steamed up the Arkansas River to operate against Arkansas Post,

arriving near there the same day. The following day was occupied in reconnoitering and

skirmishing. Our (Steele's) division marched all the night through the woods and swamps,

through which it was impossible to take baggage wagons or ambulances. At daylight next

morning, January 11, 1863, we found ourselves within range of the enemy's guns, from which he

immediately opened on us. Our batteries were soon put in position and commenced a vigorous

reply. The artillery contest continued until about 12 o'clock M. At this time I received an order

from General Steele, to move my regiment rapidly to the front. This order was promptly obeyed.

I moved the regiment forward in line of battle to a point within one hundred and fifty yards of

the intrenchments of the enemy. This advance was made with the most perfect order and

precision, notwithstanding the murderous fire to which the regiment was constantly subjected.

Not a man faltered or straggled to the rear. Having no orders to charge, I halted within short

musket range of he enemy's rifle pits, and engaged his line in my front until the surrender was

announced, which was about 4 o'clock P. M. The officers and men of my command behaved

most gallantly. I cannot refrain from specially commending the bravery and excellence of the

lamented Captain Dan H. Lyons, who fell mortally wounded only a few minutes before the

enemy surrendered. Enclosed I send you a list of casualties. There were five thousand prisoners

of war taken at this place. My regiment was detailed to take charge of them, and guard them to

Chicago, Ill.

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Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. W. Clark, Colonel Commanding Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry

Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1865, Vol. 2, pages 1206 to 1214 incisive. Colonel George

W. Clark's history of operations of Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry.

The official reports of brigade and division commanders confirm the statements of Colonel

Clark, and commend his conduct and that of his regiment in the highest terms. Iowa regiments

fought side by side at Arkansas Post, and there, as upon many other hard fought fields, nobly

maintained the honor of their State.

After the battle, the Thirty-fourth Iowa—with five companies of another regiment—was

detailed to take charge of the prisoners. The performance of this arduous and important duty is

thus described by Colonel Clark, in his official report, to which reference has been made:

. . . The long confinement we had already endured of a crowded boat had almost destroyed

the health of the regiment. I was ordered to take my regiment and five companies of another, and

guard the prisoners, five thousand in number, to Chicago. For this purpose I was furnished three

of the poorest boats 5n the fleet. If we had been previously crowded) we were now literally

packed and jammed—an aggregate of six thousand five hundred men on three boats. It was midwinter,

and the weather excessively cold. The cases: of smallpox had multiplied in the regiment

and, before we reached St. Louis, this disease broke out among the prisoners. The unserviceable

condition of our boats, and the: fact that we had to collect fuel, as we could find it along the

river, rendered our trip slow and tedious. We were two weeks going from Arkansas Post to St.

Louis. The human suffering during this trip exceeded anything I have ever witnessed: in the

same length of time. After leaving all the cases of smallpox and the men sick with other diseases

at St. Louis, I proceeded to Chicago with the prisoners, left them at Camp Douglass, and returned

to Benton Barracks, where I arrived or' the 6th of February, 1863. My regiment was entirely

broken down. The officers and men were nearly all sick. The hardships and privations of the

preceding two months were beyond human endurance. I have now been in the service three years

and a half, 4 and I have never seen anything so ruinous and demoralizing as the two months'

campaign made by my regiment Just preceding its arrival at Benton Barracks. When we arrived

there, we were . the most sickly, depressed and melancholy set of. soldiers I ever saw. During the

following month, the mortality in the regiment were frightful. We remained at Benton Barracks

until the 20th of April. While there the deaths and discharges greatly reduced the aggregate of

my regiment. As the health of the men gradually improved, they were put of duty. About the first

of April they were sent to City Point, on James River, Va., with prisoners. 3 On the 20th of

April, I was ordered with my regiment, now having three hundred present for duty to Pilot Knob,

Mo., which place was threatened by the rebel General Marmaduke. of arriving there I was put in

command of the post. and soon after I was assigned to the command of the sub-district of Pilot

Knob, which left the regiment in charge of Lieutenant Colonel Dungan. The camping grounds at

this place were pleasant and healthful, and the sanitary condition of the regiment improved very

rapidly while there. of the 3d of June I: received orders to march with my regiment to Saint

Genevieve, of the Mississippi River and join General Herron's Division, which was about to

embark and proceed to Join General Grant's army, then engaged in the siege of Vicksburg. The

names of the killed and wounded of the Thirty-fourth Iowa in this and all' other battles in which

it was engaged, together with the names of all who died from wounds of disease, of who were

discharged for disability or for whatever cause, will be found in the subjoined roster. This roster

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has been transcribed from the official records, and great care has been taken to make it as nearly

correct as possible.

Colonel Clark. was then writing under date of Nov. 26, 1864. He had entered the service as

First Lieutenant Company G, Third Iowa Infantry, was the first Quartermaster of that regiment in

which position he rendered faithful and efficient service, and, when the Thirty- fourth Infantry

was organized, was appointed Colonel of the regiment by Governor Kirkwood. He was

subsequently given the brevet rank of Brigadier General.

Ingersoll's "Iowa and the Rebellion, page 621: "A detachment of 70 men under Captain

Gardner, assisted by Lieutenants Dilley and Rockwell, escorted several hundred prisoners to City

Point, Va., performing the service in about sixteen days and another detachment went to

Memphis as an escort to certain paymasters."

6 Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1865, Vol. 2, pages 1208, 9.

When the regiment left Pilot Knob, it had four hundred men present for duty. Many of its

officers and men, who had been absent of account of sickness, had sufficiently recovered to

enable them to return to the regiment, but a large number were still absent, many of whom were

subsequently discharged for disability, Upon arriving at Saint Genevieve, the Thirty-fourth Iowa

embarked on transport and was conveyed down the river to Vicksburg, where it was assigned to

a position of the extreme left of the investing forces, of the 15th day of June, and from that date

until the surrender of the rebel stronghold, of July 4, 1863, bore its full share. in the hardships,

privations and dangers of the siege, as will be seen from the following official report of its

commander:

HEADQUARTERS THIRTY-FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY, VICKSBURG, MISS., July 9,

1863.

MAJOR WILLIAM HYDE CLARKE

A. A. General, Herron's Division.

Major: I have the honor to make the following report of the part taken by the Thirty-fourth

Iowa Infantry, in the late siege of Vicksburg: Arrived on the line of encampments below the city

on the 14th day of June, 1863. Details were made at once for fatigue and picket duty. In these

details, from day to day, consisted the principal work performed by my regiment. One-half my

men, who were able for duty, were on duty all the time, and not unfrequently I was compelled -

in order to fill the details - to send men who had just been relieved, thus keeping the same men

out in the front ditches forty-eight hours without rest. The went uncomplainingly, and, from the

uniform accounts I have had of their conduct, they behaved well on picket and worked faithfully

on fatigue. Unaccustomed as they were to such duty and such a climate, and having to use water

of an inferior quality, I think they have exhibited powers of endurance seldom surpassed by men

under any circumstances. Sergeant Finley, of Company E - then whom I never saw a better

soldier - received a sunstroke when on duty, from the effects of which he died this morning.

Many others were overcome by heat and heavy duty, resulting in fever and other diseases, from

which they have not yet recovered. My regiment, as such, was not engaged in action during he

siege, but was frequently taken to the front to support batteries and to prevent sorties from the

enemy. On the 29th of June, by order of Major General Herron, I moved my regiment around on

the levee, to a point immediately on the bank of the river, three miles below the city, and took

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charge of the picket line between the river and the Big Bayou. Rebel deserters were brought in

every day in large numbers by my pickets, and sent at once to brigade headquarters. My

casualties during the siege were four killed, and one officer and five enlisted men wounded.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. W. Clark, Colonel, Commanding Thirty-fourth Iowa Infantry. 7

7 Report on adjutant General of Iowa, 1864, page 499.

On the 10th of July, 1863, the Thirty-fourth Iowa again embarked on transport, and

accompanied the fleet conveying General Herron's Division up the Yazoo River to Yazoo City,

and participated in the attack upon and capture of that place on July 14th of July 14th it marched

in the direction of Jackson, but, learning that the enemy had evacuated that place, returned to

Vicksburg, and wells into camp. of July 25th the regiment again embarked and accompanied the

fleet of transports conveying General Herron's Division to Port Hudson, where it landed and

remained until August 26th, when it proceeded down the river to Carrollton, La., where it went

into camp in a fine location, where the troops enjoyed a brief period of rest, under favorable

conditions. On September 5, 1863, the regiment, with the entire division, was again ordered on

board transports, leaving tents standing, occupied by the sick and convalescents. Not a tent of

any baggage was taken, and it was evident that rapid marching and an active arduous campaign

was in prospect. On September 7th the division disembarked at Morganza, a small town on the

west bank of the Mississippi River, thirty-five miles above Port Hudson, and went into camp

near that place. A large force of the enemy was located twelve miles from Morganza, and

detachments from the different regiments. Of General Herron's Division were detailed to watch

the movements of the rebel troops. Frequent skirmishes occurred, and a general engagement

seemed to be impending. On September 12th a detachment, consisting of about five hundred

men— mainly from the Nineteenth Iowa and Twenty-sixth Indiana—and two pieces of artillery,

was ordered to t. He front, and had almost daily skirmishes with the enemy until September 29,

1863, upon which date a largely superior force of the enemy succeeded in reaching the rear of

the detachment, and, after a brief but desperate struggle, in which many of the Union troops were

either killed of wounded, the detachment was overpowered and compelled to surrender. In this

engagement, the Thirty-fourth Iowa had one Officer (Lieutenant Walton) and five men taken

prisoners, and one man mortally wounded. 8

8 Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1865, Vol. 2,. page 1210.

After an absence of about five weeks, the Thirty-fourth Iowa returned with the division, to its

camp at Carrollton. of the 24th of October, 1863, the. regiment with its division embarked of

transports and proceeded of an ocean voyage to the Island of Brazos de Santiago, where, after

having endured the sufferings incident to a trip by sea, in very boisterous weather, it landed of

the 8th of November, and marched to Brownsville, Texas. After a few days' rest at that place, the

Thirty-fourth Iowa, with Forrest's Battery, was ordered to return to the Gulf. It reached Point

Isabel of November 13th, and, embarking on ship the following day, joined an expedition under

command of General Ransom, and sailed up the coast one hundred ten miles to Aransas Pass

which separates Mustang Island from Saint Joseph's Island. The troops landed upon Saint

Joseph's Island and, after remaining there for a few days, were Joined by a brigade from General

Washburn's Division of the Thirteenth Army Corps. The combined forces then marched forty

miles to the head of the island crossed Cedar Bayou to Matagorda Island, and marched to a point

near the rebel Fort Esperanza. The Thirty-fourth Iowa participated in the operations against the

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fort, prior to its evacuation by the enemy, and remained in that vicinity until April 20, 1864.

Nothing of especial interest occurred during this long period of inactivity. The time was

profitably employed by the officers and men of the regiment in perfecting themselves in the

manual of arms and in the various movements of company and battalion drill, in all of which

they became very proficient. A series of competitive company drills was inaugurated by the

division commander, which culminated in the selection of the five best drilled companies of the

division, to compete against each other for a prize, to be awarded to the company which

exhibited the greatest proficiency. Company C, of the Thirty-fourth Iowa, under command of

Captain James S Clark, excelled in many particulars, and was only beaten by the narrow margin

of two degrees in thirty—a company of the Sixty-ninth Indiana being the winner of the prize.

These competitive drills were of great benefit to the troops stimulating a happy emulation

between the regiments, which as encouraged by a highly complimentary order of the

commanding General. 9

9 Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1865, Vol. 2, page 1210.

On April 20, 1864, the regiment, with its division, embarked of transports and was conveyed

to New Orleans, and, immediately upon its arrival there was transferred to river boats, and

proceeded to reinforce the army under General Banks, then engaged in the disastrous Red River

campaign. The division, (First Division, Thirteenth Army Corps,) under command of General

McClernand, joined General Banks' army at Alexandria, La., of April 27th. The disappointments,

vexations and disasters of this expedition had been great. Upon the arrival of reinforcements,

however, the pursuit of the rebel army was checked? the gun-boats were released from their

perilous situation and, together with the immense supply train, were brought safely to the

Mississippi River. During the remainder of the retreat, Colonel Clark. was in command of the

brigade to which his regiment was attached, and which—for a large part of the way—constituted

the rear guard of the army, and was frequently engaged in skirmishes with the enemy. The army

crossed the Atchafalaya River at Simsport, and reached the Mississippi at Morganza, La. There it

halted, and, a few days later, McClernand's Division was ordered to proceed to Baton Rouge,

La., where for the next six weeks it constituted the garrison of that place. This was the longest

and most satisfactory period of rest the Thirty-fourth Iowa had been permitted to enjoy, from the

date of its entry into the service.

In July, Colonel Clark. was informed that his regiment had been selected as part of a force

which was to go as reinforcements to the Army of the Potomac, and he was ordered to proceed to

Algiers, opposite New Orleans, where -the regiment was to embark. In the meantime, however,

the expedition against the forts at the mouth of Mobile Bay was organized under the command of

Major General Granger, and the Thirty-fourth Iowa was assigned to that expedition, and, instead

of going to the Potomac, was conveyed to-Dauphin Island, where it arrived of July 28th, and

marched that night to within two miles of Fort Gaines. Siege operations began the next day, and,

before the morning of August 5th, when Admiral Farragut ran his fleet by the forts, the land

forces had several batteries planted within range, and the infantry had driven the rebel pickets

into the fort and had built a line of breastworks across the island, in its rear. The next morning,

after the fleet of warships ran into the bay, Fort Gaines surrendered. During this short siege the

Thirty-fourth Iowa had one man killed. 10

10 Report of Adjutant General of Iowa, 1865, Vol. 2, Page 1211.

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Immediately after the surrender of Fort Gaines, the Thirty-fourth Iowa, with the other troops?

was moved across the bay to Mobile Point, where operations were at once commenced for the

capture of Fort Morgan. This fort proved to be much more formidable than Fort Gaines. The

siege operations, of the part of the land forces, were conducted by a series of gradual approaches,

until the mortars and siege guns had been plac