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At
the outbreak of the Civil War the State of Iowa was in a condition of almost
total disarmament. Not a single company of regular troops was stationed within
the limits of the State; and there was not a fort, garrison, military post or
arsenal located on Iowa soil. The nearest arsenal was at St. Louis. Indeed, in
1861 there were but two arsenals west of the Mississippi River: at St. Louis
and at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. There had been some agitation for the
establishment of military posts at Fort Dodge, Sioux City, and Council Bluffs,
but it had been stifled by the “masterly inactivity” of the General Assembly.
That body, for a number of year previous to the conflict, had not considered
military affairs seriously. The legislature had been worse than apathetic: it
had been trifling, even jocose. Committees on military affairs seem to have
considered it their main duty to furnish entertainment for the Assembly. A
special committee appointed in 1858 to inquire into the number of arms received
from the United States government and their place of deposit failed to make any
report. The chief executive was also ignorant of military matters. Governor
Ralph P. Lowe stated to the House of Representatives in 1858, in response to a
query, that he was unable to gain definite information as to the number of arms
received from the general government, and as to their condition and
disposition.1
As a matter of fact the number of
arms in Iowa was almost negligible. What few arms there were in the State were
of a primitive pattern and practically useless for actual warfare. Between 1850
and 1860 there had been received from the general government only 1850 muskets
and 115 Harper’s Ferry pattern rifles. The majority of these guns (1790 in
number) were sent to the State in July, 1856, under authority of a special act
of Congress of that year. They were old flint lock muskets altered to the
percussion type.
This scarcity of arms in Iowa was in
part the natural consequence of the “do-nothing” policy of the General
Assembly, as a result of which Iowa was not receiving its quota of arms. It was
said that while “other States, by reason of their well-directed efforts to
effect a thorough military organization, have received their allotment of arms
and accoutrements every year, and been provided with well-fitted up arsenals,
the State of Iowa has never received anything of the kind, if we except a few
muskets set aside to her by a special act of Congress in 1856”. This situation
had arisen because “in the absence of all laws for the enrollment and
organization of the militia, of course the proper returns could not be made,
and as a consequence the Secretary of War very properly refused to transfer to
this State its quota of arms and accoutrements, camp equipages, etc.”2
Even had arms been issued to Iowa each year as they were for other
States, the number would have been much less than a State with the population
of Iowa should have received. The distribution was based on the Congressional apportionment
of 1850, whereas, by the census of 1860 it was shown that between 1850 and 1860
Iowa had increased in population 251 per cent. Wisconsin had increased 154 per
cent, Illinois 101 per cent, Michigan 90 per cent, Indiana 37 per cent, and
Ohio 18 per cent.3
In 1860 a few arms were placed in
Iowa by the Federal government. These consisted of one hundred rifled muskets
of .58-inch caliber, costing $17.43. Indeed, it appears that in 1860 Iowa was
treated more liberally than either Wisconsin or Illinois. At this time some
ordnance, a few revolvers, and the like were also furnished to the State.4
Early in 1861, before the war began, Iowa received forty rifled muskets and one
hundred rifles. Thus it is evident that the arms in Iowa at the outbreak of the
war were few in number. While not strictly accurate, the statement of Governor
Kirkwood that “when the war broke out we had in the State some 1,500 old
muskets, about 200 rifles and rifled muskets, and four 6-pounder pieces of
artillery” is indicative of the situation. A later writer has declared there
were “no arms worth counting in all the state”, and in this statement there is
probably more than a modicum of truth.5
What few guns were owned by the
State of Iowa at his time were in the hands of local militia companies,
unorganized, undrilled, and scattered throughout the State. The captain of each
company of not less than thirty men, could, upon filing a bond “for their safe
keeping and return thereof” secure from the Governor a loan of arms for his men.
He in turn took individual bonds from the members of his company for each gun
entrusted to their keeping. A part of the guns were also placed in the hands of
companies and individuals along the northern and western borders, where there
was danger of Indian raids. Some communities had secured a small number of arms
from private sources in addition to hose furnished by the State. Thus the
people of the little village of Epworth had in their possession some musketry
and a village cannon. At Washington, Iowa, a makeshift cannon was constructed
out of a steel tube covered with iron.6
1 The Dubuque Weekly Times,
March 27, 1862; Senate Journal, 1858, pp. 78, 103; House Journal,
1858, p. 502; Shambaugh’s Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of
Iowa, Vol. II, pp. 201, 202.
2 Report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1861, pp. 9, 10; War the Rebellion: Official Records,
Ser. III, Vol. I, p. 57; Council Bluffs Nonpareil, May 11, 1861. Iowa
had received a few muskets in 1851 and a few rifles in 1858, but in the main
this statement was true.—Report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1861, pp.
9, 10.
3 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, p. 128; Council Bluffs Nonpareil, April 13, 1861.
4 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol.
I, p. 28; Report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1861, p. 10
5 Report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1861, p. 10; War
of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, pp. 560, 561; Byers’s
Iowa in War Times, p. 29; Lathrop’s The Life and Times of Samuel J.
Kirkwood, p. 113; Laws of Iowa, 1856 (Extra Session), p. 89; The Dubuque
Weekly Times, April 25, 1861, p. 5; Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye,
September 6, 1861.
6 One hundred and seventy muskets were “Lost, destroyed, and
not accounted for”.—Report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1861, p. 11.
The actual coming of war created an urgent need for arms and ammunition. Not only must the frontier be protected from Indian raids, but the southern border of the State must be made safe from incursions of Confederate sympathizers from Missouri. There was also felt to be some danger form “Copperheads” within the State. “The cry for ‘muskets,’ ‘more muskets,’ came up from every quarter of the state”, and the efforts of Governor Kirkwood to secure arms were unceasing. But home defense was only one phase of the problem. The troops that were to be raised for service at the front must also be armed, clothed, and equipped. This was one of the most troublesome questions with which Governor Kirkwood had to contend. While the Federal government agreed to furnish arms and equipments for the troops after they were mustered into service, they were to be maintained at the expense of the State until that time. Besides, the War Department was unable to meet all needs immediately, and for a time the State was obliged to care for the troops even after they were mustered into United States service.7
Efforts to secure arms for the State
were made even before the outbreak of the war. On January 25, 1861, Governor
Kirkwood appealed to the Secretary of War for an additional number of arms to
be stored at Des Moines or Fort Dodge, to be used in case of an Indian
outbreak. He also suggested the advisability of stationing a United States army
officer at one of these places. Later, the withdrawal of the troops from Fort
Randall and Fort Kearny on the upper Missouri caused so much uneasiness on the
western border of Iowa that on April 18th Governor Kirkwood asked
the War Department to store five hundred long-range rifles at Council Bluffs
and a like number at Sioux City.8 At the same time he advised the
residents of the border counties to form themselves into companies of “minute
men” for their own protection, promising that arms would be supplied as soon as
they could be secured. On April 25th he wrote to Caleb Baldwin at
Council Bluffs that there “are not now any arms to send there except about
fifty muskets that will be sent at once. The people should organize as minute
men, and arm themselves with private arms as best they can.” “Double-barreled
shotguns and hunting rifles”, wrote the Governor to another citizen of Iowa,
“although not the best, are good arms in the ands of brave men.”9
Appeals for arms came in from every
corner of the State. Caleb Baldwin, a Justice of the Iowa Supreme Court,
resident at council Bluffs, appealed directly t the Secretary of War for arms
for use in the protection of the western border. The people of Sioux City were
equally as anxious as those of Council Bluffs to secure the means of defense.
Citizens of the southern counties also became clamorous for arms. Everywhere
companies organized for war service were requesting arms with which to drill.10
Meanwhile the Governor was “moving
heaven & earth almost” to get a supply of arms for the State. There were
men in abundance, but it seemed impossible to secure arms. The State was
without funds. In a speech at Davenport on the evening of April 16th,
Governor Kirkwood had estimated that the enlistment and maintenance of the of
first regiment would probably cost about ten thousand dollars, and stated that
he would undertake to raise that sum at once, if he had to pledge every dollar
of his own property. His letter to the Secretary of War on April 18th
was followed on April 23rd by the sending of Senator Grimes as a
special messenger to Washington to secure arms. On April 24th
Kirkwood wrote to the Governor of Connecticut asking if arms could be bought of
private manufacturers in that State. Owing to the interruption of the mail and
telegraph nothing had yet been heard from these sources on May 1st.11
Governor Kirkwood seemed unable to
impress the authorities at Washington with the need for arms in Iowa. Secretary
Cameron replied to Kirkwood’s letter of April 18th that if the Iowa troops
were removed from the State “provision will be made to meet…the emergencies” on
the western border. On the same day the Governor wrote a second letter to the
Secretary of War. “If no arrangement has yet been made for arms for this State,
do, for God’s sake, send us some”, was his appeal. “We should have at least
5,000 beyond those required to arm the troops the United States may
require—say, one-half rifles.” The officials at Washington apparently thought
that arms and soldiers at Keokuk afforded sufficient protection to the State.
“A glance at the map of Iowa”, again wrote the Governor on May 4th,
“will show you that the troops raised in this State will at Keokuk be at least
300 miles from the nearest point (Council Bluffs), and 400 miles from the point
(Sioux City) most exposed to Indian depredations.”12
But back came the reply that “1,000
stand of arms ought to be forwarded to Keokuk, to be there taken in charge by
Colonel Curtis or some other responsible person, to be used I case of an
emergency.” Again Governor Kirkwood protested that Iowa was a large State, with
only a few miles of railroad, absolutely defenseless so far as arms were
concerned, and with danger threatening from ruffians on the South and Indians
on the frontier. “We have no arms”, he wrote. “I cannot, after diligent
inquiry, learn where any can be bought… I must be allowed to urge again the
absolute necessity of sending a liberal supply to this State beyond the quota
to arm the troops raised here for the service of the United States.” At this
time Illinois, a well settled State with almost no exposed border, had been
well supplied with arms.13
Letters were written to John A.
Kasson, Fitz Henry Warren, and other persons in Washington, urging them to
impress upon the President the need of this State for arms. “Every manufacturer
of arms in the country was telegraphed and written to for a supply”, but he
time required to manufacture arms made it impracticable to place dependence on
this source of supply. Besides, the State bonds were not in demand, and cash
payments were out of the question. Arrangements were made with a military
committee in Chicago for a loan of one thousand guns which the committee was to
receive, along with others, from the Springfield Arsenal. But the arms were stopped
in transitu before they reached Chicago, upon information from the Governor of
Illinois that that State had been supplied with arms form St. Louis.14
When Governor Kirkwood learned that Governor Yates of Illinois had received a
supply of arms from St. Louis largely in excess of the requisition in his
favor,15 he wrote him a letter and also dispatched a special
messenger to Springfield to secure some of the guns, if possible.16
This attempt also was unsuccessful.
On the 2d of May, 1861, Governor
Kirkwood telegraphed to Simeon Draper, President of the Union Defense Committee
at New York. “For God’s sake, send us arms”, was the message flashed over the
wires. “Our First regiment has been in drill a week, a thousand strong. It has
tents and blankets, but no arms. The Second regiment is full, and drilling. Send
us arms. Ten thousand men can be had, if they can have arms.” Four days
later he wrote to General John E. Wool, Commander of the Department of the
East, informing him of the situation, and requesting “5,000 long-range rifles
or rifle muskets and accoutrements, with proper ammunition”. A letter dated May
9th to Eli Whitney of Connecticut, inquired the prices of rifles
equal in quality to the United States long-range rifles.17
Efforts to secure arms from the East
continued throughout the summer. Indeed in August, 1861, the Governor himself
went to New York and Washington to secure arms and make arrangements for insuring peace on the borders of the State.18
His failure was largely due to the fact that the State bonds were not salable.19
During this period, however, there
was not a total lack of arms in the exposed portions of the State. Arms were
taken from places where there was no immediate need for them and transferred to
the border. All guns in every part of the State were cleaned and repaired and
made serviceable. “Get the 55 muskets of J. M. Byers, at Oskaloosa,” wrote the
Adjutant General to James Matthews of Knoxville, “and another 12 form E. Sells
at Des Moines, and place yourself in defense against traitors.” On May 9th
the Governor wrote to W. S. Robinson, Captain of the Union Guards at Columbus
City: “Please accept for yourself & your company my thanks for their
cheerful surrender of their arms… it increases my regard for your company that
have been willing to make this sacrifice without complaint for the protection
of their fellow citizens who are exposed to danger.” Many of the newly
organized volunteer companies were compelled to drill without arms. It was
reported that a Des Moines cavalry company was using wooden swords and it was
suggested that they might ride wooden horses as well.20 In some
places the people secured their own arms without aid from the State. At
Bloomfield, it was said, the Home Guards “have adopted and will procure for arms
the ‘Menard rifle’”.21
The Governor and his aids were very
active in securing arms and ammunition for the Home Guards, and for the newly
formed companies in the State. Early in May they seized the powder in the
magazine at Davenport without lawful authority. “I have forwarded to Council
Bluffs 140 stands of arms,” the Governor told the General Assembly late in May,
“and have ordered one 8-lb field piece and forty revolvers with the necessary equipments and ammunition
transported thither without delay, incurring for express charges, freight,
etc., an expense now known of $359.95. The force necessary to protect the north
and western frontier should be had be organizing in each county a company of
mounted ranger… the expense attending such force consists in furnishing each
member of a company with a rifle and sword bayonet valued at from $23 to $50,
and a Colt’s revolver valued at $22 to $25.” The Council Bluffs “Flying
Artillery” and “Union Cavalry” received a considerable quantity of arms and
ammunition. The infantry companies complained of neglect. Indeed, Lieutenant C.
C. Rice of the “Council Bluffs Guards” spent weeks making cartridges for his
company. But the artillery by July had enough ammunition to practice at target
shooting. And in September there were enough arms on the western border to
warrant the withdrawal of the Des Moines Cavalry from Council Bluffs.22
Other points were not neglected. By
June 27th sixty muskets had been sent to Page County, forty
long-range rifles to Taylor County, and muskets to other points. By July
several hundred arms had been distributed along the southern border. “The
Governor’s efforts to supply the border with the means of protection have been
highly praiseworthy”, declared an Iowa editor. The people made their own cartridges
by the thousands. In Keokuk it was said that “all the guns and muskets in the
city have been or are being cleaned and repaired”. In a border paper appeared
the following advertisement: “Wanted, about 75,000 stand of fire arms, of all
sorts, to repair ready for peace or war, at he New Gun Making and Repairing
Establishment, by W. Duncan, on Broadway, opposite City Hotel”.23
The members of all militia companies
were required to turn in arms, ammunition, and accoutrements. Jesse Bowen
presented the State with a brass eight-pounder cannon and eighty rifles.24
At Davenport there was a foundry owned by Mr. Donahue, who had been “occupied
two years at West Point making cannon balls, bomb-shells, &c, and during
the Mexican war engaged in making the same materials for the use of our army.”25
It was urged that he should now make arms and ammunition for the Iowa troops.
In October, 1861, the Dubuque Shot Tower was putting out one hundred sacks of
shot per day.26
In October, 1861, the War Department was still making excuses because it was not able to supply artillery and small arms for border defense. Money was voted by the General Assembly of Iowa at the extra session of 1861 for the purchase of five thousand stand of arms, but they had not yet been purchased in January, 1862.27
Eventually Governor Kirkwood
organized companies and supplies arms to them in the first and second tiers of
counties along the southern border, but his work was not completed until in
1863. These companies furnished their own clothing, horses and equipments. As
late as August 18, 1862, Josiah B. Grinnell wrote from the southern border to
Governor Kirkwood: “We want arms. Can we not have them?” In March, 1863,
Governor Kirkwood wrote to the War Department: ‘I regard it as a matter of the
first and most pressing importance to get a supply of arms and ammunition.” He
asked at this time for five thousand stand of arms, accoutrements, and
ammunition.28 They were needed to put down expected resistance to
the draft and compel the payment of taxes. There was still a scarcity of arms
in southern Iowa at the time of the “Tally War” in 1863.29
7 Byers’s Iowa in War Times, p. 46; War of the
Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, pp. 57, 86, 89. Captain
Taylor, the Commandant at Fort Kearny, had, before leaving the fort, spiked
twelve of the best cannon under his charge.—The Dubuque Weekly Times,
May 30, 1861, p. 4.
8 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III,
Vol. I, pp. 57, 86, 89. Captain Taylor, the Commandant at Fort Kearny, had,
before leaving the fort, spiked twelve of the best cannon under his charge.—The
Dubuque Weekly Times, May 30, 1861, p. 4.
9 Council Bluffs Nonpareil, May 11, 1861; Lathrop’s The
Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, p. 134; War of the Rebellion:
Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, p. 561.
10 Byers’s Iowa in War Times, p. 71; War of the
Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, pp. 89, 128.
11 Letter from Kirkwood to A. J. Withrow of Salem, Iowa, April 30,
1861, in Kirkwood Military Letter Book, No. 1, p. 39; Des Moines
Valley Whig (Keokuk), April 22, May 13, 1861; The Iowa State Register
(Des Moines), May 15, 1861.
12 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III,
Vol. I, pp. 127, 128, 158.
13 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III,
Vol. I, pp. 162, 185, 186; Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, May 21, 1861.
14 Lathrop’s The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood,
p. 138; Kirkwood Military Letter Book, No. 1, pp. 182-184; War of the
Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, p. 163; The Iowa State
Register (Des Moines), May 15, 1861.
15 This was the reason why Iowa was unable to secure arms from
the from the St. Louis Arsenal. Captain Stokes of Chicago had an order for ten
thousand stand of arms from the War Department. He went to St. Louis to secure
them and found the arsenal threatened by secessionists. As a decoy he had five
hundred old muskets taken to one point on the river to be sent off for repairs.
The crowd was attracted there, and in the meantime the arsenal force worked
until two o’clock at night loading the rest of the arms on a steamboat bound
for Alton and Springfield. With the consent of the officer in charge, Captain
Stokes overdrew his order and took 21,000 muskets, 500 rifles, 500 revolvers,
110,000 musket cartridges, and a number of cannon.—Des Moines Valley Whig
(Keokuk), May 6, 1861, p. 2.
16 Kirkwood Military Letter Book, No. 1, pp. 35, 39; The Iowa State Register (Des Moines), May 15, 1861; War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, p. 163.
17 Byers’s Iowa in War Times, p. 47; War of the
Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I< p. 163; Kirkwood
Military Letter Book, No. 1, p. 139.
18 Byers’s Iowa in War Times, p. 72; War of the
Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, p. 433; Kirkwood Military
Letter Book, NO. 1, p. 309. Gov. Kirkwood was again in Washington late in
1862.—Iowa City Republican, January 6, 1863.
19 Kirkwood Military Letter Book, No. 1 pp. 413-415. On August 3, 1861, the Governor wrote:
“My contract for rifles and revolvers failed, because I had no money to pay for
them.”—Byers’s Iowa in War Times, p. 72. For a discussion of the State
bond issue see Pollock’s The Iowa War Loan of 1861 in The Iowa
Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XV, pp. 467-510.
20 Byers’s Iowa in War Times, p. 34; Kirkwood
Military Letter Book, No. 1, pp. 140, 141; Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye,
May 18, 1861.
21 Quoted from the Bloomfield Clarion in the Des
Moines Valley Whig (Keokuk), May 6, 1861.
22 Letter from Kirkwood to Mr. Bridgman of Keokuk, May 10,
1861, in Kirkwood Military Letter Book, No. 1, p. 178; Des Moines Valley
Whig (Keokuk), May 6, 1861; Lathrop’s The Life and Times of Samuel J.
Kirkwood, p. 135; Council Bluffs Nonpareil, May 25, Jun 1, July 20,
September 21, 1861. See also Council Bluffs Bugle, August 11, 1864.
23 The Dubuque Weekly Times, June 27, 1861; Des
Moines Valley Whig (Keokuk), July 22, 1861; Council Bluffs Nonpareil,
April 20, 1861.
24 Council Bluffs Nonpareil, may 4, 1861; Byers’ Iowa in War Times, p. 43.
25 Quoted from the Davenport Gazette in the Council
Bluffs Nonpareil, May 11, 1861.
26 The Dubuque Weekly Times, October 3, 1861, p. 5.
27 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III,
Vol. I, p. 574; Report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1861, p. 13.
28 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III,
Vol. I, pp. 561, 562, Vol. II, pp. 403, 404, Vol. III, pp. 62, 67, 68; letter
from Kirkwood to G. W. Devin of Ottumwa, February 16, 1863, in Kirkwood
Military Letter Book, No. 5, p. 110.
29 Lathrop’s The Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood,
p. 248.
An
artillery squad which accompanied the Governor to the scene of this skirmish,
having no ammunition for their guns, cut up bars and rods of iron into inch pieces
“to do duty in the place of canister, grape and solid shot.”—Lathrop’s The
Life and Times of Samuel J. Kirkwood, p. 248.
It
was here, also, that the following occurrence took place. One of the
artillerymen was standing guard with his gun in the early morning. “A stranger,
led by curiosity or as a spy from the Tally camp, came up within speaking
distance of the guard, and asked him what he had there”. The reply was, “That,
sir, by--, is a butternut cracker.”—Lathrop’s The Life and Times of Samuel
J. Kirkwood, pp. 251, 252.
In July, 1863, the authorities
intercepted a box containing “double-barrelled rifles made of the most approved
pattern”, destined for the Knights of the Golden Circle. –Dubuque
Semi-Weekly Times, July 28, 1863. http://iagenweb.org/history/IaN.htm
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