_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
Throughout the entire summer of 1861
barely enough arms were available to supply the Iowa volunteers, and it was
only after much delay that guns were secured. “Where are the arms promised to
our regiments?”, the Adjutant General inquired in August. “Do send us arms for
our infantry and cavalry.” The providing of arms for the companies who enlisted
for Federal service was a big task. Guns were scarce throughout the country;
and an enormous supply was needed. Although eastern manufacturing plants worked
at full speed they could not keep pace with the demand for arms. Especially in
the West was this situation felt. Delays were many and when the arms did arrive
they were unsatisfactory and often unserviceable. The arms that were refused by
eastern troops were frequently sent to the western companies.30
The call for the first regiment of
Iowa volunteers was issued on April 15, 1861. This regiment was to serve for
three months. Calls for additional regiments came in steadily throughout the
next three years. Most to the troops form Iowa were enlisted for three years,
although some regiments were made up of hundred day men and others of men who
enlisted for various terms. Iowa furnished a total of between seventy and
eighty thousand troops. To arm and equip this number alone was a large task at
that time. When it is remembered that the Iowa troops constituted only a small
part of the great Union army, it is little wonder that here was delay and
confusion in the accomplishment of the task.31
For the most part the first two
regiments were made up of independent, voluntary militia companies which had
been organized before the war. The companies in existence at the outbreak of
the war were poorly armed. Scarcely a company had a full stand of arms, and the
guns they did own were in many cases not fit for use in war, although they
would do for drill purposes. Later companies prior to enlistment sometimes used
the guns of former companies who had been taken into United States service and
been given a new supply of guns.32
Especially was difficulty
encountered in arming the first few regiments from Iowa. The United states
government agreed to furnish the arms and accoutrements. The arms so furnished
were distributed through the agency of the Adjutant General, who had been
required by law to serve as Acting Quartermaster General. The First Iowa
Regiment was in rendezvous at Keokuk more than a week before the time set, and
could have been there sooner, but the “Governor saw no special reason for
hurrying them on to the rendezvous before the arrival of arms”. 33
Arms for seven hundred and eighty
men were to have been retained at the St. Louis Arsenal when the shipment was
sent to Springfield, Illinois, but for some reason they were not left. On May
10th Governor Kirkwood wrote to the Secretary of War that the “First
Iowa Regiment is in rendezvous at Keokuk, and I hope will soon be supplied with
arms.” Earlier in May Captain R. G. Herron had been sent by the Governor to
Springfield, Illinois, with a requisition for five thousand stand of arms. “he
found nothing there but the old flint-lock muskets, which have been altered to
percussion. There were also bayonets, but no scabbards. He very properly
refused to touch any of them and returned empty handed.”34
The troops at Keokuk lived in daily
expectation of their arms. On May 17th word came that two thousand
stand had been ordered from St. Louis. And on Sunday morning, May 19th,
two thousand of these “precious treasures” arrived from St. Louis, “escorted by
a company from Quincy”, to guard them from secessionists. “I think I would be a
master stroke of policy to allow the secessionists to steal them”, wrote Franc
B. Wilkie to the Dubuque Herald. “They are the
‘old-fashioned-brass-mounted-and-of-such-is-the-Kingdom-of-Heaven’ kind that
are infinitely more dangerous to friend than enemy—will kick further than they
will shoot, and are appropriately known from their awkward peculiarities in
this and other respects, among our Germans as Kuh-fuss—‘Cow-foot.’ They were
brought hither by Col. Curtis for the use of the 2nd Regiment but
were stopped by Lieut. Chambers, and by some happy arrangement between him and
Curtis, 1000of them have been retained here for the use of the 1st
Regiment. Their appearance creates intense disgust in the mind of every
recruit.
“Why is it that our Iowa regiments
cannot be armed and equipped, say one-half as well as the regiments of
Illinois? All of the latter are armed with the very best arms in use, either
Sharpes or Minie rifles—our men are put off with an old rusty machine that is a
cross between a blunderbuss and a Chinese matchlock, and is one which would
excite the merriment even of a Digger Indian, unless he happened to be behind
it.”35
“The bayonets don’t shine at all,”
commented the Des Moines Valley Whig, “and we learn that the soldiers don’t
much affect the old-fashioned smooth-bore. But there is a prospect that new
patterns will be received before long.” This prospect was based on the
achievement of Colonel Samuel R. Curtis, who had been sent to Washington to
secure arms. He retuned soon after the middle of May, having obtained an order
for two thousand guns; while cartridge boxes, bayonet scabbards, and waistbands
were to be made and shipped by express from Pittsburg immediately. The above
named accoutrements arrived in Keokuk the fore part of June, and were put in
Burns & Rentgen’s warehouse. There were enough of them to equip the first
and second regiments.36
The muskets, however, which were
furnished the First Iowa Regiment were not replaced.37 Upon receiving the order to move
south from Keokuk, one of the men with the First Regiment of Iowa Volunteers
wrote home: “Heaven forgive us all our sins if we are to be sent down among
those rampageous, half-horse, half-alligator ‘Border Ruffians,’ with only these
old muskets and triangular bayonets! If we ain’t kicked over the borders at he
very first discharge, it will be through the special interposition of
Providence—or it will be through the same influence, if we are not all dead in
three weeks from lugging so much rusty about the fastnesses of Missouri. We
shall be equally in danger from the muzzles of Missourian muskets and the
breeches of our own”. An attempt was made by a Union regiment in Missouri to
supply these men with new guns, but nothing came of it. Indeed, the men of the
First Regiment were doubtless the most illy armed and clothed troops that Iowa
furnished.38
The story of the arming of later
regiments is one of continued delay and dissatisfaction. Arms were supposed to be
supplied to the troops before they left the State, but often this result was
not accomplished. The Second Iowa Regiment “was placed in rendezvous at Keokuk,
and without arms.” This regiment, together with the Third and Fourth Regiments,
was reported on June 8, 1861, to be in rendezvous “anxiously awaiting arms.”
The Third Regiment left Keokuk without cartridges or cartridge boxes.
“Destitute of all equipment but empty muskets and bayonets, and without means
of transportation,” the Third Regiment was on July 1st “hastened
westward more than halfway across the state [Missouri].” Not until August 23rd
were three thousand “Improved Muskets” shipped “on the Jeannie Deans to the
Iowa troops in St. Louis and Missouri.” Minie rifles were to have been
furnished.39
Varied were the arms dealt out to
the Iowa troops. Many of the guns were old flint-lock muskets altered to
percussion. 40 Other troops received rifled muskets, Austrian muskets, Prussian
muskets, Belgian rifles, Harper’s Ferry muskets, Spencer’s carbines, Sharps
carbines, Colt’s revolvers, navy revolvers, Whitworth rifles, Colt’s revolving
rifles, Minie rifles, or Enfield rifles. During the year 1862 the State of Iowa
received from the United States government one thousand Austrian rifles
(caliber .58); twenty-seven hundred Austrian rifles (caliber.54); ten thousand
Enfield rifles (caliber .58); fifty-nine hundred Prussian muskets (caliber
.72); nine hundred Prussian rifled muskets (caliber .69); six hundred
Springfield muskets (caliber 71); twelve hundred French rifles (caliber .58);
twelve hundred Colt’s revolvers; and twelve hundred sabres, with accoutrements
for all.41
The Enfield rifle was the arm which
the soldiers were always desirous of securing, since it was one of the best
guns in the service at the time. It is interesting to note that an improved
Enfield is the arm used in the present war by the English troops and will
probably be used by the American troops.42
A part of the fourth Iowa Infantry
Regiment received muskets while still in rendezvous at Camp Kirkwood, Council
Bluffs. The rifles had been stored at Fort Kearny and it is said that the order
for their delivery was made out by Robert E. Lee, who was at that time Chief of
Staff to Lieutenant General Scott, Chief of the Army. Better arms were supplied
to the regiment in the field late in September. There was also a battery
consisting of four twelve-pound howitzers connected with the Fourth Regiment.43
The Fifth Iowa Regiment was sworn
into service at Burlington on the 15th, 16th, and 17th
of July, 1861. Arms were distributed to the men of this regiment just a month
later, on the way to the front. They, too, were given common muskets, but with
the assurance that other arms would be forthcoming in about thirty days. The
Sixth Iowa received “miserable Austrian muskets,” concerning which a Dutch
member of the regimen said, “a man might be killed more as twelve times before
de tam ding would shoot off.”44
The organization of the Seventh
Regiment occurred soon after the battle of Bull Run. Owing to pressing military
necessity this regiment was sent to the South before it was armed. They
received their arms at St. Louis, “the flank companies ‘A’ and ‘B’ getting the
Springfield rifle with tape self primers, and the other eight companies
received the improved ‘buck and ball’ Springfield musket.”45 This regiment was also given
eight pieces of artillery.46
Belgian muskets were supplied to the Eighth Regiment at Keokuk on its way down
the river to St. Louis. These guns were received with dissatisfaction by the
men. “Uneven caliber, some crooked barrels, locks out of repair! The boys
called them ‘pumpkin slingers’ and pronounced the crooked barrels adapted to
shooting around hills.”47
The Eleventh Iowa Regiment, while it
has the distinction of being “the first full regiment, completely uniformed,
armed and equipped, which, as such, trod the soil of Iowa”, was, nevertheless,
unfortunate enough to secure percussion lock, smooth-bore muskets.48
Within one month after being
mustered into service the Twelfth Iowa received arms and accoutrements. This
regiment, “owing to the persistent effort of Colonel Woods or the influence
which he had with ‘the powers that be,’… was so fortunate that while others—the
Thirteenth Iowa, for instance—was being armed with Harper’s Ferry muskets
altered from old flintlocks, or with Belgian smoothbores, the Twelfth received
the very best arms then in the service—new Enfield rifles, of which the men
were very proud.” The Fourteenth Regiment was armed by companies. Three
companies had received their arms and were on their way to Fort Randall, in
Dakota Territory, late in October, 1861, while the remaining companies had not
received arms late in November. When guns were received they were of the
poorest sort. W. W. Kirkwood, a nephew of Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, wrote to
his uncle from Benton Barracks on January 12, 1862, complaining of the
character of the arms furnished, and asking him to do something to remedy the
situation. The arms were worthless, said the young soldier, who declared that
“there was one to my certain knowledge Broken by striking it lightly across a
pine Box. The barrel broke entirely off in two places.” Many or the muskets, he
said, burst at the first discharge.49
The members of the Eighteenth Iowa
Regiment were armed with Austrian rifled muskets upon their arrival in St.
Louis; while the Twenty-first Iowa was unusually fortunate in the matter of
arms. Going into rendezvous the 25th of August, 1862, all the
members of this regiment who had not been previously armed equipped with
Enfield rifles on the 9th of September. The supply of these arms,
however, was not lasting. The Twenty-second and Twenty-fourth Regiments were
compelled to drill with wooden guns and swords of their own manufacture.50
Indeed, although a requisition for
arms for the ”Temperance Regiment”—the Twenty-fourth—was issued early in
August, “the regiment paraded and drilled with wooden swords and guns until the
middle of October”, when it was lucky enough to secure new Enfield rifles. On
September 20th Adjutant General Baker wrote to the Secretary of War,
asking for arms for ten additional regiments. They were almost immediately
furnished.51
Enfield rifles were furnished to the
men of the Twenty-fifth Iowa Regiment on their way down the Mississippi to the
field of action. Yet to the Thirty-third Regiment were issued smooth-bore
muskets, which were not exchanged for Enfields until some months after ward.
And as late as December, 1862, Governor Kirkwood wrote to Edwin M. Stanton,
protesting against the character of arms furnished to the Thirty-fifth Iowa
Infantry, and asking that they be exchanged for “serviceable guns”. Later, the
Thirty-eighth Regiment received satisfactory arms before leaving the camp at
Dubuque.52
During the early years of the war the
guns were so constructed that it was necessary for the men to bite off the ends
of the cartridges before loading. Indeed, at the time of the draft, some of
those drafted attempted to escape service by having their teeth pulled, thus
rendering them incapable of tearing the cartridges. But toward the end of the
war, muskets were used which made this process unnecessary. The rifles used in
1863 by the Dubuque Union Guards, a company which later served as “Hundred Days
Men”, were “of the Austrian pattern, of which the company have one hundred,
with all the accompanying equipments, including 5,000 rounds of ammunition. The
guns are of the latest improved pattern, and are made so that the owner is not
obliged to bite off the ends of the cartridges, a little instrument
accomplishing that work for him, thus enabling one to load and fire almost
twice as quick as by the old method.” Other companies of these “Hundred Days
Men” of 1864 were furnished Enfield rifles. Arms were seemingly plentiful at
this time.53
30 War of the Rebellion: Official
Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, p. 407.
Assistant Secretary of War Scott
wrote in September, 1861, to Governor Curtin of Pennsylvania that “We shall
send the arms you cannot use to the West”, then that official had protested
against some Prussian muskets which had been furnished him.—War of the
Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, pp. 526, 538. Possible these
were the identical four thousand muskets which the Iowa troops received later in
the same year.—Report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1861, p. 13.
31 War of the Rebellion:
Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, pp. 68, 69; Byers’s Iowa in War Times,
p. 28; Phisterer’s Statistical Record of the Armies of the United States,
pp. 3-11; Briggs’s The Enlistment of Iowa Troops during the Civil War in The
Iowa Troops during the Civil War in the Iowa Journal of History and
Politics, Vol. XV, p. 373.
32 Des Moines Valley Whig
(Keokuk), July 1, 1861.
33 The Dubuque Weekly Times, April
25, 1861; Report of Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1864, p. xiv; Des Moines Valley
Whig (Keokuk), May 13, 1861.
34 War of the Rebellion:
Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. I, pp. 162, 185; Wilkie’s The Iowa
First: Letters from the War, p. 14.
Mr. Franc B. Wilkie accompanied the
First Regiment of Iowa Volunteers as correspondent for The Dubuque Herald and
the New York Times. The work to which reference is made is a collection of his
letters to The Dubuque Herald, printed in 1861.
35 The Dubuque Herald, May
17, 1861; Wilkie’s The Iowa First: Letters from the War, pp. 24, 25.
36 Des Moines Valley Whig (Keokuk), May 20, 27, June 10,
1861.
37 The Governor’s Greys of Dubuque
were armed with rifled muskets. Probably they secured them from private sources
before leaving Dubuque. T offset the advantage of having superior arms, the
Greys were inconvenienced by the necessity of running their own bullets to fit them, since they were of a
different caliber from the rest of the arms.—Wilkie’s The Iowa First: Letters
from the War, pp. 46, 47.
38 The Dubuque Herald, June 18,
1861; Wilkie’s The Iowa First: Letters from the War, p. 65.
39 Byers’s Iowa in War Times,
pp. 47, 484; War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. II, Vol. I, p.
261; Des Moines Valley Whig (Keokuk), July1, August 126, 1861; The
Gate City (Keokuk), July 1, 1861.
40 These arms were generally
regarded by the soldiers as worthless. A resident of Dubuque, who claimed to
have “had some experience under Government, in this matter,” and who signed himself
“Ordinance”, championed them and asserted that they were “as serviceable as any
that can be issued from the War Department, with the exception, perhaps, of the
rifled musket, which latter arm requires no inconsiderable experience on the
part of the soldier”. Their propensity to “kick” he explained away by saying
that “in the discharge of innumerable guns, during an engagement, it is
necessary the soldier feels his to be among the number that have been
discharged.” A little cleaning, polishing, and browning, he declared, would
make them “as good as if fresh from the national armories”. The conviction
which his brief carries is somewhat dissipated by the orthography of the
writer’s nom de guerre.—The Dubuque Weekly Times, June 27, 1861
41 Report of the Adjutant-General of Iowa, 1862, Vol. I, pp. xvi, xvii.
42 There is an interesting Civil War
anecdote told in connection with the Enfield rifles. One of the nurses in a
field hospital “approached the cot on which a wounded soldier of the
Massachusetts Fifteenth regiment was lying and asked him, ‘Is there anything
which you think of that you want?’ “Yes,’ was the quick reply, ‘an Enfield
rifle.’” Most of the men in his regiment were equipped with smooth-bores.—The
Dubuque Weekly Times, November 28, 1861.
43 Council Bluffs Nonpareil, July 20, August 3, 1861; Byer’s
Iowa in War Times, p. 605; Des Moines Valley Whig, September 23,
1861.
44 Byers’s Iowa in War Times, p. 488; The Dubuque Weekly Times,
February 6, 1862; Des Moines Vallely Whig, October 21, 1861.
45 Smith’s History of the Seventh Iowa Veteran Volunteer
Infantry during the Civil War, p. 6.
46 The Dubuque Herald, July 21, 1861. Six-pound brass
howitzers for Iowa troops were made in Omaha by charles Hendrie and furnished
at a contract price of one thousand dollars each.—The Dubuque Weekly Times,
September 12, 1861.
47 Byers’s Iowa in War Times, pp. 495, 496.
48 Iowa Historical Record, Vol. I, p. 129; Council
Bluffs Nonpareil, November 9, 1861.
49 Byers’s Iowa in War Times, p. 507; Reed’s Campaigns
and Battles of the Twelfth Regiment Iowa Veteran Volunteer Infantry, p. 11;
The Dubuque Weekly Times, October 31, 1861; The Weekly Gate City
(Keokuk), December 2, 1861; Kirkwood Correspondence, No. 433.
50 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III, Vol. II, p. 287; The Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), August 20, 1862; Dubuque Weekly Herald, August 20, 1862; Crooke’s The Twenty-first Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry, p. 13; Jones’s Reminiscences of the Twenty-Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry, p. 8; Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. I, p. 18.
51 War of the Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. III,
Vol. II, pp. 325, 575, 577; Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. I, p.
18.
52 The Weekly Gate City (Keokuk), November 5, 1862;
Sperry’s History of the 33d Iowa Infantry Volunteer Regiment, p. 3; Kirkwood
Military Letter Book, No. 5, p. 44; Dubuque Democratic Herald, December 24,
1862.
53 Dubuque Semi-Weekly Times, August 11, 1863, June 7,
1864; Burlington Daily Hawk-Eye, October 27, 1864; War of the
Rebellion: Official Records, Ser. I, Vol. XLI, Pt. 2, p. 757.