Iowa History Project
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Picture included in this chapter is of Battle of Belmont
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The ten companies composing this regiment were raised
largely in the counties of Muscatine, Washington, Chickasaw, Floyd, Cerro
Gordo, Mahaska, Lee Wapello, Henry, Iowa, Des Moines, Jefferson, in Iowa, and
Hancock and Henderson counties, in Illinois. A majority of them were mustered
into service at Burlington soon after the Battle of Bull Run, in July, 1861.
The regiment numbered nine hundred and two men, and so urgent was the need of
troops at this time that the Seventh was sent to St. Louis before its
organization was complete, and before clothing arms, or equipments were
furnished. Hurried into the field at Pilot Knob as soon as armed, it took the
first lessons in drill and manual of arms at Ironton, Missouri. From here the
regiment marched with General Prentiss’s army to Cape Girardeau and was
transported by steamer from there to Cairo. Jacob G. Lauman had been appointed
colonel, and Augustus Wentz now joined the regiment as lieutenant-colonel;
Elliott W. Rice, a sergeant of Company C, was promoted to major; D. F. Bowler,
a lieutenant of Company D, was promoted to adjutant; Dr. Amos Witter(1) was appointed surgeon; I. H.
Clark, chaplain, and Lieutenant S. E. Forska, of Company D, quartermaster. The
regiment had now become well instructed in military drill and duties, and
presented a soldierly appearance.
General
Grant, who was now in command of the District of Southeaster Missouri with
headquarters at Cairo, was a man of action. On the 6th of November,
1861, he started with 3,000 men to make a reconnaissance toward Columbus to
prevent the enemy from sending reinforcements to General Price, in Missouri. He
also proposed to destroy a Confederate encampment on the Missouri side of the river.
Among the colonels commanding regiments in this expedition were the following,
who afterwards became distinguished officers in the Union armies: John A.
Logan, commanding a detachment of cavalry; Colonel N. B. Buford of the
Thirtieth Illinois, and General J. A. McClernand, commanding a brigade. The
Seventh Iowa, under colonel Lauman, was in a brigade commanded by Colonel
Dougherty of the Twenty-second Illinois. Early on the morning of the 7th,
Grant moved his little army by steamer within three miles of Belmont. Up to the
morning of the attack the encampment consisted of three additional regiments,
and took command. General Grant moved on the enemy immediately, meeting with
stubborn resistance, but after a sharp conflict, drove the Confederates down the
river bank, capturing their artillery and setting fire to the camp and stores.
While the men were destroying the camp, Generals Cheatham and Polk, with five
fresh regiments, hastened across the river from Columbus, and with greatly
superior numbers attempted to capture Grant’s small force. But, in spite of
overwhelming numbers, the Union army charged with such gallantry as to cut its
way through the enemy’s lines, taking two of the captured cannon, and gained
the landing about five o’clock in the afternoon. Seven hours the little army
under Grant had fought and the last part of the battle had been a conflict of
the most desperate character. Step by step the retreating army cut its way
through heavy ranks, while the Union gunboats opened a steady fire upon the
enemy. At last the steamers were reached, and the army safely embarked. The
object of the expedition had been attained, but at heavy cost, as our losses
amounted to five hundred and forty-six in killed, wounded and missing. The
confederate loss in men was nearly 1,000, while a large amount of property was
destroyed. It was near the beginning of the war and very few of the Union
soldiers engaged had ever seen a battle, so that this conflict with superior
numbers gave them great confidence in themselves, and proved again that there
was no better material in either army than the volunteers from Iowa and
Illinois. General Grant said in his order congratulating the men upon their
coolness and courage in the battle:
“It
has been my fortune to have taken part in all the battles fought in Mexico by
Generals Scott and Taylor, save Buena Vista, and I never saw one more hotly
contested, or where troops behaved with more gallantry.”
The Seventh Iowa
was in the thickest of the fight all through the battle and General Grant said,
in his report, that “it behaved with great gallantry and suffered more severely
than any other of the troops.” Among the killed were Lieutenant-Colonel Lauman,
Captains Ream and Gardner, while Colonel Lauman, Captains Gardner, Harper, Parrott
and Kettrege were wounded. The total loss of the regiment in killed, wounded
and missing was two hundred and twenty-seven. Lieutenant-Colonel Wentz was a
promising officer, and his loss was greatly regretted. It was generally
believed that he would have won high rank had he lived through the war. The
Seventh went to St. Louis soon after, where Captain Parrott was promoted to
lieutenant-colonel. Early in February, 1862, the regiment was with General
Grant’s army in the expedition against the forts on the Cumberland and
Tennessee rivers. After the capture of Fort Henry it proceeded with the army
against Donelson. The Seventh bore an honorable part in the battle, serving in
the brigade commanded by Colonel Lauman, losing thirty-nine men. In March
Colonel Lauman was promoted to Brigadier-General and took command of a brigade
in General Hurlbut’s Division. Major E. W. Rice succeeded to the command of the Seventh Regiment, and
Captain J. W. McMullen, of company C, became major. The regiment joined Grant’s
army at Pittsburg Landing. It fought bravely at the Battle of Shiloh, serving
in the Iowa Brigade commanded by Colonel J. M. Tuttle, and lost thirty-four men
during the engagements. Moving with Halleck in his slow and cautious approach
on Corinth, following in pursuit of the leisurely retreat of General Beauregard
and returning to Corinth, the Seventh rested until the middle of September,
when it was sent to Iuka, but was not engaged in the battle of the 19th.
In the two days’ battle at Corinth on the 3d and 4th of October, the
regiment took a conspicuous part, maintaining the reputation it had won at
Belmont, Donelson and Shiloh and losing nearly one-third of its number. Captain
B. K. Smith was among the killed and Lieutenant-Colonel Parrott, Major
McMullen, Captain Conn and Lieutenants Bennett, Camp, Hope and Irvin were among
the wounded. The regiment remained at Corinth during the winter of 1862-’63 and
most of the season following was engaged in uneventful but necessary duties
connected with guarding and occupying the vast regions wrested from the
Confederacy in Mississippi and Tennessee. There were railroad lines to be held,
bridges to be rebuilt and guarded, wagon trains to protected over long routes
and frequent scouts and foraging parties to be sent out. At Pulaski the Seventh
remained some time and the men made themselves comfortable by erecting
“shebangs,” as the army named the huts erected at various stopping places.
Unoccupied buildings furnished the material and there was always skill among
the western troops to enable them to construct comfortable houses to shelter
them from sun, storms and chilling winds. In raids for provisions the men often
picked up furnishings for their temporary homes, and where they remained
several months, they had a way of making their “shebangs” quite comfortable.
Some of them became ornamented with luxuries not altogether appropriate to camp
life, but the boys were not discerning as to harmony and artistic effects.
While at Pulaski, orders were received allowing the men, who had been two years
in the service, to reenlist, thus becoming veterans, with the privilege of a
month’s furlough. Three-fourths of the men in the service, fit for duty,
reenlisted, and on the 20th of January, 1864, they started for Iowa.
After a month at home, where every honor was bestowed upon them, they assembled
at Keokuk and returned to the army on the 27th of April the Seventh
started with Sherman’s army on the Atlanta campaign. In the march through
Georgia and the Carolinas the regiment participated in the numerous skirmishes
and battles which marked the progress of the army, always doing its duty
bravely, and winning honor in every conflict. At the crossing of the Ostanaula
River on the 15th of May, Colonel Rice, in command of a brigade, led
the advance of the Army of the Tennessee. The day before he had made a
demonstration at a point higher up the stream. Early on the morning of the 15th
he rapidly threw his brigade across Lay’s Ferry by means of a flat boat and
pontoons. To engage the attention of the enemy he had first sent a detachment
of sharp-shooters over on the flat boats, which, under cover of a heavy
artillery fire, supported by the Sixty-sixth Indiana, drove the Confederates
from their rifle pits, while the main body crossed. Hastily throwing up defense
beyond view of the enemy, he awaited the crossing of the Third Brigade, which
took position on his left. General Walker, with a whole division, now
confronted the three brigades. The Seventh Iowa, major McMullen commanding,
supported by an Indiana regiment, was now sent forward against the enemy’s left
flank. Charging, with loud shouts and great vigor was now sent forward against
the enemy’s left flank. Charging, with loud shouts and great vigor, on the
flank, the regiment surprised and threw the enemy into confusion. Two batteries
now opened upon them, but they still advanced and after a sharp engagement,
drove the enemy from position and opened the way for our entire army to
advance. In this brilliant engagement the Union loss was seventy-four men, of
which sixty were in the Iowa regiment. While the regiment was at Rome the
Presidential election took place. The Iowa Legislature had provided by law a
method by which our soldiers could vote in the field.
General
McClellan, having failed as a military commander, was now the candidate of the
“peace” wing of the Democratic party for President, against Lincoln, who was
giving every energy of his grand character to the subjugation of the armed
enemies of the Nation. Out of the three hundred and twenty-two votes cast by
the gallant Seventh Iowa, Lincoln received three hundred and twenty and
McClellan two. From Rome, our regiment marched to Atlanta and from there to
Savannah, meeting with but slight loss. Colonel E. W. Rice had been promoted to
Brigadier-General on the 20th of June, 1864, having entered the
service in 1861 as a sergeant of Company C, in the Seventh. Lieutenant-Colonel
J. C. Parrott was now in command of the regiment; Samuel Mahon, major, and W.
W. Sapp, adjutant. The army moved from Savannah on the 28th of
January, 1865, on its march through South Carolina, amid the storms of
mid-winter, wading swamps, swollen creeks and rivers. For four hundred and
eighty miles to Goldsboro, North Carolina, the Seventh bravely endured the
hardships without complaint, losing but three men. The campaign ended here,
where camp was made on the 24th of March. During this march,
Sherman’s army had built thirty-nine miles of corduroy road through the
otherwise impassable swamps. The regiment marched to Washington by way of
Richmond and participated in the grand review. Soon after it was transported to
Louisville where it was mustered out, as the war closed. The record of the
Seventh Iowa, from the day it left its first camp to the end of the war, was
one of which every member had reason to be proud. The people of the State will
never cease to remember its deeds of valor.
This regiment was raised during the months of August and
September, 1861. The ten companies were enlisted largely in the counties of
Scott, Clinton, Luisa, Washington, Benton, Linn, Marion, Keokuk, Iowa, Mahaska
and Monroe. They went into camp at Davenport, in September, nine hundred and
twenty strong. The first field and staff officers were: Frederick Steele,
colonel; J. L. Geddes, lieutenant-colonel; J. C. Ferguson, major; G. H.
McLaughlin, adjutant; William McCullough, quartermaster; James Irwin, surgeon;
and C. G. Vanderveer, chaplain.
The
regiment was sent to reinforce General Fremont’s army in southwest Missouri and suffered severely in the hard
marches over bad roads. Returning to Sedalia in November, most of the winter
was spent in camp and field in that vicinity. Early in February, 1862, Colonel
Steele was promoted to Brigadier-General; Geddes became colonel of the regiment;
Major Ferguson was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and Captain Joseph Andrews,
of company F, became major. On the 12th of March the Eighth joined
General Grant’s army at Pittsburg Landing. In the Battle of Shiloh, on the 6th
of April, the regiment was in the division commanded by General W. H. L.
Wallace, which was stationed in the rear of General McClernand, with its right
near the Landing. As the Confederate army advanced, gradually forcing our
troops in the front from their positions, the Eighth came under fire. For an
hour it supported a battery on the front and suffered from the enemy’s
artillery. Later the regiment was ordered forward on a line that was making a
most obstinate resistance, where the enemy was held in check until near four
o’clock in the afternoon by the splendid fighting of the Union troops. The
Eighth was the connecting link between the Division of General Wallace and what
remained of General Prentiss’ command. Here it was assaulted by a battalion of
Confederates and for an hour a severe engagement ensued. Charge after charge
was made on the Eighth and Fourteenth Iowa, which held their position, beating
back and charging in turn the shattered columns of the foe. During the
desperate efforts of the Confederates to break our lines at this place, General
Prentiss placed a battery in front of colonel Geddes’ position and the regiment
was ordered to defend it at all hazards. It was now one o’clock and all along
the lines the fighting was of the most desperate character. The confederate army,
in greatly superior numbers, was gradually forcing the Union army back toward
the river. Grant had sent courier after courier to find and bring General Lew
Wallace’s strong division of veteran soldiers into the battle, but he did not
appear. The battery placed by General Prentiss was mowing down the enemy at a
fearful rate, and column after column was hurled against it, charging up to the
muzzles of the guns. But they were met by Colonel Geddes’ men but it saved the
battery and held the position for two hours. At last Prentiss’ line gave way,
the enemy followed, swung around to the rear of the Eighth Iowa which was now
surrounded, and forced a surrender at half past five. All day long it had made
a most heroic fight and, to the last, stood firm and undaunted, refusing to
save itself by flight as did several regiments on that terrible day. General
Prentiss, who was also captured, in his official report, says of Geddes and his
regiment:
“He
acted with distinguished courage, coolness and ability. His regiment stood
unflinchingly up to the work the entire portion of the day during which it
acted under my orders.”
The loss of the
regiment in killed and wounded, was nearly two hundred. Captain W. F. Hogin was
killed; Colonel Geddes, Major Andrews, Captain F. S. Palmer and H. H. Benson,
and Lieutenants E. Tichenor, D. J. Craigie, C. S. Wells and W. T. Hayes were
wounded. About four hundred were captured, including most of the officers of
the regiment.
That
portion of the regiment not captured went into the Union Brigade, and
participated in the campaign of the summer and fall in Tennessee and
Mississippi under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel J. P. Coulter of the
Twelfth Iowa, and fought bravely at the Battle of Corinth. This brigade
consisted of soldiers of the Eighth, Twelfth and Fourteenth Iowa Volunteers who
escaped capture when their regiments were compelled to surrender at Shiloh. The
prisoners of these regiments captured at Shiloh were confined in various
Confederate prisons, suffering from sickness, starvation and every kind of
inhuman treatment, resulting in death and life-long disability to many. Most of
them were released on parole or exchanged in the course of eight months. The
Eight Regiment was reorganized at St. Louis early in 1863, and in April joined
General Grant’s army and participated in his brilliant campaign against
Vicksburg. The regiment was in General Tuttle’s Division in the Battle of
Jackson and took part in the assault on Vicksburg, May 22d. It served with
Sherman in the pursuit of General Johnston’s army, where Colonel Geddes
commanded a brigade. During the siege of Vicksburg Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson
died from sickness. He was a gallant and highly esteemed officer whose death
was a loss to the service. For many months after the fall of Vicksburg the
Eighth was engaged in service in Tennessee and Mississippi. Toward the close of
1864 a large majority of the men reenlisted as veterans and visited their homes
on furlough. The regiment was stationed at Memphis for a long time and took
part in the defense of that city against the attack by General Forrest, losing
over forty men in that battle. In this conflict Lieutenant A. S. Irwin was
killed; Captain C. P. Earl, Lieutenants J. A. Boyer and J. L. Tinkham, wounded,
and Lieutenant John Harver captured. Captain William Bell, of Company C, was
promoted to lieutenant-colonel after the death of Ferguson, and Captain William
Stubbs, of Company G, was promoted to major in place of Palmer, resigned. Early
in March, 1865, the regiment was sent to New Orleans and soon after joined in
the campaign against Mobile.
General Gordon Granger, with the Thirteenth Corps, and
General A. J. Smith, with the Sixteenth Army Corps, marched up to the eastern
shore of Mobile Bay, while General Steele, with an independent column, marched
from Pensacola. There were several Iowa regiments in the army that was
concentrating around the city. The defenses of Mobile were very strong; the Spanish
Fort on the left and Fort Blakely on the right commanded the approaches by
land. They must be taken before the city could be occupied. Between these
forts, which were several miles apart, were numerous earthworks and redoubts,
the approaches to which were obstructed by ditches, trees, wires and torpedoes.
At Spanish Forth there were several lines of inferior rifle-pits for
skirmishers outside of the principal works. A formidable ditch added to the
strength of the position and a most elaborately constructed abattis presented
its sharp points to the assailants. Trees were felled and laced together for an
area of many acres around and the ground everywhere was thickly strewn with
torpedoes. Artillery of various caliber bristled along the walls and 3,000 soldiers
held the interior of the fort, which was crescent-shaped, its right and left
defenses swinging back to near the river. At the northern extremity of these
defenses, a deep ravine runs down to the river, dividing the high bluff along
its eastern bank. On the northeast side of this ravine was the Brigade of
Colonel Geddes, in which was the Eighth Iowa. At the mouth of the ravine was
low bottom land and this was the point selected from which to carry Spanish
Fort. The Eighth Iowa led the advance. For an hour and a half our artillery had
been sending balls and shells into the fort and the sun was just sinking below
the horizon when Colonel Geddes gave the order to charge. Instantly, the men of
the Eighth Iowa sprang to their feet and rushed among the fallen trees, pushing
their way through the obstructions and across the mouth of the enemy. Those
behind the log breast-works fired on volley and fled. But from the extreme left
of the rifle-pits a heavy fire was poured into the ranks of the Iowa men until the
foremost of them mounted the bluff and took the enemy in the rear. Three
hundred Confederates were made prisoners on the spot and the others retreated
toward the interior of the fort and a new line of battle was formed. For more
than three hundred yards the gallant Eighth had fought its way toward the
enemy’s center. It was now dark, and in obedience to orders the regiment halted
and constructed rifle pits. At eleven o’clock in the night the enemy began to
retreat and the whole Union army moved against the fort. But little resistance
was made, as our army took possession, capturing six hundred prisoners, forty
pieces of artillery, a large quantity of ammunition, and other property.
General Steele had been equally successful at Fort Blakely. When the news of
Colonel Geddes’ victory at Spanish Fort reached Steele, on the morning of the 9th,
he at once ordered an assault, and in a short time everything was in our
possession and the victory complete. This campaign, so successful, reflected
great credit on Iowa soldiers. General Steele had been the first colonel of the
Eighth Iowa, and his Assistant Adjutant-General was Captain John F. Lacey.
Twelve Iowa regiments shared the honors of this brilliant campaign, which
captured more than 5,000 prisoners and more than one hundred and fifty cannon,
besides a vast amount of small arms, ammunition and other property. Beside the
Eighth, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Bell, the following Iowa regiments were in
the assault: The Twelfth, Major Knee; Nineteenth, Lieutenant-Colonel Bruce;
Twentieth, Lieutenant-Colonel Leake; Twenty-first, Lieutenant-Colonel Van Anda;
Twenty-third, Colonel Glasgow; Twenty-seventh, Lieutenant-Colonel Lake;
Twenty-ninth, Colonel Benton; Thirty-third, Colonel Mackay; Thirty-fourth,
Colonel Clark, and Thirty-fifth, Colonel Keeler. General Gilbert, Colonels
Geddes and Glasgow commanded brigades.
These regiments all won high honors
in this closing campaign of the war. It was conceded that Colonel Geddes’
assault on Spanish Fort, in which the Eighth took such a conspicuous part, was
the most brilliant achievement of that notable campaign. Lieutenant-Colonel
Bell and Lieutenant Henry Vinyard were especially commended for their
gallantry. This was the 1st battle in which the Eighth took part, but it was
not mustered out of service until April 20th, 1866. Colonel Geddes
was made brevet Brigadier-General June 5, 1865, and Captain S. E. Rankin was
promoted to major July 1, 1865.
~~~~~
End Note:
1. Dr.
Amos Witter had been a distinguished member of the Legislature, representing at
various times the counties of Scott, Cedar and Linn. He was the author of the first
Prohibitory Liquor Law and an eminent physician. He was captured at Belmont
while attending our wounded soldiers, and died from the effects of his arduous
duties after the battle at Fort Donelson.