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Chapter V
Pictures
included in this chapter are General N. B. Baker,
General Samuel
R. Curtis,
Stockade at
Estherville, and Captain W. H. Ingham
Governor Kirkwood had, at the beginning of the war, no experience in
military affairs and most of his aides were necessarily civilians.
His first aides-de-Camp, John Edwards, Rush Clark, Wm. B. Allison,
A. H. Sanders, D. B. Hillis, and Cyrus Bussey were men of excellent
judgment, but were without military training. He was most fortunate
in the selection of an Adjutant-General. Jesse Bowen, who held the
position when the war began, resigned in June, and the Governor
appointed as his successor, ex-Governor Nathaniel B. Baker, then a
Democrat member of the Legislature from Clinton County. At the extra
session in May, called to put Iowa on a war footing, Governor Baker
led the war wing of his party in support of all of the important
message. He had served as Speaker of the House of Representatives
and Governor of New Hampshire, and possessed rare executive ability.
He was eloquent and outspoken in urging vigorous prosecution of the
war for the suppression of rebellion. Ignoring partisan
considerations and grateful for the patriotic support of the “War
Democrats” in the Legislature and in recognition of the hundreds who
were offering their services a soldiers, Governor Kirkwood tendered
the position of Adjutant-general to Governor Baker. He promptly
accepted and at once entered upon the arduous duties of that office.
He speedily developed a remarkable talent for organization and
throughout the year was a tower of strength to Governor Kirkwood’s
administration. His energy was unbounded and his office soon became
a model of system and efficiency. Hiram Price was appointed
Paymaster-General.
The
act of the extra session of the Legislature providing for the issue
of State bonds to the amount of $800,000, drawing seven per cent.
interest, also provided for a Board of commissioners, consisting of
the Governor, Charles Mason, William Smyth, James Baker and C. W.
Slagle, to determine from time to time how many bonds should be
issued. Various newspapers of the State, which were unfriendly to
the administration and to the prosecution of the war, published
articles claiming that the law authorizing the issue of bonds was
unconstitutional. This attack upon the legality of the bonds
discredited them in the eastern cities where they were offered for
sale and capitalists declined to buy them except at great discount.
Finally sales were made in Iowa at ninety-four cents on the dollar.
$300,000 worth were sold at that price, which amount provided all of
the money required for war purposes, and the remaining $500,000
worth were eventually destroyed.
Additional calls for troops came in rapid succession as the eastern
armies met with disastrous defeats and the war assumed an unexpected
magnitude. The vast amount of labor devolving upon the State
administration called for additional help. Governor Kirkwood
appointed N. H. Brainerd Military Secretary, and J. C. Culbertson
was commissioned Assistant Adjutant-General.
On the 31st
of July, 1861, the Republican State Convention assembled at Des
Moines and nominated Governor Kirkwood for reelection by the
following vote: Samuel J. Kirkwood, three hundred and ten votes;
Samuel F. Miller, three and Fitz Henry Warren, twenty-nine. John R.
Needham was nominated for lieutenant-Governor and Ralph P. Lowe was
nominated for reelection as Supreme Judge. The resolutions indorsed
the National and State Administrations, and a vigorous prosecution
of the war, and invited the cooperation of the loyal men of all
parties in support of the Government.
On
the 24th of July, the Democratic State Convention met at
Des Moines, and nominated Charles Mason for Governor, Maturin L.
Fisher for Lieutenant-Governor, and James M. Elwood for Supreme
Judge. One of the resolutions declared “that our Union was formed in
peace and can never be perpetuated by force of arms, and that a
republican government held together by the sword becomes a military
despotism.” Another resolution declared that a convention of all the
States should be called for the purpose of securing to the States by
legislation equal rights, an the removal of the agitation of the
question of slavery from Congress, and the States of the Union. The
convention also declared opposition to all paper money banking and
to a protective tariff. Judge Mason accepted the nomination in a
long letter, but later in the campaign he withdrew from the head of
the ticket and Colonel Wm. H. Merritt was nominated to fill the
vacancy.
On
the 28th of August, another convention convened at Des
Moines, and organized a “Union Party,” nominating the following
ticket: Governor, General N. B. Baker; Lieutenant-Governor, Lauren
Dewey; Supreme Judge, Ruben Noble. Baker and Noble promptly declined
the nominations and warmly supported Governor Kirkwood for
reelection. Absorbed in the arduous duties of his position in this
darkest year of the Rebellion, the Governor had little time or
disposition to engage in a political campaign. The disastrous
defeats of the Army of the Potomac, from which so much had been
expected, compelled the President to make call after call upon the
loyal States for volunteers to fill the depleted ranks. Every energy
of the Governor and Adjutant-General was required to raise and
organize the new regiments which our State was called upon to
furnish. Every neighborhood in Iowa was contributing young men to
reinforce the Union armies, and their friends and relatives were not
in a frame of mind to attend political rallies.
At
the urgent solicitation of his friends, the governor consented to
make one speech at Des Moines on the 4th of September, at
which Judge Mason, the Democratic candidate, was invited to be
present and divide the time with the Governor in a joint discussion
of the issues involved in the approaching election. Mason declined,
however, and Governor Kirkwood in an elaborate speech ably presented
his views on the situation. He also reviewed the acts of his
administration and in a spirit of candor replied to the criticism of
his political opponents. He made but one other speech before the
election and that was delivered at Davenport in October. General N.
B. Baker, who had recently declined a nomination for Governor,
tendered him by the so-called “Union Party,” was at this meeting and
spoke ably defending the administration of Governor Kirkwood and
strongly urging his reelection.
On the 10th
of September, the Governor issued a proclamation in which he stated
that eight Iowa regiments were already in the field, that four more
were in camp nearly ready to leave for the seat of war. The State
was now called upon for four more regiments, which were speedily
raised. The election in October resulted in the success of the
Republican candidates by a plurality of more than 20,000. In the
First Congressional District, Samuel R. Curtis had resigned his seat
in the House of Representatives and entered the military service. In
the election to fill the vacancy James F. Wilson, Republican, was
chosen.
Before the
close of the year 1861, Iowa had raised and sent into the service
sixteen regiments of infantry, four regiments of infantry, four
regiments of cavalry and three batteries of light artillery, making
an aggregate of 19,105 men.
During the
first fractional year of the war, Iowa regiments had participated in
the battles of Wilson’s Creek, Blue Mills and Belmont, where their
courage and gallant conduct won the warm commendation of the
commanding officers and reflected honor upon the State they
represented.
The Ninth
General Assembly convened at Des Moines on the 13th of
January, 1862. Lieutenant-Governor John R. Needham presided over the
Senate. Rush Clark was chosesn Speaker of the House. Governor
Kirkwood, in his message called special attention to the financial
condition of the State. He stated that the unpaid taxes due up to
November 4th amounted to $400,000, a sum more than
sufficient, if collected to pay the entire expenses of the State
Government for one year. He urge such a revision of the revenue laws
as would secure a prompt collection of the annual taxes, as well as
the large amount now delinquent. In view of the suspension of specie
payment by the General Government and the banks of the country, the
Governor recommended such changes in our laws as would permit the
payment of taxes in United States currency and bills of the State
Banks of Iowa. He mad a report of the general work of the executive
and Adjutant-General in providing for the defense of border
counties, and stated that all calls by the War Department upon Iowa
for troops had been promptly filled.
The
most important acts of the General Assembly were the following:
assumption of the collection of the direct annual Federal taxes for
war purposes; an act for the relief of sick and wounded soldiers of
the Iowa volunteers; an act to provide for the payment of taxes and
the principal and interest of the school fund in United States
Treasury notes and bills on the State Banks of Iowa; an act to
authorize the reception of Auditor’s warrants on the War and Defense
Fund in payment of taxes; an act to exempt the property of Iowa
soldiers from levy and sale while in the military service, and an
act to apportion the State in six Congressional Districts.
It
was during this session of the Legislature that an episode occurred
which will never be forgotten by those who witnessed it. For more
than nine months the Civil War had been desolating the country.
After the first crushing defeat of the Union Army at Bull Run the
people suddenly realized that a war of long duration and of great
magnitude was upon the country. Call after call had been made for
volunteers until hundreds of thousands of soldiers were in the
field. No great victories had been won and many humiliating defeats
had been encountered. The Army of the Potomac, 200,000 strong, from
which so much was expected, was resting quietly in the immediate
vicinity of Washington, under General McClellan, with no prospect of
making a speedy movement against the enemy so audaciously blockading
the Potomac River a few miles from the National Capital.
In the
meantime an obscure Illinois General, U.S. Grant, had gathered an
army of western troops in Kentucky and , with the cooperation of
Commodore Foote, with a fleet of seven gun boats, proceeded against
Forts Henry and Donelson, which commanded the Tennessee and
Cumberland rivers. Fort Henry was soon captured, the Tennessee River
opened and the fleet proceeded up the Cumberland River to aid in the
reduction of Fort Donelson. This was a strong fort, mounting heavy
guns, standing on a steep bluff rising at a height of one hundred
feet above the river and defended at the base by formidable water
batteries. It was garrisoned by an army of 18,000 well drilled
Confederate soldiers under the command of Generals Pillow, Floyd and
Buckner. Investing the fort and its army, Grant made his plans to
capture, not only the strong position, but to cut off the retreat
and compel the surrender of the entire Confederate Army. Desperate
fighting ensued; Generals Pillow and Floyd, with a few regiments
escaped in the night, but on the 16th of February,
General Buckner surrendered the fort, his army of 15,000 men, sixty
cannon, with the small arms and supplies to General Grant. The
glorious news was flashed through the country. It reached Des Moines
at 11 a.m., the following day, in a dispatch to the State
Register. F. W. Palmer, the editor, hastened to the Capitol,
where the Legislature was in session and handed the dispatch to the
Speaker of the House. Rush Clark sprang to his feet in the midst of
a roll-call and shouted “General Grant has captured Fort Donelson.”
Then followed a scene which defies description. Members sprang to
their feet with the wildest cheers. The Senators hearing the great
shout, came rushing into the House and catching the contagion, all
joined in the most extravagant expressions of delight. For ten
minutes pandemonium reigned and no one thought of legislative
dignity. When order was finally restored the two houses adjourned.
In the afternoon, by a common impulse, State officers, members of
the Legislature and citizens gathered at the old Des Moines House
and joined in celebration of the great victory. Those of the present
generation can scarcely realize the intense anxiety that pervaded
the entire North at this period of the war. The depression of
repeated defeats and doubts as to the final result, which had long
oppressed the hearts of the loyal were suddenly lifted; hope and
confidence were again inspired. Governor Kirkwood and others were
called out for speeches and the rejoicings were kept up to a late
hour of the night.
A general had at last been found who, without display, could not
only fight brilliant battles, but could strike powerful blows at the
Rebellion by capturing a large army with all of its equipments.
Grant had proved more than a match in this campaign for the
confederate General Albert Sidney Johnston, who was regarded by the
South as the equal of General Lee. Johnston was in command of this
department with headquarters at Nashville, while Halleck, from St.
Louis, directed the Union armies of the West. Grant, with a
subordinate command, early realized that Forts Henry and Donelson
blocked the river route to the heart of the Confederacy. In January,
he asked permission of Halleck to capture these forts and open the
river to Nashville. His request was at first refused, but seeing so
clearly the great results to be obtained, a month later he again
urged the importance of the project and obtained Halleck’s consent.
His
brilliant success electrified the country and Halleck, in a dispatch
to the War Department at Washington, declared it to be “the turning
point in the war.” It caused the whole Confederate line in the west,
from Nashville to Columbus, to fall back more than a hundred miles.
So great was the consternation of General A. S. Johnston, that he
telegraphed to Jefferson Davis, “the situation left me no
alternative but to evacuate Nashville.” More important than all
else, it gave hope to the administration and the country, that there
was a western general who could not only plan a brilliant campaign,
but who had the skill and courage to promptly execute his plans. The
jealousy of Halleck and the slanders of envious rivals for a time
threatened to deprive the country of Grant’s superb military, but
fortunately the President and Secretary of War recognized the merits
of this new commander, who quietly took positions assigned him and
without continually importuning for reinforcements, proceeded to
strike the enemy stunning blows with such forces as he had.
Four Iowa
regiments participated in this great battle, and were among the
bravest of the brave. Our State felt a just pride in their brilliant
achievements and mourned the loss of the heroic dead. The
Legislature passed joint resolutions expressing for the people of
the entire States, thanks to the Iowa troops for their bravery and
devotion to the country, for their heroic deeds on the battle-fields
of Wilson’s Creek, Blue Mills, Belmont and Fort Donelson, and
sympathy for the bereaved friends of those who perished from disease
and on the battle-fields.
Soon after
the beginning of the Civil War the Sioux Indians, on the Minnesota
reservations, began to make hostile demonstrations in the
northwestern counties of Iowa. Horses and cattle were stolen, and,
on the 9th of July, two members of the Frontier Guards,
Hobert Thomas and Henry Cordna, were killed within three miles of
Sioux City. Several parties of Sioux Indians were seen in the Little
Sioux Valley. The settlers became alarmed and companies of “Home
Guards” were organized in several of the northwestern counties.
Under the authority of Judge A. W. Hubbard a military company of the
Sioux City Cavalry, under command of Captain A. J. Millard, was
ordered into State service for protection of the frontier.
There
were at this time about 8,000 Sioux Indians on the reservations
along the Minnesota River, at a distance of from sixty to one
hundred miles from the north line of the State. These Indians, aware
that thousands of the natural defenders of the frontier were absent
in the armies, entered into a conspiracy to march upon the settlers
and exterminate them before aid could reach them. So well had the
plans of the savages been concealed, that no intimation of the
impending doom had reached frontier settlements. On the 17th
of August, 1862, the massacre began near the upper agency. On the 21st,
while the men were gathered at a public meeting, on the upper Des
Moines River, near Jackson, to devise means for common defense, the
Indians suddenly fell upon the settlement, murdering the defenseless
families, plundering their homes and killing the live stock. When
the news of the massacre reached the settlements at Spirit Lade and
Estherville, parties of armed men were hastily organized who marched
to the aid of their neighbors. At Jackson they received
reinforcements and all marched up the river to the scene of the
massacre; finding that the Indians had disappeared, they buried the
bodies of fifteen of the victims and returned to their homes. The
settlers in northwestern Iowa escaped the fate of their Minnesota
neighbors. When the news of the massacres reached them, all the
frontier settlements were abandoned except those at Spirit Lake and
Estherville. At these places the sturdy pioneers erected strong
stockades into which their families were gathered, preparations
being made for a vigorous defense. Scouts were sent out and every
precaution taken to guard against surprise. Efforts were at once
made to secure State protection. A detachment of Sioux City cavalry
was immediately sent to the lakes and the Dickinson County
courthouse was fortified. Here the families were gathered under the
protection of the soldiers, while men worked on the defenses. A saw
mill was kept running, cutting logs into plank four inches in
thickness. A trench, three feet deep, was dug around the
court-house, about thirty feet from its walls and into this the
palisades were firmly planted, making a defense against any weapons
in possession of the Indians. Here the settlers remained in security
while the terrible massacre was desolating western Minnesota.
Thousands of the Sioux were on the war path and troops were hurried
to the frontier. The chiefs had planned to sweep swiftly down the
Des Moines valley and the Little Sioux by way of the lakes of
Dickinson County, thus exterminating all of the settlements in
northwestern Iowa above Fort Dodge and Sioux City. They soon met
with vigorous resistance, however; in Kossuth and Palo Alto counties
preparations were at once made by the settlers to defend their
homes.
The
Minnesota authorities were soon thoroughly aroused, as they came to
realize that they were assailed by the greatest Indian uprising of
the century. The settlers seized such arms as they could find and
hurried to the aid of their frontier neighbors. Such troops as were
within reach were hastily called to their assistance but before the
savages could be checked, more than 1,000 men, women and children
had been slaughtered and 5,000 driven from their homes.
Houses were pillaged and burned, stock killed or driven off, fields
devastated and more than two hundred and fifty women and children
taken into captivity. In magnitude it exceeded any massacre ever
perpetrated in North America, and in atrocities it has never been
surpassed in any country. Desperate battles were fought at New Ulm,
Fort Riley and Birch Coulie, with heavy losses on both sides; and it
was nearly a month before the Indians were thoroughly beaten by
General Sibley’s command at the Battle of Wood Lake. Here he
captured a large number of prisoners and liberated two hundred and
fifty captive women and children. Of the Indian warriors captured,
four hundred and twenty-five were tried by a military commission, of
which three hundred and twenty-one were proved to have been engaged
in the massacres of the settlers; three hundred and three were
sentenced to death, thirty-nine only were executed. A great outcry
was raised in some parts of the East against the execution of the
death penalty on the perpetrators of the brutal massacres; influence
was brought to bear upon President Lincoln to withhold his approval
of the sentence of the military commission and all but thirty-nine
were, after a short imprisonment at Davenport, Iowa, sent up the
Missouri River and set at liberty. The Government afterward paid a
fearful price for this leniency in the long wars waged by the Sioux
Indians instigated by these liberated murderers. The campaigns
against them by General Sully’s army cost millions of dollars, and
the Custer massacre of 1876 was planned by some of these surviving
Sioux, who assisted in that bloody drama.
On the 29th
of August, Governor Kirkwood sent Colonel S. R. Ingham, of Des
Moines, to northwestern Iowa to take such measures for the defense
of that section against the against the Indians as the situation
demanded. Colonel Ingham visited the most exposed settlements, and
conferred with the citizens, after which he authorized a military
company to be raised in the counties of Palo Alto, Kossuth and Emmet.
Before Colonel Ingham’s report was made, Governor Kirkwood and
called an extra session of the Legislature.
The summer
and autumn of 1862 were the darkest days of the war. The Army of the
Potomac, which had been organized and drilled for nine months under
General McClellan in vicinity of Washington, numbering more than
150,00 men, had, at last, when the patience of the Administration
and the country was exhausted, started by the longest possible route
for Richmond. Moving, about the first of April, by way of the
Potomac and Fortress Monroe, McClellan laid siege to Yorktown, and
by the 24th of may Reached the Chickahominy, within
striking distance of the Confederate Army, 50,000 strong, under
General J. E. Johnson, guarding the roads to Richmond. McClellan’s
army now numbered about 110,000 effective men. Two corps were sent
across the river, taking positions at Seven Pines and Fair Oaks,
from “Seven Days’ Battles,” in which McClellan lost nearly 20,000
men in killed, wounded and prisoners, and retreated to the
protection of our gun boats on the James River. This ended the most
disastrous campaign of the war. Another large army was hastily
gathered in Virginia to interpose between General Lee, now
commanding the Confederate forces, and Washington. General Pope was
called from the West and placed in command of the Union Army. After
fighting several battles, he was defeated with heavy loss and his
army driven into the entrenchments on the south bank of the Potomac,
which defended Washington. His losses during the campaign were more
than 15,000 men. Three great armies, equipped with all of the bet
modern appliances of war, had within little more than a year, under
the distinguished commanders, attempted to crush the Rebel armies of
Virginia, and capture Richmond. All had been disastrously defeated
and General Lee was preparing to cross he Potomac and invade the
North. More than half a million men had left their northern homes
and entered the Union armies to crush the Rebellion; nearly 100,000
of them had perished in battle and of disease, or were disabled by
wounds or sickness, or languished in loathsome prisons. NO progress
had been made against the great central armies of the Confederacy in
Virginia, or the defiant Government at Richmond. Serious doubts now
arose in the minds of loyal people of the North, whether the
Rebellion could be subdued by any military power that our Government
could command. A general feeling of gloom and despondency pervaded
the country. The only rays of hope at this time came from the
brilliant victories which had been won in the West. If Rebel armies
in the West could be beaten and captured, surely some general could
be found who would overthrow the Confederate armies in other
sections of the country. Could the Union armies be again reinforced
by volunteers in numbers sufficient to conquer the Rebellion? If
not, would the country peaceably submit to drafts to fill the
depleted ranks and to raise new armies? These were some of the
problems which now confronted the northern people, the President and
his Cabinet. There was no time for hesitation. On the 4th
of August the War Department ordered a draft for 300,000 additional
men. On the 16th Governor Kirkwood issued general orders
appointing commissioners in the various counties of the State to
make the enrollment for a draft.
On
the 17th he issued a proclamation appealing to the people
to fill the quota required of Iowa volunteers. He stated that he
would immediately call a special session of the Legislature and urge
it to provide for the payment of a liberal bounty to all who should
enlist in the old regiments before the 1st of September.
He stated that the quota, for Iowa, of volunteers called for by the
President on the 2d of July was 10,570 men and that there were more
than 15,000 volunteers now organized into companies waiting to be
assigned to new regiments. The War Department had, however, refused
to give our State credit for the surplus over 10,570, due under the
call of July 2d, until 8,000 should have been furnished to fill the
old regiments. If these men were not supplied by volunteering by the
1st of September, the deficiency would be made up by a
special draft, in addition to the draft to supply 10,570 required to
fill the quota under the order for a draft of 300,000 issued on the
4th of August. Such was the situation at this critical
period of the war. To meet the exigencies confronting the State and
the Nation with promptness, the Governor issued a call for a special
session of the General Assembly. It convened at the Capitol on the
3d of September, 1862, and, in the message, the Governor gave his
reasons for calling the General Assembly together. He said:
“When you closed your regular session the belief prevailed very
generally that the strength of the Rebellion against the General
Government had been broken, and your legislation upon some questions
of great public interest was controlled by that belief. The lapse of
time has shown that belief to be erroneous and a change of
legislation on those questions has therefore become necessary.”
He
continued:
“Owing to the largely increased number of soldiers that will soon be
in the field and the great length of time they will be exposed to
the danger of disease and the casualties of battle, it is rendered
absolutely necessary that a large increase of the fund be provided
for their care and comfort. The magnitude of the war has greatly
increased the work of the Executive and the Adjutant-General, and
additional funds and assistance are required.”
He
recommended camps of instruction for the drilling of men who
volunteered to fill the ranks of the old regiments. He strongly
urged the enactment of a law providing for elections outside of the
State, at which all Iowa soldiers absent from home in military
service at the time of any general election, might have their votes
received and canvassed. He urged the immediate action in the
acceptance of the Agricultural College land grant recently made by
Congress, amounting to 240,000 acres for Iowa, so that these lands
might be secured within the limits of our own State. He called
attention to the alarming reports of Indian massacres in Minnesota,
and the danger threatening our people on the northwestern frontier.
The Legislature
was in session but eight days and passed thirty-nine bills. The most
important were the following: an act providing for the protection of
the northwestern frontier; amendments to the militia law of 1861;
appropriations for the extraordinary expense of the Executive
Department of the State; a provision for the relief of the sick and
wounded Iowa soldiers in the service of the United States; an act
for better protection of the southern border; a change in the name
of Buncombe County to Lyon, in honor of General Nathaniel Lyon, who
was killed at the Battle of Wilson’s Creek; acceptance of the
Agricultural College land grant, and provision for the selection of
the lands; an act enabling soldiers in service outside of the State
to vote at the general elections; authority was given to boards of
supervisors to levy taxes for the support of families of persons in
the military service, and for the payment of bounties for
enlistments; an act for the organization and discipline of the
General Assembly, approved by the Governor within five days. On the
12th of September, he issued orders for the raising of
five companies under the supervision of Colonel Ingham, in the
frontier counties. They were promptly organized as follows: Company
A, Algona, raised in the counties of Emmet, Palo Alto, Humboldt and
Kossuth, Captain W. H. Ingham of Algona, Company B, in Webster
county, Captain Wm. Williams of Fort Dodge; Company C, in Hamilton
County, Captain H. W. Crupper of Webster City; company D, in
Crawford County, Captain J. M. Butler of Denison; and Company E, in
Woodbury County, Captain J. N. White of Sioux City.
Lieutenant-Colonels James A. Sawyer was given command and Lewis H.
Smith was made quartermaster. These troops were stationed in
companies and parts at Chain Lake, Estherville, Ocheyedan, Peterson,
Cherokee, Ida, Sac City, Correctionville, Little Sioux and
Melbourne, while Captain Millard’s Company was at Spirit Lake, thus
forming a line of communication from Chain Lake to Sioux City. This
prompt action of the authorities effectually protected the
settlements of northwestern Iowa from attacks by the Sioux warriors,
who were desolating western Minnesota.
All
preparations for a draft were made by the State authorities, as few
were sanguine in the belief that 20,000 more volunteers could be
furnished by Iowa in time to avert it. But the liberal provisions
made by the Legislature to authorize the counties by taxation to
provide for the support of the families of persons in the military
service, and also to pay liberal bounties for enlistments, enabled
the State to furnish its quota under the calls recently made without
resort to a draft. |
