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Chapter X
Third Iowa Infantry
Pictures included in this chapter are General Grenville M. Dodge,
Battle of Chickasaw Bayou and General James A. Williamson.
This regiment was raised in May and June, 1861, and was
made up of the companies enlisted in the counties of Dubuque,
Marion, Clayton, Winneshiek, Story, Fayette, Warren, Mahaska and
Black Hawk. There were, however, men from various other counties in
this regiment, which numbered nine hundred and seventy men, and went
into camp at Keokuk. Nelson G. Williams was appointed colonel; John
Scott, lieutenant-colonel; William M. Stone, major; and Fitzroy
Sessions, adjutant. After drilling at Keokuk for about a month, the
Third was sent to Hannibal, Missouri, where the regiment was
scattered, companies being sent to various places to guard towns and
railroads. Colonel Williams was not popular with a portion of the
regiment, as there had been a long and bitter strife in the choice
of field officers, and the commissions had been issued when the
regiment was sent to Missouri. The men went into service without
equipments and were armed with old Springfield muskets of 1848
pattern. Seven companies were stationed at Chillicothe and three at
another point. Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, with a portion of the
regiment, was sent to Macon in August, in pursuit of the Rebel
General Green; Colonel Williams, with another portion and six
companies of a Kansas regiment, engaged the Rebels at Paris and
retreated with slight loss to Shelbina, where he was put under
arrest by General Hurlbut.
Battle of Blue Mills
On the 15th of September, Lieutenant-Colonel
Scott, now in command of the regiment, with a squad of artillery,
was ordered to march to Liberty and join Colonel Smith of the
Sixteenth Illinois. When he reached there on the morning of the 17th,
Smith had not arrived. A courier was dispatched to him as a large
force, under General Atchison with four pieces of artillery, was
reported to be at Blue Mills Landing. Firing was heard at the
Landing, where some Union troops were resisting the advance of
Atchison. Hearing nothing from Smith, Scott finally started his
small force in the direction of the firing. He was obliged to march
through a dense wood penetrated by a narrow road. When about half
way to the river, a road crossed at right angles his line of march.
Here was a farm, making a small clearing in the woods. Skirmishers
had been thrown out in advance and word came from them that the
Rebel army was nearing in strong force. A few minutes later the
column was enveloped by a sudden blaze of musketry, and found it had
marched straight into an ambush, and men were falling along the
whole line. The officers and men, however, retained their presence
of mind and deployed as well as possible, while a cannon was brought
into position and opened on the enemy with canister. Another volley
from the enemy killed and drove off the gunners, and Colonel Scott
ordered a retreat. Of the sixteen officers ten had fallen, killed or
wounded. The little band fell slowly back, dragging the cannon by
hand and keeping up a steady fire. The Rebels fell on the flank,
but, meeting with stubborn resistance, were driven back with loss,
and the retreat continued. The engagement lasted about an hour; our
little army fought as it retreated, bringing off most of the
wounded. Reaching Liberty just after dark, the loss was found to be
one hundred and eighteen men killed and wounded, out of about six
hundred. The loss of the Third Iowa was ninety-four. Although
ambushed, taken by surprise and greatly outnumbered, Scott’s command
fought bravely and retired in good order. Captain Trumbull and
Lieutenant Crosley brought off the cannon by hand under a hot fire.
The Third spent the winter along the line of the North Missouri
Railroad, with headquarters at Mexico. In February, Colonel Williams
was released from arrest and returned to his regiment, which, early
in March, was sent to join General Grant’s army at Pittsburg Landing
in Tennessee. It was assigned to the division commanded by General
Hurlbut. In the Battle of Shiloh, on the 6th and 7th
of April, the Third fought bravely for many hours on the first day
of the battle and shared in its disasters. Major Stone and many
others, were taken prisoners. Late in the day, the remnant of the
regiment, led by the gallant Lieutenant G. W. Crosley, cut its way
through the enemy and non the next day, commanded by Lieutenant
Crosley, it did good service. Colonel Williams, who commanded a
brigade in the battle, was severely injured. Lieutenant-Colonel
Scott was ill and Major Stone commanded until he was captured.
Captain Hobbs was killed and several other officers wounded. The
losses of the regiment were very heavy. On the 5th of
October, the Third, now under command of Lieutenant-Colonel
Trumbull, took part in the Battle of Hatchie, where it made a
gallant charge, crossing the bridge under a terrific fire of the
enemy’s batteries. In November, Colonel Williams resigned and was
succeeded by Colonel Aaron Brown. In August, Scott was promoted to
Colonel of the Thirty-second Regiment and Major Stone to Colonel of
the Twenty-second. Captain James Tullis became Lieutenant-Colonel of
the Third in place of Trumbull, reigned. Lieutenant G. W. Crosley
was promoted to major and G. H. Cushman was promoted to adjutant
upon the resignation of Sessions. In May, 1863, the Third embarked
on the steamer Crescent City to join Grant’s army before
Vicksburg. The steamer was fired on near Greenville, by a Rebel
battery and riddled with shot. The Third, with the aid of a cannon
on board, drove the Rebels into the woods, after having fourteen men
wounded. The regiment shared in the battles of that great campaign
and the capture of Vicksburg. It was next in the siege of Jackson,
and took part in Lauman’s assault of July 12th, where it
met with fearful loss. Early in 1864, two hundred of its members
re-enlisted as veterans, and were, in March, granted a furlough to
visit their homes. The remainder oft the regiment under
Lieutenant-Colonel Tullis, was sent to join General Banks in his
disastrous Red River expedition, after which it was discharged, as
the term of service had expired. Upon the return of the veterans,
the number was so reduced, that they were organized into a battalion
of three companies. At the battle before Atlanta, July 22, this
veteran battalion was nearly annihilated. It rallied around the
color-bearer, fighting desperately, until surrounded and cut to
pieces; the remnant at last was compelled to surrender. The
survivors were consolidated with the Second regiment, and the
gallant Third passed out of existence. Captain Jacob Abernethy, who
had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel for gallant service,
commanded the regiment on this bloody field and was killed. Captain
Robert P. Griffith, who, as corporal, had bravely carried the colors
on former battle-fields, fell mortally wounded. An eyewitness of
this last fight of the Third wrote as follows to the Dubuque
Times:
“As the battle grew raging hot and desperate, a
handful of our undaunted men gathered amidst the pelting showers of
shot and shell, and there around the flag they stood its guard in
the most perilous moments. The color-bearer, the bravest of the
brave, relinquished his hold by death their hopes began to fail. As
the last of the little band were surrounded by overwhelming numbers,
they were finally captured and disarmed. They were marched through
Atlanta and their names reported to the provost-marshal. In passing
through the city, whenever a shell fell in the streets from our
batteries, they cheered and sang ‘Rally Round the Flag.’ Rebel
officers ordered them to ‘shut up,’ as they were prisoners of war.
They answered ‘We will always cheer a Yankee shell.’ A squad of
Rebel cavalry was passing through the street with a flag of the Iowa
Third captured after the color-bearer fell pierced with bullets.
Some members of the regiment who were prisoners saw it, and making a
rush upon its captors, wrested it from them, and amid threats and
curses tore it into pieces. Unarmed by the enemy, unflinching in
courage and patriotism to the end, the last heroic remnant of the
veteran Third thus closed its long record of glorious deeds.”
Of the officers of this regiment, its first major,
William M. Stone, became Governor of the State, in 1864, and
afterward Commissioner of the United States Land Office.
Lieutenant-Colonel John Scott became Lieutenant-Governor in 1868;
Captain M. M. Trumbull became Colonel of the Ninth Cavalry;
Lieutenant G. W. Clark became Colonel of the Thirty-fourth;
Lieutenant G. W. Crosley became Lieutenant-Colonel of a regiment in
Hancock’s Veteran Corps; Lieutenant G. A. Eberhart became
Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirty-second, as did also Sergeant E. H.
Mix, who fell at Pleasant Hill; Sergeant G. L. Wright became
Lieutenant-Colonel of the consolidated Second and Third; Captain J.
B. Knight became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ninth Cavalry. Many other
members of the Third became officers of other regiments.
Fourth Iowa Infantry
This regiment was made up largely in the southwest
portion of the State. Company A was form Mills County; Company B,
from Pottawattamie, Harrison, Cass and Shelby; Company C, from
Guthrie and Dallas; Company D, from Decatur and Clarke; Company E,
from Polk, Warren and Dallas; Company F, from Madison and Warren;
Company G from Ringgold; Company H from Adams and Union; Company I
from Wayne; Company K from Taylor and Page. The first field officers
were: G. M. Dodge, colonel; John Galligan, lieutenant-colonel; W. R.
English, major, and J. A. Williamson, adjutant. The regiment went
into camp at Council Bluffs in June and July, 1861, and, early in
August, was ordered to Missouri, and was in camp at St. Louis and
Rolla for some time, drilling and preparing for active service in
the field. It was in Curtis’ army in the campaign which closed with
the Battle of Pea Ridge, in which Dodge commanded a brigade, and the
Fourth Regiment was under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Galligan,
who was wounded in the battle and resigned, April 3d, when Adjutant
J. A. Williamson was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and Lieutenant
R. A. Stitt became adjutant. The Fourth was in the thickest of the
fight at Pea Ridge on both days, and did excellent service, losing
nearly one-half of its entire number in killed, wounded and missing.
Dodge and Williamson were among the wounded. In the first day’s
battle, on the 7th of March, 1862, the Fourth Iowa, in
the brigade commanded by Colonel Dodge, fought like veterans. Early
in the day, General Carr’s Division, on the right wing of Curtis’
army, assailed by overwhelming numbers, made a most determined
fight. For seven hours the Rebels pressed on his lines, and his
division was forced back half a mile, while presenting an unbroken
front to the enemy. The Fourth Iowa and Thirty-fifth Illinois, under
Dodge, lying behind an old fence, were now attacked by a greatly
superior force supported by artillery. The charge was met by a
deadly fire and the enemy driven back in confusion. Again and again
the Rebels rallied and renewed the attack and were each time
repulsed with heavy loss. At one time the ammunition became
exhausted and the Fourth made a gallant bayonet charge under the
direction of General Curtis. The splendid fighting of the Fourth
Iowa and Thirty-fifth Illinois challenged the admiration of General
Van Dorn and other Confederate officers. For brilliant services in
this battle, Colonel Dodge was made a Brigadier-General; Williamson
was promoted to colonel; Captain Burton to lieutenant-colonel.
Having driven the Confederate army out of Missouri,
General Curtis marched toward Little Rock. The continuous rains
rendered the roads nearly impassable and after remaining at
Batesville and Jacksonsport several months, and finding it
impossible to subsist his army in the country, he marched to Helena.
A number of cotton speculators followed the advance of
the Union army to reap rich harvest in getting possession of that
staple. General Curtis, in attempting to control these rapacious
speculators and use the cotton in a way to bring the greatest
benefits to the Government, made enemies of many influential men of
wealth, who were looking solely to personal gain. Helena and the
surrounding country had a large slave population. As the negroes
came into the Union lines the commanding General found another
serious problem confronting him. Our Government had adopted no
settled policy to govern the action of the department commanders in
the matter and each had to act upon his own judgment. The Fourth
Regiment remained at Helena until December, when it joined General
Sherman’s expedition against Vicksburg and took a prominent part in
that campaign, which terminated so disastrously to the Union cause.
Battle of Chickasaw Bayou
On the 20th of December, 1862, General W. T.
Sherman embarked with a large army on transports at Memphis, and,
descending to Helena, was joined there by General Steele and his
command. The army, which filled a hundred transports, then continued
the journey to Milliken’s Bend, about twenty-five miles above
Vicksburg. On Christmas evening orders were issued for the fleet,
next day, to attack Vicksburg. The plan was for General Grant to
march to the rear of the city and cooperate with Sherman in the
attack. On the 20th of December, General Grant’s army was
at Oxford preparing to move on Jackson and Vicksburg. He had
collected at Holly Springs, arms, ammunition and provision for the
army during the campaign. Colonel Murphy, of the Eight Wisconsin,
with 1,000 men, was guarding them. He was surprised by Van Dorn’s
cavalry early one morning and, without resistance, surrendered, with
all of the army supplies. This loss of his trains and supplies
compelled Grant to fall back to Grand Junction, and defeated his
plan of cooperation with Sherman in the attack upon Vicksburg.
Grant’s retreat had liberated the Confederate army, which had been
gathered at Grenada to oppose his advance, and unknown to Sherman,
it had hastened to the defense of Vicksburg. This city occupied a
range of high bluffs bounded on the north by swamps and bayous
almost impassable. Protected by abatis covering rifle pits, with the
bluffs as strongly fortified as skill and slave labor combined could
make them, the place was absolutely impregnable from assault, when
defended by a large army. The mighty task which Sherman attempted
was simply impossible; but somewhere in the long line he hoped to
find a weak place where the army could force its way. The men were
in excellent spirits and anxious to be led against the stronghold.
Porter’s gunboats were ready to render all possible assistance. The
troops were landed along the Yazoo River on the 26th of
December. By the morning of the 29th the entire army was
in position to move upon the works. The Rebel batteries opened fire
on our lines and the battle began. All night our soldiers had heard
the heavily loaded trains rolling into Vicksburg, bringing
reinforcements from Pemberton’s army. Thayer, who commanded the
brigade in which was the Fourth Iowa, charge upon the enemy and
carried the first line, drove the Rebels from the second and halted
under a terrible fire, waiting for support, scores of brave men and
officers falling at every discharge. The couriers, sent for
reinforcements, were shot down. Thayer rode along the line, in
anguish over the slaughter of his men and warmly commended their
bravery. But no help came, and, at last, he gave the order to fall
back. Slowly the regiment retired in order, as the terrible fire
thinned its ranks. Ingersoll says:
“There were many Iowa regiments and batteries which
behaved with that high degree of credit which the troops of the
State everywhere maintained throughout the war, but no regiment from
any State behaved with more devoted gallantry than the Fourth in the
assault of the 29th of December. Every officer and man
did his whole duty and only regretted that they could not accomplish
more.”(1)
The regiment went
into action with five hundred and eighty men and officers, of which
one hundred and twelve were killed and wounded. Colonel Williamson
and Captain Still were wounded, Lieutenant J. M. Miller and Leander
Pitzer were killed. General Grant, long afterward learning of the
gallant conduct of the regiment, commanded by general order that the
Fourth Iowa Infantry have inscribed on its colors, “First at
Chickasaw Bayou.” All the brave fighting and sacrifices of that
bloody battle were in vain, as it was not possible for the gallant
army and its able commander to take that strongly fortified city by
assault, and it was an undeserved humiliation for the President to
remove General Sherman from command, by placing over him General
McClernand.
The Fourth Iowa was in the campaign led by McClernand
against Arkansas Post and was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel
Burton, Colonel Williamson being disabled by wounds, and sickness.
In January, 1863, the Fourth was again in the army before Vicksburg,
where, for two months, were spent the darkest days of its service in
the cypress swamps, under that frowning batteries of the enemy.
Toiling on the famous canal, struggling in mud and rain, lying in
camp through that dreary winter, while Grant was working out the
great problem of how to subdue the Rebel stronghold and open the
Mississippi River. With Steele’s Division, the Fourth embarked on
steamers, early in April and, ascending the river to Greenville,
thence marched eastward, threatening Vicksburg in the rear and
collecting great quantities of provisions for the army, while Grant
was drawing his lines around the doomed city. Returning towards
Vicksburg, this division of the army rejoined the main body at Grand
Gulf and took part in the brilliant campaign, which drove
Pemberton’s army back into the city. The Fourth was in the assault
of the 22d and met with severe loss in the general defeat; the, for
forty-seven days, it was employed in the siege. It was there to
rejoice in the final great victory, which resulted in the capture of
the stronghold and the entire Confederate army defending it, by far
the most damaging blow inflicted upon the enemy up to this time.
After the surrender, the Fourth joined Sherman in his movement
against General Johnston’s army, capturing Jackson, the Capital, and
driving Johnson out of the State. Colonel Williamson was now in
command of a brigade in which was the Fourth Iowa. The regiment was
in Osterhaus’ Division in his expedition to Corinth, Iuka and
Cherokee, and took part in several engagements. In November, the
division joined the army at Chattanooga. In the Battle of Lookout
Mountain the Fourth was on the extreme left of Hooker’s command.
When the battle opened, te division moved across an open field to
Lookout Creek, where it was for some time exposed to a severed fire,
but finally moved on up the mountain, where the fight was warm. As
night came on, the regiment held its position on the mountain
prepared to renew the battle next day. When morning dawned, it was
discovered that the enemy had withdrawn to Missionary Ridge. Early
in the morning, the Fourth, Ninth and Thirty-first were sent to
Rossville Gap, and placed in a good strategic position, turning the
Rebel left. They were attacked by a heavy column of the enemy and a
fierce battle ensued in which the Fourth bore an active part until
the Rebels were routed. It joined in the pursuit on the 26th,
and at the Battle of Ringgold, the next day, fought with great
gallantry, saving two railroad bridges, which were set on fire by
the retreating army. After these battles the Fourth moved to
Woodville on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and went into
winter quarters. On the 25th of February, 1864, the men
were mustered in as veterans, and were granted furloughs. They
reached Des Moines on the 9th of March, while the
Legislature was in session, which adjourned to give the veterans a
royal reception. The ladies of the city joined with the General
Assembly in tendering to the gallant soldiers a banquet, where all
honors were accorded to the boys in blue, who had won fame on so
many battle-fields. By the first of May, the regiment had again
joined the army of General Sherman, which was sweeping onward toward
the sea, overcoming all opposition. In the long marches, skirmish
lines, and battle-fields. Williamson’s Brigade, composed of the
Fourth, Ninth, Twenty-fifth, Thirtieth and Thirty-first regiments,
bore a prominent part. In the battle of July 22d, before Atlanta,
this brigade made a gallant charge, recapturing De Grass’ famous
battery of twenty-four-pound Parrott guns, which had been taken.
A correspondent of the New York Tribune says of
Williamson’s Iowa Brigade, in the battle of the 22d: “It was one of
the bravest, truest, most tenacious fighting brigades that has
marched to the rescue of our Nation’s liberties.” The Fourth had
fought bravely at Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain and at
Jonesboro, until losses had reduced its numbers below two hundred.
Major Nichols was severely wounded, Captain A. R. Anderson was
promoted to major.
In the pursuit of Hood’s army which began October 5th,
the Fourth Iowa took part. It remained with Sherman in his march
through the Carolinas and fought at Bentonsport, the last battle of
that famous campaign. Early in January, 1865, Williamson received
his well-earned and long-delayed commission as Brigadier-General.
The Fourth Regiment marched form Raleigh to Washington and
participated in the final grand review, and was then sent to
Louisville, where it performed provost duty until mustered out in
July, 1865. It reached Iowa, at Davenport, on the 28th,
numbering four hundred and fifty seven men and twenty-three
officers. Entering the service with 1,000 men, three hundred had
been added to its ranks as the war progressed. Now, at the close,
the 1,300 were reduced by sickness, disability from hard marches,
wounds, death, starvation in Rebel prisons, nearly eight hundred.
Such was the terrible waste of four years of war in one regiment.
Endnote
1. “Iowa and the Rebellion.”
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