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Chapter XVI
Fifteenth Iowa Infantry
The companies making up this
regiment were recruited in many counties, principally Clinton, Linn,
Polk, Mahaska, Wapello, Van Buren, Fremont, Mills, Marion, Warren,
Harrison and Pottawattamie. The companies began to assemble at
Keokuk as early as September, 1861, but the regiment was not
organized until February, 1862. The field and staff officers were:
H. T. Reid, colonel; William Dewey, lieutenant-colonel; W. W.
Belknap, major; George Pomutz, adjutant; J. M. Hedrick,
quartermaster; S. B. Davis, surgeon; and W. W. Eastbrook, chaplain.
On the 19th of March the
regiment embarked for the seat of war and landed at St. Louis, where
arms and equipments were received. On the 1st of April it
started to join General Grant’s army at Pittsburg Landing, and
reached that place amid the roar of cannon, the fierce crashes of
musketry and the bursting of shells of the first day’s battle. It
was a trying ordeal as the regiment landed from the steamer and
witnessed the panic stricken hundreds who were fleeing from the
field. Colonel Reid was ordered to the front, taking a position on
McClernand’s line. Here the Fifteenth made a good stand for a new
regiment until the order came to retreat, when it fell back in
confusion. A portion of the men wee rallied and took part in the
battle later in the day and on Monday. Colonel Reid had been
severely wounded, and Major Belknap, Adjutant Pomutz and many of the
company officers behaved with great coolness and courage in this
their first battle. The loss of the regiment was one hundred
eighty-eight in killed, wounded and missing. Captain Hedrick was
severely wounded and captured while leading his company in a charge.
Among the wounded officers were Major Belknap, Adjutant Pomutz,
Captains Hutchcroft, Blackner, Day, Lieutenants Porter, Goode, Ring,
and Reid. Soon after the battle the Iowa Brigade was formed, in
which the Fifteenth was one of the regiments left to occupy the
place, and Major Belknap was made provost marshal. In the Battle of
Corinth, on the 3d of October, Colonel Reid was ill.
Lieutenant-Colonel Dewey had been transferred to the Twenty-third,
leaving Major Belknap in command of the Fifteenth. The regiment was
handled with skill and fought with conspicuous bravery. Among the
killed were Lieutenants J. D. Kinsman, William Cathcart and R. H.
Eldridge, while Major W. T. Cunningham, Captain R. L. Hanks and
lieutenant Logan Crawford were wounded. The loss to the regiment in
killed, wounded and missing was eighty-five. During the next four
months the Fifteenth was employed in various expeditions in
Tennessee and Mississippi. In January, 1863, it joined the army
operating against Vicksburg. In April, Captain Hedrick, after a long
captivity, rejoined the regiment and was promoted to major in place
of Cunningham, resigned. On the 21st of April the
Fifteenth was sent to Milliken’s Bend; Colonel Reid was in command
of a brigade and the Fifteenth, under Lieutenant-Colonel Belknap,
was in the Iowa Brigade, then commanded by Colonel Chambers of the
Sixteenth. From this time until the close of the campaign, the
Fifteenth was engaged in active service, but fortunately met with no
losses. In June, Belknap was promoted to colonel, Hedrick to
lieutenant-colonel, and Pomutz to major of the regiment and
Lieutenant E. H. King became adjutant. The regiment remained in
Vicksburg until August, then accompanied General Stephenson’s
expedition to Monroe, and, returning from that unfortunate and
disastrous raid, exhausted by hardships, remained in Vicksburg until
February, 1864. A portion of the regiment reenlisted as veterans in
January and accompanied Sherman on his Meridian raid. The
non-veterans of the brigade were organized into the Iowa Battalion
under command of Major Pomutz. The veterans visited their homes in
March and returned to duty in April. In May the Iowa Brigade joined
Sherman on his march to the sea. The Fifteenth participated in the
battles of Kenesaw Mountain, Nickajack Creek and before Atlanta on
the 21st of July, losing in killed and wounded nearly one
hundred men.
Battle of Atlanta, July 22
On the 20th of July,
General Sherman was closing his army corps around Atlanta. General
Hood was now in command of the Confederate army and assuming the
offensive. On the 20th he had made a vigorous attack upon
our advancing forces and a bloody battle ensued. On the 21st
the enemy occupied a strong position on a range of hills and was
well intrenched in lines which overlooked the valley of Peach Tree
Creek, about four miles from Atlanta.
General Dodge with the Sixteenth
Corps became warmly engaged. General McPherson had been killed and
was succeeded by General Logan. The enemy had broken through our
lines and a heavy fire in the rear created a panic, some of our
regiment flying in confusion. Wood’s Division of the Fifteenth
Corps, in which were several Iowa regiments and an Iowa brigade,
charged on the advancing enemy with great fury and regained the
broken line, recapturing several guns that had been taken. Generals
Dodge and Blair were making a gallant fight against the desperate
assaults of the enemy from various points. The Iowa Brigade in
General Smith’s Division was warmly engaged. General Smith speaks as
follows of the battle in that quarter:
“Another and still more
desperate assault was now made from the east side in the rear of
Colonel Hall’s brigade. The men sprung over the works and the most
desperate fight of the day now took place. The enemy under cover of
the woods could approach within twenty yards of our woks without
discovery. The Confederates would frequently occupy one side of the
works and our men the other. Many individual acts of heroism here
occurred. Men were bayoneted across the works and officers with
swords fought hand-to-hand with men with bayonets. Colonel Belknap,
of the Fifteenth Iowa, took prisoner Colonel Lampley of the
Forty-fifth Alabama, by pulling him over the works by his coat
collar, being several times fired at by men at his side. The colors
of his regiment were captured at the same time. This combat lasted
three-quarters of an hour, when the enemy slowly retired. The battle
lasted seven hours with few pauses. The fury of the charges has
seldom been equaled during the war. Again and again the Confederate
regiments were hurled against our lines with reckless fury,
only to meet a wall of fire which swept them down by the hundreds.”
There were thirteen Iowa
regiments in this great battle. The Second and Seventh in General
Dodge’s command fought with their usual valor; the remnant of the
Third was almost annihilated. The Fourth, Ninth, Twenty-fifth,
Twenty-sixth and Thirtieth, in General Wood’s Division, fought
bravely. The Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth and Sixteenth of the
Iowa Brigade were among the bravest. The Fifteenth lost one hundred
thirty-two men, of whom ten were killed, forty wounded and
eighty-two captured. Lieutenant-Colonel Hedrick was severely
wounded. On the 28th another severed battle was fought in
which the Fifteenth participated. Soon after Colonel Belknap was
promoted to Brigadier-General. As Colonel Hedrick was permanently
disabled by his wounds Major Pomutz, who was promoted to
lieutenant-colonel, took command of the regiment. After the
evacuation of Atlanta the Fifteenth went into camp at Eastport. In
October it joined in pursuit of Hood’s army and was in the march to
Savannah. In the Battle of Pocataligo Captain R. B. Kellogg, a brave
young officer, was mortally wounded. The regiment marched to
Goldsboro, Raleigh and Washington. On the 24th of July,
1865, it was mustered out and returned to Iowa, at this time
numbering seven hundred twelve men. Colonel Hedrick was Brevet
Brigadier-General, and Captain J. S. Porter was promoted to major.
Sixteenth Iowa Infantry
The Sixteenth was the last infantry
regiment raised in Iowa under the President’s proclamation calling
for volunteers during the first year of the war. The failure of
General McClellan’s campaign had greatly depressed the people at the
North, and it became difficult to procure volunteers for this
regiment. The first company went into quarters in September, 1861,
and the last company was not ready until March 24, 1862. Two
companies were recruited in Muscatine County and the others were
enlisted from various parts. The regiment numbered nine hundred ten
men, and its first field and staff officers were: Alexander
Chambers, colonel; A. H. Sanders, lieutenant-colonel; William
Purcell, major; George E. McCosh, adjutant; C. W. Fracker,
quartermaster; J. H. Camburn, surgeon. As soon as the organization
was completed the regiment joined Grant’s army at Pittsburg Landing
and went into the battle with but little drilling. IT was a trying
ordeal, placed in an exposed position on that fearful Sunday, but
the men never flinched, though many of their number were killed or
injured. Among the killed were: Captain John Ruehl and Lieutenant F.
N. Doyle, while Colonel Chambers, Captains A. Palmer, E. S. Frazier,
E. M. Newcomb and M. Zettler, and Lieutenant J. H. Lucas, G. H.
Holcomb, Peter Miller and Henry Meyer were among the wounded. At one
time the regiment was thrown into confusion, but soon rallied and
did good service. Upon the organization of the Iowa Brigade, soon
after the Battle of Shiloh, the Sixteenth was placed in it and
served as a part of the Brigade from that time. After the march to
Corinth the regiment was for two months in camp near that place
suffering severely from sickness. Fro several months it served in
the region about Corinth, Bolivar, Tennessee, and Somerville. At the
Battle of Iuka the regiment did excellent service. General Rosecrans
in his official report says:
“The Sixteenth Iowa, amid the
roar of battle, the rush of wounded artillery horses, the charges of
a Rebel brigade, a storm of grape, canister and musketry, stood like
a rock holding the center, while the glorious Fifth Iowa, under the
brave Matthies, sustained by Boomer with the noble Twenty-sixty
Missouri, bore the thrice repeated charges and cross-fires of the
Rebel left and center, with a valor and determination seldom equaled
and never excelled by veteran soldiers.”
When Colonel Chambers was
wounded and captured the command of the regiment devolved on the
gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders. Adjutant Lawrence, a brave young
officer, was killed, while Captain Palmer, Lieutenants Lucas, Alcorn
and Williams were severely wounded. This was the second battle for
the Sixteenth, and it won high honors, losing, however sixty-five
men. In the Battle of Corinth, two weeks later, the Sixteenth was
hotly engaged, and its commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Sanders, was
severely wounded in the first day’s fight. General Crocker says in
his report:
“Lieutenant-Colonel A. H.
Sanders rode along the line of his regiment amid a storm of bullets,
encouraging his brave boys, who had so lately suffered at Iuka, to
remember their duty, and although severely wounded remained with his
regiment until it marched off the field.”
In the next day’s battle Major
Purcell, who was in command, was wounded, and Captain Williams was
taken prisoner. After the battle the Sixteenth was one of the
regiments that pursued the retreating enemy. For several months the
regiment was employed in Mississippi and Tennessee, and early in
January, 1863, Captain Heavener died of smallpox. Soon after, the
regiment marched to Memphis, where it joined Grant’s army in the
Vicksburg campaign and bore an honorable part in the brilliant
marches, battles and final great victory. When General Crocker took
command of the Seventh Division, Colonel Chambers succeeded to the
command of the Iowa Brigade. The first medal of honor for the
Seventeenth Corps in this campaign, was awarded to Lieutenant Samuel
Duffin,(1)
of Company K, Sixteenth Iowa. The regiment was in the Monroe
expedition in August and September, and was with Sherman in the raid
to Meridian in February, 1864. The members of the regiment
reenlisted during the winter, and the veterans visited their homes
before joining Sherman on his march through Georgia. The Sixteenth
was often under fire in the marches and skirmishes as the campaign
progressed and in the severe engagement in which the Sixteenth lost
about fifty men, among whom were Lieutenant G. H. Holcomb killed,
and Captain Hugh Shilling wounded. In the battle on the next day the
Sixteenth, after a heroic fight, was surrounded and captured. The
regiment was posted on the left of the Eleventh Iowa, in front of
the Thirteenth Iowa. The ground occupied by the Iowa Brigade was
covered with underbrush, but no timber. Just before noon General
Smith had directed Colonel Sanders to have his regiment ready to
fall back at a minutes notice, but adding, “you must hold your works
to the last, as the safety of the division may depend on the delay
occasioned the enemy at this point.” This was the last order given
Colonel Sanders that day. Soon heavy firing on the skirmish line
indicated the advance of the enemy in strong force. In a short time
the skirmish line was driven in and heavy bodies of the enemy
followed closely after them. The Sixteenth in the trenches awaited
with muskets ready the close approach of the advancing enemy with
fixed bayonets, when Colonel Sanders gave the order to fire. Volley
after volley smote the enemy at close range, and their lines were
soon shattered, those not injured falling to the ground to escape
the murderous fire which decimated their ranks. Another strong line
of the enemy came to their aid and was repulsed with great
slaughter. Heavy bodies of Confederates were also hurled against the
Eleventh and Fifteenth regiments at the same time and they were
finally forced from their positions by overwhelming numbers. No
orders came to retire and the Sixteenth was soon surrounded and
compelled to surrender. Further resistance would only have resulted
in the slaughter of the entire regiment. During the campaign, up to
this time the entire loss of the regiment in killed and wounded had
been one hundred twenty-six. Nearly two hundred members of the
regiment, many of whom were absent, sick, or wounded escaped
capture. The officers captured were first sent to Macon and later to
Charleston and Columbia. The men were doomed to undergo the tortures
of Andersonville stockade, where every form of suffering was
endured. For nearly two months men were crowded in this most
loathsome prison pen known in modern times, where many died and
others were disabled for life. On the 22d of September the survivors
were released by exchange and returned to the regiment. The officers
were detained longer, but a few of them managed to escape, among
whom was Captain J. H. Smith. The regiment was with Sherman until
Johnston’s surrender, when it proceeded to Washington and joined in
the grand review. In July it was sent to Louisville, where
Lieutenant-Colonel Smith resigned. The regiment was soon after sent
to Davenport and there disbanded. The field officers at this time
were Lieutenant-Colonel J. T. Herbert, Major Peter Miller, Adjutant
Oliver Anderson, Surgeon J. L. Philips, Quartermaster Smith Spoor.
Colonel Sanders, who was Brevet Brigadier-General, had been
compelled to leave the service in April, 1865, on account of
disability incurred in Confederate prisons. |
