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Chapter XVII
Picture included in
this chapter is Battle Field of Corinth
Seventeenth Iowa
Infantry
The counties of Decatur, Lee, Van
Buren, Polk, Wapello, Appanoose, Washington, Marion, Louisa and
Dallas furnished the men who formed the Seventeenth Regiment which
was organized at Keokuk in March and April, 1862, and consisted of
nine hundred thirty-five men. The first field and staff officers
were: John W. Rankin, colonel; David B. Hillis, lieutenant-colonel;
S. W. Wise, major; S. Guthrie, adjutant; Nathan Udell, surgeon; E.
J. Aldrich, quartermaster; William L. Wilson, chaplain. On the 19th
of April the regiment was sent to St. Louis, and early in May joined
Halleck’s army near Corinth. After the close of that campaign it was
on duty in that region until September 18th, when it
marched to reinforce General Rosecrans’ army at Iuka. Upon arriving
at the front it was hurried into battle, of which Stuart says:
“Its position was at the
cross-roads and along the open ridge. Just across a narrow ravine
filled with dense brush was the enemy. Hardly had the regiment come
into line, when it was met with a terrible fire of grape, canister
and musketry, and General Sullivan ordered it to a less exposed
position. While Colonel Rankin was giving the command for the
movement, a portion of General Rosecrans’ bodyguard in
reconnoitering at the front encountered a terrible fire from the
enemy, rode hurriedly back and finding the Seventeenth Iowa drawn up
across the road, dashed through its ranks, knocking down and
injuring several men. About this time Colonel Rankin’s horse was
shot and becoming unmanageable ran and threw him, his head striking
a tree which rendered him insensible. Standing under fire for the
first time, overrun and its ranks broken by stampeding cavalry; its
commanding officer disabled, is it a matter of wonder that the
Seventeenth was throw into temporary confusion and partially
discouraged? A portion of the left wing got separated from the
right, but the greater part of the regiment was present through out
the engagement. Indeed it may be said that in all its hard fought
battles the Seventeenth Iowa never did better, all things
considered, than it did in its luckless fight at Iuka.”
Battle of Corinth
After the Battle of Iuka the
Confederates, under Price and Van Dorn, with large reinforcements,
increasing the army to 38,000 men, commanded by General Van Dorn,
moved against Corinth, held by General Rosecrans with an army of
20,000. On the morning of the 3d the Union army was in line of
battle; General Hamilton on the right, between the Hamburg and Purdy
roads; General Davis held the center, between the Memphis and
Columbus roads; while General McKean held the extreme left facing
the west on the Chewalla road. General Hamilton on the right,
between the Hamburg and Purdy roads; General Stanley’s Division was
in reserve; cavalry covered the flanks and front on the north and
east. This position was some distance from the town, and was ordered
to be held until the force and position of the enemy was fully
developed. It was then proposed by General Rosecrans to take a new
position behind strong earthworks defended by artillery near
Corinth. At 9 o’clock in the morning the Confederate army began the
attack, Van Dorn leading the right wing and Price the left. They
were met with a heavy fire all along our line. But their superior
numbers gradually pressed our army back from one line of
intrenchments to another, in spite of the most determined
resistance, and with heavy losses to both sides. Colonel Baker, of
the Second Iowa, fell mortally wounded. When night came the Union
army had been forced back into the strong intrenchments of the inner
line of defenses, where the heavy guns were mounted. Stanley’s
reserves were in line of battle early the next morning, while the
earthworks had been everywhere strengthened. Van Dorn, before
daylight, opened the battle with artillery, and the sharpshooters on
both sides were soon warmly engaged. At nine o’clock the enemy’s
batteries were withdrawn and the columns were formed for assault.
They came on between the railroads presenting a huge, wedge-shaped
form, moving direct upon our center. Our batteries opened upon the
advancing army with grape, canister and shells, tearing huge gaps in
the compact mass, but on it came without faltering. Soon the wedge
opened, spreading out right and left in great wings, sweeping onward
over the whole field. Then the musketry opened upon the advancing
host, before which hundreds fell. Still on they came, closing up the
great gaps in their ranks in front and on the flanks, and the
slaughter became fearful. Davis’ Division gave way before them and
the heads of the columns began to enter the town. General Sullivan,
in whose brigade was the Seventeenth Iowa, hurried to the support of
Davis, charging with bayonets and driving the enemy back in
confusion, Davis’ Division rallied, joining in the charge upon the
charge upon the Confederate lines. Lovell led his division against
our left and a fearful combat ensued all along the line, but nothing
could long stand against our left and a fearful combat ensued all
along the line, but nothing could long stand against the steady
advance of the victorious Union army. The Confederate charge was
defeated, and Van Dorn saw that the battle was lost. Soon after
noon, he reluctantly gave the order to retire and abandoned the
field to General Rosecrans. The Iowa troops who bore a conspicuous
part in this battle were the Second, Fifth, Seventh, Tenth,
Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seventeenth Infantry
and the Second Cavalry. The “Union Brigade” consisting of the
remnants of the Eighth, Twelfth and Fourteenth regiments, which had
escaped capture at Shiloh, was also engaged. The Second Infantry,
under Colonel James Baker, went into the battle with three hundred
forty-six men, lost in killed, wounded and missing one hundred
eight, among whom were Colonel Baker and Lieutenant-Colonel N. W.
Mills, mortally wounded. Major Clark R. Wever, upon whom the command
devolved, paid a glowing tribute to the unflinching bravery of the
officers and men of the regiment. The Seventh, under Colonel E. W.
Rice, lost one-third of its number. The Seventeenth was under the
command of Major Banbury, of the Fifth, and smarting under the
censure cast upon it at Iuka, went into the Battle of Corinth with a
resolve to redeem its good name from undeserved reproach. It fought
with superb valor all through the fierce engagement. In the crisis
of the battle, when Davis’ Division gave way and the army was in
great peril, the Seventeenth made a heroic charge on the advancing
foe, arrested the fierce onset and followed up the confused retreat.
General Sullivan, in sending a stand of colors captured in this
charge to Governor Kirkwood, wrote:
“I have never led braver men
into action than the soldiers of the Seventeenth proved themselves
in the desperate and bloody Battle of Corinth.”
The colors were captured
from the Fortieth Mississippi by Corporal John King, of Company G,
from Marion County, who was afterward mortally wounded at Champion’s
Hill. General Rosecrans issued a special order commending the
gallant conduct of the Seventeenth at Corinth. The regiment in this
battle inflicted as heavy loss on the enemy as any in the
engagement, but by good management lost but twenty-five from its own
ranks. After many months’ service in various expeditions in
Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas, in April, 1863, it returned to
the army General Grant was concentrating for the most brilliant
campaign of the war. In that wonderful march into the heart of the
enemy’s country, where by rapid movements he prevented the junction
of the two Confederate armies of Pemberton and Johnston, the
Seventeenth Iowa was in the fighting line. On the 12th of
May it participated in the Battle of Raymond, where the enemy was
defeated. Two days later it was in the front brigade of General
Crocker’s Division, crowding the enemy into Jackson, where it fought
bravely in that bloody battle, losing twenty-five per cent. of its
men. On the 16th it reached the battle-field at
Champion’s Hill, and took part in that desperate conflict where
Pemberton made a determined stand to beat back Grant’s army. But
nothing could withstand the fierce assault of Grant’s western
regiments, and the Confederate army was again forced to retreat with
heavy loss. The Seventeenth Iowa captured a battery, a stand of
colors and nearly two hundred prisoners, and received the personal
commendation of General Grant. The regiment remained on the
battle-field several days to assist in burying the dead and caring
for the wounded of both armies, and then joined the army which was
now investing Vicksburg from the rear. Toward the last of May
Colonel Hillis resigned, Lieutenant-Colonel Wever was promoted to
the vacancy, Major Archer to lieutenant-colonel and Captain Walden
to major.
During the siege of Vicksburg the
Seventeenth Iowa was engaged in one fierce encounter with the enemy.
A strong defensive work had been erected by the Confederates on the
Jackson road named Fort Hill. This post had been mined under
direction of General John A. Logan. On the 25th of June
it was ready to be fired and the Seventeenth was one of the two
regiments chosen to assault and hold the works after the explosion.
Early in the afternoon the center of the fort was blown up and some
of the troops rushed into the breach and held it, but were not able
to make much impression on the enemy. At eleven o’clock at night the
Seventeenth Iowa entered the breach and for three hours made a
desperate effort to dislodge the enemy. Our men stood on the summit
of the shattered parapet and kept up a continuous fire. The enemy
hurled shells and hand-grenades among the assailants continuously.
Thus the combat continued for three hours, when the regiment was
relieved by the Thirty-first Illinois. Its loss in this conflict was
three killed and thirty-three wounded, many of whom died. Major
Walden was in command of the regiment in this assault.
After the surrender of Vicksburg
the Seventeenth remained in the city until the 9th of
September, when the division of which it formed a part embarked for
Helena, to reinforce General Steel’s army, and participated in the
capture of Little Rock. Soon after the regiment was sent to General
Sherman and marched with the Army of the Cumberland to Chattanooga.
It took a conspicuous part in this brilliant campaign, fighting with
great valor on Missionary Ridge, where it lost fifty-seven men,
killed, wounded and prisoners. For several months the regiment was
employed in Georgia and Alabama scouting, guarding foraging trains
and lines of railroad. During the two years’ service the Seventeenth
had traveled over 4,000 miles, taken part in twelve battles, two
sieges of Confederate strongholds and a score of skirmishes. Its
numbers had been reduced to four hundred seventy-nine men, all of
whom reenlisted as veterans on the 1st of April, 1864.
For several months the regiment was employed in Tennessee, Alabama
and Georgia, guarding lines of communication. In July it was sent to
Tilton. In August, two companies, H and I, were attacked two miles
from Dalton by a greatly superior force of the enemy, and, after a
brave resistance were compelled to surrender.
On the 13th of October
the Confederate General Stewart with a large force appeared before
Tilton. Lieutenant-Colonel Archer, of the Seventeenth Iowa, had two
hundred seventy-five men with which to defend the place. The
blockhouse built of heavy timbers, would hold seventy-five men. Two
hundred were placed in the trenches, and as the enemy approached a
heavy fire was opened by the little garrison, which was so effective
that the Confederates were held off for several hours. General
Stewart then sent in a flag of truce, demanding unconditional
surrender. Lieutenant-Colonel Archer refused to surrender and again
opened fire on the enemy. Stewart next brought up several pieces of
artillery and opened on the blockhouse at close range. Every shot
struck the building, shattering the heavy timbers, and piercing the
roof in many places. Still the little garrison undismayed kept up a
hot fire from the loopholes. Thus the fight went on until nearly
three o’clock, when Archer’s men had less than a dozen rounds of
ammunition left. A shell crashed through the shattered wall,
exploded among the brave defenders, prostrating and wounding many.
Colonel Archer realizing that further resistance was hopeless,
reluctantly surrendered after eight hours steady fighting.
Twenty-four of the brave little garrison were wounded, but none
killed. Colonel Clark R. Wever, of the Seventeenth, was at this time
in command of a brigade at Resaca. On the 12th of October
General Hood approached with his army and opened an attack. Colonel
Wever’s force numbered but seven hundred men with four pieces of
light artillery. In order to deceive the enemy as to the size of his
little army Colonel Wever so placed his men and artillery in the
forts as to give the appearance of a formidable army. Hood began to
attack with artillery and musketry on three sides. The garrison
opened upon his army with a rapid fire, running guns from one
embrasure to another in quick succession, while a steady and deadly
fire of musketry was belching from the forts. For hours the roar of
cannon and rattle of musketry was kept up and no progress was made
by Hood. At four o’clock he sent a flag of truce to the fort
demanding immediate and unconditional surrender. Colonel Wever
refused and the combat opened again with renewed vigor and was kept
up until long after dark. In the meantime Colonel Watkins, with five
hundred cavalry, had come up from below, crossed the river and gone
into the fight to reinforce the garrison. Other reinforcements came
during the morning and the battle went on until afternoon, when,
upon the approach of General Sherman’s army, Hood made a hasty
retreat. All but about forty members of the Seventeenth had been
made prisoners at the surrender of Tilton. The remnant of the
regiment took part in the campaign in Georgia and the Carolinas.
Colonel Wever joined Sherman’s army at Savannah and commanded a
brigade through the campaign, serving with great efficiency. The few
men left of the Seventeenth remained with the Army of the Tennessee
until the regiment was disbanded in August, 1865.
The Eighteenth Iowa
Infantry
The companies making up the
Eighteenth Infantry were recruited from the following counties:
Company A from Linn, Clinton, Jones, Dubuque and Winneshiek; B from
Clarke; C from Lucas and Monroe; D from Iowa, Keokuk and Mahaska; E
from Muscatine, Louisa and Linn; F from Wapello and Appanoose; G
from Marion, Warren and Polk; H from Fayette, Benton and Clinton; I
from Washington, Polk; H from Fayette, Benton and Clinton; I from
Washington, Polk and others; K from Muscatine and Mahaska. The
regiment numbered eight hundred seventy-five men and officers, and
was mustered into service in August, 1862, at Clinton. The first
field and staff officers were: John Edwards, colonel; Thomas F.
Cook, lieutenant-colonel; Hugh J. Campbell, major; Charles E.
Braunlich, adjutant; Sidney S. Smith, quartermaster; John H. Allen,
surgeon; and David N. Smith, chaplain.
In August the regiment was ordered
to join the Army of the Southwest at Springfield, Missouri, then
under command of General Schofiled. A tedious campaign of hard
marches, over bad roads, in bad weather, began in Missouri,
extending into Arkansas, bringing much suffering to the soldiers who
were learning their first lesson in the hard duties of army life in
the enemy’s country. The Eighteenth regiment was sent back to
Springfield with the sick and prisoners late in November, which
place remained its headquarters until October of the next year. Here
it was employed for nearly a year in guarding a great depot of army
supplies, fortifying the place, operating against guerrilla bands
and scouting.
The Battle of
Springfield
On the 7th of January,
1863, General E. B. Brown, who was in command of the Union army of
the Springfield district, learned that the Confederate General
Marmaduke with an army of several thousand men had crossed the White
River and was marching toward Springfield with several pieces of
artillery. Re-enforcements were called in by couriers sent to the
various stations within reach, and energetic efforts were promptly
made to strengthen the defensive works about the city. Three pieces
of light artillery were hastily mounted on wheels and placed in one
of the forts. All night troops, aided by the citizens, worked on the
barricades and other defenses. The convalescents in the hospitals
were armed and organized into a brigade. The Eighteenth Iowa was the
only effective regiment in the city. The entire force that could be
mustered in defense of the vast depot of army stores here collected
did not exceed 1,500 men, including militia, volunteer citizens,
convalescents and soldiers. The forts designed for defense of the
city were all unfinished. But General Brown was determined to make a
desperate defense. Sharpshooters met the enemy three miles out and
opened a galling fire from every sheltered spot, retreating slowly
as the army advanced. Marmaduke had formed his line of battle with
artillery in the center, strongly supported by infantry, while heavy
bodies of cavalry were spread out on each wing. As they advanced
from the south over the open prairie in battle array, firing from a
battery of rifled guns in the center, it was an imposing sight. The
moment it came within range of our guns the artillery opened fire
which, for a short time, checked the advance. Colonel King, with the
Third Missouri Cavalry, and Colonel Hall, Fourth Missouri Cavalry,
all militia, bravely charged the enemy’s right and center, but were
unable to check the advance. The artillery from Fort Number Four now
opened on the foe and for a time held the center in check and forced
it back. After the battle had been raging along the entire line for
more than an hour and but little progress had been made by the
enemy, Marmaduke massed his forces in compact lines and advanced
upon our right and center. To meet this formidable movement Captain
Landis of the Eighteenth Iowa, with his piece of artillery, was
ordered to the front supported by three companies of the regiment
under Captains Blue, Van Meter and Stonacre. The enemy at once
charged upon the gun and a desperate struggle ensued. Surrounded by
overwhelming numbers our men made a heroic fight to save the gun.
Captains Blue and Van Meter fell mortally wounded among their
slaughtered comrades, while Captain Landis lost his gun after
receiving a severe wound. The Confederates captured a stockaded
building in the south part of the city, which they used as a fort
from which a deadly fire was poured into our ranks. It was now the
middle of the afternoon and the enemy was still pressing heavily
upon our lines at several points, and it seemed that the lines would
be pierced in spite of the utmost efforts of the defenders. Colonel
Crabb now led a fierce assault on the enemy’s left center, driving
it from position. General Brown rode forward encouraging the militia
who were making a desperate fight against overwhelming numbers, when
he was shot down and carried from the field. The command devolved
upon Colonel Crabb and the battle continued with varying fortune. At
one time a part of the Missouri militia gave way before superior
numbers, and for a time it looked as though Springfield was lost.
But soon rallying, it charged the enemy with great spirit, while at
this critical time five companies of the Eighteenth Iowa, stationed
at an outpost some distance from Springfield, reached the
battle-field. Under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Cook they went
into the fight with such effect as to drive the enemy’s center into
the stockade. The garrison, which had for many hours been hard
pressed and fighting desperately a greatly superior force, was now
encouraged by this reinforcement, and, as night came on, the
Confederate army retired to the east and the battle was ended. The
Eighteenth regiment had something over five hundred men engaged in
the battle and its loss was fifty-six. By the splendid courage and
heroic resistance of this Iowa regiment and the Missouri militia,
Springfield and its valuable army stores were saved from the enemy,
who lost more than two hundred men in the engagement. Our loss was
about the same. The Eighteenth remained at Springfield several
months after the battle, and in April, Colonel Edwards joined it and
assumed command of the post. In the fall it marched into Arkansas
and on to Fort Smith, where Colonel Edwards was placed in command
and the Eighteenth was again assigned to garrison duty. In the
spring of 1864, Colonel Edwards was in command of a brigade composed
of his own regiment, the First and Second Arkansas and the Second
Indiana Battery in the expedition under General Steele into
Louisiana. It was a campaign of inefficiency, blunders, needless
suffering, heavy losses of trains and useless loss of life. While
retreating from Camden the rear guard of General Steele’s army was
fiercely attacked by the Confederates near Moscow. The brigade of
Colonel Edwards for a while stood the brunt of the battle. Afterward
it was reinforced by two other brigades and the conflict lasted
several hours, throughout the whole of which the Eighteenth was
engaged. On the 17th of April the regiment with a battery
was sent to reinforce the First Kansas, which was guarding a forage
train threatened by a large force of the enemy. The Eighteenth took
its position in the rear of the train, the Kansas regiment being at
the front. On the morning of the 18th several thousand
Confederates made a fierce attack. The Kansas regiment was
overwhelmed and driven in confusion through the lines of the
Eighteenth Iowa, which promptly closed up to resist the assault.
Seven times the Confederates charged on the regiment with great
impetuosity, often piercing its lines, but meeting the most
determined resistance. Thus the struggle went on until the Iowa
troops were surrounded by vastly superior numbers. Then, charging
with fixed bayonets, a bloody path was cut through the enemy’s lines
and the survivors returned to Camden, leaving on the field
seventy-seven of their comrades killed, wounded and captured. In the
retreat of General Steele’s army, which continued before a powerful
and victorious Confederate force, the Eighteenth Iowa shared all the
hardships and suffering which attended this disastrous campaign. For
more than three weeks its march continued through swamps and miry
forests short of provisions, subsisting chiefly upon raw corn. The
gallant army bore its sufferings, defeats and disasters with
fortitude. At the Battle of Jenkins’ Ferry the Twenty-ninth,
Thirty-third, Thirty-sixth and Fortieth Iowa regiments fought with
their old-time valor, and the lamented Samuel A. Rice received a
wound which proved fatal. The Eighteenth Iowa was in the reserve
under Colonel Edwards guarding the ordnance train and was not
engaged in the battle.
At the close of the campaign the
regiment returned to Fort Smith, and for several months was employed
in that vicinity. Colonel Edwards had been promoted to
Brigadier-General, and Lieutenant-Colonel H. J. Campbell was made
colonel of the Eighteenth, with J. K. Morey as major. During the
winter the regiment made a hard march on short notice beyond Fort
Gibson. It was sent to protect a train of six hundred wagons of army
supplies, Indian goods and sutlers’ wares. The men for a part of the
time subsisted on corn in the ear, and after their return to Fort
Smith often suffered for food. The supplies which came by steamboats
were often delayed by attacks from the enemy. The Eighteenth
remained in the service until late in the summer of 1865, when it
mustered out and returned to Iowa. While it had been engaged in none
of the great battles of the war and thus deprived of winning the
fame and glory shared by many other Iowa regiments whose brilliant
achievements are associated with historic fields, it can be
truthfully recorded that the Eighteenth Iowa never failed to render
faithful service in every station in which it was placed |
