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Chapter VII
Chapter XX
Pictures included in this chapter
are: General Ed. Wright and Lt.-Col. Leander Clark
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The Twenty-third Iowa Infantry
This
regiment was recruited from a large number of counties, among which
were Polk, Dallas, Story, Wayne, Page, Montgomery, Jasper, Madison,
Cass, Marshall and Pottawattamie. The companies went into camp at
Des Moines in July and August, 1862. The regiment numbered nine
hundred sixty men and was mustered into the service on the 19th
of September. The first field officers were: Colonel William Dewy,
Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Kinsman, Major Samuel L. Glasgow,
Adjutant C. O. Dewey. Its first service in the field was in
Missouri, where several months were spent on various expeditions,
including hard marches, skirmishes, to which were added suffering
from hardship and disease. Colonel Dewey died of erysipelas at
Patterson, Missouri, on the 30th of November, and was
succeeded by Kinsman, who was commissioned colonel on the 1st
of December, 1862. The regiment was engaged in the hard march to
Iron Mountain in February and soon after was sent down the
Mississippi to Milliken’s Bend to join General Grant’s army in the
campaign against Vicksburg, being assigned to the First Brigade of
the division commanded by General Carr, where it remained drilling
until the army marched to encompass the Confederate stronghold. Many
of the gunboats and transports having run the batteries at Vicksburg
and Grand Gulf, the army was concentrating at Bruinsburg. The
Twenty-third joined in the march into the interior and was warmly
engaged in the Battle of Port Gibson, where it did good service and
lost thirty-three men. On the 17th of May, after several
defeats, the Confederate army made a last stand on the banks of the
Black River, and here was fought
The Battle of
Black River Bridge
At this
point a high bluff rises abruptly from the water’s edge on the west
side. On the east approach there is an open level bottom about a
mile in width surrounded by a deep muddy bayou, from ten to twenty
feet wide. Along the bayou earthworks had been thrown up mounted
with artillery and long lines of breastworks manned by infantry.
Half a mile in the rear was a line of earthworks, both extending
from the river above the bridge to the river below. This was a
strong position, skillfully fortified by able engineers.
McClernand advanced to the attack with Carr’s Division on the right
and Osterhaus on the left; General Lawler commanding the brigade in
which was the Twenty-third Iowa on the extreme right of line.
Several hours were occupied in skirmishing when Lawler’s Brigade was
moved under cover of the river bank, from which he ordered an
assault of the enemy’s works. The troops charge across the level
bottom land, through the bayou, under a terrible fire form the
Confederate earthworks, which covered the ground with the slain; but
closing up the gaps they pressed on over the breastworks and
captured eighteen pieces of artillery and 1,500 prisoners. Those of
the enemy who escaped set fire to the bridge across the river to
check pursuit. In this brilliant charge three hundred seventy-three
brave men fell, most of whom belonged to the Twenty-first and
Twenty-third Iowa regiments. Colonel Kinsman while leading this
command was shot by two balls which passed through his body and he
fell from his horse dead. Many of his officers and men were slain or
mortally wounded, carrying great grief to scores of Iowa homes.
After the
battle the regiment was placed in charge of several thousand
prisoners, who were captured at Champion’s Hill and Black River
Bridge, to be conveyed to Memphis. Returning it was sent to
Milliken’s Bend, where General Dennis was in command of about 1,500
men. They were encamped along the Mississippi between the river and
the levee. Breastworks had been thrown up and rifle pits dug to
protect the camp. The troops were mostly colored men who had
recently enlisted and were under command of Colonels Lieb and
Chamberlain. The Twenty-third Iowa, under Lieutenant-Colonel
Glasgow, was now reduced by battle and sickness fit for duty. On the
6th of June, Captain Anderson, with two companies of
Illinois cavalry, and Colonel Lieb, with the Ninth Louisiana,
colored, made a reconnaissance on the Richmond road. They were
attacked by Confederates when Colonel Lieb’s regiment opened fire,
checking the advance. Colonel Lieb then returned to the Bend, where
he was reinforced by the Iowa regiment. At three o’clock in the
morning a large force of Confederates was discovered advancing in
close column by divisions, with cavalry on the right. The little
Union army in line waiting for the onset, withheld fire until the
enemy was within short musket range, when it opened all along the
line. The assailants wavered for a moment, but rallied and pushed on
with the fierce “Rebel Yell.” The negroes fought bravely, but were
greatly outnumbered, and finally forced back in a desperate
hand-to-hand struggle in which clubbed muskets and bayonets were
used in the deadly combat. Two gunboats now opened on the enemy,
which was finally repulsed with heavy loss, leaving more than one
hundred dead on the field. The Twenty-third Iowa took a conspicuous
part in this battle under the leadership of Colonel Glasgow,
fighting with unsurpassed courage throughout the long and desperate
encounter, losing fifty men out of two hundred. Among the slain was
Captain J. C. Brown, of Company I. This battle was notable as the
first in which negro troops took a prominent part. The employment of
colored men in the army had met with strong opposition from the time
it was first proposed. But as the war continued public sentiment
changed and many negro regiments were raised. The Battle of
Milliken’s Bend demonstrated the fact that the colored men would not
only fight bravely but in every respect made good soldiers. In this
battle the Iowa regiment fought with the colored brigade, and side
by side they won from General Grant warm commendation for their
gallantry. After the battle the Twenty-third returned to its brigade
in the army investing Vicksburg. Though weak in numbers it did good
service in the various trying ordeals of the siege. After
Pemberton's surrender the regiment was sent to reinforce Sherman’s
army in operations about Jackson, and at the close of that campaign
returned to Vicksburg. About the middle of August General Ord’s
Corps was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, where for
nearly a year the operations of the Twenty-third Iowa were
intimately associated with the Twenty-second, as detailed in the
history of that regiment. It was employed in Texas and the islands
along the coast, then, returning to New Orleans in the spring of
1864, was sent to reinforce the defeated army of General Banks
retreating down the Red River valley. It ascended the Mississippi
with a command under General Fitz-Henry Warren and proceeded to Fort
De Russey, and from there went into camp at the mouth of the Red
River, joining General Banks’ army about the middle of May. Later in
the season the regiment was placed in a brigade with the Twentieth
Iowa, an Illinois and a Wisconsin regiment, meeting the enemy. Early
in 1865 the command returned to New Orleans to join the expedition
then being fitted out for the last campaign of the war, that against
Mobile. Colonel Glasgow was now in command of the brigade and
Lieutenant-Colonel C. J. Clark commanded the regiment. In the hard
marches, the siege and assaults of that brilliant campaign, the
Twenty-third bore an honorable share. In storming the Spanish Fort
it again met in combat the Twenty-third Alabama, which had been
encountered at Port Gibson, where it was first under fire. Here one
man was killed and twenty-five wounded. After two months’ stay in
the vicinity of Mobile, the regiment was moved to Columbus, in
Texas, where it went into camp under command of Captain J. J. Van
Houten. On the 26th of July the regiment was mustered out
of the service at Harrisburg, Texas, with four hundred seventeen
officers and men. They reached Davenport on the 8th of
August, where the regiment was disbanded. After bidding their
comrades “good-by” the war-worn soldiers separated to their homes.
The Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry
Soon after the
President’s call for 300,000 volunteers of July 2, 1862, Governor
Kirkwood authorized Eber C. Byam, of Linn County, to raise a
regiment. Three companies were accepted from Linn County, two from
Cedar, two from Johnson, one from Tama and one from Jones, making in
all nine hundred fifty men. E. C. Byam was appointed colonel; J. Q.
Wilds, lieutenant-colonel; Ed. Wright, major; and C. L. Byam,
adjutant. The regiment went into camp at Muscatine in August, 1862,
and on the 18th of September was mustered into service of
the United States. On the 20th of October it was embarked
on a steamer, reaching Helena, Arkansas, on the 28th,
where camp was made on the bank of the Mississippi River. This
proved to be an unhealthy locality and soon more than one hundred
men were prostrated by sickness. The regiment remained here most of
the winter, from time to time engaged in hard marches and fruitless
expeditions. On January 11th the regiment embarked on the
White River expedition, under General Gorman, and endured almost
unparalleled hardships and sufferings, which cost the lives and
health of hundreds of those who composed that unfortunate army.
Upon the
return to Helena the old camp and city were found to be inundated
and a new encampment had to be prepared on a range of hills. When
the floods subsided, mud almost unfathomable prevailed everywhere. A
rainy winter came on, in which drilling was almost impossible, and
long dreary hours and days were passed by the men cooped up in the
cheerless quarters with nothing to relieve the depressing monotony.
The hospitals were crowded with the sick and a feeling of hopeless
despondency settled down upon the army. Late in February, General
Washburn’s expedition started from Helena to open the Yazoo Pass,
and this aroused the army from the lethargy that had prevailed, and
gave hope of active service in the field. General Fisk’s Brigade
went with the expedition, and from this time forward our regiment
had daily drill and frequent dress parade. Under the instruction of
Lieutenant-Colonel Wilds, now in command of the Twenty-fourth, the
regiment was becoming distinguished for its fine discipline and
general efficiency. When the army was reorganized in the spring for
the Vicksburg campaign, the Twenty-fourth was attached to the
Thirteenth Corps under General McClernand, Hovey’s Division. During
the three months the regiment had been in camp at Helena, fifty
members had died and many were in the hospitals. Of nine hundred
fifty men who left their Iowa homes in October but little more than
six hundred could be mustered in the ranks on the 11th of
April when the fleet attempted to open the way to Vicksburg. The
Twenty-fourth supported artillery at the Battle of Fort Gibson and
was here first under fire. Not a man flinched and but six men were
lost. It was at the
Battle of
Champion’s Hill
fought on the 16th of
May, that this regiment made its great sacrifice and won undying
fame. General Grant had already won three battles since his army
started to capture Vicksburg and General Pemberton determined now to
move out of his stronghold and strike the Union army a crushing blow
in the rear while General Johnston was engaging it in front. His
plan was a good one, and if successful Grant’s army would have been
caught in the trap so skillfully laid, Grant had sent McPherson and
Sherman two days before to fall upon Johnston’s army at Jackson,
while he faced about the main body of his army to meet Pemberton,
ordering the detached division to concentrate near Bolton. Grant
learned that Pemberton was approaching with an army of 25,000 and
ten batteries of artillery, and at once directed Sherman to move
with all possible speed to join the main army at Bolton. Pemberton
had taken a strong position on a ridge which was protected by
precipitous hillsides covered with dense forests and undergrowth.
His left rested on a height owned by Colonel Champion, which gave
the battle-field its name—Champion’s Hill. McClernand was slow in
reaching the ground and the battle was fought mainly by the
divisions of Hovey, Logan and Crocker. Hovey moved on the main road
until he came within sight of the enemy in his strong position.
Deploying his division into line he attacked the whole front of the
Confederate army with great impetuosity and for more than an hour
the battle raged with great fury at this point. Charge after charge
was made on the Confederate lines with varying success. At one time
the Twenty-fourth Iowa, unsupported, made a desperate charge on a
battery that was pouring a destructive fire into our ranks, and
captured it. Carried away with the enthusiasm of their brilliant
achievement the men rushed on with shouts of victory until checked
by a terrible fire of musketry from greatly superior numbers. In
this charge Major Ed Wright was wounded, Captains Silas Johnson and
William Carbee and Lieutenants J. C. Gue, S. J. McKinley and J. W.
Strong severely wounded. Hovey held his position for more than an
hour and a half amid a most terrific fire of musketry when his lines
were forced back by overwhelming numbers. Fortunately at this
juncture he was reinforced by Crocker’s Division and, again
returning to the attack, the combined forces finally, by severe
fighting, broke the enemy’s lines, reinforced by Logan, the enemy
retreating in great confusion down the Vicksburg road, artillery and
many prisoners falling into our hands.
The enemy was now driven from every
position, beaten and in full retreat, but our losses had been very
heavy in this by far the greatest battle of the campaign. The
killed, wounded and missing in our army were 2,457, of which Hovey’s
Division lost more than 1,200. The Confederate army lost more than
2,000 prisoners, twenty pieces of artillery and General Tilgham
killed. Of the Iowa regiments engaged in this battle the Fifty,
Tenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-eighth were in the
thickest of the fight and were particularly distinguished for their
bravery. The Twenty-fourth lost one hundred ninety-five men, of
which forty-three were killed and forty mortally wounded. The
regiment bore a prominent part in the siege and capture of
Vicksburg, and few suffered more or accomplished more in bringing
about that great victory. The Twenty-fourth joined General Sherman’s
army and participated in his campaign through central Mississippi,
after which it was transferred to the Department of the Gulf. In
October and November it was with General Franklin’s expedition to
Opelousas. Upon its return while camped at Carencro Bayou Captain J.
C. Gue was killed by a band of Texas Rangers. The regiment was in
the battle near that camp, where General Burbridge was attacked on
the 3d of November. During the winter months of 1864 the
Twenty-fourth was in camp near New Orleans until in March, when it
joined General Banks’ army and was in his disastrous Red River
expedition. The army, accompanied by an immense baggage train, was
strung out in a long struggling line of many miles, as it made its
way along the various roads through a dense pine forest. On the 8th
of April at Sabine Cross Roads, near Mansfield, the advance cavalry
came upon the Confederate army drawn up in order of battle across
our line of march. The cavalry was soon routed and fled back upon
the infantry in great confusion. One at a time the divisions of the
Thirteenth Corps were sent into action and fought bravely to check
the advancing foe, but each in turn was defeated. The Nineteenth
Corps made a strong fight to recover the fortunes of the day but was
overwhelmed by superior numbers, and the whole army was soon in
retreat closely followed by the victorious Confederates, who were
sending death and destruction into the disordered, fleeing mass of
men and horses. But one-half of the Twenty-fourth Iowa was engaged
in this battle, as five companies were in the rear guarding the
trains. The part of the regiment engaged and the division to which
it belonged fought bravely for an hour, but was finally compelled to
retreat with heavy loss. Captain W. C. Dimmitt was mortally wounded
and fell into the hands of the enemy, where he died. Dr. Witherwax,
surgeon of the regiment, with his assistant, Dr. Lyons, were made
prisoners while caring for the wounded. During the retreat the
Twenty-fourth was frequently engaged in skirmishes with the enemy,
in one of which Captain B. G. Paul was killed. At Alexandria
Lieutenant-Colonel Wilds joined the regiment after some week’s
absence in the recruiting service. Colonel Byam had resigned soon
after the Battle of Champion’s Hill.
On the 22d of July the regiment
began its long voyage by river, gulf and ocean to Alexandria,
Virginia, arriving on the 30th. It was soon sent to join
General Sheridan’s army in the Shenandoah Valley, and participated
in the Battle of Winchester, where it own especial distinction. When
the fortunes of the day seemed to be going against the Union army,
after the Nineteenth Corps and a part of the Sixth had been
overwhelmed and thrown into a disorderly retreat, the Confederates
advanced steadily with yells of triumph and a constant roll of
murderous musketry. It was the bloodiest, darkest and most dramatic
moment of the day. Through the midst of hopeless confusion, when all
seemed lost, Captain William T. Rigby of the Twenty-fourth Iowa was
observed leading a sergeant and twelve men, all marching in perfect
order toward the assigned rallying point. “Captain, you are not
going to retreat any further, I hope?” said Bradbury, of the first
Maine Battery. “Certainly not,” said Rigby. “Halt! Front! Three
cheers!” and the little band cheered loudly. It was the first note
of defiance that broke the desperate monotony of the panic; it gave
heart to every one who heard it and made an end of retreat on that
part of the field. In a few moments a battalion of men from a dozen
regiments had rallied around the brave little band, supporting
Captain Bradbury, who had opened with two guns of his battery on the
advancing enemy. Inspired by the sight, soldiers rallied by the
hundreds, our shattered lines were reformed and the disorderly
retreat ended. A heavy fire of musketry was now poured into the
ranks of the exultant Confederates, which compelled them to halt.
Regiment after regiment of Union soldiers was hastily reformed; our
second line advanced and gained the lost ground amid terrible
slaughter. All along the lines our men had rallied and the order was
given to charge. With loud shouts of defiance the soldiers rushed to
the attack, and the tide of battle was turned. The enemy gave way
before the impetuous charge; the lines were broken by the terrible
onset, and the whole Confederate army melted into a routed,
disorganized mass of fleeing men, sent whirling up the valley
pursued by Crook’s cavalry. Three thousand prisoners and five guns
were captured. Our loss in killed and wounded was about 3,000. The
Twenty-fourth did as good service as any regiment on the field and
none contributed more to stay the panic early in the day and turn
that disaster into a sweeping victory. It lost seventy-four men,
only three of whom were captured. Among the killed were Captain J.
R. Gould and Lieutenant S. S. Dillman, while Adjutant D. W. Camp and
Lieutenants Edgington and Williams were wounded. Immediately after
the battle General Early rallied his retreating army at Fisher’s
Hill, a strong position just beyond Strasburg, his line extending
across the valley, while his right and left rested on mountains. On
the 22d, General Sheridan drew up his men in line of battle before
the Confederate army and made his preparations for attack. It was a
short but brilliant action as the Union army moved to the assault
and swept everything before it. One thousand two hundred prisoners
and sixteen cannon were captured. The Twenty-fourth went into battle
in support of a Maine battery and took part in the final charge on
the enemy’s lines, joining in the pursuit during which Captain
McKinley was severely wounded.
The army took up a position on
Cedar Creek and proceeded to fortify its lines on the left and
center. General Early, having been heavily reinforced, determined to
risk another battle. General Sheridan was absent in Winchester on
the 19th of October when the attack was made. It was a
complete surprise of the Union army as no one suspected the presence
of an enemy in the vicinity. Starting early in the evening of the 18th
the Confederate army in two columns, made its way over six miles of
rough ground on the mountain sides. For a long distance the enemy
made its silent march close to General Crook’s line, but so stealthy
was the midnight movement that no alarm was given. An hour before
daylight all of the divisions of Early’s army had reached the places
assigned them. The command was given and a tremendous volley of
musketry in flank and rear roused the sleeping soldiers of the Union
army. Then came the well known battle yell as the enemy charged into
our bewildered lines and occupied the trenches. In fifteen minutes
our army was a flying mob. Generals Grover and Emory made heroic
efforts to stop the wild panic, and with a few brigades, which
retained their organization, to check the fierce onslaught; but they
were overwhelmed with great slaughter. The Sixth and Nineteenth
Corps made a stern resistance, but were unable to stand long against
the fearful odds and soon the whole army was in retreat with the
loss of twenty-four guns and 1,200 prisoners, camps and equipage. AT
ten a.m., Sheridan, after his famous ride from Winchester, reached
the field just as Wright had succeeded in checking the retreat. The
Confederates, exhausted by sixteen hours’ hard marching and
fighting, had now halted to rest or were slowly marching without
firing. Sheridan’s presence and cheering words soon inspired
confidence, each command was ordered to face about, form lines and
advance. For two hours he rode along the newly forming lines
visiting different parts of the field, encouraging the men and
carefully studying the situation. Emory had posted the Nineteenth
Corps in the woods on the left, thrown up a rude breast work of
rocks and rails where he was attacked at one p.m., but the enemy was
repulsed. This cheering news soon reached other parts of the field,
inspiring courage and hope. At three p.m. the order was given for
the entire line to advance. Steadily bit firmly the long lines of
infantry pressed forward pouring in a deadly fire of musketry. The
Confederates faltered, broke and fled. A second charge completed the
victory as our cavalry rode fiercely through the disordered ranks of
the enemy now in full retreat. All of the lost guns were recaptured
with additional ones, also 1,500 prisoners, besides rescuing most of
our men taken in the morning. In this the last of the three great
victories of the campaign the Twenty-fourth Iowa bore a brilliant
part. No regiment in that famous and desperate battle fought more
steadfastly and heroically all through the varying fortunes of the
day than the Twenty-fourth. Nearly a hundred of its officers and men
were killed or disabled. The brave Colonel Wilds was mortally
wounded and died soon after the battle. Major Ed Wright, Captains E.
H. Pound, A. R. Knott and A. M. Loomis and Lieutenant C. H. Kurtz
were wounded, and Captain W. W. Smith and Lieutenant Charles Davis
were taken prisoners.
The regiments remained in Virginia
until early in January, 1865, when it was sent to Savannah, Georgia,
where it remained tow months, afterward doing duty in North Carolina
and various part of Georgia. It was mustered out of the service on
the 17th of July, 1865, at Savannah. During the term of
service one colonel and six of its captains were killed, and the
regiment participated in nine of the great battles of the war. No
State ever contributed a better regiment to the Union army.(1)
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End note
1. Levi L. Hoag, corporal of Company C, kept a
diary in which was briefly recorded a history of the doings of the
regiment every day from the time it left Muscatine until it returned
to Iowa at the close of the war. He served through the entire war in
the exposed position of color bearer without receiving a scratch.
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