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Chapter XXIII
The Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry
Pictures included in this chapter are: Col. J. A. McDowell, Col. C.
W. Kittredge,
Col.
J. W. Rankin,
Col. T. H. Benton, Chattanooga Battle Fields
Of the companies composing this
regiment A was raised in Pottawattamie County, B in Mills County, C
in Harrison County, D in Adams and Adair counties, E in Fremont
County, F in Taylor County, G in Ringgold County, H in Union County,
I in Guthrie County, K was made up of men from all of these
counties. Thomas H. Benton, Jr., a well-known Democratic politician
and educator, was commissioned colonel; R. F. Patterson,
lieutenant-colonel; C. B. Shoemaker, major; and Joseph Lyman,
adjutant. The regiment was mustered into the service at Council
Bluffs on the 1st of December, 1862, with nine hundred
men. Soon after, marching by detachments to St. Joseph, Missouri, it
was transported by rail to St. Louis and from there was sent down
the river to join General Gorman’s expedition the about to start for
the White River. The expedition then about to start for the White
River. The expedition to Duvall’s Bluff and return resulted only in
the suffering of the men, which was very severe, causing a great
amount of sickness. Upon the return to Helena more than four hundred
members of the regiment were on the sick list, three hundred of whom
were permanently disabled and lost to the regiment.
While at Helena, in March, Captain
J. J. Hafer of Company H was attacked with smallpox and died. The
regiment was next sent on the Yazoo expedition to Fort Pemberton,
aiding in removing the obstructions from the Pass, after which,
returning to Helena, was engaged for the first time in a fight with
the enemy. It bore a glorious part in the Battle of Helena on the
Fourth of July, 1863, capturing many prisoners and losing thirty-one
men, killed and wounded. The regiment was in a division under
command of General Samuel A. Rice of Iowa, while Colonel Benton
commanded the brigade to which it belonged during the march under
General Steele from Helena to Little Rock. The start was made on the
11th of August, when the weather was very hot and dry.
From Duvall’s Bluff to Brownsville the route was over a beautiful
prairie country at that time entirely destitute of water. Each man
had to carry a supply in his canteen. The heat was so great that
many were prostrated by sun-stroke. There were not enough ambulances
to carry all who were stricken and they were obliged to travel on a
few miles, leave the sick by the wayside and return for others. This
was repeated for two days while the disabled and sick had to suffer
for hours unsheltered from the broiling sun. As the army approached
Little Rock General Steele caused a pontoon bridge to be thrown
across the river, over which General Davidson’s Division of Cavalry
and artillery passed to the south side, where his march was
stubbornly resisted. Btu soon after dark his cavalry entered the
city and found that the main body of General Price’s army had
retreated in haste, leaving the arsenal and much public property
unharmed. The Union army went into camp around the city.
General Marmaduke made an attack
upon our army at Pine Bluff, sixty miles below Little Rock, but was
defeated with heavy loss. General Rice was sent with two brigades to
intercept him. The Twenty-ninth Iowa was in one of the brigades but
did not succeed in overtaking the Confederates. This ended the
active service of the regiment for the year 1863 and it remained at
Little Rock until near the last of March. The year had been one of
hard service in the long marches through mud, swamps and bayous,
amid cold storms and excessive heat, often on short rations,
frequent skirmishing by day and night; heavy labor in removing
obstructions, building bridges and making roads through marshes as
well as fighting battles, had converted the men of the Twenty-ninth
Iowa into well-seasoned, thoroughly disciplined veteran soldiers. On
the 2d of April, General Steele’s army was on the march from
Arkadelphia to Washington. As the country was destitute of
provisions the Union army had to transport its supplies. The train,
consisting of four hundred wagons when passing along the ordinary
road was four miles in length.
A large body of Confederate cavalry
hovered around the marching columns watching for a favorable chance
to make a dash upon the long wagon train. On this day when the main
body of the army crossed the bayou of Terre Noir, the train was
several miles in the rear.
Battle of Terre Noir
Here was the long-looked-for opportunity to attack the line of
wagons. About eleven o’clock Shelby’s Brigade of cavalry suddenly
fell upon the train in a wild rush with loud shouts, pouring in a
volley from their carbines and charging with drawn sabers. The
Twenty-ninth Iowa with a section of artillery made up the rear guard
and met the charge with a well directed fire, which emptied many
saddles. Three times the Confederate brigade charged upon the single
regiment before the line was broken. The odds were, however, too
great to be longer successfully resisted. The left wing of the
regiment was overwhelmed by superior numbers and forced back in
confusion onto the main body. Just at this critical moment General
Rice with reinforcements came upon the field and charged the enemy,
driving the cavalry back with heavy loss. Soon after Shelby was
re-enforced by a brigade under Cabell and the attack was renewed. The
Ninth Wisconsin now reached the field of conflict and opened a heavy
fire on the enemy. The battle continued until after dark. While our
troops were repelling an attack the train would close up and move
on. Then the march in fighting order would be resumed and continued
until the next attack. Just at dark the Confederates made a most
determined assault in an effort to capture the artillery. Our men
held their fire until the cavalry had come within thirty yards of
the line, when artillery and musketry opened with such a terrible
hail of lead and iron that the troopers were driven back in
confusion, leaving scores of men and horses on the field. The battle
had continued for a distance of eight miles and at nine o’clock the
rear guard marched into Okalona with drums beating and colors flying
to find the long train parked with not a wagon missing. The Union
loss was sixty killed and wounded, twenty-seven of whom belonged to
the Twenty-ninth Iowa.
The regiment was under fire three
hours at he Battle of Little Missouri at Elkin’s Ferry. IT was in
the front during the march of the 15th when our army
entered Camden, where it remained until the 16th, when
the retreat toward Little Rock began. On the evening of April 29th
the army reached the Saline River. The rear guard was attacked by
the combined armies of Price and Kirby Smith. The battle was sure to
be renewed in the morning. The night was stormy and dismal, the rain
was falling in torrents and with full banks the river was flooding
the low lands. Behind was a confident enemy, in front a river that
must be bridged by pontoons to enable our army to cross. But few
slept that night as the preparations went on to meet the emergencies
of the critical situation. General Rice with the Twenty-ninth and
Thirty-third Iowa, the Fiftieth Indiana, the Ninth and Twenty-eighth
Wisconsin, was in command to protect the army as it crossed the
swollen river on a single pontoon bridge. With the dawn of day the
attack began, and hour after hour the conflict went on. Assault
after assault was hurled against the Union lines which stood like a
granite wall between the retreating army and destruction by a
superior foe. Nothing could move the gallant command of General Rice
from its position, and about noon the enemy withdrew defeated. AT
two o’clock the last regiment had crossed and the bridge been
destroyed, while the army resumed its march toward Little Rock. The
army was saved by a fearful sacrifice of noble men; eight hundred
had fallen in the battle including the gallant General Rice, who was
mortally wounded. Captain George S. Bacon of Company C and
fifty-nine men of the Twenty-ninth Iowa were left wounded on the
field and fell into the hands of the enemy.
The regiment remained at Little
Rock nearly a year. On the 9th of February, 1865, it was
sent down the river to New Orleans and soon after joined the
expedition being fitted out for the capture of Mobile. It took an
active part in that campaign and won additional honors in the siege
and battles which resulted in the surrender of the city and
defensive works. The losses were one killed, seventeen wounded and
four captured. On the 13th of April the regiment was sent
to Mount Vernon Arsenal and on the way engaged in a running fight
with a party of the enemy, one of the last combats of war. On the 1st
of June it was sent to Brazos Santiago, in Texas, and remained
until, on the 10th of August, 1865, it was mustered out
of the service. When the regiment reached Davenport on the 19th
it numbered seven hundred sixty-five officers and men, of whom four
hundred fifteen only had been originally attached to it. The others
were recruits of regiments which had been previously disbanded. The
efficiency of the Twenty-ninth was largely due to thorough drill an
discipline bestowed upon it by Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson, who had
few superiors as an accomplished soldier and commander. Colonel
Benton was not a brilliant military man but he was intelligent,
brave and highly esteemed by his regiment.
The Thirtieth Iowa Infantry
This regiment was made up of two companies each from the counties of
Lee, Davis, Jefferson and Washington and one each from Lee, Davis,
Jefferson and Washington and one each from Des Moines and Van Buren.
They assembled at Keokuk late in the summer of 1862 and were
organized into a regiment with the following officers: Colonel
Charles H. Abbott, Lieutenant-Colonel W. M. G. Torrence, Major
Lauren Dewey, Adjutant Edwin Reiner. The regiment, numbering nine
hundred seventy officers and privates, was mustered into the service
on the 23rd of September, 1862. After a few weeks
drilling in camp it was sent down the river to Helena and, like many
previous regiments suffered from sickness in that unhealthy region.
The Thirtieth was attached to the Third Brigade of Steele’s Division
of the Fifteenth Army Corps. This brigade consisted of the Fourth,
Ninth, Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth and Thirty-fourth Iowa regiments
under the command of General John M. Thayer and was a part of
General Sherman’s army that moved against Vicksburg and was engaged
in the Battle of Chickasaw Bayou on the 28th and 29th of
December. The Thirtieth was not in the disastrous assault and lost
but four men wounded during the engagement. Failing in his campaign
against Vicksburg General Sherman moved his army down the river and
united with General McClernand in the expedition against Arkansas
Post. Before the attack Colonel Abbott was taken seriously ill and
Lieutenant-Colonel Torrence was in command of the regiment during
the engagement. It took a prominent part in the severe fighting and
was warmly commended for coolness and courage. Five men were killed
and forty wounded, among whom were Captains Creamer and Burk and
Lieutenants Creighton and Alexander. Private James W. Smith of
Company C acted as adjutant and received the special commendation of
Colonel Torrence. The regiment returned with the army to the
vicinity of Vicksburg and in April was in the Greenville expedition,
about a month later returning to Milliken’s Bend. It joined the
corps near Jackson and participated in the capture of that city and
the destruction of the railroad in the vicinity. Soon after it
joined the army engaged in the siege of Vicksburg. In the assaults
of the 19th and 22d of May the Thirtieth bore an active
and prominent part. Colonel Abbott led his regiment in the desperate
attack of May 22d on the enemy’s works, making a most heroic effort
to pierce the strongly entrenched lines. He was slain with many of
his brave men, a superb officer of undaunted courage highly esteemed
by his command and associates. All through the investment the
regiment rendered valuable service and after the surrender took part
in the Jackson campaign, returning to Black River where it went into
camp. Late in September the Thirtieth, now under Colonel Torrence,
was sent to Corinth and later to Iuka to assist in repairing the
damaged lines of railroad. While at the latter place Colonel
Torrence sent home to Iowa the tattered remnants of the regimental
flags which had been carried in all of the marches and battles in
which the Thirtieth had participated.
On the 18th of October
it started with the army for Cherokee, Alabama, where on the 21st
it met the enemy in battle. The morning was dark and gloomy, with a
dense fog, when General Osterhaus moved against the enemy. The mist
was so heavy that it was very difficult to distinguish friend from
foe. The Third Brigade led the advance and soon met a large force of
Confederates under Lee and Roddy. A steady fire of musketry was
opened on both sides lasting for an hour, when the enemy was driven
back with heavy loss. The Union army lost about one hundred men,
among whom was the gallant Colonel Torrence, who was killed in the
thickest of the fight, his body falling into the hands of the
Confederates. Soon after his regiment made a fierce charge, driving
the enemy in confusion and recovering the body of their colonel. He
was a brave and skillful officer who had served in the Mexican War
and at the beginning of the Rebellion had raised a company for the
First Iowa Cavalry. Captain W. H. Randall was also slain, and
Captains H. C. Hall, Joseph Smith, Mathew Clark and Adjutant J. H.
Clendening were severely wounded. The loss of the regiment was
thirty officers and men. Soon after this battle the division marched
to Chattanooga to reinforce the Army of the Cumberland. Here the
Confederate army occupied a strong position on Missionary Ridge
under command of General Braxton Bragg. The Union army under General
Grant fought a series of brilliant engagements in this vicinity
known as
The Battle of Chattanooga
General Rosecrans had been defeated at the Battle of Chickamauga and
his army saved from disaster by the skill and firmness of General
Thomas, who held his position on the battle-field immovable as the
granite rocks, while the commander-in-chief fled with a shattered
wreck of the army to Chattanooga for safety. Rosecrans was
superseded by General Thomas, and General Grant, who had been
appointed to the command of the Department of the Mississippi, which
embraced the region about Chattanooga, proceeded in person to that
place on the 23d of October. The Confederate lines extended for six
miles from south of Chickamauga River, along Missionary Ridge across
Chattanooga Valley and Lookout Mountain to Lookout Creek on the
left. The position was one of great natural strength and was
fortified on the sides and summit o the mountains by lines of rifle
pits and elaborate earthworks. Early on the morning of November 23d
Generals Thomas and Howard moved against the enemy in front of
Chattanooga, seizing the first line of works and a range of hills
south of them. During the night the position was strongly fortified
and artillery planted to sweep the approaches. General Sherman began
operations on the left by crossing the river on pontoon boats with
8,000 men and fortifying his position with trenches and rifle-pits.
Before noon a pontoon bridge was laid across the river over which
the remainder of Sherman’s troops crossed and occupied the northern
extremity of Missionary Ridge. General Hooker was now fighting one
of the most brilliant battle on record among the clouds on Lookout
Mountain. Forcing a way among the rocks of the rugged ascent, step
by step the men climbed the mountain side, drove the Confederates
from their trenches and seized the summit of Lookout.
On the morning of the 25th
of November Sherman moved against the enemy’s right, General John M.
Corse of Iowa leading the assaulting column. His command was soon
heavily engaged in a most desperate conflict with varying success.
General Matthies of Iowa, with two brigades, was sent to reinforce
him and the battle raged with great fury. Corse and Matthies were
shot down and borne from the field. General Thomas advanced from the
center steadily pushing his lines of veterans up the sides of
Missionary Ridge in the face of a most terrific fire of artillery
and musketry. Before midnight our army had been successful at all
points. The great battle was won and the Confederate army was in
full retreat. In many respects this was the most remarkable victory
of the war and one of the most brilliant in history. The Confederate
army held a much stronger position than General Meade with the Union
army occupied at Gettysburg. The ground over which Hooker, Thomas
and Sherman made their assaults was infinitely more difficult to
approach than that at Gettysburg, where the veterans of Longstreet
and Pickett made their famous charge. How different the results! On
these two famous battle-fields of the war, the superior military
ability of Grant over Lee is most clearly demonstrated. Grant
planned and won a campaign beset with almost insurmountable
obstacles. Lee failed where all of the conditions favored his
success. Iowa was largely represented in the Chattanooga campaign.
Our Fifth, Sixth, Tenth and Seventeenth regiments fought under
Sherman on the left; and no more desperate fighting was done
anywhere on the filed. The Fifth, under Colonel Banbury, lost more
than one hundred men. Among the wounded were Major Marshall and
Adjutant S. H. M. Byers, the latter being captured.
Lieutenant-Colonel Archer of the Seventeenth was also taken
prisoner. Major Ennis of the Sixth was wounded. The Fourth, Ninth,
Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth and Thirty-first regiments
fought under Hooker on the right. All of these with the exception of
the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-sixth were warmly engaged on Lookout
Mountain and Missionary Ridge.
At the Battle of Ringgold, fought
on the 27th of November, the Thirtieth and several other
Iowa regiments lost more heavily than at the battles before
Chattanooga. In that engagement Colonel Williamson’s Iowa Brigade
took a prominent part and contributed largely to the victory after
other troops had given way in a disorderly retreat. Major S. D.
Nichols of the Fourth was especially distinguished on that occasion
for coolness and courage. The Thirtieth went into camp at Woodville,
Alabama, toward the close of the year and remained until the opening
of the campaign in the spring of 1864. It took a full share of the
hard marching and fighting which marked Sherman’s advance upon
Atlanta and in September went into camp at East Point. Since the
death of Colonel Torrence the regiment had been under command of
Lieutenant-Colonel Aurelius Roberts, with Robert D. Creamer of
Company G promoted to major and James N. Smith, adjutant. The
Thirtieth joined in the pursuit of Hood and in Sherman’s march to
the sea. Early in the spring of 1865 it went with the army through
the Carolinas and was in the last battle at Bentonsport. It marched
with Sherman’s victorious legions to Washington and took part I the
grand review. On the 6th of June, 1865, the Thirtieth
started for Iowa, having been mustered out the day before. On the
way home the train was thrown from the track and Sergeant Charles C.
Bradshaw of Company H was killed and several men were severely
injured. The regiment was disbanded at Davenport. |
