Iowa Old Press
Keosauqua Republican
Keosauqua, Van Buren co. Iowa
April 11, 1862
LATEST NEWS! THE BATTLE NEAR PITTSBURG! GREAT VICTORY!
FEDERAL LOSS 18,000! REBEL LOSS 35,000!
Special to Herald Pittsburgh via Fort Henry
April 8, 2:30 p.m.
One of the greatest and bloodiest battles of modern days has just
closed, resulting in the complete rout of the enemy, who attacked
us at daybreak Sunday. The battle lasted without intermission the
entire day, and was again renewed on Monday morning and continued
until 4 o'clock in the p.m., when the enemy commenced their
retreat and are still flying towards Corinth, pursued by a large
force of our cavalry.
The slaughter on both sides is immense. We have lost in killed
wounded and missing, from 18,000 to 20,000. The loss of the enemy
is estimated at from 35,000 to 40,000. It is impossible in the
present confused state of affairs to ascertain any details. I
therefore give you the best account possible from observation,
having passed through the storm of action during the two days
that it raged. The fight was brought on by a body of 200 of the
25th Missouri regiment, of General Prentiss' division, attacking
the advance guard of the rebels, which were supposed to be the
pickets of the enemy in the front of our camp.
The rebels immediately advanced on Gen. Prentiss' division on the
left wing, pouring volley after volley of musketry and riddling
our camps with grape, canister and shell. Our forces soon formed
into line and returned their fire vigorously, and by the time we
were prepared to receive them, had turned their heaviest forces
on the left and center of Sherman's division and drove our men
from their camps, and bringing up a fresh force opened fire on
our left wing under General McClernand. This fire was returned
with terrible effect and determined spirit, both infantry and
artillery along the whole line for a distance of over four miles.
General Hurlbut's division was thrown forward to support the
center when a desperate conflict ensued. The rebels were thrown
back with terrible slaughter, but soon rallied and drove back our
men in turn. From about nine o'clock, the time your correspondent
arrived on the field, until night closed on the bloody scene,
there was no determination of the bloody struggle. The rebels
exhibited remarkably good generalship. At times engaging the left
wing with apparently their whole strength they would suddenly
open a terrible and destructive fire on the right or center; even
our heaviest and most destructive fire on the enemy did not
appear to discourage their solid columns. The fire of Major
Taylor's Chicago battery raked them down in scores, but the smoke
would no sooner be dispersed than the breech would again be
filled. The most desperate firing took place late in the
afternoon.
The rebels knew that if they did not succeed in whipping us then,
their chances of success would be extremely doubtful, as a
portion of Gen. Buell's forces had by this time arrived on the
opposite side of the river, and the other portion was coming up
the river from Savannah. They became aware that we were being
reinforced as they could see Gen. Buell's troops from the river
bank, a short distance above us on the left, to which point they
had forced their way. At five o'clock the rebels had forced our
left wing back so as to occupy fully two-thirds of our camp and
were fighting their way forward with a desperate degree of
confidence in their efforts to drive us into the river and at the
same time heavily engaged our right.
Up to this we had received no reinforcement; Gen. Lew Wallace
failing to come to our support until the day was over having
taken the wrong road from Crump's landing and being without
transports than those used for quartermaster and commissary
stores which were too heavily laden to ferry any considerable
number of Gen. Buell's forces across the river; three boats that
were here having been sent to bring more troops from Savannah. We
were therefore contesting against fearful odds, our force not
exceeding 38,000 men, while that of the enemy was upwards of
60,000. Our condition at this moment was extremely critical;
large numbers of men panic struck, others worn out by hard
fighting, with an average percent of skulkers who had straggled
towards the river and could not be rallied.
Gen. Grant and staff, who had been recklessly riding along the
lines during the entire day, amid the increasing storm of
bullets, grape and shell, now rode from right to left, insisting
the men stand firm until our reinforcements could cross the
river. Col. Webster, Chief of Staff, immediately got into
position the heaviest pieces of artillery, pointing on the
enemy's right, while a large number of the batteries were planted
along the entire line from the north west to the extreme right,
some two and a half miles distant. About an hour before dusk a
general cannonade was opened upon the enemy from along the whole
line, with a perpetual crack of musketry. Such a roar was never
heard on this continent. For a short time the rebels replied with
vigor and effect, but their return shots grew less frequent and
destructive, while ours grew more rapid and more terrible. The
gunboats Lexington and Tylor, which lay a short distance off,
kept raining shell on the rebel hordes. This last effect was too
much for the enemy and ere dusk the firing had nearly ceased,
when night coming on all the combatants rested from their awful
work of blood and carnage.
Our men rested on their arms in the position they had at the
close of the fight, until the forces under Gen. Wallace arrived
and took position on the right, and met Buell's forces from the
opposite side; and Savannah now being converted into battle
ground, the entire right of Gen. Nelson's division was ordered to
form on the right, and forces under Gen. Crittenden was ordered
to his support.
Early in the morning of the second day's battle, Gen. Buell
having arrived the previous evening, in the morning the ball was
opened simultaneously by Gen. Nelson's division on the left and
Gen. Wallace's division on the right. Gen. Nelson's forces opened
a most galling fire, and advanced rapidly as the enemy fell back.
The fire soon became general along the entire line, and began to
tell with terrible effect upon the enemy. Gen. McClernand's,
Sherman's and Hurbut's men, though terribly jaded from the
previous day's fighting, still maintained their honors won at
Fort Donelson, but the resistance of the rebels was terrible and
worthy of a better cause. But they were not enough for our
undaunted bravery, and the dreadful desolation produced by our
artillery, which was weeping them away like chaff before the
wind. But knowing that a defeat here would be a death blow to
their hopes, and that they all depended on this struggle, their
Generals still urged them on in the face of destruction, hoping
by flanking us on the right to turn the tide of battle.
Their success was for a time cheering, as they began to gain
ground, appearing to have been reinforced, but our left under
Gen. Nelson was driving them and by 11 o'clock Gen. Buell's
forces had succeeded in flanking them and re-storming their
batteries of artillery. They, however, again rallied on the left
and re-crossed, and the right forced themselves forward in
another desperate effort, but reinforcements from Gen. Wood and
Gen. Thomas were coming in, regiment after regiment, which were
sent to Gen. Buell, who had again commenced to drive the enemy.
About 3 p.m. Gen. Grant rode to the left where five fresh
regiments had been ordered, and finding the rebels wavering, sent
a portion of his bodyguard to the head of each of the five
regiments, and then ordered a charge across the field, himself
leading as he brandished his sword and waved them on to the
crowning victory, while cannon balls were falling like hail
around him. The men followed with a shout that sounded above the
roar and din of artillery, and the rebels fled in dismay as from
a destroying avalanche and never made another stand.
Gen. Buell followed the retreating rebels, driving them in
splendid style, and by half past five o'clock the rebel army was
in full retreat to Corinth, with our cavalry in hot pursuit, with
what further result is not known, not having returned up to this
hour.
We have taken a large amount of their artillery, also a number of
prisoners. We lost a number of our forces as prisoners yesterday,
among whom is General Prentiss. The number of our force taken has
not been ascertained yet; it is reported at several hundred. Gen.
Prentiss is also reported wounded. Among the killed on the rebel
side is their General-in-chief, A. Sidney Johnston, who was
struck by a cannon ball in the p.m. of Sunday. Of this there is
no doubt, as the report was corroborated by several rebel
officers taken today. It is further reported that Gen. Beauregard
had an arm shot off this afternoon. Generals Bragg, Breckenridge
and Jackson were commanding portions of the rebel forces.
-- --
Further advices from give the following about the great battle:
the enemy attacked our lines at four o'clock on Sunday morning,
the brigades of Sherman and Prentiss being the first engaged. The
attack was successful and our entire force was driven back to the
river, where the advance of the enemy was checked, and our force
increased with the arrival of Gen. Grant with forces from
Savannah and inspirited by the report of the arrival of two
divisions of Gen. Buell's army. Our loss this day was heavy, and
besides the killed and wounded, embraced our camp equipment and36
field guns. The next morning, our forces, now amounting to
80,000, assumed the offensive and by two o'clock p. m. had our
camp and batteries, together with some 40 of the enemy's guns,
and a quantity of prisoners, and the enemy were in full retreat,
pursued by our victorious forces.
The casualties are numerous. Gen Grant was wounded in the ankle
slightly; Gen. W. H. Wallace is killed; Gen. Smith severely
wounded; Gen. Prentiss prisoner; Col. Hall, 16th Ill. (?) killed;
Cols. Logan, 32nd Ill. and Davis of 37th Ill., wounded severely;
Major Hunter, 32nd Ill., killed and our loss in killed wounded
and missing not less than 5,000. Col. Peabody, 25th Mo., also
severely wounded.
[transcribed by M.O., May 2017]
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Keosauqua Republican
Keosauqua, Van Buren co. Iowa
April 18, 1862
The Late Battle, &c.
As of all the battles fought heretofore in the West, the
first news of the late fight, or of the troops engaged, was
received through the channels of the Chicago papers. And in this,
like all others, their specials not only made the Illinois troops
appear very conspicuous, but a stranger, in reading the reports,
might be led to believe that Illinois did all the fighting. At
Belmont it was sometime after the battle before the Chicago
papers published the fact that any Iowa troops were present.
After the smoke had cleared away, it was found that no troops
were more exposed – none that fought harder and suffered
more than those from Iowa. Belmont and the 7th Iowa will forever
remain inseparable. At Donelson also, according to the first
dispatches of these specials, it was Illinois troops that did the
fighting and took the fort – it was an Illinois regiment
that stormed the enemy's breastworks and first planted the stars
and stripes on their fortifications. But Donelson and the Iowa
2nd will forever remain associated in the history of the war. In
the recent battle the same strings were played upon. And it is a
little remarkable, in reading the accounts given given of the
Illinois boys, how terribly they fought, how they were exposed,
how they saved the army, &c., to note how few comparatively
amid the great slaughter were killed. They must have a knack of
dodging the bullets. They always retired or fell back in good
order, while others ran or fled when pressed by overpowering
numbers. We have no objection in the least of their taking the
honor if they will risk the danger. But where, on any
battlefield, have they sought the post of honor? Where have they,
for the sake of the glory, been ready, voluntarily to risk the
danger? It is all gas and humbug, this extolling Illinois troops
above all others in the West; they may be as good but no better,
and with a good commander-in-chief might be able to accomplish
more than they ever will under the present Illinois pet. It will
be seen when the particulars of the Tennessee battle is received
that Illinois troops didn't outstrip all others in the
performance of duty on the battlefield; and it may appear that
few of them comparatively were placed in the advance to receive
the first shock. Being all veterans, that may not have been
considered proper, and raw troops, whose lives were considered
less valuable, placed in front as breastworks for them.
GRANT'S BLOWERS AND STRIKERS, &c
It will take something more than the special gassers for
Chicago papers, since the late Tennessee battle, to induce people
throughout the country to believe that Grant is a great General.
Ever since the Belmont battle there has been a feeling, on the
part of many, of a want of confidence in his generalship. The
battle of Donelson did not have the effect of changing their
minds in this respect in reference to him. And the late battle
has disgusted many with him as a commander. It would probably
been well if he had been kept suspended at Fort Donelson, and
never allowed to go further up the river in command of the army.
Gen. Grant had at the late battle not less than one hundred
thousand troops, yet it seems he had them so posted that not one
third could be brought into action the first day. Thirteen hours
of hard fighting was done by a small portion of the army without
being reinforced, and if it had not been for the formidable
courage of our men in contending with more than three times their
number, and keeping them partially in check during this time, the
whole army might have been cut off. According to the statements,
nearly all the troops under Gen. Prentiss, which occupied the
advance, were raw ones; several regiments never got their arms
until they started for the Tennessee river a few weeks before the
fight, and many of the men had never loaded a musket before the
morning of the battle. The bulk of the army appears to have been
many miles away from the point of attack, and a large portion on
the opposite side of the river, and without sufficient transport
to convey them rapidly over.
The attack on our forces, according to the news received so far,
seems to have been a surprise – an inexcusable surprise, but
it does not appear that there were any scouts out, nor even any
pickets further than the campsites.
THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURGH ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS
Cairo, April 11. – Seven hundred of the wounded
from Pittsburgh Landing reached here this morning. Among them
were Colonels Haynes, Hix and Ransom.
Eighteen hundred prisoners from Island No. 10 leave here on the
cars for the North this morning.
St. Louis, April 10. - The Democrat has the following
from Cairo in relation to the battle of Pittsburgh Landing,
Tennessee:
The disposition of the Confederates in the attack was in the form
of the letter V. The point penetrated Prentiss's division, which
consisted of raw recruits who could not stand the shock, and fell
back, causing great confusion among our troops on the left.
This charge would have resulted in turning our left wing, and the
capture of a large portion of Prentiss's and Sherman's divisions,
but for the gunboats Tylor and Lexington, which beat the enemy
back by firing into his ranks shot and shell.
Great blame is attached to Generals Prentiss and Sherman, who it
is said had no scouts out, and only a very small picket guard.
Information of the approach of the rebel army is said to have
been given to those generals by persons of the country, but it
was disregarded, and no preparations made to receive the enemy.
Sherman was on the left; Prentiss was next to him; Generals
Hurlbut and McClernand occupied the center; General Sherman held
the right.
The onset of the rebels was terrible. It was received first by
Prentiss and Sherman. By 10 o'clock a.m. Our whole line from
right to left was engaged. Our line was five miles back of
Pittsburgh, and we were driven back to the river. The slaughter
was great, and officers who participated at Fort Donelson say
that fight in no way compared with this in fierceness.
The gunboats continued firing all of Sunday night.
At 4 o'clock Sunday afternoon, Gen. Buell marched to Pittsburgh
from Savannah. About this time a great portion of his command
reached the river opposite Pittsburgh, and rent the air with
cheers. This inspired our men who had been driven back with fury
during the day, and the tide of affairs changed.
A large portion of Buell's force were crossed on Sunday evening
and night, by fifteen or twenty transports.
Sunday night Gen. Lew Wallace got up from Crump's Landing with
19,000 men. With this reinforcement the fight was continued on
Monday morning, and raged the hottest from 9 to 2 p.m., by which
time a force of 40,000 men from Buell's army had crossed the
river at Pittsburgh.
One ravine between Hurlbut's and Prentiss's divisions is said to
have been literally filled with dead rebels.
Rebel prisoners say they had orders to kill as many of our
officers as possible. Their officers fought in disguise, ours in
their uniforms, which was the reason their being distinguished
_____ killed.
Cairo, Ill. - April 12, 2 a.m. - A steamer arrived at an early
hour this morning at mound city with 750 wounded soldiers from
Gen. Grant's army.
The responsibility of the complete surprise of our army rests
with the commanding officer.
General Sherman occupied the most advanced position of the army.
On Friday a large force of rebel cavalry appeared within site of
our lines and remained there. General Sherman was ordered not to
bring on an engagement, and he sent out no corresponding force to
meet them. They remained in position until Sunday morning, and
served as a screen behind which Beauregard formed his troops in
battle order undiscovered.
Taylor's Chicago battery was at the outermost point of our
position, and received the first assault.
The first intimation our soldiers had of the enemy's approach was
a volley of musketry which poured into the encampment.
The enemy were held in check, however, until they succeeded in
making a flank movement, by which they got in the rear of Sherman
and surrounded about 3,000 all of whom were taken prisoners. Gen.
Prentiss was captured at this time. Gen. Wallace _______ and
occasioned the loss of the battery.
The Seventy first and Fifty seventh Ohio also fled after firing
one or two rounds. The cowardice of these regiments left the
point undefended, and the enemy immediately closed in and
surrounded the more advanced regiments. These troops were all
green soldiers.
It is stated also that the Eighteen Wisconsin and the Sixteenth
Iowa fled from the field after firing two or three rounds.
At noon of the first day the enemy had six of our batteries in
their possession. All of these were turned against us and used
during the battle but were recaptured in the rout of the second
day. When the enemy fled they burned their wagons, and left their
enemy on the field, all of whom became prisoners.
Waterhouse's Chicago Battery was entirely disabled during the
action by the breaking of the axles from concussion. They were
imperfectly formed. The battery lost three guns. One man was
killed and sixteen wounded.
Taylor's Chicago Battery had one man killed and ten wounded. The
disabled guns were drawn off by hand.
Willard's Chicago Battery had five men killed and thirty wounded.
Gen. Buell's whole army has arrived at the field of battle, with
the exception of Mitchell's division, and is posted in the
advance.
The enemy's loss is much heavier than ours, both in killed and
wounded. Our loss in killed and wounded and prisoners is not less
than 10,000.
One New Orleans regiment, the Louisiana Tigers, was almost
entirely left on the battle field, killed or wounded. They were
nearly all wealthy young men, and were dressed in an elegant and
picturesque Zouave uniform.
The death of Gen. A. Sydney Johnson is confirmed by the most
conclusive statements. His body is in the possession of our
troops.
In the flank movement of the first day, the Eighth Iowa Regiment
was captured almost en masse; but few of them escaped and none
were recaptured.
The Second Michigan Battery was captured by the enemy and
recaptured by our troops three or four times. There was more
fighting over it than any other battery on the field.
The time of it's second capture Gen. Beauregard urged forward
three regiments in person, and received a bullet wound in the arm
from a volley delivered by our troops. Our troops pursued the
enemy but five miles from the river, and the two armies are now
encamped within sight of each other. Beauregard is well
entrenched, with communication opened to both railroads. The
artillery duel on the first day is described as being
magnificent. For nearly two hours a contest raged which shook the
earth for miles around and filled the air with a stunning roar.
The iron storm tore all intermediate objects into fragments, and
carried earth in all directions. Night closed the scene, and the
contending armies laid down in their tracks to rest.
A telegraph line had been in progress of construction in the
direction of Gen. Buell's advance. On the Tuesday previous to the
battle, Gen. Buell was still 70 miles distant, building bridges
and crossing overflowed country. The telegraph was completed
before the attack, and Gen. Buell received an intimation thereby.
He then made forced marches and arrived in time to turn the tide.
But for Buell's aid, Gen. Grant would have certainly been driven
into the river the next day. Beauregard intended to make this
attack two days previously, but extraordinary rains impeded his
progress and delayed his arrival on the ground. Had he attacked
at the time he intended, Gen. Buell could not have saved us from
defeat.
[transcribed by M.O., May 2017]
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Keosauqua Republican
Keosauqua, Van Buren co. Iowa
April 25, 1862
The nomination of Col. Tuttle, of the 2nd Iowa, as a Brigadier
General, has been determined upon. So says a Washington dispatch.
Col. Tuttle has command of the 1st Brigade, 2nd division (Gen.
Wallace's). The brigade was composed of the 2nd, 7th, 12th and
14th Iowa regiments. After the fall of Wallace, he assumed
command of the division.
The 12th Iowa regiment had 12 killed, 32 wounded and 420 taken
prisoners at Pittsburgh. Total 491. The 11th, 29 killed, 149
wounded and 1 missing. Total 175. The 13th, 24 killed, 141
wounded.
The Union prisoners captured at Pittsburgh were taken to Memphis.
At last accounts they were being taken to Richmond.
Company F, of the 2nd Iowa regiment, had 4 wounded at the
Pittsburgh battle – none killed. The wounded are –
Capt. Abe Wilkins, in arm, severe, arm amputated afterwards near
shoulder; Lieut. Brawner, in side, severe; William Miller, in
hip; John Sullivan. The regiment lost 7 killed and 75 wounded.
We give the killed and wounded of Company E, 15th regiment, in a
letter on the first page. Zachaw, reported wounded and missing,
is in hospital at St. Louis, badly wounded, but not considered
dangerous.
Capt. Bob Littler, of the Second Iowa, who lost an arm at the
battle of Pittsburg, is now under treatment in this city, and
doing well. - St. Louis Dispatch.
PITTSBURG BATTLE
Since the details of the Pittsburgh battle have been
spread before the country, the press and the public generally
have not been sparing of their criticisms and censures of those
who had control of our forces. The attention of Congress has been
drawn to the affair, and an investigation will probably be
instigated, No apology or excuse, so far as we have noticed, has
been attempted, for the surprise on Sunday, and the disasters
which followed, and prominent persons who were on the ground and
participated in the fight, think no plausible one can be given.
There was no concert of action. It was an army without a
commander, each one acting on his own impulse, fighting or
running as best pleased him. Here a regiment or brigade would
make a stand, fight like heroes, drive the enemy back, when, from
lack of ammunition or supper, on the right or left, as the case
might be, they would be compelled to hastily fall back to save
themselves from being entirely cut off. So the fight went on
nearly all of Sunday, like a team of baulky horses, while some
were pulling, others were holding back, and there seemed to be no
controlling head to take control the direction of affairs. It was
a random fight, and the wonder is that we came off as well as we
did.
When Buell came up, a different spirit seemed infused in the
troops. It seemed to be felt that a live General, and not a
basswood one, was on the field; the tide of battle was changed,
and victory and glory was wrought out of defeat and disgrace.
It was a delusion of the enemy that saved our army on Sunday from
total destruction. It was published in the Memphis paper that
Buell's army arrived in Pittsburgh prior to Sunday, and of course
was in the fight, and, consequentially, they were under the
impression that they were engaging all of our forces on Sunday,
when the facts show that scarcely one third of our men were in
the fight that day, and we were opposing a force three times our
own. Had Beauregard known this he would undoubtedly have struck
more rapidly and boldly than he did, and would not have felt as
secure as he appeared to have felt in the possession of our camps
Sunday night.
At one time on Sunday afternoon, and before the last stand was
made, not a single regiment of our forces was in line, all were
in confusion and falling back to the river. The first to form
again for battle at this junction, were the Iowa 2nd, 7th and
13th. They were formed so as to check the backward movement,
which partially succeeded, and something like order was again
restored. If the enemy had pressed on here, and improved their
advantage, instead of giving us an hour to prepare, the whole
force would have been driven into the river and captured. As it
was, they were held in check, and our army saved until
reinforcements could come up.
A DEFEAT CHANGED INTO VICTORY
It is a distinguished peculiarity of the present war,
says the Chicago Tribune, that every important event
establishes or develops some fact for present comparison and
future reference. The battle of Pittsburgh Landing will be
remembered as the first instance on record in which an army
outnumbered, outflanked, outgeneraled, and taken wholly by
surprise, did yet, without generalship, recover from it's panic,
fall back closely and in good order, contract its lines, and
fight better and more effectively each succeeding hour of an
entire day. We can recall no similar instance worth noting. Our
men seemed to improve in courage, discipline and confidence as
the day advanced. According to the established ruled of military
science, they were utterly vanquished at ten o'clock in the
forenoon; yet at noon, they were reforming their line of battle;
at four, holding their own; and at nightfall, repelling the
enemy. They had not recovered their lost ground, but they had
turned the tide of victory.
Its Commanding General twelve miles in the rear, many of its
regiments not even brigaded, encamped with regards to wood and
water rather than presence of a sleepless foe, its divisions not
within supporting distance of each other, the positions of its
field batteries hardly known to its own Generals; half its
superior officers in their beds, - such was the arrangement of
our army near Pittsburgh Landing, when it was surprised by an
enemy nearly double its strength, well appointed in every
particular, animated by hatred and by confidence, and led by
officers reckless of life and resolved to win. The rebels poured
through the unguarded spaces in our lines. Some of our regiments
were attacked in the rear before they were aware of the danger in
front. - Scores of poor fellows, half dressed, were bayoneted in
their tents. One brigade was surrounded and cut to pieces or
dispersed; another hewed its way through the closed rebel ranks.
To stand firm was to be overwhelmed or taken; to fly was to carry
rout and panic into the rear. Their were no reserves to fall back
on. There was no concert of movement. No one knew what was
occurring in other parts of the field. And against such
tremendous odds that army recovered its self-possession, and the
field officers were able deliberately to choose a new position,
and bring the whole remaining force into as complete array as if
the enemy had made no attack. The men and regimental officers
preserved their organization for half a day, during an irregular
but furious battle, and gave their superiors leisure to consult
and make arrangements which should have been made days before.
The men of no other nation in the whole earth have ever done such
a thing. We trust that this fearful experiment, which was never
successful before, will never be tried again.
[transcribed by M.O., May 2017]