From the foundation of the government, the peculiar institution of slavery in the southern States had been a source of trouble, and a standing menace to the peace of mind of the men of the North. The slave-holding oligarchy were continually in fear that the free States were ready to encroach upon their rights, and nothing would shake this belief. Statesmen, beyond a peer, have sought, in vain, for the necessary measure to allay this fear, and various compromise bills were passed from time to time, with this end in view. These seemed, however, but to deaden the flames, not quench them. Nullification and secession were frequently threatened by the more radical slaveholders, but the passage of some concilia­tory measures, for the time, postponed the attempt. The force of circumstances and the growing aggressions of the southern faction, brought on an issue. The slave-holding States being the most powerful in Congress, owing to their representatives having a less constituency than the northern congressmen, two-thirds of the black slave race being numbered in the apportionment, and being aided by allies from the northern States, conservative men, who felt that much should be endured rather than submit the question to the arbitration of the sword, passed the famous repeal of the Missouri com­promise bill. This, and the adoption of the measure then denominated the Kansas-Nebraska act, opened certain territory to the extension of slavery, that under the previous bill was forever barred from the curse. The great whig party, about this time, was in the throes of dissolution, and a large portion of that party united with the democrats of the north, who were opposed to the amplification of the territory of slavery, and formed a new party, who were known as republicans. This new organization was pledged to an opposition to the further extension of slavery. A guilty conscience made the hot-heads of the south see in this new movement a menace, that was far from the truth at the time, that it was eventually to destroy slavery in the south and deprive them of their precious chattels.

In 1860 four Presidential tickets were in the field. Abraham Lincoln headed that of the republicans, Stephen A. Douglas was the candidate of the National democrats, John C. Breckenridge, of the southern pro-slavery wing of the same party, while John Bell was the leader of the union conservative interests. This latter was an out-growth of the old American or know-nothing party. Early in the campaign threats of secession and disunion came up, if Abraham Lincoln was elected to the office of chief executive, but bluster and bravado had been so often heard from the southern States that little heed was taken of it.

On the 20th of December, 1860, shortly after the election, South Carolina, by a convention of delegates, declared " that the union now existing between South Carolina and the other States of North America is dissolved, and that the State of South Carolina has resumed her position among the Nations of the earth, as a free, sovereign and independent State, with full power to levy war and conclude peace, contract alliances, establish com­merce, and do all other acts and things which independent States may, of right, do."

Gov. Pickens, of that State, on the 24th, issued a proclamation in which he declared that South Carolina is, and has a right to be, a free and independent State, and as such, has a right to levy war, conclude peace, and do all acts whatever that rightfully appertain to a free and independent State.

On the night of Christmas, under the cover of the darkness, Maj. Robert Anderson, who was in command of Fort Moulttrie, in Charleston bay, deeming the place untenable, evacuated it, and taking his men in boats, proceeded to the yet unfinished fortification of Fort Sumter, of which he took possession. He had, two days previously, in writing to John B. Floyd, the then secretary of war, used the following strong language:

"When I inform you that my garrison consists of only sixty effective men, and that we are in very indifferent works, the walls of which are only fourteen feet high, and that we have, within 160 yards of our walls, sand hills which command our works, and which afford admirable sites for batteries and the finest coverts for sharpshooters, and that besides this there are numerous houses, some of them within pistol shot, and you will at once see that, if attacked in force, headed by any one but a simpleton, there is scarcely a possibility of our being able to hold out long enough for our friends to come to our succor."

His appeal for aid and re-reinforcements was strongly seconded by Gen. Scott, but was met with total indifference on the part of President Buchanan, and absolute hostility from Secretary Floyd.

On the 28th, South Carolina troops occupied Fort Moultrie and Castle Pinckney, and hoisted the palmetto flag on the ramparts. John B. Floyd resigned his place in Buchanan's cabinet on the 29th, charging that the President, in refusing to accede to his request to remove Maj. Anderson and his troops from Charleston Harbor, designed to plunge the country into the bloody waves of civil war, and added: " I cannot consent to be the agent of such a calamity." On the same day the South Carolina commissioners presented their credentials, as the ambassadors of an independent State, to arrange a treaty of peace, but their overtures were, the next day, declined.

On the 2d day of January, 1861, Georgia declared for secession, and Georgia troops took possession of the United States arsenal in Augusta, and Forts Pulaski and Jackson.

Gov. Ellis, of North Carolina, seized the forts at Beaufort and Wilmington and the arsenal at Fayetteville. On the evening of the 4th, the Alabama and Missis­sippi delegations in Congress telegraphed the conventions of their respective States to secede, telling them that there was no satisfactory adjustment possible, in prospect. On the 7th, the conventions of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee met in secret conclave. On the 9th, Secretary Thompson resigned his seat in the cabinet on the ground that, contrary to promises, troops had been sent to Maj. Anderson. That same day, the steamer, Star of the West, carrying supplies and reinforcements to Maj. Anderson, was fired into from Morris Island, and being without any ordinance, retreated homeward, leaving Fort Sumter audits gallant band of heroes, to the mercy of the rebels. On the same day, also, the Mississippi convention passed the ordinance of secession, Florida followed suit on the 10th, and Alabama on the 11th. On this latter day, the secretary of the treasury, Thomas, resigned, and the rebels seized the arsenal at Baton Rouge, and Forts Jackson and St. Philip, at the mouth of the Mississippi river, and Fort Pike, at the entrance to Lake Pontchartrain. Pensacola navy-yard and Fort Bar­rancas were surrendered to rebel troops by Col. Armstrong, on the 13th. Lieut. Slemmer, who had withdrawn his command from Fort McRae, to Fort Pickens, defied Armstrong's order, and announced his intention to hold the fort at all hazards. On the 19th, the Georgia conven­tion passed the ordinance of secession in full convention, thus confirming the action of the second of the month. On the 20th, Lieut. Slemmer was besieged by a thousand allied troops at Fort Pickens. Louisiana adopted an ordinance of secession on the 25th. On the 1st of February, the rebels seized the United States Mint and custom house at New Orleans. The peace convention assembled at Washington on the 4th, but adjourned without doing anything to allay the disturbed elements. On the 9th, at Montgomery, Ala., a provisional constitu­tion was adopted, it being the constitution of the United States, re-constructed to suit their purpose. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, was chosen President, and Alexander H. Stevens, of Georgia, Vice-President of the confederate States of North America. Davis was inaugurated on the 18th, and on the 25th, it was learned that Gen. Twiggs, commanding the department of Texas, had basely betrayed his trust, and had surrendered all the military posts, ammunitions and arms to the authorities of Texas.

Mr. Lincoln was inaugurated March 4, 1861, in front of the capitol, the ceremonies being witnessed by a vast concourse of people. Before taking the oath, Mr. Lincoln pronounced in a clear, ringing voice, his inaugural address, to hear which, there was an almost painful solicitude, to read which the whole American people and the civilized world awaited with irrepressible anxiety. With that address, and the administration of the oath of office, the people were reassured. All doubt, if any had previously existed, was removed. In the hands of Abraham Lincoln, the people's President, and him­self of the people, the government was safe.

Traitors were still busy, plotting and planning. Troops were raised and mustered in, in all the seceded States. Friday, April 12, 1861, is an ever memorable date in the annals of this great civil war. On that day summons were sent to the gallant Maj. Anderson, who still held Fort Sumter with his little band of sixty men, to surrender. This was firmly refused and preparations made for a defense. The first gun, that sounded the knell to many a brave man, was fired by a man by the name of Ruffan. This was the signal to "let loose the dogs of war" and a fierce and deadly fire was opened up on the doomed fort. The forces of the rebels outnumbered the brave garrison a thou­sand to one, and after the shot and shell had set fire to and burned up almost every particle of wood work about the fort and the little band of heroes were scorched and choked with the heat and smoke, Anderson, seeing that resistance was hopeless, to save his men hauled down the "starry banner." "The flag 'neath which our fathers fell," was trailed in the dust by the ignominious hands of traitors On Sunday morning, the 14th, the news of the surrender was received in all the principal cities of the Union. The news was meager, but it was enough. The next day the news was confirmed and spread through the country. The northern man, secure in his home, was engaged in the various avocations of life, his undertaking half finished but promising a bright future, a life of ease and enjoyment in his old age, when the mission of life was nearly ended. Dreaming of this he was startled by the news, only to realize, that what had been thought to be but the idle bluster of a few hot-headed fools, intoxicated by the flaunting and flashing of military accouterments, was a well organized rebellion ; that behind this mob stalked the grim demon of death and de­struction, whose agents had already per­fected their dark, deep plot against the Nation's life, and who were well organ­ized in their purpose to rend the Union in pieces, and out of its fragments con­struct a new one — a dark oligarchy wherein all men whose skins were dark, yea, though they were of their own blood, should be held in bondage. But they "reckoned without their host," and the bright Utopian scheme they dreamed of came to naught. Almost from its first conception was it doomed. Everywhere north of Mason and Dixon's line the voice of Providence was heard:

"Draw forth your million blades as one;
Complete the battle now begun;
God fights with ye, and overhead
Floats the dear banners of your dead.
They, and the glories of the past,
The future, dawning dim and vast,
And all the holiest hopes of man,
Are beaming triumphant in your van.
“Slow to resolve, be swift to do;
Teach ye the False, how fight the True!
How buckled Perfidy shall feel,
In her black heart the Patriot's steel;
How sure the bolt that Justice wings;
How weak the arm a traitor brings;
How mighty they who steadfast stand,
For Freedom's flag and Freedom's land."

President Lincoln, on the 15th, issued the following proclamation :

"WHEREAS, The laws of the United States have for some time past, and are now, opposed, and the exe­cution thereof obstructed, in the States of South Car­olina, Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, by combinations too powerful to be sup­pressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceed­ings, or by the powers vested in the marshals; now therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitution and the laws, have thought to call forth, and do hereby call forth, the militia of the several States of the Union, to the number of 75,000, in order to suppress said combinations, and to cause the laws to be duly executed.

The details for this subject will be immediately communicated to the State authorities through the War Department. I appeal to all loyal citizens to favor, facilitate, and to aid this effort to maintain the honor, the integrity, and existence of our National Union, and the perpetuity of popular government, and to redress wrongs already long endured. I deem it proper to say that the first services assigned to the forces hereby called forth will probably be to repoesess the forts, places and property which have been seized from the Union; and in every event the utmost care will be observed, consistently with the object aforesaid, to avoid any devastation, any de­struction of, or interference with property, or any disturbance of peaceful citizens in any part of the country; and I hereby command the persons com­posing the combinations aforesaid, to disperse and retire peaceably to their respective abodes within twenty days from this date.

Deeming that the present condition of public affairs presents an extraordinary occasion, I do hereby, in virtue of the power in me vested by the Constitu tion, convene both Houses of Congress. The Senators and Representatives are therefore summoned to assemble at their respective chambers at 12 o'clock, noon, on Thursday, the fourth day of July next, then and there to consider and determine such measures as in their wisdom the public safety and interest may seem to demand.

In witness thereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, on the fifteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, and of the Independ­ence of the United States the eighty-fifth.

By the President,

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

William H. Seward, Secretary of State."

This proclamation was dispatched all over the land, and while yet the wires still vibrated with the thrilling message, the call was filled. The sounds of men marching filled every city, town, village and hamlet throughout the sunny northland, the fife and drum thrilled and pul­sated in every ear and fired the northern heart. The merchant left his counter, the mechanic his bench, and joining with the crowd that flocked from farm, from church, from college and pulpit and from school house they gave all to the support of the government. Men and money were dealt out by a lavish hand, and it seemed that in their patriotism, the peo­ple could not give enough. The fierce blaze of patriotic fire swept through all the hills and valleys of the freeman's home like a great, rushing whirlwind. For a time party lines were ignored, and forgetting the acrimonious words of past political debates, all joined hands in sup­port of the common cause, repeating the words of America's soldier statesman: "By the Great Eternal, the Union must and shall be preserved."

Seventy-five thousand men were not enough to subdue the Rebellion. Nor were ten times that number. The war went on and call followed call, until it seemed as if there were not men enough in all the States that clung to the faith of their fathers to crush out the nest of traitors that sought to dissever the Union. But to every call for either men or money there was a ready and willing response. The gauntlet thrown down by the traitors of the south, was accepted; not, however, in the spirit with which insolence meets insolence, but with a firm, determined spirit of patriotism and love of country. The duty of the President was plain under the Constitution and laws, and, above and beyond all, the people from whom all political power is derived, demanded the suppression of the Rebellion, and stood ready to sustain the authority of their representative and executive officers, to the utmost extremity.

While the fires of patriotism were burning so brightly on the altars all over the country, the flame in this section was not weak. The citizens of Worth county rushed to arms and the sound of military preparations were heard through all its towns and villages.

Worth county, through the board of supervisors, granted additional bounties to those who enlisted and provided for the wives and children of the brave heroes, who rushed to battle in their country's behalf, in a most liberal manner. For the official action of this body, see Chapter IV, on county government, where it is treated in detail.

Knudt W. Johnson was the first man to enlist in Worth county, and according to the testimony of his commanding officers and fellow soldiers, was deserving of the name of the bravest of the brave. During his term of service, which was continued from the first to the last of the Rebellion, it was his misfortune to be captured and be an inhabitant of that lazar spot upon civilization, Andersonville prison pen. Here his even temper and good-natured jollity did not desert him, for nothing daunted by the misery and death that surrounded him on every side, he tried to keep up the spirits of his comrades by songs and jokes. Many ascribe their living through the horrors of that fearful place to the cheering presence of this brave, jolly, Scandinavian soldier, from Worth county. He is now in Da­kota, but this history would not be complete without this tribute to this noble hero of humble life.

The following is as complete a roster of the gallant heroes who represented the county of Worth, in the defense of their common country, as a careful research of the reports of the State adjutant general, and consultation with those best posted on the subject, in the county, could make it. No pains has been spared in its compilation; and if any name is omitted it is entirely unintentional, none having greater' regard for the honor of a comrade than the editor of this volume. Names have been corrected in their spelling, so far as it could be done, and every care taken to rescue from oblivion of years, these patriotic soldiers.

Worth county was first represented in a Wisconsin regiment. A number of the Norwegian citizens enlisting in the 15th Wisconsin Infantry, (1st Scandinavian) regiment, Col. Hegg, commanding.

The following is the record:

FIFTEENTH WISCONSIN INFANTRY. COMPANY K. Pederson Axel, Tolef Anderson, Torger Aslaksen, Kittel Olsen, Paul M. Paulson, Gulbrand Helgeson, Johannes Severson, Fingal Christopherson, Ivor G Dahl, Chris Gulbrandson, Theodore K. Hundeby, Nils Helgeson, John Johnson, Terre A. Lee, Theodore Knudson, Soren Sorenson, Ole T. Berge.

SEVENTH INFANTRY. COMPANY B. Privates : Henry H. Clark, Knudt Johnson, Warren Caswell, Anson M. Stewart.

FIFTEENTH INFANTRY. UNASSIGNED. Privates: John Dahl, Severson John.

TWENTY-FIRST INFANTRY. COMPANY A. Captain: Perry M. Johnson.
Sergeant, afterwards Lieutenant: Isaac M. Bolton.
Drum Major: "William Matson.
Privates: Augustus Beeber, B. H. Herrington, William H. Pickle, Samuel B. Pickle, Francis C. Paine, John Towne, Francis Templeton.

TWENTY-SIXTH INFANTRY. COMPANY A. Lieutenant : Asa Franklin.

THIRTY-SECOND INFANTRY. COMPANY B. Second Lieutenant: Chauncy S. Lane. Privates and Non-Commissioned Officers : Otis Greeley, J,Kendall, Jr., Benjamin Bloker, James P. Cravash, "William E. Fisher, Halvor Ingebretson. Jabez Sumner, William N Gallup, Ignatius Heiny, Albert L. Towne, Corp. Peter Crum, Corp. John Crosier, Peter Cope, Franklin Judd, James Sornson Sahd, Columbus Mason, Austin Oleson, Herbarnd Oleson, Solomon Greeley, D. C. Bigelow, Lester Place, Alonzo Frink, Corp., Ole T. Buergo, Sylvester Levanway, Orren F. Morris, James Randall, B. F. Crum, John Heiny, Anthony Carr, William Rhodes, G. W. Swanger, E. S. Winans.

THIRTY-SECOND INFANTRY.

The companies forming the 32d Iowa Infantry were recruited in the counties composing the sixth congressional district, during the latter part of the summer and early fall of 1862. They rendezvoused at Camp Franklin, located in the city of Dububue. Here, on October 6, they were sworn into the service of the United States for three years; John Scott, of Story county, being colonel; E. H. Mix, of Butler, lieutenant-colonel; Gr. A. Eberhart, of Black Hawk, major; Charles Aldrich, of Hamilton, adjutant. It remained here under drill and discipline until the middle of the following month. The barracks at Camp Franklin were uncomfortable in cold weather, of which unfortunately there was much about this time. Measles of a malignant type broke out in camp, the exposed condition of the which, the unfavorable weather and the want of sufficient clothing, conspiring to make the disease unusually fatal.

From the 14th to the 18th of Novem ber the regiment, numbering about 920 men, embarked by detachments for St. Louis, reporting there on the 21st, and going into quarters at Benton Barracks. Here it remained only a few days, and then, under the orders from Maj.-Gen. Curtis, six companies under Col. Scott proceeded to New Madrid, Mo., and the remaining four companies, under Maj. Eberhart, went no further down the river than Cape Girardeau. The sep­aration of the regiment, thus effected on the last day of autumn of 1862, continued until the spring of 1864. It was a prolific source of annoyance and extraordinary labor. The details required of a regiment were frequently demanded from each of these detachments. Stores sent to the regiment would sometimes go to the one and sometimes to the other command, when they should have gone just the other way; the mails were in an interminable tangle. The companies at head-quarters were: Company B, company C, company E, company, H, company I and company K. The companies under Maj. Eberhart were: A, D, Fand G.

The history of the regiment during this long period of separation must be twofold, necessarily. It will not be improper to write first an account of the detachment under the command of Maj. Eberharrt.

In obedience to the order of Gen. Curtis, they proceeded to Cape Girardeau, and the major assumed command of that post on the 1st of December, 1862. The garrison consisted of these companies and one company of the 2d Missouri Heavy Artillery. Here they remained during the winter, doing provost and garrison duties. On the 10th of March the garrison was re-enforced by the 1st Nebraska Volunteers, and preparations commenced for a march into the interior. On March 14 Maj. Eberhart marched his detachment to Bloomfield, accompanying a regiment of Wisconsin Cavalry and a battery of Missouri Artillery, where they remained until the 21st of April,when they moved to Dallas, forty-six miles northward. The line of march was a circuitous one, and required some sixty miles travel.

The rebel general, Marmaduke, now threatened Cape Girardeau with a con­ siderable army. He himself was at Fredericktown, northwest of Dallas, while another force was coming up the Bloomfield road. Gen. McNeil, commanding the Union forces, marched at once for Cape Girardeau by Jackson. The detachment of the 32d, guarding the train, marched from Dallas to Jackson, a distance of twenty-two miles, in less than six hours, and reached Cape Girardeau on the evening of the 24th. The next day Marmaduke, with a force of 8,000 men, invested the place. At 10 o'clock at night he sent a flag of truce, with a demand for an unconditional surrender, giving the Union commander thirty minutes for decision. Gen. McNeil, by Col. Stracham, who received the truce, sent back a flat refusal in one minute, and politely requested a credit of twenty-nine minutes by Gen. Marmaduke. The attack, however, was not commenced until Sunday morning, the 26th, at 10 o'clock, when the rebels retired with considerable loss, just as Gen. Vandever came down the river with reinforcements for the garrison. In this combat Maj. Eberhart's command was posted on the right, in support of a section of Meltfly's battery. Its loss was one man, captured on picket. On the 28th the detachment of the 32d was ordered to Bloomfield. Leaving Cape Girardeau at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, it marched fifty miles by dark the next evening, and went into camp at Castor river. Completing the bridge over the stream, it returned to the Cape, reaching that post on the 5th of May. Here it remained garrison duty till the 11th of July, when t again marched for Bloomfield. Having remained there a few days, at work on the fortifications, it was attached to the Reserve Brigade, 1st Cavalry division, department of the Missouri, and on the 19th started on the memorable march which ended with the capture of Little Rock, Ark.

The command reached Clarendon on the 8th of August. The expedition lasted three days and was quite a brilliant success. The fleet went up White river, to the mouth of Little Red river, and then proceeded up that stream to the town of Searcy, where two steamers were captured and a pontoon bridge destroyed. When ten miles below Searcy, on the return, the fleet was attacked by 300 rebels, who directed their principal fire at the prize, Kaskaka, which was manned by half of company D, under Lieut. W. D. Templin. The steamer was near the shore, from which the attack was directed, but made a gallant defense. The rebels were driven off with a loss of more than twenty killed. The loss on the steamer was one killed and five wounded. Before reaching White river the fleet was again attacked, but the assailants were quickly driven off, with loss, and without any causality on board. Large quantities of public prop­erty were destroyed, and a number of prisoners captured during this expedition. In the heavy skirmish at Bayou Metoe on the 27th, the detachment was engaged, losing one killed and two wounded.

The day the command reached Dead Man's lake, the scorching heat of that day, the parched ground marched over, the air at times filled with flying dust, is one not easily forgotten. The stagnant pond bearing that name was covered with a green-scum, yet the men, burning with thirst, plunged in and drank greedily of the filthy water.

The two trips from Duvall's Bluffs to Brownsville, as guard to the cavalry train, were trips of hard marching in hot weather: and of suffering for water for man and beast, and from dust and heat. The sick on this march received no extra care—first shipped to Helena and then to Clarendon, on White river.

About the 21st of August a small steamer, a side-wheeler, sailed up the White river loaded with sick and convalescent soldiers. It was one of the hottest of August days in that climate, when she ran from Clarendon to Duvall's Bluffs, forty-five miles, in four hours, not a spot on the vessel, from the hold to the hurrican deck, but was covered with a sick soldier. Men were piled away on the hurrican deck in the broiling sun wherever a man could be laid. Is it any wonder on that four hours run twenty-six men died on that moving hospital?

On the 25th of August another march of twenty-six miles across those plains of Prairie Co., Ark. About 11 o'clock that night they filed into the little court house yard at Brownsville. Just on our entrance, Gen. Davidson stepped to the fence and said: "Boys, lie down quickly and take some rest, for I will need you at an early hour." Then turning to another officer, he said, "these brave boys have marched 500 miles, and kept up with my cavalry." By 3 o'clock the next morning, all were astir, and at 4 were in line and on the move. A march of nine miles brought them to the rebel outposts. Here occurred a running skirmish for four miles to the banks of the sluggish Bayou Metaire. In the evening they fell back to the top of the hill to support a battery. There night overtook them. The battery and all other troops had left them. The detachment was alone in the field, with the rebels closing around them, and they then withdrew that night to a corn field near Brownsville, and at about 1 o'clock at night, at the word halt, the boys dropped on the ground among the rows of corn. No regular encampment was made, but all slept as he had dropped. The night was dark and overcast, and soon the rain fell in torrents, drenching the weary sleepers to the skin. But there they lay, what else had they to do? They had no rations in the morning, but by good luck discovered a sweet potato field, and breakfasted on that vegetable. The detachment remained in camp in the timber here, and then moved to the old cavalry camp north of the town, where our sick boys had been kept at a double log house on the edge of the prairie, and at a grove of a few scattering oaks, and near a pond of stagnant water.

On the 31st of August, 1863, the day was very hot and hence the train was ordered to go through to Duvall's Bluffs in the night. All the detachment was ordered to go as guard. All that were able were turned out for the trip. This all was but forty men, and of these some fifteen or sixteen were unable to march, but were taken and piled on the wagons; they could use their guns if attacked, at any rate. This was a serious camp ground to the detachment. A few days and not a well man was in the camp, and not many were left to care for the sicker comrades. It had been used as a cavalry camp until the very ground was crawling with filth. Everything that under the circumstances, could be done for the sick was done, but they were far in advance of the main army and their supplies. No sutler or sanitary commis­sion reached them in that out of the way corner of the world. Much of the usual supplies that did reach them were entirely of too lively a nature to tempt the appetite of the sick men, who were slowly dy­ing, "far from their native skies." Many died before the camp was moved, and with sorrowing hearts their comrades laid them away in their silent graves, side by side, as they had fought, "neath that southern oak."

Their young lives were ended,
Their young spirits fled,
And now they are sleeping
In peace with the dead.

On the 8th of October, the command was ordered to a new camp near, where after resting a day or two they were ordered to leave for Little Rock. On their arrival there the detachment went into camp, but were relieved from all duty except the care of their own sick, by order of Gen. Davidson, who added that, that was all it was able to do. Here, however, many more died from the effects of their late sickness. The balance of the detachment soon recuperated rapidly, and was soon again fit for red battles front."

Gen. McPherson, medical director aft erwards at Vicksburg, that the sending of these four companies through on that campaign, to keep up with the cavalry, was a burning shame, one of the outrages of the war, and no wonder the men were used up. They remained at Little Rock until the middle of October, when they moved to Benton, twenty-five miles distant. The detachment returned to Little Rock, where it remained until January, 1864, when it started for Memphis, which place it reached on the 5th of February. Here it received orders to report to Brig.-Gen. A. J. Smith, at Vicksburg. It reached Vicksburg on the 9th, and remained there until the 27th, when it marched out to Black river, to await the army on its return from the interior.

Meanwhile Col. Scott established his headquarters at New Madrid, and assumed the command of the post. On the 17th of December, 1862, he sent out a detachment of 100 men, under Capt. Peebles, who .went as far as St. Francis river, bringing back several prisoners, much public property, and valuable information.

On the 28th of December, Col. Scott destroyed the public property, and evacuated New Madrid, by order of Gen. Davies, after which he proceeded to Fort Pillow, reaching there the 29th. Here they remained for nearly six months in the performance of garrison duty. The command embarked for Columbus, Ky., on the 17th and 18th of June, 1863, in detachments and went into camp, there on the 19th, and there their regimental headquarters remained for more then seven months, Col. Scott being most of the time in command of the post.

On July 10, Union City, in Tennessee, was captured by the rebels. The command hastened to that place, but arrived too late to find the enemy. After burying the dead and caring for the wounded, they returned. The command was soon again divided into fractions. From this time forth the adventures of these detachments are devoid of interest, until January 1864. In that month, the six companies were brought together and soon embarked for Vicksburg, where they were assigned to the 2d Brigade. Perhaps there was not a single organization in the whole army under Gen. Sherman that so gladly commenced that singular campaign, called the Meridian campaign, as the one under Col. Scott. If the battallion left Vicksburg joyfully, its return was much more so, for there were found Maj. Eberhart and his four companies, and the whole regiment was together for the first time since November, 1862. The re-union brought great satisfaction to officers and men. Shortly after the regiment was ordered to the department of the gulf, and there accompanied the disastrous Red river expedition.

In this expedition the 32d Iowa suffered more severely, perhaps, than any other regiment. It formed a part of Gen. A. J. Smith's command, consisting of 10,000 infantry and three batteries of artillery, which left Vicksburg March 9, on transports, escorted by gunboats. At the mouth of the Red river this fleet was joined by Admiral D. D. Porter, with a large fleet, including several ironclads. The combined fleets entered the Red river by the southern mouth and passed thence into Achafalaya, proceeding as far as Semmesport, where the troop disembarked on the night of the 13th, and immediately commenced a march on Fort DeRussey. No halt was ordered until the army had made seven miles. It was twenty-eight miles from there to the fort. Nevertheless the army marched that distance the next day, constantly harassed by rebel cavalry; delayed once two hours at a stream over which a bridge had to be made; attacked the fort and carried it by storm before sundown, and before the arrival of the gunboats. In this assault the 32d was on the right, and "the men on the right took the fort," said the prisoners. Col. Shaw, commanding the brigade, speaks in unqualified praise of all the officers and men in his command. The loss was slight on either side. Of the 32d, one man was killed and two wounded.

At Fort DeRussey they re-embarked and proceeded to Alexandria, where the troops again disembarked and remained nearly two weeks. At this point the column under Gen. Smith formed a junction with the column that had marched from New Orleans. The boats could not be taken over the rapids while laden, so the troops marched to Cotile Landing, some twenty-five miles up the river. Here the regiment had its first battalion drill, with all the companies in line, since leaving Dubuque, in November, 1862. On April 3, the command again embarked and reached Grand Ecore on the next evening, where it remained until the morning of the 7th, when it marched to the front of the battle of Pleasant Hill, where the brigade to which the 32d belonged, commanded by Gen. Shaw, of the 14th Iowa, stood the brunt of the fight, being the first in the battle, fighting longer than any other, in the hardest of the contest, the last to leave the field, and losing three times as many officers and men as any brigade engaged.

"Of Col. John Scott, 32d Iowa," says the brigade commander, "it is sufficient to say that he showed himself worthy to command the 32d Iowa Infantry, a regiment which, after having been entirely surrounded and cut off from the rest of the command, with nearly one half of its number killed or wounded, among them many of the best and prominent officers, forced its way through the enemy's lines, and was again in line, ready and anxious to meet the foe, in less than thirty minutes." It is certain that no regiment ever fought with a sublimer courage than did the 32d on the battlefield of Pleas­ant Hill. Its heroism and sacrifices were worthy of a better fate than a retreat from the scene of its splendid daring and its glory. The fame of its gallant conduct spread all over Iowa, as it would have spread over the whole country had the commanding general accepted the victory which the troops had given him. But sad losses befell the regiment. Lieut.-Col. Mix was slain on the field, and many another gallant officer was killed or wounded The regiment lost in all, the two hundred,and ten officers and men, killed, wounded and missing; most of the missing were also wounded —many so reported, no doubt slain. Iowa gloried in the fame of her honored sons, and wept for their dead comrades who died on the stricken field. The following beautiful lines were written by Mrs. Caroline A. Soule, upon hearing of the sad losses sustained by the gallant 32d at Pleasant Hill:

Cold are the sleepers,
Wrapt in their shrouds-
Pale are the weepers
The battle has bowed:
Softly they slumber
Our soldiers in death
While hearts without number
Cry, with hushed breath—
O God, are they dead?

Pale are the sleepers,
Like marble they lie-
Sad are the weepers,
Tear stained their eye:
Quiet they slumber,
Soldiers entombed,
While hearts without number,
All shrouded in gloom,
Cry—O, are they gone!

Calm are the sleepers,
Taking their rest-
Sad are the weepers,
Joyless their breasts;
Softly they slumber,
Our soldier's to-day,
While hearts without number
Cry, only this way
Can our battles be won!

Col. Shaw's brigade covered the retreat of the army to Grand Ecore, when the 32d regiment, after a movement up Red river to aid the fleet in escaping from imminent peril, went into encampment. It joined in the retreat down the Red river on the 21st, and frequently met light bodies of the enemy in skirmish. The retreat from Alexandria to Mississippi was also harassed by the enemy, and considerable skirmishing took place at Bayou La Morge, Marksville and Bayou de Glaize, in all of which the regiment took part. Col. Shaw, in his report of the latter battle, says : "To Col. Gilbert, 27th Iowa, Maj. Eberhart, of the 32d Iowa, Capt. Crane, of the 14th Iowa, and their commands, is due the safety of the army. Had they failed to move into the position assigned them (although a difficult one, that of changing front under fire) with less celerity, or failed to hold it steadily after taking, it our left and rear would have been enveloped by overwhelming numbers, and nothing could have saved us—not even the fighting qualities of the 16th army corp."

The regiment reached Memphis on the 10th of June, from there the command moved to Moscow, and thence to La-Grange in the latter part of June. From this point it marched with Gen. Smith's force on the Tupelo campaign. It reyurned to Memphis, and having encamped thereabout ten days,joined in the Oxford expedition. The next active campaign in which the 32d took part, was in Missouri, in pursuit of Price. It was a campaign of severe marching, but not of battle. The regiment marched at least 650 miles, averaging twenty miles a day. It marched across the State and back again, halting, a few days at St. Louis, it moved to Cairo, by steamer, arriving November 27.

From here it moved to Nashville, which was soon after besieged by the rebel Gen. Hood. In the battleof Nashville, Dec. 15th and 16th, the 32d fighting in Col. Gilbert's brigade was warmly engaged, and won great credit for daring, efficient behavior. It captured a battery of five guns and many prisoners, and lost about twenty-five killed and wounded. With the pursuit of the defeated rebels, closed the campaigning of the regiment for the year 1864, in the face of the enemy.

Early in 1865, the regiment marched to Clifton, Tenn, whence it moved by steamer to Eastport, Miss. Its next and last campaign, was that of Mobile, under Maj. Gen. E. R. S. Canby. It remained in' Alabama sometime after the fall of Mobile, and was mustered out at Clinton, Iowa, Aug. 24, 1865. Returning to Iowa, the 32d Iowa was in due time disbanded, the officers and men receiving every where along the line of their journey, the kind greeting and hearty welcome of a grateful people, whose hearts had been with them through all their hardships.

FOURTH CAVALRY. COMPANY M.: Private: Villeroy Abbey.

SEVENTH CAVALRY. COMPANY F: Trumpeter : Arne Anderson.
COMPANY G: Privates :John G. Enos, William Platt, A. 0. Abbey, Sever M. Johnson, Myron Perkins, Edwin Stevens.
COMPANY M: Corporal: Dwight A. Wadsworth.
Privates: Henry H. Platts, Charles A. Platts, Chester Wright, James Price.
Veterans: D. A. Wadsworth, James Price. H. H. Platts.

THIRD IOWA BATTERY. G. Knudtson Hundeby.

FOURTH MINNESOTA INFANTRY. Perry J. Perkins, C. B. Swain, Ora Perkins.

TENTH KANSAS INFANTRY. Guy R. Butler.

TWELFTH U. S. REGULAR INFANTRY. COMPANY C: John Q. Beadle, B. K. Wadsworth, Frank C. Bigelow, Amos Hill, Hoel Hinman.

FIFTH MINNESOTA INFANTRY. Nicholas Lowthian.

The total number furnished by Worth county shows the truly loyal spirit of the people; with a population in 1860, of only 756, ninety-five of her brave sons repre­sented her in the tented field and in the red front of battle. On account of the scarcity of inhabitants, no attempt was made to raise an independent company, nor were there any large number in any one regiment, with the exception of company B, 32d Iowa Infantry.

Besides these "brave boys in blue," who so nobly represented Worth county in the "tented field," there are many now residents of the county quite prominent in the affairs of the county who, although now citizens of Worth, were then members of some other .organization and residents of other localities. An endeavor has been made to rescue their names from oblivion and to garner them up in imperishable form in the pages of history, as they are so fully identified with the interests of this community. Although all have not been ascertained, the names of the latter are given. The following is the record:

Capt. T. R. Crandall, Co. K, 34th Iowa Inf.
Lieut. A. C. Blackmore, Co. I, 64th N. Y. Inf.
Sergt. M. Nichols, Co. G, 13th U. S .Reg .Inf.
J. P. Scofleld, Co, K, 13th Wis. Inf.
Engel Johnson, Co. B, 15th Wis. Inf.
Capt. Goo. F. Wattson, Co. K, 5th Iowa Inf.
Samuel Trebilcock, Co. A, 95th Ill. Inf.
M. Stackpole, Co. K, 39th Wis. Inf.
Homer Doolittle, Co. H, 49th Wis. Inf.
A. W. Beach, Co.G, 20th Wis. Inf.
W. G. Stott, Co. I,89th N. Y. Inf.
Geo. C. Jefferson, Co. Co. C, 13th U.S.Reg. Inf.
Herman Ellgen, Co. D, 12th Iowa Inf.
Ed .McPherson, Co. K, 33d Wis. Inf.
J. Mitchell, Co.1, 52q Ill. Inf.
T. R. W. Flemming, Co. A, 76th Ill. Inf.
Charles Locke, Co. E.22d Wis. Inf.
A. J. Cole, Co. C, 48th Wis. Inf.
C. F. Merrill, 74th Maine Inf.
H. B Jerome, Co. B, 3d Vt. Inf.
N. C . Overholt, Co. D, 6th Iowa Cav.
William Young, Co. A, 1st Dak. Cav.
O. C. Rowe, Co. K, 8th Ill. Cav.
C.E. Brebner, Co. C, 1st Wis. Cav.
F. B. Peshak, Co. K, 1st. Wis. Cav.
H. M .Beach. Co. M, 1st Wis H. Art.
Sergt. J. W. Smith, Co. M, 1st Wis. H. Art.
John Criming, U.S. Steamer "Avenger."

ROLL OF HONOR.

The following is a list of those who, leaving home and loved ones, laid down their lives upon the altar of their country. "Honored be the grave where patriot warriors sink to rest":

Lieut. Chauncey S. Lane, died Dec. 15, 1862, at New Madrid, Mo.
Peter Cope, died of consumption Dec. 12, 1864.
Columbus Mason, died Jan. 20,1863, at Fort Pillow, Tenn.
Sylvester Levanway, died of pneumonia Ma rch 9, 1864, at Vicksburg, Miss.
James Randall, died July 23, 1864, at Memphis, Tenn.
Lester Place, wounded and captured at Pleasant Hill, La., and died in captivity at Tyler, Tex., Oct. 23, 1864.
Jabez Sumner, killed by guerrillas on the Mississippi river Feb. 13, 1865.
John Crozier, died of wounds July 18, 1864, at Cairo, Ill.; wounded at Pleasant Hill, La., April 9, 1864.
Pederson Axel, taken prisoner at the battle of Chickamauga, Sept. 20,1863, and died in prison January, 1864.
Torger Aslaksen, died in the general hospital at Nashville, Tenn., Nov. 11,1862.
Gulbrand Helgeson, died at Island No. 10, April 30, 1862.
Paul M. Paulson, died in prison at Richmond, Va., March, 1864.
John Johnson, killed at New Hope Church, May 29, 1864.
Terre Lee, died while in service; place and date not given.
Ole T. Berge, died while in service; place and date unknown.
Anthony Carr, died on the steamer D. W. January, Jan. 5, 1865.
John Heiny, died at Vicksburg, Miss., June 14, 1864.
G. W. Swanger, died at Mound City, Ill ., June 22, 1864.
B. K. Wadsworth, reported killed, but time and place unknown.

Transcribed by Gordon Felland, May 6, 2009