CHAPTER V.
ANTE-WAR AND WAR PERIODS (CONT'D).
Company I, of the Twenty-third Regiment, was composed entirely of Cass county men. The regiment was in command of William Dewey, of Fremont county, and when mustered into the service at Des Moines, on the 10th of September, 1862, Company I was composed of the following: Captain, James R. Coe; first lieutenant, Newton M. Whited; second lieutenant, John C. Brown; first sergeant, John J. Van Houten; second sergeant, Edward P. Mills; third sergeant, Joseph G. Warnock; fourth sergeant, Harvey Ingsbe; fifth sergeant, Nehemiah C. Moffitt; first corporal, Hudson Reynolds; second corporal, James Saint; third corporal, Merriman Carlton; fourth corporal, John C. McMillen; fifth corporal, Samuel B. Stewart; sixth corporal, William S. Everett; seventh corporal, Henry
Bishop; eighth corporal, Milton H. Stanton; musicians, Edward C. Mills and Rufus L. Peaslee; wagoner, Stephen T. Campbell; privates--Calvin Bradshaw (son of Jeremiah), Jacob H. Balswin [?possibly sic Baldwin], Ebenezer Cummings, William I. Cocklin, John Collins, Warren L. Dean, William Denny, Ebenezer Friel, Francis R. Howard, Richard Haworth, Allen E. Hawkins, Rufus P. Irwin, Augustus Just, William Kennard, Joshua M. Kear, Alfred Leak, Burr Mosier, William McCormick, Augustus McClintock; Joseph Northgraves, Granville Pierson, Samuel Place, William H. Smith, Frederick A. Seamon, Harrison Stevens, Daniel O. Toothaker, Francis C. Wilson, William L. Whistler, Richard Worth, James A. Trent, James W. Bond, David Duckett, Simeon Field, Lyman J. Jardine, Martin Obrecht, Daniel S. Parker, James F. Smith, William R. Ferry Garralenus Burris, Peter Cocklin, William Collet, William S. Chapman, Lorenzo Decker, Hiram A. Disbrow, John Emmons, James M. Gill, Gerhard A. Hebing, David Heckathorn, John W. Haag, William Jarvis, William F. Judd, Jacob Ketner, Merritt Littlefield, Edwin Lowe, Joseph McConnell, Allen J. McCarty, Pierce Maher, Jacob Neth, Daniel W. Porter, James Roberts, David Stype, Horace H. Smith, William S. Torrence, John W. Tunnell, John Wilson, Wooster J. Woodward, Newton L. Mills, Hezekiah Baughman, Stephen T. Campbell, Jesse Casteel, Isaiah Duckett, George W. Hardy, John Mathew, William W. Pike, William A. Pugg and Milton H. Stanton.
The Twenty-third was ordered to Missouri and its main field of operations, during the war, was in Mississippi and Louisiana. Soon after the regiment reached the State first named, Captain Coe, of Company I., resigned on account of ill health and was succeeded by John C. Brown, the second lieutenant. The latter was killed, while bravely leading his men at Milliken's Bend, on June 7, 1863, and was succeeded by John J. Van Houten, who went out as first sergeant.
Captain Van Houten was a printer by trade, set the first type in Cass county and was foreman of the "Cass County Gazette" from January, 1861, until the time of his enlistment, August 1, 1862. He proved a brave, faithful and capable soldier, and remained in the service until August 16, 1865. During the later years of his life he was engaged in mercantile pursuits. He died in October, 1884, and was buried at his old home in Des Moines.
The first important engagement with which the Twenty-third was identified was the bloody battle on Anderson's Hill, on May 1, 1863, while the Fourteenth Division was on its march to Port Gibson, as a preliminary step toward the siege of Vicksburg. It was a portion of the Second Brigade and then under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Glasgow; the entire brigade, which was in the advance, was commanded by Colonel W. M. Stone, afterward Governor of Iowa.
Four companies of the Twenty-first Iowa and one howitzer from Captain Griffith's battery were sent forward as an advance guard. Two of the companies were deployed as skirmishers and two supported the howitzers. The balance of the brigade moved in column, in supporting distance behind. The road over which it passed was through a country much broken by gorges and ravines and thickly covered with tall timber, underbrush and cane. About three quarters of a mile from Magnolia Church the skirmishers were engaged by the Confederate pickets, and in front of the church the advance was met with a tremendous volley of musketry and a storm of shells from a Confederate battery. The infantry was formed in line, the two batteries of the Union brigade engaged the enemy in a hot duel, and then (at 2 o'clock in the morning), by mutual consent, the firing on both sides ceased and the men rested on their arms to await the bloody engagement between the infantry, which both contestants knew must come on the morrow.
Soon after sunrise the battle was renewed by the Confederates, who had held on their chosen positions during the night. Their batteries opened with great vigor and their infantry moved briskly forward to the attack. The entire division of the Union forces was now on the ground to meet the assault, with the Second Brigade in the center of the line, and soon the engagement became general. Colonel Stone, its commander, was ordered by General E. A. Carr, the division commander, to hold his infantry in readiness to charge the enemy's lines when the decisive moment should arrive, although they were then in fair range of the Confederate artillery and musketry.
About ten o'clock it became evident that the enemy were massing their forces upon its immediate front, and Coloned [sic Colonel] Stone moved his brigade forward for the ordered charge. It was compelled to cross a deep hollow, both slopes thickly covered with underbrush and cane, but the men moved forward with the spirit and steadiness of veterans and with unbroken lines. When the thicket was passed and they advanced into the open field, close to the enemy's lines, they opened fire with such rapidity and precision that the Confederates broke and retreated in confusion.
This ended the battle of the morning and the Union victory was complete. The dead and wounded of the enemy lay thickly on the ground, while the prisoners and small arms which fell into the hands of the Second Brigade were numbered by the hundreds. But the troops remained only for a few minutes upon the victorious battle-field, starting immediately in pursuit.
When about a mile from the late field of battle the Twenty-third Iowa, which was the advance regiment, was fired upon from the timber, where the enemy, which had been strongly reinforced, was determined to make another stand. The position was well chosen, being on a high hill commanding the entire ground over which the Union division would be compelled to pass.
The Second Brigade was soon in line and its artillery opened fire with its accustomed spirit. Simultaneously the rebel batteries opened with vigor and accurate range, and for about half an hour Colonel Stone's troops sustained alone the concentrated fire of the enemy's artillery and infantry. Finally other brigades and batteries became engaged, and the battle raged with terrific fury along the entire line. But his brigade remained in front during the whole of the engagement, under the hottest of the fire, and retired only after the enemy had left the field, having endured five hours of some of the fiercest fighting of the war with heroic bravery and fortitude. Among those of the Twenty-third who were wounded in this engagement were Francis R. Howard, Peter Cocklin and Jacob Neth, of Company I.
In the same month the Twenty-third Iowa achieved immortal honors at the battle of Black River Bridge, of which they were the acknowledged heroes. At that place but a few minutes were occupied in the assault and carrying of the Confederate works, but the resistance was so stubborn that although the regiment carried them by storm, it was only at fearful loss. They were supported and assisted by the Twenty-first Iowa, and after the fight General Lawler passed down the lines and shook each man by the hand. According to Horace Greeley, General Grant called it one of the most brilliant and daring achievements of the campaign.
In all the other engagements which preceded the fall of Vicksburg the Twenty-third was prominent. On the 7th of June, about a month before the city capitulated, 120 of its men were surprised by a Confederate force and over 30 were either killed or wounded. The scene of the ambuscade was at Milliken's Bend, and among the killed was the lamented captain of Company I, James C. Brown. After the fall of Vicksburg the regiment participated in the engagements at Jackson, Fort Esperenza, and Spanish Fort, and was mustered out of the service at Harrisburg, Texas, on the 26th of July, 1865.
Most of the brave sons of Cass county shared the hardships and the honors of the Civil War with the Fourth and the Twenty-third Iowa Infantry regiments, as has been seen by the forgoing accounts. In addition to scattering representations in other regiments, already mentioned, Harvey R. Hitchcock joined Company B, Thirty-ninth Infantry; James C. Gleason, Company B, Forty-sixth Infantry; Japhet Ball, Company B, First Cavalry; David G. Wooster and Henry K. Macomber, Company B, and Alexander Umpherson, Company D, Second Cavalry; Harrison M. Catlin, Company F, and Francis M. Ammon, Company I, Fourth Cavalry; Henry Tice and Henry Adams, Company D, Fifth Cavalry; Walter B. Temple, Company M. Ninth Cavalry; Solomon Longshore, First Battery, Light Artillery, and Lewis H. Frost (second corporal) and James M. Garret (third corporal), Company F, First Nebraska Cavalry.
"Compendium and History of Cass County, Iowa." Chicago: Henry and Taylor & Co., 1906, pp. 82-84.
Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, August, 2018.
