# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/2/9

Start of the "History of Regiments Engaged in the War of the Rebellion" section.
A TYPICAL IOWA SOLDIER
LEVI L. HOAG, COLOR BEARER 24th Iowa Volunteers
FIRST IOWA INFANTRY
FOR two weeks the First Iowa Infantry remained in camp at Keokuk, drilling and preparing for war. On the 13th of June, 1861, on order of General Lyon, the men embarked on the steamer for Hannibal, Missouri, and many of them looked for the last time on the Iowa shores. They were transported by rail to General Lyon’s army at Booneville, where the day before that gallant and energetic officer had defeated and dispersed Governor Jackson’s Rebel army in the first battle fought in Missouri. Here the regiment remained in camp until the 3d of July, an during this time Hiram Price, Paymaster-General from Iowa, made the first payment for services. General Lyon, who now had an army of a little more than 3,000 infantry and one battery of artillery, determined to pursue Governor Jackson’s Rebel army of nearly 7,000 which was retreating toward the southwest. On the morning of July 3d, the pursuit began. The Fourth was intensely hot and as the soldiers marched along the dusty roads, shut in by woods in places, many were overcome with heat and compelled to fall out of the ranks. They had not as yet become inured to long marches beneath the broiling sun. At Grand River Lyon’s army was reinforced by General Sturgis, with tow Kansas regiments, a detachment of regulars and a battery of artillery, 2,800 in all. The army was now marching twenty-five miles a day and becoming more accustomed to soldier’s life. The members of the First Iowa who died on this march, were ​the first of the many thousands of Iowa soldiers who perished in the war for the Union. On the 1st of August General Lyon overtook a force of the enemy under General McCulloch, at Dug Springs, and after a sharp fight defeated it. On the Union side the battle was fought by cavalry and artillery, the First Iowa Infantry acting as skirmishers on the right wing.
BATTLE OF WILSON’S CREEK
BATTLE OF WILSON’S CREEK
EXPLANATIONS
* A. Captain Totten’s Battery.
* B. Dubois’ Battery.
* C. Log House.
* D. Cornfield.
* E. First Iowa Volunteers.
* F. Second Missouri Volunteers.
* G. Second Kansas Volunteers.
* H. First Kansas, First Missouri, and Captain Shaler’s Battalions.
* I. Captain Plummer’s Battalion.
* K. Rebel Batteries Masked.
* L. Colonel Sigel’s Artillery.
* M. Sigel’s Brigade, Third and Fifth Missouri.
* N. Part of Rebel Train.
* O. Concealed Rebel Batteries.
* X. Road through Rebel Camp.
* Y. McCulloch’s Head-Quarters.
* Z. Rians’ Head-Quarters.
BATTLE-FIELD OF WILSON’S CREEK
Three companies of the Iowa regiment, H, I and K, were placed in ambush by General Granger of the regulars. Lying down close to the brow of a hill, they waited for another charge of the enemy. Soon it came in overwhelming numbers. Not a sound was heard among the Iowans until the Rebels were within thirty-five or forty feet, when they poured the contents of their muskets into the enemy, routing him, though suffering heavy loss themselves.
General Lyon now ordered a bayonet charge by the First Iowa and Second Kansas regiments and led it himself. “Come on, brave men,” he exclaimed, and they again charged the enemy, as the gallant Lyon fell mortally wounded.
The command now devolved upon Major Sturgis. For half an hour the combat ceased, while each army was ​preparing for a renewal of the struggle. The remnant of the small Union force still firmly held its ground. Companies form the First Missouri, First Iowa and First Kansas regiments were brought up to the support of Dubois’ Battery, which was assailed by the enemy; falling upon his flank, they poured in a murderous fire, killing or wounding almost the entire Rebel force. This was the last charge made on the Union lines, and the Rebels withdrew to a safe distance, badly shattered and demoralized. The Union army retired to Springfield in good order, its total loss in killed, wounded and missing being 1,235 men. The Rebel loss was probably about the same. The death of General Lyon was a loss to the union cause that can scarcely be overestimated. In his brief career he had developed the rare qualities of great energy, fine military ability, promptness in execution and dauntless courage. At the time of his death, we had few officers in the service so valuable. Nowhere in the long war which followed can be found, in the great list of battles, one in which so small a Union army made so heroic and successful a fight against such superior numbers. The First Iowa lost in killed, wounded and missing, at Wilson’s Creek, one hundred and fifty-five men, and no Iowa regiment during the entire war won greater fame on a battle-field. Three months before all of its members were civilians, and in ninety days they had become soldiers whose achievements were not excelled by veterans of any war. Soon after the battle the army returned to Rolla, and the First Iowa, whose term of service had expired four days after the battle, was sent to St. Louis, where the men were paid and mustered out. They had marched more than six hundred miles during their short term of service, showing endurance and valor unsurpassed. When they returned to Iowa, they were welcomed and honored everywhere. In the short period of three months they had proved, by long marches and heroic courage on the field of battle, that Iowa citizen-soldiers were superior to the boastful, slave-driving “border ruffians” ​of Missouri and Arkansas. They had won glory and renown by brave deeds which should be an inspiration to Iowa soldiers for all time. This pioneer regiment furnished many gallant officers to other regiments as the war progressed.
Of Company A, Captain Marko Cummins became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixth Regiment; Lieutenant Benjamin Beach, a Captain in the Eleventh; Sergeant H. J. Campbell, Major of the Eighteenth, and Private R. B. Baird, Quarter-Master of the Thirty-fifth. From Company B, Lieutenant Harvey Graham became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Twenty-second; and Sergeants C. N. Lee and J. L. Gurkee, captains in the same regiment. Of Company C, Lieutenant W. Pursell became Major of the Sixteenth; Sergeant W. Grant, Captain in the Eleventh, and Corporal A. N. Snyder, Captain in the Thirty-fifth. Of Company D, Captain C. L. Matthies became Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel of the Fifth, and later a Brigadier-General. Of Company E, Lieutenant J. C. Abercrombie became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eleventh; Private W. J. Campbell, Captain in the Fourteenth; Private C. A. Cameron, Captain in the Thirty-ninth; and Private A. Roberts, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Thirtieth. Of Company F, Captain S. M. Wise became Major of the Seventeenth; Lieutenant G. A. Stone, Colonel of the Twenty-fifth; and T. J. Zollars, Captain in the Fourth Cavalry. Of Company G, Captain A. Wentz became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Seventh. Of Company H, Sergeant Charles Schaeffer became Major of the Fifth Cavalry, and a staff officer of General Curtis. Of Company I, Captain F. J. Herron, became Lieutenant-Colonel of the Ninth, and was afterward promoted to Brigadier-General in the Twenty-first; Private D. B. Green, a Captain in the Third Missouri; Private N. E. Duncan, Adjutant of the Twelfth, and Private C. A. Reed, Assistant Surgeon of the Ninth. Of Company K, Sergeant J. H. Stibbs became a Captain and then ​Lieutenant-Colonel of the Twelfth; Sergeant Edward Coulter, a Captain in the Twentieth, and Private G. C. Burmeister, Captain in the Thirty-fifth. From its privates and officers, the First Iowa furnished, as the war progressed, officers of every grade from Second Lieutenant to Major-General.
SECOND IOWA INFANTRY
This regiment was the first from our State to enlist for three years’ service and the first that left the State for the theater of war. Its members volunteered during the first outburst of patriotic enthusiasm that followed the firing on Fort Sumter. It was made up of ten companies, one each from the counties of Lee, Polk, Jefferson, Van Buren, Davis, Washington, Clinton, Wapello and two from Scott.
BATTLE FIELDS OF FORT HENRY AND DONELSON
The year 1861 closed with a general feeling of disappointment and gloom on the part of the loyal people of the country. The defeats at Bull Run and Ball’s Bluff had seemed to paralyze the commanders of the great army gathered about the National Capital. McClellan, from whom much was expected, having an army of nearly 200,000, was cooped up in Washington, with Rebel batteries commanding the Potomac, and not a movement made against them. The army had gone into winter quarters, with Washington virtually besieged by the Army of Virginia.
BATTLE OF FORT DONELSON
General Grant, who was in command at Cairo, could however, fight battles in the winter. Early in February he moved his army of 15,000 to the Tennessee River, and in conjunction with Commander Foote with a fleet of gunboats ascended the river and captured Fort Henry, thus opening the way for the Union army into the heart of Tennessee. Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River, was garrisoned with a Rebel army of 15,000, and was defended by water batteries and heavy guns. Grant marched against it promptly and Commodore Foote coöperated with the fleet of gunboats. The river attack by Commodore Foote on the 14th, failed. The next day General Pillow made a desperate attack upon General Grant’s lines, force McClernand back some distance and captured a battery. Grant reinforced the weakened points, and, at 3 p.m., ordered a general advance, Wallace leading the attack on ​the left and General C. F. Smith on the right. Both were successful and several of the outworks were taken and held. As night came on the weather became intensely cold, and our men held the lines without tents of fires, amid sleet, snow and piercing wind. Hundreds were frost-bitten and some of the wounded were frozen to death. General Grant had been reënforced until his army now numbered about 30,000, and it became evident to General Floyd, commander of the Rebel army, that there was no hope of victory or retreat. Two steamers reached the fort during the night, when Floyd and Pillow, leaving General Buckner in command, loaded the steamers with soldiers, and escaped up the river. The next morning General Buckner surrendered the effort, seventeen heavy siege guns, forty pieces of field artillery, about 15,000 soldiers, and all of the stores and property. General Grant’s losses amount to about 2,000 killed, wounded and missing. This victory, by far the greatest Union victory up to this time, was hailed with rejoicing everywhere. It was the first surrender of a large Rebel army, the first battle that seriously weakened the Rebellion. Iowa had three regiments in this battle—the Second, Seventh and Fourteenth. The Iowa regiments, one of western sharp-shooters, the Twenty-fifth and Fifty-second Indiana, made up the brigade commanded by Colonel J. G. Lauman, of the Seventh Iowa. This was the one selected by General Smith to lead the assault on the left, on the 15th. Colonel Tuttle, with the Second, led the advance.
| GEN. E. W. RICE | GEN. S. A. RICE |
| GEN. J. M. TUTTLE | COL. N. W. MILLS |
GENERAL JAMES B. WEAVER, Candidate for President, 1880 and 1892
* ↑ Field Officers, p. 53.
* ↑ “Iowa and The Rebellion,” L. D. Ingersoll.