# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/2/14

CHAPTER XIV
ELEVENTH IOWA INFANTRY
TWELFTH IOWA INFANTRY
The companies composing this regiment were made up largely of men enlisted in the following counties: Dubuque, Jackson, Delaware, Black Hawk, Hardin, Fayette, Winneshiek, Allamakee and Linn. They went into camp at Dubuque during the months of October and November, 1861. When mustered into service in November the regiment numbered nine hundred and twenty-six men. The first field and staff officers were: J. J. Woods, colonel; J. P. Coulter, lieutenant-colonel; S. D. Brodtbeck, major; N. E. Duncan, adjutant; J. B. Dorr, quartermaster; C. C. Parker, surgeon; and A. G. Eberhart, chaplain. The regiment was sent to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, soon after its organization, and during two months’ stay suffered severely from sickness—measles and pneumonia prostrating nearly half the members, seventy-five of them dying while there. Among the dead was Captain Charles Tupper, of Company G, an officer of great promise. In February the regiment joined the army of General Grant, then starting on the campaign up the Tennessee River, and witnessed the capture of Fort Henry on the 6th, and on the 12th of February moved with the army against Fort Donelson. The regiment was in Colonel Cook’s Brigade of Smith’s Division, and did excellent service in the severe engagements that resulted in the brilliant victory. This was their first battle, and the officers and men sustained the high reputation already won by Iowa soldiers. Soon after the battle the Twelfth was sent by steamer, with the army, to Pittsburg Landing. While lying here Major Brodtbeck resigned on account of ill health, and Captain Edgington, of Company A, was promoted to the place. In the great battle of Shiloh, which opened early on the morning of April 6th, the Twelfth was in General W. L. Wallace’s Division and in the brigade commanded by Colonel Tuttle. This brigade consisted of the Second, Seventh, Twelfth and Fourteenth Iowa ​regiments, and no troops on the field fought with more stern determination. As the commands of Sherman and Prentiss were gradually driven from their positions they fell back to the line held by Hurlbut and Wallace. Here a terrific conflict ensued. In overwhelming numbers the Confederates charge again and again upon our lines and were met with continuous fire of musketry and artillery that has seldom been surpassed. So stubborn was the resistance that General A. S. Johnston, commander of the Confederate army, finding column after column driven back with shattered ranks, at last led another charge in person and in it fell mortally wounded. This part of the field has been appropriately named the “Hornet’s Nest,” to designate the spot where, for hours, the hottest fight of that bloody conflict raged. General Wallace was mortally wounded; Prentiss and most of his command were surrounded and captured after five hours of heroic fighting. Woods says in his report:
THE BATTLE FIELD OF SHILOH
About one hundred and fifty members of the Twelfth, who were not in the Battle of Shiloh, escaped capture and were organized into the Union Brigade under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Coulter. The paroled men were exchanged in January, 1863, and returned to duty. Lieutenant-Colonel Coulter resigned in March and was succeeded by Major Edgington, and Captain J. H. Stibbs, of Company D, was promoted to major. The regiment served under Sherman in the Jackson campaign and participated in the siege and capture of Vicksburg. After the fall of Vicksburg the Twelfth marched with Sherman’s army against Johnston. In the latter part of July the regiment went into camp at Bear Creek, fifteen miles east of Vicksburg, where it remained until October. Here Lieutenant-Colonel Edgington resigned and Major Stibbs assumed command of the regiment, as Colonel Woods was in command of a brigade. Captain Van Duzee, of Company I, was promoted to major. About the middle of November the regiment joined the command of General Hurlbut and was soon after placed in charge of Chewalla, and remained there until the close of January, 1864. Its services here were arduous in guarding railroads against numerous bands of guerrillas. In January a large portion of the regiment reënlisted as veterans. In March, 1864, the veterans of the regiment visited their homes on furlough, returning toward the last of April. The regiment was sent to Memphis and was engaged in guarding lines of railroad. On the 13th, 14th and 15th of July it was engaged in fights with the enemy in the vicinity of Tupelo. On the 12th, while guarding a train, it was attacked by a Confederate brigade, and after a desperate conflict defeated ​the enemy. On the 17th the Battle of Tupelo was fought, in which the Twelfth did excellent service. It was stationed behind a barricade constructed along an old fence, where it was repeatedly assailed by the enemy’s columns; but for two hours it poured in a heavy fire, repelling the enemy’s charges. Late in the day it joined several other regiments in a charge on the Confederates, which drove them from the field.
On the next day the regiment was assigned a position on the Pontotoc road, protected by a breastwork of cotton bales, where it took an active part in the battle. Its loss during the three days was nine killed and fifty-five wounded. Lieutenant A. A. Burdick, a gallant young officer, was among the killed, and Captain C. L. Sumbardo was severely wounded. In August it was stationed at Holly Springs, where Lieutenant-Colonel Stibbs was placed in command. Companies A and F, under command of Captain Hunter, were stationed at a post near the mouth of the White River, where they built a stockade. The little garrison, consisting of less than fifty men, was, on the night of June 4th, attacked by nearly four hundred Confederates. A desperate fight ensued, in which the little band fought with unsurpassed heroism against overwhelming numbers. At one time a number of the enemy entered the stockade, but was met by Sergeant Isaac Cottle and Corporal George D. Hunter with revolvers, who attacked them with such fury that they fled. The two brave men were, however, fatally wounded in the heroic encounter which saved the post from capture. After losing fifty men, including their leader, the Confederates were defeated, and retired leaving their wounded on the field. Early in September the Twelfth, under General Mower, embarked on a steamer with the army for White River. Landing at Duval’s Bluff the army started in pursuit of General Price, who was retreating toward Cape Girardeau. For nineteen days the men marched through rain, mud, swamps and rivers on short rations. On the 6th of October the army ​embarked for St. Louis, where a supply of clothing was procured and a fresh start made to join General A. J. Smith’s army in pursuit of Price. They followed the Confederate army to the Kansas line, but were not able to overtake it. On the 30th the army turned back and ended one of the hardest marches of the year, reaching St. Louis on the 15th of November. On the 22d, Colonel Woods left the service, his term having expired. The non-veterans were also here mustered out and the regiment was reduced to about two hundred men present for duty. The next service was under General Thomas in his Nashville campaign, where the Twelfth fought with its usual gallantry. In January, 1865, it was at Eastport, Mississippi, under command of Major Knee, who had been promoted from Captain of Company H. In February it joined General Canby in his expedition against Mobile, and did good service in that brilliant campaign. It continued in the service doing garrison duty until January, 1866, when finally it was mustered out at Louisville, Kentucky, on the 20th. Lieutenant-Colonel Stibbs had been promoted to colonel and Brevet Brigadier-General before being mustered out of the service.