# History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/2/20

THE TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY
THIS regiment was recruited from a large number of counties, among which were Polk, Dallas, Story, Wayne, Page, Montgomery, Jasper, Madison, Cass, Marshall and Pottawattamie. The companies went into camp at Des Moines in July and August, 1862. The regiment numbered nine hundred sixty men and was mustered into the service on the 19th of September. The first field officers were: Colonel William Dewy, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Kinsman, Major Samuel L. Glasgow, Adjutant C. O. Dewey. Its first service in the field was in Missouri, where several months were spent on various expeditions, including hard marches, skirmishes, to which were added suffering from hardship and disease. Colonel Dewey died of erysipelas at Patterson, Missouri, on the 30th of November, and was succeeded by Kinsman, who was commissioned colonel on the 1st of December, 1862. The regiment was engaged in the hard march to Iron Mountain in February and soon after was sent down the Mississippi to Milliken’s Bend to join General Grant’s army in the campaign against Vicksburg, being assigned to the First Brigade of the division commanded by General Carr, where it remained drilling until the army marched to encompass the Confederate stronghold. Many of the gunboats and transports having run the batteries at Vicksburg and Grand Gulf, the army was concentrating at Bruinsburg. The Twenty-third joined in the march into the interior and was warmly engaged in the Battle of Port Gibson, where it did good service and lost ​thirty-three men. On the 17th of May, after several defeats, the Confederate army made a last stand on the banks of the Black River, and here was fought
THE BATTLE OF BLACK RIVER BRIDGE
At this point a high bluff rises abruptly from the water’s edge on the west side. On the east approach there is an open level bottom about a mile in width surrounded by a deep muddy bayou, from ten to twenty feet wide. Along the bayou earthworks had been thrown up mounted with artillery and long lines of breastworks manned by infantry. Half a mile in the rear was a line of earthworks, both extending from the river above the bridge to the river below. This was a strong position, skillfully fortified by able engineers.
McClernand advanced to the attack with Carr’s Division on the right and Osterhaus on the left; General Lawler commanding the brigade in which was the Twenty-third Iowa on the extreme right of line. Several hours were occupied in skirmishing when Lawler’s Brigade was moved under cover of the river bank, from which he ordered an assault of the enemy’s works. The troops charged across the level bottom land, through the bayou, under a terrible fire from the Confederate earthworks, which covered the ground with the slain; but closing up the gaps they pressed on over the breastworks and captured eighteen pieces of artillery and 1,500 prisoners. Those of the enemy who escaped set fire to the bridge across the river to check pursuit. In this brilliant charge three hundred seventy-three brave men fell, most of whom belonged to the Twenty-first and Twenty-third Iowa regiments. Colonel Kinsman while leading this command was shot by two balls which passed through his body and he fell from his horse dead. Many of his officers and men were slain or mortally wounded, carrying great grief to scores of Iowa homes.
GENERAL ED. WRIGHT
THE TWENTY-FOURTH IOWA INFANTRY
Soon after the President’s call for 300,000 volunteers of July 2, 1862, Governor Kirkwood authorized Eber C. Byam, of Linn County, to raise a regiment. Three companies were accepted from Linn County, two from Cedar, two from Jackson, one from Johnson, one from Tama and one from Jones, making in all nine hundred fifty men. E. C. Byam was appointed colonel; J. Q. Wilds, lieutenant-colonel; Ed. Wright, major; and C. L. Byam, adjutant. The regiment went into camp at Muscatine in August, 1862, and on the 18th of September was mustered into service of the United States. On the 20th of October it was embarked on a steamer, reaching Helena, Arkansas, on the 28th, where camp was made on the bank of the Mississippi River. This proved to be an unhealthy locality and soon more than one hundred men were prostrated by sickness. The regiment remained here most of the winter, from time to time engaged in hard marches and fruitless expeditions. On January 11th the regiment embarked on the White River expedition, under General Gorman, and endured almost unparalleled hardships and sufferings, ​which cost the lives and health of hundreds of those who composed that unfortunate army.
Upon the return to Helena the old camp and city were found to be inundated and a new encampment had to be prepared on a range of hills. When the floods subsided, mud almost unfathomable prevailed everywhere. A rainy winter came on, in which drilling was almost impossible, and long dreary hours and days were passed by the men cooped up in the cheerless quarters with nothing to relieve the depressing monotony. The hospitals were crowded with the sick and a feeling of hopeless despondency settled down upon the army. Late in February, General Washburn’s expedition started from Helena to open the Yazoo Pass, and this aroused the army from the lethargy that had prevailed, and gave hope of active service in the field. General Fisk’s Brigade went with the expedition, and from this time forward our regiment had daily drill and frequent dress parade. Under the instruction of Lieutenant-Colonel Wilds, now in command of the Twenty-fourth, the regiment was becoming distinguished for its fine discipline and general efficiency. When the army was reorganized in the spring for the Vicksburg campaign, the Twenty-fourth was attached to the Thirteenth Corps under General McClernand, Hovey’s Division. During the three months the regiment had been in camp at Helena, fifty members had died and many were in the hospitals. Of nine hundred fifty men who left their Iowa homes in October but little more than six hundred could be mustered in the ranks on the 11th of April when the fleet attempted to open the way to Vicksburg. The Twenty-fourth supported artillery at the Battle of Fort Gibson and was here first under fire. Not a man flinched and but six men were lost. It was at the
BATTLE OF CHAMPION’S HILL
fought on the 16th of May, that this regiment made its great sacrifice and won undying fame. General Grant ​had already won three battles since his army started to capture Vicksburg and General Pemberton determined now to move out of his stronghold and strike the Union army a crushing blow in the rear while General Johnston was engaging it in front. His plan was a good one, and if successful Grant’s army would have been caught between the two Confederate armies and cut to pieces or captured. But Pemberto had a master in the art of war to deal with. Instead of being caught in the trap so skillfully laid, Grant had sent McPherson and Sherman two days before to fall upon Johnston’s army at Jackson, while he faced about the main body of his army to meet Pemberton, ordering the detached division to concentrate near Bolton. Grant learned that Pemberton was approaching with an army of 25,000 and ten batteries of artillery, and at once directed Sherman to move with all possible speed to join the main army at Bolton. Pemberton had taken a strong position on a ridge which was protected by precipitous hillsides covered with dense forests and undergrowth. His left rested on a height owned by Colonel Champion, which gave the battle-field its name—Champion’s Hill. McClernand was slow in reaching the ground and the battle was fought mainly by the divisions of Hovey, Logan and Crocker. Hovey moved on the main road until he came within sight of the enemy in his strong position. Deploying his division into line he attacked the whole front of the Confederate army with great impetuosity and for more than an hour the battle raged with great fury at this point. Charge after charge was made on the Confederate lines with varying success. At one time the Twenty-fourth Iowa, unsupported, made a desperate charge on a battery that was pouring a destructive fire into our ranks, and captured it. Carried away with the enthusiasm of their brilliant achievement the men rushed on with shouts of victory until checked by a terrible fire of musketry from greatly superior numbers. In this charge Major Ed Wright was wounded, ​Captains Silas Johnson and William Carbee and Lieutenants Chauncy Lawrence were killed and Lieutenants J. C. Gue, S. J. McKinley and J. W. Strong severely wounded. Hovey held his position for more than an hour and a half amid a most terrific fire of musketry when his lines were forced back by overwhelming numbers. Fortunately at this juncture he was reënforced by Crocker’s Division and, again returning to the attack, the combined forces finally, by severe fighting, broke the enemy’s lines, reënforced by Logan, the enemy retreating in great confusion down the Vicksburg road, artillery and many prisoners falling into our hands.
The enemy was now driven from every position, beaten and in full retreat, but our losses had been very heavy in this by far the greatest battle of the campaign. The killed, wounded and missing in our army were 2,457, of which Hovey’s Division lost more than 1,200. The Confederate army lost more than 2,000 prisoners, twenty pieces of artillery and General Tilgham killed. Of the Iowa regiments engaged in this battle the Fifth, Tenth, Seventeenth, Twenty-fourth and Twenty-eighth were in the thickest of the fight and were particularly distinguished for their bravery. The Twenty-fourth lost one hundred ninety-five men, of which forty-three were killed and forty mortally wounded. The regiment bore a prominent part in the siege and capture of Vicksburg, and few suffered more or accomplished more in bringing about that great victory. The Twenty-fourth joined General Sherman’s army and participated in his campaign through central Mississippi, after which it was transferred to the Department of the Gulf. In October and November it was with General Franklin’s expedition to Opelousas. Upon its return while camped at Carencro Bayou Captain J. C. Gue was killed by a band of Texas Rangers. The regiment was in the battle near that camp, where General Burbridge was attacked on the 3d of November. During the winter months of 1864 the ​Twenty-fourth was in camp near New Orleans until in March, when it joined General Banks’ army and was in his disastrous Red River expedition. The army, accompanied by an immense baggage train, was strung out in a long straggling line of many miles, as it made its way along the various roads through a dense pine forest. On the 8th of April at Sabine Cross Roads, near Mansfield, the advance cavalry came upon the Confederate army drawn up in order of battle across our line of march. The cavalry was soon routed and fled back upon the infantry in great confusion. One at a time the divisions of the Thirteenth Corps were sent into action and fought bravely to check the advancing foe, but each in turn was defeated. The Nineteenth Corps made a strong fight to recover the fortunes of the day but was overwhelmed by superior numbers, and the whole army was soon in retreat closely followed by the victorious Confederates, who were sending death and destruction into the disordered, fleeing mass of men and horses. But one-half of the Twenty-fourth Iowa was engaged in this battle, as five companies were in the rear guarding the trains. The part of the regiment engaged and the division to which it belonged fought bravely for an hour, but was finally compelled to retreat with heavy loss. Captain W. C. Dimmitt was mortally wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy, where he died. Dr. Witherwax, surgeon of the regiment, with his assistant, Dr. Lyons, were made prisoners while caring for the wounded. During the retreat the Twenty-fourth was frequently engaged in skirmishes with the enemy, in one of which Captain B. G. Paul was killed. At Alexandria Lieutenant-Colonel Wilds joined the regiment after some week’s absence in the recruiting service. Colonel Byam had resigned soon after the Battle of Champion’s Hill.
On the 22d of July the regiment began its long voyage by river, gulf and ocean to Alexandria, Virginia, arriving on the 30th. It was soon sent to join General Sheridan’s army in the Shenandoah Valley, and participated in the ​Battle of Winchester, where it won especial distinction. When the fortunes of the day seemed to be going against the Union army, after the Nineteenth Corps and a part of the Sixth had been overwhelmed and thrown into a disorderly retreat, the Confederates advanced steadily with yells of triumph and a constant roll of murderous musketry. It was the bloodiest, darkest and most dramatic moment of the day. Through the midst of hopeless confusion, when all seemed lost, Captain William T. Rigby of the Twenty-fourth Iowa was observed leading a sergeant and twelve men, all marching in perfect order toward the assigned rallying point. “Captain, you are not going to retreat any further, I hope?” said Bradbury, of the first Maine Battery. “Certainly not,” said Rigby. “Halt! Front! Three cheers!” and the little band cheered loudly. It was the first note of defiance that broke the desperate monotony of the panic; it gave heart to every one who heard it and made an end of retreat on that part of the field. In a few moments a battalion of men from a dozen regiments had rallied around the brave little band, supporting Captain Bradbury, who had opened with two guns of his battery on the advancing enemy. Inspired by the sight, soldiers rallied by the hundreds, our shattered lines were reformed and the disorderly retreat ended. A heavy fire of musketry was now poured into the ranks of the exultant Confederates, which compelled them to halt. Regiment after regiment of Union soldiers was hastily reformed; our second line advanced and gained the lost ground amid terrible slaughter. All along the lines our men had rallied and the order was given to charge. With loud shouts of defiance the soldiers rushed to the attack, and the tide of battle was turned. The enemy gave way before the impetuous charge; the lines were broken by the terrible onset, and the whole Confederate army melted into a routed, disorganized mass of fleeing men, sent whirling up the valley pursued by Crook’s cavalry. Three thousand prisoners ​and five guns were captured. Our loss in killed and wounded was about 3,000. The Twenty-fourth did as good service as any regiment on the field and none contributed more to stay the panic early in the day and turn that disaster into a sweeping victory. It lost seventy-four men, only three of whom were captured. Among the killed were Captain J. R. Gould and Lieutenant S. S. Dillman, while Adjutant D. W. Camp and Lieutenants Edgington and Williams were wounded. Immediately after the battle General Early rallied his retreating army at Fisher’s Hill, a strong position just beyond Strasburg, his line extending across the valley, while his right and left rested on mountains. On the 22d, General Sheridan drew up his men in line of battle before the Confederate army and made his preparations for attack. It was a short but brilliant action as the Union army moved to the assault and swept everything before it. One thousand two hundred prisoners and sixteen cannon were captured. The Twenty-fourth went into battle in support of a Maine battery and took part in the final charge on the enemy’s lines, joining in the pursuit during which Captain McKinley was severely wounded.
LT.-COL. LEANDER CLARK
The regiments remained in Virginia until early in January, 1865, when it was sent to Savannah, Georgia, where it remained two months, afterward doing duty in North Carolina and various part of Georgia. It was mustered out of the service on the 17th of July, 1865, at Savannah. During the term of service one colonel and six of its captains were killed, and the regiment participated in nine of the great battles of the war. No State ever contributed a better regiment to the Union army.