The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington [Iowa]) 1860-1876, 1862-03-01


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p,,v.,. r..se.v 49,. ~ s.a..a rrasr. Ell
DE IN Rvs. 81
a. -. Crrurrna Arm Rrvna,
Mr. noI.. Tsrr. ~. i'll
NJ rls.r rxSsU - exnect you "a inaefne
Am dssd by fhI6 tine II skank God n
h.,e ~. and with bus siiehs iujurie2 We left |
Fart Henry on the lath Of February, marched
IN dsv and encamped thrse-fourths Of mile |
from thia fort-eo near that W dare mot make
a.,.. ars. "a, fssr ~ Aravine' rAells from the
snes,v va vsre m brisSt ind early on the /
no,n;n, ~ The isth' rot oar breakfast Of hard
c..cLsrs and MAR and awaited orders About
q oscioct !. -. 81 dyev up in battle line. load.
al M rifes aed IN few moments wers march
-oooas md over IN deepest ravines, We were
Mai and nui over de brow Of the hill In front
~ ths enemv,s entrenchments. This pa:t Of
their tart Il situated on the top Of high hill,
lin h;ch entrenchmente and ride pits thrown
=. .,i ,round. n front Of this eutrenchment u
= m;.ershie staen hin. on the hide Of which was
f.ii.n timber verv chen. AZ the bottom was Z
...;ns .rd than came Another hlll. thlckly grown
vith timser. On the tor Of ehis was whore our
reoiment Was drawn up-we on The right, the
ahIh Indiana on our Left. and The 7th Indiana on
the extreme len Of then.
just previous 70 our moving, Col Lasman, Of
the 7th Iowa, senior Colonel commanding our
brigade, detailed me % one Of bis aids. bat a.
loved me the privilege Of being with my regi.
ment-ss much % possible, q Col. Shaw and
myself were the only officers commanding the r..
eiment Our Lieut.. Col. vas member Of the
court martial at ST Louis and could mot Be re.
leased. Major Leonard Wss sick as the time OF
the fight aud could not 20, consequently the
Colonel and myself we're the only mounted men
in the regiment
The Colonel gave me the command Of the les
wing Of the battalion, and was behind tnss part
of the regiment when We moved down tne NIL.
We had not got down IN the ravine before tine
enemy fred at our Colonel ana myself. Tney
had thrown out their snarp,snoosers = skiInisn
ers, and they were DID Denlna isheh trees 10 our
advance. From TINS conceslmees tney nrea =
us-one pa! coming 10 near my isce e 20 MAKE
me gracefully nod my heaa.
We continued our march, ana IN gong up tns1
bill over little point our regimens was tecelv-
ed with grape, smell cannisser pau aug mu M.
~. sacn . nre soid,ets se'oom enco3n.e lucy
had three concealed oat1eries, Wnlcn tnsy open.
ed ON US ana al tneir men were concssiou' not
one could We see during tue nre-oniy a. sney
popped their heads over the DreassWofH. ana
then woe 70 tnem ior We shos eveFy "sn W
saw. During the hrst charge the regiment di-
rected the right wing gong 90 the rignt, 70 save
themselves behind portion OF the nnL Inc
left wing under my command, instead OF giving
way, went on until told them 20 SAVE tnem
selves behind trees. which tney did ~ laying
close to the ground. ABOUT TINS tune spent
ball struck my horse, knocking MIN doWn ana
me with rim. jumped up ana foiowe0 the
boys until the fire became Internationally warm
l sat down behind tree, for every man In the
regiment had to do this to save himself, but not
man retreated. They seemed 70 nave spotted
every officer in the regiment, Tor their shalp'
shooters played on us unmarcilully. could get
in no position to evade the range OF some OF
their rifles. will venture that NIFTY shots
were fired within one foot Of my head; one pass
Ing through my hair on the back OF my head.
The whole regiment was under this Calling ire
for three hours, but BY laying close TO the ground
we saved ourselves, a. they could not get the
range Of their guns low enough. We bad two
men killed instantly and fell wounded. The
sharp shooters on our side then commenced
work, and silenced every battery we were OK.
posed to, thus leaving as an opportunity to get
the regiment out Of the fire, and form in the hol
| low or ravine below, where We were secure from
| their shots in this position.
We remained until after dark, when the order
| was given to cautiously move to our quarters Of
the night before. The 26th Indiana, on our
left, were obliged to quail az we did. part
Of their regiment moved up the hill little fur
Their than we, but suddenly the enomy from be.
hind the entertainments. opened FIRE on them,
and they had to run for dear life. In their re-
treat to the bottom of the HILL it seemed as
though two.thirds Of their men fell; but only IA
we're killed, and 80 wounded. They unneces-
sarily exposed themselves, and suffered the con-
sequences. The Iowa 7th, in this action, was
cautious to lay low; it lost only one man that
day, and he was in our regiment, or where we
were. It is equally as brave as any regiment
vet. The bitter experience at Belmont taught
them to move cautiously must say, Colonel
Lauman is a brave man, yet think our Colonel
is the bravest man ever saw. He was az cool
as human could be, never manifesting either
fear or excitement He remained on his horse
during the whole engagement, and sat there
/ with his legs thrown across the saddle, LADY
style was not frightened, until they seemed
to direct their shots particularly at me, and then
| / felt as though mere chance would effect ms
escape. All the boys yelled and begged of me
to moye to save myself, and needed their id
vice as soon as could. On Friday, the day
following, we did little but to skirmish and pick
the rebels off where we could. We slept on
our arms at night, out in the woods The
greatest hardship ever endured in my life, OF
ever expect to, realized this trip. We lived
on hard crackers and water, and slept on the
ground with only light blanket One night II
rained till IL o'clock, and then showed until
morning. l slept on the damp ground With my
little blanket over me, and in the morning every
particle of clothing was frozen hard. thawed
myself out by large camp fire in the morning
On Saturday the fight became general The
gunbosts had done all they could, so the only
thing left for us was to take the fertilization at
the point of the bayonet. The Iowa Second
made the first charge, supported by the lows
7th and l4th, alao the Indiana 26th. We
marched up the hill in Is heavy FIRE % could be,
and men fell on every SIDE Capt Slaymaker,
stumbled over his body. We took the eras en-.
trenchment, and held the second in spite of the
Ere. We laid upder their entrenchments ali
NIGHT. in mud that froze ma in tight. On sundsv
morning the rehels formed In hattie line on their
entrenchmepts without their arms. under the
| white Asp. They Surrendered unconditionallv.
and the order came for the Second Iowa to march
| made the entertainments frat followed hv he
18th iowa and then on tho 7th. Wa took the
| for, and morched in frat Onr. waa the Am