The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1862-10-16
Army Cerresnona cnce.
CoRIErn. Miss, Der. 10th, 1856

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in regard to the punishment be is receiv
ing 10 his fight, as We are here 1t i
the general opinion however, that Gen
] Rosecrans will pursue him until he de
stroys bis band Of deludcd traitors. Tn
prisoners we captured say that p,iee am
Vandoren told them that there would b,
no difficulty in taking this place, as thcr
we're only a few yankees and negroes here
and that our artillery had all been takel
to Kentucky and other points. Ant
some of them speak in severe farms 0
their leaders for deceiving ,hemS The,
were told. and truly too, that we had al
abundance OF commissary stores here
Of which they were in great need, for the
stock they captured at Iuka had been US.
ed up, and foraging in this part Of the
country is ''played OUT. They say that
they expected TO take their breakfast 10
Corinth, Friday morning Their failure
is striking illustration of the inconsst,
eney of worldly affairs,
They speak in high terms of the fight
ing qualities of the Iowa troops and dread
TO meet them in deadly combat, but have
not much fear of the yankees They con
tend that the western troops are princ.
cipally made up Of men of the same stock
that they are, consequently the yankees
superior in comeat.
The Iowa troops, without exception.
acquitted themselves Gas they have al.
ways done, nobly. The 18th, in which
| am particularly Interested, charged the
enemy's line, captured rebel flag and
about 800 prisoners on Saturday. Brig.
Gen. Sullivan, having the flag about his
neck, and after the fight, told the rcgi-
ment that they had charged the enemy at
least one hundred and fifty yards further
than any other regiment in the line; that
he would SO inform the Governor of Iowa
when he sent him the reble flag we had
captured, which he intended to do.
Gen. Rosecrans' order, in regard to the
battle of luka. reflects severely on the 18th
Iowa, which every member of the regi-
ment regrets and more particularly than
they would, was it not that they feel con-
scious that they had done their duty as
near as they could under the circumstan-
ces. We went into that engagement UNI
der very unfayorable circumstances that
could be imagined. We was double
luicked for more than a mile, to the field
and was halted in u road running at right
angles with the line Of battle and there
stood at least 10 minutes under q CALLING
fire, the General seeming undecided about
the position we should occupy. About
this time our Major was ordered under
srres. by Gen. Sullivan, which left us
with but one field officer, Col. Rankin,
who was at the right of the regiment and
did not know that the Major was arrested
until next morning, consequently the left
wing of the battalion was without COM
mander when we was ordered to move in
to the position Gen. Sullivan had directed.
The left wing could hear nothing of the
order and was thrown qsArtering across
the road just as some Generals staff and
orderlies land it is said it was Gen. Rose
cram stampeded along the road and thro'
the left wing of our regiment, which en-
tirely disorganized 2 or of our compa-
MES on the left, some men being knocked
down and run over, which was the case
with one man of our company. We form
ed our companies as soon as possible, near
the ground we occupied when broken by
the staff, aud went Into the field as best
we could, with the regiment in this dis
organized condition.
Col. Rankin was soon disabled by be-
ing thrown from his horse, or rather his
horse falling with him; then Capt. Archer
assumed command and soon fell, wound
ed. Capt. Young, of Co. A, had in con-
nection with Capt. Archer assumed COM
mand, and continued in command during
the fight, and with the regiment lay on
the field all night. Notwithstanding all
these difficulties the regiment to man,
nearly, went into the fight and did their
share towards defeating the rebels, but ID
such manner AZ not to receive proper
credit for it. | want no better evidence
to substantiats what / say than the num-
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