The weekly north Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1857-1867, 1864-06-22
McGREG0R IOWA, WEDNESDAY, JUNE %, 1864

without orders. Hurrying back to thu
right found the Oath Missouri had beer
compelled to change its front to receive thu
attack from the right, also that the enemy
was pressing my front with overwhelming
numbers. The ammunition Of of the 14tt
Iowa and Oath Missouri was nearly ex
hausted, Lieut.. Col. Newbold, commanding
14th Iowa, shot dead, his Adjutant mortally
wounded. I therefore considered it neces
sary to give the order to the three regi
ments with which could communicate, tc
fall back, leaving Col. Scott 32d Iowa te
extricate himself as best he could. Owing
to heavy firing and great loss Of officers il,
the l4th Iowa and Gath Missouri l was
compelled to give the order to the men in
person, which, together with the thick
brush, caused a temporary confusion in
their ranks, but they rapidly reformed and
were ready again to meet the enemy
Night had set in and the fighting ceased.
My men fought we'll, holding their ground
till ordered to retire, and although my loss
was three times that Of any other brigade
on the field they were still in such condition
that the commanding General saw fit to
give them the responsible post Of covering
the retreat Of the army, which commenced
at one o'clock the next morning and was
accomplished in safety.
l have to regret the loss of many valua.
bic officers and men, an ong them will
only mention Lieut. Col. Edward II. Mix,
32d Iowa, in whom the State lost valua.
ble citizen and the army good soldier
and Lieut.. Col. Newbold, commanding 14,h
Iowa, Christian, gentleman and brave,
industrious and conscientious officer whose
loss to his regiment is irreparable. I can.
not speak too highly of my regimental
commanders; of Col. John Scott, 32d Iowa.
it is sufficient to say that he is worthy to
command the 32d Iowa Infantry, a regi-
ment which, after having been entirely sur.
rounded and cut off from the rest Of the
command with nearly one:half of their
number either killed or wounded, among
them many of their best and prominent
officers, successfully forced its way through
the enemy's lines and was in line ready
and anxious to meet their enemies in less
than thirty minutes.
OF Col. Gilbert, 9th Iowa and his re-
giment, l can say that they did their whole
duty, although they had never been under
fire before. (Error-We were at Fl. De-
Russy. They gave their fire with the
coolness and procession Of veterans, and
fully sustained the reputation of Iowa sol.
diers. Col. Gilbert although wounded early
in the action remained in command of his
men till the fighting seased. Of Lieut..
Col. Newbold commanding 14th Iowa and
his regiment upon whose Banner were in.
scribed Donelson, Shiloh, seige of Corinth
and Corinth they fully maintained the cre-
dit of name already glorious in the an.
nails Of their country. To Major Lyon,
oath Mo-, with his regiment and detach.
ment of the 2lst Mo. Those heroes who
had learned to fight under old Dave Moore,
cannot give too great praise for the sue
cessful manner in which they defended so
long the important position that was as
signed .hem-a position the most impor-
tant in the whole line and which, had it
been defended less obstinately might have
endangered our whole army.
The long list of killed and wounded,
to nearly 500 shows the desper-
ate valor with Which my men fought. My
men were the first in the fight, the longest
in the fight and in the hardest of the fight
Were the last to leave battle field and were
ready and willing to remain and reap the
fruits of victory which they had so dear
ly purchased. But they were soldiers and
must obey the orders of their superiors
To Capt Granger, Lieut. Berge and Lieut..
Buell. of staff, l return my walmest thanks
for their able assistance during the action.
My warmest gratitude is due to my Order.
Iric nj nd f.>r
his constant presence wherever needed
during the hottest of the action and on the
most exposed positions.
In closing this report have to state that
under Gen. Emery's orders, and
farthcst advanced of any troops in the
field, and skirmishing with the enemy for
six hours before the attack commenced, |
neither saw Gen. Emery nor any of his
staff till the fighting had ceased, nor was
| able to find him although l dispatched
several messengers to him, to report the
Of affairs.
lam, Sir, Respectfully yours,
VT. SHAW,
Col. com. 2 Brig, Sd Div, l6 A. G.
MEMPHIS, Tenn, June 10th, '64.
When last wrote you was complain
ing for want of paper and suitable place
to write, and now that have both you
may think am improving it with ven.
geance, but as do not write for publica-
ton or expect you to write in turn. hope
you will not consider ME too much Of a
bore.
We had but little trouble from Grand
Ecore.t Alexandria, compared with what
we expected. We skirmished nearly all
the way out, only lost about 200 men, our
regiment none. After We reached Alexan.
dria it was found that the River had fallen
so that the gunboats could not get over the
falls, and it was necessary to dam the Riv-
er to raise the water. This employed all
the blacks, some of the blackest and good
many white soldiers about two weeks, and
in the meantime all that could be spared
were sent out to drive the Rebs. back so
that Gen. Banks & Co.. could Jayhawk all
the cotton and sugar that they wanted
We finally got started toward the Mississ.
ippi on the 14th of May, had but little
trouble until we reached Marksville, and
here they gave US bold front. We got
out about 40 cannon and the Rebs. Is or
20 and together they got up some pretty
good thunder for about two hours, but
when the infantry men marched up, the
Rebs. backed off. We lost 5 or 6 killed
and II wounded-the Rebs. took their
dead and wounded with them.
We then moved down to Yellow River,
about 2 miles from the Atchafalaya River,
and while Banks was crossing they pitched