Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-03-13
General Rufus r. Dawes. Entertain
ingly Tells of His Experiences
With the Iron Brigade.
The Clarion Voice of W. s. Hancock
and His Emphatic Manner Of
Giving Orders.
Terrible Suspense Of Dawes Lady
Love Through d Surgeons
Blunder.

Gated in Ohio, hpt was in Wisconsin whe
President Lincoln's Grst call for troops W:
| issued. General Dawes. then G.t twent,
two, a student in the university, recruit {
a company III juneau county, and W.
commissioned its captain. 1t was muster
ed as Company h, of the sixth Wisconsi
infantry. Many of its members were hal
ly raftsmen from the pineries, not holida
soldiers in appearance, but IN later day
did their full share, and far more, at tn
front
The material in General Dawes book
largely from the letters he wrote hom
during the war and from documents ne az
cEmuiated at that time. 1t Is thus. in III
main. d contemporary account, with ammo
tations based on q vide knowledge of tn
histories of the great struggle. Amoni
these, in its field. the volume is one o
the best. 1t is a vigorous, clear and live
ly narrative.
The advent Of the company in camp a
Madison. Wis, was in the presen Of tw'
thousand soldiers. some of whom wer
highly drilled. My company, say
General Dawes, had had practically nj
drill The men stun lied along ii tWt
ranks. kicking each others heels as they
gazed at the novel and imposing spectacle
| before them A few wore broadclotl
and silk hats, more the red shirts Of the
raftsmen, several were in country home
| spun. one mad on a calico coat and another
as looking through a hole in the droCr
ing brim of a straw nat, ! remember
also, that there were several or tlCsP ugly
white caps with long eapes, called Have
| locks" The men carried every variety Of
valise, and every species Of bundle, down
| to one shirt tied up In red handkerchief
The maneuvers and The yelling of the Zou'
ayeS, who engaged in one of their peculiar
| drills, increased the distraction of my
men, and they marched worse than before.
| However, we got into line in front OF
| headquarters and were briefly congratu-
| lated upon our arrival, in a few pertinent
| remarks by Colonel !!ysapder Cutler. The
| colonel Informed us ia his speech
| that we would he designated as Company
| c. But in recognition of our grand en-
try the camp had already ehristened us
| Company q.
This was in June, 1861. The next year
| the sixth Wisconsin lost nienty men killed
| and wounded at GAINESVILLE, ana one
hundred and fortythree men killed and
wounded at South Montain. What may
not a year bring forth with Company .
when it is composed of petriotic young
Americans
The regiment was ordered to Washing
ton and marched by night without arms
through Baltimore, in August 1861. The
city provided an escort of 200 police. The
regiment was well supplied with brick
bats. The plug-uglies hOwled at them
from, the sidewalks, Bull Run, you b,ue
beilies!" How do you like Bull Run?
1t was Yankee run" But there was no
serious collision, a fict due to the
presence of the police. The regiment
went into camp near Washington and
settled down to drill It's brass band
seems to have been highly satisfactory
They played such slow time music that
passed the reviewing officer at about forty
seven PAGES a minute We had to mold
one leg IN the air and balance on the other
while we waited for the music If a man
in the regiment is caught in a rascally
trick, the whole regiment yells, Put him
in the brass band.
Here is collection (September, 1861,
of young brigadier general who after
wards rose high in the army and at
length ran for the presidency: The
fifth Wisconsin regiment had been separ-
ated from us, and attached to a brigade,
which was commanded by a young
brigadier who was yet unknown to fame,
General w. s. Hancock. Hancock
brigade was encamped at the op-
posite end of the Chain Bridge
in Virginia. The general had a voice
drilling his brigade. He would give
some such order as ''On First Division,
Third Battalion. depIoy column, quick,
march, and the regiments would pro-
caed. Colonel CoGb, of the fifth WisGon-
sin, a civilian appuintee, would some
times blunder, and we would hear in the
same ringing, bell-like tones! Colonel
Cobb, where the -- nation are
you going with that battaIion?' Amasa
Cobb was distinguished citizen at home
and this was source of extreme amuse
ment to our men, some of whom would go
down among the willows under the bank
of the river and shout across IN fine imi-
tation of General Hancock, Colonel Cobb,
where the --nation are you
going with that battali on?' The men
called this performance Hancock whisper,
ing to his brigade. "
The spring of 1862 opened and the regi,
ment continued the work of drill and re-
view. In April short march was made
to Fairfax Court House. Here are two
anecdotes of this period of preparation
and of full regimental ranks. The men of
the fourteenth New York infantry, a
Brooklyn regiment in the same division,
were, in general, clerks, book-keepers and
business men
They were full of shrewd devices to
avoid unnecessary hardships. They were
then uniformed in short Zourve jackets,
made in the cutaway style, often seen on
youngsters of about SIX years of age. and
profusely adorned with buttons Their
pantaloons were red. When we were
somewhat neal Centerville they captured
in field a quiet and peaceable=looking
young bull. After much ingenious labor
they succeeded in hLrnessing him to a
cart, using an old horse harness for this
purpose, Then, loading up the cart with
a pyramid of their heavy knapsacks. they
endeavored to persuade the bull with their
bayo. cts to IAarch along with the troops.
The terrified animal would at first only go
backwards, but finally, goaded beyond en-
duranoe bs the bayonets, ne made sud
den bolt. Our troops, all unconscious of
impending danger, were marching quietly
along the turnpike when there arose a
shout. Clear the track Clear the track
den on tU0f ana mounted OIlCers needed
second warming, but crowded against the
fences to give the bull the room. Down
the turnpike came the rushing bull, the air
about him filed with flying knapsacks
He com oIetely routed our brigade He
soon upset the cart and kicked himself
loose. When We saw him last he was
still at full speed, and the Red Legs were
hunting knapsacks.
During a prolonged wet spell the Wis
consin bays invented comic4l perform
anoe. 1t was called The Bull Frog of
Bull Run" A leader would shout:
When our army marched down to Bull
Run, what did the big bull frog say?'
Hundreds of mer woul1 respond In deep
| bass, bull frog croaks: Big thing. Big
thingr Then the leader would ask,
/ When our army came back from Bull
| Run, what did the little frogs say? Run
| YankI Run YankLr' would be screeched
| IN response, in excellent imitation Of a
swamp full Of frogs What does the
bully sixth say Again the ball frog
bass would respond, Hit EN- again. Hit
EN- again Brave boys, how they con-