Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-03-13


with their cheerful and courageous spirit. :
Marching under Pope and Mcdowell
now began In earnest, though with little
result. The men were overburdened with
knapSaeks, and reduced them by throwing
clothing away, as usually happens. This
was called Issuing overcoats to the rebe
cavalry. rebel deSerter who came into
the sixth said: You uns is pack mules,
we uns are race horses. All old Jackson
gave US was a musket. a hundred rounds
and gum blanket. aud he 'druv US so like
hell that | could not stand it on parched
corn. General Dawes adds: With
jackson csierity was success, With US
ponderoslty was military science "
In the camp near Fredericksburg our
enlisted men had their brasses secured,
guns wiped, white gloves washed and
shoes blackened by the contrabands who
swarmed around them. How tt e peo-
pie lived seemed mystery to me. one day
cornered very black, but quick-witted
little img called Mink, Mink. said |,
| where did you come from?' 'BideS hole
sab! (b0yd's Hole, below. Fredericksburg)
What do you eat?' 4 picks up a bone.
sab! Where do you sleep?' 4 sleeps
under leaf, sah!' What do you do?'
! Il teaches school sah! Sure enough,
Investigation proved that this little black
Mink was teaching class of other con-
tra6ands their letters, which be had al
ready quickly learned himself =
| These humorous phases of army life with
new regiment now give place to a nara
| tive of hard-fought battles and rapidly
! thinning ranks. The sixth was in extra
ordinarily hot places in front of Stonewall
! Jackson when Lee advanced into Mary
land in 1862. Few regiments lost ds
many men In three years as the siYth did
IN two months. The colonel and Iieuten-
ant colonel were wounded, and General
Dawes, who had been promoted to major,
found himself in command of the regi.
ment while Antletam was in progress At
the end of these battles the regiment had
but 3l3 etfectives. 1t was at Fredpricks-
burg, but not in an exposed position. los
ing only four men, wO lnded. General
Dawes gives a spirited and circumstantial
account Of ali the battles in which he par
tlclpated.
Before going into the battle of Chancei-
lOrSviiIe General Dawes wrote a letter to
the young lady in Marietta whom he was
engaged to marry. He confded it to
surgeon, to be forwarded only in case of
the writer death 1t reid We are
advancing upon the enemy | oHbt not
that we must have bloody battle. !
leave this pack lge where nave perfect
confidence it will be sent to you in case |
am killed, and only in that event. BY q
serious error the surgeon rsailed it imme-
diately, and it reached its destination
with the news Of the battle: The scenes
that ep sued are not the business of the
public, aad will not be described,
My mother, who with her two sons
had been much under fire, said she would
take Rufus word for anything but the
fact that he was killed This was con-
soling, but still not until four days after
ward was there relief from painful ap- /
prehension.
General Dawes wrote at the time of the |
battle that its loss was due to the fact that |
Hooker was outgeaeraled. That is a his |
tory of it in word. At Gettysburg the |
sixth Wisconsin captured the second |
Mississippi. with its flag. The sixth |
lost at Gettysburg | 46 killed and wound |
ed from $40 taFen into battle
General Dawes wrote from camp near
Culpeper, March 20, 1864: This morning
we stood snivering two hours in line of |
battle to be reviewed by General Grant !
An incident occurred upon this review
"hASh was dCJCl NSllC vi pcubl dl !
Grant. The troops were drawn Up in line |
of battalions an masse doubled on tie CEN
ter. There was d cold drizzle rain, and !
as General Grant, at the head Of his s5aff !
and escort, rode slowly along in front of
the line, regiment after regiment gave 'oud
cheers in his honor as he approached
This has become customary in our army
when the troops were reviewed 10y the
general, General Grant made
no recognition of the intended compliment.
| was in command of the regiment and,
observing this felt provoked. | turned to
the regiment and said ''hs General
Grant does not seem to think our cheering
worth notice, | will not call for cheers;
maintain your position as soldiers" "
When General Grant came to the sixth
the military aalutes required
were performed with precision. and the
men HOod motiOnless as statues He
evidently expected Us to cheer him as the
others had, but when he saw us perform
ing only our exact and formal duties as
soldiers he took off his hat, and made
low bow to US. and to orr coIO1s dipped in
salute to him as commander of the army
1t was to say, j aid not come here for
personal ovation 1t was a genuine
and cur men were highly pleas
ed at it. They said, Grant wants sol.
diers, not paupers.
In the battles OF the Wilderness and
those that succeeded it the sixth Wiscon-
sin lost 1913 men killed and wounded.
During its entire term of service the regi-
nent had 867 men killed and wounded,
and twenty men died in rebel prisons
The reader of this thrilling war nara
tive is not surprised to hear, in conclusion;
In his investigation of comparative losses
in battles, Colonel Fox has included
about tive thousand regiments
which were more or less en-
gagged with the enemy. In the
number of men killed in battle the
sixth Wisconsin is tenth upon the list.
Only nine regiments engaged in the war
suffered a greater loss in killed. The sec
ond Wisconsin, according to Colonel Fox,
suffered the greatest loss in killed in pro-
portion 10 the whole number upon its rolls
IF any regiment in the union army during
The war. The Iron brigade suffered a
greater proportionate loss in battle than
any other brigade in the army of the
lnIon,"