The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-06-15
JONES MAKES ANSWER.
He Scores q Critic Who Wrote About yicks
burg.

TN my article of March 16 it was not my
intention to belittle any comrade or
- regiment. / wrote merely to correct an
incorrect statement made by Comrade
Lawder, who claimed to have been a member
of Co. c. 22d Iowa. If Comrade Lawder was
a member of Co. G, and was in the assault,
he would know better than to make such
statement.
In that article / located the 9th Ill. as in
the ravine or ditch from which we made our
charge. This / shall verify from an article
written by Comrade Mathews in the issue
of May A. He says: "Col. Griers orders
were to take position as near the fort as
possible and await orders; those in the adj
vance did not hear this order; others found
it safer to rush forward into the ditch than
go back to the line. During the
next nine hours part of our men were in the
fort, part of them were shooting over the
walls of the fort, part were in the ditch out
side of the fort, and the balance were in line
20 yards below Again Col. D. p. Grier gave
the command to halt and form line behind
a slight protection in the hill face just 90
yards from the fort Again they
rebels came over the walls of the fort with
fixed bayonets, but could not face the close
range fire they met from our line on the hill
side"
Comrade Batrum, of the 9Th, says he
was not far from Coils. Stone, Dunlap and
Grier. That is possible. Col. Stone was
wounded, and did not make the fort.
The above quotations ought to be enough
to satisfy any sane person that the line of
the nth Ill. was 90 yards from the fort;
that it was there by the orders of Col. Grier
himself They also corroborate the state
menls made in my article of March Is.
Now, to prove that the 77th ILL., did not
charge with the 22d Iowa, / will quote
again from Comrade Mathews:
There were no rebels in the fort, nor in
the ditch connecting it with their next fort
on our left"
Again, he says: "Why we were held in
this position rather than enter the empty
bitches and empty fort in our front will
always remain one of those little military
mysteries to those not behind the scenes"
When the 77th appeared on the scene
there were no rebels in the fort or ditch.
When the Odd Iowa made the assault there
were plenty of rebels. The fort and ditch
were full of them, and our loss proved
that we fought for all we won. What did
Gen. Grant say in his report of the assault?
No troops succeeded in entering any of
the enemy's works excepting the 22d Iowa"
Again, Ingersoll, of Iowa troops, says:
"Serg't Griffitbs and II men went into the
fort; four of them were killed in the fort;
13 rebels were captured and taken back to
the rear" to Gen. Lawler
There is no doubt Col. Grier did his
whole duty, and his men under him did
theirs. But why assume so much?
Col. Stones orders were 10 take the fort,
and the 22d boys most CALAMITY did it, at
the cost, though, of nearly half the men en-
gagged; out Of about 400 they lost 1913.
Maj. Gearke, of the ODD, says, and Com
rade Geo. Brown, of the same regiment, cor
roborates the statement, that some of the
nth boys were in the ditch under the fort;
they recognized them by the figure on their
caps. They saw three of them.
Maj. Gearke says they came in there some
time in the afternoon. Says he: 81 loaded
guns for one of them to pick off the gunners
that were firing a gun from our left. He
did good execution. / will remember him
as long as / live. But burying the flag is
all bosh. Our flag waved over that fort, but
it did not wave long. The rebels did not
get it, nor did we bury it; we followed it
many months after that"
The brush and fallen trees we did not
have TO charge over. We came to the posi-
ton in the 'hill face 90 yards from the fort"
before daylight We took our position and
remained there until few moments after
10 a. M, when we were ordered to charge.
Both Maj. Gearke and Comrade George
Brown, of Co. E, says there were no troops
within sight of our position at 10 a. m.
Comrade w. M. Hines makes statement
in your issue Of May 25, that some of the
Tth charged with the ODD. That state
ment cannot be corroborated by any mem
Der of the 22d who participated in that
charge. l will refer the comrade to N. C.
Messenger, Co. /, 22d, Marshalltown, Iowa
He will give him a bit of history that will
refresh his memory
Comrade Mathews, in his zeal to kill off
Jones, / hope, has been the means of letting
him in behind the scenes.-S. G. JONES, Co. |
A, 22d Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa.