Hot Springs weekly star. (Hot Springs, S.D.) 1892-1917, 1893-05-12
8 coRsE.s oARErR.


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Something of the Life ofa Distinsuishe,
lows Soldier. the Hero Of Altoona.
The death Of Gen. John M. corse
who died recently at his home In Win
chester, Mass, Of apoplexy, after a,
illness Of only twelve hours, il O
more than passing interest In Iowa
for he was among this states earlies'
aud most highly honored citizens ant
soldiers. His father settled in Bur
lington when the subject of thj,
sketch wasa mere youth. He was a,
one time a cadet in West Point, fol
about two years, when he resigned
and returned to Burlington and be
came q partner with his father In the
lattef's book store, and it is told Of
him that when his father suggested
that the firm name should be 81. Z,
Corse s. Son." the embryo patriot in.
sisted that it should be "John M.
Corse s. Father" Soon afterwards
the war Of the rebellion began, and
young Corse entered the service as the
major Of the Sixth Iowa infantry; he
became lieutenant colonel the follow.
ing May and soon afterward colonel
Of that regiment, when Col. mellow.
ell resigned. He served as judge adj
vocate and in other semi-civil capaci-
ties down to the battle of Shiloh.
when, %preferring active service, he re.
Joined his regiment. He led that reg
iment through the siege at vicks.
burg, into the deadly breach at Jack
son and in the storming Of Mission
Ridge, in which bloody contests it
became one Of the.state's most famous
regiments.
Gen. Corse was severely wounded
IN the struggle at Mission Ridge and
disabled for several months. He was
promoted to brigadier general in rec
ognltion of gallant service up to that
date. and when he returned to field
duty, after his wounds healed, he was
placed on Gen. Sherman's staff for a
few weeks, until, in August, 1884, he
was assigned to the command of a di.
vision, the fourth division of the Elf.
teenth Army corps, which was one of
the divisions of Iowa's Maj. Gen.
Dodge's command during the march
on Atlanta. About two months lat
er, Gen. Corse gained national fame
as the hero Of Altoona, one of the
most famous events Of the war, in
which struggle his small command.
three decimated regiments, including
the Thirty-ninth Iowa infantry, held
the whole of French's division Of con.
federate troops in check for five
hours. The confederates, in greatly
superior numbers, closed in upon
them. The confederate commander
called for an unconditional surrender,
ITO avoid a useless effusion of blood,'
whereupon Gen. Corse replied that he
was ready for the useless effusion OF
blood at any time agreeable to the
confederate commander. Gen. o. O.
Howard complimented Gen. Crosse
and Col. Tourtelotte on the glorious
manner in which they vetoed "the
useless efusion of blood;" and Gen.
w. T. Sherman availed himself of the
opportunity in the handsome defense
made of Altoona to illustrate "the
most important principle of war;
namely, that fortified forts should be
defended to the last, regardless of the
relative numbers of the attacking
and attacked. The effusion of blood,
he said, was not 'useless," for the 20
sition at Altoona was Every impor.
tant to our present and future oper-
ations." Gen. Sherman, having
reached the summit Of Kenesaw, sig
nailed to the garrison: "Hold on to
Altoona to the last; I will help you"
And he afterward said: "He will
hold out; I know the man." Hold
the fort; I am coming, which has
found its way into one Of the most
stirring Of Roots songs, is a para
phrase of Gen. Sherman's dispatch to
Corse on this critical and momentous
occasion. During the course of the
battle Corse had his jaw shot away.
His reply to Sherman's signal to
"hold the fort" was characteristic of
the man. 81 am short of iaw,n his
flags said, ''but I can whip ali hill
yet" Corse always seemed to act on
the principle suggested to Gen. Jerry
Sullivan: "Boys, when you have
fought just as long as you think you
possibly can, then fight ten minutes
longer and you will always whip.
Gen. Corse, after the close Of the
war, served as collector of internal
revenue in Chicago. He then spent
four years in Europe, and on his re-
turn engaged in railroad contracting
around Chicago. In 1881 he removed
to Massachusetts,. His second wife
was a niece of franklin Pierce. He