Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-07-16

companies moved forward into the
river and up the bank on the other
side, sending a heavy fire into the
ranks of the enemy. These reinforce
ments were evidently wholly unexpect-
ed. The effect was to completely de-
moralize the rebels, who rapidly re-
treated, leaving thirty-five or forty
men killed and wounded.
Among those who came up from
keokuk to take part in the fight was
John w. Noble, a young lawyer of
Keokuk, who shouldered musket and
was one of the first to cross the river,
firing on the enemy as he went He
was slightly wounded in the engage
ment, but not disabled. He after
wards rendered distinguished service
in my regiment, the Sd Iowa cavalry
succeeding to the colonelcy, and later
became distinguished as secretary of
the interior under the Harrison admin
istration.
The rebels had artillery and fired
several shots across the river. but
none OF their troops reached Iowa soil
Col. David Moore who commanded
the home guards at Athens, proved
himself a hero. With 300 men who
had never been under fire, he held his
position behind barricades in the
streets of Athens, until reinforcements
arrived.
had spread the information at Keo-
sanqua, Summit and other points, as
came through, that the enemy were
at Athens, and in a few hours Capt.
Mayne with a large force from Keo-
sauqua, Capt. o. H. P. Scott and 9TH
ers, with two or three hundred men
from Pennington, arrived.
Colonel Moore was anxious to follow
the enemy and proposed that if the
Iowa companies would join his forces
he would start next morning. ! called
our Iowa men together and found them
Wiling and anxious to go. About 500
Iowa men with Colonel Moore's 300,
left Athens early the next morning
and drove the enemy under General
Green across the Missouri river.
But for my action in providing am
mun1tion and Selling government arms
two-thirds of Colonel Moore's men
would have been without arms. The
9Th Iowa infantry would have not been
at keokuk but for the fact that | had
1t sent there. The Keokuk companies
would not have been armed, and there
would have been no forces to go to
Moore's relief. Under these circum-
stances Moore would have been com
PEELED to retreat into Iowa or surren-
der. The enemy would have crossed
the river, destroyed the railroad, and
marched to Keokuk, where they could
have robbed the banks, pillaged the
town and made their escape to Alex
andria, five miles distant where they
would have been among friends.
| think | have shown that without
my active cooperation as above stated
there would have been no victory at
Athens.
| had taken Colonel Dodge's guns
and must make that fact known to the
war department Governor Kirkwood
learned / had taken them before he
learned the cause. He wrote me q
letter disappearing of my action and
directing me to send the guns forward
to Council Bluffs. Judge Caleb Bald
win, aid-de-camp to the governor also
heard of my theft of the guns, wrote
me a sharp letter in which he said
that after the governor and our sena.
tors and representatives in congress
had failed to get arms, he had advanc.
ed the money to pay Colonel Dodge's
expenses to Washington, believing he
would succeed in getting arms, which
he did, and could not understand why
should seize them. Before had time
to answer this letter, received anoth.
er from Judge Baldwin saying he had
just seen Joseph Shepard, superintend,
ent of the U. S. express, who had in
formed him of the circumstances I'm.
der which l had taken the guns and
that they had secured Union victory
at Athens, and that had done what
was right in the matter. Governor
Kirkwood also wrote me approving my
action.