Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1903-05-05
IOWA MEMORIALS.
Hawkeye Monuments on Shiloh Field
to Be Dedicated MAY 80.

eioiI VI Tic monuments ON IQe SlllOn
battle field to the memory of "the
boys from the Hawkeye state who
laid down their lives in that great
struggle. Especially is this work be-
ing closely watched by the members Of
the Iowa commission and they will
| doubtless be greatly relieved when the
work of erecting the monuments is fin
ished and the dedication exercises are
over. 1t is known to those who watch
ed the progress of the work that the
erection of memorials on the field of
battle has been an arduous one and
| that the personal interest that has
been felt in the contamination of the
work by those in charge, is the cause
| for the successful completion of the
task
Dedication May 80.
The dedication date has long been
| fixed for May go For this the COM
mission was criticised, as number
insisted that it should be on the ami.
versary of the battle OF Shiloh-but
the monuments could not be got ready
at that time. The event in May will
be pleasanter than in April and the op-
portunity to get good crowd much
| better.
The monuments are now being erect
ed on the ground. The bases for the
monuments have been set by. the Unit.
ed States and the contractors have on
ly to erect the monuments which have
been cut and prepared in the shops
elsewhere. The heavy stones are TAX
en- up the Tennessee rivr by boat and
transported tc the battlefield on wa
CONS The work will be done before
the date of the dedication. The COM
mission will go to Paducah, thence by
steamboat to the scene.
| Formal announcement of the plans
will not be made for some time, but
there will be no change in the pro-
gram. 1t is probable that not as good
rates can now be secured for the Iowa
party as had been promised previous
to the dedication of the Indiana mon
uments.
Ceremonies III Attended.
The fact is that the Indiana dedica-
1 ton about two weeks ago was a good
deal of a frost. The Indiana commits
sion had planned for 5000 to 5000 In
diana soldiers to go to the ceremonies
and fine program had been arranged.
/ Six steamboats, had been engaged to
go up the Tennessee river and carry
! the people. AS a matter of fact about
$50 soldiers went on the trip from Pa
! ducah and the steamboat companies
are out of pocket because of the eX-
4 field at Shiloh will bear bronze tablets
on which will be engraved the regi-
mental histories. This work of Sc
curing concise histories of the regi-
ments, accurate and reliable, approved
/ by the war department and satisfacto-
ry to the participants in the battle has
/ been no easy task for the commission.
| travagant expectations of the Indiana
| people.
| much shorter than from Iowa, and the
The trip from Indiana points was
steamboat companies feel that it is
! safe to assume that not as many will
/ go from Iowa as went from Indiana.
| So they are discounting the promises
/ of the Iowa commission 1t will mean
that the Iowa commission will have to
charter the steamboats, and take the
responsibility of paying for the same,
! or the commission will have to require
a deposit in advance from every per
son who intends going and berths will
have to be reserved and paid for in
advance. 1t will be impossible, after
the Indiana experience, to get the
steamboat companies to take any risks
on the Iowa trip.
The Iowa Monuments.
The Iowa monuments on the battle
The regimental histories have been
prepared by persons who participated
in the battle, but all such had to be
4 submitted to the war department
where experts have compared all state
ments with the actual war records
and have had veto on extravagant
claims. In regard to two regiments
the historical story is not yet agreed
upon. These are the Fifteenth and
/ Sixteenth regiments of Infantry. Ac
. cording to the reports of their officers
and the accepted history in this state
\ among the survivors, these regiments
came upon the battlefield and got into
4 action as early as 1880 o'clock a. m
But when ,ne war department experts
4 made examination of the records and
/ found that at 1920 o'clock the line
4 which the Iowa soldiers claimed tC
4 occupy was, in fact, occupied by Con
4 federates, or by other regiments, a re
vision was necessary. The war de
4 partment claims that it was at least
as late as 80 that the two regiments
named got into the fight. This is 6
small matter, apparently, but the ole
soldiers are sticklers for an exact rec
ord. They want justice done or lit
tie more. 1t has been in disposing Of
!! just such little controversies as this
that the commission has had grea,
= difficulty.
COL Bell Interviewed.
Col. w. B. Bell of Washington, VIII
was of Company G, Eighth Iowa j
about as we'll pleased as any M
!, could well be with the result of tn
historical research incident TO the Sh
). lob monument work. Il was pleased t
!, find" he said, that the record was al
Il right as to my regiment. had Away
Il felt that we were right in the famou
i, Hornets Nest You know the 'Hol
nets Nest was named by the confed
I, crates because it was where they cam
/ up against the hardest fighting OF tn
entire Tennessee campaign, so the
said, and where the Union soldier
held out the longest on that fatefu
day when the south for a time over