Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1906-09-27
IOWA AT SHILOH
Keeping History Straight as to Part
Played by Iowa Regiments


pated. When the national commission
ments it was found that the record as
TO the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa regi-
ments violated history in that they We're
said not to have appeared on the battle
field until noon on the day of the battle.
AS a matter of fact they lost scores of
their brave men before noon in the thick
est of the fight
The monument commission and sur
vivors of these regiments appealed to
Governor Cummins to secure a correction
of the inscriptions. He went to Washing
ton and found the historian of the nation
al commission could not be moved. The
governor took the case to the secretary
of war, then he went before the Shiloh
commission in Tennessee and presented
the case. This involved the presentation
of a vast amount of evidence and re-
hearsing the whole story of the famous
battle. An old confederate member of the
commission declared after hearing Gov
ernor Cummins' extended argument that
although he was in the battle himself, NO
man could know more of what happened
than Governor Cummins. He spent two
days on the battlefield and his arugment
took six hours
The national commission was immov
able, and again Governor Cummns took
the case to Washington and to President
of the Iowa soldiers and with the as
sistance of the Iowa congressman. he OBJ
tanned change in the inscriptions so that
the history of Iowa valor at Shiloh is to
be perpetuated in accordance with facts.
Governor Cummins summed 1t up as fol-
lows:
"When you decide that these men,
which / do not believe you can or will,
did not take part in the battle in the
forenoon of April 6. you Will. so far as
they are concerned, have denied that they
were in the battle at all. They cannot
revise their memory of this carnage
they will carry to their graves the recol-
lection of the part which they bore in
this great tragedy; and when you put
upon their monuments a history which
does not accord with their memory, dur
ing all their lives they will turn from
these monuments in despair and with
Indignation instead of with swelling
hearts of patriots and of soldiers. We
are fighting for the choicest possession
of these mems lives I have seen a good
deal of them in the last year, and |
verify believe there is not member or
either of these regiments who would not
rather lose the last veStige of property
that he possesses, than to have taken
from him the history which he has
revered and held sacred now for more
than forty years respecting his part in
this early battle of the war | am here
to implore you not to mar the last days
of their lives by inscribing upon their
monuments statement which, in the
very nature of things, they must reject"
The democrats have been circulating
story among the Iowa soldiers to the eff
feet that Governor Cummlns abandoned
the fight after being paid by the com
mission for his services AS matter of
fact he never received any compensation
from the commission, and he fought the
case through to the finish and won.
Capt. John Hayes. secretary of the
Shiloh commission, In recent letter said
that at Pittsburg Landing, May n, 1904,
the following resolution was unanimously
adopted and spread upon the records:
Whereas. The Honorable Albert b.
Cummins, governor of Iowa, has so
earnestly and ably presented the cause
of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Iowa regi-
ments in the matter of the controversy
with reference to the inscriptions of said
regiments before the national commission
of the Shiloh Military park, upon the re-
hearing granted by the secretary of war
at the request of Governor Cummins;
therefore, be IL
Resolved, That we extend our sincere
thanks for the interest he has taken in
this matter, both from the standpoint OF
his having made 1t labor Of love toward
US as Iowa soldiers, and in his capacity
In further proof of our appreciation of
his services in this behalf. both to us and
to the people of our great commonwealth,
in keeping the facts of history connected
with the services of Iowa soldiers cor
rect and in accordance with the facts
discovered by his painstaking investiga-
ton, we have hereunto affixed our names.
Done at Pttsburg Landing, Tenn,
this Hst day of May, 1904.
m. b. Bell, Vice Chairman.
John Hayes, secretary
Daniel Matson
~. w. Carson
&c. w. Crosley.
''G L. Godfrey
&c. o. Morgridge
"A. J. Miller
The record further says: ",There,,pon
Governor Cummins was invited to an
pear before the commission and the reso-
luton was presented to him. He thanked
the commission for their expressions of
regard and said as a result of the hear
ing he hoped for favorable decision.
If, however it should be adverse to us
he would, as governor of Iowa. uphold
our cause and carry il forward until the
last sun of his administration should
have set. The depth of feeling with
which he spoke touched the sensibilites
OF those present, and when he concluded
tne members or the commission individ-
ually expressed to him their gratitude .
At a meeting of the Iowa commission
held at Des Moines, Aug. z, 1906 the sec
rotary made an extended report of events
which had transpired relating to the
Fifteenth and Sixteenth inscriptions since
the meeting of May 20, 1904 In this re-
port, which was ordered spread upon the
records. the secretary reviewed the various
steps taken by the governor UP to the
time he asked the cooperation OF the
congressional delegation, and said
Among those who joined in the de-
Tense of our records and histories, the
governor of Iowa, Albert B. Cummins,
lands pre-eminent. To him was given
the official authority, the disposition to
do and the ability to act He espoused
our cause in gloomy days. shared our re-
peated defeats, never faltered I'm his de-
termination that justice should be done
and in the end enjoys with us the salts
faction of seeing the histories of our Fiji
teenth ana sixteenth regiments sustained
by the highest authority"
Captain Hayes further saws. Srbe so,o-
gong presents the action taken by the
IOWA commission, first in asking Cover
nor Cummins' assistance, and afterwards
IN showing our appreciation of his work.
Any charge that the governor tooL !,
cent of money from the members Of the
Fifteenth and Sixteenth regiments Is J
wholly untrue Any intimatjon that ~
any time during the controversy no ,cted
other than as a wise and patriotic ex-
ecutive should do, is basely false"
SENATOR ALLISON FOR