The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1910-04-04
Iowa and the Battle Of Shiloh.

Iowa has special interest in the
/ 1t had more men in the battle, in pro-
portion TO population, than any other
state. The Iowa regiments engaged
(all Infantry were: Second, Third,
Sixth, Seventh, Eight, Eleventh,
Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fiji
teenth and Sixteenth-eleven in all.
Besides these, there were three CON-
| panies from Iowa Of, l, K) in the
Twenty-Fifth Missouri, which was the
i regiment that furnished the reconnoit-
ering party sent out on Sunday morn
ing, April 9Th.
The Sixth Iowa regiment claims
the distinction of being the first regi-
ment to disembark at Pittsburg Land
! ing, and the Eighth claims the distinc-
ton of being the last regiment to re-
tire from the line in the Hornets
Nest. Five Iowa regiments were in
| the Hornets Nest and three of the
number eighth, Twelfth and Four
teenth) were captured All of the
other Iowa regiments were in the
thick of the fight on Sunday, and
each maintained the honor of the
state.
Before the close of the war there
were many promotions of both offic-
ers and men from among those en-
gagged at Shiloh, and several attained
civil distinction during and after the
3 uor Afof I'll
regiment and Lieut.. Buren, R. Sher-
man (Thirteenth regiment) served the
STATE as governors. Sherman served
as auditor of state three terms before
/ becoming governor. Maj. w W. Bel
KNAPP Fifteenth regiment became
secretary of war, and Lieut.. David B.
Henderson Twelfth regiment), after
long service in the lower house of
congress, became speaker. Many 9TH
ers engaged in the battle from Iowa
served the state in the general assem-
bly,, in congress. and in other official
stations OF responsibility.
So reads the editorial note to an
article on the Battle of Shiloh in the
i October number of The Iowa Journal
of History and Politics. Mr. ]. w
Rich, the writer of the article, at
4 tempts not so much to contribute adj
ditional material upon the subject as
I to SO group and illustrate the facts
I as to leave a clearer picture OF the
battle in the mind OF the reader" The
I first part of the article deals with
some OF the sensational accounts and
inaccurate descriptions of the event
/ One of the worst as it was one of the
first OF the sensational stories of the.
Battle of Shiloh, put in historic form
was the account by Horace Greeley in
lis American Conflict The camp at
1 Pittsburg Landing before the battle is
likened to a Methodist campmeeting.
and the Union army on Sunday morn
ing is represented as a bewildering.
half-dressed helpless, coatless,
musketless mob upon which the enc
MY sprang with the bayonet. This
account has Premises division routed
before it had time to form a line of
battle.
Mr.. Rich shows that the army was
expecting the attack on Sunday morn
ing and that Premises division was
neither in bed nor at breakfast when
the attack was made, but was In line
before breakfast. The discussion OF
TIE mistakes of history writer's makes
interesting reading, as does the ac-
count which follows of the battle it
self Among the events in the en-
gagement the writer gives a graphic
account of the famous Hornets Nest"
in which five Iowa regiments were en-
gagged. TIE article is illustrated BY
a number of maps showing the APP
proximate position of troops at various
stages during the day of the battle.