IA-CIVIL-WAR-L Archives

Archiver > IA-CIVIL-WAR > 2003-06 > 1055959628


From: "Jeanne Surber" <>
Subject: [IA-CIVIL-WAR] 32nd Iowa Inf.
Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2003 11:07:37 -0700
References: <1e2.b67b7d4.2c21bc70@aol.com>


Following is what I have on the 32nd Iowa. It is from my Civil War data
base (http://www.civilwardata.com/active/product.html )

The info about James

All it says about James is a few lines:

James S. Cross
Residence Webster City IA; 32 years old.
Enlisted on 8/13/1862 as a Private.
On 9/6/1862 he mustered into "A" Co. IA 32nd Infantry
He was discharged for disability on 8/11/1864 at Jefferson Barracks, MO
Other Information:
born in Illinois
Sources used by Historical Data Systems, Inc.:
- Roster & Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of Rebellion
(c) Historical Data Systems, Inc. @ www.civilwardata.com

Here's the history on the 32nd Iowa ...

Thirty-second Infantry IOWA
(3 years)

Thirty-second Infantry. Cols., John Scott, Gustavus A.
Eberhart, Lieut.- Cols., Edward H. Mix, Gustavus A. Eberhart,
Jonathan Hutchinson, Majs., Gustavus A. Eberhart, Jonathan
Hutchinson, John R. Jones.

This regiment was mustered into the service at Dubuque, Oct.
6, 1862 and was sent to St. Louis. On Dec. 17 Cos. C and I
started on an expedition west of New Madrid, during which they
captured from the enemy 5 commissioned officers, 3 enlisted
men, 35 horses and 50 head of cattle. Col. Scott, with 20
men, examined the various points on the river between New
Madrid and Cape Girardeau, where trade or smuggling was
practicable. On his return he brought a scouting party, 50
strong, from Cape Girardeau to Lane's landing, from which
place it returned to Cape Girardeau through the interior,
making a successful reconnaissance.

Co. C was attached to the 4th MO cavalry as mounted infantry
and engaged in arduous duties. Co. E wea placed on duty at
Fort Quinby, near Columbus, Ky., and H and K were sent to
Island No. 10. The duties at this place were largely in
protecting the contraband colony and in guarding public stores
though there were expeditions to either shore and some
fighting. In one of these affairs, Oct. 22, 1863, Private
John D. Baker of Co H was killed by guerrillas.

A detachment of six companies of the 32nd, B. C, E, H. I and
K, participated with the 2nd brigade, 3rd division, 16th army
corps, in the famous and successful Meridian raid of Gen.
Sherman, in which the railroads were torn up and destroyed.
On Feb. 28, 1864, near Canton, Miss., a forage train of _2
teams, guarded by 25 men of Co. C, was attacked by 300 mounted
Confederates. A gallant resistance was made, the fight
lasting over half an hour. Private Edward Flood was killed.
The Confederates admitted a loss of 25 killed and wounded. The
train escaped with a loss of eight teams captured -- due to a
panic among the teamsters.

A detachment of the 32nd, Cos. A, D, F and G. was attached to
a cavalry division under Gen. Davidson and remained with it
until ordered to Vicksburg in Jan. 1864, to rejoin the
regiment. Gen. Davidson expressed his appreciation of the
courage and fidelity of the detachment in a special order.

On March 4 the regiment was reunited, and on the 10th it
entered on the Red River expedition. In Gen. Smith's division
and Col. Shaw's brigade, it bore a gallant part in the marches
and the battles of the campaign. At the storming of Fort De
Russy the brigade played a brilliant role. In the battle of
Pleasant Hill, Smith's division was ordered to the front, and
Shaw's brigade, in the advance, did the hardest fighting of
the day. It seems almost incredible that the 32nd, cut off
from its brigade and entirely surrounded, with nearly one-half
of its numbers killed or wounded, not only held its own, but
near dark fought its way through, joined the advanced troops,
and in less than 30 minutes was ready to meet the enemy again.

At the battle of Bayou de Glaize during the retreat the 32nd
was actively engaged, its casualties being 5 wounded. At Lake
Chicot, in a sharp engagement of only a few minutes, the
regiment lost 4 killed and 4 wounded. The 32nd also
participated in the Tupelo campaign, and was in the battle of
Nashville with Col. Gilbert's brigade, Smith's division. In
the final charge on the afternoon of Dec. 16, the regiment
captured a battery of 5 guns with 50 prisoners, losing 1 man
killed and 25 wounded.

The regiment was present at the siege and capture of Spanish
Fort, and after the storming of Fort Blakely and the fall of
Mobile it remained in Alabama until sent to Clinton, IA, where
it was mustered out on Aug. 24, 1865. During its term of
service the regiment lost, in killed or died from wounds, 95;
died from disease, 206; wounded, 142; discharged, 173.

Source: The Union Army, vol. 4





----- Original Message -----
From: <>
To: <>
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 6:00 AM
Subject: Re: [IA-CIVIL-WAR] Jas. Cross, 32nd Iowa Inf.


> Ruth,
>
> I too checked the Rosters and found James S. Cross listed with Co. A, 32nd
> Iowa Vol. Infantry. It says only that he was discharged for disability
two
> years after he'd enlisted. I'm not sure what to make of the family story
that he
> had lost a leg in the war. Certainly that should have shown up on his
> records. One has to wonder, since it's been a part of your family lore
all those
> years.
>
> I don't have anything (that I'm aware of right now) on the 32nd Iowa
Infantry
> but will do some searching. There is an 8 page segment of a diary of a
> drummer of the 32nd Iowa Infantry on O. J. Fargo's CD-ROM, "Civil War and
Iowa:
> Greyhounds and Hawkeyes," called "Adventures of George A. Tod, an Iowa
Drummer
> Boy in Rebel Prisons at Cahawba and Andersonville."
>
> Have you checked this website: http://www.iowaflags.org/capitol3.html
>
> There are photos of the 32nd Iowa's National flag, at Des Moines.
>
> I'm checking on publications that might have articles on the 32nd Iowa
> Infantry. 'Annals of Iowa' had several early in 1900. Dorbusch lists
about five
> articles, one of which is the George A. Tod, Iowa drummer boy, account.
>
> Sue



This thread: