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Subject: Ia-Polk Co. History (Polk County in t)
Date: 12 Apr 2006 02:23:50 -0000
Polk County IA Archives History - Books .....Polk County In The War - 2nd Iowa Infantry 1898
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Book Title: Annals Of Polk County, Iowa And City Of Des Moines
CHAPTER XII.
POLK COUNTY IN THE WAR.
THE part taken by Des Moines and Polk county in the civil war is most creditable
and deserving of extended mention. At the outburst of the war in April, 1861,
the city and county, having* recovered from the financial troubles of the few
years previous, were in the full tide of peace and prosperity. Again the rush of
immigration had commenced, and city and county were being rapidly increased in
wealth and population. All were full of hope in the spring of 1861, the only
cloud then being the unsettled condition of affairs at Washington about the time
of the first inauguration of President Lincoln. Some there were who at that time
and for some time previously, had feared these political and party convulsions
might end in civil war, but even these had but a faint perception of the
bloodshed which was to follow. The great mass of of [sic] the people of town and
country had no fears whatever. They believed these political troubles would soon
pass away, as had previous ones, and that peace would be preserved between the
States, and the Union maintained. Not one had the most remote idea of the four
long years of bloody and destructive war which were to follow.
By the federal census of 1860 Polk county had a total population of 11,925.
Of these it is estimated about 2,601 were voters. The number of men who
volunteered during the war, and were credited to Polk county, were about 1,500.
This was over ten per cent of the total population, and considerably over fifty
per cent of the voters enumerated in 1860. Many of these volunteers, however,
were at the time of their enlistment, under voting age, being from sixteen to
twenty years old at the time. The population of the county and city also rapidly
increased during the years of the war, notwithstanding the heavy drafts of men
made upon them during these four years, and the heavy emigration from them to
the states and territories farther west. The people of both city and county were
eminently patriotic. They were all Union men. Party lines were for the time
being ignored if not forgotten. All, with scarcely an exception, were for the
preservation of the Union at all hazards.
Fort Sumter was fired upon April 12, 1861, and the receipt of the news
startled and excited the people here as it did in all the States. At first they
could hardly realize the fact that the National flag and a National fort had
been fired on by rebel citizens, and that war was upon us. Three days after the
firing upon Fort Sumter, appeared the proclamation of President Lincoln, calling
upon the loyal States for seventy-five thousand volunteer soldiers to aid in
putting down this rebellion and executing the laws of the United States. This
proclamation, it was ordained from on High, was to be followed by others calling
for additional hundreds of thousands of volunteer soldiers. The excitement and
enthusiasm elicited by this first call cannot be realized or understood by those
who were not living in this county at that time. It was simply wonderful.
Apparently war and military affairs had of late years, in a series of years of
profound peace, become lost arts. The people's thoughts were all upon more
peaceful pursuits, yet the military spirit was there; it was inherent and
general; when needed, it came strong, powerful and intelligent.
Some months previous to this the question of organizing a military company in
Des Moines had been agitated, and to carry the project into effect a meeting was
held in the law office of Casady, Crocker & Polk. The writer of this history
presided at that meeting. A plan of organization was proposed and adopted, and
the Capital Guards were duly organized. The officers then elected were as
follows: Captain, Marcellus M. Crocker; First Lieutenant, N. L. Dykeman; Second
Lieutenant, Noah W. Mills; Third Lieutenant, Edgar T. Ensign. Arrangements had
been started to procure uniforms, drill rooms, etc., but had not been completed
when this sudden call came for troops for actual service. A hasty meeting of the
company was called, and it was promptly decided to tender the services of the
company to the Governor for enlistment under the first call made by the
President for three months' men. Under this call, the first, only one regiment
was assigned to Iowa, and such was the zeal and promptness of other companies
having better facilities than Des Moines for communicating with Governor
Kirkwood at Iowa City, no place could be found for the Capital Guards in the
First Regiment. This was a disappointment, but it was soon relieved. Shortly
after came the second call from the presidentthis time for three years instead
of three months menand the Des Moines company was given a place in the First
Regiment of Infantry organized under the first three years' call, becoming
Company D, Second Iowa Infantry.
The Capital Guards, as originally organized, became the nucleus around which
the new company was formed. A number of the original members could not enlist
for various causes, but their places were promptly filled, and the company
brought up to the maximum number by the prompt enlistment of scores of young
men, the very flower of the young city, who bravely and unselfishly filled the
ranks of Des Moines and Polk county's first born and perhaps most beloved
military company. A purely patriotic feeling made the men soldiers, and in the
service caused them to win from the commanding general the enconium: "The
bravest of the brave." Love of adventure and of change may have had some
influence, but at that time there was no thought of pay, or any money
consideration moving them to their action. Few of them knew or cared what their
pay or subsequent bounty was to be. They took no thought of these matters. They
enlisted to put down rebellion and preserve the Union, and for this they were
willing to fight and if needs be die, as many of them subsequently did on
southern battle fields.
These being the first of the volunteers to leave the county, all were deeply
interested in their departure. A number of "war meetings" had been held b3' the
citizens since the "firing on of Sumter," but none before or since surpassed in
interest the meetings held at the departure of these, their first soldiers of
the war. Company D departed for Keokuk, bearing with them the high hopes and
best love of all the men, women and children of the city and county. There the
regiment was organized and duly mustered into the service of their country.
Captain Crocker was promoted to be major of the regiment, and by the choice of a
majority of its members, Lieutenant Mills became captain of the company. Hon.
Samuel K. Curtis, a member of Congress from this, the First district, resigned
his seat to become colonel, and Captain James M. Tuttle, then in command of a
Van Buren county company, and for years after a prominent citizen of Des Moines,
was chosen lieutenant colonel. Colonel Curtis was with the regiment but a short
time when he was promoted brigadier and major general, and Lieutenant Colonel
Tuttle took command of the regiment as colonel.
The first service of the regiment was in Missouri, which state had by the war
been thrown into a terrible state of disorder. Many of its citizens had joined
the fortunes of the confederacy, which had the sympathy of many thousands of
others, who remained at their homes. On the other side there were thousands of
strong and determined Union men, who did not swerve in their allegiance. The
state was overrun by the opposing forces, and many sections were cursed by
swarms of guerillas and bushwhackers. For many months the Second Iowa was
engaged in the disagreeable and often dangerous work of compelling peace in this
much troubled state. When at St. Louis in the winter of 1861-2, the regiment
hailed with delight the order sending them to the front to join the forces of
General Grant, who was then preparing for an advance upon the enemy's works in
Kentucky. Owing to the injury of some property in the St. Louis Medical College
building, which the regiment had occupied, General Hallock sent the regiment off
under the color of military disgrace. The officers and men smarted under this,
by them deemed unjust treatment, but their vindication was to come early and nobly.
The regiment was with the forces under General Grant at Fort Donelson on
February 14, 15, 1862, and had participated in the marches and struggles of that
campaign. And as has been written by another: "Here the regiment won its highest
renown, when, as a forlorn hope, it made what was undoubtedly the most gallant,
reckless and successful charge of the whole war. Fighting had been going on all
the forenoon of the fifteenth, and the federal forces had been losing ground.
The key to the rebel position lay in the crest of a steep hill, whose sides
were obstructed by a dense thicket. In front of the earth works at the crest,
about one hundred yards distant, was a formidable abatis, to pass which an
assaulting column must break its lines and move by the flank in two divisions.
Between the abatis and earth works were no obstructions. These works must be
taken to secure federal success. The offer of this charge was tendered several
regiments, hut declined. General Smith finally went to Colonel Tuttle,
commanding the Second Iowa, and asked: "Colonel, will you take those works?" The
colonel promptly replied: "General, support me promptly, and in twenty minutes I
will go in."
"He and his regiment went in. Dividing the regiment, he with the left wing
began to scale the hill side. The abatis was reached by slow and toilsome tread,
and not a gun was fired, but scarcely was the abatis passed and the gallant boys
brought in line when the concentrated fire of three regiments belched upon them,
and at the first fire nearly one-half of the gallant three hundred went down.
With the heroism of desperation the fragment of three hundred closed up their
shattered ranks and charged the enemy. Two rebel regiments quailed and fled. A
Mississippi regiment remained, but the other column of the Second rapidly
pushing forward compelled the remaining enemy to hastily retreat. The key of the
rebel position was taken. The result was the next day counted up: Fifteen
thousand prisoners, a large quantity of ordnance stores and other property and
possession of this rebel stronghold. The commanding general and all the division
commanders were made major generals and every brigade commander a brigadier
general. The Second Iowa therefore made Grant, Smith, McClernand and Wallace
major generals, and Lauman and ten others brigadiers. It broke the line of the
enemy's defenses, extending from Bowling Green to Columbus; forced Johnson to
evacuate Bowling Green; captured Buckner, and frightened Pillow into flight from
Donelson; compelled Polk to evacuate Columbus on the Mississippi, and opened the
whole country south of the Memphis and Charleston railroad! What marvel that it
was given the post of honor in the Army of the Tennessee!"
In the charge at Donelson two young soldiers of Company D were killed. They
were Nathan W. Doty and Theodore G. Weeks. They were well known and popular
young men. The latter was a son of Dr. J. F. Weeks, an old and prominent citizen
who was at one time receiver of the United States land office at this place. The
bodies of these two young heroes were brought home and given a public burial
which will be ever remembered by those present. The war and its bloody
sacrifices were brought home to the people. These were the first, but alas, not
the last of military burials of those who had died that the nation might live.
During the following three years the bodies of many dead soldiers were brought
from southern battlefields and hospitals to be buried in the cemeteries of city
and county near to their old homes. Hardly one of the older cemeteries of the
county but contains one or more of these old soldier graves. It is fitting they
should be ever remembered, and annually bedecked with flowers upon every
recurring Decoration Day.
The scope and extent of this history will not permit of a full military
history of the different regiments to which Polk county men were connected, and
the reader must be content with more brief summaries of the same. The Second was
in many battles during the long years of service and sustained its high
reputation to the end. It was at Shiloh, April 6 and 7; with the advance on
Corinth, August 10 to 29; battle of Corinth, October 3 and 4. In this fight the
Second lost two of its commanders, Colonels James Baker and N. W. Mills, the
latter of Des Moines. Little Bear Creek, Ala., November 28; Town Creek, Ala.,
April, 1863; Resaca, Ga., May 13 and 15, 1863; Rome Crossing, Ga., May 16, 1864;
Dallas, Ga., May 27, 28, 29, 1861; Kenesaw Mountain, June 10 to 30; Nick-a-jack
Creek, Ga., July 4; at Atlanta July 20 to August 27, and in the terrible fight
of July 22; Jonesboro, Ga., August 30; Eden Station, December 10 to 20;
Savannah, Ga., December 21; Columbia, S. C, February 15 and 16; Lynch's Creek,
S. C, February 15; Goldsboro, N. C, March 21 to April 10, 1865; and was in the
triumphal march through the city of Washington at the close of the war, and as a
special mark of honor was placed in front and was the first of the grand old
Army of the Tennessee to enter the city.
The regiment was mustered into the service at Keokuk, May 27, 1861, and
mustered out at Louisville, Ky., July 12, 1865. Under the calls of 1861-2- 1268
men were enlisted in the regiment. On December 31, 1863, the strength of the
regiment in officers and men was 568. By special orders of May 21, 1864, the
regiment was reorganized, the non-veterans mustered out, and the veterans
consolidated with the veterans of the Third Iowa, November 8, 1864, as the
second veterans. The casualties during the war were:
OfficersKilled, 8; died, 8; discharged, 3; wounded, 27; resigned, 31. Total,
74.
PrivatesKilled, 73; died, 169; discharged, 359; wounded, 2941. Total, 880.
Polk county was represented on the staff as follows:
N. W. Mills, colonel, promoted from Company D., Marcellus M. Crocker, major;
promoted to lieutenant-colonel, George L. Godfrey adjutant; Edward L. Marsh,
sergeant-major; Samuel H. Lunt, sergeant-major; Jared Warner,
commissary-sergeant; John Lynde, commissary-sergeant; Ephraim P. Davis,
hospital-steward; George W. Lyon, hospital-steward; Wm. D. Christy,
quarter-master sergeant.
COMPANY D. Enlisted May 4, 1861, unless otherwise stated.
Marcellus M. Crocker, captain; promoted to major, May 31, 1861; to
lieutenant-colonel, September 6, 1861; to colonel, Thirteenth infantry, October
30, 1861; to brigadier-general, November 29, 1862.
N. L. Dykeman, first lieutenant; appointed first lieutenant in regular army,
July 4, 1861.
Noah W. Mills, second lieutenant; promoted to captain, June 1, 1861; to
lieutenant-colonel June 22, 1862; to colonel October 8, 1862; wounded at
Corinth, October 4, 1862; died of wounds at Corinth, October 12, 1862.
Samuel H. Lunt, first sergeant; promoted to sergeant-major, June 13, 1861; to
first lieutenant, July 31, 1861; resigned, December 5, 1861.
Edgar T. Ensign second sergeant; promoted to second lieutenant, June 1, 1861;
to first lieutenant, December 5, 1861; to captain, June 22, 1862; to major,
Ninth cavalry, October 9, 1863; wounded at Donelson, February 18, 1862.
Hiram C. Cook, third sergeant; promoted to second sergeant, June 13, 1861;
died of congestion of brain at Hartford, Connecticut, March 25, 1862, effect of
sunstroke.
**Edwin Mitchell, enlisted May 27, 1861, fourth sergeant; promoted to third
sergeant; discharged, July 10, 1861.
**Unless otherwise stated, the discharge was for disability.
George L. Godfrey, fifth sergeant; promoted to fourth sergeant, June 1, 1861;
to second lieutenant, December 5, 1861; to first lieutenant, June 22, 1862; to
adjutant, June 22, 1862; to lieutenant-colonel, First Alabama cavalry, October
18, 1863.
Jared A. Warner, first, corporal; appointed commissary-sergeant, July 15,
1861; appointed wagon-master; discharged by special order at St. Louis.
David M. Sells, second corporal; transferred to second lieutenant United
States marines, September 10, 1861.
Edward L. Marsh, third corporal; promoted to fifth sergeant, June 1, 1861; to
fourth sergeant, December 5, 1861; to sergeant-major, February 15, 1862; second
lieutenant, June 22, 1862; to first lieutenant, June 25, 1862; to Captain,
October 29, 1863; resigned May 23, 1864.
Robert Allen, Jr., fourth corporal; appointed second lieutenant, and
subsequently first lieutenant First United States cavalry; died of wounds.
Nathan W Doty, fifth sergeant; promoted to second sergeant, July 16, 1861;
killed at Donelson, February 15, 1862.
Leonard B. Houston, seventh corporal; discharged for promotion to captain,
Company A, Twenty-third infantry.
Andrew Slatten, eighth corporal; reduced to ranks at his own request, May 28,
1861; died at St. Louis, April 18, 1862, from wounds received at Donelson.
Philo L. Case, musician.
PRIVATES.
Ayers, Samuel A., discharged at St. Louis, December 19, 1861.
*Ayres, Henry O., promoted to fourth corporal, January 1, 1862; wounded at
Corinth; veteranized first corporal.
*Barnett, John.
Barrie, William W.
Bennett, Robert A., died May 6, 1862, at St. Louis.
Bitting, William H.
Bird, William K., discharged August 9, 1861.
Browne, John H., discharged to accept commission as second lieutenant,
Seventeenth infantry, March 13, 1862.
*Brown, Harvey, wounded at Corinth, October 4, 1862.
Burbridge, James W.
Cullender, William.
Childs, George H., discharged December 19, 1861.
*Christy, Wm. D., promoted to quarter-master sergeant.
*Cooper, Joseph, wounded at Fort Donelson, February 15, 1862.
Davis, Ephriam P., promoted to hospital-steward; transferred to same position
in Tenth infantry.
*Davis, William L., promoted to eighth corporal, October 3, 1861; to fourth
sergeant, July 1, 1862; veteranized as second lieutenant.
Davis, James.
Dickerson, John A., promoted to first corporal, July 16, 1861.
Dreher, Peter, wounded at Donelson, February 15, 1862.
Estle, William, discharged, October 6, 1861.
Fales, Philetus.
Fenn Dwight E., mustered out November 22, 1862.
*Ferguson, John N.; veteranized as third corporal.
Fleming, John A.
*Gillett, Philander D., promoted to third corporal, October 3, 1861; to third
sergeant, September 1, 1862; veteranized as first sergeant.
Goodrich, Arthur; wounded at Corinth, October 3, 1862.
Gordnier, John, promoted to second corporal, October 3, 1861; wounded at
Donelson, February 15, 1862.
Greene, George W., discharged April 23, 1863.
Hayden, Joseph 8., wounded at Donelson, February 15 1862; discharged for
wounds, June 28, 1862.
Haskell, Joseph, discharged, April 2, 1862.
Houghton, Douglas S., discharged as minor by United States district court,
September 15, 1861.
Hoxie, W. H., promoted to captain, Seventeenth infantry, March 25, 1862.
Jones, Asbury C, discharged May 1, 1862.
Jones, Tarpley T.
*Kinsey, William A.
Lamoreaux, Charles H.
Lowe, Carlton, transferred to Second United States artillery as second
lieutenant, November 13, 1861.
Looby, John H., discharged for promotion, September 22, 1862.
Lyon, George W., promoted to hospital-steward, May 1, 1862.
Lynde, John, promoted to fifth corporal, July 16, 1862; to
commissary-sergeant, May 1, 1862; to second lieutenant, June 23, 1862; served
also as chief of ambulance corps, second division, Sixteenth Army Corps;
resigned May 26, 1864.
Mattern, Jacob H., discharged March 5, 1863.
McKelvogue, John (reported also Hugh), discharged February 6, 1862.
*McCollam, Isaac, veteranized as fourth corporal.
*Mason, William B., killed at Atlanta, August 15, 1864.
Moles, Jacob M., promoted to sixth corporal, March 1, 1862; killed at Corinth
October 4, 1862.
Morehead, Jacob.
Nagle, John N., wounded at Donelson, February 15, 1862; discharged for
wounds, July 11, 1862.
Nims, Albert H., wounded at Donelson, February 15, 1862.
Painter, Joshua C.
*Price, John.
Ragan, William, promoted to third corporal, July 16, 1862; to fifth sergeant,
March 1, 1862; discharged for promotion, September 26, 1862; wounded at
Donelson, February 15, 1862.
*Riddle, William, wounded at Corinth, October 3, 1862; transferred to United
States navy.
Rush, Austin B., transferred to regular army for promotion.
Robbins, James.
Scott, Erastus, discharged April 18, 1862.
Smith, Philander, wounded at Corinth, October 1, 1862, discharged April 3, 1863.
Stewart, Calvin C., discharged June 3, 1862.
*Swem, William A.
Warnock, Newton.
Watson, John H., transferred to Company D, Thirteenth infantry, November 7,
1861.
Wheeler, John, discharged February 1, 1862.
Whitmer, Samuel, promoted to fifth corporal, March 1, 1862; to fifth
sergeant, September 3, 1862.
Wylie, William D., discharged April 30, 1862; subsequently appointed
hospital-steward, United States army.
Yant, David, wounded at Donelson, February 15, 1862.
Yonnt, Enoch, J., discharged July 29, 1862.
Young, Armin, discharged August 19, 1861.
*Zelle, Godfrey, veteranized as second corporal.
* Veteranized December 23, 1863.
ADDITIONAL ENLISTMENTS, 1861.
Brubaker, John C., November 21; discharged December 3, 1862.
Brady, Casper S., November 21; wounded at Donelson, February 18; died of
wounds on the Des Moines River April 30, 1862.
Birch, Thomas S., November 23; died August 8, 1862.
*Chrystal, Benjamin F., December 16.
Cree, Theodore G., wounded at Donelson, February 16, 1862; discharged for
wounds, June 13, 1862.
*Chrystal, James A., December 16; captured at Corinth October 4; 1862;
veteranized as wagoner.
Greene, William B., August 1; discharged, December 19, 1861.
Houston, William L., November 20; discharged, July 29, 1862.
Lott, W., November 20.
Lasell, William J., November 27; discharged, February 1, 1862.
*Nagle, Thomas, November 20; veteranized as second sergeant.
Sharp, John, November 20; discharged November, 1862.
Williams, John Z., wounded at Donelson, February 15, 1862; discharged October
19, 1862.
Weeks, Theodore G., killed at Donelson, February 15, 1862.
* Veteranized December 23, 1863.
ADDITIONAL TO VETERANS, 1864.
Cassius, Joseph, January 21.
Cassius, James, January 21.
Cole, Henry, January 16, 1865; company unknown.
Gray, George B., September 29.
Hunt, Zaccheus, December 23, 1863.
Read, Andrew W., December 21, 1863.
Jones, Anderson, January 21, 1865; company unknown.
COMPANY K.
Clark, David H., May 6, 1861; discharged October 13, 1862.
Additional Comments:
Extracted from:
ANNALS OF POLK COUNTY, IOWA,
AND
CITY OF DES MOINES
BY WILL PORTER.
"And this volume, dedicated to its people, sets forth in attractive style all
the facts and incidents that go to make up the history of which all citizens are
justly proud."
Major Hoyt Sherman.
GEO. A. MILLLER PRINTING COMPANY,
PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS,
DES MOINES, IOWA,
1898.
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