Historical Sketch of the
SIXTEENTH REGIMENT IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Part Two

Had a sharp engagement with the enemy July 4, 1863, part of the regiment having crossed the river and driven the enemy from his position on the opposite bank. July 12th was ordered to re-enforce General Sherman at Jackson and bring up an ammunition train.. Johnston having evacuated Jackson, the army returned to Vicksburg July 28th; camped near Vicksburg till the 6th of August. The regiment again started from engaged in the march to Monroe, La. Returning to Vicksburg remained in camp till the 3d day of February, 1864; when we started on the Meridian campaign. After a march across the entire State of Mississippi, returned to Vicksburg, March 4, 1864. Left Vicksburg March 17th on veteran furlough. The regiment again started from Davenport, Iowa, May 3d; arrived at Clifton, Tenn., about the middle of May; marched to Huntsville, Ala.; arrived at the latter place May 22k; marched to Decatur, Ala., thence across the mountains to Rome, Ga., where arrived on the 5th of June. Starting again the next morning, joined the main army under Sherman near Ackworth on the 10th; arrived in front of Kenesaw Mountain on the 11th; had a sharp engagement with the enemy June 15th; part of the regiment was engaged in the attack on Kenesaw Mountain June 27th, meeting wit heavy loss. The regiment was under the enemy’s fire from June 14th to July 2d; moved from left to right of our line, meeting the enemy again July 4th; had another sharp engagement, driving the enemy. On the 5th, we again had the advance, driving the enemy from his fortified position and across Nic-s-jack Creek; were under fire of the enemy until the 16th day of July, when the rebels were compelled to cross the Chattahoochee river, and pushed on ht Atlanta. Was engaged in the battles of July 20th, 21st and 22d, meeting with heavy losses in killed, wounded and prisoners, reducing the regiment to less than 100 men present for duty; engaged in the battle of July 28th. Continued to take an active part in pushing forward our lines of investment till Aug. 26th, when the siege was raised, the army marching for the vicinity of Jonesboro, where the regiment was again under fire; was in the pursuit to Lovejoy’s Station, returned to Atlanta, remained till September 1st, when active movements were again commenced by the transfer of Hood’s rebel army to the north of the city. After engaging in the pursuit of the enemy towards Dalton and through Snake Creek Gap, thence to Gaylesville, Ala., returned to Atlanta. Our regiment being again increased to 450 men present for duty, by the exchange of prisoners in the month of September and the assignment of drafted men, we started from Atlanta, November 15th, marched to Savannah, before which place we arrived December 19th, after much hard marching and skirmishing, and drive the enemy behind his fortifications. At Savannah our regiment was the first to seize the Savannah and Charleston Railroad, and, under the direction of Brigadier General Belknap, commenced destroying the same. Was engaged in the siege till the evacuation of the city. Marched to the suburbs of the city and went into camp on the 21st where we remained, getting ready for the next campaign.

After a review of the entire army by General Sherman, we were put in motion Jan. 6, 1865, for Beaufort, S.C. Marched against Pocotaligo Jan, 15th, our corps (the Seventeenth) driving the enemy out of his strongly fortified position. Remained near Pocotaligo until the 28th, when the new campaign commenced. marching to Rivers Bridge, on the Salkehatchie, met the enemy strongly fortified. At this point the Salkehatchie forms an almost impenetrable swamp about two miles wide, which was waded by the Fourth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps (of which the Sixteenth formed a part) on the 3d day of February, 1865; and the enemy was driven from his position. Continuing the march, driving the enemy before us, capturing every place which he attempted to hold, and after encountering many hardships, privations and dangers, arrived at Goldsboro, N.C., on the 23rd day of March, 1865. Remaining at Goldsboro until the 10th day of April, the regiment was again on the march in search of the enemy. Pushing forward, the command entered Raleigh on the 16th, and camped there until the 2d of May. The war being brought to a close, the command marched for Washington, where it took part in the grand review May 24th, left Washington June 7th and arrived at Louisville, June 12th.

The record from which the foregoing quotation is made embraced the entire period of service of the regiment, but only that portion of it commencing July 4, 1863, has been quoted, for the reason that the compiler of this sketch found it necessary, in preparing the earlier history of the regiment, to refer to official reports and other data, going more fully into the details of its operations than the closely condensed record given by Major Conyngham. At Goldsboro, N.C., under date March 25, 1865, Captain Conyngham, (subsequently commissioned Major,) in an official report addressed to Brig. Gen. N.B. Baker, Adjutant General of Iowa, (7) says:

I have the honor to submit the following as a brief outline of the movements of the Sixteenth Iowa Infantry Veteran Volunteers, during the sieges of Atlanta and Savannah, the campaigns through Georgia and Carolinas, commencing on the 23d day of July, 1864, and ending on the 23d day of March, 1865. I embrace the above dates not that I was in command of the regiment during the entire period, but because there has been no report made to your office during the time stated, and as I am the only officer, now in the service, of those who have commanded during the period.

This report, while giving a more detailed account of the movements of the regiment for the time indicated, refers mainly to the events already briefly described. In the desperately fought battle before Atlanta, July 22, 1864, after completely exhausting its ammunition, and being entirely surrounded by the enemy, the regiment with its gallant commander Lieut. Col. A. H. Sanders, surrendered as prisoners of war. Upon his return from captivity, Lieutenant Colonel Sanders made a detailed report for Adjutant General Baker; Capt. C. W. Williams also submitted a report of the battle, with a list of the killed, wounded and missing, and Oliver Anson, Sergeant Major of the regiment, gave an account of the experience, while in prison, of those who were captured. (8) The length of these reports precludes their reproduction in full, but the compiler has chosen the following extracts form them, to show how splendidly the Sixteenth Iowa maintained its well-won reputation as a fighting regiment in this tremendous conflict before Atlanta. Lieutenant Colonel Sanders report is, in part, as follows:

SIR,- I have the honor to report the action of the Sixteenth Iowa Veteran Infantry in the battle before Atlanta, Ga., July 22, 1864, resulting in the capture of nearly all of said regiment and myself.

On the morning of July 21st my regiment charged on the rebel batteries, and, after a desperate assault, lost sixty-five men. The regiment was commented by General McPherson for its daring bravery. General McPherson’s last words to me, the day he was killed, were: "The old Sixteenth shall be remembered." On the afternoon of the 21st, the old Iowa brigade was removed to the extreme left flank of Sherman’s army, about two miles form Atlanta. The Sixteenth Iowa formed a line at right angles with the main line of the army. Immediately on the right of the Sixteenth’s works, the Eleventh Iowa established themselves in rifle pits; on a road running between the Eleventh and Sixteenth Iowa’s works were planted tow Napoleon guns of the Second Illinois battery protected by heavy works. On the left of the Sixteenth and a little to the rear the Fifteenth Iowa has rifle pits. About a hundred yards to the rear of the Sixteenth, the Thirteenth Iowa had breastworks. During the night of the 21st, each regiment of the brigade built substantial rifle pits along the line that I have designated, and each cleared a space of fifty yards in front of its works. Still the heavy underbrush concealed the works of the different regiments from each other’s view.

On the 22d were under arms at daylight, but no enemy appeared. The Afternoon before, Immediately on our arrival, I had thrown out two companies (B and G) several hundred yards in front, to act as pickets and skirmishers. About noon on the 22d I received an order form General Smigh, (9) in person, to have my regiment ready to fall in at a minute’s notice, and that he expected me to hold those works to the last, as the safety of the division might depend upon the delay we could occasion the enemy at that point. This was the last order I received that day from any commanding officer. About 1:30 o’clock P.M., our skirmishers in front commenced a brisk firing. I immediately formed the regiment in the entrenchment’s, and soon after the skirmishers were driven in upon us. I again sent them out, but a strong line of the enemy forced them back. Lieutenant Powers, commanding the battery, opened fire on the advancing enemy, but I requested it stopped until the enemy should get nearer. I ordered my men not to fire a gun until they received my command, no matter how close the enemy came. The rebel line advanced steadily to the charge, and I permitted them to approach to the open space of fifty yards in front of my works, when cautioning the men t aim will and fire low, I ordered the rear rank to fire, and then the front rank. The response was a terrific and deadly volley from one rank, followed immediately by another, and then a continuous rapid firing, fast as eager and experienced soldiers could loaded and discharge their guns. The result of our fire was terrible; the enemy’s line seemed to crumble to the earth, for even those not killed or wounded fell to ground for protection. Lieutenant Powell’s battery here did excellent execution. An other heavy line of the enemy advanced, and were repulsed in the same terrible manner. ***

More splendid firing, or more effectual in its results, was never witnessed in the army. The Second and Eighth Arkansas regiments, with two Texas companies, got into a position in our front, in which they could not advance, and dared not attempt to retire, but hugged the ground close, suffering a terrible fire. While thus lying down, they raised the white flag. I ordered the firing to cease, and these regiments threw down their guns and hurried over to our works as prisoners. We had at this time double the number of prisoners we had men in the ranks. A part of these men were sent to the rear, but before the remainder could be secured the enemy had taken the Thirteenth’s works immediately in our rear, and commenced a heavy firing into our ranks.***

The report then describes the desperate situation which the regiment was placed; how the fight was continued against tremendous odds until it be came evident the other regiments of the brigade had been outflanked and compelled to abandon their works, when, all hope of receiving re-enforcement’s be abandoned, the brave officers and men of the Sixteenth Iowa reluctantly surrendered themselves as prisoners of war. At the conclusion of his report Lieutenant Colonel Anders shows he utter hopelessness of he situation, and that he would not have been justified in urging his brave men to further resistance. He says:

At the time of our surrender we were entirely our of ammunition, the rebels having been so long in our rear that supplies were prevented from reaching us. Why we were left alone, an isolated regiment, surrounded and helpless, while the other regiments around us were ordered from their works, as I suppose they were, I cannot realize. If the sacrifice of this noble regiment was intended to give the army in our rear time to rally, then it was well, and the sacrifice was nobly made of a band of as brave and faithful men as any who fought upon the field that day. They could not be taken from the front, and only surrendered when further resistance would have been suicide. ***

I should have stated in its proper place, that while firing heaviest, and guns so heated that they could scarcely oh handled, we were re-enforced by companies D and K, of the Thirteenth Iowa, commanded by Captain Pope and Lieutenant Rice. Captain Pope informed me hat they were ordered to our assistance, fearing our ammunition as well as men must soon be exhausted. I assigned these companies places along the trenches, and they went into the work like veterans, fought nobly to the last, and surrendered with us.

That the order to withdraw from their works was given to the two flanking regiments of the Iowa Brigade is shown by the following extract from the report of Gen. Giles A. Smith, who commanded the Fourth Division: (10)

I ordered Colonel Hall to withdraw his tow flank regiments which this movement enveloped, and to move them by the right flank around the front or east side of my main line of works, having already directed the men occupying that line to take the same position and drive back the enemy, now already pressing their rear. This movement was promptly executed, and successful except in the case of the Sixteenth Iowa, occupying the extreme left, which was completely surrounded, and over tow hundred and thirty men captured.

That the order failed to reach Colonel Sanders was no doubt owing to the fact that the staff officer, to whom it was entrusted, found himself cut off by the enemy, and was thus prevented from delivering it. Capt. C/ E/ Williams of the Sixteenth Iowa also wrote a report of the part taken by his regiment in the battle of July 22d, in which he says, in part:

(11)The other regiments of the brigade did all that could be done under the circumstances to arrest the calamity to this regiment, but it will be remembered that they were attacked by a large force upon the left flank, and were compelled to change front under a severe cross fire of the enemy, so that the best they could do was to take care of themselves. It is proper to add, that a detail for fatigue duty had been made from the regiment just previous to the attack, consisting of three commissioned officers, viz: Captain Williams, and Lieutenants Conyngham and Weingartner, and eighty enlisted men, all of whom were absent from the regiment, and did not rejoin it, having nearly a mile to travel. The detail was posted upon the left of the Third Division, and materially aided in the final repulse of the enemy, all doing their duty nobly. Some twenty-five of them were killed, wounded and missing, most of them before they gained the works, as they were exposed to a cross fire of the enemy’s artillery during the interval of leaving their works and gaining our main line, as well as to direct a fire of musketry. *** I append to this report a list of the killed, wounded and missing, on the 2nd inst.; also a complete list of casualties in the regiment from June 14th to August 8th, inclusive, making an aggregate of 369 killed, wounded and missing.

Sergeant Major Oliver Anson, in a communication addressed to General Baker (12) relative to the capture of the officers and men of the Sixteenth and their treatment while prisoners of war, says, in part: "*** We were taken to Macon, and there the enlisted men were separated from the officers, and taken to Andersonville, six miles farther south. The enlisted men of the regiment captured numbered 225. *** The men are suffered to lie out in the open air without any shelter whatever, and many of them are in a manner naked. They do not get enough to eat, and what they do eat in not fit to eat. It is killing the men faster than the army. When I went into the prison on the 28th of July, there were over 33,000 prisoners, and on the 7th September, the issuing clerk told me they issued to 29.,553, and since the 28th they had captured the Eighth Iowa Cavalry and some of the Fifth, and a large number form McCook and Stoneman, besides making captures form Sherman’s army, and yet the number ran down in spite of them. ***"

The compiler has endeavored to compress within the limits of this brief sketch the main outlines of the history of this splendid military organization, and to give some of the details of its most important achievements. In the subjoined roster will be found the record of personal service of every soldier who at any time belonged to the regiment, condensed into a paragraph opposite his name. The transcript of these rosters had been carefully made from the official records of the office of the Adjutant General of the state of Iowa. In addition to official sources, surviving officers of the regiment have been asked to correct errors and omissions and to complete records, but only to a limited extent has it been found possible to secure such information.

The commonwealth of Iowa has fulfilled a high duty in providing for the preservation of the history of her brave sons who went forth to battle for the unity of the States, and for the perpetuation of a Government which has proved such an inestimable blessing, not only to the loyal and patriotic men who so nobly fought to save it but, also, to those misguided men who fought so desperately to destroy it.

Foot Notes:

(1). War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Col. 10 Pages 286 and 287. Same Volume, Page 104, tabulated casualties, shows total loss 131. Bronze tablet on regimental monument to Sixteenth Regiment Iowa Infantry at Shiloh shows losses as follows: Killed, officers, 1, men 15; wounded, officers 11, men 91 (8 mortally); captured or missing, men 13.

(2). At the close of the war the survivors of these four Iowa regiments formed an organization by which they have preserved the name "Crocker’s Iowa Brigade." They meet biennially in reunion. Gen. W.W. Belknap was its first commander, and, at his death, was succeeded by Col. H.H. Rood, Its present commander (1908).

(3). As will be observed at the close of this report, the Sixteenth Iowa fought under another brigade commander at the battle of Iuka, being entirely detached, for the time being, from its own brigade.

(4). War of the Rebellion Records, Series 1, Part 1, Vol. 17, Page 100.

(5). War of the Rebellion Records, Series 1, Part 1, Bol, 17, Page 78. Tabulated losses, Sixteenth Iowa: Killed 14, wounded 48, missing 13.

(6). Adjutant General of Iowa, Report for year 1866, Pages 272-274, inclusive.

(7). Adjutant General of Iowa Report for year 1866, Pages 274-5.

(8). These reports are found in the report of the Adjutant General of Iowa for the year 1865, Vol. 2, Pages 1104-13, inclusive.

(9). Brig. Gen. Giles A. Smith.

(10). Adjutant General of Iowa Report for 1865, Vol. 2, Page 1278.

(11). Adjutant General of Iowa Report for 1865, Vol. 2, Page 1107.

(12). Adjutant General of Iowa Report for 1865, Vol. 2, Page 1113.

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