6th Iowa Infantry

A history of the Iowa Sixth Infantry by Henry H. Wright

(circa 1923, Pages 9,10,11)

‘The young men composing the rank and file of the regiment were drawn from the best brain and brawn and the best pioneer blood of the western prairies. Their parents had immigrated in an early day to the new country then opening up west of the Mississippi River, where they were inured to the severities of rugged pioneer life. With the glow of health on their cheeks, the fire of patriotic enthusiasm sparkling in their eyes, their hearts swelling with manly pride, honest but untutored in the wiles of the world, earnest in their devotions to the principles of liberty, they were ready and willing to try the pending issue at arms squarely, and never flinch or quail, when the day of trial and danger should come.

The Fifth, Sixth and Seventh regiments of infantry, which had assembled in Camp Warren, together with the troops in the cavalry camps, formed a body of men very imposing and quite formidable as a military force – in the eyes of the young volunteers.

The nice distinctions of military etiquette to be observed in social relations between the officers and enlisted men had not been learned at that time, and it was not an unusual occurrence to see officers engaged with the men in all the athletic sports and amusements of the camps. It was a source of much satisfaction and pride for the men of the Sixth Regiment when Captain Walden of Company D proved to be the champion jumper in the camp.

The daily news of conflicts in Virginia and fierce skirmishes in Kentucky and Missouri between the hastily organized forces on both sides, which were dignified as battles at that time, gave to the situation a very serious aspect as to the probable severity and duration of the struggle. It was only a few days after the regiment was mustered into the service that the news of the battle of Bull Run (fought in Virginia near Washington City) was received; where General Irvin McDowell, brother of Colonel John Adair McDowell, was in command of the Union forces. The first reports received by telegraph of the engagement were exaggerated and highly sensational, and, as they were spread among the men, the whole camp was aroused to a high state of excitement.

Many had confidently predicted that the war would be over before the regiments then organizing would be ordered to the front, or get outside of the Sate boundary. It was at about the same time that an order was received by telegraph from the War Department for the Sixth Iowa to proceed at once to Washington City, which was hailed by the young men with great rejoicing, but with the most profound seriousness by the older and more thoughtful men in the service, and by those who were charged with the conduct of public affairs in the State. In the general calamity that was reported to have happened to the Union Army at Bull Run, Colonel McDowell received and read to the assembled crowd at his headquarters in the camp, a telegram announcing the death of his brother – saying he had been slain in the battle a the head of his army. While reading the telegram great tears streamed down the strong and manly face of Colonel McDowell, resenting a object lesson to the embryo soldiers who were spoiling for a fight. Fortunately for General McDowell, his brother, and the country, the telegram was untrue and he was not killed, but the Union defeat in the battle and the changed conditions in the command of that army, probably caused the marching orders for the Sixth Iowa to be countermanded. Had the orders not been countermanded, the Army of the Potomac would have had one Iowa regiment linked with its brilliant history in the war, as were several of the early regiments fro the western States.

The supply for the meals (furnished by the contractors) was abundant, but the cooking and facilities for serving were horrid – grub, dirt, and flies was the general mixture. Three meals were served each day consisting of: fresh beef, boiled; bakers bread, raised with yeast sponge; boiled vegetables; coffee and tea 0 with an abundance of sugar. Not many of the men were accustomed to the use of fresh beef at that season of the year, and it was seldom that any of them used bakers bread at their homes, so that, when they partook in such large quantity of the prepared food and were forced by the circumstances to inactivity, as compared with their active habits of life on the farms, many developed camp diseases and ailments. The arrangement was soon made to issue the army ration to the companies and then have the food prepared by company cooks; each man supplying himself with a tin cup and plate, knife, fork and spoon. This gave much better satisfaction and improved the health in the camp…’

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