A Political Military Leader

Union Colonel Peter Augustus Porter was killed June 3^rd 1864 in the Battle of Cold Harbor.

Peter Augustus Porter was born July 14^th 1827 in Black Rock, New York the son of Peter Buell Porter.  He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1857, as well as studying abroad in Europe.  Porter was an elected to the New York State Assembly in 1862.

On July 7^th 1862 Porter was appointed the Colonel of the 129^th New York Infantry, which would be renamed the 8^th New York Heavy Artillery.  They were placed on duty guarding the forts that ringed Washington, DC.  On September 5^th 1863 Porter was nominated to the office of New York Secretary of State, but declined to stay with the military.  In May 1864 the 8^th along with Porter were ordered to join the Army of Potomac and General Ulysses S Grant’s Wilderness Campaign.

At the Battle of Cold Harbor on June 3^rd 1864, Porter was killed while leading his men.  He was found to have been shot six times.  Two nights later, during a rain storm, five men from the 8^th went out under fire and got their Colonel’s body; bring it back into Union lines.  Porter’s body was taken to Baltimore, Maryland where it was met by military escort.  A Chaplain accompanied the body back to his home, where he was buried in the Oakwood Cemetery in Niagara Falls, New York.

Both Claimed A Victory

The Battle of Haw’s Shop [also called the Battle of Enon Church] was fought in Hanover County, Virginia May 28^th 1864.

Union General Ulysses S Grant abandoned his line at North Anna, after fighting Confederate General Robert E Lee’s force there, and swung once again, trying to flank the Confederates.  Lee moved his troops quickly, and sent out cavalry to gather intelligence about the Union movement.

Confederate Major General Wade Hampton, who was scouting the Union troops, ran into Union cavalry under the command of Brigadier General David M Gregg on May 28^th 1864 at Enon Church near Hanovertown, Virginia bring on the Battle of Haw’s Shop.  Although both sides were cavalry they fought predominately dismounted.  Both sides used earthworks in the area, and neither could gain an advantage.  Greg received reinforcements from Union Brigadier General Alfred T Torbert’s New Jersey division.  As the seven hour fight was wrapping up with Hampton withdrawing his men, Union Brigadier General George A Custer launched an attack, that brought everything to an end.

The Battle of Haw’s Shop was inconclusive, with both sides claiming victory.  Union Cavalry Corps commander Major General Philip H Sheridan felt his men had won as they drove Hampton from the field, but Hampton had held up the Union cavalry for seven hours and was able to provide Lee with intel about the Union Army.  The Union force reported 344 casualties, including Private John Huff of the 5^th Michigan Cavalry, who fatally shot Confederate major General JEB Stuart a few weeks earlier at the Battle of Yellow Tavern.  Confederate casualties were unofficially counted about 400.

The Final Fight

The Battle of Appomattox Court House, the final engagement for the Confederate General Robert E Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia, was fought April 9^th 1865.

Confederate Major General John B Gordon’s Corps and General Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry formed at Appomattox Court House and attacked Union General Philip H Sheridan’s cavalry at dawn on April 9^th 1865, pushing the first line, commanded by Union Brigadier General Charles H Smith back.  Hitting the second line of Union cavalry commanded by Brigadier General George Crook slowed Gordon’s advance.  The Confederate continued their advance and reached the crest, where they found the entire Union V Corps in line.  The Confederate cavalry seeing the Union force withdrew and moved off toward Lynchburg, Virginia.  Union General Edward O C Ord’s soldiers advanced on Gordon’s men, as the Union II Corps started a movement to the northeast on Confederate Lieutenant General James Longstreet Corps.

It was at this point, with Lee’s army surrounded on three sides, that one of Lee’s staff; Colonel Charles Venable rode in for an appraisal of the situation.  Gordon told him to "tell General Lee I have fought my corps to a frazzle, and I fear I can do nothing unless I am heavily supported by Longstreet's corps."  It was upon receiving this news that Robert E Lee said, "Then there is nothing left for me to do but to go and see General Grant and I would rather die a thousand deaths."  Lee rode out with three of his aides shortly after to meet with Union General Ulysses S Grant to arrange for surrender.  This last action at Appomattox Court House caused the Union 260 and the Confederates 440 more casualties.

Bitter Bitter Tears

The Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia fell to Union control April 3^rd 1865.

Union General Ulysses S Grant had been working toward a takeover of the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia for nearly ten months.  On April 1^st 1865 Grant crushed Confederate Robert E Lee’s line at Five Forks, and Grant kept up the pressure the next day all along the Confederate’s Petersburg line.  Lee’s line collapsed.  That same night the Confederate government in Richmond evacuated the city leaving on the last open railroad line, with the army leaving right behind them.  As the Confederate soldiers left, they set fire to the armory, bridges and warehouse, a fire that burned out of control and spread through the city.

On the morning of April 3^rd 1865 the mayor and some other elite citizens surrendered Richmond, and Union troops entered the capital city.  The Union soldiers fought and put out the fires, but not before it burned about 10% of the city.  Mary Fontaine a resident of Richmond, Virginia wrote that she "saw them unfurl a tiny flag, and I sank on my knees, and the bitter, bitter tears came in a torrent."  Among the first Union troops to enter the city were the black troops of the 5^th Massachusetts Cavalry, many of the city’s residents considered this proof that their world was over.

President Abraham Lincoln toured the city just a few days later with his son Tad.

The Four Important Men

United States President Abraham Lincoln travel to City Point, Virginia and on March 28^th 1865 [I have seen the date listed as March 27^th] met with his Generals about the wrap up of the Civil War.

Union General William T Sherman’s troops were moving north up through the Carolinas, and Ulysses S Grant was about the break the 10 month long siege on Petersburg, Virginia that had been holding Confederate General Robert E Lee in place.  Lincoln had come to Virginia to meet with these men; he also toured the Union line in front of Petersburg, reviewed the troops and visited with the wounded.

On March 28^th 1865 Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Union Admiral David Dixon Porter sat down together on the USS River Queen.  This was the first time Lincoln and Sherman had ever met.  Lincoln explained his worries that Lee could break out of Petersburg, move his troops south, join up with Confederate General Joseph E Johnston’s Army in North Carolina, and the war would go on for many more months.  He was assured by Grant and Sherman that the end of the war was close, although Grant wrote after the war that he “was afraid every morning that I would wake from my sleep to hear that Lee had gone, and that nothing was left but his picket line.”  Lincoln then stressed that the Confederates’ surrender term had to preserve the Union, and uphold the emancipation.  He told the men that he wanted the “Confederate armies back to their homes, at work on their farms and in their shops. Let them have their horses to plow with, and, if you like, their guns to shoot crows with. I want no one punished; treat them liberally all round. We want those people to return to their allegiance to the Union and submit to the laws.”

Providing Information

One of the first orders that Union Major General Joseph Hooker made after becoming the commander of the Army of the Potomac was on February 11^th 1863, creating the Bureau of Military Information.

The Pinkerton National Detective Agency, run by Allan Pinkerton assumed responsibility for President Abraham Lincoln’s safety in 1861.  Pinkerton also provided intelligence for Union General George B McClellan.  General Winfield Scott hired Lafayette C Baker a detective for information.  Lincoln himself paid a publisher; William A Lloyd to infiltrate the Confederacy and provide information.  In all these cases though, these men were civilians.

When Union Major General Joseph Hooker became the commander of the Army of the Potomac, he ordered his deputy provost marshal Colonel George H Sharpe to create an intelligence unit.  Sharpe received assistance from John C Babcock; a former Pinkerton employee and they established the Bureau of Military Information [the BMI] on February 11^th 1863.

The BMI had about 70 field agents during the, 10 of whom were killed during the war.  These and additional agents preformed interrogations, scanned confederate newspapers and captured documents for information that could be helpful to the Union war effort.  Union General Ulysses S Grant kept BMI staff in his headquarters, so he would have the most recent information.

The BMI ceased to be once the Civil War came to an end in 1865. 

The Weather For War

The United States Weather Bureau was created on February 9^th 1870, because Civil War Generals wanted accurate forecasts for battles.

A joint resolution of Congress established the United States Weather Bureau.  The task of the Bureau was to "provide for taking meteorological observations at the military stations in the interior of the continent and at other points in the States and Territories...and for giving notice on the northern (Great) Lakes and on the seacoast by magnetic telegraph and marine signals, of the approach and force of storms."  It was signed into being by United States President Ulysses S Grant on February 9^th 1870.

The Bureau was placed within the Department of War.  The Secretary of War had the Bureau assigned to the United States Army Signal Corps which was commanded by Brigadier General Albert J Myer.  The first weather observations were made at 22 stations, with the information gathered 3 times a day telegraphed to Washington, DC, where 4 “professionals” would issue a forecast.

Crossing Into The Carolinas

A Wing of Union General William T Sherman’s Army under the command of Major General Henry W Slocum began to cross the Savannah River at Sister’s Ferry on January 29^th 1865.

After capturing Savannah, Georgia Union General William T Sherman was ordered by Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant to embark by ship and move his troops to the support of the Army of the Potomac.  Sherman convinced Grant that it would be better if he marched his troops north through the Carolinas.  He would target South Carolina, the first state to have seceded, by destroying everything of value to the military as they passed through.

Sherman ordered the commander of the XIV and XX Corps; Major General Henry W Slocum on January 19^th 1865 to cross the Savannah River into South Carolina at Sister’s Ferry.  However the Union troops; do to a heavy rainfall, weren’t able to leave the city of Savannah until January 29^th 1865.  It took them until February 2^nd 1865 to get completely over the river.  Slocum’s men lagging behind the rest of Sherman’s army proceeded toward the town of Robertville, South Carolina.

A Horse Breeder

Sanders Dewees Bruce an expert on horse breeding was made the Colonel of the Union 20^th Kentucky Infantry January 6^th 1862.

Sanders Dewees Bruce was born in Lexington, Kentucky August 18^th 1825, the son of John Bruce.  He graduated in 1846 from Transylvania University and went in the mercantile business.  He served in the Kentucky State Militia as a Captain of the Lexington Chasseurs.

When the Civil War started Bruce decided to fight for the Union, despite other family member choosing to side with the Confederacy [his sister Rebeca was married to Confederate General John Hunt Morgan].  Bruce started his service as the Union Inspector General of the Kentucky Militia.  When the 20^th Kentucky Infantry; which he helped recruit, was raised, he was mustered in as their Colonel on January 6^th 1862.  In February of 1862 Bruce was in command of a Brigade in Union General William Bull Nelson’s Division of the Army of the Ohio.  Bruce led his Brigade when Nelson was ordered to reinforce Union General Ulysses S Grant at Pittsburg Landing during the Battle of Shiloh.  He would serve as post commander in Bowling Green, Kentucky and Clarksville, Tennessee.  When he resigned from Union service June 24^th 1864, due to a stroke, he was serving as the Provost Marshal of Lexington, Kentucky.

After the war ended Bruce moved to New York City.  He published “The Turf, Field and Farm” a magazine where he used his knowledge of horse breeding.  He became a member of the Coney Island Jockey Club, and wrote the “American Stud Book” and “The Horsebreed’s Guide and Handbook”.  Bruce died January 31^st 1902 in New York City; and is buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky.

You Have Got Too Much

The Battle of Orchard Knob, a rocky hill to the east of Chattanooga was fought November 23^rd 1863.

Union General George H Thomas formed his troops up in the valley between Chattanooga, Tennessee and rocky hill about 100 feet high, known as Orchard Knob on the afternoon of November 23^rd 1863.  Confederates posted on top of Orchard Knob watched the Union troops from behind rifle pits, as they move as though on parade in front of their position.

Somewhere around 1:30 pm the 14,000 Union soldiers began to march on the Confederate position at the double quick.  There were only 634 Confederates holding the line on Orchard Knob.  The Confederate soldiers had time only to fire a single volley before Thomas’ troops closed in on the Knob, pushing the Confederates back to the base of Missionary Ridge.  By 3 pm Union General Thomas J Wood was sending the message to Thomas, that "I have taken the first line of the enemy's entrenchments."  Thomas sent back the order, “Hold on; don't come back; you have got too much; entrench your position."

Union General Ulysses S Grant would use Orchard Knob on November 25^th 1863 as his forward observation point, while watching the Union assault on Missionary Ridge.

Abandon Pursuit

Earl Van Dorn

The Battle of Hatchie Bridge or Davis Bridge was the final engagement of the Luka-Corinth Campaign and was fought October 5^th 1862 in Hardeman and McNairy Counties Tennessee.

Confederate Major General Earl Van Dorn’s Army of Tennessee retreated on October 4^th 1862 from Corinth, Mississippi, halting that night near Chewalla, Tennessee.  Union Major General William S Rosecrans began his pursuit the next morning, with the assistance of Major General Edward O C Ord.  Around 8am on the morning of October 5^th 1862 Ord took command of the combined Union forces and moved on Van Dorn’s advance; commanded by Confederate Major General Sterling Price’s men, pushing them back about five miles to the Hatchie River and across the Davis’ Bridge.  Ord was wounded in the ankle during this push.  While Ord’s men pushed Price’s Confederates, Van Dorn had scouts looking for another way to cross the Hatchie River.

Union General Ulysses Grant ordered the Union command to abandon the pursuit of the Confederates, allowing Van Dorn’s Army to escape.

They Saved The National Capital

The Battle of Monocacy a part of the Valley Campaign of 1864 was fought July 9^th 1864, and is sometimes called the Battle that saved Washington.

In reaction to Confederate Lieutenant General Jubal A Early’s movements, Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant dispatched about 5,000 men of the VI Corps on July 6^th 1864 under the command of Brigadier General James B Ricketts, to help the Union force in the Shenandoah Valley.  While these men were on route the only other Union soldiers standing between Early and Washington, DC was a command of Major General Lew Wallace.  He had a force of about 6,300 mostly made up by men who had enlisted for 100 days, most of whom had never been in a battle.  Wallace’s only hope was to slow down the Confederate approach toward Washington until reinforcements could reach the city.

Wallace saw Monocacy Junction as the best place to try to defend both Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC.  The Georgetown Pike and National Road as well as the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad crossed the Monocacy River there, but to cover the area Wallace would have to stretch his troops over a six mile long front.  It was good news when Wallace heard that a part of the VI Corps was coming his way by rail.

On the morning of July 9^th 1864 the Union troops were in position at the bridges and fords on the Monocacy River.  They held the higher elevation on the east back, and were digging in as much as they could.  Confederate Major General Stephen Dodson Ramseur moving up the Georgetown Pike ran into the Union troops first near the Best Farm, while Confederate Major General Robert E Rodes clashed with Wallace’s man on the National Road.  Taking some Union prisoners, the Confederates were led to believe that the whole VI Corps was in their front.  Being cautious, Early sent cavalry off the try to find a place to outflank the Union line, which they found on Wallace’s left.  Or they thought they had found the left, but do to terrain what they had found was the point that separated Wallace’s One Hundred Day men and the men of the VI Corps.  Once it was discovered, Early sent in Confederate Major General John B Gordon division.  The confederates made a break in the Union line and were able to enfilade the line.  Wallace was unable to reinforce the line and realizing the Union position was untenable Wallace ordered a retreat towards Baltimore.  They left 1,294 men behind, dead, wounded and captured.

Early’s army lost a day’s march, but the way was open to Washington, DC.  He continued to march on getting close enough to see the Capitol Dome, but his men were played out, and more Union troops of the battle harden VI Corps were seen arriving.  After some skirmishing and artillery fire, Early withdrew back across the Potomac on July 13^th 1864.

Wallace would give orders for the dead on the Monocacy Battlefield to be collected and buried.  He said there should be a monument to these men that read, “These men died to save the National Capital, and they did save it."

The Navy Man Of The West

Union Rear Admiral Andrew Hull Foote died June 26^th 1863.

Andrew Hull Foote was born September 12^th 1806 at New Haven, Connecticut the son of Senator Samuel Augustus and Eudocia (Hull) Foote.  He was a good student and received an appointment to the United State Military Academy at West Point in June 1822.  Only six months later he left West Point on December 4^th 1822 and joined the United State Navy as a midshipman on the USS Grampus.  He became a Lieutenant in 1830.  In 1837 Foote serving on the USS John Adams circumnavigated the globe.  In 1849 he became the commander of the USS Perry sailing off the coast of Africa.  It was this duty that caused him write the book “Africa and the American Flag” about the evils of the slave trade.  In 1958 Foote became the commander of the Brooklyn Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, where he would be serving when the Civil War started.

On June 29^th 1861 Foote was promoted to Captain and took over the command of the Mississippi River Squadron.  In February 1862 the now Flag Officer Foote in conjunction with Union General Ulysses S Grant captured Fort Henry on the Tennessee River.  This was followed in a few days by the fall of Fort Donelson.  Foote was wounded in this battle.  After this he joined with Union General John Pope in a campaign against the Confederate held Island Number Ten on the Mississippi River.

With a promotion to Union Rear Admiral he was on his way on June 26^th 1863 to take command of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron when he died of Bright’s disease.  Foote is buried in the Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven, Connecticut.

Up The Steep Slope

The Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain was fought May 9^th 1864 in western Virginia over one of the last Confederate railroads.

As Union General Ulysses S Grant began his 1864 spring campaign, he ordered Brigadier General George Crook who commanded the Union Army of West Virginia to march through the Appalachian Mountain into southwestern Virginia.  Crook was to work along with Union General William W Averell to destroy the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad.  The Confederate force in the area was commanded by General Albert G Jenkins.  Jenkins had only been in command for a few days when the battle broke out.

Jenkins found a strong defensive position at Cloyd’s Mountain in Pulaski County, Virginia and decided to hold the line.  Crook quickly decided that the Confederate position was too strong for a frontal assault, but he could use a heavily forested area to the Confederate right to out flank them.  On May 9^th 1864 Crook opened the battle with an artillery barrage.  He sent out new West Virginia troops to the Confederate right, while troops under future president Colonel Rutherford B Hayes made a frontal assault.  Crook advanced on foot with Hayes’ men up the steep slope.  By 11am they had fought their way into the Confederate lines where the fight became hand to hand.  The West Virginian’s advanced beyond some Confederate cannon over running their crew.  Two new regiments of Ohio men moved in where Hayes’ men were and overwhelmed the Confederate center.  Jenkins shifted his troops skillfully, but was mortally wounded and taken prisoner by some Union soldiers.

After Jenkins was wounded, Brigadier General John McCausland took over command of the Confederate troops.  He conducted a rear guard fight as he withdrew the remaining troops.  Crook reported 688 casualties, while the Confederate lost 538 men.  Crook would continue to move forward and destroy the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad at Dublin, Virginia.

If you would like to read more check Cloyds Mountain Campaign

A Minor Setback

Rear Admiral David D Porter and Major General Ulysses S Grant were defeated on April 29^th 1863 at the Battle of Grand Gulf, although it was a minor setback on the way to Vicksburg.

Union Admiral David D Porter took seven ironclads up the river in an attack against the batteries at Grand Gulf, Mississippi.  The attention was to shut down the Confederate guns and secure the landing area for troops of Union Major General John A McClernand.  At about 8am the ironclads began the attack and continued to fire on the Confederate batteries until about 1:30 pm.  The ships silenced the guns of Fort Wad, but the upper Confederate batteries at Fort Cobun continued their return fire.  The Union ironclads drew off, but returned again after dark engaging the Confederate gun, and running the steamboat troop transports down the river past Grand Gulf.

Grant moved his men overland below Grand Gulf across Coffee Point.  The transport ships landed at Disharoon’s plantation just below Grand Gulf.  Grant’s men loaded onto the transport.  They disembarked on the Mississippi shore and began marching overland towards Port Gibson, Mississippi.

An Enforcement Of The Fourteenth Amendment

President Ulysses S Grant signed the Enforcement Act of 1871 into law April 20^th 1871; this is also called the Civil Rights Act of 1871.

United States Senator John Scott of Pennsylvania formed a committee to take testimony about actions of the Ku Klux Klan in January 1871.  In February of that year Congressman Benjamin Franklin Butler introduced an anti-Klan bill designed to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment.  The original bill was defeated in the House, but Congressman Samuel Shallabarger of Ohio introduced a substitute bill that passed the House by a thin margin.  The bill had no trouble passing the Senate and President Ulysses S Grant signed it into law April 20^th 1871.

Under this Act, United States troops were brought in to enforce laws in the southern states where hundreds of members of the Ku Klux Klan were tried in Federal courts.  As part of this Act Habeas Corpus was suspended in many of the counties of South Carolina.  It wiped out the Klan and other white supremacy groups for many years in the former Confederate States.

Step Towards Appomattox

The first move of the spring of 1865 was the Battle of Lewis’s Farm was fought March 29^th 1865 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia and was the opening of the Appomattox Campaign.

Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant opened his spring campaign on March 29^th 1865 by sending Major General Philip Sheridan’s cavalry followed by the Union V Corps to turn the right flank of Confederate General Robert E Lee’s Petersburg defenses.  Union Major General Gouverneur K Warren, who commanded the V Corps, moved his troops up the Quaker Road, at the intersection of the Boydton Plank Road, they ran into Confederate Major General Bushrod Johnson’s brigade.

Union Brigadier General Joshua L Chamberlain led the main advance.  The Confederates were pushed back into entrenchments on the White Oak Road.  Confederate Lieutenant General Richard H Anderson ordered two brigades forward in an attempt the intercept the Union troops.  Chamberlain, who was wounded, rallied his men around an artillery battery, counterattacked and took the Confederate entrenchments.  There were reported casualties of 370 Confederate and 380 Union.

The Battle of Lewis’s Farm is also sometimes called Gravelly Road, Military Road of Quaker Road.

From Soldier To Leader

Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant became United States President Ulysses S Grant on March 4^th 1869.

Union Lieutenant General Ulysses S Grant became the 18^th President of the United States on March 4^th 1869, the first of many Civil War veterans to hold that office.  His first inauguration was performed by Supreme Court Chief Justice Salmon P Chase on the East Portico of the White House.  President Andrew Johnson refused to attend the inaugural ceremonies it is believed because President elect Grant had refused to sit with him in his carriage on the ride to his inauguration.  Grant’s inaugural parade included eight divisions of Army, and his inaugural ball was held that night in the Treasury Building.

If you’re interested in reading   

Ulysses S. Grant's First Inaugural Address  this is a good place to start.

The Yankees Are Sending Babes

John Lincoln Clem a Union drummer boy, who was only 9 years old when he tried to join the army, became a paid member of the 22^nd Michigan January 5^th 1863.

John Lincoln Clem was born John Joseph Klem, August 13^th 1851 in Newark, Ohio the son of Roman and Magdalene (Weber) Klem.  Following his mother’s death when he was 9, he ran away to become a drummer boy in Union army.  Clem’s first attempt to join up in May 1861 was rejected by the 3^rd Ohio Infantry because he was so small and young.  From here he moved onto the 22^nd Michigan.  They also turned him down, but this time he just “joined” them.  The men of the 22^nd adopted the boy as their mascot and he became their drummer boy.  The officers of the 22^nd chipped in to pay Clem a soldier’s wage.

The legend around Clem is that he precipitated in the Battle of Shiloh, where his drum was said to have been smashed by an artillery round. On January 5^th 1863 he officially became enlisted in Company C of the 22^nd.  Clem became famous during the Battle of Chickamauga.  He was seen riding an artillery caisson and on the front line shooting a musket which had been remade to fit his small size.  During a retreat of the Union, Clem refused to surrender to a Confederate Colonel and shot him instead.  Following the battle he was promoted to Sergeant, the youngest ever non commissioned officer in Union service.  Clem was captured October 1863 in Georgia by Confederate cavalry.  He was exchanged in a short time, but the Confederate newspapers reported on Clem’s young age to show "what sore straits the Yankees are driven, when they have to send their babes out to fight us."  After serving with the Army of the Cumberland and being wounded twice, Clem was discharged in September 1864 at the age of 13.

After the war Clem finished his early education.  He served as the Captain of the “Washington Rifles” a militia unit in the District of Columbia in 1871.  After an attempt to enter the United States Military Academy failed, Clem with the help of President Ulysses S Grant became a Second Lieutenant in the 24^th United States Infantry December 18^th 1871.  He would become a First Lieutenant in 1874.  Clem would continue with Army serving in the Spanish American War and rising in rank and becoming the Chief Quartermaster at Fort Sam Houston by 1906 in Texas as a Colonel.  He retired at the mandatory age of 64 in 1915, with the retirement rank of Major General.  He was the last Civil War veteran to be on active military duty.  Clem died in San Antonio, Texas May 13^th 1937.  He is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.

Diseases Took There Toll

The 38^th Iowa was mustered in for three years of Union service November 4^th 1862, they were known as the Martyr Regiment.

The 38^th Iowa Infantry was recruited from Bremmer, Chickasaw, Fayette, Howard and Winneshiek Counties.  They received their initial training at Camp Franklin in Dubuque, Iowa and mustered into Union service on November 4^th 1862.  The Regiment moved on January 2^nd 1863 to Fort Thompson in New Madrid, Missouri where they performed garrison duty, until June 6^th 1863 when the men left for Vicksburg as part of Union Major General Francis Herron’s Division.

The 38^th arrived near Vicksburg on June 11^th 1863.  Union General Ulysses S Grant moved the Division to the southernmost part of his line to protect against Confederate Cavalry thought to be moving in from Yazoo City, Mississippi.  The 38^th crossed the river on June 14^th 1863 and went into camp at Warrenton, Mississippi.  The 38^th and 34^th Iowa Infantry consolidated on December 12^th 1864.  During the Battle of Fort Blakely in Alabama on April 9^th 1865; one of the last battles of the war, men from the old 38^th charged redoubt #4 loosing 1 man killed and 8 men wounded.

The 38^th had a total of 1037 men in its service.  Two men were killed, and 315 died from diseases.  The 38^th lost more men to sickness than any other Iowa Regiment during the war.

If you’re interested in reading more about this Regiment A Brief History of the 38th Iowa is a good web site.