By Guy
E. Logan
HISTORICAL SKETCH
TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT IOWA VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
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7 War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Part 1, Vol. 24, pages 628
The total losses of the two brigades Of General Carr's Division in the battle of Port Gibson
were 263 killed and wounded; the total losses of the Second Brigade were 101 killed and
wounded; the loss Of the Twenty-third Iowa was 9 killed and 26 wounded,—the heaviest loss
sustained by any regiment in the brigade. Among the wounded were Captain William R. Henry
and Lieutenant D. P. Ballard.
The regiment took part in the various movements of its brigade and division, which led up to
the battle of Champion's Hill on the 16th of May, 1863. In that hard fought battle, General Carr's
Fourteenth Division was held in reserve, until very near its close, when it was ordered forward in
pursuit of the retreating enemy and succeeded in capturing a considerable number of prisoners
and a large quantity of army stores, but the order was not given in time to enable General Carr to
cut off the retreat of the rebel army, which fell back to its strongly fortified position on Big Black
River, closely followed by the Fourteenth Division, which led the advance. The march was
conducted with great vigor and, at 10 A. M., on May 17th, the pickets of the enemy were driven
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in. The Second Brigade was now under the command of General M. K. Lawler, from whose
extended official report of the battle which ensued the following brief extracts are taken:
. . . I was instructed by the Brigadier General commanding the division to move forward slowly
and cautiously with my command, and develop and press back, if possible, the enemy's left.
Accordingly I ordered Colonel C. L. Harris, Eleventh Wisconsin, who held the left of our new
position, to move his regiment forward through the woods in his front, his skirmishers covering
his advance, and the Twenty-third Iowa, Colonel Kinsman, to follow him at a distance of 100
yards as a support. At the same time I advanced the Twentyfirst
Iowa, Colonel Samuel Merrill, into the cleared field skirting Big Black River, with
instructions to move forward on a line with the Eleventh Wisconsin. The Peoria Battery was left
in position on the rising ground in the edge of the field, and the Twenty-second Iowa in rear as a
reserve and support. Meanwhile there had commenced a spirited artillery engagement between
the battery of Benton's Brigade and the enemy's cannon in position behind their works. The
skirmishers of the First Brigade were actively engaged, and those of the Eleventh Wisconsin,
which regiment advanced steadily forward through the timber to the field in front of the enemy's
works, and distant from them about 400 yards. Here I ordered it to halt, and move down to the
right through the field skirting the river, and take position In the woods and brush lining this
stream. This movement Colonel Harris promptly executed, reaching the position designated
without serious loss, though exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy's sharpshooters. The
Twenty-third Iowa, Colonel Kinsman, having come up after the Eleventh Wisconsin, was
ordered to make a similar movement to the right, and to move up under cover of the river bank
and take position on the right of the Eleventh Wisconsin and as close as possible to the enemy's
works, and the Twenty-first Iowa, Colonel Merrill, to take position on the bank between these
two regiments. I also directed the Peoria Battery to take position in the open field in front of the
left of the enemy and to open an enfilading fire on their center batteries, with which the battery
of Benton's Brigade was engaged. At the same time the Twenty-second Iowa, Colonel Stone,
was ordered to move forward on the left of the field to within supporting distance. These orders
were quickly responded to, and the position thus occupied by the brigade continued to be held
without material variation, During the greater part of the forenoon heavy but ineffectual
musketry firing was kept up by the enemy upon my men, briskly responded to by our
sharpshooters. Late in the forenoon, finding it impossible to press farther forward along the river
bank toward the enemy, as I had intended, Colonel Kinsman, Twenty-third Iowa, proposed to
charge at once the enemy's works and drive them out at the point of the bayonet, and asked my
consent to the same. Foreseeing that a charge by a single regiment, unsustained by the whole
line, against fortifications as formidable as those in his front could hardly be successful, at the
same time I gave my consent to his daring proposition, I determined that there should be a
simultaneous movement on the part of my whole command. Accordingly, the Twenty-first Iowa,
Colonel Merrill, was ordered to charge with the Twenty-third, the Eleventh Wisconsin following
close upon them as a support, and the Twenty-second Iowa, Colonel Stone,—which had in the
meantime crossed the field and taken position on the river bank on the right of the Eleventh
Wisconsin,—were ordered to move out into the field and act as a reserve force.... Orders were
further given that the men should reserve their fire until upon the rebel works. Finally the
regiments that were to lead the charge were formed, with bayonets fixed, in the edge of the
woods on the river bank. All things being in readiness, the command "Forward" was given by
Colonel Kinsman, and at once his noble regiment sprang forward to the works. The Twenty-first
Iowa, led by Colonel Merrill, moved at the same instant, the Eleventh Wisconsin, Colonel
Harris, closely following. Through a terrible fire of musketry from the enemy in front, and a
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galling fire from his sharpshooters on the right, these brave men dashed bravely on. Kinsman
fell, dangerously wounded, before half the distance was accomplished. Struggling to his feet, he
staggered a few paces to the front, cheered forward his men, and fell again, this time to rise no
more, pierced through by a second ball. Colonel Merrill, the brave commander of the Twentyfirst
Iowa, fell, wounded early in the charge. . . . Immediately Lieutenant Colonel Glasgow
placed himself at the head of the Twenty-third Iowa, and Major Van Anda led on the Twentyfirst.
Undismayed by the loss of their Colonels, and by the perfect store of bullets poured into
them with destructive effect, the men of the Twenty-third and Twenty-first Iowa and Eleventh
Wisconsin pressed onward, nearer and nearer to the rebel works, over the open field and up to
the edge of the bayou. Halting here only long enough to pour into the enemy a deadly volley,
they dashed forward through the bayou, filled with water, fallen timber and brush, on to the rebel
works, with the shout of victors, driving the enemy from their breastworks and entering in
triumph the rebel stronghold.... Those of the rebels who were not captured hastened to make
good their retreat over the bridge. . . . It is, perhaps, worthy of remark that more men were
captured by my brigade than I had men in the charge.... Lieutenant Colonel S. L. Glasgow, of the
Twenty-third Iowa, and Major S. G. Van Anda, of the Twenty-first Iowa, who assumed
command of their respective regiments after the fall of their Colonels, deserve the highest
praise.... They had the honor of leading their regiments into the enemy's works.... Captain
Houston, Company A, Captain Brown, company I,
and Lieutenant Rawlings, Company F, of the
Twenty-third Iowa, with their commands, broke the enemy's line in a swamp at the edge of the
timber, and poured an enfilading fire into the ditches that routed the rebels in confusion.
Lieutenant Rawlings captured the colors of the Sixty-first Tennessee, wresting them from the
rebel color bearer. Captain Houston captured the colors of the Twenty-first Arkansas. Corporal
John W. Boone, color bearer of the Twenty-third Iowa, fell, severely wounded; Corporal J. T.
Shipman then grasped the colors and bore them gallantly to the front and through the whole
charge.... special and honorable mention should be made of A. M. Lyon, Esq., Sutler of the
Twenty-third Iowa, a brave old man, who took a gun at the commencement of the battle, went
into the ranks, fought nobly, and fell mortally wounded. The death of colonel Kinsman of the
Twenty-third Iowa, whose brave and gallant conduct is the theme of universal praise, fills the
hearts of all who knew him with poignant sorrow. A splendid soldier, a perfect gentleman, and a
finished scholar, endowed in the highest degree with the noblest qualities of true manhood, his
loss cannot prove less to his State and country than a public calamity. The officers and soldiers
of his command had learned to love and respect him with an earnestness and devotion rarely
equaled. His loss is irreparable, but he fell as the true soldier wishes to fall, in the moment of
victory, when his country's flag waved in triumph over the stronghold of treason and rebellion,
and died as the true soldier wishes to die, with Christian resignation and fortitude.... Finally, I
cannot close this report without expressing my admiration for the brave men in the ranks, to
whose steadiness and determined courage is in a great measure due the glory of the brilliant and
decisive victory of Big Black Bridge. To them I return my warmest thanks. A grateful country
will see that their services are appropriately rewarded. 8
8 War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Part 2, Vol. 24, pages 135 to 139
inclusive.
The total loss of the Thirteenth Army Corps at the battle of the Big Black River Bridge was
279, while the loss in General M. K. Lawler's brigade alone was 221, and of this number the
Twenty-third Iowa lost 2 officers and 11 enlisted men killed, and 3 officers and 85 enlisted men
wounded. Total loss of the regiment 101. 9 The two officers killed were Colonel Kinsman and
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Captain R. L. McCray and the four wounded were: Captain John C. T. Hull, Lieutenant S. G.
Beckwith, J. D. Ewing and Washington Rawlings. Lieutenants Beckwith and Ewing
subsequently died from the effect of their wounds. The casualties of the Twenty-third in this
battle were exactly the same as those of the entire brigade at Port Gibson. Had the military career
of the Twenty-third Iowa ended with this battle, its record would have been established as one of
the best and bravest regiments in the army of the United States.
9 War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Part 2, Vol. 24, page 130. Returns o
Casualties in battle of Big Black River Bridge.
The remainder of the 17th and all the next day after the battle were spent in caring for the
wounded, burying the dead, and collecting the trophies of war,—the immense number of arms
and accouterments left on the battlefield and captured with the prisoners, 3,000 in number. To
the Twenty-third Iowa was assigned the duty of guarding the prisoners. General Lawler, at the
conclusion of his report, says: ``The Twenty-third Iowa Volunteers, which had borne so
distinguished a part and suffered so severely in the charge, was placed as a guard over the
captured prisoners, and, by order of Major General U. S. Grant, has since gone north with them,
thus losing to me for the time being the services of this command."
The regiment now marched to the Yazoo River, as guard to the rebel prisoners. As soon as
transportation could be procured, it proceeded with the prisoners to Memphis. Upon arriving at
that place, the prisoners were turned over to the Commandant of the Post and the regiment
returned to Young's Point, La., where it arrived a few days before the attack was made upon
Milliken's Bend, where the garrison, consisting of untrained Negro troops about 800 strong, was
threatened with attack by a full brigade of rebel troops under command of the rebel General
McCulloch. General Elias S. Dennis was in command of the Post, and from his official report of
the engagement the following extracts are made, to show the part taken by the Twenty-third
Iowa. 10 After describing the preliminary movements and skirmishes of the Negro troops with
the enemy, which occurred on June 6th, outside of his works, General Dennis proceeds to
describe the terrible contest which ensued in the morning and forenoon of June 7, 1863.
10 The compiler has made diligent search of the Official Records for the report of Colonel
Glasgow, but without success.