Buckeyes Among Hawkeyes: Ohioans at Fort Donelson with the 2nd Iowa

The famous charge of the 2nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry upon the works of the strategic Confederate bastion of Fort Donelson, Tennessee on the afternoon of February 15, 1862 has been cited as one of the most poignant charges of the Civil War, and was the decisive event that convinced the Confederate commanders at Donelson to surrender their forces the following day to General Ulysses S. Grant, earning Grant the sobriquet of “Unconditional Surrender” Grant.  An eyewitness of the charge wrote that “if fighting is grand, or bravery worthy of praise, then the Iowa 2nd has merited a name that history should extol.” (Letter from Captain Ensign Conklin, Co. C, Birge’s Sharpshooters {later 66^th Illinois Infantry}; The Evening Argus (Rock Island, Illinois), February 25, 1862, pg. 2)

    

The charge of the 2nd Iowa Infantry upon the Confederate works at Fort Donelson, Tennessee on February 15, 1862. A number of Ohioans were serving with the 2nd Iowa at the time.
(Kurz & Allison)

     

    Reprinted below are three accounts of that charge that were written by native Ohioans then serving with the 2^nd Iowa Infantry. The first is by Second Lieutenant Alfred Bing of Company C which was written to his parents in Rutland, Meigs Co., Ohio. They shared the letter with the Pomeroy Weekly Telegraph which printed it in their March 14, 1862 issue. The second account was written by Private James W. Morrison who was also serving in Co. C; Morrison had moved to Iowa from Gallipolis, Ohio a few years before the Civil War. He wrote this letter to his father John Morrison in Davenport, Iowa and the elder Morrison shared the letter with the Davenport Gazette; the Gallipolis Dispatch in Ohio picked up the letter and ran it in their March 5, 1862 issue. The third letter was also written by a private but one serving in Company A: this letter from William Douglas was written to his sister then living near St. Clairsville, Belmont Co., Ohio and published in the March 13, 1862 issue of the St. Clairsville Gazette. Last week's post featuring the account of Private George M. Bradley of the 4th Illinois Cavalry who joined the 2nd Iowa in this charge can be viewed here.

          Each account offers a slightly different perspective of the battle and reinforces the value of consulting multiple accounts from the same unit where possible in describing Civil War combat. Douglas’ account goes into more detail concerning the regiment’s travels to Fort Donelson while both Bing’s and Morrison’s letters provide rich and detailed battle content. I’ve also interspersed some quotes from Surgeon John H. Brinton and from historian Lurton Ingersoll; Ingersoll wrote a lengthy work in 1866 describing the service of Iowa’s regiments in the Civil War. He dedicated the book to his only brother Joseph who was killed at the Battle of Iuka while serving in the 11^th Ohio Battery; so there is yet another Ohio connection to these accounts.

Pomeroy Weekly Telegraph, March 14, 1862, pg. 1

Fort Donelson, Tennessee 

February 21, 1862

Dear Parents:

          Our regiment left St. Louis on Monday the 10th inst., on the steamer T.S. McGill and on Wednesday morning arrived at Cairo where we lay until 4 o'clock P.M. We then started up the Ohio and at 5 o'clock the next morning passed Smithland at the mouth of the Cumberland River. In the afternoon of that day we overtook a fleet of transports loaded with troops. We lay to a short time until orders were issued to the various commanders and then proceeded up the river. Just before sundown, we were provided with two days' rations and forty rounds of ammunition. During the night, the weather which had been fine turned intensely cold and on Friday morning we left the transports which had landed below the fort, just beyond the range of the guns, and after a fatiguing march of three hours, arrived at the lines of our army on the west of the Fort.

          

    Fort Donelson is a combination of field works of great extent and strength. Just below the works, a creek puts into the river, which being swollen, the backwater covered the entire bottom rendering it impassable. The point formed by the junction of the two streams consists of a high bluff, which until recently, was ever covered by a dense growth of timber. These bluffs had been strongly fortified and, taken in connection with the natural strength of the position, it is the most formidable fortress I ever saw.

Map of Fort Donelson during the siege in February 1862.
(Iowa and the Rebellion)

          Our lines extended from the river to the head of the backwater in the creek and were about three miles in extent- completely investing the place. A battle had taken place on Thursday without any result. When we arrived, sharp skirmishing was going on between Birge's sharpshooters   and the Rebels. In the afternoon the gunboats opened a heavy fire on the batteries which continued about two hours. In the evening, our regiment was posted on the extreme left and we passed a very disagreeable night without covering or blankets. 

          Saturday morning early the ball opened on our right by a heavy body of the enemy making a vigorous attack in that quarter. Their object was, evidently, to force back our lines and escape, but in this, they were disappointed. The battle raged furiously, with varying success, until about 1 o'clock P.M. when they appeared to be a temporary lull in the engagement. After an hour, Gen. (Charles Ferguson) Smith appeared and after we had hastily formed, told us that we were to storm the enemy's entrenchments in our front. He told us that we must, on no account, fire a shot until we had carried the works, for if we stopped to fire we were surely lost. He promised to support us promptly with the whole brigade if necessary.

 

Brigadier General Charles F. Smith: the crusty Regular encouraged his volunteers by exclaiming "Come on you volunteers, come on! This is your chance! You volunteered to be killed for love of country, now you can be!" He would be dead within two months from injuries sustained while getting into a boat at Pittsburg Landing. 

Surgeon John Brinton remembers General Smith’s injunction to the Iowa volunteers somewhat differently: “You ought to have heard old C.F. Smith cursing as he led on his storming regiments. “Damn you, gentlemen, I see skulkers, I'll have none here. Come on you volunteers, come on! This is your chance! You volunteered to be killed for love of country, now you can be!” And so the old man led them with a mixture of oaths and entreaties over the breastwork. The loss was heavy, but he never flinched, but sat straight on his horse, his long white mustache, his stature, and commanding presence making him a conspicuous mark.” (Brinton, John H. Personal Memoirs of John H. Brinton, Major and Surgeon, U.S.V. 1861-65. New York: The Neale Publishing Company, 1914, pg. 121)

Without stopping to load our pieces, we filed out of the timber, left in front, and the left wing marched steadily in line of battle toward the entrenchments, immediately followed by the right wing. The works we were approaching were situated on the brow of a high hill. The timber which had formerly been thick and heavy had been recently felled, with the tops toward the base of the hill, forming an obstacle to our advance of the most formidable character. The enemy, posted behind the parapet, were armed with revolving Enfield rifles, firing seven balls without reloading.  We marched steadily until we were within one hundred yards, when we were met by the most terrific storm of balls. Remembering our orders, we pushed steadily on, stepping over the dead and wounded until we reached the works, which we mounted and leaped into the midst of our foes. The two wings of our regiment then united and advanced some two hundred yards to the brow of the next hill, where we took our position, which we maintained for an hour and a half, when we were ordered to fall back and form in the rear of the entrenchments, which we were to hold until the next morning. We did so, suffering much from the cold. Next morning the enemy sounded a parley and displayed a flag of truce. The result was an unconditional surrender.

The 2nd Iowa assaulted the Confederate right late on the afternoon of February 15th and succeeded in carrying the outer line of works and then halted for the night. The regiment would be the first to march into the fort the following day.
(Iowa and the Rebellion)

          Captain Slaymaker, of our company, fell when near the entrenchments. He was the nephew of Gen. Persifor F. Smith.  He died heroically, cheering on his men with his last breath. Raising himself on his left elbow, he brandished his sword in the air, and with the words “Charge! Charge! Charge!” struck furiously toward the enemy, then fell forward on his face and expired. 

Some more details from Colonel Jacob Lauman on the death of Captain Slaymaker: “Poor Jack Slaymaker lost his life in one of the most brilliant charges on record. He had, with his regiment, reached the breastworks and passed in, when a ball shot him in the thigh and severed the main artery. He bled to death in five minutes. He was as gallant a soldier as ever carried a sword. After he was wounded, he raised himself on his side, waved his sword and called on his men to go forward, then sank down and died.” ('Obituary of Captain Jonathan S. Slaymaker of Davenport, Iowa, who fell at Fort Donelson February 15, 1862 in the Famous Charge of the Second Iowa Infantry', The Annals of Iowa, 1864, pgs. 283-285)

 

Colonel Jacob G. Lauman was the 2nd Iowa's brigade commander at Fort Donelson and described the regiment's action as "one of the most brilliant charges on record."

          Immediately after the surrender, Gen. Smith appeared again on the left wing and met us as we were taking up a position, preparatory to commencing anew the battle. He asked, “What regiment is this,” and was answered, “Iowa Second.” “Iowa boys,” he rejoined, “every man of you is brave.”  He directed the column to be halted and said, as our charge had decided the fate of the day, our colors should be the first to wave over the captured fortress. We marched into the fort and our flag, although badly riddled with balls, was planted upon the parapet amid deafening cheers and friend and foes. 

          Our brigade is now quartered in the main fort, but tomorrow we move toward Nashville. On the evening after the surrender, I found brother Ernest, whose regiment had arrived that morning. I forgot to state, in the proper place, that out of the 61 men of my company who entered that battle, 29 were killed and wounded. My captain was killed, and First Lieutenant severely wounded. I was knocked down and considerably bruised by a spent ball early in the engagement but kept the field until after the surrender.

Affectionately, your son,

Alfred Bing

Gallipolis Dispatch, March 5, 1862, pg. 2

Cairo, Illinois

February 18, 1862

Dear Father:

          The battle is over and the victory is ours, and thank God I am still alive to tell the tale. I escaped with a slight wound in my foot which will not lay me up more than two or three weeks. I will begin at the beginning and tell you all I can. We started from St. Louis on Monday the 9^th instant and met the fleet down at Cairo. There were 12 boats loaded with troops and nine gunboats. We arrived at the fort on Thursday, laid out in the snow all that night, ate hard crackers and raw meat, and had no blankets so we had to keep awake all night. Next day we were sent out skirmishing and the day after we made the attack on Fort Donelson at a charge bayonet. Just imagine a hill about as steep as Brady Street with tree tops felled all over the ground and you will have a picture of what we had to climb over, and on the double quick at that. I fell down three times over the dead bodies of my fellow soldiers before I got over the breastworks. I tell you it makes a fellow feel kind of ticklish to hear the bullets whizzing around him like hailstones with his companions falling around him every minute, but it didn’t last long. After the first two or three volleys, he gets perfectly reckless or what you might call insane at any other time.

 

Another view of the 2nd Iowa charge at Fort Donelson. 

Ingersoll provided the following description of this charge: “The Rebel works were 500 yards in advance and the line of march was up a considerable hill obstructed by abatis. Officers drew their swords, the men grasped their muskets firmly, and moved on the Rebel works. No man spoke, and not a gun was fired from our ranks. Silent as the grave and inexorable as death, the 2^nd Iowa pushed its way up the hill through a storm of grape, shell, and ball. Many dropped dead. Reaching the works, the men bounded over with wonderful agility and for the first time, Colonel Tuttle gave command. ‘Now give them hell!’ shouted Tuttle. The enemy resisted with great stubbornness but the whole regiment forming in line inside the Rebel works drove the enemy to the interior line of rifle pits.” (Ingersoll, Lurton Dunham. Iowa and the Rebellion. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1866, pg. 37)

          {First} Lieutenant {William F.} Holmes was struck in the leg while scaling the breastworks. I think he will have to have it taken off. Our brave old Colonel Tuttle was in the front of the battle all the time until he got struck with a spent ball and then left the command to Colonel Baker while he went to see that his wounded boys were taken care of. He was one of the first over the breastworks. As soon as he got over, he sang out, “Bully boys, go in!” And we did go in. We held their whole brigade at bay for as much as ten minutes before we were reinforced. We lost our brave Captain Slaymaker in the engagement; he jumped out in front and cried “Come on boys and give it to them” and had hardly got the words out of his mouth when he was shot dead. Lieutenant Bing then took charge and led us on until he was struck by a spent ball.

Colonel James M. Tuttle, 2nd Iowa Infantry
Tuttle was born in Ohio in 1823. 

We drove them back inside their fort and then retreated to the outer entrenchments where we laid on our arms until morning. I was not there at that time. I was carried off the field as I was getting weak from loss of blood. I have no doubt we have all seen misery in this world but a man don’t know what it is until he sees a battlefield after the fight is over. The saying is true: that a man feels more like running after the battle is over than he does when it commences. The wounded were all taken down to Mound City. I came on to Cairo and am now staying with Mr. Sears who treats me very kindly but I guess I will go to the hospital tomorrow. I expect I can get a furlough if I can only raise money enough to get home. Our regiment was badly cut up: I don’t believe we can muster 200 sound men, but what is left have the proud satisfaction of having done their duty in fighting for their country.

James W. Morrison

St. Clairsville Gazette, March 13, 1862, pg. 2

Fort Donelson, Tennessee

February 24, 1862

Dear Sister:

          Under the guidance of Heaven I am permitted to write to you again and I thank God that it is still my privilege for while many of my comrades lie cold it death or are laid on beds of suffering from wounds received in battle, yet I am spared in both life and health. You have long ere this learned of the success of the Federal arms in capturing this fort. You will also notice that the 2^nd Iowa took a distinguished part in the fight. It will, perhaps, not be uninteresting to you if I give you a few items concerning our trip from St. Louis and of the part played by our regiment in storming this place. We left St. Louis Monday evening February 10^th in disgrace; being compelled to march through the city with colors furled and without music; this was on account of some few in the regiment who destroyed some of the property in the museum connected with McDowell’s College.

Ingersoll provides further context about McDowell’s College and the regiment’s disgrace as alluded to in the Douglas account: “The regiment remained at St. Louis recuperating and on guard duty during the winter. In the city there was a certain institution called McDowell College at this time used as a sort of prison for Rebels captured with arms in their hands or treason in their hearts. The regiment was assigned the duty of guarding this college or prison. Now whether correctly or not it was generally regarded as a ‘secession concern.’ That fact is probably enough to account for its conversion into a prison for Rebels and malcontents.  But though it was converted in the main, it seems that certain attributes of collegiate sanctity still clung to it. The ‘museum’ remained intact and was filled with specimens such as ‘dead rabbits’ and stuffed beasts of all kinds and this was ordered to be sacredly guarded from vandalism and pillage. Some vandal crept into the museum and carried away some of the dead rabbits and beasts aforesaid. All things considered, it was, perhaps, a venial offense. But the learned Buffons and gossips of St. Louis took it in high dudgeon and raised a terrible clatter about the ears of the military authorities. General Halleck, now in command of the department, sympathized with the students of Buffon and of the dead rabbits. General Schuyler Hamilton, then commanding the post sympathized with the commanding general and the regiment, not knowing who had committed the offense or, if knowing, not having a man in the command mean enough to tell, was publicly disgraced by general order! This happened just as the regiment was about to march to the levee to embark for Fort Donelson.” (Ingersoll, Lurton Dunham. Iowa and the Rebellion. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1866, pg. 37)

 

Major General Henry Wager Halleck
The picture of a calculating and humorless commanding officer,"Old Brains" would render better service to the Union cause within the political morass of Washington, D.C. than as a field commander where his penchant for ruthlessness and duplicity endeared him to few of subordinates.  

          Tuesday February 11^th was a beautiful day and passed very pleasant as we slowly wended our way down the father of waters. Wednesday morning, I was awoken from slumber by hearing our gallant boat breaking its way through a field of ice which had lodged in the Mississippi in consequence of the Ohio bring very high. As we neared Cairo, Bird’s Point could be seen on the right almost inundated. Cairo was almost flooded. We made but a short stay there and about 3 P.M. got underway and steamed up the Ohio.

Thursday morning February 13^th found us on the Cumberland River under a sunny sky; as the day advanced it became very warm and pleasant reminding us of a May day in the North. I could not help reflecting on the past and contrasting it with the present. Here is everything that is necessary for the happiness of man; one of the most beautiful countries of the world united with a mild and sunny climate. But slavery has set its blighting curse on the land and it is scarcely improved at all. And now all the horrors of war are being felt in this land of Eden. Friday morning February 14^th is Valentine’s Day. We landed three miles below the enemy’s fort, taking nothing with us but our guns and two days’ provisions in our haversacks expecting to be marched directly into the field of battle, but we were ordered to be held as a reserve and did nothing that day but skirmish. I only fired twice. That night we almost froze as it snowed most of the night; sleep was hardly thought of.

The river battery at Fort Donelson looking over the Cumberland River
(Photo by Hal Jespersen, www.cwmaps.com)

           Saturday February 15^th is a day that will be long remembered. Fighting commenced early in the morning and continued all day with great loss to both sides. The Rebels got the better of the day on the right wing where the fighting commenced in the morning. About 3 P.M., we were ordered to taken the field. Colonel Lauman of the 7^th Iowa was acting brigadier and told us that our time had come. Without a word everyone found his place. The left wing of the regiment filed out of the woods and then advanced in line of battle followed by the right wing about 100 yards to the rear. When within 50 yards of the enemy, they opened fire on us, killing and wounding many of our best men. Yet on we went over logs and brush up the hill cheered on by our brave Colonel Tuttle; not a gun was fired by our men until they mounted the breastworks when the enemy fled, numbers of them falling dead and wounded on the field.

 

The national colors of the 2nd Iowa Infantry that were carried at Fort Donelson now are in possession of the State Historical Museum of Iowa. Of the four men that carried the flag during the assault, only one was still standing when the battle was over. Sergeant Harry B. Doolittle, the regimental color sergeant, was also an Ohio native. 

During this charge, three of the four color bearers were struck down in succession. Color Sergeant Harry B. Doolittle (Co. C) first carried the colors until he was struck by four bullets; Corporal S.G. Page (Co. B) took the colors from Doolittle but was soon killed; Corporal Henry Churchill (Co. I) then took the colors and was wounded upon the works; Corporal Voltaire P. Twombly (Co. G) then grasped the colors from Churchill and carried them through the rest of the engagement despite being struck by a spent ball. In all, five of the six members of the color guard were wounded or killed including Corporal G. W. Moorehouse of Co. E and Corporal E. Weaver of Co. H. (Ingersoll, Lurton Dunham. Iowa and the Rebellion. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1866, pg. 45-46)

Never do I wish to see such a sight again. I never expected to get off the field alive but thanks to God I came off unhurt. The bullets flew like hail around my head. Robert Hall (another Belmont County native) was shot in the shoulder by my side and I took him off the field while bullets and canister shot flew all around on every side. I would have written sooner but I was in the hospital nursing the wounded and could get no chance of writing. After the battle I went 70 hours without sleep. Sunday morning the fort surrendered with all it contained and some 15,000 prisoners were taken. Our regiment was the first inside the fort and marched at the head of the column going in after the surrender. The loss in killed in the regiment is 43, wounded 110. Troops are going up the Cumberland to Nashville every day and it is likely that we will go soon.

William Douglas

“As for the 2^nd Iowa, it here won a reputation which can never fade from the minds of mankind so long as the victory of Fort Donelson shall be remembered,” wrote Lurton Ingersoll. “More, the admirable achievement of the regiment brought forth enthusiasm from the imperturbable Halleck, a thing well-nigh as wonderful as the miracle of Moses which brought forth living waters from the barren rock of the wilderness. He telegraphed as follows: “The Second Iowa Infantry proved themselves the bravest of the brave; they had the honor of leading the column which entered Fort Donelson.”

When the fort surrendered, the 2^nd Iowa was given the honor of being the first Union regiment to enter the fort. The sole remaining uninjured member of the color guard, Corporal Voltaire P. Twombly, “planted the stars and stripes upon the captured fort amid the huzzahs of the victorious army and salvos of artillery firing joyful salutes.” The regiment had suffered heavily: it took into the fight 631 men and lost 41 killed and 157 wounded, nearly a third of its strength in the regiment’s first engagement.

 

Corporal Voltaire Twombly, Co. G, 2nd Iowa Infantry, Medal of Honor recipient for his courage at Fort Donelson

Voltaire Twombly would be awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism at Fort Donelson and serve for three years in the war rising to the rank of captain. The national colors carried by Twombly into the works at Fort Donelson were presented to the Iowa General Assembly in 1862 then turned over to the State Historical Society. They are property today of the State Historical Museum of Iowa and can be viewed here.