THE TWENTY-THIRD IOWA INFANTRY

This regiment was raised chiefly in the counties of Polk, Dallas, Story, Wayne, Pottawattamie, Montgomery, Page, Jasper, Madison, Marshall, and Cass counties. It contained 960 men, and was organized with the following field officers: Colonel, William Dewey; lieutenant-colonel, William H. Kinsman; major, Samuel L. Glasgow. It went into camp at Des Moines, and was mustered into service on the 19th of September, 1862. Its first campaign was in Missouri, where it did guard and garrison duty for several months, making some long and toilsome marches. Colonel Dewey died at Patterson on the 30th of November, and was succeeded by Kinsman, who was promoted to colonel; Major Glasgow was promoted to lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. Charles J. Clark, of Company B, was made major. Early in 1863 the regiment was sent down the Mississippi and became a part of Grant's army in the Vicksburg campaign. Its first battle was at Port Gibson, where, under Lieutenant-Colonel Glasgow, it did excellent service, losing thirty-three men. In the battle of Black River Bridge, May 17th, in the brigade commanded by General Lawler, the Twenty-third, led by Colonel Kinsman, made a brilliant charge on the enemy's works, which were captured with a heavy loss. Among the slain was the gallant Colonel Kinsman, who fell at the head of his regiment, pierced through with two musket balls. General Grant pronounced the charge a brilliant and daring one.

On the 6th and 7th of June the Twenty-third, with some negro regiments, had a severe battle with a superior force of enemy at Milliken's Bend, and, after a fierce contest, defeated the rebels with heavy loss. It was the first battle in which the colored troops had taken a prominent part, and they proved good soldiers. The regiment, now under the command of Colonel Glasgow, who had been again promoted after the death of Colonel Kinsman, lost twenty-three killed and thirty-four wounded out of 110 men engaged in the battle of Milliken's Bend. About the middle of August, the regiment was transferred to the department of the Gulf, and for nearly a year was on duty in Louisiana and Texas. In the spring of 1864, it was sent to New Orleans to reinforce General Banks' army after his disastrous Red river campaign. For some time it was employed in Arkansas. Early in 1865, it was sent to take part in the Mobile expedition, now being under command of Lieut.-Col. Charles J. Clark, as Colonel Glasgow was commanding a brigade. It fought bravely in the assault on the Spanish Fort, where it again met its old antagonist, the Twenty-third Alabama, which it had first encountered at Port Gibson. In June, the regiment was again sent to Texas. On the 23rd of July, 1865, it was mustered out of service with 417 men.

Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, January, 2012 from Biographies and Portraits of the Progressive Men of Iowa, Leaders in Business, Politics and the Professions, Together with an Original and Authentic History of the State, by Ex-Lieutenant-Governor B. F. Gue, Conway & Shaw Publishers, Des Moines, Iowa, 1899, pp. 107.