Adams,
James Kimble
Kimble and Elvina (aka Alvina) Adams had three sons
and eight daughters. The sons' great-grandfather,
Phineas Smith had fought with Connecticut and Vermont
regiments during the Revolutionary War and all three
of the sons would fight in the Civil War.
James Kimble Adams was born in Russeltown in Canada
East (Quebec) on March 24, 1839. He and his older
brother, Willard who was born in 1935, would emigrate
to the United States with their parents in about
1841. Their younger brother, Asher Adams, was born in
New York in 1842. On their way west, the family
settled for awhile in McHenry County, Illinois,
before moving to Clayton County, Iowa, in 1853.
During the first year of the Civil War, many in the
North thought it would end quickly. "There are
men enough in Pennsylvania alone to subdue South
Carolina without the aid of Iowa volunteers, "
said the Clayton County Journal. A year later, as the
war escalated, President Lincoln called for another
300,000 volunteers. On August 11, 1862, James was
enrolled at Hardin as a private in Company B by
William Crooke. The Company was mustered in on August
18, 1862 with ninety-nine men and the regiment on
September 9, 1862 with a total of 985, both at
Dubuque. Twenty-three year old James was described in
the Company Descriptive Book as being 5 feet 10½
inches tall (about two inches taller than average),
with blue eyes, brown hair and a light complexion.
The regiment's initial service was in Missouri and
James was one of twenty-five volunteers from Company
B who participated in the one-day Battle of Hartville
on January 11, 1863. After subsequent service in
Houston, West Plains and Ironton, they were in Ste.
Genevieve, Missouri, when, on April 1, 1863, they
boarded the steamer Ocean Wave to go down-river and
James was promoted to 7th Corporal.
During the ensuing campaign to capture the
Confederate stronghold at Vicksburg, forces under
General Grant crossed the Mississippi from the west
bank to Bruins burg on the east bank on April 30,
1863. The 21st Iowa was designated as the point
regiment to lead the army inland and James was with
it during the next day's Battle of Port Gibson. The
regiment was present during the May 16th Battle of
Champion's Hill, but was held in reserve by General
McClernand during the battle.
As a result, it was rotated to the front the next day
and, with the 23rd Iowa, led an assault on entrenched
Confederates at the railroad bridge over the Big
Black River. Regimental casualties were seven killed
in action and eighteen fatally wounded. Another
thirty-eight had with non-fatal wounds but, for six
of these, the wounds were serious enough to cause
their discharge from the military.
After the assault they were allowed to rest, bury
their dead and treat their wounded, but were soon in
position on the line rapidly encircling the city of
Vicksburg. On May 22, 1863, James participated in an
assault during which the regiment lost twenty-three
killed in action, twelve mortally wounded,
forty-eight whose wounds were not fatal, and four
captured.
On June 14, 1863, during the siege of Vicksburg, he
was promoted to 6th Corporal and, on July 3rd, to 4th
Corporal. The next day Vicksburg surrendered. The
regiment then participated in a pursuit of
Confederate General Joe Johnston and a siege of
Jackson before returning to Vicksburg and taking
steamers south to Carrollton, Louisiana. On October
2, 1863 they were west of the river, at Berwick, when
James Bethard, a comrade in Company B, wrote to his
wife that "James Adams of our company from
Hardin received the news yesterday evening of the
death of his sister. "
James continued with the regiment through its
subsequent service in Texas (where he was promoted to
2nd Corporal), Morganza, Louisiana (where he was
promoted to 1st Corporal), Alabama during the Mobile
Campaign, and Arkansas, and he was with it when it
was mustered out at Baton Rouge on July 15, 1865.
After the war, James returned to Iowa but, in 1880
moved to Kansas living first in Osage City and then
in Alvonia. Twice (in 1898 and in 1915) he advised
the federal pension office that he had never married
and had no children. In 1907 he became a member of
the National Society of the Sons of the American
Revolution. A lifelong farmer, James died on January
31, 1922. He is buried in the Osage City Cemetery,
Osage City, Kansas.
~*~*~
Adams,
Willard
Kimble and Alvina (Smith) Adams had three sons and
eight daughters. Kimble’s grandfather, Phineas
Smith, had fought with Connecticut and Vermont
regiments during the Revolutionary War and all three
of the sons would fight in the Civil War.
Willard Adams was born in Russeltown, Quebec (then
known as Canada East) in 1835. A brother, James
Kimble Adams, was born on March 24, 1839, also in
Russeltown. Their younger brother, Asher, was born on
February 8, 1842, in Franklin County, New York.
On their way west, the family settled for a while in
McHenry County, Illinois, before moving to Clayton
County, although records differ as to when they
arrived. One says they arrived in Luana, Iowa, in
1850, while another says they didn’t leave
Illinois until 1853. In 1855, at Hardin, Iowa,
Willard married Jane Merriam. They would have three
children: William and two, Emma and Albert, who died
in infancy.
Asher was the first of the brothers to join the
military and was mustered into the state’s 4th
Cavalry on November 17, 1861. The following year, as
the war escalated, President Lincoln called for
another 300,000 volunteers. At Hardin on August 11,
1862, Willard and James enlisted together, Willard as
a 2d Corporal and James as a Private. Willard was
described as being 5' 7½” tall with blue eyes,
brown hair and a dark complexion; occupation, farmer.
At Camp Franklin in Dubuque, they were mustered in as
Company B on August 18, 1862, and, on September 9th,
ten companies were mustered in as Iowa’s 21st
infantry regiment. Uniforms were poor and training,
such as it was, was brief.
According to one author, Company A was eager to
drill, but “Captain William D.Crooke, and
lieutenants Charles P. Heath, and Henry H. Howard, of
Company B, were in no such haste. The regulation
uniforms, having been made for regulars, were ill
adapted to the robust volunteers from Clayton. The
coats were too short by several inches. The line
officers protested against their men going into drill
presenting any such aspect as they must necessarily
do in such coats.” “Perhaps, if the real
secret were known,” he said, “the reason
why the regiment did not drill would be found in the
fact that the companies had too much company. The
rendezvous was so near the men’s homes, that
their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives,
sweethearts, and friends, were too often present to
allow either drill or discipline to any great
extent.”
On September 16, 1862, they marched through town,
crowded on board the four-year-old, 181-foot long
sidewheel steamer Henry Clay and two barges
tied alongside, and left for war. After one night at
Benton Barracks in St. Louis, they traveled by rail
to Rolla, Missouri, where they arrived on September
22nd. Water at their first campsite was poor and
smelled “like the breath of sewers,” so
Colonel Merrill moved their camp about five miles
southwest of town where they had access to good
spring water. Despite the better conditions, Willard
became ill, but was able to travel with the regiment
when it started a march south on October 18th. On the
October 31st muster roll at Salem, he was present but
“sick in quarters.”
He was still present on December 31, 1862, at Houston
and, two months later, he was with the regiment at
Iron Mountain but, again, was “sick in
quarters.” From there they moved to Ste.
Genevieve where they arrived on March 11th. On the
13th, with a difficult march and an arduous Vicksburg
Campaign ahead of them, Captain Crooke, a McGregor
attorney, signed a Certificate of Disability for
Discharge indicating Willard had been “unfit for
duty 60 days.” He had become sick at Rolla and
was “more or less sick ever since.” Surgeon
William Orr agreed and said Willard was suffering
from “‘phthisis Pulmonalis’ - Symptoms
- Cough, attended with muco-purulent expectoration,
‘obetic fever,’ emaciation, tenderness of
left infra clavicular region, & cavernous
bronchus.”
On the 17th, in St. Louis, a discharge was approved
by Brigadier General Davidson then commanding the
District of St. Louis and, on the 22nd, back in Ste.
Genevieve, Colonel Merrill signed the order of
discharge.
Willard returned to Iowa where his health improved
but, on March 5, 1878, his wife died. His father died
at Grand Meadow on April 10, 1879. Funeral services
were on the 13th at the Luana church.
On October 3, 1887, Willard was married a second time
when he married Eva B. Marsh of Hardin. They had
three children: Burdell, Clarence and Asher.
Of the three Adams brothers, Willard became the first
to die when he passed away on December 14, 1906,
“at his home in the old townsite of Myron,
Iowa.” He was buried in Luana Cemetery.
Asher died on March 19, 1919, and James on January
31, 1922, both in Osage City, Kansas, where they were
buried in the Osage City Cemetery.
~*~*~
Aldrich,
Frank (primary bio)
Aldrich, Nehemiah 'Nick'
Aldrich, Ruel Jr.
Ruel Aldrich Sr. was born in
Massachusetts and Mary Ann Marsh in Rhode Island,
both about 1809. After their marriage they moved to
Ohio where Ruel Jr. was born in 1832, Nehemiah
("Nick") in 1840, Jane in 1842, Theron in
1851 and Laura Belle in 1854, all in Ohio. Their
brother, Frank, was born in Shelby County, Ohio, but
over his lifetime signed numerous affidavits that
included his age, ages that would indicate a birth
year anywhere from 1842 to 1847.
On April 13 , 1861 , at 4:30 a.m., General
Beauregard's Confederate guns opened fire on Fort
Sumter and, said a poet, "with a voice that
shook the land, the guns of Sumter spoke." The
North had been convinced states in the south would
not secede if Abraham Lincoln were elected while
those in the South felt "cotton is king"
and northern states would not risk losing their
source of supply by going to war. They were both
wrong and tens of thousands of men died as the war
escalated into a second year.
In the summer of 1862 President Lincoln called for
another 300,000 volunteers. Iowa's quota was five
regiments in addition to those already in the field.
The "harvest is just upon us," said
Governor Kirkwood, "but if need be our women can
help." With a deadline of August 15th to avoid a
draft, the volunteers came. On August 9th, at
Strawberry Point, Frank was enrolled by dentist
Charles Heath in what would be Company B of the 21st
Iowa Volunteer Infantry. On August 11th his brother,
Ruel Jr., was enrolled by storekeeper William
Grannis, also at Strawberry Point, in what would be
Company D of the same regiment. Each company was to
have approximately one hundred men and, when
sufficient numbers were enrolled, the companies were
separately mustered into service at Dubuque's Camp
Franklin; Company B on the 18th and Company D on the
22nd.
Training was brief and relatively ineffective but on
September 9th ten companies were mustered in as a
regiment with McGregor's Sam Merrill as Colonel.
Frank was described as being a 5' 6" farmer with
blue eyes, flaxen hair and a light complexion, age
eighteen (which may or may not have been accurate).
On September 16th, at the foot of Jones Street, those
able for duty boarded the four-year-old sidewheel
steamer Henry Clay and two barges tied
alongside and started south. After one night on Rock
Island, they encountered low water at Montrose,
debarked and traveled by train to Keokuk, boarded the
Hawkeye State and continued downstream. They
reached St. Louis on the 20th, were inspected the
next day and that night boarded rail cars and left
for Rolla.
Bimonthly company muster rolls reported the presence
or absence of soldiers with occasional
"remarks" relating to illness, furloughs,
stoppages on pay and other matters. Rolls showed
Frank and Ruel were present with the regiment on
October 31st at Salem and December 31st at Houston.
On January 27th, Frank was with the regiment when
they started for West Plains, but Ruel was sick and
left behind in the post hospital in Houston and later
in Rolla. From West Plains the able-bodied walked to
the northeast -through Eminence, Ironton, Iron
Mountain and Pilot Knob - until reaching St.
Genevieve on the Mississippi River on March 11th.
From there they were transported south to Milliken's
Bend, Louisiana, where General Grant was assembling a
large three-corps army to capture Vicksburg and they
were assigned to a corps led by General John
McClernand. After walking south along the west side
of the river, they crossed from Disharoon's
Plantation to Bruinsburg, Mississippi, on April 30th.
The regiment was designated as the point regiment for
the entire army as they moved slowly inland and,
about midnight, were fired on by rebel pickets. After
a brief exchange of fire they rested and the next
day, May 1st, Frank participated with the regiment in
the Battle of Port Gibson. He was present on May 16th
when the regiment was held out of action during the
Battle of Champion Hill, participated in the May 17th
assault at the Big Black River and subsequently
participated in the siege of Vicksburg. Ruel rejoined
the regiment during the siege and on June 23rd was
appointed 8th Corporal in Company D.
Vicksburg surrendered on July 4th and, said Gilbert
Cooley, "July 5th our regiment started with the
army for Jackson Miss. Comp. ' D' had 12 men under
command of Lieut. G Cooley" with Ruel being one
of the twelve still physically able to participate in
a pursuit of Confederate Joe Johnston to Jackson. On
their return toVicksburg, Ruel was granted a furlough
but was back with the regiment in New Orleans on
November 23rd when they were ordered to the gulf
coast of Texas. On January 18, 1864, while Frank and
Ruel were in Indianola, Nick was enrolled as a new
recruit in Company D but it was April 11th before he
reached his brothers then stationed on Matagorda
Island.
In July, they were back in Louisiana where Frank was
treated for chronic diarrhea before leaving on a
sixty-day furlough pursuant to a Surgeon's
Certificate of Disability. Nick received a similar
furlough, but Ruel remained on duty and received
several more promotions. Frank and Nick overstayed
their furloughs, but rejoined Ruel and the regiment
on the St. Charles River of Arkansas in October.
In December, Frank and David Drummond were
"engaged in a friendly scuffle &
wrestle" when David was thrown to the ground,
landed on a cartridge box injuring his left shoulder,
something that would continue to bother him after the
war. All three of the Aldrich brothers participated
in the next spring's Mobile Campaign before returning
to Louisiana. As a recruit whose term had not
expired, Nick was transferred to a 34th/38th
consolidated regiment on July 12th for another
month's service while Frank and Ruel were mustered
out on the 15th at Baton Rouge and returned to Iowa
where they were discharged at Clinton on the 24th.
Frank moved to South Dakota soon after his discharge,
drove cattle through Potter County and "was
engaged for years in furnishing beef cattle to the
government for the Indians." In the spring of
1882 he bought a Potter County ranch "at the
mouth of the Little Cheyenne" and built a house,
a "dugout" according to Ed Von Wald who
worked for him. Frank later sold the ranch and it was
developed as "old Forest City" while he
moved farther up the Little Cheyenne. He was
recognized as the first settler of Forest City, and
in 1883 married Josephine "Josie"
Kirkpatrick who was believed to be the first white
woman in the county. She died on August 28, 1889, and
her remains were "buried on the home
place."
Frank never remarried and in 1890 applied for an
invalid pension indicating he was "unable to
earn a support by manual labor by reason of
Rheumatism and general debility caused by
Rheumatism." He was examined twice by pension
surgeons who felt he was partially disabled but in
1893 the claim was denied on a finding that he was
"not shown to be entitled to a rating." He
applied again in an application dated August 4, 1894,
the same day he sustained a serious injury while
"driving a team hauling a loaded wagon, and
trailing another team with a loaded wagon behind. He
stopped at a well to water his horses, and stepped to
the front to pound a loose tire into place; the team
took fright and ran away." Frank clung to the
lines and was dragged while the horses ran "at a
furious rate." Twice he was run over by the
wagon, his head struck a wood post and, when found,
he was unconscious and carried to a nearby house
where he remained "in a comatose condition for
between seventy-two and eighty hours."
The following January he was examined by a pension
surgeon who said, due to the accident, Frank was now
blind in his left eye and deaf in his right ear and
had a paralyzed right arm. When he walked, he
staggered "like a drunken man." More
applications and more medical examinations followed
until finally, on February 9, 1898, a certificate was
issued entitling him to a pension of $8.00 monthly.
Frank's barber, George Toomey, said Frank was "a
contentious fellow who often had squabbles with
neighbors." "These disputes," he said,
"customarily wound up in court" with Frank
carrying "a big ear trumpet." Frank applied
for a pension increase in 1902 and told the doctor,
"I am no good cant see or hear. " The
pension had been increased to $12.00 by the time he
died on November 15, 1909, and was buried in
Gettysburg Cemetery. The following year Josie's
remains were reinterred next to Frank and "a
very fine granite monument" was placed on their
graves.
In 1868, after the death of her first husband,
Frank's sister, Jane, married James Chiles who had
served with Frank in Company B. In 1870 Theron was
killed by Indians in North Dakota. In 1871 Ruel's
wife, Sarah (McCashen) Aldrich died and in 1874 he
married Mary Ann Torrey. Seventy-four-year-old Ruel
died in 1907 and is buried in Mitchell, Iowa. Laura
Belle (Aldrich) Austin died in 1915 and is buried in
Sioux Falls, South Dakota, as is Jane who died in
1915. Nick died in 1917 at age seventy-seven and was
buried in Whiting, Iowa.
~*~*~
Alloway,
William H.
James Alloway and Sarah Wilson were married in
Mackinaw, Illinois on November 22, 1831, but were
living in Springfield when William, their sixth
child, was born on November 24, 1843. They were among
the early pioneer families in Clayton County.
In the fall of 1862 President Lincoln issued a call
for 300,000 men to add to a war effort that had
already lasted longer than most in the North
expected. It was time for the harvest and families
were busy, but Governor Kirkwood assured the
President that the state would do her duty. "Our
harvest is just upon us, and we have now scarcely men
enough to save our crops, but if need be our women
can help."
In Clayton County, Strawberry Point's Charles Heath
and William Crooke and McGregor' postmaster, Willard
Benton, were especially active in securing
enlistments and it was Heath who, on August 6, 1862,
enrolled William Alloway. The minimum age for
enlisting without parental consent was eighteen, the
age reflected for William in his military records.
William's father would later say William was born on
November 24, 1843, but, in the same affidavit, said
William was "under age at the time of enlisting,
but I was willing for him to go as he thought he
could do more for me by enlisting."
Company B was mustered into service on August 18,
1862 with Private William Alloway described as being
about 5' 8½'' tall with blue eyes, brown hair and a
light complexion. On September 9, 1862, with ten
companies of sufficient strength, 985 men, officers
and enlisted, were mustered in as the 21st Regiment
of Iowa Volunteer Infantry. At Camp Franklin
(formerly Camp Union) in Dubuque, they received
Enfield muskets and leather cartridge boxes
containing forty of "Uncle Sam's Little Blue
Pills," also known as "Forty Dead Men"
and "secession pills." On the 16th, crowded
on board the Henry Clay, a four-year old 181-foot
long, side-wheel steamer commanded by Captain
Stephenson, and two barges lashed to it side, they
started south.
Their initial service was in Missouri and, after an
overnight stay at St. Louis' Benton Barracks, they
boarded cars usually used for freight and livestock
and sped along the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad to
its western terminus at Rolla. William was with the
regiment and maintained his health well as they
walked from Rolla to Salem, Houston, Hartville, West
Plains, Eminence, Ironton, Iron Mountain and, on
March 11, 1863, into the little French town of Ste.
Genevieve where they camped about 3:00pm "in a
beautiful grove" on a ridge overlooking the
Mississippi.
It was here that they learned they would be joining
General Grant and were less than pleased when they
were taken down the Mississippi to Milliken's Bend to
become part of a massive army he was assembling to
capture Vicksburg. Grant had a bad reputation. He had
been surprised by the enemy at Shiloh and his
previous attempts to take Vicksburg had failed. But
here at the Bend, said William Crooke, "a new
spirit was upon us; we had come in contact with
Grant's men, and found them imbued with the most
unbounded confidence in their General."
From Milliken' s Bend they walked and waded south
through swamps and bayous west of the river until, on
April 30, 1863, they crossed to Bruinsburg on the
east bank. The first regiment to cross was ordered to
occupy high ground above the landing and sound an
alarm if the enemy approached. The second regiment,
the 21st Iowa, received more ominous orders. They
were to proceed inland on a dirt road as the point
regiment for General Grant's entire army and to
continue walking "until fired upon." About
midnight their small advance squad encountered
Confederate pickets. Gunfire was exchanged in
darkness before men on both sides rested on their
arms knowing what the next day would bring.
On May l, 1863 William was with the regiment as it
participated in the daylong Battle of Port Gibson
when seventeen of his comrades were wounded. William
Comstock died the next day. Charles Roehl was shot in
the left leg. The leg was amputated in the field, he
was admitted to a Grand Gulf hospital on the 10th,
and he died on the 20th. John Van Kuran was wounded
in the upper portion of the left arm. He too was
admitted to the Grand Gulf hospita1 where, on May
31st, Dr. Littlefield amputated the lower two-thirds
of the arm. On June 18th, at Memphis, John would die.
Fourteen others incurred non-fatal wounds that, for
three of them, would lead to an early discharge.
From Port Gibson, now at the rear of the army, the
regiment moved inland. Held in reserve during the
Battle of Champion's Hill on May 16th, they were in
the lead on the 17th when they encountered
Confederates entrenched on the east side of the Big
Black River hoping to keep its large railroad bridge
open until their comrades could cross. An assault was
ordered. Two Iowa regiments, the 21st and 23rd
infantries, led the way. In three minutes, it was
over. The rebels had been routed and many captured.
The way to Vicksburg was now open, but the regiment
had suffered heavy casualties -seven were killed,
eighteen had fatal wounds, and thirty-eight had
non-fatal wounds.
William Alloway was among the wounded and that
afternoon his right arm was amputated. He continued
to receive medical care in the field hospital, but
was eventually moved with others to a landing north
of Vicksburg, taken on board a hospital boat, and
headed north for better treatment. By then, however,
he had contracted pyemia, the "bete noire"
of surgeons according to one author who said it
"struck 2,818 men, of whom only 71 recovered, a
mortality rate of 97.4 percent." On June 8,
1863, near Napoleon (now a ghost town) at the
junction of the Mississippi and Arkansas Rivers, and
still on the hospital boat, William died.
His mother had passed away when William was a boy of
about seven years, but several siblings and his
father, James Alloway, were still living. For many
years James worked as a day laborer on a farm
northeast of Strawberry Point but, in April, 1880, at
age seventy-three, he applied for a pension. Giving
his address as Littleport, he said he had been
"greatly dependent" on his son for his
support and that "no person has been legally
bound to support him." Soon thereafter he moved
to Red Oak in Montgomery County where a doctor in
1885 said James was totally disabled. Included among
those signing affidavits regarding William's death
were Christian Maxson, a Company B comrade who had
known William for many years prior to their
enlistment and William Orr, an Ottumwa resident who
had been one of the regiment's surgeons. James was
awarded a monthly pension of $8 .00 retroactive to
June 9, 1863 (the day after his son's death) and
increased to $12.00 on March 19, 1886.
~*~*~
Allurt,
Harmon
Co G, age 19, b. Germany, residence North Buena Vista
08/13/62 enlist in Company
08/22/62 muster in Company G
09/09/62 muster in Regiment
07/15/65 muster out at Baton Rouge
This is from the R&R. I have not verified the
information.
~*~*~
Ano,
John
John Ano was born in 1835 in Lafayette, Wisconsin
(although it's not indicated if this was the town,
township or county of Lafayette) and was described as
being 5 feet 3¾ inches tall with gray eyes, brown
hair and a light complexion. He was a twenty-three
year old farmer and laborer when he enlisted on
August 14, 1862 at McGregor in a company being raised
the town's postmaster, Willard Benton.
He was mustered into Company G on August 22nd and all
ten companies were mustered in as the 21st Regiment
of Iowa’s volunteer infantry on September 9,
1862. Leaving Dubuque on September 16th, John went
south with the regiment and, like many others, became
ill during the cold winter weather while stationed at
Rolla, Missouri, that December. Fortunately for John
his illness was minor, he was treated in quarters and
he remained with the regiment as it completed its
tour in Missouri before joining General Grant during
the Vicksburg Campaign. Confederate General Pemberton
surrendered the city on July 4, 1863, and, on July
14th, John was one of several who were granted 30-day
furloughs. Due to their proximity to the river, they
were able to get home faster than when the regiment
was stationed at more remote locations, but before
long they were back with the regiment.
John's service was arduous but relatively uneventful.
A private from enlistment to discharge, he was marked
"present" on every bimonthly Company Muster
Roll despite being occasionally detailed for special
duties. On March 13, 1864 he was detailed as a
teamster at Division Headquarters. A year later, at
Dauphin Island on March 4, 1865, an order from the
headquarters of the 1st Brigade of the 1st Division
of the 13th Army Corps, said John was "hereby
detailed for duty at these Head Quarters and will
report immediately." On arrival he was assigned
to work as a cook.
In June, after the occupation of Mobile, the regiment
returned to New Orleans and then proceeded up the Red
River. On June 4th, Lieutenant Colonel Van Anda
learned he had been selected by Major General Herron
"to command the post ofNatchitoches, where your
own regiment will be stationed." The order said
"the major-general commanding desires that you
will do all in yourpower to restore confidence
andpromote goodfeeling. You will have no system
ofpassesfor the people, andwill interfere in no way
with trade and transportation ofproducts." While
Van Anda moved into town to assume his new duties at
post headquarters, the regiment went to Saluria
Springs about two miles northwest ofNatchitoches
where they occupied Camp Salubrity. On June 14th,
John Ano was detailed to serve as a headquarters
Orderly and moved into town.
On July 15, 1865 John and others still with the
regiment were mustered out of service at Baton Rouge.
He had been in the Battle of Port Gibson on May 1,
1863, was present during the Battle of Champion's
Hill on May 16, 1863 when the regiment was held in
reserve, participated in the assault of May 22, 1863
at Vicksburg and in the subsequent siege, and he had
been present throughout the Mobile Campaign and all
other actions of the regiment. Now he was going home.
On the evening of the 15th they turned in their tents
and equipment and moved rations to the landing. The
next morning, they boarded the Lady Gay and, leaving
about 7:00am, started up-river past memories of three
years of combat, scenes of battle and graves of
friends. They debarked at Cairo about 8:00am on the
20th and "went to the soldiers rest where a
dinner was waiting for us" while the post
commander sent a wire to Adjutant General Baker in
Iowa: "The twenty-first 21 Iowa leaves by rail
for Clinton at twelve 12n today.” They were
delayed for two hours, but reached Clinton about
midnight. On the afternoon of the 24th, John and
others who were present received their discharges and
final payment and were free to make their way to
their homes.
~*~*~
Anthrom,
John M.
Antrim, John M.
Co E, age 21, b. Ohio, residence Dubuque, Dubuque co.
08/14/62 enlist
08/22/62 muster in Company E
09/09/62 muster in Regiment
05/21/63 discharge at St. Louis (disability)
Notes: John and his brother, Knox, both served in the
regiment. There was doubt about the spelling of their
surname with Antrim, Anthrom, Antrum, Antran,
Antrain, Antren and Antrami all appearing in once
place or another. According to the following
05/07/1872 Fort Dodge letter, apparently handwritten
for him, neither brother could read or write (at
least during the war):
Fort Dodge May 7, 1872
Sir i am informed that you will assist any
Soldier who has lost his discharge to get
another. I lost mine in 1863 and never heard of
it since i was one of comp. E 21st Iowa infantry
under Capt. Swivel my name is John M Antrim i was
taken sick and sent to the hospital in St. Louis
they said i had the consumption and gave me my
discharge and put me on a boat and sent me home
when i was going a Mr Long who had been very kind
to me, said he was sanitary agent and if i would
give him my discharge and papers he would get my
pay and send it to me i did so and when i got
home i wrote many times & got one letter wich
said i had overdrawn 8 dollars this i sent with a
request to send my papers and discharge but i
never got an answer since weather he got my
letter or not i do not know but i can never hear
of him since, if you can do anything for me you
shall have not only my thanks but my blessing for
the rest of my life you will find inclosed a
letter writen by him on the day i started home
yours respectfully John M Antrim
PS my name has been spelled wrong many times it
may be wrong on the muster roll it is on the
picture I got of my company there it is John M
Anthrom so is my brother Nox Antrim of company A
of the same regiment his i beleave is spelled
Antaraim this is owing to us not being able to
read or write Inglish long read my discharge and
papers for me and said they were all right please
answer this and let me know what to do
yours
John W Antrim
Due to him bothering to explain the spelling (even
if he merely dictated the letter to someone else), I
presume "Antrim" is the correct spelling.
In 1892 he wrote a letter to the Adjutant General and
signed his name as Anthrom, the signature is
in a different handwriting than the 1872 letter. This
places the authenticity of the 1892 letter in
question.
~*~*~
Appleton,
William H.
William Appleton said he was born in Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, on July 22, 1839. He moved to Iowa in
1857 and, when the Civil War started, was unmarried
and working as a Clayton County farmer.
On July 9, 1862, Governor Kirkwood received a
telegram asking him to raise five regiments as part
of the President's call for 300,000 three-year men.
If the state's quota wasn't raised by August 15th, it
"would be made up by draft." The Governor
was confident, but enlistments started slowly as
''farmers were busy with the harvest, the war was
much more serious than had been anticipated, and the
first ebullition of military enthusiasm had subsided.
Furthermore, disloyal sentiment was rampant in some
parts of the state.” Throughout July and August
military recruiters and local citizens "beat the
drum" and the enlistments came.
In Clayton County, Willard Benton, McGregor's
postmaster, and William Crooke, a local attorney,
were especially successful in gaining enlistments. On
August 16, 1862, it was Crooke who enrolled William
Appleton at New Stand (a town then located in the
eastern part of Elk Creek Township) in what would be
Company B of the 21st Regiment of Iowa Volunteer
Infantry. Private Appleton was described as being 5'
7¾'' tall with brown eyes and hair and a dark
complexion. The company was ordered into quarters at
Dubuque the same day and mustered in on August 18th
with a complement of ninety-nine men. When all ten
companies were sufficiently full, the regiment was
mustered into service on September 9, 1862.
Most spent relatively little time receiving
productive training since, according to one writer,
"the rendezvous was so near the men's homes,
that their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters,
wives, sweethearts, and. friends, were too often
present to allow either drill or discipline to any
great extent." On September 16th, William was
with his regiment as they left Dubuque and started
south for several months of service in Missouri.
After an overnight stay in St. Louis, they went to
Rolla by rail and then marched to Salem, Houston,
Hartville, back to Houston, back to Hartville, back
to Houston, south to West Plains, and then northeast
to Ironton, Iron Mountain, Pilot Knob and St.
Genevieve.
William had been marked “present” on all
bimonthy muster rolls in 1862, but became ill and was
hospitalized on February 28, 1863 when they were in
Iron Mountain. Soon thereafter they were in St.
Genevieve and William was granted a furlough to go
north to recuperate. During his absence the regiment
went down the Mississippi to Milliken' s Bend and,
from there, walked south along the west side of the
river until crossing to Bruinsburg on the east bank
on April 30, 1863. A battle was fought at Port Gibson
on May 1, 1863 with few casualties.
Four days later, William rejoined the regiment and he
was with it on May 16th when they were held in
reserve by their commanding general, John McClernand,
during the Battle of Champion's Hill. It was hard for
the soldiers to stand motionless and listen to the
sounds of the nearby battle and William Crooke felt
McClernand had been "spellbound by a show of
opposition and the throwing of a few shells from the
high ridge in his .front caused three of his own
divisions and one of Sherman's to stand motionless
while another division of his own corps was being
slaughtered."
Having not been engaged on the 16th, the regiment's
brigade was rotated to the front on the 17th.
Advancing towards Vicksburg, they encountered
Confederates entrenched along the Big Black River,
hoping to keep its railroad bridge open so the rest
of their army could cross. Colonels conferred. An
assault was ordered. Colonel Kinsman ordered the 23d
Iowa forward and Colonel Merrill did the same for the
21st Iowa.
Those two regiments led the charge over an open field
directly into enemy gunfire. The charge was
successful, but there were many casualties including
Colonel Merrill who had fallen on the field with
severe wounds to his upper thighs. On May 22nd, at
Vicksburg, they were in another assault, this one
unsuccessful, and a siege was ordered. Vicksburg
surrendered on July 4th and the regiment immediately
engaged in a pursuit of Confederate General Joe
Johnston east to Jackson. Following that expedition,
they spent time back in Vicksburg and in Louisiana,
and many months guarding the "sacred sands"
of the Gulf coast of Texas. Seeing the vast expanse
of water, gathering shells and tasting saltwater was
a new experience for the Hawkeyes, but it soon grew
old and they were "anxious for the fray."
After returning to Louisiana for several months,
their last campaign of the war was in the spring of
1865 when they participated in the Mobile Campaign in
Alabama. They were mustered out at Baton Rouge on
July 15, 1865.
After returning to civilian life, William spent a
short time in Sioux City, but then returned to
Clayton County and, in the fall of 1866, taught
school. On June 9, 1867, William and Phoebe Lovett
were married in Guttenberg. Their first two children
were girls, Ida and Sylvia, both of whom reportedly
died in 1870. Another daughter, Lena May, was born on
April 13, 1871. She was followed by William Watson on
July 17, 1874, Olive on October 27, 1876, Mark Lovett
on August 29, 1882, Otto Blaine on January 24, 1885,
and Roy Raymond on March 21, 1890.
While continuing to work his 240 acre farm in Elk
Township, William served as a school director, as
Township Assessor and as Township Clerk. In 1887 he
applied for a government pension. Under laws in
effect at the time, pensions for veterans were based
on illness, wounds or other disability incurred in
the line of duty. William said he had contracted a
severe cold in February 1863 that caused lung fever
and chronic diarrhea from which he was still
suffering. His application was supported by an
affidavit from Brad Talcott, a former comrade from
Company B, who recalled that William "was taken
sick" on the march from Houston to West Plains
and caught a cold that "settled on his
lungs." John Carpenter, also from Company B,
said William was so sick at Iron Mountain that:
"our officers considered it
necessary to send him home in order to save his
life. And I being in poor health was detailed to
take him home. we had to convey him on a strecher
from camp to the boat. I went with him from Iron
Mountain to Farley Iowa during the whole trip he
was very sick."
With additional support from friends
and doctors, William's pension was granted at $8.00
per month, an amount that was increased over time. On
September 10, 1913, after forty-six years of
marriage, Phoebe died. She was buried in Brown
Cemetery, Colesburg. William was receiving a $30.00
age-based monthly pension when he died on June 7,
1925, at eighty-six years of age. He was buried next
to Phoebe.
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