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MILITARY: Civil War History
 
FOURTH REGIMENT.

	The Fourth Regiment of Iowa Cavalry was organized under the proclamation of 
President Lincoln, dated July 23, 1861. The original roster of the regiment shows that the 
twelve companies of which it was composed were ordered into quarters by Governor 
Kirkwood, on dates ranging from Aug 26 to November 2, 1861.  The place of rendezvous 
designated in the order was Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where the companies were mustered 
into the service of the United States by Captain Alexander Chambers, of the United States 
Army, on dates ranging from November 23, 1861, to January 1, 1862.  Most of these 
companies had perfected their organization and were awaiting assignment when the 
Governor's order was issued, but some of them had only an incipient organization at that 
time, hence the disparity in the dates upon which they were mustered into the service.  
Upon the date of the muster of the last company, the regiment numbered 1m086 men and 
officers.  The camp was named "Camp Harlan," in  honor of the distinguished Senator 
from Iowa, whose home was in Mount Pleasant.  Barracks were erected for the use of the 
men and officers, and stables for the horses.
	The subjoined roster gives the names of the field, staff and line officers, as well as 
that of each enlisted man, at the time the organization was completed, and, opposite the 
name of each, appears his personal record of service, in so far as the same could be found 
by a careful search of the official records.  However, it is more than possible that, in some 
instances, individual records may be found to be incomplete or incorrect.  In such cases 
the fault must be charged to the official records, and inability to obtain fuller information 
from the War Department, at Washington, and not to those who made the transcripts.  A 
painstaking effort was made some years ago by William F. Scott, late Adjutant of the 
fourth Iowa Cavalry, to compile a correct roster and record of the regiment. In his preface 
to the work, Adjutant Scott says: "The history given is that of the original records, 
supplemented by papers of my own and of other officers and soldiers, all verified with 
much care.  But, the great number of errors and contradictions found and traced to 
explanation make it probable that many others remain hidden.  I can only say that the 
work is as nearly correct as it could well be made, and certainly more nearly correct than 
the official records."
	While this compilation, like that of every other Iowa military organization, 
embraced in this work, is made from the official records, the completed roster has been 
carefully compared with that to which reference has been made, for the purpose of 
verification and the clearing up of records which would otherwise have remained more or 
less obscure and incomplete.  The Fourth Iowa Cavalry is more fortunate in this regard 
than any other Iowa regiment, the history referred to being contained in a large volume of 
over six hundred pages and describing with great particularity all the movements and 
operations of the regiment during its long term of service.  The compiler of this historical 
sketch is confronted with the difficult task of condensation, and cannot therefore attempt 
to include in this brief history anything more than the outlines of the most important 
events connected with the service of the regiment, but, in the arrangement of the roster 
which follows, he hopes and believes the chief merits of the work will be found.
	Only a few of the officers and men of the regiment had the benefit of previous 
military training or experience.  Colonel A. B. Porter, Major George A. Stone and 
Adjutant George W. Waldron had been officers in the First Iowa Infantry and had fought 
in the battle of Wilson's Creek, as had also a number of the enlisted men of the different 
companies; but this experience, except in so far as having been under fire was of benefit to 
them, availed but little, because they had no knowledge of the duties of cavalry soldiers.  
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Drummond was the notable exception in this regard, he 
having been a lieutenant in the fifth United States Cavalry.  Upon joining the regiment he 
became its instructor in tactics and discipline.  He was a man of excellent ability, but 
somewhat imperious in his manner and bearing, and perhaps over zealous in his efforts to 
bring the regiment up to a state of efficiency in drill and discipline before it was called 
upon to take the field.  The regiment remained at Camp Harlan until the latter part of 
February, when it was transported by rail to St. Louis and thence to Benton Barracks.  
Horses of an excellent quality had been supplied before leaving Iowa, but the regiment 
was otherwise only partially equipped when it reached Benton Barracks.  There its 
equipment was completed, but the quality of arms with which it was at first supplied was 
poor.  It was a long time before a better quality of arms could be furnished.
	On the 10th of March, 1862, Colonel Porter received orders to move his regiment by 
rail to Rolla, Mo.  Upon its arrival there a detail of forty men, under command of First 
Lieutenant John Guyles, of Company A, was sent to guard a party of paymasters going to 
pay the troops of the Army of the southwest.  The detachment was joined by a larger force 
of cavalry at Lebanon and successfully performed its duty as escort, reaching the army at 
Pea Ridge on March 26th, and then countermarched to Springfield, where it awaited the 
arrival of the regiment.  The regiment marched from Rolla to Springfield and went into 
camp there, where it remained about three weeks.  On April 14th the regiment marched 
south and, on the 16th, joined the army under General Curtis, at Forsyth.  On April 19 a 
scouting detachment of the regiment, under command of Lieutenant William A. Heacock, 
came into conflict with a party of the enemy at Talbot's Ferry, Ark., and, in the skirmish 
which ensued, Lieutenant Heacock was killed—the first man of the regiment to meet 
death at the hands of the enemy.  The army moved eastward to West Plains.  There was 
much sickness in the regiment, and there was a number of deaths, while others became 
incapacitated for further duty and were subsequently discharged.  It was the usual  
experience of new regiment in the field.  The hardships and exposure to which the men, 
were subjected caused more deaths and disabled more men than the conflicts with the 
enemy.  From West Plains the army moved to Batesville, the cavalry, scouting the country 
on the flanks and rear.  On June 3d, Company C, under command of Captain Porter, came 
into contact with a force of rebel cavalry and, in the skirmish, Corporals Butcher and 
Browning were wounded and, with private Murdock, captured.  They were confined at 
Little Rock until August, when they were exchanged.  
	On June 24th the army took up the line of march for Helena.  Company F, of the 
Fourth Iowa Cavalry, under command of Captain Winslow, had been detached from the 
regiment about the middle of May and was acting under the order of Captain Banning, the 
Chief Commissary of the army, who was actively employed in gathering provisions from 
the surrounding country and in guarding the commissary trains and the mills which were 
grinding grain into flour and meal for the use of the army.  Captain Winslow's company 
captured a steamboat loaded with sugar and molasses.  The company also brought in about 
one hundred wagons loaded with provisions.  Thus far his company had sustained no 
casualties in making these important captures, but, on the 7th of June, it came into contact 
with a party of rebels and Corporal John G. Carson, was mortally wounded.  On the 14th 
of July, twelve men of Captain Winslow's company were foraging under command of 
Sergeant Curtiss.  While loading their wagons at Gist's plantation, twenty miles from 
Helena, they were attacked by a force of one hundred rebel cavalry.  Curtiss lost one man 
milled and five wounded from his little detachment.  The wounded men were captured, 
Captain Winslow, hearing the firing, galloped with the rest of his company to the rescue, 
overtook and attacked the rebels and recaptured one of the wounded and all the wagons,  
the wounded prisoners were subsequently paroled.
	The movement of the army was very slow, owing to the intense heat, the necessity 
for constant foraging to obtain provisions, the large number of sick in wagons and 
ambulances, and the blocking of the roads by the enemy placing obstructions which it 
took much time to remove.  There was also considerable fighting by the troops which led 
the advance.  The Fourth Iowa Cavalry was assigned to the rear guard.  Finally, the long 
march and the end of the campaign was reached when the army arrived at Helena, July 12, 
1862.
	The  regiment remained in camp at Helena for over eight months.  During this 
period it was engaged in scouting the surrounding country, watching the movements of 
the enemy and guarding the approaches to that important post, which was many times 
threatened with attack.  The troops composing the defensive force at Helena consisted of 
three regiments of infantry, one battery, and the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, all under the 
command of Colonel Wiliam Vandever, of the Ninth Iowa Infantry, an able officer which 
had won distinction at the battle of Pea Ridge. Company F, under command of Captain 
Winslow, was assigned to special service as provost guards and other duties at 
headquarters in the town, and did not rejoin the regiment until it left Helena.  The camp of 
the Fourth Iowa Cavalry was outside the town, about four miles on the Little Rock road, 
constituting an outpost for the defensive works and the garrison, hence its duties were of 
the utmost importance, as it would be the first to meet the enemy in case of an attack in 
force.  The most constant vigilance was therefore necessary, and was maintained.  The 
details for picket duty each day were heavy, and scouting parties were sent out in advance 
of the picket lines to guard against the possibility of a surprise.  Small scouting parties of 
the enemy were observed from time to time, but no conflict which involved loss to the 
regiment occurred until September 20th, when a detail of eight men, of company E, met a 
superior force of the enemy and, in the fight which ensued, the detachment lost one man 
killed, one wounded and three captured, the remaining four, escaping, returned to camp, 
and a detachment was at once sent in pursuit of the rebels, but did not succeed in over-
taking them.  On September 30th, two men, of Company M, were captured.  These men, 
and those captured on the 20th, were exchanged and returned to the regiment in November. 
1862.
	About the 1st of October General Vandever and his infantry troops left Helena, and 
a considerably smaller force was sent to succeed them as a garrison for the post.  The 
camp of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry was then moved two miles nearer Helena, on the Little 
Rock road, and two other cavalry regiments—the Ninth Illinois and the Fifth Kansas—
were encamped near them.  On the morning of the 11th of October a detachment of fifty 
men of the Fourth Iowa was sent out on a scout, under the command of Major Rector, and 
proceeded about fifteen miles without meeting the enemy, but late in the afternoon, when 
marching through a lane, within three miles of camp, it was suddenly attacked from the 
rear by a superior force of rebels.  Although placed at a great disadvantage—his men 
being thrown into confusion by the sudden and unexpected attack—the gallant Major 
Rector succeeded in rallying his men and resisted the attack in his front, but a portion of 
the enemy had made a detour and, coming from the opposite direction, the detachment 
found itself attacked from all sides and was compelled to cut its way out, which it did after 
losing twenty-one of its number in killed, wounded and captured.  Major Rector was 
among the captured.  Lieutenant George B. Parsons, of Company B, had also been sent on 
a scout with forty of his company the same morning, and returning to camp when he heard 
the firing of the enemy's and Major Rector's men, and moving promptly to the place 
where the fighting was going on, he boldly charged the enemy, killing and wounding a 
number of them and capturing twelve prisoners, among whom was Lieutenant Colonel 
Giddings of the Twenty-first Texas Cavalry, who was in command of the rebel force.  In 
this charge Lieutenant Parsons lost two men captured and four wounded, and was himself 
wounded.  The regiment went in pursuit of the rebels, but did not overtake them.  The 
captured men were paroled and returned to the regiment and, a couple of months later, 
were exchanged and restored to duty.  Lieutenant Parsons was very highly commended for 
his prompt action and the personal gallantry he displayed in the engagement.  He was 
subsequently promoted to Captain of his company.
	On the 8th of November, Captain John H. Peters of Company B, with a detachment of 
100 men from different companies of the regiment, was leading the advance of a column of 
600 cavalry, which was part of  a reconnoitering expedition under command of Colonel 
Vandever, when he received orders to charge a force of rebels who held the road upon 
which the column was marching,  He promptly charged the enemy who fled after but slight 
resistance.  His loss in the charge was 3 men wounded.  Later on, the same day, his 
detachment was suddenly attacked by a larger force of the enemy.  Captain Peters promptly 
again, this time losing 19 wounded.  Among those wounded in this charge were Captain 
Peters, Lieutenants Beckwith, Tucker, Fitch and Groesbeck, and Corporal Charles W. 
Sisson, who subsequently died from the effect of his wound..  The enemy's loss in these 
two engagements was 17 killed, 14 captured and many wounded, the total number not 
known.  Captain Peters and his command were highly commended for their gallantry.  Two 
officers—a Major and a Captain—were among the prisoners captured from the enemy.
	On the 18th of November the regiment started from Helena, with the cavalry force 
under the command of Colonel Bussey of the Third Iowa Cavalry, which was to co-operate 
with the infantry under General A. P. Hovey, in an expedition having for its object the 
capture of Arkansas Post—a strong and important rebel fortification on the Arkansas River.  
The troops suffered very great hardships upon this expedition, which was finally abandoned 
on account of the impassable condition of the roads, and—on account of low water—the 
failure of the transports which carried the infantry to proceed to the point where the two 
forces were to have joined.  On the 25th of November the troops reached Helena, on their 
return from this unfortunate march.  On the next day after its return, the regiment was 
ordered to march with another expeditionary force, under General A. P. Hovey.  This force 
landed at Friars' Point, Miss., a few miles below Helena, and marched toward Grenada, the 
cavalry keeping well in advance.  Destroying a considerable amount of railroad track near 
Coffeeville, it moved on to Panola and destroyed the railroad at and near that place, thus 
inflicting great damage upon the enemy's line of transportation.  Many horses were also 
captured and several hundred negro men returned with the expedition and were afterwards 
enlisted in one of the colored regiments whose organization was authorized about that time.  
The entire march occupied but seven days.  Upon its return to Helena, the camp of the 
regiment was moved near the river to a low and unhealthy situation, resulting in much 
sickness, which proved fatal to many.  Among those who did there were Major Benjamin 
Rector ad Captain Thomas C. Tullis.  The reason for the change in location of camps was 
the necessity for contracting the lines nerarer the post, on account of the smaller garrison 
then occupying it; but the danger from attack by the enemy was not so great as that incurred 
from disease and after much insistence, the commanding officer of the post, permitted the 
regiment to move its camp to higher ground much farther away from the fortifications.  The 
result of the change was soon apparent in a decreasing sick list.  The reduction of the force 
imposed heavy work upon the cavalry, from whose camps, at some distance from the town, 
all the advanced picket posts and details for scouting were furnished.
	On the 8th of March a detachment of the regiment, under command of Major 
Spearman, had a skirmish with the enemy at Big Creek, ten miles west of Helena, in which 
private Benoni F. Kellogg, of Company L, was killed.  Early in April a detachment of the 
Fourth Iowa Cavalry, under command of Major Winslow, participated in an expedition 
against a force of rebels encamped at Wittsburg, on the St. Francis River, about one 
hundred miles northwest of Helena.  On the 8th of April the enemy was encountered near 
Wittsburg and, after a brief but hard fought engagement, was defeated.  The loss of the 
Fourth Iowa Cavalry in this fight was one man killed and seven wounded, all of Company 
L, which was at the front and charged the enemy, who made the attack from ambush after 
dark.  This was the last fighting in which any of the regiment took part during the remainder 
of its stay at Helena.
	On the 29th of April, 1863, the Fourth Iowa Cavalry—Lieutenant Colonel Swan in 
command—embarked on steamboats at Helena and, on the next day, landed at Milliken's 
Bend.  From the 30th day of April to the close of the Vicksburg Campaign, on the 16th of 
July, the regiment performed very active and arduous service.  Only a brief description can 
be given of its most important operations during this remarkable period in the history of the 
war.  During the investment of Vicksburg the movements of the regiment covered the 
country in the rear of that stronghold, embracing the territory between the Big Black, the 
Mississippi and the Yazoo Rivers.  Its principal encounter with the enemy were as follows:  
On the morning of May 12th, the Second Battalion, under command of Major Winslow, 
while leading the advance of Sherman's column was engaged in a skirmish with the enemy, 
in which it lost one man killed, three men wounded, and had four horses killed.  Major 
Winslow's horse was killed, and he barely escaped being killed by being caught under the 
horse as it fell.  It was here that Major Winslow first came under the observation of General 
Sherman, who had ridden to the front and was a personal witness of the gallant conduct of 
the Major and his battalion.  The next engagements were on May 13th and 14th, when the 
Fourth Iowa Cavalry, under the personal direction of General Sherman, engaged in 
successful flanking movements, which caused the enemy to retreat into and through the city 
of Jackson and resulted in the capture of the city, with a loss to the enemy of 845 killed, 
wounded and captured, while the loss in General Sherman's army was 42 killed and 258 
wounded.
	On the 16th of May the Fourth Iowa Cavalry marched from Jackson in the rear of 
General Sherman's army.  It was held within sight of the battle of Champion's Hill, 
awaiting orders, but did not become engaged.  It was sent upon a reconnaissance to 
Brownsville the next day and had a slight skirmish with the enemy's cavalry but suffered no 
casualties, the enemy retreating rapidly through the village.  The regiment returned to the 
rear of the army.
	On the 18th of May, Lieutenant Colonel Swan was ordered to move rapidly in the 
direction of Haynes' Bluff and reconnoiter that fortified position for the purpose of 
ascertaining whether it was still occupied by the enemy.  Early in the afternoon the advance 
guard of the regiment came within sight of the works, and continued to advance cautiously; 
but not encountering opposition, Captain Peters with his company was ordered to move 
forward for closer observation, and, meeting with no enemy, he rode into the fort and found 
but twenty of the enemy, who surrendered without resistance.  The strongly fortified 
position had been hastily evacuated.  Captain Peters at once got into communication with 
Admiral Porter, whose fleet of gunboats was lying in the Yazoo River below, out of range 
of the guns of the fort, and a detachment of marines was landed, under command of 
Lieutenant Walker, to whom Captain Peters turned over the fort and prisoners.  Captain 
Peters moved on to the fortifications at Snyder's Bluff, which he found had also been 
abandoned by the enemy.  That night the regiment bivouacked in the rear of McPherson's 
Corps and remained in that temporary camp for several days, sending out scouting and 
reconnoitering detachments to observe the movements of the enemy.  The camp was 
afterwards moved to a fine location in the rear of General Sherman's position.  The 
effective force of the regiment was constantly drawn upon for scouting duty, and most of 
the men and officers were in the saddle during the day and, many times, far into the night.  
This incessant service told severely upon both men and horses, and the effective strength of 
the regiment became fearfully reduced as the days wore on, both men and horses breaking 
down when the limit of physical endurance was reached.  In the performance of these duties 
several conflicts with the enemy occurred.
	On the 24th of May, near Mehanicsburg, a large detachment of the regiment, under 
Major Parkell, joined with detachments of other cavalry, all under command of Lieutenant 
Colonel Swan, met a similar force of the enemy and, in the skirmish, the Fourth Iowa had 
one man wounded and one horse killed.  On May 29th, near the same place, Major Parkell, 
in command of all the effective force of the regiment, had quite a serious engagement with 
the enemy, in which he had one officer and six men wounded.  Major Winslow, whose 
battalion was supporting the artillery, was wounded in the leg by a piece of shell, and 
though he continued on duty, suffered from the wound for many months.  On the 22d of 
June, a detachment of the regiment, composed of 30 m3n each from companies A, F, I and 
K, 120 men and officers, under command of Major Parkell, was sent to blockade the road 
near the Bear Creek ford, by felling trees, and thus delay the expected advance of the 
enemy.  While engaged in this work the pickets which had been posted were attacked and 
those who were not killed, wounded or captured, were rapidly driven in, and Major Parkell 
found himself and his small command confronted with an overpowering force of the enemy.  
He made a most gallant resistance, but his valor and that, of his men and officers could not 
prevail against such tremendous odds, and he was compelled to retreat, with a loss of more 
than one-half of the detachment.  The pursuit was not long continued.  The commanding 
officer of the rebel force, naturally expecting that reinforcements would be encountered, 
soon halted and retreated with his prisoners.  The loss of Major Parkell's detachment was 8 
killed, 17 wounded and 36 captured.  The enemy left 15 men dead upon the field, and one 
officer, a Major mortally wounded, who was evidently supposed to be killed, as they carried 
off the rest of their wounded.  Their total loss could not, therefore, be ascertained, but it no 
doubt reached, it it did not exceed, that of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, except in prisoners.  
Upon learning of the attack, the remainder of the regiment was quickly mounted and hurried 
to the relief of their comrades, but was not able to overtake the rebels before they had 
reached the lines of their own army.  The division commander was justly criticised for 
sending so small a force so far in advance of the Union lines, without adequate support 
being provided, in case of attack.  Lieutenant Joshua Gardner and Sergeant William T. 
Biggs died from the effect of wounds received in this engagement.  All of the captured were 
exchanged and returned to the regiment in October, except Lieutenant William J. 
McConnell, who remained in prison a long time and was finally exchanged and discharged 
without returning to the regiment, and Private James A. Livingston, who was reported as 
having died of his wounds in prison.
	On the 20th of June, 1863, Major Winslow was promoted to Colonel of the regiment, 
succeeding Colonel Porter, who had resigned on account of ill health.  Upon assuming 
command of the regiment, Colonel Winslow proceeded with great energy to improve its 
condition in the matter of a more strict enforcement of discipline and in other respects.  He 
had secured the confidence and respect of the men and officers, and his efforts to improve 
upon the methods of those who had preceded him in command of the regiment were 
appreciated by all.  They were now thoroughly seasoned soldiers and comprehended the 
absolute necessity for a more strict and impartial enforcement of discipline.  Had this 
feeling been shown at an earlier period, Lieutenant Colonel Drummond would most likely 
not have resigned on account of the difference of opinion between Colonel Porter and 
himself as to the proper discharge of the duties of the commander of the regiment.  The 
experience of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry was not greatly unlike that of other volunteer 
organizations.  It generally took a long time for the men to discover that implicit obedience 
to orders constitutes the first duty of a soldier, and also to discover those among their 
officers who were best fitted not only to command them in time of battle but to best care for 
them upon the march, in camp and under all conditions of the service.  For this reason the 
early commanders of regiments met with greater difficulties than those who succeeded 
them, and they were often subjected to unjust criticism-—at least this was true with 
reference in a majority of them.
	Immediately after the surrender of Vicksburg, on the 4th of July, 1863, General 
Sherman's army moved against the rebel army, commanded by General Johnston.  On the 
morning of July 5th, Sherman's infantry were upon the march towards Jackson.  A cavalry 
brigade, composed of the Third and Fourth Iowa, Second Wisconsin and Fifth Illinois, 
under command of Colonel Cyrus Bussey, of the Third Iowa, crossed the Big Black River 
at Messinger's Ferry, and at once took the advance of the army on the road to Jacklson.  
From the morning of the 7th to the 11th of July, Colonel Bussey's command was constantly 
at the front, had numerous skirmishes with the enemy and rendered valuable assistance to 
General Sherman in driving the rebel army into its intrenchments at Jackson, and in 
subsequent operations during the short siege which followed, ending in the evacuation of 
the works, by Johnston, on July 17, and his retreat across Pearl River.  While the siege was 
in progress, Bussey's cavalry had been active, and, in obedience to orders from General 
Sherman, proceeded to destroy a portion of the railroad immediately to the north of  
Jackson, then marched towards Canton, twenty-five miles farther to the north, and, in 
conjunction with a force of infantry and artillery, engaged the enemy, driving him into 
Canton on the night of July 17th.  That night the enemy evacuated Canton, and the next 
morning Colonel Bussey marched into the town with his command, and proceeded to 
destroy factories and machine shops which had been engaged in the manufacture of 
equipments for the rebel army, also cars and locomotives which had been used by the rebels 
in transporting supplies for their army.  Immediately after entering Canton, Colonel Bussey 
had ordered the Fourth Iowa Cavalry to march rapidly to the Big Black River and destroy 
the long railroad bridge and a mile of trestle work, together with the railroad property at 
Way's Bluff.  The regiment promptly executed this order, meeting with no resistance from 
the enemy, and rejoined the command that night.  Colonel Bussey then marched from 
Canton to Messinger's Ferry and went into camp.  The Fourth Iowa Cavalry's camp was 
located upon the Flower's plantation, a beautiful place, surrounded by a luxuriant growth of 
trees, shrubbery and flowers, where it remained about three months.  Notwithstanding the 
beauty of the location, the semi-tropic climate was un-healthful for these men who had been 
reared in the north, and there was much sickness in the regiment.
	Upon his return from Jackson, General Sherman had established his headquarters 
about a mile north of the camp of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, and an acquaintance was formed 
between the General and Colonel Winslow, which grew into a warm personal friendship.  
From the day (May 12, 1863) that General Sherman had been a personal witness of the 
gallantry and coolness of Winslow under the fire of the enemy, and the skill with which he 
handled his men, he had kept him in mind as an officer who would deserve promotion.  
Closer observation had confirmed the General's first estimate, and he determined to 
organize as independent Cavalry Brigade and to place Colonel Winslow in command of it.  
General Sherman had planned an important and hazardous expedition, the successful 
execution of which would inflict heavy damage upon the enemy, but would require the 
exercise of great skill and good judgment on the part of the officer who should be selected 
to command it.  General Grant approved the plan, leaving all the details for its execution to 
be arranged by Sherman. In his letter of instruction to Colonel Winslow, General Sherman 
states that there was a large amount of rolling stock—70 locomotives and 500 cars—on the 
Great Central Railroad, between and at Water Valley and Grenada, to be moved, if possible, 
to and above Grenada and thence to Memphis.  He also states that General Grant had 
ordered a cavalry force to proceed from Memphis to Grenada and to co-operate with the 
force under Colonel Winslow in carrying out these instructions.  In an expedition of this 
kind it was of course necessary to invest the commanding officer with authority to act upon 
his own judgment, but he was to carry out his instructions, in so far as it was possible to do 
son, and to use his own discretion as circumstances should require.  The official report of 
Colonel Winslow's shows that his instructions were strictly complied with, except in the 
matter of getting the rolling stock into Memphis, which was found to be impossible.  The 
operation of the regiment and brigade during the expedition are fully described, and with 
that particularity of detail characteristic of all Colonel Winslow's reports.  The compiler 
regrets that limitation of space will not permit the insertion of the entire report in this 
sketch.  The following extracts will, however, serve to show the indomitable will of the 
commander, the bravery and good discipline of his officers and men, some of the 
difficulties encountered and overcome, and the important results achieved:
	In accordance with instructions, the forces under my command, consisting of the 
Third Iowa, Fourth Iowa, and Fifth Illinois Cavalry regiments, eight hundred men, left camp 
on Big Black River, at 5 o'clock A. M. on the 10th inst….Reached Yazoo City at 8 o'clock 
on the morning of the 12th inst.  After waiting in bivouac until the morning of the 14th inst., I 
decided, in opposition to the voices of the officers commanding regiments, to push forward 
without further delay…We bivouacked at 10 P. M. on Harlan's Creek, thirty miles from 
Yazoo City and eight miles from Lexington.  Entered Lexington at 8 A. M., where the Third 
Iowa, Major Noble, with Lieutenant Jones, A. A. C. S., was left to procure rations, while 
the main force pushed forward to Durant, and captured at noon a train of cars just from 
Grenada.  Captain Peters was immediately placed in charge of the engine, and proceeded 
five miles below Durant, and burned a bridge on the track.  I learned that there was one 
engine and about ten cars below Durant; also that the railroad bridge over Big Black River 
had just been repaired, the captured train being the first one ordered over it.  Resting until 6 
o'clock P. M., when the Third Iowa came up, the column moved to West Station, going into 
bivouac at 11 P. M.. twenty-four miles by way of Durant, and twenty miles direct, from 
Lexington.  At this point some engines and cars were found, and, with the train from 
Durant, forwarded to Valden—twelve miles—arriving at 11 o'clock, 16th inst., when the 
cavalry was delayed until 5 P. M. to make up trains.  Reaching Winona—twelve miles—at 
day-break on the 17th, it was found that the enemy, who now appeared in front, had 
destroyed a small bridge above town.  I therefore decided to leave the trains, now 
comprising thirteen engines and sixty cars, and pushed forward into Grenada, where I heard 
some force of the enemy was posted.  I caused to be burned a bridge below West Station, 
one below Valden, and two below and near Winona, that the trains might not be carried off 
if we should be forced to abandon them temporarily.  Under my instructions, I intended to 
return to Winona, and run the trains to Grenada…..Upon arriving at Grenada, I found 
Lieutenant Colonel Phillips, Ninth Illinois mounted infantry, with two brigades—fifteen 
hundred men.
	Upon learning of the approach of Lieutenant Colonel Phillips' command, the rebel 
cavalry, stationed at Grenada, had burned two bridges north of that place, thus making it 
impossible to get the locomotives and cars beyond that point.  Those at Grenada were, 
therefore, destroyed, while those left south of that place were abandoned.  Colonel Winslow 
then assumed command of all the Union forces and proceeded on the march to Memphis, 
during which he encountered some opposition from the enemy, which he easily overcame, 
and arrived at Memphis on the 23d of August, 1863, having marched 265 miles.  The total 
casualties were 11 men, killed and wounded.  The loss of the enemy, were killed and 
wounded, was not definitely ascertained, but 55 of their number were captured and paroled.  
During this expedition the Fourth Iowa Cavalry was commanded by Major Parkell.  General 
Sherman highly commended Colonel Winslow for his successful management of the 
expedition, in a personal letter, from which the following extracts are taken:
	You did exactly as you were ordered, and acted perfectly right.  I wish now I had 
ordered you to destroy all cars instead of attempting to save the, but my instructions were 
based on General Grant's wishes, as conveyed to me in person…I now assure you of my 
great respect.  I esteem you highly as a most promising cavalry officer, and only ask you, in 
whatever position you may find yourself, to obey orders; and when left to your discretion to 
do just what your judgment suggests.  Only remember that boldness and dash are the 
characteristics of good cavalry…..I will watch your progress always, and wish you to 
consider me your friend and to call on me freely when you will.
	Among the notable incidents in the history of the regiment was the capture and 
escape of Private Charles H. Smith, of Company C, afterwards promoted to Sixth Sergeant 
and, later, to Second Lieutenant of his company. Smith was captured August 18, 1863, near 
Grenada, Miss.  He escaped in the night by eluding the vigilance of his guards, and, after 
securing the horse of their captain, rode two hundred miles, mostly by night and, after many 
thrilling adventures, in several of which he came very near being recaptured, succeeded in 
reaching the camp of the Second Iowa Cavalry at La Grange, Tenn., and, a few days later, 
rode the noble horse, which had carried him through so many perils, into the camp of his 
own regiment at Memphis.
	On the 29th of August, 1863, the regiment with its brigade embarked for Vicksburg, 
where it arrived on the 31st and again went into camp.  On the 26th of September, General 
Sherman issued a General Order, from which the following paragraphs are quoted:
	"1. Colonel Winslow will organize a force of about one thousand men, to move via 
Brownsville, Vernon and Benton, and to return to Yazoo and Mechanicsburg, to start 
tomorrow evening, special instructions to be given to the Commander, who will report in 
person to the Commanding General.
5.	Colonel Winslow, Fourth Iowa Cavalry, is announced as Chief of Cavalry, and his 
 orders will be obeyed by all the cavalry forces now attached to this command."
A detachment of 300 men of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, under command of Captain  
William Pursel, constituted part of the force under Colonel Winslow which moved, as 
instructed, making a diversion to attract the attention of the enemy from the movement of 
Sherman's main army, then marching towards Memphis, its real destination being 
Chattanooga.  The Cavalry expedition was entirely successful, met with but slight loss and 
returned to camp with eight prisoners captured in a skirmish with the enemy.  On October 
15th, the regiment started on another expedition, under command of Major General 
McPherson, and, in the five days' march, encountered the enemy several times, losing two 
men killed and one captured.  On the 4th of December, a detachment of 100 men of the 
regiment, under command of Major Spearman, accompanied a force of cavalry which 
moved by transports to Natchez and there co-operated with the command of General 
Gresham on an important expedition.  This detachment returned to Vicksburg December 
17th.  On the 19th of December, a sufficient number of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry had re-
enlisted to entitle the regiment to be designated as a Veteran organization.  Recruits began 
to arrive from Iowa about the same time, and the strength of the regiment was increased to 
nearly three-fourth of the maximum number.  New and improved carbines were supplied 
and, for the first time in its history, the fourth Iowa Cavalry was completely armed and 
equipped.
	From the 19th of December, 1863, to the 1st of February, 1864, the regiment remained 
in camp near Vicksburg.  On the latter date it moved in advance of General Sherman's army 
at the commencement of the most remarkable experiment that, up to that time, had been 
undertaken—the great Meridian experiment that, up to that time, had been undertaken—the 
great Meridian Expedition. Upon that expedition General Sherman demonstrated the 
possibility of a large army cutting loose from its base of supplies and penetrating far into 
the interior of the enemy's country.  Indeed, the success of the Meridian Expedition no 
doubt led General Sherman to undertake, at a later period, that great and brilliant 
achievement of his military genius—the march from Atlanta to the sea.  As the vanguard of 
the army, the cavalry brigade, commanded by Colonel Winslow, was kept well to the front.  
Only the most effective men and horses were sent on this expedition, for the reason that it 
was expected that both would be subjected to the extreme limit of endurance.  The fourth 
Iowa Cavalry detachment consisted of 423 picked men and officers, under command of 
Major Parkell.  The leading events in which the Fourth Iowa participated were, first, at 
Jackson where, on February 5th, the enemy was met in large force and the cavalry made an 
impetuous charge in which the fourth Iowa was conspicuous, and in which one piece of 
artillery and fifty prisoners were captured.  The rebels made a brave fight, under the 
leadership of General Stephen D. Lee, on of their best officers, but were compelled to 
retreat, the gallant General and several of his officers barely saving themselves from capture 
by the fleetness of their horses.  At Tunnel Hill, near Meridian, the regiment led the advance 
in another severe encounter with the enemy, the engagement beginning at sundown and 
lasting until 9 P. M., the rebels being driven for miles over the hills, and suffering much 
greater loss than they were able to inflict in a running fight.  The regiment was engaged in 
many lesser conflicts during the expedition, in all of which it was victorious.  While the 
infantry was destroying the railroads at Meridian, the cavalry was scouting the surrounding 
country and inflicting great damage upon the enemy, by burning bridges and destroying 
supplies which had been accumulated for the use of the rebel army.  Returning by a long 
circuit to the north, the cavalry arrived at Canton in advance of the army; and, upon the 
arrival of General Sherman at that point, the fourth Iowa was selected as his escort to 
Vicksburg, arriving there on the 28th of February, having been absent 26 days.  The distance 
marched was 450 miles.  A large number of recruits had arrived during the absence of the 
detachment, and the aggregate strength of the regiment was increased to 1,300.
	Those who had re-enlisted—about 500---with Colonel Winslow, and as many of the 
officers as could be spared from duty at the camp, marched to Vicksburg on the 4th of 
March, and there embarked on the good steamboat "Constitution" and proceeded to 
Keokuk, Iowa, where they arrived on the 14th, and on the next day each man received a 
furlough for 30 days, at the end of which time he was to report at Davenport, the place 
designated as the rendezvous, where the veterans were to reassemble.  At the appointed 
time they all reported to Colonel Winslow  and, within forty-eight hours, were again on 
their way to the South.  At St. Louis Colonel Winslow received orders to disembark his men 
and proceed to Benton Barracks, where they were to be re-mounted and provided with the 
necessary equipments to enable them to at once enter upon another vigorous campaign.  In 
three days they were again on their way down the river, with orders to disembark at 
Memphis.  In the meantime, the men who had not re-enlisted and the recruits, remaining in 
camp at Vicksburg, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Peters, had been ordered to 
proceed to Memphis, and there on the 29th of April, 1864, the regiment was
 Again united and assigned to the Second Brigade of the Cavalry Division of the sixteenth 
Army Corps.  General Grierson was in command of the division and Colonel Winslow was 
assigned to the command of the Second Brigade.
	On the 30th of April the regiment, with its brigade and division, marched from 
Memphis to Bolivar, reaching the latter place on the 4th of May.  Finding that the rebel 
General Forrest had retreated with his forces into Mississippi, General Sturgis, in command 
of the federal forces, marched in pursuit as far as Ripley, but, failing to overtake the enemy, 
the expedition was abandoned and the troops returned to Memphis, arriving there on the 
12th of May, having marched 250 miles, and suffered great hardship, without accomplishing 
any important results, which, as will subsequently be shown, was to be the fate of this well-
equipped army of 8,000 men while it remained under the command of General Sturgis.  On 
the 29th of May, the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, forming part of a reconnoitering force of 1,500 
men, under command of Colonel Winslow, left Memphis at 9 P. M. and proceeded to 
Hernando, Miss, from whence it returned to Memphis, having been gone 22 hours, and 
covered a distance of 54 miles, without coming in contact with the enemy.
	On June 1st, General Sturgis left Memphis, with his army of 8,000 men and 18 pieces 
of artillery, and marched south in the direction of Guntown, where the rebel General Forrest 
had concentrated a strong force. With the intention of moving against Memphis.  The 
strength of this rebel force was variously estimated at between 10,000 to 12,000 effective 
fighting men, well supplied with artillery, and it was under the command of one of the most 
daring and skillful officers in the rebel army.  Colonel Winslow's Brigade, consisting of the 
Third and Fourth Iowa and Tenth Missouri Cavalry regiments, and four pieces of artillery, 
led the advance and, on the evening of the 7th of June, enc9ountered a scouting party of the 
enemy.  In the skirmish which ensued Colonel Winslow lost four men and the rebels left six 
dead upon the field.  The cavalry continued to advance without again encountering the 
enemy, until the morning of June 10th, when the rebel army, under General Forrest, was 
found in position at Brice's Cross Roads, six miles from Guntown, where the entire strength 
of both armies became engaged in a hotly contested battle, which resulted in the complete 
defeat of General Sturgis and the loss of 2,000 of his army, killed, wounded and captured, 
nearly all his artillery, and 250 wagons of his supply train.  During the progress of the 
terrible conflict, and amid the horrors of the fearful disaster which followed, the fourth Iowa 
behaved with the most determined coolness and obstinate bravery.  At the beginning of the 
fight, Colonel Winslow's Brigade repelled tree successive charges of the enemy, and firmly 
held its ground until twice ordered to retire to make way for the infantry.  During the retreat, 
this brigade maintained its organization fully, and covered the retreat of the army until the 
enemy abandoned the pursuit, the Third and Fourth Iowa being the extreme rear guard for a 
great part of the way.  The guns of Winslow's Brigade were the first to open upon the 
enemy, fired the last shot at his advancing columns, and were the only ones brought safely 
off from that disastrous field.  The men were in the saddle 54 consecutive hours, engaged 
with the enemy the greater part of the time, without feed for their horses or provisions for 
themselves.  When the regiment reached Memphis, on the 14th of June, the men and horses 
were in a condition of almost complete exhaustion.  They had marched 350 miles and had 
suffered a loss of 2 men killed, 18 wounded and 3 captured.
	Major A. R. Pierce was in command of the regiment on this ill-fated expedition, and 
describes in his official report, with particularity of detail, all its movements from the time it 
left Memphis to its return to that place.  He shows how gallantly the regiment withstood the 
first attack of the enemy, where Lieutenant Dillion and many of his company were 
wounded; how the bridge was held until the infantry were given time to cross, and how 
companies D and G, commanded by Captain Abraham and Lieutenant Keck, held the 
enemy in check at one of the most critical points on the retreat; how the Third and Fourth 
Iowa Cavalry continued in the rear covering the retreat until both men and horses had 
almost reached the limit of endurance.  In concluding his report Major Pierce says:
	I should be happy to mention in this report the names of all the officers and men who 
are entitled to special notice, but, in so doing, I would have to name most of my command.  
The battalion commanders, Captains Wood, Dee and Abraham, deserve much credit for 
their personal bravery on the field before the retreat, and the prompt manner in which they 
handled their commands in guarding the rear after the retreat began; also Lieutenant 
Woodruff, Acting Adjutant of the regiment, for his promptness in clearing the bridge over 
Tishomingo Creek, and removing our horses from immediate danger.	
	The regiment was allowed but ten days' rest, when it was again upon the march.  The 
army was now under the command of Major General A. J. Smith, a very able and competent 
officer.  The Fourth Iowa was attached to the same brigade with which it had served on the 
previous expedition, commanded by Colonel Winslow.  The army marched south for the 
purpose of attacking Forrest's command and retrieving the disaster which had been inflicted 
upon it in the expedition under Sturgis.  After a number of skirmishes with the enemy, the 
regiment with its brigade arrived a Tupelo, in advance of the army, on the 13th of July, at 
noon, and immediately began to destroy the railroad and the buildings containing supplies 
for the rebel army.  At 4 P. M. of the same day, the cavalry was ordered to proceed to the 
rear, to defend the train which was in danger of capture.  The enemy was driven off and the 
train safely conducted to Tupelo, but upon reaching that place, near midnight the regiment 
and brigade were again sent to the rear, to meet and check the advanced of the enemy.  
After marching about two miles, the enemy was encountered and his further advance 
checked, the cavalry force holding its position under the fire of the rebel batteries until 
morning, when it was ordered to retire within the infantry lines, which was done slowly and 
all the way under fire.  The enemy then attacked the infantry, which stood firm, repelled 
three successive charges, and finally, in turn, charged the rebels along their whole line and 
drove them from the field.  In this battle the rebel forces lost 2,000 men, killed, wounded 
and prisoners, while the loss to General Smith's army was about 800 in killed and wounded.
	The next morning Colonel Winslow's Brigade was again sent to the fron to 
reconnoiter.  The enemy was found in strong force, and a movement was made to cut off the 
brigade from the main body, but, after a severe engagement ensued, in which the enemy 
was again defeated.  Later in the day General Smith moved his army northward, the cavalry 
keeping in the rear, and the fourth Iowa acting as the extreme rear guard.  At Town Creek, 
five miles from Tupelo, while the column was halted, the enemy in strong force attacked the 
rear.  Colonel Winslow quickly got his brigade in line and successfully resisted the attack 
until reinforced by the infantry, when the rebel force was driven from the field with heavy 
loss.  This ended the fighting.  The enemy had been severely punished and the disasters of 
the previous expedition had been retrieved.  The return march was fraught with much 
hardship.  It was difficult to procure sufficient forage for the horses, and the men were 
compelled to live upon one-fourth rations; the weather was very war, but, notwithstanding 
these unfavorable conditions, the regiment completed the march of 400 miles in very good 
condition.  It reached Memphis on the 23d of July.  Its loss on this expedition was three 
men killed, ten wounded and nine captured.
	After a brief rest, the regiment was called upon to engage in another expedition.  All 
the cavalry at Memphis had now been consolidated into a cavalry corps, consisting of two 
divisions; the corps under the command of General Grierson; The First Division 
commanded by Colonel Hatch of the Second Iowa, and the Second Division commanded by 
Colonel Winslow of the Forth Iowa.  The strength of the two divisions was about 2,500 
each.  Eleven companies of the Fourth Iowa—about 650 men and officers—were assigned 
to Colonel Winslow's Division.  The cavalry corps left Memphis on the 3d of August and 
marched direct to Holly Springs, Miss., from which place it marched south to Tallahatchie 
River, where it met General Chalmer's brigade of rebel cavalry, posted on the south side of 
that stream.  They had burned the bridge.  To reconstruct the bridge, under the fire of the 
enemy, seemed impossible, but the artillery was brought forward and opened such a hot fire 
upon the enemy as to render their position untenable.  They were soon driven out of range, 
and the work of rebuilding the bridge was begun and pushed to completion.  On the 9th of 
August the work was done, and the Fourth Iowa was the first regiment to cross the river.  
The enemy was at once attacked and, after a spirited resistance, retreated to Hurricane 
Creek, where he made another stand but was again forced to give way.  The rebel General 
Chalmers, who was in command, now retreated to Oxford, followed closely by General 
Grierson's forces, and was soon driven from that place.  Further pursuit was prevented by 
an order to return to Memphis, for the purpose of engaging in an expedition against the 
rebel General Price, who was proceeding with his army to again invade the State of 
Missouri.
	In the meantime, the rebel General Forrest has executed a brilliant movement, which 
most likely also had its influence in causing General Smith to change his plans.  Forrest, 
with 2,000 picked men and horses, had made a detour around General Smith's command 
and, by a series of forced marches had succeeded in reaching Memphis, and just before 
daybreak, on the morning of August 21, 1864, made an impetuous attack upon the troops 
stationed there, and had reached the heart of the city before the different detachments of 
Company C, of the fourth Iowa Cavalry, which had been left upon provost guard duty when 
the regiment left Memphis.  This, company, under the command of First Lieutenant L. P. 
Baker, rendered conspicuous service in repelling Forrest's attack and driving his force out 
of the city, after a severe conflict, in which Lieutenant Baker and several of his men were 
wounded, the Lieutentant's wound being so severe as to permanently disable him.  The 
regiment reached Memphis on the 30th of August, having marched 350 miles during the 
expedition.
	On the 2d of September, 1864, the men and officers of the Fourth Cavalry who were 
the most able to endure the hardships of another active campaign, to the number of 525, 
with the other cavalry regiments composing the command of Colonel Winslow, crossed the 
river at Memphis, and entered upon the long and arduous march which terminated at Cape 
Girardeau on the 5th of October.  From Cape Girardeau the troops were conveyed by boats 
to St. Louis, and stopping there only long enough ot procure fresh horses and other 
equipments necessary for the continuation of the campaign, they resumed the march.  
General Price's rebel army of 20,000 men had now reached Lexington, Mo., and was 
preparing to move forward to Jefferson City and thence to St. Louis.  Recruits were 
constantly joining his army and the invasion of the State had indeed reached formidable 
proportions.  To meet this invading army there was a force of about 11,000 infantry, under 
command of Generals A. J. Smith and Joseph A. Mower, and about 6,500 cavalry, under 
command of Major General Pleasanton, and another force composed of Kansas militia, and 
other troops under Generals Curtis and Blunt, making in all an army equal if not superior in 
numbers to that of the daring and reckless rebel invader.  It was evident that much hard 
fighting must ensue before General Price and his army could again be driven out of the 
State of Missouri.  The official reports give all the details of the movements and operations 
of the cavalry, from the time the march began at St. Louis to the last engagement, resulting 
in the overwhelming defeat of the rebel army.  Marching 360 miles in twelve day, the 
cavalry first encountered the enemy at Independence, on the 23d of October, and, after two 
hours of hard fighting, in which the Fourth Iowa bore a most conspicuous part, the enemy 
was driven from the field, the cavalry following in swift pursuit.
	On the 23d of October the rebels made another determined stand and the fighting 
became desperate.  The Fourth Brigade, being in advance, opened the fight, dislodged the 
first line of the enemy and forced him back upon his reserve.  The First Brigade was then 
ordered up to assist the Fourth, both being under command of Colonel Winslow, who at 
once ordered a charge along the whole line.  After desperate resistance, the rebel line was 
broken by the charge and retreated in disorder.  The Fourth Iowa was at the front and 
performed its whole duty in this charge.  Colonel Winslow was severely wounded in the 
leg, but continue in the saddle, directing the movements and encouraging his men until the 
enemy was in full retreat.  To cover the retreat of his main army, General Price formed one 
brigade in line of battle four miles south of Westport, near which place the forces, under 
Generals Curtis and Blunt, had attacked the enemy at the same time Colonel Winslow's 
command had made it charge.  The cavalry now charged the rebel brigade—which was 
endeavoring to cover the retreat—with such vigor that it broke and fled in great confusion, 
following the retreat of the main rebel army.  The cavalry followed in pursuit for four miles, 
at a gallop, and captured many prisoners.  In this charge the Fourth Iowa was so 
conspicuous that it received the highest commendation from Major Generals Curtis, 
Pleasanton and Blunt.  Price's flying army was closely pursued to the Osage River, where 
his rear guard was overtaken on October 25th, and routed by a cavalry charge, in which the 
Fourth Iowa again bore a conspicuous part.
	The conditions which now confronted the rebel General Price and his army were 
desperate.  He was a brave man, but he must have realized the hopelessness of further 
resistance.  Nevertheless he resolved to make one more determined stand.  He selected a 
position twenty miles south of the river on the open prairie, and there formed the remnant of 
his army—about 10,000 men—in full view of the army which was advancing to attack him.   
The First and Fourth Cavalry Brigades of the Union army were quickly formed for a charge, 
and moved over the open prairie in full view of the enemy, who stood grimy awaiting the 
attack.  The bugle call for the charge rang out, and the line swept forward.  The enemy's 
cavalry alone met the charge, but fought with great bravery.  His infantry had already taken 
up the line of retreat.  The assault of the strong force of Union cavalry could not long be 
resisted, and the entire rebel line was soon again in retreat, the victorious troopers following 
rapidly, crushing the rebel lines, capturing artillery and prisoners, and hastening the retreat 
of the now completely demoralized rebel army across the Marmiton River, and thence on to 
the shelter of the Ozark Mountains.  In this last charge THE Fourth Iowa had the honor of 
leading and, by its impetuosity, contributed largely to the glorious results.  Lieutenant H. 
W. Curtiss, of Company F, was killed, and Major A. R. Pierce was severely wounded while 
gallantly charging at the head of the regiment.  The result of this victory was a loss to the 
enemy of 1,000 killed and wounded, 1,000 prisoners (among whom were Generals 
Marmaduke and Cabel), 8 pieces of artillery, 100 wagons, loaded with provisions and 
ammunition, and an immense number of small arms.  General Price escaped, with a small 
remnant of his once powerful army.  The pursuit was kept up by the cavalry until the enemy 
had disappeared among the Ozark Mountains.  It was impossible to go further in pursuit, as 
there was no food or forage to be obtained in that desolate country, and the cavalry started 
on the return march with men and horses nearly worn out.  It was now the 8th of November.  
Snow had fallen, the weather was cold and the men were insufficiently clothed.  Intense 
suffering was endured until November 14th, on which date the column was met by a supply 
train, which had been sent to its relief, and the men were no longer hungry, although they 
still suffered much from fatigue and cold weather.  At length, after a march of 400 miles, 
the regiment reached Rolla on the 27th of November.  From that point they were conveyed 
by rail to St. Louis, and, on the 30th of November, were once more in their old quarters at 
Benton Barracks.
	In his congratulatory order to the cavalry division, Major General Rosecrans states 
that its loss during the campaign against Price was 346 in killed, wounded and missing.  
The loss of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry was 4 killed and 26 wounded; but its loss was far 
greater than this in the number of men rendered unfit for further service on account of the 
exposure and hardships to which they were subjected during the campaign.  In writing to 
the Adjutant General of Iowa, under date of December 1, 1864, Colonel Winslow says:
	Lieutenant Hodge, Adjutant, is about to send you an account of the operations of the 
Fourth Iowa Cavalry for this year.  While his history will be, without doubt, a truthful 
statement of the career of the regiment during this the most memorable year of the war, it 
cannot do justice to the sacrifices, patience, courage, fidelity and patriotism of those 
soldiers whom I have had the honor to command.  No language can describe their 
sufferings….Four expeditions against Forrest and one against Price bear testimony to the 
fatigues endured, the dangers encountered, the defeats shared and the victories 
won….Unlike infantry commands, whose losses are sustained on certain days or in 
particular battles, far apart, cavalry, regiments seldom meet with heavy losses at any one 
time, but almost every day records the death, wounding or capture of the trooper, in some of 
the innumerable skirmishes or scouts in which, as the "eyes of the army," cavalry are 
engaged.  While the infantry soldier has his seasons of inactivity and rest, the trooper has no 
day nor hour which he can call his own, but is aroused at all times and at any moment by 
the sound of the bugle, calling him to mount and move to the front….Very few appreciate 
what the cavalry soldier endures or accomplishes for his country, hence I have written the 
above few words in his behalf.
	In General Orders No. 6, dated at Fort Scott, Kas., October 26, 1864, General 
Pleasanton recounts the achievements of his cavalry division, and says this of Winslow's 
Brigade:
	The gallant action of Phillip's Brigade of Missouri cavalry, and Winslow's Brigade, 
in capturing eight of the enemy's guns, on the Osage, was so distinguished as to draw  
praise from the enemy…..The night fighting of Colonel Winslow on the Big Blue deserves 
the highest commendation.  The regiment of the Fourth Brigade are authorized to place 
upon their colors "Big Blue" and "Osage."
	A few weeks later, when the brigade was about to leave to his command, General 
Pleasanton issued the following order.
					
HEADQUARTERS CAVALRY DIVISION,
				      WARRENSBURG, MO., November 4, 1864.
GENERAL ORDERS No.11.
	Winslow's Brigade of cavalry being about to leave for another department, the Major 
General commanding takes this occasion not only to express his regrets in separating from 
such glorious troops, but also to recall more especially than was done in General Orders No. 
6, from these headquarters, the splendid manner in which the brigade fought at the Osage, 
capturing five pieces of artillery from the enemy, with a large number of prisoners, and 
carrying by a daring charge the most important and conspicuous position on that brilliant 
field.
	By command of Major General Pleasanton.	
						CLIFFORD THOMPSON, A. A. A. G.

	From the time it started on the expedition last described to its return to St. Louis, 
embracing a period of a little less than three months, the regiment had traveled 1,952 miles, 
had worn out two sets of horses, had suffered the extremes of intense heat and severe cold, 
had fought in several engagements, in all of which it was successful, had been an important 
factor in the almost complete destruction of one of the rebel armies, and the virtual crushing 
out of the rebellion in that part of the enemy's territory which, thus far, had been the scene 
of its operations.  The original term of service of the regiment had now expired, and thise 
who had not re-enlisted, including also the officers who chose to retire at the close of their 
three years' service, were sent to Iowa and given the honorable discharge to which they 
were entitled.  They had served their country well and faithfully for three long years, and no 
just criticism could be made upon their leaving the service at the end of the term for which 
they had enlisted.  The number of men and officers who were mustered out was about 250, 
part of whom were sent from St. Louis and part from that portion of the regiment that was 
still at Memphis.
	The number of men and officers of the regiment who had remained at Memphis, 
when their comrades started upon the campaign in Missouri, had been somewhat increased 
by men who had been sick in hospitals and had recovered and returned to duty, also by 
those who had returned from furlough, so there were now about the same number in 
Memphis as there were in St. Louis.  They had not been idle.  Nearly every day, from early 
in September to January, those able for duty were either on the picket line, scouting, or 
engaged in more extended expeditions.  On the 14th of December, 1864, a detail of 46 men 
from Companies A and B of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry, under the command of Captain 
Eldred Huff, of Company A, was sent upon a scouting expedition, and, when near White's 
Station, about six miles east of Memphis, was suddenly attacked by a greatly superior force 
of the enemy's cavalry.  After a severe conflict, in which three of his men were killed and 
eight wounded, the Captain ordered a retreat, during which twenty of his men and himself 
were overtaken by the enemy and captured.  The remainder of the detachment escaped and 
rode back to Memphis.  A larger detachment was immediately sent to the scene of the 
conflict and endeavored to overtake the enemy, but did not succeed in doing so.  The killed 
and wounded who had been left upon the field were removed to Memphis, the wounded 
cared for in hospital and the dead buried with the honors of war.  Some of the unfortunate 
captives died in prison, and those who survived the inhuman treatment they received in 
Andersonville remained prisoners until the end of the war.
	Another expedition in which 100 men of the Fourth Iowa—under command of 
Captain Beckwith—participated, left Memphis early in December and was conveyed by 
transports to a point on the river near which, it was reported, a large quantity of arms and 
medical stores, belonging to the rebel army, were stored, awaiting transportation, and 
guarded by but a small force of rebels, who were waiting the arrival of a larger force with 
wagons to remove the arms and stores to the interior.  The camp of the guards was 
surrounded just at daybreak and, after a brief resistance, they surrendered.  One thousand 
rifles, ammunition for same, besides a large quantity of revolvers, quinine and other 
medical stores, were captured and, with the prisoners, taken to Memphis.  Such captures 
were of great importance, as the rebels were sorely in need of such supplies, which, on 
account of the destruction of so many of their factories and the maintenance of a strict 
blockade along the coasts, they found it very difficult to procure.  It is one of the marvels of 
history that the soldiers of the supplies necessary for their maintanence, should have been 
able and will to prolong the hopeless struggle.  They were brave American soldiers, fighting 
for a cause they thought was just. And the brave men who finally conquered them can well 
afford to pay tribute to their valor and endurance.
	On the 21st of December, 1864, a force of 3,500 cavalry, under command of General 
Grierson, left Memphis on an expedition through Mississippi to Vicksburg.  No artillery 
and no transportation train accompanied the expedition.  All the available men and officers 
of the Fourth Iowa cavalry, who had not gone upon the campaign against Price, took part in 
this expedition, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Peters, with Major Woods 
second in command.  Colonel Winslow, who had gone back to Memphis after being 
wounded at the battle of the "Big Blue," in October, had now sufficiently recovered from 
his wound to be able to resume command of the brigade of which this portion of his 
regiment formed a part.  His report of the operation of the troops under his command shows 
in detail the great damage inflicted upon the enemy, in the destruction of property, capture 
of prisoners, arms and ammunition.  The entire casualties in General Grierson's command 
was 120 killed and wounded, and 7 missing, while the enemy's loss was about 200 killed 
and wounded, 500 prisoners and 5,000 stand of arms, 4,000 of which were new English 
carbines, intended for the use of General Forrest's army of cavalry.  About 800 horses and 
mules and 1,000 negroes were taken into Vicksburg.  The property destroyed was many 
miles of railroad and telegraph lines, many bridges and railway trestles, 14 locomotives. 95 
cars, 300 army wagons, 30 warehouses filled with army stores, cloth and shoe factories 
employing 500 hands, 500 bales of cotton, tanneries, machine shops, and a large quantity of 
corn and hogs.  Of the wagons captured, about 200 had been taken by Forrest when he 
defeated the army of Sturgis at the battle of Brice's Cross Roads.  The expedition ended at 
Vicksburg on January 5, 1865, the troops having marched 450 miles, gathering subsistence 
for themselves and horses in the country through which they passed.  The fighting was 
mainly done by detachments, General Grierson having had his usual good fortune when 
conducting a raid through the enemy's country, to evade or mislead the enemy and to avoid 
coming into conflict with any large force; but the minor engagements were numerous, and, 
in some of them, the fighting was severe, as demonstrated by the aggregate losses on both 
sides.  The entire command returned from Vicksburg by transports, those conveying the 
troops of Colonel Winslow's Brigade going directly to Louisville, Ky., the camp equipage 
and men, which had been left at Memphis, having previously been sent to St. Louis and, 
from there, to Louisville with that part of the regiment which had returned from the 
campaign against Price. 
	On the 16th of January, 1865, the twelve companies of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry were 
all in camp together at Louisville.  The regiment was under the command of Lieutenant 
Colonel John H. Peters, and formed a part of the same brigade with which it had served so 
long, the other regiments being the Third Iowa and Tenth Missouri Cavalry, all under 
command of Colonel E. F. Winslow of the Fourth Iowa.  A strong Cavalry corps was now 
being organized for the purpose of sweeping over that portion of the South in which the 
remaining rebel forces were being concentrated for the final great struggle of the war.  The 
cavalry corps was under the command of Brevet Major General James H. Wilson, one of 
the most capable officers in the army, in whom General Grant had great confidence. It 
comprised all the mounted troops of the Departments of the Ohio, Cumberland and 
Tennessee, and had an aggregate number of about 30,000 but, for the purpose of this 
campaign, only the best armed and mounted men were chosen, consisting of about 20,000 
men and officers, who had seen much service, and who could be depended upon to fully 
comply with every order given them and to carry to successful completion the plans of their 
commander. Winslow's Brigade was one of the best mounted, armed and equipped of any 
brigade in this great cavalry organization.  Just before starting upon this last campaign, the 
brevet rank of Brigadier General E. S. V. was bestowed upon Colonel Winslow, "for 
gallantry in the field."  The officers and men of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry were highly 
gratified at this mark of appreciation of the merits of their Colonel, and, as a practical 
evidence of their regard, presented him with an elegant sword and a fine watch.
	Before the end of January, the Fourth Division, commanded by Brevet Major General 
Emory Upton, and to which Winslow's Brigade had been assigned, was ordered to move, 
by transports, up the Tennessee to Eastport, Miss.  Landing there, the troops marched to 
Chickasaw, Ala., from which place they took up their line of march on the 21st day of 
March, 1865.  From that day to the close of hostilities, and the end of the war, the Fourth 
Iowa Cavalry was engaged in active operations against the enemy, as shown by the official 
reports of Lieutenant Colonel Peters, Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Winslow, and 
Generals Upton and Wilson.  The regiment fought in the following engagements:  
Montevallo, March 30th; Montevallo, March 31st; Six Mile Creek, March 31st; Ebenezer 
church, April 1st' Selma, April 2d; Fike's Ferry, April 8th; Columbus, April 16th; besides 
numberour minor skirmishes of small detachments.  The movements of the brigade, from 
the time it left Chicasaw, Ala., to its arrival at Macon, Ga., are described in detail in Brevet 
Brigadier General Winslow's report, while those of the Fourth Iowa are described by 
Lieutenant Colonel Peters and, from the latter report, the following brief summary is mainly 
complied:
	On the 21st of March, 1865, the regiment marched from Chickasaw, with 31officers 
and 687 enlisted men in the ranks, and 10 officers and 134 enlisted men belonging to the 
regiment on detached service, making an aggregate of 862.  The line of march led over the 
pine-clad hills of North Alabama.  On the 30th of March the advance guard, under command 
of Major Woods, skirmished with the enemy for several miles before reaching Montevallo, 
losing one man wounded.  On March 31st, on the south of Montevallo and near Six Mile 
Creek, seven companies of the regiment had an encounter with two regiments of the enemy, 
the remaining companies being at that time the rear guard of the column.  The Third 
Battalion, Major Dee commanding, moved into line and dismounted to meet the attack, and 
orders were sent to Captain Abraham, commanding First Battalion, to follow, mounted in 
column of companies.  The attack was repulsed and the enemy driven from the field, 
leaving five men killed and two captured.  The loss of the Fourth Iowa was five men 
wounded.  On the 1st of April the regiment, preceded by the Third Iowa Cavalry, arrived on 
the battleground of Ebenezer Church, just as the enemy was being driven from the field, and 
joined in the pursuit, but suffered no loss.  On April 2d, Companies I, F and L, under 
command of Major Woods, led the advance at Selma, and charged the enemy at his outer 
works and drove him into his inner line of works, which they also charged and captured, 
together with a large number of prisoners and five pieces of artillery. In this charge Captain 
Eugene R. Jones, of Company I, was killed.  The other companies, under command of 
Lieutenant Colonel Peters, followed, charging through the works and into the city, with a 
loss of one man killed and eight wounded.  In the pursuit, which followed, Captain 
Abraham and his battalion captured four pieces of artillery, three battle flags and two 
hundred prisoners.  The flags were captured by Nicholas Fanning, Company B, Charles 
Swan, Company K, and James P. Miller, Company D.  The Third Battalion, under 
command of Major Dee, was placed on duty in the city as provost guard, while the First and 
Second Battalions, under command of Colonel Peters, was sent upon a reconnoitering 
expedition between the Alabama and Cahawba Rivers, occupying four days, and marching 
ninety miles.
	On April 7th, a detachment of sixty men of the regiment, under command of 
Lieutenant J. T. Reynolds, had a skirmish with the enemy at Fike's Ferry, in which J. T. 
Mendenhall, of Company L, was severely wounded in the face, from the effect of which he 
died a few days later.  On the 9th of April, the regiment marched with the army to 
Montgomery.  After a brief engagement outside the works, on April 13th, in which the 
regiment was not called upon to participate, the city was surrendered.  On April 14th, a 
detachment, under Captain F. S. Whiting, while reconnoitering along the banks of the 
Coosa River, captured three steamboats, laden with cotton and provisions.  They were taken 
to Montgomery and turned over to the Post Commander.  On the 16th of April, the regiment, 
with its brigade and division, arrived opposite Columbus, Ga.  After reaching a point on the 
extreme left of the enemy's works, and just beyond the range of his artillery, the brigade 
moved, by a circuitous route, to the front of the enemy's works on the right, and took a 
position near the main road leading to the only remaining bridge over the Chattahoochee 
River, and there awaited orders to charge and gain possession of the bridge. Under orders 
from General Upton, the First Battalion, under Captain Abraham, and the Second, under 
Captain Dana, were dismounted; and the Third Battalion, under Major Dee, was ordered to 
remain mounted and await orders.  The dismounted column moved down the road and 
charged the enemy's works, clearing the line, then, turning to the right, moved down the 
line of intrenchments on the double-quick and charged and captured the principal fort with 
its garrison of 250 men and 6 guns.  A few men were left to hold the fort, and the line 
pushed forward to the bridge.  Sharp fighting took place between the fort and the river, but 
the enemy was driven across the bridge in great confusion.  Our men, mingling in the 
darkness with the flying enemy, rushed over it and captured two guns, commanding the 
passage from the east end.  The Third Battalion now came up, mounted and, moving over 
the bridge, charged through the city after the retreating enemy, capturing a large number of 
prisoners.  First Lieutenant S. N. Miller was the first officer over the bridge, followed 
closely by Lieutenants S. O. Black and L. H. Dillon.  Sergeant Joseph Jones was mortally 
wounded while gallantly fighting for the guns commanding the passage of the bridge.  The 
guns and gunners were captured and the bridge cleared for the unobstructed passage of the 
troops.  Sergenats Henry C. White, Harry Bodkin, Charles H. Smith, Corporal William 
Mccully, and Privates R. Cosgriff, John Kinney, Martin L. Tucker, John Andrews, Henry 
Trimble and Joseph Winemiller, were among the first to cross the bridge and to engage in 
the desperate fight for the possession of the guns.  Each one of the following named men 
captured a battle flag in the engagement t Columbus:  Corporal Richard Morgan, Compay 
A; Private Edward J. Bebb, Company D; Sergeant Norman F. Bates. Company E; Private 
John Hayes, Company F; Private Eli Sherman, Company I; Private R. Cosgriff, Company 
L' Private John Kinney, Company L.  Private Robert C. Wood, of Company A, while acting 
as orderly, was captured early in the engagement and confined in a house near the bridge.  
He escaped when the charge was being made, and assisted his comrades in capturing the 
rebels who had, for a short time, held him as a prisoner.  Lieutenant Colonel Peters, near the 
close of his official report, says:
	In thus mentioning the names of officers and men who have taken an active part in 
the late battles, I fear a wrong impression may be made in regard to all not named; and, in 
this connection, I desire to say that no single officer, non-commissioned officer or private, 
so far as I have been able to learn, has failed to do his whole duty and to do it well.  If any 
one has been more prominent than another, it has been on account of his good fortune in 
having been in the right place at the right time.  We have lost no man by straggling from the 
command during the campaign.  The men have taken excellent care of their horses, and 
have uncomplainingly marched on foot a considerable portion of each day's march, in order 
to save their horses.  They have always exhibited the best of spirits, and have been always 
eager to meet the enemy.  I cannot therefore speak of individual instances of gallantry 
without feeling that, by implication at least, I am doing injustice to the remainder.
	In closing his report, he says:
	We marched from Columbus April 185y, and, on the 20th, I was directed to leave the 
main column at Thomaston, by General Winslow, and proceed to Barnesville and destroy 
all bridges, culverts, depots, tanks, etc., between Barnesville and Macon.  I cut this road at 
Barnesville and destroyed some distance of track on the evening of the 20th.  On the 21st, I 
reached Forsyth, where I became satisfied that the reported armistice had been actually 
declared.  I thereupon ceased all further destruction of the railroad and marched towards 
Macon, reaching my present camp about noon of the 22d.  Direct line of march of campaign 
496 miles. Total number of miles marched 610.
	In his recapitulation, Lieutenant Colonel Peters gives the names of all the killed and 
wounded of his regiment during this last campaign of the war.  The losses were 3 men 
killed and 24 wounded.  There were 10 horses killed in action and 136 abandoned on the 
march, and 738 were captured from the enemy.  The regiment captured 2, 436 prisoners 
during the campaign, also 21 pieces of artillery and 10 battle flags.
	In his official report, General Winslow highly commends the conduct of the officers 
and men of his old regiment, and makes special recommendation that the brevet rank of 
Major be conferred upon Captains Lot Abraham and A. B. Fitch, and, that of First 
Lieutenant, upon Second Lieutenant Loyd H. Dillon, for conspicuous gallantry on the 
battlefield.
	Towards the last of April the regiment, with its brigade, was ordered to move to 
Atlanta and, on the 9th of May, went into camp at that place.  The war was over but the 
condition of affairs in almost every portion of the South was such as to render the presence 
of the federal troops a necessity for a considerable length of time.  While the headquarters 
of the regiment were Atlanta, and Lieutenant Colonel Peters was assigned to the command 
of the post, many companies and detachments were kept on duty at out-lying points, where 
they were mainly occupied in preserving order, protecting property and paroling rebel 
soldiers.  Early in August these companies and detachments were all ordered to return to the 
regimental camp at Atlanta, and there, on the 8th day of August, 1865, the companies and 
company officers of the Fourth Regiment of Iowa Veteran volunteer Cavalry were mustered 
out of the service of the United States; the field and Staff were mustered out August 10, 
1865.  A few days previous to that last important event in its history, the regiment was 
assembled on parade, with every officer and man present for duty, in the ranks, and, with 
Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General Winslow in command, the following farewell order 
was read:
					HEADQUATERTS FIRST BRIGADE,
				FOURTH DIVISION, CAVALRY CORPS, M. D. M.,
							ATLANTA, GA., August 7, 1865.

GENERAL ORDERS
	No. 3.
	
COMRADES: The ward is ended.  The last order you obey directs your return to 
your homes.  Let your future be as commendable as your past has been glorious.  Your 
career as soldiers is over.  You go home as citizens, to reap the reward of your campaigns.  
Your country will always cherish the memory of her brave defenders.
Seven States have been traversed by your columns.  Their soil has been comsecrated 
by the blood of your companions.  Your victories will impress their localities on your 
minds.  Though the battles of the war are over, let us recollect that those of our lives 
continue to the end, that our orders are from Him whose plans are always successful, and 
that Justice is no less a divine attribute than mercy.  I shall hear of your behavior in civil 
life, and believe that you will daily evidence the fact that well disciplined soldiers can 
become equally good citizens.  During the long period in which I have been associated with 
you, I have had many occasions to be proud of your conduct.,, and have often rejoiced that I 
commanded such brave men.
	While I regret the separate from such gallant officers and men, I rejoice with 
you that our country is intact and united, our government stronger than ever, and that the 
necessity for our armed service no longer exists.  Confident that, when again required, you 
will be as ready to take the carbine and saber as you now are to abandon them, I part from 
you with many and sincere wishes for you future prosperity and happiness.
							E. F. WINSLOW,
Official.					 Brevet Brigadier General.
W. BECKWITH, Captain and a. A. A. g.

	While the regiment had ceased to be a part of the Army of the United States, It was 
not allowed to disband until it reached Davenport, Iowa, to which place it was ordered to 
proceed by rail.  Owing to the large number of troops which were being transported to their 
respective States at this time, and to the limited railroad facilities, a full week was occupied 
on the journey.  The regiment reached Davenport August 19th, but it was on the 24th day of 
August, 1865, that the last pay roll was signed, the last man received his honorable 
discharge, the regiment disbanded, and the survivors departed for their homes.  
	The Commonwealth of Iowa has honored itself in making provision for the 
perpetuation of the memory of its brave sons who went forth at the call of their country and 
fought, suffered and—alas, how many—died, that the blessings of a free government might 
be transmitted to their posterity.  Among all the records of faithful, loyal and efficient 
service, contained in the military archives of the State, none are more full and compete, or 
reflect greater honor upon its history that of the fourth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer 
Cavalry.

	SUMMARY OF CASUALTIES.

Total Enrollment							1,952
Killed									    44
Wounded								  120
Died or wounds							    11
Died of disease							  199
Discharged for wounds, disease and other causes		  272
Buried in National Cemeteries					   97
Captured								   94
Transferred								   35

	Mustered into service of the United States, at Mount Pleasant, Iowa, January 1, 
1862, by Captain Alexander Chambers, United States Army.
	Mustered out of service August 19, 1865, Atlanta, Ga.

FIELD AND STAFF

William McK. Findlay.  Residence Bloomfield.  Appointed Assistant Surgeon March 7, 
1863.  Mustered March 13, 1863.  Resigned June 2, 1863.

COMPANY "F"

Andrews, James.  (Veteran.)  Age 30.  Residence DeWitt, nativity Ireland.  Enlisted Oct. 
17, 1861.  Mustered Nov. 23, 1861.  Taken prisoner June 22, 1863, Black River, Miss.  
Re-enlisted and re-mustered Dec. 12, 1863.  Promoted Eighth Corporal July 1, 1864; Fifth 
Corporal Jan. 1, 1865; Fourth Corporal Feb. 1, 1865; Third Corporal July 1, 1865.  
Mustered out Aug. 8, 1865, Atlanta, Ga.

COMPANY "L"

Tucker, Lewis John.  (Veteran.).  Age 26.  Residence Lyons, nativity New York.  Enlisted 
Sept. 19, 1861, as Second Corporal.  Mustered Nov. 25, 1861.  Promoted Fifth Sergeant 
May 23, 1862; Fourth Sergeant Aug. 1, 1962.  Third Sergeant Feb. 14, 1863.  Re-enlisted 
and re-mustered Dec. 12, 1863.  Promoted Second Sergeant Feb. 23, 1865.  Mustered out 
Aug. 8, 1865, Atlanta, Ga.

COMPANY "F"

Wilber, Alfred.  Age 44.  Residence Clinton County, nativity New York.  Enlisted Oct. 
17, 1861.  Mustered Nov. 23, 1861.  Discharged for promotion as Second Lieutenant of 
Company G, Eleventh Missouri Cavalry, July 6, 1863.	

 

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