Registration Link is Here

[Matt Woodburn]

Everyone wanting to register in Co. A of the 16th Iowa Infantry under Joshua Mason for the 150th Shiloh Anniversary this is your link:

16th Iowa, Co. A Registration

[jjmason]

Re: Registration Link is Here

If anyone would like to fall in with us, or if anyone would like to raise another company in the 16th Iowa, please send me a PM or send me an e-mail at jjmason15@yahoo.com. Our uniform guidelines will mirror those of the 15th as all evidence points to the fact that both regiments were issued the same thing. Below is a short history of the 16th Iowa for those that are interested. Thanks

Sincerely and respectfully,
Joshua J. Mason

Short History of the 16th Iowa

From December 10, 1861 to March 24, 1862, the ten companies that comprised the 16th Iowa were mustered into service. Companies A, B, C, D, E, and G were mustered in at Camp McClellan at Davenport, with Company F being mustered in at Keokuk, and Companies I and K being mustered in at Benton Barracks. [i] The companies were organized from the following counties, with the majority of the units being formed in the eastern part of the state (to see a county map of Iowa please go here: http://geology.com/county-map/iowa.shtml):

Company A- Clinton County (with men from Scott County)
Company B- Scott County
Company C- Muscatine County (with men from Scott County)
Company D- Boone County (with men from Scott County)
Company E- Muscatine County (with men from Scott County)
Company F- Muscatine, Clinton, and Scott Counties
Company G- Dubuque County (with men from Scott County)
Company H- Dubuque and Clayton Counties
Company I- Black Hawk and Linn Counties (with men from Scott County)
Company K- Lee and Muscatine Counties (with men from Scott County) [ii]

The regiment spent its early days stationed at Camp McClellan where it labored under its commander Colonel Alexander Chambers. Born on August 23, 1832 in Great Valley, NY, Chambers was admitted to West Point where he graduated 43rd out of a class of 52 cadets in the class of 1853. By 1861 Chambers was as a Captain in the Regular Army, serving in the 18th Infantry, when he was appointed to command the 16th. [iii]

While stationed at Camp McClellan, Col. Chambers was busy in not only bringing in recruits but in trying to secure arms for his men. In an interesting letter to the Adjutant General of the Department of the West, he details the state of his regiment:

Headquarters 16th Iowa Volunteers
Camp McClellan, Davenport, Iowa
Feb. 26th, 1862

Sir,
In pursuance to instructions from the Adj. Gen. of this state I have the honor to report that my regiment contains now 774 men with the prospect of being filled up the minimum shortly by the end of this week. Four companies only are organized and the remaining six are nearly full. Every exertion is being made to complete the regiment and render it efficient.
Since it’s commencement, the regiment has labored under the disadvantages of the slowness with which recruits have been made during the winter months as well as the necessary ________? caused by raising two regiments at the same time after recruiting had nearly been suspended.
I have been ________? tell this time to turn my personnel attention to the regiment having been disbursing officers for this State and there being two or three different rendezvous and obliged by force or circumstance to do it all myself, it has kept me more than busy to simply keep the regiment supplied. The regiment is healthy except the measles has been very prevalent ________? the troops in this state.
I have made a requisition on the Chief of Ordinance for arms but cannot be supplied. I can obtain from the governor of Iowa some Austrian rifles similar to our rifled musket but there are no accoutrements. These arms are in a lot of 7,000 furnished by the United States and are held for freight and charges. Would I be allowed to pay the freight on 1,000 if I cannot get them without?
I should like time sufficient to fill up the regiment and turn over my business to a successor, unless there is a Pressing necessity for troops. I have made application today to turn over the disbursing duty to someone, as there is not a person in the Regiment qualified at present to take command although the Lt. Col. And the Major are anxious to learn and are doing the best they can and will in time make excellent officers. At the end of the month I will send a return and would like very much if a Paymaster could be ordered here to pay all the Regiment as most of the men and officers are much in need of funds.

I am sir very respectfully your
obt’ servt.
Alex Chambers
Col. 16th Iowa Vol. [iv]

The regiment left Camp McClellan for Benton Barracks on March 15th and arrived during the night on March 21st “at 10 o’clock in the mud and rain”. The regiment didn’t have to wait long to be issued their arms, uniforms, and equipment according to a letter written by Col. Hugh Reid of the 15th Iowa to Adjutant Gen. Nathaniel Baker on March 26th:

I want all the commissions as we will probably leave in a very few days for Island No. 10 or some other place South. We have been very successful in procuring Springfield improved rifles, the best arms in existence for the 15th and 16th Iowa regiments and both regiments will have all their equipments today or tomorrow. We have so far had everything furnished we have asked for and I believe the 16th have been equally favored. No other troops have been furnished with the Springfield Rifle & the 15th & 16th have exhausted the supply on hand. Troops are coming in and being sent forward at the rate of two to three regiments per day, about twelve thousand are here now. [v]

The 16th did not remain long at Benton Barracks as the 15th and 16th were both ordered to travel to Pittsburg Landing, TN to join Grant’s Army of the Tennessee. The 16th arrived on the evening of March 4th and remained at Pittsburg Landing until the 15th disembarked during the battle on the 6th. [vi] Col. Chambers states that both regiments marched to the scene of the battle where “an aide of Genl. Grant ordered my Regiment in line on the right of the 15th Iowa Vol., to act as a reserve and prevent stragglers from reaching the river”. [vii] At 9:30 A.M. the regiments were ordered to proceed to the battlefield arriving at 10:30 A.M. at Jones Field. Sometime around 11 o’clock, the 15th and 16th advanced south to the edge of the field were they engaged the enemy for the first time. It was here that Col. Chambers fell wounded, and command of the regiment passed to Lt. Col. Addison Sanders. Both regiments stayed in this position until they retired to the rear around 11:30 A.M. The next day would see the 16th in action again but it wasn’t as heavily engaged as it was on Sunday. Col. Chambers lists his casualties for Sunday as being 18 killed, 103 wounded, and 15 missing. [viii]

After the Shiloh campaign had ended the 16th continued to find itself in the thick of fighting as it participated in the Battle’s of Iuka, and Corinth. At Iuka the regiment’s casualties numbered 14 killed, 48 wounded, and 14 missing out of around 350 men present for duty. In Lt. Col. Sanders report on the engagement at Iuka (Col. Chambers was again wounded in action) he states:

In probably half an hour from forming in line, the enemy made a charge of infantry on the battery. Our fire was reserved till the last moment in the center of the regiment, for fear of killing those manning the battery or the horses of the same, and in the two right companies, till a regiment which was lapping them was withdrawn; but when the enemy's lines were plainly or partially in sight (which, owing to the trees and thick underbrush, was not till they were very close) Colonel Chambers ordered the men to rise and fire, which order was instantly obeyed, for a time stopping the enemy's advance, but they again charged. The attack was evidently by a very heavy force and with the object of capturing the battery. Our men stood their ground manfully, and I am not aware that a single officer or man failed in any part of his duty. They were finally beaten back by the overwhelming force of the enemy, the center, in the rear of the left section of the battery, retiring first but warmly contending with the enemy till they were almost in our ranks. The left, holding a comparatively safe position, did not retire till they were fired into by one of our own regiments in the rear. The entire right companies, although under a remarkably heavy fire, held their position longest and experienced the heaviest loss. Company A, Captain Smith, was the last to leave the field, and for a time held its ground alone, the regiment on its right having at an early hour been compelled to retire, and the remaining companies of its own regiment retiring at a later hour. [ix]

After the Battle of Iuka, the 16th was transferred to the Iowa Brigade commanded by Col. Marcellus Crocker which included the 11th, 13th, and 15th Iowa Infantry’s. The Iowa Brigade was heavily engaged at Corinth and on October 3rd it was Lt. Col. Sanders turn to be wounded. His replacement, Major William Purcell, handled the regiment with great distinction during the battle. [x]

In November the Iowa Brigade began the trek to Vicksburg to take part in the campaign to take the city but had to retire to Memphis in January once Grant’s stores had been destroyed at Holly Springs. In late February the regiment took part in the intense manual labor of digging canals to connect Lake Providence to the Mississippi which was completed a month later. The 16th would not rest for long as it took an active part during the Vicksburg Campaign participating in the various skirmishes and battles that ultimately forced the city to surrender. [xi]

After Vicksburg was captured, the 16th Iowa remained stationed at the city until February when it took part in the Meridian Campaign. After this campaign was over, many of the veterans went on a much needed furlough during March and April. In June the regiment was sent to Georgia to take part in the Atlanta Campaign where it saw action during the engagements of Kennesaw Mountain, Pace’s Ferry, Atlanta (where most of the regiment was captured but would later be exchanged in September), Ezra Church, Lovejoy’s Station and Jonesborough. In November the regiment marched with the rest of Sherman’s Army to Savannah where it took part in the capture of the city. [xii]

In January the 16th marched north, taking part in Sherman’s Carolinas Campaign culminating in the surrender of Joe Johnston’s army on April 26th, 1865. Almost one month later, the regiment marched through Washington, DC taking part in the Grand Review. Finally, on July 19th, the 16th Iowa was mustered out. During the war, the regiment’s total enrollment and casualties were:

Total Enrollment: 1,441
Killed: 62
Wounded: 311
Died of Wounds: 35
Died of Disease: 220
Discharged for wounds, disease and other causes: 224
Captured: 271
Transferred: 29
Buried in National Cemeteries: 141 [xiii]

[i] Guy E. Logan, Roster and Records of Iowa Troops in the Rebellion, Volume 2. Des Moines, IA. State of Iowa, 1908, p. 1060.
[ii] Roots Web http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iascott/16thinf.htm
[iii] University of Chicago http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/...ter/1621*.html (George W. Cullum, Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, since its establishment in 1802, Vol. II, Pages 565-567)
[iv] Alex Chambers, 16th Iowa, to Adjutant General, Iowa, February 26th, 1862; 16th Iowa Infantry Regimental Letter, Order, and Misc Book; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Book records of Union Volunteer Organizations, Record Group 94; National Archives and Records Administration- National Archives in Washington, DC
[v] Hugh Reid, 15th Iowa, to Adjutant General, Iowa, March 26th, 1862; 15th Iowa Infantry Regimental Letter Book; Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, Book records of Union Volunteer Organizations, Record Group 94; National Archives and Records Administration- National Archives in Washington, DC
[vi] Daniel, Larry J. Shiloh: The Battle That Changed the Civil War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.
[vii] Report of Colonel Alex Chambers (No. 84), The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington. Government Printing Office, 1884, Series 1, Volume 10, Part 1, pp. 286-287.
[viii] Report of Colonel Alex Chambers (No. 84), The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington. Government Printing Office, 1884, Series 1, Volume 10, Part 1, pp. 286-287.
[ix] Report of Lt. Colonel Addison Sanders (No. 25), The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington. Government Printing Office, 1884, Series 1, Volume 17, Part 1, pp. 100-101.
[x] Cozzens, Peter. The Darkest Days of the War: The Battles of Iuka & Corinth. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1997.
[xi] Guy E. Logan, Roster and Records of Iowa Troops in the Rebellion, Volume 2. Des Moines, IA. State of Iowa, 1908, p. 1065.
[xii] Guy E. Logan, Roster and Records of Iowa Troops in the Rebellion, Volume 2. Des Moines, IA. State of Iowa, 1908, p. 1066.
[xiii] Guy E. Logan, Roster and Records of Iowa Troops in the Rebellion, Volume 2. Des Moines, IA. State of Iowa, 1908, p. 1070.

[Foot-slogger1862]

Re: Registration Link is Here

Thanks for all of the info, Josh!

Ryan D. W. Kiesel

[J. Donaldson]

Re: Registration Link is Here

One of the reasons there are so many Scott County men in the 16th is the concerted effort by the state to raise a German regiment, and Davenport was one of the population centers for German immigrants who lived in Iowa.