Recollections with the Third Iowa Regiment

by Seymour D. Thompson

At midnight we were aroused and ordered to fall in. The column was soon in motion. The night was dark, and we stumbled along in a most disagreeable manner over the roots of trees that crossed the road in all directions.

It was amusing to listen to the various conjectures as to our destination. Most of them, however, as is seldom the case, were in the main correct. The principal error consisted in supposing the enemy's force greater than it really was.

Colonel Scott rode or walked along, sometimes giving his horse to a lame soldier, or perhaps taking his gun, and talking all the while in that genial, unaffected manner which made him so great a favorite among the men. We were not sorry that the command of the expedition had been given to him.

About sunrise we arrived at the little village of Atlanta, where we halted in a shady grove to rest. About 2 P. M. the march was resumed. The day was warm and the roads very dusty. There was plenty of water in the wells along the route, but all the men could not procure it without much straggling, and we suffered considerably from thirst. An advanced guard commanded by Lieutenant Call preceded the column half a mile, with a few mounted Home Guards as far in advance of them.

While marching through the little village of Laplata, an incident occurred which excited a good deal of merriment. Lieut. Call had been informed by a citizen who had joined us, that, at a certain house, a hotel in that place, they kept, and frequently displayed, a rebel flag. This the lieutenant resolved to have. He drew up his guard before the house, and went in, followed by his two sergeants, and demanded it. The landlord, a wretched looking creature, avowed his secession sympathies openly, saying, at the same time, that it was honorable to do so, which the lieutenant could not deny. But the lady (here was the rub—easier to capture the colors of a regiment) said the flag had been given to her to make into dresses for the children, that it was private property, and we could not have it. But the lieutenant insisted that a treasonable emblem was contraband of war, and that he must have it. Still she refused; whereupon the lieutenant pointed to the man and said, "Sergeants, take him out." The sergeants clapped their hands on his back, and said, "Come with us, sir!" The children began to shriek, and the old lady cried, "You may have the flag! You may have the flag!" The lieutenant attached it to a lance and presented it to the battalion as it marched up, amid a most furious intermingling of cheers, yells and groans. Thus did the redoubtable advanced guard carry the enemy's town and capture a stand of colors before the arrival of the main force.

In the afternoon, a joke occurred, and it is doubtful whether it rested harder upon Lieutenant Call or the Home Guards in advance. While the lieutenant was marching leisurely along with his guard, a party of the former came riding back, frantic with excitement, and reported having seen the enemy's camp fires not far beyond in the edge of a wood. He put his men on the double quick, and sure enough they soon came in sight of a smoke. It was no humbug, thought they. The Home Guards had seen the enemy. When they had arrived within a convenient distance, the guard was halted, and the lieutenant rode forward at the head of the home guards to reconnoiter. We watched them, breathless with expectation. They rode full on to the enemy's entire force. It consisted of two women washing! Major Stone had just rode up, and when the lieutenant reported his discovery, he indulged in some remarks at his expense, which sounded more appropriate than they would now.

We halted for the night about three miles north of Laplata, near the residence of a Union man, who had an excellent well of water, sufficient to supply the whole force. Mounted pickets were posted on the approaches to our position. We could only account for this unusual precaution on the ground that the man who now had command possessed some common sense. Having refreshed ourselves on such a supper as our haversacks afforded, we spread down our blankets and slept.

At seven o'clock in the morning we again moved. All along the route, home guards continued to join us in squads, large and small, mounted on such horses as they had, and armed with squirrel rifles and shot guns. These men, though patriotic and brave, were without any experience in the business of war, and, for the most part, without organization. On this account we were not supposed to put great reliance on them. They were under the obligation of an oath, and could go and come at pleasure. But they had incentives to action to which we were strangers. They had seen the treason with which we were at war, and dwelt among it. It had assailed our country only; it had not only assailed their country, but their firesides. They had seen its monstrous representatives, robbers, murderers, incendiaries. They had met it on their doorsteps. It had murdered and robbed their friends, and threatened them with like treatment for loving their country. This, now, was their hour of deliverance. They had come to assist strangers against a common enemy. Their homes and possessions appealed to them. Their dear helpless ones stretched their arms imploringly, and seemed to say to them, "We trust in you; save us: be men." They had come to fight without pay, and if necessary, to board themselves. They reported to Colonel Scott, and obeyed his orders without murmuring or hesitation. The strong motives which impelled them to take up arms, and the knowledge that discipline is the strength of an army, made them willing, if not skillful soldiers.

But another fact made them a great auxiliary to us. They knew who among the citizens were friends, and who enemies. They were able to give us valuable information concerning the enemy. Besides they hailed from all sections of the country, and on this account made valuable scouts. But they absolutely knew not what to do; they wanted some one to show them. Jim Call was exactly the man. His every characteristic admirably fitted him to command them. Cool, daring, audacious, always taking the lead and commanding his men to follow, Colonel Scott placed him in this position. Whole companies reported to him, and captains obeyed him with most undoubting confidence.