Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/227

 Fremont had, with great energy, succeeded in gathering at Tipton, the western terminus of the Pacific Railroad, an army of 30,000 men. The Sixth Iowa was of this army. In October the army marched toward Springfield. It was a hard march with insufficient means of transportation, bad roads, and the men suffered greatly. The Sixth was in General McKinstry’s command which marched seventy miles the last two days of October. General Fremont was suddenly removed from command in the midst of this campaign, from which so much was expected; General Hunter, who succeeded him, abandoned southwest Missouri, retreating to the railroad, thus suddenly bringing the campaign to an end.

The Sixth Iowa was divided, six companies were at Tipton on garrison duty and four companies were sent on similar service to Syracuse. Colonel McDowell had command of a brigade; Lieutenant-Colonel Cummins commanded the regiment, while Major Corse was on General Pope’s staff as Inspector-General. Early in the spring, the Sixth was sent to join Grant’s army at Pittsburg Landing in Tennessee. It took part in the Battle of Shiloh and was in General Sherman’s Division in front on the extreme right of Grant’s lines. At the beginning of the battle Colonel McDowell was in command of a brigade. Lieutenant-Colonel Cummins, who was in command of the Sixth Iowa, was placed under arrest for misconduct early in the day, and Captain John Williams led the regiment in the battle. After two hours of brave fighting, the Sixth, with Sherman’s entire command, was forced back on the Purdy road. Another stand was made in the edge of the woods, some distance in the rear where for two hours the advance of the Confederate army was successfully resisted by most determined fighting. Here the Sixth lost heavily; Captain Williams was severely wounded, and the command devolved on Captain M. M. Walden. Of the six hundred and fifty men in the regiment when the battle opened, sixty-four were killed, one hundred wounded and