Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/231

OF IOWA, and hundreds at the National Capital, who knew its history, cheered the war-worn veterans as they marched through the streets at the close of the war.

The second colonel, J. M. Corse, had won national fame in the Atlanta campaign by his heroic defense of Allatoona Pass, a very important position. Corse, who now a Brigadier-General, was in command of the place with 1,800 men. General French, with a Confederate army of 7,000, was marching against it. General Sherman signaled to him across the mountains to hold the pass at all hazards. Corse signaled back, “I will hold it till freezes over,” and he did hold it after a heroic defense of many hours. Moody’s celebrated hymn, “Hold the Fort for I am Coming,” was suggested to its author by this episode.

The Sixth regiment went to Parkersburg, Virginia, after the grand review, was transported by steamer down the Ohio River to Louisville, Kentucky, and in July returned to Iowa, and was disbanded.