Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/387

 to the works. The battle now raged with great fury all along the lines, the enemy making a desperate defense. The guns of the fort had been silenced by our heavy artillery, but the musketry fire of the enemy never slackened. General McClernand now decided to order an assault. The brigades of Burbridge, Smith and Sheldon pushed forward under a deadly fire and several of the regiments swept over the intrenchments. Sherman’s command at the same time stormed the works in front in an equally brilliant manner, the victory was won and soon the Union flag was raised over Fort Hindman. There was captured with the Post 5,000 prisoners, seventeen pieces of artillery, 50,000 rounds of ammunition, six hundred horses and mules, 5,000 muskets and a large amount of other property. The Iowa regiments engaged in this battle were the Fourth, Ninth, Twenty-fifth, Twenty-sixth, Thirtieth, Thirty-first and the Thirty-fourth. This was the first battle in which the Twenty-sixth met the enemy in mortal combat, and no regiment contributed more to win the great victory. Its loss was one hundred twenty men. Lieutenants P. L. Hyde, J. S. Patterson and James McDill were slain, and among the wounded were Colonel Smith, Adjutant Ferreby, Captain N. A. Merrill and Lieutenant Svendsen. Soon after the battle the Twenty-sixth was sent down the river and stationed a few miles below Vicksburg, where it remained until the 2d of April—then accompanying General Steele’s expedition to Greenville, Mississippi, where five men were captured.

Toward the last of the month it went into camp at Milliken’s bend and early in May joined Grant’s army then moving out on the Vicksburg campaign. The regiment participated in the capture of Jackson and on the 16th moved with the troops toward Vicksburg. During the siege it was on the left of Thayer’s Brigade in General Steele’s Division and took part in the assaults of the 19th and 22d of May; its losses during these engagements and the siege were six killed and thirty-three wounded. The