Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/442

 operations against it were abandoned. The hardships of the campaign and the great amount of sickness that afflicted the regiment had sadly thinned the ranks by death and discharge for and cast a shadow over the spirits of the survivors. These were among the darkest days of its history when the grave was closing over the forms of so many comrades who left their homes in robust health but a few months before. They were realizing that the terrible ravages of war were not confined to battle-fields and loathsome prisons. But the gloom soon gave way to the excitement of the coming conflict. General McClernand was marshaling his army for the capture of Arkansas Post and this regiment was among those who took an active part in the operations which brought a brilliant victory. Soon after the Thirty-fourth was sent on an expedition attended with great suffering. Colonel Clark was ordered with his own regiment and five companies of the One Hundred and Thirteenth Illinois, to guard and convey to Chicago 5,000 prisoners taken in the recent battles. But three poorly equipped steamboats were provided and into them were crowded 6,500 human beings. Ingersoll says of this trip:

“Fuel had to be collected along the river as it could be found. The voyage from Arkansas Post to St. Louis occupied two weeks, every moment of which was miserable beyond expression to every man on the more than crowded boats. As if to bring our devoted command to the very depth of misery, smallpox in its most loathsome form attacked the prisoners. When the little fleet at last reached St. Louis the men had suffered all the horrors of the ‘middle passage.’”

General McClernand, responsible for crowding men worse than a humane man would crowd cattle on a voyage to the shambles, was scarcely less blameworthy than those who tortured our prisoners at Andersonville. Colonel Clark, who had seen suffering on many battlefields, declared that the human suffering during this trip exceeded anything he had ever witnessed. Leaving his