Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/450

 and rain. Lieutenant-Colonel Keeler and his regiment making a detour of the place effected a complete surprise. There was a short, sharp struggle and the post was captured with three hundred fifty prisoners, four pieces of artillery, caissons, horses and other property. The captured guns were named “Keeler’s Battery” in honor of Lieutenant-Colonel Keeler then in command of the regiment.

The regiment was heavily engaged at the Battle of Pleasant Hill on the 9th of April and met with heavy loss. Captain Henry Blank was killed and Lieutenant Dugan was mortally wounded. It fought with the greatest courage on that bloody field and retreated with reluctance by order of a demoralized commander-in-chief after a hard won victory. At the Battle of Yellow Bayou on the 18th of May the regiment was actively engaged and lost about forty men in killed and wounded. Here Captain Burmeister received a fatal wound and young Frederick Hill, the colonel’s son, a brave and generous youth, fell dead by his father’s side. Five days after the battle the regiment went into camp at Vicksburg, having lost on the Red River campaign, nearly one hundred officers and men in killed and wounded. On the 4th of June the troops were moved up the river on transports. Two days later was fought the Battle of Old Red River which was a short, severe, combat resulting in the defeat of the enemy. It was here that the Thirty-fifth won additional fame. Coming suddenly upon the enemy in strong force it never wavered for a moment, but stood like a wall to its position, losing twenty men in the short time the engagement lasted. Major Abraham J. John was mortally wounded and died the same evening; his death was mourned by the entire regiment. Captain William Dill was very severely injured. The Thirty-fifth next proceeded to Memphis and joined the column under Smith which soon after defeated Forrest at the Battle of Tupelo. In this engagement the Thirty-fifth lost in killed and wounded thirty-eight men. It returned to Memphis with the army and took part in the Oxford expedition.