"Samuel Day the the 22nd Iowa"
by

Chapter 11

Operations in Louisiana

On the last day of July 1863, General Benton assumed command of the 14^th Division due to General Michael Lawler’s poor health. After Colonel Stone returned to Iowa to assume the Governorship, Colonel Harris of the 11^th Wisconsin took command of the brigade. A reorganization placed the 14^th Brigade in General Ord’s First Division, 13^th Army Corps. On August 13, the 22^nd Iowa boarded the steamer Baltic for a journey to Carrollton, Louisiana. Switzer described the trip:

The marine boat was constructed from an ordinary river boat, boarded up and down with heavy planking along and around the sides to protect the inmates from musketry from bushwhackers. In the planking, there were cut loop holes or small holes to fire through in case of attack. We were unmolested, however, in our trip down the river. The ride was one of the hottest and most uncomfortable that I have ever experienced. The planking around the boat kept out all circulation of air and in that hot climate during the summer season the heat was almost stifling. (127)

At Carrollton, the regiment received plenty of good food and rest; both Switzer and Jones commented on the favorable camp conditions. While in this camp, Samuel Day was temporarily assigned to 6^th Company, 1^st Battalion, Convalescent Brigade, 13^th Army Corps for September and October 1863. Since no explanation exists in Samuel’s medical records, we must assume that the poor conditions of the Vicksburg campaign and siege contributed to his deteriorating health.(128)

During their stay in Carrollton, the regiment participated in a large parade of General Grant’s army. Jacob Switzer described this review:

During our stay at New Orleans, we were on a grand review by General Banks and General Grant in a large field or plain between New Orleans and Carrollton. Our boys were ordered to prepare for a march after the grand review, not to return to camp but to go from the field to campaign. This the boys understood to be in light marching order and not in dress suits for grand review. Their preparation was such as they would have made under hasty orders for any campaign. The weather being very hot, many of them took off their blouses and went in their shirt sleeves; they were provisioned, carried their coffee pots, kettles and frying pans with them, and frequently a soldier had a piece of bacon strung on the tip of his bayonet. The appearance of Grant’s boys did not strike General Banks as being strictly military and he remarked to General Grant during the review, "General, those are rough looking men of yours." Grant’s reply was, "General Banks, they are the men who took Vicksburg." It happened, however, that we returned to camp from the reviewing ground and the campaign was delayed a short time. (129)

After a short stay in camp, the whole command, including the 22^nd Iowa, was loaded on transports and moved to Algiers, Louisiana. From Algiers, they were moved by rail to Bayou Beoff, arriving on 5 September, and departing on the 11^th for Brashear City, on Berwick Bay. On 25 September, the command went into camp near Berwick. After a week in bivouac, the army left camp and marched through Franklin, Iberia, and St. Martinsville and on October 10, 1863, arrived at Vermillionville. Near Iberia, the Union troops met a heavy Confederate force under the command of General Dick Taylor, but instead of making a stand, the Confederates retreated to Opelousas. Since the enemy continued to retreat, the expedition was abandoned and the command returned to Berwick on 10 November.(130)

Union troops accomplished little during this expedition except for clearing Confederates from the vicinity of Bayou Teche. The 22^nd Iowa participated in several skirmishes with the enemy, suffering one man killed and six captured (131). Three of the six captured soldiers belonged to Company E. Unfortunately, there was no official report of this expedition filed in the official records. Jacob Switzer noted that the expedition was rather uneventful but made the following recollections of the march:

Of course the boys were up to all sorts of tricks and a good deal of foraging was done contrary to orders through this very rich and productive country. I think the main product of this section at the time was sugar houses and refineries all along our road. We did not thank the commissary department for sugar, as we had all we wanted from the sugar houses and helped ourselves. Oranges abounded but they were usually of an inferior quality. Occasionally we found a tree with very sweet oranges and they were just ripening. But the greatest thing the soldiers found to eat in this country was sweet potatoes, we lived on them almost entirely for a long time. The country abounded in large fields of them and we had all we wanted for the digging. The great dish was sweet potatoes boiled, then sliced and fried in pork fat and bacon with flour gravy. The only butter we had for our sweet potatoes was purchased of the sutler in sealed cans. It was very strong, a little went a great ways¾ at least it was robust enough to make the entire campaign without a halt¾ and we did not use much of it(132).

Lt. Jones records little of this expedition, except that "the mosquitoes are very annoying and are of a prodigious size." (133)

On or near November 1, 1863, Samuel Day rejoined his comrades while the regiment was on this expedition. During his convalescence in Carrollton, Samuel was promoted to 2^nd Sergeant on September 1, 1863. On 10 November, the 22^nd Iowa returned to its camp in Berwick, Louisiana, and shortly afterward, shipped out with the First Division, 13^th Army Corps to the Texas coast, the start of yet another expedition.

127. Switzer, Jacob C. "Reminiscences of Jacob C. Switzer of the 22^nd Iowa II." Iowa Journal of History, 1958. pp. 37-38. Hereafter, this work will be cited as Switzer, History II.

128. Samuel Day Military Records

129. Switzer, History II, p. 38.

130. Thrift, Iowa in the Rebellion, p. 567. Paraphrased.

131. A railroad accident killed a soldier returning home on furlough to Spring Creek, Illinois.

132. Switzer, History II, p. 39.

133. Jones, 22^nd Iowa, p. 49.

 

 

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