Six years ago, I stumbled on to a little-known chapter of Iowa history: residents who left Iowa and served the Confederacy. The men were sometimes mentioned as a historical footnote (if at all). Hoping to do effective research, I turned to Abe Lincoln for guidance.
In this blog posting, I will explain what I mean by “Confederate from Iowa” and give examples of what I don’t mean. I will also introduce motivations for Iowa residents to serve the C.S.A.
A day of Small Beginnings
Before I discuss Lincoln, I need to start at the beginning of my research story. It all began with two questions:
- How do I define “resident” and “Confederate service”?
- Why did Confederates from Iowa serve the C.S.A.?
I define resident as one who lived in Iowa before his Confederate service:
- For at least two years;
- No earlier than 1850; and
- Was 13 years or older while living in Iowa.
Narrow Parameters
I exclude U.S. Army soldiers who served in Iowa Territory (that is, before 1850). Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis were two such soldiers, and no one would think they were Iowans! I also exclude those younger than 13 such as General Lawrence Sullivan “Sull” Ross, who left Bentonsport, Iowa, as a toddler.
I wanted to include men who lived in Iowa in their formative years, say, 13 and older. At around age 13, people become more self-aware and tend to identify with peers. They also may begin to assimilate into a local culture and even identify with a state.
I define the “Confederate service” more broadly than the Confederate infantry, cavalry, artillery, and navy. I also include:
- Local defense troops confined to a state;
- The Confederate civil service; and
- Military attachés to governors.
Why include Civil Service and Military Attachés?
The civil service helped support the armed forces and civilians. One Confederate from Iowa wanted to enlist in the infantry, but his doctor said his lungs were too unhealthy. Instead, he entered the Confederate Ordnance Bureau.
I included military attachés to governors because what happened in a state could affect civilian and military morale, military recruitment, and desertion. One governor appointed a Confederate from Iowa to be military attaché with the rank of lieutenant colonel. The governor ordered him to use Confederate troops to investigate “treasonable conduct” and “threatened violence” and to help keep the peace.
The million-dollar question
Why would someone leave a nice state like Iowa and serve the Confederacy? James McPherson offers insights in For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War. But I looked for something more.
I wanted a list of motivations that would help me organize clues and analyze them. This is where Abraham Lincoln is very helpful. Lincoln suggests that men served the Union for the following reasons:
- Patriotism;
- political bias;
- ambition;
- personal courage;
- love of adventure; and
- want of employment.
I have adapted Lincoln’s categories to the Southern context as follows:
- Principle;
- identification with southern culture;
- professional ambition and economic necessity; and
- love of adventure.
These four categories seem to cover most Confederates from Iowa who I have studied. However, a few men seem to be exceptions. Therefore, I have added three tiny categories of exceptions:
- Opportunism (since some patterns of behavior suggest this);
- Conscription; and
- Social pressure from Southern neighbors and/or courts.
What do you think?
I’d like to hear what you think of my definitions and categories of motivations.
Ron Seymour
9 Apr 2015Here is some info on a man from Dubuque who fought for the Confederacy as a conscript.
J. J. Beck
March 1, 1884
Beck wrote regarding a reunion of Crocker’s Brigade and related how he came to join the 13th Iowa Volunteer Infantry:
After noting he was “only a humble soldier” who had “no conspicuous part in…the march to final victory” and “…that probably few of the privates in any western regiment have a more romantic history than myself.”
Beck was born in Luxembourg (Europe) in 1842 and his family immigrated to Chicago when he was three years old.
When he was eighteen Beck was recruited as a cook and went south with a company of woodchoppers to an area forty miles above Vicksburg, Mississippi. Early in the spring of 1861 he and his companions heard rumors of war and their supply of letters and newspapers from the north stopped arriving. Beck and a few others decided to return north and headed upriver to Memphis. While they were on the steamer Sovereign heading toward St. Louis, Rebel canons fired on the ship and stopped it. Beck and his companions were arrested and then conscripted and forced to join the rebel army. It is believed that these men were inducted into the 15th Tennessee Infantry since the roster of that regiment lists a John Beck and this regiment was organized for state service at Jackson, Tennessee on June 7, 1861.
After organization at Jackson, Tennessee, the Rebel regiment moved almost immediately to Camp of Instruction at Union City, Tennessee in July, 1861, with 744 men armed with flintlock muskets. Ten companies comprised the regiment when it was accepted into Confederate service at New Madrid, Missouri, in August, 1861. While at New Madrid, three companies were moved to Island Number Ten, but in September 1861 the regiment was reunited at Columbus, Kentucky. On October 24, 1861 the regiment was a part of Brigadier General Gideon J. Pillow’s Division, and it took part in the Battle of Belmont, November 7, 1861, being one of the regiments ferried across the river as reenforcement after the battle had seemed to be going against the Confederates.
The following spring, in March of 1862, the regiment moved to Corinth, Mississippi. A month later at Shiloh, April 6-7, 1862, the regiment was in Cheatham’s Division, Brigadier General Bushrod R. Johnson’s Brigade with Lieutenant Colonel R. C. Tyler in command of the 15th. Beck and his regiment were at first held in reserve along the Corinth-Pittsburg road, but around 9:30 in the morning were sent in against General Sherman’s Ohioians near Shiloh Church. An hour later, Beck and his regiment came under heavy canon fire and began to bog down. Col. Tyler pulled out his pistol, pointed it and urged his men forward and they responded. Unfortunately Tyler was seriously wounded and Major Hearn took command of the regiment. By noon the 15th Tennessee had pushed the Union regiments in their front back toward the river and Beck was within about 1000 yards of the previous camp of the Thirteenth Iowa-a unit he would soon join. Beck said he was wounded slightly but did not specify where or how the wound occurred. The official report of casualties was not known, but estimates of the loss in killed and wounded in Beck’s Rebel regiment was nearly 200 men.
The next day, Beck and the Rebels began to withdraw as Grant’s forces counter attacked and Beck began to look for an opportunity to escape. Finally on Wednesday morning he managed to surrender to the Eighteenth Illinois in their camp and asked if there were some Iowa Regiments nearby. They directed him to the Thirteenth Iowa camped only minutes away, where he was brought to Col. M. M. Crocker. Beck offered his services, took the oath and was mustered in to Company A on the 12th of April and that night he was put out on picket duty near the front lines.
Beck’s new regiment with its brigade joined in the pursuit of the Rebel army but did not succeed in overtaking it. After an arduous march, the pursuit was abandoned at Ripley, Miss., and the troops returned to Corinth.
On the 12th of September, the 13th regiment marched to join the forces under Major General Rosecrans near Iuka. In the battle of Iuka, which was fought on Sept. 19, 1862, the Thirteenth was held in reserve, and did not participate in the battle. Soon after the battle the brigade was ordered to return to Corinth. The rebel forces were being concentrated for an attack, and it was evident that another battle was soon to occur at or near that place and all the available Union forces were ordered to concentrate for its defense. The battle which was fought on the 3rd and 4th of October, did not bring the entire regiment into close contact with the enemy, but Lieutenant Colonel Shane in his official report said that Beck’s company A (and company G) were the only part of his regiment actually engaged. Company A and Company C were on the skirmish line on the first day of the battle, and sustained a loss of one man killed and fourteen wounded.
After a rest of about three weeks Beck and his regiment marched out with the forces under General Grant and moved south along the line of the Mississippi Central Railroad toward Vicksburg.
Ironically, Beck and his regiment returned to the site of his rebel conscription and reached Memphis and an abundant supply of food on January 13th, 1863. They were soon headed for Vicksburg and while most of their duty involved repairing roads and digging canals, by the end of May they were assigned to the left flank of Grant’s Army besieging Vicksburg.
After the fall of Vicksburg, the regiment spent the winter of 1863-1864 doing garrison duty there and the next spring were sent East to join Sherman’s Army as it headed toward Atlanta. At Decatur, Ala., May 27, 1864, the regiment, with the rest of the Crocker Brigade, was attached to the Fourth Division of the Seventeenth Army Corps. The regiment now moved forward with this command to Rome, Ga., arriving there June 5th, and then by way of Kingston and Allatoona to Ackworth, where on June 8th the Seventeenth Army Corps took its place in line with the Army of the Tennessee, commanded by Gen. James B. McPherson, and became a part of the army commanded by Maj. Gen. W. T. Sherman.
From June 11th to July 20th, the regiment and brigade were in front of Kenesaw Mountain, participated in the operations there and at Nickajack Creek, and on across the Chattahoochee river to Sandtown, and then, passing to the extreme left of the line on the 20th of July, after a heavy skirmish with the enemy, took position about three miles from Atlanta.
Major Walker (who was commanding the regiment) submitted the following report of the Thirteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the engagement of July 21, 1864:
“At 8 o’clock A. M., the regiment was in position in front of the brigade, with the Fifteenth Iowa Infantry on its left, and supported by the Sixteenth Iowa Infantry; its front was protected by temporary works thrown up on the night of the 20th…I received orders from Col. John Shane, commanding brigade, to advance at once on the double quick to the front, to assist Brigadier General Force, commanding a brigade in the Third Division, Seventeenth Army Corps, who was fighting for the possession of a high hill in his front and to the left of this regiment. The men seized their arms and sprang promptly over the works, advancing in good order to the crest of a hill less than one hundred yards from the enemy’s works, in the face of a heavy fire. Here I was ordered to halt, and held the position, exposed to a very destructive fire of musketry, grape and canister, until, the enemy having withdrawn to his works…I was ordered to retire to the position I originally occupied.”
Major walker was killed during this fight and Col. Shane picked up the narrative:
“The two companies—A and G—detached in the beginning of the contest and posted on the right of the Eleventh Iowa, and the two companies—D and K—detached at the same time and posted on the left of the Sixteenth Iowa, have failed to report and I regret to say that, from all the information I have been able to obtain in regard to them, I am reluctantly led to the conclusion that about three-fourths of the men composing those companies were, while supporting and bravely fighting side by side with the Eleventh and Sixteenth regiments Iowa Infantry, killed or captured, including all the commissioned officers on duty with them at the time. Our loss in officers and men killed, wounded and missing was very heavy in proportion to the numbers engaged. In the engagement of the 21st (of July) the regiment lost in killed, wounded and missing 94 enlisted men and 5 officers out of 400 officers and men engaged; and in this days battle our loss in killed, wounded and missing foots up at present 9 officers and 139 enlisted men out of 300 that went into the fight.”
During this battle Beck was wounded in the neck and the ball lodged in his shoulder and he was hospitalized for over forty days. The right wing to which Beck’s 13th Iowa regiment belonged was captured and many of his comrades were sent to Andersonville prison. If it had not been for his wound, Beck would in all likelihood also have been captured and no doubt executed as a deserter from the Confederate Army.
In fact after the war, Beck happened to run into one of the men who was conscripted into the Rebel army with him and he related to Beck that he was still with the Rebels and was involved in capturing members of Beck’s Iowa regiment at the Battle of Atlanta. This man told Beck that he also helped convey the Iowa prisoners to Andersonville and he confirmed that Beck would have indeed been shot before ever reaching prison.
Beck recovered from his wound sufficiently to rejoin his regiment, but suffered greatly until his discharge at Rolla, North Carolina in April of 1865. After the war he was granted a disability pension from the government for his injury.
Beck was mustered out at Raleigh, NC on April 16, 1865 when his three-year enlistment expired. He returned to Dubuque and opened up a bar, the Wm Tell Saloon and ten pin alley on lower Main Street a few years after the war.
It is unknown when he died or where he is buried-but no records could be found of his final resting place in Dubuque.
David Connon
9 Apr 2015Hi, Ron. Thanks for sharing the interesting story! By the way, you wrote that Beck “returned to Dubuque” after April 16, 1865. When had he been to Dubuque prior to that time?
sherml@bmcaggregates.com
9 Apr 2015David: I like your motivations for examining the reasons Iowans might have served in the Confederacy. In terms of the categories for establishing Iowa origins it certainly would be in order to mention individuals who might have been born in Iowa, like Sull Ross, or individuals who lived in Iowa for a while and moved away and served in the Confederacy in addition to the work you have completed under your more restrictive category. As always, nice work!
Sherman
David Connon
9 Apr 2015Hi, Sherman. Thanks for your kind feedback. I agree that it’s worth mentioning other individuals who don’t fit my definition of “resident.”
Jan toms
9 Apr 2015Interesting, I thought when I read the motivation to join the Union Army that this could have also been the same for CSA service. In particular, patriotism.
David Connon
9 Apr 2015I agree. Thanks for reading and commenting, Jan!
Steve Hanken
9 Apr 2015David I think your research questions are well thought out, I only wish I was as good as it as yourself! Usually I get started at something and then the questions start to come that would show better detail and succinctness, which only means more work to bring the project into better focus. I think you have adequately narrowed you “confederate” candidates well and your reasons seem particularly focused on specifics that would be difficult not to connect to, with the exception of the business of “pressing” people into service outside of their own free will, which I really don’t think has been the focus of your paper. It might be an addendum to speak to the issue, but I think you were looking specifically for the volunteer from Iowa, not the shanghaied ones!
David Connon
9 Apr 2015Hi, Steve. Thanks for your generous comments! I appreciate your feedback, and I agree with you that conscription isn’t the focus of the blog (or of my research in general). Conscription of Confederates from Iowa was an exception; volunteers are much more interesting!
Bob Ramay
10 Apr 2015David,
I believe that by making a list of incentives to fight for the South you are off to a good start. Any scientific endeavor begins with list, measure and weigh.
I have little to add at this point, but I will recount what I know of my Great Grandfather, Miles Ramay and his family.
Miles Ramay’s Grandfather, Joshua Ramay, was born in 1781 and lived for a number of years in Berkeley, West Virginia. (Berkeley was then in Virginia, near the Potomac River northwest of Harper’s Ferry.) Joshua was a cooper and married Rachel Sellers about 1806. Their first born was a John Ramay and he was born in 1807. Later (about 1820) Joshua and his family moved to Ohio.
When John married he moved his family first to Illinois and then to Iowa. Miles was born in Illinois in 1838 but was moved to Iowa while still young. In 1861 Miles opted to fight for the Confederacy and joined the 3rd Missouri Calvary. Miles military activities were covered in my last comment to you.
Miles never returned to Iowa. I understand that his younger brother, William, served in the Union Forces and that he was very active in Veteran affairs after the War. Miles was obviously estranged from his family after he went South.
I do know that about 1900 Miles heard (how I do not know) that his Father, John, had passed on. He had a lawyer write to his family and ask if he had any inheritance due. He then received a $10.00 inheritance, the same amount that his three sisters received. I believe William received the rest of their father’s estate, including John’s farm.
Apparently Miles family did not discuss his roots. Late in life (1990s) my Father, Ebbie Ramay, lamented that he never spoke with either his own Father or his Grandfather (Miles) about their family roots. What I have written above I have discovered using the Internet.
I found no record of any of the Ramays owning slaves. Their occupations range from cooper to farmer, all working people. My father was the first in the family that I know of who earned a college degree. I suggest that you not get caught up in the slavery issue. I think that States Rights were much more important to most. Even Lincoln came to emancipation in an attempt to win re-election. A question to ask is, Can one have real freedom if one can not withdraw from an organization? I would hope that Miles was motivated by such beliefs, your patriotism.
Of course it could be that Miles had a falling out about purely family issues and just wanted to leave, the Southern Forces being a convenient organization. Or it could have been over an affair of the heart. If so, he would not have been the first young man with unrequited love to ship out.
Your efforts to group and analyze many will undoubtedly point in several sound directions, even if a definitive answer will not be available for each individual.
David Connon
10 Apr 2015Hi, Bob.
Thanks for your thoughtful, articulate comments! I agree, a definitive answer will not be available for each individual who left Iowa to serve the Confederacy. Best wishes.
scottsbattery
12 Apr 2015David, In my book “Courage and Devotion” I have the story of the three Talty brothers whose parents lived in Davenport. When the war started they lived in Memphis and were working on the docks loading and unloading packet boats. With the river closed in early 1861 they could not return home and were in need of a job. They volunteered and joined Bankhead’s Battery in May. After the retreat from Columbus, Kentucky their battery passed through Memphis on the way to what would become the battle of Shiloh. In Memphis they deserted (2 of them, the other brother was already in Memphis after being sent to the hospital) and after the Federal occupation of the city in June 1862 they returned to Davenport. They are listed on the draft list for Davenport but were never called and after the war they moved to Atlantic, Iowa. They are listed on the plaque in the Iowa Historical society building in DesMoines of the Iowa Confederates. I also wrote in my book reasons why men from Memphis joined the Confederate army. Some of the reasons include: avoiding jail, intimidation, economics as well as the patriotic angle. The Talty’s were also Irish immigrants and there is also the position Irish held in the south socially above slave labor. Slaves didn’t do dangerous work because they were too valuable. But the Irish were paid low wages and could be easily replaced. Besides, immigrants could vote, but slaves could not. My book is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble, if you are interested. Bruce R. Kindig
Visit Our Home Page: http://www.scottsbattery.org
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2015 18:38:40 +0000 To: scotts_battery@hotmail.com
David Connon
12 Apr 2015Hi, Bruce. Thank you for your detailed, thoughtful discussion of the Talty brothers. Your book sounds very interesting! I count the Talty brothers as Confederates from Iowa. That reminds me: I am now up to 74 Iowa residents who left the state and served the Confederacy. Best wishes.
winwardk
24 Apr 2015David, that you for this thought provoking post and others on your blog. I’m mostly a history generalist, with much interest in Cold War and U.S. presidential history, but I have a growing interest of how the lead up to and the Civil War affected the state and residents of Iowa. I have been helping another friend do research about Hendrik Pieter Scholte http://uipress.lib.uiowa.edu/bdi/DetailsPage.aspx?id=330 and his views on the abolitionist movement. It has really reinforced with me the realization that history happens everywhere, not just somewhere else, as I tended to think in school (not any reflection on my teachers’ instruction, it was my own schema). Your comment “Why would someone leave a nice state like Iowa and serve the Confederacy?” reminds me that historical events were in actuality not as clean and compartmentalized as they are often presented.
David Connon
24 Apr 2015Hi, Kyle.
Thank you for your kind words and thoughtful response. I agree with your comment, “historical events were in actuality not as clean and compartmentalized as they are often presented.”
Bob Ramay
25 Apr 2015Would that most other historians shared y’all’s sage perspective.
David Connon
25 Apr 2015Thank you for your generous comment.