Civil War vets reflect on experiences

Editor?s note: Following the war, Civil War soldiers and sailors began publishing their stories. These firsthand accounts have proven to be invaluable in helping our nation understand what took place 150 years ago. In the Civil War Collection section of Special Collections, Chadwick Library, Iowa Wesleyan College, is a tattered copy of such a publication. Entitled ?Four Years For The Union,? the booklet was compiled by James O. Vanorsdol, 1st Lieutenant commanding Company K, Fourth Iowa Cavalry. Not only does it contain Vanorsdol?s account, but also accounts and pictures of William A. Bereman, J.A. Kirkpatrick, John R. Hallowell, William P. Young, and S.O. Bereman. This article is their words with the exception of historical notes for clarification purposes.

By Joy Lynn Conwell

?My father located a land warrant in Marion Township, Henry County, Iowa, on the Brandywine, six miles north of Mt. Pleasant, called Cottage Grove. On this farm I grew to manhood?At the age of 19, I entered college at Mt. Pleasant, intending to graduate.? (Vanorsdol)

Following one year at Iowa Wesleyan Univeristy, Vanorsdol, received his ?first grade certificate? and taught for four months at a school in Wayne Township, Henry County. At the close of that term in 1861, Vanorsdol writes that he ?entered the army, not yet 21 years of age. Went at the first call, entered Company F, First Iowa Infantry-first company from the county and first regiment from the state.?

Vanorsdol was a ?90-dayer.? Early in the war, enlistments were for only 90 days. Under General Lyon, Vanorsdol fought at Wilson?s Creek. At the end of his 90 day enlistment, and as the country became aware that this was going to be a long war, Vanorsdol reenlisted with the Fourth Iowa Cavalry.

?During the war I marched many thousand miles; engaged in more than 20 battles; was wounded at or near Vicksburg; (he refers to this as being ?veteranized?); also had my horse shot from under me, my hat shot off and my saber scabbard marked by a bullet.? (Vanorsdol)

In January 1865, President Jefferson Davis of the Southern Confederacy was beginning to see the handwriting on the wall. After conferring with his vice-president Alexander Stephens, who had recommended that a peace commission be established to discuss a possible armistice, Davis and Stephens met with Pres. Abraham Lincoln on February 3, 1865, at Hampton Roads, Va.

With the Union now holding the upper hand in the war, Robert M. T. Hunter, a Confederate Senator, who was a member of the Southern delegation, commented ?that Lincoln was offering little except unconditional surrender of the South.?

At the time of the peace talks, Vanorsdol and his company were in Louisville, Ken., and heading east. The booklet?s account of this period of Company K is recorded by 1st Sergeant S.O. Bereman.

?We left Louisville, Ky., February 8, 1865, on board the boast Nashville, I (Bereman) being in command. Ours was the only boat that went over the rapids. Why we should be sent over the rapids, and all other boats trough the canal, I do not conceive, but Company K had the ?sand,? and hence the ?glory? as we continued down the Ohio river to Paducah, passing up the Tennessee River, passing Fort Donaldson, Fort Henry and Pittsburg Landing.? (Bereman)

Arriving at Gravelly Springs, Ala., on February 14, 1865, the regiment quartered there until mid-March. ?While in this camp, the regiment received a nice flag from the ladies of Iowa, for our early patriotism and in being the first regiment for the state to veteranize.?

On March 19, 1865, Company K, Fourth Iowa Cavalry would begin their ?last great raid through the Southern Confederacy?. (Bereman) Called Wilson?s Raid through Dixie, the raid was a cavalry operation through Alabama and Georgia in March and April 1865 under the direction of Brig. General James H. Wilson.

Facing off against Confederate Lt. General Nathan Bedford Forest, Wilson?s Union Cavalry Corp which included the Iowa Cavalry Regiment, successfully destroyed Southern manufacturing facilities while capturing five fortified cities, 288 cannons and 6,280 confederate military prisoners. This raid was also without the collateral damage which characterized Sherman?s March to the Sea (which the Henry County unit, the 25th Iowa Infantry was involved in). General Wilson did not tolerate uncontrolled behavior, such as looting from his men. Following Wilson?s Raid through Dixie, Wilson?s forces fanned out through the region in pursuit of Confederate government officials, including President Jefferson Davis who had fled to Irwinville, Ga., where he was captured on May 10, 1865.

On August 22, 1888, 1st Sergeant S. O. Bereman was chosen by Company K to make a flag presentation to Lt. J. O. Vanorsdol at the regimental reunion at Mt. Pleasant. In his speech, which is published in the booklet, Bereman states, ?In that war Company F Iowa Cavalry, bore an humble but an honorable part. Many deeds of daring were performed and are recorded in the history of that war. Gallant charges led by brave officers and followed by no less brave men were ordinary occurrences of the soldier?s life.?