|
|
Captain Guthrie's Company K,
Fifteenth U. S. Infantry
It will be noted that but three of the
ten Iowa companies which had been called for by the President had been
mustered into the service of the United States. It will also be
noted that the three companies, instead of being sent to Mexico, had
been kept on garrison duty at Fort Atkinson. While the explanation
given for the recruiting of a new company in Iowa is not very clear, it
seems to have been organized under special authority from the War
Department, and assigned to the Fifteenth Regiment, United States
Infantry, and was designated as Company K, of that regiment. Major
Frederick D. Mills, who had been Captain of the first company raised
under the call of the President (but which was not mustered) was
commissioned Major of the Fifteenth Infantry. The selection of the
commissioned officers of Company K was conceded to Major Mills.
This fact, and his own appointment as Major, suggests a plausible theory
that the organization of the company was but a belated act of justice to
the men and officers of the first Iowa company to offer its services
under the call of the President. That company, as has been shown,
was superseded by Captain James M. Morgan's Company of Iowa Infantry
Volunteers, which completed its full term of service at Fort Atkinson,
Iowa. The new company was promptly organized, and was conveyed
from its rendezvous at Fort Madison, Iowa, by steamboat to New Orleans,
and thence by ocean steamer to Vera Cruz, where it joined the regiment.
From the day it landed in Mexico to the end of the war, the
company---with its regiment---was constantly engaged in active service.
It participated in numerous battles and skirmishes, in all of which it
acquitted itself with distinguished gallantry. Its losses---as
shown by the subjoined roster---were heavy, constituting forty per cent
of its aggregate number. Nearly every one of its officers received
both special mention and brevet promotions for gallant and meritorious
conduct on the battlefield. Among those killed or mortally wounded
in battle were Major Mills and Captain Guthrie. The Third General
Assembly of Iowa, in session at Iowa City, in 1850, gave permanent
evidence of its appreciation of those gallant officers, by bestowing
upon one of the new counties, organized at that session, the name of
Mills, and, upon another, the name of Guthrie. In Mr. Reid's early
military history, from which this brief sketch is condensed, the
movements and operations of the company are described with great
particularity, and many incidents, showing its splendid conduct under
fire are given. Copies of official reports are quoted, and the
record of the company is shown to have been a most highly honorable one,
reflecting great credit upon the State.
It has been the duty and pleasure of the
compiler to prepare a sketch of each of the military organizations of
the State of Iowa which, at any time, rendered active service in the
wars in which the United States has been involved, and he regards it as
but a simple statement of truth to say that, in the long line of
brilliant achievement and faithful service, Company K, of the Fifteenth
Regiment, United States Infantry, established a record of such a high
standard of excellence as to prove a worthy example and inspiration to
each of the Iowa organizations which followed it in the succeeding wars.
The muster roll of the company is copied
verbatim from Mr. Reid's history. While it does not comport fully
with the general plan of this work, the compiler could not see his way
clear to undertake a condensation of the more lengthy paragraphs, as
they describe so fully the service performed, together with a summarized
statement of the subsequent history of the soldier, with notes giving
the source form which the information was obtained. He therefore
determined to make a notable exception to the rule, in the case of the
roster and record of this one company, Iowa's sole representative upon
the battlefields of Mexico.
Roster
Edwin Guthrie. Captain.
Residence Fort Madison, Iowa. Commissioned by President James K.
Polk March 8, 1857. Assigned to Company K, Fifteenth Infantry,
April 9, 1847. Wounded in the skirmish at Lahoya Pass, on the road
between Vera Cruz and Perote, June 20, 1847. Died a Perote, July
20, 1847. Captain Guthrie was born at Smyrna, New York, Dec. 11,
1806, where he married Adeline Jewett Sept., 17, 1827. He was a
manufacturer of chemicals and a distiller, at Sackett's Harbor, N. Y.,
and removed to Iowa about 1840, where he became Warden of the
Penitentiary at Fort Madison, 1843-1845. [Edwin Guthrie, grandson,
Washington, D. C., Nov. 15, 1909.]
George Washington Bowie.
First Lieutenant, U. S. Infantry, March 8, 1847. Assigned to
Company K, Fifteenth Infantry, April 9, 1847. Captain, July 8,
1847. Brevet Major for gallant and meritorious conduct at
Contreras and Churubusco. Mustered out with the Company Aug. 4,
1848, at Covington, Kentucky. Colonel, Fifth California Infantry,
Nov. 8, 1861. Brevet Brigadier General of United States
Volunteers, March 13, 1865. Honorably mustered out Dec. 14, 1864.
Native of Maryland. It has not been ascertained when he came to
Iowa, but he settled in Burlington as a lawyer. He was elected to
the Constitutional Convention which met in 1846, and was a member of the
Territorial House of Representatives the same year. He took an
active part in the organization of a company in Burlington, for the
proposed Iowa regiment for the Mexican War, and was First Lieutenant of
the Company under Captain F. D. Mills. He returned to Burlington
after the was, but emigrated to California in 1850. He was a
candidate for the Governor of California on the ticket of the American
party, in 1857. Became Colonel of the Fifth California Infantry
Nov. 9, 1861, to succeed Colonel John Kellogg, an officer of the Third
Artillery, U. S. Army, who resigned on that date. He commanded the
District of Arizona, with headquarters at Franklin, Texas, where he was
mustered out Dec. 14, 1864. Died in as accident March 18, 1882.
[Heitman's Historical Register, U. S. A. Reverend William Salter,
D. D., Burlington, Iowa; California Historical Society, by Irving
B. Richman; Rebellion Records, Vol. XXXIV.]
John R. Bennett. Second
Lieutenant, U. S. Infantry, March 8, 1847. Assigned to Company K,
Fifteenth Infantry, April 9, 1847. Brevet First Lieutenant Sept.
13, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct at Chapultepec.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Kentucky.
Captain of Third Minnesota Infantry, Oct. 25, 1861. Resigned Feb.
27, 1862. Was a native of Maryland, and an early settler at
Bloomington, (now Muscatine,) Iowa Territory. He was Captain of a
company organized at Bloomington for the proposed Iowa Regiment of
Infantry for the Mexican War. Soon after his discharge he removed
to Chatfield, Minn. In the Civil War he raised a company at that
place for the Third Minnesota Infantry, but resigned after a few months'
service. His subsequent career has not been fully ascertained, but
he is said to have died in Mexico. [Heitman's Historical Register,
U. S. A.; Dr. Warren Upham, Secretary of Minnesota Historical
Society; S. S. McKenny, Chicago.]
Francis O. Beckett. Second
Lieutenant, U. S. Infantry, March 8, 1847. Assigned to Company K,
Fifteenth U. S. Infantry, April 9, 1847. First Lieutenant May 6,
1848. Brevet First Lieutenant Aug. 20, 1847, for gallant and
meritorious conduct at Contreras and Churubusco, Mexico.
Temporarily transferred from the company, at Puebla, July 7, 1847.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky. He was
born in the State of Maine and became a resident of Burlington, Iowa.
His work in recruiting for the company seems to have been entirely at
Keosauqua, Van Buren County. Persistent inquiries among the oldest
settlers of Burlington and Van Buren County have failed to reveal
anything of his personal history, and he must have left Iowa very soon
after the Mexican War. [Heitman's Historical Register, U. S. A.;
Bloomington Herald, summer of 1846.]
Daniel French. Lieutenant.
Born in Ohio. Appointed from Ohio, Second Lieutenant, Fifteenth
Infantry, April 9, 1847. First Lieutenant Aug. 20, 1847.
Brevet Captain Sept. 13, 1847, for gallant and meritorious conduct at
Chapultepec. Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington,
Ky. Second Lieutenant, Sixty-fifth Ohio Infantry, Oct. --, 1861.
Captain, Nov. --, 1861. Lieutenant Colonel, Nov. 30, 1861.
Colonel, One Hundred Twentieth Ohio, Oct. 17, 1862. [Heitman's
Historical Register, U. S. A.] The records are obscure as to just
when this officer was assigned to Company K, but, from the roster in
Iowa Historical Record, Vol. 1, it would appear to be when he was
promoted First Lieutenant, Aug. 20, 1847.
Abel W. Wright. Lieutenant.
Born in Connecticut. Appointed from Wisconsin, Second Lieutenant,
U. S. Infantry, March 6, 1847. Assigned to Company K, Fifteenth U.
S. Infantry, April 9, 1847. Mustered out with Company Aug. 4,
1848, at Covington, Ky.
Henry E. Vrooman. First
Sergenat. (Iowa Historical Record list, recorded as private.)
Enrolled April 6, 1847, at Fort Madison, Iowa, by Captain Guthrie.
Died Sept. 5, 1847, (private) at Hospital, Puebla, Mexico, of ordinary
disease.
Walter W. Hudson. Second
Sergeant. (Iowa Historical Record list, First Sergeant.)
Enrolled April 12, 1847, at Burlington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bowie.
Last paid April, 1848, Roll. Following is his military record in
Heitman's Historical Register: Born in Kentucky. Appointed
from the army. Private, Sergeant and First Sergeant, Fifteenth
Infantry, April 12, 1847, to July 18, 1848. Brevet Second
Lieutenant, First Infantry, June 28, 1848. Second Lieutenant March
1, 1849. Died April 19, 1850, of wounds received April 7, 1850,
with Indians, near Laredo, Texas. Walter Warder Hudson was born in
Mason County, Ky., June 11, 1823. His mother was a sister of Jesse
R. Grant, father of General U. S. Grant. His promotion to a
Lieutenancy in the Regular Army, by President Polk, was in recognition
of his gallantry in action, being credited with having carried the flag
over the walls of Chapultepec. The engagement with the Indians, in
which he was wounded, was at Fort Hudson, on the Rio Grande River, in
Texas, which fort was named in his honor. He died at Fort
McIntosh, near Laredo, Tesas. (Appleton's Cycl. Amer. Biog.)
John C. Abercrombie. Third
Sergeant. (Iowa Historical Record list, First Sergeant.)
Enrolled April 7, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky. Born in
Perry County, Penn., Oct. 30, 1823. Parents removed to Miami
County, Ohio, in 1833. He came to Des Moines County, Iowa in 1841,
and settled at Burlington as a tailor. Enlisted for the Texan War,
under Captain Hight, and went to New Orleans. The war had ended in
Texas, the Company was disbanded at New Orleans, and he returned to
Burlington. His enlistment in Company K, of the Fifteenth, being
credited to Keosauqua is not understood, as his home was at Burlington.
Returned to Burlington after the Mexican War and adopted the profession
of dentistry. At the opening of the Civil War he was commissioned,
by Governor Kirkwood, First Lieutenant of Company E, First Iowa
Infantry, and discharged on the expiration of the three months' service
of that regiment. On the organization of the Eleventh Iowa
Infantry, he was commissioned Major of that regiment. He was
promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and Colonel, but the strength of the
regiment did not admit of his being commissioned as Colonel. He
became totally blind in 1869, and drew full pension of $72 per month for
that disability. Died at Burlington. [Biographical Album,
Des Moines County, Iowa, 1889, page 206.]
Fabrian Brydolf. Fourth
Sergeant. Enrolled April 14, 1847, at Burlington, Iowa, by
Lieutenant Bowie. Wounded at the battle of Churubusco.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky. Born in
Ostergothland, Sweden, Nov. 28, 1819. Son of Anders G. Brydolf, a
prominent Lutheran minister. Educated to the profession of
landscape painter and lived an artist's life until he emigrated to
America in 1841. He located at Cleveland, Ohio, where, finding no
encouragement for art, he took to sign and other painting. Came to
Burlington, Iowa, in 1846, as interpreter for a party of Swedes.
Returned to Burlington after the muster out of his regiment.
Served in the Civil War as Captain, Company I, Sixth Iowa Infantry.
Lost his right arm at the battle of Shiloh, April 6, 1862.
Promoted Lieutenant Colonel, Twenty-fifth Iowa Infantry, Sept. --, 1862.
Resigned to accept position as Lieutenant Colonel, Second Regiment,
Veteran Reserve Corps, Nov. 1, 1863. Mustered out July 1, 1866.
After two years' suffering from paralysis and loss of eyesight, he died
at Burlington, Iowa, Jan. 25, 1897. [Nella J. Brydolf, daughter,
Burlington, Iowa; Burlington Daily Hawkeye, January 26, 1897;
Iowa Adjutant General's Reports.]
Isaac W. Griffiths. First
Corporal. (Iowa Historical Record list, Sergeant.) Enrolled
May 1, 1847, at Fort Madison, Iowa, by Captain Guthrie. Mr.
Griffiths was discharged Oct. 27, 1847, for disability from wounds
received at Churubusco Aug. 20, 1847. (Right arm amputated.)
He was born at Farmington, Trumbull County, Ohio. Removed to Lee
County, Iowa, in 1839. Was Captain in the Territorial Militia from
March 30, 1843. Member of the Iowa Legislature 1848-49.
Bailiff in the Supreme Court of Iowa Territory 1839 to 1847.
Register U. S. Land Office, at Des Moines, April, 1858, to 1861.
Sheriff of Polk County, Iowa, 1861 to 1863. Coroner of Polk
County, Iowa, twenty consecutive years, 1873 to 1893. Door-keeper
U. S. Senate, three years, 1850 to 1853. Died at Des Moines, Iowa,
Jan. 10, 1897. [Aldrich Autograph Collection, Iowa Historical
Department, Des Moines, Iowa.]
Alexander Caldwell. Second
Corporal. (Iowa Historical Record list, Sergeant.) Enrolled
April 3, 1847, at Burlington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bowie. Mustered
out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
John Moyes. Third Corporal.
(Iowa Historical Record list, Sergeant.) Enrolled April 6, 1847,
at Fort Madison, Iowa, by Captain Guthrie. Mustered out with
Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
Isaiah B. Taylor. Fourth
Corporal. Enrolled April 3, 1847, at Fort Madison, Iowa, by
Captain Guthrie. Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at
Covington, Ky. (He was generally known in the company as "Zack"
Taylor.) [S. D. Thompson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.---survivor.]
Henry B. Anderson. Private.
Enrolled April 17, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutnenant Beckett.
Left sick at Hospital at Puebla, Mexico, Aug. 9, 1847. Died
October 9, 1847.
Jesse B. Barber. Private.
Enrolled April 12, 1847, at Fort Madison, Iowa, by Captain Guthrie.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
Daniel Bennett. Private.
Enrolled April 17, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Discharged Jan. 17, 1848, at Puebla, Mexico.
William Benton. Private.
Enrolled April 6, 1847, at Fort Madison, Iowa, by Captain Guthrie.
Left sick at Hospital at New Orleans, La., July 6, 1848.
Discharged Aug. 17, 1848. One of the squad enlisted by Thomas J.
McKean, Marion, Iowa, ex-Lieutenant U. S. Army. He lived in Marion
and engaged in harness making. After the war he removed to
Illinois, and is said to have served in an Illinois Regiment in the
Civil War. [S. D. Thompson, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.]
Samuel Bird. Private.
Enrolled April 12, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
Warren W. Bixby. Private.
Enrolled May 1, 1847, at Fort Madison, Iowa, by Captain Guthrie.
Died Oct. 22, 1847, at Puebla, Mexico.
Allen Blair. Private.
Enrolled April 14, 1847, at Bloomington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bennett.
Died July 13, 1847, in Hospital, at Perote, Mexico.
George W. Briggs. (Iowa
Historical Record list, Biggs.) Private. Enrolled April 12,
1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett. Died Oct. 8,
1847, at Puebla, Mexico. Residence in Pittsburg, Van Buren County,
Iowa. Born in New York State. Son of Uriah Biggs, a pioneer
surveyor and commissioner of the Des Moines River Improvement. He
was nineteen years of age when he enlisted. Came to Iowa in 1839.
[Hon. George C. Duffield, Pittsburg, Iowa.]
Isaiah Bringham. Private.
Enrolled April 23, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
Nathan Brown. Private.
Enrolled April 14, 1847, at Bloomington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bennett.
Died July 23, 1847, at Perote, Mexico.
Daniel Bruner. Private.
Enrolled April 20, 1847, at Burlington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bowie.
Died Aug. 8, 1847, at Perote, Mexico.
Peter B. Busart. Private.
Enrolled April 17, 1847, at Burlington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bowie. Died
Sept. 3, 1847, at Perote, Mexico.
John Butler. Private.
Enrolled April 7, 1847, at Burlington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bowie.
Left sick in Hospital, at Perote, Mexico, July 2, 1847. Died Aug.
3, 1847.
Samuel Carley. Private.
Enrolled April 22, 1847, at Burlington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bowie.
Died Nov. 1, 1847, in City of Mexico.
Stephen H. Carman. Private.
Enrolled April 21, 1847, at Galena, Ill., by Lieutenant Hall. [S.
D. Thompson says that this soldier and two others from Galena (Finch and
Munsen) were enlisted at Muscatine by Thomas J. McKean.] Mustered
out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
David Casady. Private.
Enrolled April 24, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Died Oct. 25, 1847, in Hospital, at Chapultepec, Mexico.
Oscar Cave. Private.
Enrolled April 28, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
Andrew J. Cavern. Private.
Enrolled April 16, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Died Sept. 1, 1847, at Puebla, Mexico.
James W. Chambers. Private.
Enrolled April 23, 1847, at Bloomington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bennett.
Died July 29, 1847, at Vera Cruz, Mexico.
James Christian. Private.
Enrolled April 26, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Left sick at Vera Cruz June 2, 1847. No further record found.
Swein Clark. Enrolled April
13, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett. Died Sept.
23, 1847, at Puebla, Mexico.
Stephen S. Cooper. Private.
Enrolled April 12, 1847, at Burlington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bowie.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky. Was a
member of the Des Moines County Volunteers, No. 1, organized at
Burlington, Iowa, with Frederick D. Mills as Captain.
Thomas Courtney. Private.
Enrolled April 23, 1847, at Fort Madison, Iowa, by Captain Guthrie.
Residence five miles from Marion, Linn County, Iowa. One of the
squad enlisted by Thomas McKean. Left sick in Hospital at Perote,
Mexico, July 2, 1847. Died Aug. 2, 1847.
James L. Cox. Private.
Enrolled April 23, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Died July 31, 1847, at Perote, Mexico.
John M. Cresswell. Private.
(Iowa Historical Record list, Corporal.) Enrolled April 23, 1847,
at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett. Mustered out with
Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
Daniel W. Crowder. Private.
Enrolled April 21, 1847, at Bloomington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bennett.
Killed Sept. 10, 1847, at Piedad, Mexico, by cannon shot, while on
picket guard.
Edwin R. Cutler. Private.
Enrolled April 12, 1847, at Keosauqua, Iowa, by Lieutenant Beckett.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky. Born in
Boston, Mass., in 1816. Brother of Elisha Cutler, who was the
first Secretary of State of the State of Iowa, in 1846. Came to
Iowa in 1841. Treasurer of Van Buren County, Iowa, in 1849.
Recorder in 1851. Emigrated to Oregon in 1852, where he was frozen
to death on a flat-boat on the Columbia River, which became frozen in
the stream. [George C. Duffield, Pittsburg, Iowa; Capt. V.
P. Twombly, Des Moines, Iowa.]
Charles D. Davis. Private.
Enrolled April 26, 1847, at Bloomington, Iowa, by Lieutenant Bennett.
Mustered out with Company Aug. 4, 1848, at Covington, Ky.
[Thompson says he was one of McKean's recruits, and lived in Linn County
after the war.]
Edmund Derrick. Private.
|
