McCarty, Senator Fullenwider, formerly a loyal Whig, had cast his vote for Mitchell. Thus, since thirty votes on the joint ballot were required for a majority, no election occurred. A scene bordering on panic ensued. The Democrats, fearful lest a second ballot would result in their defeat, called loudly for an adjournment. Order was finally restored by an appeal on the part of Mr. Benton for the retirement of the members of the Senate from the convention.69 Thereupon the two houses adjourned until January 5, 1847.70 During the short recess of the General Assembly, which began on the following day, both parties carefully laid their plans for the election of their respective candidates. In the meantime Senator Huner decided to enter the contest as a Democratic candidate against Augustus Caesar Dodge." He unfolded his plan to Mr. Clifton; for, since Representative Conlee had died during the time of adjournment, it was evident that Huner and Clifton could determine the result on the joint ballot. The Democrats, however, were not inclined to favor Senator Huner's plan. On January 5, 1847, the House informed the Senate that they were ready to receive the members of the upper house in joint convention for the purpose of electing United States Senators. The appointed hour arrived, but the Senators did not appear. The Democrats, being in control of the Senate and realizing the impossibility of electing their own candidates, had determined to prevent the election of Whigs by refusing to go into joint convention. And so 69 Clark's History of the Election of United States Senators from Iowa (unpublished manuscript). 70 Journal of the House of Representatives, 1846-1847, p. 58. 71 Clark's History of the Election of United States Senators from Iowa (unpublished manuscript). 72 Reuben Conlee died in Iowa City on December 23, 1846. 73 Journal of the House of Representatives, 1846-1847, p. 110. throughout the remainder of the session the Senate stubbornly refused to concur with the House in efforts to hold a joint convention. At the August election in 1847 a Democrat 74 was chosen to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Reuben Conlee. This naturally kindled the hopes of the Democratic party. Governor Briggs called a special session of the legislature for the election of United States Senators.75 But the Whig majority in the House played the role of the Democrats at the last regular session and refused to go into joint convention with the Senate; and therefore an election was prevented at this special session. Indeed, it was not until December 7, 1848, that an election of Senators occurred, when Augustus C. Dodge and George W. Jones were each chosen by a vote of 38 to 19.76 Thus, the new State of Iowa was for two years without representation in the United States Senate. THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA ETHYL E. MARTIN IOWA CITY 74 D. S. Baker. 75 This session convened on January 3, 1848, by order of Governor Briggs's proclamation of December 3, 1847.-See Shambaugh's Messages and Proclamations of the Governors of Iowa, Vol. I, pp. 377, 378. 76 Journal of the House of Representatives, 1848-1849, p. 29; Journal of the Senate, 1848-1849, pp. 24-25. THE BATTLE OF SHILOH [Iowa has special interest in the battle of Shiloh for several reasons. It had more men in the battle, in proportion to population, than any other State. The Iowa regiments engaged (all infantry) were: Second, Third, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Sixteenth eleven in all. Besides these, there were three companies from Iowa (F, I, K) in the Twenty-fifth Missouri, which was the regiment that furnished the reconnoitering party sent out on Sunday morning, April 6th. The Sixth Iowa Regiment claims the distinction of being the first regiment to disembark at Pittsburg Landing, and the Eighth claims the distinction of being the last regiment to retire from the line in the Hornets' Nest. Five Iowa regiments were in the Hornets' Nest and three of the number (Eighth, Twelfth, and Fourteenth) were captured. All of the other Iowa regiments were in the thick of the fight on Sunday, and each maintained the honor of the State. Before the close of the war there were many promotions of both officers and men from among those engaged at Shiloh, and several attained civil distinction during and after the war. Major Wm. M. Stone (Third Regiment) and Lieutenant Buren R. Sherman (Thirteenth Regiment) served the State as Governors. Sherman served as Auditor of State three terms before becoming Governor. Major W. W. Belknap (Fifteenth Regiment) became Secretary of War, and Lieutenant David B. Henderson (Twelfth Regiment), after long service in the lower house of Congress, became Speaker. Many others engaged in the battle from Iowa served the State in the General Assembly, in Congress, and in other official stations of responsibility.-EDITOR.] No apology is offered for the appearance of another paper on the Battle of Shiloh, for the reason that the last word to be said on the subject has not been said, and indeed will not have been said until the last serious misrepresentation, made through ignorance, prejudice, malice, or for any other reason, has been corrected. It is not in the thought of the writer that he will be able to contribute additional facts to the literature of the subject; but it is hoped that the facts may be so grouped and illustrated as to leave a clearer picture of the battle in the mind of the reader. As far as the writer knows the movements of the battle on Sunday, April 6, 1862, have not heretofore been illus trated except by means of one general map, showing progressive movements of the battle lines throughout the day. Such a map can be little better than a puzzle-picture to the general reader. The original map from which the tracings were made to illustrate the Battle of Shiloh was prepared under direction of the Shiloh National Military Park Commission, to accompany its account of the battle, entitled The Battle of Shiloh and the Organizations Engaged, compiled from official records by Major D. W. Reed, Historian and Secretary of the Commission. To insure accuracy in the original map, the field was carefully platted by the Commission's engineer, Mr. Atwell Thompson, and the camps and battle lines were located by Major D. W. Reed, after an exhaustive study of official documents, aided by the recollections of scores of officers and men engaged in the battle on the respective sides. The reader must remember, however, that the lines were never for a moment stationary, so that it would be a physical impossibility to represent them correctly at short intervals of time. The analysis here given of the general map published by the Commission, it is believed, will aid materially in understanding the battle. Though not offering an apology for this paper, the writer is disposed to justify its appearance somewhat by referring briefly by way of introduction, to a few illustrative errors and misrepresentations sought to be corrected, pointing out some of the so-called histories and memoirs where they are to be found. Of course it is not to be presumed that these errors and misrepresentations were intentional: they are due mainly to two causes to the "smart" newspaper correspondent, whose main object was sensation; and to the unreliable historian whose main weakness was indolence in searching for facts. Prejudice may in a few cases have contributed to the pollution of the historic stream. Special acknowledgements are due from the writer to Major D. W. Reed, Secretary and Historian of the Shiloh National Military Park Commission, for valuable suggestions in the preparation of this paper. The writer is also under obligations to Lieutenant Wm. J. Hahn of Omaha, Nebraska, a member of the Twenty-fifth Missouri, who was of the Major Powell reconnoitering party, sent out by Colonel Peabody on Sunday morning, April 6th; and also to T. W. Holman of Rutledge, Missouri, who was a member of the Twenty-first Missouri Infantry and was with the regiment when it went out to reënforce the reconnoitering party and the pickets. INTRODUCTION One of the worst as it was one of the first of the sensational stories of the Battle of Shiloh put in historic form was the account by Horace Greeley in his American Conflict. The camp at Pittsburg Landing before the battle is likened to a Methodist campmeeting, and the Union army on Sunday morning is represented as a "bewildered, half-dressed,. helpless, coatless, musketless mob”, upon which the enemy sprang "with the bayonet". This account has Prentiss's division "routed before it had time to form a line of battle;" and Sherman's division is "out of the fight by 8 o'clock"." J. S. C. Abbott in his story of the Battle of Shiloh as given in his two-volume History of the Civil War, gathered his material from the same sensational sources and he used it in the same sensational way as did Mr. Greeley. A more pretentious work, which appeared much later, was Scribners' History of the United States in five volumes. This work appeared after original sources of information had become easily accessible; and yet in its account of the 1 Greeley's The American Conflict, Vol. II, pp. 58-61. |