31 January 2021
New Home for an Old Book!
For a number of years, Don Ziegler of Virginia had owned a scarce original copy of "Reminiscences of the Twenty-Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry" by Samuel Calvin Jones. He felt it was time to find a new and appreciative home for it.
"Reminiscences" was first published in 1907, and copies of that original edition rarely surface. (The book was re-published in 1992 by Camp Pope Publishing in Iowa City.) Jones himself was one of the great stories of the Regiment, rising from Private, to command of Company "A" as a Captain. At his death in 1932, he was the last surviving officer of the Regiment. And until the publication of "Vanishing Footprints: the 22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War" in 2008, Jones' work stood as the only available full-length book describing the history of the Regiment.
After making contact with the State Historical Society of Iowa in Des Moines this month, Don was able to arrange a gift of his volume. The staff at the SHSI was thrilled to enlarge their collection with a volume they didn't have.
What a great outcome! Thanks to Don for promoting the spirit of history.
13 December 2020
William Bozic of the National Park Service is preparing a book about the Federal occupation of Indianola, Texas in late 1863 and early 1864. The 22nd Iowa was in Texas and Louisiana from August 1863 to July 1864, and occupied Indianola, as part of the "Army of the Gulf" -- suffering more from weather and marching fatigue than the occasional Confederate. William was kind enough to pass along images of various sites in that area, where the 22nd Iowa fought, camped or passed through.
Star Fort, Berwick City (now Morgan City), Louisiana
The 22nd arrived in Berwick City on 25 September 1863, and camped on the Bayou Teche. The regiment is believed to have assembled near Star Fort in preparation for an expedition to Vermilionville, hoping to act as a a feint to draw Confederate forces from elsewhere.
Vermilionville, Louisiana
The plantation home of pre-War Louisiana governor Alexandre Mouton stood here during the Civil War; the site is now occupied by a prep school. The 22nd was detailed briefly to guard the plantation house in October 1863, during its expedition. The oak trees had been planted by Mouton's wife.
Along the Bayou Teche, near New Iberia, Louisiana
William thinks the 22nd was camping somewhere in the vicinity of this photo, on the opposite bank, in early November 1863 -- shortly before leaving for Texas.
Chocolate Bayou, near Port Lavaca, Texas
"So well directed was the fire [of two Federal cannons]...the whole line broke and retreated at full speed...we taught them a lesson that day that I do not think they will forget for a time to come." (Lt. Taylor Peirce, Company "C", 22nd Iowa, from "Dear Catharine, Dear Taylor" (2002)).
On 26 December 1863, the 22nd was positioned in the left background of the photo; to its left was the Norris Bridge, a modern version of which stands today.
Indianola, Texas
The 22nd was stationed in Indianola from early January to mid-March 1864. Hurricanes have washed away much of the 19th-century town. This marker was once on the far edge of Indianola from the Bay of Mexico.