Not Till Then Can the World Know

Civil War battle scene
The Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana, April 9, 1864. Courtesy of Library of Congress.

When the graves shall open, and the sea give up its dead, and the secrets of all hearts be revealed, then, and not till then, can the world know what the many thousands of brave Iowans engaged in the service of their country have endured.

—Col. John Scott, 32d Iowa

Media page

Valentine L. Spawr, a 28-year-old husband, father and carpenter in Clarksville, Iowa, enlisted in the 14th Iowa Infantry volunteers of the Union Army in 1862. He was mustered in to Company C May 2, 1863, and after training ended up at Fort Halleck, a  fortification on the Mississippi River near Columbus, Kentucky. His regiment was moved down the Mississippi in January, and he spent most of 1864 marching and fighting in the Trans-Mississippi Theater of the American Civil War.

The Book

Part 1 of Not Till Then consists of the diary Spawr kept at Fort Halleck from June to September 1863. He describes the place and his routines as a member of the regimental color guard, criticizes his camp mates, speculates about rumors of imminent rebel attacks, and complains about missing home and family. He’s hospitalized with dysentery, goes on tramps through the countryside, makes friends with the regimental chaplain (commenting that he’s never liked ministers before), and witnesses the hanging of some of the convicted murderers from Island No. 10.

Spawr’s diary ends in September 1863, so Part 2 of the book was compiled from the eyewitness accounts of others who would have been in the same place at the same time: officers’ reports of battles, letters to Iowa newspapers, diaries of others, and memories published years later in newspapers and books. The 14th Iowa became part of the Third Division of the 16th Army Corps at the beginning of 1864. It participated in Major General William Tecumseh Sherman’s Meridian Expedition (a trial run for the March to the Sea later that year), General Nathaniel Banks’s Red River Expedition and the Battle of Pleasant Hill, Louisiana (which even today some say the North won and others say the South won), and the valiant but unsuccessful defense of the fort at Pilot Knob against General Sterling Price’s invasion of Missouri. The 14th Iowa was in the Second Brigade of the Third Division; its commander, Colonel William T. Shaw, was the organizer and original commander of the 14th. The book includes the controversy over Shaw’s public criticism of General Banks after the battle of Pleasant Hill and his resulting dismissal from the Army.

When Spawr enlisted in 1862, he was actually joining a replacement company. The original Companies A-C had been sent off to Dakota Territory as soon as the 14th was originally formed in 1861 and had had to be replaced. The remaining seven original companies had fought at Shiloh in 1862 and been held as prisoners of war for months afterward. The 1861-1862 portions of the 14th Iowa’s history are not included here.

The book contains notes, citations, maps, illustrations, and a roster of the three replacement companies (A-C) of the 14th Iowa. The paperback version is indexed.

Now available on Amazon.

L. Spencer Busch

Index

A

ague, 66, 81, 82

Alexandria, LA, 101, 113, 184, 187

Arcadia Valley, MO, 208

Army of the Gulf, 99

Army of the Tennessee, 90, 99

Army of the Tennessee detachment, 130, 157, 167, 187

Asboth, Alexander, 10, 64

Atchafalaya, 101, 188, 191

Aurner, Hiram, 170

Avoyelles, 106

B

Bagby, Arthur P., 135

Baldwin, James, 190

Banks, Nathaniel P., 91, 99, 114, 117, 118, 119, 120, 122, 123, 126, 131, 137, 155, 159, 160, 171, 172, 190

Banks’s army, 121, 132, 134, 136, 159, 183, 186, 187, 189, 192

Bartal, John, 96

Baylor, George Wythe, 149

Bayou des Glaises, 102, 103, 105, 178, 189

Beckwith, Henry W., 82

Bee, Hamilton P., 134, 135, 139, 142, 146

Belmont, IL, battlefield, 26

Benedict, Lewis, 130, 133, 146

Benson, Solon F., 142, 164

bloody flux, 14, 65

Boylan, Cornelius, 96

Boyle, James “Jimmy,” 211

Braden, John C., 185, 231

Buchel, Augustus, 135, 139, 146

Buckmaster. Fred, 96

Bullock, Judge, 12, 68

Burke, Orville, 109, 182, 193, 206, 239

C

Cairo, IL, 4, 82, 205

Caledonia, MO, 225

Camp Ford, 166

Campbell, George, 170

Campbell, William J., 199, 209, 211, 213, 215, 218, 221, 223

Campti, 182

Cavalry, Army of the Gulf, 117, 118, 121, 122, 124, 126

chain across the Mississippi, 25, 254

Childers mansion, 164

Churchill, Thomas James, 134, 135, 139, 146

Clark, Meroni, 170

Clarksville, IA, 1

Clinton, KY, 25, 68

color bearer, 3, 232

color guard, 3, 49, 231

colors, 50, 61, 209, 219, 234, 253

Columbus, KY, 4, 9, 82

contrabands, 67, 71, 73

Corinth, battle of, 2, 90, 254

Corps d’Afrique, 117, 118, 126, 131, 136

Cotile Landing, LA, 114, 184

Crane, Leroy A., 188

Cummins, John R., 222

D

Davenport, IA, 1, 4, 205

Davenport, William, 200, 205

Davidson, Christopher, 80, 81

Davidson, Thomas L., 190

Debray, Xavier, 135, 139, 144

Delano, John H., 219

Department of the Gulf, 91

deserter, 48

deserters, 45, 89

diarrhea, chronic, 21

Dicken, Stephen M., 170

discharge controversy, 245

Dwight, William, 125, 131, 132, 133, 136, 139, 151, 176, 179

Dykeman, Edgar, 31

E

Eberhart, G. A., 190

Emory, William H., 117, 122, 123, 125, 130, 131, 176, 179

Ewing, Thomas, Jr., 209, 213, 215, 217, 218, 226

F

Fagan, J. F., 207, 210

Fechter, Cornelius, 203

Fiftieth Missouri Infantry, 209

First Kansas Battery, 55

First Missouri Militia, 209

Fisher, Irving, 67

Fisk, Andrew, 96

Fitzgerald, Richard, 203

Fletcher, Thomas, 210

foraging, 91, 93, 102, 113, 182, 185, 207, 232

Fort Donelson, 2, 50

Fort Halleck, KY, 4

Fort Morgan, 103

Forty-Seventh Missouri Infantry, 209, 228

Fourth Missouri Cavalry, 16, 22, 53, 75

Fourth U.S. Heavy Artillery Colored., 74

Franklin, MO, 239

Franklin, William B., 121

Fyan, Robert W., 131

G

Gambell, John, 170

George, William H., 170

Gibson, William J., 35

Gilbert, James I., 110, 132, 195

Gilbert, James, brigade, 201

Glen, Edward, 24

Gorman, John, 170

Grand Ecore, LA, 114, 126, 129, 169, 175, 176, 181

Grand Ecore, LA., 159

Granger, Charles T., 152

Graves, Cyrus B., 21, 35, 39, 40

Green, Thomas, 134, 135, 139, 146

H

hanging, 77, 78, 83

Hanson, Joseph, 236

Harrisburg, MS. See Tupelo, MS

Harrison, MO, 226, 229

Hawley, Levi P., 204

Hayden, 24

Hickle, Jacob, 38

Hickman, KY, 50, 51

Hoffbauer, Hugo, 125, 138, 141, 144

Holmes, Allen E., 170

Hudson, IL, 1, 27

Hurlbut, Stephen A., 55, 90

I

Ingersoll, Lurton Dunham, 177

Iron Brigade, 90

Ironton, Missouri, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213

Island No. 10 murders, 78

Isle Brevelle, 183

J

Jefferson Barracks, MO, 206, 239

Jones, Warren C., 151, 188

K

Kerr, John, 200

Kiner, Frederick F., 16, 31, 34, 42, 43, 53, 57, 65, 74, 252

Kingsbury, Winfield S., 170

L

LaGrange, TN, 198, 204

Lake Village, AR, 196, 198

Lamson, Earl J., 233

Lavender, Leonard, 83

Leasburg, MO, 226

Lee, Albert L., 117

Leyle, Joseph R., 170

Litscher, Christian, 200

Lucas, Thomas J., 168

Lucas, William V., 211, 212, 226, 234, 235

Lynch, William F., 130, 152

M

Major, James P., 135, 146, 148, 150

Mansura, LA, 105

March, Alaxander, 24

Marksville, 109, 188

Marmaduke, J. S., 207, 210, 225, 233

Martin, Azariah, 216

McAllister, Asahel, 96

McCall, T. C., 111, 173

McKean, Francis, 170

McMillan, James W., 131, 176, 179

McPherson, James B., 91

Meier, Henry, 171

Miles, Herman A., 4, 62, 67, 181, 252

Milks, H. B., 229

Miller, John C., 96

Mississippi Squadron, 104

Moore, David, 199

Morrison, David, 170

Mower, Joseph A., 100, 103, 109, 130, 153, 185, 188, 189, 196

Mowfield, William, 222

Murph, David, 219

Murphy, David, 218

Myers, John, 170

N

Natchitoches, 183

Negro Regiment, 67, 73, 75

Negroes, 20, 28, 73, 75

Nergo, John, 232

Newbold, Joseph H., 54, 90, 108, 109, 131, 151

Nicol, Alexander F., 170

Nineteenth Army Corps, 118, 121, 122, 123, 126, 130, 131, 159, 171

Ninth Indiana Battery, 189

O

O’Brien, Edward, 170

Old River Lake, Arkansas, 196

Old Town Creek, Arkansas, 201

Oxford, Mississippi, 205

P

Parker, Sydney, 170

Parmenter, William W., 170

Parsons, Mosby M., 134, 135, 139

Peterson, Cyrus, 236

Polignac, Camille J., 134, 135

Post McClellan, 4

Price, Sterling, 11, 206, 207, 210, 236

prison, military, Columbus, Ky., 72

prisoners, rebel, 72

Q

quinine, 23

R

Raney, 48

Ransom, Thomas E. G., 117

Red River, 99, 100, 101, 102, 104, 117, 133, 185, 187, 191

Red River Campaign, 91, 99, 169, 192

Ritland, John, 141, 145, 172

Roberts, Myron L., 30, 171, 181, 252

Rolla, Missouri, 207, 233, 235

Rosecrans, William S., 206

Ruth, Steamer, 53, 57

S

Sanitary Commission, U.S., 85, 206

Scott, John, 132, 160

Second Missouri Militia, 209

Seventeenth Army Corps, 91, 92, 100, 106, 113, 184

Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, 234

Shaw, William T., 2, 90, 105, 106, 107, 121, 131, 132, 136, 137, 143, 146, 150, 157, 174, 177, 179, 189, 190, 192, 195, 239, 253

Shaw, William T., brigade, 182, 189, 190, 191

Shelby, Joseph O., 207, 226, 233

Shepherd Mountain, MO, 208, 214, 215, 216

Sherman, William Tecumseh, 90, 91

Shiloh, 2, 50

Shmidt, Peter D., 113

Simmesport, 102, 188, 191

Sixteenth Army Corps, 90, 91, 92, 96, 103, 117, 118, 120, 126, 130, 131, 169, 181, 196, 206

Sixteenth Wisconsin, 75

Sloper, David, 170

Smith, Andrew Jackson, 64, 90, 99, 103, 104, 106, 107, 113, 117, 119, 120, 122, 124, 126, 130, 146, 150, 152, 155, 172, 199

Smith, Charles C., 171

Smith, E. Kirby, 168

Smith, Franklin S., 10, 47, 59, 64, 68

Smith, T. Kilby, 106

Smith, Whitey (Andrew Jackson), 124

Smith’s Guerrillas, 124

soldiers home, 85

Sonash, George, 38

South Branch Railroad, 208

Spawr, Clara, 1, 80

Spawr, Elizabeth, 1

Spawr, Ella, 1, 73

Spawr, Irena Margaret Neighbarger, 1, 27, 63, 73, 80

Spawr, Peter R. and Elizabeth (Messer), 1

Spawr, Valentine L., 1, 181, 185, 245, 251

Springfield, MO, 207

Staples, G. M., 137

Steakley, James C., 219, 230

Stone, Charles P., 137

Stoughton, William, 4, 12, 15, 62, 71, 72, 73, 75, 76

Stuart, Addison A., 177, 248

Summers, J. T., 178

Sutton, Lewis, 224, 227

Sweeney, Charles, 170

T

Taylor, Richard, 118, 133, 134, 136, 138, 139, 157, 185

Tenth Kansas, 228

Third Arkansas Infantry, 76

Third Indiana Battery, 106, 107

Third Missouri Militia Cavalry, 228

Thirteenth Army Corps, 118, 121, 122, 124, 126

Thirty-First Wisconsin Infantry, 21, 34, 35, 38, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 75

Thirty-Second Iowa Infantry, 15, 16, 24, 40, 43, 58, 75, 90, 108, 132, 146, 148, 151, 153, 160, 170, 175, 197

Thomas, Samuel, 104

Thompson, Smith, 218

Thorp, Charles I., 222

Trans-Mississippi Department, 192

Tupelo, MS, 198

Turner, George, 170, 200

Twenty-Fifth New York Battery, 131, 138

Twenty-Fourth Missouri Infantry, 90, 107, 131, 132, 143, 148, 151

Twenty-Seventh Iowa Infantry, 90, 107, 109, 131, 146, 195, 201

Tyler, Edwin E., 232

U

Underwood, Albert, diary, 94

Union City, TN, 49, 54, 55

V

Van Dyke, Ben, 163, 165

Vanduzer, James M., 200

Vicksburg, MS, 89, 191, 192

W

  1. L. Ewing, steamship, 196

Walker, John George, 134, 135, 137, 139, 146, 150

Western Sanitary Commission, 192

Wilcox, Austin, 38

Wilkinson, H. C., 217

William L. Ewing, steamship, 100

Wilson, James, 209

Wilson, Thomas, 211, 213, 215

Winchell, Lyford H., 36, 59

Y

Yellow Bayou, 103, 188, 189, 191

Z

Zink, George W., 170