Download Item 5: First Regiment of Iowa African Infantry with Study Question

Patriotic Service: The Civil War Service of the
First Regiment of Iowa African Infantry
Iowa’s heroic contribution to the Union victory in the Civil War is well-documented.
The State furnished 46 infantry regiments, 9 cavalry regiments, and 4 batteries of artillery for the
Union war effort. Seventy-six thousand Iowa soldiers served. Twenty-seven received the Medal
Honor. Thirteen thousand died. By the end of the war, Iowa had the highest percentage of
volunteer enlistments of any state in the North.
These are impressive accomplishments. However, one truly unique military organization
is frequently overlooked in summaries of Iowa’s Civil War achievements. That organization is
the First Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment of African Descent. The neglect can be attributed to
the fact that the regiment was eventually redesignated the Sixtieth Regiment, United States
Colored Troops. However, six of the Regiment’s ten companies and approximately 700 of its
1,153 personnel were free black men from Iowa.
The remainder or the Regiment, which
included numerous escaped slaves, was recruited in Missouri.
On 22 May 1863, the War Department issued General Order No. 143, which established
the Bureau of Colored Troops. Fifteen states, including Iowa, raised black volunteer regiments.
By 1865, over 180,000 black soldiers and sailors had served the Union cause. The response of
Iowa’s African American population to this call to arms was truly overwhelming. In 1863,
Iowa’s entire black population numbered only around 1,500. From this number, over 700 black
men volunteered for service. Those 700 brave men represented almost every man of African
descent in the State who was capable of performing military service. (Dyer, Frederick H.,
Compendium of the War of the Rebellion, 1908, p. 1733) Black men from across the State were
represented in the ranks of the First Iowa African Infantry. Approximately a third of the
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Regiment gave Keokuk or Lee County as their place of residence.
Others hailed from
Davenport, Des Moines, Newton, Iowa City, and Keosauqua. (Morris, William S., “Black
Iowans in Defense of the Nation” in Outside In: African American History in Iowa, State
Historical Society of Iowa, 2001)
Alexander Clark of Muscatine was initially appointed as the Regiment’s sergeant major
but failed the physical because of an old leg injury. Nevertheless, when the Regiment was
officially organized on 27 July 1863, “Clark was on hand to present the Regiment with its
national banner, sewn by the black women of Keokuk and Muscatine.” (Morris, p. 97)
For the majority of its service, the Regiment performed garrison duty at Helena,
Arkansas. The Regiment did engage in one major battle, the Battle of Wallace’s Ferry in July
1864. A portion of the regiment, organized as a 360-man reconnaissance force, encountered a
greatly superior Confederate force under the command of General Joseph Selby. In a fierce fivehour battle, the men of the 60th Regiment endured alternating artillery salvos and infantry
charges. Seven members of the force were killed, including the commander, Adjutant Theodore
W. Pratt of Keokuk.
Just before what might have been the final Confederate charge, a
detachment of the 15th Illinois Cavalry broke through the rebel encirclement and opened up a
route for withdrawal. “Gathering up their dead and wounded, the (men of the 60th) now began a
retreat, stubbornly yielding inch by inch, each foot of ground, until night threw a mantle of
darkness over the scene and the Confederates ceased firing.” (Dykstra, Robert R., Bright Radical
Star: Black Freedom and White Supremacy on the Hawkeye Frontier, Harvard University Press,
1993, pp. 197-198)
The white commander of the black artillery battery attached to the 60th Regiment filed the
following after-action report:
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During the whole fight, the colored men stood up to their duty like veterans, and it was
owing to their strong arms and cool heads, backed by fearless daring, alone that I was
able to get away with either of my guns. They marched eighteen miles, fought five
hours, against three to one, and were as eager at the end as at the beginning of the fight.
Never did men under such circumstances show greater pluck of daring. (Dykstra, p. 198)
While there were no Medal of Honor recipients in the First Iowa Infantry of African
Descent, the Hawkeye State did become home to one black winner of the nation’s highest award
for bravery in combat. James Daniel Gardner of Yorktown, Virginia enlisted in the Second
North Carolina Colored Infantry, which was redesignated the 36th Infantry Regiment, U. S.
Colored Troops in 1864. In September 1864, the Regiment took part in the Second Battle of
New Market Heights near Richmond, Virginia. With his inexperienced troops pinned down by
heavy Confederate rifle fire, Colonel John Draper could not rally the 36th to resume its advance.
“At last, Private Gardner rose from his position to lead the assault with loud yelling and a fixed
bayonet, and his comrades followed him into the jaws of death, inspiring the brigade to boldly
storm the Confederate positions.” (Morris, p. 100) On 6 April 1865, Gardner was among twelve
black soldiers awarded the Medal of Honor for bravery in the battle.
After the war, Gardner moved to Ottumwa, Iowa. In September 1905, Gardner was
buried in an unmarked grave in Calvary Cemetery in Ottumwa. He was not forgotten, however.
On 4 July 1994, “a monument was erected in his honor by the Medal of Honor Historical
Society, in cooperation with the Wapello County Historical Society, the Ottumwa Civil War
Roundtable, and the Ottumwa Cemetery Trustees.” (Morris, p. 100)
Historian Frederick Dyer in his Compendium of the War of the Rebellion (1908) explains
the exceptional heroism of black soldiers in all the Union armies with the following statement:
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“They (black soldiers), of all men, were offered the greatest inducement to enlist, for the time
had come when the success of Union arms meant freedom for their race.”
(Note: Volume V of the Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion
includes the names of the soldiers who served in the First Iowa African Infantry. This valuable
resource is located in the research library of the Sullivan Brothers Iowa Veterans Museum in
Waterloo.)
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Patriotic Service: The Civil War Service of the
First Regiment of Iowa African Infantry
1. The First Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment of African Descent was also known as the
Sixtieth Regiment, United States Colored Troops. Seven hundred of the Regiment’s
soldiers came from Iowa. From where was the remainder of the Regiment recruited?
2. What was especially amazing about the number (700) of black solders recruited in Iowa?
3. In what important battle did the 60th Regiment participate in July 1864?
How many of its men were killed?
4. For what heroic action did James Daniel Gardner receive the Medal of Honor?
Where did Mr. Gardner live after the Civil War?
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