Newspaper clippings, 1861-1930, Vol. 7

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THE «'IRON BRIQADE."
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A Review of the History of tie Brigade and the Circumstances by wHicb It Got Its I^amc.
Conuade    W.   H.  Adkius^Cp.    I,    19th Ind.,   writes r'~^*irei-e   has   perhaps   been no   lirij-iule   in   the    United    States   army whii'h  Jiii.s  bcp'-i more discussed and  more. fr<>(|uentl,v nunirioned in newspaper articles hpd  histories  of   tho  war of  tke rebellion | 'than the 'Iron   Brigade,' and   during   all! this  time   there  bas  been   continnally   go¬ ing on a contenriou betweei* cer'-ajn New York  and   Wisconsin  comrade.^  as   to  the identity  of   tlia   brigade,   its   number  and components.    Now, in this contention both parties are con'eet; for, i)i^vious to June, iSii'd, the Finst Brigade of the Fir.st Divi- .sion of the Fii-st-t.'or))s, Ariuy of the Po- , tomac,  was ooinposed  of  the  14th  Brook-; lyu   (or S4th  N.  \'.), 22d, 24th and 30th X. y., and 2d Berdan Sharpshooters, com- j miinded  in   the-order  named  by  Gens.  13.1 I). Keys, e. <;. Augur, .lolyi P. Hateli and ' Walter Phelps : wliilc the Fourth Brigade, n the same divi.sion  wa.s composed oE  the id, Uth and Tth Wis. and 19th lud., from he Fall of IStit to Oct., 1802, at which time the 24th Mich, wa.s added to it, which five regiments oon.stiruted the brigade dur¬ ing its entire or.iraniKation, or until .Tunc, '8(54, when the 2d Wis. was mustered out y expir^ition of service, and the 19th Ind. •as at its exi>:ration of -service and reen- , ..stnient consolidated,   with   certain   other ' Indiana reghnenis. with the 20th Ind.    In (June,  18(5'},   the New  York  regiments,  ex- jccpt the 14th Brooklyn   (Red Leg.s), being ! two yenr.s' men, were mustered out on  ac¬ count of expiration of service; the brigade organization therefore cea.sed to exist. Tho remaining   regiment,   14th   Brooklyn,   wasj ' transt'rrred to the Second Brigade, former-] ly connnan'i.od by Men.  Doubleday, but at t'liat   time  commanded  by   (ien.   Lysander Cutler,   formerly  (.'olonel  of  the  0th Wis. After  this time,  and  during the organiza¬ tion  of  the   First  Corps,  the  First  Divi¬ sion   wa.s compased  of  only  two brigades. '. The  Fir.st  Brigade being made  up  of the ' 2d, (Ith and 7rh Wi.s., 10th Ind. and 24th ; .^^f•h., and the Second Brigade of the THth, ; 9.".th.   147rh   X.   Y.,   and   14th    Brooklyn^ (N. Y.), oikh Pa. and 7th Ind.—these 11! I regiments   cnnsritiiting   Wadsworth's  Divi-.; ' .siou.    The foregoing statements as to the I organization   and   numbering   of   the   two brigfides   in   the   formation   of   the  Third Divi.sion.  Fir.st  Corp."*, Army of the  Poto- mar, about  which there has been such a long and heated discussion is correct, and can be verified by reference to records and history.
"As   to   which   of   these   brigades has the  legitimate   right  to   be  known  as  the 'Iron Brigade,' a.s  a  member  of that or¬ ganization  I  beg leave  to submit the  fol¬ lowing   statement   of   facts:     Up   to   the; time   of   the   battle   of   South    Mountain, ! Sept. 14, 1802. at which battle it earned j and acquired the. right to ,that name, the brigade  had  been  known   a.s   the  'Fourth 'brigade,'  'King'.s Brigade,*  'Gibbon's Bri¬ de,  and   tbe  'Black   Hat   Brigade'—the
brl^de wearing, what at that time, was the Regular Army hat. Early in this bat¬ tle (iens. ;McClellan and Hooker, the lat¬ ter then commanding the First Corp.s, were reconnoitering the i-ebel lines. ^ when Gen. McClellan remarked: 'Gen. Hooker, if 1 had an "Iron Brigade" I coii4d pierce the enemy'.s center, by taking the gorge on the pike.' Gen. Hooker leplied: 'Gen. Mc¬ Clellan, I have that brigade in my com¬ mand.' Thereupon Gen. Hooker detached Gibbon's Brigade from Hatch',s Division and assigned to it the duty of taking the pas.s. thereby piercing the enemy's center. Tho.se participating in that battle know how gallantly the pass was won, after sev¬ eral liour.s of a sanguinary struggle, last¬ ing until 9 o'clock at night, during which the brigade suffered a loss of 309 men out of about 1.200 in action. The late Gen. .Tohu B. Callis. formerly of the Tth Wis., in a letter said : 'Gon. ]McClel1an told me at the Continental Hotel in Philadelphia what he knew of the origin of the name "Iron Brigade."' 'It was during the bat¬ tle of South ^[ountain, my headquarters w-ere where I could .see ever.v move of the troops on the i)ike. W'ith my glass, I saw the men fi.ghting against great odds. When Gen. Hooker came, in great haste, for orders, I asked him what men those V, el 0 fighting on the pike. He said : 'Gen. Gibbon's Brigade of "Western men.' I said: 'They mu.st be made of iron.' He said: 'By the Eternal, they are iron! If you had seen them at Bull Run, as I did, you would know them to be iron.' I re¬ plied : 'Wlus Gen. Hooker, they fight equal to the best ti-oops in the world.' After the battle I .saw Hooker at the Mountain House, near where the brigade fou.ght. He .sang out. 'General, what do you think of my Iron Brigade":" Immediately from and after that battle, the brigade took upon themselves, of course, having heard of this incident, that name; no brigade .seeming¬ ly denying them tho right to do so, and, in fact, the entire Army of the Potomac lonceding lo (hem that right. And from this time on the brigade is designated in the history of all the battles in which it fought—and it participated in all the heavy battles of the Army of the Potomac —a.s the 'Iron Brigade.' It is .so desig¬ nated in 'Stine.s'.s .4.rmy of the Potomac,' 'Battlfts and Leaders in Civil War,' by the Century Company, 'Swftiton's Armv of the Potomac,' each and all of which are considered as standard histories, and therefore iu every way creditable. Gen. Doubleday, one of the grand old soldiers of the First Corps, and wheat one time— including the latter part of the battle of South Mountain, also the battles of An- tietani and Fredericksburg—commanded the old First Division of tjiat Corp.<!, who also wrote a hifstory of the battles of Chancellorsville and (Jetty.sbui'g for a series of histories'of battles and campaigns published some 20 yeaivs ago by tlie Scrib- ncr Publishing Company; likewise, Gen. Humphrey in his 'Grant's Campaigns with tiie Army of the Potomac from the WilderncKss to' Appomattox,' and each and all of the.se histories and authorities asreo in that they almost invariably .speak of it as the 'Iron Brigade,' often naming, the States from which the different regiments