Iowa: Its History and Its Foremost Citizens
Revised, Home and School Edition by Brigham Johnson.
2 Vols. Des Moines,
IA: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1918.
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Unless otherwise noted, biographies submitted by Tamara Jorstad.
James C. Parrott
Veteran Frontier Explorer and Brave Soldier
The long and useful career of Gen. James C. Parrott, begun in
Maryland in 1811, was closed in Keokuk in 1898. Between these dates much of interest
occurred in which General Parrott performed a useful and honorable part. No other man in
the service was so thoroughly a part of Iowa history. We have already noted his pioneer
journey up the Des Moines River as far as Boone in 1835, before Fremont explored the
interior of Iowa Territory and before Captain Allen founded Fort Des Moines.
Born in Easton, Maryland, in 1811, in 1834 he joined the First
United States Dragoons, of which Henry Dodge was commander. After serving three years as
sergeant, young Parrott located in Fort Madison and engaged in business. In 1852 he moved
to Keokuk. When the war broke out, deeming it his duty as a military man to serve his
country, in June, 1861, he raised a company for the Seventh Iowa Infantry. As compared
with most officers in 1861, he was a veritable graybeard, for he had rounded his half
century!
In the battle of Belmont he assisted Colonel Lauman from the field,
and before the battle was over he found he, himself, had received four wounds. He was
conveyed to a steamer, and told he had less than two hours to live. Grant sent him home to
recuperate. Colonel Lauman in his report emphatically commended Captain Parrott and other
of his officers for their bravery at Belmont. In December he came back as
lieutenant-colonel. Later he participated in several battles in Tennessee. His was the
charging brigade that captured Fort Henry, and at Donelson he commanded his regiment. He
it was who brought back from Buckner the offer of capitulation. At Shiloh he bravely led
his regiment into the "Hornet’s Nest," and at Corinth he received a wound
from which he never wholly recovered. Colonel Rice in his report said:
"I must make especial mention of Lieutenant-Colonel Parrott,
who cheered and encouraged the men and performed his duty with great bravery." He
made the March to the Sea, and was on of the few far western commanders who in 1865 were
privileged to ride through the Confederate capital. The only mounted officer on the left
flank, he was the gratified recipient of a beautiful bouquet of flowers from a Richmond
lady. Though he was never a full colonel, his depleted regiment not having sufficient
numerical strength to entitle it to a colonel, after his retirement in 1865 he was made a
brevet brigadier-general. A valued tribute to the love his men bore him is a sword
presented by them after his gallantry at Belmont.
For ten years after the war General Parrott was postmaster at
Keokuk. In 1874-76, he was G.A.R. commander of the Department of Iowa. He died May 17,
1898, aged eighty-seven. His funeral, held in Keokuk, was a generous tribute of love and
affection from comrades, friends and neighbors.
John
Pattee
John Pattee was a native of Canada and a resident
of Iowa City. He was forty-one when mustered in as captain of Company A,
Fourteenth Iowa Infantry. His first connection with the Seventh Iowa Cavalry was
as its lieutenant-colonel, May 15, 1863. He was transferred to the field and
staff of the Seventh Cavalry, reorganized.
Robert
F. Patterson, Wounded at Iuka and Spanish Fort
Robert F. Patterson left a record of bravery and
of wounds received in battle which entitles him to more consideration than he
has received. At home he shared with Colonel Benton the honor of leading the
Twenty-ninth Iowa Infantry in its arduous campaigns and of retiring to private
life as a brevet brigadier-general. Lieutenant-Governor Gue in his history
remarks that "the efficiency of the Twenty-ninth was largely due to the
thorough drill and discipline bestowed upon it by Lieutenant-Colonel Patterson,
who had few superiors as an accomplished solider and commander."
Patterson, a native of Maine and a resident of
Keokuk, entered the war at thirty-one, as adjutant of the Fifth Iowa Infantry.
He was promoted to a lieutenant-colonelcy in the Twenty-ninth. Appointed
quartermaster of the Fifth, on July 15, 1861, he was made adjutant January 27,
1862. He received his first wound in the battle if Iuka. Discharged November 2,
on the following day he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel of the Twenty-ninth
Iowa. He was again wounded at the investment of Spanish Fort on the 26th
March, 1865. He was mustered out in 1865, but his brevet as brigadier-general
did not come till May 22, 1866.
After the war General Patterson retired to his
home in Keokuk. For several years he was consul-general at Calcutta, India. He
died at St. Catharines, Ontario, on the 9th of January, 1907.
Samuel M. Pollock
Frontier Soldier
The second colonel of the Sixth Iowa Cavalry was Samuel M. Pollock, a native
of Ohio, and thirty-three years old on entering the service. While David S.
Wilson was colonel of the Sixth, Pollock was lieutenant-colonel. From Sioux
City, March 16, 1863, the regiment, numbering about eleven hundred, marched to
Camp Cook, Dakota Territory. On the 26th of April a report reached
camp that a large band of Indians threatened Fort Randall. Two battalions of the
Sixth Iowa were sent to the relief of the fort, both under command of Lieutenant
Colonel Pollock. On the approach of the relief forces, the Indians fled, pursued
by detachments from the Sixth. In the battle of White Stone Hill, early in
September, the Sixth Iowa Cavalry lost twelve men killed and ten wounded. On the
return of General Sully to Sioux City, after the battle, Colonel Pollock was
left to complete and command Fort Sully. In the spring of 1864, Colonel Wilson
having resigned, Pollock was placed in full command of the regiment.
March 13, 1865, Colonel Pollock was made a brevet brigadier-general. After
much service in the Yellowstone and in the upper Missouri Valley, the Sixth Iowa
Cavalry finally returned to Sioux City where, on the 17th of October,
1865, it was mustered out. Though General Pollock's military career was not a
brilliant one, it was eminently useful, including many long marches in the
enemy's country, and scores of thrilling engagements in which he evinced both
courage and caution.
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