General Steele near Jenkins’ Ferry and participated in the severe battle of that place. Reaching Little Rock on the 2nd of May they continued their homeward journey, returning to the army about the middle of July. On the 27th of September the guerilla Anderson captured a train near Centralia, murdering all of the soldiers on board numbering about thirty. Among them were seven members of the First Iowa Cavalry.
Colonel William Thompson, promoted from major, was in command of the non-veteran portion of the regiment which was on duty at Memphis. Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell, after three and a half years’ honorable service, was mustered out in the fall of 1864. He was succeeded by Major Alexander McQueen. Toward the close of the year 1865 the regiment was sent to Texas where it served until February 15th when it was mustered out. Its history is a record of hard and faithful service, extending through a period of nearly five years. Although not its fortune to participate in many of the great battles of the war, no regiment sent out of Iowa performed a greater amount of arduous labor for the Union cause. It was one of the first in the field and one of the last mustered out.
THE SECOND IOWA CAVALRY
In the summer of 1861 steps were taken to organize the Second Regiment of cavalry and companies were recruited from the State at large. They went into camp at Davenport during the months of August and September numbering 1,050 men. Captain W. L. Elliott of the regular army was appointed colonel, Edward Hatch, lieutenant-colonel; W. P. Hepburn of Marshall County, Datus E. Coon of Cerro Gordo and H. W. Love of Johnson were the majors. The adjutant was Charles F. Warden. The regiment remained at Davenport nearly three months undergoing thorough drill and when it entered upon active service in the field the men were expert
