rear of the army and had several engagements with the enemy. Near Alexandria there were several skirmishes before the city was evacuated and burned on the 13th of May. A severe battle was fought at Yellow Bayou, where the Confederates were defeated with heavy loss. The Twenty-seventh Iowa had four men killed and thirteen wounded. Soon after it moved to the mouth of Red River and was transported by steamer to Vicksburg and ten days later was in the expedition under General A. J. Smith which was sent to dislodge General Marmaduke, who was blockading the Mississippi at Greenville. On the 16th of June after a sharp engagement the enemy was defeated and the blockade raised. In the latter part of June the Twenty-seventh took part in the expedition against Tupelo and shared the hard marches and skirmishes of the campaign. The Battle of Tupelo began at six o’clock on the morning of July 14th, lasting until noon, when the enemy was defeated with very heavy loss. Our regiment was here engaged and had one man killed and twenty-five wounded. It was also in the Oxford expedition under General Smith and returned to Memphis the latter part of August. The next service was under General Rosecrans in Missouri, who made a series of rapid marches in pursuits of Price into Arkansas, traveling nearly seven hundred miles in forty-seven days but accomplishing nothing of importance. Early in December General Smith’s forces were sent to Nashville to reënforce the army under General Thomas operating against Hood’s army. In the Battle of Nashville, fought on the 15th and 16th of December, where General Thomas won a great victory, Colonel Gilbert had command of a brigade in which were the Twenty-seventh and Thirty-second Iowa regiments, commanded respectively by Lieutenant-Colonel Jed Lake and Lieutenant-Colonel G. A. Eberhart. This brigade did excellent service in the engagement and joined in the pursuit of the defeated Confederates. Colonel Gilbert was soon after promoted to Brigadier-General. During the year 1864 many
