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Historical Sketch
Fifty-Second Regiment Iowa
Volunteer Infantry
The fifty-second Regiment was organized from the
Fourth Regiment Iowa National Guard. The twelve companies of which
it was composed were ordered into quarters by Governor Shaw, on the 25th
day of April, 1898, The designated rendezvous was Camp McKinley,
near Des Moines, Iowa. The promptness with which the order was
obeyed was evidenced by the fact that, at 10 P. M., April 26th, the last
of the twelve companies had reported at the rendezvous. The
regiment was engaged in the ordinary routine of camp duty until the 25th
day of May, 1898, on which date it was mustered into the service of the
United States, by Captain J. A. Olmsted, of the Regular Army. On
May 28, 1898, Colonel Humphrey received an order, by telegraph, from the
War Department, directing him to proceed with his regiment, by rail, to
Chickamauga Park, Ga., and report to the General in command of the
troops which were being concentrated there. The regiment left its
rendezvous in Des Moines on the afternoon of the same day the order was
received, and was conveyed by rail---in three sections---to Chattanooga,
Tenn., where it arrived on the evening of May 20th, and moved thence on
the next day to Camp Thomas, Chickamauga Park, where it was assigned to
the Third Brigade, Second Division, Third Army Corps, Major General
James F. Wade commanding. In this camp the patriotic young men of
the North and South were commingled, all embued with the one thought and
desire --- to serve their reunited country in active warfare against the
Spanish Monarchy. It was a war of humanity, entered into on the
part of the United States, for the purpose of securing justice to an
oppressed race, and not for the purpose of conquest.
It was the earnest desire of all the troops in camp at
Chickamauga that their stay there would be brief, and that they would
soon be called upon to embark and proceed to the Island of Cuba;
but, in this, they were doomed to disappointment. The resources of
Spain were so entirely inadequate that active hostilities soon came to
an end, and the war was of short duration. But two of the
splendidly equipped regiments from Iowa were given an opportunity for
foreign service --- as will be seen from the preceding historical
sketches --- the fortune of war having denied to the others the
opportunity which they so much craved.
During the month of June, 1898, the Fifty-second Iowa
was recruited to the maximum strength of a regiment of infantry ---
fifty officers and twelve hundred seventy-six enlisted men --- an
aggregate of thirteen hundred twenty-six, rank and file. On August
8, 1898, the regiment was selected as part of a provisional division,
under the command of Major General James F. Wade, with orders to proceed
to the Island of Porto Rico; but, just as the troops were about to
move, the order was revoked, and the regiment was obliged to settle back
into the dull monotony of camp life. Up to this time, the regiment
had been in a fairly healthy condition, but, in less than two weeks
after the order to proceed to Porto Rico had been countermanded, it had
as many men unfitted for duty as any regiment in its brigade or
division. This decline in the health of the men was largely
attributed to their disappointment in not having been given the
opportunity for active service, even had that service only allowed them
a change in environment. These high spirited young men, many of
them the sons of veterans of the great Civil War, had entered the
service with high hopes that they would have the chance to distinguish
themselves in battle. Instead of realizing that hope, they had
been kept in camp in their own country, during their entire term of
service. They had, however, performed their whole duty in the
limited field to which they were assigned. The official report of
Colonel Humphrey --- from which the foregoing sketch has been condensed
--- closes with the following statement: "Had the opportunity
presented, the regiment would have acquitted itself with honor and
credit to the State." (Note: Report of the Adjutant General of
Iowa, 1899, pages 138 to 141 inclusive. Official report of Colonel
W. B. Humphrey, Fifty-second Regiment Iowa Volunteer Infantry.)
The regiment left Chickamauga August 29, 1898, under
orders to proceed to Des Moines, Iowa, by rail, and upon its arrival
there, to report to the commanding General of the Department of the
Missouri, at Omaha, for further orders. After reaching Des Moines,
the regiment was granted a thirty day furlough, at the expiration of
which the officers and men reassembled at Camp McKinley, and were there
mustered out of the service of the United States on the 30th day of
October, 1898.
Summary of Casualties.
Total Enrollment |
1348 |
Killed |
-- |
Wounded |
-- |
Died of wounds |
-- |
Died of disease |
36 |
Discharged for disease, wounds or other
causes |
12 |
Buried in National Cemeteries |
3 |
Captured |
-- |
Transferred |
28 |
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