Information from Civil War Military Records: Born Maryland. Residence in 1862 Iowa City, Iowa. Enlisted Aug 6 1862 22nd Iowa Infantry Co A as 1st Sgt.
Wounded during ill-advised suicidal frontal assault of heavily fortified Ft Beauregard, Vicksburg,MS. Leg amputated.
Only a few men, including Richard Arthur, of the 22nd were able to enter the fort. They did this by crossing a wide,deep ditch, then standing on each others shoulders to climb a 15 ft wall since they had no ladders, while being fired upon from parapets by the Confederates.
Those who entered the fort were wounded while on the Confederate parapets and fell back into the ditch or were killed.
Richard Arthur died of Wounds June 2, 1863 Vicksburg, Miss. Burial site not listed. Possibly unknown in Vicksburg Nat. Cemetery.
The following report is of 22nd Iowa adjutent concerning frontal assault of Fort Beauregard,Vicksburg, May 22 1863:
"The enemy were on the alert and, as our colors rose above the crest of the hill, a thousand bayonets glistened in the sunlight above the parapet at Fort Beauregard.
The strong work against which the main attack was directed covered about half an acre of ground, the walls being about fifteen feet high, surrounded by a ditch ten feet wide. A line of rifle pits connected it with others of the same kind, each of which was so arranged as to enfilade the approach to the other. The regiment succeeded in reaching—under a concentrated fire of grape and musketry—an almost impenetrable abatis, forty yards from. the works, where it
became necessary to reform the line, the men having become separated in crossing the obstructions. They promptly rallied to the flag and were again led to the charge. A few officers and about fifty men, succeeded in reaching the ditch surrounding the fort, but, having no scaling ladders, they were unable to enter the works. Sergeant Joseph E. Griffith of the 22nd, with some fifteen or twenty men,
succeeded—by raising one another up the wall—in gaining an entrance and capturing a number of prisoners, but the fire from the enemy's rifle pits in rear of the fort, and the lack of reinforcements coming to their aid, rendered the place untenable."
Only two men of the 22nd Iowa who entered the fort survived. This was the last frontal assault of Fort Beauregard ever attempted. Afterwards Vicksburg was defeated using long term siege tactics.
Almost none of the men killed outright or who died shortly afterward of wounds are listed in Vicksburg National Cemetery. Believe they were, in all probability, buried in a mass grave with many remains unidentified.
Wounded during ill-advised suicidal frontal assault of heavily fortified Ft Beauregard, Vicksburg,MS. Leg amputated.
Only a few men, including Richard Arthur, of the 22nd were able to enter the fort. They did this by crossing a wide,deep ditch, then standing on each others shoulders to climb a 15 ft wall since they had no ladders, while being fired upon from parapets by the Confederates.
Those who entered the fort were wounded while on the Confederate parapets and fell back into the ditch or were killed.
Richard Arthur died of Wounds June 2, 1863 Vicksburg, Miss. Burial site not listed. Possibly unknown in Vicksburg Nat. Cemetery.
The following report is of 22nd Iowa adjutent concerning frontal assault of Fort Beauregard,Vicksburg, May 22 1863:
"The enemy were on the alert and, as our colors rose above the crest of the hill, a thousand bayonets glistened in the sunlight above the parapet at Fort Beauregard.
The strong work against which the main attack was directed covered about half an acre of ground, the walls being about fifteen feet high, surrounded by a ditch ten feet wide. A line of rifle pits connected it with others of the same kind, each of which was so arranged as to enfilade the approach to the other. The regiment succeeded in reaching—under a concentrated fire of grape and musketry—an almost impenetrable abatis, forty yards from. the works, where it
became necessary to reform the line, the men having become separated in crossing the obstructions. They promptly rallied to the flag and were again led to the charge. A few officers and about fifty men, succeeded in reaching the ditch surrounding the fort, but, having no scaling ladders, they were unable to enter the works. Sergeant Joseph E. Griffith of the 22nd, with some fifteen or twenty men,
succeeded—by raising one another up the wall—in gaining an entrance and capturing a number of prisoners, but the fire from the enemy's rifle pits in rear of the fort, and the lack of reinforcements coming to their aid, rendered the place untenable."
Only two men of the 22nd Iowa who entered the fort survived. This was the last frontal assault of Fort Beauregard ever attempted. Afterwards Vicksburg was defeated using long term siege tactics.
Almost none of the men killed outright or who died shortly afterward of wounds are listed in Vicksburg National Cemetery. Believe they were, in all probability, buried in a mass grave with many remains unidentified.
Information from Civil War Military Records: Born Maryland. Residence in 1862 Iowa City, Iowa. Enlisted Aug 6 1862 22nd Iowa Infantry Co A as 1st Sgt.
Wounded during ill-advised suicidal frontal assault of heavily fortified Ft Beauregard, Vicksburg,MS. Leg amputated.
Only a few men, including Richard Arthur, of the 22nd were able to enter the fort. They did this by crossing a wide,deep ditch, then standing on each others shoulders to climb a 15 ft wall since they had no ladders, while being fired upon from parapets by the Confederates.
Those who entered the fort were wounded while on the Confederate parapets and fell back into the ditch or were killed.
Richard Arthur died of Wounds June 2, 1863 Vicksburg, Miss. Burial site not listed. Possibly unknown in Vicksburg Nat. Cemetery.
The following report is of 22nd Iowa adjutent concerning frontal assault of Fort Beauregard,Vicksburg, May 22 1863:
"The enemy were on the alert and, as our colors rose above the crest of the hill, a thousand bayonets glistened in the sunlight above the parapet at Fort Beauregard.
The strong work against which the main attack was directed covered about half an acre of ground, the walls being about fifteen feet high, surrounded by a ditch ten feet wide. A line of rifle pits connected it with others of the same kind, each of which was so arranged as to enfilade the approach to the other. The regiment succeeded in reaching—under a concentrated fire of grape and musketry—an almost impenetrable abatis, forty yards from. the works, where it
became necessary to reform the line, the men having become separated in crossing the obstructions. They promptly rallied to the flag and were again led to the charge. A few officers and about fifty men, succeeded in reaching the ditch surrounding the fort, but, having no scaling ladders, they were unable to enter the works. Sergeant Joseph E. Griffith of the 22nd, with some fifteen or twenty men,
succeeded—by raising one another up the wall—in gaining an entrance and capturing a number of prisoners, but the fire from the enemy's rifle pits in rear of the fort, and the lack of reinforcements coming to their aid, rendered the place untenable."
Only two men of the 22nd Iowa who entered the fort survived. This was the last frontal assault of Fort Beauregard ever attempted. Afterwards Vicksburg was defeated using long term siege tactics.
Almost none of the men killed outright or who died shortly afterward of wounds are listed in Vicksburg National Cemetery. Believe they were, in all probability, buried in a mass grave with many remains unidentified.
Wounded during ill-advised suicidal frontal assault of heavily fortified Ft Beauregard, Vicksburg,MS. Leg amputated.
Only a few men, including Richard Arthur, of the 22nd were able to enter the fort. They did this by crossing a wide,deep ditch, then standing on each others shoulders to climb a 15 ft wall since they had no ladders, while being fired upon from parapets by the Confederates.
Those who entered the fort were wounded while on the Confederate parapets and fell back into the ditch or were killed.
Richard Arthur died of Wounds June 2, 1863 Vicksburg, Miss. Burial site not listed. Possibly unknown in Vicksburg Nat. Cemetery.
The following report is of 22nd Iowa adjutent concerning frontal assault of Fort Beauregard,Vicksburg, May 22 1863:
"The enemy were on the alert and, as our colors rose above the crest of the hill, a thousand bayonets glistened in the sunlight above the parapet at Fort Beauregard.
The strong work against which the main attack was directed covered about half an acre of ground, the walls being about fifteen feet high, surrounded by a ditch ten feet wide. A line of rifle pits connected it with others of the same kind, each of which was so arranged as to enfilade the approach to the other. The regiment succeeded in reaching—under a concentrated fire of grape and musketry—an almost impenetrable abatis, forty yards from. the works, where it
became necessary to reform the line, the men having become separated in crossing the obstructions. They promptly rallied to the flag and were again led to the charge. A few officers and about fifty men, succeeded in reaching the ditch surrounding the fort, but, having no scaling ladders, they were unable to enter the works. Sergeant Joseph E. Griffith of the 22nd, with some fifteen or twenty men,
succeeded—by raising one another up the wall—in gaining an entrance and capturing a number of prisoners, but the fire from the enemy's rifle pits in rear of the fort, and the lack of reinforcements coming to their aid, rendered the place untenable."
Only two men of the 22nd Iowa who entered the fort survived. This was the last frontal assault of Fort Beauregard ever attempted. Afterwards Vicksburg was defeated using long term siege tactics.
Almost none of the men killed outright or who died shortly afterward of wounds are listed in Vicksburg National Cemetery. Believe they were, in all probability, buried in a mass grave with many remains unidentified.
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