"Up, boys, and fire" USA Bio: Maj. Gen. Jacob G. Lauman
Posted: Wed Dec 03, 2008 3:25 pm
Maj. Gen. Jacob G. Lauman (b. 1813, d. 1867) Fort Donelson proved to be the brightest highlight of the military career of Jacob Gartner Lauman, one of Iowa’s highest-ranking officers in the war. Lauman was with Brig. Gen. U.S. Grant at his earliest advances against the Confederacy. Born in Taneytown, Maryland, Jan. 20, 1813, Lauman’s family moved to York, Pennsylvania while he was a young boy. He was educated there. In 1844, Lauman moved to Burlington, Iowa, and was a businessman in that Mississippi River city until the outbreak of the Civil War. Raising volunteers for military service, he mustered into Federal service as colonel of the 7th Iowa Infantry July 11, 1861. Under Grant, Lauman’s 7th Iowa saw its first combat in Grant’s expedition to take the Confederate Camp Johnston at the small landing of Belmont, Missouri, just across from a stronghold at Columbus, Kentucky. There, Lauman was a commanding force on the field until being shot in the thigh. The regiment suffered more casualties than any other in the Federal forces that day, 227 of the 410 engaged (51 killed, 127 wounded, 39 captured, 10 missing). But that just prepared the regiment for its next action against the forts north of Nashville. Lauman, still a colonel, had advanced to lead a brigade in the division of Brig. Gen. Charles F. Smith (4th Brigade, 2nd Division) by that time. After occupying Fort Henry, Lauman’s men saw their heaviest action in the siege of Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River Feb. 13-16, 1862. Lauman’s brigade was not hit by the counterattack out of the fort Feb. 15. However, Lauman’s brigade (2nd, 7th, 14th Iowa and 25th Indiana) was in perfect position to drive forward into positions being held by small numbers of Confederates. Lauman’s men could not be dislodged from the fortifications and that helped to lead to the unconditional surrender of the remaining Confederate troops there. For his action, he received a promotion to brigadier general March 22, 1862 to rank from March 21. As Grant’s forces moved south into Tennessee, Lauman commanded the 3rd Brigade of Brig. Gen. Stephen Hurlbut. That brigade consisted of two Indiana regiments and two Kentucky regiments. This unit was on the Federal left when the Confederates attacked April 6. During this two-day battle Lauman’s brigade suffered 458 casualties. His next major action was at the Battle of Hatchie’s Bridge, Tennessee, Oct. 6, 1862. There, he commanded a brigade in the Army of West Tennessee which defeated forces under Maj. Gen. Earl Van Dorn. During the siege of Vicksburg in 1863, Lauman’s command was the 4th Division of the XVI Corps, which was attached to the XV Corps of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and the XII Corps of Maj. Gen. Edward Ord. A bronze bust of Lauman stands today at the Vicksburg Military Park. Following the capture of Vicksburg, Lauman’s division moved on Jackson, Mississippi, the state capital, under Sherman. While moving his division into position for the assault, Lauman’s troops came upon entrenched Confederates, who mauled the Federals. Of the 880 men present, 465 were made casualties. After the battle, Lauman was relieved of his command by Maj. Gen. Sherman at the insistence of Maj. Gen. Ord, who felt Lauman had acted without orders and independent of the plan, accused him of acting “without orders, and directly in violation of the instructions as to the position he was to take.” After appearing before Maj. Gen. Grant, Lauman was sent back to Iowa to await further assignment. But there would be no further assignment. Instead, Lauman spent the rest of the war in his home state. For his impressive service early in the war, Lauman received a brevet promotion to major general March 13, 1865. After the war, Lauman returned to business ventures in Burlington. He died there Feb. 8, 1867, and was buried in Aspen Grove Cemetery there.