22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry · Co. D · Veteran Reserve Corps, 3rd Reg. Co. I
Abraham Wallick
Private · Vicksburg Campaign · Tunneler · Veteran Reserve Corps
Regiment
22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry, Co. D
Also Served
Veteran Reserve Corps, 3rd Reg. Co. I
Rank
Private
Enlisted
Albia, Iowa · July 28, 1862
Mustered In
Iowa City, Iowa · September 9, 1862
Discharged
July 14, 1865 · Burlington, Vermont
Service Time
Just under 3 years
Born
January 1, 1819 · Ohio County, Indiana
Died
January 17, 1892 · Seward, Nebraska · Age 72
Physical Description
5′ 3″ · Black hair · Brown eyes · Dark complexion · Age at enlistment: 42 · Occupation: Carpenter
Family Lineage
Son of John Abraham · son of “Switzerland County” Philip · son of Hans Michael and Esther Wallick
The only Wallick soldier from an Iowa regiment
The shortest Wallick to serve — 5′3″ in a family of 5′7″–5′9″ men
The only Wallick enlisted man court-martialed — found not criminally culpable
Transferred to the Invalid Corps (later Veteran Reserve Corps) due to service injuries
A Middle-Aged Carpenter Goes to War
Abraham Wallick has a few features in his Civil War service that are unique and set him apart from his Wallick band of brothers. First, he was rather diminutive in stature. With most of the twenty-five Wallick soldiers standing between 5′7″ and 5′9″, his height of 5′3″ makes him the shortest to serve. Second, to date, he is the only Wallick who came from an Iowa regiment. The 22nd Iowa was deployed in both the western and eastern theaters of the war. Third, Abraham began his enlistment in a state volunteer regiment but, due to his service injuries, he was transferred to the Invalid Corps (later renamed the Veteran Reserve Corps) — created for men who could no longer perform the normal military tasks demanded of mid-nineteenth century soldiers. And last, Abraham was the only Wallick enlisted man ever to be court-martialed during the Civil War.
On July 1, 1862, President Lincoln issued an executive order requesting an additional 300,000 Federal volunteers to serve in the army for three years or to the conclusion of the war, whichever came first. It would be interesting to know why Abraham Wallick, a 42-year-old carpenter with no prior military experience, decided at his age to enlist in an adventure that was usually reserved for younger men. Not only was Abraham middle-aged, but he was a husband and father of three boys and three girls (one of the daughters being only six months old). And unbeknownst to Abraham or his wife, Mary (Johnson), she was pregnant with twin boys when he enlisted.
Nevertheless, on July 28, 1862, Abraham rode into Albia, Iowa, and joined the Union Army. He and his Monroe County boys became Company D of the 22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry. All were mustered into Federal service at Iowa City, Iowa, on September 9, 1862.
Iowa · Missouri · Mississippi · Louisiana · Texas · Vermont · 1862–1865
Abraham Wallick with the 22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry
Sep 9, 1862
Mustered In — Iowa City, Iowa
The regiment leaves Iowa City under Colonel William M. Stone on the evening of September 14 with orders for Davenport. They travel by rail, then load onto a steamer and chug down the Mississippi River to St. Louis. Three days later they arrive at Benton Barracks for basic military training. After two weeks in the manual-of-arms, the men are transported to Rolla, Missouri, arriving September 23.Sep 23 – Jan 1863
Rolla, Missouri — Guard Duty
The 22nd Iowa spends approximately four months at Rolla, guarding supply stores and serving as train escorts for the Army of Southeast Missouri.Jan 27, 1863
West Plains, Missouri — Brigade Drilling
The regiment is ordered to West Plains, Missouri — a five-day march from Rolla. There they combine with the 21st and 23rd Iowa to create the 2nd Brigade, 2nd Division of the Army of Southeast Missouri. After intense drilling, the brigade receives orders to proceed to Iron Mountain, Missouri.Feb 9 – 26, 1863
The Winter March Through the Ozarks
The march to Iron Mountain is a grueling winter affair. The brigade quickly runs into inclement weather — many nights the troops sleep out in the cold with little or no cover, and there is a severe shortage of food rations. Abraham, already suffering from lameness in his right leg and foot, rides to his new posting on a cannon carriage — there are no ambulances available. The regiment arrives at Iron Mountain on February 26 and is folded into the 23rd Army Corps under General Ulysses S. Grant.Mar 12, 1863
Ste. Genevieve, Missouri — First Lameness Recorded
After a 45-mile trek from Iron Mountain, the regiment arrives at Ste. Genevieve on the Mississippi River. It is during this march that Abraham Wallick records his first instance of lameness in the right leg and foot — an injury that will hound him throughout the rest of his enlistment.
Mar 22, 1863
Millikin's Bend, Louisiana — Army of the Tennessee
After ten days in Ste. Genevieve, the brigade boards the steamboat Blackhawk and is transported to Millikin's Bend, Louisiana — about fifteen miles northwest of Vicksburg. The 22nd Iowa is reorganized into the 2nd Brigade, 14th Division of the 13th Army Corps, now part of the Army of the Tennessee. Their corps commander is Major General John C. McClernand, one of Grant's bitterest military rivals.Apr 12 – 27, 1863
Richmond and Hard Times Plantation, Louisiana
The regiment is ordered to Richmond, Louisiana, twenty miles due west of Vicksburg, where a small Confederate cavalry detachment is quickly driven from the field. The men proceed to Carthage, then Perkin's Landing. On April 27, just after dark, Abraham and all of the 13th Corps are transported by river vessels to Hard Times Plantation.May 1, 1863
Battle of Port Gibson
Abraham and the 13th Corps are loaded onto the same gunboats that weeks before had evaded the Vicksburg river artillery. They steam downriver to Bruinsburg, Mississippi, disembark, and march inland toward Port Gibson. With the 22nd Iowa at the vanguard, a sharp engagement ensues. Major B.J. Atherton later files this report to Colonel Stone:I received an order from you to hurry my regiment forward and form it in line on the left of our artillery, then hotly engaged with the rebel batteries. This order was promptly obeyed, and the men came up quickly and in good order, forming at the point designated. We were then under the enemy's fire, yet my men manifested great coolness and self-possession… Three times we were ordered against the rebel infantry and under the range of his batteries. Each time we drove them from the field… It is sufficient to say that they acted nobly, and well sustained the honors already earned by Iowa soldiers.
— Major B.J. Atherton, 22nd Iowa, Report on the Battle of Port Gibson
May 4 – 13, 1863
Raymond, Mississippi — Railroad Security
The morning after Port Gibson, the 22nd Regiment chases the enemy to Bayou Pierre, then halts to repair a bridge destroyed by the retreating Rebels. The regiment is eventually ordered to Raymond, Mississippi, arriving May 13 — the day after the Confederates had retreated. They are assigned security detail for the railroad running through Raymond.May 16, 1863
Champion Hill — Cutting Off the Rebel Retreat
The men are hastily marched toward Edwards Station to help cut off the Rebels' retreat from the Battle of Champion Hill — the most savage and hotly contested battle of Grant's entire Vicksburg campaign. Out of 54,000 troops engaged, total casualties number 6,297. The 2nd Brigade arrives at Edwards Station late in the evening and captures the Rebel's food stores and ammunition, plus 200 prisoners.May 17, 1863
Big Black River Bridge — Mop-Up Operation
The 22nd Iowa is placed on the extreme right of the Federal line that charges the enemy's works at Big Black River Bridge. They do not come under direct enemy fire but pursue the fleeing Rebels. The Federal army captures 18 Confederate field artillery pieces, a large quantity of ammunition, thousands of small arms, and 3,000 prisoners. Army engineers work throughout May 18 to construct a pontoon bridge. Grant's army marches all night and arrives at the heavily-fortified city of Vicksburg about noon on May 19.May 19 – 21, 1863
Approaching Vicksburg — Under Artillery Fire
As the 22nd Iowa approaches Vicksburg, they come under heavy artillery fire. For two hours the men withstand a fierce artillery barrage. The regiment skirmishes with Rebel infantry, gradually moving to within 500 yards of the Vicksburg works. The night of May 20 finds the regiment building their own earthworks and preparing for the much-dreaded frontal assault of a heavily-fortified position. Throughout the next day, Rebel sharpshooters target the Federals.
May 22, 1863
The Assault on the Railroad Redoubt — 85% Casualties
The May 22 assault on Vicksburg is the singularly most devastating engagement ever fought by the 22nd Iowa. At 10:00 AM, a signal cannon is fired and Colonel Stone shouts “Charge” — the brigade advances toward the Railroad Redoubt (Fort Beauregard). The enemy is not taken by surprise and calmly watches hundreds of gleaming bayonets advance. The official War of the Rebellion records describe the assault:The regiment succeeded in reaching, under a concentrated fire of grapeshot and musketry, an almost impenetrable abatis, forty yards from the work, where it became necessary to reform the line… Colonel Stone was there wounded, while gallantly directing the charge and was compelled to leave the field. Lieutenant Colonel Graham then assumed command and, with 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 I. Griffith, with some fifteen or twenty men, succeeded by raising one another up the wall, gaining an entrance and capturing a number of prisoners. But the fire from the enemy's rifle pits in the rear of the fort, and the lack of reinforcements coming to their aid, rendered the place untenable.
— War of the Rebellion Official Records, Series 1, Vol. 24, p. 130
The 22nd Iowa were the only units to successfully penetrate and enter a fort along the entire Confederate front that day. The Iowans planted their flag on the Rebel parapet but could not hold the redoubt for lack of support. The losses for the 22nd Iowa: 27 killed in action, 118 wounded, and 19 captured. The Adjutant General of Iowa later estimated “the average loss in killed and wounded of the regiment was 85 percent of the numbers engaged” — the highest casualty rate of any attacking force at Vicksburg.
Abraham Wallick's military files do not mention his participation in that day's events. It is clear he was with the regiment, but the number of soldiers fit for duty was very low due to illness and three weeks of hard campaigning. His age, height, and past injuries may have prevented any consideration of him being part of the assault force. At 5′3″, his weapon with the attached bayonet would have towered above him, making Abraham far less agile and effective in combat.
May 22 – Jul 4, 1863
The Siege of Vicksburg — Abraham the Tunneler
From May 22 to July 4 the Confederate army and citizens of Vicksburg are strangled by a land blockade. Even rats and horses are consumed to alleviate starvation. General Grant tries to use tunnels to break through the Rebel earthworks — filling them with gunpowder to blow holes in the Confederate line. Abraham Wallick is ideally suited to be a tunneler: at 5′3″, he has a distinct advantage in the confined underground passages, and a tunneler works primarily with his hands and arms — not the legs and feet where Abraham is impaired.
On the last day of June, 1863, I was set to work in a mine [at] Vicksburg. I had mined several days and nights when one night, about midnight, the Rebels exploded a counter-mine to the right of us, which pressed in the side of our mine and threw dirt on us and around us. The concussion was so great that it stymied me so that I did not have full control of my senses and from which time I have been subject to dizziness, pains in the head and nervous affliction, generally. The concussion and weight of dirt upon my leg and foot did not materially affect them at the time but on the 7th of July, 1863, I was compelled to give up marching on account of pains. I stayed with the miners and sappers corps for a day or two, then I went forward with my company to Jackson, Mississippi.
— Abraham Wallick, Pension Affidavit, November 14, 1878
Jul 4, 1863
Vicksburg Surrenders
The official end to the siege of Vicksburg occurs on July 4, 1863. General John C. Pemberton surrenders just under 30,000 Confederate soldiers, 172 cannon, and 50,000 musket-rifles. With the loss of Vicksburg, the Father of Waters flows freely from Minnesota to the Gulf of Mexico. The city does not celebrate the 4th of July for another 81 years — only after the successful D-Day Invasion of Europe, June 6th, 1944.Jul 10 – 14, 1863
Jackson, Mississippi — Railroad Accident
Abraham rejoins Company D at Jackson, Mississippi, on July 10. With his right leg and foot again recovering from lameness, and his head and back aching from the mine blast, Abraham becomes part of a detail ordered to tear up railroad track about four miles south of Jackson. His 1878 affidavit continues:After the siege of Jackson, I was ordered with others, about the 14th of July, 1863, to tear up the RR track about 4 miles south of Jackson, Miss. While engaged in the work and after one side of the track had been lifted, by some mistake the RR track fell back upon us and pinned me down on the ground. The weight and strain was most severe on my right-side leg and foot, which caused my right leg and foot to swell so that I could not wear my shoe [and] pained me so bad that I had to ride a mule back to Vicksburg.
— Abraham Wallick, Pension Affidavit, November 14, 1878
Aug – Dec 1863
Louisiana and Texas — Coastal Expeditions
On August 13, the 22nd Iowa steams down to Carrollton, Louisiana. They move to Bayou Boeuf, then march to Berwick, then Lafayette, Louisiana, skirmishing with Rebels along the way. In November, the regiment bounces along the coastal islands of Texas — Brazos Island, Fort Esperanza at Matagorda Bay (abandoned by the Rebels the night before their arrival), Decros Point, and finally into winter quarters at Indianola, Texas.Jan 20, 1864
Court-Martial at Indianola, Texas
The military trial of Abraham Wallick is lean on specifics. The date is January 20, 1864, and the outcome is guilty — but the court attaches no criminality. Abraham had marched from Aransas Pass, Texas, to Fort Esperanza without notifying his commanding officers. He was AWOL between November 3, 1863, and January 12, 1864. The leniency of the court suggests medical treatment was the cause for his absence. The court's findings state:Of the Specification — ‘Guilty.’ Of the Charge — ‘Guilty,’ but we attach no criminality (as it appears he was quite unwell) and direct he be returned to duty. Findings and sentence approved.
— Court-Martial Findings, January 20, 1864
Feb 22, 1864
Transferred to the Invalid Corps (Veteran Reserve Corps)
After his court-martial, the army transfers Abraham Wallick to the Invalid Corps. He officially joins Company I of the 3rd Regiment on February 22, 1864. The Invalid Corps is renamed the Veteran Reserve Corps (VRC) on March 18, 1864 — just weeks after Abraham joins — partly to eliminate confusion with the “I.C.” (inspected-condemned) stamp used on damaged military supplies.
Jul 14, 1865
Discharged — Burlington, Vermont
Abraham Wallick is discharged from Federal service at Burlington, Vermont. He travels to Fulton County, Illinois, to rejoin his family — Mary and the children had gone there during his three-year absence to live with her brother, the Reverend Elijah Johnson.Pioneers on the Nebraska Prairie
After his discharge, Abraham reconnected with his family in Illinois. Between 1865 and 1868, two more sons and a daughter were born in Fulton County. In 1868, with a serious war disability and eleven children under age sixteen, Abraham sold most of his family's possessions and with a covered wagon, two horses, and a cow, began a migration across the plains of Iowa. After traveling three weeks and 250 miles, the weary settlers stopped at Seward County, Nebraska. They were truly a family of pioneers, content to live in a 10×14 rough slab board house dug into a ravine.
Abraham and Mary had thirteen children in total, born between 1853 and 1870 — including two sets of twins. Their family was shattered when Mary, only 36 years old, contracted pneumonia and died on February 21, 1871. The infant twin girls were only nine months old at her passing. Mary is memorialized in the 1888 book History of Seward County, Nebraska: “Mrs. Wallick is remembered by all the older settlers as a very worthy Christian lady, who went through great tribulation to her brighter home in the skies to receive her crown.”
Mary's death destroyed the family's unity. It was impossible for Abraham to care for such a large family by himself. All the children were dispersed to other households — except the twin boys, Elijah Scott and William Melville, who were raised by an aunt. Even the twin girls were separated, with Jane becoming the foster child of Joseph and Lucy Kimball, who gave her the new name of Amanda Jane.
The Pension Files — A Life of Pain
From the time he was discharged in 1865 to the time of his death, Abraham Wallick received a military pension as compensation for the disabilities he acquired in service. Starting in 1878, he had to submit affidavits and doctors' examination certificates to continue his pension. His minister, Reverend E.W. Johnson of the United Brethren Church, wrote to the Board of Pensions on August 19, 1880:
Mr. Abraham Wallick at the time of his discharge and since up to [this] date has been lame in one of his legs, which he says was injured while in the service of the United States. Last summer there was quite a while that he could not walk at all. He is also troubled with a dizziness in his head which he claims is caused from an explosion in a mine at Vicksburg. He is a carpenter and from the two ailments he is rendered almost worthless as such… My judgement is that since his discharge, he has been disabled at least one half, say $20 or $25 per month.
— Rev. E.W. Johnson, U.B. Minister, Seward, Nebraska, August 19, 1880
The day after his July 14, 1865 discharge, Abraham received his first pension payment of four dollars. On March 16, 1882, his payment was raised to six dollars per month, and in 1890, eight dollars per month. Those increases never kept pace with the wages he lost due to his injuries. Abraham remained on his 85-acre homestead until 1881, then moved to the town of Seward, Nebraska, where he had been a founding member of the local Grand Army of the Republic post.
Abraham Wallick died on January 17, 1892. The Blue Valley Blade — a local Seward newspaper named after the Big Blue River — published his obituary soon after his death. He was part of a brotherhood that helped keep our republic united and a generation that understood the meaning of duty, honor, and sacrifice. Abraham lived a hard life, but it was a life full of incredible experiences. He left a rich heritage.
The Thirteen Children of Abraham and Mary Wallick
Elizabeth Victoria — b. Feb 25, 1853, Fulton County, Illinois
Christian J. — b. Aug 1854, Iowa City, Iowa
John Franklin — b. Mar 4, 1855, Monroe County, Iowa
Sarah Ellen — b. Apr 1, 1859, Iowa
Abraham Moses — b. 1860, Illinois
Martha Viola — b. Jan 28, 1862, Iowa
Elijah Scott — b. Mar 14, 1863, Albia, Iowa (twin)
William Melville — b. Mar 14, 1863, Albia, Iowa (twin)
Wallace Grant — b. Jul 26, 1865, Fulton, Illinois
Mary Louisa — b. Nov 1866, Fulton, Illinois
Henry C. — b. 1867, Fulton, Illinois
Addie Ada — b. May 10, 1870, Seward, Nebraska (twin)
(Amanda) Jane K. — b. May 10, 1870, Seward, Nebraska (twin)
Acknowledgements & Sources
Thanks to Scott A. Wallick and Karen Wallick Anderson for providing the genealogical materials proving Abraham Wallick was a descendant of Hans Michel Walck (Wallick), and to Lisa Marquise for sharing her family's history and the photograph of Abraham, Mary, and family. Abraham's personal military history was gleaned from his Compiled Military Service Records and Bureau of Pension documents housed in the National Archives, Washington, DC. The regimental history of the 22nd Iowa was drawn from Roster and Record of Iowa Soldiers in the War of the Rebellion and Historical Sketches of Volunteer Organizations, 1861–1866 (Des Moines: E.H. English, State Printer, 1908–11).
Suggested reading: Vanishing Footprints: The Twenty-Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, by Samuel D. Pryce, edited by Jeffry C. Burden (Iowa City: Camp Pope Publishing, 2008); and From Vicksburg to Cedar Creek: The 22nd Iowa Volunteer Infantry in the Civil War, by Thomas P. McKenna (Iowa City: Camp Pope Publishing, 2014).