"W.B. Pierce, Co. B, 20th Wis. Deloraine, Manitoba, is glad to see that all of the 20th are not mustered out, and says that Comrade Orr is correct regarding the charge made by the 20th at Prairie Grove, Dec. 7, 1862. The 20th was to have been supported by the 94th Ill. on the right and the 19th Iowa on the left. When the 20th was formed for the charge in front of Battery L 1st Mo. L.A. Col. Bertram, not wishing to be behind the others, got a considerable start of the other two regiments. But they got there just the same, and none too soon to save the 20th's bacon. There must have been another charge made by the division, for the 26th Ind. and 27th Ill. left their complement on the field. There was a truce till 10 a.m. for burying the dead, but they found that the johnnies had gone. The writer was on the ground and saw the 1st Texas Cav. burying what they could before the truce expired. He will never forget the way in which they brought the last two or three men and threw them into a large round hole, then threw in a few shovels of dirt. One man's nose and fingers stuck out of the dirt and a rebel raised his shovel and struck the corpse on the nose and, after throwing on a little more dirt, mounted his horse and rode off. He remembers the screams of the mother and daughter who lived in the house around which the 19th Iowa and the left of the 20th had their last fighting when they found father, son, and son-in-law all dead within a few yards of their own door.
Bryce A. Suderow