Chapter XIX: Minor Events of the Second Year (2)

Brig.-Gen. R. W. Johnson, setting out with a force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery to pursue the raider Morgan and his men, found them (August 21st) at Galletin, and ordered an attack. All seemed to be going well for a time, until confusion began to appear in his command, and soon a panic arose and half of his men ran away. He and some of his officers tried in vain to rally them, and finally he was obliged to order a retreat of such of his men as had stood their ground. He then marched for Cairo on the Cumberland, but, before reaching that place found the enemy pressing so closely in his rear that he was obliged to form line of battle to receive them. Again, when the firing became brisk, most of his men broke and fled, while with the remainder of his command he held the enemy in check until the fugitives were enabled to cross the river, when he and his little band were surrounded and captured. He had lost 30 men killed, and 50 wounded, and 75 were made prisoners.

On the 31st of August there was a severe skirmish near Bolivar, between two regiments of infantry and two detachments of cavalry, and a large Confederate force, which lasted about seven hours, and was brought to a close by an artillery fire and a gallant charge from the National troops. In this charge Lieutenant-Colonel Hogg, of the Second Illinois cavalry, fell in a hand-to-hand fight with Colonel McCullough. The next day, two regiments of infantry, with two companies of cavalry and a battery, commanded by Colonel Dennis, moving to attack this Confederate force in the rear, encountered them at Britton's Lane, near Denmark. Dennis, who had about 800 men, selected a strong position and awaited attack in a large grove surrounded by cornfields. The Confederates, commanded by Brigadier-General Armstrong, numbered at least 5,000, and were able merely to surround the little band. They soon captured the transportation train and two guns, but before the fight was over Dennis's men recaptured them. For four hours the Confederates persisted in making successive charges, all of which were gallantly repelled, when they retired, leaving Dennis in possession of the field. Their loss in killed and wounded was about 400. Dennis lost 60 men.

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In October General Negley, commanding at Nashville, learning that a considerable Confederate force under Generals Anderson, Harris, and Forrest was being concentrated at La Vergne, fifteen miles eastward, for the purpose of assaulting the city, sent out a force of about 2,500 men, under command of Gen. John M. Palmer, to attack them. A portion of this force marched directly by the Murfreesboro' road, while the remainder made a detour to the south. The Confederate pickets and videttes were on the alert, and made a skirmish for several miles, enabling the main body to prepare for the attack. The battle was opened by fire of the Confederate artillery, but this was soon silenced when a shell exploded their ammunition chest. Almost at the same moment the detachment that had made a detour came up and struck the Confederates on the flank, at the same time deploying skilfully so as to cut off their retreat. In this difficult situation the Confederates held their ground and fought for half an hour before they broke and retreated in confusion. They had lost about 80 men killed or wounded, and 175 were captured, besides three {229} guns, a considerable amount of stores, stand of colors, etc. General Palmer lost 18 men.

On the 18th of November 200 men of the Eighth Kentucky Regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel May, was guarding a supply train bivouacked on an old camp-meeting ground at Rural Hills, seventeen miles southeast of Nashville. While they were at breakfast the next morning the crack of rifles was heard, and in a moment two columns of Confederate cavalry were seen rushing upon them from their front and their right. The boys in blue seized their muskets, fell into line, and in a moment met the enemy with a sharp and continuous fire. Presently a section of National artillery was brought into action, and not only played upon the enemy immediately in front, but also upon a larger body that was discovered somewhat more than a mile away. This was answered by two or three Confederate guns, and the fight was continued for half an hour, when the assailants withdrew, leaving a dozen dead men on the field. Colonel May lost no men.

A similar affair took place on the 6th of December, at Lebanon, where the Ninety-third Ohio Regiment, under Col. Charles Anderson, was guarding a forage train. Seeing an enemy in front, who were evidently preparing to intercept the train, he marched his regiment in double-quick time through the fields skirting the road, in order to get ahead of the train and prevent an attack upon it. By the time he got there the Confederates were in position to receive him, and a sharp fight ensued, which ended in the flight of the Confederates. In these little affairs there was often displayed a dash and courage by individual soldiers, which in a war of less gigantic dimensions would have immortalized them. Every historian of the Revolutionary war thinks it necessary to record anew the fact that when the flagstaff of Fort Moultrie was shot away Sergeant Jasper leaped down from the parapet and recovered it under fire. Without disparaging his exploit, it may be said that it was surpassed in hundreds of instances by men on both sides in the civil war. In the little action just described, William C. Stewart, a color-bearer, was under fire for the first time in his life. Colonel Anderson says he "stood out in front of his company and of the regiment with his tall person and our glorious flag elevated to their highest reach; nor could he be persuaded to seek cover or to lower his colors."

At Hartsville on the Cumberland, about forty miles from Murfreesboro', 1,900 National troops, under command of Col. Absalom B. Moore, were encamped in a position which would have been very strong if held by a larger force, but was dangerous for one so small. Against this place Morgan the raider, at the head of 4,000 men, marched on the 7th of December. He crossed the river seven miles from Hartsville, at a point where nobody supposed it could be crossed by any such force, on account of the steepness of the banks. With a little digging he made a slope, down which he slid his horses, and at the water's edge his men remounted. Coming up unexpectedly by a byroad, they captured all the National pickets except one, who gave the alarm and ran into the camp. The Nationals formed quickly in line of battle, but at the first fire the One Hundred and Eighth Ohio broke, leaving the flank exposed. The Confederates saw their advantage, seized it, and quickly poured in a cross-fire, which compelled the remainder of Moore's forces to fall back, though they did not do it without first making a stubborn fight. Soon afterward Colonel Moore, considering it sufficiently evident that further resistance was useless, raised a white flag and surrendered his entire command.

A similar surrender took place at Trenton, December 20th, when Forrest's cavalry attacked that place for the purpose of breaking the railroad and cutting off General Grant's supplies. Col. Jacob Fry, who was in command there, had been notified by Grant to look out for Forrest, as he was moving in that direction. He got together what force he could, consisting largely of convalescents and fugitives, and numbering but 250 in all, and prepared to make a defence. He had a few sharp-shooters, whom he placed on two buildings commanding two of the principal streets, and when in the afternoon the enemy appeared, charging in two columns, they were met by so severe a fire from these men that they quickly moved out of range. Forrest then planted a battery of six guns where it could command the position held by the Nationals, and opened fire with shells. Colonel Fry says: "Seeing that we were completely in their power, and had done all the damage to them we could, I called a council of officers. They were unanimous for surrender.... The terms of the surrender were unconditional; but General Forrest admitted us to our paroles the next morning, sending the Tennessee troops immediately home, and others to Columbus under a flag of truce."

Thus far in his raiding operations General Forrest had had things mainly his own way, but in the closing engagement he was not so fortunate. While he was marching toward Lexington a force of 1,500 men, commanded by Col. C. L. Dunham, was sent out to intercept him, and came upon a portion of his troops at Parker's Cross Roads, five miles south of Clarksburg, on the 30th of December. After some preliminary skirmishes Dunham, seeing that he was soon to be attacked, placed his men in readiness, and with two pieces of artillery opened fire. This was replied to by the Confederates with six guns, and Dunham then retreated some distance to a good position on the crest of a ridge, placing his wagon train in the rear. The enemy in heavy column soon emerged from the woods, and made a movement evidently intended to gain his flank and rear; whereupon he promptly changed his position to face them, and opened fire. But the Confederate artillery gained a position where it could enfilade his lines, and at the same time he was attacked in the rear by a detachment of dismounted cavalry. Again he promptly changed his position, facing to the rear, and drove off the enemy with a considerable loss, completing their rout by a brilliant bayonet charge. A detachment of cavalry also made two charges upon him from another direction, and both times was repelled. This was the end of the principal fighting of the day. A few minutes later Forrest sent in a flag of truce demanding an unconditional surrender, to which Colonel Dunham replied: "You will get away with that flag very quickly, and bring me no more such messages. Give my compliments to the general, and tell him I never surrender. If he thinks he can take me, come and try." In the course of the battle Dunham's wagon train was captured, and he now called for volunteers to retake it. A company of the Thirty-ninth Iowa offered themselves for this task and quickly accomplished it, not only recapturing the train but bringing in also several prisoners, including Forrest's adjutant-general and three other officers. Reinforcements for Dunham now approached, and the Confederates departed. The National loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, was 220. The Confederate loss is unknown. Another instance of peculiar individual gallantry is here mentioned by the colonel in his report. "As our line faced about and pressed back in their engagement of the enemy in our rear, one of the guns of the battery was left behind in the edge of the woods. All the {230} horses belonging to it had been killed but two. After everybody had passed and left it, Private E. A. Topliff, fearing that the enemy might capture it, alone and under a smart fire disengaged the two horses, hitched them to the piece, and took it safely out."

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Although the struggle to determine whether Missouri should remain in the Union or go out of it had been decided in the first year of the war, her soil was by no means free from contention and bloodshed in the second year. The earliest conflict took place in Randolph County, January 8th, where 1,000 Confederates, under Colonel Poindexter, took up a strong position at Roan's Tanyard, on Silver Creek, seven miles south of Huntsville. Here they were attacked by about 500 men under Majors Torrence and Hubbard, and after half an hour's fighting were completely routed. Their defeat was owing mainly to the inefficiency of their commander. The victors burned the camp and a considerable amount of stores.

In February Captain Nolen, of the Seventh Illinois cavalry, with 64 men, while reconnoitring near Charleston, struck a small detachment of Confederate cavalry under Jeff Thompson. Nolen pursued them for some distance, and when Thompson made a stand and brought up his battery to command the road, the Illinois men promptly charged upon it, captured four guns, and put the Confederates to flight.

The most infamous of all the guerilla leaders was one Quantrell, who seemed to take delight in murdering prisoners, whether they were combatants or non-combatants. His band moved with the usual celerity of such, and, like the others, was exceedingly difficult to capture, or even find, when any considerable force set out to attack it. On the 22d of March a detachment of the Sixth Kansas Regiment overtook Quantrell near Independence, killed seven of his men, and caused the remainder to retreat precipitately, except eleven of them who were captured.

Another encounter with Quantrell's guerilla band was had at Warrensburg, March 26, where he attacked a detachment of a Missouri regiment commanded by Major Emery Foster. Although Quantrell had 200 men, and Foster but 60, the latter, skilfully using a thick plank fence for protection, succeeded in inflicting so much loss upon the guerillas that they at length retired. Nine of them were killed and 17 wounded. The National loss was 13, including Major Foster wounded. The same night about 500 guerillas attacked four companies of militia at Humonsville, but were defeated and driven off with a loss of 15 killed and a large number wounded.

On the 26th of April the Confederate general John S. Marmaduke attacked the town of Cape Girardeau, but after a smart action was driven off, with considerable loss, by the garrison, under Gen. John McNeil. In the evening of the next day the cavalry force that formed the advance guard on his retreat was surprised and attacked near Jackson by the First Iowa cavalry and other troops. Two howitzers, loaded with musket balls, were fired at them when they were not more than thirty yards away, and the next instant the Iowa cavalry swooped down upon them in a spirited charge, from which not one of the Confederates escaped. All that were not killed were captured, together with a few guns, horses, etc.

One of the most desperate fights with guerillas took place near Memphis, Mo., on the 18th of July. A band of 600 had chosen a strong position for their camp, partly concealed {231} by heavy brush and timber, when they were attacked by a force of cavalry and militia, commanded by Major John Y. Clopper. Clopper first knew their location when they fired from concealment upon his advance guard, and he immediately made dispositions for an attack. His men made five successive charges across open ground, and were five times repelled; but, nothing disheartened, and having now learned the exact position of the concealed enemy, they advanced in a sixth charge, and engaged him hand to hand. The result of the fight was the complete defeat of the guerillas, who fled, leaving their dead and wounded on the field and in the woods. Clopper lost 83 men.

In these affairs the guerillas were by no means always defeated. When in August a band of 800 had been gathered by one Hughes, it was determined to make an attack upon the small National garrison at Independence, principally for the purpose of obtaining additional arms. The guerillas surprised, captured, and murdered the picket before they could give an alarm, and then entered the town by two roads, and attacked the various buildings where detachments of the garrison were stationed. A gallant resistance was made at every possible point; but as the guerillas outnumbered the defenders two to one, and there was no prospect of any relief, Lieut.-Col. J. T. Buell, commanding the town, finally surrendered. Hughes and many of his men had been killed. Several of the buildings were riddled with balls, and 26 of the garrison lost their lives.

Again, at Lone Jack, Mo., five days later (August 16th), the guerillas were successful in a fight with the State militia. Major Foster at the head of 600 militiamen was hunting guerillas, when he suddenly found more than he wanted to see at one time. They were estimated at 4,000, and on the approach of Foster's little force they turned and attacked him. Foster's men fought gallantly for four hours, and were not overpowered until they had lost 160 men, the loss of the guerillas being about equal. On the approach of National reinforcements the guerillas retreated.

A month later, at Shirley's Ford on Spring River, the Third Indiana Regiment, commanded by Colonel Ritchie, attacked and defeated a force of 600 guerillas, including about 100 Cherokee Indians, 60 of whom were killed or wounded before they retreated.

One more desperate fight with guerillas in that State took place on the 29th of October, near Butler, in Bates County. A band of them, who had been committing depredations, and were threatening several towns, were pursued by 220 men of the First Kansas colored regiment, commanded by white officers. The guerillas in superior force attacked them near Osage Island, charging upon them and making every demonstration of special hatred for the blacks; but the colored men stood their ground like any other good soldiers, and dealt out severe punishment to the guerillas. When, finally, the cavalrymen succeeded in riding in among the colored troops, many desperate hand-to-hand encounters ensued. Not a colored soldier would surrender; and one of the leaders of the guerillas, in describing the action, said that "the black devils fought like tigers." The character of much of the guerilla fighting may be seen from a few incidents of this battle. While Lieutenant Gardner was lying wounded and insensible, a guerilla approached him, cut his revolver from the belt, and fired it at his head. Fortunately the ball only grazed the skull, and the next instant a wounded colored soldier near by raised himself sufficiently to level his musket and shoot the miscreant dead. Captain Crew had been killed, and a guerilla was rifling his pockets, when another wounded colored soldier summoned strength enough to get to his feet and despatch the guerilla with his bayonet. On the approach of reinforcements for the little band, the guerillas retreated. The National force lost about 20 men.

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Northern Arkansas, as well as southern Missouri, was infested by bands of Confederate guerillas, though it was not so rich a field for their operations, as the number of Unionists in that State was comparatively small.

In February, the First Missouri cavalry, hunting guerillas there, were fired upon from ambush at Sugar Creek, and 18 men fell. The regiment immediately formed for action, and artillery was brought up and the woods were shelled, but with no result except the unseen retreat of the enemy.

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At Searcy Landing, on Little Red River, 150 men of the National force had a fight with about twice their number of Confederates, whom they routed with a loss of nearly 100 men.

On the 22d of October, Brig.-Gen. James G. Blunt, commanding a division of the Army of the Frontier, set out from Pea Ridge with two brigades. After a toilsome march of thirty {232} miles he came upon a Confederate force at Old Fort Wayne, near Maysville, which consisted of two Texas regiments and other troops, numbering about 5,000 in all. He found them in position to receive battle, but believing that they intended to retreat he made haste to attack them with his advance guard and shell them with two howitzers. The enemy promptly answered the artillery fire and showed no signs of retreating, but on the contrary attempted to overwhelm the little force. General Blunt hurried forward the main body of his troops and flanked the enemy upon both wings, then making a charge upon their centre and capturing their artillery. This completely broke them up, and they fled in disorder, being pursued for seven miles. Blunt lost about a dozen men, and found 50 of the enemy's dead on the field.

On the 26th of November General Blunt learned that Marmaduke's Confederate command was at Cane Hill, and immediately set out to attack it with 5,000 men and 30 guns. After a march of thirty-five miles he sent spies into the enemy's camp to learn its exact location and condition, who discovered that on one of the approaches there were no pickets out. He therefore made his dispositions for an attack on that side, and was not discovered until he was within half a mile of their lines, when they opened upon him with artillery. He replied with one battery, and kept up a brisk fire while he sent back to hurry up the main body of his troops. Placing guns on an eminence, he shelled the enemy very effectively, and then formed his command in line for an advance, expecting a desperate resistance, but found to his surprise that they had quietly retreated. They made a stand a few miles distant at the base of the Boston Mountains, and there he attacked them again, when they retired to a lofty position on the mountain side, with artillery on the crest. The Second and Eleventh Kansas and Third Cherokee regiments stormed this position and carried it, when the enemy fled in disorder and was pursued for three miles through the woods. Here another stand was made by their rear guard, which was promptly charged by Blunt's cavalry. But the position defended was in a defile, and the cavalry suffered severely. Bringing up his guns, Blunt was about to shell them out, when they sent in a flag of truce with a request for permission to remove their dead and wounded. General Blunt granted this, but it proved that the flag of truce {233} was only a trick of Marmaduke's to obtain time to escape with his command. Darkness now came on, and the pursuit was abandoned. Blunt had lost about 40 men, and Marmaduke about 100.

A much more important action than of those just recorded took place at Prairie Grove on the 7th of December. Learning that General Hindman's forces had joined those of General Marmaduke, making an army of about 25,000 men, General Blunt, fearing an attack, ordered the divisions commanded by Gen. F. J. Herron to join him at once. Herron obeyed the order promptly; but the Confederates, learning of this movement, made an advance for the purpose of interposing between Blunt and Herron. They attacked Herron first, who drove back their advance and then found them in position on a ridge commanding the ford across Illinois Creek. Herron sent a detachment of his men to cut a road through the woods and come in upon their flank, thus drawing their fire in that direction and enabling his main force to cross the ford. This movement was successful, and in a short time his command had crossed and brought its guns to bear upon the enemy's position. He then pushed forward his infantry in several charges, one of which captured a battery, but all of which were finally repelled. The Confederates then made a grand charge in return and came within a hundred yards of Herron's guns, but the fire of artillery and musketry was too much for them, and they retired in disorder. Again, in his turn, Herron charged with two regiments, again captured a battery, and again was forced to retire. While this action was in progress Blunt was pressing forward to the relief of Herron with his command, and now came in on the right, joined in the fight and defeated the enemy, who repeated their trick with a flag of truce and escaped in the night. In this battle the total National loss, killed, wounded, and missing, was 1,148. The Confederate loss is not exactly known, but was much larger, and included General Stein among the killed.

The great war extended not only over the Southern States, but into some of the Territories. In the summer of 1861 the Confederate government commanded Gen. H. H. Sibley to organize a brigade in Texas and march northward into New Mexico for the conquest of that Territory. He moved up the Rio Grande in January, 1862, and early in February came within striking distance of Fort Craig, on the western bank of the river, which was the headquarters of Col. (afterward Gen.) E. R. S. Canby, who commanded the National forces in New Mexico. Canby planned to attack him, and began by sending a force of cavalry with two batteries to cut off the Texans from their supply of water at the river. In that vicinity, on account of the steep banks, there was only one point where the stream could be reached. This detachment, however, was a little too late, as the Confederates had already gained the water. Colonel Roberts, in command of the detachment, fired upon them with his batteries, dismounted one of their guns, and drove them off. Roberts then crossed to the eastern bank, and the fight was renewed with varying success, until the Confederates charged upon and captured some of his guns. Colonel Canby then came upon the field with more of his forces and ordered an advance to attack the enemy where he appeared to be lurking in the edge of a wood. But the Confederates did not wait to be attacked. After a sharp musketry fire on the right flank, they made desperate charges to capture Canby's two batteries. The one against Hall's battery was made by cavalry, and the horsemen were struck down so rapidly by the fire of the guns that they could not reach it. The other was made by infantry, armed principally with revolvers. The guns, commanded by Captain McRae, were served rapidly and skilfully, and made awful slaughter of the Texans; but they continually closed up the gaps in their ranks and steadily pushed forward until the battery was theirs. The infantry supports, who should have prevented this capture, miserably failed in their duty and finally ran away from the field. McRae and his men remained at their guns till the last minute, and most of them, including Captain McRae, were killed. With the loss of the battery, hope of victory was gone, and the National troops retired to the fort. Canby had in this fight about 1,500 men, and lost about 200. The Confederates numbered about 2,000, and their loss is unknown.

Another fight in this territory took place at Apache Cañon, twenty miles from Santa Fé, on the 28th of March, where Major Chivington with 1,300 men and six guns overtook and attacked a force of about 2,000 Texans. The first shots were fired by a small party of the Texans in ambush, who were immediately rushed upon and disposed of by the advance guard of the Nationals. Chivington then pressed forward, surprised and captured the pickets, and about noon attacked the main force of the enemy. The battle lasted four hours, and Chivington with his six guns had a great advantage over the Texans, who had but one. The result was a complete defeat of the Confederates and capture of their entire train {234} consisting of sixty-four wagons. The Texans had made four attempts to capture Chivington's guns, as they had captured Canby's, but only met with heavy loss. The total Confederate loss was over 300 killed or wounded, and about 100 taken prisoners. Chivington's loss was 150.

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In obedience to an Act of Congress, Lieut.-Com. Thomas S. Phelps, in command of the steamer _Corwin_, was detached from the North Atlantic blockading squadron and ordered to make a regular survey of the Potomac River, to facilitate the operations of the army, no survey of this river ever having been made. He began the work in July, 1862, and rapidly pushed it to its completion in March, 1863, most of the time opposed by the artillery and cavalry of the Confederates. During the winter months it was frequently necessary to break the ice in order to prosecute the work. While thus engaged, he assisted materially in the blockade of the river and in breaking up the haunts of the contrabandists. The magnitude of the work may be imagined from the fact that on the Kettle-bottoms alone, a section of the river about ten miles in length by an average of four miles in width, more than six hundred miles of soundings were run, necessitated by the immense number of small shoals on this ground which were dangerous to navigation. The length of river surveyed was ninety-seven miles.

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Enraged by real or fancied wrongs in the failure of payment of annuities, the Sioux Indians took the opportunity when the Government, as they supposed, had all it could do to grapple with the rebellion, to indulge in a general uprising in the Northwest. In August they attacked several frontier towns of Minnesota and committed horrible atrocities. The village of New Ulm was almost destroyed, and more than 100 of its citizens--men, women, and children--were massacred. They also destroyed the agencies at Redwood and Yellow Medicine, and attacked the villages of Hutchinson and Forest City, but from these latter were driven off. They besieged Fort Ridgley, but did not succeed in capturing it. Altogether they committed about 1,000 murders. Col. H. H. Sibley with a strong force was sent against them, and in September overtook several bodies of the Sioux, all of whom he defeated. In the principal battle two cannon, of which the Indians have always been in mortal terror, were used upon them with great effect. The Indians asked for a truce to rescue their wounded and bury their dead, but Sibley declined to grant any truce until they should return the prisoners whom they had carried off. Ultimately about 1,000 Indians were captured. Many of them were tried and condemned, and 39 were hanged.

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