Chapter IX: Part 9

Meantime, Colonel Lowe came up with the Twelfth, and was led by Adjutant-General Hartsuff into the woods near the spot where the Tenth first received the enemy’s fire. He was leading up his regiment, waving his sword to cheer on his men, when he was struck in the forehead by a musket ball, and fell heavily from his horse. He died bravely, a soldier’s death, in front of the foe, and in the presence of his men.

The reconnoissance that was designed, had now grown into a severe and general engagement. But the unknown position of the enemy, and the necessity of calling up other regiments to support the advance, had led to a premature struggle. McMullen’s howitzer battery, and Captain Snyder’s battery were brought forward as speedily as possible, and rendered efficient service. General Rosecranz dispatched Adjutant-General Hartsuff to order up Colonel McCook’s brigade, who rushed forward in a state of wild enthusiasm when they were informed that they would have the honor of storming the batteries. Meantime the General, who had been making a careful survey of the whole field, found that the work would be too hazardous, and cost too many valuable lives, if it were then attempted, and countermanded the order. It was now too dark to distinguish the foe, and it became absolutely necessary to withdraw the troops.

The men had marched seventeen miles and a half, and many of them were exhausted with scouting and skirmishing all day over the hills. They retired slowly, galled with disappointment, and bivouacked, wearied and supperless, within musket range of the rebel front. Sentinels were posted to prevent any attempt of the enemy to surprise them, and guard against the retreat of Floyd if possible. But total ignorance of the country, and the intense darkness of the night, made it impossible to secure all the avenues of retreat. General Rosecranz himself was up all night long, taking care of his position with jealous and anxious solicitude; but notwithstanding, the foe slipped from his grasp.

The troops expected to storm the position and take it by sunrise, but before that time it was discovered vacant. Floyd began the evacuation as soon as he ascertained that Rosecranz did not intend to storm him, and by three o’clock the next morning the enemy put the deep and turbulent Gauley, and some miles of rugged road, between himself and the disgusted Federal army—sinking the flats and destroying the trestle bridge by which he had secured his retreat.

The Union troops immediately took possession of Floyd’s camp, in which he had left his own personal baggage, that of his officers, and their parade stores, the baggage and blankets of private soldiers, large numbers of muskets, squirrel guns, powder, lead, cartridges, forage, large quantities of commissary stores, and some horses and wagons.

He took nothing with him, in fact, excepting his guns, part of his tents, and a small supply of rations. It was also ascertained that he threw at least a portion of his cannon into the Gauley.

The loss of Rosecranz’s army in the engagement was 16 killed, and 102 wounded. That of the enemy was probably small, as they were well protected from the Federal fire. Twelve rebel prisoners were taken, and 25 of Colonel Tyler’s Seventh Ohio, mostly wounded, who had been captured at Cross Lanes on the 26th of August, were released.

BATTLE OF CHEAT MOUNTAIN PASS.

On the 12th of September, General Reynolds, commanding the Federal brigade on Cheat Mountain, was attacked by General Lee of the Secession army, with a force computed at 9,000 men. The Cheat Mountain Pass lies between the valley of the South branch of the Potomac river and those of Elk and Gauley rivers, tributaries of the Great Kanawha.

The first position held by General Reynolds was at the foot of the mountain, but subsequently two fortifications had been erected on the summit of two adjacent spurs, seven miles apart by a bridle path, which were called Cheat Summit and Elk Water. General Reynolds’s headquarters was at Elk Water, while Colonel Kimball of the Fourteenth Indiana, held a subordinate command at Cheat Summit.

The enemy was well informed of the position and strength of these defences, but had no desire to attack General Reynolds in either of his strongholds. Their leader had hopes, however, of escaping the vigilance of the Federal commanders by making a detour and marching on beyond, and was engaged in this enterprise when he met with unexpected reverses.

The two Federal posts were in constant communication by a telegraphic line, and pickets guarded every avenue of approach.

On the 12th, the enemy, five thousand strong, with eight pieces of artillery, under command of General R. E. Lee, advanced on this position by the Huntersville Pike. Our advanced pickets—portions of the Fifteenth Indiana and Sixth Ohio—gradually fell back to our main picket station; two companies of the Seventeenth Indiana, under Colonel Hascall, checking the enemy’s advance at the Point Mountain Turnpike, and then falling back on the regiment which occupied a very advanced position on our right front, and which was now ordered in. The enemy threw into the woods on our left front three regiments, who made their way to the right and rear of Cheat Mountain, took a position on the road leading to Huttonville, broke the telegraph wire, and cut off our communication with Colonel Kimball’s Fourteenth Indiana Cavalry on Cheat Summit.

At the same time an equal force of the enemy advanced by the Staunton Pike on the front of Cheat Mountain, and threw two regiments to the right and rear of the mountain, thus uniting with his other column. They advanced towards the pass, in order to get to the rear of Elkwater, when three companies of the Thirteenth Indiana, and one from the Fourteenth, met them. The encounter resulted in the rout and retreat of the enemy.

A large portion of the rebel troops were now closing in on Cheat Mountain, when detachments of the Fourteenth Indiana, and Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Ohio, numbering in all about three hundred, held them in check. Affairs rested in this condition till dark. Determined to force a communication between the detached portions of his command, General Reynolds ordered the Thirteenth Indiana, under Colonel Sullivan, to cut their way, if necessary, by the mail road, and the greater part of the Third Ohio and Second Virginia, under Colonels Manon and Moss, respectively, to do the same by the path; the two commands starting at three o’clock, A. M. on the 13th, the former from Cheat Mountain Pass, and the latter from Elk Water, so as to fall upon the enemy simultaneously, if possible. Early on the 13th, the small force of about three hundred from the summit, engaged the enemy with such effect, that notwithstanding his great superiority in numbers, he retired in great disorder, leaving large quantities of clothing and equipments on the ground. The relieving forces failing to encounter the enemy, marched to the summit, secured the provision train, and reopened the communication. While these events were proceeding on the mountain, General Lee advanced on Elk Water, apparently for a final attack. A rifled Parrot gun from Loomis’ battery was run to the front about three-quarters of a mile, and after a few shots, which told with fine effect on their ranks, they retreated to a place beyond its range. On the 14th, the enemy was again in position in front of Elk Water, but were repulsed by the gallant Fifteenth Indiana, who held their ground and fired with the most telling effect. The enemy also made an effort to reach the pass, but they were again repulsed, and withdrew to a point some ten miles distant. On the 15th, the rebels appeared again in much stronger force than before, and attempted a flank movement by the left, but they were driven back and compelled to retire from the field by the vigilant and heroic garrison on the summit.

One hundred of the enemy were killed and wounded, and about twenty were taken prisoners. The Federal forces lost nine killed, and about sixty prisoners. Lieutenant Junod, of the Fourteenth Indiana, was among the killed, and Captain James Bense, and Lieutenants Gillman and Shaffer, of the Ohio Sixth, and Lieutenant Merrill, of the Engineers wounded.

One of the most important incidents of this engagement was the death of Colonel John A. Washington, of the rebel army, aid-de-camp to General Lee.

ENGAGEMENT AT CHAPMANSVILLE.

A brilliant affair took place at Chapmansville, Logan county, Virginia, on the 25th of September, when a body of the enemy under Colonel Davis, numbering about five hundred, was defeated and driven from behind their breastworks by five hundred and fifty men of the Thirty-fourth Ohio, under Colonel Piatt.

The want of men in Western Virginia had induced the Government to call this regiment into the field before its ranks were full, and they had been on duty but one week when the affair at Chapmansville took place. With only six hours notice they marched from Cincinnati, and on the 19th of September arrived at “Camp Enyard,” on the Kanawha, occupied by Colonel Enyard with three hundred of the First Kentucky and two hundred of the Home Guards of Virginia.

Three days subsequently they learned that the enemy were in force fifty miles distant, and marched, in company with Colonel Enyard’s command to Peytona, where they separated, Colonel Piatt proceeding to Boone Court-house. A march of about sixteen miles the next day brought them in contact with the advance cavalry guard of the enemy, who were quickly driven in. The force was immediately made ready for battle, and proceeded on for two hours, constantly skirmishing with the retreating foe. Though unable to ascertain the position or force of their opposers, they yet marched bravely, with Colonel Piatt in advance, until the dim outline of a breastwork became visible through the dense underbrush, situated on the slope of a hill between two mountain ridges on the right and a small ravine on the left. The brush had been cut down on the right and a force of the enemy, comprising about one hundred men, were stationed there to rake the advancing troops, and their fire was poured in incessantly. The Federals returned the fire and advanced fearlessly, in four columns, with company A, Captain Rathbone, deployed to the right, directly up the side of the mountain, for the purpose of outflanking the enemy on the left; company C, Captain Miller, dispatched for a similar purpose to the left; company I, Captain Anderson, marching up the ravine, and the centre moving directly up the road. When within about twenty yards of the breastworks they were suddenly fired upon from all quarters. The order from Colonel Piatt to storm the entrenchments was responded to with hearty cheers, and the men dashed on, regardless of the storm of bullets that tore up the earth around them.

Captain Anderson was the first to mount the breastworks, his men following steadily and with unflinching courage. Captain Miller on the left, and Captain Rathbone on the right, were impeded by obstructions, but quickly overcoming or dashing through them, joined in the charge. A few minutes sufficed to reach the inside and break the ranks of the enemy, who fled to the mountains. They left twenty-nine dead behind and had fifty wounded, among them Colonel Davis, of North Carolina, who afterwards died. The Federal loss was four killed and eight wounded.

Colonel Piatt marched into Chapmansville, the former headquarters of the enemy, encamped for the night, and then returned to Camp Enyard, almost without provisions, and forced to wade through swollen streams and surmount rugged mountains.

RECONNOISSANCE AT GREEN BRIER, WESTERN VIRGINIA.

OCTOBER 3, 1861.

General Reynolds, commander of the Federal forces on Cheat Mountain Summit, who had so successfully resisted the attempt of the enemy to flank his position on the 12th of September, having learned that General Jackson had a fortified camp on the Green Brier river, at a point where the Staunton turnpike ascends the Alleghany mountains, about twelve miles distant, determined on a reconnoissance in force, and if possible a surprise of the enemy’s encampment. On the night of October 2, at twelve o’clock, he started from his encampment, with the Twenty-fourth, Twenty-fifth and Thirty-second Ohio, and the Seventh, Ninth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth and Seventeenth Indiana regiments, with Howe’s, Loomis’ and Daum’s batteries, thirteen pieces, and a small force of cavalry, in all about five thousand men.

About daylight they came in contact with the enemy’s outposts, at the first Green Brier bridge, which resulted in their being driven within the entrenchments with considerable loss by the Twenty-fourth Ohio and Seventh Indiana.

The rebel camp was located on a steep elevation, known as Buffalo Hill, their entrenchments rising one above another along its terraced sides. Howe’s and Loomis’ batteries were soon put in position, and were effective in silencing a number of the enemy’s pieces, which had opened on the advancing Federal columns. The infantry were impatient for the order to advance to the assault, while for thirty-five minutes every gun of the assaulting batteries were actively engaged.

One after another of the rebel pieces were dismounted, until only one remained, which replied with spirit, while the lower entrenchments were almost wholly evacuated by their defenders. Rockets were thrown up from the enemy’s camp at this time, which the General supposed was a signal for reinforcements from another encampment known to exist a few miles distant. It was not long before the surmise was verified. Down the mountains in the rear of the camp came a column of men, estimated at two thousand, bringing with them several pieces of artillery of a superior character. They were received with loud cheers by their hitherto faltering comrades. The fresh pieces were soon mounted on the upper works, and took part in the engagement.

SIEGE OF LEXINGTON, MO., SEPT. 12–20, 1861.
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In the mean time the infantry Colonels were clamorous for permission to storm the upper works, but the General opposed this as unnecessarily involving a great sacrifice of life, which would not be justified for the possession of an unimportant position. A flank movement was permitted, however, to gain a more accurate knowledge of the enemy’s entrenchments and force, in which most of the regiments participated. The men were brought under a cross-fire of shell and canister, and the General discovered the works could not be carried without great exposure and loss. As the artillery had nearly exhausted their ammunition, he deemed it prudent to withdraw his force, which was done without any molestation from the enemy.

The entire Federal loss was but eight killed and thirty-two wounded, while that of the enemy was about double this number, principally in the skirmish outside of their entrenchments. Thirteen of the rebels were captured.

DEFENCE OF LEXINGTON, MISSOURI.

SEPTEMBER 12–20, 1861.

One of the most exciting events of the war in the West was the defence of Lexington, Missouri, by Federal troops, commanded by Colonel James B. Mulligan, consisting of the Chicago Irish Brigade, eight hundred strong, four hundred Home Guards, and a part of the Missouri Eighth, under Colonel White; the Missouri Thirteenth, six hundred and fifty men, Colonel Peabody; Illinois First Cavalry, four hundred men, Colonel Marshall. In addition to these, Captain Graham, Lieutenant-Colonel White, Lieutenant-Colonel Given, and Major Wright had also small commands—in all, 2,780 men.

Lexington is the capital of Lafayette county, and contains a population of about five thousand. It is on the right bank of the Missouri river, one hundred and twenty miles west of Jefferson City, and three hundred miles from St. Louis. The heights on which the town is built command the river, and to a considerable extent the back country. Old Lexington, an earlier settlement, is situated east of the new town, back of the river, on the hills, where the main body of Price’s army was posted, while the attack was made from different points. Colonel Mulligan’s fortifications were between the two towns, and consisted of heavy earthworks, ten feet in height, with a ditch eight feet in width.

On the 1st of September, Colonel Mulligan, whose regiment was then encamped at Jefferson City, received orders to march to the relief of Lexington, then threatened by the enemy, and in six hours the regiment was on its way, and in nine days after entered the town, which they found occupied by Colonel Marshall’s cavalry, and a body of Home Guards. On the 10th a letter was received from Colonel Peabody, saying that he was retreating from Warrensburg, twenty-five miles distant, and that Price was pursuing him with ten thousand men. A few hours after, Colonel Peabody, with the Thirteenth Missouri, entered Lexington.

On the 12th, as the enemy drew near the city, two companies of the Thirteenth Missouri were ordered out as skirmishers, who recognized General Price (by the aid of glasses), leading on the advance guard of his men. Company I of the Irish Brigade held them in check until Captain Dillon’s company of the Thirteenth Missouri drove them back. Subsequently six companies of the Missouri Thirteenth and two companies of the Illinois cavalry were dispatched in search of the retreating enemy.

They engaged them in a cornfield, fought with them gallantly, and harassed them to such an extent as to delay their progress, in order to give time for constructing intrenchments around the camp on College Hill. This had the desired effect, and the Federals succeeded in throwing up earthworks three or four feet in height. This consumed the night, and was continued during the next day, the outposts still opposing the enemy, and keeping them back as far as possible. At three o’clock in the afternoon of the 14th the engagement opened with artillery. A volley of grapeshot was thrown among the officers, who stood in front of the breastworks. The guns within the entrenchments immediately replied with a vigor which converted the scene into one of the wildest excitement. At seven o’clock the enemy withdrew and the engagement ceased for the night.

Next morning General Parsons sent in a flag of truce, asking permission to bury his dead. The request was cheerfully granted, and the Federal troops willingly assisted in burying the fallen foe. On Tuesday the work of throwing up intrenchments went on. It rained all day, and the men stood knee-deep in the mud, building them. Troops were sent out to forage on the three succeeding days, and returned with large quantities of provisions and fodder.

All this time the pickets were constantly engaged with the enemy, well aware that ten thousand men were threatening them, and knowing that the struggle was to be a desperate one. Earthworks had been reared breast-high, enclosing an area of fifteen to eighteen acres, and surrounded by a ditch. Outside of this was a circle of twenty-one mines, and still further down were pits to embarrass the progress of the enemy. During the night of the 17th they were getting ready for the defence, and heard the sounds of preparation in the camp of the enemy for the attack on the morrow. At nine o’clock on the morning of the 18th, the drums beat to arms, and the terrible struggle commenced. The enemy’s force had increased to twenty thousand men and thirteen pieces of artillery. They came as one dark moving mass of armed men, as far as the eye could reach. Two batteries were planted by them in front, one on the left, one on the right, and one in the rear, and opened with a terrible fire, which was answered with the utmost bravery and determination. The batteries opened at nine o’clock, and never ceased to pour deadly shot upon the garrison. About noon the hospital was taken. It was situated on the left, outside of the intrenchments. They besieged it, took it, and from the balcony and roof their sharpshooters poured a deadly fire upon the Federal troops. The hospital contained the chaplain and one hundred and twenty wounded men. But it could not be allowed to remain the possession of the enemy. The Montgomery Guard, Captain Gleason, of the Irish Brigade, was brought out, and the word to “charge” given. They stormed up the slope to the hospital, took it, and drove the enemy in wild confusion down the hill. The fire of the rebels was for the time lessened, only to be increased towards evening, and word was sent that if the Federal troops did not surrender before the next morning, the black flag would be hoisted and no quarter given.

The next morning the fire was resumed and continued all day. A fierce bayonet charge was made by the garrison, that served to show the enemy that the Union troops were not yet worn out. All that day the soldiers in that little band stood straining their eyes and searching the distance in hopes that some friendly flag might be coming to their assistance. But no welcome flag came in sight, and with the energy of despair they determined to do their duty at all hazards. It was intensely hot—the lips of the men were parched and blistering. They were without water, and yet no word of murmuring was heard. That night two wells were dug. The morning of the next day, the 20th, dawned sadly upon them, and still the battle raged furiously. The rebels had constructed moveable breastworks of hemp bales, rolled them up the hill, and advanced their batteries so as to command the fortifications. Heated shot were fired at them but without avail, they having been thoroughly water-soaked. The outer breastworks were soon carried by a charge from the enemy, the Federal lines broken, and the rebels rushed in. At point after point they were repulsed, but the cartridges of the Union troops had given out, and it was evident that the struggle could not be protracted. Of a sudden the firing ceased, and it was subsequently ascertained that the Home Guards had hoisted a white flag. It was taken down, but again raised by the same hands from the centre of the fortifications—when the fire of the enemy slackened and ceased. Under this state of affairs, Colonel Mulligan, calling his officers into council, decided to capitulate, and Captain McDermott went out to the enemy’s lines, with a handkerchief tied to a ramrod, and a parley took place. Major Moore, of the brigade, was sent to General Price’s headquarters, at New Lexington, to know the terms of capitulation. These were soon made known; the officers to be retained as prisoners of war, the men to be allowed to parole, with their personal property, surrendering their arms and accoutrements.

Reluctantly this was acceded to, and the surrender took place. At four P. M. on Saturday, the Federal forces, having laid down their arms, were marched out of the intrenchments to the tune of “Dixie,” played by the rebel bands. They left behind them their arms and accoutrements, reserving only their clothing. Many of the men wept on leaving their colors behind, as each company in the brigade had its own standard presented by its friends. At the surrender, the muster-rolls of the companies were taken to General Price’s headquarters, the list of officers made out, and they ordered to report themselves as prisoners of war.

The scenes at the capitulation were extraordinary. Colonel Mulligan shed tears. The men threw themselves upon the ground, raved and stormed; well nigh frenzied, demanding to be led out again and “finish the thing.” In Colonel Marshall’s Cavalry regiment, the feeling was equally intense. Much havoc had already been done among their horses during the siege, and but little more than half of them remained. Numbers of the privates actually shot their own horses dead on the spot, unwilling that their companions in the campaign should now fall into the enemy’s hands.

The privates, numbering some one thousand five hundred strong, were first compelled to take the oath not to serve against the Confederate States, when they were put across the river, and in charge of General Rains marched on Saturday night to Richmond, sixteen miles, whence on Sunday they marched to Hamilton, a station on the Hannibal and St. Joseph railroad, where they were declared free to go where they pleased.

No reliable statement of the casualties at the siege of Lexington seems to have been published. Of the irregular army of General Price, large numbers of whom were not enrolled, but were outside volunteers, many were killed and buried on the spot, no record being made of their loss. One hundred and forty Federals were left in the hospital, many of whom were suffering from sickness, and not from wounds. Colonel Mulligan lost probably two hundred in killed and wounded, while the rebel loss could not have been less, and according to some estimates must have reached three or four times that number. General Price’s force was estimated at numbers varying from twenty to thirty thousand, the lowest being probably nearest the actual number, with twenty-one pieces of artillery.

General Price, in his official report to Governor Jackson, inventoried his acquisitions as follow:—“Three thousand five hundred prisoners, including the colonels, and one hundred and eighteen commissioned officers, five pieces of artillery and two mortars, over three thousand stand of infantry arms, a large number of sabres, about seven hundred and fifty horses, many sets of cavalry equipments, wagons, teams, ammunition, more than a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of commissary stores, and a large amount of other property.”

For daring and patient suffering—fighting day after day without water, the battle of Lexington stands almost without a rival in history. It was stubbornly contested, and evinced in the most striking manner the devotion and faithfulness of the adopted citizens of our country.

ATTACK ON SANTA ROSA ISLAND.

OCTOBER 9, 1861.

Santa Rosa Island is a long, narrow strip of low land, partially covered with bushes and stunted trees, lying opposite Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, on the western coast of Florida. The Bay of Pensacola is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by this island, which varies in width from one hundred yards to five-eighths of a mile. At the western extremity of the island Fort Pickens stands, commanding the channel, and on the mainland, a short distance west of the Navy Yard, is Fort San Carlos de Barrancas.

General Bragg, commanding at Pensacola, had matured a well-devised plan by which he designed to surprise and capture Fort Pickens, but in which he was signally defeated by the watchfulness and bravery of the troops at the fort, and on the island. The Federal force encamped on the island was a part of the New York Sixth Volunteers, known as Wilson’s Zouaves, numbering about three hundred men; and the destruction or capture of this force, was the first design of the leaders of the expedition, who confidently hoped, in the confusion arising from a night attack and rout, to obtain possession or destroy the batteries on the island, if not to capture Fort Pickens itself.

On the morning of Wednesday, the 9th of October, at two o’clock, the enemy silently commenced their advance upon the camp from a point about four miles distant, where they had landed during the night, about fifteen hundred strong, under General Anderson. The night was extremely dark, and it was almost impossible to distinguish any object at a distance of twenty yards. The Zouaves, numbering about three hundred, were encamped a mile from the fort, on the shore, but between the fort and the approaching foe, with their pickets thrown out a mile in advance. About three o’clock, the rebels, having driven in the pickets, who made a gallant resistance, reached the camp of Colonel Wilson, and owing to the confusion and darkness, before he had time to form his men, they were driven from their tents, many of which were burnt or destroyed by the enemy.

On the first alarm, Colonel Harvey Brown, commandant of the fort, dispatched Major Vogdes, with two companies of regulars, to the scene of conflict. The men soon became intermingled with the enemy, who succeeded in taking the Major prisoner. Major Arnold, with two additional companies, was soon after sent out from the fort, and favored by the light of the burning tents, they were enabled to ascertain the position and force of the enemy, and gallantly rushed to the attack. Captain Hildt, now in command of the two companies which had been led on by Major Vogdes, extricated his men from their perilous position, and opened a well-directed fire on the enemy, compelling them reluctantly to give way. Colonel Wilson, who had succeeded in bringing a body of his men together after their sudden surprise, formed them into line, and now joined in the battle, when the insurgents were very soon thrown into confusion, and made a rapid retreat to their boats, pursued by a victorious force of only one-fourth their number.

Colonel Brown, in his report, says that “the plan of the enemy’s attack was judicious; and, if executed with ordinary ability, might have been attended with serious loss to the Unionists. But he failed in all save the burning of one-half of the tents of the Sixth regiment, which, being covered with bushes, were very combustible, and in rifling the trunks of the officers. He did not reach within five hundred yards of either of the batteries, the guns of which he was to spike; nor within a mile of the fort he was to enter with the fugitives retreating before his victorious arms!”

Many of the rebels were wounded by the sharp firing continued by the Federal troops during their re-embarkation. One of their flatboats sunk, and many bodies were found floating in the water on the following day. The Federal loss was fifteen killed, forty-one wounded, and eighteen prisoners; that of the rebels in killed and wounded was over one hundred, and thirty-five of them remained prisoners in the hands of the Federal forces.

BATTLE OF BALL’S BLUFF.

OCTOBER 21, 1861.

Perhaps no event in the course of the war thus far produced a more profound sensation than the news of the Battle of Ball’s Bluff, which occurred on the 21st of October. The loss of life was heavy on the part of the Federals. Several accomplished and valuable officers were killed, among whom was the distinguished and eloquent Senator from Oregon, General Baker. The fatality attending this battle caused it to be regarded with peculiar interest, and remembered as fruitful in daring deeds and memorials of terrible bloodshed.

The north and south banks of the Potomac river, from the Great Falls, a few miles above Washington, to Harper’s Ferry, were held by the Federal and secession troops respectively. Great care was taken by the Government to defend the north bank, in order to prevent the threatened incursion of the enemy into Maryland, from whence, aided by the disunion sympathizers of that State, they designed to make the long contemplated attack upon the capital. Among the troops stationed on the Potomac, extending from Great Falls to Edwards Ferry, was the division of General Banks; from Edwards Ferry to Conrad’s Ferry, a division under General Stone; while Colonels Lander, Geary, and others held the line thence to Harper’s Ferry.

On the south side of the river, two strong positions were held by the enemy—Dranesville and Leesburg. The latter is the terminus of the Loudon and Hampshire railroad, about five miles from the Potomac, and opposite Edwards Ferry. The Southern commanders having determined to abandon their design of crossing the Potomac, had commenced the withdrawal of their troops from various points towards Manassas.

General McClellan, anxious to ascertain whether any movement of the forces at Leesburg and Dranesville had been made, directed General McCall, on the 18th, to push a reconnoissance in force in the direction of Dranesville. General McCall penetrated to that town, found that the enemy had evacuated the place, and was informed that Leesburg had also been abandoned.

While this reconnoissance was progressing, General McClellan informed General Stone of the fact, and directed him to make careful observations of the movements of the enemy, to ascertain what effect was produced by the expedition of General McCall. He also suggested that a slight demonstration on his own part might be successful in expediting their removal.

In obedience to these orders, General Stone, on the 20th, made a feint of crossing the river at Edwards Ferry, while four companies of the Fifteenth Massachusetts were sent to Harrison’s Island, in the Potomac, situated between Edwards and Conrad’s Ferries. At ten o’clock, P. M., Lieutenant Howe, Quartermaster of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, reported that Lieutenant Philbrick had returned to the island from his reconnoissance to Leesburg, and that he had been within one mile of that place, discovering only a small encampment of thirty tents, and without encountering any of the enemy—no pickets being out at any distance from their camp.

The Federal forces in that vicinity were then posted as follows:—General Stone, with General Gorman’s brigade, Seventh Michigan, two troops of Van Alen cavalry, and the Putnam Rangers, at Edwards Ferry; five companies of Massachusetts Volunteers, under Colonel Devens, at Harrison’s Island; and Colonel Lee, with a battalion of the Massachusetts Twentieth, a section of the Rhode Island battery, and the Tammany regiment, were sent to Conrad’s Ferry. A section of Bunting’s New York battery was planted at Edwards and a section of Rickett’s battery at Conrad’s Ferry.

When the report of the scouts was received, orders were sent to Colonel Devens to march four companies to the Virginia shore, from Harrison’s Island, and under cover of the night, take up a position near the camp referred to, and attack it at daybreak, drive out the enemy, pursue them as far as prudent, and return to the island. Orders were also sent to Colonel Baker, to march the First California regiment to Conrad’s Ferry, to arrive there at sunrise, and to have the remainder of his brigade ready to move at an early hour.

Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, was also ordered to move with a battalion to the river bank opposite Harrison’s Island by daybreak. Two mounted howitzers in charge of Lieutenant Trench, of Rickett’s battery, were ordered to the tow-path of the canal opposite Harrison’s Island.

This disposition of the troops having been made for the commencement of the movement, it was necessary to provide the means for their transportation across the river, which is quite rapid at this point. Edwards Ferry is below the island, which is about three miles in length, and Conrad’s Ferry is a short distance beyond the upper end. The island lies about a third of the distance from the Virginia shore, while a swift current of three hundred yards separates it from the Maryland banks, traversed by a tow-path of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. The Virginia bank opposite the island is steep, and is backed by a precipitous bluff, varying in height from eighty to one hundred and fifty feet, covered with brush, trees and undergrowth.

There was no adequate preparation to effect the passage of troops at these points. The means were scanty either for reinforcement, or for retreat, if that should become necessary. On the Maryland side of Harrison’s Island were two scows, capable of carrying thirty persons each, which could make two trips hourly, thus conveying one hundred and twenty men. On the Virginia side was one scow and a small boat. At Edwards Ferry there were two scows and a ship’s yawl. With these insufficient means of transportation an attempt was made to land the forces on the opposite shore.

The landings at both of the ferries are good, but stretching almost the entire distance between them is the high and steep bank known as Ball’s Bluff, where the crossing was attempted, and which has given its name to this bloody struggle.

Passing along and up the steep and difficult way from the landing below the bluff until it turns at the top, the road enters an open field of some six acres, surrounded on all sides by a forest. In this field the battle took place, the rebel forces being posted in the woods.

At daybreak, four companies of the Massachusetts Fifteenth, under Colonel Devens, had reached the opposite shore, and after reconnoitering had formed their line on Ball’s Bluff, on the edge of the cornfield. While in this position they were attacked by a considerable body of the enemy, with whom an irregular skirmish was kept up. Colonel Baker had during the morning been transferred from Conrad’s Ferry to Harrison’s Island, and appointed to the command. About noon the reinforcements began to come up, consisting of three companies of the Massachusetts Twentieth, six hundred of the California regiment, two companies of the Tammany regiment, with two howitzers and one rifled gun, in charge of Lieutenant Bramhall of the New York Ninth.

In the mean time the rebels, well informed of the difficulties of the Federal position, and only awaiting the arrival of a larger number that they might add to the magnitude of the victory which was within their grasp at any moment, having engaged the Federals by a series of irregular skirmishes during the earlier part of the day, concentrated their forces on General Baker’s command at half-past two o’clock. With a force of three thousand men they commenced a vigorous attack from the woods on three sides of the Federal position. A portion of Colonel Gorman’s command at Edwards Ferry crossed over, but from want of means of transportation could not make either their numbers or presence of effective service.

The real battle, however, commenced on the left. Baker threw the whole responsibility of that wing upon Wistar. The latter did not like the appearance of the adjacent wood region, and threw forward companies A and D of his battalion to test them. Captains Markoe and Wade, the former well ahead, accordingly advanced on their hazardous duty; passed through the forest to the horn-like projection of the field, crossed it, and had arrived within ten paces of the further thicket, when a murderous fire blazed out upon them.

The poor fellows gallantly sprang through it upon their assailants, and were in a moment fighting in the woods. Not half of this noble band ever came back. The rebels, taking this as a signal for the commencement of the action, now bestirred themselves in force, and fired a terrific volley along their whole front. Only the sheeted flash showed itself from those frowning forests; the foe still clung to cover; but the hail of bullets rattled against the Union lines, and many brave souls were sent into eternity by that first fiery revelation of the enemy’s strength. The reply was instant and extended. In a second both ends of the field were clouded with smoke, the day’s skirmishing was over, and the contest that was to rage so hotly for an hour had commenced its fury.

The battle on the part of the Federals was fought heroically, and in a true sacrificial spirit. The enemy was in force in front; he began to creep down the treacherous sides of the enclosure; his sharpshooters climbed the trees everywhere, picking out the stateliest and most gallant forms for the death they so unerringly dealt. The lines thus received a scathing fire from the front, from above, and a cross-fire at angles right and left. All they could do in reply was to aim steadily and swiftly at the places whence the loudest yells and deadliest volleys proceeded. But the men dropped everywhere, and were borne by dozens to the gory skiffs below. On the right the Massachusetts men were more than decimated by the regular, unavoidable shower of bullets. But against the left, where Wistar commanded, the rebels, confident of their force and the effect of their deadly fire in front, began to make venturesome charges, each one repelled by the gallant fire of the Californians, but each one getting nearer the Federal lines than the last. On the fourth charge they actually flanked the left, and sprang forth, savage and eager, from the thicket beyond the ravine. Down this they were about to plunge. “Hold!” cried Wistar to his men; “not a man of you must fire;” and he dashed at the piece of one; “wait till they reach the bottom of the ravine; then we’ll have them.”

So they charged down the hill, only to meet the most effective volley fired on the Union side during that day. When the smoke rose their front ranks lay fallen in the hollow of the valley of death, and the rear had broken and fled in disorder through the forest.

Lieutenant Bramhall had posted his gun near the centre of the line, and opened fire to the best advantage possible. When he mounted the piece, he had eight artillerists, three riders, a corporal and sergeant. In ten minutes, five of these were shot down; in the end, all but two were killed, wounded or missing. Lieutenant Bramhall himself was severely wounded, but stood by his gun. Colonel Coggswell saw the necessity of the case, informed Colonels Wistar and Lee, Adjutant Harvey (of Baker’s brigade), and Stewart (of General Stone’s staff, present on the field); and those five distinguished officers and determined men manned the piece themselves. Coggswell and Harvey, understanding the business, would load, while Lee and Wistar were giving orders to their commands, and spurring them into the fight; then Wistar and Stewart would wheel the gun forward to position; Coggswell would take aim and give the word to Harvey, who held the percussion lanyard. In this way and by these men a dozen of the twenty rounds used were fired, doing more effect than all the musketry volleys. When the enemy was making his fifth charge on the left, the cannon had just been loaded and was pointed at the woods in front. Captain Beiral, of the Californians, who was with his company supporting the piece, exclaimed to Coggswell,

“Look to the left! look to the left!”

Coggswell saw the dark column of the rebels sweeping across the spur of the field, wheeled the terrible gun around, and discharged it square at their centre. The shell opened a lane through the charging force, a score or more falling never to fight again, and the column retreated upon the main body behind.

But the end was fast approaching. The thinning Union forces were assailed by four times their number. From every side death stormed upon their unsheltered bodies. Half their line officers were wounded or killed. The undaunted leaders were also falling. Ward, Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifteenth, had received a frightful wound; Coggswell was shot through the wrist; Lee, Devens, Harvey and Stewart were still fighting sadly and in vain; a ball shattered Wistar’s sword arm—he dropped the weapon, picked it up with his left hand, and General Baker himself restored it to the scabbard. The shouting enemy began to break from the wood and through the smoke upon the confused lines. The crisis had come. There was some hand-to-hand fighting; a few of the gray-coats got entangled with the Federal forces, who took a prisoner and passed him to the rear; the enemy took a dozen, and made charge after charge. Just then a body of men appeared, pressing down from the left. The General ordered the troops around him to stand firm, and cried, “Who are those men?” “Confederate troops!” was the reply; and they rushed almost within bayonet distance. One of them drew a revolver, came close to Baker, and fired four balls at the General, every one of which took effect, and a glorious soul fled through their ghastly openings. Captain Beiral seized the slayer by the throat, and blew out his brains—the hero and the traitor falling within the same minute, and face to face. In a second the enemy swarmed over the spot. “For God’s sake, boys,” cried Adjutant Harvey, in his hot English way, “are you going to let them have the General’s body!”

An angry howl was the answer, and a dozen charged, with set teeth and bayonets fixed, upon the rebels, who recoiled from the shock, and surrendered their priceless trophy. The body of this thrice heroic man was passed down the bluff, and safely conveyed to the island. But now the Union lines were hopelessly disordered. The rebels came through both the field and woods in final force. Coggswell saw that the day was lost, and that the desperate, impossible retreat had come. So he ordered his scattered men to retire for embarkation, and the field was given up to the foe.

Large numbers of the Union troops had anticipated the order to retreat; for an hour the shore had been lined with stragglers and wearied men. Still, the reinforcing business had not ceased from the island, and during the fiercest of the action the two boats, which were bringing away the dead and wounded, returned from each trip laden with the residue of the Tammany and Massachusetts regiments. The life-boat proved a death-boat, for it swamped, from some cause, while conveying to the battle-field the last of the Tammany companies.

DEATH OF COLONEL BAKER.
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Down the hill they came, in every direction and without order, hotly followed by the rebels to the very edge of the descent. Then the pursuers paused, too cautious to meet the chance of volleys from Harrison’s Island, but throwing a plunging fire upon the retiring loyalists, and aiming ruthlessly at the hundreds trying to swim the rapid river channel. The tumult and agony of that headlong descent, the clamor and crowd along the shore, the rush into one wretched skiff, already over-laden with wounded men, which forced it beneath the surface and brought the horror of death by water upon men who had already so fairly faced the battle-field are beyond description. Who can depict the wild struggle with those turbid waters, and the desperate calmness with which each wretched soldier went down at last? Who can tell of those who, struck down by the fire from above, slipped in their own blood upon the clayey river bank; of those who wasted too feeble strength in swimming half way across the cruel stream; of the shouts for help where no help came. A few, more fiercely courageous than the rest, dragged the cannon to the edge of the hill and plunged them over, thus rendering them useless to the enemy. The colonels who had fought so steadily still refused to surrender, but guarded the retreat, so far as desperate courage could do it, to the end. Led by Coggswell and Lee, several organized companies charged up at their tormentors, once and again returning dangerous volleys. They kept the enemy at bay till long after nightfall closed upon the scene. All who could pass over to the island had escaped, and midnight was close upon them before the two colonels and the other field officers still on the shore saw that their duty was accomplished, and surrendered themselves and the remnant of their commands to the enemy.

A most painful scene transpired at the sinking of the launch, in which were some sixty wounded men, and twenty or thirty members of the California First. The launch had been safely taken half way across the river, when, to their utter consternation, it was discovered that it was leaking, and the water gradually, but surely, gaining upon them. The wounded were lying at the bottom, suffering intolerably from their various dislocations, wounds and injuries, and all soaking in water, which at the very start was fully four inches deep. As the water grew deeper and rose above the prostrate forms of the wounded, their comrades lifted them into sitting postures that they might not be strangled by the fast rising stream. But the groans and cries, screams and moanings of the poor fellows who were thus tortured, were most distressing and indescribable. Despite all that could be done, the fate of the launch, and all that were in it, with the exception of a few expert swimmers, was sealed; suddenly, and like a flash of lightning, the fragile craft sunk, carrying with it at least fifty dying sufferers, and some twenty or thirty others, who had trusted their lives to its treacherous hold.

The very skies were pitiless that evening. O the misery of the black, tempestuous night, when the rain poured down upon that narrow island where those who escaped the flood and field were bivouacked, huddled together and bereft of their comrades-in-arms! Scores of the dead were guarded by sullen watchers; the wounded were tended in every possible shelter. The river swelled in a kind of savage triumph over the havoc it had made, its current darkling and murmuring on the east and west, while on the opposite shore lay their dead comrades, whose white faces the rain beat in merciless fury, but all unfelt, and far more harmless than it fell upon the living victims.

Next morning boat loads of dead and wounded were brought from the battle-field under a flag of truce; and a dispatch had been published in Washington stating that General Stone had successfully thrown his force across the Potomac, and held his position secure against any hostile force.

The statistics of this conflict show that the total number of Federal troops that crossed the Virginia channel was about 1,853 officers and men. Of these 653 belonged to the Massachusetts Fifteenth, 340 to the Massachusetts Twentieth, about 360 to the Tammany regiment, and 570 to the first battalion of the First California. The Massachusetts Fifteenth lost in killed, wounded, and missing 322, including a lieutenant-colonel (wounded), and 14 out of 28 line officers who crossed. The Massachusetts Twentieth lost in all 159, including a colonel, major, surgeon, and adjutant (prisoners), and 8 out of 17 line officers who crossed. The Tammany companies lost 163, including a colonel, and 7 out of 12 line officers who crossed. The Californians lost 300, including their colonel (the general commanding), lieutenant-colonel (wounded), adjutant, and 15 line officers out of 17 who crossed. Total engaged in the fight, 1,853; total losses, 953; field officers crossing, 11; returning uninjured, 3; line officers crossing, 74; returning uninjured, 30.

The troops that were successful in reaching Harrison’s Island remained there during the night of the 21st, and on the morning of the 22d were all passed over in safety to the Maryland shore, no attempt being made by the rebels to interfere with the movement. The condition of many of the men was pitiful. Some of them in their encounters with the enemy, and in struggling through the trees and thorny undergrowth, or plunging down the rocky steep, having been almost stripped of clothing. In a short time they were encamped in comfortable quarters, and the wounded were provided for with the greatest care.

Large bodies of rebel troops had been brought up to Leesburg after the battle, to defend that point, and to make an offensive movement, if deemed expedient. About four thousand Federals, under the command of General Stone, occupied the Virginia shore immediately opposite Edwards Ferry, and were in imminent danger of attack from the now rapidly increasing force of rebels threatening their front. Generals McClellan and Banks, who had repaired to Edwards Ferry, on the Maryland shore, and were ready to furnish large reinforcements in the event of a general engagement, watched with anxiety the rebel movements on the opposite side of the river. Becoming convinced that the means of transportation were entirely inadequate to properly reinforce General Stone’s command, the commander-in-chief ordered a withdrawal of all the Federal forces to the Maryland shore, which was safely accomplished on the night of the 23d.

Colonel E. D. Baker, whose death will make this battle-field immortal, was born in England, early left an orphan, and emigrated to this country. Few men have had a more eventful career, and few men have done so much to win the admiration of the people. He was, without question, one of the ablest speakers in the country; when he addressed public audiences he thrilled them with the electricity of his eloquence, and kindled them by his earnestness as a storm of fire sweeps over the prairie. For many years, whether at the bar, in the Congress of the nation, or before wild wood caucuses; in speaking to citizens, jurors, statesmen or soldiers; on the slope of the Atlantic, in the valley of the Mississippi, at the head of legions in Mexico, before the miners of California, or upon the banks of the Columbia, he held a place with the best men and finest orators in the land.

At the age of nineteen he was admitted to the bar in the State of Illinois. Subsequently he twice represented that State in the lower house of Congress. In 1846 he resigned in order to lead the Fourth Illinois regiment to Mexico. At Cerro Gordo, after the fall of General Shields, as senior Colonel he took command of the brigade, and fought through the desperate battle in a manner that drew an especial compliment from General Twiggs.

Returning home, he was, after his recovery from a severe wound received on the Rio Grande, again elected to Congress. Later in life he was connected with the Panama railroad; still later, in 1852, he removed with his family to Oregon, where he was elected United States Senator.