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.
[Illustration:
SIEGE OF LEXINGTON, MO., SEPT. 12–20, 1861.
]
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.”
[Illustration: Geo. B. McClellan]
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.