Coloradans doing wonders. The battery under Captain Ritter, and also the
howitzer battery under Lieutenant Claflin, swept the Texans from the
field. The fight lasted until four o’clock, when flags of truce were
interchanged to bury the dead and care for the wounded. The enemy had
about 2,000 men and one 6-pounder. The Unionists had 1,300 men, one six
and one 12-pounder, and four howitzers. The enemy lost their entire
train (64 wagons and provisions), 230 mules, about 150 killed, 200
wounded and 93 taken prisoners, among whom were 13 officers.
The Texans, when surprised, supposed it was Colonel Canby’s force that
was coming. The Texan officer in command, with two of his companies,
made several attempts to charge on the Union men and seize their
batteries, but they were each time repulsed, with tremendous loss, while
daring, noble deeds were performed by the Federal soldiers. At one time,
the Texan companies charged within a few yards of the Union batteries.
The defeat at Apache Pass proved an effectual check on the invaders, and
so far weakened their forces as to compel their abandonment of the
territory, and its complete restoration under the national authority.
The enemy fled into Arizona, where they found it useless to remain, and
applied to the authorities of Mexico for permission to cross their
territory on their return home, but were refused; they however succeeded
in reaching Texas. A reinforcement of Federal troops soon after arrived
in New Mexico.
FIGHT AT BLOOMING GAP, VA.
FEBRUARY 14, 1862.
To General F. W. Lander’s brigade had been assigned the perilous duty of
protecting the Baltimore and Ohio railroad at Cumberland, Md., and the
various towns and strategic points in Virginia within a radius of forty
or fifty miles from that centre, at several of which his troops were
quartered.
On the 13th of February, Lander received information that a brigade of
rebels under General Carson had occupied Blooming Gap, a strong pass in
the mountains seven miles beyond the Cacapon river, whose turbid waters,
swollen by the storms of winter, were deemed an impassable barrier to
the advance of the Federal forces. No bridge spanned the torrent, and
the blackened buttress and crumbled pier gave evidence that the
incendiary torch had been at work.
Lander was then at Pawpaw Tunnels, on the Maryland shore of the Potomac,
a station on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, midway between Hancock and
Cumberland, with a small force. He immediately marched to New Creek, in
Hampshire county, Va., to join the detachment of troops at that point,
where he also hastily concentrated all his available command. Taking
twenty wagons loaded with lumber, he proceeded to a point on the Cacapon
river, seven miles south of the railroad, and between the hours of nine
and one o’clock at night he improvised a bridge one hundred and eighty
feet long, by placing the wagons in the river as a foundation, over
which he marched his force of four thousand men, and advanced upon the
enemy’s pickets before the dawn of day.
With five hundred of the First Virginia cavalry, under Colonel
Anastanzel, he had designed to charge through the rebel camp at the Gap,
and then form immediately in his rear, cut off the retreat, and capture
the whole force, after the Federal infantry, following up the cavalry
charge, should have completed the discomfiture of the enemy. But the
rebels had retired before Lander’s approach; and when led by the General
and his staff, the cavalry flew through the Gap and beyond it, they met
with no opposition. Colonel Anastanzel was at once ordered to push
forward on the Winchester road with the cavalry, reconnoitre, and, if
possible, overtake and capture the baggage of the enemy.
General Lander meantime brought up Colonel Carroll with the Eighth Ohio
regiment, and the Seventh Virginia, Colonel Evans, for a support.
Colonel Anastanzel encountered the enemy at the head of the pass, two
miles from Blooming. He was met by a sharp fire, and halted his command.
On hearing the firing, General Lander came up and led the charge,
followed by Major Armstrong, Assistant Adjutant-General; Lieutenants
Fitz-James O’Brien, the well-known poet of his staff, and Major
Bannister, Paymaster U.S.A., who had volunteered for the expedition. A
group of rebel officers were distant about three hundred yards,
encouraging their men. General Lander being the best mounted, outran the
rest of the party, and cut off the retreat of the rebel officers.
“Surrender, gentlemen,” he said, coolly dismounting, and extending his
hand to receive the sword of Colonel Baldwin, over whom an instant
before he had appeared to be riding.
Five of the rebel officers surrendered to General Lander, and four
others immediately afterward, to the officers of his staff, among them
the Assistant Adjutant-General of General Carson.
By this time the rebel infantry, perceiving the small number of their
adversaries, commenced a heavy fire from the woods, but the cavalry had
recovered from its panic, and now rushed up the hill. General Lander
ordered Anastanzel to charge up the road, and capture the baggage of the
enemy. The cavalry dashed forward, and the advance guard soon overtook
and turned fifteen wagons and horses out of the road. Colonel Evans now
came up with his regiment of infantry, and captured many more of the
rebels. Colonel Carroll cleared the road as he went, both infantry
regiments behaving admirably, following and engaging the enemy to the
last, until ordered back. The pursuit was continued eight miles.
The result of this affair was the capture of eighteen commissioned
officers, and forty-five non-commissioned officers and privates.
Thirty-three of the rebels were killed and wounded, with a loss on the
Union side of seven killed and wounded.
During this engagement Lieutenant Fitz-James O’Brien was shot mortally
while in advance of his comrades, and like the author-soldier Winthrop,
immortalized his name with the sword, as he had before proved himself
great with the pen.
General Dunning, of Lander’s command, returned to New Creek the same day
from an expedition to Moorfield, forty miles south of Romney, having
captured 225 beef cattle and 4,000 bushels of corn. In a skirmish two of
his men were wounded, and several rebels killed.
EAST TENNESSEE UNDER CONFEDERATE RULE.
The history of the world has never exhibited more exalted devotion to an
idea, nor a more splendid patriotism than that of the people of East
Tennessee. We may almost challenge the records of religious history to
produce anything more like holy enthusiasm, than the lofty inspiration
which has characterized these people. In no country, and among no class
can be found more heroic persistence or unfaltering adherence to
principle than has exalted the patriotism of this region. With many
inhabitants of the eastern portion of the State, loyalty and devotion to
the Union became in truth a part of their religion.
The rebel leaders knew that they had very little sympathy in East
Tennessee, and took measures to crush out all Union sentiment with the
iron heel of military despotism. Any expression of sympathy with the
Union cause, any co-operation of its inhabitants with the loyalists,
either for their own protection or for the aid of the Government, was
punished as a crime. The presses of that part of the State had all been
silenced or converted to their own use by the Secessionists, with one
exception. _The Knoxville Whig_ remained true to the Union. Its vigorous
defence of the Government, its exposures and denunciations of the rebel
leaders, its unsparing invective against the rebellion, and its bold,
defiant appeals to the people, rang like a clarion through the hills and
valleys of East Tennessee, and as the echo gathered from thousands of
loyal voices, it made itself heard through all the valleys and mountain
passes of that noble border State.
The heroic editor of this paper was not to be silenced either in his
voice or his press without a vigorous struggle. The Rev. Wm. G. Brownlow
had learned how to denounce and how to endure, for that is a lesson most
Methodist clergymen are called upon to learn; and being brave in deeds
as well as words, he stood forth in defence of the country he loved,
when she greatly needed the power of his eloquence and the strength of
his arm. The popularity which this man had won by his uprightness, his
courage, and firm adherence to the Constitution, gave his opinions a
force that made him an object of peculiar importance to the enemy—yet
they hesitated to lay violent hands upon a man whose words were more
potent than their bayonets.
He was frequently threatened by soldiers passing through Knoxville from
other States, yet none dared to execute their threats. His family were
inspired with the same lofty heroism, and on one occasion when a company
of rebels came to his house to haul down the Stars and Stripes, which
was kept floating over his domicil, one of his daughters stepped out to
meet them, and by her courage and decision protected the flag.
The suppression of this undaunted advocate of the Union, and faithful
and fearless witness against secession, became an inevitable necessity;
and at last, in the hope that he would at least become silent on
political affairs, it was resolved to offer him the alternative of the
oath of allegiance or the cell of a prison. He chose the latter, and in
a valedictory to his readers, published October 26, which must ever be
memorable for its heroic defence of the Union, its bold denunciation of
the rebels and their course, he announced to his readers the suspension
of his paper. This remarkable address, which, under the circumstances,
rises to the sublime in its moral courage, closed with these words:
“Exchanging, with proud satisfaction, the editorial chair and the
sweet endearments of home for a cell in the prison, or the lot of an
exile, I have the honor to be, &c.
WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW.”
Mr. Brownlow was sent to prison, and for months occupied a room with
several other patriots who preferred imprisonment to denial of the
government they loved. Here he was in daily expectation of being led
forth to execution. Though suffering from ill-health he was no way
daunted by the dark fate that threatened him. Nor were these
anticipations groundless, for during his stay there, many a brave man
left that prison to meet a violent death, and he had no reason to expect
a happier destiny.
During the closing months of the summer and fall the hopes of the people
were excited by promises of aid from the government. Loud and earnest
appeals were made for help, and with the energy of despair the people
clung to their principles, through every species of persecution,
robbery, arson, and imprisonment. Hundreds were hung or assassinated,
and the records of Tennessee are among the most heart-rending that this
war for the Union will leave to posterity.
The position of the rebel armies in western Tennessee was at that time
very strong, but the importance of keeping their lines of communication
open with the Atlantic States was great, and thoroughly understood by
the loyalists. To cut these lines was to the Federals a work of pressing
necessity; and in view of the probable redemption of East Tennessee, the
loyalists organized, and on the night of November 8 they destroyed
several bridges, and broke the lines. Two of these were on the Georgia
State road, two on Chickamanye Creek, Hamilton county, and one on the
East Tennessee and Georgia railroad, on Hiawassee river, Bradley county.
Besides these, two bridges on the East Tennessee and Georgia railroad on
Lick Creek, Green County, and another on Holstein river, were also
burned. The rebels were thrown into consternation by these events, and
their leaders took the most active measures to arrest and punish the
perpetrators. A correspondence between some of the prominent men ensued,
and a large portion of the letters was discovered among other papers and
effects captured after the battle of Mill Spring, which took place on
the 19th of January, 1862. This correspondence, in which the names
Colonel William B. Wood and General F. K. Zollicoffer appear, prove that
the majority of the people were unalterably for the Union, and that they
could only be restrained by the most oppressive and cruel measures.
Colonel Wood wrote to J. P. Benjamin, the Secretary of War, asking what
disposition should be made of the bridge-burners, to which Mr. Benjamin
replied—“All such as can be identified as having been engaged in
bridge-burning are to be tried summarily by drumhead court-martial, and
if found guilty, executed on the spot by hanging. It would be well to
leave their bodies hanging in the vicinity of the burnt bridges.”
The loyalists were encouraged in their cause by the devotion of Hon.
Andrew Johnson, U. S. Senator, and Hon. Horace Maynard, M. C., for
Tennessee, whose eloquent and powerful appeals, and confident assurances
of aid, cheered the hearts of the people.
Thousands of East Tennesseeans escaped by night, wandering along
unfrequented roads, until they reached Kentucky, where they organized
regiments, under the direction of the Federal commanders. Their
cherished desire was to return to their own State, with a powerful army,
and redeem their soil. The atrocity of the rebel guerrillas drove them
almost to a passion of revenge, and when disappointed at the
announcement that their time had not come, and that they must await a
more favorable condition of the army, hundreds of them, when ordered to
retreat from the border lines of their State, strayed from the ranks,
despairing and heart-sick, and falling down by the way, wept bitterly.
Several of them, exhausted by hard labor and forced marches, never rose
again, but were afterwards found dead on the road to Mount Vernon.
On the 26th of November the house of a gentleman named Bell was attacked
by an armed party of the enemy and set on fire. The inmates, a large
family of nine persons, were consigned to the flames. Two alone of the
whole household escaped this horrible fate.
On the 29th a band of twenty-one Union prisoners at Nashville were
compelled to take the oath of allegiance, and enter a company in the
rebel army.
Leadbetter, the secession commander in East Tennessee, had his
headquarters at Greenville, and on the 30th of November issued a
proclamation promising protection and pardon to all who would lay down
their arms and submit to the Confederate government. From this clemency
he excepted bridge-burners and destroyers of railroad tracks. He closed
his proclamation with the assurance that “they will be tried by drumhead
court-martial, and be hung on the spot.” This terrible order was put
into execution a few days afterward. Jacob M. Hemslier and Henry Fry,
two Unionists, being tried and pronounced guilty of these offences, were
hung.
The days of hope for the Unionists were weary and prolonged, but
deliverance was drawing nigh. The loyal men of the western part of the
State organized to oppose the measures of the leaders, and early in
January a bold resistance was made in Carroll, Weakly, McNairy, and
other counties, against the conscription act. Rebel troops were sent
into these counties to compel submission, and enforce obedience.
The defeat and death of Zollicoffer, the breaking up of his army, and
the destruction of his stronghold, at last gave a brilliant promise to
these persecuted people that their deliverance was drawing nigh. This
event, succeeded in a few weeks by the capture of Fort Henry, Fort
Donelson, the evacuation of Bowling Green and Columbus, and the
occupation of Nashville, filled every true heart with rejoicing, and the
good old flag once more swept its folds freely over the houses of East
Tennessee.
[Illustration:
BOMBARDMENT OF FORT HENRY, FEB. 6, 1862.
]
The appointment of Hon. Andrew Johnson as military governor of Tennessee
was greeted with enthusiasm by the people. His reputation and
conservative principles were a guarantee for the character of his
administration, and he soon began to rally to his support the wavering
and timid of the people who were still apprehensive that the
Confederates would return and restore their rule.
Parson Brownlow, after having borne a long and severe confinement in
prison, in which his health suffered terribly, was released, and sent
beyond the military lines of the Confederates. His reception by the
Federal guards was enthusiastic and joyous in the extreme. As soon as
his health permitted he visited several cities in the West, where he was
greeted with overwhelming demonstrations of popular admiration and
respect. On his arrival at New York, May 17th, he was honored with a
public reception at the Academy of Music, which was densely filled with
a brilliant audience, eager to welcome him.
CAPTURE OF FORT HENRY, TENN.
FEBRUARY 6, 1862.
The brilliant victory obtained by General Thomas’ army over the
Confederate forces at Mill Spring, on the 19th of January, laid open the
rebel lines to the successful advance of the Federal arms, and served to
stimulate the commanders of the land and naval forces to avail
themselves of the opportunity thus afforded.
Previous to the battle of Mill Spring, General Grant, with a large
force, had left Cairo and marched toward Columbus, for the purpose of
reconnoitering the country, and to prevent rebel reinforcements moving
from that point to the assistance of General Buckner, at Bowling Green,
Ky., who was then threatened by the approach of General Buell’s army.
Upon the return of General Grant’s division to Cairo, a combined
movement of the land and naval forces was determined on for the purpose
of capturing Fort Henry, on the Tennessee river, in Henry county, Tenn.,
just beyond the Kentucky State line.
Fort Henry and its approaches were reconnoitered on the 21st January by
the United States gunboat Lexington, with a view to ascertain its
strength and the position of the rebels. She went within two miles of
the fort, and flung a number of shells into it without eliciting any
reply. At first it was thought the rebels had evacuated the work, but on
approaching it still nearer pickets were discovered at various points.
The heavy guns on the work were seen distinctly; also a number of field
pieces. In addition to the fort proper, numerous earthworks had been
thrown up on a high bluff above the fort, on the west bank of the river.
This additional work, named Fort Hieman, commanded Fort Henry.
On the 22d January, Brigadier-General C. F. Smith, commanding the second
division of General Grant’s army, was at Crown Point, Ky., where he had
arrived with 6,000 men after a fatiguing march of over 100 miles from
Paducah. He proceeded thence on a personal reconnoissance, on the
gunboat Lexington, in the direction of Fort Henry. The gunboat advanced
up the west channel of the river to a point within one mile and a half
from the fort. General Smith obtained an excellent view of the rebel
fort, camp and garrison, and sent his report to headquarters. He then
marched his division back to Paducah.
The flotilla of gunboats, which had been so long in course of
preparation on the Ohio and Mississippi, was now ready to take part in
the impending battles of the nation, and to assume that prominence in
the momentous events which were to follow to which they have proved
themselves justly entitled.
Flag-officer Andrew H. Foote was appointed by the Government to command
the naval forces on the Upper Mississippi and the Western waters, and
now led forth his gallant fleet to attack the enemy, in conjunction with
the land forces under General Ulysses S. Grant. The fleet consisted of
_Fleet Officers._—Flag-Officer Andrew H. Foote; Fleet Captain, Commodore
A. M. Pennock; Ordnance Officer, Lieutenant J. F. Sanford; Ordnance
Lieutenant, Byron Wilson; Flag Lieutenant, James M. Prickett. _Essex_, 9
_guns_, Commander William D. Porter. _St. Louis_, 13 _guns_,
Lieutenant-Commanding Leonard Paulding. _Cincinnati_, 13 _guns_,
Commander R. N. Stembel. _Carondelet_, 13 _guns_, Commander Henry Walke.
_Conestoga_, 9 _guns_, Lieutenant-Commanding —— Phelps. _Tyler_, 9
_guns_, Lieutenant-Commanding W. Gwin.
For several days, at Paducah, the utmost vigilance was exercised at the
headquarters of the Provost Marshal, in issuing passes, and on Sunday
and Monday, the 3d February, no persons were allowed in or out of the
lines. Half a dozen gunboats steamed leisurely into port and brought
their black forms to anchor opposite the levee, in the centre of the
river.
Monday afternoon, steamers commenced coming up from Cairo, laden with
troops and stores, and by night the whole landing in front of the town
was crowded with the arrivals. The fleet which came up brought General
Grant and Staff, and the first division, under command of
Brigadier-General McClernand. The steamers were under command of
Commodore G. W. Graham, and consisted of the following boats: City of
Memphis, Iatan, D. A. January, Chancellor, Alp, “W. H. B.,” New Uncle
Sam, Rob Roy, Alex. Scott, Minnehaha, Illinois, Emerald, and Fanny
Bullett.
The first division, on these boats, was made up of two brigades,
composed as follows, and commanded by General John A. McClernand:—_First
Brigade, Colonel Oglesby, Commanding._—Seventh Illinois, Colonel Cook;
Eighth Illinois, Lieutenant-Colonel Rhoades; Eighteenth Illinois,
Lieutenant-Colonel Lawler; Twenty-ninth Illinois, Colonel Reardon;
Thirtieth Illinois, Lieutenant-Colonel Dennis; Thirty-first Illinois,
Colonel John A. Logan; Swartz’s and Dresser’s Batteries; Stewart’s,
Dollins’, O. Harnett’s and Carmichael’s Cavalry.
_Second Brigade, W. H. L. Wallace, Commanding._—Eleventh Illinois,
Lieutenant-Colonel Hart; Twentieth Illinois, Colonel Marsh; Forty-fifth
Illinois, Colonel Smith; Forty-eighth Illinois, Colonel Harney; Taylor’s
and McAllister’s Batteries—in the latter four siege guns; Fourth
Illinois Cavalry, Colonel Kellogg; Seventh Illinois Cavalry, Colonel
Dickey.
Soon after arriving, General Grant and staff paid a visit to General
Smith, and had a conference, in which it was determined to forward the
division of General McClernand that night, and after landing them at
some point below Fort Henry, out of range of its guns, send the boats
back after General Smith’s division at Paducah. It was nearly midnight
before the boats took their departure.
The point at which the troops were landed is about four or five miles
below Fort Henry, opposite a small town in Kentucky, called Buffalo.
Immediately at the place is a clearing of about one hundred acres,
surrounded on three sides by high bluffs densely timbered, and reaching
down to the river. The troops, on landing, immediately took possession
of these eminences, and planted batteries which commanded the country in
every direction, and then awaited the arrival of the remaining forces,
under General Smith.
Tuesday afternoon, while the troops were disembarking, the Osband
Cavalry, with Carson’s and Carpenter’s scouts thoroughly examined the
country in every direction, even up to within two miles of Fort Henry.
Tuesday night was beautiful; a thousand camp-fires flashed through the
shadows that lay upon the amphitheatre of wooded hills. The sky was warm
and serenely purple, as if brooding over the first sweet blossoms of
May. The silver crescent of a new moon glittered in the western sky,
shedding a faint radiance over the tree-tops and sloping hill sides. All
at once the music of half a dozen bands broke through the stillness of
this lovely scene, and the “Star-Spangled Banner,” “Red, White and
Blue,” and “Columbia the Gem of the Ocean,” filled the night with bursts
of patriotic music. Then some dreamy strain followed, hushing the
soldier’s heart with thoughts of “Home, Sweet Home.”
On Wednesday, parties were out reconnoitering near the enemy’s works,
and in one case a squad of cavalry went within a mile of the fort and
encountered two hundred rebel horsemen. Both sides fired, when the
rebels ran, leaving one of their number dead, and carrying off three
severely wounded. One man on the Union side was shot through the brain,
and killed instantly. He was the first man who gave up his life in the
vicinity of Fort Henry.