Benton, the corner county of the State. A range of hills—a spur of the
Ozark Mountains—sweeps from Missouri into this corner of the State, and
from thence branches into the Indian Territory, where the section known
as the Boston Mountains is found. Sugar Creek, where the battle
commenced, is situated close to Bentonville, the capital of the county
on the north. Pea Ridge is also adjacent to the same town, and forms a
part of the mountain range just described.
At this time it became evident to the several commanders that a general
contest was inevitable. A decisive combat was, in fact, desired by both
of the opposing forces. General McIntosh, confident of success with his
large army, under the leadership of Price, McCulloch, Pike and Van Dorn,
believed that he could strike a fatal blow at the Union cause west of
the Mississippi, by the annihilation of the Federal army. General
Curtis, on the other hand, was not less anxious for a contest, even at
the fearful disadvantage offered him. With his keen discrimination, he
saw the glorious results of a defeat of the four rebel chieftains united
against him. Should he prove successful in the almost desperate
encounter, it would prove the destruction of the rebel forces in the two
States, and leave a clear field for future operation. Should he fail—but
no true general even thinks of that after he has made up his mind to
fight.
At this time his force was divided into three divisions, as follows:
GENERAL SIGEL’S DIVISION.—_First Brigade, Colonel Gruesel._—36th
Illinois, Col. Gruesel; 25th Illinois, Col. Coler; 44th Illinois, Col.
Knoblesdorf. _Second Brigade, Col. Osterhaus._—12th Missouri, Col.
Osterhaus; 17th Missouri, Col. Hassendeufel; 2d Missouri, Col.
Schaeffer. _Third Brigade, Col. Asboth._—3d Missouri, Col. Friala;
Illinois Cavalry, (one battalion,) Capt’s. Jenks and Smith; 3d Iowa
Cavalry.
GENERAL DAVIS’S DIVISION.—_First Brigade, Col. Benton._—8th Indiana,
Col. Benton; 18th Indiana, Col. Patterson; 22d Indiana, Col. Hendricks.
_Second Brigade, Col. Julius White._—59th Illinois, Col. Fredericks;
37th Illinois, Col. Burnes; Missouri Cavalry, (battalion,) Maj. Broen;
2d Ohio, battery, Col. Catin; 1st Missouri Light Artillery, one battery.
GENERAL CARR’S DIVISION.—_First Brigade, Col. Dodge._—4th Iowa,
Lieut.-Col. Galighan; 35th Illinois, Col. G. A. Smith; 24th Missouri,
(battalion,) Maj. Weston. _Second Brigade, Col. Vandenier._—9th Iowa,
Lieut.-Col. Herron; 25th Missouri, Col. Phelps; 9th Iowa, battery, Capt.
Hayden; 1st Iowa, battery, Lieut. David. _Third Brigade, Col.
Ellis._—1st Missouri Cavalry, Col. Ellis; 3d Illinois, ——; 6th Missouri,
battalion, Maj. Wright.
Opposed to the forces of General Curtis, just enumerated, the rebel army
had fully ten thousand Missouri State troops under Major-General Price;
six to eight regiments of Arkansas troops under General McCulloch; six
regiments of Texans under General Earl Van Dorn; three thousand
Cherokee, Choctaw and Seminole Indians under Colonel Albert Pike, all
under command of Major-General McIntosh. Besides those mentioned, there
were two or three regiments of Louisiana troops and companies of
Mississippi and Alabama regiments under the command of their respective
colonels, majors and captains.
Upon this occasion the Union troops were well armed and equipped, while
the weapons of the rebels varied in character and effectiveness. Many of
them were excellent, embracing Minie rifles, Enfield muskets, and good
United States muskets. The larger portion, however, were hunting rifles
and shot-guns. The rebels had eighty-two field pieces, twenty of which
were rifled, while General Curtis’ forces had but forty-nine; nearly
all, however, were of superior manufacture and destructive power.
On the evening of the 5th of March, the scouts of General Sigel brought
in word, that large forces of the rebel cavalry were on the Pineville
road at Osage Spring. Sigel was evidently in a bad position, and on the
following day he commenced moving back, his pickets being driven in
before he could get his wagon train in motion. His route lay a few miles
to the north, when he struck the bed of Sugar creek, along which he
travelled six miles. It was there the battle first began. General Sigel
with two battalions of Missouri infantry and a squadron of cavalry
formed the rear guard of his division, and were delayed by the train
which moved slowly along the rough roads. He determined not to desert a
single wagon to the rebels, although by so doing, he could have easily
reached the main body of the Union forces.
The enemy made his appearance with 4,000 cavalry, at about 10 o’clock in
the morning, a few miles out of Bentonville, and immediately commenced
the attack by a desperate charge. Sigel had with him nearly 1,000 men.
He sent forward two hundred infantry to prevent the enemy cutting him
off, and with the remainder he received the whole of the vast army. He
ordered his men to stand firm and take good aim. The teams were put upon
good pace, and the enemy came rushing on in several lines. The horsemen
on the flanks and infantry in the rear awaited their approach until
within about 200 yards, when they delivered a terrible volley of Minie
balls into the rebel ranks, which had the effect of throwing them into
temporary confusion. In a few minutes the leaders succeeded in getting
them into something like order. This time they came up to close
quarters. The same volley, succeeded by a second and a third, greeted
them. The enemy came on in crowds, and their cavalry closed all around
the little band, notwithstanding horses and riders were falling thick
and fast before its steady fire. General Sigel rode undismayed along the
whole line, inspiring his men. Some of the cavalry on the flank had
succeeded in getting across the road so cutting the train in two. Here
the enemy set up a shout of triumph.
It was short lived. In a minute more the bayonets of the Union men had
done their work, leaving hundreds of dead and wounded in their tracks.
The enemy was driven off, broken and dismayed. Galled and maddened at
the repulse, his scattered ranks could be seen reforming to renew the
attack.
The column was yet seven miles from the encampment. A dispatch had been
sent forward to General Curtis, explaining the position and asking for
assistance. It was hardly possible that the messenger could have been
captured. The enemy was advancing on the road and along the ridges
enclosing the stream. At about two o’clock a second attack was made and
desperately carried forward. The rebel cavalry spurred their horses
right on to the irresistible bayonets, delivering their load of buckshot
from their miscellaneous guns, and then brandishing huge knives, which
every one of them carried in place of sabres.
They surrounded the rear guard a second time, and for a few minutes
friend could hardly be distinguished from foe. The dense smoke enveloped
the whole of the combatants, and for some time it was doubtful whether
any of the Union band survived. The faithful Germans never faltered for
a moment. Their gallant leader struck down a dozen who clamored for his
life, and hewed his way through a line of enemies to rejoin his command.
The bayonets proved the invincibility of the Union infantry against
horsemen. The foe retired a second time, and for an hour could not be
induced to return. By this time the advance, which had been constantly
skirmishing with the rebel cavalry, announced reinforcements in sight,
and a faint cheer went up, which was re-echoed by the troops from the
camp. A third and last attempt was made to capture the train. It failed,
and the enemy withdrew about 3½ o’clock.
General Sigel reached camp at 4½ o’clock, to receive the congratulations
of the whole army. His loss in the entire march was estimated at 60
killed and 200 wounded, many of whom fell into the hands of the rebels,
it being impossible to bring them off.
The night of the 6th of March was passed in a state of suspense. The
houses in the valley had been appropriated as hospitals, and a strong
force posted on the hill on the south bank of the creek under Colonel
Carr, with General Sigel occupying the ridge on the north side, while
Colonel Davis occupied the centre, near the crossing. The enemy, it was
supposed, would naturally make the attack from the Fayetteville road,
and the baggage trains and hospitals had been placed to the rear of the
lines. During the night the manifestations showed conclusively that he
was approaching in great strength by the road leading from Bentonville
to Keatsville, thus getting to the flank and rear. This road lies, after
crossing Sugar creek, over a high table land, called Pea Ridge. It
extends from the stage road westwardly some eight miles along the right
bank of Sugar creek.
The ridge is covered with a growth of stunted oaks, and a sprinkling of
larger growth, called post-oaks. Three or four farms were located upon
the ridge two miles west of the road, to which the name of Leetown has
been given. It was near these farms that the principal part of the
fighting took place.
Thursday night, March 6th, was clear and cold; the reflection of the
enemy’s camp-fires could be seen stretching along for miles to the
right. On the Fayetteville road the Union pickets reported nothing
unusual. Several Union field pieces had been placed in position,
sweeping that road. The men slept on their arms, that is each man lay on
the ground in fine of battle with his musket by him, ready for action at
a moment’s notice. A strong picket guard was extended for a quarter of a
mile beyond the lines, and the Federal soldiers awaited the break of day
with premonitions that the morrow’s sun would be the last which would
rise for many of them.
[Illustration:
ATTACK OF COLONEL OSTERHAUS’ MISSOURI CAVALRY ON THE TEXAS RANGERS.
]
The evidences were very clear on the morning, that a strong force had
been posted on the Fayetteville road, thus standing directly between the
Union forces and their next line at Cassville, completely cutting off
communication with the outer world. The line of battle was changed.
Colonel Carr was sent back along the Fayetteville road, two miles, with
his right resting on Cross Timber Hollows at the head of Beaver Creek, a
tributary of Big Sugar Creek, immediately facing the rebel batteries on
the side of Elkhorn tavern. General Davis, with the central division,
was posted on the top of Pea Ridge, leaving Sigel to cover the camp with
his left wing resting on Sugar Creek. In this position things stood when
the rebels opened the fight with artillery on the extreme right, from a
very advantageous position at the distance of a mile. The Federal
batteries soon replied. The fight raged in front of Colonel Carr’s
division from 10 to 11 o’clock, when another battery was ordered up to
his support, for he was hotly pressed. The left, as yet, had not been
menaced. General Sigel felt confident that the enemy might be expected
to make a descent from the south side, and it was deemed indispensable
to keep the men ready for action in that direction. Colonel Osterhaus
was sent with his brigade in the morning along the high land in the
direction of Leestown, where he intercepted the reinforcements of the
enemy. This was one of the most spirited and successful attacks of the
battle, and resulted in a complete diversion of the enemy from the
overpowered forces of Colonel Carr, on the Fayetteville road.
The Union cavalry penetrated along the main ridge beyond the road by
which the enemy had advanced, and were on the point of seizing some of
his wagons when a brigade of rebel cavalry and infantry attacked them.
Then followed one of the most sanguinary contests that ever has been
recorded between cavalry. Most of the fighting was done at close
quarters. Pistols and carbines having been exhausted, sabres were
brought into requisition. The rattle of steel against steel, sabres
against muskets and cutlasses, was terrific. The rebels were Texas
Rangers, and fought like demons. The slaughter was awful. The Missouri
cavalry cleaving right and left, left winrows of dead and wounded in
front of their horses. The enemy fell back in dismay, the valorous
Federals pursued them along the road for a mile, when they opened a
battery upon the mass of friends and foes, plowing through them with
solid shot and shell. Colonel Osterhaus had succeeded in his attempt,
and retired, bringing off his dead and wounded in safety.
Meantime the contest was raging furiously on the extreme right on both
sides of the Fayetteville road. The First and Second Iowa batteries,
planted at an eminence overlooking the declivity in the road, were
plying shrapnel and canister into the ranks of the enemy, who appeared
in immense numbers on all sides, as if to surround the right of the
Union line, and thus completely environ them. In order to defeat this
object, a severe struggle took place for the occupancy of a rising knoll
on the east side of the road. The enemy gained upon the Federals, and it
was not until the men were half stricken down that they yielded the
point. Word had been passed back to General Curtis that the enemy was
pressing severely on the right flank, and the Union forces were sent
back. The section of a battery had been left on the hill, and the enemy
was now turning it upon the Union lines. Colonel Carr, fearing that no
reinforcements would arrive, collected his strength, and mustered his
entire force for a last desperate charge, resolved to retake the
position or perish in the attempt. A heavy firing on the centre, and a
cheer from the advancing division of General Davis favored the effort.
The troops marched up to the battery amid a storm of shot from their own
guns, and, after a desperate hand-to-hand struggle, finally drove the
enemy down the ravine, in hopeless confusion. Colonel Carr received a
wound in the arm, but remained on the field.
During the night a sharp fire of artillery had been kept up upon the
left, and from two Missouri batteries on the centre, under Colonels
Patterson and Fiala. The enemy had made frequent attempts to gain a
position nearer the Union lines, and succeeded in getting so near that
the balls from their guns would strike near the tents and baggage
wagons. Towards night the enemy made an attempt to break the Federal
centre, but the timely support of a brigade of General Sigel and a
section of artillery promptly repulsed them. The night closed with
skirmishing and sharpshooting.
Occasionally the report of a musket could be heard during the night,
then a second, and an interval of silence. But few of the soldiers
slept. The communication with Springfield was cut off, and Union
messengers were falling into the enemy’s hands. As yet the Federals had
gained little advantage, and with desperate fighting had only succeeded
in repelling equally desperate attacks. Nothing but hard fighting could
avail them. Filled with these thoughts, the soldiers solemnly gave their
wives and children into each others’ charge, no one being aware who the
survivor would be. Young men talked in low voices of the loved ones at
home, fathers, mothers, sisters, sweethearts—and messages full of tender
pathos were left to be given after death. It was indeed, an anxious,
mournful night.
The fight on the morning of the 8th, commenced by a salute from the
Union batteries on the extreme right. General Asboth, with a regiment of
infantry and a battalion of cavalry, had been sent to the support of
Colonel Carr, while General Sigel was moving up to a fresh position on
the ridge near Leestown. The enemy was unprepared for this sudden and
vigorous assault, and fled after a short and spiritless resistance. They
ran, leaving four pieces of artillery behind them, and a fifth was
afterwards taken in the pursuit. The enemy was being turned by the left
flank, General Sigel pushing boldly after him. An hour or more was spent
in contesting the possession of a spot on Cox’s farm, when the rebels
fell back to the hollow.
A pause ensued, when the right, under General Davis, moved along, and
after a sharp contest of half an hour, in which the rebel General
McIntosh, was killed, the enemy began to retreat to Cross Timber Hollow.
The whole line was then ordered forward. The rebels attempted to make a
stand on the next hill, but the Union artillery played upon them with
disastrous effect. The enemy on the road near the tavern refused to be
moved. General Asboth, with a large column of cavalry, was sent round to
outflank them, when another desperate conflict ensued between the Union
cavalry and the Texas and Louisiana troops. The Indians also took part
in it, but beyond shrieks and yells their influence was not felt. The
batteries of the enemy fired chains, spikes, pieces of bar-iron, and
solid shot. It was evident that his canister and shell were exhausted.
Now the Federal batteries on the right were ordered to the front. Taking
a position within five hundred yards, they poured in an incessant shower
of grape, canister and shell for twenty minutes. A general bayonet
charge was then ordered, and the Union line rushed down the valley and
ascended the opposite hill. A cheer went up from them as they delivered
volley after volley into the enemy’s ranks. The rebels cheered also; and
it was evident that they doubled the Union forces, from the overwhelming
shout that rang up from their lines.
At this time General Sigel was carrying everything before him on the
extreme left. The foe was running, and the Union men catching the
inspiration of the moment rushed on in pursuit. Before one o’clock the
rout was complete.
To the westward of Pea Ridge there was a wide strip of timber which had
been blown down by a hurricane the previous summer. Across this swarth
of uprooted trees, which were larger and denser in the low lands, the
enemy’s cavalry and artillery attempted to retreat, and were mercilessly
pelted with shell. The panic was overwhelming, and their defeat decided.
Muskets, clothing, and shot-guns were strewn along the woods. Horses
roamed about in wild droves. The cries of the cavalry men and the yells
of the Indians, with the groans of the wounded, surpassed all
description. Caissons overturned, wagons broken down, and horses dying
and dead strewed the whole road. Thirteen cannon, 6 and 12-pounders,
were taken in all, besides thousands of shot-guns and loads of
provisions.
It was in this position of affairs that General Price with a detachment
of his army had, in his attempt to make a stand on the Keatsville road,
caught the contagion of his fleeing comrades, and betook himself to the
northward, Colonel Carr and General Asboth keeping closely after him.
This was probably one of the most hotly contested battles of the war,
when every thing is taken into consideration, and it is worthy of remark
that few officers were wounded, although at all times exposed even to
recklessness. For three days the fighting continued, the men only
resting during the darkness, to renew the attack with the first light,
and even then were but partially allowed to slumber. Pea Ridge will
never be forgotten while we have a history.
The Federal loss in killed, wounded and missing, was 1,351. That of the
rebels about 2,000. Generals McIntosh and McCulloch were killed.
BATTLE OF NEWBERN, N. C.
MARCH 14, 1862.
Newbern, in Craven county, N. C., is situated at the confluence of the
Trent and Neuse rivers, which flow into Pamlico Sound, from whence,
through Ocrakoke Inlet, communication is had with the Atlantic. It is
eighty miles N. E. of Wilmington, and one hundred from Raleigh; has a
population of six thousand, and considerable commerce.
[Illustration:
BATTLE OF NEWBERN, N. C., MARCH 14, 1862.
]
The importance of Newbern was early appreciated by the rebels, who
adopted vigorous means for its defence. The approaches to the city on
the south bank of the Neuse, the only available route of an assailant,
were defended by formidable earthworks, and, as a protection against
gunboats, a line of vessels, backed by a _chevaux-de-frise_, was placed
in the channel, commanded by heavy batteries.
The expedition designed to operate against Newbern sailed from Hatteras
Inlet on the 12th of March, the land forces under General Burnside, and
the naval forces under Commander Rowan. The land forces consisted of the
brigades of Generals Foster, Reno and Parke, much reduced, however, by
regiments left behind at Roanoke Island and Hatteras Inlet, and not
exceeding eight thousand men. They were supported by McCook’s battery of
boat howitzers, three companies of marines, and a detachment of the
Union Coast Guard. The distance from Hatteras Inlet to the entrance of
Pamlico Sound is twenty-three miles; thence, through the sound and up
the river to Newbern, about fifty miles.
Early on the morning of the 12th the entire force started for Newbern,
and that night anchored off the mouth of Slocum’s Creek, some eighteen
miles from Newbern, where General Burnside decided to make a landing.
The landing commenced by seven o’clock the next morning, under cover of
the naval fleet, and was effected with the greatest enthusiasm by the
troops. Many, too impatient for the boats, leaped into the water, and
waded waist deep to the shore; then, after a toilsome march through the
mud, the head of the column moved within a mile and a half of the
enemy’s stronghold, at eight P. M., a distance of twelve miles from the
point of landing, where they bivouacked for the night, the rear of the
column coming up with the boat howitzers about three o’clock next
morning. This detention was caused by the shocking condition of the
roads, consequent upon the heavy rain that had fallen during the day and
the whole of the night. It required a whole regiment to drag the eight
pieces which had been landed from the navy and the vessels of General
Burnside.
By signals agreed upon, the naval vessels, with the armed vessels
carrying the land forces, were informed of each others’ progress, and
were thereby enabled to assist the march by shelling the road in
advance.
At daylight on the morning of the 14th, an advance of the entire
division was ordered. General Foster’s brigade marched up the main
country road to attack the enemy’s left; General Reno up the railroad,
to attack their right, and General Parke was to follow General Foster
and attack the enemy in front, with instructions to support either or
both brigades.
On the morning of the 14th, at seven o’clock, the column of General
Reno, on the railroad, was the first to move, the Twenty-first
Massachusetts, as the right flank regiment, leading the advance. The
regiment had not proceeded far before it saw a train of cars standing on
the track. In front of the locomotive, on a platform car, a large rifled
gun was placed in position to rake the road. The men advanced at the
double-quick and poured in a volley with such accuracy of aim that the
enemy, who had already rolled the gun and caisson off the car, did not
stop to unload the carriage, but ran into the intrenchments, and the
train was backed towards Newbern, leaving the platform car standing on
the track. The Twenty-first had got within short range of the enemy’s
earthworks, but now fell back, and, forming line of battle in the woods,
opened fire. The Fifty-first New York was moved to the left and ordered
forward to engage a series of redans, the Ninth New Jersey occupying the
left of the line, and the Fifty-first Pennsylvania held in reserve, in
rear of the Ninth, a little to the left.