_From the Secretary of War to the Hon. Jupiter Doke, Hardpan Crossroads,
Posey County, Illinois._
WASHINGTON, November 3, 1861.
Having faith in your patriotism and ability, the President has been
pleased to appoint you a brigadier-general of volunteers. Do you accept?
_From the Hon. Jupiter Doke to the Secretary of War._
HARDPAN, ILLINOIS, November 9, 1861.
It is the proudest moment of my life. The office is one which should be
neither sought nor declined. In times that try men's souls the patriot
knows no North, no South, no East, no West. His motto should be: "My
country, my whole country and nothing but my country." I accept the
great trust confided in me by a free and intelligent people, and with a
firm reliance on the principles of constitutional liberty, and invoking
the guidance of an all-wise Providence, Ruler of Nations, shall labor so
to discharge it as to leave no blot upon my political escutcheon. Say to
his Excellency, the successor of the immortal Washington in the Seat of
Power, that the patronage of my office will be bestowed with an eye
single to securing the greatest good to the greatest number, the
stability of republican institutions and the triumph of the party in all
elections; and to this I pledge my life, my fortune and my sacred honor.
I shall at once prepare an appropriate response to the speech of the
chairman of the committee deputed to inform me of my appointment, and I
trust the sentiments therein expressed will strike a sympathetic chord
in the public heart, as well as command the Executive approval.
_From the Secretary of War to Major-General Blount Wardorg, Commanding
the Military Department of Eastern Kentucky._
WASHINGTON, November 14, 1861.
I have assigned to your department Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke, who
will soon proceed to Distilleryville, on the Little Buttermilk River,
and take command of the Illinois Brigade at that point, reporting to you
by letter for orders. Is the route from Covington by way of Bluegrass,
Opossum Corners and Horsecave still infested with bushwhackers, as
reported in your last dispatch? I have a plan for cleaning them out.
_From Major-General Blount Wardorg to the Secretary of War._
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY, November 20, 1861.
The name and services of Brigadier-General Doke are unfamiliar to me,
but I shall be pleased to have the advantage of his skill. The route
from Covington to Distilleryville _via_ Opossum Corners and Horsecave I
have been compelled to abandon to the enemy, whose guerilla warfare made
it possible to keep it open without detaching too many troops from the
front. The brigade at Distilleryville is supplied by steamboats up the
Little Buttermilk.
_From the Secretary of War to Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke, Hardpan,
Illinois._
WASHINGTON, November 26, 1861.
I deeply regret that your commission had been forwarded by mail before
the receipt of your letter of acceptance; so we must dispense with the
formality of official notification to you by a committee. The President
is highly gratified by the noble and patriotic sentiments of your
letter, and directs that you proceed at once to your command at
Distilleryville, Kentucky, and there report by letter to Major-General
Wardorg at Louisville, for orders. It is important that the strictest
secrecy be observed regarding your movements until you have passed
Covington, as it is desired to hold the enemy in front of
Distilleryville until you are within three days of him. Then if your
approach is known it will operate as a demonstration against his right
and cause him to strengthen it with his left now at Memphis, Tennessee,
which it is desirable to capture first. Go by way of Bluegrass, Opossum
Corners and Horsecave. All officers are expected to be in full uniform
when _en route_ to the front.
_From Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke to the Secretary of War._
COVINGTON, KENTUCKY, December 7, 1861.
I arrived yesterday at this point, and have given my proxy to Joel
Briller, Esq., my wife's cousin, and a staunch Republican, who will
worthily represent Posey County in field and forum. He points with pride
to a stainless record in the halls of legislation, which have often
echoed to his soul-stirring eloquence on questions which lie at the very
foundation of popular government. He has been called the Patrick Henry
of Hardpan, where he has done yeoman's service in the cause of civil and
religious liberty. Mr. Briller left for Distilleryville last evening,
and the standard bearer of the Democratic host confronting that
stronghold of freedom will find him a lion in his path. I have been
asked to remain here and deliver some addresses to the people in a local
contest involving issues of paramount importance. That duty being
performed, I shall in person enter the arena of armed debate and move in
the direction of the heaviest firing, burning my ships behind me. I
forward by this mail to his Excellency the President a request for the
appointment of my son, Jabez Leonidas Doke, as postmaster at Hardpan. I
would take it, sir, as a great favor if you would give the application a
strong oral indorsement, as the appointment is in the line of reform. Be
kind enough to inform me what are the emoluments of the office I hold in
the military arm, and if they are by salary or fees. Are there any
perquisites? My mileage account will be transmitted monthly.
_From Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke to Major General Blount Wardorg._
DISTILLERYVILLE, KENTUCKY, January 12, 1862.
I arrived on the tented field yesterday by steamboat, the recent storms
having inundated the landscape, covering, I understand, the greater part
of a congressional district. I am pained to find that Joel Briller,
Esq., a prominent citizen of Posey County, Illinois, and a far-seeing
statesman who held my proxy, and who a month ago should have been
thundering at the gates of Disunion, has not been heard from, and has
doubtless been sacrificed upon the altar of his country. In him the
American people lose a bulwark of freedom. I would respectfully move
that you designate a committee to draw up resolutions of respect to his
memory, and that the office holders and men under your command wear the
usual badge of mourning for thirty days. I shall at once place myself at
the head of affairs here, and am now ready to entertain any suggestions
which you may make, looking to the better enforcement of the laws in
this commonwealth. The militant Democrats on the other side of the river
appear to be contemplating extreme measures. They have two large cannons
facing this way, and yesterday morning, I am told, some of them came
down to the water's edge and remained in session for some time, making
infamous allegations.
_From the Diary of Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke, at Distilleryville,
Kentucky._
January 12, 1862.--On my arrival yesterday at the Henry Clay Hotel
(named in honor of the late far-seeing statesman) I was waited on by a
delegation consisting of the three colonels intrusted with the command
of the regiments of my brigade. It was an occasion that will be
memorable in the political annals of America. Forwarded copies of the
speeches to the Posey _Maverick_, to be spread upon the record of the
ages. The gentlemen composing the delegation unanimously reaffirmed
their devotion to the principles of national unity and the Republican
party. Was gratified to recognize in them men of political prominence
and untarnished escutcheons. At the subsequent banquet, sentiments of
lofty patriotism were expressed. Wrote to Mr. Wardorg at Louisville for
instructions.
January 13, 1862.--Leased a prominent residence (the former incumbent
being absent in arms against his country) for the term of one year, and
wrote at once for Mrs. Brigadier-General Doke and the vital
issues--excepting Jabez Leonidas. In the camp of treason opposite here
there are supposed to be three thousand misguided men laying the ax at
the root of the tree of liberty. They have a clear majority, many of our
men having returned without leave to their constituents. We could
probably not poll more than two thousand votes. Have advised my heads of
regiments to make a canvass of those remaining, all bolters to be read
out of the phalanx.
January 14, 1862.--Wrote to the President, asking for the contract to
supply this command with firearms and regalia through my brother-in-law,
prominently identified with the manufacturing interests of the country.
Club of cannon soldiers arrived at Jayhawk, three miles back from here,
on their way to join us in battle array. Marched my whole brigade to
Jayhawk to escort them into town, but their chairman, mistaking us for
the opposing party, opened fire on the head of the procession and by the
extraordinary noise of the cannon balls (I had no conception of it!) so
frightened my horse that I was unseated without a contest. The meeting
adjourned in disorder and returning to camp I found that a deputation of
the enemy had crossed the river in our absence and made a division of
the loaves and fishes. Wrote to the President, applying for the
Gubernatorial Chair of the Territory of Idaho.
_From Editorial Article in the Posey, Illinois, "Maverick," January 20,
1862._
Brigadier-General Doke's thrilling account, in another column, of the
Battle of Distilleryville will make the heart of every loyal Illinoisian
leap with exultation. The brilliant exploit marks an era in military
history, and as General Doke says, "lays broad and deep the foundations
of American prowess in arms." As none of the troops engaged, except the
gallant author-chieftain (a host in himself) hails from Posey County, he
justly considered that a list of the fallen would only occupy our
valuable space to the exclusion of more important matter, but his
account of the strategic ruse by which he apparently abandoned his camp
and so inveigled a perfidious enemy into it for the purpose of murdering
the sick, the unfortunate _countertempus_ at Jayhawk, the subsequent
dash upon a trapped enemy flushed with a supposed success, driving their
terrified legions across an impassable river which precluded
pursuit--all these "moving accidents by flood and field" are related
with a pen of fire and have all the terrible interest of romance.
Verily, truth is stranger than fiction and the pen is mightier than the
sword. When by the graphic power of the art preservative of all arts we
are brought face to face with such glorious events as these, the
_Maverick's_ enterprise in securing for its thousands of readers the
services of so distinguished a contributor as the Great Captain who made
the history as well as wrote it seems a matter of almost secondary
importance. For President in 1864 (subject to the decision of the
Republican National Convention) Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke, of
Illinois!
_From Major-General Blount Wardorg to Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke._
LOUISVILLE, January 22, 1862.
Your letter apprising me of your arrival at Distilleryville was delayed
in transmission, having only just been received (open) through the
courtesy of the Confederate department commander under a flag of truce.
He begs me to assure you that he would consider it an act of cruelty to
trouble you, and I think it would be. Maintain, however, a threatening
attitude, but at the least pressure retire. Your position is simply an
outpost which it is not intended to hold.
_From Major-General Blount Wardorg to the Secretary of War._
LOUISVILLE, January 23, 1862.
I have certain information that the enemy has concentrated twenty
thousand troops of all arms on the Little Buttermilk. According to your
assignment, General Doke is in command of the small brigade of raw
troops opposing them. It is no part of my plan to contest the enemy's
advance at that point, but I cannot hold myself responsible for any
reverses to the brigade mentioned, under its present commander. I think
him a fool.
_From the Secretary of War to Major-General Blount Wardorg._
WASHINGTON, February 1, 1862.
The President has great faith in General Doke. If your estimate of him
is correct, however, he would seem to be singularly well placed where he
now is, as your plans appear to contemplate a considerable sacrifice for
whatever advantages you expect to gain.
_From Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke to Major-General Blount Wardorg._
DISTILLERYVILLE, February 1, 1862.
To-morrow I shall remove my headquarters to Jayhawk in order to point
the way whenever my brigade retires from Distilleryville, as
foreshadowed by your letter of the 22d ult. I have appointed a Committee
on Retreat, the minutes of whose first meeting I transmit to you. You
will perceive that the committee having been duly organized by the
election of a chairman and secretary, a resolution (prepared by myself)
was adopted, to the effect that in case treason again raises her hideous
head on this side of the river every man of the brigade is to mount a
mule, the procession to move promptly in the direction of Louisville and
the loyal North. In preparation for such an emergency I have for some
time been collecting mules from the resident Democracy, and have on hand
2300 in a field at Jayhawk. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty!
_From Major-General Gibeon J. Buxter, C.S.A., to the Confederate
Secretary of War._
BUNG STATION, KENTUCKY, February 4, 1862.
On the night of the 2d inst., our entire force, consisting of 25,000 men
and thirty-two field pieces, under command of Major-General Simmons B.
Flood, crossed by a ford to the north side of Little Buttermilk River at
a point three miles above Distilleryville and moved obliquely down and
away from the stream, to strike the Covington turnpike at Jayhawk; the
object being, as you know, to capture Covington, destroy Cincinnati and
occupy the Ohio Valley. For some months there had been in our front only
a small brigade of undisciplined troops, apparently without a commander,
who were useful to us, for by not disturbing them we could create an
impression of our weakness. But the movement on Jayhawk having isolated
them, I was about to detach an Alabama regiment to bring them in, my
division being the leading one, when an earth-shaking rumble was felt
and heard, and suddenly the head-of-column was struck by one of the
terrible tornadoes for which this region is famous, and utterly
annihilated. The tornado, I believe, passed along the entire length of
the road back to the ford, dispersing or destroying our entire army; but
of this I cannot be sure, for I was lifted from the earth insensible and
blown back to the south side of the river. Continuous firing all night
on the north side and the reports of such of our men as have recrossed
at the ford convince me that the Yankee brigade has exterminated the
disabled survivors. Our loss has been uncommonly heavy. Of my own
division of 15,000 infantry, the casualties--killed, wounded, captured,
and missing--are 14,994. Of General Dolliver Billow's division, 11,200
strong, I can find but two officers and a nigger cook. Of the artillery,
800 men, none has reported on this side of the river. General Flood is
dead. I have assumed command of the expeditionary force, but owing to
the heavy losses have deemed it advisable to contract my line of
supplies as rapidly as possible. I shall push southward to-morrow
morning early. The purposes of the campaign have been as yet but partly
accomplished.
_From Major-General Dolliver Billows, C.S.A., to the Confederate
Secretary of War._
BUHAC, KENTUCKY, February 5, 1862.
... But during the 2d they had, unknown to us, been reinforced by fifty
thousand cavalry, and being apprised of our movement by a spy, this vast
body was drawn up in the darkness at Jayhawk, and as the head of our
column reached that point at about 11 P.M., fell upon it with
astonishing fury, destroying the division of General Buxter in an
instant. General Baumschank's brigade of artillery, which was in the
rear, may have escaped--I did not wait to see, but withdrew my division
to the river at a point several miles above the ford, and at daylight
ferried it across on two fence rails lashed together with a suspender.
Its losses, from an effective strength of 11,200, are 11,199. General
Buxter is dead. I am changing my base to Mobile, Alabama.
_From Brigadier-General Schneddeker Baumschank, C.S.A., to the
Confederate Secretary of War._
IODINE, KENTUCKY, February 6, 1862.
... Yoost den somdings occur, I know nod vot it vos--somdings
mackneefcent, but it vas nod vor--und I finds meinselluf, afder leedle
viles, in dis blace, midout a hors und mit no men und goons. Sheneral
Peelows is deadt, You will blease be so goot as to resign me--I vights
no more in a dam gontry vere I gets vipped und knows nod how it vos
done.
_Resolutions of Congress_, February 15, 1862.
_Resolved_, That the thanks of Congress are due, and hereby tendered, to
Brigadier-General Jupiter Doke and the gallant men under his command for
their unparalleled feat of attacking--themselves only 2000 strong--an
army of 25,000 men and utterly overthrowing it, killing 5327, making
prisoners of 19,003, of whom more than half were wounded, taking 32
guns, 20,000 stand of small arms and, in short, the enemy's entire
equipment.
_Resolved_, That for this unexampled victory the President be requested
to designate a day of thanksgiving and public celebration of religious
rites in the various churches.
_Resolved_, That he be requested, in further commemoration of the great
event, and in reward of the gallant spirits whose deeds have added such
imperishable lustre to the American arms, to appoint, with the advice
and consent of the Senate, the following officer:
One major-general.
_Statement of Mr. Hannibal Alcazar Peyton, of Jayhawk, Kentucky._
Dat wus a almighty dark night, sho', and dese yere ole eyes aint wuf
shuks, but I's got a year like a sque'l, an' w'en I cotch de mummer o'
v'ices I knowed dat gang b'long on de far side o' de ribber. So I jes'
runs in de house an' wakes Marse Doke an' tells him: "Skin outer dis fo'
yo' life!" An' de Lo'd bress my soul! ef dat man didn' go right fru de
winder in his shir' tail an' break for to cross de mule patch! An' dem
twenty-free hunerd mules dey jes' t'nk it is de debble hese'f wid de
brandin' iron, an' dey bu'st outen dat patch like a yarthquake, an' pile
inter de upper ford road, an' flash down it five deep, an' it full o'
Con-fed'rates from en' to en'!...