GIFT OF EVGENE MEYER,«»t CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY A LIBRARY OF CONFEDERATE STATES HISTORY, IN TWELVE VOLUMES, WRITTEN BY DISTIN GUISHED MEN OF THE SOUTH, AND EDITED BY GEN. CLEMENT A. EVANS OF GEORGIA. VOL. X. Atlanta, Ga. Confederate Publishing Company J899 COPYRIGHT, 1899, CONFEDERATE PUBLISHING COMPANY. CONTENTS— LOUISIANA. PAGE. CHAPTER I. The Campaign of 1860— The Political Clubs— "Hurrah for the Confederacy" — Result of the Election — Sentiment is Unified — Governor Moore's Proclamation — Meeting of the Legislature 3 CHAPTER II. Union of Marching Clubs— Governor Moore's Proclamation — Election Returns — Poverty in War Material — Question of Method of Secession — "The Time for Action Has Come" — Oratory, Drill and Holiday Festivities 10 CHAPTER III. Stirring Events of the New Year— Occupation of the Baton Rouge Arsenal — Forts Jackson, St. Philip and Pike— A State Army Created— The Convention Meets— Ordi nance of Secession — The Pelican Flag — Washington's Birth day 20 CHAPTER IV. Louisiana Answers Sumter — Troops Sent to the Front — Louisianians at Pensacola — The Louisiana Bat talion — Death of Colonel Dreux — Life at the Confederate Capital 29 CHAPTER V. A Bruit of Peril to the City— Preparation of Defenses — Farragut at the Passes — The Bombardment of the Forts — Passage of the Federal Fleet — Mutiny and Ca pitulation—Fate of the Ram Louisiana — The Fleet at the City 35 CHAPTER VI. The State Flag on City Hall— Farragut 's De mand for Surrender — The Negotiations — Hoisting of the United States Flag on City Hall— The Advent of the Man of Two Orders — Military Rule under Butler — Execution of Wil liam B. Mumford — Butler's Deepest Depth 49 CHAPTER VII. Vicksburg to Baton Rouge— Raid on Brashear City — Other Expeditions — The First Attack on Vicksburg — Battle of Baton Rouge — Loss of the Arkansas — Breckinridge Occupies Baton Rouge 62 CHAPTER VIII. General Butler's Rural Enterprises— Rich ard Taylor in West Louisiana —Campaign on the Lafourche — Battle of Labadieville — Operations about Berwick Bay — Exploits of the Gunboat Cotton 74 CHAPTER IX, Banks Relieves Butler— Operates on the Atch- afalaya— First Expedition Toward Red River— Battle of Camp Bisland 86 CHAPTER X. Taylor's Withdrawal from Bisland— Engage ment at Franklin — A Successful Retreat — Banks Abandons the Expedition — Taylor's Victory at Berwick Bay — Fighting about Donaldsonville — On the Fordoche and Bayou Bour- beau 96 in iv CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER XI. The River Strongholds— Famous Naval Ex ploit — Capture of the Indianola — Port Hudson Invested — Farragut Runs the Batteries — Taylor's Operations 107 CHAPTER XII. A Chapter of Sieges— Assault Repelled at Port Hudson — The Heroic Defense — The Capitulation — Louisi- anians at Vicksburg 117 CHAPTER XIII. Taylor Prepares for Defense— The Red River Threatened — Porter Ascends the River— Banks Marches toward Shreveport — Fall of Fort DeRussy— Gen. Kirby Smith Plans for Federal Defeat— Taylor Resolves to Fight at Mansfield 126 CHAPTER XIV. The Battle of Mansfield— Taylor's Forma tion for Battle— Mouton's Gallant Charge— Rout of the Fed eral Army — Battle Renewed at Pleasant Hill — Monett's Ferry — Death of General Green— Official Reports 135 CHAPTER XV. The Retreat of Banks— Taylor's Force Re duced—Walker and Churchill Sent Against Steele— Nat- chitoches and Cioutierville — Yellow Bayou the Last Battle— Louisianians at Mobile - Gibson's Farewell Address — Sur render of General Taylor 151 CHAPTER XVI. Louisianians in the Armies of the West— Bat tles of Wilson's Creek, Belmont and Shiloh — Beauregard in Command — Succeeded by Bragg — Battles of luka and Cor inth — March into Kentucky — Battle of Perryville 161 CHAPTER XVII. Battle of Murfreesboro— Gallant Record of Adams' Brigade — The Washington Artillery — Tullahoma Campaign — The Great Conflict on Chickamauga Creek — Adams' Brigade Turns the Federal Line — Action of Other Louisiana Commands 179 CHAPTER XVIII. The Georgia Campaign— Louisiana Com mands with Johnston and Polk — Their Service from Dalton to Atlanta — The Siege — Battle of Jonesboro — General Hood Withdraws to Alabama 189 CHAPTER XIX. The Tennessee Campaign under Hood- Scott's Brigade at Franklin— The Washington Artillery at Murfreesboro — Battle of Nashville— The Retreat— The Louisiana Brigade in the Rear Guard— Last Days of the Army of Tennessee 196 CHAPTER XX. Louisianians in the Army of Northern Vir ginia — Fight at Blackburn's Ford — The Fame of HarryHays — Battle of First Manassas — With Magruder on the Penin sula — Williamsburg and Seven Pines 204 CHAPTER XXI. Louisianians with Stonewall Jackson— The Great Valley Campaign — Taylor's Brigade at Front Royal " — Middletown — Winchester — Cross Keys and Port Republic —With Lee before Richmond — The Seven Days 214 CHAPTER XXII. The Two Louisiana Brigades, Army of Northern Virginia — Louisiana Artillery — Battle of Cedar Run — The Second Manassas Campaign — "Battle of the Rocks" 225 CHAPTER XXIII. Onto Maryland -Hays' and Starke's Bri gades Return to Harper's Ferry — Battle of Sharpsburg — The CONTENTS. PAGE. Terrific Struggle at the Dunker Church — Valorous Deeds of the Washington Artillery — Guard Artillery — Madison Tips. 225 CHAPTER XXIV. The Battle Panorama at Fredericksburg - The Louisiana Artillery at Marye's Hill — Frightful Slaughter of the Enemy— Battle of Chancellorsville — Louisi- anians Fight Again at Marye's Hill — Nicholls' Brigade at Jackson 244 CHAPTER XXV. The Pennsylvania Campaign— Hays' Bril liant Charge at Winchester— Battle of Gettysburg— First Day's Fight— Nicholls' Brigade at Culp's Hill— Hays' Bri gade on the Summit of Cemetery Hill — Work of the Artil lery — After Gettysburg — Rappahannock Bridge — Mine Run — Payne's Farm 254 CHAPTER XXVI. Lee Meets Grant in Battle—The Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House — Stafford Killed, Hays Dis abled—Louisiana's Part in Lee's Magnificent Campaign — With Early in Maryland and the Valley — Siege of Peters burg — Five Forks — Fort Gregg 270 CHAPTER XXVII. Appomattox— Louisiana Infantry and Artillery at the Surrender — After Appomattox —The Presi dent's Bodyguard— The State's Total Enrollment— The Chaplains — The Sacrifices of the Women — Conclusion 280 BIOGRAPHICAL 289 ILLUSTRATIONS— LOUISIANA. FACING PAGE. ALLEN, HENRY W 297 ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA, PARTS OF (Map) 144 BLANCHARD, ALBERT G 297 DIMITRY, JOHN i DUNCAN, JOHNSON K 297 GARDNER, FRANKLIN 297 GIBSON, RANDALL L 297 GLADDEN, ADLEY H 297 GRAY, HENRY 297 HAYS, HARRY T .^._. 312 HEBERT, Louis.. .. •. . 312 HEBERT, PAUL O 312 HIGGINS, EDWARD 312 LIDDELL, JOHN R 297 LOUISIANA, MAP OF 288 MAJOR, JAMES P 312 MOUTON, ALFRED 297 NICHOLLS, FRANCIS T 312 POLIGNAC, CAMILLE J 312 SCOTT, THOMAS M 312 SIBLEY, HENRY H 297 THOMAS, ALLEN 312 YORK, ZEBULON 312 CONTENTS— ARKANSAS. PAGE. CHAPTER I. The Election of 1860 and its Effects— Arsenal at Little Rock Taken into State Possession — Action of Leg islature and Convention — Preparations for War — Fighting in Missouri 3 CHAPTER II. The Battle of Wilson's Creek or Oak Hills- Schofield's Report — Description of the Battlefield — Colonel Snead's Account — Reports of Generals McCulloch and Pearce — Other Confederate Reports — Losses of Arkansas Commands 25 CHAPTER III. General Hardee at Pitman's Ferry— Transfer of Troops to Confederate Service — Organization of Cle- burne's Regiment — Hardee's Command Transferred to Ken tucky—Polk at Columbus — Battle of Belmont 55 CHAPTER IV. Capture of Lexington— Price and McCulloch— Van Dorn in Command — Federal Advance under Curtis — Battle of Elkhorn Tavern— Death of McCulloch and Mc- Intosh — Headquarters at Pocahontas — Van Dorn Prepares to Cross the Mississippi — The Noble Women of Arkansas . . 64 CHAPTER V. The Federals Occupy Batesville— General Hindman Assigned to the Trans-Mississippi District — His Administration ad Interim — The Campaign on White River — Fighting in Indian Territory — Trans-Mississippi De partment Created — General Holmes Assigned to Command —Gen. Albert Pike 92 CHAPTER VI. Operations in Northwest Arkansas— Battle of Newtonia — Schofield Invades Arkansas — Cane Hill and Prairie Grove — Army Organization in December, 1862 — Fall of Arkansas Post 1 29 CHAPTER VII. Border Forays, Skirmishes and Outrages— Marmaduke's Raid in Missouri — Cabell's Brigade Organized — Attack on Federals at Fayetteville — Organization under E. Kirby Smith — Assault upon Helena, July 4, 1863 — Re ports of the Action 161 CHAPTER VIII. Schofield Returns to Federal Command- Cooper and Cabell in the Northwest— Actions near Honey Springs and Backbone Mountain — Proposition to Abandon Arkansas — Federal Expedition against Little Rock — Action on the Fourche — Duel between Marmaduke and Walker — Evacuation of Little Rock 194 CHAPTER IX. The Army near Arkadelphia— Shelby's Mis souri Raid — Marmaduke's Attack on Pine Bluff — Advance on Little Rock Proposed and Abandoned — In Winter Quar ters — Winter Raids and Scouts — Opening of the Red River Campaign — Steele's Advance from Little Rock — Engage ments at Elkin's Ferry and Prairie D'Ane . . 223 VI vii CONTENTS. PAGE. CHAPTER X. Battle of Poison Spring— Battle of Marks' Mills — Battle of Jenkins' Ferry — Subsequent Disposition of Troops — Shelby Captures the Queen City— Operations of Marmaduke on the Mississippi — Price's Missouri Expedition — Final Organization and Plans — The Cartel of May 26, 1865 248 CHAPTER XL Arkansas Regiments— Their Organization and Commanders — A Brief Narrative of Their Service 284 CHAPTER XII. Arkansas Brigades East of the Mississippi — Battle of Shiloh — Richmond and Perryville — Murfreesboro — luka and Corinth — Vicksburg and Port Hudson — Chicka- mauga — Missionary Ridge — Ringgold Gap — The Atlanta Campaign — Franklin and the Death of Cleburne , . 326 APPENDIX 377 BIOGRAPHICAL 389 ILLUSTRATIONS— ARKANSAS. FACING PAGE. •ARKANSAS, MAP OF Between pages 388 and 389 BEALL, WILLIAM N. R , 397 CABELL, WILLIAM L , 409 CHURCHILL, THOMAS J 409 CLEBURNE, PATRICK R 397 DOCKERY, THOMAS P 397 FAGAN, JAMES F 397 GOVAN, DANIEL C 397 HARRELL, JOHN M ^ i HAWTHORN, ALEXANDER T 409 HELENA, ARKANSAS (Map) 184 HINDMAN, THOMAS C 409 MclNTQSH, JAMES 409 McN AIR, EVANDER 397 McRAE, DANDRIDGE 397 PIKE, ALBERT 397 POLK, Lucius E 397 REYNOLDS, DANIEL H 397 ROANE, JOHN S , . 409 RUST, ALBERT 409 TAPPAN, J. C 409 WATIE, STAND 409 JOHN DIMITRY LOUISIANA BY JOHN DIMITRY, A. M. CHAPTER I. THE CAMPAIGN OF 1860— THE POLITICAL CLUBS— "HURRAH FOR THE CONFEDERACY "—RESULT OF THE ELECTION— SENTIMENT IS UNIFIED— GOV ERNOR MOORE'S PROCLAMATION— MEETING OF THE LEGISLATURE. THE National Democratic convention met at Charleston, April 29, 1860 — the Louisiana Consti tutional convention, January 23, 1861. Between these conventions Secession, as the inevitable result of acute dissension in the old camps, was already standing with stalwart sponsors at the baptismal font of nations. Its time for action was not ripe. It stood on guard, awaiting the summons with brave eyes sweeping the front. The answer of Louisiana to the conflict of convention nominations was prompt. This promptness was specially marked in her chief city in the sharpened activity of politicians and in the enthusiasm of rank and file. From its older days the native population of New Orleans, inspired by its French and Spanish blood, instinct in im agination, has lent itself readily to the picturesque angle in its public spectacles. A presidential campaign in New Orleans largely exhibits, along with Southern heartiness, an elan rarely found among the men of other cities. Enthusiasm here assumes a poetic guise. The processions, marching with joyous abandon, carry within themselves an air of the carnival; the ranks, far from quiet be it said, fill the streets with racy cries; and around and about the transparencies shines a gleam of color which seen, is as inspiring as the mottoes. Strangely enough — yet not so odd, considering the 3 4 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. respectable and wealthy party back of it — the first re sponse came through a call, published in the papers, for a Bell and Everett ratification meeting to be held on May 3oth. This call was signed by an imposing number of citizens, prominent in every branch of the public in terest. Among the names subscribed were found those of Randell Hunt and Christian Roselius, eminent mem bers of the bar; Moses Greenwood, banker; John R. Conway, afterward mayor; W. H. C. King, journalist; I. G. Seymour, editor of the Bulletin; Thomas Sloo, merchant; F. A. Lumsden, editor of the Picayune; W. O. Denegre, lawyer; E. T. Parker, sheriff of Orleans parish ; and, to conclude with a war name, J. B. Walton, to be veteran major of the Washington Artillery when the bugle should sound for battle, and the gallant colonel of that superb battalion on fields not less hard-fought than glorious. At this meeting, with all their voices for Bell and Everett, appeared for the first time the " Young Bell Ringers." These were a gallant band of marchers; young men, stepping jauntily and jesting while they stepped; evidently musically inclined, since in their bands, with a pleasantly conceived jeu d' esprit on their principal candidate's name, each bore and zealously rang a bell, great or small, with note sharp or mellow, as the need was. The "Young Bell Ringers" presented the picturesque element in the presidential campaign of 1860. Opposed to them in the canvass, equally light in step, equally witty in tongue, equally proud in their can didates, came, sweeping along in their processions in pride of hopeful youth, the " Young Men's Breckinridge and Lane Club." Less wealthy than their rivals, they did not spring from darkness into sudden light. Their growth from a small beginning had been slow — from darkness into half tone. At first the " Young Men's Breckinridge and Lane Club " showed twelve members, as aggressive in speeches as they were sturdy in spirit. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 5 Though small in numbers, this club had, from its first gathering, with a purpose boldly proclaimed at the meetings and fearlessly shouted in the streets, impressed itself upon the imaginations of unattached Democrats of the town. From it sprang, in different parts of the city, clubs like the Young Guards, Breckinridge Guards, Chalmette Guards, Southern Guards, as from a mother organization. It was not long before it became noticed by keen eyes on the banquette that the small group following the main parade was like an island on fire in a quiet sea. Among those sharp eyes were others belonging to young men, still unplaced in the campaign because dubious. In this estuary the first parade of the club turned the tide to fulness. As it marched along it was flanked by two stalwart scouts who kept the crowd moving either side of the procession. There are many veterans, old men now, young then, who still remember those scouts of 1860 and how well they kept the ways free. The ethics of the clubs of both parties leaned to mercy. No crowns were cracked ; but order — as the primal law of parades — was rigidly maintained. In this first procession the club made converts as it marched. It attracted them by a debonair step ; and won and retained them by cheers full of fire and already aggressive with * ' Dixie. ' ' The tide rose swift and high in one night, as that of the bay of Fundy. At the next procession of clubs, now increased in number, the Young Men's Breckinridge and Lane club, with Ernest Lagarde, first president, and his successor in office, Fred Ogden, paraded two thousand strong. No longer a faction of the Democratic host, it had become the procession, since, wherever placed, its banners were first sought and its gay and ringing shouts were eagerly listened for. As the growth of the club developed, the Young Bell Ringers began gradually to haunt the banquette. They were there to watch the swing and to pass comments on 8 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. said : "A grand affair and remarkable for its compo sition. ' ' The campaign moved swiftly. October came and found the Young Bell Ringers full of purpose, strength ening their party by mass-meetings in different parts of the city. They affected the public squares, holding their assemblies on Lafayette square and Annunciation square in the First district, and Washington square in the Third. At each meeting the Bell and Everett men were surrounded by crowds. Their meetings under the trees became a marked feature of the canvass — nay, they undoubtedly aided the large vote that came with election day. In a measure, Breckinridge men were more do mestic. They had held their first meeting in Armory hall. As the fight went on, they clung to its white-washed walls. It was soon known that at Armory hall were to be found eloquent speakers, strong speeches, bright lights, enlivening cries, stirring campaign songs, along with an enthusiasm which, springing from the club, rose to fill all visitors with political ozone. These chance meetings gathered night after night. The public meet ings were merely an ordinary night's meeting, enlarged and improved and * * ozoned. ' ' On October 2Qth the Breckinridge club swung into a new path. On that day they went, carrying their new banner, down to the Pontchartrain depot on Elysian Fields to welcome Hon. William Lowndes Yancey, of Alabama, the magnetic orator of disunion. Some time previous they had invited this famous " firer of Cotton States into rebellion ' ' to address the Democracy. New Orleans was ablaze with excitement. A vast crowd of all parties assembled on Camp street to hear Mr. Yancey. A brilliant speech from the orator was followed by a torchlight procession which filled the streets with South ern airs and cries. Mr. Yancey must have been pleased. He had more than kept his word. He had fired the Sugar State " into rebellion." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 9 A week after this, on November yth, the telegraph flashed to the Union of divided minds the result of the election held on the 6th. In Louisiana the election of Mr. Lincoln, the candidate of the Republican party and the first of that party to snatch victory from the vote of a united country, fell like a shock of icicles upon citizens of all parties. Some received the news with amazement, others with apprehension, others with indignation; all with disappointment During the campaign, thus ad versely ended, John C. Breckinridge had said: " In the Southern States of the Union a few are, perhaps, per se disunionists — though I doubt if they are." For Louisiana, the eternal truth of history justifies Mr. Breckinridge 's doubt. Lincoln's election did more than divide the Union. It consolidated the South. After the result was known, politics turned into a game of partners. The Young Bell Ringers maintained their organization for a while. Their organization, in changing the current of its partisanship, soon amalgamated with their Democratic rivals. All the young voters of 1860 melted into one party. It was the party of the South ; a party with one cry and one purpose. It gave out an insistent note, swelling from day to day into larger volume — the cry for an independent Confederacy. Over all these — whether Young Bell Ringers or Breckinridge and Lane men, or Douglas and Johnson clubs — hovered a glorified radiance from the Confederacy that was to be ! I leave here the workers in the political campaign of 1 860. In May that campaign had divided upon party interests. In January it was to unite in one controlling, dominating interest of State and section. 6 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the campaign music of their rivals. Friendship allied many in either rank; kinship, not a few; yet loyalty was for a space intense enough to divide them by a party-hedge of the thickest. One night, when the cam paign was still young, a new shout, with a strange rhythm about the words, startled the Bell men. This cry came from two thousand lungs, filling the air with its proud defiance and stirring the Bell Ringers to many a satiric retort. Not yet heeding, they were soon to heed the solemn voice of their mother State. These gibes came from those whose credo was all for the " Union and the Enforcement of the Laws. ' ' The cry of that night prefigured the future : ' * Hurrah for the Confederacy." A subtone of youth's thought lessness might have been in it. For the first time in jected into a Louisiana campaign, it was the key to that far mightier voice, yet unlocked, which, springing from heroism, was, in a muster of armies, to ring through the valleys and echo from the hills of an embattled South. In New Orleans there was in that day a large body of citizens faithful to their section, but of conservative tone and suspicious of overhaste. These heard this new cry of the young Democrats and thought it imprudent. Some of them, indeed, reported the incident to the lead ers of the party, then to be found in the rooms of the State central committee. Strong with experience, the elders shook their heads gravely, but — like Tennyson's wise old chamberlain — said nothing. Occasion was promptly found, however, to see the young children. "Don't go too fast, boys," said one, hiding behind grave glasses a smiling eye. "Now, you must really be more cautious, ' ' echoed another, beaming on the offenders. The counsel was fatherly, the rebuke mild. The Young Men's Breckinridge and Lane club received this warning from their leaders with respect, shrugged their shoulders on leaving the room, and continued to shout, with scarcely bated voices, for a Confederacy then mist- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 7 ily arising amid the shadows. It would have been far from prudent leadership in the closing months of 1860 to crush the high temper of youths who might, within a half year, be carrying a musket or riding double on a caisson. In this gallant temper of her young men, New Orleans recalls with pride that of all her sons, marching under what banners soever or shouting what party names in the canvass of 1860, none able to go was found lacking when Louisiana needed his services on the field. With the progress of the campaign, bad news came to render the timid anxious and to make the brave heady. The news felt like a breath of war from the Hudson. Ar rangements were making, it was said, on a given date before the election, to parade all the Black Republican " Wide-awake" clubs in New York and Brooklyn. In stant was the antagonism to this veiled threat. "Wide awake to what? " asked men of all parties on the Missis sippi. To this question, but one answer could be truth ful. This bit of news came to be a triumph for the Young Men's Breckinridge and Lane club. Their en thusiasm had been wiser, had looked more clearly into the future than the prudence of their elders ; had seen, to use a strong French expression, the " movement com ing. " Meantime the election went apace with its shouts, its bands and transparencies. At the end of September a Breckinridge and Lane mass-meeting was held. The club not only led the van of a monster parade, but marched proudly under the folds of a beautiful banner presented to it on September 24th. A notable feature in this procession was the appearance of the Lane Dra goons — a new club of horsemen, recently organized. On their horses the dragoons, ninety strong, presented a military aspect. Many, by the way, considered this a fair Roland for the Wide-awake Oliver. They wore black coats buttoned up, with a white belt bearing the club name, and a cap decorated with a gold band. Of this parade, with politics in a ferment, the Picayune CHAPTER II. UNION OP MARCHING CLUBS— GOVERNOR MOORE'S PROCLAMATION - ELECTION RETURNS — POVERTY IN WAR MATERIAL— QUESTION OF METHOD OP SECESSION—" THE TIME FOR ACTION HAS COME"— ORATORY, DRILL AND HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES. A MARKED change was observed among the more conservative men when Mr. Lincoln's election be came certain. The divisions of politics were for gotten in the common peril. In their clubs the elders spoke gravely of the change and of the events which had produced it. In theirs, the young men found a raison dfetre for shouting with more insistence for the * * South ern Confederacy." The club rooms of the canvass just closed became prac tically the nurseries of volunteers. The muster-roll of each club, originally subscribed in the jealousies of parties, was readily signed once again for a more martial brotherhood. Club headquarters, large enough for tran sient occupation for street parades, sometimes proved too cramped for the drill of members inspired by the beat of drum and the voice of command. In the new club were those who had marched in the Breckinridge ranks, and those who had "kept step to the Union and the Constitu tion" in the Bell and Everett processions. The Young Bell Ringers — disgusted at the defeat of their respectable candidate — soon came to join heart and hand with their old-time rivals. With the Bell Ringers, rivalry in a peace camp was counted to be a small matter indeed compared with unity in a campaign which might prove to be close kin with the "signs of war. " The patriotic citizens were, as a rule, known to be in 10 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 11 favor of concurrent action with other Southern States on the general question of secession. It was understood that Governor Moore himself advocated this course. Such an understanding strengthened the hands of con servative citizens who believed, with him, that union of action among the seceding States would go far to secure, through co-operation, the full success of the movement. Gov. T. O. Moore, as one of the most important factors of 1 860-6 1, merits a good word. He proved a safe and careful pilot of the State through the troubled waters of secession. During his term, he was never quite out of sight of his people ; nor was he ever too far off to hearken to their appeals. Louisiana's response, through her executive, to the vote of her citizens, November 6th-;th, was uncompromising. Governor Moore's proclamation convening the general assembly was the first authentic protest of the State to Mr. Lincoln's election ; the first voice of the civil war spoken within her borders; the first beat of her war drum ; the first blare of her trumpet, sounding its defi ance with no uncertain note. As a material paper — ma terial both from position of the writer and the gravity of the situation — the proclamation gains a place here. " Executive Office, Baton Rouge. ** Whereas, the Constitution of the State of Louisiana authorizes the Executive to convene the General Assem bly thereof on extraordinary occasions ; and Whereas, the election of Abraham Lincoln to the office of President of the United States, by a sectional and aggressive anti- slavery party, whose hostility to the people and the insti tutions of the South has been evinced by repeated and long continued violations of Constitutional obligations and fraternal amity — now consummated by the last insult and outrage perpetrated at and through the ballot-box, does in my opinion, as also that of a large number of citizens of all parties and pursuits throughout the State, furnish an occasion such as was contemplated by the Constitution; and " Whereas, some of our sister States, aggressive like CHAPTER II. UNION OF MARCHING CLUBS— GOVERNOR MOORE'S PROCLAMATION — ELECTION RETURNS — POVERTY IN WAR MATERIAL— QUESTION OF METHOD OF SECESSION—" THE TIME FOR ACTION HAS COME"— ORATORY, DRILL AND HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES. A MARKED change was observed among the more conservative men when Mr. Lincoln's election be came certain. The divisions of politics were for gotten in the common peril. In their clubs the elders spoke gravely of the change and of the events which had produced it. In theirs, the young men found a raison dfetre for shouting with more insistence for the " South ern Confederacy. ' ' The club rooms of the canvass just closed became prac tically the nurseries of volunteers. The muster-roll of each club, originally subscribed in the jealousies of parties, was readily signed once again for a more martial brotherhood. Club headquarters, large enough for tran sient occupation for street parades, sometimes proved too cramped for the drill of members inspired by the beat of drum and the voice of command. In the new club were those who had marched in the Breckinridge ranks, and those who had "kept step to the Union and the Constitu tion" in the Bell and Everett processions. The Young Bell Ringers — disgusted at the defeat of their respectable candidate — soon came to join heart and hand with their old-time rivals. With the Bell Ringers, rivalry in a peace camp was counted to be a small matter indeed compared with unity in a campaign which might prove to be close kin with the "signs of war." The patriotic citizens were, as a rule, known to be in 10 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 11 favor of concurrent action with other Southern States on the general question of secession. It was understood that Governor Moore himself advocated this course. Such an understanding strengthened the hands of con servative citizens who believed, with him, that union of action among the seceding States would go far to secure, through co-operation, the full success of the movement. Gov. T. O. Moore, as one of the most important factors of 1 860-6 1, merits a good word. He proved a safe and careful pilot of the State through the troubled waters of secession. During his term, he was never quite out of sight of his people ; nor was he ever too far off to hearken to their appeals. Louisiana's response, through her executive, to the vote of her citizens, November 6th- yth, was uncompromising. Governor Moore's proclamation convening the general assembly was the first authentic protest of the State to Mr. Lincoln's election ; the first voice of the civil war spoken within her borders; the first beat of her war drum ; the first blare of her trumpet, sounding its defi ance with no uncertain note. As a material paper — ma terial both from position of the writer and the gravity of the situation — the proclamation gains a place here. " Executive Office, Baton Rouge. 44 Whereas, the Constitution of the State of Louisiana authorizes the Executive to convene the General Assem bly thereof on extraordinary occasions ; and Whereas, the election of Abraham Lincoln to the office of President of the United States, by a sectional and aggressive anti- slavery party, whose hostility to the people and the insti tutions of the South has been evinced by repeated and long continued violations of Constitutional obligations and fraternal amity — now consummated by the last insult and outrage perpetrated at and through the ballot-box, does in my opinion, as also that of a large number of citizens of all parties and pursuits throughout the State, furnish an occasion such as was contemplated by the Constitution; and " Whereas, some of our sister States, aggressive like 12 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ours, are preparing measures for the future security and for the safety of their institutions and their people, and both patriotism and self preservation require us to delib erate upon our own course of action ; "Now, therefore, I, Thomas Overton Moore, governor of the State of Louisiana, do hereby convene the Legis lature of the State in extra and special session, and do appoint Monday, the loth day of December next, at 12 o'clock m. , the day and hour for the meeting of both houses of the Legislature at the Capitol in Baton Rouge. * * In testimony whereof, I have herewith set my hand and caused the great seal of the State to be affixed at the city of Baton Rouge, the seat of government of the State, on the i Qth day of November, A. D. 1860, and of the inde pendence of the United States of America the eighty- fifth. "By the Governor, T. O. MOORE. "J. HAMILTON HARDY, Secretary of State." The legislature met at Baton Rouge December loth. Congress had preceded its assembling — having already met December 3, 1860. It was another time in which precedents were missing. Never before, since its ad mission as a State, had Louisiana found its legislature in discord as to principle and fact with the Congress of the United States. The governor's message was on the lines of his procla mation calling that body in special session. Upon the subject of a convention to decide upon secession he had already said: " If I am not mistaken in public opinion a convention will decide that Louisiana will not submit to the presidency of Mr. Lincoln. ' ' In his message, Gover nor Moore made haste to recommend provision for the election of members of the convention "as soon as may be passed with due regard to time, ' ' to whom shall be communicated the responsibility of "determining that position and shaping that policy, so far as affects the relations of Louisiana to the Federal government. ' ' Before the legislature met there had come, faltering CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 13 » through, the totals of the Louisiana election. A mere mention suffices here. Breckinridge and Lane had re ceived 22,681 votes; Bell and Everett 20,204; Douglas and Johnson 7,625; Lincoln and Hamlin were voteless. Like Gallio, the supporters of the different candidates now ' * cared for none of these things. ' ' The Lincoln election had wiped out, as by an all-spreading sponge, any solicitude for the votes in the various States of the South. With the meeting of the legislature the adjutant-gen eral of the State submitted his report. He looked at the matter gloomily, holding that " the sum absolutely needed to organize and arm the militia of the State will reach $1,000,000." Accompanying this discouraging report of the adjutant-general came others from the gen erals of division of the city of New Orleans. Suppose we transport ourselves, for an instant, back to Decem ber, 1860, and judge for ourselves what were the materi als possessed by the First brigade of Louisiana as a preparation for war, then so imminent. The list is valu able, as compared with the reports of a military army later on ; the latter became in time so much weightier in metal. State. Company. Total. Muskets belonging to 260 101 361 Rifles belonging to 138 . . 138 Sabers belonging to 75 75 6-pr. brass guns belonging to . 2 4 6 Knapsacks belonging to 75 75 Powder, Ibs., belonging to 300 300 Round shot belonging to 149 149 Grape and canister belonging to . . From the adjutant-general's office came another re port, exhibiting the actual condition of Louisiana in regard to arms and ammunition: Cavalry pistols 6,000, sabers 3,000, muskets for cavalry 3,000, artillery 500, muskets and rifles 15,000, guns 48, ammunition to 18 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. cards for a " Children's Plain Dress Party. " These chil dren's mothers are dressing as splendidly as ever ; their fathers affect races, drive crack horses, and drink cham pagne. The city is far from dull, and strange to add, within its courts a remarkably small percentage of criminal arrests. Merchants and tradesmen, too old to stumble out with the springy youths, have philosophi cally made up their minds to attend to their business and make the best of it. Real estate owners are not frightened, nor are they disposed to sacrifice their * ' choice lots. ' ' Owners of slaves, not yet a hazardous kind of property, are without fears. With the negroes selling at advanced prices, and with Col. J. B. Walton, city auctioneer, crying improved and vacant real estate at a sale of $165,937 — with the exception of last season a better sum for property than for many years past — busi ness men generally show no misgivings. Everywhere the joyous spirit of the Joyous City is making itself felt. Most alert through all these careless days is the war spirit — indifferent to coming tragedy. The two brigades under Generals Tracy and Palfrey are daily increasing their number. School for officers is actively attended ; battalion drill has its fixed days. The Louisiana Legion — with a past behind it — has returned to its old system of Sunday marches in order to make sure a full attendance. Among the new companies was one whose numbers were drawn from the greenroom. This company of twenty- four privates called itself the "Varieties Volunteers." Actors of repute were the officers — John E. Owens, come- dian of renown, being the captain, and George Jordan, 4 ' handsomest of walking men, ' ' first-lieutenant. Nor shall Labor hold back for the convention. The Screw- men's benevolent association — sturdy workers along the levee, still populous with boats bringing cotton, rice and sugar — enjoys its annual parade. Business and confidence touch elbows. The 8th of January, representing that battle which has so strongly CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 19 inspired the spirit of the soldier of Louisiana, is to be celebrated with a muster of the city's militia. Every historic city, like Saragossa, Carthagena, Moscow, whose sons have from their native soil beaten back the invader, has a military day — a day wholly and gloriously its own. New Orleans is happy in her day. The world honors it. It is hers by a double right: that of the invader's defeat and of her defender's valor. The day and the mem ories connected with it have given her sons a peculiar quality of courage, combining with the inspiration of their French lineage that courage, steady like Plymouth Rock, of their American ancestors. That day — that one day of Chalmette — fixed for all time the special dash of the Louisiana troops, which was to be so signally dis played in those heroic armies which sustained unstained until the end the honor of the Confederate States. CHAPTER III. STIRRING EVENTS OF THE NEW YEAR— OCCUPATION OF THE BATON ROUGE ARSENAL— FORTS JACKSON, ST. PHILIP AND PIKE— A STATE ARMY CREATED —THE CONVENTION MEETS—ORDINANCE OF SE CESSION — THE PELICAN FLAG— WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY. BEFORE the convention met, promise came of sterner work. On the afternoon of January gth Brig. -Gen. E. L. Tracy, commanding the First brigade, called his captains together. At 8 p. m. Captains Walton, Dreux, and Meilleur, answering to the call, as sembled their troops fully equipped. The men were ex cited; what was it? The news was soon everybody's. The Federal posts in Louisiana were to be captured. Of these, there were the arsenal at Baton Rouge ; the forts below the city; Fort Pike at the Rigolets. Here was the first whisper of war. The convention, with secession in its mind, remained yet in the background. The young soldiers were exhilarated. All through the commands ran a joy to be " about something. " Between ten and twelve o'clock the following compa nies under the command of Colonel Walton, of the Wash ington artillery, marched on board the steamer Natchez, already chartered for the expedition by Maj. -Gen. J. L. Lewis. This force, intended for Baton Rouge, was com posed of the following commands : The Crescent Rifles, Lieut. N. A. Metcalf, 49 men; Washington Artillery, Lieut -Col. Voorhees, 56 men; Second company Chas- seurs-a-pied, Maj. Bernard Avegno, 36 men; Orleans Cadets, Capt. Chas. D. Dreux, 39 men; Louisiana Guards, Capt. S. M. Todd, 41 men, Lieutenant Girardey com- 20 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 21 manding; Sarsfield Guards, Captain O'Hara, 16 men; Louisiana Grays, Capt W. C. Deane, 13 men. Total, 250. January loth, the following companies, joking at their confined limits, left on board the towboat Yantic, the forts below the city being the objective point : Orleans bat talion artillery (two companies), Captains Hebrard and Gomez, 57 men; First company Chasseurs-a-pied, Captain St. Paul, 44 men; Chasseurs d' Orleans, Captain Hendolve, 15 men; the Jaegers (German), Captain Peter, 23 men; Lafayette Guards, 27 men. Total, 166; Maj. Paul E. The*ard, Battalion d'Artillerie, commanding. A third expedition, comprising members of that old and picturesque organization, the Continental Guards, Lieu tenant Merriam commanding, stepped on board the Mobile mail boat, to stop short at Fort Pike at the Rig- olets. No defense was offered against these triple move ments. Each was backed by ample force. At each call, the arsenal at Baton Rouge, Forts Jackson, St. Philip and Pike surrendered in turn to the State troops without a blow. Transfer of relieving troops was soon called into use. The Continental Guards — gentlemen associated with many pleasant functions, present and past — grown weary of Fort Pike's endless waste of sedge and wave, were soon relieved by Company C, First regiment Louisiana regulars, Capt. H. A. Church. The forts below the city, their assailants also growing tired of the mud and reeds of the Mississippi, appealed to the regulars. The first company of the First regiment of infantry, Capt. Chas. N. Bradford, the newest heroes at Baton Rouge, returned to the city, on reaching which the command was armed with minie rifles. Service, necessary but tedious, awaited the company. Over 100 picked men, they were sent to relieve the troops at the forts below the city. The events of January gih and zoth were necessary as proof of sovereignty, but only important as such. They are drawn here en silhouette. Beyond doubt the move- 22 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. merits themselves quickened to patriotic heat the military spirit already awakened in the city and State. Apropos of the equipment of the various forts in Louisiana, Colonel Totten's last report to Congress, for 1860, emphasized more their deficiencies than their equipment: Fort St. Philip, below the city, 600 men, 124 guns; Fort Jack son, 600 men, 150 guns; Fort Pike, Rigolets, 300 men, 49 guns; Fort McComb, Chef Menteur, 300 men, 49 guns ; Fort Livingston, Barataria bay, 300 men, 5 2 guns ; totals, 2,100 men and 424 guns. With the departure of so many home companies a movement began for *' home defense." With the excep tion of the Esplanade Guards, native residents of Es planade street who organized themselves as " special patrolmen, ' ' it was the foreign -born who met, according to their national proclivities, for the protection of their homes. The Germans formed a corps of riflemen ; the British a company of infantry; the French started a zouave battalion; the Italians, already 270 strong, organ ized a Garibaldi brigade, with speedy prospects of full ranks. The commands were to prove useful on more than one occasion. The fact that they existed and were immediately available was a constant menace to dis order. A year later they were to hold in check the mob of a city which dreaded riots more than she did the foe. The drummers were tightening up their drums for sa lute. The governor had appointed as an aide-de-camp Col. Braxton Bragg, a name for battle. The board of military commissioners, appointed by the last special session of the legislature, was busy providing for a small army, both regular and volunteer. It had authorized the enrollment of 500 regular troops for four months, with pay and rations equal to those in the United States army. It had also struck out of its regulations the clause re quiring volunteers to serve six months before procuring arms and equipment. The latter was an improvement on old peace legislation. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 23 The convention, instructed by a popular vote of 4,258 for separate State action against 3,978 for united South ern action, presented an according majority of 280. The vote had been light on both sides ; but the feeling for immediate secession was not to be mistaken. With ex-Governor Alexander Mouton president, the convention met in the hall of representatives, Baton Rouge, January 23, 1861. Events thronged. The next day, the 24th, Hon. John Perkins, Jr., of Madison, on be half of the committee of fifteen of which he was the chairman, reported to the convention the following ordi nance. It was the solitary voice which Louisiana, as the mother of her children, addressed to them from her crisis of 1861. "AN ORDINANCE: * ' To dissolve the union between the State of Louisiana and other States united with her under the compact en titled the Constitution of the United States: " We, the people of the State of Louisiana, in conven tion assembled, do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, that the Ordinance passed by us in Convention on 22d of November, A. D. 1811, whereby the Constitution of the United States of America and the amendments of said Constitution were adopted, and all laws and ordinances by which the State of Louisiana be came a member of the Federal union , be, and the same are hereby, repealed and abrogated ; and that the Union now subsisting between Louisiana and other States, under the name of the United States of America, is hereby dissolved. "We do further declare and ordain, that the State of Louisiana hereby resumes all rights and powers hereto fore delegated to the government of the United States of America; that her citizens are absolved from all alle giance to said government ; and that she is in full posses sion and exercise of all those rights of sovereignty which appertain to an Independent State. "We do further declare and ordain, that all rights ac quired and vested under the Constitution of the United States or any act of Congress, or treaty, or under any law of this State, and not incompatible with this ordinance, 24 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. shall remain in force and have the same effect as if this ordinance had not been passed." The following resolution was also reported, supple mentary to the ordinance. It was at once a tribute to the great river which swept a free wave past the hall in which the convention acted, and a warning to unfriendly States bordering thereon : * 4 Resolved, That we, the peo ple of the State of Louisiana, recognize the right of the free navigation of the Mississippi river and its tributaries by all friendly States bordering thereon. ' ' The secession measure was not to pass unchallenged. A certain result does not insure an unquestioned passage. Already, on January i5th, Senators Slidell and Benjamin and Representatives Landrum and Davidson, favoring immediate secession, had left for Washington. Twenty- five hundred copies of the ordinance bill were ordered to be printed. Then the opposition to immediate secession gave voice. Changing the countersign without mercy, Rozier of Orleans and Fuqua of East Feliciana could not have been more courteous or freer from prejudice. Against "immediate secession" the opposition moved for delay — a weak device. Mr. Rozier, true son of Louisiana through all of his deep love for the Union, offered an ordinance as a substitute for that reported by the committee of fifteen. No difference of opinion, he argued, existed as to the great question before the convention — only one as to the mode and means of redress. "We, the people of the State," should be the language addressed to the North. He moved, as a safe remedy, that a convention be held at Nashville, Tenn., on February 25th, "to take into consid eration the relations the slaveholding States are to occupy hereafter toward the general government. ' ' Mr. Fuqua, of East Feliciana, followed with another substitute pro viding for concert of action. His plan was also for delay, ending in a general convention to be held at Montgomery, Ala. , in co-operation with other Southern States. After Rozier and Fuqua had ceased, the voice of a pro- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 25 found jurist was heard. This was a voice never listened to without respect — the voice of Christian Roselius, a shining member of that bar of New Orleans so full of great names. Mr. Roselius declared frankly that, though opposed to precipitate action, he should, if the ordi nance of secession be passed, ' ' attach his destiny to it, and sustain his State with his life, his honor and his prop erty " — words fit to place, as coming from a foreigner by birth, upon his tomb in Louisiana ! On the a6th of January the convention proceeded to action. No time was lost. A vast majority stood back of the committee of fifteen. The ordinance of secession was passed by a decisive vote of 1 1 3 ayes to 1 7 nays. The Rozier substitute was rejected by 24 ayes to 106 nays; the Fuqua substitute by 47 ayes to 68 nays. The cere monies attending the signing of the ordinance were simple. The president signed 'first; the others, having been provided each with a gold pen to inscribe his name, followed. The vote had no sooner been announced than President Mouton declared the connection of Louisiana with the United States dissolved, and the Federal author ity therein null and void. Before adjourning to meet on January 29th, in Lyceum hall, New Orleans, John Perkins, Jr., of the committee on Confederation, had reported an ordinance for the ap pointment of a delegation to a convention to form a South ern Confederacy, to be held at Montgomery, February 4, 1 86 1. This ordinance was carried unanimously, with the following delegation: Perkins of Madison; Declouet of St. Martin; Sparrow of Carroll; Marshall of De Soto. This was the signal for the unfurling of a beautiful Pel ican flag above the president's stand, amid intense en thusiasm. After this, Rev. D. Linfield offered in English a fervent prayer for a blessing on the work of the con vention. Father Darius Hubert, the good Samaritan of the armies of the Confederacy, followed with a prayer in French. Thus the two languages of the native population 26 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. were heard pleading for that convention which had an swered sectionalism with secession. The announcement of the passage of the ordinance of secession was received in New Orleans by the withdrawal of the Federal officers. Hon. Theodore H. McCaleb re signed his commission as judge of the eastern district of the State; R. M. Lusher that of United States com missioner. Baton Rouge had already saluted a new flag of Louisi ana, with fifteen stars in its field. This flag had floated over the State house. New Orleans, with men and pow der enough to do it, was later to honor it. It was not until February i3th that, pursuant to orders issued by Major-General Lewis, commanding First di vision, the militia assembled in force on Lafayette square for the purpose of saluting Louisiana's flag; present: the Third brigade, General Tracy; battalion of Wash ington artillery, Major Walton ; Louisiana Guards ; Mont gomery Guards; Sarsfield Guards; Louisiana Legion, Gen eral Palfrey, represented by first and second companies of Louisiana Foot Rifles. The occasion was made an outlet for enthusiasm. The convention left the Lyceum hall to fraternize with the troops. Its members, preceded by its president, Hon. Alexander Mouton, walking arm in arm with Lieuten- ant-Governor Hyams, marched into the square and formed in line to the left of the commands. Meanwhile Mayor Monroe and Colonels Labuzan and De Choiseul had ascended to the top of the city hall. Once there, they took their stand at the foot of the flag-staff. At the first stroke of eleven o'clock, given from the belfry of the First Presbyterian church near by, a report was heard. It was the first gun of the salutation, followed by twenty others. With the last gun the Pelican flag ascended, eagerly to be unfurled to the Southern breeze. Major Walton invited three cheers, which the troops gave in ringing measure — bravuras answered by the multitudes CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 27 crowded in the street, thronging every balcony and looking out from every window around the square. Honor had been shown for the standard. Now , honor was to be shown to the memory of Washington. It had been decided, in this year of the secession of the State, to prove that in leaving the Union Louisiana had not turned her queenly back upon its greatest man. Secession had solidified into fact. By way of contrast, it demanded the celebration of a national holiday. The celebration was to be on February 22, 1861, which the authorities had re solved to make by day as imposing in numbers as, in the details, it should suggest war. Of the muster of the militia there is space only to say that the military display was the largest that had been seen in New Orleans since the day Andrew Jackson, victor, rode in from Chalmette. The parade brought ease of mind to the average citizen and convinced the line of marchers of their own certainty of resistance to oppression. The 226. was made an oc casion for the presentation of flags. Hon. Chas. M. Conrad, ex-United States secretary of war, gave, in the name of the ladies, a flag to the Crescent Rifles. Hon. J. P. Benjamin, of the silver tongue, left his place in the Senate to become the sponsor of other ladies for a mag nificent flag to the Washington Artillery. As the night fell the illumination — made a special feature by merchants and citizens alike — shot into the air golden rays. Every variety of transparency, every in genuity of device, every trick of radiance was caught at to emphasize the main thought. Washington standing — seated — Washington in uniform — in perruque and court dress — Washington everywhere honored, with strong lights enhancing the majesty of his figure. A band of musicians — good, since they were the orches tra of the French Opera on Orleans street — preceded a group of men, young when the century had fourteen years to its credit. On the banners of this group were inscribed the words, " Veterans of 1814-15." 28 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. The veterans came before the battalion of Orleans Guards, who bore their 417 muskets as if in protection of those old men, who marched with a soldierly swing in vogue forty-five years before. At their head appeared three men on whom the crowd looked with reverence. The people knew by intuition that the three were Maunsel White, the only surviving captain of that guard so famous in the past, and on either hand of Maunsel White Anthony Fernandez and M. M. Barnett, Sr. , two of the oldest fighters of 1814-15, still hale and hearty. In front of the veterans could be noted their flag which Chalmette saw — or rather what remained of it — a bare pole with stripes of tattered silk. The white veterans were followed by their brethren-in arms, the colored veterans of Chalmette. Jordan Noble, once drummer-boy at Chalmette — in 1861 " old Jordan " for the city and State — is among them. Upon these last the spectators gaze in that silence which, accorded to the worthy, is respect They raise their hats as the latter pass. The parade of the troops on Washington's birthday was a triumph in the appearance and in the number of the men. The Picayune of the 23d placed the number at 8,000, observing in connection with the day: " May the custom, now revived, of paying honor to the birthday of Washington, be one of everlasting observance." CHAPTER IV. LOUISIANA ANSWERS SUMTER— TROOPS SENT TO THE FRONT— LOUISIANIANS AT PENSACOLA— THE LOU ISIANA BATTALION— DEATH OF COLONEL DREUX— LIFE AT THE CONFEDERATE CAPITAL. rORT Sumter surrendered on April 13, 1861. Quick as the report that follows a flash was heard New Orleans' response. On the i4th the news was received in the city. On the i5th the Crescent Rifles, Capt. S. W. Fisk, left for Pensacola, Fla,, followed by the Louisiana Guards, Capt. S. M. Todd. On the i6th the Louisiana Guards, with the Shreveport Grays, the Grivot Grays and the Terrebonne Rifles, formed a bat talion under the command of Lieut. -Col. Chas. D. Dreux. This officer was the first Louisianian of note to fill a sol dier's grave. Louisiana lost no time in meeting the call of the Con federate government. From the departure of these troops, in April, New Orleans was kept in a quiver of ex citement. Trains were crowded with uniformed men. Whether out- going volunteers or " regulars, " the new soldiers left full of eagerness for the inevitable fray. At the first, whole battalions and regiments went rolling away. As the war began to rage outside, with news of battles from Virginia and Kentucky, fresh recruits from city and country departed to stop gaps in the ranks from death by wounds or from disease. Louisiana's quota was to be filled on all the fields where her men were already doing duty for their State's greater honor. The Louisiana Guard battalion proceeded to Pensacola. Besides having a fortification of unusual strength, Pensa cola possessed an excellent harbor for vessels of war. The new government was still without a navy. Having 29 30 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. captured the town, it had decided not to let it leave its hands for lack of efficient defense. When reaching the port, the Louisianians, seeing the stars and stripes float ing defiantly in mid-harbor, had eagerly hoped to be the advance guard to tempt a salutation of the hostile guns. In this, fate worked counter. They remained until the post was reinforced by other troops ; doing little but casting longing eyes to that wave-like line of battle which eluded them at Fort Pickens. Fighting was to be done later on in the form of fierce cannonading between Fort Pickens in the harbor and Confederate Barrancas on shore, in which fighting the pioneers from Louisiana were to have no share. * Even before the first troops had left New Orleans, two telegrams had flashed between the war secretary at Mont gomery and G. T. Beauregard, illustrious type of the Creole, at Charleston. The telegram we give merely be cause it is a question of who, in the civil war, was first counted to have 4 ' won his spurs. ' ' Montgomery, April 13, 1861. General Beauregard: Accept my congratulations. You have won your spurs. How many guns can you spare for Pensacola ? L. P. WALKER. To which General Beauregard, now watching the fleet instead of Fort Sumter, responded : Charleston, April 14, 1861. Hon. L. P. Walker: Fleet still outside. Can spare no guns yet, but hope to do so soon. G. T. BEAUREGARD. *At Pensacola was organized the First Louisiana infantry, under Col. A. H. Gladden, soon promoted brigadier-general, and succeeded in regimental command by Col. D. W. Adams. Three companies of Louisiana troops participated in the affair on Santa Rosa Island, and during the bombardment of Fort McRee and Barrancas the Louisiana contingent won honors. Lieutenant Manston, of Louis iana, commanded the gunboat Nelms, of the little navy. Three companies under Lieutenant-Colonel Jaquess served as many batter ies throughout the action most efficiently and gallantly, said General Bragg. These batteries were commanded by Capt. J. T. Wheat, Capt S. S. Batchelor, and Lieut G. W. Mader. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 31 This correspondence makes it certain that the " first spurs " had been conceded to a Louisianian. The Louisiana battalion next saw service in Virginia. It was in the summer of 1861 that the command became a part of that wonderful campaign so long conducted with inadequate forces by Gen. John B. Magruder. High praise is due to this campaign, by which that eccentric officer, through marvelous marches up and down, mysti fied the enemy for nearly a year and kept the peninsula's ways free until mighty armies fought for mastery at Wil- liamsburg. The engagement at Big Bethel, June 10, 1861, seemed to open a prospect of fight. If a fiasco of Butler, it was also a disillusion of the battalion. Magruder coldly reports that * ' the Louisiana regiment arrived after the battle was over, having made a most extraordinary march. ' ' It was not quite a month later when the battalion was engaged at Young's Mills, Va. While an affair of no importance in itself, it was disastrous in the loss of one whom Louisiana had lately learned to value. Capt. S. W. Fisk, of the Crescent Rifles, in his report, addressed to Maj. N. M. Rightor, of the Louisiana battalion, thus speaks of the skirmish : Young's Mills, Va., July 5, 1861. Sir : A detachment of men, consisting of 100 infantry, one howitzer and about 15 or 20 cavalry, left last night, about midnight, under the command of Lieutenant-Col onel Dreux. We advanced in the direction of Newport News, and took post in the woods. • • * We were or dered to lie in ambush. The videttes soon after came in and announced the approach of a body of cavalry, 100 strong. Colonel Dreux 's orders were that his men should closely conceal their persons and weapons and permit the enemy to cross the road on our left and somewhat beyond the left of our line, and that no one should fire before he himself should give the order. • * • In a few moments, after sending out the scouts, Colonel Dreux said, 'they are coming' — addressing me. Notwithstanding Colonel Dreux 's positive order not to fire, one or two shots having 32 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. been exchanged between the scouts and the enemy sev eral men on the left began also to fire. Very soon after I was informed that Colonel Dreux was wounded. This was about an hour after daybreak. ' ' ' I regret deeply to report the death of our gallant and able commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Dreux, and of Pri vate Stephen Hackett, of the Shreveport Grays. * * * S. W. FISK, Captain, commanding Crescent Rifles. Charles D. Dreux, so early killed in the war, was mourned in the city which knew him best as a loss both as a citizen and soldier. In New Orleans and Shreve port, Confederate crape was first displayed in Louisiana. The battalion had enlisted for a year. The enlistment was made at the time when Hon. W. H. Seward, of New York, was proclaiming that the war would not last three months. The command had received from General Magruder, in consideration of their being the pioneer volunteers from their State, an assurance that at the expiration of the time of enlistment the battalion would be permitted, as its members should prefer, either to re-enlist or to return to New Orleans. In April, 1862, the Confederate Congress had already legislated the con script law. At the crossing of the ways the battalion was divided in mind. A few of them left. The vast majority, with their faces looking to the misty 4 * front, ' ' enlisted for the war. Their martial character, so triumph antly displayed under all the monotony of a tedious and foot- weary service, went with them from York town to the fields to be made memorable by the Louisiana con tingent in the armies of Northern Virginia and Tennes see. The whole military land was before them 4< where to choose, ' ' and wherever he chose to plant himself, the reports of his superior officer showed that each man of the Louisiana battalion did his duty in camp and on the field. Most of the Louisiana regiments were ordered direct from New Orleans to Richmond. There, the voice of a CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 33 great State's appeal was heard; not uttered plaintively, but with a right, well understood throughout the South, and responded to with men and guns and lives. Virginia, like a threatened queen, stretched forth her royal hand to her defenders, as Maria Theresa stretched hers to her devoted Magyars. The war spirit in the historic city by the James was in tense. With hostile armies threatening Richmond, it watched fearlessly the path between them and itself. This insured for the soldiers of the entire Confederacy a pledge of brotherly esteem. Not alone was the wel come one from the municipality. The citizens, and with the citizens their wives and daughters, rose to give the strangers a greeting more grateful, because less formal, than the city's official welcome. Camping at the fair ground, the Louisianians were at once made to feel that they were at home. Extended by the authorities, it was a reception such as the government accords to the soldiers who defend it. Offered by the ladies of Richmond, it became such as sisters might give to brothers who return home after many years. Something, indeed, might have been due to the special interest with which, before the war and since, North and South have wrapped Louisiana and the Creoles with a mantle of romance. Visits to the Louisiana camps grew into a habit all days when the sun shone. The fair Virginians made no distinction between the showy uniforms of the lately-arrived Washington ar tillery and the ragged coats of Magruder's weary tramp- ers. No matter — in a few months battle was to make them all of one color. The tents, from being resting places from drill, were made pleasant with the dulcet tones of the girls of Virginia who came to bring sunshine into that " shady place. " For our soldiers, this welcome, so charmingly given, seemed to make Richmond in 1861- 65, from a city clad in armor — imperiously, by reason of her stress, demanding lives — turn into a Capua, in festive robes, claiming only social pleasures. La8 34 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Some of the Louisiana regiments found their way from Richmond and its delights to the Peninsula. There Magruder and his " foot-cavalry " still kept the wretched roads free from the tread of f oemen. Among the number may be named the Tenth Louisiana volunteers which, in July, 1 86 1, camped under Lee's Mills, on Warwick river. This regiment's first commander was Col. Mandeville Mar- igny, who was a Creole by birth, the son of a man who had at New Orleans placed under obligations a fugitive prince, afterward king of the French. Marigny was, by the gratitude of the same monarch, educated at St. Cyr, serving afterward in the French army. It was regretted in the Tenth that this accomplished officer should have re mained but a few months with the regiment. The Con federate government had recognized, however, his high military fitness, and assigned him South to organize a force of cavalry among the planters of Louisiana and Mississippi. Marigny was succeeded in the command by Eugene Waggaman, major of the Tenth. Though bred a planter, Waggaman must have been born a soldier. He survived, with great reputation as a fighter, to lead the Tenth at Appomattox. Careless of danger, he oddly carried before his men, whether on the march or charging in a forlorn hope, a cane instead of a sword. The Tenth used to laugh at Waggaman 's conceit, and yet they followed Wagga man 's cane into some of the deadliest fights in the war. CHAPTER V. A BRUIT OF PERIL TO THE CITY— PREPARATION OF DEFENSES— FARRAGUT AT THE PASSES— THE BOM BARDMENT OF THE FORTS— PASSAGE OF THE FED ERAL FLEET— MUTINY AND CAPITULATION— FATE OF THE RAM LOUISIANA — THE FLEET AT THE CITY. ON October 7, 1861, Mansfield Lovell, relieving Maj. -Gen. D. E. Twiggs, and commissioned as major-general, was assigned to command of De partment No. i, which included the defenses of New Or leans and the Mississippi river. As early as December, 1 86 1, word reached New Orleans that a Federal force had taken possession of Ship Island, Mississippi sound. In the beginning of April, 1862, another bruit came from Wash ington, that a powerful naval expedition against Louis iana had already sailed for the river. New Orleans heard these rumors calmly. All was alarming; and nobody was alarmed. Cradled in war, that city had stood un daunted while the British at Chalmette were filling her suburbs with near thunder. With such a baptism of fire as hers she was not easily moved by war a hundred miles away. An effective army of her sons had left her when Beauregard's voice called loudly from Corinth. Major- General Lovell had found, after filling Beauregard's ap peal for volunteers, that he was left for the protection of the city, if attacked, with less than 3,000 ninety-days militia, of whom 1,200 alone had muskets. He had al ready established two lines of defense : one, an exterior line, passing through the forts and earthworks, under the command of Brigadier- General Duncan; the second, an interior line, embracing the city and Algiers, the com- 35 86 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. mand of which was assigned to Gen. M. L. Smith. Anxious to strengthen the forts on the river, he had ap plied to Beauregard for the ram Manassas, which was sent down the river in time, and took a part in the bombard ment of April 24th, to be referred to presently. In connection with the defense of the forts, a raft of logs and chains — popularly supposed to be invincible — had been placed across the river between Forts Jackson and St. Philip.* In the latter part of February the "invincible" raft was stormed by the invincible Mississippi, which first broke it and finally scattered its logs, a wreck of flotsam on its waters. Through the public spirit of the citizens of New Orleans another raft, consisting of a line of schooners, strongly chained amidships, was anchored by Lieutenant- Colonel Higgins in position between the two forts. A windstorm struck this raft and scattered the schooners. On March 2yth Farragut was crossing the bar. As though in sympathy, the river, swollen and turgid, hurled that day a yellow flood into the forts, causing continual pumping, with careful isolation of the magazines. In the first week of April seven to thirteen sloops of war were constantly at the head of the Passes, or at the Jump, nine miles below the forts. In the river above were Confederate steamers, reconnoitering and spying them out. With these watched, also, four steamers of the river fleet. To a certain extent they had been made shot-proof with cotton bulkheads, and provided with iron prows to act as rams ; but vain was the hope that with such auxiliaries the exploits of the Merrimac in Hampton Roads could be duplicated in the lower Mississippi. In *Fort Jackson is on the western bank, thirty miles from the mouth of the river. Fort St. Philip is on the eastern bank, a few hundred yards above. These forts were well-constructed permanent works of an old pattern, containing all the available stores both of guns and ammunition. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 37 command of the Confederate naval forces was Capt. John K. Mitchell. As mention has been made here of the vessels of our fleet it may be said, once for all — so valueless did they prove to be — that the unwarlike river steamers bore such martial names as the "Warrior," "Stonewall Jackson," ' * Defiance, ' ' and ' ' Resolute. ' ' These sponsors for success were belied by the facts of their brief and inglorious ex istence — the Defiance being the only vessel saved out of the whole fleet. Besides these, there were three Con federate rams, two of these with names of States and one of a Confederate victory. More unfortunate than crim inal, they have left their fame with us. Two formed the co-operative naval force ; the third, more powerful than either, did not even see the enemy. She is remembered as the Confederate States steamer-ram Mississippi. Still on the ways at New Orleans, on April 24th, without guns or men, she was hastily taken up the river to avoid cap ture by the enemy, where she was burned before she had begun to act. Of the other two — the Manassas and the Louisiana, built for mischief — the Manassas was lying just above Fort Jackson for service. On the opposite bank the Louisiana was hugging the stream just above the water battery. Good record had been looked for from both of them, and the Manassas perished in trying to give it. Ill-starred as she was, her captain, Warley. was neither careless nor remiss. After gallantly attacking the Rich mond and pushing a fire-raft upon the Hartford, Far- ragut's own vessel, she rushed in the darkness of that historic night upon the Federal sloop-of-war Mississippi. She had but one gun, while the Mississippi's guns were many and of the heaviest caliber. One of her broadsides knocked away a smokestack from the Manassas. Thus rendered useless for offense, the ram was riddled and abandoned. The kindly night refused to witness her dis comfiture. " Shortly after daylight," writes General Duncan, c< the Manassas was observed drifting down by CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the forts. She was evidently in a sinking condition." This tells the heroic story of effort and failure, but of right her flag should float about the Passes so long as the Mississippi has memories ! Later on it will be seen that the end of the Louisiana was less glorious but more dramatic. In the command of Fort St. Philip Colonel Higgins was ably assisted by Capt. M. T. Squires, of the Louisiana ar tillery, on duty in the fleet. In Fort Jackson was Briga dier-General Duncan, commanding coast defenses. Every effort had been made by General Lovell to provide heavy guns for the forts. He had secured three lo-inch guns and three 8-inch columbiads; the rifled 42 -pounder and the five lo-inch seacoast mortars recently obtained from Pensacola, together with the two 7 -inch guns temporarily borrowed from the naval authorities in New Orleans. Some of these guns had been placed on the old water- battery to the west of and below Fort Jackson. This battery had never been completed. After great exertions cheerfully rendered by officers and men — the garrison working by reliefs night and day — the work of building the platforms and mounting the guns was completed by April 1 3th. Then a hitch, inseparable from a newly or ganized government, occurred. No sooner had the two rifled 7 -inch navy guns been placed in position, than urgent orders arrived to dismount one of them and send it at once to the city to be placed on the ironclad steamer Louisiana. Besides these measures for defense, Captain Mullen's company of sharpshooters was stationed on the point of the woods below Fort Jackson. At the quarantine bat tery was Colonel Szymanski's Chalmette regiment.* *To the credit of Szymanski's Chalmette regiment, it may be recorded that, in its brief service of 55 days, the quarantine bat tery was attacked April 24, 1862, by the Federal fleet. The Chal- mettes made a spirited but unsuccessful defense against numbers and trained gunners. Its loss in the engagement was 5 men killed and 26 wounded. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 39 Between the two forts was a force of 1,500 men. Thus protected, manned, gunned, defended, the Confederate colors floated defiantly from April i6th to April 27th. The enemy's force consisted of twenty-one mortar schooners under Commander David Porter, and a fleet of twenty-six armed vessels, of which eight were powerful sloops-of-war and eighteen steam gunboats. This formid able fleet, under Captain Farragut, the foremost officer of the United States navy, carried more than two hundred guns of heaviest caliber. On Friday, at 9 a. m. , the entire mortar fleet, aided by rifled guns from the gunboats, opened upon Fort Jackson. Our fire speedily disabled one gunboat and one mortar schooner. At 7 p. m. the mortars ceased firing, after an expenditure of 2,996 shells. Early in the fiery hail the quarters in the bastion, as well as the quarters immedi ately outside of the forts, were in flames. The citadel, burning, endangered the magazines. First failure to drive our fire-barges down on the enemy. The next day the mortars opened at 6 a. m. , to continue the battering throughout the day until the night. When darkness came , the terrible rain fell more heavily and more surely on the forts. Great damage was inflicted on our heavy guns. Second failure of the fire-barges to appear. Day and night the terrible shelling grew heavier and harder to bear with each renewal of the storm, until Thursday, April 24th, on which day before dawn a sinister silence fell for a moment upon the river. At 3 130 a. m. it was broken by a portentous warning coming into the forts from the mortars. Something was going on in the fleet below. Darkness prevented sight, and a silence unbroken save by the swirl of the swollen waters. In the darkness such an exploit as was never before recorded in naval warfare is about to begin. Heretofore, the mortars have been vicious ; now they become virulent. They are masking the movements of the fleet which has been advancing quietly under their paralyzing din. A 40 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. war vessel steams up at full speed — rushes by — is gone! It is Farragut on the Hartford, in a desperate hurry to open the path to the city. Even while hurrying past he delivers broadside after broadside of shot, shell, grape, canister and spherical case. Watchful eyes at the Con federate batteries are open now to note that behind the bold Hartford are still to pass its companions. Thirteen of these follow, each of which in turn rushes by, making no stay, pouring in broadside after broadside. Some of the fleet must have been injured by the Con federate batteries. Although no record at the time was kept in Confederate report, one of the sloops-of-war, the Varuna, hoping to strike was badly struck in return by Southern gunners. The enemy had the advantage of the night, the smoke and the rush. For the Confederates, the batteries, with many guns disabled, hurled now and then a shot that through the storm found a target. Had there been ready obedience to the orders of the author ities, the fire-barges would have made the river as bright as day. With such assistance the war vessels would have been seen, and being seen would have been halted with shell and shot. The fight on our side showed a double face — one for the bank, another for the river. In both forts a manly defense was made through days and nights of fire. On the water, a pervading inefficiency was suggested in the naval defense, upon which so many hopes had been built only to break like glass. In this general statement — proved by one brilliant exception — I quote General Duncan: " To the heroic and gallant manner in which Captain Huger handled and fought the McRae, we can all bear witness. ' ' The passage of the fleet was brief in time, as minutes are counted, but long in tension as human hearts beat. Between 3 130 a. m. and the daylight at 5 120 it had fulfilled its work for the Union, under a heavy pressure of steam which filled the black night with blacker smoke. Having passed, the vessels anchored below the quarantine, six miles above CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 41 the forts. Here they remained until 10 a. m., when they steamed slowly up the river. To observers on the levee, their stately motion might have looked like a triumphal procession. In truth, it was one, destined to end only before the great city which was to recognize it, as it had done O'Reilly's fleet nearly ninety- three years before, as a " public enemy." While the bombardment was going on two men, di rectly connected with New Orleans, were watching it. One of them was her returning commander; the other her coming dictator. One had come down on a steamboat, on official business, and had seen with foreboding the fiery passage ; the other, surrounded by transports, from a point about 800 yards from Fort Jackson, had witnessed with joy the fearful transit of broadsides. One, on his steamboat, believing that New Orleans could not, with her " interior line " of defense, resist the fleet which had so victoriously swept through her " exterior line, " hastened sadly back to the city to see what more could be done for her. The battle between New Orleans and the fleet, having been fought once at the forts, was already over. None was surer of this than Mansfield Lovell. Shortly after the fleet had steamed up the river, on the 24th, a gunboat from below, with a flag of truce, ap peared with a verbal demand for the surrender of the forts. The demand was made in the name of Commander D. D. Porter, U. S. N. Porter, present on a gunboat, accompanied the verbal demand with a threat to re-open the bombardment in case of refusal. The demand was rejected, and with the rejection the bombardment re opened. It began about mid-day and continued until near sundown, when it ceased altogether. Meanwhile Butler was transferring his troops by way of Sable Island to the rear of the forts, preparing to occupy both sides of the river above the forts. On April 25th no attack was made by the enemy. The forts still prepared for a successful resistance. On April 42 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 26th the forts heard the news that the city had surren dered ; also that the Confederate steam ram Mississippi had been burned above the city. About 4 p.m. its wreck in sorrowful testimony drifted by the forts. Vague promise to cheer came that the Louisiana — a formidable ironclad steamer, with a powerful battery — would be placed on the 27th at the bight above Fort Jackson. Permission had been granted by the enemy to the steamer McRae to proceed, under a flag of truce, with the wounded. * Accepting the offer of Captain Mitchell, commanding the naval forces, the seriously wounded of both forts were sent on the McRae. Receiving these late April 26th, she left the next morning. After her errand the McRae did not return again to the forts. Her last act of mercy was worthy of her courage in the bom bardment. On April 27th, about 12 m., a gunboat, under flag of truce, brought a written demand for the surrender of the forts. This formal demand was signed by Commander Porter of the mortar flotilla. The forts, still defiant, again refused to surrender. About 4 p. m. the French man-of-war, Milan, having asked permission of the forts, steamed up the river to the city. This was an exercise of authority which both forts were then fully able to enforce at need. A little later troops were seen landing at the quarantine, six miles above. The position of the Louisiana remained un changed. There were presages enough of coming disaster ; but still above the forts floated the Confederate flag, inspir ing valor. Unhappily, however, the colors, while inspir ing courage, could not confirm loyalty. Over the officers of the forts a small cloud, first visible on the day they had heard the rumor of the city's surrender, filled them with concern. In a ship at sea, or in an army in the face *The following is the list of the killed and wounded in each fort: Fort Jackson, 9 killed, 35 wounded; Fort St. Philip, 2 killed, 4 wounded; total n killed, 39 wounded. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 43 of an enemy, no cloud is so black as mutiny. In an in stant, taking advantage of midnight, the cloud darkened the whole sky above the forts. This is not a pleasant in cident to interject into a story of Louisiana and her gallant soldiers; yet, for the truth's sake, it must be touched upon. It is more fitting, in every respect, that an official pen should rehearse the incident which blurred the first page of the war in Louisiana. I quote, therefore, first from Lieutenant- Colonel Higgins, commanding Forts Jackson and St. Philip, on the mutiny itself; and sec ond, from General Duncan, giving desertion to the enemy in the city as the closing scene in this ill-conceived and too well-played two-act drama of " Disloyalty and Treason." Perhaps here best may be emphasized a consolation for State pride. No native Louisianian was among the mutineers at the forts. The St. Mary's Cannoneers — all natives — by their steady valor at the guns, by their sol dierly bearing against disaffection, by their stern fidelity to their State under temptation and threats, received, as they deserved, the commendation of both Duncan and Higgins. Lieutenant-Colonel Higgins thus reports the mutiny : " Our fort was still strong; our damage had been to some extent repaired ; our men had behaved well, and all was hope and confidence with the officers ; when sud denly at midnight I was aroused by the report that the garrison had revolted, had seized the guard, and were spiking the guns. Word was sent us through the ser geants of companies that the men would fight no longer. The company officers were immediately dispatched to their commands, but were driven back. Officers were fired upon when they appeared in sight upon the parapet. Signals were exchanged by the mutineers with Fort St. Philip. The mutiny was complete, and a general mas sacre of the officers and disgraceful surrender of the fort appeared inevitable. By great exertions we succeeded in preventing this disgraceful blot upon our country, 44 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. and were fortunate in keeping the passions of the men in check until we could effect an honorable surrender of the forts, which was done by us jointly on the morning of the 28th inst. I wish to place on record here the noble conduct of Capt. F. O. Cornay's company, the St. Mary's Cannoneers, which alone stood as true as steel when every other company in Fort Jackson basely dishon ored its country. "* Speaking of the deserters, General Duncan, three weeks later, said: " Scores of them have been daily going over to the enemy and enlisting since, until now there are but a very few left from either fort not in the ranks of the enemy. Although I really did think at the time of the surrender that some few of the men were loyal, the facts which have since come to light have perfectly satisfied me that nearly every man in both forts was thoroughly implicated and concerned in the revolt on the night of April 27th, with the exception of the company of St. Mary's Cannoneers, composed mostly of planters. ' ' Under these circumstances but one course was open to the officers. To fight the enemy with mutineers was equivalent to continuing to float the flag after spiking the *" The St. Mary Cannoneers, Capt. F. O. Cornay, have my warmest gratitude and admiration for their whole conduct, both in face of the enemy and in the severe and arduous fatigue duties, which they displayed always and at all times, day and night, with alacrity and energy. They are an honor to the country, and well may their friends and relatives be proud of them." — Higgins' report, April 27, 1862. The troops engaged in the defense enlisted in the city, except the cannoneers. Capt. J. B. Anderson, of Company E, Louisiana artillery, although wounded early in the conflict, continued to render the most gallant service to the end. Of the same company, Lieutenant Baylor, of the 42-pounder barbette battery, and Lieuten ant Agar deserve mention. Among those who acted coolly during the six days, were Lieutenants Ogden, Kennedy and Mumford, of the Louisiana artillery ; Lieutenant Gaines, in command of the 32- pounder on the river front ; Captain Jones, Company I, Twenty-third regiment Louisiana volunteers ; Captain Peter, Company I, Twenty- second regiment volunteers ; Lieut. Thomas K. Pierson, Twenty- third regiment, who was killed while gallantly fighting his guns ; Capt. M. T. Squires, senior officer at Fort St. Philip; and Lieut. Thomas B. Huger, of the McRae, who was seriously wounded. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 45 guns. With the first appearance of dawn on April 28th, a flag of truce went down to the enemy, bearing a written offer of surrender under the terms previously offered on the ayth. In reply, the Harriet Lane and three other gunboats came opposite the forts, with white flags at the fore. In the forts, white flags were displayed from the yards of the flag-masts, while the Confederate flag floated at the mast-head. Negotiations were proceeding amicably on the Harriet Lane, when on the Mississippi — of late so rich in stately spectacles — appeared a portent as awful as it was mysterious, floating by to interrupt the proceed ings on board. It was the Louisiana, once a powerful ironclad, but at this moment a helpless wreck, drifting and discharging her guns at random. Butler on April 29th said, appar ently with a covert smile, that Farragut in the hurry and darkness had overlooked the Louisiana, at anchor under the walls of the fort. And now how worse than useless ! The fleet, which she had been specially armed to resist and to terrify, was lying at victorious peace in the river in front of New Orleans. The mortar schooners which she might, if properly handled, have gripped hard and sunk with her powerful battery, were near the head of the Passes, warily watching her and the forts. Hopeless to save her from the superior power bearing down on her from every side, her officers set her on fire, and sent her, with all her guns protruding, down the river. Thus abandoned to her own terrible self, the luckless ironclad finally ended her career by blowing up — floating down in the presence of the guns and of the mortar fleet. The clumsy mortars, as she drifted past, struggled to escape the blazing wreck, even in its ruin a menace. In spite of the plans which had been wasted on the Louisiana, and the hopes in her which went up like a sacrifice in the smoke of her unaimed guns, she scattered, in her blow ing up near Fort St. Philip, fragments everywhere with in and around the fortifications. 46 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. It looked like the grimmest irony or a hostile fate that the only casualties from the Louisiana's formidable bat tery — working at will on the third day after the passage of the forts — should have comprised one of our own men killed in the fort, and three or four wounded. Among the latter was Captain Mclntosh, C. S. navy, who, having been severely wounded on the night of the enemy's pas sage, was then trying to get well in a tent. The terms of capitulation were most honorable to the defenders of the forts. In addition to the written articles, Commander Porter verbally agreed not to haul down the Confederate flag or hoist the stars and stripes until the officers should get away from the forts. These terms of consideration were due to the brave officers who, stand ing true amid treason, had kept their faith unstained until the end. These officers, with the St. Mary's Cannoneers, the only loyal Confederates remaining on the ramparts of the two forts, left for the city about 4 p. m. on the 28th, on the United States gunboat Kennebec. Duncan and Higgins were among the passengers. On the morning of April 25th Farragut was near Chal- mette. Having exchanged compliments with M. L. Smith's guns at the interior line at u a. m., his fleet, the Hartford leading, passed the last objecting batteries. The fleet would soon be in front of the city, which was only waiting to see it turn Algiers Point. Inside the city the Confederate troops were busy evacuating — every where smothered excitement, galloping horses, drays loading, torches ready. On the levee were people fixing their eyes down the river. No sooner was the Hartford seen coming up than a pale, thin, hesitant flame was seen wriggling on shore, which showed that the work of the torch had begun. The levee, stretching up and down for five miles, at once offered up to the sky lurid columns of smoke. The dimmed sun withdrew now and then from sight, although noon had clanged from the belfry of the cathedral. New Orleans, writhing under the presence of CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 47 an invincible fleet, seemed to have lost her head. Great ships, fired, floated down stream, terrifying the fleet which unterrified had so lately defied our batteries. Large steamboats at her wharves; a dozen ships, cotton- laden, for foreign ports ; one or two gunboats, unhappily incomplete ; to sum up all, the marvelous ram, in which she had taken a mother's pride — all these, fired by no one knows whom, New Orleans offered up in one supreme sacrifice. Incendiarism was for once protected. A cloak of official authority was thrown over the whole proceed ing. The secretary of war that day had sent this dispatch to order it : "It has been determined to burn all the cot ton and tobacco, whether foreign or our own, to prevent it from falling into the hands of our enemy. ' ' On the 28th, Benjamin F. Butler, major-general, was taking mock possession of the forts which had already surrendered to Porter's mortar flotilla. General Lovell was in the city at the time of the arrival of the fleet abreast the wharves. Subsequent to its ap pearance he had ordered the troops in the town, together with the stores, to be sent off rapidly toward Jackson, Miss. Being unwilling to subject to bombardment a city filled with the wives and children of absent soldiers, he proposed, after turning the city over to the mayor, to evacuate. With his command his objective point was Jackson, where he hoped to prevent the enemy from get ting in the rear of Beauregard at Corinth, via Vicks- burg & Jackson railroad. * At 5 p. m. General Lovell left the city in the last train of cars that moved under Confederate auspices. At Camp Moore, on the Jackson railroad, he formed a rendezvous of observation and in struction. Its value was seen when in August General Breckinridge marched from the camp with his division for Baton Rouge, fully fitted to meet a superior force with courage and success. As a man, Mansfield Lovell was both clever and brilliant. *Report of General Lovell, April 26, 1862. 48 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Upon his shoulders rested a heavy responsibility — a responsibility probably too heavy for any commander at that period, placed in the same circumstances. With inadequate means, he was intrusted with the defense of a department calling for unlimited resources. With the fighting men of the city drawn off to other fields, he was expected, out of untried material, to improvise an army to defend her against superior numbers on land and water. He had striven to utilize all the resources at his command; he had, against obstacles, attempted to get heavy guns for the forts. All his success had turned to naught. When the day of trial came, Farragut's fleet, passing the batteries in the night, made light of his columbiads. Unhappily a prejudice, directly connected with his duty as commander, combined to injure him. While unremit ting in his efforts to administer to the greatest advan tage the various functions of his department, Lovell was continually hampered by lack of public confidence — a lack privately felt, if not always outwardly exhibited. CHAPTER VI. THE STATE FLAG ON CITY HALL— FAR RAGUT'S DE MAND FOR SURRENDER— THE NEGOTIATIONS- HOISTING OF THE UNITED STATES FLAG ON CITY HALL— THE ADVENT OF THE MAN OF TWO ORDERS— MILITARY RULE UNDER BUTLER— EX ECUTION OF WILLIAM B. MUMFORD— BUTLER'S DEEPEST DEPTH. THE echoes of the fight at Chalmette had become silent. Smith, at the interior line as already known, had done his duty in making a last stand at the works intrusted to him. The fleet was steaming from Chalmette to the city. At that moment, when the guns grew still and the fleet came in sight, Marion A. Baker* was standing on the roof of the city hall. It was a supreme moment in the history of New Orleans. Under orders from the mayor, Baker had gone upon the roof to hoist the flag of Louisiana on the city's flagstaff. He was to hoist it the moment the fleet was seen coming up from Chalmette. It was a crisis, unlike any known to the city, in its broad experience of dramatic interplay — a crisis in which the mayor had prudently sought counsel from Hon. Pierre Soule, former senator and minister, and from Durant da Ponte, editor of the New Orleans Delta. By this time the fleet had already anchored in front of the city. The mob was still on the levee, pro claiming its unlicensed law higher than the fleet's loaded guns. *Marion A. Baker was at that time a rising young journalist of the city. He discharged with zeal and ability the duties of a post then of peculiar difficulty. Being Mayor Monroe's representative, he was in fact the real agent of New Orleans throughout all the nego tiations leading to the surrender. Mr. Baker is, as he has been for several years, the brilliant literary editor of the Times-Democrat of that city. 49 La 4 48 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, Upon his shoulders rested a heavy responsibility — a responsibility probably too heavy for any commander at that period, placed in the same circumstances. With inadequate means, he was intrusted with the defense of a department calling for unlimited resources. With the fighting men of the city drawn off to other fields, he was expected, out of untried material, to improvise an army to defend her against superior numbers on land and water. He had striven to utilize all the resources at his command; he had, against obstacles, attempted to get heavy guns for the forts. All his success had turned to naught. When the day of trial came, Farragut's fleet, passing the batteries in the night, made light of his columbiads. Unhappily a prejudice, directly connected with his duty as commander, combined to injure him. While unremit ting in his efforts to administer to the greatest advan tage the various functions of his department, Lovell was continually hampered by lack of public confidence — a lack privately felt, if not always outwardly exhibited. CHAPTER VI. THE STATE FLAG ON CITY HALL— FAR RAGUT'S DE MAND FOR SURRENDER— THE NEGOTIATIONS- HOISTING OF THE UNITED STATES FLAG ON CITY HALL— THE ADVENT OF THE MAN OF TWO ORDERS— MILITARY RULE UNDER BUTLER— EX ECUTION OF WILLIAM B. MUMFORD— BUTLER'S DEEPEST DEPTH. THE echoes of the fight at Chalmette had become silent. Smith, at the interior line as already known, had done his duty in making a last stand at the works intrusted to him. The fleet was steaming from Chalmette to the city. At that moment, when the guns grew still and the fleet came in sight, Marion A. Baker* was standing on the roof of the city hall. It was a supreme moment in the history of New Orleans. Under orders from the mayor, Baker had gone upon the roof to hoist the flag of Louisiana on the city's flagstaff. He was to hoist it the moment the fleet was seen coming up from Chalmette. It was a crisis, unlike any known to the city, in its broad experience of dramatic interplay — a crisis in which the mayor had prudently sought counsel from Hon. Pierre Soule, former senator and minister, and from Durant da Ponte, editor of the New Orleans Delta. By this time the fleet had already anchored in front of the city. The mob was still on the levee, pro claiming its unlicensed law higher than the fleet's loaded guns. *Marion A. Baker was at that time a rising young journalist of the city. He discharged with zeal and ability the duties of a post then of peculiar difficulty. Being Mayor Monroe's representative, he was in fact the real agent of New Orleans throughout all the nego tiations leading to the surrender. Mr. Baker is, as he has been for several years, the brilliant literary editor of the Times- Democrat of that city. 49 La 4 50 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. At 1 130 p. m, two officers came as bearers of a triple demand from Flag-officer Farragut This included a de mand for the surrender of the city ; for the lowering of the State flag from the city hall ; for the hoisting of the flag of the United States over the postoffice, the custom house and the mint. In the interview which followed, General Lovell was called in. That officer resolutely refused to surrender the city, himself or his troops. Rec ognizing the futility of resistance, however, he declared that he would retire with his forces, leaving the city authorities full discretion to represent the citizens in the crisis. In this, Lovell acted with judgment. The may- or's action, in replying to the demand, was firmly nega tive. To the first clause, he gave General Lovell as the proper person for the surrender ; to the second, an unqual ified refusal ; to the third, a polite declination. On the morning of April 26th, Mr. Baker, at Mayor Monroe's request, went to the Hartford to explain to Captain Farragut that the council would meet at ten that day, and that a written reply would be made to his de mand. On board, Baker found in the flag-officer one who had known him intimately from boyhood. Conversation on the ship took a pleasant turn, and Farragut grew eloquent telling of the passage of the fleet. "I seemed to be breathing flame, ' ' he said. The council met at the appointed hour to consider the mayor's reply. In this, the mayor had strongly said: "We yield to physical force alone and maintain allegiance to the Confederate States ; beyond this, a due respect for our dignity, our rights and the flag of our country does not, I think, permit us to go." The council, having first accepted the message, did not long remain in its compliant mood. The mayor soon received from that body a re quest to substitute for his reply a letter written by Mr. Soule. Mayor Monroe, a thoroughly decided man, re spected, as all the city did, Mr. Soule 's high reputation. Accordingly he yielded to the council's substitution. Be- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 51 fore Mr. Soule*'s letter could be copied, Lieutenant Kautz and Midshipman Read came on shore with a peremptory written demand for the * ' unqualified surrender ' ' of the city and the hoisting of the emblem of the sovereignty of the United States over the city hall, the custom house and the mint. The day was Saturday, April 26th, and the hour was by meridian of that day. * Baker delivered the mayor's reply to Captain Farragut. With Mr. Soule*'s letter, now properly copied, went one paragraph added by the mayor himself, promising a reply to the official demand. Meanwhile a question had been creeping up, destined to assume a tragic prominence a few days later. The private secretary felt its sinister presence when he first saw Captain Farragut. " As a matter of fact," Mr. Baker says, " the United States flag had al ready been raised on the mint, and I called the attention of the Federal commander to the fact that a flag had been raised while negotiations were still pending. Captain Farragut replied that the flag had been placed there with out his knowledge, but he could not order it down. His men, he said, were flushed with victory, and much ex cited by the taunts and gibes of the crowd on the levee. Pointing to the 'tops' where a number of them were sta tioned, some armed with muskets, others nervously clutching the strings of the howitzers, he remarked that it was as much as he could do to restrain them from firing on the crowd ; and, should he attempt to haul the flag down, it would be impossible to keep them within bounds. ' ' The ways of a broken peace are as cracked as a shat tered piece of pottery. The flag-officer, as seen in his reply to Baker, stated that the flag had been placed on the mint without his knowledge. It follows clearly — he being, as flag-officer of the victorious fleet, the chief Fed eral authority in the city — that the flag, the tightened *" Farragut's Demand for the Surrender of New Orleans." — Baker, in Century Magazine, April, 1886. 52 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. folds of which were, within forty- two days, to hang W. B. Mumford, had been placed without the authority which alone could legalize the act of hoisting. On Saturday, April 26th, even in the then political intermission, no authority of the United States was as high as that of D. G. Farra- gut, "Flag-officer western Gulf blockading squadron." In Farragut, and in Farragut alone, was power, and with power the warlike means to impress it upon all con testants. Sunday passed without communication with the fleet. Monday brought a letter from the flag-officer under which was veiled a threat. Reciting all the city's misdoings, Farragut admonished the mayor that " the fire of the fleet might be drawn upon the city at any moment. . . . The election is with you, but it becomes my duty to notify you to remove the 'women and children within forty-eight hours, if I have rightly understood your determination. ' ' Brave Mayor Monroe showed coolness, along with the dignity worthy of the chief magistrate of a city threat ened. To Commander Henry H. Bell, the bearer of the letter, Mayor Monroe remarked: " As I consider this a threat to bombard the city, and as this is a matter about which the notice should be clear and specific, I desire to know when the forty-eight hours begin to run. " "It be gins from the time you receive this notice, ' ' replied the captain. ' Then," said the mayor, taking out his watch, and showing it to the captain, "you see it is fifteen min utes past twelve o'clock." The mayor's reply to the flag-officer's letter was also drafted by Mr. Soule. In it the mayor simply re-asserted his refusal to lower the flag of Louisiana. "This satisfaction you cannot obtain at our hands. We will stand your bombardment, unarmed and undefended, as we are. ' ' Accompanied by Mr. Soule, Baker took this reply to the Hartford early on the morn ing of April 29th. On the ship Mr. Soule favored the flag-officer with a learned discussion of international law. That same evening, General Lovell had come down to CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 53 the mayor's residence from Camp Moore with a plan for making a combined night attack upon the fleet. Lovell's plan contemplated, as the attacking machine, a flotilla of ferryboats. Ammunition of the fleet was supposed to have been exhausted through the fierce broadsides of April 24th. Lovell was eager to try this plan; but dis cussion on the details was postponed until next day. Early next morning word came from Captain Farragut notifying the mayor that the forts had surrendered, adding that he was about to raise the United States flag on the mint and custom house. He was for making the lowering of the State flag over the city hall the work of those who had hoisted it. Before Baker had left the Hartford, however, he had prevailed upon Farragut to yield that point. In his proclamation, requesting all cit izens to retire to their houses during these acts of author ity which it would be folly to resist, Mayor Monroe threw a passing triumph in his assurance that the flag was not to be removed by "their authorities, but by those who had the power and the will to exercise it. ' ' The people had gathered, a compact mass, about the city hall. They were silent, but looked angry and threat ening. Suddenly a body of men appeared, marching through the Camp street gate, drawing two howitzers after them. It was a strictly naval demonstration, com prising officers, marines, and sailors. The marines lined the St. Charles street side of the banquette opposite the hall. Standing in the street in front of those shining bayonets, the crowd, always silent and angry, waited for what was to come. Upon Captain Bell, Farragut's chief-of-staff, fell the burden of hoisting the flag. To his notification the mayor, strongly moved, replied, "very well, sir, you can do it ; but I wish to say that there is not one in my entire constituency so wretchedly renegade as would be willing to exchange places with you. ' ' Upon receiving, well or ill, these words of the mayor, Captain Bell, accompanied 54 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. by Lieutenant Kautz, proceeded to the roof. The crowd below, sullen and indignant, looked up from Lafayette square and St. Charles street to watch the transfer of flags. A silence of intense sympathy greeted the hauling down of the flag of Louisiana. Silence, deeper because a silence of scorn, followed the sight of the Stars and Stripes rising in the air. While this was going on, Mayor Monroe walked down into the street, where he placed himself " immediately in front of the howitzer pointing down St. Charles street. " Here he continued, unmoving, until Lieutenant Kautz and Captain Bell had reappeared. The sailors, at a word from their officers, drew their howitzers back into the square ; after them marched the marines. With a rattle of steel, glitter of bayonets and rumble of wheels, the Northern pageant passed through the Southern crowd. As the last rifles were disappearing through the Camp- street gate, the crowd — so long silent in accordance with their mayor's request, threatened no longer. Instead, as Mayor Monroe turned toward the hall, they broke into cheers, which followed the retiring soldiers like a defiance. In her high fever, New Orleans had swayed to and fro with the symptoms. At times, her crowds, quivering with unrest of body and mind, showed the madness of a mob in delirium. Its excite ment was of the fruitage of revolution. While matters remained undecided the mob spirit had been growing ugly. When, by the final act of surrender, formal author ity had once been tardily accepted by the civil function aries, in lieu of the Confederate status quo, the crowd found itself compelled to learn a new lesson of order under a fresh political dispensation. On May i, 1862, General Butler took formal possession of New Orleans. He at once ordered the disembarkation of his troops. One regiment, the Twenty-first Indiana, was stationed at Algiers. On entering the city, Butler prudently carried with him the remainder of his army. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 55 This consisted of six regiments of infantry from Massa chusetts, Wisconsin, Michigan and Connecticut. With these came the Fifth and Sixth Massachusetts batteries and Second Vermont battery, with two companies of cav alry. It was a force fully adequate, in the absence of their sons and brothers in Virginia and Tennessee, to overawe a population of women and children. The city, however, was turbulent and its mob unruly. In every sense, armed troops had become an early necessity of the occupation. Butler himself posted and quartered his army of all branches at the custom house, city hall, mint, and on Lafayette square. These were all admirably designed as coigns of vantage to meet and check surprises, bursting from a passion-tossed mob. With armed men around him he was, by his own admission, angered on landing at hearing " cheers for Jeff Davis and Beaure- gard. " Physical force is a potent factor for a quiet mind. " This has been checked, " he adds, kt and the last man that was heard to call for cheers for the rebel chief has been sentenced by the provost judge to three months' hard labor at Fort Jackson." Up to his rule in New Orleans, the civil war was still young. It was unlearned in the meaning of outrages based upon malignity. New Orleans was the first large city in the Confederacy which had been placed at the mercy of a military dictator surrounded by his guards. It had, be fore that officer had been put over it, borne the terrors of warfare with equal firmness and lightness of heart. Its people, as brave as they were frank, had not lost a reputa tion for possessing the courage of their convictions. The city and its people had, consequently, become the earliest objects of official despotism. Butler had entered New Orleans as though he alone had conquered it, and mal treated its citizens as though they had been the captives of his spear. A city is like a man — it resents tyranny and is conciliated by kindness. New Orleans chafed under the malice of the ruler set over her. Her citizens 56 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY^ could not fail to see it, nor could they once forget it. It made itself as evident as a file of soldiers commanded by a corporal. With these, the general made arrests the comedy of his local administration. Figaro's mouth and Pasquin's pillar were never far away from the office of the major-general. General Butler, in the administration of the city, busied himself in writing military orders, " general " and " special." He began by issuing a detailed proclama tion, covering a variety of threatening orders to the city and its people. This was speedily followed by General Orders No. 19, 21, 22, and 23, each treating of interests as varied as the needs of a large city. General Order No. 25 was a trifle more carefully prepared. In the name of sympathy with the mechanics and working classes of the city " in their deplorable state of destitution and hunger," Order No. 25 was a specious appeal to them to cease to be the serfs of the wealthy classes, whom he styled the " leaders of the rebellion." A strong bid to attract the needy was a quantity of beef and sugar, capt ured from the Confederates and now ready for distribu tion among the ' * deserving poor of the city. ' ' In these papers, the hand of the politician was far more manifest than that which held the sword. These orders were, indeed, the special medium through which General Butler strove insiduously to array class against class. They were fairly in the line of duty of a gen eral commanding a surrendered city. Most of them repre sented such care of its interests as might lawfully spring from an honest desire to fulfill the obligations of his po sition. In none of them, except in General Order No. 25, concerning certain manifest needs of a section of the pop ulation, did he seem to understand the temper of the people. He was wholly blind to it when he signed Special Order No. 70, in the case of Wm. B. Mumford. The mil itary commission in finding verdict took no account of the excited state of public opinion existing on April 27th. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 57 Nor did it consider that the city had not then surrendered ; that the authority of the United States had not been ac knowledged by the citizens; and that, technically, no crime had been committed against the power which, in a city in rebellion, had as yet no official existence. Flag- officer Farragut's fleet was abreast the city. It was fully capable of enforcing, at a moment's notice, its surrender. That the city was still Confederate, even with the Union fleet in sight, and that it remained as such from April 2;th (inclusive) to April 29th, are made as clear as the fact that the surrender had not absolutely been accomplished. Mumford was still a citizen of a Confederate city, in which Confederates, having evacuated the city with their army, had not yet abdicated their civil authority. On April 28th Mayor Monroe had no intimation that ** it was by your (Farragut's) orders, that the United States flag was attempted to be hoisted upon certain of our public edi fices. " On April 29th, two days after Mumford's act, Flag-officer Farragut addressed the following communi cation to Mayor Monroe. It was delivered to the mayor by two naval officers from the fleet : " U. S. Flag-ship Hartford, At anchor off the city of New Orleans, April 29, 1862. His Honor, the Mayor of the City of New Orleans, ** Sir: The forts, Saint Philip and Jackson, having sur rendered and all the military defenses of the city being either captured or abandoned, you are required, as the sole representative of any supposed authority in the city, to haul down and repress every ensign and symbol of government, whether State or Confederate, except that of the United States. I am about to raise the flag of the United States upon the custom house, and you will see that it is respected with all the civil power of the city. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, Your obedient servant, D. G. FARRAGUT, Flag-officer Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. A flag is the symbol of authority. In the final demand of surrender of all authority on the part of the authorities 58 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. of New Orleans, Farragut made a formal request that the flag of the United States, which he was about to raise upon the custom house, be respected with all the civil power of the city. It appears from this note that on April 29, 1862, the city had for the first time formally surrendered to Flag-officer Farragut. Before this dale, not after it, Mumford had torn the flag down from a public building. The city, until the surrender had been accomplished, was still under the authority of its own municipal officers. The State, of which the city was a part, was still a State of seces sion, a State not yet brought into a Union of which she had declared herself " independent." Before the surrender was effected, on April 27, 1862, the flag of the United States was a foreign flag. As such, that flag possessed no more authority as a symbol than that of France or Spain, two governments that, like the United States, had at one time wielded authority in Louisiana. An insult to the flag constituted, under such circumstances, an act of war; in no sense an "overt act of treason. " It could not under those circumstances deserve the penalty of death. Before the military commission had decided against Mumford, however, there is official testimony that his death had already been determined upon. On April 2 9th, the day of the city's surrender, General Butler, being at the time in the city, showed vindictiveness along with the faculty of observation : I find the city under the dominion of the mob. They have insulted our flag — torn it down with indignity. This outrage will be punished in such manner as, in my judgment, will caution both the perpetrators and abettors of the act, so that they shall fear the stripes, if they do not reverence the stars, of our banner. " If words convey purposes, William B. Mumford was by them prejudged. When they were written he was de- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 59 prived of all chance of mercy at the hands of the com manding general. The following is a copy of the finding in the case of the rash young man : " Headquarters Department of the Gulf, 4 'New Orleans, 5th June, 1862. Special Orders, No. 70. William B. Mumford, a citizen of New Orleans, having been convicted before the Military I ommission of trea son and an overt act thereof, in tearing down a United States flag from a public building of the United States, for the purpose of inciting other evil-minded persons to further resistance to the laws and arms of the United States, after said flag was placed there by Commodore Farragut, of the United States navy — It is ordered that he be executed according to the sen tence of the said Military Commission, on Saturday, June yth inst, between the hours of 8 a. m. and 12 m., under the direction of the provost marshal of the district of New Orleans ; and for so doing, this shall be his sufficient war rant. "By command of Major-General Butler, Commanding Department. One universal thrill of indignation swept through the city being stronger in proportion to the rigor of the iron rule which had made its manifestation treason to the authority of the United States. After Mumford's death, General Butler's usefulness in New Orleans — long,indeed, before General Banks superseded him — was practically at an end. He had not at that time displayed his full unfitness to be the representative of a hostile government in a city lately restored to its power. Apart from the legitimate functions appertaining to his official positon, however, his future in New Orleans oscillated like a pen dulum between the horror with which the conviction and death of Mumford surrounded him, to the mingled scorn and contempt which — resenting the outrages committed by him upon virtuous womanhood through Order No. 28 — scourged him like a whip of scorpions, not only from the respect of all true men, but from the office from which 60 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. his brutality was, within eight months, to drive him. In a history of Louisiana and her soldiers it would be out of perspective to do more than suggest the absolute failure, beyond his "sanitary" precautions, of General Butler in his capacity of commander in the ' * Department of the Gulf. ' ' His acts, which being first despotic be came shortly afterward crimes against men and women — contributed largely to his lack of successful administra tion. In the annals of our civil war General Butler will be known as the " Man of Two Orders." Not such blazing orders as those conferred by royalty upon merit; nor those which, attested by a jewel and a ribbon, dis tinguishes a man in the presence of his fellows. His ' * Orders, ' ' flecked with blood and stained with malice, are of more sinister character than those. Twenty-eight and Seventy are the numbers which they bear for poster ity. Had General Butler contented himself with issuing No. 70, he might have been called, with the harshness of Draco, pitiless. Had he to No. 70 joined the order pre scribing the ' * ironclad oath ' ' and classifying the * * reg istered enemies" to the United States, he might have been classed with the Duke of Alva in the Low Countries. It was reserved for him, however, by his own act, born of insatiate spite, to fall into a deeper depth than any tyrannical viceroy recorded in the history of courts. That depth is found in the following "Order No. 28."* Its issuance was an offense against decency ; a crime against the womanhood of a city which is foremost in the land in rendering knightly reverence to the sex. With out it, the story of the Butler regime would be left "like the tale of bold Cambustes," only "half-told." * With some hesitation I have given here, as being the only proper place for it, "General Order No. 28." While giving it, atten tion is called to the fact that it is a "General Order," not a "Special Order," showing that its designed application was as general as the sex in New Orleans. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 61 " Headquarters, Department of the Gulf, " New Orleans, May 15, 1862. General Orders, No. 28. As the officers and soldiers of the United States have been subject to repeated insults from the women (calling themselves ladies) of New Orleans in return for the most scrupulous non-interference and courtesy on our part, it is ordered that hereafter when any female shall by word, gesture or movement insult or show contempt for any officer or soldier of the United States she shall be regarded and held liable to be treated as a woman of the town plying her avocation. By command of Major-General Butler. The universal condemnation produced by this order spread like an ever-widening flood. From the city in which the order was born, and in which it was put into execution, it enlarged to the State, from the State to the Confederacy, from the Confederacy to the North, from the North to Europe. Thus, in human story, a bad deed from a man in high place is told throughout the broad earth; like in the telling, yet in itself most unlike the dust of that John Huss which in honor is borne, floating from river unto river, through all the waters of the globe. CHAPTER VII. VICKSBURG TO BATON ROUGE— RAID ON BRASHEAR CITY— OTHER EXPEDITIONS— THE FIRST ATTACK ON VICKSBURG— BATTLE OF BATON ROUGE— LOSS OF THE ARKANSAS — BRECKINRIDGE OCCUPIES BATON ROUGE. GENERAL BUTLER was a politician whose strongest ambition was, oddly enough, to be come a successful commander. Without previous experience as such he was sufficiently wise to lean on servants trained in military affairs. He thought highly of Gen. Thomas Williams, a graduate of West Point and a veteran of the Mexican war. He leaned also upon the knowledge and scientific skill of Godfrey Weitzel, promoting him to brigadier-general of volunteers. Once safely seated in his office, and with troops in easy call, General Butler's martial ardor began to ferment. He was fond of surrounding himself with an air of military activity. His first work was practical. At Algiers, on the river opposite the city, was the ter minus of the New Orleans & Opelousas railroad. Promptly confiscating its rolling stock, he employed the road to bring in provisions to the city. On May 5th he ordered the Twenty-first Indiana to Brashear City at the other end of the line. The movement was wholly unex pected. The troops found the citizens quietly pursuing their business, unconscious of the enemy on their side of the river. After dispersing a military organization forming there the expedition captured two brass 6-pounder field guns, with their ammunition. Besides this success, the Twenty-first seized and brought off two citizens of loose tongue, who were doubtless indignant 62 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 63 at the sight of a uniform not quite in fashion in the State since January 26, 1861. Butler, with the provost- marshal spirit strong in him, spoke of them as "two citizens who persisted in insulting our troops." He also proceeded to confiscate the whole Jackson rail road as far as Manchac Pass. By making sure of the Opelousas railroad he had cut off from the Confederates the valuable supply of cattle coming from Texas. Be sides this advantage he had gained possession of 60,000 barrels of coal, of great value to Farragut's fleet. An example of his smaller expeditions, undertaken for plunder, may suffice : One day the U. S. gunboat Essex was, as it was wont, merrily shelling woods and fields along the Mississippi. A transport was busy seizing sugar and cotton on the levee, waiting to be carried to Bayou Sara. Of course the Essex, being there only to protect the confiscating transport, shelled Bayou Sara. As it was a rule with a bayou, so it was a law with a railway. With Butler, it was always Point Danger to be situated on either. Pontchatoula had the ill luck of being situated on the Jackson railroad. During 1862 the town was attacked no less than three times. After awhile it turned into a game of see-saw. On the days following the various attacks, the Confederates generally visited to the full upon the pillagers of the days previous. Sometimes they took the first step in a skirmish, one of which, in December, is in point. A scouting party of 25 men, under command of Lieutenant Evans, attacked the Federal steamboat Brown. The Brown, counting two guns, was going up Bayou Boufouca, two miles from Fort Pike and sixty miles from Pontchatoula. The Brown was more timid than daring. After delivering one fire she backed down the bayou. Being true to the newest tradition in Louisiana, the Brown shelled the woods as she steamed past to a safer place. The easy success of his Brashear City expedition stimu lated Butler to more important movements. He dis- 64 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. patched from the city a force of 4,500 men under General Williams to act in conjunction with a naval movement against Baton Rouge. This was the key-note to the ex pedition — a note already enforced at the forts below New Orleans. No Confederate troops being in the little cap ital, the combined expedition, conducted in the interest of an open river, vied with the capture of Brashear in the bloodlessness of the triumph achieved. One effect, however, soon became apparent. In the hearts of the Confederates this easy triumph aroused a strong desire for revenge. This was aggravated by the fact that, since the 28th of May, the picturesque little city had been garrisoned by the Federals. In the meantime the gunboats, satisfied that Baton Rouge was in the care of their army, continued up the river to Vicksburg. Here was the Third Louisiana brigade under the command of that General Smith whom we know in connection with the special defense of the "interior line" at Chalmette. The bombardment by the clamorous mortars lasted for sixty-seven days. This was a heavy ordeal for troops not only new to service, but specially unused to so severe a tax upon their strength as well as their energy. Among the men man ning batteries were three companies of the First regi ment of Louisiana artillery ; two companies Twenty-sec ond and two companies Twenty-third, Major Clinch; three companies Eighth Louisiana battalion, Major Ogden; and Lieut. -Col. Charles Pinkney, of the Eighth. The picketing imposed upon the command was especially burdensome. The nearer to a citadel the more hazard ous always the call of duty. This duty was performed with equal patience and care by the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Louisiana volun teers, under Colonels DeClouet, Marks and Allen Thomas ; the Fourth, Col. Henry Watkins Allen, and the Seventeenth Louisiana, Colonel Richardson. With these Louisianians, certified to by the general commanding as CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 65 having performed their full duty, all reference to the first long but indecisive bombardment of Vicksburg may be dropped here. Stirring events were preparing to culminate in July, 1863, when a leader, less fortunate than Gen. M. L. Smith, commanded troops not less heroic than those who stood victoriously behind the batteries of June, 1862. On June 28, 1862, Maj-Gen. Earl Van Dorn, having relieved Major-General Lovell from the command of the department, assumed command of the forces at Vicks burg. To keep up his thin line, General Smith had hailed the arrival of the advance of Major-General Breckinridge's Second corps. Within a month Breckin- ridge was to be attacking the Federals at Baton Rouge. On July 1 5th the Arkansas made her first and only ap pearance, as a ram, to the terror of the enemy's fleet. Her coming out of the Yazoo river was a signal for mingled joy and anxiety on the part of our troops. She bravely stood alone against a fleet ribbed with iron and bristling with guns. For a space, she remained motion less, inviting attack, but the fleet declined the invitation. The Arkansas still delayed, as if planning to ram. Then, on a signal, quickly her guns began their work, deliver ing broadside for broadside. The fleet still did not approach too near. Then the Arkansas rushed upon the enemy ahead of her, ran the gauntlet of the upper fleet of twelve vessels, destroying one of the enemy's vessels in the path and forcing two of his boats to strike their colors. Satisfied with this formidable exhibition of power, such as the great river had not before seen, the Arkansas, after running the ordeal, found herself, still a menace, in safety under the Vicksburg guns. It was in August, 1862, that the lesson of Confederate reprisals was to be enforced at Baton Rouge. The city was about 130 miles above New Orleans. In the early part of the war it occupied a position of importance at once strategic and political. As the capital of Louisiana, La5 66 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. its possession gave a direct political advantage to the army actually holding to it. Being 40 miles down the stream from the mouth of Red river, its occupation by either army would impartially form a strong factor in keeping the Mississippi open or closed. At this time, such a power would necessarily prove of signal service. Red river country was still Confederate. Large droves of cattle still continued to roam its fields — cattle which the Federals from the lower Mississippi were already covet ing, but which the Confederates were equally anxious to control. For the Confederates, more especially the Louisianians, the continued possession of Baton Rouge would have excited far more interest than that of any town outside the limits of New Orleans. It concentrated in a marked degree that subtle love for the State of one's birth and rearing, which is never so strong as when it beats in the heart of the American who hazards his life for its defense. The continued Federal occupation of Baton Rouge was a long, very long step toward their open navigation of the river. Vicksburg was one pro testing point ; Baton Rouge added, a long gap would be made in the line of armed occupation. It was General Breckinridge's special hope to create this gap. On August 14, 1862, Breckinridge's division had come as far as the Comite river, under orders from Major- General Van Dorn, commanding the district, to move upon Baton Rouge. The division had suffered severely from exposure and sickness at Vicksburg in June and July, and Breckinridge now found himself with less than 3,000 effective men. During the march he learned that the force of the enemy was not less than 4,500 men, and that the righting ground around the town was com manded by three gunboats, lying in the river. This determined him not to make the attempt unless he could be relieved from an enfilading fire from the fleet. He felt implicit reliance on the Arkansas, which was based on the fact that he had seen her brilliant work against CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 67 the Federal fleet before Vicksburg. Could she be sent down to clear the river? Or, failing that, could he look for her to divert the fire of the gunboats? These queries, telegraphed to Van Dorn, brought an immediate answer. 14 The Arkansas will be ready to co-operate at daylight on Tuesday, August 5th." With this assurance, Breckinridge marched his division at once. Leaving the Comite at n p. m., he reached the vicinity of Baton Rouge, ten miles off, a while before daybreak on the morning of the 5th. The three gun boats were on the river. Before the day would be out, the Arkansas would be there among them! With this hope strong in him, Breckinridge waited for the dawn. While waiting in the darkness, an independent sortie of the Louisiana partisan rangers provoked an exchange of shots between the pickets. Galloping back, the rangers caused some disorder and were followed by a storm of bullets from the enemy in the town. Briga dier-General Helm was dangerously wounded by the fall of his horse; A. H. Todd, his aide-de-camp, was killed, and Captain Roberts, Fourth Kentucky, wounded. Several enlisted men were killed or wounded. Two of Captain Cobb's three guns were rendered, for the time, useless. But order was soon brought out of disorder. The force was placed in position on the right and left of the Green well Springs road. Breckinridge, with a single line of battle, a small regiment of infantry and one piece of artillery to each division as a reserve, now faced the enemy, already awaiting him in a compact line, made very strong with heavy reserves distributed at intervals. It was a little after daylight. A thick fog darkened the morning, but despite its prevalence the order to ad vance was given. General Ruggles, commanding the left, brought on the engagement with his second division. The Fourth and Thirtieth Louisiana, Boyd's Louisiana battalion, and Semmes' battery were under the command 68 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. of Colonel Henry Watkins Allen. With Ruggles, also, was a brigade of regiments from Kentucky and Ala bama tinder Colonel Thompson. Allen's fame was al ready crescent. The Louisiana leader combined the dash of d'Artagnan with the thirst for battle of Anthony Wayne. Before an enemy he was a Pennsylvanian en grafted upon a Creole. An odd compound, but one first- class for war. The line had proceeded but a few hundred yards when it was met by a brisk fire from the enemy's skirmishers, strongly posted on the right. Simultaneously, Semmes, battery was ordered forward to drive off the skirmishers. Fired by their leader's example the Louisianians dashed to the front, with ringing cheers, charging a battery stationed at the head of a street on the outskirts of Baton Rouge. Ruggles' order had been peremptory — "March straight to the front until you hear ' Stop!' " and Allen was not the man to question an order while the battle was on. To the front, straight as he could go, he swept, carrying the colors in his hand and pressing up to the very muzzles of the guns. At that point, there came a scattering discharge of canister which struck him down, shattering both of his legs.* Lieut. -Col. Samuel Boyd was also severely wounded in the same charge. The vigilant enemy, seeing signs of trouble in their front, threw in strong reinforcements, which forced the bri gade back in some confusion. Rallied by the efforts of Colonel Breaux, of the Thirteenth, and Lieutenant-Col onel Hunter, Fourth, the Louisiana brigade, although it did not further participate in the assault, bravely *From this wound Henry Watkins Allen never entirely recovered. He came out from his illness strong in spirit but weak in health. He came out the idol of his Fourth Louisiana, the pride of his State, the future choice of her people for their war-governor to suc ceed Thomas O. Moore. In that office, it is safe to say that never was there a more devoted administrator of the interests of Louisiana, in peace or in war, than Henry Watkins Allen. He stood at her dy ing ; and, heart-torn at the sight, he took refuge in Mexico where, in 1886, he passed away, an alien on a foreign soil. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 69 maintained a new and hazardous position under fire from the gunboats and from the land-batteries of the enemy. Throughout this movement, Semmes' battery served efficiently. The First division, under Gen. Charles Clark, bri gades of Colonel Hunt and Colonel Smith, advancing to the right of the Greenwell Springs road, made a gallant charge, constantly pressing the enemy back until, after several hours of fighting, he was driven to his last en campment. This was in a large grove just in rear of the penitentiary. It was here the division suffered the greatest loss. The fight had turned hot and stubborn. Colonel Hunt, commanding the Kentucky brigade, was shot down. At this juncture the attack was pressed with great vigor until General Clark received a wound, supposed at the time to be mortal. Through some mis apprehension Hunt's brigade began to fall back down the slope, but still preserving order and obeying com mands. Captain Buckner, of General Breckinridge's staff, had been placed at its head. Breckinridge notified Buckner that he did not yet desire to make a retrograde movement. He was still expecting to hear the guns of the Arkansas in victorious thunder. Captain Buckner, therefore, about-faced his brigade and renewed vigorously the attack, aided by Smith. Thompson's brigade was discovered by Breckinridge to be without ammunition, and he at once ordered it to advance to the support of Buckner with fixed bayonets. During this movement the fire from the gunboats, growing fast and furious, was causing considerable suffering to our men, which for tunately did not last long. By this time the opposing lines were approaching each other closely in the heat of the assault and defense, and a regard for their comrades obliged the gunboats to suspend their fire. For a space bloodiest battle surged around the last Federal camp. Breckinridge here directed a charge, which drove the enemy in confusion through his last regimental encamp- 70 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ment to the river, under the protection of his gunboats. A part of our men pursued and fired at the Federals for some distance down the street, as they fled in front of the arsenal and barracks. They did not reappear dur ing the day. The battle of Baton Rouge, which had been going on since daybreak, was over. General Breckinridge's corps had scored a brilliant victory, won by hard fighting and resolute pluck. Our men had con stantly advanced with steadiness, driving the enemy from encampment to encampment. The third and last camp reached, victory had closed the battle. It was still early in the day. A small battle may easily resemble a great battle in partial outlines. Thus it happened that Breckinridge's attack on Williams, at Baton Rouge, was marked by features resembling somewhat Albert Sidney Johnston's surprise of Grant at Shiloh. It was about 4:30 a. m. when each of the Confederate armies burst into attack. At Shiloh the Federals were driven pell-mell by our troops from camp to camp, as at Baton Rouge they were forced back by us from encampment to encampment. At Shiloh the camps were mostly in the woods ; at Baton Rouge they were mostly in the suburbs of the town. At Shiloh the nearest camp to the Tennessee was that in which Prentiss and his fighting brigade were captured; at Baton Rouge the last encampment through which the enemy was driven was near to the Mississippi. It was a mere difference of entourage. From both rivers, danger, before the fight was on, had vaguely threatened. In the Tennessee had been gunboats, waiting to bite ; in the Mississippi were other gunboats, now biting hard ! It was now 10 a. m. Beauregard, at Corinth, had satir ically asked Lovell, regarding Vicksburg: " Will the Ar kansas also be just one week too late, like the Mississippi?" Breckinridge, never ceasing to vex, was hard at work putting the same query to himself. He knew that the Arkansas had failed at the heroic rendezvous. Why had CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 71 she failed? It was a new and perplexing variant of the old theme. Not until 4 p. m. did he learn, by express, the grim truth. Before daylight, and within four miles of Baton Rouge, " the machinery of the Arkansas had become disabled and she lay helpless on the right bank of the river. ' ' Machinery too easily disabled, as in the Arkansas ; motive power insufficient, as in the Louisiana ! War vessels built in the ship-yards of the Confederacy were strong as iron could make them ; yet structural de fects — the fruit of inexperience and want of facilities in naval construction — often proved them, on trial, weak like cockle-shells. Some of these vessels, whose glory will not be forgotten, made history singly against fleets — the Vir ginia, on Hampton Roads; the Manassas, at Fort Jackson; the Arkansas, at Vicksburg ; the Tennessee, in Mobile bay. Breckinridge regretted only the failure of the Arkansas as an ally. He said: "It was now ten o'clock; we had listened in vain for the guns of the Arkansas. I saw around me not more than 1,000 exhausted men, who had been unable to procure water since we left the Comite river. The enemy had several batteries commanding the approaches to the arsenal and barracks and the gun boats had already reopened upon us with a direct fire. Under these circumstances, although the troops showed the utmost indifference to danger and death, were even reluctant to return, I did not deem it prudent to pursue the victory further. Having scarcely any transportation I ordered all the camps and stores of the enemy to be de stroyed, and directing Captain Buckner to place one sec tion of Semmes' battery, supported by the Sev enth Kentucky, in a certain position on the field, withdrew the rest of the troops about one mile, to Ward's creek, with the hope of obtaining water. Finding none there fit for man or beast, I moved the command back to the field of battle, and procured a very imperfect supply from some cisterns in the suburbs of the town. This position we occupied for the rest of the day." 72 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. The Confederate loss at Baton Rouge was 446 killed, wounded and missing. The contest had been stubborn and had involved much close fighting, in which both armies suffered considerably. The loss of the enemy, partially given, was believed to be about the same. Had it been infinitely smaller, the death of Brig. -Gen. Thomas Williams alone, put against heaviest statistics of casu alties, would have weighed the balance down. The death of that excellent soldier proved a serious loss to their army. The enemy was superior both in numbers and artillery, and the battle was marked by other sharp dis proportions — 4,500 Federals* (Butler's estimate June ist) against 2,600 Confederates — no less than 18 pieces of field artillery, exclusive of the guns of the fleet, against 1 1 pieces — Federals fresh and well-clothed, against Con federates foot-sore with marching from the Comite, many of them weak from sickness, in rags and on indifferent food. Although the Federals held the city, their occu pation of it told the tale of defeat. On the 2oth of Au gust, Confederate scouts drove in their pickets. On the 2ist the Federals evacuated Baton Rouge. Both armies had claimed the battle of Baton Rouge on August 5 th. The evacuation by the enemy, two weeks after the battle, justified the Confederate claim. This with drawal from Baton Rouge was the result of certain skill ful operations by that dashing tactician, Major-General Van Dorn. He had already clearly seen the importance to the Confederacy of the occupation of Port Hudson. With that in view, he had ordered an immediate movement toward the place. He had selected that point specially for its eligibility for defense, and for its capacity for offensive annoyance to the enemy. Baton Rouge would, in the meanwhile, be held in menace. The event justified Van Dorn's military foresight. The enemy disappeared from the Mississippi between Baton Rouge and Vicks- *By Federal reports 2,500 "actually engaged," of which the lor-s in battle was 383 killed and wounded. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 73 burg. The navigation of the Mississippi from the mouth of Red river to Vicksburg was at once opened. Com munication between the district of Mississippi and the Trans-Mississippi department was established. More than 200 miles of the river were thus closed to the Fed eral fleet. Not for long, however, was this repose to last. After August, 1862, projected the mighty shadow of July, 1863, when, with Vicksburg fallen, Port Hudson after a gal lant fight was also to fall, and the Mississippi was to run unvexed to the sea. In accordance with Van Dorn's plan Breckinridge, a few days after the battle of Baton Rouge, occupied Port Hudson with a part of his troops, under the command of Ruggles. The next day he re ceived orders to move his entire force to the same point. Apparently, he himself was not yet wearied with Baton Rouge. He left General Bowen, who had just arrived with his command on the Comite river, to observe the city from that quarter. He remained long enough at Port Hudson to advise with General Ruggles as to the selection of eligible positions for heavy batteries. He had previously ordered Captain Nocquet, chief engineer, to report to him temporarily for this duty. Nocquet had acted with notable promptness. Some of the works were already waiting to receive the guns, which ought to com mand the river more completely than at Vicksburg. This was the opinion of Breckinridge, who now moved from Port Hudson to Jackson, Miss., leaving Ruggles in com mand. CHAPTER VIII. GENERAL BUTLER'S RURAL ENTERPRISES— RICHARD TAYLOR IN WEST LOUISIANA— CAMPAIGN ON THE LAFOURCHE— BATTLE OF LABADIEVILLE— OPER ATIONS ABOUT BERWICK BAY— EXPLOITS OF THE GUNBOAT COTTON. THE outlying country from Algiers on the Missis sippi to Franklin on the Teche is peculiarly fitted for military operations. Like all lower Louisiana it presents a vast network of rivers, or bayous as large as many rivers, suitable for the movements of large ves sels. Irrigating generously the fields lying level upon their banks, they reward them with rich harvests of sugarcane and cotton. It was for the wealth in these fields that General But ler kept his forces a constant menace upon the territory. For this purpose, and as an aid to success, he developed a system of light- draft steamers, previously prepared for the service by mounting them with light guns and protecting their boilers and engines with iron armor. In this manner did he strive to utilize the water courses, threading the land here and there under the sun like glistening ribbons. In addition to his ceaseless desire to hold the country for its rich possibilities of profit — to hold it as fast as it could be occupied — Butler was anxious to give the " loyal planters " an opportunity to forward their sugar and cotton to New Orleans. " I can," he wrote, " easily hold this portion of Louisiana, by far the richest. " For the rest, he was in his usual vein of over-confidence. His plan was to push forward a column from Algiers, dispatching it along the Opelousas railroad to Thibodeaux and Brashear City. He rejoiced to hear that the Teche 74 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 75 country was being rapidly drained of her able-bodied whites by conscription. He was not quite so pleased to hear that the Confederates could keep troops in the country, apart from its home people. However, he was far advanced in organizing a strong expedition to move through western Louisiana for the purpose of dispersing the force assembled there under Gen. Richard Taylor. He had already resolved upon placing the command under Weitzel. On May 26, 1862, Department No. 2 had been extended to embrace east Louisiana, and the Trans-Mississippi de partment had been constituted, including west Louisiana. Gen. Paul O. Hebert, two days later, was assigned to the command of the district of West Louisiana and Texas, and on June 25th East Louisiana came under the depart ment command of Gen. Braxton Bragg. On August 2oth Maj.-Gen. Richard Taylor, already distinguished in the Virginia campaigns, was ordered to the command of the district of West Louisiana. Taylor was an unknown quan tity for Butler. Banks was to learn him thoroughly, and to his painful cost before another year. Another Ar- minius, Taylor loved to fight on his State's soil against his State's foes. This territory of western Louisiana was destined to be come a Belgium for both forces. Each, in turn, was to occupy, to lose, to regain it. None of the early battles was to be distinguished for large armies, or for heavy lists of killed or wounded. There were many skirmishes, some large ; the most, however, both small and unimpor tant. Throughout them all the controlling design of General Butler was, in bringing the people back into the Union, to retain possession of the profits from the culti vation of its fertile, alluvial fields. Weitzel with a com pact army was then operating about the Lafourche. With him on the lookout, his superior felt reasonably easy in mind. If General Butler employed most of his time in address- 76 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ing orders to the people under his authority, or finding subjects therefor, he spent the rest largely planning small campaigns, worth only a bragging report from himself or his agent. At ease in his office in New Orleans, he sent forth regiments to support his plans, howsoever insignif icant they might be. He was careful, where he could be so, to see that with the troops there should always be a gun boat or two to keep them company. He had begun by pinning his fate to the fleet; but it was to the fleet com manded by Farragut, which he had seen from a gunboat victoriously passing the fire of the forts. In Farragut's fleet he continued to believe until Banks superseded him on the 8th of November, 1862. It is useless to follow his troops in their marauding expeditions which penetrated into the interior of the State within easy distance of New Orleans. The history of the war in Louisiana is full of skirmishes, the occasional result of such expeditions. Some have already been mentioned. Arrayed against him, Weitzel heard that in the La- fourche district Brig. -Gen. Alfred Mouton, an able soldier, would be pitted. On October 24th the Federal general left Carrollton with his command. With him moved the inevitable parade of gunboats. Going up the river he entered Donaldsonville without opposition on the 25th. A reconnoissance drove in our pickets, and re ported the Confederates in force on both sides of the Lafourche. He purposed to start the next day with his train and caissons, with Thibodeaux as his objective point. Leaving Donaldsonville, he marched on the left bank until he was near Napoleonville, where he biv ouacked in line of battle. Weitzel was fox-like. With a view to preventing the Confederates from making use of their flatboat ferries, he summarily took in tow a flat- boat bridge, meanwhile destroying every boat he passed. He continued deliberately his march down the La fourche to within ten miles above Labadieville. There he heard that the Confederates were in force about one CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 77 mile ahead. The Lafourche is not over-broad here. Both of its steep banks were made use of in Weitzel's coming fight. General Taylor had had his hands full with his new command of western Louisiana. With New Orleans near, and Brashear City a still nearer Federal head quarters, the department seemed likely to impose a tax upon vigilance. Gunboats could move up the Atcha- falaya and through it into the adjacent network of waters. Taylor knew himself to be weak both in guns and men, but worse than weak in gunboats. With Mouton, who was a host in himself, were the Eighteenth Louisiana — his own regiment, and the Crescent regi ment of New Orleans. Both of these organizations were veterans of Shiloh. The army of Tennessee had sent them to help their native State on the Lafourche. As constituted, the Federal strength on the Lafourche was nearly double that of the Confederates. They had 2,500 infantry, 250 cavalry, and two batteries of field artillery. The Confederate cavalry, about the same number, was under the command of that gallant soldier, Col. W. G. Vincent. Vincent had with him only 600 infantry, with Semmes' field battery, to oppose the su perior numbers of the enemy. Vincent, who on the ar rival of Weitzel was in Donaldsonville, had fallen back to the Raccourci (cut-off) in Assumption parish. There Mouton had met him and learned the war news. Hearing of the disparity of force, Mouton had receded still more while waiting for reinforcements, previously ordered up from Berwick bay and Bayou Boeuf, where they had been stationed. Reaching, in falling back, the Winn plantation, two miles above Labadieville, he found the Eighteenth and Crescent regiments, with Ralston 's battery, just come in from the bay. With them came the Terrebonne militia. On October 25th the enemy were marching both sides of the bayou. To oppose the double advance, Mouton 78 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. made a careful distribution of his small force. On the right bank he placed the Eighteenth regiment, 240 men; Crescent regiment, 135; Ralston 's battery, 64; detachment of cavalry, 100; total, 539 men; and on the left bank, Thirty-third regiment (Clack's and Fournet's battalions), 594 men; Terrebonne regiment, 34; Semmes' battery, 75; Second Louisiana cavalry, 150 men; total, 853 men. It was a peculiar fight which was made at Labadieville, October 2yth. Fought on both sides of the Lafourche, the enemy numbered equally strong on the two banks, massing 1,500 to 1,800 on each side. The column on the right bank, pressing forward with greater eagerness, had outstripped that on the left. About 9 a. m. it approached our line of battle. Mouton, fighting resolutely, here succeeded in checking their forward movement. All this time a duel was going on between the batteries. Unfortunately, at the outset Ralston 's battery was severely injured by the enemy's shells. To make it worse, ammunition giving out, it was compelled to fall back. Owing to the loss of its commander this was done in some confusion. Confusion in a small force cuts with a wider swath than in an army. The trouble with Ralston's battery led to a retrograde movement on our part, to a position about a mile and a half below at Labadieville, about 4 p. m., and here the Confederates made a new stand. Mouton had the com mander's eye — the eye which in the battle sees every angle of the field. He had noticed that the enemy, having crossed troops on his pontoon bridge to the right bank, was massing his forces there. This was a challenge to which Mouton at once responded by throwing across to the same bank part of his infantry stationed on the left. Mouton says in his report: "At the close of the day the force of the enemy numbered about 2,000 infantry, 100 cavalry and a battery, while my own barely reached 1,000, including the infantry, cavalry and artillery." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 79 No fighting was done by the forces thus unexpectedly facing each other in battle line. Labadieville, although gallantly contested, proved to be a Confederate reverse. The odds, through heavy reinforcements coming in toward the end, proved too much for our thin line. Our loss at Labadieville was in killed, 5 ; wounded, 8 ; miss ing, 1 86. Mouton refers to the regretted death of Col. G. P. McPheeters, commanding the Crescent regi ment. McPheeters, a distinguished lawyer in peace, had in war • • •• "won his stars On that field of Mars, Where the glorious Johnston fell." At mid-day on the 27th, Mouton had given orders to Major Sanders, assistant-quartermaster, to send over the train to get Col. T. E. Vick's command, consisting of the Lafourche militia, about 500 strong, and a de tachment from the Thirty-third, with instructions to save everything he could and to destroy everything he could not save. This was a matter of precaution. Simultaneous movements, he had learned, would be made by the enemy via Donaldsonville, Des Allemands and Berwick bay. With a force sufficient to oppose the enemy at all points, he foresaw the necessity of abandon ing Des Allemands, in order better to concentrate his forces at Berwick bay. Vick, after destroying the Des Allemands station and burning the bridge, marched to join the main army. A roadbed is wearisome walking. Vick's militia found it so hard that they did not rejoin Mouton until 3 p. m. on the 28th. Vick's men, it must be added, were princi pally conscripts. Speaking of them, General Mouton says: "On the retreat, I am sorry to say, many of the conscripts attached to Colonel Vick's command lagged behind." "My object," Mouton continued, "could I have united my force, was to make a desperate resist ance and to drive the enemy back, if possible ; but when 80 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. my reinforcements failed to come on, no alternative was left me but to maneuver with the enemy and save my force. In consequence I issued orders for the removal of the sick to Berwick bay and made all needful prepara tions for the removal of the stores. ' ' Mouton, still retiring slowly, faced the enemy like a lion at bay, until he was ready to withdraw. At 4 p. m. on the 28th, he sent forward all the troops which could be collected. Then, as proof that he was still able to damage the enemy, he ordered the destruction by fire of the Thibodeaux bridge, the Lafourche crossing bridge, and the Terrebonne station. After which, riding with his cavalry, he reached Berwick bay on the 2pth. By the 3oth, everything worth preserving had been crossed over the Atchafalaya. Mouton did not long hold Ber wick. Barely resting in that post, he was informed of the presence of four of the enemy's gunboats. He learned, moreover, that those boats were lying outside of obstructions which had been placed in the passes. Evi dently the enemy was preparing for a war-raid up the bayou. Knowing that he could not offer resistance to gunboats, if once in the bay, Mouton, selecting a defen sible position on the Teche, hastened to intrench and fortify about half a mile up the bayou, To provide for every contingency he placed obstructions in the bayou at Cornay's bridge. What was to be done needed swift ness. Not many miles separated the passes and the Teche. It would not be long before the gunboats would be pushing their black prows up to Cornay's. His only hope was that a low tide might prevent them from re moving his obstructions, or from finding the channel, alwa)rs somewhat uncertain. This hope was destined to speedy disappointment. Captain E. W. Fuller, com manding the Confederate gunboat, J. A. Cotton, which with two small steamers and a launch composed the flotilla in Berwick bay, was sharply watching the Fed eral squadron under Lieut. T. McK. Buchanan. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 81 On November ist he notified General Mouton that one was within his obstructions, with the others steaming past — a serious blow, which Mouton met by falling back two miles above the obstructions, at Mrs. Meade's. New intrenchments were begun, with a view to establishing heavy guns. The same day four gun boats were seen cautiously moving up the bayou. He had already ordered Captain Fuller with the Cotton to delay them as long as possible. Intrenchments were to be strengthened ; and the Cotton was to keep the gun boats busy while Mouton was using mattock and spade. The Cotton showed 110 fear of the enemy. Several shots were exchanged between steamer and gunboats, without injury to either. On the night of November 2d it be came a small game of hide and seek. The gunboats had dropped back to the bay. With them out of the way the Cotton, capable of being of great service to Mouton, was lost for a time, being backed up the Teche a little above the intrenchments. Service was soon demanded, however, of the Cotton, even in the Teche. It was to be ready to engage the gunboats should they come up again. On November 3d the enemy moved up, as expected. At 2 p. m. his whole force engaged the Cotton. Behind the Cotton was an uncovered land battery of rifled pieces, stationed there for co-operation and support. The fight of artillery lasted from 2 p. m. to 3 130 p. m. The gun boats were made strong by their numbers. Coming up to close range, the enemy's fire grew so heavy that both the Cotton and the battery were compelled to retire. Thus freed from all danger of reprisal, the gunboats moved boldly up to the very obstructions. Their shells, skillfully guided, compelled the Confederates to get out of range. The squadron continued the shelling at inter vals for three days, until Wednesday, November 5th, on which day victory clearly remained with the Cotton. The enemy, wearied with the long contest and con- La 6 82 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. scions of having inflicted bnt little injury upon their plucky foe, turned and * steamed back to Berwick bay. On his side, Mouton completed at his ease the mounting of such guns as he had. At 4 a. m. on the 4th, he had resumed his position on the Teche. The casualties of the engagement, on the Cotton, were i private killed and 2 wounded; and though slightly damaged the gunboat was soon in trim for another ex change of shells and spherical cases. The conduct of Capt. E. W. Fuller, commanding, in successfully repulsing, with an artillery company on a small gunboat, with 4 guns, a squadron of four gunboats carrying 27 guns, was highly complimented by General Taylor. This series of affairs was, in every respect, creditable alike to our young State navy and to its able and skillful commander. The gun boat Cotton continued for three months to steam up and down Bayou Teche, faithfully guarding its shining waters and fertile banks from hostile vessels. With each day that it appeared upon the Teche, or in the Atchafalaya, its formidable reputation and resolute aspect sent fear before it. The repulsed squadron, on its return, had scattered far and wide reports of the deadly skill with which her guns had been served. The rumor, canvassed here and there along the bayou, soon came to Weitzel's ears. Weitzel claimed to be in undisputed possession of the entire country between Boutte Station and Brashear City. The news of the Cotton's intentions, after in creasing its armament both in caliber and in number, to join in an attack upon his forces at Berwick bay, natural ly decided him, always in co-operation with the fleet, to organize an expedition for the capture or destruction of the dauntless rover of the bayous. The expedition, a large one for so simple a duty, comprised seven regiments of infantry, four full batteries of artillery, and six extra pieces, and two CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 83 companies of cavalry. Nothing could have more clearly showed Weitzel's awe of the victorious Cotton than this disproportionate force to be hurled against her. At 3 a. in. of January 14, 1863, the gunboats began crossing the troops from Brashear City to Berwick. At 10:30 a. in. infantry, cavalry and artillery were on board. The whole force was disembarked and formed in line of battle at Pattersonville, subsequently advanc ing to Lynch 's Point. There Weitzel bivouacked for the night. A report ran that the Cotton was very near the army's bivouac. It might have been only a Con federate fancy. That night, however, the army slept under guard of the squadron. The Cotton, indeed, was just in sight. She was only a short distance up the Teche, which Captain Fuller had been commissioned to defend with his guns. So great was the terror inspired by her name that Weitzel's first order, at day-break, was to call for 60 volunteers from each of two regiments, one detachment to move up the east bank of the Teche, the other the west bank. Both were to run right up to the Cotton and shoot down her gunners. Evidently there was no hope for the de fender of the Teche, for the vessel was so cordially de tested that volunteers responded with the alacrity of hatred. The first movement was made by the gunboats, going ahead to engage their old foe. After the squad ron, the army advanced steadily up the bank. The hour of vengeance was drawing near, and all on the bayou and on the shore were waiting to hear the stroke! What danger soever might come from the heroic vessel at bay would fall solely upon the squadron. The army might aid in its destruction — the army itself could not be harmed. The two regiments out of whose ranks the volunteers had stepped, had marched up on either bank within supporting distance of the doomed boat. That on the west bank threw out its skirmishers in force. With these 84 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the volunteers, every man of them a sharpshooter, attacked the Cotton, shooting down every one in sight, and so, one by one, silencing her guns. The east bank was equally busy wreaking vengeance. From the main road on that side, back of the high bank, burst an enfilading fire ; from plantation roads, farther back and running par allel to the main road, batteries en echelon were pouring shell into her broadside. All this time the air was filled with shrieking canister. As fast as possible the gunners in the gunboats were doing their share of punishing, at a safe distance, the plucky little vessel which, in more equal days, had faced four of them alone and unsup ported. In history often runs a thread of cynicism. With these varied odds against her, the Cotton had be come almost incapable of retreat. Fortunately a cham pion appeared on the bank. The left section (two 12- pounder bronze field howitzers) of Capt. T. A. Faries' artillery had got into battery just in time to protect the Cotton, whose gunners and pilots had already left, owing to the hot fire of the sharpshooters. The Cotton had in fact become unmanageable, and was able to retreat only through the efforts of the battery in dispersing the Feder als. She retreated slowly, proudly, avoiding haste. After getting out of range the boat staggered back, as though blinded, but resolved again to defy shell and spherical case. The next morning Nemesis had prepared a dra matic end for the Cotton — such as she had prepared for each of the Confederate guards of the interior waters of our State. Before daybreak, even before the eager forces could begin to remove obstructions in the bayou, a cry was heard forward. It passed clearly from man to man. "The Cotton is on fire!" The report was well founded. The gunboat had, in some blind way, swung across the bayou. There, as though faithful beyond her life, the Teche's heroic defender had placed herself as a still more difficult obstruction to the enemy's entrance into those lovely waters, so rich in natural beauties and so idolized CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 85 by the genius of our sweetest American poet. The ex pedition having accomplished its object, Weitzel ordered an immediate return to Brashear City. In his exultation on the result of the expedition, Weitzel poetically telegraphed on January i4th, " The Confed erate States gunboat Cotton is one of the things that were. ' ' Thirty-five years have passed since the J. A. Cot ton perished gloriously between the banks which she had so gallantly guarded. The deeds of this champion of our imperiled bayous will not soon be forgotten in the war traditions of our Louisiana waterways. CHAPTER IX. BANKS RELIEVES BUTLER— OPERATES ON THE ATCH- AFALAYA— FIRST EXPEDITION TOWARD RED RIVER —BATTLE OF CAMP BISLAND. ON September 14, 1862, Halleck, general-in-chief at Washington, wrote to General Butler at New Or leans : ' * The rumor in regard to your removal from the command is a mere newspaper story without founda tion. " A change must have then come over the war department, or, perhaps, Butler's skirts had not been fairly clean since his Order No. 28. On December 17, 1862, Maj.-Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks formally assumed command of the department of the Gulf. December i4th he had delivered to General Butler Halleck's order reliev ing him from command. Butler left degraded before the eyes of the entire coun try. Opposition existed to him in the North, and con tempt for him in the South. In some respects, the man was better than his reputation. He had displayed, as the holder of a captured city, administrative faculties of a high order. He had, in the discharge of his important duties as such, with one exception, shown capacity with prudence. In the field he was always faithful to the gov ernment which he served with far more zeal than ability. It is probable that a statement in one of General Grant's reports* has done more to shape popular opinion as to the military capacity of General Butler than all the success which he strove to win, either in the field or as the *Referring to his having been forced back into the intrenchments between the forks of the James and the Appomattox rivers, General Grant said: " His army, therefore, though in a position of great se curity, was as completely shut off from further operations directly against Richmond as if it had been in a bottle strongly corked." 86 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 87 director of a strong city captured but never sub jugated. Benjamin F. Butler passes forever from the stage of Louisiana. He knew those " entrances " and those " exits " which an ordinary actor might learn with ease; but that he never quite reached the lofty stature of him who plays the king is more than a verdict of the coulisses. Massachusetts, the great State that mothered him, was to place him later in her chair of honor ; while learned Harvard, keener sighted than the populace, was to refuse him her degree. Banks did not permit his army leisure for rest Wash ington having expected certain results from his activity, he needed be quick. Reaching New Orleans on Decem ber 14, 1862, he announced on the i8th to Halleck that he had on the i6th ordered, without transhipping troops or stores, 10,000 men, with a battery of artillery, to pro ceed to Baton Rouge under command of Gen. Cuvier Grover. He knew that Baton Rouge was the first Con federate position on the lower Mississippi, and that eighteen miles above Baton Rouge was Port Hudson, 44 strongly fortified and held by a force of 10,000 or 15,000 men. " Being a civilian soldier, Banks wore rose-colored glasses. He already was hoping, himself, to move against Port Hudson as soon as the troops in the city could be consolidated with the fleet. At this early stage Banks was clearly a convert to the power of floating batteries. About the time that Banks was sailing from New York to New Orleans there had been considerable Confederate activity in the shifting about of commanders in Louisiana. Maj.-Gen. Franklin Gardner was ordered to make Port Hudson impregnable ; General Ruggles was charged with the duty of pushing forward its new works, these being by all accounts already formidable. Earl Van Dorn was still at Vicksburg although Pemberton, at Jackson, Miss. , was soon to be within its walls. Sibley had already come down from Opelousas, with his newest headquarters for the time at New Iberia; Lieut. -Gen. E. Kirby Smith's 88 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. command had been broadened to embrace the Trans- Mis sissippi department, and heroic Richard Taylor had flitted to Opelousas where, however, he was not to stay many days. Taylor had been a much-traveled man over the battlefields of the Confederacy. Banks had left New York with 20, ooo men. In New Or leans he found about 10,000, with eight batteries of artil lery. These combined gave him 30,000 men — not a small force considering the limited ranks of the Confed erates scattered here and there in Louisiana. Banks' troops were promptly consolidated into the Nineteenth army corps. Already his eyes were fixed upon the Red river valley. The conquest and occupation of that country was, in his dreams, to prove the crowning achievement of his military career in the State. But this movement was delayed, partly by the need of settling matters in New Orleans, and partly by expeditions oper ating along with gunboats in the bayous of the neigh borhood of the city. The first months of 1863 saw marked activity among the Federals in southwest Louisiana. Banks, with fever ish anxiety, was sending out expeditions to the old fight ing grounds about the Atchafalaya and Berwick bay. It was the first buzz of the Red river bee which was to sting him a year later. Weitzel, commanding the Fourth brigade, reached Brashear City on February i2th. This expedition was intended to be in co-operation with the principal movement under General Emory by Bayou Plaquemine and the Atchafalaya to the Red river coun try. Banks, thus early, was aiming to perfect his knowl edge of the narrow and crooked water system of lower Louisiana, preliminary to his master stroke against Shreveport. As Confederate partisan rangers, all natives, were patrolling the country roads, an invading force in its marauding trips was reasonably sure to meet with some of these bold riders. Weitzel's orders were to open communication between CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 89 Indian Village and Lake Chicot. Indian Village was a settlement on Bayou Plaqtiemine, occupied by troops un der command of General Emory. Calling in the aid of the gunboat Diana, making a reconnoissance from Ber wick, it was found that all the routes from the village to Chicot were choked with drift for a distance of five miles. Not long did the gunboat Diana breast the waters of the Atchafalaya. On March 28, 1863, Dick Taylor was watch ing her somewhere from the bank near Berwick bay. He says: " I have the honor to report the capture of the Fed eral gunboat Diana at this point to-day. She mounted five heavy guns. Boat not severely injured, and will be immediately put in service. Emory's loss in killed, wounded and prisoners, 150." On January 28th there had been a cavalry skirmish with the Confederates temporarily around Indian Village. These Confederates were driven from their hastily raised fortifications on the west bank of the Grosse Tete. The enemy, having thus occupied Indian Village, attempted, through Weitzel, unsuccessfully to utilize the water route to Lake Chicot. High water was over the land. That flood which in the early spring brings overflow, as it swells robs the low banks of logs and trees, great and small, and so piles up drift. Drift, rising higher and choking deeper, prevented Weitzel' s junction with Emory on the Plaquemine. Assuredly the Mississippi, for once true to Louisiana, was busy largessing the bayous in her favor. Meanwhile Butte-a-la-Rose was made a new objective under Banks' plan of campaign. The Butte was a forti fied mound rising high at the junction of the Atchafalaya and Cow bayou. This post was advantageously situated for the Confederates, being near the terminus of the road from St. Martinsville. Its garrison was estimated by the Federals at about 400 men, with four pieces of artillery. Banks, in his effort to make easy his Red river route by the bayou, had hoped from Weitzel's zeal to hear of the 90 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. prompt capture of Butte-a-la-Rose. The high water, flooding the land and swelling the bayous, rendered this expedition impossible. It was reserved for the fleet, on April 2oth, in conjunction with companies of infantry, to take the Butte. Again the fleet had, under a strong leader, shown the army how to take a fortified work. For both fleet and army, the capture of the Butte was an inviting object. Banks had ordered Grover, commanding at Baton Rouge and already waiting for the order, to proceed by water to Donaldsonville and thence to Thibodeaux. Behind an open Atchafalaya, he could see the Red river country free to his troops. These two expeditions, therefore, were an advance in force of a powerful army. Dick Tay lor was on the Teche awaiting him with 4,000 men all told. For the Confederate leader, the larger the enemy's column, the more he enjoyed the shock of battle. Banks had been building up rainbows during March, 1863. Every expedition sent out by him was, directly or indi rectly, connected with the expedition up Red river. Weitzel had previously been despatched to move up the Teche, and having heard of the arrival of the Confeder ate vessels Queen of the West and Webb at Butte-a-la- Rose, he naturally wanted some gunboats for himself. Without a superior force of these at Berwick bay he could not longer hold his position on the Atchafalaya. On April 8th, Banks left New Orleans on a new ex pedition. He reached Brashear City, where Weitzel's brigade was stationed, and immediately ordered Weitzel to cross the bay, followed closely by Emory. Grover, from Bayou Boeuf, reached him about i p. m. On April zoth, Banks' general plan was to move upon Bayou Teche, with a probable attack upon our force at Pattersonville. After this he purposed proceeding to New Iberia to de stroy the salt works near that town. Banks was cross ing on the pth, loth and nth. The transportation of his large army was necessarily slow. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 91 It was not until April nth that the enemy commenced his advance upon Camp Bisland. This was soon seen by us to be a serious movement. His advance guard was larger than the entire Confederate force within the camp. Fort Bisland was a collection of earthworks, hastily con structed and too low for effective defense, on the east bank of Bayou Teche. The Confederate line of defense included also the west bank. On the east bank of the bayou, under Gen. Alfred Mouton, were posted Fournet's " Yellow Jacket " Louisiana battalion; the famous Cres cent regiment, Colonel Bosworth ; next to it the equally famous Eighteenth Louisiana, Colonel Armant; with the guns of Faries' fighting ' * Pelican battery ' ' posted along the line, and Bagby's Texas volunteers on the skir mish line. Colonel Vincent's Second Louisiana cavalry, held in reserve during the morning of the i2th, was or dered by General Taylor to proceed to Verdun's landing to prevent a gunboat of the enemy, with several trans ports containing troops, from making a landing at that point, and next day he was reinforced by Reily's Texas regiment. On the left bank the remainder of our little army was waiting. On the extreme right were Tom Green's Texas cavalry and Walker's battalion, both dismounted. On the left of Green's command was the Valverde battery; Colonel Gray's Louisiana regiment held the center, with a section of Cornay's St. Mary's Cannoneers and Semmes' battery. A 24-pounder siege gun, worked by Cornay's battery, was in position, commanding the ap proach by the west bank. In the upper Teche the Diana was waiting to be made useful in supporting her new masters by steaming down the bayou along the west bank. It was Taylor's idea that, by moving on a line with an attacking column, the vessel could drive the enemy back, throw him into con fusion and so force him into withdrawal of the troops he was essaying to land in our rear to the assistance of his 92 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. army in our front. This was a daring plan to be essayed on the next day. Mouton's line was long and sparsely defended. Know ing the character of the ground, and believing that the enemy's attack would be mainly directed against his left flank, Mouton ordered Bagby to take position in front of his intrenchments about 500 yards, so as to check the enemy's advance. On April i2th, about 10 a. m., the enemy came in force, covered by his gunboats lying in the Teche. He landed troops at Lynch 's Point on the east bank. Bagby fought every inch of the advance. It was a long line to guard from the Teche to the redoubt on the east bank — a line about 900 yards in length and showing a painfully sparse rank of brave defenders. Mouton, in order to make his small force cover these in trenchments, had skillfully distributed the remainder of his troops, numbering about 1,000. He had placed Fournet's battalion on the right, the Crescent regiment in the center and the Eighteenth on the left. Paries' Pelican battery was planted here and there, by sec tions, on the main road. Clearly, not a single man could be held in reserve. Every man stood as needed to cover the main line on the east bank. On the 1 3th the enemy threw forward their skirmishers. At 10 a. m. a movement commenced as if intended to assault the whole line. This was a feint, for it was soon evident to Taylor that his left flank was the serious point of assault. A struggle occurred here, showing calm and devoted courage on our part. Against our left flank five regiments were successively hurled. Here was Bagby 's opportunity to obey orders. He effectively resisted each assault in the open field in front of our intrenchments, with not more than 500 men. Not until night did the gallant band yield ground. It was a slight yield, com pelled under the masses concentrated against us. So fierce were the successive assaults, so overwhelming the mere pressure of men against our weakened line, that CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 98 Mouton, looking at the unequal fight from the redoubt where he had stationed himself, ordered to Bagby's sup port Captain Beraud and his company of Fournet's bat talion. The remainder of the battalion he directed to the right of the main line, where a severe demonstration, still more formidable in numbers, came up with three regi ments. This seemed to be simultaneous with a strong movement on the west bank. The conflict with Bagby progressing more viciously, Mouton ordered forward the entire left wing of the Eighteenth regiment. The enemy still stubbornly pressed his masses forward. This was met with another rein forcement of 60 men of Waller's battalion, under Major Boone. These advanced steadily into the hottest of the engagement. It was a crucial hour, crowded with valor ous minutes and devoted seconds. With two regiments in the center, flanked by three regiments on the right, the enemy pushed forward until the night, when they were checked within 800 yards of the parapet. On both sides of Bayou Teche, batteries were now spitting fire and shells. This fire was made the more harassing by the enemy's skirmishers and sharpshooters, who vexed Paries with a continuous shower of minie balls. Sharpshooters, getting within 400 yards of the Southern line, had de tected the hastily thrown up breastworks. These were so low as to protect neither the " Pelicans " nor their horses. One of Faries' guns was lost at this point. The defenders, looking before them, saw in the twilight a movement, and passed the word : ' ' They are going to storm our line. ' ' Then each man fixed his bayonet, test ing it to make sure that there was no weakness in the steel, and thus the whole line prepared to defend, in hand-to-hand conflict, the possession of the intrench- ments. Superiority of numbers, crowding on the line, would have borne the brave defenders down by mere weight of men, but the attempt to storm was not made! Nothing proved more conclusively the enemy's sense of 94 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the valor with which a small force against an army had resisted that army's advance for two days. At midnight on April i3th Mouton received orders to evacuate his position. This retrograde movement was executed with all the promptness possible, " especially when it was considered that Captain Paries had lost a large number of his horses. ' ' Mouton, after mentioning the gallantry of Colonel Bagby, his regiment and the re inforcements sent him during the action, pays a tribute to Paries' Pelicans: " The Pelican battery covered itself with glory. Too much praise cannot be awarded to Cap tain Paries, Lieutenants P. Winchester, R. B. Winchester, Garrett and Gaudet. This battery may be equaled, but cannot be surpassed in the Confederate service." Mouton, in his retreat reaching Franklin 10 miles dis tant on Tuesday, April i4th, reported to General Taylor; and Taylor, with an eye to brave and loyal service, placed him in command of the troops holding the enemy in check in our rear. A most important duty this, in a small army, which, falling back before overwhelming forces, needs a man to command men! Napoleon, a keen judge of his marshals, chose Ney to steady the retreat from Borodino of that huge army, overwhelmed by Gener als Snow and Ice. Mouton, to perish gloriously at Mans field, has this to say for Richard Taylor: " It is due to the truth of history that I shall here record the fact that the salvation of our retiring army was entirely owing to the bold and determined attack of our troops under the immediate command of Major-General Taylor, he leading the van upon the enemy, at early dawn — thoroughly ar resting the advance of the whole force of the enemy, 8,000 to 10,000 strong, with not over 1,200 men, until our re treating forces had gotten far on the road leading to the Cypremort and beyond the reach of pursuit. ' ' In re verse, this is like Napoleon at Elba praising Lannes ! Mouton 's re treat was not effected without some checks. Hearing that the enemy were not only already in Frank- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 95 lin, but that they were in position to cut off his retreat, Mouton succeeded by means of a by-path well known to him, "a Creole of the Attakapas," in extricating his command from a perilous position. CHAPTER X. TAYLOR'S WITHDRAWAL FROM BISLAND— ENGAGE- MENT AT FRANKLIN— A SUCCESSFUL RETREAT- BANKS ABANDONS THE EXPEDITION— TAYLOR'S VICTORY AT BERWICK BAY— FIGHTING ABOUT DON- ALDSONVILLE— ON THE FORDOCHE AND BAYOU BOURBEAU. JUDGING by the signs of retreat, the battle at Camp Bisland was a Confederate defeat. But the inditia of combat, the rush of assaulting forces against intrench - ments and the valor of the men behind those intrench- ments, contesting and making perilous every step, the result was a drawn battle. Our retreat, though rendered necessary by overwhelming odds, was a Federal repulse. Taken at our own time in the night, our little army es caped close pursuit. Above all, our line of hastily built intrenchments was not once mounted by a foe. Behind that line another fact stands out triumphantly. The successful saving of our material and stores showed no haste in the slow retreat from Bisland, and stamped Gen eral Taylor as a commander in "Whom a good quarter master was saved. The retreat, with all its saving of quartermaster, commissary, medical and ordnance stores, was a striking proof that Taylor was not only a power before an enemy, but a cautious guardian of an army's 44 essentials." General Taylor's first plan had been to conduct his re treat by way of New Iberia. But on Monday night he learned that the enemy had landed a heavy force at Higgins' Point; this left the foe in possession of the only road by which a retreat toward New Iberia could be effected. No time was allowed for hesitation. At least 96 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 97 14,000 men were already crowding into our new front. This movement of the enemy, in heavy masses, multiplied the peril for a force of less than 4,000 men. He saw that the only way of extrication was by evacuating his earth works, no longer useful, and by cutting his way through the impeding force on the New Iberia road above Frank lin. This plan, to be successful, must be immediately at tempted. Orders were accordingly issued to march on Franklin as soon as possible. Immediately after daylight, the enemy's skirmishers appearing first were followed by a force consisting of five regiments of infantry, a battalion of cavalry and a battery of artillery in line of battle. The Confederates opened upon them with artillery and musketry and checked their advance. Evidently they were trying to keep Taylor's forces at that point until the whole army could come up and hem them in. Gray's Twenty-eighth Louisiana, having just reached Franklin, was at once posted on the left of the new line. A charge was made, driving the enemy back in confusion. Behind his visible line was masked a still larger force, which also was held in check. In this charge Colonel Vincent, of the Second Louisiana cavalry, with two other officers of the com mand, were wounded. This was the battle of Franklin ; not a great fight, but favorable to the Confederates, and insuring them a suc cessful retreat with all their stores. Having thus repulsed the enemy, Taylor ordered the gunboat Diana to move above Franklin and take position so that her guns would sweep the fields and roads which the enemy had held. Plac ing General Mouton in command of the troops assembled in line at McKerall's field, Taylor repaired to Franklin, where he urged forward the train and troops, just then coming on the cut-off road from Franklin to New Iberia. The employment of the Diana in shelling the roads and sweeping the fields was to be merely temporary. Taylor had given, as a military "aside," orders to Captain La 7 98 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Semmes, who was in command of the Diana, to abandon her after setting her on fire ; this sacrifice to be made after General Mouton had fallen back. Thus again was it done to another Confederate vessel. It mattered noth ing that the Diana had but lately joined the Confederate sisterhood. Another vessel, the Confederate gunboat Stevens, was to be sunk by its commander — 4' unfinished condition — the enemy near — unfit for action — absence of guns" — so ran the Stevens' report. This law of destruc tion was inexorable on the Mississippi and all its outlying bayous, between 1861 and 1865. The retreat continued undisturbed. The rear guard, under Colonel Green, varied occasional skirmishes with the enemy with frequent dashes upon the pursuers, and thus arrived at Vermilion bayou. As soon as his whole train and forces had safely crossed the bayou, Taylor had the bridge burned. Then, having planted artillery on the heights and sharpshooters on the right of his line, along the upper banks, he allowed the troops and teams to rest from Thursday afternoon to midday on Friday. Nothing further occurred but skirmishes at the bridge, repelling the enemy from treading on our rear guard. Still retreating slowly, Taylor burned the bridges across bayous Boeuf and Cocodrie. When near the town of Opelousas he moved, through Green's efficient cover of his rear, across the Boeuf and beyond all danger of cap ture an extensive train. Thus without strain, in no hurry, and ever keeping the enemy in awe of the mystery lying in their peppery rear guard, taking easy stages, often allowed to rest — once, af ter burning Vermilion bridge, for a whole day — and sav ing all their stores, did the Louisianians, who had fought so gallantly at Bisland, led by Mouton and guarded by Green, retreat before their enemy. Never before had a retreat of an inferior force from a large army been so free from haste or confusion. Taylor fell back toward Natchitoches. Mouton was ordered to the westward of CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 99 Opelousas. A double purpose in this was to harass the enemy on his flank and rear, which, if not successful in preventing his further advance into the interior, would render it both slow and cautious. On May 4, 1863, Banks and his army moved from Opelousas toward Alexandria. Banks, on the road to Alexandria, was anxious to make sure of Farragut's fleet. He inquired, "Can the admiral meet me at Alexandria on Red river in the last week in April? ' ' Reaching that city he was joined by four ironclads under Admiral Porter, but the fleet lost its immediate importance with relation to the army's advance. Banks, in regard to his Red river campaign, had himself veered around. " My advance is sixty miles above Alexandria, ' ' he said. * ' We shall fight the enemy if we can find him, but cannot pursue him farther unless we have a chance to overtake him or meet him." While Banks was in possession of Alexandria he was, for a time of doubt, mightily disturbed about what he could do in aid of Grant. On May i2th, he showed anxiety about his inability to join Grant against Vicks- burg, lamenting that he was ' * left to move against Port Hudson alone." On the i3th, having reconsidered mat ters, he was sure that he could " add 12,000 men to Grant's column." In consequence of this change of mind, Banks resolved to forego his cherished expedition against Shreveport, in favor of aiding in the reduction of Port Hudson. His Red river scheme being a " flash in the pan," the government's plan to force an " open Missis sippi " had quickly become his own. The safe enjoy ment of the Red river valley, according to him, might be postponed until 1864. Well it was for General Banks that the future does not lift up its mystic curtain — as im penetrable to the eyes of man as that veil, rimmed with light, of the temple of Isis seen by Alciphron. He at once moved his entire army, via Opelousas and New Iberia, back to Brashear City. For the moment, 100 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. southwestern Louisiana lay at his feet. Subject to the vicissitudes of the war, this much harassed Belgium of the State will again, within three months, see the battle- flag of the Confederacy guiding the charge, with General Taylor and his men marching valorously under its folds. In the meantime, Banks had come down to the lower Mis sissippi, with a view of keeping his agreement with Gen eral Grant. On June 23d, Taylor, with his usual activity, succeeded in capturing Brashear City with a small and picked com mand. Light marching was his word of order. With this capture was joined a large quantity of ordnance, ordnance stores, quartermaster and commissary supplies, and about 1,500 prisoners. The stores made a capture peculiarly valuable to our little ill-fed army of Louisianians. With this small success, Taylor, having spoiled the enemy, looked around for other gaps in his hedges. Brashear City was one gap; Berwick was to be another. Taylor had needed a slight breeze of success. Before coming down to the Atchaf alaya, under orders to operate in the relief of Vicksburg> he had planned attacks on Milliken's Bend and Young's Point. Without his usual caution, he had left to others the details of the movements. Taylor's fiery activity was not always shared in by his subordinates. On the wing from west Louisiana to the Teche, Taylor had ascribed the ** meager results " of the expedition to the lack of vigorous activity on the part of the leaders, and that "the officers and men were possessed of a dread of gunboats, such as foolishly per vaded our people at the commencement of the war. " All this was in June, 1863 — the year of Vicksburg's capture. Taylor had been hoping to make some diver sion in north Louisiana to help Pemberton. Vicksburg falling, Taylor had then thought of Port Hudson, and of that Southern section which, needing him, had raised her mailed hand for help. Like himself, he had left un productive valor in north Louisiana to tempt new and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 101 certain success in the well-threshed fields of the Atch- afalaya and the Lafourche. Apropos of the charge of unproductiveness he had mentioned by name throughout this time of languor Harrison's Louisiana cavalry as having rendered *' invaluable service." Just from balking Banks in 1863, Taylor was for strengthening the Red river country against him for 1864. When New Orleans fell, ten guns (32 -pounders and 24- pounders) were thrown into Barataria and Berwick bay. These had been fished out of the water at odd times. Taylor, returning from that section, thought constantly about its defense. Seeing the guns, he ordered some on Red river below Alexandria; others (two) were to be mounted at Harrison burg, on a high hill on the west bank of the Ouachita; two 24-pounders were to go to Butte-a- la-Rose. Having done this much, and Banks temporarily out of the way in front of Port Hudson, Taylor was much cheered at receiving Walker's Texas division from Ar kansas (4,000 men). With Walker's men, he had begun to hope that Berwick bay could be captured, the La- fourche country overrun, and Banks' communication with New Orleans cut off. At Berwick was a number of sick men convalescing. With the invalids was an effective force of about 400. Berwick's works were formidable ; but for them Taylor cared little. Meanwhile, a concerted movement against Banks might make real the brilliant dream of seizing New Orleans by a coup de main; setting free that Confed erate feeling held captive in devoted hearts ; and finding recruits to fill gaps in fighting regiments, now turning to 1 ' skeletons. ' ' Reports had crept through, too, that the force at the city did not exceed 1,000 men. Never was this hope, during 1862-64, other than an illusion. Covering the main attack on Berwick, Taylor had or ganized an expedition via Plaquemine and Bayou La- fourche to Bayou Boeuf, under Col. James P. Major, com- 102 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. manding a Texas cavalry brigade. On the west Mouton, under orders, had collected 53 small craft near the mouth of the Teche, capable of transporting 300 troops across the Atchafalaya. Detachments for these boats were drawn from Vincent's Louisianians, under Major Blair, and from Green's Texans, all under Maj. Sherod Hunter. With such resources the attack on Berwick was made a success. Major was ordered to reach the Boeuf punctually on the morning of June 23d, as Taylor himself would be attacking Berwick at dawn. A gun boat lay in the bay protecting Berwick. During the night Green had, in absolute silence, stationed a battery op posite the gunboat and the railroad station. At dawn, the battery awoke the gunboat, speedily driv ing her off. The sound of the firing was a veritable sur prise to the men behind the earthworks, whence they at tempted in nervous haste to serve the heavy guns against the Confederates. Just then, a shot rang out in the rear. Hunter was on time, coming with his 300. Smoke was rising at the station. Taylor saw at once that a train of three engines with many cars was escaping in the dim dawn to carry news to Boeuf. A nod, and Green was on the road, galloping after the runaway. He soon came up with the train, finding it stopped by Major — also on time — in possession of both train and bridge. An excellent type of success, built on punctu ality, had been the attack, main and rear. Green and Major, starting from points more than 100 miles apart, had converged to meet at Boeuf. Taylor, trying both, had been aided by both. The ride of the one and the march of the other had been through a region largely in possession of the enemy, who had heard nothing of either. Berwick bay fell into Taylor's hands, with a large amount of stores of vast importance — twelve guns, 32's and 24*3, among which were our old friends from Bisland; 1,300 prisoners; over 5,000 new rifles and ac- couterments ; and great quantities of quartermaster and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 103 commissary wealth, with ordnance and medical stores. Gallant Green, once out for adventures, was for multi plying them. In the vicinity of Donaldsonville, at the junction of the Lafourche and the Mississippi, was an earthwork called Fort Butler. Green, after some cor respondence with Mouton, decided to assault the place. In the night of June 27th, Green attacked, with the support of Colonel Major's brigade, in all 800 men. Neither Green nor Major knew the ground — a fatal mistake in a night movement. An error in thinking the levee above the fort to be its parapet cost Colonel Phillips' life, as he was killed on reaching the ditch. By that time the expedition had become a failure. Major Ridley, of Phillips' regiment, calling to his men, gallantly leaped upon the parapet. Seeing Ridley there, the enemy fled, but finding Ridley alone, they returned and made him prisoner. Green dropped a laurel or two at Fort Butler. Taylor was kept busy for some days hurrying and for warding artillery, and arranging for moving these new and most valuable stores into the interior. He suc ceeded in placing twelve guns on the river below Donald sonville. The new battery did good work. Green's men, dismounted, were ready to affright all inquisitive strangers. One transport was destroyed ; several turned back ; gunboats driven off ; the river closed for three days to transports ; and mounted scouts rode with free rein to a point opposite Kenner's. A few hours more and New Orleans might have been Confederate for one delicious space. But in the first week of July, 1863, events were clubbing counter to Taylor's plans for the city. Vicksburg had fallen. On the night of July loth news came that the blue-coats were in Port Hudson. At times, history chooses agents of unequal power for its triumphs. On July i3th, Generals Weitzel, Grover and Dwight, with 6,000 of the victors of Port Hudson, came down the river, disembarked at Donaldsonville 104 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. and advanced down the Lafottrche. Taylor had been waiting for them. Joining Green, he found him with an excellent plan of battle. Green, gallant soul, much dis turbed with qualms about Fort Butler, was in line with a force of 1,400 dismounted men, including a battery. The enemy appeared and Green, remembering his dropped laurel, charged with irresistible fury, driving them into Donaldsonville, capturing 200 prisoners, many small arms and two guns — one of which was the field gun lost by Paries at Bisland. Taylor took care of all stores from Berwick — not only these, but a large drove of cattle on the hoof. Quarter master and commissary thus satisfied, prudence called for racing the engines and carriages into the bay and throw ing the heavy guns after them. On July 2oth Taylor moved up the Teche, leaving pickets opposite Berwick. Twenty-four hours afterward the enemy's scouts ap peared. The Teche had again become Belgium ! Early in September, 1863, General Banks sent an ex pedition against Sabine Pass, Tex. , which proved to be a fiasco, the entire armada withdrawing, with a heavy loss in mules, from a Texas battery. Determined to do some thing, Banks transferred the troops of the expedition mainly to Berwick bay. Observing the concentration of forces there, Alfred Mouton, commanding in southwest Louisiana, surmised a march for Niblett's Bluff. ' * Should they do this, "he said, " I hope it will produce a disaster; at any rate, I can make them very unhappy." During this period General Taylor kept a force of artil lery and mounted men in the neighborhood of Morganza, seriously interfering with the Federal use of the Missis sippi river. To put a stop to this, Dana's division of the Thirteenth army corps, two brigades, was sent to Mor ganza. Two regiments were sent out " to feel the en emy," and were felt vigorously on the 2pth at the For- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 105 doche bridge by Gen. Tom Green with his Texans. Nearly all the Federals were captured, and there was a heavy loss in killed and wounded. The Federal forces at Berwick advanced to Vermilion bayou on October 8th, and were at Carrion Crow bayou three days later. The expedition was composed of eleven brigades of infantry, two of cavalry, and five battalions of artillery, all under Maj. -Gen. W. B. Frank lin. On October 2ist General Taylor was compelled to withdraw from Opelousas to Washington. A raiding party sent to the enemy's rear, under Col. W. G. Vin cent, returned with prisoners and signal books containing important information. This information assured Tay lor that Franklin's object was not Niblett's Bluff, but his army. An elaborate plan had been made, it appeared, to encompass him from Sabine Pass and Morganza, while attacked in front from Berwick. But knowing that the first two movements had been foiled, Taylor felt confident of defeating the third. On the 24th, when the enemy advanced five miles above Washington, Taylor drew up his forces in line of battle to meet him, but the Federals declined battle and fell back to Washington. A few days later it was discovered that Franklin was in full retreat, and Taylor's cavalry went in pursuit. Gen eral Washburn reported November 2d, " We had a pretty lively time to-day. " In a later report he stated that on the 3d he heard a rapid cannonading, and riding back, found " that we were assailed by an overwhelming force in front and on both flanks. Many of the troops had been broken and were scattered over the field, and the utter destruction or capture of the whole force seemed imminent. . . . Our losses are 26 killed, 124 wounded and 566 missing." This engagement, known as Bayou Bourbeau, was fought by Green's cavalry division, and victory gained with a loss of 22 killed and 103 wounded. On the 4th General Mouton reported the enemy at New Iberia. " Colonel Vincent ambuscaded them at Nelson's 106 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. bridge, and their advance was driven in, leaving the road full of dead and wounded. " Thus ended in disaster the second Federal campaign toward Red river. CHAPTER XL THE RIVER STRONGHOLDS— FAMOUS NAVAL EXPLOIT —CAPTURE OF THE INDIANOLA— PORT HUDSON IN VESTED— FARRAGUT RUNS THE BATTERIES— TAY LOR'S OPERATIONS. IN the fall of 1862 all the military talk had come from a plan proposed by General Ruggles, commanding1 the district of the Mississippi. This was nothing less than to organize an expedition for the recapture of New Orleans. As is well known, nothing came of it except, first, to alarm Butler ; and next, to render Banks nervous about his defenses. Later, two armies dealt largely in gossip. Was Port Hudson to be, or not to be fortified? Still high er up the river, Confederate Vicksburg — not quite ready for her supreme trial — was wondering what Confederate Port Hudson was doing for herself. So rumors, thick and fast, began to creep up and down the lower Mississippi. Fifteen thousand men were said to be at Port Hudson with 29 heavy pieces of field artillery bearing on the river.* One day in February, 1863, a great stir arose in the river between Vicksburg and Port Hudson. It came from the presence of a giant among dwarfs. The giant was cool ; the dwarfs alone excited. General Taylor, feeling rusty on land, heard a proposition from Maj. J. L. Brent, his aide-de-camp, to destroy the Indianola, at the time lord ing it over that quiet stretch of the river, before then free to Confederate boats, and the gateway between the East and West. The Indianola, which had run the batteries of Vicksburg from the upper river, was a strongly built iron clad with her n-inch guns forward and two 8-inch aft, all *In a report of Maj. -Gen. Frank Gardner, dated April 27, 1863, to General Pemberton, he puts his force, "effective" infantry 8,600; artillery 1,700, and cavalry 1,400 — including Ponchatoula forces. 107 108 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. in iron casemates. As a hawk in the "barnyard, she swooped down upon our little river boats. It was now that Dick Taylor caught Major Brent's idea. Quickly seizing the outline, he filled up the details. Among our river boats we had a small but very sturdy gunboat, which had been converted out of a tugboat near New Orleans. To her equipment we had added a ram, and called her the Webb. From the day New Orleans fell, the Webb had been hidden away in Red river. There Taylor had seen her, and her transfer to this de batable ground was the result. Up to that day of transfer the Webb had been unplated. Major Brent commanded the Webb and Captain McCloskey, another aide-de-camp, the Queen of the West, which had been captured by the land battery at Fort De Russy. The Queen had, four or five days before, been strengthened with an improvised ram. It was a service of danger. Volunteers were called to form the crews. More offered than were needed. Two steamers protected by cotton bales were added. These boats, with the Webb and the Queen, formed the expe dition. The Indianola was enjoying her pre-eminence on these waters. Nothing could be more lordly than her way of stopping here and there. One day she halted before Grand Bluff and gave its defenders a touch of her 1 1 -inch guns. On February 24th the expedition was approaching its prey. Major Brent heard, when ascending the Missis sippi some sixty miles below Vicksburg, that the Indian ola was a short way ahead, with a coal barge lashed on either side. Brent decided to wait until the night, being certain that, if struck by her guns, either of his vessels would be destroyed. The little fleet found the Indianola about 9:30 p. m. lying "quartering down" with head to ward the Louisiana shore. McCloskey, testing the impro vised ram of the Queen, attempted to run her down, aim ing at her wheel-house. The Indianola was no true hawk, only a kestrel. On seeing the Confederate ram approach, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 109 she began hastily backing her engines to escape the shock. The Queen necessarily struck her coal barge, cutting entirely through it and into her side, disabling her engines. After the blow, the Queen backed out. The Webb was close behind and, dashing up at full speed, struck the Indianola on the bow. This tore away her other barge, injuring her severely. The Indianola fired her for ward guns at the Webb, which the Webb escaped. Twice did the Queen, coming up again to ram her, crush her paddle-box. The kestrel, in her peril, had gained desper ation. She poured her heavy shot into the Queen from her rear casemates, killing six men and disabling three guns. The Webb, coming up again, rammed also, strik ing the paddle-box, displacing the iron plates and crush ing the timbers. Fighting in the night was a dramatic touch too common in the war. The Queen and the Webb were preparing for another blow. Nothing could be seen through the night — only voices heard calling out from the Indianola that she was sinking. Major Brent, after the surrender, carried his prize to the east side of the river, where she sank on a bar. As a memento of the battle, the gun deck of the Indianola remained above water. Another fight between Confederate river boats and Federal gunboats, in which victory remained with the Confederate makeshifts: Maj.-Gen. Frank Gardner, in command of the works at Port Hudson, was a thoroughly earnest man. He was untiring in his efforts to prepare the works for the conflict which had become inevitable after New Orleans had been captured and Vicksburg menaced. Port Hudson is sit uated on a bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi. Baton Rouge is 22 miles below it. Its heavy batteries at the time of the war were located along the bluff at points commanding extended ranges above and below them. The elevation above the water line was 85 feet at the highest point. The water battery was about 45 feet above the water line of the Mississippi and was pierced 110 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. for three guns. In 1862-63, but one, a rifled 32-pounder, had been mounted. It had other batteries, all of which fronted the river, making Port Hudson a place of re markable strength. Indeed, it was generally thought, by reason of its situation and compactness, that as a work of defense it was capable of better resistance than the stronger but more scattered fortifications of Vicksburg. Guns, depressed, formed a formidable barrier to assault from the river front. Of light batteries there were four ; one of them, Captain Fenner's Louisiana battery, being com plimented by the chief of ordnance ' ' as being the most efficient battery of the Port." As a rule, all the batteries needed horses. With both armies in Louisiana and out side the city, horses were valuable from their scarceness. Considerable correspondence passed between Pember- ton at Vicksburg and Gardner at Port Hudson. Gardner needed reinforcements to be ready for his ordeal. Pem- berton, always man greedy, retorted by borrowing 4,000 troops for the defense of Vicksburg. * Awhile after he admitted that the odds were largely against Gardner, frankly adding, " I am too much pressed on all sides to spare you troops. " In the meantime, a trial was prepar ing for the batteries of Port Hudson which would test both them and the men behind them. Banks was always active in pushing forward the claims of his department to close alliance with the fleet. Butler had profited by Farragut's courage in dashing past the batteries of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. Why should * In response to one of Pemberton's calls for reinforcements Bu- ford's brigade was sent from Port Hudson, including the Twelfth Louisiana, Col. T. M. Scott, and Companies A and C, Pointe Coupee artillery, Capt. Alcide Bouanchaud. This was the nucleus of the bri gade subsequently distinguished as Scott's brigade, from Resaca to Franklin. They served under Loring in Mississippi, participated in the battle of Baker's Creek, and had crossed that stream to follow Pemberton into Vicksburg when recalled by Loring to accompany him in a night march that ended in junction with J. E. Johnston at Jackson. At Baker's Creek the Twelfth was distinguished in repel ling the assaults of the enemy which threatened the capture of the artillery, losing 5 killed and 34 wounded. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Ill not Banks link his name with the victorious passage of a fleet under the batteries of Port Hudson? On March yth Banks, in pursuance of an agreement with the rear-ad miral, had moved to Baton Rouge with his army. It was his design to make a strong diversion, by land, against Port Hudson, while Farragut would be running the gauntlet of fire from its batteries. Neither Banks nor Farragut had any doubt of the issue. Farragut believed in himself, Banks believed in Farragut. Thus, on March 1 4th, the attempt was made with the vessels. Flagship Hartford and the Albatross swept through the fiery wel come. After them came the Monongahela, to reach only the center batteries. There, disabled by an accident to her machinery, she turned and slowly withdrew from the race. The Mississippi,* a powerful war steamer, was not so fortunate. She had already passed the center when she got aground just under the guns. Our gunners were not merciful to their naval visitors. For half an hour they pounded her with shells. Her crew, after hav ing suffered severely, finally set her on fire and abandoned her. The Hartford and the Albatross were already in the peaceful upper river between Port Hudson and Vicks- burg. Others of the fleet had met with varying mishaps, and were content to retire. It seemed fit that, bear ing the name she did, the Mississippi should end as our Louisiana and our Arkansas had ended — set on fire — burning down to her engines — blowing up — scattering her debris upon the waters. It was the old story on the great river, told over again in flame. Banks had been far from serious in creating a diversion in the rear of the works on the Port Hudson road. With out intention of making a real assault, he was preparing, on the night of March i4th, to bring up a battery on that * On the bridge of the Mississippi, by the side of its commander, stood the executive officer of the ship, a man who has risen since March, 1863, from the bridge of the Mississippi to the rank of admiral, United States navy, and is known to the world as George Dewey. 112 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. road. Nothing came either of that battery or of Banks' " diversion." The battle clock was clearly at fault. An error had crept in between 8 p. m., when Banks thought that the batteries were to be passed that night, and 1 1 130 p. m. when the fleet, belching forth flame and broadsides, was actually rushing past. At that hour Banks was out on the Bayou Sara road, idly reconnoiter- ing when fleet and batteries clashed together, and his hope lay in ruins. The broadsides could not have been very appalling. The Confederates in the batteries re ceived each broadside with laughter. With Farragut an open Mississippi had always been the paramount object. The fleet, guided and directed by his courage, was his main factor in the duty which had been confided to him by the government. In fronting Forts Jackson and St. Philip the first step had been taken. It had settled forever the possibility of a fiery transit of war-steamers rushing past a given point, behind which might be heavy guns, manned by skillful gunners. Far ragut liked the exhilaration of the trial, as he enjoyed a storm at sea. He regretted the disabled steamers of his second venture, but with the Hartford and the Albatross, one-fifth of his venturous fleet, the admiral found himself abundantly able to blockade Red river. With these two sisters he could control the Confederate trade down that stream. No supplies could come down to victual the gunners of Port Hudson or those behind the batteries of Vicksburg. One more trial; one more triumphant gath ering together of his fleet ; one more order to rush in con cert, would tell the story of an open stretch from Itasca to the Gulf. Vicksburg, in March, 1863, was still seated upon her hills, conscious that by land and water foes were gath ering around her, but still in her armor invincible. One result was assured to Banks. What had been done be fore Port Hudson was in favor of his hopes, at some future day, of effecting a consolidation with the victorious CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 113 fleet up Red river. As early as April he had been consulting with Grant, commanding at the farther gates of Vicksburg. Would Grant help him with Port Hudson? Could he, or could he not, give Grant a quid pro quo with Vicksburg ? On April loth Grant sent the following message to Banks: " Am concentrating my forces at Grand Gulf. Will send an army corps to Bayou Sara by the 25th to co operate with you." In this Grant was not wholly un selfish. Friends were gathering in force around Pember- ton — the more need he should meet them with his friends. If he granted Banks a favor, he had equally a favor to ask of Banks. " Can you aid me, and send me troops after the reduction of Port Hudson to assist me at Vicks burg?" Grant did not seem at this time to have con jectured that Vicksburg was to surrender to him before, not after Port Hudson was to surrender to Banks. Gen. Jos. E. Johnston, writing from " Camp near Ver- non, Miss.," on May 19, 1863, informed Gardner at Port Hudson that Lieutenant-General Pemberton had been unfortunate. Suffering severely near Edwards depot on the 1 6th of May; on the lyth, abandoning Haynes* Bluff, he was compelled to fall back to Vicksburg. It is not as a historian, jealous for truth, that Johnston thus addresses Gardner. While displaying certain attributes rather suggestive of Bildad the Shumite, he is frankly peremptory with the commander at Port Hudson. Under the circumstances of Pemberton 's abandoning his out posts, he adds: "Your position is no longer valuable. It is important also that all the troops in the department shall be concentrated as soon as possible. Evacuate Port Hudson forthwith and move with your troops toward Jackson to join other troops which I am uniting." With the news from Pemberton thus icily given it was impossible for Gardner to doubt the perilous import of his instructions. The defenses of Port Hudson had been confided to him by the adjutant-general at Richmond, La8 114 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Va. Since December 20, 1862, he had been constant in his endeavors to render the place impregnable. The conduct of his men on March i4th, in meeting the pas sage of the fleets, had greatly pleased him as a com mander. Their increased hopefulness since that event had augmented his own confidence that he would be able to hold Port Hudson against the combined attack, which had been canvassed so loudly between Grant and Banks that he had not failed to hear some of the whispers. During May and June, he had joined in a plan of re ceiving mail from Vicksburg. The Mississippi — half friend, half foe to the Confederates — had consented to become a medium of news to the commander of Port Hudson. Communication by land being unsafe and ex posed to constant danger, Pemberton, at Vicksburg, had hit upon the plan of sending his military mail down the river. In the darkness — in the silence of death, hugging the shore farther, still farther from the Hartford and Albatross, and always floating by shaded places, his messengers passed from point to point, finally to deliver their dispatches under the guns of Port Hudson. Gen erally these brought questions from Pemberton to Gard ner, frankly put, but not always sure of a reply. The latter, much concerned in his own charge, had been ut terly unprepared for Johnston's ultimatum.* The more sudden seemed this order of evacuation by reason of a hope which had, in the last days of June, sprung up from the known presence of Richard Taylor, back on his old fighting ground in lower Lousiana. Taylor, in this campaign, had a variety of reasons. One of these was the gathering of beef cattle for the re- *Two telegrams of Gen. J. E. Johnston from Jackson, Miss., may be cited here. No. i, to Pemberton at Vicksburg, January i, 1863: "General Gardner is full of confidence." No. 2, to Gardner, January 2, 1863, "I am told you are confident with your present force. I hope that is so, for we cannot afford more men than you want." Gardner retained this confidence until May loth, when a letter from General Johnston instructed him that his duty lay in evacuation rather than heroism. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 115 lief of the starving garrison of the Port. In a campaign, Dick Taylor always seemed to deal in surprises, even to his friends. His instant grasp of a situation ; his power of quick concentration; his sudden appearances, with that other gift of masking his designs in the face of an enemy, made him an enigma among the commanders of Louisi ana. On July 4th, reporting his success in southern Louisiana, he said, "I have used every exertion to re lieve Port Hudson and shall continue to the last. ' ' But on that very day Vicksburg was surrendered. He then clearly saw that the loss of Vicksburg was sure to bring with it that of Port Hudson. Taylor's plan of relief had thus received an immediate quietus. Even a sudden dash upon New Orleans, a surprise never long couchant in'his mind — was unwillingly deferred under advice of Gen. Kirby Smith. Returning to the Atchafalaya country, Taylor resolved to fight the enemy on his first advance — a resolve brilliantly put in execution on the Lafourche, as narrated in the previous chapter. Taylor himself was absolutely without illusions. He felt assured that if Banks meant to overrun Louisiana it was within his power to do so. He saw in the rise of the Mississippi, Red, and Atchafalaya rivers an added proof that he could send his gunboats and transports into the very heart of western Louisiana. On his side, Kirby Smith, writing from Shreveport on July i2th, had ex pressed his satisfaction with Taylor's operations up to that date. Smith rather took the sugar-coating from his praise, adding that Taylor's only course was to proceed with his troops to Niblett's Bluff on the Sabine. An ad mirable point was this bluff to threaten the enemy's com munication with Texas; but in Taylor's eye, single to his State's interest, one acre of the soil of west Louisiana looked larger than the whole State of Texas, vastest of the Confederacy. The campaign of 1863 on the Missis sippi had then already been ended. Vicksburg and Port Hudson had protectingly stood above a closed Mississippi, 116 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. but after the surrender they ceased to be useful to the Confederacy. In a forest a mighty tree, girdled by the ax of the woodman, sways in its lordly top branches, totters, and plunges to the earth. As it falls, it crushes smaller trees which rested under its proud shade. Such was the fall of Vicksburg which, like that mighty tree, carried with it the fall of Port Hudson. CHAPTER XII. A CHAPTER OF SIEGES— ASSAULT REPELLED AT PORT HUDSON— THE HEROIC DEFENSE— THE CAPITULA TION— LOUISIANIANS AT VICKSBURG. WHILE Vicksburg was hurling shells upon her be siegers, Port Hudson had offered a long and brave resistance to hers. On May 27th, General Banks, strong in the presence of Farragut's fleet, and resting upon Grant's promises, threw his infantry forward with in a mile of the breastworks. Col. W. R. Miles, Louisi ana legion, commanded in the center; Gen. W. N. R. Beall watched over the right; Col. I. G. W. Steedman de fended the left. The main assault by the enemy's line was hurled against the Confederate left. The repulse of the assault upon the left was decisive for that day. Banks, still confiding in his fleet and still leaning upon Grant, continued to invest the works. On June i3th he demanded the unconditional surrender of the Port. He lacked the potently convincing tone of U. S. Grant, and could not command that soldier's ap- positeness of initials. In lieu of sternness he posed as a Chesterfield-Talleyrand. As a Chesterfield in his cour tesy he complimented the endurance of the garrison, while as a Talleyrand, in his diplomacy, he craftily sug gested that his army outnumbered Gardner's five to one. On his side, Gardner, not finding this special form of sur render nominated in Johnston's bond, declined altogether to consider the demand. On the next day, an hour before daylight, the curtain was lifted a little over Banks' plans. About daylight the fleet in the river and the land batteries, erected by the enemy within three hundred feet from the Confederate breastworks, gave fire at the same time. The air was so 117 118 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. calm that a thick white smoke, belching from the guns, rested for a space motionless above them. After a short de lay, the smoke, broadening, settled slowly and heavily upon river and land alike. Under cover of it the enemy, gallantly advancing along the whole line, came within ten yards of our works. The Southern troops were as awake as they, and opening upon them with our heavy guns, drove them back with severe loss. Some fell on the line of attack ; others lay in the ditches, never to rise again ; others reached the works only to be killed where they stood. The land assault was short, sharp and decisive. After two hours, repulsed everywhere, the troops scat tered to their old lines of the night. The fleet, being of tougher material, continued to pound away through the darkness. Gardner was still saying to himself : "I shall evacuate only after Vicksburg has fallen. I am here to defend Port Hudson until then. ' ' Mortar boats with their deadly fire next came to rein force the gunboats. All the month of June the gun and mortar boats were thundering. The siege lasted from May 27th to July gth, inclusive. The garrison had by use grown callous to its hardships. In the river mortars by day and night, on the land skirmishing like the sting of mosquitoes, sharp, perplexing, drawing little blood. Gardner, still fiery and sternly defiant, began to be vexed. The ghostly mail from Vicksburg had ceased with Pem- berton's fall. His men were as resolute as they had been on the night of Farragut's passage in front of the batteries. Three months had passed since that eventful trial. June had been in her first days when the garrison's rations be came scanty ; June was in her last days when the supply of meat was exhausted. No more meat ! Gardner had not counted starvation among the possibilities of his com mand before surrender. He had heard with composure that the ammunition was giving out ; and that the artil lerists could not long load their guns. Given only time, these were mishaps likely to happen in any beleaguered fortress. But starvation! His heart was still strong CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 119 within him ; his men, living upon fast diminishing food, had not yet complained. He still had mules. An excel lent thought. Would the men consent to eat horse-flesh? Jokes passed from mouth to mouth at the new fare ; but some agreed to try the gastronomic novelty. Decidedly, Port Hudson was not ready to surrender. On July yth, thunderous salutes of artillery came from the gunboats in the river. No shell had as usual, come shrieking over the works. What is that? asked each gunner of his neighbor, all peering riverward. Cheering broke forth from the gunboats. It was a chorus of war with the voices of the fleet and the armies sup porting the batteries. Suddenly, the firing ceased as quickly as it had begun. Only mighty cheering had taken the place of shelling. Some report had come in from Vicksburg. What was it? A party of the enemy drew near within talking distance. Asked the news, they freely gave it — gave it with a subtone of triumph. Vicksburg had surrendered ! Men fraternize easily under great news. The men of Port Hudson were largely native Americans. Most of them came from the extreme South. Louisianians, Mississippians and Alabamians contended, like the young Athenians, for the prize of courage. They were enthusiastic over the long and memorable defense which their valor and their constancy had maintained between May 2 yth and July pth, 1863. Thus Vicksburg had, in surrendering, confided her de fense to history. Gardner heard it with indignation, not to add perplexity. Something, however, had to be done. Vicksburg was no longer "about to fall," she had fallen! The conditions had changed for evacuation and looked toward surrender. The victorious fleet which had swept from the upper Mississippi past the batteries of Vicks burg would be coming down to Port Hudson within a day. For once his resolute nature. could see no road of escape from his responsibility. That night he summoned a war council. To explain the situation was not needed. It lay like an open book before each soldier in the Port. 120 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Without a dissenting voice the council decided that he could not hold out longer. Vicksburg on the Mississippi surrendered on July 4, 1863. General Lee began his retreat from Gettysburg on the same day. The coincidence was strange. By many south of the Potomac it had been thought tragical. " Sometimes it happens," says Herodotus, speaking of the defeat of the Persians at the same time at Platsea and Mycale, " that two mortal blows strike the unhappy on the same day. "* The surrender of Port Hudson to Gen eral Banks (with the fleet) on July pth, followed, as has been seen, the surrender of Vicksburg to General Grant on July 4, 1863. "fThe surrender of Port Hudson by General Gardner included about 6,000 persons all told, 5 1 pieces of artillery, and a quantity of ordnance stores. Our loss in killed and wounded in the assaults was small compared with that of the enemy." It is not too much to say that when surrendered the garrison of Port Hud son, which had resisted a vastly superior force, attacking by both land and water, for more than six weeks, was as dauntless in spirit as on the first day of the defense.J * "Did Stonewall Jackson inspire victory?" — John Dimitry, Bel- ford's magazine, September, 1863. t History of Confederate States, Jefferson Davis. jThe parole rolls showed the following Louisiana commands at Port Hudson: Fourth Louisiana (detachment), Capt. James T. Whit man; Ninth infantry battalion, Capt. T. B. R. Chinn; Ninth battal ion, partisan rangers, Lieut. Col. J. H. Wingfield, Maj. J. DeBaun; Twelfth heavy artillery battalion, Lieut-Col. P. F. DeGournay; Thirteenth regiment (detachment), Capt. T. K. Porter; Louisiana legion, Col. W. R. Miles; Boone's battery, Capt. S. M. Thomas; Watson's battery, Lieut. E. A. Toledano. Colonel DeGournay com manded the heavy batteries of the left wing. Lieut L. A. Schirmer, of his command, on June 25th, seized the flag of Miles' legion, which had been shot down, "fixed it to a light pole, and jumping on the parapet, planted the flagstaff amid a shower of bullets. Again and again the flag was shot down, and each time the gallant lieutenant raised it, waved it defiantly, and planted it firmly regardless of the volleys of the enemy's sharpshooters. He escaped unhurt after re peating thrice this gallant feat, which called forth the enthusiastic cheers of the brave men who lined our works." Colonel Wingfield's rangers won the praise in general orders of the general command ing by a repulse of the enemy's cavalry on the Plain's Store road, May 23d. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 121 We turn now from Port Hudson to its partner in stress. Mighty was the spell which the peril of Vicksburg had cast on the people of the States bordering upon the great river and, far beyond its delta, upon those which looked toward Richmond, beleaguered by armies farther off than Vicks burg. Virginia, with that admiration which the brave can best show, had felt for the deadly danger into which the Confederacy's devoted guard of the West had fallen. In the latter part of December, 1862, Sherman with 30,000 men had landed north of Vicksburg. Behind Chickasaw bayou, with the fortified bluffs at his back, was Stephen D. Lee with his provisional division, a large part of which was the Seventeenth, Twenty-second, Twenty-sixth, Twenty- eighth and Thirty-first Louisiana regiments. He had to defend a line thirteen miles in length north of the city, the north flank of which, Snyder's mill, was gal lantly and successfully held by the Twenty-second Louis iana on the 27th. At the same time Colonel Thomas' Twenty-eighth defeated the attempt of the enemy to bridge the bayou with pontoons. The Seventeenth and Twenty-sixth Louisiana met the enemy beyond the bayou and held their ground during the 26th and 27th against a large force, and on the next day the Twenty- eighth took that position and fought throughout the day against Blair's entire brigade. This command being drawn across the bayou to the bluff Sherman ordered an assault next day, which was repulsed with great slaughter. As the enemy broke in confusion, the Twenty-sixth and part of the Seventeenth were marched on the field, and under their cover 332 prisoners and four stand of colors were taken. The services of Colonel Higgins, Colonel Thomas and Colonel Hall, Twenty-sixth Louisiana, were especially commended. The Thirty-first, Col. C. H. Morrison, was also actively engaged in the works. It was not in length of days that that of Vicksburg, May to July, 1863, stands pre-eminent among the sieges of this land. In her own story, in 1862, she had already 122 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. stood defiant against a bombarding fleet for sixty-seven days. But in 1863, while the siege lasted only forty-seven days, there came a sterner presence moved by a mightier power. Pemberton had no cause to complain of his little army, with which were seven regiments of Louisiana troops and several artillery organizations. Below is a roll of death, which Louisiana, deprived of brave sons by wounds received during the siege, signed in tears with her blood on July 4, 1863. Officers reported killed: Third Louisiana, Capt. J. E. Johnson, John Kinney, Lieut. A. S. Randolph ; Twenty- first Louisiana, Capt. J. Ryan, Lieut. G. H. Mann ; Twenty- second Louisiana, Capt. F. Gomez, Lieut. R. E. Lehman; Twenty-sixth Louisiana, Maj.W.W. Martin, Capt. Felix G. Winder, Lieuts. M. Arnaux, Peter Feriner; Twenty-sev enth Louisiana, Lieut. -Col. L. L. McLaurin, Lieut. Geo. Harris, Col. L. D. Marks, mortally wounded; Twenty- eighth (Twenty-ninth) Louisiana, Capt. F. Newman, Lieuts. B. F. Millett, I. G. Sims; Thirty-first Louisiana, Col. S. H. Griffin; Seventeenth Louisiana, Lieut. -Col. Madison Rogers. For heavy and light artillery alike, it was of truth a martial education to have stood within the defenses of Vicksburg 'during her historic siege. Not a man from the State but had proved brave to fight, and strong to endure. Indeed, in all the epoch of Vicksburg's glory, no quality was so apparent in them as that of heroism which knew how to face peril — no transient guest this — with a smile as brave as the heart was steady. The Louisianians at Vicksburg did not laugh as their comrades at Port Hudson had done. Life for them was terribly unreal. Death alone was real because its dart alone was visible. Weary was the time, yet always calmly resolute were the heroes of Vicksburg. The sun burned them by day, and the night, instead of bringing rest, brought no relief from mines exploding and breaches opened. * * The first assault upon Vicksburg, May i8th, was met, " said CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 123 Gen. M. L. Smith, "by the Twenty-seventh Louisiana, subsequently by the Seventeenth and Thirty-first Louisi ana," and held at bay until night. The regiments were then withdrawn to the intrenched line, which was assailed on the igth. The brunt of this attack on Smith's line was borne by the Twenty-sixth and Twenty-seventh Louis iana, who repulsed the attack with two volleys. The redan held by Colonel Marks was the main object of at tack, and of him and his regiment it was recorded: "To the brave Colonel Marks and his gallant regiment, Twenty-seventh Louisiana, belongs the distinction of taking the first colors, prisoners and arms lost by the enemy during the siege. ' ' "The heaviest and most dangerous attack," said Gen eral Smith, "was on the extreme right, and nobly did the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth and Thirty-first Louisiana repel and endure it. The casual ties among the officers of these regiments indicate the nature of the defense required. In the Twenty-sixth, Maj. W. W. Martin, one captain and two lieutenants were killed; Col. W. Hall, severely wounded. In the Twenty- seventh, Lieut. -Col. L. L. McLaurin, one captain and one lieutenant killed, Col. L. D. Marks dangerously, Maj. A. S. Norwood, one captain and one lieutenant wounded. In the Twenty-eighth, one lieutenant killed and three wounded. In the Thirty-first Col. S. H. Griffin killed." Lieut. -Col. Madison Rogers, Seventeenth, was killed early in the siege. No field-officer of the Twenty-eighth was left at the surrender. The loss in killed and wounded in Shoup's brigade alone was 23 officers and 283 men. The Third Louisiana suffered a loss of 45 killed and 126 wounded, the heaviest casualties of Hebert's com mand. On June 25th the enemy sprang his first mine. It hap pened to be under the redan of the Third Louisiana. A breach yawned above the hole. The Third, with a yell, swept upon the breach, trampling its wreck under their 124 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. feet and repulsing the breachers. So it went from day to day ; the men looking for new mines and eager to meet the workers. Not long after another mine exploded. This time the enemy feared to enter the breach. The Louisianians at the point of danger had emphasized the prime boast of impregnable Vicksburg. Its works could not be taken by assault. In leaving forever the glorious trenches of Vicksburg we shall, while pressing the hand of Col. Edward Higgins, commander of the river batteries, meet with an old ac quaintance. To locate him, the comrade's memory need only go back to Forts Jackson and St. Philip in April, 1 86 1. The water batteries at Vicksburg were divided into three commands. Louisianians manned the center batteries, immediately in front of the city, under Maj. F. N. Ogden, Eighth Louisiana artillery battalion. Here was danger's picked station. In war, the point of danger is the point of glory — so said Murat, who never shirked it. Louisianians stood also behind the lower batteries, which were in charge of the First Louisiana artillery un der Lieut. -Col. Beltzhoover. With Colonel Beltzhoover was a portion of the Twenty-third (Twenty-second) Louisi ana volunteers. While still with Beltzhoover 's Louisi anians, it may be well to remember that, early in the siege, his men helped to sink the Cincinnati, mounting fourteen guns. It was May 27th when the Cincinnati, showing all her teeth, approached the upper batteries. Four sister gunboats, equally well guarded, threatened the lower batteries. It was a hot engagement while it lasted. Colonel Higgins summed up the result with this Lacedsemonian brevity: "An engagement took place which resulted in the . . . sinking of the Cincinnati in front of our guns, after an action of thirty minutes." After this, gunboats were disposed to be shy in their dal liance with our batteries. . The following roll of honor was given by Colonel Hig gins, commanding the water batteries, of those distin- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 125 guished for their " gallantry and unceasing vigilance: " Maj. F. N. Ogden, Capts. T. N. McCrory and P. Grand- pre, Eighth Louisiana battalion; Lieutenant-Colonel Beltzhoover, First Louisiana artillery; Capts. W. C. Capers, R. C. Bond and R. J. Bruce, Lieuts. R. Agar, E. D. Woodlief and C. A. Conrad, First artillery; Adjt. W. T. Mumford, Eighth battalion, Capt. Samuel Jones, Twenty-second regiment and Sergt. Thomas Lynch, of the First artillery, who, by his " ceaseless energy in com mand of the picket-boats and his close attention as chief of the river police, made himself almost invaluable. " In truth, Vicksburg demanded from her defenders "nothing less than ceaseless energy," and "unceasing vigilance." For the rest, such are the mots d'ordre of all sieges which arrest the pen of history. At 5 p. m., July 3d, the last gun was fired by the river batteries in defense of Vicksburg. So says Colonel Higgins, tinder whose or der the gun was fired. One word more of detail, this time claimed by the Mis sissippi. About July 1 6, 1863, the steamer Imperial reached New Orleans from St. Louis. The Imperial had made the " long passage " without a ** stand and de liver." It had passed Vicksburg and Port Hudson un challenged. The problem of the great river was prac tically solved in the free wave by which nature had joined the Mississippi to the Passes. CHAPTER XIII. TAYLOR PREPARES FOR DEFENSE— THE RED RIVER THREATENED — PORTER ASCENDS THE RIVER — BANKS MARCHES TOWARD SHREVEPORT— FALL OF FORT DE RUSSY— GEN. KIRBY SMITH PLANS FOR FEDERAL DEFEAT— TAYLOR RESOLVES TO FIGHT AT MANSFIELD. THE winter of 1863-64 was without stirring events in Louisiana. Banks was taking breath and " stock " in New Orleans. Taylor, too busy for leisure, was establishing depots, both labor and forage, between the Boeuf and Pleasant Hill — the country there about being utterly barren. Out of abounding caution, he left small detachments to guard these depots. Mean while, throughout the Teche country, Vincent's Second Louisiana cavalry rode everywhere, alert and watchful, keeping marauders in order. Toward the end of February, 1864, Taylor had posted his army as follows: Harrison's mounted regiment (just organized), with a 4- gun batter)', were ordered to Mon roe. Mouton's brigade was encamped near Alexandria; Polignac had headquarters on the Ouachita ; Walker's di vision lay at Marksville, with three companies of Vin cent's cavalry. One day, Sherman came to New Orleans to confer with Banks. Friend and enemy were the wiser for this interview. Immense shifting in commands did, in truth, in both armies follow this secret de Polichinelle. Taylor, warned by it of the re-buzzing of Banks' bee, hastened Polignac, on March yth, to Alexandria — thence with Mouton to the Boeuf, twenty-five miles south. Har rison was transferred to the Ouachita (west bank). Vin cent was ordered to leave flying scouts on the Teche, next 126 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 127 to hasten his regiment to Opelousas. Sherman's visit had stirred both camps to a fever of expectation. With Banks, the result was that he began to open his forces like a great fan, from New Orleans outward. With Taylor, it was to draw his army within closer lines, nearer Shreve- port than Alexandria. Polignac's brigade, and the Louisiana brigade under Colonel Gray, were soon united in a division, the com mand of which was given to General Mouton. We shall see the telling work of this new division later on in the campaign of 1864. On the 2ist, Edgar's battery, four guns, was despatched to strengthen Vincent. At his worst, Richard Taylor was not over-given to falling back. Before falling back he always looked to see where he could best jump from his new point. More than in war, there is profit in such caution. With the first days of March he was particularly on the alert for consequences of the Sherman visit. They were not long in coming. On March i2th Admiral Porter had entered the mouth of the Red river with nineteen gunboats. The gunboats were followed by 10,000 men loaned by Sherman for the punishment of Louisiana. The news was no sooner given out than Alexandria was prudently evacuated by Taylor. A step backward at Alexandria was to stiffen his muscles for the triumphant leap to Mansfield. From Alexandria, Taylor for once turned to Pleasant Hill. Reinforcements, specially of horse, were slow in reaching him. Green's Texans, three companies of which came first, were ill provided with arms. To Taylor, impatiently waiting at Pleasant Hill, came Walker and Mouton ; Green joined him the same day. Major, with the remainder of the Texans, had not come up. To give him time to reach the hill, Taylor halted two days. Thus far the enemy had made no serious advance; and on April 4th and 5th he 128 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. marched to Mansfield. In the cavalry arm, the Texans were well represented by Debray's and Buchel's* regi ments. Before these Price had dispatched from his com mand in Arkansas two brigades of Missouri infantry, numbering together 4,400 muskets. These marched to Keachi f on the morning of April 6th, reporting to Taylor from that point, where, under orders, they remained dur ing that day. Banks began his movement from Grand Ecore to Pleasant Hill on April 6th, with a force (esti mated) of 25,000. Taylor, to meet this large army, had on the field only 8,800 men. Though given with apparent precision, this " was a very full estimate." During the early part of his administration of affairs, civil and military, General Banks had shown some sub stantial result in civic affairs. Results as substantial might be expected from his feverish energy in the field. Here, in New Orleans, his tarnished record against Stone wall Jackson in the valley of Virginia was not a pleasant reminder to himself. In March, 1864, his plans for a triumphant movement " into the bowels of the land " were revived. His previous expedition had been attended by no practical success. Alexandria had been occupied for a short time, but Shreveport still remained Confederate. For the year 1864, operations began in North Louisiana as early as March ist. On that day, Black river was the medium, through an attack made by a small Federal fleet consisting of an ironclad, the Osage, and five other boats (semi-gunboats). \ This fleet made its appearance at * " Buchel, who had served in the Prussian army, was an instructed soldier. Three days after he joined us he was mortally wounded in action, and survived but a few hours. The old Fatherland sent no bolder horseman to battle at Rosbach or Gravelotte." — " Destruction and Reconstruction." t Three roads led from Mansfield to Shreveport — the Ki ngston, Middle and Keachi. The distance by the first is thirty-eight miles ; by the second, forty; by the third, forty-five. — "Destruction and Reconstruction. ' ' tU. S. vessels engaged in the expedition: The Conestoga. , Cricket, Fort Hindman, Lexington, Osage, and Ouachita. — Report of Com. Ramsay. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 129 Beard's Point, on Black river, at 9:30 p. m. The ob jective point on the river was evidently Harrisonburg — the Confederate headquarters under Brig. -Gen. Camille J. Polignac.* The territory is one of numerous water courses, treacherous rivers interspersed with more treach erous bayous. Recent rains had made the roads, already bad, impassable for the movement of troops. Polignac, with a small force of infantry, under Colonel Taylor and Lieutenant-Colonel Stone, cavalry under Captain Randle, and Paries' battery, had so skillfully handled his men that the expedition was made practically a useless exhibition of force. He was gallantly assisted by Capt. T. A. Paries, of the Pelican (Louisiana) battery, against the flotilla, whose main damage had been done by firing not less than i, ooo rounds out of 24 and 32-pounders, and by shell ing, out of i2-pounder Parrott rifles, the banks between Trinity and Harrisonburg, as well as the two towns. It was a brief fight, at short distance, between Paries' battery of light guns and the heavier metal of protected boats. This amphibious duel between a battery on shore and an armed flotilla in the river, was still a novelty in warfare. Disappointed at the result of ten days' shelling, the flotilla withdrew, on the 4th, up the Ouachita river. Casualties, 3 killed and 13 wounded, 3 of them mortally. The enemy were supposed to have buried 15 on the banks of the Ouachita. On the i yth, Banks heard of the capture of Fort De Russy on the i4th, by A. J. Smith's forces. He was also cheered by the news of the capture of Alexandria on the i5th, by Admiral Porter's fleet; and on the ipth, by the report that General Franklin was coming from the Teche with 18,000 men. From General Steele, at Camden, Ar kansas, he heard that he was on the march with 12,000 *Brigadier-General Polignac (Prince Camille de Polignac) was a gallant young Frenchman, as devoted to the cause of the Confed eracy as he had been, nay, as he still is, to the Bourbon Lilies. Polignac had lately joined Taylor's army and had been put in com mand of a brigade of Texas infantry. La 9 130 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. men to his aid. To a man of Banks' mercurial nature, all these reinforcements tending his way made propitious tidings. So lightened, indeed, was his heart, through these flashes connected with the expedition which was to twine his military column with laurel, that on the i$th he wrote to Halleck at Washington, " leaving General Frank lin to continue his march as expeditiously to Alexandria as possible, I shall proceed immediately to that point." On April 2d he was reporting to the same official his arrival in Alexandria. He showed no anxiety about his rear, nor any fear that his garrisons in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Port Hudson would be much missed from his imposing advance. If numbers could win in this campaign in Louisiana, there were chances with odds for his success. "Gen. A. J. Smith, " he says loftily, "with a column of 10,000 men is with us. Our troops occupy Natchitoches,* and we hope to be in Shreveport by the loth of April. I do not fear concentration of the enemy at that point. My fear is that they may not be willing to meet us there. I shall pursue the enemy into the interior of Texas for the sole purpose of destroying or dispersing his forces if it be in my power. . . . Taylor's forces are said to be on that line (Sabine town). This will not, ' ' he adds arrogantly, * * divert us from our move ment." Thus he wrote on April 2d, making much of A. J. Smith's 10,000 men, borrowed from General Sherman. A small string was attached, by the way, to this loan of Smith's division. Banks had agreed to return the men to Sherman within "three months." He never once * General Taylor says: " The enemy's advance reached the river road by the 3ist. ... I remained in the town until the enemy en tered, then rode four miles to Grand Ecore, where, in the main chan nel of Red river, a steamer was awaiting me. Embarking, I went up the river to Blair's Landing, . . . whence was a road 16 miles to Pleasant Hill. . . . During this long retreat, I had been in cor respondence with Gen. Kirby Smith, and always expressed my inten tions to fight as soon as .reinforcements reach me." — Taylor's " De struction and Reconstruction." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 131 doubted that the pledge would be redeemed within the time. The great battle which was shortly to crown him with military success would surely bring the fulfillment of his pledge. He could see no danger on the Sabine Cross-roads, where Confederate Richard Taylor awaited him with hope equal to his. " Thus do I trample upon the pride of Plato, ' ' snarled Diogenes to the philosopher. 14 Yes," answered Plato, mildly, " but with greater pride, Diogenes. " For with Dick Taylor were the Louisianians of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill ! Banks, a man of much hope and many fears, was greatly troubled about the low stage of Red river, which made him anxious in regard to the co-operation of Por ter's larger gunboats. The smaller gunboats of the fleet were already at Alexandria, but the larger boats, de terred by the impossibility of passing the rapids, were anchored expectantly at Grand Ecore. From the first, he had been jubilant of that success which, a few days later, was to avoid him and finally escape him altogether. He thought highly enough of two or three details of his im posing campaign to let the government at Washington know them. The net results were the capture of four guns and 250 prisoners. (Report of General Banks, April 3, 1864.) One achievement was the capture of Fort De Russy, a water battery in a strategic position below Alexandria. Taylor had been at the pains to gather considerable ordnance and ordnance stores at the fort, which surrendered after an hour's fight. The capture of these stores proved a serious loss to his army's scanty supply. In the meantime Kirby Smith was at Shreveport, look ing out for Banks' army. He was sure of checking, in due time, its advance. Already in the latter part of August, 1863, that sagacious officer had known that a formidable expedition was preparing, under the auspices of Grant and Banks, up the Red river valley. He had not been ignorant of the collapse of that expedition by 132 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. reason of Rosecrans' defeat at Chickamauga, and by Grant's transfer to Tennessee. He had never lost the belief, during the ensuing months of inaction, that the frustrated expedition, grown riper for mischief and more dangerously equipped, would be renewed at some future day. This new movement of March, 1864, did not alarm him. What he had been doing in the interim had been to prepare his extensive department from Shreveport, on the shortest line of communication, to Camden, Ark. With permanent headquarters at Shreveport, General Smith knew that that city would be the meeting point of the two columns, advancing from Arkansas (Steele) and from New Orleans (Banks). As showing the peculiar importance of Shreveport to the successful holding for the Confederacy of the Trans- Mississippi department, as the central point for west Louisiana, and to the inadequacy of his available forces, General Smith's report on the subject, June n, 1864, is valuable as a summary of the situation. At that time, two months after Taylor's triumphant campaign, Shreveport was still a city of the Confederacy and the war capital of the (Confederate) State of Louisiana. " The enemy was operating with a force of full 50,000 effective men. With the utmost powers of concentration not 25,000 men could be brought to meet their move ments. Shreveport was made the point of concentration. With its fortifications covering the depot, arsenals and shops at Jefferson, Marshall and above, it was a strategic point of vital importance. All the infantry, not with Taylor, opposed to Banks, was directed to Shreveport. General Price, with his cavalry command, was instructed to delay the march of Steele 's column while the concen tration was effected. ' ' While Kirby Smith was making ready for the vaunted expedition, so formidable in numbers, so thoroughly equipped in material, so confident of success, Banks him self was beginning to be dubious of seeing Steele's 12,000 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 133 men from Arkansas in time for his own advance. In the closing days of March Taylor had been impatiently ex pecting reinforcements of cavalry. Vincent's Second Louisiana cavalry, which had been watching the enemy on the Teche, had joined him on the ipth. On the night of the soth, the Fifth (Texas) cavalry rode in, followed by the Seventh on the 3ist. Taylor, having secured his much needed cavalry, began at once to plan a counter- campaign. In February, he had learned by secret infor mation from the city of the probable Federal plan of campaign. A. J. Smith was to bring from Vicksburg his division of veterans, while Banks was to march up through that Teche country which Taylor knew so well. He at once notified Gen. Kirby Smith of his suspicions. Et was then that Smith, to meet this movement, began to draw in his forces, which were much scattered through out his vast department. In March, A. J. Smith came up Red river while Banks was marching triumphantly up the Teche. Army and navy had joined in this final cam paign of invasion. In the array, whether on land or wave, the lightest heart was that of the generalissimo of the army. The Federals, after having captured Fort De Russy, marched unhalted up the whole valley of the Red river. Taylor had been falling back steadily before the enemy's advance, a falling back as if the Confederate mot tfordre was to skirmish each day, and by night weakly yield the road just ahead. This held good until Taylor found himself at Mansfield, almost at the door of Shreveport. Here his mock patience gave out. Like a skilled sabreur he had, in the retreat, felt his enemy and had learned his strong points. Now, with Mouton's Louisianians at his call, and relieved about his cavalry, Taylor was to make sure of his weak play. In Mouton's command were the following Louisiana forces: Eighteenth regiment (Armant's) ; Crescent regiment (Bosworth's) ; Twenty- eighth (Gray's); Beard's battalion; Fournet's battalion; Faries' battery. 134 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Taylor did not count numbers. It mattered little to him that he was to hurl 9,000 men at that Federal wall of three times his number. He resolved to make a stand at Mansfield. With his battle already outlined in his mind, he sent a dispatch to Gen. Kirby Smith, stating his purpose. Fearing Taylor's impetuosity, Smith had the day before Mansfield sent a courier to him with this message: " Not to fight, but to withdraw nearer Shreve- port. " Smith had also sent from headquarters another dispatch of general application to all Confederates of Christian faith in his department. He had appointed April 8, 1864, as a day of fasting and prayer. The women of west Louisiana were on their knees weeping before their altars. Its soldiers were in the field, exultantly driving the enemy before them, a disorganized mass. CHAPTER XIV. THE BATTLE OF MANSFIELD— TAYLOR'S FORMATION FOR BATTLE— MOUTON'S GALLANT CHARGE— ROUT OF THE FEDERAL ARMY— BATTLE RENEWED AT PLEASANT HILL — MONETT'S FERRY — DEATH OF GENERAL GREEN— OFFICIAL REPORTS. ON the road between Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, in early April, 1864, history was preparing a trophy of arms for the honor of Louisiana. Leaving Green, of the cavalry, in command of the front, Taylor hastened to the village of Mansfield, three miles away, to perfect his plans for the next day.* He was resolved to fight a general engagement on the 8th, if the enemy advanced in force. As a soldier, Taylor loved to meet large masses in battle, provided only his own force was well in hand. It was a phase of his military mind, an inheritance, doubtless, from his father, who made light of Santa Ana and his odds at Buena Vista. Disparity of force could not daunt the soul of Richard Taylor. It only made him plan a little more thoughtfully, weigh a little more carefully — above all, take fewer chances. With all his dash, no commander could be more prudent than he when the need was. On the morning of the 8th, the Thirteenth army corps * Decidedly, on that particular April yth, the hills of De Soto were echoing with the music of war. A strong showing of Confederate strength was made at Wilson's farm, three miles from Shreveport. The enemy attacked 3,000 of Green's mounted Texans, but, being unable to dislodge them, were forced to retire. On the same day the martial strain reached even the bluffs of the Mississippi. A small body of our cavalry encountered a detachment of Federals sent out from Port Hudson. A little shelling with one piece of artillery was followed by some skirmishing; after which the enemy broke and were pursued as far as Plains store. Near the Port, our cavalry again met them. This time we succeeded in capturing the gun, six horses and seven prisoners. 135 iS6 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. was on this road, heaidng for Pleasant Hill. About the same hour, Taylor was making a careful disposition of his small army. The odds, which were an inspiration to him, were before him. His total force was 8, 800 men — divided into 5,300 infantry, 3,000 mounted men and 500 artillery. Banks' force was estimated at 25,000 men, full. The battle-ground was three miles from Mansfield. The country in this neighborhood is hilly and heavily wooded. Over one of these hills the public road ran steeply. Evidently the enemy understood the value of heights. On the top of this high hill they had posted Nims' famous battery, that Henry Watkins Allen, colonel of the Fourth Louisiana, had hurled his men against, taken and lost, when wounded at Baton Rouge. Taylor's line of battle reached along the road. In front of this line Taylor rode, scanning the men as he passed. As he breasted Polignac, occupying the center of Mouton's division, he called out cheerily: " Little Frenchman, I am going to fight Banks if he has a mil lion of men! " Walker's division occupied the right of the road facing Pleasant Hill, with Buchel's and Ter rell's cavalry, under Bee, on the right. On the left of the same road was Mouton's superb division of Louisi- anians, with Major's division of cavalry (dismounted) on Mouton's left. Each division of infantry was skillfully supported by artillery, Haldeman's and Daniel's bat teries on the right, in position with Walker's division. With Mouton on the left were Cornay's St. Mary's Can noneers and Nettles' battery. A little to the rear Debray's cavalry rested on their horses. Near them was McMahon's battery, just in from the front with the cav alry advance. Debray's cavalry formed with the reserve artillery. This holding of artillery in reserve was a proof of Taylor's careful attention to the smallest details of the battle, on which so much depended. The country, being at this time heavily timbered, offered no CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 137 field for the employment of many guns. These were, therefore, held in reserve. Taylor's line of battle, prudently veiled, was at the edge of a wood with cleared fields, stretching away on both sides of the Pleasant Hill road. The clearing, which was about 1,000 yards in extent, was a direct men ace to an attacking force. Thus, having made ready, Taylor awaited with confidence the Federal advance. To Banks' pompous march he had opposed a skillful arrange ment of his army. It would be hard to imagine a more effective disposition of his forces, at once cautious and bold. In the stand chosen for a waiting army, it gave assurance that every advantage in the ground had been taken by the Confederate leader. That the attack would be in force, he had hoped; that he would fight the harder against odds, none better than he knew. Suddenly Taylor's army saw its cavalry rapidly driven back in its front. On the left a body of the enemy's cavalry, spurred by success and following incautiously, ran into a * * stone wall, ' ' made up of the line of the Eighteenth Louisiana. In another moment the wall be came moving men, who advanced, and in one strong movement in force destroyed the pursuers. While this was going on, in the wood beyond the clear ing could be seen the enemy forming his line of battle. Some light skirmishing without result took place. Tay lor speedily detected the Federal design. It was evident that they were weakening their left to mass on their right, to turn him. To meet the new peril he hastened Terrell's regiment of horse to reinforce Major's cavalry on the left. Nor did he neglect the imperiled infantry. He ordered Randal's brigade of Walker's division from the right to the left to strengthen Mouton. In these transfers the whole line gained ground from the right to the left, to meet the onset. The movements among the Confederates were masked by throwing forward skir mishers toward the enemy, and deploying Debray's cav- 138 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. airy in the open fields on both sides of the road. It was 4 p. m. when the changes were perfected. In the wood, the enemy had shown no further signs of life. This silence made Taylor suspect that their ar rangements were still incomplete. Under this impres sion, he decided to open the attack from the left. He had chosen his fighters well; Mouton's Louisianians, eager and watchful, were waiting for the call. At the word, Mouton led the charge of his infantry, sweeping through a murderous fire, which lasted twenty-five min utes of carnage. The charge carried the Louisianians at double-quick down a hill, through a ravine swept by the enemy's guns, over a fence, up another hill to look into the very muzzles of the guns which had been dealing out wounds and death. Here our greatest loss occurred. This attack deserves to be placed by the side of Pickett's charge against the guns on Cemetery ridge. The valor and heroism were the same, only numbers varied. It was the crucial moment of the battle. Here was the mo ment when victory, propitious, was to smile at one end of the line while it frowned at the other. So dramatic was this advance of Louisianians, so rich in its results to the Confederates, so sorrowful through the rank of its dead, that it may claim a distinctive place in the annals of military charges. Taylor, at the moment of giving the order to attack, was sitting with his leg crossed over the pommel of his saddle, smoking a cigar. There he continued to sit, anxious, while the victory with its costly sacrifice of lives was winning. He was keenly alive to the slightest move connected with that awful charge into the valley over which Death's shadow hovered ominously. At this moment, Kirby Smith's courier galloped up with the commander's message, already cited. Taylor's eye flashed, and he seemed to rise in his stirrups. " Too late, sir," he snapped to the courier, " the battle is won! It is not the first time I have fought with a halter around CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 139 my neck." And, turning around on his horse, he once more peered through the smoke to trace the final for tunes of the fight. Almost every man in the direct attack of Mouton 's division was struck with a bullet. Taylor had seen that, in the terrible fire, all the men in front would be shot down. He had at once dispatched a body of his troops to turn the enemy's flank by getting around them. This move, while it could not prevent the heavy slaughter, lessened it considerably by distracting the enemy's atten tion. A peculiarity of this battle was a general agree ment among the field officers that, on account of the heat, they would fight on horseback. Here, on their horses, was not only the place of honor, but an invita tion to Death, ever watchful in battle, to crown the brave. The severe loss of the officers of the Eighteenth and Crescent regiments, in this assault, was owing to the terrible fire in the ravine, between the woods and the hill, of the Federal batteries. Armant, of the Eight eenth, received three wounds, the last one killing him, while the sword of defiance still gleamed in his hand. Mouton, that peerless Bayard of our fighting Creoles, found death in a way wholly worthy of the name, " Sans peur et sans reproche" The Federal battery on the hill was pouring grape and canister into our ranks. It was a fearful struggle through that dark ravine, up that hill, up to those guns. The Louisianians swept on, gladly following, with Mou ton always in the van. The guns were taken after a des perate struggle. Here the enemy broke and fled. Mou ton, in passing a group of thirty-five soldiers, noticed that they had thrown down their arms in token of sur render. Upon that group, the Confederates, not seeing the sign of submission, were about to fire. Mouton, true to his creed, now placed on trial, holding it unsullied, lifted up a hand of mercy to stop the slaughter. Per haps, out of that group, one did not see the hand of 140 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. mercy. It may be that a sudden blindness struck five of the group. That moment, while the mad charge was still sweeping- by in pursuit, five of the Federals, picking up their guns, aimed straight at the heroic figure which had, by a signal, given them back their own unworthy lives. Mouton, without one look or word or sign, fell from his saddle, dead. In the wild rush of battle some there were of his men who saw the dastard deed. With the yells of battle was mingled yet another yell; wilder, fiercer, more curdling, a yell for vengeance! Before their officers could check the savage impulse thirty guilt less Federals had paid with their lives for the cowardly act of five. As they lay around Mouton, one might have fancied them a guard of honor drawn from the foe to show him reverence. In this charge through the ravine, to end the story, Mouton carried 2,200 men. Out of this number 762 died with him. He had said to Polignac just before the at tack : ' * Let us charge them right in the face and throw them into the valley. ' ' That valley was the ravine, in which Mouton 's noble life was offered up in the sacred name of mercy. Sans peur had been his life. In his death his fame was to be rounded sans reproche. In the broad battle annals of our Confederacy I can think of no loftier exit from its bloody stage recorded of any of its actors than that of Alfred Mouton, of Louisiana. Taylor's report gives the bald truth. It is told in an adjective qualifying the charge. A list of the dead among the officers who led the charge emphasizes the same thrilling story, a story in which mention deigns, in passing, to glorify the color-bearers of one of the attacking regiments. " The charge made by Mouton across the open was magnificent. With his little division, consist ing of his own and Polignac' s brigade, the field was crossed under a murderous fire of artillery and musketry, the wood was reached and our little line sprang with a yell upon the foe. In this charge, General Mouton, com- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 141 manding division, fell. Colonel Armant, of the Eight eenth Louisiana; Colonel Beard, of the Crescent (New Orleans) regiment; Lieutenant- Colonel Walker, com manding Twenty-eighth Louisiana; Lieutenant-Colonel Noble, Seventeenth Texas ; Major Canfield of the Cres cent regiment, were killed; and Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, Crescent regiment, dangerously wounded. Seven standard bearers fell, one after another, with the flag of the Crescent regiment."* Not once, in spite of these permanent losses, did this noble division halt for one in stant, nor did it in face of the disaster fall into confu sion. Polignac was there to step into the place of the fallen leader. With ringing voice, that gallant soldier whom France had given to her daughter, Louisiana, con tinued the movement forward. While Mouton still led, his division had advanced with the left protected by Vincent's and Terrell's cavalry (dismounted). These gallantly kept pace with the sweep of the infantry, forc ing back and turning, as they went, the enemy's right. No support could have been more effective than this good work of the dismounted horse. It kept the enemy busy in repelling flankings, while the invincible rush of the division paralyzed each successive attempt at concen trated resistance. Banks' movement to Shreveport via Pleasant Hill was in mortal peril. The charge of the Confederate left was growing like a race of the fox and the hounds. The Thirteenth army corps fought stubbornly, making a gal lant stand, for a time, against the Confederate advance. But the flag of the victorious Louisianians, floating near and nearer in the smoke, grew more and more distinct through spring's green foliage. Their yells turned shriller and more disturbing. Not one of the Louisiani ans but felt that with his State's soil under his feet and *"The consolidated Crescent regiment was the only Louisiana regiment that proved so unfortunate as to lose all its field officers in a single battle."— Report of Adjutant-General (Louisiana), 1892. 142 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Mouton to be avenged, he was invincible on that day which had seen his leader dead. Taylor, seeing his left flank well developed, now paid attention to his right. Here Walker's division was pressing on the foe on hopeful feet. The attack, made equally effective from both our left and right, confused the Thirteenth army corps which had so steadily borne the day's brunt. Their soldier ranks began to shiver; their firm battle line swayed in weakness. In vain did the Thirteenth take advantage of the wooded ridges, so common in the country. As soon as formed, every line was swept away as by a flood. Every gun was captured as soon as placed for action. The slaughter of the men was keeping pace with the capture of the guns. The decisive moment that came to Wellington at Waterloo, when he shut up his field glasses ; that certitude which came to Napoleon at Austerlitz, when he took snuff, had now come to Taylor at Mansfield. The Thirteenth army corps, breaking at last, fled wildly. For miles it was driven without intermission by a pressure that neither knew halt nor permitted rest. During the fight the Thirteenth army corps lost guns, prisoners, stands of colors. Four miles from the scene of the defeat of the Thirteenth, the Nineteenth army corps was found strongly posted. Change of corps did not bring change of fortune. Twenty- five hundred prisoners, 20 pieces of artillery, several stand of colors, many thousands of small-arms, and 250 wagons were taken. " Here," said Taylor in his report, " the Thirteenth corps gave way entirely, and was replaced by the Nineteenth, hurriedly brought up to support the fight. The Nineteenth, though fresh, shared the fate of the Thirteenth. Nothing could arrest the astonishing ardor and courage of our troops. Green, Polignac, Major, Bagby and Randal, on the left ; Walker, Bee, Scurry and Waul, on the right, swept all before them." Flight on the part of the Thirteenth and Nineteenth CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 143 corps, dropping curses with the booty — on our part, pursuit, filling with triumphant yells the darkening hills. These continued until evening shadows began to obscure the path. Just as night was closing in, the enemy made a stand near a small creek of clear water. The water was an invitation to both armies. Half way between Mansfield and Pleasant Hill flowed this creek. Here occurred a sharply contested fight. This last effort of routed valor was brief. Taylor, needing nothing so much as water, ordered the foe to be driven from the creek. For a time he was disposed to be stubborn. Finally, he was forced back some 400 yards beyond. This done, the Confederates kept watch and ward over the water during the night, while the Federals kept their new position back from the creek. "Daylight on the pth found every man at his post, and the pursuit was taken up with full ranks. This testimony is due to the army under my command. The village of Mansfield, only three miles from the fierce battle, was during the day and night the scene of order and quiet. . . . Not a straggler was seen in the village on the 8th or pth, and citizens assured me, but for the sounds of the guns, they might have supposed peace to reign in the land." (Report of General Taylor.) In proof of the admirable discipline of the victorious army of Mansfield, this official attestation is given. It admits of no dispute. As had been expected, the enemy had retreated during the night. Taylor hastened back to Mansfield, ponder ing where he would deal his next stroke. Never for a moment, however, did he suppose that the expedition had been abandoned. He was of that order of com manders who suspect their foes making no sound. On the road to Natchitoches, leading in the opposite way to Shreveport, was Pleasant Hill. Returning to Mansfield, Taylor hurried forward Churchill's and Parsons' divi sions, just arrived from Keachi, 22 miles away. With 144 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. these reinforcements, his forces amounted to 12,500 men, against Banks' 18,000 men. At 2 a. m. these were on the march. At 3 130 a. m. Taylor, in person, had planted himself at the front. There, finding the enemy re treated during the night, he sent forward his entire cav alry under Green. With the cavalry he ordered the infantry to follow in column along the Pleasant Hill road. In this line stepped impetuously Mouton's old division, now under Polignac. Taylor preferred to pass ahead with the horse. A retreating foe does not always mean a paralyzed army. Ample evidences of the rout of the previous day were met. Along the road between Mansfield and Pleasant Hill were stragglers, burning wagons, broken wheels, knapsacks, canteens, rent haver sacks, scattered arms — an army's debris everywhere. For twelve miles not a shot came from the hills. " Halt men!" came sharply from Taylor, riding at the head of the horsemen. A mile in front of Pleasant Hill, our cavalry found the retreating army once more dangerous, drawn up in a strong position. Pleasant Hill occupies a plateau a mile wide, west to east, along the road to Mansfield. Banks' line extended across this plateau. On the plateau were placed his batteries. "With the infantry far in the rear, Taylor, for a mo ment, was nonplussed. He could no more than develop, by feints to the right and left of the enemy, their posi tion and strength. By orders captured on the 8th, he had already learned that Banks fully "expected to reach Shreveport on the nth via Pleasant Hill and Mansfield. " To push Banks beyond Pleasant Hill, on the side nearer Natchitoches, had become of vital importance. Ripe fruit is ready for picking. For Taylor, pushing Banks back was the ripest fruit of yesterday's victory. Clearly Banks, being here in force, was aiming to get back to his chosen road. The strength developed showed that fresh troops had joined him during the night. To wait for the infantry seemed Taylor's only plan. After some time CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 145 the infantry arrived, some regiments showing fatigue. Too exhausted for a forward movement, Taylor, who was as tender in bivouac as brave in action, ordered the men to rest for two hours. From midday they rested until 3 p. m. At that hour the entire army was put in motion. With the renewed energy of the infantry, the cavalry and artillery awoke to action. The Louisianians had not yielded to fatigue. Polignac's new division, whose losses on the 8th had made it memorable, was now held in honorable reserve. On his side the enemy fought with renewed courage. Fighting behind temporary intrenchments and with heavy masses in reserve to replace losses, he was making a formidable resistance. With his infantry he skillfully occupied the wooded hill off the road. From this plateau, the key to his position, a strong battery was breeding mischief. On the left extended a range of broken hills densely clothed with young pines. Along these, up and down, the Federals were massed, pro tected "by piles of logs, rails and some abatis," the usual accessories of a Louisiana wood. Taylor's bat teries, on the alert, responded viciously. So eager were the artillerists that at one time they advanced unsup ported within 200 yards of the enemy's guns, and con centrated the fire on the ridge which was threatening them. The results were quickly made apparent on the foe. We so disabled many of his guns that they were removed to the rear. Far from asleep, however, were the Federals to what soever was going on. Specially awake were they to a Confederate movement set in motion across the fields and up the opposite slope. Without warning, from the thick woods on either side of the road hissed close by a deadly musketry fire, which caused loss and temporary disorder among the Southern men. At this point, an error in his attack threw Churchill's division into added disorder. On the right, through the efforts of the lead- La 10 146 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ers, this was checked before disaster. On the left and center the fighting had become close, fierce, deadly. Apparently the enemy had gained a new lease of valor. Fresh troops were there, belonging to the Sixteenth and Seventeenth corps. Word had been passed along their line of battle that the Pleasant Hill road was essential to the plans, nay, to the very safety of the army. The dense woods preventing a clear view on our part of the field, the continuity of our line became somewhat im paired. However, Polignac and the other commanders rallied the men and led them again and again into action. Then, in addition to the denseness of the heights, there fell upon the field an added darkness. Both armies had been thrown by the darkness into some confusion. At the end Banks made no attempt to recover the ground from which his left and center had been driven. It was now observed, when the night fell, that both sides occu pied their original fighting positions. When the night grew older, Banks retreated. The hour of retreat for his whole Federal army struck 3:30 a. m. on the loth. He left 400 wounded in our hands. In further proof of the disaster which had fallen upon his arms, his dead remained on the field so lately abandoned by him. While Pleasant Hill was still in the balance, Green, commanding the cavalry, was with his accustomed en ergy preparing under orders from Taylor to await the fleet at Blair's Landing, 16 miles from the Hill. In making this movement, Green found himself delayed by the lack of a pontoon. He finally succeeded in reaching the river near Blair's Landing. He had crossed only three guns and a part of his horse before the fleet on the 1 2th came hastily down the river. Taylor had felt well assured that the news of Banks' defeat would send the fleet hurrying down toward Grand Ecore, and so enable him to cut it off somewhere en route. Green, always prompt and fearless, at once engaged the fleet. As usual, it consisted of transports, crowded with troops, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 147 protected by gunboats. The loss inflicted by Green upon the transports was terrible. Several times, indeed, they raised the white flag. On their side, the gunboats, covered with plating, continued to keep up a steady fire. The transports suffered the more for this, Green being com pelled to renew the fire on them by reason of the gun boats. Many times, however, the sharpshooters forced even the gunboats to close their portholes. The cap ture of the fleet seemed imminent. A heavy discharge of grape from one of the gunboats at that moment un fortunately killed the noble Green. Banks was at Grand Ecore near by. He made no demonstration, he had not even heard war's thunder, though so close at hand. Singularly cool in danger, strong in attack, never flurried, Green was a commander whom his soldiers had learned to follow with confidence. It was fortunate that his death should take place at the close of the Red river campaign rather than before it had opened. At any time during the war, however, his death would have been a loss to the Confederate cause. General Taylor trusted much in his ability as a cavalry leader who with his sword cut his mark on every march and in every battle. The Confederate reports have been mostly relied upon in regard to the battle of Pleasant Hill. It was, under the rules which govern war, a substantial victory. Touch ing the result of that battle which, although fought with close ranks and signal bravery by the enemy, ended in a general retreat of the Federals, I make way for an ex tract from the report of Maj.-Gen. A. J. Smith, the sol dier loaned to Banks by General Sherman : * l The opinion of Major- General Banks, as to the action of the command and its results, may be gathered from his own words to me on the field just after the final charge, when riding up to me he remarked, shaking me by the hand, * God bless you, general, you have saved the army.' " In this further extract from Gen. A. J. Smith, 148 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. we see the strange inconsistencies arising from the mer curial disposition of Banks and his inward appreciation that the army had met a disaster, leaving unwhispered the word " rout. " " About 12 o'clock on the night of the pth I received orders from General Banks to have my command in readiness to move at 2 o'clock in the morn ing, and at that hour to withdraw them silently from the field and follow the Nineteenth army corps back to Grand Ecore. ... I represented to him that the dead of my command were not buried, and that I had not the means of transporting my wounded, . . . and asked of him permission to remain until noon the next day to give me an opportunity to bury my dead. . . . The permission to remain, however, was refused, and the order to move made peremptory. We reached Grand Ecore on the night of the i ith. " Still another testimony is from President Davis in his "History of the Confederate States:" "Our losses in the two actions of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill were 2,200. At Pleasant Hill, the loss was 426 prisoners. The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded was larger than ours. We captured, not including stragglers, 2,800 pris oners and 20 guns. Their campaign was defeated. " Pleasant Hill road on the 9th had rapidly supple mented Mansfield on the 8th. I quote Taylor's report, written April i8th, but thought out ten days before, on the night of Pleasant Hill. " With 12,000 men, we had attacked twenty odd thousand, many of them fresh troops, posted strongly on ground unknown to us. We had driven them at every point, and, but for the mistake and consequent confusion on our right, we would have captured most of his army. This was accomplished by hard, stern, stubborn fighting. . . . The noise of the wagons moving in the rear of the enemy's position, con firmed me in my opinion that he would retreat in the night. The morning of the roth found us in possession of Pleasant Hill. The enemy had retreated stealthily in CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 149 the night, leaving his dead tmbiiried and some 400 wounded in our hands. Bee took up the pursuit and held it for 20 miles without receiving a check, capturing prisoners, and finding at every step the same evidences of rout as had marked the pursuit of the previous day. ' ' The general result is historically recorded in the fol lowing general order: Soldiers of the Army of West Louisiana: At last have your patience and your devotion been rewarded. Condemned for many days to retreat before an over whelming force, as soon as your reinforcements reached you you turned upon the foe. No language but that of simple narrative should recount your deeds. On April 8th you fought the battle of Mansfield. Never in war was a more complete victory won. Attacking the enemy with the utmost alacrity when the order was given, the result was not for a moment doubtful. The enemy was driven from every position, his artillery captured, his men routed. In vain were fresh troops brought up. Your magnificent line, like a resistless wave, swept every thing before it. Night alone stopped your advance. Twenty-one pieces of artillery, 2,500 prisoners, many stands of colors, 250 wagons, attest your success over the Thirteenth and Nineteenth army corps. On the pth you took up the pursuit and pressed it with vigor. For 1 2 miles prisoners, scattered arms, burning wagons, proved how well the previous day's work had been done by the soldiers of Texas and Louisiana. * * * This was emphat ically the soldiers' victory. In spite of the enemy's posi tion, held by fresh troops of the Sixteenth corps, your valor and devotion triumphed over all. Darkness closed one of the hottest fights of the war. The morning of the loth dawned upon a fleeing foe, with our cavalry in pur suit, capturing prisoners at every step. R. TAYLOR, Major-General commanding. The Confederate Congress added its tribute in the following : " Resolved, by the Congress of the Confederate States of America, That the thanks of Congress are em inently due, and are hereby most cordially tendered to Maj. -Gen. Richard Taylor and the officers and men of 150 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. his command for the brilliant successes obtained by them over the enemy in Louisiana during the past year, and particularly for the victories at Mansfield and Pleas ant Hill on the 8th and gill of April last, and their sub sequent operations against the retreating army of the Federal General Banks in the valley of the Red river. ** Resolved, That the President communicate this resolution to Major-General Taylor and the officers and men of his command. " Approved June 10, 1864. CHAPTER XV. THE RETREAT OF BANKS— TAYLOR'S FORCE REDUCED —WALKER AND CHURCHILL SENT AGAINST STEELE — NATCHITOCHES AND CLOUTIERVILLE— YELLOW BAYOU THE LAST BATTLE— LOUISIANIANS AT MO BILE—GIBSON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS— SURRENDER OF GENERAL TAYLOR. TAYLOR had camped on the battle ground of Pleasant Hill. The same night Gen. Kirby Smith joined him for consultation. A jar of plan at once manifested itself between the two commanders. The question arose of borrowing some of Taylor's victorious troops. Smith was anxious to utilize such valuable ma terial in his efforts to clear Arkansas of Steele. On his side Taylor was eager to keep on chasing Banks with his victorious army. Well acquainted with the peculiar features of the country, he had already planned to bag Banks somewhere between Cane river and Red river. He had hit upon a narrow road crossing a distance of about seven miles. This road skirted an impassable swamp. Smith's special design was to take from Tay lor's little force Walker's and Churchill's divisions. Naturally Taylor demurred to the plan. This would leave him with but 6, ooo men for the work he had in mind. He did not forget, however, that his small army was com pact with fighting men, with valiant service behind them. At last, a compromise was effected. Smith promised to return at once the troops, if Steele retreated. At that, Taylor himself offered to lead the advance, thinking, after getting through with Steele, he would still have his trusty army to finish with Banks. To this Smith agreed, the more willingly because, between the two, 151 152 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, Steele in Arkansas would be surely disposed of. As to west Louisiana, Smith was without fear. General Taylor, who had routed Banks, would take care of him. Smith and Taylor went to Shreveport together, and with them marched Walker's and Churchill's divisions, but at Shreveport Smith changed his mind. He sud denly decided himself to go after Steele, on the expedi tion in Arkansas, which engaged him for some time. From Shreveport, therefore, Taylor set out to hunt up the fleeing column of Banks, which he struck first at Natch- itoches on April 22d, defeated his enemy and pursued him with daily marching and fighting. Always trusting to catch up with the foe, his fighters, eager and hopeful, had never once halted during the day. Taylor's main movement generally followed the bends of Red river, to keep it from the enemy's boats; and his present atten tion was specially directed against the gunboats coming down, frightened at the news of Banks' defeat. A sorry ending to the dream of the joint triumph of army and navy — his army fleeing, and the fleet, that fleet so much trusted in, so hopefully associated with the proud begin nings of his wrecked campaign, scurrying down Red river, painfully eyeing the banks, and none too sure of saving itself from the dangerous union of low water and hostile batteries. On April 26th an event, brilliant in execution, aided in annihilating one gunboat and one transport. Lieutenant-Colonel Caudley, with 200 sharp shooters and Cornay's St. Mary's Cannoneers were posted at the junction of Cane and Red rivers, sternly waiting for the gunboats known to be escaping from above as best they might. At 6 p. m. one gunboat, with a transport, appeared in sight. The united fire of cannoneers and sharpshooters proved fatal to both, silencing and crippling the gunboat, which drifted help lessly out of sight. The transport fared worse, a shell shortly after having exploded its boiler with terrible effect. "Over 100 bodies were brought on shore, and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 153 about 80 others will die from scalding steam. " (Taylor's report, April 27, 1864.) The death of Captain Cornay in this skirmish cast a gloom over the success. Like that of General Green, a few days before, Cornay 's death was a clear misfortune to the army, occurring during its otherwise fortunate and victorious pursuit of Banks. Cornay had proved an officer of rare promise. Between him and his company existed a tie of brotherhood far more than usual from the association of camps. He was devoted to his battery, valuing its reputation, already acquired from its Spar tan fidelity exhibited at Fort Jackson in April, 1862, a fidelity which the cannoneers sustained by an untarn ished record of service during the campaign now strik ing the rivets from West Louisiana. Cornay, who had kept his cannoneers always in the van, had at last fallen where he preferred to fall, his face to the foe.* Taylor was true to his creed, told in words as simply strong as valor: "I shall fight the enemy wherever I shall find him." At Cloutierville, not having force enough to impede the retreat with main strength, he fell back upon the trap which he had planned to set at Monett's ferry. He had, in the chase, chanced into that very road skirting the impassable swamp of which he had dreamed at Pleasant Hill. It was a veritable cul-de- sac from which an army, once in, could not easily escape. Into this trap the retreating army could not but enter. The small end of the bag was at the ferry. Taylor had ordered Bee, a valued lieutenant, to hold the ferry before the arrival of the enemy. Apparently, Bee misapprehended precisely why he was to be at the cross ing. Before the Federals appeared, he had already with- *Louisiana, recalling his truth and their constancy, should slope her standard before the names of F. O. Cornay and his gallant can noneers of St. Mary's. To her, when other men slunk from her side in peril and shame, he and they stood as true as dial to sun ! 154 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. drawn his troops from the gate.* The enemy, seeing the door wide open, did not hesitate to march through. This did not escape Taylor's eye. Noticing that the scrambling retreat of the Federals continued, Taylor, from the rear, knew that his cul-de-sac had been irre trievably spoiled. Banks, always looking for Steele, still belated, and never having studied military traps, had unconsciously slipped through Taylor's fingers. It is always a defeated army which signalizes its de parture by ravages upon the abandoned country. The Federals in fleeing, in 1864, emphasized this military truth beyond cavil. They destroyed the Red river valley, which they could only spoil, but could not hold. During May, the Confederates continued forcing a considerable part of Banks' army to confront it, meeting the part pluckily, sometimes inflicting loss upon it, at times suffer ing loss themselves, yet always steadily and irresistibly expediting the exodus of the invading columns. From May 1 4th to i8th, skirmishes were the rule around Avoyelles prairie. At Mansura and Moreauville, sharp encounters took place between the rear guard in force, and pursuers light in numbers, yet ardent in spirit. Our gunners handled their pieces with coolness and pre cision. By this time the rear guard was getting hurried. Alexandria, in the retreat from Mansfield, had been burned. The burning of the town was stoutly ascribed by the Federals to accident. After doing this mischief the enemy attempted to leave the city by the Bayou Boeuf road. Here stood Polignac to check them. Foiled *General Bee, who reported that his 2,000 men were in line under seven hours' continuous fire before giving up the ferry, said in his defense: "That I was not successful was be cause success was impossible. ... I claim for my troops ( Gould's, Wood's, Terrell's, Liken's, Yager's, Myer's and Vincent's cavalry) the highest praise for their gallantry, patient en durance of fatigue, and never-failing enthusiasm." Gen. John A. Wharton wrote to Bee, June soth, " From an examination of the ground, and from a full knowledge of your force and that of the en emy, I am satisfied that you could not have maintained yourself at Monett's ferry." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 155 on that road they repeated the effort on the Red river road. On May i5th Wharton was at Marksville to fight them. At this point ensued a brilliant cannonade which resembled war. Polignac, still with Mou ton's superb but now skeleton division, found it impossible to stop the retreat of four brigades supported by a detachment of the Thirteenth army corps. While he remained, how ever, he held his ground sturdily, withdrawing only when it suited him — true Frenchman that he was — with drums beating and fifes playing a fanfare of defiance. From this on the Federals constantly retreated and con stantly resisted, yet always fighting with numbers on their side. At Yellow bayou, May i8th, near the Atch- afalaya, " the haven where they would be," Wharton, like a wolf-dog, was at them again, attacking them fiercely. All the enemy had crossed except A. J. Smith's Vicks- burg veterans. Unfortunately, Wharton forgot that his right wing was that resting on the bayou. In order to check Smith's crossing, he had only to mass on his right wing. Instead of doing this, he massed on his left wing. This left rested upon the interior line, away from the bayou. Wondering at his good fortune, Smith crossed the Atchafalaya on May 19, 1864, with haste. Thus, there where Banks' campaign had opened two months before in pride, it now closed in disaster. Bee's blunder cost Taylor Banks' army. Wharton's blunder cost him Smith's division. With the Federals on the thither side of the Atchafalaya, Taylor's chase of them ended. It had been a drawn-out chase, with 200 miles between its close and Mansfield. With that end, which was deliver ance, Peace now folded her wings and brooded in quiet from War's alarms over rural Louisiana. Of this quiet, Taylor, who was there, wrote twelve years after the sur render of Louisiana, as of his own knowledge: " From the action of Yellow Bayou to the close of the war not a gun was fired in the Trans-Mississippi department," 156 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. More even than her Beauregard, Taylor had fought for his native State on her own soil ; had wrought with sin gleness of heart for her deliverance from her foes. Sub jected like her to the crooked measures of Reconstruc tion, he still maintained his scorn for shams, his hate of hypocrisy. After a visit to Europe he wrote, in 1873, a book containing at once his share in the war and his place in that troubled peace which followed war. Taylor wrote as he fought, roughly yet gayly, with firm hand on the hilt of his naked sword. His book is himself in type — caustic, fiery, given unto satire, master of epigrams. He held, with Napoleon I, a method of composition son orous with battle. As he had fought for his State in her stress, so did her cherish her in her degradation. His style, whether in scorn or love, is as brilliant as the gleam of his sword. With its flash before us, I commit Richard Taylor, Liberator of Confederate Louisiana, to his fame. General Banks found in his own peculiar fashion a jus- tification-for his enforced, if not disastrous, defeat.* After vainly waiting for Porter's fleet at Grand Ecore, Banks proceeded to Alexandria. Thence, he found a swift way to the Atchafalaya; thence, to New Orleans; thence, after a little more warfare, to Massachusetts. Once there, true type of the political soldier, he utilized his war ex perience by seeking election in his old congressional dis trict. He received the station, of all others, which he knew best how to fill at once with honor to himself and to his State's advantage. On the nth of May General Banks was relieved, at his own request, by Maj.-Gen. R. S. Canby. General Canby *"The fact that the gunboats were unable to pass Grand Ecore until the 7th, justifies the belief that their advance had been pre vented by the low stage of water, and governed the army exclusively in its retrograde movement to Grand Ecore." — General Banks' re port, April 1 6, 1864. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 157 did no fighting in Louisiana. For that, Mansfield and Pleasant Hill had amply provided.* After the collapse of Banks' expedition up the river, Richard Taylor was appointed by President Davis to the command of the department of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana. This department included the dis trict of the Gulf, Maj.-Gen. Dabney H. Maury; district of North Alabama, Brig. -Gen. P. D. Roddey; district of Central Alabama, Brig. -Gen. D. W. Adams; district of Mississippi and East Louisiana, Maj.-Gen. Franklin Gard ner ; the fortified city of Mobile on the south, and the in vincible remnant of the cavalry corps of N. B. Forrest on the north. The return for his department, November 20, 1864, shows the following Louisiana troops in cluded : In Maury 's command — Twenty-second regiment infantry, brigade of Gen. Alpheus Baker. In Gardner's command, brigade of Gen. George B. Hodge — First cav alry, Col. John S. Scott; Third cavalry; Col. Daniel Go- ber's mounted infantry; Maj. Frederick N. Ogden's cav alry battalion; Col. Frank P. Powers' Mississippi and Louisiana cavalry. The First Louisiana heavy artillery was at Mobile, and Maj. Washington Marks was in com mand of the water batteries. When Mobile, so long defiant, was threatened by formid able land forces in the spring of 1865, Forts Morgan and Gaines having fallen in the previous August, Gibson's Louisiana brigade reported to Gen. St. John Liddell in command. The First, Sixteenth and Twentieth regi- *In January, 1865, it appeared that the brigade of Gen. Allen Thomas, consisting of the Seventeenth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-sev enth, Twenty-eighth and Thirty-first Louisiana infantry, Weath- erly's battalion (late Miles' legion), Wade's light artillery and acom- giny of heavy artillery, was at Alexandria, then the headquarters of en. S. B. Buckner, lately assigned to the district of Western Louis iana. The Crescent regiment was also in that vicinity, and the Third Louisiana was at Shreveport At a later date there was a consider able concentration of troops in apprehension of another campaign on the Red river. With other Louisiana troops reported there, was the Seventh cavalry. Vincent's brigade held the Confederate front toward Opelousas. (Federal reports.) 158 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ments were at that time consolidated under Lieutenant- Colonel Lindsay ; the Fourth battalion and Twenty-fifth regiment under Colonel Zacharie; the Nineteenth was commanded by Maj. Camp Flournoy, and the Sharp shooters by Col. F. L. Campbell. The Fourth, Thir teenth and Thirtieth were also consolidated. Capt. Cuth- bert H. Slocomb's Washington artillery was there, com manded by Lieutenant Chalaron, under Col. Melancthon Smith, commanding the right wing of the defenses. Fenner's battery, Lieutenant Cluverius, and Captains John H. Lamon's and Edward G. Butler's companies of the First heavy artillery were assigned to the left wing, under Colonel Fuller. At battery Mclntosh, under Maj. W. C. Capers, were Companies A and D of the First heavy artillery, at battery Gladden, Companies B and G, under Capt R. C. Bond; and at battery Missouri, Capt. James Gibney, were Companies E and K, Twenty-second regiment, and Holmes' light artillery. General Gibson was assigned in the latter part of March to command of the defenses of Spanish Fort, Liddell tak ing charge at Blakely. He had his brigade, about 500 rifles under Colonel Campbell, Holtzclaw's and Ector's brigades, about 500, and Col. I. W. Patton's artillery, 360 strong. Gibson, on taking command, found that he had an enormous amount of intrenching to do, and to gain time by a bold show of strength sent the Louisianians in a charge against the Federal line, made gallantly by them, and serving its purpose in preventing an assault. General Canby's two army corps sat down to a regular siege on March 2yth. Gibson's works were soon almost surrounded by batteries, but he held out staunchly for two weeks, during which time his men had scarcely any rest, either with the rifle or the spade. On the 8th of April the Federals obtained a lodgment in the works, and that night Gibson skillfully withdrew his troops, under orders not to risk their capture. He retreated to Mobile and thence to Meridian, General Taylor's head- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 159 quarters. General Gibson estimated the loss of his whole command at 93 killed, 45 wounded and 250 captured, out of a total of less than 2,000. Said Gibson, in closing his report: " Lieut. A. G. Clark of my staff, commandant of the post, was killed while charging at the head of the garrison guard to dislodge the enemy when he had turned the left flank. Louisiana has not lost during the war a truer man or a more thorough -going soldier. The list might be prolonged, for we left behind, filling soldiers' graves, many of the bravest and the best; and if any credit shall attach to the defense of Spanish Fort, it be. longs to the heroes whose sleep shall no more be dis turbed by the cannon's roar." On May 8th, upon the oc casion of the surrender of General Taylor, General Gib son issued an address to the Louisiana brigade, in which he said: " There is nothing in your career to look back upon with regret. You have always been in front of the enemy ; you have never feasted in soft places in the rear, nor fought your battles at comfortable firesides. Your banners are garlanded with the emblems of every sol dierly virtue. More than twenty battlefields have seen them unfurled. They were never lowered save over the bier of a fallen comrade. Forget not the good and true men who have fallen. . . . Comrades, henceforth other duties will devolve upon you. Adversities can only strengthen the ties that bind you to your country and in crease the obligations you owe to her interests and her honor. As soldiers you have been among the bravest and most steadfast, and as citizens be law-abiding, peace able and industrious. You have not surrendered and will never surrender your self-respect and love of country." Taylor, in his new department, without a strong army, was as much a problem in the field as he had been when with Stonewall Jackson in the valley of Virginia, or teaching Banks the art of war in West Louisiana. On May 8, 1865, he surrendered to General Canby at Citron- elle, 40 miles north of Mobile. 160 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. North Louisiana, when freed by Richard Taylor, one of her sons, from the invader's chains, stood erect among her children. The shackles had fallen from the once stately limbs, now withered by their rust. In her chair of state sat Henry Watkins Allen, a Paladin who had won spurs of gold ; a citizen spotless in chivalry ; a vet eran weak in body, yet counting it all glory to suffer for his State. No Confederate State, it seems to the author, had better war-governors than Louisiana had from 1861- 65. One, Thomas Overton Moore, had stood at her cra dle; the other waited sorrowing at her coffin. To the end Allen, a maimed figure of valor, watched the shell reverently lest stranger hands profane the corpse. CHAPTER XVI. LOUISIANIANS IN THE ARMIES OF THE WEST— BAT TLES OF WILSON'S CREEK, BELMONT AND SHILOH — BEAUREGARD IN COMMAND — SUCCEEDED BY BRAGG— BATTLES OF IUKA AND CORINTH— MARCH INTO KENTUCKY— BATTLE OF PERRYVILLE. ON May 20, 1861, the Third Louisiana volunteers, Louis Hebert, colonel; S. M. Hyams, lieutenant- colonel, and W. F. Tunnard, major, left New Orleans for Little Rock, Ark., to join the forces then organizing to meet the aggressive operations of Lyon, the Federal commander in Missouri. Joining the army organized under Ben McCulloch, of Texas, they marched north into Missouri and united with the command of Sterling Price. While encamped at Wilson's creek, near Springfield, August loth, the combined forces were sud denly attacked by Lyon and Sigel. The Federals gained without much opposition the commanding position they desired, but Hebert 's Louisianians and Mclntosh's Ar- kansans were speedily sent against the Federal left. Their opponents were a body of regular United States troops ; but these fresh volunteers, in the face of a gall ing fire, surmounted a fence and drove the enemy back. Then, far on the right, it was observed that Sigel had opened fire with a battery that threatened havoc. Mc Culloch took two companies of the Third to seek the rear of the battery, while Lieutenant-Colonel Hyams, with the Pelican rifles, Captain Vigilili; Iberville Grays, Lieutenant Verbois; Morehouse Guards, Captain Hin- son; Pelican Rangers, Captain Blair; Winn Rifles, Cap tain Pierson; Morehouse Fencibles, Captain Harris; Shreveport Rangers, Captain Gilmore; Pelican Rangers, 161 La 11 162 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Captain Beazeale, advanced to the front. At the brow of the hill, said Hyams, Lieutenant Lacy sprang on a log, waving his sword, and called, 4t Come on, Caddo! " The whole command rushed forward, carried the guns and put the enemy to flight. The gallant Captain Hinson was killed, and his brother-in-law, Private Whetstone, fell dead at his side. Private Hicock, at the front among the guns, was shot through the breast. This was the first battle of the Third, and they had charged and taken five guns out of a battery of six. Again they were called on in the final charge which put the enemy to flight. Having routed Sigel they joined Price against Lyon, and as Lyon fell pushed the enemy before them into rout. Nine of the regiment were killed and 48 wounded. The regiment was in winter quarters, 1861-62, at Fort Smith, and on March 7, 1862, participated in the battle of Elkhorn Tavern, in McCulloch's division. The day was disastrous, McCulloch and Mclntosh killed, and Hebert, in command of a brigade, captured ; but the gallantry of the Third regiment was conspicuous. The enemy's at tacks were repulsed repeatedly, Captain Harris, lead ing the right of the Louisiana regiment, being especially distinguished in this service. A month later the regi ment was transferred to Mississippi. With General Polk at Columbus, Ky., in the fall of 1 86 1, were the Eleventh Louisiana volunteers, Col. S. F. Marks; the Twelfth, Col. T. M. Scott; Lieutenant-Col onel Kennedy's Fifth battalion or Twenty-first regiment; Capt. R. A. Stewart's Point Couple artillery; and the Watson battery, Capt. Daniel Beltzhoover. Grant gave most of these commands an opportunity for distinction by his attack on the Confederate camp at Belmont, No vember yth. As soon as the landing of Grant was ob served from the Kentucky shore, Stewart's battery was sent forward to the river, supported by Kennedy's bat talion, and the artillery was soon engaged with the gun boats, driving them back up the river. Early in the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 163 morning Beltzhoover's artillery had been sent across to Belmont, and there for some time his destructive fire prevented Grant from surrounding the Confederate line. He was finally compelled to withdraw for lack of ammu nition, and the Confederates were soon crowded down to the river bank. It was a moment of peril, but the Eleventh Louisiana now arrived, with *' the gallant old veteran, Colonel Marks, at the head of the column, " Lieu tenant-Colonel Barrow in immediate command of the regiment, and began the aggressive movement which resulted in driving Grant to his boats. The regiment lost 12 killed and 42 wounded, among them the gallant Major Butler and Lieutenant Alexander. Beltzhoover's loss was 2 killed and 8 wounded, 45 horses killed, 2 guns missing. His modest report was, " we stood doing our best until the whole line retreated to the river. At the river I formed battery again, though without am munition, and so remained until carried down to the bank by force of the retreating troops. ' ' Polk telegraphed, "Watson's battery, under Beltzhoover, immortalized!" At a later date all of these Louisiana commands, ex cept Beltzhoover's battery, were at Island No. 10 and New Madrid, gallantly resisting the attacks of the Fed eral fleet. During the early part of February, 1862, Fort Donel- son fell, and Grant's forces pushed on down the Tennes see river to Pittsburg Landing, where, on March ist, Colonel Mouton's Eighteenth Louisiana regiment had its first fight, with the gunboats for antagonists. Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, falling back from Nash ville, selected Corinth as his new base of campaign. He arrived at that town in advance of his troops on March 22, 1862, and found there an army of some 25,000 men. This force had been brought together through General Beauregard's feverish energy. In its composition it bore the features of a few States, one of the Confed erate North and two of the Gulf. It had been drawn 164 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. from Louisiana, Alabama and Kentucky, General Lovell himself having brought a brigade of volunteers from New Orleans. The Louisiana commands assembled to fight at Shiloh were :* First Louisiana regulars, infantry, Col. D. W. Adams; Fourth volunteer infantry, Col. H. W. Allen; Eleventh volunteer infantry, Col. S. F. Marks ; Twelfth volunteer infantry, Col. S. M. Scott; Thirteenth volunteer in fantry, Col. Randall L. Gibson ; Sixteenth volunteer in fantry, Col. Preston Pond; Seventeenth volunteer in fantry, Lieut. -Col. Charles Jones ; Eighteenth volunteer infantry, Col. Alfred Mouton; Nineteenth volunteer infantry, Col. B. L. Hodge ; Twentieth volunteer infantry, Col. August Reichard; the Crescent regiment (N. O.), Col. Marshall J. Smith; Confederate Guards Response battalion, Maj. Franklin H. Clack; Thirteenth battalion (Orleans Guards), Maj. Leon Queyrouse; Fifth Company Washington artillery, Capt. W. Irving Hodgson. Though called raw troops, the Louisiana levies proved to be splendid fighters, who in spite of some sharp crude- ness here and there knew how, stepping straight from their drill-rooms in the city, to hold together at war's *The Eleventh was with Tennesseeans in the brigade of Col. R. M. Russell. Colonel Marks was severely wounded while leading his men on the morning of the 6th, leaving Lieutenant-Colonel Barrow in command. The Fourth, Thirteenth (Maj. A. P. Avegno) and Nineteenth, with an Arkansas regiment, composed a brigade of Ruggles' division commanded by Col. R. L. Gibson. Major Avegno and Lieut. Benjamin King, Gibson's gallant aide-de-camp, were among the officers wounded. Ruggles' division was mainly Louisiana troops, the other brigades being Patton Anderson's and Preston Pond's. Anderson's brigade included the Seventeenth, Twentieth, Response battalion, and Hodgson's artillery. Colonel Jones, and Lieutenant-Colonel Boyd (Twentieth) were wounded; Major Clack had two horses shot under him. Col. Preston Pond, Sixteenth, commanded a brigade including the Sixteenth, Eight eenth, Crescent, and battalion Orleans Guards. Colonel Martin and Major Queyrouse were wounded. The First was in the brigade of Gen. A. H. Gladden. Colonel Deas, later in command, reported that the gallant Adams received a severe wound in the head; and that " impartiality compelled him to record as first in the fight the First Louisiana and Twenty-second Alabama." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 165 word of command, shoulder to shoulder in one of the great combats of the war. In coming to Corinth, Johnston had decided that the valley of the Mississippi was, in March, 1862, of far greater importance to the Confederacy than the occupa tion of Middle Tennessee. With his headquarters also at Corinth, Miss., General Beauregard was declared on March 29th by general orders, '* second in command to the commander of the forces. ' ' General Johnston knew well that General Grant's army, massed at Pittsburg Landing about 22 miles from Corinth, was daily expecting Don Carlos Buell. He fully understood the value that lay in striking a sudden blow before Buell could join Grant. He himself had hoped to move his army on April ist, so as to make sure of attack ing Grant on Saturday, April 5th, before the junction could take place. The army began its march on April 3d, two days after the date originally fixed. The next day rains, not heavy but persistent, flooded creeks, scat tered bridges, bogged roads and stalled batteries. Every nerve was strained in rank and file to make progress on Thursday. The sun refused to shine out until Friday afternoon, at which hour the Confederates were a day's journey from the enemy's advance. The army biv ouacked in his front Saturday about 5 p. m. The day was too far gone to open the attack that afternoon. A small fact ; but small as it was, it changed the fate of the sec ond day's fight. By this rain, [the coming battle was thrown forward into daylight on Sunday (April 6). This was a day after the time originally selected by General Johnston's admirable plan of battle for opening the assault, a delay which, robbing us of time, gave it to the enemy. At 5 a. m. the Confederates began their forward move ment. From that hour until evening their advance con tinued a victorious progress, full of dramatic surprises, and always marked by stubborn fighting on both sides. One fact may bear investigation here. America's best 166 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. fighting blood confronted one the other around Shiloh church. It was the men of the South brought face to face against the men of the West, both with heat of fire and nerves of steel. The first attack was made upon Sherman's division, with Prentiss to the left. Although surprised, the two divisions fought resolutely, making our brilliant advance costly in killed and wounded. For hours, until the sun had scaled high the sky, the fight wavered on their front. About 2 p. m. Ruggles, whose division was mainly Louis- ianians, ordered his command to support Hodgson's Washington artillery (Fifth company).* As they were passing Shiloh church, the Crescents saw Beauregard standing on a log by the side of the road. Seeing them, Beauregard, with ringing tone, cried out: " Louisiani- ans, drive them into the Tennessee. ' ' Spurred by the war-like order, the regiment soon became engaged, a lit tle way ahead, in a determined attack of the Confederate left on Wallace's division, which formed the enemy's right. In this movement, the Washington artillery did brilliant service in keeping a Federal battery from pour ing too close a fire into Gibson's Louisiana brigade, then engaged in a rear part of the field. Gibson, unsupported by artillery, had been fighting desperately against masses posted on a ridge, under cover of a battery. This was a critical position, in which Mouton's Eighteenth Louisiana made a brilliant but ineffective charge up the hill. The * Slocomb, when the Fifth company of Washington artillery was organized, joined as a private and was elected lieutenant. After the battle of Shiloh, where he was wounded, he was promoted to the captaincy of the battery. Hodgson, who had gallantly commanded during Slocomb's absence, resigned on account of failing health. "When a full history of the battles of Shiloh shall have been writ ten, the heroic deeds of the Washington artillery will illustrate one of its brightest pages ; and the names of Slocomb and Hodgson will be held in grateful remembrance by a free people, long after the sod has grown green upon the bloody hills of Shiloh." — Report of Brig.- Gen. Patton Anderson, April 17, 1862. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 167 Eighteenth* drove the battery off the crest when, rein forcements coming up, it was compelled to withdraw. It was in this general movement that General Wallace fell mortally wounded. His division, after Wallace's death, began a fierce struggle to retire to the river, a struggle which, for a time, seemed doubtful. Towards 5:30 the Crescents, under Colonel Smith, made a gallant double-quick across a field, into another field, through a wood, crossing the Pittsburg Landing road, with a rush, to charge Prentiss' division. Prentiss, having been fighting hard since the dawn, was now posted in the camp nearest the Tennessee and its two gunboats. Just as the Crescents got to the road and were making ready to charge they noticed on the other side of the road a flutter of white handkerchiefs from the bayonets of several men standing in an open field. The capture of Prentiss' division, following immediately, formed a brilliant termination to Sunday's heavy fighting. Pren tiss' division, 2,500 rank and file, surrendered to the Crescents, with a Tennessee command moving on parallel lines. General Prentiss was seen coolly seated on horse back, in the center of a mob of excited men. He yielded his sword, by right the prize of Col. Marshall Smith, to a young lieutenant of the regiment who asked for it. After this capture, General Bragg'sf corps was de ployed to the right of the ridge road. Elated with the victory, Ruggles' Louisianians were eagerly listening for the order to advance upon Pittsburg Landing. Dusk was melting into night. The word, so eagerly expected, had not yet come. Beauregard had charged them to drive the enemy into the Tennessee; Beauregard re mained ominously silent. A shot shrieked its noisy way * The loss of the Eighteenth was "207 officers and men killed and wounded who could not be removed from the field. The Orleans Guard battalion, Major Queyrouse, lost about 80 men immediately afterward." — Beauregard's report. f General Ruggles, in his report of the closing scenes of the fight, calls this particular moment "one of the controlling conflicts of that eventful day." 168 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. across the wood which separated the Crescents from the landing, a mile away. Another shell came; then an other ; still another, all asking for Prentiss, who, known to the senders to be in peril, had not yet reported. Men in the gunboats had been told the range of the camp. Already these shells had killed or wounded some of our men. It was time to seek shelter. Not a man in Bragg's line but was disappointed at the failure on Sun day, April 6th, to receive the order to double-quick to Pittsburg Landing. It was an army filled with ardor to advance upon the enemy and to drive him, as Beaure- gard had said, "into the Tennessee;" and on the way, to capture the whole force on its bank. Of that result, once at Pittsburg Landing, there was not a single doubter among the Louisianians at Shiloh. That night the army bivouacked in the Federal tents. It was already dark and raining. About 9 p. m. a courier came riding through the rain and halted by the side of a wood-road, where men grouped around him. He told the story of the death of the kingly Johnston at 2:30 p. m. All that night, Don Carlos Buell's hardy army of the Ohio was coming down the Tennessee. At daylight on Monday, the enemy in his turn, relying upon his new masses, began the attack. The " offensive " on Sunday was, on Monday, the "defensive." Bragg's corps was soon on the road. Ruggles' division marched through the woods until some of the command encountered Nel son's advancing line. The Crescents had, in ascending a slope, reached a hill, once a ploughed field, with large trees left loosely standing. In front of that hill, thus denuded, was a narrow valley which on the other side sloped up to another hill, as high as that on which the Crescents stood. This hill was heavily timbered to the brink, from which it looked across to the Crescents. On the extreme right of the Crescents waited Hodgson's Washington artillery. The battery had, on its right, a steep and jagged dip of a sloped hill, rendering passage CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 169 down it impossible to horses. For awhile the men of the regiment and of the battery peered through the rain and mist to the other side, which looked dark and dangerous. Suddenly, through the light rain but heavier mist, four flags floated for an instant. The woods being too dense to see the commands, no one knew that within that darkness a murderous battle line had already silently formed. Without warning a heavy crash of musketry poured from a long line, unseen, upon the Confederate hill. The fire did some execution, killing and wounding nine or ten men among the Crescents.* Among the latter was Color Sergeant Schilling. The flag, falling from his hand, was quickly taken up by Lieut. William Bullitt. Evidently the Washington artillery had been seen, and the aim was to kill the horses and so secure the battery. Two of the guns remained on the hill, with dead horses keeping guard. Hodgson feared that his other horses might be disabled, and, none too sure that his horse less guns would be safe from capture, turned to the left to save what remained of his battery. The horses, already frightened, became unmanageable, and in their terror they bore the guns and caissons straight through Com pany C of the Crescents, scattering them here and there, and throwing the regiment into some disorder. Colonel Smith immediately ordered the Crescents to fall back to the slope of the hill to the rear, in order to reform. See ing the hill empty, the enemy promptly exposed their line, swept down the slope and, crossing the valley, charged the guns lying defenseless. They were making hurried preparations to carry them off with the aid of other horses when a solid line of gray-coats came firmly up the rear slope at double-quick, Colonel Smith on horseback gallantly carrying the colors. In another *In that sudden fire, the Crescent regiment lost two of its most gallant officers. Capt. Geo. H. Graham, Co. C. (Louisiana Guards), and Capt. Chas. C. Campbell, of the Sumter Rifles, were instantly killed. These two officers had already made a reputation in the army. Though thorough disciplinarians, they were much beloved. 170 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. minute the enemy, seeing the Crescents, left the guns and hurried to their first position. When Hodgson came up he found his two guns unharmed. Later on Ruggles' division again faced the Federals, this time the Federal right under Sherman. The fire of the Confederates was at first light ; but on coming well into range the enemy were met with so terrible a storm of musketry and artil lery that they reeled, and rushing to the rear were fol lowed nearly a mile. Sherman himself vouched for the fact that the firing here ' * was the severest I had ever heard." The First Louisiana brigade, under command of Col. R. L. Gibson, of the Thirteenth Louisiana, was conspic uous for its share in the events of both days. From an early hour on the 6th to the hour of retreat on the yth, Gibson was everywhere in the front, with a loss in officers and men exceeding that of nearly every brigade at Shiloh. Col. H. W. Allen, of the Fourth Louisiana, was wounded in one of the fierce charges of the 6th. Later, at Baton Rouge, in August, he was to receive a wound which long disabled him. The Fourth lost two officers killed, Capts. C. E. Tooraen and J. T. Billiard, with 22 men; wounded, 12 officers and 157 men. Among the deaths most deeply regretted was that of Brig. -Gen. Adley H. Gladden. General Gladden, a gallant veteran of the Mexican war, had gone out as colonel of the First Louisiana regulars. Promoted to brigadier-general on September 30, 1861, much was hoped for from his recog nized skill and courage. The fighting continued, sharp, resolute, stubborn, throughout the early part of the yth. Exhausted in body, reduced in numbers, but in heart undaunted, the Confederate army found itself forced to face ever aug menting odds. It was compelled — through Beauregard's resolve to check as long as possible his own proposed withdrawal of his forces — to show an invariably formid able front along the whole line, wherever assailed. This, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 171 though a wise precaution, called for a severe strain upon the Confederates. Fall back fighting ! was Beauregard's order on that Monday, April 7th; and his army fought, with such ardor as to create little suspicion that it was also falling back. At about 3 130 p. m. the army's retro grade movement was begun. It was carried out with a cheerful steadiness never exceeded by a force in retreat. The men knew that they had fought well, and that it was only a missing order on Sunday afternoon which had brought them, overpowered by numbers but not crushed, to the unequal field of Monday. Such are the oscillations of the battle pendulum — those oscillations which so often change the final results of battles. The Confederate army under Johnston had gone into the battle with 39,630 men of all arms, and lost 1,728 killed, 8,012 wounded, 950 missing; total 10,680. With Buell's army, the total Federal force was about 72,000. The losses numbered 12,190. Of all martial names, in our civil war, devoted to slaughter, Shiloh was in date the first. Johnston had fallen in the arms of victory. Had he lived until sundown the army would not only have fought enthusiastically under his ably-conceived plan, but would have victoriously carried it to the end contem plated by him. That order to advance, looked for, but not received, would have been caught up by men flushed with victory, standing expectantly around Prentiss' camp. Grant's men, lying listless by the river where they had fallen in their fatigue,* would have been cap tured on the southern bank of the Tennessee. With the capture of his army, General Grant would have been in danger of suffering military eclipse. He would have found his name, assailed through the Northern press, linked to a great disaster rather than to a victory snatched by reinforcements from defeat. He would not have sat before Vicksburg or offered, as victor, an ulti- * Whitelaw Reid's letter to the Cincinnati Commercial. 172 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. matum ; nor, indeed, would his have been the dogging of glorious Robert Lee in the Wilderness; nor to sit, the Union's host, in the White House at Washington. Misapprehension had done its utmost to defame great ness. It had, with its strongly-feeble hands, dragged Johnston from the exalted place gained by his great qualities, to make him pass as a marked man through the valley of humiliation. Praise is due to those uncorrupted instincts of men, however, which lead them with clarified vision nobly to weigh maligned reputation on juster weights than those for the mass. It is these instincts which, lifting up that lofty fame and tenderly preserv ing it from wrong, have placed it, restored to grandeur, upon a pedestal far overtopping that from which Detrac tion, with its thousand mouths of clamor, had for a space pulled it down. For a time, Beauregard planned to hold Corinth for strategic purposes, it being of great natural strength. The troops were at first kept busy fortifying. While Beauregard was doing this, Halleck was advancing, with tantalizing deliberation, at the head of 105,000 men from Pittsburg Landing. General Grant was second in com mand. Pope, always ambitious to be prompt, showed himself over-hasty. He had moved on the i8th, eager to anticipate Halleck's slowness. At the village of Farm- ington he drove off an insignificant Confederate force and occupied it. Here he was, for all practical purposes, separated from Halleck and Buell. This furnished Beau- regard with a plan. He quickly resolved, by an attack in force, to cut Pope off from his base. Van Dorn was to move by his right flank, and to keep on moving until his center should be opposite Pope's left. Van Dorn under stood the plan, but through inefficient guides failed to get into position at the hour fixed for the flanking. In spite of this, the engagement soon became spirited. Van Dorn, once in line, opened his work with his usual vigor. In this movement he was aided by the simultaneous ad- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 173 vance of Ruggles' Louisiana division, which by its fiery onset nearly captured two brigades forming the rear of Pope's command. The enemy's loss was considerable in killed and wounded; the Southern casualties, some 200. In the Farmington affair, though without satisfac tory results, owing to the blunder of Van Dorn's guides, our troops behaved with great spirit. In the meantime Beauregard, in view of the heavy odds against the Confederates, had decided to evacuate Corinth. He had no desire that the enemy should see into his mind. Without the knowledge of either Halleck or Grant, therefore, he quietly withdrew his army on the night of April 2pth, with a loss of neither men nor stores. Beauregard 's retreat was masterly in every respect. It became known only at sunrise, and may stand for a model as the march from the front of a prudent commander. His army reached Tupelo, Miss., on the pth of June. Beauregard had already begun to feel the effects of ill health at Corinth, and on the i4th of June he left Tupelo for Claiborne Springs in search of temporary recupera tion. He had, before leaving, turned the command of Department No. 2 over to General Bragg. As early as May 7th Maj.-Gen. Braxton Bragg had assumed command of the Confederate army of the Mississippi. Braxton Bragg had been a resident of Louisiana for several years before the war. In 1861, the general assembly provided for organizing the Louisiana State forces, and under that law General Bragg was appointed brigadier-general, March yth. It seemed, at the opening of the Tennessee campaign, of good augury that the Louisiana troops should have been placed under the command of so distin guished a soldier, who was also a representative of their own State. Before leaving Tupelo, Bragg had practically reorgan ized his army. Among the Louisianians whom he left with Price were Mou ton's brigade, consisting of the Eight eenth Louisiana regiment, and the consolidated Cres- 174 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. cent regiment.* These, together with Semmes'and Ral- ston's batteries, afterward reported to Gen. Richard Taylor, in the Trans- Mississippi department. Halleck, able tactician in the closet, was uncertain in the field. His deliberate movements had no effect upon General Bragg, who had already sent his troops on the railroad via Mobile to Chattanooga. Bragg, by reason of this surprise, was enabled to control events until Grant, cutting free from Vicksburg, could drive 'him off. Here Bragg remained concentrating an army, gather ing troops around him, tried in the war, long in the field, seasoned in old fights, and eager for new. After Bragg left Price with his army of the West, and Van Dorn with his army of West Tennessee, in Mis sissippi, the two moved northward, but separately, menacing Grant and Rosecrans. Price, caught alone near luka by two largely superior columns which Grant designed should close upon him, made a brilliant fight September i9th. The Third Louisiana, Lieutenant- Col onel Gilmore, was there, in the brigade of Gen. Louis Hubert, and Price declared that the brunt of the battle fell upon Hubert's command, and nobly did it sustain it. Coupling the Third Texas in his praise, he dubbed the Third Louisiana as " ever-glorious. " He had observed them at Oak Hills and Elkhorn, and * * no men had ever fought more bravely or more victoriously. ' ' On October 3 and 4, 1862, Corinth again became for *A regrettable feature of Bragg's reorganization was an arbitrary edict by which he refused the re-enlistment for the war, offered by the Crescent regiment, ninety-days men, from New Orleans. On June sd, the Crescents had offered to re-onlist; on June soth Bragg ordered the regiment to be broken up, assigning its men to the Eighteenth Louisiana. An appeal to the war department brought relief. On September iyth the assigned men were returned to the command ; on October 2d, the regiment was reorganized, and on November sd consolidated with the Confederate Guards Response (Clack's) and Eleventh Louisiana (Beard's) battalions; the new or ganization to be officially known as the "Consolidated Crescent regi ment." It has been seen how the Twenty -fourth Louisiana (Cres cent regiment) had made history at Shiloh As the consolidated Crescent regiment, it afterward made more history on brilliant fields nearer home. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 175 two days a "seat of war." Again did it hear in its streets the martial drumbeats ; again see the two armies drawn up, facing each other as stoutly as they had done at Shiloh, near by. Price had hoped that an attack upon Corinth would thrust Grant back from the public eye, neutralizing his victory so recently gained. Eager in his movements, Van Dorn upon this hope had acted on the spot. Rosecrans, with Grant as his adviser, was at Corinth with 23,000 men. Van Dorn, for the attack, had about the same number. Coming in on the northwest of the town he cut Rosecrans from Grant, who was not far off. Van Dorn had a plan to feint upon Rosecrans' left, thereby drawing troops from his right. Upon the wing so depleted Price was to fall and crush it. This was done on the 3d. A gap was soon made in Rosecrans' line, into which Van Dorn hastened to pour and drive back his enemy's left and center; his right, however, still remain ing intact to threaten Van Dorn's flank. Night fell, and with it the combat closed. The next day, at dawn, Van Dorn advanced into the town and for an hour could not be put out. He soon found, however, that he could not move one step forward. Here was a quandary. With Rosecrans stoutly holding his position, Van Dorn, now in some doubt for himself, decided to retreat. Under cover of a new attack, he fell back skillfully, the enemy not following. The battle of Corinth was a strong attack and defense, a cut and thrust movement, leading to no results save the taking of Cor inth as an active factor from the arena of war. Its year for " war's dread alarum's," with formidable muster of both armies, was emphatically 1862.* The Confederates in two columns, meanwhile, had marched into the friendly State of Kentucky. E. Kirby Smith, commanding an army at Knoxville, took one line of the advance and defeated the enemy in a spirited *In this battle the Third Louisiana was reported as losing 12 wounded ; Dupeire's Zouaves 2 killed ; Watson's battery was also engaged. 176 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. action at Richmond, Ky. Smith ' s cavalry brigade, of which a large part was the First Louisiana, under Lieut. -Col. James O. Nixon, was commanded by Col. J. S. Scott. He drove the enemy from London, making heavy cap tures of prisoners and stores ; fought a considerable en gagement successfully at Big Hill, the enemy leaving 120 killed and wounded and over 150 prisoners; and on the occasion of the battle at Richmond attacked the en emy in the rear, capturing 3,500 prisoners, including General Manson, the Federal commander, and 8 pieces of artillery. Scott reported that in the campaign he cap tured nearly 4,000 prisoners, 375 wagons, mostly loaded, 1,500 mules and many horses. From the 896 men of his command he lost 7 killed and 21 wounded. A somewhat dramatic fact may be cited here. Profiting by his New Orleans lesson of a transfer of flags, Scott, riding into Frankfort, hoisted the battleflag of the First Louisiana (no Confederate flag being at hand) on the capitol of the State. The dramatic touch was emphasized by the pres ence of a pacific rear guard of the enemy, 8,000 strong, watching the scene with mild interest from the opposite bank. Acute war legalizes offenses even against '* Old Glory," and that Confederate ceremony of September 3d having been completed, Scott dashed on hotly with 450 horses to harass the friendly rear. The second line was followed by Bragg himself. The movement was not overwise, but the issue of it was the severely fought battle of Perryville, on October 8, 1862. Buell, after having been summarily relieved from command, had just been reinstated at the solicitation of Thomas, prince of Federal soldiers, whose Virginia lin eage is so clearly traced in his steady character. Buell's whole army was not with him when he came upon Har- dee with only 15,000 men. Had that army been behind him, Buell might have defeated Hardee where he met him. Half of his force was distant from the field. This lack of concentration called for payment somehow, at CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 177 usurer's interest. Bragg was too shrewd to err in the same way. He had already, on October 8th, succored Hardee, who, on finding himself attacked, fell stoutly on McCook, holding Buell's left, and bore him back help lessly. Tug as he might, Hardee could not break Buell's center. After a fierce fight, stubbornly maintained, Bragg suddenly withdrew from the field. Decidedly, a tactical check had been suffered by Bragg. Loss, about 5,000 men on either side. With Bragg in the wearisome march and the tug of battle was the Louisiana brigade of the army of Tennes see, organized under the command of Daniel W. Adams, promoted to brigadier-general. It included the Thir teenth regiment, Col. R. L. Gibson ; Sixteenth, Col. D. C. Gober; Twentieth, Col. August Reichard, Lieut. -Col. Leon von Zinken; Twenty-fifth, Col. S. W. Fisk; Four teenth battalion sharpshooters, Maj. J. E. Austin; and Fifth company, Washington artillery, Capt. C. H. Slo- comb. Adams was put in line on the extreme left, and while a fierce attack was being made on the angle of the Federal line the Louisianians advanced with Buckner's left. All along the line the enemy was driven back, throwing away arms and equipment, and Adams' bri gade, with the others, followed for about a mile. The Washington artillery, whose guns had opened the ball, followed and again opened fire. Later the whole of Adams' command was stationed on the hill from which they had driven the enemy. While they were far in front, ammunition exhausted and no effective supports in sight, some mishaps occurred. Lieut. Philip Seyne, with his ammunition train, and Lieut. Thomas Blair, with fourteen men, going after ammunition, were capt ured. The same fate was supposed to have befallen Aide-de-camp E. M. Scott. The regimental and battal ion commanders, and Maj. Charles Guillet, Capt. H. Brummerstadt, Adjt. E. P. Guillet, Lieutenant Schaedel, Capt. M. O. Tracy, Lieutenant Me Call, Maj. R. G. La 12 178 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Higgins and Lieutenants Eichholz and Stewart (both wounded) were mentioned with honorable distinction; and of the Washington artillery Adams said : 4 * It did most essential and valuable service and deserves particu lar notice of praise, and I would especially recommend that they be allowed to have Perryville inscribed on their banner." The brigade loss was 152, of whom 6 were known to have been killed, 78 wounded and 68 missing. CHAPTER XVII. BATTLE OF MURFREESBORO— GALLANT RECORD OF ADAMS' BRIGADE— THE WASHINGTON ARTILLERY — TULLAHOMA CAMPAIGN— THE GREAT CONFLICT ON CHICKAMAUGA CREEK— ADAMS' BRIGADE TURNS THE FEDERAL LINE— ACTION OF OTHER LOUISIANA COMMANDS. THE next encounter of the armies was in Tennes see. Rosecrans, the new commander of the army of the Cumberland, vice Buell, gave the command of his center to Thomas. Thomas acted throughout the campaign as his military adviser. None better could he have had than this soldier — as prudent as he was daring, as successful as he was prudent. About the middle of November Bragg advanced to Murfreesboro. From this point he planned to lay distant siege to Nashville. Rose crans' own objective was Chattanooga, as had been Buell's, but his first aim was to sweep Bragg from his front. Bragg, who had gone into winter quarters, was quickly aware of Rosecrans' purpose. It was on Stone's river (December 26th to January 5th) that the army of Tennessee and the army of the Cumber land met for the mastery of the fields of Tennessee. If we read the rival reports both commanders lay claim to victory. In his losses, Bragg showed rather better than the enemy, having lost 10,000 out of 47,000, against the other's 12,000 out of 48,000. Adams' brigade — the Thirteenth and Twentieth consolidated, under command of Colonel Gibson ; the Sixteenth and Twenty-fifth con solidated, under Colonel Fisk ; Austin's sharpshooters, and the Washington artillery, Lieutenant Vaught — was prom inent in the fighting of Breckinridge's division. The First 179 180 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. cavalry was with Wheeler. Breckinridge, on the east of the river, toward noon on the 3ist was called on to send help to General Polk, whose right was yet unsuccessful. Adatns crossed with his brigade, and was at once thrown forward against a battery on a hill in front. The two battalions of the brigade, led by Colonels Gibson and Fisk, advanced gallantly to do the work too heavy for Chalmers and Donelson to complete, but met the same terrible ar tillery fire that had shattered Chalmers, and musketry from both flanks, and after an hour's noble struggle was compelled to give way. The whole Federal army was packed in columns behind the position Adams was sent to attack in front. It was here that Col. Stuart W. Fisk, of the consolidated Sixteenth, was killed while bravely leading a desperate charge. Colonel Fisk had gone out in the Crescent Rifles — the first command to leave the city, May 15, 1861 — and had been on the Peninsula with Dreux' battalion. His death was a serious blow to our Louisiana contingent in Tennessee. He was a gallant officer, who in danger possessed that coolness which, while it attracts peril, minimizes it. Devoted to his men, he was by them fully trusted and deeply regretted. The loss was very heavy. Fisk's regiment had 45 7 men, and 217 were put hors de combat. Among the killed of the brigade were Lieuts. Charles J. Hepburn, R. O. Smith, H. Gregory, A. Ranlett, and T. L. McLean, and among the wounded General Adams and his adjutant, Capt. Emile P. Guillet, and Lieuts. J. M. Clayton, Louis Stagg, and W. L. Sibley. Capt. M. O. Tracy, acting ma jor of Gibson's regiment, distinguished at Shiloh, Farm- ington and Perry ville, lost a leg. Capt. Thomas W. Peyton, of the sharpshooters, was severely wounded. These and Colonel Gibson, Maj. Charles Guillet, Maj. F. C. Zacharie, Adjt.H. H. Bein, Capt. T. M. Ryan, Color-bearer Rogei Tammure, and Sergt.-Maj. John Farrell, Lieuts. W. Q. Lowd, A. P. Martin, S. R. Garrett and C. F. McCarty, and Adjt. A. O'Duhigg, were mentioned for soldierly CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 181 conduct. Colonel Gibson, speaking for his regiments, Thirteenth and Twentieth, said that at the outset of their charge they drove the enemy at their front, and rescued the colors of some Confederate regiment* which had pre viously engaged the enemy there, and whose dead marked the line of battle. On January 2d, Bragg renewed his attack upon Rose- crans, whose right he had pushed back through a quarter- circle, and sent Breckinridge on the east side of the river against his left. In this memorable charge, which worsted the Federal infantry, but came to naught under the mur derous breath of the concentrated Federal artillery, the most tremendous outburst of gunnery that the West had yet known, the Thirteenth consolidated, Major Guillet, and the Sixteenth consolidated, Major Zacharie, were the front of Gibson's line. They advanced close to the river and drove the enemy beyond a ravine, where the Thirteenth held its position under heavy fire for some time. Of the 28 officers of the regiment who went into the fight, 14 were wounded, some mortally. ' * The regiment behaved throughout like veterans, " said Gibson, " Captains Ryan, Lipscomb, King, Bishop and McGrath and Lieut. D. C. Ryan displayed distinguished steadiness and courage. The loss of this regiment in two short actions (3ist and 2d), lasting both together not more than an hour, was 19 officers and 332 men killed, wounded and missing, losing as many as some brigades. ' ' Major Zacharie, through a mistake in orders, crossed the river in this movement of the 2d. Once there, Zacharie plucked a brilliant diversion out of the error which had led him there. The Stone river being between him and Gibson, he was necessarily without orders for his guidance. Taking advantage of his unofficial line — not to add a sense of freedom not dis- * It is worth the record to say that this was the battleflag of a reg iment of General Folk's corps. There the Louisianians found the flag, covered from sight by the bodies of its bearers who had bravely died in its defense. To save such a flag was an honor next to hav ing borne it. 182 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. tasteful — he gallantly drove in the skirmishers of the enemy, besides, at this particular point, holding the threatening masses in check in front of our batteries, giv ing us time to throw shot and shell at them. Zacharie stood by his colors with steadiness, contesting every inch of the strange ground upon which chance had opportunely placed him. The Washington artillery, Fifth company, rendered distinguished service during the two days. As early as December 2pth, two rifled guns were in position near the river, under the command of Lieut. J. A. Chalaron, who occupied that dangerous point during Tuesday and Wednesday, exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy's batteries and frequent assaults of his infantry. On the 3ist, Vaught, with his remaining guns, supported Adams, continuing an effective fire on the enemy during the day. Then returning to the east side of the river, they followed Breckinridge in the charge on the 2d, and galloping up a hill, were in action till ammunition failed. While wait ing for a new supply, the enemy swarmed about them, pouring in volley after volley at fifty yards. Then, after the last regiment and last battery were from the field, the Fifth company grimly retired in perfect line. The loss of the artillery was 5 killed and wounded. Lieutenant Chal aron, for distinguished gallantry, was appointed on the field as * ' temporary chief of artillery. ' ' Lieutenants Blair and Leverich, Corporals Smith and Adams, and Pri vates Johnson and Walsh, were commended for gallantry. In these fights, Randall Lee Gibson gave proofs of that signal ability which was to mark him progressively during the war. Gibson was always the student among our brig adiers, but this is far from meaning that he was a dreamer in action. He was a student only in the scholarship which he had borne away from ambitious competitors in the prizes of peace at Yale. His classics in nothing de tracted from his dash upon the field, however much Plu tarch may have offered him models for imitation. For six months the army of the Cumberland, in and CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 183 around Murfreesboro, did naught but face Bragg. Halleck, from Washington, was pressing Rosecrans to open anew the campaign ; Grant, from Vicksburg, was urging him potently to attack Bragg. Around Vicksburg Grant's hopes, between May i8th and July 4th, had whirled with the singleness of personal ambition. All he then needed Rosecrans for was solely to keep Bragg from sending help to Pemberton. Finally Rosecrans, under this forcing process, moved on June 23d, with a force of 60,000 men. Bragg was at Shelbyville with 43,000 — rather less than more. Rosecrans had begun by pushing Bragg out of his fortified posts — such as Tullahoma, which the Con federates had used as a depot of supplies — and driving him to new headquarters. It was a short campaign, at the end of which Bragg, evacuating Tullahoma, had marched into Chattanooga. Rosecrans' main object in September was to maneuver Bragg out of Chattanooga ; and he succeeded by crossing the mountains south of that city, upon which Bragg fell back to Lafayette, Ga. Bragg had just received help from Mississippi, and Longstreet, with Hood and Kershaw, was speeding from Virginia. Rosecrans made a faulty movement by dividing his army into three columns, thus getting his right and left wings hazardously separated from his center. His position became full of peril and gave to Bragg an excel lent chance to overwhelm some one of these pieces on the board, after which the others would be easy victims ; but there were unfortunate delays and the opportunity was lost. By September i8th the scattered Federal wings joined Rosecrans and as the reunited army of the Cumberland faced Chick amauga creek with Bragg's army on the east bank. Rosecrans awaited the inevitable attack, and mean while prudently placed Thomas in command of his left. Against Chickamauga, " Name of Thunder, ' ' will stand for all time two dates — September igth and 2oth — days of heroic fighting. Longstreet had arrived and was in com mand of Bragg's left. Polk commanded his right. Bragg 184 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. was delayed by one day in crossing the Chickamauga. He fell upon Thomas, however, with none the less vigor. Thomas, who had been aggressive in the morning, was found behind his log intrenchments when the night came. On September 2oth, Polk and Longstreet forced the fight ing. As at Stone's River, everything seemed lost to the Federals. A great rout fell on Rosecrans' right, as com plete as it was disgraceful. As at Bull Run, it became a sauve qui pent. Alone in the midst of the routed army — seeing yielding everywhere, Thomas stood defiant. With one-half of the Federal army gone, he remained, building up for his fame that noble title, never to be dis associated from his name, the " Rock of Chickamauga." On the 1 8th Adams' brigade was taken by Lieut. -Gen, D. H. Hill in person to Owen's ford, where there was Federal activity. Next morning it was withdrawn to Glass' mill, and there Captain Slocomb, with two guns and an infantry support, was sent to the Federal side of the creek, while Lieutenant Vaught, with the rifles, went into action from the east bluff, the artillery duel result ing favorably to the Confederates. Then the brigade was marched three miles south of Lee & Gordon's mill, to meet a supposed move by Rosecrans on that flank. But they soon found that the Federal troops in motion were going on north, and the brigade was rapidly transferred to the other flank of the army, crossing the creek at Alexander's bridge, and bivouacking about midnight. Next morning, the 2oth, Breckinridge's di vision was on the extreme right or north of the Confed erate line, with Adams on the right of the division, in a line supposed to be parallel to the Chattanooga road, which was to be the object of the fight. Bragg's plan was yet, although his movements had previously been thwarted by delays, to swing his right forward and cut Rosecrans off from Chattanooga, the attack being taken up along the line to the south. This meant activity for the Louisianians on the extreme right. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 185 Again there was delay on the morning of the 2oth, but not through fault of Breckinridge or Adams. Let loose at 9:30, they swept forward. The left of Breckinridge 's line found the enemy in front in battle array, and a des perate fight resulted; but Adams and Stovall, steadily marching forward, scattering two lines of skirmishers, found themselves on the Chattanooga road, and Adams, still keeping on, dispersing a regiment and capturing a battery, crossed the road into an open field. He was evi dently north of the extreme north flank of Thomas. So Adams and Stovall were wheeled around facing south, Adams and Slocomb's battery on the Federal side of the road, and they moved southward against Thomas' flank. Small reason is there for surprise that Thomas called again and again for reinforcements, till Rosecrans' right was fatally weakened. The Louisianians soon met two lines of the enemy sent to meet them. * * The first line was routed, ' ' said Breck inridge, "but it was found impossible to break the second, aided as it was by artillery, and after a sanguinary con test, which reflected great honor on the brigade, it was forced back in some confusion. Here General Adams, who is as remarkable for his judgment on the field as for his courage, was severely wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy. Among the casualties, Lieutenant-Col onel Turner, of the Nineteenth Louisiana, was wounded, and the gallant Major Butler of the same regiment was killed. Stovall had gained a point beyond the angle of the enemy's main line of works. Adams had advanced still farther, being actually in the rear of his intrenchments. A good supporting line to my division at this moment would probably have produced decisive results. As it was, the engagement on our right had inflicted on the enemy heavy losses and compelled him to weaken other parts of his line to hold his vital point. Adams' brigade reformed behind Slocomb's battery, which repulsed the enemy by 186 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. a rapid and well-directed fire, rendering on this occasion important and distinguished service. ' ' About sundown, the battle having raged all day and Thomas still holding his log barricades, Gibson, who had taken command of the brigade, was ordered to advance, gaining ground to the left. They passed over several lines of our troops, who cheered them heartily. The or ders were not to fire a gun. Passing through the last Confederate line engaging the enemy, without halting and without firing, they pushed on until, within a few paces of the Federal line, the charge was ordered, " and the whole command," said Gibson, " with a terrific yell fell upon the enemy. A volley was received without effect; a second from the barricades checked us for an instant, but the officers rushed forward again, the men followed, and the enemy, panic-stricken, fled in the wild est disorder. . . . We continued to drive the enemy from every position for three-quarters of a mile until we had entered the woods, about 70 yards west of the Chatta nooga road, where we halted. ' ' During the charge several hundred prisoners remained within their lines, but the Louisianians gave no heed to them. The position they stormed was held by the brigade of General King, whose dead and wounded marked his track to the rear. A battery was taken by the Thirteenth and Twentieth, but the gallantry of the whole brigade made it in fact a bri gade honor. " The brigade halted victoriously at night at the very point whence it had recoiled at midday. ' ' " Among the officers, Col. Daniel Gober and Col. Leon Von Zinken were conspicuous for courage and skill. All the officers and men behaved with commendable gallantry. Maj. C. H. Moore, Capt H. A. Kennedy, who command ed the Nineteenth in the evening charge, and Capt. E. M. Dubroca, Thirteenth and Twentieth, showed them selves capable officers on the field. ' ' Major Graves, chief of artillery, fell mortally wounded in the arms of Captain Slocomb. The staff of General Adams was also cordially CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 187 commended. The courage and skill of Colonel Gibson was gratefully mentioned by Breckinridge and D. H. Hill. The brigade entered the battle with 120 officers, and lost in killed and wounded 33; with 1,200 enlisted men, and lost in killed and wounded and missing 396. It drove the enemy from two batteries and captured about 600 prisoners. Colonel Von Zinken reported a loss of 1 24, and mentioned the bravery of Capt. E. M. Dubroca, acting major, and Color-bearer J. Foster. Colonel Gober of the Sixteenth, lost 107 out of his 293 in battle at midday, and three officers — Lieutenant Oliver killed and Captain Ford and Lieutenant Walton missing. Walton was last seen urging his men to follow him against the foe. Cap tain Kennedy reported the loss in killed of Lieuts. R. W. Cater and W. T. Williams, in addition to the gallant Loudon Butler, and 25 enlisted men; wounded, 14 officers and 92 men; u missing; in all 153, half his force. Major Austin, with his battalion and a company from each regi ment, led the skirmish line in the morning's advance, and reported for Company A, Capt. W. Q. Lowd, the cap ture of two cannon and nearly a hundred Federals. Com pany B, under Lieut. A. T. Martin, captured 33 prisoners. In the evening Austin co-operated with General Forrest. Captain Slocomb lost the gallant Lieutenant Blair and 10 men killed and wounded, on the igth, and 20 killed and wounded on the 2oth. His own horse was shot under him. He commended Lieutenants Vaught, Chalaron and Leverich, and mentioned with sadness the death of Leon Brocurd, a youth of sixteen, who volunteered for the battle. Scott's cavalry brigade was under Forrest's orders in this campaign ; the First Louisiana cavalry under Nixon, and a section of Louisiana howitzer battery under Lieut. Winslow Robinson. He skirmished with the enemy about Ringgold for a week, and then drove in the advance of ..Granger's corps, within nine miles of Chattanooga. Next 188 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. day he was with Pegram and Forrest in the first gallant fight with the enemy west of Chickamauga creek ; on the 2ist was in the attack on Missionary ridge, and next day, crossing the ridge, drove an Ohio regiment into Chattanooga, attacked the enemy in his intrenchments, and drove them from their first line of rifle-pits, then being recalled at night to the ridge. In this campaign, Dretix' cavalry, Lieut. O. De Buis, served as escort with General Bragg, and Captain Leeds Greenleaf 's Orleans Light Horse had the same honor with General Polk. Capt. George V. Moody 's Madison bat tery, coming with Longstreet, arrived too late for the battle. Later reports show the First Louisiana regulars, Col. James Strawbridge, and First cavalry, Maj. J. M. Taylor, attached to Bragg 's headquarters. The Madison battery went with Longstreet into East Tennessee, where Colonel Alexander reported : "One of my most gallant officers, Capt. G. V. Moody, was com pelled to be left dangerously ill at a private house near Knoxville, and must have fallen into the hands of the enemy. ' ' CHAPTER XVIII. THE GEORGIA CAMPAIGN— LOUISIANA COMMANDS WITH JOHNSTON AND POLK— THEIR SERVICE FROM DALTON TO ATLANTA — THE SIEGE — BATTLE OF JONESBORO — GENERAL HOOD WITHDRAWS TO ALABAMA. IN November, 1863, Grant, victorious at Vicksburg, ap peared at Chattanooga, where the Federal army was beleaguered by Bragg on Missionary ridge and Look out mountain. Grant's prompt decision was that Bragg must be driven from the position he had chosen. For that work he selected well his lieutenants, Sherman, Thomas and Hooker, and they did it successfully. Bragg, always fighting valiantly, but ever face to face with a stronger enemy, never once possessing men enough, assailing or assailed, to mass against a compact foe, saw himself worsted at every point. He found it necessary to retreat to Ringgold, which he did on November 26, 1863. Here he was soon after relieved from command by Gen. Joseph E.Johnston, and called to Richmond to serve as President Davis' chief of staff. Johnston assumed command of the army of Tennessee on December 18, 1863. He found at Dal ton an army of about 36,000 effective infantry and artillery, with 5,000 cavalry. In his front was soon massed a Federal army of about 100,000 and Sherman put in command. The odds were altogether in favor of the Federals. Beginning early in May the Federal army slowly forced the Confed erates back step by step, by a series of flanking move ments, to Atlanta. In his army at Dalton, Johnston counted among his effective fighters the Louisiana bri gade, in A. P. Stewart's division. The brigade was com- 189 190 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. manded by R. L. Gibson, promoted to brigadier-general ; the First regiment regulars by Maj. S. S. Batch elor; the Thirteenth by Lieut. -Col. Francis L. Campbell; the Six teenth and Twenty-fifth by Col. Joseph C. Lewis; the Nineteenth by Col. R. W.Turner, Lieut. -Col. Hyder A. Kennedy; the Twentieth by Maj. Samuel L. Bishop; the Fourth battalion by Lieut. -Col. J. McEnery, Maj. Duncan Buie ; the Fourteenth battalion by Major Austin. (Return of April soth.) The Louisiana cavalry was represented by Guy Dreux' company at headquarters, the artillery by Vaught's company with Hardee's corps and Capt. Charles E. Fenner's with Hood's. When Folk's army of Mississippi joined that of Tennes see at Resaca it brought a brigade under command of Col, Thomas M. Scott, of the Twelfth regiment (that regiment led by Lieut. -Col. Noel L. Nelson), in Loring's division; the Fourth Louisiana, Col. S. E. Hunter, and Thirti eth, Lieut. -Col. Thomas Shields, in Quarles' brigade, Walthall's division; the Pointe Coupe*e artillery, Capt. Alcide Bouanchaud, and Capt. Greenleaf's escort company. Later in the campaign the Fourth and Thirtieth were transferred to Gibson's brigade, and Nutt's company was added to Granbury's brigade. In the meager reports available of the Georgia campaign we catch glimpses of the heroic service of the Louisian- ians. General Gibson in his report of June ist, describ ing previous operations, told of tenacious holding of his line, assisted by Fenner's battery, in Mill Creek gap, till ordered to the south. At Resaca the brigade made two charges, and on the retreat from there they were assigned to the rear guard. Hardly were they in line when at tacked, and then Gibson, taking command of his own and Stovall's brigades, threw forward a heavy line of skir mishers. His men stood calm and steadfast till long af ter midnight, when the army was across the river. After various maneuvers the army found itself on the line of New Hope church, facing westward. On the evening of CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 191 May 25th, A. P. Stewart sent Austin's battalion and Lewis' Sixteenth regiment forward as skirmishers near the church, the enemy showing activity. Soon the re mainder of the brigade was ordered forward to develop the enemy. They drove in the skirmishers and found the enemy in line of battle. Gibson was called back and put in reserve. Then immediately followed that deter mined assault by Hooker's corps, and no less determined repulse. By June ist, the brigade had lost out of 889 en listed men, 34 killed, 150 wounded and 19 missing; out of 85 officers, 4 killed and 13 wounded. Said General Gibson : "Capt. E. J. Blasco, Thirteenth, was killed in the charge at Resaca. He was a modest, skillful and brave young man, who had served with nie from the beginning of the war and to whom I had become greatly attached. Capt. M. G. Pearson, Nineteenth , Lieut. J. T. Craddock, Sixteenth, and Lieut. F. Hammond, Fourth battalion, excellent officers, fell at their posts. Lieut. -Col. J. McEnery, commanding Fourth battalion, was severely wounded in the charge at Resaca ; Maj. S. L. Bishop, commanding Twentieth regiment, lost his right arm in front of New Hope church, and Maj. W. B. Scott, Nineteenth, lost his leg and has since died of the wound. Maj. W. B. Scott laid aside his ministerial robes for the sword, and while he served the brigade as a parson he gave up his life defending his native land. Capt. J. W. Stringfellow, First infantry, and Adjt O. O. Cobb, Sixteenth, were also severely wounded. These officers and those of the wounded whose names I have mentioned were among the very best officers of the brigade*' ' He especially commended Major Austin, who had been frequently distinguished on the skirmish line, and honorably mentioned his staff officers: Capt. H. H. Bein, adjutant-general; Capt. A. L. Stuart, inspector- general; Maj. J. H. Henshaw, quartermaster; Maj. W. V. Crouch, commissary; Capt. G. Norton, successor to Bein ; Lieut. H. P. Kernochan, an efficient aide in the 192 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. f requent intrenching; Aide J. M. Gibson, and Lieut. S. L. Ware, volunteer aide, severely wounded at New Hope church. Fenner's artillery was complimented by General Stew art, with the battalion of three batteries in which it served, for effectiveness at New Hope church. Colonel Campbell reported at this time that he had 58 men bearing arms in the Thirteenth. Major Austin reported that, reinforced by two companies, he had suffered a loss of 26 killed out of a total of 85 effective in the stubborn fight he made against Hooker's advance at New Hope. He mentioned with honor the names of Sergt.-Maj. Augustus O'Duhigg, dangerously wounded in most gallant action; Captain L'owd and Lieutenant Greany; and Lieut. A. T. Martin, alone in command of Company B ; Sergt. James Delany and Privates John Hagan, Richard Kiely and J. B. Mc- Graw, for great gallantry at New Hope church. The gal lant Austin, capable of commanding a regiment, had 60 men at Dalton, and had lost 23. Colonel Lewis men tioned in addition to names already given, Assistant- Sur geon Bass as greatly distinguished, and Sergeant- Major Bradford, wounded. Capt. Robert L. Keen was now in command of the Twentieth. Scott's brigade reached Resaca May loth, when Mc- Pher son's corps was four miles distant, intent on cutting off the retreat of Johnston from Dalton. On the i3th, McPherson advancing, Scott was thrown forward to Bald Knob to meet him, where he held the enemy in check three hours, until called off. Subsequently they manned the breastworks, Bouanchaud's battery in action from a hill in the rear. When Sherman was crowding the retreat later, Scott's brigade with a section of the Pointe Coupe*e battery assisted General Wheeler in checking the enemy. On the New Hope line they engaged in heavy skirmishing for a week. From May loth to June ist the brigade loss was 341, a due share of which was borne by the Louisianians. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 193 Of the Louisiana regiments then with Quarles we snatch a glimpse through the smoke of battle in the report of the gallant Cleburne of the fight of May 27th, near New Hope church: " Quarles' brigade was conducted to the rear of Lowry, and formed as a second line. The Fourth Louisiana, Colonel Hunter, finding itself opposite an in terval between the two regiments of Lowry's line, ad vanced with great spirit into the field, halted and delivered a very effective fire upon the enemy in front. After some minutes Quarles withdrew his regiment and formed it be hind the field, where they continued their fire across it." In the same battle the Thirtieth relieved the Thirty-ninth Georgia at the front. Next followed the fighting at Kenesaw mountain,* the attempt to hold the Chattahoochee, the retreat across it, the relief of General Johnston by Gen. John B. Hood, and the fierce battles of Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, and Ezra Church, July 2oth to 28th. During these operations Gibson's brigade was in the di vision commanded by General Clayton, Stewart having corps command until S. D. Lee arrived, July 2yth. Gibson's brigade took part in the attack from the in- trenchments on the 22d; and on the 28th, according to General Gibson's report, was led by Colonel Von Zinken against the enemy strongly posted, where the men fought gallantly and lost heavily. Lieut. -Col. Thomas Shields and Maj. Charles J Bell, of the Thirtieth, fell at the head of the regiment, the former with the colors in his hands within a few feet of the enemy's breastworks. Lieut. W. B. Chippendale, of the same gallant regiment, was killed and Captain Becnel mortally wounded. Lieut. W. J. Clark, Nineteenth, and Lieut W. G. Jeter, Fourth, and Capt. W. H. Sparks, First, were killed, and Lieutenant * During the operations near Kenesaw, the armies of Mississippi and of Tennessee suffered a heavy blow in the death of Lieut. -Gen. Leonidas Polk. The united armies, though facing desperate perils, took time to mourn the bishop of Louisiana. He had ever been a pillar of strength to his people. Gentle in peace and undaunted in the field, he is remembered as the militant bishop of the Confed- Kff- 194 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Gladden mortally wounded. The brigade took position, intrenching on the west of the city, and was engaged in continual skirmishing during the remainder of the siege. An attack was made upon them August 5th, and General Lee reported that " the skirmishers of Gibson's brigade permitted half of their number to be killed, wounded or captured before the others would leave their position. ' ' Finally Sherman secretly withdrew from his lines and was at Jonesboro, essential to the railroad communication of Atlanta, before Hood was fully persuaded of his inten tions. Gibson's brigade, sent to Jonesboro with Lee, put his men in line of battle August 3ist, and was ordered to the attack upon the enemy who had had time to intrench. " My fine, " said Gibsony " moved forward with great en thusiasm and went beyond the fence into the thicket in which the enemy's rifle-pits were, when a few men, halt ing at the fence and lodging in the skirmish pits, began to fire, and soon the whole line fired, halted and finally gave way. A few of the men got up to the works of the enemy and some inside of them, when they found the enemy being reinforced while their own commands were retiring, and they had consequently to abandon the posts they had won. I never saw a more gallant charge or one that so fully promised success. The officers and men all behaved with great intrepidity in charging through an open field under a very heavy and well-directed fire. " With noble spirit the men reformed, and advanced again to the hopeless slaughter. In fifteen minutes, in the sec ond charge, half the command that was left fell killed or wounded. Conspicuous was Col. J. C. Lewis, who fell mortally wounded at the head of his regiment, within a few paces of the enemy. Others who fell within arm's reach of the trenches were Capt. S. Aycock, Capt. R. P. Oliver, Lieut. T. J. Scott and Lieut. Morgan Edwards. The Fourth, under Colonel Hunter, made a gallant assault, striking the most important part of the line, but they had not the strength alone to break it. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 195 The Twelfth Louisiana, at the battle of the 2oth of July, lost ii killed, 57 wounded, and 4 missing, out of 318 en gaged. Capt. J. A. Bivin and Lieut. M. S. McLeroy were killed in front of the line. Maj. H. V. McCain was wounded. Lieut. -Col. T. C. Standifer and Sergt.-Maj. H. Brunner were honorably mentioned. After the evacuation of Atlanta Hood designed a cam paign to lure Sherman from Atlanta, cut his communica tions and force a battle further north. On September 25th President Davis arrived at headquarters, and on the next day, after a serenade by the Twentieth Louisiana band, he addressed the soldiers. Three days later the army began its movement northward. In the most serious engage ment which followed, that at Allatoona, the Pointe Couple artillery took part. Slocomb's battery, under Chalaron, did effective work at Dalton. Hood, closely pursued by Sherman, fell back into Ala bama, and Sherman returned to Atlanta, burned the city, and set out for Savannah. CHAPTER XIX, THE TENNESSEE CAMPAIGN UNDER HOOD— SCOTT'S BRIGADE AT FRANKLIN — THE WASHINGTON AR TILLERY AT MURFREESBORO — BATTLE OF NASH- VILLE— THE RETREAT— THE LOUISIANA BRIGADE IN THE REAR GUARD— LAST DAYS OF THE ARMY OF TENNESSEE. HOOD having failed to draw Sherman into Tennes see, Beauregard, now close at hand, was stirring him to a bold stroke.* This was nothing less than to give a fatal blow to Thomas, organizing at Nash ville, Hood willingly undertook the enterprise, but unfortu nately was hindered by perilous delay. In his welcome advance, the larger contingent: of Louisiana men fought in Gibson's brigade, Clayton's division. The Twelfth in fantry, Col. N. L. Nelson, was in its old brigade (com manded by Thomas M. Scott, promoted to brigadier-gen eral) of Lori ng's division; Fenner's battery, Lieut. W. T. Cluverius, trained with Eldridge's battalion, now com manded by Fenner ; Bouanchaud's Point Couple artillery, with Myrick's battalion; Slocomb's Washington artillery, with Cobb's battalion; and Capt. L. M. Nutt's cavalry was with Granbury. Gibson's regiments were led as follows : First regiment, Capt. J. C. Stafford; Fourth regiment, Col. Samuel E. *General Beauregard had been assigned on October 2, 1864, to the department of the West, including the department commanded by Hood and that of Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana, to which Lieut. -Gen. Richard Taylor had been assigned. Neither of the sub altern commanders was displeased at the selection of Beauregard, who had but lately stepped from the masterly defense of Charles ton. It was not a promotion for G. T. Beauregard, only a new field in which to show his tact and rich military experience. 196 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 197 Hunter; Thirteenth regiment, Lieut. -Col. Francis L. Campbell; Sixteenth regiment Lieut. -Col. Robert H. Lindsay; Nineteenth regiment, Maj. Camp Flournoy; Twentieth regiment, Capt. Alexander Dressel ; Twenty- fifth regiment, Col. Francis C. Zacharie; Thirtieth regi ment, Maj. Arthur Picolet; Fourth battalion, Capt. T. A. Bisland; Fourteenth battalion sharpshooters, Lieut. A. T. Martin. Schofield was at Franklin, with instructions from Thomas to hold it until the post could be made secure. Hood quickly resolved to crush Schofield before he could obey Thomas' order. His troops carried the first line of hastily constructed works. Behind this was an interior line, which he failed to storm against overwhelming numbers. Confederates occupied the outer line, a posi tion of peculiar peril. The enemy held the inner line strongly manned, against which the Confederates bravely advanced, and there inside the enemy's works many fell. The Federals had the worst of the struggle at Franklin, but the South suffered the loss of many of its most heroic men. During this battle Gibson's brigade was with Lee at Columbia, but Scott and his gallant Alabamians and Louisianians were in the heat of the desperate struggle, attacking on the right of the Federal line, charging over ground obstructed by a deep railroad cut, abatis and hedge, swept by a terribly destructive fire from the en emy's artillery, " pressing forward with dauntless courage to the inner line of works, which they failed to carry, but where many of them remained, separated from the enemy only by the parapet, until the Federal army with drew." Such were the words in which A. P. Stewart described the work of Loring's division. Brigadier- General Scott was paralyzed by the explosion of a shell near him. The gallant Colonel Nelson gave up his life on this bloody field. Rousseau was at this time strongly fortified at Mur- freesboro, with 8,000 men. Hood, on the way from 198 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Franklin to Nashville, stopped Bate's division long enough to order him to see what he could do to disturb Rousseau, varying that operation by destroying railroads and burning railroad bridges. With Bate's division went Cobb's battalion of artillery, Capt. Rend T. Beauregard commanding the artillery. Slocomb's battery, Lieutenant Chalaron commanding, was directed to open upon a block-house on a creek guarding a railroad bridge. Twice or thrice the enemy appeared, each time being thrown back by the gunners. Later in the day he came again, this time reinforced by infantry and artillery. Chal aron, quick to answer, poured double charges into his lines, when not fifty yards distant, scattering them in all directions. Of this action, a spirited if hasty one, Bate says: " Slocomb's battery, under Lieutenant Chalaron, acted with conspicuous and most effective gallantry." Bate himself seemed genuinely solicitous about his New Orleans artillerists. " I have to regret the loss of two of the guns of that gallant battery, Slocomb's. The horses being killed, they could not be brought off." General Bate's regret would surely have turned to rage had he known that the Washington artillery's *' 12 -pounder Na poleons " lost in this fight were at once placed in position in the fortifications at Murfreesboro, traitor-like to turn in shells upon their old masters. Winter opened early and forbidding in Tennessee. Bate soon found bad weather interfering with him, ugly rains with falling snow as early as December 5th ; ground freezing ; soldiers barefooted ; feet bleeding. Once more on the road to Nashville, he reached the front of the town December i5th, catching, as he drew near, the mutter- ings of battle. The next day he ordered Captain Beau- regard to place a section of howitzers upon a small plat eau, whence they could command the front of his right. Beauregard did this with telling effect, clearing the front CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 199 as though some mighty broom had swept it.* This, how ever, was only a temporary relief. Towards 9 a.m. the enemy began to deploy large masses, which threatened, with their heavy weight, to crush the thinner Southern lines. Beauregard, still fighting steadily at his guns, was ordered to move his battalion back to the Franklin pike; the Granny White pike, our chosen avenue of escape, be ing already swarming with the enemy. At length the Confederate lines gave way everywhere, and all inditia of defeat were plain to our outnumbered and over weighted army. Never without hope, the army of Tennessee this day lost all save valor. From December ist to i5th Gibson's brigade had been incessantly working on the intrenchments before Nash ville. The attack of the i5th in other quarters caused such withdrawal of troops that two of Clayton's brigades had to be scattered along the whole front previously held by the corps, and Gibson's brigade was taken out of the trenches and thrown back perpendicularly to check the enemy's advance. About midnight the division was moved back to Overton's hill, on the extreme right of the army. There Gibson sustained a vigorous assault early in the afternoon of the i6th, which was repulsed with slaughter. From 9 o'clock in the morning Gibson's brigade had been under fire of a battery which completely enfiladed them, but they stood fast. Between three and four o'clock they learned that the entire left of the army had given away. Then they moved to the rear, marching out in good or der and saving the battery they supported. Fenner, who had been dealing destruction to the enemy, brought off his guns, but three of them were afterward abandoned by order of General Forrest. On the morning of the i;th Colonel Hunter, with the Fourth and Thirtieth, was put on guard in the rear, and while there was captured with *Captain Beauregard, commanding my artillery, showed merit be yond his years, and managed the battalion not only to my satisfac tion but to the good of the service and to his own credit." — Bate's report 200 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. his detachment. At the Harpeth river the brigade nar rowly escaped entire destruction. Deserted by the cav alry, and charged on all sides by the enemy, Lindsay's Sixteenth deployed as skirmishers, and Colonel Campbell and Major Flournoy, with the First, Thirteenth, Nine teenth and Twentieth, in all about 250 muskets, moved to the rear, fighting as they went. The command fought its way to the river thus, with a loss of 10 killed, 25 wounded, and 5 captured. "A more persistent effort was never made to rout the rear guard of a retreating column," was General Lee's comment. Among the losses at Nashville were Capt. C. W. Cushman, Lieut. J. J. Cawthon, and Lieut. C. Miller killed; and Lieut. A. T. Martin, commanding sharpshooters, wounded and captured. The Point Coupe*e artillery, for its courage in dispers ing a charging line, was complimented by Loring. On the 1 6th, towards 4 p. m., the enemy charged in force the battery, left and front. At this hour and on this part of the field confusion was supreme. The Point Coupee ar tillery, regardless of all save duty, poured double-load canister into the advancing column. Its infantry sup port, having begun by wavering had finished by fleeing in disorder. A poetic incident followed with that suc cessful rush of the charging enemy. It was the battery's fourth gun which fell into his hands. With the capture, the enemy mockingly planted his colors upon it. Not at all disturbed, but rather angered by the growing confu sion, not to add the intrusive flag, the cannoneers of the third piece turned their gun directly upon the fourth and fired their last round of ammunition at the colors. After this act of justice, the gunners fled to avoid cap ture.* As touches the work of the various batteries in this *Mr. Caesar Landry, a popular sergeant of the Point Coupee ar tillery, kept a faithful diary of its marches, halts and fights from June 29, i86i,to January 12, 1865. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 201 long, and at the end, disastrous campaign, one can lean upon this note from such a competent military critic as Lieut. -Gen. S. D. Lee, bravely commanding the rear guard of the army from Nashville : * * The officers and men of the artillery behaved admirably. Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon this efficient arm of the service in the army of Tennessee." We have Lee's corrobora tive authority equally for the assertion that " 16 guns were lost by the artillery in my corps. The greater por tion of these were without horses. . . , The noble gun ners, reluctant to leave their guns, fought the enemy, in many instances, almost within reach of the guns. ' ' With this retreat, John B. Hood passed from the field of active Confederate movement. Time was passing swiftly; the Confederacy was within a few months of Appomattox. A moribund government, no more than a dying man, cares about new ventures with old agents. Like the Mare"chal de Villars, Hood, full of fire, had al ways shown himself a better fighter than a strategist. He planned a campaign as impetuously as he fought, and in his ear rang ever the trumpet's note. He loved best the wild excitement of a charge, the crash of blow for blow; himself dearly preferring to deal the first sounding stroke. His initiative always displayed dash with mo mentum. Once taken, he sustained it with set lips and eager eye. A man intensely brave, not only in the field, but what is still rarer, in his thought, he was like many men of his class almost femininely sanguine. With this sanguineness went a most controlling desire to conquer. The reaction after Nashville was intensely painful for a nature so ardent and hopeful as Hood's. Far more painful, however, was the dissatisfaction which, as he learned day by day during that retreat, had sprung up among the people with the entire campaign. With noth ing to do at Tupelo, Miss. , he wrote with strong feeling from that point, to President Davis : "With no desire but to serve my country, I ask to be relieved with the hope 202 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. that another might be assigned to the command who could do more than I could accomplish." Singularly honest in his nature, the humility genuinely felt by this dash ing captain must excite the sympathy of all brave men. General Hood relinquished his command on the 28th of January, " by authority of the President." The retreat from Nashville had brought no dishonor to the army of Tennessee. It had fought until a division, weakly guarding its line, had unexpectedly given away, involving an order to retire from the position so long and so gallantly held. When the Federal invaders charged it faced them sternly, and when they pressed upon it, struck back at them fiercely. With hearts stead fast ; never flurried, though barefooted ; never depressed, though bleeding feet left a tracery of blood upon the path, the army of Tennessee crossed the Tennessee and marched to Tupelo over winter roads, roughened by winter rains. * The army of Tennesseef had made its last retreat. With all its flags streaming ; with all its bugles blowing and its drums beating, with its strong files as unbroken * "Never in the course of this war have the best qualities of our soldiers been more conspicuously shown ; never .'more enthusiasm evinced than when our troops once more crossed the Tennessee river; never greater gallantry than that which was so general at Franklin ; never higher fortitude than was displayed on the retreat from Nashville to Tupelo." — Beauregard's report, April 15, 1865. f With the remnant of the army of Tennessee which participated in the campaign in the Carolinas was the Twelfth regiment, Capt John A. Dixon, Lieut.-Col. E. M. Graham, in Loring's division, Stewart's corps. Also with Johnston's army was the Louisiana battery of Capt. William M. Bridges, and Battery A, Orleans Guard, Capt. G. Le Gardeur, two organizations which had participated in the defense of Charleston harbor under Beauregard. Le Gardeur's battery fought at Averasboro, gave the enemy the last shot they had, and when nine horses were killed and nearly all the cannon eers of the two guns were killed or wounded, the career of the gal lant battery was practically ended. Sergeant Guibert was men tioned by General Taliaferro for gallantry and energy. The Louis iana infantry, under Walthall and Loring, had their last battle at Bentonville, March igth. In his last report, General Walthall com mended the gallant services of Private E. D. Clark, Fourth Louisiana regiment, who was wounded in the performance of the duties of ad jutant-general of division, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 203 in that final retreat as when facing its first fight ; with not a commander away, not an officer absent, not a pri vate forgotten from its proud story, the army of Tennes see, in serried ranks, horse, foot and artillery, marched in shadowy column victoriously from its last Confederate field of December 16, 1864, straight through the golden portal leading to the transcendent roadway of history. Within five months, its elder brother, the army of Northern Virginia, holding within its skeleton ranks every man, general, officer, or private, who had in its day of greatest glory belonged to it, was to retreat from Petersburg to Appomattox, and from that culminating height of heroic effort, to march without let or challenge through those same golden portals, behind which the Confederate armies, great or small, were to meet, one in birth as in endeavor ; one in hope as in failure ; one in failure as in unending fame ! It was April, 1865, that the rings of that Titanic cur tain which had hidden within its heavy folds the thrill ing epoch of so much valor and so much devotion, noise lessly shaken by some hand mightier far than man's, and rattling off from their pole, fell with a crash upon the land sodden with the blood of an entire people, never to rise again over our Union of States, * ' one and indivis ible " CHAPTER XX. LOUISIANIANS IN THE ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA —FIGHT AT BLACKBURN'S FORD—THE FAME OF HARRY HAYS— BATTLE OF FIRST MANASSAS— WITH MAGRUDER ON THE PENINSULA— WILLIAMSBURG AND SEVEN PINES AROUND the Confederate capital, as early as June, 1861, exciting rumors of McDowell's advance be gan to spread with the lighter gossip of the fair grounds. Richmond, with that brave smile which in storm or sunshine never left her war-scarred features, had ceased to be a Capua. The Louisiana regiments, once so petted, had not been spoiled for active service. Hear ing the drum beat, they struck tents with shouts of joy and took up a * * quickstep. ' ' Beauregard was posted somewhere ahead — that was what the Washington artil lery on their caissons had gaily said — somewhere on the road to Washington. Louisiana showed a considerable force in this cam paign, beginning with the battle of July 18, 1861, and culminating in the picturesque victory of First Manassas on the 2 1 st. At that time there were present in Beaure gard' s army the Sixth Louisiana volunteers, Col. I. G. Seymour; First Special battalion, Maj. C. R. Wheat; Seventh regiment, Col. Harry T. Hays ; Eighth regiment, Col. H. B. Kelly ; and the Washington artillery, Maj. John B. Walton. On the 1 8th the Louisianians, E well's brigade, occupy ing position in vicinity of the Union Mills ford, included Seymour's regiment. Wheat's battalion was with Evans, who, holding the left flank, watched over the Stone bridge across Bull run. Hays' Seventh was attached to Early's 204 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 205 brigade; Kelly, just arrived, was ordered to Bonham's bri gade. Walton had four howitzers under Lieutenant Ros- ser at Union Mills ford ; three rifles under Lieut. C. W. Squires, with Early, later reinforced by four guns under Lieutenants Whittington and Garnett ; and two guns un der Captain Miller at McLean's ford. Beauregard, about 10 a. m., established his headquar ters at a central point below McLean's and Blackburn's fords, and ordered up reinforcements. The enemy on the north bank of Bull run seemed to coquet with Con federates on the south bank. Ricketts' battery, " the pride of the Federals, ' ' because handled with peculiar skill, was occupying a hill over one and a half miles from Bull run. The shriek of its shells was a direct challenge to the Washington artillery who heard it. It was accepted on the spot with 6-pounders, smooth. It needed only six solid shots to silence Ricketts and drive back its support. A new attack was opened by the enemy about 1 1 130 a. m. , supported by the artillery and cavalry. The ford was not left to itself. Keen eyes watched it, scanning every foot in front and every yard up and down the stream. Two of Walton's 6-pounders under Lieutenant Garnett were stationed to command the passage — with conditional orders to retire to the rear as soon as the ford itself should be commanded by the foe. The northern bank, in front of Longstreet, rose with a steep slope at least 50 feet above the water level. A hazardous difference ! This ridge, rising from a narrow berme, formed for the enemy what General Beauregard styled " an admirable natural parapet." Behind this parapet the enemy approached under shelter, in strength, within less than one hundred yards of Longstreet 's skirmishers. The southern bank was fairly level, forming almost a plain. This plain grad ually rose at a distance from the stream. Of a sudden, the artillery on both sides awoke. It was a question between the hill and the plain. The Federals pointed their guns down upon the Confederates, from a 206 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. vantage height which seemed to assure success. On their side, the Louisianians squinted up at the enemy's battery with their pieces on the level. Let General Beauregard speak of the result : *' It was at this stage of the affair that a remarkable ar tillery duel was commenced and maintained on one side with a long trained professional opponent, superior in the character as well as in the number of his weapons, provided with improved munitions and every artillery appliance, and at the same time occupying the commanding posi tion. The results were marvelous and fitting precursors to the artillery achievements of the 2ist of July. In the outset our fire was directed against the enemy's infantry, who indicated their presence and force. This drew the attention of a battery placed on a high commanding ridge, and the duel began in earnest. . . . Shot fell and shells burst thick and fast in the midst of our battery — wound ing in the course of the combat Captain Eshleman, five privates, and the horse of Lieutenant Richardson. . By direction of General Longstreet, his battery (two 6- pounder brass guns of Walton's battery) was then ad vanced by hand, out of the range now ascertained by the enemy. . . . From the new position our guns — fired as before, with no other aim than the smoke and flash of their adversaries' pieces — renewed and urged the conflict with such signal vigor and effect that gradually the fire of the enemy slackened, the intervals between their dis charges grew longer and longer finally to cease, and we fired a last gun at a baffled, flying foe, whose heavy masses in the distance were plainly seen to break and scat ter in wild confusion and utter rout. ' ' Though occupying an inferior position, though serv ing guns of far lighter metal and though without any ad vantage of shelter, the Louisianians, in the conflict of battle so graphically described, stood at the last erect upon the field where the duel had been fought. The officers immediately in command were Captain Eshle- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 207 man and Lieutenants Squires, Richardson, Garnett and Whittington. * In the same battle gallant Colonel Hays, of the Seventh Louisiana, whose regiment was with Early's brigade, handled his men with skill and coolness while relieving Corse ' s Virginians at Blackburn ' s ford. This movement, never other than a hazardous one, was made under a pour ing fire of bullets from a force of infantry vastly superior to his own. The elan of General Hays, first shown at Bull Run, was to find voice in a pro verb which ran like a red line through the fighting years of the Confederacy — " Dashing as Harry Hays" shouted the army and echoed the newspapers. In 1861-65 army and press combined made a war proverb. On the evening of July 2oth, Beauregard, bidding good night to his generals at his headquarters at McLean's, said in a loud tone: "Now, gentlemen, let to-morrow be their Waterloo. " f On the morning of July 2ist, the Louisiana regiments occupied the same general ground as on the evening of the 1 8th. In the early hours of that victorious Sunday several encounters had taken place between the Louisian- ians and the enemy possessing as before, heavier odds in men and guns. At 8 a. m. Wheat's battalion, deployed as skirmishers, were eyeing an extended line of the enemy in their front. Of the attack upon Wheat ; of the cool cour age with which he met it, and of the formidable odds united against Evans' line which he was protecting, Beauregard says: * * The enemy, galled and staggered by the fire and pressed by the determined valor with which Wheat handled *At Blackburn's Ford occurred the death of the first Louisiana artillerist during the war — Private George W. Muse, First company, Washington artillery. f Adjutant Owen, of the Washington artillery, lying on the grass near by. heard these words to report them. 208 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. his battalion until he was desperately wounded,* hastened up three other regiments of the brigade and two Dahlgren howitzers — making in all quite 3,000 men and 8 pieces of artillery, opposed to less than 800 men and two 6- pounder guns." Though the hours by the battle clock look to the after noon, victory for us was still lost in the smoke. \ For the Federals had been the forenoon with its gains. Now came to the Confederates the afternoon with its promise. The fate of First Manassas was operating. It was the hour after noon. The hands of the battle clock were pointing to Confederate success. The enemy, bewildered by the skill and precision with which our guns were fired, wildly threw forward regiment after regiment to dislodge the Confederates, only to fall back in added confusion. Still always in dense columns, they were vainly essaying to outflank our left. Victory, hovering undecided in the thick air since noon, proudly revealed herself at 4 130 p. m. It was the hour of First Manassas! The road to Washington was already filling up with fleeing men and the wrecks of luxurious belongings — a great army utterly despoiled. In a work on Louisiana, three points for the greater honor of the soldiers at their first battle find a proper place (bearing in mind his compliments to the other Louisiana commands already quoted) : * Though badly beaten Maj. Robert Wheat left his mark on the memories of the beaten army. In Washington, on the morning of the 22d, the soldiers explained the rout by gasping— "D—n those Louis iana Tigers— born devils, every one of them ! " f Near the Henry house, on the plateau around which the battle flowed for hours in the forenoon to ebb in the afternoon — the Wash ington artillery, with Colonel Walton in command, was doing excel lent service. Whilst the fire was at its hottest, General Beauregard and staff rode up. He called out: " Colonel Walton, do you see the enemy?" "Yes!" was the reply. "Then hold this position and the day is ours. Three cheers for Louisiana! " Cheers were given with the voice of many-throated men. . CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 209 1. General Beauregard praised the Eighth Louisiana volunteers and the section of Walton's artillery under Lieutenant Garnett, as having — whether in holding their post, or taking up the pursuit — " discharged their duty with credit and promise. ' ' Always generous of his praise of the Washington artillery, he says: " The skill, the conduct, and the soldierly qualities of the Washington artillery engaged, were all that could be desired. The officers and men attached to the seven pieces . . . won for their battalions a distinction which, I feel assured, will never be tarnished, and which will ever serve to urge them and their corps to high endeavor. Lieutenant Squires worthily commanded the pieces in action. The commander of the battalion was necessarily absent from the immediate field, under orders in the sphere of his duties, but the fruits of his discipline, zeal, and instruc tion, and capacity as an artillery commander, were pres ent, and must redound to his reputation." (Report of battle of 1 8th.) 2. At about 5 p. m. on Sunday, President Davis, who had just then reached the field, passed the spot where the guns of the Washington artillery were halted. Turning to his aides, he said, as he raised his hat: " Don't they look like little game-cocks? " President Davis' words for the Washington might be enlarged to cover every Louisiana command composed of the native troops. Throughout all the armies, they became known as "game-cocks." Small of frame, compact of muscle, elastic of step, eager in movement, they were full of the elan which showed the French blood of many of them. As then in war, now in peace the National Guard of Louisiana will compare more than favorably with competitors from other States, far and wide. 3. The last gun of the battle of Manassas was fired from one of the guns of the Washington artillery. Its shell followed a fleeing army. One who may read the story of the Louisiana troops on the field of Bull Run will La 11 210 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. not find it hard to cry with General Beauregard : * ' Three cheers for Louisiana."* Our battleflag springs from the field of the First Manas- sas. The striking resemblance between the rival flags in that battle rendered it often difficult to tell friend from foe. To obviate similar confusion on future fields, Gen eral Beauregard, thus early in the war, proposed the adop tion of a " battle " as well as a '* peace or parade " flag. The design he presented to the committee in charge was accepted. It presents the blue cross with its comple ment of stars resting on a red ground. This, in our day, is well known as the battleflag button of the United Con federate Veterans. On July 25th, the Ninth regiment, Col. Richard Taylor, having arrived, the Louisiana commands were organized in the Eighth brigade, soon to be commanded by Briga dier-General Taylor. Following the victory at Manassas, occurred some minor affairs at the front. At Lewinsville, September i2th, J. E. B. Stuart, with some Virginia companies, and two guns of the Washington artillery commanded by Capt. T. L. Rosser and Lieut. C. H. Slo- comb, put a sudden stop to a Federal reconnoissance. Here Rosser had an encounter with Charles Griffin's six guns. Of the two artillerists, both to be generals, Rosser seems to have had the advantage in aim. Longstreet re ported that it was difficult to say whether the work of the infantry or the destructive fire of the Washington artillery was the most brilliant part of the affair. From this time there was comparative quiet in eastern Virginia until the spring of 1862. McClellan's landing on the Virginia peninsula, early in 1862, concentrated 110,000 men in and near Fortress Monroe. True to his system, he began without * The loss of the Louisiana commands participating in the battle of Manassas, July 2ist, was as follows: Wheat's battalion, killed 8; wounded, officers 5, men 33, missing, 2 ; total, 48. Seventh regi ment, killed 3, wounded 23, total, 26. Washington artillery, killed i, wounded 5. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 211 delay to erect fortifications and to complete scientific par allels. With all his army, he was afraid to attack in force. Magruder, with less than 8,000 to oppose him, itched to fight, but had not enough men. In the few skirmishes on the Yorktown line the Louisianians with Magruder bore off their share of honors. On April 5th, when the enemy attacked the redoubts, his attempt to flank by crossing the Warwick river was foiled in part by the unerring volleys of the First Louisiana battalion. On the i6th a deter mined attack was made on the Confederate line at Dam No. i, where Col. William M. Levy, of the Second Louis iana, was in command. A Vermont regiment threw itself into the rifle-pits of a North Carolina regiment, and in the brilliant charge which dislodged the Green Mountain boys, the companies of Capts. A. H. Martin and R. E. Burke went in with * ' fixed bayonets and the steadi ness of veterans, "while the companies of Captains Flour- noy and Kelso poured a biting fire into the intrusive Federals. In the same fight, the Fifth, Col. T. G. Hunt, and the Tenth, Col. Mandeville de Marigny, were commended by their sxiperior officers. The success of the Confederates was largely attributed to the coolness and courage of Colonel Levy. The Donaldsonville battery, Captain Maurin, and Rosser's battery, Washington artil lery, did effective service on the lines, as well as other commands not mentioned in the reports. One day during these * ' clamorous reports of war ' ' Ma gruder favored his men with a new march — somewhat longer than his wont on the peninsula. On April 2ist he retreated from the Warwick line in silence and mystery, with Richmond for his " objective." McClellan, though fairly surprised, quickly followed on our rear with his en tire army. He attacked the Confederate rear guard near Williamsburg. During the day, Magruder succeeded in keeping the swarming masses in check. Here the Four teenth Louisiana, Colonel Jones, was actively engaged, and the gallantry of its commanding officer as well as of 212 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Lieutenant- Colonel York and Captains Leech and Brad ley, is mentioned in the reports. A battalion of the Chas- seurs-a-pied, Capt. M. G. Goodwyn commanding, which held one of the redoubts, and three pieces of the Donald- sonville artillery, under Lieutenant Fortier, are men tioned. At New bridge, on the Chickahominy, some days later (May 24th), the Fifth Louisiana, on picket duty, was suddenly attacked by a force which crossed the river, but was speedily driven back. The Fifth lost 18 killed, 23 wounded, and 34 missing. Lieutenant Pindell was killed in the gallant charge. On May 3ist, the battle of Seven Pines* was fought — a noisy prelude to the Seven Days' colossal shock of arms. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston commanded the Confederates, now numbering less than 80,000 men. McClellan, having sufficiently " organized " his army around Yorktown, was in direct command of the Federals. His force was always in preponderance — 125,000 effectives, with 280 guns. Briefly it may be said that McClellan had, at Seven Pines, committed a blunder. On the morning of May 3ist he had rashly placed two of his best corps on the Richmond side of the Chickahominy, and the river, flood- ing its banks, cut them off from the rest of his army. Johnston at once hurled the bulk of his force against the isolated enemy. Throughout the first day the Confeder ates were doing their best to profit by the blunder. But steady Sumner crossed the river in force to help Keyes and Heintzelman, and, through his desperate effort, the Federals recovered on the second day what they had lost on the first. Both armies claimed the victory. The loss on both sides was heavy and about equally divided. In our number of casualties, however, we suffered a greater * The details of this battle as, indeed, of all the battles in;Virginia, are left to the distinguished writer who himself hails from that com monwealth, so rich in strong men and inspiring memories. The present author's pleasant duty is to get on the track of his brother Louisianians wherever he can find them in the smoke of each battle fought on her soil. He sincerely trusts that he may miss no com rade, whose duty is told in the reports of his superior officers. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 213 loss than they in the severe wound which, during the battle, had incapacitated General Johnston. Among the troops at Seven Pines, the Chasseurs-a-pied, of New Orleans, after rendering excellent service, had come out with the loss of Edgar Macon, killed, and M. Goodwyn wounded. Colonel Coppens, of the Zouave bat talion, was also wounded. On June ist, R. E. Lee was assigned to command of the army, vice J. E. Johnston wounded. Such was the first association, bringing together Robert Edward Lee and that army of Northern Virginia which for three years he led, with unsurpassed genius, to ever-widening renown for it, and for himself immortal fame. General Lee's first order was to direct Jackson to rejoin him from the valley. Jackson was about seeing the end of hopelessly confusing the enemy in that region. Suppose we follow in the foot steps of the great soldier. We do so the more freely, since Richard Taylor, now in command of the Louisiana brigade, is riding the same stirring road, whose mile posts are to become victories. CHAPTER XXI. LOUISIANIANS WITH STONEWALL JACKSON — THE GREAT VALLEY CAMPAIGN— TAYLOR'S BRIGADE AT FRONT ROYAL — MIDDLETOWN —WINCHESTER — CROSS KEYS AND PORT REPUBLIC— WITH LEE BE FORE RICHMOND— THE SEVEN DAYS. rROM May 8, 1862, when Jackson swooped down on McDowell, defeating Milroy, to June pth, he furnished a series of valuable lessons to a select class of Union generals. Between these dates was com pressed, with its marvelous series of triumphs, the most brilliant campaign of our civil war. For the rest, the Valley campaign must have been transcendent in any war known to history. It was a campaign approached, scarce ly rivaled, but in naught surpassed, by Bonaparte's daz zling Italian campaign. Taylor marched his Louisiana brigade, composed of the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth (Colonel Stafford) regiments and Wheat's battalion, with Bowyer's 4- gun battery (Virginian) into the valley with E well's divi sion. The Louisianians of 1861-62 everywhere deserve a word for their elasticity on the march. No veteran from other States but will vouch for their springiness of step. The first time Taylor met Jackson was in the valley of Virginia. " Over 3,000 strong," neat in fresh clothing of gray with white gaiters, jaunty in frame, his Louisi anians were marching by with a free and easy swing which caught Jackson's weary but observant eye, as they passed him, perched ungracefully upon the topmost rail of a "snake" fence. ** You seem to have no strag glers," he said to Taylor. "Never allow stragglers." * * You must teach my people ; they straggle badly. ' ' 214 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 215 " Just then," Taylor writes, "my Creoles started their band on a waltz. ' ' After a contemplative suck at a lemon — " Thoughtless fellows for serious work," came forth. " I expressed a hope that the work would not be less well done because of their gaiety. ' ' After the victory of McDowell, Jackson had heard Front Royal was alive with Banks' blue coats. Hasten ing there on the 23d he fell upon one of the Federal de tachments, annihilating it. The first attack was made by Bradley Johnson's Marylanders and Wheat's battalion with the remainder of Taylor's brigade supporting. The Federals then taking a stronger position, Wheat charged again in the front, while the Sixth sought their flank. The enemy fled across the river. Two bridges spanned the deep Shenandoah. One wagon bridge was above ; some yards lower down was a railway bridge. Taylor was everywhere in the valley — everywhere, as far as he could, galloping at Jackson's side. The sharpest point of dan ger was always the place of Jackson, watching all things. The Federals, posted on the west bank, were punishing us with murderous discharges. Jackson, as usual, was on his horse, looking thoughtful. Taylor came up, sug gesting a crossing on the railway ties. ' * Stonewall ' ' nodded. At the word, Kelly of the Eighth led his Acadians across the ties under a sharp fire. With some loss, Kelly's first files gained the opposite bank. The moment the Eighth appeared the enemy set fire to combustibles, previously placed on the wagon bridge. This bridge would, if fired, have involved serious delay to the Confederates. Taylor looked up again at the man on horseback — Jackson again nodded. At a new sign, the entire brigade rushed at the bridge and clambered over. The enemy, without halting to save their guns, fled wildly from the bridge toward Winchester. Next morning Jackson took Taylor's brigade and struck the Federal wagon trains at Middletown. The pike was found full of cavalry, upon which the artillery 216 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. and " Taylor's infantry," said Jackson, "promptly opened, and in a few minutes the turnpike, which had just before teemed with life, presented a most appalling spectacle of carnage and destruction. ' ' A little later the Federal artillery attempted to cut its way through, but " General Taylor was ordered with his command to the attack, ' ' and this detachment also took to the mountains. Banks was found in battle array at Winchester, on the 25th. Again was Taylor called upon by Jackson. It concerned a high ridge on the west, massed with Feder als, with viperish guns in position, seeking for gray-coats. * You must carry that ridge, ' ' said Jackson softly as Tay lor came up. Taylor, never rash where his men's safety from useless carnage was at stake, led his column to the left, close to the base of the ridge, for protection from a plunging fire. To carry the height itself, the brigade had to ascend it with all the guns shelling them. As they marched, the Louisianians were in full view of both armies, stopping slaughter to watch a new slaughter through this deed of desperate derring-do. Closing up gaps, shoulder seeking shoulder, alignment coolly kept, every man stepped as though on parade, conscious of the multitudinous eyes fixed upon him. About half way up, the enemy's horse, swooping unexpectedly from the right, charged fiercely. To meet the onset, Taylor directed Lieutenant-Colonel Nicholls of the Eighth Louisiana, which was on the left, to withhold slightly his two flank companies. While carrying out this order Nicholls by one volley, emptying some saddles, drove off the horse, himself receiving shortly after a serious wound.* Then *Plainly, Francis Tillpn Nicholls was a soldier who loved the breath of powder. Losing an arm by amputation, caused by this wound received May 25, 1862, he again faced the enemy at Chancel- lorsville, May 3, 1863. In that battle, a wound cost him a leg. Nicholls returned, thus maimed, to his State, to lead her liberators in days of political oppression, and to occupy stations of highest honor among her people. First conservative governor of Democratic Louisiana, in 1877, General Nicholls is, in 1898, chief justice of the supreme court of the State. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 217 the ** whole line magnificently swept down the declivity, bearing all opposition before it," said Jackson, who was no flatterer. The loss of the brigade in those three days was 21 killed and 109 wounded. Among the killed was Major McArthur, Sixth, who had captured two Federal flags with two companies of his regiment at Middletown, and Maj. Aaron Davis. Jackson's hardest foeman proved to be the gallant Shields of Illinois. Impetuous as were all of Jackson's movements, his attack on Shields at Port Republic was sturdily resisted by the veteran soldier. The situation changed its fortunes hourly, like a chameleon's colors. Finally turning critical to tension, it became hugely en joyed by "Stonewall." A battery was spitefully resisting all attempts at capture. Taylor coming up just then re ports his chief * ' as being on the road a little in advance of his line where the fire was hottest, with the reins on his horse's neck, seemingly in prayer. Attracted by my appearance, he said in his usually low voice: * Delightful excitement! ' " Next, seeming to waken up to the cri sis in the fight, he ordered Taylor, in a high-pitched voice, to move against the battery on the plateau. Taylor first attacked the left and rear of the enemy, and while thus engaged, the enemy was heard loudly cheer ing some success in front. Taking advantage of this en thusiasm, Taylor came out, unseen, from the wood. He was missing Hays, but the Seventh could not be found. Taylor looked around for them, but being pressed could not wait. At a word, his brigade, with a rush and shout, swept through a gorge and impetuously broke upon the plateau. The next instant, the battery was theirs. Three times was that battery lost and won — a plaything of war, and cup-and-ball of the armies ! Not to be balked of all his pieces, the enemy, moving up once more, finally succeeded in carrying off some of the guns. Tay lor was not to be outwitted by the blue-coats. With a desperate rally, his brigade carried the battery for the 218 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. third time. That time our boys, each planting what Charles Lamb calls "a terribly fixed foot" upon the plateau, held it to keep — held it like bulldogs, but like bulldogs baited by boys, and snarling at each attack. The plateau had grown dangerous. The enemy once more recovering was advancing upon them in a solid mass. Just then Ewell came up like a healthy breeze, to be welcomed with cheers. A moment later a shell came shrieking along. To it rebel yells responded somewhere in the advance and, freed from his " delightful excite ment, ' ' Jackson rushed up like a whirlwind. The fight ing in and around the battery was hand to hand, and many fell from bayonet wounds. Jackson came up and said the brigade should have the captured battery. ** I thought the men would go wild with cheering, especially the Irishmen." Taylor's Louisianians bore from the valley two tro phies, shared by no others. In the words of General Ewell : " To General Taylor and his brigade belong the honor of deciding two battles — that of Winchester and this one." "This one" — Port Republic, Jackson's closing victory — was a victory in which the glory largely be longed to Harry Hays' faithful Seventh. During the flank movement of Taylor's brigade, he had looked around for the Seventh, without seeing it. Up the slope, fighting sturdily, he was struggling. Riflemen were shelling his brigade from the slope. " Dislodge me yonder riflemen," he ordered. Two companies of the Ninth Louisiana were sent to do the dislodging, and did it cleverly. "Where is Hays?" Taylor kept asking himself while mounting the dangerous slope. At last, the lost Seventh came into view sadly cut up. The Seventh had been with the rear of Taylor's column, when he marched out ; and the thin line that remained was so pressed that Jack son ordered Hays to stop, and meet the enemy's rush. ** Where have you been, boys?" asked Taylor, much re lieved in mind, when the regiment reappeared, ** Been! CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 219 Old Jack told us to stop the rush — we stopped it!" Apropos Taylor said of this : * * The Seventh would have stopped a herd of elephants." The Seventh, Taylor reported, lost 156 killed and wounded — about half of its effective force. In the two days of Cross Keys and Port Republic the brigade lost 34 killed and 264 wounded. In the Sixth, Capt. Isaac A. Smith was killed, and Lieutenants Farrar and Mar tin wounded; in the Seventh, Lieut. J. H. Dedlake was killed, Lieutenant-Colonel De Choiseul mortally wound ed, and Col. H. T. Hays, Captain Green and Lieuten ants Brooks, Driver and Pendergast wounded; in the Eighth, Lieut. A. G. Moore was killed and Lieutenants Montgomery, Randolph and Wren wounded ; in the Ninth Lieutenant Meizell killed; and in Wheat's battalion Lieu tenants Cockroft, Coyle, McCarthy, Putnam and Ripley wounded. Captain Surget, adjutant-general, was greatly distinguished, and Lieutenants Hamilton and Kilmartin did valuable service. Taylor's brigade remained with Jackson from the first to the last of the unparalleled series of triumphs of that fa mous commander, and steadily growing in that great sol dier's special favor. After Malvern Hill, with the reor ganization of the army of Northern Virginia, if one sought a Louisiana command, he had first to ask where Jackson's corps was. Puritan though he was, Jackson had learned to value the Louisianians for their freedom from " strag gling " — not even frowning upon their partiality for " waltz music." Behind these, the soldier in Jackson had seen that courage which never faltered and had un derstood those young hearts, chirpy as crickets, which never weakened before a long march or quailed in front of the foe. The brigade was originally organized at Cen- terville in 1861, with the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Louisiana, Wheat's battalion closing the list. Its first commander, General Walker, was killed at Games' Mill. In Richard Taylor it had a leader — a fighter him- 220 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. self who would not willingly have stinted a man's love for battle. He did not stay long with them, being promoted to major-general after the Seven Days' cam paign, and soon transferred to the Trans- Mississippi, where, with his own good sword, he was "to carve his name in the Gold Book of the Republic." (Taylor's words. ) On June i2th Jackson's victorious command moved from the valley to the Chickahominy to become the left flank of Lee's army. Here, before Richmond, Taylor's brigade found as comrades the Fifth and Tenth Louisiana, in Semmes* brigade of McLaws' division; the Second with Howell Cobb; the First with A. R. Wright; the Third battal ion with J. R. Anderson ; and the Fourteenth regiment, First battalion (Coppens') and Maurin's battery, in Pry- or's brigade. The Washington artillery was attached to Longstreet's division, and the Madison (Moody's) battery to D. R. Jones' division. Pryor, marching to the front via Mechanicsville, with Longstreet, was posted at Beaver Dam, where he was in battle on the 2;th of June. In the affair at Ellison's mill, said Pryor, the battalion of Lieutenant- Colonel Coppens was especially distinguished. At Games' Mill these Louisianians bore a gallant part in the intrepid charges which cost so many lives, and at Frayser's Farm they held their ground with heroic tenacity. Through all this Captain Maurin, with his artillery, showed him self, as Pryor reported, "a most courageous and capable officer." The loss of Coppens' battalion was reported at 10 killed and 41 wounded; of the Fourteenth, 51 killed and 192 wounded, a total ranking among the heaviest regimental losses of the campaign ; while Maurin's gun ners had a loss of 4. The killed of the Fourteenth in cluded Captains Bradley and Scott, and Lieutenants Fisher and Garrish. Ewell's division was first in battle at Games' Mill, on CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 221 the a yth. Taylor being disabled by severe illness, Col. Isaac G. Seymour commanded the Louisiana brigade. In the afternoon, at the charge at Cold Harbor, he was shot from his horse and died in a few minutes. Here also fell Maj. Robert Wheat, known familiarly as Bob Wheat, cheeriest of souls, and not a stranger to the en emy, who remembered him as the chief of the " Tigers " at Manassas. The Louisiana brigade fought desperately at Games' Mill, attacked in front and flank, and for hours without reinforcements, and lost 32 killed and 136 wounded from their ranks, already worn in the valley. Again, at Malvern Hill, the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth suffered in the bloody charge, ordered at dusk, " by an officer unknown" to Colonel Stafford, losing the main part of the brigade casualties, 24 killed and 94 wounded. Capt. L. D. Nicholls, Eighth, and Lieutenants Foley and Pitman, Wheat's battalion, were killed at Cold Harbor, and Lieutenants Francis and McCauley, Sixth ; Lieuten ant Newport, Seventh ; and Lieutenant LeBlanc, Eighth, were among the killed at Malvern Hill. The other Louisiana commands were with that part of the army that opposed the main body of McClellan's forces before Richmond, while Jackson, Longstreet, and the Hills crushed the Federal right wing beyond the Chickahominy. The first fight of the whole great cam paign was at King's schoolhouse, June 25th, the enemy taking the aggressive against Wright's brigade on the Williamsburg road. Wright went to the front at once with the First Louisiana, Lieut. -Col. W. R. Shivers com manding, and the Twenty-second Georgia, and soon, ac cording to Wright's report, these brave men were dash ing through the woods, with loud cheers, driving the enemy through a field to another wooded covert. " With a gallantry and impetuosity which has rarely been equaled, and certainly never excelled since the war be gan, these brave and daring Louisianians and Georgians charged through the open field and actually drove from 222 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. their cover the entire brigade, supposed at the time to be Sickles'. ' ' Colonel Shivers being among the wounded, Capt. Michael Nolan took command. A severe strug gle followed and continued all day, ending in the two contestants occupying their original lines. The Louisi ana regiment, sadly thinned in ranks, took part in the last charge which regained the line which had been tem porarily lost. The regiment lost 22 killed, including Lieutenants Gilmore, Murphy and Trott, and 109 wound ed. Again at Malvern Hill 8 were killed, including Lieu tenants Fallon and Miller, and 40 wounded. * On the 27th the Federal intrenched line, held since the battle at Seven Pines, was found vacant — Lee's masterly stroke in flank beyond the Chickahominy having been heard from — and the Confederates advanced through deserted camps to overtake the enemy at Savage's sta tion, where the Fifth Louisiana lost but 6, while over 100 of the dead enemy were counted on its front. At Malvern Hill, the brigade, only 557 strong, charged the Federal line, a distance of 150 yards in the face of forty cannon and a terrible musketry fire from the front, as well as the fire from the rear by our own troops, shooting astray in the gloom of that night of blunder and carnage. The memory of that somber close of the great campaign is lighted by the heroism of Col. Eugene Waggaman's Tenth Louisiana. Up the hill the Tenth rushed at double-quick, thrown nearest the enemy by the diagonal advance. Waggaman, most intrepid of leaders, leaps far in advance of his line, and inspired by his example the men tear after him. The air is filled with shrieks of shells — no one hears them. Troops lying down for shel ter see the Tenth sweep by like ghosts of war. They cheer them on, but do not rise to help them in that bul let-swept field. Not yet quite on the summit, the men of * The Montgomery Guards losing all its officers, Private Thomas Rice was promoted to captain on the field. Captain Rice proved a gallant officer, and lived to lead his men on many a hard fought field. Three severe wounds still speak of his valor during the war. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 223 the Tenth are crossing bayonets with a force fifteen times greater than their own. Driving back the first for midable charge, the thinned line finds itself among the Federal batteries. Though odds were all against them, they gained a title that odds can neither give nor take from. They are the heroes of Mai vern Hill! Colonel Waggaman, rushing into the enemy's lines, was cap tured, as also was the gallant Capt. A. L. Lyons. Out of the 318 in action, 13 were killed, 36 wounded, and 38 fell into the enemy's hands. In the same fierce finale of the Seven Days the Second regiment held for some time a hill crest, exposed to the Federal artillery, advanced and repulsed a threatening movement of the enemy, and then joined in the general charge upon the batteries. Their dead, said Gen. How- ell Cobb, were found mingled with those of the other brigades, nearest the batteries of the enemy. " It was at this point of the battle that Col. Josiah T. Norwood, of the Second Louisiana, while gallantly leading his regi ment, fell severely wounded. Major Ashton, of the same regiment, had seized the colors of the regiment after three brave men had been shot down in the act of bear ing them forward, and was bravely cheering on his men, when, pierced by several balls, he fell and died instantly. " The Seven Days afforded a superb exhibition of the highest qualities of the fighting American. During that week of colossal conflicts, beginning with Mechanicsville bridge on June 27th and ending with Malvern Hill on July ist, Americans on both sides were fighting all day; sleeping on their arms at night when they could, up before dawn to renew the fight, and passing, day after day, through the terrible round of battle, which like ** Don Worm in the bud," grows by what it feeds upon. Neither army, we are free to say now, had cause for shame in the details of heroism when written out by un- partisan pens. With this admission it may be added that in their marked discrepancy of numbers, the Confeder- 224 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ates had more reason to rejoice in the genius of the great soldier, newly become their captain, emphasized as it was by their own trained and impetuous courage. CHAPTER XXII. THE TWO LOUISIANA BRIGADES, ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA — LOUISIANA ARTILLERY — BATTLE OF CEDAR RUN— THE SECOND MANASSAS CAMPAIGN— "BATTLE OF THE ROCKS." GENERAL Robert E. Lee had, on assuming com mand of the army of Northern Virginia, proceeded at once with energy in its organization. His work was quickly shown in results. In order to insure the full efficiency of that victorious army, upon which was to de pend the safety of the Confederate capital, it became im portant to organize it thoroughly. New brigades, com posed of three or more regiments from the same State, commanded by brigadiers from that State, were indispens able. It was still 1862; the war was still young; the carnage within bounds; the people cheerful; and great gaps spoiled not yet the stately ranks of that noble army which, beginning at Bull Run, July, 1861, was to end a conflict of many victories in one long, final fame-crowned retreat, April, 1865. On July 26th the First regiment, Wright's brigade, the Ninth, Taylor's brigade, the Fifteenth (late Third Louis iana battalion, of Anderson's brigade), and Coppens' bat talion, Pryor's brigade, were ordered to General McLaws, to constitute in connection with the Second and Tenth regiments, a brigade of that division. Thus was formed the Second Louisiana brigade of the army of Northern Virginia. General Taylor was assigned as its commander by this order, but Col. Leroy A. Stafford, of the Ninth, was mainly in command until, in October, 1862, his reg iment was transferred to the First brigade. The command of the First brigade, composed after July 26th of the Fifth, 225 La 15 226 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Fourteenth Louisiana regi ments, was given to Harry T. Hays, promoted to briga dier-general. Hays' successor in command of the Pelican regiment was Lieut. -Col. Davidson B. Penn. Col. Zeb York was in command of the Fourteenth, with David Zable as lieutenant-colonel. To the Third battalion, to fill out the Fifteenth regiment, was soon added two companies, the Orleans Blues and Cathoula Guerrillas, of the St. Paul Foot Rifles, which during the Seven Days had been con solidated with the battalion of Lieut. -Col. G. Coppens. Lieutenant- Colonel Nicholls, of the Eighth, was promoted to colonel of the new Fifteenth, and held that rank until October i4th, 1862, when he became brigadier-general, and Lieut. -Col. Edmund Pendleton took command of the regiment. The remaining three companies of the St. Pauls' were permitted to make individual re-enlistments in any command desired. Wheat's battalion passed under the same order of disbandment, with equal privilege of re-enlistment. The First Louisiana brigade, thereafter known as "Hays' brigade, " including the Louisiana Guard artillery, remained attached to Swell's division, Jackson's corps. The Second Louisiana brigade after mov ing to Gordonsville under Colonel Stafford, in August, was assigned to the same corps, in Jackson's old division, and a week later Gen. W. E. Starke, who had served in West Virginia in command of a Virginia regiment, was put in command. Louisiana in 1861-65 had comparatively few batteries in the army of Northern Virginia. These were composed, however, of men of proof, who knew their duty, loved their guns dearly, and from field to field grew ever more watchful of their State's honor. In her light artillery she included names of which the army, around its camp- fires, spoke much and often after some doughty day of combat, and which war — over for thirty-four years — has not let pass from the memory of men who live at ease in days of peace. Some, like the Washington artillery and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 227 Donaldsonville Cannoneers, still survive among us, sus tained by their old record and their young blood ; others, like the Louisiana Guard artillery, live only in heroic story. The field artillery, army of Northern Virginia, which Louisiana gave to the war, comprised the Washington artillery, four companies, Col. J. B. Walton commanding ; Victor Maurin's fighting Donaldsonville Cannoneers ; the Louisiana Guard artillery, Capt. Louis E. D'Aquin; and the " Madison Tips " — most natural of nicknames, though hailing from an upper parish. " Tips " clung to the bat tery by reason of its fun-making Irishmen, loving danger quite as much as cracking a jest. It would be hard to fix the palm of cheery valor among those loud-laughing, din- making, battle-loving, caisson-riding lads. One thing is sure, the push of the Louisiana infantry passed into her artillerists' nimbler fingers. Under her Tent of Glory one can find both the musket and the field-gun. On June 26th, a bugle-note had rung cheerily in Camp Walton of the Washington artillery. The Seven Days had opened. Colonel Walton was appointed by General Longs treet as chief of artillery of the right wing of the army. Walton's promotion was joyfully hailed by his en thusiastic artillerists. For highest rank in the artillery the battery would not willingly have parted with its pop ular commander. It was also announced that the battal ion itself would be Longstreet's "reserve artillery. " ' * Re serve artillery ' ' is, in passing, an exceedingly elastic phrase. Under a fighter like Longstreet, it might mean many chances on the fighting line. Under a Fabius, it might easily suffer from an overdose of inaction. The Wash- ington artillery was directed to move out on the Mechan- icsville turnpike. Once on the pike, the battalion began to learn what the phrase "reserve artillery" might mean. They saw no fighting on the 26th; grumbled at the " re serve " on the 2yth; frowned on the 28th, 2gih and 3oth — were lured into hope on July ist, and dropped into gloom by Longstreet himself late on the afternoon of Malvern 228 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Hill. Longstreet had said : ' ' We have done all we can to-day. Park your guns in the field alongside the road. " * That was all. That same night McClellan sought repose at Harrison's landing — leaving the batteries still in "re serve. " On July sth-yth Squires' battery, with Col. S. D. Lee, had some practice on the Union shipping on the James. Impatient at their long inaction, eager for the fray, yelling wildly at the order of June 26th, rejoicing in the splendid show they are making when they obey it — with their sixteen guns, rifles and Napoleons taken from the enemy at Manassas and Seven Pines ; throwing back cheers like shells, as they jubilantly galloped passed the " Dixie " battery, and feeling their hearts throb at hearing them selves cheered and yelled at by Hood's hardy Texans — the Washington artillery misses, by the narrow chance of an eighth of a summer-day, the glory of baptizing its "tigers" — the fiery emblem of the command — and its new Napoleons in one ensanguined pool. Have patience, Washington artillery! Your tigers, cheated so far, will shortly growl at Beverly ford, on the Rappahannock, and roar their fiercest when the battalion rides, with Longstreet, through Thoroughfare gap, in search of Jackson. The Louisiana Guard, from New Orleans, left the city, April 28, 1 86 1, as Company B in the First Louisiana in fantry. After remaining a few days about Richmond, the regiment was sent to Norfolk, to lose patience in weary tramping and no fighting. In August, 1861, Company B, being taken out from the regiment and furnished with field guns and horses, the Louisiana Guard galloped with its new pieces straight into the light artillery. At the expiration of its original enlistment it re-enlisted for the war. After the evacuation of Norfolk, the company fol lowed Huger's division to Richmond. As the Louisiana Guard artillery it went into the war; its first corps com- * Owen's "In Camp and Battle with the Washington Artillery." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 229 mander was Stonewall Jackson ; its field of valorous action, all Virginia. Before the curtain had fallen upon the slowly darkening Confederate stage, the Louisiana Guard artillery had helped to make the name of the State hon ored by valiant service on a hundred fields. With the Washington artillery and the Louisiana Guard went also Maurin's active Donaldson ville Cannoneers and Moody 's Madison Tips. All these carried their guns wherever the army of Northern Virginia fought, marched or stormed ; served them bravely, cheered comrades, and confounded the blue-coats. McClellan, supreme as organizer and steadiest of fight ers for existence, was a doubtful commander in a cam paign for conquest. After the Seven Days he had still remaining an effective force of between 85,000 and 90,000 men out of that army which he had made a great military machine. His main plan was to remain near Richmond, his secondary one being the capture of Petersburg. But McClellan was under a cloud from Washington, and Pope, fresh from his vaunted success at Island No. 10, was the new favorite. Halleck's latest order gave birth to a mil itary infant. This was the army of Virginia. It meant McClellan withdrawn, Pope seated firmly in the saddle. In the stagnation which followed the Seven Days Lee bad not been idle. Seeing the temporary dismemberment of his old heroic foe, his heart was easy that Richmond, for a time, was safe. Lee at once settled upon a new field on the old fighting ground around Manassas Junction. At the mere name, the army of Northern Virginia stirred through all its scattered bivouacs. In mid- July, Jackson's corps was stationed at Gordons- ville, where the remainder of the army was to concentrate after Jackson, lightning-like, had flitted northward. John Pope was in front with his boasts, his foolish orders, and his unconcealed flouting of our army. To crush Pope had been Jackson's aim ever since Lee had settled upon his advance. Lee's plan had chimed in with Jackson's. 230 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. The chances seemed unequal. Pope, trying to anticipate Jackson, failed. Jackson, anticipating Pope, struck him a sharp blow at Cedar Run, August 9, 1862. In this fight Hays' brigade, under Col. Henry Forno, of the Fifth regiment, was led by Ewell to an elevation of 200 feet, looking down in the valley, whence they sup ported Trimble's charge. Already repulsed from our left and center, and now pressed stoutly by gallant Ewell on our right, the Federals retreated from the whole line, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. The Louis iana Guard artillery had taken an active part at Cedar Run. " They behaved like veterans, although this was their first engagement," said their Captain D'Aquin. The Second Louisiana brigade, under Colonel Stafford, and then with A. P. Hill's division, reached the field at dark and was sent forward through the woods, feeling its way cautiously, skirmishing and taking prisoners, and finally discovering the enemy in force. The brigade was thus forced to occupy a position always danger ous. To an army — or any part of it — a night attack mul tiplies its perils indefinitely. At frequent intervals during the night, the Second brigade was under heavy shelling. Its loss was 4 killed and 20 wounded. From Cedar Run Jackson set himself to mystifying Pope as he had mystified McClellan. What the great St. Ber nard pass had been to the Austrian Melas, in the Marengo campaign, Thoroughfare gap was to be to Pope. Before the latter — in his saddle — had even thought of holding the gap, Jackson's "foot cavalry" — after a wonderful march of fifty miles in thirty- six hours — were dashing through it, wrecking the Union supplies at Bristoe * and Manassas Junction, and sending a thrill of horror as far as Halleck's office. Once on his old territory, Jack- * Hays' brigade, under Forno, attacked and destroyed the railroad trains approaching Bristoe station on August 26th; on the 27th the Sixth, Col. H. B. Strong, and the Eighth, Maj. T. B. Lewis, re pulsed the attack of two Federal brigades until supported by the Fifth, under Major B. Menger. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 231 son lay like a cuttle-fish, saving his ink but watching war ily. Meanwhile he rested his men, waiting for Longstreet. This he could safely afford to do. From the memories of the ground, his "Stonewall" veterans were receiving new fire. Never had the certainty of victory been as high in them as now, once more on the field of their " brevet." Never, too, had the trust in the invincibility of Jackson been so deep in that larger army which was following with Lee and Longstreet. Meanwhile Longstreet was marching to Thoroughfare gap, with him Colonel Walton in command of artillery, including the Washington artillery, Squires' First com pany, Richardson's Second, Miller's Third, and Eshle- man's Fourth, and Maurin's Donaldson ville battery, as well as S. D. Lee's battalion, and other batteries. Lee not in sight and Longstreet still outside the gap, Pope's chance for a battle seemed good. For swallowing up Jackson he had more than troops enough. With Mc Dowell, Pope had planted himself squarely between Jack son and Thoroughfare gap. McDowell was a trained sol dier, and his movement was well sustained, but its effect was marred by an unlocked for blunder of his chief. Strangely enough he seemed to have cooped up Jackson; certainly, Jackson seemed to be in a trap set by him, and watched over by McDowell. Getting over-anxious for his right flank, however, Pope called off his watch dog — leav ing only a small force under Ricketts at the key point. Swiftest of commanders, Jackson was prompt in seeing his advantage. From Sudley he outflanked the guard. Ricketts back, he opened wide the gate to Longstreet just outside, and Lee near by. Pope should have known that Longstreet had passed through — he did not. Believing fatuously that Jackson alone was in his front, and borrow ing his adversary's favorite tactics, he endeavored, by turn ing his left flank, to reoccupy Gainesville, so as to separ ate him from Lee. This was a weak effort to make good a fatal blunder. Had Pope held Gainesville from the 232 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. morning of the 28th on, he could have barred the gap to Longstreet. On the 2pth the attempt to regain the town was too late. Longstreet had already passed through and joined forces with Jackson. Heavy fighting began on August 28th and continued on the 2 pth and 3oth. The fronts of battle changed from day to day. The Second Louisiana brigade under General Starke was engaged on the 28th at Groveton, in a conflict both fierce and sanguinary, holding its line of battle at the crest of a hill. Talia- ferro, division commander, was wounded, and Starke filled his place, Colonel Stafford resuming brigade com mand. Next day Stafford was not in action until after noon, when he made a charge, clearing his front. Hays' brigade, with Early at the deep cut of the unfin ished Manassas Gap railroad, had not been seriously en gaged in the fight of the 28th, in which General Ewell was wounded. On the 2 pth they were with Early 's bri gade on the extreme right of the division, and at 3 .-30 Colonel Forno was ordered by General Jackson to advance the brigade to the support of one of A. P. Hill's brigades. Gallantly the Louisianians went to the front, drove the enemy from the railroad, and took position. A few hours later Colonel Forno was seriously wounded by a Fed eral sharpshooter, and Colonel Strong took command. After Forno's advance, Early 's brigade also went to help A. P. Hill, accompanied by the Eighth Louisiana under Major Lewis, and this regiment, temporarily separated from its brigade, shared in the gallant ousting of the enemy from the railroad cut. On the morning of the 3oth Stafford's brigade was or dered up to this dangerous line, to be held at all hazards. At an early hour the enemy's activity began. Massed heavily, the Federals formed six lines of battle. Starke, to meet the expected attack, placed the brigade in the deep cut. Our artillery quickly opened fire on the enemy. Ominously silent remained the brigade. The Federals CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTOh/. 233 came at double-quick toward the embankment, heedless of what might be behind it. Then the rifles of the bri gade awoke. Our bullets came swiftly, and from close quarters made havoc in the advancing column. Charge after charge was each time repulsed with appalling loss. While this slaughter was going on, the Louisianians began to run short of ammunition. Already some of the men were relieving the dead bodies of their comrades of cart ridges. Another Federal advance, in force, came up closer than before to our position at the railroad. Company E, Montgomery Guards, First Louisiana, earliest out, first called for cartridges. Starke had already been notified by Nolan, commanding the regiment, that ammunition was running out. Directly in the rear of the Montgomery Guards was their leader, Capt. Thos. Rice. The eyes of Captain Rice, from his station on a slight elevation of the slope, moved, here, there, everywhere. Nothing but a great quantity of rock was lying around, broken in frag ments of moderate size, as they had been blasted when the railroad was building. Captain Rice drew upon his ex perience in the Crimea. He recalled that battle with stones, fought in a rock quarry at Inkerman, close to the redan — one of the bulwarks of Sebastopol — which had now come to him like a flash, born of the need. Quick as the thought, Rice picked up a piece of rock and calling out loudly, " Boys, do as we did at Sebastopol! " hurled the first stone. Ambulance men, being idle just then, gathered stones at the word. The company, the regiment — even other commands of the brigade — followed with more stone, pelting the enemy savagely in their faces, with good aim. Excellent work was done with these rocks — a work certified to by both pelters and pelted. Some of the enemy crawled up the bank and voluntarily surren dered themselves to escape the deadly stoning. By this time the men had warmed to the work. A fresh assault of the Federals, in formidable array, came up to the railroad. Major Barney, commanding the Twenty- 234 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. fourth New York, rode gallantly up to the very bank, on a fine bay horse. As he came close to it, and the horse had planted his four hoofs squarely on the embankment, the major was shot through the heart. Stone pelting had swiftly turned tragical. At his fall, his command be came demoralized and fled in confusion. The bay, half dazed by the clamor, was finally captured. He was ridden by Lieutenant- Colonel Nolan, and remained with that brave soldier until his death on Gulp's hill. He became next the property of Father Hubert, soldier-priest known and dear to every man in the army of Northern Virginia. Martial tradition has it that under Father Hubert the warrior bay learned to care no more for * * the battle afar off, ' ' nor recked he of " the thunder of the captains and the shouting." While this battle of the rocks was still going on, Jack son, in response to Starke's report of the failure of ammu nition, had sent word that " men who could hold their line and drive back the enemy by throwing stone could defend themselves a little longer, until reinforcements or ammunition could reach them. ' ' Jackson smiled rarely. He may have smiled, for aught we know, at this. At 3 p. m., a Virginia brigade reinforced the First Louisiana. The result was a prompt distribution to each man of twenty rounds of cartridges. Thus was fought the pictur esque " Battle of the Rocks," and fought to victory. The loss of Starke's brigade during August was reported at 65 killed and 288 wounded. Among the killed was Lieut. -Col. R. A. Wilkinson, of the Fifteenth. The losses of Hays' brigade, reported in more detail were, at Bristoe and Manassas Junction, 17 killed and 70 wounded; on August 2Qth, 37 killed and 94 wounded, including Lieu tenants Sawyer and Healy killed. On September ist, Hays' brigade, under Colonel Strong, fought at Ox Hill, near Chantilly, and suffered a loss of 33 killed, including Lieut. W. W. Marsh, Fifth, and 99 wounded. The Washington artillery, fresh from its successful en- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 235 gagement with the enemy at Beverly ford, a victory sad dened by the death of Lieut. I. W. Brewer, Third company, and other brave men, went into the fighting at Manassas plains with two of the companies assigned to different brigades. The Fourth, under Capt. B. F. Eshle- man, Lieuts. J. Norcum, H. A. Battles, and G. E. Apps, was with Pickett's brigade; the Second, under Capt. J. B. Richardson, Lieuts. Samuel Hawes, G. B. De Russy, and J. D. Britton, with Toombs' brigade. The First un der Capt. C. W. Squires, Lieuts. E. Owen, J. M. Galbraith, and C. H. C. Brown; and the Third under Capt. M. B. Miller, Lieuts. Frank McElroy and Andrew Hero, were held together. About noon on the 29th, Longstreet sent Miller and Squires to open on the enemy's batteries near Groveton. Miller soon found the enemy with his shells and silenced a battery in front. Squires, with three rifle guns under Lieutenant Owen, and followed by Lieutenant Lan dry's Donaldsonville artillery, two guns, found place on Mil ler's left. The roar of these guns, pouring confusion into the enemy's lines of infantry, meant that Longstreet, long looked for, was near, and that a strong fighter had come to the help of a greater. Jackson, 011 the qui vive, hears the welcome note. Thousands listening to the guns yell wildly along their battle-lines. Lee's army is no longer separated from its brothers — Lee will have his lieu tenants at each hand. Next morning (soth) Richardson, going to the front with Toombs, came to the rescue at the Chinn house where the Confederate infantry had taken a battery, but feared its loss in the face of heavy reinforce ments. When Richardson got in position on the left of the Chinn house, the enemy was advancing rapidly in large force, but after a few shots he succeeded in holding the captured battery and compelling another battery — immediately in his front and greatly annoying our infantry —to retire from the field. Having got the four Napole ons Richardson turned them on their late owners — a good 236 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. stroke of vengeance . The first to reach these Napoleons were Private J. B. Cleveland and W. W. Davis. The Louisiana Guard artillery throughout the two days fought gallantly and effectively, and suffered considerable loss in wounded and in the killing of many horses. Mean while Eshleman, following Pickett for the time, had his eye open for a hill from which to flank the enemy's line. Trying all the ridges he found, and firing as he went, at last he was satisfied far in front, enfilading the ground in front of the Chinn house. When the enemy began his retreat a section under Norcum was engaged near the Conrad house, and Battles' section, supported by only one company of infantry, pushed on after the rout. CHAPTER XXIII. ON TO MARYLAND— HAYS' AND STARKE'S BRIGADES RETURN TO HARPER'S FERRY— BATTLE OF SHARPS- BURG— THE TERRIFIC STRUGGLE AT THE DUNKER CHURCH— VALOROUS DEEDS OF THE WASHINGTON ARTILLERY— GUARD ARTILLERY— MADISON TIPS. LONG and lusty was the shrill bugle-call — To Maryland — in September, 1862. The pursuit of the enemy by Lee's army in September, 1862, had resulted in the Louisianians with Jackson crossing the Potomac into the State of Maryland, moving first to Frederick City and the Monocacy, where the bridge was burned ; from the Monocacy, back again into Virginia by a forced march to Harper's Ferry, a march worthy of "Stonewall's" muscular "foot cavalry. " Under Jackson's forcible, suasive method, the Ferry capitulated with 11,000 prisoners and supplies. The Second Louisiana brigade, under General Starke, was there, formed in a line " across a wooded ridge." There too, was Hays' brigade, in the division commanded by Gen. A. R. Law- ton. On the morning of September i4th the white flag hoisted rendered fighting unnecessary. Harper's Ferry had surrendered. On September iyth the armies met face to face at Sharpsburg, where Jackson, having left A. P. Hill at tending to certain details of the bloodless surrender of Harper's Ferry, had joined Lee on the i6th, bringing hope with the sight of his dingy cap with the dingier visor hiding his brow. The First brigade, under Gen. Harry T. Hays, who had joined it on the isth, marched to Sharpsburg with Ewell's division, under Lawton; the Second brigade, tm- 237 238 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. der General Starke, with the Stonewall division, under Gen. J. R. Jones. Hays' brigade was not 550 strong, and Starke's could not have been larger, for his division numbered but i, 600. The two divisions were stationed in a line behind the Dunker church, before which Hood had already been in battle. As they marched the Louisian- ians were under the fire of the Federal batteries beyond the Antietam, and about dark the acting adjutant-gen eral of Starke's brigade, gallant Lieut. A. M. Gordon, of the Ninth regiment, was killed by a shell which cut off both his legs at the thigh. During the night the Louisianians slept upon their arms, snatching brief rest between the outbreaks of musketry. At the first dawn of day skirmishing began in front, followed by a severe artillery fire. " About sunrise," Jackson reported, " the Federal infantry ad vanced in heavy force to the edge of the wood on the eastern side of the turnpike, driving in our skirmishers. Batteries were opened in front from the wood with shell and canister, and our troops became exposed for near an hour to a terrible storm of shell, canister and musketry. General Jones having been compelled to leave the field, the command of Jackson's division devolved on General Starke. With heroic spirit our lines advanced to the conflict, and maintained their position, in the face of su perior numbers, with stubborn resolution, sometimes driving the enemy before them and sometimes compelled to fall back before their well-sustained and destructive fire. Fresh troops from time to time relieved the en emy's ranks, and the carnage on both sides was terrific." * * We had scarcely emerged from the woods in which we had rested during the night," said Col. Edmund Pendle- ton, of the Fifteenth, upon whom the command of Sta*rke's brigade finally devolved, * ' when we found our selves face to face with the enemy, heavily massed and within close musket range. Still, we charged forward in the face of a murderous fire, which thinned our ranks at CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 239 every step, until our progress was arrested by a lane, on either side of which was a high, staked fence stretching along our whole front, to pass which under the circum stances was an impossibility. The men, being formed along this fence, kept up an accurate and well-sustained fire, which visibly told upon the enemy's ranks; and though we suffered greatly, as well from musketry in front as from a battery on our left, which enfiladed us with grape and canister, still, not a man flinched from the conflict. ... It was in the early part of this engage ment that our brave and chivalric leader, Brig. -Gen. W. E. Starke, loved and honored by every man under his command, fell pierced by three minie balls, and was car ried from the field in a dying condition, surviving his wounds but an hour. ' ' Unsupported and about to be flanked, Colonel Stafford withdrew the brigade, reformed his line reinforced by other troops, again rushed upon the exultant enemy and drove him from the field, where he left hundreds dead and wounded and did not again venture during the day. Called out again to support a battery, Colonel Stafford, on account of a painful injury, turned over the command to Colonel Pendleton. Pendleton himself escaped serious hurt, though a spherical case-shot passed between his feet. Col. J. M. Williams, commanding the Second, and Lieutenant-Colonel Nolan, of the First, were badly wounded. Capt. H. D. Monier gallantly commanded the Tenth. Among the officers killed were Capt. R. Grigsby and Lieuts. R. P. Gates, H. Hobart, J. H. McBride, M. V. B. Swann, N. P. Henderson, S. T. Robinson and A. J. Alexander. The total loss of the brigade was 81 killed, 189 wounded and 17 missing, with no report from Coppens' battalion. Hays' brigade fought with equal valor in this historic struggle of Jackson's corps about the Dunker church. Moving to the support of the Georgia brigade, he ad vanced with his heroic 500 beyond their line, firing as he 240 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. went. It was a step into the jaws of death. The enemy poured into his devoted ranks their musketry fire from the front, and on his flank several batteries opened a storm of shell. In a very short time over half his men were killed and wounded, and with the remnant he was com pelled to retire, taking shelter with Hood's command. The Eighth suffered the heaviest loss, 103. The total casual ties of the brigade were 1 1 officers killed and 46 wounded, 35 enlisted men killed and 243 wounded; total, 336. The officers killed were Lieut. Dwight Martin, aide-de-camp, Col. H. B. Strong, of the Sixth, Capts. A. M. Calla- way, H. B. Ritchie, and E. McFarland, and Lieuts. N. A. Canfield, Robert Gerrold, M. Little, George Lynne, W. P. Newman, and B. F. Birdsell. No words could add to such a bloody record of valor. Among the earliest participants in the battle were the Washington artillery, posted on a line just east of Sharps- burg, fronting the Antietam. During the afternoon of the 1 5th the Federal batteries appeared on the hills be yond the creek and opened fire with long-range guns, but Walton's guns were not able to make themselves felt at such a range. Next morning, the i6th, the enemy brought some batteries closer, and at 1 1 a. m. an artillery duel began, lasting for forty minutes, when General Long- street sent word to save the ammunition. Captain Squires' rifles were the only ones of the battalion engaged. Down in front and to the right of the battalion at Sharpsburg was the bridge to be known as Burnside's, guarded by Toombs, and there Richardson, with two Napoleons, that afternoon drove to cover the first threatening movement of the enemy. On the morning of the i7th the Federal infantry ap peared in front of Squires, posted at the east side of the village, and waiting till they came in effective range, dis regarding the enemy's artillery, he drove the infantry from view by a concentrated fire. Now the Federals sent up a regiment against the obnoxious batteries. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 241 Twice Squires drove them back. A third time, rein forced, the Federals advanced and were repulsed, and the fourth charge only resulted in heavier loss, for they came within range of Squires' canister. Lieutenant Owen, wounded, and Galbraith and Brown were worthy leaders of brave men in this defense of the Confederate center. Captain Miller, with his four Napoleons, ordered to the left, was assigned to position by General Longstreet. It was a post of honor and danger, and soon, Lieutenant Hero having been wounded and Lieutenant McElroy having been detached to the right, Miller found himself the only officer with his company and barely enough men left to work a section. Two determined assaults by the enemy met with bloody repulse, and the third, thanks to the able assistance of Sergeant Ellis, in command of a section, suffered the same fate. ''Too much praise," Walton reported, " cannot be bestowed on Captain Miller for his stubborn defense of the center for several hours ; to Lieutenants Hero and McElroy, Sergeant Ellis and Artificers Bier and Dempsey. This part of the action was under the immediate eye of General Longstreet and his staff, who, when Captain Miller's cannoneers were exhausted, dismounted and assisted the working of the guns. ' ' Captain Richardson, played upon by three batteries, had one of his guns disabled and retired through the village, but soon righting himself went to the assistance of Toombs at the lower bridge. Later, he and Lieuten ant Galbraith were engaged near Miller to nightfall, while Lieutenants Hawes and De Russy fought with Toombs. Lieut J. D. Britton was wounded late in the evening. Burnside's bridge was a favorite field of activ ity with the Louisiana gunners that day. About noon on the iyth Eshleman was sent to guard the ford below Burnside's bridge, and he made a gallant fight against great odds, with orders to hold the enemy in check until A. P. Hill came up. When a heavy col- La 16 242 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. umn crossing- the fords on the extreme south of our line, threatened to carry disaster to that flank, Gen. D. H. Hill turned upon it three guns of Carter's battery and two of Donaldson ville artillery. "The firing was beautiful," said Hill, "and the Yankee columns, 1,200 yards distant, were routed by this artillery fire alone, unaided by mus ketry. This is the only instance I have ever known of infantry being broken by artillery fire at long range. ' ' The Louisiana Guard artillery, Captain D'Aquin, en tered into the fight with the bubbling enthusiasm which so signally marked the members of every command that fought with Stonewall Jackson. "I belong to Jackson's corps, " as a military vaunt, is quite as fine as that repub lican boast, egosum civis Romanus, uttered nineteen hundred years ago by a Roman, whether on the banks of the near Rhine or of the distant Jordan. Of all the Louisiana batteries, the Louisiana Guard artillery alone was attached to Stone wall's corps. The battery followed him through the second day of Chancellorsville. After his death the Guard remained equally faithful to Ewell and Early. Fidelity was a proven trait of the Guard. In the battle of the i yth the battery was supported by Captain McClellan's sharpshooters. The boys could see the whites of the enemy's eyes. There was a bold charge; but it was a brave repulse. In the afternoon the company, by a proceeding not set down in the pro gramme, captured a lo-pounder Parrott gun, afterward known as the " D ' Aquin ' s gun. ' ' Brave D ' Aquin was fated not to own that gun long. His hand fell as he touched his gun for the last time hard by the Rappahannock. Moody 's Madison " Tips," with Col. Stephen D. Lee, were under fire on the i5th, north of the pike, before the village. Early on the i;th they were firing near the center, and about 9 o'clock were stationed at a point where other batteries had been cut to pieces. This was on the right of the Hagerstown pike. Hood, falling back, so mixed up with the enemy as to prevent the battery CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 243 from using its guns. S. D. Lee immediately advanced two of Moody 's guns into a plowed field where he could best use them. The enemy's infantry was pouring a most galling fire upon the battery under Captain Moody and Lieut. J. B. Gorey. The "Tips" doggedly retained their position until the infantry on their right and left melted away, when Lee ordered them to the rear. Lieu tenant Gorey, while sighting a piece for the last discharge, was killed by a minie ball. In the afternoon, Moody, with four guns, fought with Squires before the village, repulsing many assaults ; and two of the guns, with Gar- nett's brigade, drove the enemy from a ridge to the left of Sharpsburg. Captain Moody, Lieut. J. Sillers, Ser geants Conroy and Price, and Corporals Gaulin and Don- oho were mentioned by Colonel Lee. Like Inkerman, in the Crimea, Sharpsburg on the An- tietam was emphatically the battle of the privates. Like Inkerman, too, a fatality seemed to follow the field offi cers. The report of General Hays remarked, "The terrible loss among the officers evinces with what fidelity they discharged their duties;" Colonel Pendleton said, " It is a noteworthy fact that not a single field officer in the brigade who was on duty that day escaped un touched. ' ' CHAPTER XXIV. THE BATTLE PANORAMA AT FREDERICKSBURG— THE LOUISIANA ARTILLERY AT MARYE'S HILL— FRIGHT FUL SLAUGHTER OF THE ENEMY — BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE— LOUISIANIANS FIGHT AGAIN AT MARYE'S HILL— NICHOLLS' BRIGADE WITH JACK SON. LEE at Sharpsburg, September i8th, stood prepared to renew the conflict on the ground of the iyth; but McClellan was not so ready. He was satisfied to see from a signal station perched on the top of a high mountain what was passing within our lines. At dark on the 1 8th the Confederate retreat began. Gen. A. P. Hill, cool and resolute, commanded the rear guard. With those who held that post of honor was D'Aquin's Louisiana Guard artillery, of Jackson's corps, ready for battle. The company occupied the heights at Shepherds- town, and, at a severe loss in killed and wounded, forbade the enemy's free passage of the ford. All through the night the crossing of the river was going on. Night movements mostly partake of the confusion of the darkness, conse quently there was much disorder at the ford. With the disorder went its mate, slaughter. Frigid Maryland cost the army no morale. Once having got over the disturb ing, because wholly novel effects of a retreat in force, the army's bugles rang as cheerily again, in Virginia as on that day when they had summoned it to new and gayer fields across the * 4 border. ' ' The Confederate army was safely gathered back into Virginia and marshalled to fight the great battle which followed Sharpsburg. No battle in our civil war was more clearly a defeat of the Federals than the battle at 244 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 245 Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. McClellan had be gun a new forward movement, promising activity, but did not long continue it Shortly after his return into Virginia he was relieved and Burnside appointed to the command. The field of Fredericksburg was singularly open as a fighting ground. As noted by skilled observers, its pe culiar situation, with hills in the rear and the river in the foreground, made it a panorama of a battlefield rarely equaled for clearness of observation. In its absence of woods it appeared more like a battleground in war-scarred Belgium. Along the Rappahannock was the gray town ( young when the revolution was growing ) crowded with troops in glittering line of battle. To the right, at Sligo ; to the left, at Amarett farm, were still other masses. Up to 10 a. m. the view of the field had been impaired by a thick fog, which disappearing, the army lines became visible in the plain between us and the Rappahannock, extending far to the left toward Fredericksburg. Two miles or less back from the river were our lines, defend ing earthworks. Burnside had at first sat down at Fal- mouth on the north side of the Rappahannock. This was an unwise move, since he should have anticipated Lee by taking possession of the heights back of that town. Gen eral Lee answered his blunder by making triple defenses. At Marye's hill the Washington artillery had its guns be hind earthworks en barbette. Starke's brigade, under Colonel Pendleton, the First regiment being commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel No lan, the Fifteenth by Lieut. -Col. McG. Goodwyn, the Sec ond by Maj. M. A. Grogan and the Fourteenth by Capt. H. M. Verlander, supported Thomas' brigade early on the 1 3th, and on the i4th relieved General Fender on the front line. His skirmishers were engaged sharply through the day, and his brigade was three times under a considerable fire. Two men were killed and 34 wounded. Hays' brigade reached the field about 10 a. m. 246 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. of the 1 3th and marched to the brow of the hill in front, losing 9 killed and 44 wounded, though the bri gade was not actively in the fight. On the i4th the Sev enth regiment was sent to fill a gap in the line along the railroad. Had there been any question of the result of the battle, any doubt of the final outcome at any hour of the day before the sun went down, the Louisiana infantry would have been called on to lend their aid to make the issue glorious. The Louisiana batteries rendered effective service dur ing the 1 3th and i4th. The Guard artillery took position with the gallant Pelham on the extreme right. This was the post of responsibility, for wherever Pelham 's guns were heard there honor abode. Their enfilading fire mowed down the enemy, actively threatening on the plain. Here Capt. Edgar D'Aquin fell gloriously. The Washington artillery, with its four batteries, gal lantly and, it need not be added, successfully defended Marye's hill against heavy and repeated assaults during the day. Five successive charges were repulsed by their skilled gunners. Among the generals who bravely led the assaulting lines was Hancock, known far and wide in the army of the Potomac as " Hancock the Superb." Among the devoted soldiers who fell in the * ' slaughter- pen ' ' before their invincible fire came the Zouaves and Meagher's Irish brigade. These brave men, bearing the green flag with Ireland's golden harp, did not stop their impetuous rush until within five and twenty paces of Cobb's infantry line. There they were met with such a tempest of shell, shot, canister and musketry, that two- thirds of them were left on the field in front of the stone wall. After four hours and a half of this dreadful work, call ing for the concert of every faculty of mind, heart and body, Colonel Walton relinquished the defense to Moody's Madison "Tips." The "Tips," true to their CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 247 Irish blood, did not fall back before the enemy's masses, but forced them back, broken and dismayed, before their victorious pieces. Maurin was also in action during the two days with two sections of the Cannoneers; the first commanded by Lieut. Prosper Landry, the other by Lieut. Camille Mollere. For a time, on the first day, Maurin " had a gun which was ordered by Major Latrobe, of Longstreet's staff, to be placed outside the works, " where it could not bear upon the enemy assaulting Marye's. Where they were, the gun's defenders, commanded by Landry, were in far greater peril than the foe. Most effectively did Landry perform this service ; but in doing so lost several of his men and had his feet disabled. His conduct was admirable, for during the time he was ex posed to a direct fire of six and an enfilading fire of four guns. (Owen's In Camp and Battle.) In a minute every man was killed or wounded at the guns. (Report of General Ransom.) On the second day, Moody 's two 25-pounder howitzers assumed the place of Maurin's bat tery in the rifle-pits. From that post a few well-directed shots broke up the enemy's reserves, lying flat on their faces in the valley. This General Burnside called, by a bold but misleading figure of speech, " holding the first ridge." A few shots by Captain Moody turned this into the wildest of routs: a vanishing of charging lines — an army's broken remnant huddling into the town's streets for safety. During the night of the i5th Fredericksburg was evac uated by the Federals. Burnside had abandoned his ad vance movement, presented with such a pomp of battle- array, glitter of steel and wealth of equipment, and with such a glow of color in its flags and in its myriad guidons dancing in icy sunshine of that December day. On the north bank of the Rappahannock the defeated but gal lant army of the Potomac — having in vain tempted death — was, in its heroic disappointment, calling that through which it had just passed the " Horror of Fredericks- 248 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. burg." Horror, most truly! Heros Van Borcke, J. E. B. Stuart's distinguished and devoted chief of staff, in his ' * Memoirs of the Confederate War for Independence, ' ' says that " the dead bodies lay thicker on the field than I had ever seen before." Meagher's brave Irish brigade was nearly annihilated. In front of the stone wall which skirted the sunken road at the foot of Marye's hill the brigade's dead lay in heaps. For the North, Fredericksburg had chilled the gladness following Antietam ; for the South, it had restored con fidence. Reckless Burnside was replaced by * ' Fight ing Joe Hooker." Hooker began well. While Lee was watching him from his old heights back of Fredericks- burg Hooker had taken a march on him, massing 40,000 men on his left flank at Chancellorsville. Here " Fight ing Joe," forgetting his nickname won by daring, rested, undecided, one full wasted day. When at last prepared to advance, Lee (without Longstreet, who was absent at Suffolk), hastening by forced marches from Fredericks- burg, was ready to meet him. After barely feeling Lee, Hooker tempted him by retiring into the Wilderness, facing toward Fredericksburg. Here the Confederate advance under Jackson attacked him. The expected happened. In the dense thickets, turned everywhere into abatis and bristling at every avenue of approach with artillery, Hooker was practically impregnable. Lee soon drew back from the purposeless contest. The heavy guns on this day, both Federal and Confederate, thundered only the prelude of the mighty opening or chestra. Lee on the same evening (May ist) called a council of his corps commanders. Jackson, who had led the assault of the day and had seen its futility, was ready with his plan for the next day's battle. Here we see the one opportunity of Jackson's military life. He for the first and only time outlined a plan for the movements of the army of which he was only a lieu tenant. It was as though Lannes had laid before Napo- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 249 Icon the scheme of Austerlitz. Jackson had fully recog nized the impossibility of a direct assault on the Federal front or left, by reason of the broken ground. He pro posed to sweep with a rapid movement around Hooker's front, attack on his right flank, taking him in reverse, and cut him off from the United States ford. This plan was at once adopted by General Lee, and the details were left to Jackson. Early the next morning Stone wall opened the movement. He was eager to play once again his victorious flanking game. He knew that to pass Hooker's entire front was most hazardous. The broken country, however, greatly aided him. The route, skirting the edge of the front, sometimes going through it, sometimes hiding itself away in small by-roads, was an all-day's plodding. To make this flank attack a suc cess it needed, above all, to be a complete surprise. Once, at Catherine furnace, Jackson found himself in plain view. An assault, hot while it lasted, was made upon his rear. As the widening road, however, bore strongly toward the south, he was supposed to be in full retreat to Richmond. But Jackson was in sinuous ad vance toward Hooker's right flank. By 5 o'clock in the evening, having reached the pike, he broke, utterly unlocked for, into Howard's Eleventh corps, crushing it like an egg-shell, and sent its pieces spinning helplessly into the heavy works around Chancellorsville. Early the same night, while preparing for a new and more resolute attack, Jackson received his death -wound at the hands of his friends. Chancellorsville was the fact — Marye's hill was an epi sode. On May 26. and 3d Hays' brigade was, and was not, at Chancellorsville. Early, in whose division he was, had, under orders from General Lee, left him behind at Fredericksburg to guard the valorous town. It was no inglorious task which had fallen to Hays. Attending to Marye's safety were other gallant commands: Barksdale's brigade, Griffin's Eighteenth Mississippi occupying the 250 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. foot of the hill, and Humphreys' Twenty-fifth Mississippi. The Washington artillery's First, Second and Fourth com panies were also there to defend the hill. About light on Sunday, May 3d, Barksdale reported that the enemy had thrown a bridge across the Rappa- hannock. Hays' brigade was immediately sent from the right to Barksdale 's support. The enemy was seen cross ing, and soon known to be Sedgwick's whole corps. Sedg- wick's first assaults upon the right of our line were thwarted. One attack in force upon Marye's hill was repulsed by Hays. Then treachery did what numbers could not. A false flag of truce came to Griffin, col onel of the Eighteenth Mississippi. Unsuspicious of evil, Griffin, incautiously receiving the flag of truce, gave the bearer time to spy out the thin line of defenders. Going back to his lines — almost before he was out of sight — heavy columns were sweeping upon the position. It was, under the guise of peace, an absolute surprise of war. The Washington guns had been playing havoc with the columns of the enemy in front ; but while the gunners were looking forward blue lines had climbed the hill in the rear, appearing like Asmodeus before their very faces. Everywhere in force they swarmed upon the hill among the guns, capturing the gunners. A large part of the Eighteenth Mississippi was taken prisoner, and a company of the Washington artillery with its six guns was captured. The enemy did not stay long on the hill. They seized the guns and hastily marched their prisoners (329) off. The Washington artillery, with their uncapt- ured guns, retired firing to the line of the Mine road. Corporal L. L. Lewis of the Fourth company was killed at this time. The sacrifice of the Washington guns — the result of basest treachery — had been redeemed by the courage with which they had been defended. Surren dered only when surrounded front and rear, no blame attached to the heroic battalion for the misfortune. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 251 At sunrise on May 4th Early, moving forward, reoccu- pied Marye's hill. A few of its defenders were found there, some dead, some wounded. That stone wall, which skirted the sunken road, had again grown fatalis tic. This time, its fatalism had turned against its friends. On May 3, 1862, Sedgwick earned the empty honor of capturing Marye's hill and a few prisoners and guns. Upon some drunken rowdies of his corps fell the dishonor — fortunately rare in the annals of civilized warfare — of killing prisoners on the hill after they had surrendered. * At this Fredericksburg battle the loss of Hays' brigade was 63 killed and 306 wounded. On May 2d and 3d the Second Louisiana brigade, now led by Brig. -Gen. Francis T. Nicholls, was to be found on the Plank road, either resting on the highway or deployed along it toward the Chancellor house. Around Chancellorsville the battle swayed during the two days, at times fiercely, with a resolute purpose of the enemy's masses to envelope, anaconda-like, our slenderer lines ; at other times, utilizing heavy guns to clear the Plank road of our men. The artillery was specially de structive on Saturday, the 2d. About 9 130 p. m. the head of Nicholls' brigade halted on the Plank road about half a mile from Chancellor's house, and the road was swept by a destructive artillery fire. It was here that the gal lant Nicholls had the misfortune to be seriously wounded, a shell tearing his left leg, necessitating immediate am putation, f Col. J. M. Williams, Second Louisiana, as- *Adjt. Oscar E. Stuart of the Eighteenth Mississippi was deliber ately shot after he had surrendered. By his brutal murder a life, full of promise as of honor, was cut short. f Men of the brigade, hearing of their leader's wounds, mentioned the loss of his arm on Winchester heights less than a year before: and anxiously recalled the army talk — heroic gossip ! — that it was hard to say whether General Nichols was as brave as he seemed or not — he was always fated to be wounded so soon as a battle opened. They spoke also, with soldierly regret, of his mutilated frame. In its honorable mutilation it may still be seen when the chief justice of the Supreme court of Louisiana passes on the street, or when, with his associate justices around him, he sits on the bench. 252 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. sumed command. The brigade remained under arms on the extreme left of the battle-line until Sunday, May 3d, at sunrise, so incessant were the threats of attack. In a sharp engagement at a very early hour, with a very large force of the enemy pressing forward, the brigade hotly contested the ground until, by ill fortune, its ammuni tion gave out. Still later in the day the brigade was again engaged with the enemy's batteries, strongly massed and supported by other masses of infantry, in which it lost some 50 men. Colonel Williams had dis charged the duties of brigadier-general with a zeal and gallantry worthy of remembrance. The loss of his com mand was 73 killed and 390 wounded. In this valorous brigade the First Louisiana infantry was commanded by Capt. E. D. Willett ; the Second, by Lieut. - Col. R. E. Burke; the Tenth, by Lieut. -Col. John M, Leggett; the Fourteenth, by Lieut. -Col. David Zable; and the Fifteenth, by Capt. W. C. Michie. It was while the Tenth Louisiana was exposed to a heavy storm of grape and shell that Lieut. -Col. John M. Leggett, an officer of signal merit, was instantly killed by a shell, after which Capt. A. Perrodin took command. The Sec ond regiment, in very gallant style under a galling fire, drove the Federal General Tyler's brigade from its posi tion, capturing a colonel and several officers of the com mand. Capt. C. Thomas, of the Guard artillery, with a section of rifle guns, was placed near the Plank road, opposite to the enemy's works, under Major Mclntosh. With an enfilading fire the Guard succeeded in dislodging the en emy from his works. After this the battery directed its fire upon a dense column in front of Chancellor's house, soon breaking and dispersing it. This column was said to be Meagher's brigade. Chancellorsville, with all its glory, bore one broad stream of crape for the mighty soldier who had planned it. His plan, triumphing in the rout of the enemy's CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 253 right flank, opened the road to Hooker's final retreat to his old Falmouth camps. Throughout the critical third day the watchword was, * * Remember Jackson. ' ' It broke into the multitudinous voices of battle with a note mightier than theirs. Heard the loudest with each vic torious advance, it told once again how an army fights when grief inspires valor. In the reorganization which followed the death of Jack son the Louisiana brigades remained in the old Second corps, under General Ewell. Early 's division included, besides Hays' Louisiana brigade, Gen. William Smith's Virginia brigade, R. F. Hoke's Carolinians and John B. Gordons' Georgians. The old Stonewall division, includ ing Nicholls' brigade, was under Maj.-Gen. Edward John son. Hays' regiments were commanded: the Fifth by Maj. Alexander Hart, Sixth by Lieut. -Col. Joseph Han- Ion, Seventh by Col. D. B. Penn, Eighth by Col. T. D. Lewis, Ninth by Col. L. A. Stafford. Nicholls' brigade was led by Col. J. M. Williams, and the regiments were commanded: First by Lieut. -Col. M. Nolan, Second by Lieut. -Col. R. E. Burke, Tenth by Maj. T. N. Powell, Fourteenth by Lieut. -Col. David Zable, Fifteenth by Maj. Andrew Brady. Col. J. M. Walton, still in command of Longstreet's artillery, had in his reserve the battalion of E. P. Alex ander and the Washington artillery battalion under Maj. B. F. Eshleman, whose Fourth company was now under Capt. Joe Norcum, the other captains being unchanged. In Alexander's battalion was the Madison artillery, Capt. George V. Moody. The Louisiana Guard artillery, Capt. C. A. Green, was attached to Early 's division, and the Donaldsonville artillery, Capt. V. Maurin, to Heth's division, A. P. Hill's corps. CHAPTER XXV. THE PENNSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN — HAYS' BRILLIANT CHARGE AT WINCHESTER — BATTLE OF GETTYS BURG—FIRST DAY'S FIGHT— NICHOLLS' BRIGADE AT GULP'S HILL— HAYS' BRIGADE ON THE SUMMIT OF CEMETERY HILL— WORK OF THE ARTILLERY- AFTER GETTYSBURG— RAPPAHANNOCK BRIDGE- MINE RUN— PAYNE'S FARM. LATE in June, 1863, Lee's bugle once more sounded for invasion. His army, in thoroughness of disci pline, numbers and equipment, was the most for midable that had marched under the flag of the seceding States. There were ardent Confederates who believed that the Pennsylvania movement would prove a military mistake. Such distrust, however, nowhere showed itself on the surface. For Lee himself the invasion was a necessity. He saw that matters were fast going to the bad in the West. He knew that Vicksburg was making a heroic but hopeless defense. Her fall would bring the Mississippi a free and unmortgaged gift to the Fed erals. By a new and possibly successful invasion of the North he might offset inevitable disaster in the West. Such was his hope. He knew his army, he trusted in its strength and fiber. Fredericksburg in December, and Chancellorsville in May had raised in an extraordinary manner the spirit of the army — victorious at both points. Its courage was accompanied by an increasing hope. Far more than ever before, a consciousness of invincibility had begun to be felt by rank and file. It proved to be a great error, an error which cost us the campaign. Yet, under the glorious history of the latter part of 1862 and the early 254 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 255 part of 1863, the error seemed to most minds, the direct result of recent events. With his right, Lee had gripped the old defenses of Fredericksburg, associated with thronging memories of triumph; his left covertly advanced, under Ewell, to ward Culpepper and thence to the Shenandoah valley. Early 's division was directed by Ewell to march straight to the valley. On June i/j-th Early trapped Milroy, cap turing 4,000 prisoners, with much material. Hays' bri gade was at the front from the beginning of this move ment, pushing the enemy back, with skirmishing during the 1 3th and i4th. On the latter day Early took the Lou- isianians around a considerable detour to the west, and about 5 p. m. ordered them to assault the enemy's works on a hill which appeared to be the key to their fortified position. After the artillery, which included the Louis iana Guard, had shelled the astonished Federals, who were not looking for fight in that direction, " Hays ad vanced as was directed," Early said, " and ascended the steep slope of the hill leading to the enemy's works through a brushwood that had been felled to answer the purpose of abatis, and drove the enemy from his works in fine style, capturing in the assault six rifled pieces, two of which were immediately turned upon the enemy. ' ' The enemy discovered the advance of Hays when he reached the edge of the abatis, about 150 yards from the works, and then, ordered to charge, his men swept for ward so rapidly that they were in the redoubt before the enemy had time to fire more than four or five rounds. * * A most brilliant achievement, ' ' said Early of this as sault. At some distance was a small redoubt with two pieces of artillery, manned by infantry. Here the Sev enth, Col. Davidson B. Penn, gallantly secured two guns. In the main work, a battery of the Fifth U. S. artillery (regulars) was captured, caissons and trappings complete. Hays, in the movement against the key position in the defenses of Winchester, had the Louisiana Guard artillery 256 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. with him. Here Capt. C. Thompson, of the Louisiana Guards, fell mortally wounded, his death saddening the glorious victory. With D'Aquin nobly dead at Freder- icksburg and Thompson slain at Winchester it was evi dent that the officers of the famous battery did not hide behind its caisson wheels. Hays reports his brigade loss for the two days at 14 killed and 78 wounded. Lieuten ant Terry, Seventh, and Captain Dejean, Eighth, were killed. Lieut. John Orr, adjutant of the Sixth, was the first to mount the parapet. The adjutant did not regret the bayonet thrust which he received on this occasion. That night, while Hays' brigade was expecting another assault on the coming day, and the Guard was training its guns upon the main fort of Milroy, the enemy de camped. But Ewell had arranged for such a sequel. Nicholls' brigade, which had been skirmishing with the Federal line during the i3th and i4th, was sent with Steuart's brigade to the north of Winchester during the night. In the dark they struck the head of the retreating column, and being fiercely assailed a desperate fight re sulted, turned into victory by the timely arrival of the Stonewall brigade. A Federal flanking party under the immediate command of General Milroy was gallantly met by the Second and Tenth Louisiana, who afterward led by General Johnson in person captured 1,000 prison ers and a stand of colors. The brigade loss was 2 killed and 13 wounded. From Winchester Ewell marched boldly into Pennsyl vania, Early crossing the Potomac at Shepherdstown on the 22d, and then marching through Maryland to Gettys burg. Hays' brigade was camped peacefully near the historic Pennsylvania village on the 26th. Ewell then advanced, with Gordon in the van, to York, near the Sus- quehanna river and the capital of Pennsylvania, 75 miles north of Washington. Johnson's division crossed at Boteler's ford and marched to Carlisle, still further north, and west of Harrisburg. In the last days of June CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 257 these commands were ordered back by General Lee toward South mountain. Hooker, haunting the north bank of the Rappahannock, had observed E well's movement into the valley and be lieved it meant mischief to the North. When he found Longstreet following Ewell he also started for the Poto mac. An army between the capital and invasion was the one besetting desire of Halleck, intent on defending Washington. Lee, consummate master of all strategy, no sooner had seen Hooker fairly in pursuit of Ewell than he took his hand off Fredericksburg, and A. P. Hill crossing the mountains marched with Longstreet into Maryland and on to Chambersburg. Hooker's army was in Maryland keeping between Lee and Washington, on June 26th and then Hooker, chaf ing under Halleck 's restrictions and unable to control events, with a great battle in the air, asked to be relieved from his command. Sober Meade succeeded him. This changed altogether the current of Lee's movement. See ing Meade moving northwest from Frederick, intent on loosening his grip from the river, Lee became fearful for his own communications and the safety of Richmond, naked before her foe. General Dix was at Fortress Monroe, and before a resolute attack Richmond might have fallen. The capture of Harrisburg was abandoned ; Longstreet and Hill were ordered eastward through the passes of South mountain, and Early back from the Sus- quehanna. Lee himself drew back from his invasion, striving to engage Meade's attention by a diversion east of the mountain. Cautious Meade had seen through his great adversary's purpose. Having selected the general line of Pipe creek for his defense, he now threw his left wing for ward to Gettysburg as a mask Already Lee was dis posed to make sure of the same point. The shadow of the mighty battle was on them both. On the ist of July, 1863, the vanguards of the two La 17 258 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. armies clashed on the west of Gettysburg. At 9 a. m. the first gun was heard. The shadow had melted away. Gettysburg, sternly questioning, alone was visible. On the Confederate side was A. P. Hill, with Heth and Fender; on the Federal, Reynolds, with the Third and Eleventh corps. The result of the first encounter was a victory for Hill. Gallant Reynolds — a heavy loss to his army — was killed during the action. History puts no faith in precedents, else Gettysburg would have opened another page on July 3d. Lee himself had no illusions. On the evening of the first day he showed his sound com mon sense in what he said to Longstreet: " They are there in position. I am going to whip them, or they are going to whip me. " He trusted in his troops; cared little for the disparity in force ; but never quite forgot that war had its lottery. While Hill was fighting for Seminary ridge, Ewell, on his way back from the east, was in time to strike from the north ; and his effective blow, which hurled Schurz back through the town, uncovered the Federal line still defiant on Seminary ridge, and compelled it to give up the strong position occupied during the next two days by Hill and Longstreet. " Hays' brigade," said Early, " advanced toward the town on Gordon's left in fine style, encountering and driving back into the town in great confusion the second line of the enemy, ' ' until the Louisianians formed in line in the street running through the middle of Gettysburg. They captured two pieces of artillery and Federal soldiers at every turn, and having no men to spare for guards, sent them to the rear as they pressed on. Hays declared he was satisfied that the brigade captured more prisoners than its own number. Their own loss was Captain Richardson, Fifth, and 6 men killed and 37 wounded. The Louisiana Guard artillery, also effectively participating, lost one man killed. Dur ing the evening Nicholls' brigade came to the east of Gettysburg and took position. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 259 The morning of July 26. found Hays' brigade, moved during the night to the east and front of the town, facing the northern extremity of Cemetery hill, the new Federal line. To the east of that was Gulp's hill, faced by Nicholls' brigade, on the right of Johnson's line. The two Louisiana brigades waited all day, expecting orders to assault, which were not given until after the batteries, opening at 4 p. m. , had for some time been thundering against the strong Federal position. Finally, about 7 o'clock, Johnson was ordered to the assault and his men advanced gallantly up the sides of " a rugged and rocky mountain, heavily timbered and difficult of ascent ; a nat ural fortification, rendered more formidable by deep in- trenchment and thick abatis." Colonel Williams re ported that his men " engaged the enemy near the base of these heights ; and having quickly driven his front line into the intrenchments on their crest, continued forward until they reached a line about 100 yards from the en emy's works, when they again engaged him with an al most incessant fire for four hours, pending which several attempts to carry the works by assault, being entirely unsupported on the right, were attended with more loss than success." As soon as Johnson was engaged Early ordered for ward his assaulting line, Hays on the right, Avery's North Carolinians on the left, and Gordon supporting, against Cemetery hill. It was a little before 8 p. m. and the darkness was some screen to their movement ; but the enemy's artillery was in furious activity, and as the Louisianians crossed a hill in front they were dan gerously exposed. But they swept on down into a hollow at the foot of Cemetery hill. There they found a con siderable body of the enemy which opened fire, and the batteries began throwing canister, but the smoke and darkness enabled the brigade to escape *' what in the full light of day could have been nothing else than horrible slaughter." Panic seized the Federals as Hays pushed 260 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. on up the slope, over a stone wall where many prisoners were taken; over an abatis, and through a line of rifle- pits where more prisoners were taken. The summit was gained, and with a rush along the whole line, Hays' men captured several pieces of artillery, four stand of colors and still more prisoners. Meanwhile, the North Caroli nians, encountering stone wall after stone wall, had lost their commander, Colonel Avery, and not more than 40 or 50 were together in the last charge. The Louisianians, alone at the summit of Cemetery hill in the face of How ard's corps, at first encountered a strange silence. But soon, through the dark, heavy masses of infantry were heard approaching. Expecting support, Hays for an in stant thought they were the friends promised in the cri sis. But he soon perceived that the enemy was confront ing him and surrounding him, and after a volley from his depleted ammunition he was forced to fall back in order to a stone wall at the foot of the ridge. His loss was heavy — 26 killed, 151 wounded, and 55 missing. Among the gallant dead were Col. T. D. Lewis, Captains Victor St. Martin and L. A. Cormier, and Lieutenants W. P. Talbot, A. Randolph, R.T. Crawford. Lieut. -Col. A. De Blanc succeeded to the command of the Eighth. Early next morning (3d) Williams' men and their com rades, reinforced, renewed the assault, and the enemy in turn with a greatly strengthened line made a desperate effort to recapture their line of breastworks. The right ing continued till noon without favorable result. The loss of the brigade during the entire battle was 43 killed and 309 wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Nolan, one of the best and most gallant officers of the Louisiana contingent, was killed in the charge across Rock creek toward Gulp's hill, on the night of July 2d. Capt. Thomas Rice, of the Montgomery Guards, First Louisiana, took command of the regiment after Colonel Nolan's death, from July 26. to July 5th, when the army fell back into Virginia. About midnight following the 2d of July, the Washing- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 261 ton artillery, having reached the field dusty and tired, were ordered to take position at the Peach orchard, whence Federal General Sickles had been driven. Be fore daylight of the 2d Eshleman's battalion was in posi tion; Captain Miller and Lieutenants Hero, McElroy and Brown with four Napoleons; two Napoleons of the Fourth under Captain Norcum and Lieutenant Battles, and two Napoleons of the Second under Captain Rich ardson and Lieutenant Hawes. The howitzers were in reserve under Lieutenant Apps. With some changes in position at daylight, they were engaged " moderately " during the forenoon, under a fire which disabled the gallant Norcum. Walton now had 75 guns posted in one great battery, menacing Cemetery hill, and 63 more were massed before Hill's corps, in cluding the Donaldsonville boys, to the north. Toward noon there was an outburst of Hill's guns, but it soon subsided and, says Colonel Alexander, " the whole field became as silent as a churchyard until i o'clock." The enemy waited for what Lee might do, and Lee was mak ing ready for the last assault on Cemetery hill. It had been arranged that when the infantry column was ready General Long-street should order two guns fired by Cap tain Eshleman. At 1 130 a message came to Walton from Longstreet: " Let the batteries open. " " In a mo ment," says Col. William Miller Owen of the Washing ton artillery, * * the report of the first gun rang out upon the still summer air (fired by Miller's battery). There was a moment's delay with the second gun, a friction- primer having failed to explode. It was but a little space of time, but 100,000 men were listening. Finally a puff of smoke was seen at the Peach orchard, then came a roar and a flash, and 138 pieces of Confederate artillery opened upon the enemy's position. " From the opposing heights came back a thundering Federal answer, and the most terrific artillery battle of the war was on. The roar was deafening, stupendous — 262 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the gorges of the hills vibrating with the shock and the two ridges echoing crash after crash. The Washington artillery and the Madison men were under both a direct and an enfilading fire, but stood bravely to their work. " About 30 minutes after the signal guns had been fired, " according to Major Eshleman, " our infantry moved for ward over the plateau in our front. ' ' Captain Miller and Lieutenant Battles were then ordered forward, but they had suffered so severely that only four pieces could be taken to support the charge. These, with one piece of Haskell's battalion, were the only guns advanced, and they came under the concentrated fire of the enemy. At the same moment, the brave men under Pickett and Pettigrew were seen falling back from the hill. Miller, Battles and Richardson were then withdrawn. It was found that Lieutenant Brown was severely wounded, Lieutenant Battles had both his guns disabled, and Miller had lost so many horses that he could manage but one piece. Major Eshleman then, with the howitzers of Moody's Madison artillery, Parker's battery, and a section of Cabell's, with the infantry 200 yards behind him, held the enemy in check till dark. Eshleman's loss was 3 killed, 26 wounded, 16 missing, and 37 horses killed. Lieutenant Apps was among the wounded. Early in the day Captain Richardson had pointed out to Major Eshleman a 3-inch rifle gun abandoned by its defenders between the hostile lines, with the horses dead but harnessed to the pieces. William Forrest and James Brown, drivers, at once volunteered to bring the piece off. The gun was drawn off, and ammunition with it, under a hot and jealous fire from the enemy's sharpshooters. Forrest was not content with running this peril. Find ing that in order to serve the gun against its old masters horses and harness must be had, he set out to hunt these, groping in the sulphurous and perilous semi-darkness be tween the lines, and brought them in despite the sharp shooters. A few days later the brave man was wounded CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 263 at Williamsport. In telling the story of heroic deeds, this of Richardson's drivers should not be forgotten. The three Louisiana batteries aside from the Washing ton artillery won equal honor. If one called them the D'Artagnan, Athos and Porthos of the Louisiana artil lery contingent in the army of Northern Virginia, one would not go far wrong. Among their comrades they were known as the Louisiana Guard artillery, Maurin'a Donaldson ville Cannoneers, and Moody 's Madison "Tips. " Capt. Charles A. Green, of the Guard, with his Parrott guns, joined Hampton's cavalry on the evening of the 26. just in time to engage the enemy. At their position they could see the enemy's wagon-trains rolling away. The Guard could do nothing toward their capture, for the business in hand was of a more war-like nature. On the 3d they gave effective aid to Stuart and Hampton in the cavalry battle on the right flank. The Guard lost 7 killed and wounded. Maurin's Donaldson ville boys were just in time at Gettysburg, July ist, to relieve one of Pegram's batteries whose ammunition had been ex pended on the foe. To keep worthily in a heady fight the place of a Pegram battery, was not easy ; doubtless Pegram's eyes, young but keen, looking approvingly on the work and on the men doing it. Moody's Madison boys, with Alexander, shared the work of Colonel Wal ton's men shelling the Peach orchard on the 2d and the memorable artillery duel of the 3d. They were warmly commended by Colonel Alexander. Only as Confederates is it permitted to us, in this work, to express an interest in Pickett's mighty charge. As Louisianians, it is made our duty to report a gallant charge up the same Cemetery hill by a Louisiana bri gade commanded by a brigadier from Louisiana. We need not repeat the glorious story of July 3d. It is one of those tales of heroes which, as the Skalds tell us were rehearsed in Valhalla, will grow in acute interest as 264 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the years recede from the field and from what has made it memorable. This may be said for conclusion. If Pickett's famous division of Virginians made a heroic attempt to storm Cemetery hill on July 3d, so had Hays, with a brigade of Louisianians, made the same difficult journey on July 2d. If Pickett's charge with Virginians be immortal, who may doubt that the amaranth will equally crown Hays' charge with Louisianians? Between a brigade and a division there may be a difference in the length of the battle lines. In honor, there can be none ! After Pickett's division had been swept away on the perilous slope of Cemetery hill, Gettysburg was a battle lost to the Confederates. Lee still held to the ground where the battle storm had raged; but the battle had been fought and won against him. That Chancellors- ville, in May, 1863, was the clearest, strongest, most care fully-planned victory gained, with equal conditions, by the army of Northern Virginia, is admitted in the North itself. It was the fight of a strong plan on one side, of no plan on the other. Against this, Gettysburg, in July following, was the first victory gained by the army of the Potomac which called a permanent halt to Confederate movement northward en masse. A year later, Early was to ha,zard a bold but useless rush as far as the breast works of Washington. Not being ** in mass," at best a minor affair, it served to emphasize the supreme lesson taught at Gettysburg. Lee retreated at his ease by way of Hagerstown and Williamsport. * Meade slowly, too slowly indeed for one *At Williamsport on the 6th, the trains, being unable to cross the Potomac on account of high water, were assailed by the Federal cavalry, with artillery, and successfully defended by General Im- boden, and the Washington artillery and Donaldsonville battery. Eshleman, seeing his only salvation was a bold attack, sent Miller's battery forward 600 yards, supported by a line of skirmishers and later by Norcum's Napoleon gun. By this bold move Miller and Norcurn repulsed the enemy in their front, while Battles, Squires and Richardson held the Federals back on other roads. Hawes, with CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 265 who had to his credit a decided victory, followed him hesitatingly across the river. Begun late, Meade's pur suit was active enough to have enabled him to strike Lee's flank by debouching through Manassas gap. The attempt was unsuccessful. Lee withdrew to Culpeper while Meade advanced to the line of the Rappahannock. It was a duel in " points " between the two — Lee, for all his small army, altogether the bolder and readier master. The commanders began a race for the possession of the Orange & Alexandria railroad. Lee's gaze was fixed upon Bristoe station. Warren, forming Meade's rear guard, gained success in a brilliant side engagement with A. P. Hill, which enabled Meade to post himself strongly at Centerville. For the moment Lee felt himself foiled. Throwing out a line of troops along Bull run, he de stroyed the railroad south of that point and retired at his leisure, a leisure with a certainty of future triumph in it. Meade, quickly leaving Centerville, followed him, repairing the road as he went. Reaching the Rappahan nock he crossed, forcing the passage. Lee, without de lay, put the Rapidan between himself and the army of the Potomac. Meade's continued movement might mean peril. In order to deter him, if possible, from advancing farther into the interior during the winter of 1863-64, Lee caused certain works previously constructed on the north side of the Rappahannock to be converted into a tete-de-pont to defend a pontoon bridge already laid down. Lines of rifle-pits were constructed at the same time on each bank. November 7, 1863, proved a day of gloomy re membrance both for Hays' brigade and the Louisiana Guard artillery. On the north bank, in the rifle-pits, was Hays' brigade; in the redoubt on the same side two Napoleons, relieved two other batteries which had briefly aided them, and fought under a galling fire, losing 12 men at one piece. On this day the Louisiana gunners, after a most fatiguing march of two days without sleep, rest or food, were of vital importance to the army of Northern Virginia. 266 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. was stationed the Guard with four guns. No position during the war was more helplessly exposed than this. The Louisianians were at first the only troops north of the river — the Sixth, under Colonel Monaghan; Eighth, Captain Gusman ; Fifth, Capt. J. G. Angell, and Seventh, Col. T. M. Terry, were more or less advanced, and the Ninth, Col. W. R. Peck, was held in the works. Col. D. B. Penn was in command of the brigade during the early part of the fight. About 2 o'clock p. m. Sedgwick's two corps began to crowd about the devoted brigade, which was soon forced to concentrate behind the breast works, where they held their position, under artillery fire, unsupported until about 4:30, when Hoke's brigade came over and took position to assist them. At dusk, according to Sedgwick, an assault was made by two brigades of Russell's division. There were three heavy lines, as Hays, who was in the fort by 4 o'clock, saw them. At the center, the first Federal line was broken and some of it captured. But the second and third lines swarmed over his right, leaving the battery in the hands of the enemy, and while he was preparing to order the Seventh and Ninth to a desperate counter charge his center was broken. New lines of the enemy appeared, and the Seventh and Fifth regiments and Hoke's brigade were surrounded so as to make escape impossible. " My men," says Hays, " continued at their post in the works, fighting well to the last, and it was only when the com mand was cut in two and the enemy in complete posses sion of the entire hill that any thought was entertained of falling back. Indeed, there was no effort made by any one in my command to recross the river until nothing else remained but surrender. Many then escaped by swimming and fording the river, and some few on the pontoon bridge. The force under my command was small, between 800 and 900. That of Hoke's brigade was also small. The force of the enemy, I am confident, could not have been less than 20,000 to 25,000. " His CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 2C7 report of loss was 2 killed, 16 wounded and 684 missing. The loss in Green's battery, commanded by Lieutenant Moore, was i killed and 41 missing. Twenty-eight es caped. Hays himself was made prisoner, but was saved by a restive horse. Being surrounded, his horse took fright and ran away, carrying him clattering over the pontoon bridge, the bullets still seeking him. The Gen eral used afterwards to call this a " narrow escape." It was something more, it was the most disastrous event in the history of the Louisiana Guard artillery. With guns gone the company temporarily was as Samson shorn of his locks. During its battle work its loss had been more in the ratio of numbers than that of any other Louisiana battery serving in Virginia. After the ex change in May, 1864, the company was formed into a mounted battery and detailed to act with the cavalry. It was employed chiefly in raiding the enemy's outposts and surprising their communications. The service was ar duous ; and finally, when the horses could not be replaced for the work, the battery took its place in the trenches near Richmond, and was in the retreat to Appomattox. The valor of the Louisiana Guard artillery, previous to Rappahannock bridge and on that day of wild fighting, assured the full performance of duty by the men. Whether riding with Hampton's legion or guarding like watchdogs the trenches, its valor was always to the fore. No special mention will be made hereafter of the Louisi ana Guard artillery, save that the battery was at Appo mattox, was surrendered there, but not before firing its last gun. Their comrades salute them, with no stain upon their record as Confederate artillerists from Nor folk to Appomattox. Meanwhile the North, drunken with delight after Gettysburg, still demanded energy from the victorious commander. Action! action! always action! was the solitary message weighing down the telegraph. Lee had prudently put his army into cantonments for the winter 268 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. over a considerable space. Several of the lower fords of the Rapidan were left open. Lee had defended his right flank, however, by a line of intrenchment facing Mine run, at right angles to the Rapidan. Meade was spurred beyond his usual hesitation. He resolved to turn Lee's position and seriously cripple his great adversary by a quick blow. Marching orders were issued to the several corps, the day and hour being added for each march; but one corps commander was three hours late. A pontoon bridge proved too short on ac count of high water in the Rapidan. So Meade got into position two days later than he had wished. Lee smiled, having already hastily concentrated. When ready for attack on the fourth day, Meade found Lee secure in his position (November 26th to soth). Each army went back to its own lines. The troops being once more in winter quarters remained there. The North did not quite like the quiet after failure, but winter gripped hard both town and camp. During this futile campaign there was some brisk right ing, and many brave men fell. General Early having taken command of E well's corps during the illness of his chief, Hays was put in charge of Early 's division and Col. William Monaghan commanded the remnants of his brigade and Hoke's. Leroy A. Stafford, with the rank of brigadier-general earned gallantly on many fields, again led the Second brigade. Both of these commands were on duty. Hays' brigade was in line of battle beyond Mine run during the 27th, and during the skirmishing of the day, Captain Bringhurst, of the Ninth, and three privates were killed. Then retiring to the Confederate side of Mine run, they remained there several days. On the 3oth Lieutenant Wehmer and several privates were wounded on the skirmish line. That night they slept on their arms, but no battle followed. Stafford's brigade was at Payne's farm, where there CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 269 was severe fighting on the 27th. The brigade advanced with a cheer to the support of the Stonewall brigade, but under a murderous fire found it impossible to proceed be yond the crest on which the Confederate line had been established. The brigade lost 16 killed and 88 wounded. Three officers lost their lives: Lieutenants Kenna, Mc- Rae and Cotton. CHAPTER XXVI. LEE MEETS GRANT IN BATTLE— THE WILDERNESS AND SPOTTSYLVANIA COURTHOUSE— STAFFORD KILLED, HAYS DISABLED— LOUISIANA'S PART IN LEE'S MAG NIFICENT CAMPAIGN— WITH EARLY IN MARYLAND AND THE VALLEY— SIEGE OF PETERSBURG— FIVE FORKS-FORT GREGG. THE spring of the year 1864 opened with a change of leader of the Federal forces in Virginia. On March 10, 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was commissioned lieutenant-general and given supreme command. After many mistakes, the North had at last found a man with ' * qualifications. ' ' The battlefield had shown that the North had made sure of a man of strength ; a man who held that maneuvering paralyzed hard fighting, and had little faith in it — yet withal one who, if never a great strategist, was a trained and educated soldier and knew how to lift up Thor's hammer, and use it weightily upon his foe. On this side of the Potomac there had been not a whisper for a change in commanders. From the battle of Seven Pines the South had rested, with a serene con fidence which may well be called sublime, upon one as lofty in life as he was superior in those arts which make a great leader. Robert E. Lee had for three years kept Richmond free from the invader. To none save him, throvighout the whole embattled Confederacy, did Rich mond in her peril look for succor. In the conduct of the war, now reopening with the spring, the two commanders were for the first time brought face to face. Neither had known the other in the hurly-burly of battle. From the West one had come ; de fending the South, the other had remained. Each was of the choicest military fruitage of his section. If the West 270 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 271 was rude, its rudeness had come of its strength. If the South was courtly, in its courtliness lay that strength which was the germ of generations. Such were the men. Equally mated in knowledge, these men were, when tested, to prove how skill overlaps knowledge and numbers both. McClellan had made his attack on Richmond from the sea. Grant was resolved to make his main approach by land — taking the precaution, as a compromise, of send ing Butler, with the army of the James, to move in sup port up the James river. With himself, however, the "On to Richmond ' ' was the idlest of cries. From first to last his own object was Lee's army. That army once crushed, Richmond must of necessity fall, and with Richmond, the Confederacy. Grant believed in giving hard blows and plenty of them. In hammering away at the army, his creed was to keep on hammering until nothing was left on the anvil. To do this kind of work needs men and guns. These the North lavished upon him with full hands. At the opening of the Wilderness campaign (May 4th), the odds were 120,000 men against 60,000; 200 guns against 350. On May 4th Grant opened his campaign by attempting to turn the Confederate right. The new movement through the scrub oaks of the old Wilderness was foiled. Strategy for once proved too much for hard hitting. This was an ugly surprise for Grant, unused to checks. Giving himself no rest, however, the great Hammer of the North struck again and again, seasoning his blows with a little maneuvering. From May 4th to May 8th he learned the metal of our army in Virginia. From May 8th to 1 9th he wasted nearly two weeks and thousands of men in looking for a weak spot in Lee's army. Lee, meeting him at all points, exposed no weak spot. From out the checks and disappointments of Spottsylvania Court House, among which was the death of the gallant Sedgwick, sprang that grim vaunt, "I propose to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer. ' ' 272 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Grant came South through the gloomy Wilderness which, one year before, had so nearly stranded the army of the Potomac. Lee stretched no hand to stop Grant's crossing the Rapidan ; he was bent on striking once for the sake of those dreary woods of fortunate Confederate mem ory. E well's corps on the morning of the 5th called a halt to Warren's Federal corps advancing on the Orange turnpike. Though Sedgwick came up to help in the as saults upon the Confederate line, Ewell held fast all day, one corps against two, and blocked the road. Both of the Louisiana brigades were hotly engaged, and they bore their share of the losses. In a counter-attack by his and the Stonewall brigade, toward dusk, the heroic Stafford fell mortally wounded. Afterward, in sorrowfully recount ing his loss of 3 generals killed, 4 wounded and 2 cap tured, Ewell remarked: " Gen. Edward Johnson once said of General Stafford that he was the bravest man he ever saw. Such a compliment from one himself brave, brave almost to a fault, and habitually sparing of praise, needs no remark. ' ' Next day the fighting continued along Swell's line, the enemy aggressive, trying to find his flank. In the even ing Gordon went forward, Hays moving partly out of the works to connect, and took a mile of the Federal works. While marching to Spottsylvania Court House on the 8th, orders were received transferring Hays' brigade to John son's division, and consolidating both Louisiana brigades under General Hays. But the gallant Hays was not long to have this honor. On the next day, in line at Spottsyl vania, he was severely wounded and compelled to leave the field. Unfitted for further battle service, he was transferred to the Trans- Mississippi to bring new men into the army. On May i2th Hancock, superb fighter steadied by dan ger, broke through a part of our line, enveloping the sa lient held by Edward Johnson, and capturing Johnson and Steuart and 2,000 of the division, including many of the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 273 battle- worn Louisiana brigade. But on the second line Hancock was checked and partly driven back. It was a day of fierce fighting on both sides. In this single battle Grant lost 8,000 men. For the short campaign filled with charges and blood his loss was 37,000. In killed and wounded, as well as captured, the Louisiana troops lost heavily. Among the killed was the gallant Col. John M. Williams, of the Second regiment, distinguished as the successor of General Nicholls at Chancellorsville ; Captain Rice, of the Montgomery Guards, First Louisiana, was grievously wounded and left for dead on the field. Grant renewed his pounding on the i8th, and on the 1 9th Ewell, making a long detour, fell on the Federal right, but found the enemy prepared, and lost nearly 1,000 of his 6, ooo men. Next day the remnant of Edward John son's division, in which the Louisianians still maintained the forms of their brigade organizations, was coupled with John B. Gordon's brigade to form a division after ward led by that gallant Georgian. With Thor's hammer; with his tremendous preponder ance in men and guns ; with all that capacity at will to push a corps against a regiment, Grant was from day to day growing in knowledge of the power which lay in the military genius of R. E. Lee. During all his Wilderness fights he had accomplished nothing but attrition. Tough was the grain of the army of Northern Virginia — as tough as its mighty heart was sound. That army had heard of Grant and what the West knew of him. It was rather disposed unjustly to underrate his strength of resolution, and to make light of those marked staying qualities of his, which were such potential aids to his army's fighting strength. Grant knew how to fight, to give and to take blows. What is more, he knew how to stay in the fight when once begun. An army easily trusts such a captain as this. Never did Lee manifest in so conclusive a manner his gift of prevision as in foreseeing Grant's plans, and in La 18 274 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. meeting his movements with his entire army whenever the threatened attack was on, during the marching and maneuvering which intervened between Spottsylvania and Cold Harbor. On June 2d Grant ordered an assault along the whole Confederate line for 3:30 a. m. next day. Lee behind his intrenchments waited, unmoved, the avalanche. Out of the grayness of the early morning of June 3d it came with 80,000 men — and fell back in bloody repulse. The awful slaughter was over in scarcely more than ten min utes. Ten thousand Federals had fallen. Our loss, though heavy, was a mere fraction of that number. To have won at Cold Harbor called from Grant a master plan ; a plan strong at least as that which opposed it ; a plan which should have combined in equal shares, daring with skill, skill with caution, caution with numbers wisely and prudently used. Concurrently with his advance from the North Grant had ordered Butler forward up the James toward Rich mond. At Drewry's Bluff, where Beauregard, with a hastily collected army, met the enemy, the Washington artillery was privileged to fight against the former com mander at New Orleans. Eshleman was still in command of the battalion, his valor rewarded with the rank of lieu tenant-colonel. On the right of the line, May isth, a sec tion of the artillery was thrown forward with Johnson and Hagood, and the Louisiana gunners found themselves op posed to six or eight pieces of artillery. " Our artillery engaged at very short range," said Beauregard, " dis abling some of the enemy's guns and blowing up two lim bers. Another section of the same command opened from the right of the turnpike. They both held their posi tions, though with heavy loss, until their ammunition was spent, when they were relieved by the reserve artillery under Major Owen." The battle over, Butler scurried back to his intrenchments at Bermuda Hundred. After Cold Harbor, Early was sent with the Second CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 275 corps to drive from the Shenandoah valley the tardy Fed eral column that was to have cut off the army of Northern Virginia from the Southwest. The Louisiana brigades, under Zebulon York, former colonel of the Fourteenth, now promoted to brigadier-general, were in that brisk march down the valley, the driving of Sigel's force to Maryland heights, and the rapid and exhausting journey through Maryland under a July sun. They joyfully went with Early, they and Terry's Virginians the representa tives of Stonewall Jackson's old division. They never marched more debonairly ; never fought more gallantly — as Wallace found at the Monocacy. In that brilliant battle Col. W. R. Peck, of the Ninth, commanding Hays' brigade, earned by his "admirable conduct" the praise of General Gordon. Among the killed and wounded Louisi- anians, for this last time left on the north of the Potomac, was Lieutenant-Colonel Hodges, Ninth regiment, severe ly wounded, and left in hospital at Frederick. When Washington lay before them, like a jewel for the plucking, and Early called halt ! at her very gates, a mur mur of despair was heard among the veterans. Nor should we forget that, in the unmade attack of July 12, 1864, the Louisianians were too intelligent not to under stand there had been, for once, lack of dash in that bold raider who when he was on the point of success had failed to achieve it. That was Early 's single chance of making the one surely immortal stroke of the war. The immortality thus gained would have resembled a tent raised by the Arabian sorcerer — large enough to contain not only Early but every man in his army. Returning across northern Virginia to the valley the Louisianians remained there to fight bravely but unavail- ingly against great odds in the famous battles of Win chester, September i9th; Fisher's Hill, September 22d, and Cedar Creek, October iQth. At Winchester General York lost an arm, and was succeeded in command by Col. Eugene Waggaman, whom we know as an officer of pecul- 276 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. iar courage in the assault of the Tenth Louisiana at Mal- vern Hill. During the early part of December the brigades were ordered back to the Confederate capital to take po sition in the defences of Petersburg. On July 12, 1864, Grant began to leave Lee's front and cross the James. For four perilous days Beauregard alone held the Federals in check before Petersburg. Then Grant found the army of Northern Virginia again before him and despairing of successful assault, sat down to a siege. He had by no means forgotten Lee's strategy. Fearing to be worn out upon the Lee granite, he started the construction of fortifications. From these he opened a bombardment on the Confederate works, which lasted without intermission for eight months. In the organization of the army during the siege, the Madison artillery, Capt. George V. Moody, was assigned to Huger's battalion, First corps; the Donaldsonville artil lery, Capt. R. Prosper Landry, to Richardson's battalion, of which Victor Maurin was now major, Third corps; and to the same corps (Hill's), the Washington artillery battalion, Col. B. F. Eshleman, commanding, M. N. Miller, major, the companies being commanded in numer ical order by Capts. Edward Owen, J. B. Richardson, Andrew Hero, and Joe Norcum. While Major Maurin was detached in command of artillery at High Bridge, Major Miller took his place with Richardson's battalion. On duty with the command of General Wise, along the railroad in southwest Virginia, was Coppens' battalion, now known as the Confederate States Zouaves, under Maj. Fulgence Bordenave. On the last day of 1864, General York's command, re turned from the valley, was reported in the charge of Col. W. R. Peck — the First and Fourteenth regiments under Capt. James Scott; Second, Capt. W. H. Noel; Fifth, Sixth and Seventh, Capt. John A. Russell; Eighth, Lieut. N. J. Sandlin; Ninth, Capt. Cornelius Shively; Tenth and Fifteenth, Lieut. J. B. W. Penrose. On January CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 277 and 2oth the Washington artillery was put in position at Batteries 34 to 38. Petersburg will be forever associated with the last act of the tragedy. Life in the faithful city under that tre mendous clamor of hundreds of guns loses its sense of security. As the din goes on from day to day, Peters burg becomes like Vicksburg and all beleaguered cities. The hills, with their dry, firm soil, are honeycombed with places for shelter for the poor and timorous. Women, ignorant of tactics, grow to know them by the sound of heavy roar of cannon, friendly or hostile. Each battery is daily the center of a gallant fight, the aggregation of forts and batteries joining their voices in chorus to make up a battle such as Gettysburg, or a passage of the forts such as Farragut's. Little by little the Confederate lines are reduced in size, never wholly withdrawn. Abruptly coming to our ears without are the firing of the cannon on our extreme left and right ; the smothered hum of new men arriving; the sudden blare of trumpets, and the deeper beat of drum. On February 5th the Louisiana brigade, under Colonel Peck, marched out to where the Federals were pushing their fortified line westward at Hatcher's run. Part of Gordon's division, under Gen. C. A. Evans, they moved to the support of Pegram, and on the same day were en gaged in skirmishing, Lieut. R. B. Smith, Second Louis iana, commanding the sharpshooters in front. Peck's ef fective force was only about 20 officers and 400 men, a heroic remnant of two brigades. Colonel Peck and his handful of men made three desperate charges against the enemy in his front, fighting for a sawdust pile in the field which was the momentary strategic point, gaining it each time, but compelled to let go for want of support. Only after firing their last round, and losing 6 men killed and 1 7 wounded, did they retire from the field. Lieutenant John S. Dea, Eighth regiment, acting as adjutant of the 278 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. division corps of sharpshooters, a brave soldier and good officer, lost his life that day. March 25th, Gordon's corps, sent to the other wing of the Confederate works about Petersburg, sought by a gal lant night attack to break the Federal line at Fort Sted- man, which covered Meade's station, an important point on Grant's supply route from City Point. It was a forlorn hope. But if success were possible, it might force Grant to pause in the ceaseless pushing of his line toward Ap- pomattox creek. Here the heroic band of Louisianians were again in battle. They were with the columns that seized the fort and captured the garrison before daylight. Again and again the efforts of the Federals to rescue their position were repulsed with bloody slaughter, but before long the inevitable happened Overwhelmed from all sides, the gallant Confederates were forced back to their own lines, leaving many brave men dead and wounded. On the 2 pth Grant sent Sheridan westward, and April ist was the day of battle of Five Forks. Elated, the Fed eral commander opened a bombardment along the line, and ordered an assault early on the morning of April 2d. At 2 p. m. the enemy advanced upon Forts Gregg and Whitworth. Around these two forts, Petersburg, hard pressed, will make her final stand. The disproportion between assailants and defenders was appalling — 214 men in Fort Gregg; about the same in Fort Whitworth. Against these moved 5,000 men — crazed with the delirium of the new wine of success after the old wine of defeat — straight upon our right. During the Federal assault in the morning orders had been hastily given by Lieut. -Col. Wm. M. Owen to with draw to Fort Gregg. These were only partially ex ecuted, Lieutenant Battles in the confusion having been captured with his command, owing to the darkness and the absence of horses. Lieut. Frank McElroy, of the Third company, was as quick as a flash from his guns. His CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 279 practice throughout with artillery-infantry was excel lent. Three times did McElroy, with his small garrison, repulse as many attacks; three times his bullets from brigade rifles whizzed around the advancing Federals, dec imating them. They fell before McElroy's shells and Harris' rifles, covering the field before Fort Gregg with dead bodies. One-half of the Washington artillery drivers were armed with muskets and placed on duty in the forlorn hope of Fort Gregg. Under Lieutenant McElroy's able and courageous management these drivers did gallant service. On this terrible day Capt. Andrew Hero, Jr., was wounded at Petersburg, as he had been severely wounded at Sharpsburg. As sergeant, lieutenant and captain, Hero was a true soldier. His name was one particularly hard for a soldier to bear. Smiles were easy, but the smile never came when Hero was at the gun. CHAPTER XXVII. APPOMATTOX — LOUISIANA INFANTRY AND ARTIL LERY AT THE SURRENDER— AFTER APPOMATTOX— THE PRESIDENT'S BODYGUARD— THE STATE'S TOTAL ENROLLMENT— THE CHAPLAINS— THE SAC RIFICES OF THE WOMEN— CONCLUSION. AT midnight of April 2, 1865, the army of Northern Virginia turned from the lines of Petersburg it had so long and heroically defended. What re mained of it passed over the pontoon bridges, each man sternly watching for the enemy in his rear. The army reached Appomattox Court House on April 8th. In its ranks of scarred and maimed veterans were the Louisi ana troops, who held together in brigade organization, and the artillery with their guns. The Washington artillery at the last sacrificed their guns when what was doing in Major McLean's house was flashed through the armies, not yet quite through with fighting here and there. Gordon and Sheridan had passed the forenoon in filling the air of Appomattox with noise of battle. On April pth the artillery battalion went up to Longstreet on the hill for orders. " Turn into that field on your right and park your guns, ' ' said Long- street. The battery so long in their hands, so often an instrument of power and defiance, was parked in " that field on the right, ' ' there to be forever separated from its gunners, to whom each gun was dear as friend and noisy comrade. The Louisiana brigade was at Appomattox — all there was of it ! Lieut. -Col. W. M. Owen had been ordered with his guns to report at the Brown house, where General Gordon was. Gordon said: " Major, you are from Lou- 280 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 281 isiana ; I will send you the Louisiana brigade to support your guns. " Naturally the fittest support of a Louisiana battery would be Louisiana infantry. Now, through the pines the Louisiana brigade comes marching, with the stalwart Col. Wm. R. Peck striding at their head. Can these be Louisiana's two brigades? — this gathering of men too proud to hide their ranks? Only 250 men out of that superb organization which had carried upon their bayonet spikes far and wide the valor of the Louisiana infantry ! The men still marched with a swing, but there was no covering, no hiding, no pushing out of sight the shortness of the jagged line. All changed — numbers, or ganization, faces also, gallant fighters once there no longer here — all, all, save the great unconquered heart of the Louisiana brigade which had contained them all ! To this same brigade, under Gordon's command, fell the signal honor of making the last infantry charge at Appo- mattox Court House. Ordered to advance upon a swarm of enemies, they stemmed with their weakness the assaults so successfully that Gordon, in calling them back from the slaughter, complimented them upon the courage dis played under circumstances so adverse. The spirit so triumphantly shown at Cemetery hill had passed into that slender line and for one supreme moment made it irresistible. A still higher compliment was paid by one who, him self a distinguished Georgia soldier, had often seen them in action. This was Brig. -Gen. Clement A. Evans, for some time their division commander. General Evans from " Headquarters, Appomattox C.H., April n, 1865," addressed the Louisiana brigade, through Colonel Wag- gaman, commanding, in terms eloquent with feeling and expression. Coming from one whose courage and skill had become known on every field in Virginia, and pre sented at a time when the curtain was falling for the last time upon the cause and upon those who loved it, his words touched to the quick the sensibilities of brave men : 282 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 4 * To you, Colonel, and to my brother officers and brother soldiers of Hays' and Stafford's brigades, I claim to say that you can carry with you the proud consciousness that in the estimation of your commanders, you have done your duty. Tell Louisiana, when you reach her shores, that her sons in the army of Northern Virginia have made her illustrious upon every battleground from the First Manassas to the last desperate blow struck by your com mand on the hill of Appomattox ; and tell her that, as in the first, so in the last, the enemy fled before the valor of your charging lines. ' ' The record of the services of both Louisiana infantry and artillery is now made out to their last battle. That rec ord cannot be safely impeached. The ceremonies of sur render were simple but most impressive, by reason of their very simplicity. With the carnage of the whole four years behind them stand the representatives of two mighty armies. On this day, April 9, 1865, a chasm long yawning was filled. Between Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant rose, supreme, the humanities of God ! President Jefferson Davis, having left Richmond on the night of April 2d, proceeded to Charlotte, N. C. While in that city, the news of President Lincoln's assas sination came to fill him with horror — a horror which he never ceased strongly to express during the remainder of his long and eminent life. He finally resolved to cross over to the Trans- Mississippi department. On his way to Washington, Ga. , he was protected by a bodyguard of honorable veterans drawn from every State in the Con federacy. Each man of the escort felt himself honored by the high trust confided to his sense of patriotism. It was after his separation from his escort that the President was captured by Wilson's raiders. Fidelity, when ex tended to him to whom it is justly due, resembles the "stars of Friedland " that shine best in the blackest night. Each member of the President's bodyguard CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 283 could claim a part of this fidelity. One of Louisiana's representatives in this guard of old soldiers was Theodore J. Dimitry, of New Orleans, in war a fearless member of the Louisiana Guard artillery ; in peace an honored cit izen. The following papers attest the services done by Mr. Davis' bodyguard, with the names of the Louisiana members thereof: Washington, Ga., May 4 1865. T. J. Dimitry, Louisiana Guard Artillery. Dear Sir : — In transmitting to you the enclosed letter of thanks from President Davis, for your services with him, it affords me much pleasure to join him in your praise. While under my command as a part of the Pres ident's escort, you have always given that ready and will ing obedience to all orders which becomes the soldier and the gentleman; and I thank you for it. In this dark hour of our history it is pleasant for you to have the proud satisfaction of knowing that you have done your duty to your country to the very last, until relieved by her chief magistrate himself. Again thanking you for your kind consideration to ward me as your commander, and wishing you prosper ity and happiness in life, I remain, Yours truly, C. H. BROWN, Lieut. Comdg., President's Escort. Washington, Ga., May 3, 1865. Lieutenant Brown, Washington Artillery. My Dear Sir : — The President requests me to return to you his heartfelt thanks for the valuable services ren dered him by yourself and the gallant men under your command as part of his escort. Very truly yours, WM. PRESTON JOHNSTON, Col. and A. D. C. Names of the Louisianians of President Davis' body guard: Charles H. C. Brown, lieutenant commanding Washington artillery; W. G. Coyle, sergeant Third com pany; J, F. Lilly, corporal Fourth company; T. J. Laz- 284 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. zare, R. McDonald, R. N. Davis, and Webster, privates of Fourth company; R. K. Wilkerson, J. B. McMullan, W. A. McRay, privates of First company, Washington artillery; L. D. Porter, W. R. Payne, C. A. Louque and T. J. Dimitry, of the Louisiana Guard artillery. We know how the Louisiana troops fought from Bull Run to Appomattox hill, losing a man here and another there, each man's loss making a gap. We have seen through how many fields they passed in victorious peril. We have told more than once of the * ' forlorn hope ' ' which fell to the Louisianians from trusting commanders, alwaj^s leaving broads gaps in its train. We know how at Malvern Hill, with Waggaman at their head, in that awful ascent they went up, like Gants Glacees in the war of the Fronde, sweeping on while guns plowed into them from the hill with terrible carnage ! We have seen them in that deadly charge at Cemetery hill. We have seen the Louisianians, whenever called upon, make answer, present ! * and charge reckless of danger and laughing at death. Take Manassas as the epoch of Hays' greatest strength, 1,400 men! Now compare Manassas with that thin line which moved triumphantly up Appomattox hill. Only 250 men to speak there, on the crest, for the two brigades which Death had struck so often ! We have, now that the war drums have ceased to beat, and memory alone makes it clear, the contrast to the recapitulation from official sources, which showed how full-ranked with eager youths was the Louisiana contin gent of 1 86 1. Then, no gaps were in the ranks. Recapitulation : Total original enrollment of infantry, 36,243; artillerists, 4,024; cavalry, 10,046; sappers and * Even as these words are written, a call flashes from the Potomac to our battalion of Washington artillery. That word has met prompt response from gallant volunteers, eager to fight under their country's flag in the dense thickets of Cuba. No coincidence can furnish a nobler lesson of patriotic hope than this. As the fathers fought against the Stars and Stripes, so will the sons, with equal ardor and singleness of zeal, load their pieces for the flag. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 285 miners, 276; engineers, 212; signal corps, 76; the New Orleans State Guards, 4,933; grand total, 55,820. It would be unjust to conclude this work without some mention of those two arms of service which did as much for the Confederacy as the men who fought. Not a word has been given to that noble body of God's men who were of the army, though not in its ranks. Exposed to the viciousness of bullets, yet never once their object, the priests and ministers of religion should not be left out of any picture of our civil war. Need we write here the name of Fathers Darius Hubert and Tur- gis ; of that prayerful giant, Rev. B. M. Palmer ; of the beloved Markham, Purser, Bakewell, and a long and shining line of others? To speak of Confederate battle fields is to invoke their presence. Their spirits haunt them all to bless them, and to sanctify the ground once given up entire to slaughter. Our women were the unmustered militia of the State. On no roster did eyes see their names for war service ; yet never did war's roster contain names of those who would have done more for the cause and its demands. Brave as their brothers they stood forward, cheering them, and in a hundred sweet ways keeping their enthu siasm at boiling point. They did not "go out to the war, ' ' but without them the army would surely have been without many of its heroes. Could it have become nec essary that upon one man depended the performance of Confederate duty, be sure that a Flora Mclvor would not have been found wanting in Louisiana. Bred in luxury, reared in refinement, circumstances as a rule called out the more womanly forms of courage. Yet in many of our Louisiana girls, city-bred and country-born alike, lay, undetected under their charm, the strong, patriotic purpose of a Helen McGregor. When war raised a loud cry for need, Beauregard was calling upon his sisters who spoke French and his other sisters who spoke English to send him metal for his guns. 286 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Quick to the melter and blacksmith's forge! Are these your fretted brass candelabra, madame? Brought across seas and handed down from one generation to the next, you say? What of that? Beauregard calls, his need will not brook delay. This tall, slender, lily-cupped candle stick, too, in the young girl's chamber, let it be brought out ! and those massive polished andirons Dorcas has been so proud of. From the house to the quarters one very short step. Take down the metal bell that rings the plantation signals ! Look well around now ; perhaps you have some sonorous ram's or cow's horn to echo through the quarters? That might do duty instead. And how these women prayed! Just Heaven! The churches might open early, but our women were earlier. In the dawn, see the anxious souls. Anxious — yes, their hearts outstrip the hour to claim Heaven's protection for the soldier son, husband or father ! Before the altars the candles used to burn brightly and steadily as the faith that placed them there, and the burden of prayer that rose from the heart of the kneeling worshiper, and went up with the burning incense, was evermore the same: " Ay de mi! ay de mi! God guard our beloved ones and bless our cause ! ' ' The men to-day are only the youth that went out a generation ago. The years added have capped them with honors which Time gives to all true men. With hair whiter than black, we meet our veterans daily on our streets. Their step is still firm ; their eye still clear ; the grasp of their hands and the roll of their voices as nat ural as the lads' who went to fight. From Memorial Hall on Camp street, raised by the munificence of Frank T. Howard, a veteran's son, has sprung a noble tree of brotherhood, with four stalwart branches. Call them the Army of Northern Virginia, the Army of Tennessee, and the Ex-Confederate Cavalry. See them swelling with the quick sap of brotherhood ! CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 287 With these, since June 10, 1889, the United Confeder ate Veterans were organized for purposes ** strictly social, literary, historical and benevolent. ' ' Gen. John B. Gor don, of Georgia, who was the first commander of the new organization, is still happily in command. Since his ap pointment, the Louisiana division of the order has elected each year a major-general for the State. The list has been W. J. Behan (twice), John Glynn, Jr., John O. Watts, B. F. Eshleman, W. G. Vincent, John McGrath, E. H. Lombard. Each year the sturdy tree of ex-Confederates rises higher and broader in the city's sky. In its tinier upper branches we recognize hopefully the " Sons of Veterans," who are proud of what their fathers did. These lads, clear-eyed and cheery- voiced, will keep that tree fresh while loving " Old Glory " with ardent young heart. Nor will they fail to recall, with a subtle feeling of blood-ownership, that battleflag which in days of storm fluttered, star-crossed, over charging lines sweep ing to victory ; or, nailed to the masthead, went down in the bloody waves with the Alabama, off Cherbourg. It went down not in shame, but in honor, broad as the world which had looked on amazed. In birth, a found ling; in age, a child; in strength, a giant greater than Pantagruel; in glory, it was what the gray-coats who died where it floated had, full of love for it, made it. 4 k It hath no speech nor language, ' ' but, had either been given to it, it would thus speak to the world: Not long unfurled was I known, For Fate was against me ; But I flashed over a Pure Cause, And on Land and Sea So fired the hearts of Men into Heroism That the World honored me. Within my folds the Dead who died under them Lie fitly shrouded ; And my tattered Colors, Crowded with a thousand shining Victories, Have become, For the People who love me, A Glorified Memory. 288 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. A WORD OF EXPLANATION. Nothing can be left out of the proud story now, as noth ing can be added to it. Association with valorous deeds ennobles a writer. The author recognizes forcibly how inadequately his pen has worked out the task of comrade ship. He has ,read, with increasing feelings of wonder and admiration, the severely simple official records of his comrades-in-arms during the Confederate war. As the old monks deemed golden ink alone worthy to record holy lives of saints and martyrs, so type of gold should only be used to crystallize so much heroism and self-sacrifice as Louisiana's soldiers showed upon fields by the James, by the Harpeth, by the Teche, and by the banks of our own kingly Mississippi. It is freely admitted that from the limitations imposed by space many omissions have necessarily occurred. The names of many gallant comrades, like obscured stars, do not appear. Yet like those same stars they have shown, even if darkened, in War's studded firmament. The Louisiana contingent marched over a broad space, never otherwise than honorably. They covered battle fields from Belmont in Missouri to Mobile in Alabama, and from the Carolina coast to the Rio Grande. To write their deeds would call for volumes, not chapters. No author can feel more personal pride in the record made by Louisiana, or a more unselfish pleasure in re cording their achievements. In this personal word, along with other matters, he has tried to make clear to his com rades at once their right to the fairest treatment from him and his earnest effort to accord it. JOHN DIMITRY. BIOGRAPHICAL. Lal9 MAJOR-GENERALS AND BRIGADIER-GENERALS, PRO VISIONAL ARMY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, ACCREDITED TO LOUISIANA. Brigadier- General Daniel W. Adams — "Dan Adams," as he was familiarly called — was one of the gallant lead ers so well known in the military operations in Tennes see, Kentucky, Alabama and Mississippi. At the call to arms in 1861 he hastened to the defense of the South and entered the field as second-lieutenant of Mississippi State troops. On October 30, 1861, he was commissioned col onel of the First regiment, Louisiana infantry, at Pensa- cola, brigade of General Gladden. Later he served at Mobile. When, in the spring of 1862, the forces of Albert Sidney Johnston and Beauregard were being concentrated at Corinth for the advance upon Grant, the First Louisiana was in Wither 's division of the corps commanded by Gen. Braxton Bragg. On the first day at Shiloh these troops were in the fierce fight with the division of Prentiss which fought so stoutly that day until at last surrounded and captured. Early in the day the able brigade commander, Gladden, was killed, and not long after the gallant Col. Dan. Adams was borne from the field seriously wounded. On May 23, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier- general. He recovered from his wound in time to lead his com mand in the Kentucky campaign. At Perryville, Adams' brigade was in the division of Patton Anderson attached to the wing led by General Hardee, who commended Adams for his gallantry. The Confederates in this battle pressed steadily forward all along the line, and on both wings, forcing the Federals back nearly a mile, capturing prisoners, guns and colors, and stopping only when dark ness compelled a cessation of hostilities. On December 3ist at the battle of Murfreesboro or Stone's river, Adams' brigade was detached from Breckinridge's division of 291 292 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Hardee's corps, and under orders from General Polk made a desperate charge against the Federal right, in the course of which General Adams was seriously wounded. In the second day's battle at Chickamauga the brigade of Adams steadily advanced and got in the rear of the Federal intrenchments, but Federal reinforcements coming up the brigade was temporarily repulsed. While gallantly leading his men he was again wounded, the command devolving on Col. R. L. Gibson. " Here General Adams, ' ' said Breckinridge, * ' who is as remark able for his judgment on the field as for his courage, was severely wounded and fell into the hands of the enemy. ' ' Said D. H. Hill: " Brigadier- General Adams was for the third time severely wounded. It was difficult for me to decide which the most to admire, his extraordinary judgment as an officer, his courage on the field, or his unparalleled cheerfulness under suffering. " As soon as he was exchanged and had sufficiently recovered from his wounds, he commanded a cavalry brigade operating in northern Alabama and Mississippi. In September, 1864, he was assigned to command of the district of Central Alabama, and on March n, 1865, of the entire State north of the Gulf department. He evacuated Montgomery a month later and fell back before Wilson's force to Colum bus, where a battle was fought by his command and How- ell Cobb's on April i6th. When peace had been restored he settled in New Orleans, engaging there in business. In that city he died June 14, 1872. Brigadier- General Henry Watkins Allen was born in Prince Edward county, Va., April 29, 1820. His early life was spent in a workshop. His parents remov ing to the West he became a student at Marion college, Missouri. In consequence of a dispute with his father he ran away from college and opened a school at Grand Gulf, in Mississippi, studying law at the same time. He was soon admitted to the bar and practiced law with great CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 293 success. In 1842, when President Houston, of Texas, called for volunteers to repel any renewed invasion from Mexico, Allen, who was only 23 years of age, raised a company and joined the forces of Texas, so acquitting himself as to win the confidence and esteem of his men and of his superior officers. Returning home he resumed his law practice. In 1846 he was elected to the legisla ture. Soon after the expiration of his term he went to Louisiana, purchased an estate near Baton Rouge and became a planter. In 1853, he was sent to the legislature of Louisiana. The next year he went to Harvard uni versity to take a higher course in law, but he became so interested in the struggle of the Italians for independence that he sailed for Europe with the purpose of joining them in their fight for freedom. Finding the contest ended when he arrived he made a tour of Europe, and on his return published a book entitled * ' The Travels of a Sugar Planter." During his absence he was a second time elected to the legislature, where he gave great satisfaction to his constituents, besides making a reputation through out the State. When the storm of civil war began in 1 86 1, he was appointed lieutenant-colonel in the Confed erate service and was stationed at Ship Island. He pre ferred more active service and was commissioned colonel of the Fourth Louisiana. At the battle of Shiloh the bri gade to which this regiment was attached suffered a loss of officers and men exceeding that of most other brigades in the battle. Allen was himself among the wounded in the first day's conflict, on April 6th. At Vicksburg he superintended the construction of fortifications under a heavy fire. After the repulse of the Union force and fleets from Vicksburg in 1862, Van Dorn, at that time in command at the city, organized an expedition against Baton Rouge, which was led by Breckinridge. In the severe battle fought at that place August 5, 1862, Allen was dangerously wounded in both legs by a shell. He was promoted to brigadier-general early in 1864, but soon 294 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. after being elected governor of Louisiana he retired from the army. He promoted important things for the Confederacy. Among these was the payment of the cot ton tax to the Confederate government in kind, and the opening of trade between Mexico and the State of Texas by which cotton was exchanged for medicine, clothing and other articles of necessity. In his suppression of the liquor traffic Governor Allen used dictatorial powers, and succeeded in a way that was never before known. After the war he made his home in the city of Mexico, where he established a newspaper entitled u The Mexican Times." General Allen died in that city April 22, 1866. Brigadier- General Albert G. Blan chard. — It has often been matter of comment that some of our most efficient officers in the Confederate war were of Northern birth ; while on the other hand the South furnished to the Union armies and fleets some of their best commanders, notably Thomas of Virginia, and Farragut of Tennessee ; and fre quently it happened that brothers were arrayed on op posite sides, as in the case of the Crittendens of Kentucky, and the Mclntoshes of Florida. It is this fact that makes the term * ' civil war ' ' appropriate for the great struggle of 1861-65, although in other and greater features the war between the States resembled an international conflict. Albert G. Blanchard, who in the Confederate records is credited to the State of Louisiana, was born in Charles- town, Mass., in 1810. There he received his early edu cation. When quite young he entered the United States military academy, where he was graduated in 1829 as brevet second-lieutenant of the Third infantry, being a classmate of Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston. He served on frontier duty, in recruiting services and in improving Sabine river and lake. In 1840 he re signed the rank of first-lieutenant, Third infantry, and then engaged in mercantile pursuits until 1846, being also director of public schools in Louisiana from 1843 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 295 to 1845. He again entered the service of the United States as captain of Louisiana volunteers on the 1 5th of May, 1 846. Winning distinction at the battle of Monterey and the siege of Vera Cruz, he was tendered appointment in the regular army as captain of the Voltigeurs, but de clined that and accepted a commission as major of the Twelfth infantry, May 27, 1847. He was next superin tendent of the recruiting service at New Orleans, and was afterward in command of his regiment at Cuernavaca, Mexico. Returning to New Orleans after that war he was a teacher in the public schools until 1850. Then he was for several years employed as surveyor, and from 1854 to 1861 was secretary and treasurer of the New Orleans & Carrollton and of the Jefferson & Lake Ponchartrain railroad companies. At the opening of the war he es poused the cause of his adopted State and entered the army as colonel of the First Louisiana infantry. He served with his regiment at Norfolk, Va., and in May, 1861, was in command of one of the two divisions of Huger's forces. With promotion to brigadier-general he commanded a bri gade at Portsmouth, Va., consisting of the Third, Fourth and Twenty-second Georgia regiments of infantry, the Third Alabama infantry, the Third Louisiana infantry, Colonel Williams' North Carolina battalion of infantry, Girardey's Louisiana Guard artillery, and the Sussex cav- alr/. In April, 1862, he supported Colonel Wright in the operations about South Mills. In June, 1862, Gen. A. R. Wright took command of the brigade, and on account of his advanced age General Blanchard was not longer actively engaged. He was for a while in command at Dre wry 's bluff, afterward in North Carolina. After the war he returned to New Orleans and was surveyor and civil engineer from 1866 until 1870. He was deputy surveyor of the city of New Orleans from 1870 to 1878, and assistant city surveyor from 1878 to 1891. He died in New Orleans June 21, 1891. 296 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Brigadier- General Johnson Kelly Duncan was born at York, Pa., March 19, 1827. He was graduated at West Point July i, 1849, as brevet second-lieutenant of the Second artillery. He served in Florida against the Seminole Indians in 1849 an^ I^5°> an^ on garrison duty at Forts Sullivan and Preble, Me. ; then as assistant on Northern Pacific railroad exploration from 1853 to 1854. He resigned January 31, 1855, being at that time first- lieutenant, Third artillery. He then became superintend ent of repairs of New Orleans branch mint, marine hos pital and quarantine warehouse, and Pass a 1'Outre boarding station ; subsequently civil engineer, surveyor and architect at New Orleans, 1859-60, and from 1860 to 1 86 1 chief engineer of the board of public works of Louis iana. Living so long in the South he had become thor oughly identified with the people of his adopted State, and regarded their interests as his own. Therefore, when the war began, he resolved to maintain to the best of his ability the cause of those whose rights and interests he thought imperilled. He offered his services to Mr. Davis, who gladly accepted them and had him commissioned first as colonel, and on January 7, 1862, as brigadier-general. He was placed in command of the coast defenses, includ ing Forts Jackson and St. Philip, which were intended to defend the city of New Orleans against any fleet that might attempt the ascent of the Mississippi river. Toward the last of April, 1862, Commodore David G. Far- ragut with a powerful fleet of armored vessels supplied with the best guns then known in naval warfare, after bombarding for six days Forts Jackson and St. Philip and failing to silence them, made a bold dash past the forts, and attacking the small Confederate fleet of rams and fire- rafts, destroyed them and appeared before the city of New Orleans, which could do nothing but surrender. Seventy per cent of the Confederate guns were 32-pounders and below, while sixty-three per cent of the Union guns were of heavier caliber. As the passage was open so that the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 297 fleet was not long under the fire of the guns, the forts had no advantage over the ships. General Duncan had made a gallant fight, but, after all succor had been cut off, he was compelled to surrender. After his exchange he acted as aide to General Bragg. But he lived only a few months longer to serve the cause which he loved so well. He died on the i8th of December, 1862, in Knoxville, Tenn., in his 36th year. Major-General Franklin Gardner was born in New York in 1823. His family moved West and he was appointed to the United States military academy from Iowa in 1839. After his graduation in 1843 and promotion to brevet second-lieutenant of the Seventh infantry he served in the garrison at Pensacola harbor, in scouting on the frontier, in the military occupation of Texas, and in the war with Mexico. He participated in the defense of Fort Brown, and the battle of Monterey, where he was brevetted first-lieutenant for gallant and meritorious con duct. He served at the siege of Vera Cruz ; the battle of Cerro Gordo, where he was brevetted as captain ; the battles of Contreras, Churubusco, Molino del Rey and other operations before the city of Mexico, and in the capture of that city. He was afterward on frontier and garrison duty at various posts in Florida, Louisi ana and Arkansas, Wisconsin and Minnesota. At the commencement of the war between the States he was stationed in Utah Territory, and was captain of the Tenth infantry. He had spent a great part of his army life among the Southern people, and in senti ment and sympathy was one of them. The army offi cers who in such large numbers resigned their com missions and embraced the cause of the South, did not regard the Southern people as rebels against the govern ment of the United States. They looked upon the Union as already divided into two governments, and felt that they had the right to choose the defense of that side whose cause not only their inclinations, but also their ideas 298 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. of duty, led them to espouse. Thus, with the purest of motives, Franklin Gardner left the service of the old army and entered that of the Confederate States. He was im mediately appointed lieutenant-colonel of infantry, his commission dated March 16, 1861. His services were dur ing the first year mostly in Tennessee and Mississippi. At Shiloh he had command of a cavalry brigade. There was very little opportunity in that battle for the cavalry to take part; but they performed faithfully whatever duties were committed to them. A short while after the battle of Shiloh General Beauregard expressed his ap preciation of Gen. Franklin Gardner in the following lan guage : ' * The general commanding avails himself of this occasion to return his thanks to General Gardner for his services in the reorganization of the cavalry of this army. ' ' He had been commissioned a brigadier-general a few days before the battle of Shiloh. Soon after this he was appointed to the command of a brigade in Withers' di vision, Folk's corps. He shared in the marches and battles of the Kentucky campaign, and on December 13, 1862, he received the commission of major-general in the army of the Confederate States. Early in 1863 he was placed in command of the important post of Port Hudson. His gal lant defense of that place, against greatly superior num bers, is a brilliant page of the Confederate history. The " heroism of Gardner and his men is not dimmed by the fact that they were finally compelled to yield to the power ful combinations that were brought against them. After his exchange General Gardner was assigned to duty in Mississippi, at the last under the orders of Gen. Richard Taylor. After the war General Gardner lived in Louisi ana the quiet life of a planter, near Vermilionville. There he died April 29, 1873. Brigadier-General Randall Lee Gibson was born at Spring Hill, Ky., September 10, 1832. His paternal ancestors, natives of Scotland, first settled in Virginia, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 299 where Randall Gibson, grandfather of the general, was a revolutionary soldier. Subsequently moving to Missis sippi, this ancestor married Harriet McKinley, and was one of the founders of Jefferson college. On the maternal side General Gibson was descended from the Harts and Prestons of Kentucky. His youth was passed at Lexing ton, Ky., and at his father's plantation in Terrebonne parish. In 1853 he was graduated at Yale college, after which he studied law, was admitted to practice, and trav eled in Europe. Returning to enter upon the career of a planter, the political crisis diverted his energies to war and he became an aide-de-camp to Governor Moore. He entered the Confederate service March, 1861, as cap tain of the First Louisiana artillery. On August 13, 1861, he was commissioned colonel of the Thirteenth Louisiana infantry. He drilled and disciplined this regiment until it was one of the best in the service. In April, 1862, the effect of his good work was seen in the cheerful and ready courage with which his men encountered the dangers and hardships of the Shiloh campaign. In the battles of the 6th and yth of April Colonel Gibson, after the wounding of General Adams, commanded a brigade whose losses showed the nature of the work done by it on that well- fought field. Colonel Gibson and his regiment partici pated in the Kentucky campaign of the summer and fall of 1862. Gen. D. W. Adams, in his report of the battle of Perryville, three times mentions Colonel Gibson in terms of the highest praise, and ends by saying, ** I will recommend Colonel Gibson, for skill and valor, to be bri gadier-general. ' ' At Murfreesboro (Stone's river) he com manded the Louisiana brigade in the latter part of Decem ber 3ist and in the memorable charge of Breckinridge's division, January 2, 1863. After the fall of Vicksburg he was for a time in the army of Joe Johnston in Mississippi, but was back in the army of Tennessee in time for the battle of Chickamauga. On the first day Gen. D. W. Adams was wounded, and Colonel Gibson again took 300 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. command of the brigade. He commanded the brigade at Missionary Ridge, and in January, 1864, was promoted to brigadier-general. He and his brigade were in the fight at Rocky Face ridge, February, 1864, and during the long Georgia campaign they were alike dis tinguished in the fighting from Dalton to Jonesboro. In the command of a brigade he was perfectly at home, and did the right thing in the right place. In this cam paign his record is part of that of the splendid division of A. P. Stewart, later under Major-General Clayton, than which none did better service. In the disastrous battle of Nashville it was this splendid division which, by its steady bearing, assisted so materially in allaying the panic which threatened the destruction of Hood's army when its lines had been pierced by the exultant enemy in superior force. In the spring of 1865 General Gibson was placed in com mand of a small division at Spanish Fort (Mobile), in cluding his brigade. Of his service there, Gen. Richard Taylor has written, "Gen. R. L. Gibson, now a member of Congress from Louisiana, held Spanish Fort with 2,500 men. Fighting all day and working all night, Gibson suc cessfully resisted the efforts of the immense force against him until the evening of April 8th, when the enemy effected a lodgment threatening his only route of evac uation. Under instructions from Maury he withdrew his garrison in the night to Mobile, excepting his pickets, necessarily left. Gibson's stubborn defense and skillful retreat make this one of the best achievements of the war. " After this General Gibson practiced law at New Orleans until he was elected to the United States Congress. He served as representative of the First district in the Forty- third to Forty-seventh Congresses, and in 1882 was elected United States senator, an office in which he represented his State with great ability until his death at Hot Springs, Ark., December 15, 1892. He also rendered valuable service to the cause of education as administrator of the Howard memorial library; trustee of the Peabody edu- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 301 cational fund; regent of the Smithsonian institute, and president of the board of administrators of Tulane uni versity, a noble institution indebted for its existence to his influence and the munificence of Paul Tulane. Brigadier-General Adley H. Gladden was born in South Carolina, and was one of the most heroic men of that gallant State. In every period of American history, when a call has been made to battle for the liberties or honor of the country, South Carolina's valiant sons have been among the foremost in the fray; and during the long and bloody war between the sections of the great republic the Carolinians were never deaf to the call of duty or honor. On every field where they fought they added new luster to their gallant State; and no matter where they made their home they never forgot that they were Carolinians, and South Carolina never forgot to love and honor them. One who takes the pains to read the records of the gallant leaders of the Southern armies will be surprised to note how many of them received their best training in the Mexican war. Though West Point furnished some of the choicest spirits of that war so memorable for the un broken success of the American arms, yet many other gallant officers were there who, in that romantic struggle of small forces against tremendous odds, measured up in brilliant achievements to their brethren of the regular service. No regiment in all the American army that fought its way over all obstacles from Vera Cruz to the halls of the Montezumas was more famous than the Pal metto regiment of South Carolina. Gladden was the major of that regiment, whose colonel and lieutenant- colonel were killed, together with many of their brave men in the storming of the Mexican works at the fierce battle of Churubusco. In consequence of the bloody result of that day Major Gladden became colonel of the Palmetto regiment and led it in the assault upon the Belen 302 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Gate, where he also was severely wounded. When the civil war came, Colonel Gladden, whose home was then in Louisiana, made haste to serve the cause of his be loved South. Going to Pensacola as colonel of the First Louisiana regiment, on September 30, 1861, he was com missioned brigadier-general and assigned to command of a brigade, including the First regiment, of which D. W. Adams then became colonel. He was in command of his brigade during the bombardment of the Confederate forts at Pensacola harbor, and General Bragg expressed thanks for the able support he rendered. Subsequently Bragg, expressing a desire to form a brigade of regiments which should set an example of discipline and official excellence, said, " I should desire General Gladden to command them." In January, 1862, Gladden was transferred to Mobile and thence to Corinth, where he was in com mand of a brigade composed of four Alabama regiments, the First Louisiana and Robertson's battery. At Shiloh this brave officer proved that he had lost none of the fire of his youth. General Beauregard thus describes his death: " In the same quarter of the field all of Withers' division, including Gladden 's brigade, reinforced by Breckenridge's whole reserve, soon became engaged, and Prentiss' entire line, though fighting stoutly, was pressed back in confusion. We early lost the services of the gallant Gladden, a man of soldierly aptitudes and experience, who, after a marked influence upon the issue in his quarter of the field, fell mortally wounded. " Struck down by a cannon-ball, he was carried from the field and soon afterward he died. Brigadier-General Henry Gray.— The State of Louisiana gave many gallant defenders to the cause of the South. Whether in Virginia or in Tennessee, or on her own soil, her soldiers were among the bravest of the brave, conspic uous for daring on the field of battle and for fidelity to duty on all occasions. Among these gallant spirits none CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 303 deserve more the grateful remembrance of their country men than Henry Gray, who entering the service in 1861 as a subordinate officer had by May 17, 1862, received his commission as colonel of the Twenty -eighth Louisiana. The sphere of action assigned him by the Confederate authorities was within the limits of his own State. Through the first months of his service he had no oppor tunity for distinction. But when in 1863 the Federals in New Orleans began to make attempts to extend their con quests in the southwest, all those brave sons of Louis iana who had not yet had an opportunity to strike a sin gle blow, found steady employment in watching the move ments of the enemy and thwarting his plans by gallantly defending every foot of the soil of their beloved State. An enterprising commander like Dick Taylor kept his own troops, and those of the enemy as to that matter, on the tramp all the time. When they were not attacking him, he was making hostile demonstrations against them. There were many fierce encounters which tried the en durance and valor of the troops as sorely as did the great battles in other parts of the Confederacy. These move ments of Taylor's troops greatly helped to secure to the Confederacy, to the very last , the possession of their great Trans- Mississippi department. Along the Teche there were many brave deeds performed. Colonel Gray, amid these stirring scenes, found ample opportunity to show the metal of which he was made. In April, 1863, at Camp Bisland occurred one of those desperate affairs in which the troops could plainly see the great disadvan tage under which they labored, especially in regard to the superiority in numbers of the force arrayed against them. Gen. Richard Taylor, in his report of this battle and others that preceded and followed it, said : * * Colonel Gray and his regiment (the Twenty-eighth Louisiana), officers and men, deserve most favorable mention. Their gallantry in action is enhanced by the excellent discipline which they have presented, and no veteran soldiers could 304 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. have excelled them in their conduct during the trying scenes through which they passed. ' ' In one of these nu merous combats on the Teche, Colonel Gray received a painful wound. During the Red river campaign he com manded a brigade in Mouton's division. So well did he handle it that, after the campaign had ended in the total defeat of the Union army and fleet, the commission of a brigadier-general in the provisional army of the Confeder ate States was conferred upon him, dated from the battle of Mansfield, May 8, 1864. After the war General Gray resided in Louisiana until his death, December 13, 1892. Brigadier- General Harry T. Hays. — The Seventh Lou isiana, one of the ' 'crack" regiments of the State, in which many of the best families of New Orleans were represented, and its gallant colonel, Harry T. Hays, were at an early date familiar names in the army of Northern Virginia. The record of this command and its colonel began with the First Manassas. In Early's brigade on that day they shared in the march and flank attack which completed the rout of the Federal army. In Jackson's brilliant Valley campaign of 1862 the Seventh Louisiana was attached to the brigade of Gen. Richard Taylor, of E well's division. At Port Republic Colonel Hays was wounded. This prevented his participation in the Seven Days' battles and Second Manassas. On July 25, 1862, while still absent on account of his wound, he received the commission of brigadier-general, taking the brigade formerly commanded by Gen. Richard Taylor, who had been ordered to Louisiana to take charge of operations in that quarter. At the battle of Sharpsburg the brigade, commanded by General Hays, was in the fiercest part of Jackson's battle. Of that terrible struggle Stonewall Jackson said in his report: " The carnage on both sides was terrific. At this early hour General Starke was killed. Colonel Douglass, commanding Lawton's bri gade, was also killed. General Lawton, commanding divi- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 305 sion, and General Walker, commanding brigade, were severely wounded. More than half the brigades of Law- ton and Hays were either killed or wounded, and more than a third of Trimble's, and all the regimental commanders in those brigades, except two, were killed or wounded." Again at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettys burg Harry Hays and his brigade exhibited their old- time endurance and valor, and in Swell's first day's fight at Gettysburg Hays led his brigade in the victorious on set of that corps that swept the Federals under Howard and Reynolds from the field, through the town of Gettys burg and to the heights beyond. In all the battles in which he participated, from Port Republic, where Winder tells of how in the charge that won the day, "Hays moved his command forward in gallant style with a cheer," down to the desperate struggle in the Wilderness, in the spring of 1864, the name of General Hays is frequently mentioned in flattering terms in the reports of command ing officers. His gallantry in battle is frequently noted in Early's report of the fighting around Winchester while on the march to Gettysburg, and of the superb conduct of himself and brigade at Gettysburg. On the pth of May, 1864, at Spottsylvania Court House, General Hays was se verely wounded. In the fall of 1864 he had recovered sufficiently to attend to duties in Louisiana to which he had been assigned, and was kept busy trying to get together all absentees from the commands east of the Mississippi; on the loth of May, 1865, he was notified of his appointment as major-general in the army of the Con federate States. But the Confederacy had already ceased to exist everywhere, except in the Trans-Mississippi department, where he then was. On the 26th of May the Trans-Mississippi also gave up the fight, and the war was ended. After the war General Hays resided at New Orleans until his death August 21, 1876. Brigadier- General Louis Hubert was born in LOUIS- LA 20 306 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. iana. He was a cadet at West Point from 1841 to 1845, when he was graduated as brevet second-lieutenant of engineers. His only service in the United States army was as assistant engineer in the construction of Fort Liv ingston, Barataria Island, Louisiana, 1845-46. He then resigned his commission and became a planter in Iber- ville parish. He was major of the Louisiana militia from 1847 to 1850, and colonel from 1858 to 1861 ; a mem ber of the State senate from 1853 to 1855, and chief en gineer of the State from 1855 to 1860. At the beginning of the civil war he entered the army of the Confederate States as colonel of the Third Louisiana infantry, which was a well-drilled and well-equipped organization made up chiefly of men from the northern part of the State, and was placed in the brigade of Gen. Ben McCulloch. In the battle of Wilson's Creek it was McCulloch 's com mand that encountered Sigel. General McCulloch in his report of the fight with Sigel says : ' ' When we arrived near the enemy's battery we found that Reid's battery had opened upon it, and it was already in confusion. Advantage was taken of it and soon the Louisianians were gallantly charging among the guns, and swept the cannoneers away. Five guns were here taken. ' ' On the 7th of March, 1862, at the battle of Pea Ridge, while Mc Culloch and Mclntosh were leading a charge which at first promised success, they were suddenly struck in flank by an overwhelming force of the enemy. McCulloch and Mclntosh were killed, and Hubert with a number of his officers and men were captured. On May 26, 1862, Colonel Hebert was commissioned as a brigadier-general, and after having been exchanged he led the second bri gade in Little's division of Price's army, now in north Mis sissippi. At the battle of luka, Hebert's brigade bore the brunt of the attack by Rosecrans' two divisions. Reinforced by Martin's brigade, they drove the enemy back, capturing nine guns and bivouacking upon the ground which they had won. On account of the approach CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 307 of heavy reinforcements to the enemy, Price retreated near daylight of the next morning. After this Hebert was for a time in command of Little's division. In bri gade command he was at the battle of Corinth, and when Price returned to the Trans-Mississippi he was left un der the command of General Pemberton, whose fortunes Hebert and his men shared in the battles and siege of Vicksburg. After the fall of that heroic city, Hebert's brigade was, as soon as exchanged, assigned to the army of Tennessee, while General Hebert was sent to North Carolina and put in charge of the heavy artillery in the Cape Fear department, under the command of Major- General Whiting. He continued to act as chief engineer of the department of North Carolina until the close of the war. After the return of peace, General Hebert went back to his home in Louisiana and resumed his old occupation of a planter, living in retirement and not enter ing into political affairs. Brigadier-General Paul Octave Hebert was born in Iberville parish, La., December 12, 1818. He was of Norman-French descent. He entered the United States military academy at West Point September i, 1836, and was graduated on the ist of July, 1841, as second- lieutenant of engineers. He served as acting assistant professor of engineering at West Point from August, 1841, to July, 1842, and as State engineer and surveyor general of Louisiana in 1845. Resigning in the latter year he re-entered the service of the United States in 1847 with appointment as lieutenant-colonel of the Four teenth infantry, in the brigade commanded by Gen. Frank lin Pierce. He was frequently mentioned by General Pierce in his reports as the gallant young Creole colonel. At the battle of Molino del Rey, one of the fiercest of the bloody combats of the valley of Mexico, his gallantry was so conspicuous that he was brevetted colonel. After the war Hebert returned to his home in Louisiana. In 1852 308 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. he was a member of the convention which met to revise the constitution of his State. In the same year he was elected governor. Soon after the expiration of his term as governor, William Tecumseh Sherman was, through his influence, elected superintendent of the Louisiana military academy. In that position he was quite popular, and Hebert and many others hoped that the future great Union general would espouse the cause of the South. But Sherman resigned his position just before Louisiana se ceded, and going North entered the service of the United States. Hebert, as was to be expected, was zealous in the cause of the South and his native State. He was at once commissioned by Governor Moore as brigadier-gen eral of the State military force, and on August n, 1861, was commissioned brigadier-general in the provisional army of the Confederate States. During this first year of the war he was put in command of the district of Louis iana and especially of the defenses of New Orleans. For a short time he had command of the Trans- Mississippi department, which was turned over to him by General Magruder when the latter was placed in command of the department of Texas. Though he performed with great fidelity all the duties of the various commands to which he was assigned, he was not actively engaged except at Milliken's Bend, where he acquitted himself in such a manner as was to be expected from a man of his reputa tion and courage. During 1864 he was in command of the district of Texas and the Territory of Arizona. After the surrender of the armies of Lee and Johnston, Magruder transferred to Hebert the command of the department of Texas, and by him it was surrendered. After the war had ended General Hebert resumed business in his native State. He died on the 2pth of August, 1880, at New Orleans Brigadier-General Edward Higgins, of Louisiana, was from 1836 to 1844 a lieutenant in the United States CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 309 navy. For four years from that time, being still in the navy, he commanded an ocean steamer. Preferring that position he resigned from the regular service and con tinued in the merchant marine until it was evident that there would be war between the North and South. He then left the steamship service and in April, 1861, entered that of the Confederate States as captain of the First Louisiana artillery. He served as aide-de-camp to General Twiggs while that officer was commander of the post at New Orleans. In February, 1862, he was com missioned lieutenant-colonel, Twenty-second Louisiana. At the time of the attack upon New Orleans, 1862, he was in command of Forts Jackson and St. Philip. He made a gallant defense of these forts so long as defense was possible, and then surrendered to the fleet which had already passed up the river and captured the city of New Orleans. In December, 1862, when Sherman marched against Vicksburg and attacked the Confederates at Chickasaw bayou, Colonel Higgins had charge of the heavy batteries at Snyder's mill. He conducted his de fense so skillfully and valiantly that General Pemberton called particular attention to his conduct. He had re ceived his commission as colonel on April n, 1862, and had the Twenty-second Louisiana (artillery) under his command. He was placed in charge of the batteries of heavy artillery on the river front at Vicksburg in the beginning of 1863. He strengthened the works along the river in every way, preparing for the tremendous ordeal which those on this part of the Vicksburg line must pass. Long before the investment of the city by land, the men in charge of the river front were subjected to furious bombardment by the fleets of the enemy. In his management of the task committed to him he gave the greatest satisfaction to his superiors, and in the official report of the operations on every part of the line of defense prepared by General Pemberton after the fall of Vicksburg, he was especially complimented for coolness, 310 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. gallantry and skill. After he had been exchanged he was commissioned brigadier-general October 29, 1863, and was placed in command of the posts and batteries around Mobile. Here he measured up to his reputation already won for skill and bravery. He survived the war several years and made his home in Louisiana. Brigadier- General St. John R. Liddell, one of the promi nent leaders of the army of the Confederacy that fought so long and gallantly to maintain its hold on Tennessee, served with the rank of colonel on the staff of General Hardee at Bowling Green, and in February, 1862, car ried to Richmond the reports of General Johnston. He was in command of an Arkansas brigade during the siege of Corinth in the summer of 1862, and was commissioned a brigadier-general on the 1 2th of July, 1862. After Beau- regard had retired from Corinth and had established his army at Tupelo, he temporarily turned over the com mand to General Bragg, who was immediately made permanent commander by the government at Richmond. Bragg now determined on a campaign in Kentucky. General Liddell commanded a brigade in the army that bore the standard of the Confederacy back again into the heart of Kentucky and even to the Ohio river. General Leonidas Polk, in his report of the battle of Perryville, speaks of the good work done by this brigade "under its gallant commander " ; and General Hardee in his report of this battle says : ' ' The brigade so gallantly led and di rected by General Liddell captured arms, prisoners and colors, together with the papers and baggage of General McCook of the Union army. In the battle of Murfrees- boro (Stone's river) his brigade was in the division of Ma jor-General Cleburne, which bore such a conspicuous part in that grand wheel of one wing of the Confederate army, which bore back its foe to the distance of nearly four miles, routing brigade after brigade, capturing prisoners, colors and cannon. At Chickamauga he commanded a CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 311 division of Walker's corps, comprising his own brigade under Colonel Govan, and Walthall's brigade, taking a conspicuous part in the righting of the i8th, ipth, and 2oth of September, in five different engagements. After this battle General Liddell was transferred to the Trans- Mississippi department and assigned to the command of the sub-district of North Louisiana. Here he found as his only military force Col. Isaac F. Harrison's brigade of cavalry, small in numbers and poorly armed, but valiant men. He had also two sections of available artillery. During the Red river campaign he operated first about Campti. During the retreat of the Federal fleet from Boggy bayou to Grand Ecore, he kept the boats continu ally annoyed by sharpshooters and artillery, and stopped the fleet at Berdelon's Point one day with Fauntleroy's guns. On April 24th, suggesting to General Taylor a movement upon Alexandria, to which the general com manding replied that he intended to drive them in and out of Alexandria, Liddell pushed his little command into Pineville, and attacked the gunboats. Retiring he was attacked but drove the Federal detachment back to Pine ville. In August, 1864, he was assigned to the command of southern Mississippi, in General Maury's department, and when Mobile was assailed he was put in charge of the eastern division, department of the Gulf. In command of the defenses, he was captured at Blakely with a large part of his forces after the fall of Spanish Fort. After the close of the war General Liddell made his home in New Orleans, where he resided until his death. Brigadier-General Alfred Mouton — or as christened, Jean Jacques Alexandre Mouton — was born at Opelousas, La., February 18, 1829, a son of Governor Mouton. He was graduated at West Point July i, 1850, but re signed from the army in the following September. From 1852 to 1853 he was assistant engineer of the New Or leans & Opelousas railroad. Civil engineering is one 312 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. of the sciences thoroughly taught at West Point, and many graduates of the United States military academy have attained distinction in that profession. General Mouton found time in the midst of all his business en gagements to gratify his military inclinations ; from 1850 to 1861 was brigadier-general of the State forces of Louis iana. At the opening of the war he recruited a company among the farmers of Lafayette parish, where he was then residing. When the Eighteenth Louisiana was or ganized he was elected colonel and commissioned Octo ber 5, 1 86 1. His service was entirely in the West. At the battle of Shiloh he was severely wounded while lead ing his men in the thickest of the fight. For conduct in this battle he was commissioned brigadier-general April 1 6, 1862. When he recovered he was assigned to brigade command in Louisiana, the nucleus of his force being the Eighteenth and Crescent infantry regiments and Clack's battalion. From that time until he fell in battle he was dis tinguished on the battlefields of Louisiana, everywhere gaining fame as a skillful and dashing leader, first in the Lafourche district, commanding forces east of the Atchafalaya, later about Berwick bay and on the Bayou Teche. General Taylor frequently bore testi mony to his skill, fidelity and courage. His record was that of the command he led, the Louisiana brigade in Louisiana. In command of his own and Polignac's brigade, one of the two infantry divisions in General Taylor's army, he was given the distinction of opening the battle of Mansfield, his men making a magnificent charge. At the front with his soldiers he fell, with many other gallant officers and men, in the high tide of victory. Louisiana and the Confederacy lost in him a modest, unselfish and patriotic citizen and soldier. He possessed the spirit that dwelt in his father, Governor Mouton, of whom Gen. Dick Taylor says: "Past middle age he sent his sons and kindred to the war and was eager to assist the cause in all possible ways. His eldest son and many of Brig.-Gen. THOMAS M. SCOTT. Brig.-Gen. Louis HEBERT. Brig.-Gen. ALLEN THOMAS. Brig. -Gen. FRANCIS T. NICHOLLS. Brig.-Gen. PAUL O. HEBERT. Maj.-Gen. C. J. DE POLIGNAC. Brig.-Gen. ZF.BULON YORK. Brig.-Gen. EDWARD HIGGINS. Maj.-Gen. HARRY T. HAYS- Brig.-Gen. J. P. MAJOR. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 313 his kinsmen fell in battle ; his estate was diminished by vol untary contributions, and wasted by plunder, and he was taken to New Orleans and confined for many weeks ; yet he never faltered in his devotion, and preserved his dig nity and fortitude." Brigadier-General Francis T. Nicholls was born at Donaldson ville, Ascension parish, August 20, 1834. His father, Thomas Clark Nicholls, was a member of the gen eral assembly of Louisiana, judge of the district court for many years, and in 1843 was appointed senior judge of the Louisiana court of errors and appeals. Francis Nich olls entered the United States military academy in 1851, was graduated in 1855 and promoted the following Octo ber to second-lieutenant. He served against the Semi- noles, and afterward on frontier duty at Fort Yuma, Cal. He resigned in 1856 and became a counselor- at-law at Napoleonville, La., where the outbreak of war found him. He was prompt to answer the call of Louisiana for troops and entered the Confederate service as captain of a company in the Eighth infantry. On the gih of June, 1 86 1, he was promoted to be lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. He had the high honor of taking part in Stonewall Jackson's valley campaign, and was badly wounded in the elbow, near Winchester, May 25, 1862. On June 24th following he was commissioned colonel and given command of the Fifteenth Louisiana infantry, and on the 1 4th of October was made a brigadier-gen eral of the provisional army of the Confederate States. He was for a time in command of the district of Lynch- burg, Va., but on January 16, 1863, was assigned to com mand of the Second Louisiana brigade of Jackson's corps. In the battle of Chancellorsville General Nicholls led his brigade into the thickest of the fight and fell seriously wounded in the foot. Amputation was necessary, which disqualified him for further active service in the field. General Nicholls was in 1864 assigned to the Trans-Mis- 314 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. sissippi department, and continued to serve the Confeder acy to the best of his ability to the end of the struggle. Then returning home he began again the practice of law. In 1877 he was elected governor of Louisiana and held that office until 1881. In 1886 he was a member of the board of visitors to the United States military academy and was honored by being made president of that body. In 1888 he was again made governor. General Nicholls is still living and as chief justice of the Supreme court of the State is one of the most highly honored citizens of Louisiana. Major-General Camille Armand Jules Marie Polignac was born in France, February 6, 1832. He bore the title of Count de Polignac and was a descendant of the duchess of that name who was a favorite of Marie Antoinette. At the beginning of the civil war he came to America and offered his services to the Confederate government. He was made brigadier-general January 10, 1862, and attached to the army of Tennessee, but was transferred to Louisiana, where he served mostly and was highly esteemed by Gen. E. Kirby Smith, and by Gen. Richard Taylor. For his management of a spirited action which he had with the enemy's gunboats on the Ouachita river, March i and 2, 1864, in which the enemy's gunboats were repulsed, he received the thanks of General Taylor in a special order, which said: "The dispositions made by General Polignac were excellent and were nobly sustained by his command. ' ' At Mansfield and Pleasant Hill Polignac was greatly distinguished by the gallantry and skill which he exhibited in the performance of his duties. When General Mouton fell at Mansfield, five of his regi mental commanders being also killed and another severely wounded, and seven standard-bearers of the ** Crescent regiment " shot down, General Taylor says that " the di vision never halted for a moment nor even fell into con fusion, but under the gallant Polignac pressed stubbornly CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 315 on." On June 13, 1864, Polignac was commissioned major-general. He continued in command of Mouton's old division, which he had led in the battles of Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, in subsequent operations in Louis iana. Before the downfall of the Confederacy he returned to France, where, during the Franco- Prussian war of 1870- 71, he fought for his native land. Subsequently he was engaged in journalism and civil engineering, having charge of several surveying expeditions in Algeria. Brigadier-General Henry Hopkins Sibley was born at Natchitoches, La., May 25, 1816. He was graduated at West Point in 1838, and assigned as second-lieutenant to the Second dragoons ; took part in the Florida war, and was promoted to first-lieutenant in 1840. He served against the Indians in other parts of the country and on garrison duty ; was on recruiting service at the beginning of the Mexican war ; was present at the siege of Vera Cruz, and for gallant and meritorious conduct was brevetted major. He had been commissioned captain February 16, 1847. He participated in all the succeeding battles of that war, and after its close served on the frontier and among the Indians, receiving his commission as major of the First dragoons May 13, 1861. On the day on which he received that rank he resigned to enter the service of the Confederate States. On May i6th he was commissioned colonel in the Confederate army, and on June iyth was promoted to brigadier-general and placed in charge of the department of New Mexico. He went into Texas and raised a brigade of over 2,000 men, with which force he marched into New Mexico. His design was to take pos session of that territory for the Confederate States. He advanced into the territory along the Rio Grande, at Val- verde defeated the Union forces under Colonel (after ward General) Canby, and then moved forward and occu pied Albuquerque and Santa Fe. He had expected to sub sist his army on supplies found in the country, but in this 316 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. was disappointed, for Canby had taken care to destroy all supplies that could fall into the hands of the Confeder ates. He found himself in the heart of a country without supplies and with well-equipped hostile forces gathering in his front and rear. Under these circumstances he was obliged to retreat, a movement which was accomplished in the face of the most appalling difficulties. He passed on the west side of the Sierra Madelena, through the Sierra de San Mateo until he reached the dry bed of the Rio Palomas, down which he continued until he reached the Rio Grande, where supplies had been sent from Me- silla to meet him. His route had been through the wildest and most rugged country in the territory, with no guides, no roads, and not even a trail. The artillery was dragged up hill and lowered by the men with long ropes. The undergrowth was so dense that for several miles they had to cut their way with axes and bowie-knives. In May the retreating force reached Fort Bliss, and after a few days of rest continued the retreat to San Antonio, Tex. General Sibley's services after this were in the Trans- Mississippi department. After the close of the war he went abroad, and from 1869 to 1874 served as a general of artillery in the Egyptian army. After returning to Amer ica he delivered lectures on Egypt. His last years were spent in ill health and straitened circumstances. He died at Fredericksburg, Va., August 23, 1886. General Sibley was the inventor of what was called the Sibley tent. It was in great favor for a time, but its use was after a while discontinued. Brigadier- General Thomas M. Scott, going out as col onel of the Twelfth Louisiana volunteers, was identified during his subsequent military career with the army of the Mississippi. He and his men were on duty at Island No. 10, near New Madrid, Mo., during the bombardment of March, 1862, under General McCown, and later at Fort Pillow under Colonel Villepigue. Subsequently he was CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 317 on duty in Mississippi, and during the latter part of 1862 and early part of 1863 in General Gardner's district, the stronghold of which was Port Hudson. When Vicksburg was threatened he and his regiment went to that region with Gen. A. Buford's brigade, and were attached to Loring's division, which after the battle of Baker's Creek was cut off from Pemberton's army, and was engaged in Gen. J. E. Johnston's operations for the relief of Vicks burg and the defense of Jackson. He remained with the army in Mississippi until it was led by General Polk to Georgia in the spring of 1864, when he participated in the campaign from Dalton to Atlanta, commanding his bri gade, which included his own regiment and five Alabama regiments. Soon he was promoted to brigadier-general. At Peachtree Creek he was particularly distinguished, leading his gallant brigade to the assault, and for his in trepid conduct received special mention by General Lor- ing. After the fall of Atlanta he marched with Hood into Tennessee, and at the fateful field of Franklin, after win ning the admiration of all by his bravery, fell seriously disabled by the explosion of a shell. Brigadier-General Leroy A. Stafford, whose name will be forever associated with the glory of the Second Louis iana brigade in the army of Northern Virginia, went to Virginia in 1861 as lieutenant-colonel of the Ninth Louis iana volunteers, and upon the promotion of Col. Richard Taylor became colonel. With the First Louisiana bri gade he participated in the Valley campaign of Stonewall Jackson, and at Winchester General Taylor reported: " Colonel Stafford led his regiment into action with the most distinguished bravery. ' ' In the Seven Days' battles, during the disability of General Taylor and after the death of Colonel Seymour, he took command at Cold Har bor and continued to lead the brigade during that cam paign. When the Second Louisiana brigade was organ ized in the summer of 1862 he, being senior colonel, was 318 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. first in command. He served in this capacity with dis tinction at Cedar Run or Slaughter's mountain, and in the Second Manassas campaign he was again called on to command the brigade when General Starke took com mand of the division on the 28th of August. In the des perate fighting at the railroad cut he and his men were conspicuous. After the capture of Harper's Ferry, he went into the battle of Sharpsburg, and won new honors by his coolness and intrepidity in that great struggle. Though wounded in the foot, he was soon again in the fight. After Sharpsburg his regiment was transferred to the brigade of General Hays, with which it participated in the battles of Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Win chester and Gettysburg. In the latter battle he gained the plaudits of his commanding [officers by conspicuous gallantry. Early in October he was promoted to briga dier-general and assigned again to command of the Sec ond Louisiana brigade, in the Stonewall division. He commanded this brigade in a gallant action during the Mine Run campaign, fall of 1863, and in May, 1864, led it into the battle of the Wilderness. In that tremen dous conflict he received a mortal wound while " lead ing his command with conspicuous valor, ' ' as Gen. Robert E. Lee stated in his official report. Brigadier- General Allen Thomas was commissioned colonel of the Twenty-eighth Louisiana May 3, 1862. This regiment was one of the Louisiana commands at Vicksburg under Gen. M. L. Smith, who defended that important post on the Mississippi after the fall of New Orleans and Memphis. During the long bombardment in the summer of 1862 by the Federal fleet, he and his Louisianians were among the trusted men on guard. This Federal attempt ended in failure, but in December follow ing a renewed assault was made with land forces by General Sherman, and the famous battle of Chickasaw bayou resulted. In that victorious defensive combat, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 319 Colonel Thomas on the 27th, in command of a brigade consisting of the Second Texas, Twenty-eighth Louis iana, Fourth Mississippi, Forty-second Georgia and Thirty-first Alabama, was ordered to move to a point where the Federals were attempting to build a pontoon. This operation he checked with a part of his command and with the remainder defeated a Federal assault on the flank. On the next day commanding his regiment, still on the Federal side of the bayou, he fought for six and a half hours, now being pushed back by the superior numbers of the enemy, and now rallying and driving them back, and learning after the battle was over that he had fought Blair's brigade with his one regiment, and inflicted a loss of 400. Gen. S. D. Lee, commanding the Confederate forces, now withdrew across the bayou, and on the 2 Qth Sherman made a desperate assault, hoping to gain the bluffs on which Lee was posted. Here again Thomas and his regiment were distinguished in repelling a flank attack made by a portion of the Federal force. No officer was commended more warmly in the report of Gen. S. D. Lee, who said: " Col. Allen Thomas exhib ited great gallantry and with his regiment did splendid service. ' ' Remaining at Vicksburg he served during the siege of May and June, 1863, in command of his regiment, which was greatly distinguished. General Shoup, com manding the Louisiana brigade, said, "Col. Allen Thomas was constantly at his post. He was vigilant and ener getic. ' ' He shared the fate of the prisoners of war, and was for some time under parole. On February 4, 1864, he was promoted to brigadier-general and assigned to General Taylor's department, where he had command of a brigade consisting of the Seventeenth, Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, Twenty-eighth and Thirty-first Louisi ana infantry, and Weatherby's Louisiana battalion. His brigade had not, however, been exchanged in time to participate in the spring campaign of 1864. When assem bled it was assigned to the division of Gen. Camille J. 320 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Polignac. This division he was in charge of after Gen eral Polignac went to Europe, and Gen. Kirby Smith referred to him as an able division commander. Brigadier-General Zebulon York accompanied the Fourteenth Louisiana to Virginia in 1861 as its lieutenant- colonel. In the early spring of 1862 the Fourteenth Louisiana was on the peninsula in the division of Gen. James Longstreet. On the 5th of May, as the army of Gen. Joseph E. Johnston retired toward Richmond his rear guard had a very sharp conflict with McClellan's ad vance at Williamsburg, with the result both sides claimed a victory. General Longstreet in his report thus speaks : ' Lieut -Col. Zebulon York discharged his difficult duties with marked skill and fearlessness. ' ' During the Seven Days he had become colonel of the Fourteenth Louisiana and led the regiment through that fiery ordeal. After the campaigns of Second Manassas, Maryland and Freder- icksburg Colonel York was ordered to report to Gen. Richard Taylor in Louisiana to organize and drill con scripts designed for the Louisiana brigades in the army of Northern Virginia. After he had completed this mis sion Colonel York returned to the army of Northern Vir ginia, and appears again upon its muster-roll at the head of his regiment during the Gettysburg campaign. On May 31, 1864, while the Overland campaign was in progress, Colonel York was commissioned brigadier-general with temporary rank, and he was assigned to the command of all the Louisiana troops in the army of Northern Virginia. These troops included the heroic remnants of the bri gades of Hays and Stafford, one of whom had been killed in battle, and the other severely wounded. When Early 's corps was sent to Lynchburg, York's brigade was part of his force. Early was at first very successful, driving Hunter beyond the mountains, marching triumph antly down the valley, clearing it of Federal troops, then crossing the Potomac, defeating Wallace at the Monocacy CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 321 and advancing to the very suburbs of Washington, giving the people of the North the greatest scare that they had experienced during the whole war. At the battle of Win chester, fought on the ipth of September, 1864, General York was severely wounded, losing an arm, and was thus incapacitated for further service in the field during the campaign of 1864. La 21 JOHN M. HARRELL ARKANSAS BY COL. JOHN M. HARRELL. CHAPTER I. THE ELECTION OF 1860 AND ITS EFFECTS— ARSENAL AT LITTLE ROCK TAKEN INTO STATE POSSESSION- ACTION OF LEGISLATURE AND CONVENTION — PREPARATIONS FOR WAR— FIGHTING IN MISSOURI. THE exciting political campaign of 1860 was over. Henry Massie Rector had been elected governor of the State by a combination of Democrats and old-line Whigs ; the legislature was Democratic by a large majority. The total vote cast in the election of August was 61,198, of which Rector received 31,948 and R. H. Johnson, 29,250. The Thirteenth general assembly of the State met at Little Rock, November 5th, and con tinued in session until January 21, 1861, when it adjourned to meet November 4th, and, after a short session, adjourned again to reassemble March 8, 1862. January 15, 1861, it passed an act looking to the warlike defense of the State, calling for a State convention which should determine the attitude of Arkansas in the crisis which was impending, and for organizing the militia and providing arms to keep down disturbances and repel invasion. Two commissioners were authorized to buy arms, for which $100,000 was appropriated, and Thomas J. Churchill and C. C. Danley appointed such commis sioners. They expended but $36,000 for that purpose, when it was realized that no arms would be allowed to be shipped to the State from Cincinnati, to which point they had been ordered from the Northern armories. The convention, if it should be ordered by the popular vote, was to assemble at Little Rock, in obedience to the proc lamation of the governor, on the first Monday after March 2, 1861. 4 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. About the time of the meeting of the general assembly, in November, 1860, the Second United States artillery had been transferred from Fort Leaven worth, Kan., to the arsenal at Little Rock, where it remained stationed during the sitting of the first session of the legislature. The removal may have occurred in the ordinary routine of the regular service, but there had not been soldiers in the old barracks for many years. It had been used ex clusively as a depot for arms and munitions, occupied by a military storekeeper and a few non-commissioned officers and mechanics. The Second artillery was composed of about seventy-five men, under command of Capt. James Totten, of the regular army, whose father, Dr. William E. Totten, occupied some position on the grounds by appointment of the war department. Captain Totten was a genial and accomplished gentleman, whose half- brother had intermarried with one of the most respected and influential families in the city and State, owning slaves, and being Democrats, but sympathizing with the cause of the Union. The denizens of the towns in Arkansas, whose inhabitants were engaged in merchandise or mechanical pursuits, were generally of Northern birth or extraction, and were strongly in favor of the Union, upon any conditions. The oldest and most distinguished citizens of Little Rock were from New York and Phila delphia, and the States of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and were an element of wealth, refinement and intelli gence. The dwellers of the "hill country" were from the mountain regions of Tennessee, and of the Appalachian chain throughout its whole length, a very different type from those above named, and were also advocates of the Union. The planters of the lowlands, generally from Virginia, Tennessee and the Carolinas, were outspoken advocates of separation from the contaminating and men acing influences of the people of the "Free States," be lieving they would never be satisfied until, through busi ness devices or legislation, they could control the great CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 5 planting interest for their own profit, or destroy it through the liberation of the slaves. The planters had been worked up to a white heat by the utterances of Mr. Lin coln in his debate with Douglas, and the unprovoked descent of Osawatamie Brown, backed, as they believed, clandestinely by a very powerful element of ethico-polit- ical leaders at the seats of influence in the North. The legislative representatives of the cotton counties looked with suspicion upon the unusual removal of a battery of artillery to the State capital while they were engaged in deliberations which they wished to be far removed from every semblance of coercion. Governor Rector was inaugurated on November 15, 1860. In his inaugural address he counseled moderation in the action of the State government. He hoped for the display of a more conciliatory disposition on the part of the successful candidates in the late Federal election than could be discerned in the unauthorized publication of the press, and in sectional agitation going on in all parts of the common country. But, should the new officers yield to such influences and manifest the same spirit which had caused many powerful States to deliberately violate the compact of the Union, and should the general govern ment take any step to encroach upon the constitutional rights of the Southern States, then the State of Arkansas should place herself in the column with her sister States of the South, and share their destiny. Governor Rector was a native of St. Louis, Mo. , where his father, Col. Elias Rector, had been formerly surveyor- general of the Territory of Missouri, which then included Arkansas. He removed to Arkansas before he arrived at maturity, for the care of landed interests which he had inherited from his father. He was descended, in part, from the Seviers, of Tennessee, and was a relative of Senator, and one time United States Minister, A. H. Sevier, of Arkansas. He resided at Little Rock, after holding several positions, as member of the general 6 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. assembly from Saline county, United States marshal of the western district of Arkansas, surveyor-general, and associate justice of the Supreme court. At that time Little Rock was a small city of about 3,000 inhabitants. Its chief importance was derived from its official character, as the dwelling place of government officers, State and Federal, the seat of the superior courts, and the place of residence of the leading lawyers of the State. As a commercial center it possessed but little im portance. But there were few communities that could boast a more elevated and refined society. Composed of the higher classes, educated by the advantages of travel and favorable contact with the learned and gifted of the older States at the Federal capital, they were trained through an intercourse which made courtesy, forbearance and superior attainments the indispensable elements of success and happiness. No spot of earth ever surpassed it in the generous and unrestricted hospitality of its citi zens, which may be compared to that extended by "re nowned Alcinous, host of old Laertes' son," in the Ho meric romance. It is needless to say that the results of the war and the commercial growth of the place have obliterated many of these ancient customs and greatly transformed all this. In the latter part of January, or first of February, after the legislature had taken a recess until March, Maj. H. A. Montgomery, of Memphis, completed his line of magnetic telegraph from that city to Little Rock. A line had already given communication from Memphis to Helena, Ark., on the Mississippi river, in the midst of one of the most productive cotton regions in the State. Montgomery had, the year before, obtained a charter for a company to operate this line, of which Charles P. Bertrand, a wealthy citizen and lawyer, formerly of New York, was president, and James Henry, a merchant, formerly of Massachusetts, was secretary. Major Mont gomery was a practical operator, with L. C. Baker for his CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 7 assistant and, eventually, chief operator. On the even ing of the completion of his line to Memphis, Montgomery called on the writer of this history with the announcement that he was about to send his first dispatch, which it was his desire to have the writer formulate. He was in earnest, and the initial message was framed and handed him, con taining, among other things, a repetition of the rumor, then in circulation at Little Rock, that Major Emory had been ordered from Fort Gibson, on the frontier, to reinforce Captain Totten at the arsenal at Little Rock. This rumor, whether true or false, had been mentioned with gratification by divers friends of the Union cause in the city, and as Fort Gibson was only 80 miles west of Fort Smith, and the river navigable, it was a piece of news worthy of a telegraphic message. It was sent as an item of news solely, and without a thought that it would give rise to any practical results in the then uncertain and help less condition of affairs. The next morning found Montgomery considerably worked up by news he had received of the effect of his dispatch at Helena, to which place it had been forwarded from Memphis. His information was to the effect that it caused great excitement at Helena. The citizens had met in mass meeting, and tendered the governor 500 vol unteers to take the arsenal and expel the Union troops ! The adjutant-general made his appearance with the dis patch, from the hands of the governor. It was signed by well-known, honored citizens. The adjutant-general com plained of the impropriety of a direct offer of volunteers to the governor of a State which had not seceded, and might not secede. Only a few weeks before, South Caro lina, and in this same month, Mississippi, Florida, Ala bama and Georgia, had passed ordinances of secession; and Texas, February nth, submitted it to a vote of the people, to be taken on the 23d of that month. But Arkansas had not yet voted to hold a convention. The adjutant-general concluded that such a tender of troops 8 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. to the governor was impracticable under the circum stances. He would telegraph the citizens of Helena to that effect, since the governor had given him the dispatch to answer. Adjutant-General Burgevine was brother-in-law of Governor Rector, and brother of the Burgevine of whom Gen. Edward Forrester wrote in his reminiscences of the great Tai-Ping rebellion in China, describing the battle of Fung-Wah: "This was the last battle fought by the 'ever victorious army' under my command. My broken health compelled me to retire, and General Burgevine was appointed my successor. ' ' "But, General," it was suggested, "suppose you frame a dispatch as follows: 'The governor has no authority to summon you to take possession of a Federal post, whether threatened to be reinforced or not. Should the people assemble in their defense, the governor will interpose his official position in their behalf. ' The adjutant-general resolved to send a dispatch in something like these words, and did so, with the immediate effect of arousing, not only the citizens of Helena and vicinity, but all the planting region which received the news, and the movement to take the arsenal was immediately set on foot. The Yell Rifles, of which that most distinguished officer, Patrick R. Cleburne, was a member, and a company of cavalry under Captain Gist, brother of Governor Gist of South Carolina, came overland, mounted and armed; the Phillips Guards, an infantry company commanded by Captain Otey, came by steamer up the Arkansas river. Several impromptu organizations came by steamer from Pine Bluff, and others by land on horseback. Soon there were several thousand men in Little Rock, assembled for the purpose of demanding the surrender of the arsenal and taking possession of the arms and munitions there stored. The inhabitants of the little city were in a state of most intense excitement. The arsenal was situated in a grove of twenty acres, and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 9 consisted of a large two-story brick building, with octagonal tower, in which were stores of arms and munitions of war ; a handsome brick residence ; and in the background a row of barracks, two stories high, with double verandas ; be sides several office buildings and guardhouses, situated about the lawn. Captain Totten 's was no enviable po sition. He had 75 men, a strong position in the store house, several pieces of light artillery, plenty of cartridges and caps for a month's siege. He had disposed his men and artillery in convenient positions, in case of the attack of a mob upon him ; but the arsenal, partly within the city, was so near the principal residences that he could not fire without endangering non-combatants and the helpless, who were his friends and relatives. It was never in his thought, perhaps, to fire upon the city, except in an emergency he could not foresee. The armed citizens with whom he had to deal knew and respected the pro prieties. They asked for a consultation with Captain Totten, through the governor, as mediator. Captain Totten replied courteously, saying that he did not have any knowledge as to whether the arsenal would be rein forced, or what might be the action of the government ; but he would do all he could in his position to prevent bloodshed and promote peace. On the 6th of February, Governor Rector suggested to the Federal commander that he had now had sufficient time to communicate with the government ; that the situ ation was fraught with peril to the people of the city, and if Captain Totten would evacuate, the State would agree to hold the arsenal and the arms and munitions until the 4th of March, pending the meeting of the convention, should one be called. Additions to the camps of the vol unteers grew daily, and the impossibility of avoiding a bloody conflict was manifest to all. Captain Totten may have received advice, as the communications by mail and telegraph had not been interfered with. At any rate, he announced that upon condition that he and his officers and 10 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. men should be allowed peaceably to move out of the arsenal with the property of every character belonging to them, and leave the city when proper transportation could be secured for them, he would evacuate. He was induced to this course, he said, by unwillingness to bring bloodshed and destruction upon friends and neigh bors, and did not surrender a trust confided to him, but evacuated for want of instructions from his superior offi cers. He withdrew to a camp on the river, below the city, accompanied by quite a procession of citizens who ad mired his manly deportment, and who presented him with a beautiful sword as a token of their appreciation and friendship. If there was any deeper feeling than these becoming courtesies, it was only temporary, as those who so greatly honored the discomfited but considerate officer soon confronted him in battle with the most illustrious gallantry. The governor took possession of the arsenal, with the arms and munitions and stores it contained, except the property of the Second artillery, February 8, 1861, and placed the Phillips Guards, of Helena, in charge, under Captain Otey, who was a son of the Episcopal bishop of Tennessee. The residence and grounds were put under control of Maj. T. C. Peek (who had married a niece of the governor), as military storekeeper. The spacious grounds became a convenient rendezvous and camping- place for volunteers. Those grounds were brightened by the animated scenes of social diversions, engaged in by the young officers and society belles of the city, thencefor ward. It was not then known that the incomprehensible man who had been elected President of the United States, as they were then misnamed, did not intend to abate one jot of the authority which he should assert as such Presi dent, when called to take his seat in the chair at Washing ton. He, no doubt, honestly believed that he was a repre sentative of the people, chosen by them according to the forms of law — law, however to be disregarded in the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 11 theories, to be vigorously enforced in compelling obe dience to official power. He may have believed that he was commissioned to preserve "a government of the peo ple, for the people and by the people, ' ' while he would ignore, in thus sustaining his power over the entire people, that vital element of republics which proclaims that government derives its just powers from " the consent of the governed, ' ' and that nearly half of the people were prepared to resist rather than ' ' consent ' ' to his author ity, assumed, as they believed, upon principles at variance with the law as enacted and expounded by the courts of last resort. Mr. Lincoln had already, before the taking of the Little Rock arsenal, written to his friend Wash- burne, of Illinois, as follows : Springfield, December 21, 1860. Present my compliments to Lieutenant-General Scott, and tell him confidentially, I shall be obliged to him to be as well prepared as he can to either hold or retake the forts, as the case may require, at and after the inaugura tion. The taking of the Little Rock arsenal produced a revul sion of feeling, which caused those who hoped to keep Arkansas in the Union to abandon that hope. The convic tion that resistance by the Southern States to the authority of the general government was inevitable, seemed to pos sess all minds, however doubtful many may have been of its final success. These doubts were quickly discarded, and all concurred in the general desire for independence. It is a pleasure to remember that while there were those in Little Rock who indulged in unguarded expressions, there were no bitter conflicts, and the boldest expressions of opinion, Union or Confederate, were taken good- humoredly. Freedom of speech provoked no indication of angry repression. When information was brought that there were threats of coercion in Missouri and Kentucky, and of reinforce ment of the small garrison of Federals at Fort Smith, 12 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. there was a general demand that it be occupied by and held for the State also, as was the Little Rock arsenal. The governor consented, and ordered a force of volun teers under Maj. Solon Borland to proceed to Fort Smith, and take possession of the military property at that place, which was done, the only difficulty being in providing transportation for all who volunteered. Col. N. B. Burrow was placed in charge there, with a detachment of sufficient numbers, to hold the place for the State. Soon afterward, the arrival of Mr. Lincoln at the national capital, under sensational circumstances, and his inauguration were announced. Those who may have been ignorant of the essential elements of the character of Mr. Lincoln, and his views of the question of slavery, who had forgotten his most earnest expression that ' ' the Union could not exist one-half slave and one-half free ; either it must be all free or all slave, ' ' may have been misled by the cautious and conciliatory tone of his inaug ural message. He did not then choose to proclaim the doctrine of coercion in direct terms, while denying the right of a State to secede, or to plainly avow his intention unqualifiedly to hold, occupy and possess the property and places belonging to the government, and collect the duties and imports. While regarding these as duties devolving on his office, he said, that "beyond what may be necessary for these objects, there will be no invasion, no using of force against or among the people anywhere." And to this he added the assurance, "Where hostility to the United States shall be so great as to prevent competent resident citizens from holding the Federal offices, there will be no attempt to force obnoxious strangers among the people for that object. While the strict legal right of the government may exist to enforce the exercise of these offices, the attempt to do so would be irritating and so nearly impracticable, withal, that I deem it better to forego for the time the uses of such offices. ' ' To those who read them thoughtfully, these words were only tern- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 13 porizing, and indicated the ultimate design — as if "office" was a matter of any moment at such a crisis ! The question of holding a State convention was decided by the vote of the people, who gave a majority of 11,586 4 * for convention ' ' out of a total of 62 , ooo. By proclamation of the governor, that body assembled on the 4th of March, the day of the Presidential inauguration. A majority of the delegates elected were disposed to temporize, and voted for "cooperation" against "secession," and elected five peace commissioners to attend the Border State con vention at Frankfort, Ky., on May 27, 1861. This effort was laudable, but the march of events was too rapid for the peace commissioners, and left them so far in the rear that they did not deem it necessary to perform their func tion. The threats of the Northern press that "a fire in the rear should be opened upon such troops as should be raised in the North to march against the people of the South' ' ; the indignant protests of ex-Chancellor Wai worth at a public meeting, "that it would be as brutal to send men to butcher our own brothers of the Southern States, as it would be to massacre them in the Northern States" ; and the promise of Eli Thayer, the old-line Whig, "we will reverse the order of the French revolution, and save the blood of the people by making those who would inaug urate a reign of terror the first victims of a national guil lotine," became as exhalations of the empty air. The Arkansas State convention adjourned without further action to the i9th day of August, 1861. Very blind, indeed, were the halting advocates of peace, when it was plain to all that there could be no peace. The powers behind Mr. Lincoln were his political supporters at the North, who proposed to unite purse and sword, and would never give up the South and its rich repository of profit and wealth, so essential to their business. They pushed him, as did their auxiliaries, the fanatical anti- slavery forces, to an instantaneous advance. The new President sent a fleet of war vessels to support a vessel 14 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ostensibly dispatched to provision the garrison of United States troops besieged in Charleston harbor. The be siegers were vigilant to prevent the occupation of the fort by reinforcements. Upon the entrance of a fleet sent by Lincoln under its protection, April 1 2th, the Confederates opened fire upon the fort, compelling the surrender of the garrison. To permit it to be re victualed would have been to yield its possessions to the naval forces of the United States, and with it, the Carolina coast. Horace Greeley was ready to admit, with all his opposition to the Southern movement, " Whether the bombardment and resistance of Fort Sumter shall or shall not be justified by posterity, it is clear that the Confederacy had no alter native but its own dissolution." (American Conflict, Vol. I, p. 449-) Further finesse and movements for position were deemed no longer necessary after the bombardment of Fort Sumter. The President laid aside disguise, and dis pensed with further suppression of his scarcely- concealed designs. In violation of the Constitution which vested the power to declare war and raise and support armies in Congress alone, unless to protect a State against invasion, upon application of the legislature, or the governor thereof when the legislature cannot be convened, President Lin coln issued his proclamation, April i5th, calling out the military force of the country to suppress "combinations," as he termed States which had seceded, naming the States in which such combinations existed, not yet including Arkansas. The secretary of war accordingly sent a requisition on the several States for their quotas of 75,000 troops called for, and including Arkansas. Governor Rector, of Arkansas, promptly replied to this demand as follows : "In answer to your requisition for troops from Arkansas, to subjugate the Southern States, I have to say that none will be furnished* The demand is only adding CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 15 insult to injury. " The governors of Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and North Carolina made similar defiant answers. The president of the adjourned convention, Judge David Walker, by authority given him by the convention at its former sitting, called the body by proclamation, April 2oth, to convene on May 6, 1861. It met, and on that day an ordinance of secession offered by Porter Grace, of Jef ferson county, was adopted by a vote of 65 to 5, of which latter 5 votes, 4 were changed to the affirmative, so that the vote, as footed up, finally stood 69 to i. That one vote in the negative was persisted in by the delegate from Madison county, Isaac Murphy, who ex plained that he had pledged his constituents to oppose secession, which he did not believe was the remedy, as he preferred to fight under the old flag as a 4 4 rebel. " He was a "rebel," he said, and would be found fighting to the last in resisting the usurpation of the government. Mr. Murphy, not long before, had come to Arkansas from Indiana, and found an abiding place in the mountainous county of Madison, on the Missouri border. He immediately introduced a resolution author izing the State to seize the money of the United States in the hands of receivers, and use it for the purchase of arms to put the State on a war footing. But he subsequently went over to the Federals, and was appointed, in 1864, the first governor, practically, under the Lincoln administra tion, for the reconstruction of the State. John S. Phelps was first appointed provisional governor, but did not qualify or serve. This action of the convention was an occasion of intense feeling. Citizens seemed to understand the momentous nature of the proceedings. A mighty power had thrown down the gauntlet of war to a State, young in the years of its admission into the Union, only twenty-five, and feeble in population and resources. It owned but few slaves, and did not feel the jealousy of unlawful en- 16 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. croachments as keenly as its more wealthy neighbors. But it contained a people who were bred to hatred of op pression and injustice. They were familiar with the con ditions of their friends, and regarded the slavery agitation as unreasonable and uncalled for — the demands of a haughty power which spurned the obligations of the law for the sake of an infatuation which was too unnatural and degrading to be sincere. The State then hurled back the defiance of her freemen, represented in the convention, and through weal or woe, resolved to stand by those akin to them, rather than raise a fratricidal hand against them. Thus, Arkansas defied the hordes of all lands gathered under the name of "the government" for the invasion of the South, and took her place in the ranks with her sister Southern States. She did it with a full sense of all the responsibilities. She would form the outer guard, and stand face to face with the foe. Missouri, on the north, had listened to the pretense of conciliation until she was undeceived by the rude blow of the mailed hand. Ar kansas, now awakened, must answer on the instant — no more hesitation or division. Her people were one in in terest and sentiment. The convention represented their principles. The convention, at this juncture of events, devoted its attention to making preparation for the coming struggle. Mr. Murphy's resolution to seize the money of the United States in the hands of receivers of the land districts was carried into effect. The $36,000 paid for arms by the legislative commissioners, Churchill and Danley, had to be charged to "profit and loss," as the orders, if filled, were never delivered. A new State consti tution was adopted. The new constitution differed but little from the former, except that in all the sections of its dec laration of rights the word "white" was prefixed to the word * ' men. ' ' The State of Arkansas had become adjusted in its relations to the Confederate States. It provided for the election of members of the Provisional Congress of CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 17 the Confederate States. An ordinance for the organiza tion and equipment of troops for immediate service was adopted; money in the treasury was appropriated, and bonds of the State, known as "war bonds," were author ized. Gen. James Yell, delegate from Jefferson county, was elected major-general of State forces, and N. Bart Pearce and N. B. Burrow were chosen as the two brigadier-gen erals. Albert Pike was commissioned to visit and obtain the cooperation of the civilized tribes of Indians in the Indian Territory, who were themselves owners of negro slaves. A military board was created, to assist and relieve the governor and commander-in-chief in the organ ization of the army. Governor Rector, Benjamin C. Tot- ten and C. C. Danley constituted the board. Captain Danley, on a journey to the Mississippi river, on the way to Richmond in discharge of his duty, received injuries from which he never recovered, and Samuel W. Williams was appointed in his stead. When the latter accepted command of a regiment, Dr. L. D. Hill became his suc cessor on the board. The board, of which the governor was chairman, issued a proclamation calling for the en listment of volunteers in the State service, for a period of one year, and engaged energetically in providing rations and equipments. The response was prompt. Regiments, battalions and companies were rapidly organized and placed in camp with such arms as could be obtained, and often without arms. From the Confederate secretary of war authority was received for the raising of regiments for the Confederate service. Hundreds of applications to him for this service were declined for want of arms. Many leaders went to Montgomery and Richmond for authority to organize military commands, and returned without it. Some even marched their commands to the field inefficiently armed, and these importuned the war department for commissions. Hindman, Cleburne and Van Manning used extraordinary means to obtain arms Ark 2 18 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. for their men. The volunteers, recruited in all parts of the State, began to arrive at the capital. The arsenal grounds were one large encampment. Many companies assembled for organization with their fowling pieces, deer guns and squirrel rifles. The one great drawback to the equipment of an army was the want of efficient arms, and yet, of the 60,000 electors in the State, 25,000 were en rolled the first year and transported to the fields of battle. The provisional government, which had been organized at Montgomery, adjourned to assemble at Richmond, Va., July 20, 1 86 1. President Davis proceeded to the Virginia capital at once, and placed himself at the head of the executive department. Virginia ratified the ordi nance of secession in April, and Gen. R. E. Lee was placed in command of the Virginia forces. His available strength was divided into three armies, to oppose the movements which threatened Virginia from beyond the Potomac. At Se well's Point, in May, Federal steam ers kept up an unsuccessful attack upon the Confederate battery for two days. In June, near Bethel church, a detached work, defended by North Carolina and Virginia troops, was attacked by Federals, who were repulsed. Ellsworth, the Zouave colonel, was killed at Alexandria, Va. , by Jackson. General McClellan was already mak ing his movement into the upper portion of Virginia. These events were of absorbing interest, as marking the commencement of hostilities in the East. But others happened nearer home, demanding the immediate atten tion of the military in Arkansas. Gen. Sterling Price, who had been the president of the Missouri convention, which did not contain one secessionist, had entered into an agreement with General Harney, of the United States army, commanding the department of the West, by which Missouri was to be included in a certain geographical di vision of his military department which General Harney engaged should be exempt from invasion. General Price had been successively representative of Missouri in CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 19 Congress, colonel in the Mexican war, and governor of Missouri, and was a firm supporter of the cause of the Union. His earnest wishes and efforts were to have his State kept in a condition of neutrality, which should spare it from the devastations of war. But in the absence of General Harney from the department, a camp of State militia, under Gen. G. M. D. Frost, unarmed, and near the city of St. Louis, May loth, was enjoying a holiday with a great many visitors from St. Louis looking on, when it was suddenly surrounded by a force of United States regulars and some German city companies under command of Capt. Nathaniel Lyon, commandant of the United States post at St. Louis. The non-resisting militia were taken prisoners. Captain Lyon, a New Englander and a fanatical abolitionist, was wrought up to believe that these militia exercises meant "treason" to the govern ment. Disregarding General Harney 's compact, or be lieving it violated, he had determined to break up the militia camp. By some misunderstanding, while a large number of citizens were witnessing the marching off of their fellow citizens as prisoners of war, under Lyon's guard, one of the German military companies fired into these citizens, killing about 20, among whom were women and children. Lyon's action met the approbation of Lincoln. He was promoted and placed in command of the department of the West, vice General Harney, trans ferred to another field. General Lyon was an aggressive, enthusiastic supporter of the administration, and an un relenting foe to its opponents. He scouted the idea of neutrality for Missouri, and scorned the proposition of Governor Jackson to disarm the militia and bind him self, as governor of the State, to call on the President in case of disturbance, because Governor Jackson had indignantly refused " to furnish troops for the subjection of the South. ' ' Jackson and Price were in earnest ; but "neutrality" was impracticable, and the proposition to maintain it subjected Missouri to four years of blood- 20 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. shed and devastation, and caused a divided people, from whose necks the yoke of military tyranny was not lifted for years after the war. It was the first slave State in which the slaves were formally emancipated, an act per formed by Fremont, in advance of Lincoln. General Lyon announced that he should take military occupation of the State and "place it in the exact condi tion of Maryland." Recognizing the impossibility of preserving "neutrality," Governor Jackson issued his proclamation, June i2th, calling for troops to resist inva sion and defend the sovereignty of his State. A small body of recruits collected under his call near Booneville, under command of Col. John S. Marmaduke. On June 1 6, 1 86 1, General Lyon ascended the Missouri river to attack this force of about 800 men, having with him troops commanded by Colonels Schaeffer and Blair, Captain Steele and Major Osterhaus, detachments of other regi ments, and Totten's artillery, a force greatly superior to Governor Jackson's little army. Colonel Marmaduke deemed this force of Lyon too strong to be resisted. Gen eral Price was dangerously ill and had been taken away on a steamboat. The Missourians, however, refused to leave the ground without a brush with the enemy. Under command of Colonel Brand, they engaged their foes, killing over 100, with a loss to themselves of 3 killed and 30 wounded. Lyon was astonished, and, it seems, admonished, by the stubborn resistance shown him in the face of such odds by this citizen soldiery, who finally retreated in safety, and were joined by other recruits. A part of this gathering of citizens of Missouri went with Governor Jackson, accompanied by the heads of the State department, and by Gens. J. B. Clark and Monroe M. Parsons. When they arrived at a place called Cole Camp, they found there a body of home guards, whom Lyon and Blair had ordered to intercept the march of Jackson. They were mostly Germans. Colonel O' Kane, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 21 of a gallant Confederate command, surprised them at mid night and nearly annihilated them. Their colonel, Cook, brother of the Cook who was hung at Harper's Ferry for participation in the John Brown raid, made his escape. Colonel Totten, with a large force of infantry and artil lery, went in pursuit of Jackson, but on receipt of exag gerated reports of the latter 's strength, abandoned the movement. Jackson rested at Warsaw a few days, and proceeded to Montevallo, where he expected to meet Gen eral Price from Lexington. Price, still suffering from the effects of his sickness, formed a junction with Jackson, July 3d, in Cedar county, where his men were organized under Brigadier-Generals Rains, Slack and Clark, making up a total force of 3,600, of whom 600 were wholly unarmed. Here General Price learned that Lyon, with an equal number of well-armed troops, had started in pursuit of his army, and that 3, ooo more under Sigel had been sent by rail to Rolla to intercept him. On the 5th of July, the Missourians found themselves confronted by Sigel, six miles from Carthage, and a battle ensued in which Sigel was defeated and compelled to retreat to Sarcoxie. Gen. Ben McCulloch, arriving at this juncture from his camp at Elm Springs, Ark., with 3,000 Confederate enlisted men, and Gen. N. Bart Pearce from Osage Mills with a brigade of State troops, they united with Price at Carthage. On the yth, the combined forces took up the line of march to Cowskin prairie. Colonel Sigel had not been prepared for the strength of resistance there was in the Missouri men who fought him at Carthage. * ' Mein Gott ! " he said, "was ever such thing seen! Green men, never in battle before, standing their ground, hurling defiance, and cheer ing their own guns at every discharge. ' ' His report to his commander, General Sweeny, thus describes the ter mination of the battle : "In the critical moment, Captain Wilkins, commander of one of the two batteries, declared he was unable to advance for want of ammunition! 22 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. No time could be lost ; our troops on the extreme right and left were already engaged. To advance with the rest, without the assistance of artillery, seemed to me a movement which could easily turn out into [sic] deroute ! The moral effect of the enemy's mounted regiments be hind our lines could not be denied. It was, therefore, with great mortification that I ordered one part of our troops behind Dry fork, sent one to protect baggage train, ordered retreat," etc. He left Captain Conrad and Company B at Neosho for "protection of the Union-loving people" with a train of supplies, which Mclntosh and Churchill, of McCulloch's brigade, soon captured. Lyon marched into Springfield, August ist. He was joined the next day by Major Sturgis, who had a skir mish at Dug Springs with Arkansas and Missouri mounted men. The Arkansas troops were commanded by Capt. Americus V. Reiff. It required sharp skirmishing of several hours, by several companies under Capt. Fred erick Steele, the Fourth artillery under Lieutenant Lath- rop, and a company of cavalry under Captain Stanley, and finally Totten's battery, with also two pieces from Sigel's brigade, to drive the Confederates back. Col. Jor dan E. Cravens, of Governor Rector's staff, fought with Capt. Reiff's company at Dug Springs. Lyon, believing it was the intention of the Confederates to draw him away from his supplies, retired to Springfield, while 2,000 regu lars, under Major Sturgis and Lieutenant-Colonel An drews, remained about four miles from the town. Mean while, the Confederates from Missouri and Arkansas moved down to Cassville, which is about fifteen miles north of the northern boundary of Arkansas, in Barry county, Mo. Maj. J. M. Schofield, of the First Missouri regiment, in his report as acting ad jutant-general of the Federal army, said that Gen eral Lyon determined to make a night march on the yth, with his entire force, toward Cassville, direct upon the front of the Confederate position, a day CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 23 sooner, but was dissuaded from it on account of the ex hausted condition of a large number of his troops. That day, and until the evening of the next, he spent in recruit ing the strength of the men, supplying them with shoes and preparing for battle. Lyon's army was a formidable antagonist for the raw and poorly-armed force of Confed erates it was preparing to meet, and its numbers were greatly exaggerated to General McCulloch, commanding the men from Arkansas. McCulloch had fought Indians in Texas and the Mexican mestizos in Mexico, and he knew the difference between inexperienced citizen soldiery and well-armed, disciplined troops, many of them veter ans and commanded by veterans. He was in favor at first of falling back into Arkansas, but General Price maintained that the strength of the enemy was overesti mated. He was eager to attack, and urged an immediate advance. At this juncture McCulloch received dispatches from General Polk that a large force of Confederates from Pitman's Ferry and New Madrid would march toward Rolla to intercept Lyon. McCulloch agreed to march against Lyon at Springfield, or wherever they might find him, General Price magnanimously waiving his superior rank and consenting that McCulloch should take command of the army. Price was a brave and chivalrous officer, and inherently too great to contend about rank where the liberties of his country were at issue. He was will ing to "surrender not only rank, but life, if required, as his sacrifice to her cause. ' ' Expecting to encounter Lyon's army somewhere south of Springfield, the Confederates had left their baggage train and beef-cattle at Cowskin prairie. But the men were in fine spirits and only disappointed when they did not find the enemy nearer at hand. The August weather was hot. The first day's march was made by night, ex pecting to attack the enemy at dawn, but he had retraced his march toward Springfield and pursuit was decided upon, the army marching twenty-two miles in the heat 24 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. and suffocating dust ; twelve miles of the distance being without water and the men deprived of canteens and even of cups. On the night of the 8th they arrived at Big Spring, near Wilson's creek, ten or eleven miles south of Springfield. They had only half rations ; but "roast ing ears" were ripe, and that they might eke out subsist ence, the army was marched forward to the creek, where there were several large fields of corn. Their appearance, covered with dust, was squalid in the extreme, but this fact seemed in nowise to dampen their ardor or good spirits, for, having finished their suppers, they enjoyed themselves dancing by their camp-fires. McCulloch's armed men, carrying flintlock muskets, shotguns and rifles, numbered, as he stated, 5,300 infantry, 15 pieces of artillery, and 6,000 horsemen, inadequately armed. On the evening of August pth they received orders to march on Springfield, starting at 9 o'clock, in order to make the attack at daylight. They prepared their guns and am munition, but the order to march was postponed to morn ing, and the men resumed their dancing, which they kept up until a late hour. General McCulloch explained the change of orders that night, as follows, in his letter to Secretary Benjamin: At the hour named for the march there fell a little rain, with strong indications of more, which caused the order to march to be countermanded, after a conference with General Price. This was thought to be prudent, as we had an average of only twenty-five rounds of ammunition to the man, and no more to be had short of Fort Smith or Baton Rouge. Not more than one man in four was furnished with anything better than cotton bags in which to carry cartridges. The slightest rain or wet would have almost disarmed us, as many of the men had noth ing but shotguns or common rifles of the country, with out bayonets. However, the enemy unwisely decided to attack us in our position, which was well selected for the kind of arms we had to use against their long-range rifled muskets. CHAPTER II. THE BATTLE OF WILSON'S CREEK OR OAK HILLS— SCHOFIELD'S REPORT — DESCRIPTION OF THE BATTLEFIELD — COLONEL SNEAD'S ACCOUNT — REPORTS OF GENERALS McCULLOCH AND PEARCE —OTHER CONFEDERATE REPORTS — LOSSES OF ARKANSAS COMMANDS. IN endeavoring to give an adequate account of the famous battle of Wilson's Creek or Oak Hills, August 10, 1 86 1, it will be interesting to present a view of the situation from the opposing side, as well as from our own, bearing in mind that either party very naturally gives to his own side the most favorable aspect which it will bear. The report of Maj. J. M. Schofield, as assistant adjutant-general, army of the West, was as follows : During the forenoon of that day, the gth of August, General Lyon and Colonel Sigel held a consultation, the result of which was the plan of attack upon the enemy's position at Wilson's creek, which led to the battle of the loth. I was not present at the conference, having spent the morning in going the rounds of the camp to see if any improvements could be made in our dispositions for defense, thinking all intention of making an attack had been abandoned. Upon my return, General Lyon in formed me of his intention to make the attack the next morning, and gave me the general features of the plan, but owing to press of business did not go much into detail. Colonel Sigel was to move with his brigade, con sisting of the Third and Fifth regiments of Missouri troops, six pieces of artillery and two companies of cav alry (regular), to the left of the main Cassville road and leading to the right of the enemy's position, while Gen eral Lyon with the remainder of his force, consisting of the First Missouri, First Iowa, First and Second Kansas, two companies of the Second Missouri, a company of 25 26 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. riflemen, eight companies of regular infantry and rifle recruits, ten pieces of artillery and two companies of cavalry, amounting to about 4,000 men, besides about 250 mounted home guards, was to move down the road toward Little York to a point nearly opposite the en emy's advanced pickets on Wilson's creek, and thence across the prairie and attack his left flank. Colonel Sigel was to make the attack as soon as he heard that of General Lyon. The column under General Lyon reached the point where the enemy's most advanced picket was expected to be found, at about i o'clock at night. The picket not having been found, the column halted and the men lay on their arms till early dawn, when the march was re sumed, Captain Plummer's battalion of regular infantry in advance, Major Osterhaus' battalion of Missouri vol unteers following with Captain Totten's battery. At about 4 o'clock a. m. the enemy's picket was reached, and fled upon our approach. Major Osterhaus' battalion was then sent on the right as skirmishers, Captain Plum- mer being on the left, and the First regiment Missouri volunteers, under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews, brought forward to the support of Totten's battery. With this disposition, the column moved forward about one and a half mile, when at about 5 o'clock a brisk skir mish was opened along our entire front. The enemy was now discovered in considerable force, occupying the crest of a ridge running nearly perpendicularly to our line of march, and also to the valley of Wilson's creek, and lying between us and his main camp. The First Missouri volunteers was now sent forward and deployed in line of battle, at once advancing upon the ridge under a brisk fire and driving the enemy from his position on our right, while the First Kansas came forward and engaged the enemy on our left, causing him to retire. Captain Totten's battery meanwhile moved forward in the center and reached the crest of the ridge. The enemy now rallied in large force near the foot of the slope, and under considerable cover opposite our left wing, and along the slope in front, and on our right toward the crest of the main ridge running parallel to the creek. During this time, Captain Plummer, with his four companies of infantry, had moved down a ridge about 500 yards to our left, and separated from us by a CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 27 deep ravine, and reached its abrupt terminus, where he found his farther progress arrested by a large force of infantry occupying a cornfield in the valley in his front. At this moment an artillery fire was opened from a high point about two miles nearly in our front, from which Colonel Sigel was to have commenced his attack. This fire was answered from the opposite side of the valley, and at a little greater distance from us, the line of fire of the two batteries being nearly perpendicular to our own. After about ten or twelve shots on either side, the firing ceased, and we neither heard nor saw anything more of Colonel Sigel's brigade till about 8:30 o'clock, when a brisk can nonading was heard for a few minutes about a mile to the right of that heard before, and from two to three miles distant. This was the last during the battle. Our whole line now advanced with much energy upon the enemy's position, the firing, which had been spirited for the last half hour, now increasing to a continuous roar. During this time Captain Totten's battery came into action by section and by piece, as the nature of the ground would permit (it being wooded with much under growth), and played upon the enemy's lines with great effect. After a fierce engagement, lasting perhaps half an hour, and in which our troops retired two or three times in more or less of disorder, but never more than a few yards, again to rally and press forward with increased vigor, the enemy gave way in the utmost confusion, and left us in possession of the position. Meanwhile Captain Plummer was ordered to move for ward on our left, but meeting with overpowering resist ance from the large mass of infantry in the cornfield in his front and in the woods beyond, was compelled to fall back ; but at this moment Lieutenant Du Bois' battery, which had taken position on our left flank, supported by Major Osterhaus' battalion, opened upon the enemy in the cornfield a fire of shells with such marked effect as to drive him in the utmost disorder from the field. There was now a momentary cessation of firing along nearly the whole line, except the extreme right, where the First Missouri was still hotly engaged with a superior force of the enemy attempting to turn our right. The general, having been informed of this movement, sent the Second Kansas regiment to the support of the First Mis souri. It came up in time to prevent the Missourians 28 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. from being destroyed by the overwhelming force against which they were unflinchingly holding their position. The battalion of regular infantry under Captain Steele, which had been detailed to the support of Lieutenant Du Bois' battery, was during this time brought forward to the support of Captain Totten's battery. Scarcely had these dispositions been made when the enemy again appeared in very large force along our entire front and moving toward each flank. The engagement at once became general, and almost inconceivably fierce along the entire line, the enemy appearing in front often in three or four ranks, lying down, kneeling and standing, the lines often approaching to within 30 or 40 yards, as the enemy would charge upon Captain Totten's battery, and be driven back. Early in this engagement, the First Iowa regiment came into line and relieved the First Kansas, which had been thrown into some disorder and compelled to retire. Every available battalion was now brought into action, and the battle raged with unabated fury for more than an hour, the scale seeming all the time nearly equally balanced, our troops sometimes gain ing a little ground, and again giving way a few yards, to rally again. Early in this engagement, while General Lyon was leading his horse along the line on the left of Captain Totten's battery and endeavoring to rally our troops, which were at this time in considerable disorder, his horse was killed, and he received a wound in the leg and one in the head. He walked slowly a few paces to the rear and said, "I fear the day is lost. " But upon being en couraged that our troops could again be rallied, that the disorder was only temporary, he passed over to the right of the center where our line seemed to be giving way, obtained another horse, and, swinging his hat in the air, led forward the troops, who promptly rallied round him. A few moments later he was carried from the field, dead. His death was known at the time to but very few, and those few seemed to fight with redoubled vigor. Meanwhile our disordered line on the left was again rallied, and pressed the enemy with great vigor. . . . This hot encounter lasted perhaps half an hour after General Lyon's death, when the enemy fled, and left the field clear as far as we could see, and almost total silence reigned for twenty-five or thirty minutes. [Major Stur- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 29 gis now assumed command and the chief officers were called in council] The question was a very perplexing one. Nothing had been heard from Colonel Sigel for a long time. No one could tell where he was or what he was doing. Should we move forward in pursuit of the enemy without knowing whether we should receive any support from Sigel, should we make a detour to the left and attempt to join him, or should we withdraw from the field? At this time a considerable force of infantry was seen to move around the right of the position from which Sigel's cannonading had been seen some time before, and advance in column toward the front of our left wing. These troops wore a dress resembling extremely that of Colonel Sigel's men, and carried the American flag. The opinion was general that this was Sigel's brigade, and preparations were commenced to move to the left and front and join him. Meanwhile the column in front moved down the hill within easy reach of our artillery, but was permitted to march on unmolested until it had reached the covered position at the foot of the ridge on which we were posted, and from which we had been so fiercely assailed before. But suddenly a battery was planted on the hill in our front, and began to pour upon us shrapnel and canister, species of shot which had not been fired by the enemy before. At this moment the enemy showed his true colors, and at once commenced along our entire line the fiercest and most bloody engage ment of the day. . . . Captain Totten's battery in the center, supported by the First Iowa and regulars, was the main point of attack. The enemy could frequently be seen within 20 or 30 feet of his guns, and the smoke of the opposing lines was often so confounded as to seem but one. Now, for the first time during the day, our entire line maintained its position with perfect firmness. Not the slightest disposition to give way was manifested at any point, till finally the enemy gave way and fled from the field. . . . Thus closed, at about n 130 o'clock, an almost uninter rupted conflict of nearly six hours. The order to retire was given immediately after the enemy gave way from our front and center, and Lieutenant Du Bois' battery at once took position with its supports on a hill in our rear. Captain Totten's battery, as soon as his disabled horses 30 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. could be replaced, retired slowly with the main body of the infantry, while Captain Steele was meeting the dem onstration upon our right flank. This having been repulsed, and no enemy being in sight, the whole column moved slowly to the high open prairie about two miles from the battle ground. Our ambulances, meanwhile, passed to and fro, carrying off our wounded, and after making a short halt upon the prairie we continued our march to Springfield. It should be here remarked that just after the order to retire had been given, and while it was still undecided whether the retreat should be continued or whether we should occupy the more favorable position in our rear and await tidings of Colonel Sigel, one of his men reached us, and reported that his brigade had been totally routed and all his artillery captured, Colonel Sigel himself hav ing been either killed or taken prisoner. Most of our men had fired away all their ammunition and all that could be obtained from the boxes of the killed and wounded. There was then nothing left us but to return to Springfield. Now, having yielded precedence to the version of the battle given by the vanquished, the reports of the victo rious will be in order. Wilson's creek flows southerly where the road crosses it, half a mile below Gibson's mill, which was beyond a cornfield up the creek. Skegg's creek from the west flows into Wilson's creek half a mile below the crossing; and Tyrrell 's creek, also from the west, flows into it south of the main road two miles. In the wooded valley, between the two branches west of Wilson's creek, the mounted men of Churchill and Greer and 700 of Price's cavalry were camped. Price's infantry bivouacked be tween Skegg's creek and the crossing, all west of Wil son's creek, and between the creek and a hill 75 feet high, still further west and north of the road. On the east of Wilson's creek, upon a corresponding plateau, were Hubert's and Mclntosh's regiments, McRae's bat talion, Weigh tman's Missouri brigade, and Woodruff's and Reid's Arkansas batteries and Bledsoe's Missouri CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 31 battery, overlooking the valley in which Price lay. Gen eral Rains had a large number of mounted men on the east of Wilson's creek, north of the road, and nearest to Springfield. Down the creek from Rains to Churchill and Greer the distance was three miles. As has been stated, the Confederate forces were in bivouac awaiting their postponed order to march on Springfield. At day light no pickets were out, or those put out had been drawn in, expecting to march. The Confederates were taken by surprise, few having arisen, when Totten's battery opened upon them from the north, and Sigel 's from the south, at dawn Sunday morning, August loth. The entire Southern army lay be tween Lyon and Sigel. Sigel had surrounded the camp in the night and stationed four pieces of artillery over looking Churchill's camp from the east side of the creek. Leaving a small infantry force to support the battery, he then crossed Wilson's creek, below Tyrrell' s creek, with the rest of his men formed facing north, on the west of the creek. General Rains' Missourians at the north end of the camp were quickly dispersed by Lyon's column, leaving an open sweep between him and Woodruff's battery on the hill farther down the creek. Churchill's and Greer's men went scrambling into the woods to their horses at the creek. Colonel Churchill was soon mounted, but without a saddle, and rapidly rallied his men. McCul- loch and Mclntosh at the north end were soon in their sad dles. Lyon having crossed the creek above the hill, mov ing down the valley, came in range of ' ' Bloody hill. ' ' Price had galloped up the hill to take command of Cawthorn's men, who were holding their ground as well as they could, when Slack came up with Hughes' regiment and Thorn ton's battalion, and formed on the left of Cawthorn. Meanwhile, Reid's Arkansas battery on the east of Wil son's creek opened upon Sigel's line, which was forming west of the creek, in the Confederate rear. To Price's support, in front, other commands came 32 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. rapidly up (among them Guibor's battery), aggregating about 3,000 men, with four pieces of artillery. Totten's battery, six pieces, directed his third shot against Wood ruff's battery, four pieces, which replied promptly, and the duel was kept up between Woodruff and Totten. Woodruff's fire greatly assisted the formation of the troops across the creek, confronting Lyon's advance. The Confederates waited for Lyon to advance within range of their shotguns, when 2,000 small arms and Gui bor's battery received him. The lines would approach each other within 50 yards, and after delivering a fire, fall back and reload. They kept this up for two hours. Churchill had formed his men on foot and gone to the support of Price on his extreme left. Forming his men on the Fayetteville road, south of Wilson's creek ford, Churchill led them gallantly up the hill on the left of Slack and in the very center of Lyon's attack. With this reinforcement to the Missourians, Guibor's guns run up in line with the infantry, and Woodruff's battery throw ing shot high over into Lyon's reserves, Price's fire be gan to tell on the enemy, and cause the intervals of their retirement to grow longer. That Bloody hill, where Price stayed and Churchill supported him, was the break water of the tide of battle. Col. Thomas L. Snead's account of the action thence forward is a clear and comprehensive description that cannot be condensed : Meanwhile McCulloch, upon leaving Price, had gone with Mclntosh to the eastern side of the creek, where the infantry of his own brigade and the infantry and artillery of Pearce were both encamped. His first object was to dispose those troops in such a way as to meet Sigel's attack, the strength and meaning of which were not yet developed. In order to do this, he posted Reid's battery on the bluff opposite the mouth of Skegg's branch and ordered Walker's regiment to support it. He then placed Dockery's and Gratiot's regiments further north, along the bluff which forms the eastern bank of Wilson's CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 33 creek, from Skegg's branch northward to the ford. These conditions gave him command of the crossing of Skegg's branch, over which Sigel would have to advance if he should undertake to attack Price in rear. He then posted McRae's battalion, the Third Louisiana, and Mclntosh's regiment of his own brigade, north of Gratiot and on the same bluff. It was upon this bluff that Woodruff had taken position and gone into action. While McCulloch was still making these dispositions, Woodruff perceived that a part of Lyon's column, consti tuting the extreme left of his line, had crossed to the east ern side of the creek and was moving down its left bank toward the position at which his battery was then en gaged. As soon as this fact was made known to McCul loch, he ordered Gratiot to the support of Woodruff, and sent Mclntosh, with his regiment dismounted, the Third Louisiana and McRae's battalion, to meet the advancing Federals. Mclntosh moved rapidly to the front, keeping on the eastern side of the creek. Though covered some what by Woodruff's guns he was greatly harassed by Du Bois, who hurled grapeshot and shell against him from the eastern brow of Bloody hill. Mclntosh, finding the enemy's fire was playing havoc with his men, ordered them to charge. This they did, driving the enemy back across the creek to Lyon's main body. In the ardor of the pursuit the Confederates came within range of Du Bois' battery and Osterhaus' battalion, and were them selves driven back in some confusion. In this engage ment, which began at 7 o'clock and lasted nearly an hour, about 300 Federal regulars lost 80 officers and men. Mclntosh's loss was about 100 out of 1,000 men. While this fight was going on, Sigel had advanced leis urely through the camps out of which he had driven the Confederates at sunrise, and had taken position with his entire force, some 1,200 men and six pieces of artillery, near Sharp's house, on the bluff south of Skegg's branch. His battery occupied a high plateau, and his infantry were drawn up on both sides of the Fayetteville road, with a company of United States cavalry on each flank. It was his purpose to hold this position so as to cut off the re treat of the rebels when they had been put to flight by Lyon. McCulloch, after sending Mclntosh to meet Plummer, had returned to Skegg's branch to look after Sigel. Ark 3 34 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Finding that the further advance of the latter was barred by Pearce's brigade, and by a considerable force which was rallying under cover of the woods on the north side of the branch, he hurried back to the point where Mcln- tosh was engaged with Plummer. On getting there he found the Confederates had won the engagement, and that there was no longer any danger in that direction. Taking four companies of the Third Louisiana that were nearest to him, and ordering Mclntosh to bring up the rest, McCulloch now hastened toward Skegg's branch, determined to attack Sigel. Lieutenant-Colonel Rosser had already taken position with his own men, O' Kane's battalion, and Bledsoe's battery, on the west side of the Fayetteville road, and south of the branch, Bledsoe's three guns being so posted as to completely command Sigel' s position. Sigel and his men were in blissful ignorance of all that was happening in their front, for between them and the valley in which their forces were gathered, stood a dense wood, through whose luxurious undergrowth no eye could pierce. Now and then a skirmisher or an adven turous officer would make his way to the bluff which overhung the little stream and catch sight of the smoke that darkened Bloody hill, and sometimes one, more dar ing than the rest, would venture far enough to see indis tinctly what was going on in the upper part of the valley, toward the ford. At last one of these saw a gray-coated regiment hurrying down the road toward Skegg's branch. Knowing that the First Iowa wore a gray uniform, he at once concluded that this must be it, and such was the report he bore back to Sigel. The latter communicated the glad news to his men and warned them not to fire upon their approaching ' ' friends. ' ' They waved their flags, instead, in joyful welcome. Just at this moment, Reid on the east, and Bledsoe on the west, opened fire upon them at point-blank range. "It is impossible for me," says Sigel, "to describe the consternation and fright ful confusion which were caused by this unfortunate event. * They are firing against us, ' spread like wild fire through the ranks. The artillerymen could hardly be brought forward to serve their pieces. The infantry would not level their arms till too late. ' ' The conster nation and confusion deepened into a panic when about 400 of the gray-coated Third Louisiana, dashing up the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 35 steep bluff with McCulloch and Mclntosh at their head, and Rosser's and O'Kane's battalions following, broke through the thick brush and charged right upon the Fed eral battery. Sigel's whole force took to instant flight, abandoning five of the six guns and throwing themselves for safety into the bushes which lined both sides of the Fayetteville road. Here they got separated; Sigel and Salomon, with about 200 of the Germans, and Carr's company of United States cavalry, tried to make their way back to Spring field by the same route they came, but they were set upon by Lieutenant-Colonel Major, with some mounted Missourians and Texans ; and the Germans, being aban doned by Captain Carr. who made good his escape, were nearly all either killed, wounded, or made prisoners. Sigel, himself, got into Springfield with one man only. Another part of his column made its way to Little York, and the other to Springfield. Lyon, finding that his men were giving way, brought forward a section of Totten's battery with a strong sup port to the right and front of his own line, and enfiladed the Confederates at 200 yards, Totten and Gordon Gran ger helping to work the guns. McCulloch, who had gone with Churchill up Bloody hill, diverted this fire by return ing in all haste to the valley and sending Carroll's Arkan sas cavalry and five companies of Greer 's mounted Tex ans to turn Lyon's right and charge these guns in rear. The ground was ill adapted to the operations of cavalry, and Greer and Carroll were finally driven back. But this movement relieved Price, nevertheless, and at the same time so increased Lyon's anxiety that he ordered the First Iowa to the front, and brought Steele's battalion of regulars to the further support of Totten. Up to this time (10 o'clock) the infantry of Pearce's brigade — three fine regiments, Gratiot's, Dockery's and Walker's — more than 1,700 strong, had not fired a shot, nor had Graves' Missouri regiment, about 300 strong, that ought to have followed Weightman into battle. There they lay, just across the creek, not half a mile away, with nothing to do and doing nothing. Price gal loped over to Gratiot during the pause in the fight, while Greer and Carroll were attempting to flank Lyon's right, and begged for assistance. Gratiot, who had served under Price in Mexico, and loved and honored him, did 36 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. not hesitate an instant, but ordered his regiment to fol low Price, who was hastening back to his own men, and sent an officer to tell General Pearce what he had done. Pearce came forward at once and rode with Price and Gratiot as the regiment charged up Bloody hill. Gra- tiot's regiment came within range of Totten's guns. The men passed safely, but the rear of the regiment was swept of its field and staff. Gratiot 's horse was killed, and his orderly, too; the lieutenant-colonel was dis mounted; the major's arm was broken; the quarter master was killed and the regimental commissary seriously wounded. But the regiment kept on and took the posi tion it had been ordered to take, and held it under a fire so furious that in less than thirty minutes 100 of its men were dead or wounded, out of 500. Lyon could not see the entire field. He knew now that Sigel had been defeated, and that the troops that did it would soon be coming, all flushed with victory, Gratiot hurrying even now with 500 men to give vigor to the assault, his own men weary, broken down by a long night march and five hours of the very hardest fighting. He could also see the rest of Pearce's brigade forming on the opposite hill with muskets that had not been tarnished by the smoke of battle, and he could see Missourians, Texans and Arkansans, thousands of men, taking heart as they got used to the din of war, resolved to be "in at the death," and there was no hope left within him but to dash upon Price with all his might and crush him before these gathering forces could come to his help. He now brought every available battalion to the front. Neither line of battle was more than 1,000 yards in length, and Price guarded carefully every point of his own. . Wherever the danger was greatest, and the battle most doubtful, thither would he hasten and stay until the danger was passed. In the intervals of the fighting he would rise to the front among his skirmishers, and peer into the thick smoke, until he could discern what the enemy was doing, and then his voice would ring down the line and officers and men would quickly spring for ward to obey it. One of his aides, Colonel Allen of Saline, was killed while receiving an order. Weigh tman and Cawthorn and his adjutant were mortally wounded: Slack was fearfully lacerated by a musket ball, and Clark CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 37 shot in the leg. Col. Ben Brown was killed. Churchill had two horses shot tinder him. Colonels Burbridge, Foster and Kelly, and nearly every other field officer, were disabled. But in spite of all these losses, Price grew stronger all the time, whilst Lyon's strength was fast wasting away. Walking along his line from left to right, encouraging his men by his own intrepid bearing and well-spoken words, rallying them when they were beginning to give way, steadying them when they still stood to duty, inspiring them with his own brave purpose to make one more effort to win the day while yet there was time to try, Lyon had nearly reached the advanced section of Totten's battery when his horse, whose bridle he held in his hand, was killed, and he was wounded in the leg and in the head. Stunned and dazed by the blow, and his brave soul cut down by the shock, he said in a confused sort of way to those nearest, that he feared the day was lost. But he came quickly to his senses, and ordering Sturgis to rally the First Iowa, which was beginning to break badly, he mounted a horse that was offered him, and swinging his hat in the air, called out to his men to follow. A portion of Mitchell's Second Kansas, which Lieutenant Wherry had just brought again to the front, closed quickly around him, and together they dashed into the fight. The next moment Mitchell was struck down, se verely wounded, and almost instantly thereafter a fatal ball pierced Lyon's breast. He fell from his horse into the arms of his faithful orderly, who had sprung forward to catch him, and in another minute he was dead. The command devolved upon Major Sturgis. He called his chief officers together. Price had already been rein forced by Gratiot, and now Dockery's Arkansas regiment and a section of Reid's battery were getting into posi tion, and with them the Third Louisiana, which, for the first time since its encounter with Plummer in the early morning, had been united under its colonel, Hubert, and was eager to add to the laurels it had gathered by the defeat of Plummer and rout of Sigel. Sturgis decided to retreat. The order was given and silently obeyed, Steele's battalion of regulars covering the retreat and marching away in perfect order. It was now half past eleven. The Confederates, stretched out among the bushes in which they had been fighting all day, were 38 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. waiting for the enemy's next onslaught, or for Price's order to attack, and ready for either. Suddenly a cry rang along the ranks that the Federals were retreating; that they had already stolen away and were ascending the hill from which they had begun the attack upon Rains at dawn ; that they had at last abandoned the field for which they had fought so bravely and so well against unconquerable odds. Springing to their feet, the Confed erates gave utterance to their unspeakable relief and to their unbounded joy with that exultant cry which is never heard except upon a battlefield whereon its victors stand. Colonel Snead foots up the casualties of the battle as follows: Union, killed, 258; wounded. 873; missing, 186; total, 1,317. Confederate, killed, 279; wounded, 951; total, 1,230. He estimates the number of Confederates engaged on Bloody hill at 4,239; Union 3,500, of whom about 1,000 were regular troops, consisting of four com panies of infantry under Plummer, four companies Sec ond infantry under Steele, one company First cavalry under Canfield, and two light batteries Second artillery under Totten and Du Bois. Confederate artillery, fifteen pieces; United States artillery, including battery with Sigel, sixteen pieces. The Federal troops were vastly superior in arms and ammunition. General Lyon, when he advanced beyond Springfield and concluded to fall back upon that place, had sent this dispatch: "Prudence seems now to indicate the necessity of withdrawing, if possible, from the country, and falling back upon either St. Louis or Kansas; St. Louis via Rolla will most likely be selected, with a view to rein forcements and supplies. " He added a list of his forces, made up "from recollection, not having returns for some time past, in consequence of the troops having been scat tered around in the vicinity of Springfield, ' ' the total of which he put at 5,868 men, which exceeds Colonel Snead's estimate by 2,318. Brig. -Gen. Ben McCulloch, in his official report, after describing the preliminary operations, said : CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 39 While still hesitating in the morning, the enemy were reported advancing and I made arrangements to meet them. The attack was made simultaneously at 5 130 a. m. on our right and left flanks, and the enemy gained the positions they desired. General Lyon attacked us on our left, and General Sigel on our right and rear. From these points batteries opened upon us. My command was soon ready. The Missourians, under Generals Slack, Clark, McBride, Parsons and Rains, were nearest the position taken by General Lyon with his main force. They were instantly turned to the left and opened the battle with an incessant fire of small arms. Woodruff opposed his battery to that of Captain Totten, and a con stant cannonading was kept up between these batteries during the battle. Hebert's regiment of Louisiana vol unteers and Mclntosh's regiment of Arkansas mounted riflemen were ordered to the front, and after passing the battery, turned to the left and soon engaged the enemy with regiments deployed. Colonel Mclntosh dismounted his regiment, and the two marched up abreast to a fence around a large cornfield, when they met the left of the enemy already posted. A terrible conflict of small arms took place. The opposing force was a body of regular United States infantry, commanded by Captains Plum- mer and Gilbert. Notwithstanding the galling fire poured upon these two regiments, they leaped over the fence and, gallantly led by their colonels, drove the enemy before them back upon the main body. During this time the Missourians, under General Price, were nobly attempting to sustain themselves in the center, and were hotly engaged on the sides of the height upon which the enemy were posted. Far on the right, Sigel had opened his battery upon Churchill's and Greer's regiments, and had gradually made his way to the Springfield road, upon each side of which the army was encamped, and in a prominent position had estab lished his battery. I at once took two companies of the Louisiana regiment which were nearest me, and marched them rapidly from the front and right to the rear, with orders to Colonel Mclntosh to bring up the rest. When we arrived near the enemy's battery we found that Reid's battery had opened upon it, and it was already in con fusion. Advantage was taken of it, and soon the Louis- ianians were gallantly charging among the guns and 40 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. swept the cannoneers away. Five guns were here taken, and Sigel's command, completely routed, was in rapid retreat with a single gun, followed by some companies of the Texas regiment and a portion of Colonel Major's Missouri regiment of cavalry. In the pursuit many of the enemy were killed and taken prisoners, and their last gun captured. Having cleared our right and rear, it was necessary to turn all our attention to the center, under General Lyon, who was pressing upon the Missourians, having driven them back. To this point, Mclntosh's regiment, under Lieutenant- Colonel Embry, and Churchill's regiment on foot, Gratiot's regiment and McRae's battalion were sent to their aid. A terrible fire of musketry was now kept up along the whole side and top of the hill upon which the enemy were posted. Masses of infantry fell back and again rushed forward. The summit of the hill was covered with the dead and wounded. Both sides were fighting with desperation for the day. Carroll's and Greer's regiments, led gallantly by Captain Bradfute, charged the battery (Totten's), but the whole strength of the enemy was immediately in rear, and a deadly fire was opened upon them. At this critical moment, when the fortunes of the day seemed to be at the turning point, two regiments of Gen eral Pearce's brigade were ordered to march from their position (as reserves) to support the center. The order was obeyed with alacrity, and General Pearce gallantly marched with his brigade to the rescue. Reid's battery was ordered to move forward, and the Louisiana regiment was again called into action on the left of it. The battle then became general, and probably no two opposing forces ever fought with greater desperation. Inch by inch the enemy gave way and were driven from their position. Totten's battery fell back. Missourians, Arkansans, Louisianians and Texans pushed forward. The incessant roll of musketry was deafening, and the balls fell thick as hailstones, but still our gallant Southerners pushed on ward, and with one wild yell broke upon the enemy, push ing them back and strewing the ground with their dead. Nothing could withstand the impetuosity of our final charge. The enemy fled and could not again be rallied, and they were seen at 12 m. fast retreating among the hills in the distance. Thus ended the battle. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 41 General Pearce, with his Arkansas brigade (Gratiot's, Walker's and Dockery's regiments of infantry), came gallantly to the rescue when sent for, leading his men into the thickest of the fight He contributed much to the success of the day. The commanders of regiments of my own brigade, Colonels Churchill, Greer, Embry, Mclntosh, Hebert and McRae, led their different regi ments into action with the greatest coolness and bravery, always in front of their men, cheering them on. Wood ruff, Bledsoe and Reid managed their batteries with great ability, and did much execution. Brig. -Gen. N. B. Pearce, commanding First division, army of Arkansas, in his report said: At about 5 o'clock a. m., one of my escort came hastily into camp and informed me that the enemy were in force a short distance to the east of camp. About the same time Captain Carroll informed me that General McCul- loch received information of their approach on the west. I immediately formed the Third, Fourth and Fifth infantry Arkansas volunteers, and posted them as fol lows : The Fourth and Fifth on the heights to the east, to support Reid's battery, which had been ordered posted there. Woodruff's battery was ordered to take position on the eminence north of camp, and the Third infantry ordered to support it. I took position with the Fourth and Fifth infantry and Reid's battery, holding Captain Car roll's company of cavalry in reserve in the ravine. Soon the enemy (General Sigel's brigade) appeared in our rear in the field formerly occupied by General Churchill's cav alry. They had infantry, cavalry and artillery, but being some distance off, I was unable to determine the char acter of this force, as they displayed no flag until they marched across the field and had fired several rounds with their artillery. With a glass I discovered the Stars and Stripes unfurled, and at once ordered Captain Reid to open on them, which he did with terrific effect. I am informed that the enemy lost several killed and wounded, and several artillery horses killed by this fire enabled the infantry of Colonel Hubert's regiment to charge and take the battery. The movement of the enemy appear ing to be directed to our left, I ordered Col. F. A. Rector to take command of the Fourth and three companies of 42 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the Fifth and support the battery, and hold his position at all hazards. Colonel Mclntosh informed me that the enemy was pressing our right on the west. I sent two pieces of artillery from Reid's battery and seven com panies of the Fifth to their assistance, and went myself and took the Third, Colonel Gratiot commanding, and led it into action. Here was the fiercest and most terrific part of the battle. Here our volunteers met and repulsed the regular troops of the Federal army. Colonel Mcln tosh arrived with the artillery and seven companies of the Fifth, and entered into the fight with all the vigor and determination of veterans. I deem it lost time for me to attempt to sound the praises of the brave and chivalrous Mclntosh. Always in the midst of the fight, cheering and leading his men forward to victory, his name and conduct were a host in our behalf. In this part of the engagement many of the gallant Third fell. We mourn the loss of the gallant Captain Bell, the chivalrous and gentlemanly Captain Brown, the noble and brave Lieutenant Walton. Among our wounded are Lieutenant- Colonel Neal of the Fifth in fantry, and Major Ward of the Third. Captain Wood ruff's battery was engaged early in the action against Totten's Federal battery, and drove it back, and after ward, when the enemy were retreating, did efficient serv ice by playing on them in their retreat. We are pained here to have to record the death of Lieutenant Weaver, of this battery, who acted gallantly and received the death-wound by a cannon-ball while sighting his gun. Colonel Carroll's cavalry was engaged in a part of the field away from my view, and I ... am informed that the officers and men of his regiment did efficient service in charging the battery of the enemy. The Fourth infantry, Colonel Walker, was placed in a trying posi tion, especially for new troops, grapeshot, shell and minie balls flying around them and no chance of returning the fire. Much praise is due Colonel Rector for the cool ness displayed in remaining in position, as well as to the officers of the regiment for their efforts to the same effect, for at this part of the field was supposed would be the main fight, and on my return to this part of the field, finding the artillery withdrawn from the height, I ordered General Parsons' battery to take position formerly occu pied by Captain Reid's battery, and an advance move- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 43 ment of half a mile to the east by the Fourth and Third companies of the Fifth, supported by Captain Carroll's company of cavalry, to give the enemy battle should he desire it; but the Louisianians under Colonel Hebert had fully satisfied Colonel Sigel, and he retreated without giving us another chance at him. Colonel Carroll's regi ment, though badly fatigued, was ordered to proceed on the Springfield road in pursuit of the enemy, which duty he performed with his usual promptness and ability. My thanks are especially due to the officers of the sev eral regiments for the promptness and ability with which they obeyed, and to the men for the determined manner in which they executed, all my orders. To particularize I would have to send in a full roster. I am particularly indebted to Colonel Rector for the ability displayed dur ing the engagement ; to Commissary-General Grace, who was with me when I led the Third into action, and re mained in the thickest of the fight, aiding and urging the men on to victory ; also to my aid, Major Cline, who was by my side in the thickest of the fight ; also to Mr. Sam uel Mitchell, Messrs. Brown, Taylor and Dawson, for conveying orders during the engagement as volunteer aides; also to Surgeon-General Smith and to the surgeons of the regiments for their kind attention to the wounded. Our loss has been heavy, but a great victory is ours. Peace to the ashes of the dead, and immortality to the names of the defenders of the lovely South. Early in the action Captain Jefferson was sent to reconnoiter the enemy and was taken prisoner and is still in their hands. I respectfully call the attention of the general to the praiseworthy conduct of Colonels Gratiot, Carroll and Dockery ; also to Lieutenant-Colonels Neal and Provence, the former of whom was badly wounded, and the latter continually in the midst of the battle; also to Majors Ward and Featherston. Governor Churchill's account, published August, 1897, further indicates the part Arkansas took in the "Battle among the Ozarks." He wrote: My regiment was 400 to 500 strong; at least, that was about the number I took into action. In conversation with General Price he told me that my regiment undoubt edly saved the battle. Coming to his assistance at the 44 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. time I did, when he had been forced back by superior numbers, gave his men renewed courage and him time to reform his line and fill up his broken ranks. This movement on my part prevented the junction of Lyon and Sigel, which, if accomplished, would have resulted in our defeat. Checking the rapid advance and progress of General Lyon gave General McCulloch time to take the Louisiana regiment, or part of it, to oppose Sigel, whose battery he captured, and put to flight the remainder of his forces. Even after Sigel's defeat the battle raged furiously for several hours. Two-thirds of my officers were either killed or wounded, and my loss was as great as the combined losses of the Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas State troops. I well remember the remarks of General Price as my regiment came marching down the road, without a single break in their ranks, and mov ing by the left flank into line of battle. He turned around to his soldiers and said, ** Now, boys, stand your ground like men. The Arkansas troops have come to help you." I never saw a cooler or more fearless man upon the field of battle than General Price. He took no care of his person, but was seen riding up and down his lines giving words of encour agement to his soldiers. The loss of the Missourians was quite heavy ; in fact, more than half the entire army. Our whole loss was in front of General Lyon's com mand. Sigel made but a feeble resistance and inflicted but little injury upon our lines; I doubt whether five men were killed or wounded before his advance. I lost only two or three men when he fired upon my camp in open field. My entire loss was in front of the forces of General Lyon, and he fell about 75 or 100 yards in front of my command and the Missourians. I am inclined to believe that he was either killed by the Missourians or by my regiment. To this may be added the following from Colonel Churchill's report immediately following the battle: The adjutant, James Harper, was shot down, mortally wounded, at his post, with his sword in hand, leading and cheering on the men. The sergeant-major, N. T. Roberts, was wounded in the shoulder while leading on the left. My volunteer aide, A. H. Sevier, was wounded CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 45 in the breast while encouraging our men to stand by their colors, and had to be taken from the field. The lieutenant-colonel and major evinced great bravery in leading their different wings in the charge. Major Harper at one time was taken prisoner by the enemy, but made his escape. Captain Alexander was killed at the head of his company. At the same time fell Lieuten ants Dawson, Chambers and Johnson; Captains Ram- saur and Porter, and Lieutenants King, Adams, Har- desty and Mclver, severely wounded. Captains Pearson and Gibbs and Lieutenants Saddler, Wair and Head were slightly wounded. I lost in the engagement, 42 killed and 155 wounded. Adjutant- General Snead, in the name of General Price, returned to Colonel Churchill the following graceful tribute : Headquarters Missouri State Guard, Springfield, August 15, 1861. Colonel: I am directed by Major-General Price tp thank you in the name of this army and of the State of Missouri for the very important services which you and your fine regiment of mounted riflemen have rendered during the campaign in this State, and to particularly acknowledge, in the most grateful manner, the eager bravery with which your men met the enemy on the loth inst, the constancy with which they fought, and the spirit with which they rushed upon and drove back his disciplined soldiers. Your own gallantry and skill were so conspicuous on that memorable day that every Mis- sourian will always cherish the remembrance of you with pride and gratitude. Extracts culled from the reports of other officers, as they are given in the Official Records, give further details of the service of Arkansas commands. Col. James Mc- Intosh led his regiment, the Second Arkansas, at first through "a terrible fire of grapeshot and shells," then joining with the Louisiana regiment, led both in a charge which drove the enemy to the rear. His report con tinues : 46 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. The command of the regiment then devolved upon Lieut. -Col. B. T. Embry, who gallantly led it through the fight to victory. My officers behaved in this first fight with great bravery and coolness. Captains Gibson, King, Brown, Arrington, Witherspoon, Parker, Gambel and Flanagin, all deserve great credit for the manner in which they led their companies. The regiment lost 10 killed and 44 wounded. Captain King was wounded. Orderly-Sergeant Spencer was conspicuous for his gal lantry. He was wounded while leading on his men. Col. John R. Gratiot, commanding the Third, said in his report : Of my regiment I must speak in the highest terms for their coolness, prompt obedience and daring courage, and although but few of them had ever been upon a battle field, they maintained their position thirty minutes under one of the most galling fires ever delivered upon a regi ment by 1,500 or 2,000 Federal troops, besides being en filaded by a heavy battery. They stood their ground, delivering their fire with deadly effect and extreme rapid ity. I must here mention in terms of highest approba tion the conduct of my lieutenant-colonel, David Pro vence, for his coolness, skill and gallantry during the whole action, his example having a powerful influence in keeping the men steady and cool. Major Ward behaved with great gallantry ; also, Captain Sparks and his com pany ; Captain Hart and his company ; Captain Brown up to the time of his death, and Lieutenant King, after ward in command of the company ; Captain Bell, up to the time of his death. These companies bore the heat of the action and distinguished themselves by their gal lant conduct, and the conduct of the officers and men throughout was so universally gallant and courageous that it is hard to make personal distinctions. The report of Col. J. D. Walker speaks for the Fourth Arkansas infantry : The Fourth regiment, on the morning of the loth, was placed under the command of Adjutant- General Rector, who remained in command during the day. This regi ment was not brought into immediate action, being sta tioned upon the hill for the protection of Reid's battery, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 47 and although exposed to danger from the fire of the enemy, all the officers and men of the regiment behaved with great promptness and coolness in all their move ments during the day. Col. Tom P. Dockery, of the Fifth regiment, said in his account of the battle : Captains Titsworth's, Dismukes', Neal's, Dowd's, Whaling's and Lawrence's companies, under the com mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Neal, were ordered to sup port the Third Louisiana and the Third Arkansas which had been exposed to a wasting fire from the main body of the enemy (who were posted on an eminence on the west of our encampment) from the commencement of the at tack. Lieutenant- Colonel Neal moved promptly for ward, and while gallantly leading the charge he fell severely wounded. I immediately took command of the battalion and led them on to the attack. I must, in jus tice to my own feelings, say that Captains Titsworth, Dismukes, Neal, Dowd, Whaling and Lawrence, and the commissioned officers and privates under their command, demeaned themselves with such gallantry and made such splendid exhibitions of courage, that I cannot repress an expression of my commendation. Each man did his whole duty, and although fully exposed for fifteen or twenty minutes to a most deadly fire from the enemy, no man, so far as my observation went, wavered, blanched or quailed, but poured volley after volley into the ranks of the enemy, who soon fell back and commenced a re treat from the field, leaving it covered with their dead and wounded. Captains Hartzig's, Arnold's, McKean's and Hutchinson's companies were detailed, after Reid's battery had been moved to a different position, to act as skirmishers, and continued in that service until the engagement was over. It would be injustice not to make some mention of the highly creditable manner in which these gentlemen deported themselves. Cavalry and artillery shared with the infantry all the glory of this battle in the far West on behalf of the Con federacy. As illustrative, we refer to the report of Col, DeRosey Carroll, First Arkansas cavalry: 48 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. The officers and men acted well their part in the hard battle of yesterday, for awhile supporting the Missouri in fantry amid a shower of balls from the enemy's infantry, mixed with grape from their batteries, hurled thickly around us; then in the charge by flank on the Totten battery; and the execution done in the charge shows how coolly and bravely all behaved ; and where all did so well there can be no discrimination. They drove the enemy in retreat from the battery, and it became easy for the infantry (Colonel McRae's) to march on it. The artillery is mentioned with high praise in the many reports of the engagement. Capt. J. G. Reid, speaking for his own battery, said : Among the men who were attached to the battery it is impossible to say that any failed to fill the most sanguine expectations as to their courage ; but among them I de sire to mention Lieutenant Wilcox and Sergeant Louder- milk as displaying great coolness and bravery during the engagement. Woodruff's Pulaski battery behaved with great gal lantry, and did much to win the victory. A part of the time the battery was opposed by the battery of Capt. James Totten, who had been stationed at Little Rock at the time the arsenal there was taken possession of ; and in the artillery duel which ensued, First Lieut. Omer R. Weaver was struck by a shell and instantly killed. Private William Carver was also killed, and two were wounded, one of whom, W. H. Byler, afterward died. General Lyon'sbody was sent by General McCulloch to Springfield, where it was taken in charge by Mrs. John S. Phelps. The wagons of the Federals were busy haul ing and burying their dead. In the hospitals there were 1,000 Federal wounded and about half that number Con federate wounded. The hospitals at that place were in charge of Dr. W. A. Cantrell, surgeon of Churchill's regi ment. The following is a list of the killed and wounded among the Arkansas troops in this battle : CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 49 CHURCHILL'S REGIMENT. Field and staff: Killed — James Harper, adjutant. Wounded — N. Terry Roberts, sergeant-major; and A. H. Sevier, aid. Capt. J. S. Pearson's company, Des Arc Rangers: Killed, 4 — James M. Williamson, B. J. Freeman, C. L. Tuck and T. L. Miles. Wounded, 29— Capt. J. S. Pear son, First Lieut. W. W. Wair, Second Lieut. D. Mclver, Second Sergt. A. P. Haralson; First Corp. J. S. Perry; G. Harrison, J. C. Tarkington, James S. Stone, W. D. Anthony, W. Lee, F. M. Crawford, G. W. Isaac, J. E. Nicholson, C. N. Hayley, A. C. Dunaway, L. T. Benton, John S. Perry, L. B. Harden, S. J. Perry, W. F. Fogg, H. Lafaver, A. M. Mclntosh, S. L. Morgan, J. M. Jack son, James P. Clement, R. M. Sheppard, E. Davis, L. H. Johnson and S, H. McNeill; total, 33. Capt. L. M. Ramsauer's company, Augusta Guards: Killed, 5— Third Lieut. J. S. Chambers, Ord. -Sergt. R. E. Alexander, Fourth Sergt. J. J. McKenzie, J. C. Chenault and F. Jones. Wounded, 14 — Capt. L. M. Ramsauer, Corp. B. F. Bland, Ensign G. W. Cagle, J. H. Hart, R. S. Eppes, O. P. Ray, Henry Hudson, William Page, Wm. M. Owen, S. Gallion, W. H. Horton, M. Lewis, S. Huddles- ton and E. T. Strong; total, 19. Captain Lasuel's company: Killed, 3 — Corp. T. J. McCarley, B. B. Harkrider and Francis M. Oliver. Wounded, 13 — Thomas J. Markham, John T. O. Kelley, W. C. Hogan, Robert Craven, Leonard Sutton, Abraham Fryer, W. P. Nealey, Richard Beason, Henry White, John J. Graves, John H. Burtram, W. W. Carter and A. W. Copelind; total, 16. Capt. J. L. Porter's company, Desha cavalry: Killed, 4 — Charles Noble, Vivian Stokes, William Williams. Captain Porter, wounded, afterward died. Wounded, 10 — Lieut. T. A. Hardesty, Sergt. W. L. Story, Sergt. David W. Gibbs, W. W. Witherspoon, W. Wells, William Hew lett, James Cowen, William Cowan, Theodore Dreyfus and Joseph Leak; total, 14; missing, James Arnold. Capt. T. J. Daniel's company, Yell cavalry: Killed, 7 — Second Lieut. H. C. Dawson, F. M. Armstrong, D. L. Adkins, W. J. Jourden, J. A. Toomer, D. G. Kirkpatrick and B. Buchanan. Wounded, 13 — A. Fulks, A. M. Jones, J. Q. Brinson, H. H. Williams, H. Cox, W. R. Harrison, Ark 4 50 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. G. L. R. L avert y, Thomas Longley, Philip Ottenheimer, G. W. Bryant, R. Fulton, W. T. Brown and J. P. Rush; total, 20. Capt. Oliver Basham's company, Johnson cavalry: Killed, 3 — Joel Smith, Thomas Spears and J. A. Love. Wounded, 13 — Second Lieut. Thomas King, Third Lieut. James Sadler, Levi Robinson, W. H. Flemings, John Watts, R. B.Williams, J. A. Morgan, John Dunham, Jor dan E. Cravens, Jasper Newton, J. N. Boyd, W. R. Swindle and H. N. Rose; total, 16. Capt. L. P. McAlexander's company, Lawrence Rang ers: Killed, 7 — Captain McAlexander, Thomas Mount, J. J. Walker, W. B. Wooley, H. C. Childers, R. M. Pease and Wesley Rainey. Wounded, 23 — Lieut. W. C. Adams, Lieut. T. J. Rainey, Corp. A. Phillips, Corp. S. E. Frier, J. F. Keaten, John Hudspeth, W. R. Mitchell, Thomas J. McPherson, Thomas Gilchrist, William Belt, Levi Hamilton, J. Y. Hudleston, Eli Marshall, O. A. Casey, A. B. Fuller, Thomas Crany, J. P. Foust, William Childers, D. P. Ballard, G. H. Gilchrist, G. W. Smith, A. B. Israel, and Jas. P. Clark; total, 30. Capt. Morton G. Galloway's company, Pulaski Lancers: Killed, 5 — Lieut. John Johnson, P. H. Johnson, J. A. Ray, W. H. Parker and A. J. Lane. Wounded, 8— Sergt. A. C. Johnson, Samuel Henderson, James Johnson, John Crudgington, James Lewis, W. J. White, George W. Barnes and J. L. Munson; total, 13. Capt. D. H. Reynolds' company, Chicot Rangers: Killed, i — A. J. Beaks, wounded, afterward died. Wounded, 13 — Sergt. EliT. Mills, Jasper Duggan, Sergt. William F. Estill, S. S. Stuart, Corp. L. Harmon, B.W. Mathis, Robert Mathias, Richard Thurmond, Frank Cable, James A. Yuill, Nelson M. Lynch, Peter G. Smith and Frank Smith; total, 14. Capt. Gibbs' company, Independence cavalry: Killed, 5 — J. Stamper Cannon, Jonathan Osborne, John S. Neill, Patrick H. House, John Garrett, wounded, afterward died. Wounded, 14 — Sergt. Robert S. Neill, Sergt. Henry Eggner, Corp. Jefferson Stone, Bugler Joe Nanviller, Anderson Cole, John Henderson, William H. Killings- worth, Alex. Lyle, Andrew J. Lyle, Marcus D. Lenare, Alfred Page, Peter O. Thweatt, Selden M. Weaver and Lieut. C. P. Head; total, 19. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 51 CARROLL'S REGIMENT. Company B, Captain Lewis : Killed — Serg. J. C. James and John Benge. Wounded — John B. Hearn and B. F. Gardner. Company C, Captain Armstrong: Wounded — Wesley Clay and Marion Douglass. Company D, Captain Perkins: Wounded— P. B. Wells, B. F. Walker and W J. Spivey. Company F, Captain McKissick: Wounded — J. Carroll, S. S. Jefferson and W. Hawert. Company G, Captain Walker: Wounded — Capt. Walker, John Smith, John Allstott, Thomas Crawford and William Donaldson. Company H, Captain Park: Killed — Corp. Isaac Pat terson. Wounded — William Young and C. A. Crawford. Company I, Captain Withers: Killed — Corp. Peyton T. Deming and W. L. Haines. DOCKERY'S REGIMENT. Lieutenant-Colonel Neal was wounded. Captain Whal- lin's company: Wounded — W. J. Johnson. Captain Dismukes' company: Wounded — James Key. Captain Lawrence's company: Killed — Gilmer Faulkner and H. A. McCullough. Wounded — John Dawphot and R. D. Saddler. Captain Dowd's company: Wounded — P. T. Cockner, J. C. Ray, Robert Tate, Joseph Goodney and Samuel Goodney. Captain Titsworth's company: Killed — Richard Fort. Wounded — Alexander Hagler and James Hart. GRATIOT'S REGIMENT. Killed — Montcalm Simms. Wounded — Elias B. Moore (now secretary of state), commissary, and Major Ward. Company A, Captain Hart: Killed, 3 — M. L. Laughton, W. H. Wilson and Parker. Wounded, 12 — Thomas H. Simms (now revenue collector) , Wm. H. Worham, Homer Cross, Wiley Stenson, S. C. Allen, A. L. Warner, G. D. Britt, W. T. Phillips, William Kidd, James T. Reynolds, Daniel Hawks and Ed. Alexander; total, 15. Company B, Captain Bell : Killed, 4— Capt. S. K. Bell, Sergt. William Brown, Martin Hawkins and Thomas Neal. Wounded, 7 — M. Henry, J. Neal, Wm. Williams, Nick Wax, T. Robinson, Jeff Pollard and H. Smith; total, ii. Company C, Captain Brown: Killed, 3 — Capt. H. T. 52 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Brown, James Adkins and D. B. Carr. Wounded, 9 — John A. Clark, Sergt. J. Neill, H. H. Mareau, George K. Clark, John H. Dishaso, Corp. J. L. Whitfield, Sergt. John Wallace, T. Davis and R. Howard; total, 12. Company D, Captain Sparks: Killed, 7 — First Lieut. Joseph J. Walton, J. C. Emmett, D. Holderly, R. Wood- son, L. D. Harper, Meyer Levy and H. Gorcheaux. Wounded, 17— Sergt. T. O. Harris, B. Tarburton, W. C. Rickman, I. Zager, J. Bruce, H. C. Dunn, A. Page, H. L. Kay, R. Parks, S. Hopper, G. W. Caldwell, J. Kanna- day, I. Harris, S. A. Hogers, G. Thomas, J. Willard and C. Reed; total, 24. Company E, Captain Griffith : Killed, 2 — Henry Vaught and R. J. McClyter. Wounded, 8 — Lieutenant Inge, J. M. Brewer, J. W. Howell, J. A. Lemons, T. M. Smith, B. H. Griffith, Eli Turnbaugh and R. W. Knight; total, 10. Captain King's company: Killed, 2 — Lieut. J. V. Blackard and J. W. Lowell. Wounded, 9 — J. N. Brown, J. H. Grace, James Farmer, James Polleet, Robert Manley, M. V. Hall, R. L. Mays, John Warren and J. W. Butts; total, ii. Captain Buchanan's company: Wounded, 5 — Jacob Pyatt, T. Pyatt, William Crawford, William Evans and G. L. Washington. Captain Stuart's company: Killed, 2 — Corp. M. West and Vaughan. Wounded, 9 — Sergt. W. S. Vincent, Lewis Groff, William Coleman, F. T. Lowe, Richard Lawless, Corp. S. Montgomery, James King, Lieut. F. M. Sanger and J. M. Clem; total, n. Captain Corcoran's company: Wounded, 4 — Captain Corcoran, Lieutenant Donaho, Corporal Kirby and Private McCarty. MCINTOSH'S REGIMENT. Captain Gibson's company: Wounded, 2 — S. J. Dibley and H. Barnhart. Captain Parker's company: Killed, 2 — John B. Ford and J. L. Sweeden. Wounded, 6— P. O. Breedlove, W. L. Debeny, M. E. Cleveland, Thomas Falls, L. R. Hill andC. W. Wood; total, 8. Captain King's company: Killed, 6 — H. C. Harden, Perry King, Win. Barker, J. W. Howell, T. J. Kelly and John Hitcher, Jr. Wounded, 16 — Capt. J. M. King, John CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 53 Lemoyne, W. J. Dorris, B. F. Mayberry, J. Harbinger, G. W. Amfrey, Garrett Ford, W. J. Dailey, S. C. Hicks, H. M. Hicks, A. Ashley, Robert W. Beacham, Perry Shilling, George Halsum, H. J. Kelly and D. L. Cren- shaw; total, 22. Captain Arrington's company: Wounded, 2 — James Henry and R. P. Smith. Captain Flanagin's company: Killed, 2 — J. G. Malone and G. F. Flanagin. Wounded, 7— A. K. White, J. F. Bridgway, J. H. Anderson, S. D. Trapp, Thomas Goran, John Holder and W. F. Holder ; total, 9. Captain Witherspoon's company: Wounded, 2 — W. H. Morley and Lieut. G. Ashley. Captain Brown's company: Wounded, 6 — Joseph White, Joe Wright, Harvey Holman, W. Flanagin, Thomas Wilkins and W. Jeter. Captain Gamble's company: Killed, i — Sergt. J. M. Carrigan. Wounded, 2 — J. D. Hardie and W. Bittick; total, 3. WOODRUFF'S ARTILLERY. Killed, 3 — Lieut. Omer R. Weaver and William Carver; W. H. Byler was wounded and afterward died. Wounded, i — Richard Byrd; total, 4. SUMMARY. Churchill's regiment, 45 killed, 161 wounded, 2 cap tured; DeRosey Carroll's regiment, 5 killed, 17 wounded, 2 captured; Dockery's regiment, 3 killed, 12 wounded; Gratiot's regiment, 24 killed, 82 wounded; Mclntosh's regiment, n killed, 44 wounded; Woodruff's artillery, 3 killed, i wounded. Totals, 91 killed, 317 wounded, 4 captured. Although the victory of the Confederates was decisive, and their army occupied Springfield and the battlefield, while the Federal army made an immediate retreat to Rolla and St. Louis, leaving their artillery and small- arms, with the body of their commander, in the hands of the victorious Confederates, it was seriously attempted at the North to claim it as a victory for the Federals against overwhelming numbers. Not merely the vaporing pub- 54 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Ideations of the Northern press and sensational army bul letins, but both houses of Congress at Washington jointly resolved that it was a great victory, and the name of "Springfield" should thenceforth be emblazoned on army colors in letters of gold ! CHAPTER III. GENERAL HARDEE AT PITMAN'S FERRY— TRANSFER OF TROOPS TO CONFEDERATE SERVICE— ORGANIZA TION OF CLEBURNE'S REGIMENT— HARDEE'S COM MAND TRANSFERRED TO KENTUCKY— POLK AT COLUMBUS — BATTLE OF BELMONT. ON June 25, 1 86 1, William J. Hardee, an officer of the old army and author of the then accepted text book of military tactics, was addressed by Samuel Cooper, adjutant and inspector general, as follows: Brig. -Gen. W. J. Hardee, Memphis, Tenn. : Sir : Herewith you will receive the appointment of brig adier-general of provisional forces in the service of the Confederate States. Your command will embrace that portion of Arkansas lying west of the White and Black rivers, and north of the Arkansas river to the Missouri line. The general purpose of this assignment is to watch over and protect the country within the limits referred to. Besides the regiment from Arkansas under command of Colonel Hindman, recently ordered there, it is the pur pose of the department to send an additional force of about 3,000 men in that direction. You will establish your headquarters at such point within the district referred to as will best subserve the purpose of your command. By formal articles of transfer, July 15, 1861, General Hardee representing the Confederate States government, the following regiments of Arkansas State troops were transferred by the military board to the Confederate States service: "All the troops now in the service of the State of Arkansas, consisting of the following regiments, battalions, companies and detachments : The First regi ment of infantry, commanded by Col. P. R. Cleburne ; the Second regiment of infantry, commanded by Col. John 55 56 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. R. Gratiot ; the Third and Fourth regiments of infantry, attached to General Pearce's command; the Fifth regi ment of infantry, commanded by Col. David C. Cross; the Sixth regiment of infantry, commanded by Colonel Lyon ; the Seventh regiment of infantry, commanded by Col. R. G. Shaver; the First regiment of cavalry, com manded by Col. DeRosey Carroll ; the First battalion of cavalry, commanded by Lieut. -Col. Solon Borland; the Pulaski artillery, commanded by Captain Woodruff ; the Clark county artillery, commanded by Captain Roberts; the McCown artillery, commanded by Captain McCown; Trigg's artillery, commanded by Captain Trigg; and a company of artillery attached to Pearce's command." On July 22d General Hardee assumed command of the "upper district of Arkansas," with headquarters at Pit man's Ferry, Ark. His force, as reported August 3ist, included the Arkansas regiments of Cleburne, Hindman, Cross, Lyon, Shaver, and Borland, Shoup's battalion of artillery, Roberts' battery and Phifer's cavalry. Patrick Roanyne Cleburne, who at once became promi nent in the command thus formed, had been a lawyer at Helena since his admission to the bar in 1856, a partner of Mark W. Alexander, and later of J. W. Scaife and L. H. Mangum. He was a member of the vestry of St. John's Episcopal church, Helena. In January, 1861, he was one of the body of citizens of Helena who tendered their serv ices to Governor Rector for taking the Little Rock arsenal, and was present on that occasion as a private in the com pany organized for that purpose, called the Yell Rifles, in honor of Colonel Yell, former member of Congress and governor of the State, who was killed at the head of his regiment in the battle of Buena Vista. Upon the call of the military board of Arkansas for troops to resist the invasion of the Southern States ordered by Mr. Lincoln, the Yell Rifles entered the State service with Cleburne as their captain, Edward H. Cowley, first lieutenant, James Blackburn, second lieutenant, and Lucius E, Polk, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 57 third lieutenant. The company marched to Mound City, above Memphis, where, on May i4th, it was united with other companies in the formation of a regiment of infantry, of which Captain Cleburne was elected colonel, J. K. Patton, lieutenant-colonel, and J. T. Harris, major. L. H. Man gum was made adjutant of the regiment. It was the First regiment of infantry, State troops, but subsequently, upon the transfer of the State troops to the Confederate States service, according to the date of such transfer, it was numbered the Fifteenth Arkansas infantry, pro visional army of the Confederate States, although in the unavoidable confusion consequent upon a change of enu meration, another — Col. Jas. Gee's Camden regiment — was given the same number. In July, 1 86 1, Gens. Gideon J. Pillow and M. Jeff Thompson were projecting movements from New Madrid upon the Federal forces at Bird's Point, Cape Girar- deau and St. Louis, and eagerly importuning General Hardee to cooperate with them in their enterprises. Learning that the Federals had left Ironton for Green ville, Mo. , General Hardee advanced to the latter place early in August, with 1,000 infantry and 250 cavalry and a battery of artillery, to meet them. They, learning of his approach, retired to Ironton. He planned an attack on Ironton, but Thompson failed to cooperate. About the 1 2th, Colonel Borland occupied Fredericktown. He was determined to hold his position in Missouri. Maj.- Gen. Leonidas Polk, commanding Department No. 2, and given charge of military operations in Arkansas and Mis souri, August 2d, sustained Hardee in this determination for a time, and requested Pillow to abandon New Madrid and join Hardee in aggressive operations in Missouri. But on August 26th, Polk directed Hardee to retire to the river at Point Pleasant, and said he would advise abandon ing the line altogether if it were not for the saltpeter mines on White river. Hardee approved this and declared that, in the event of a campaign against Memphis, "he 58 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. could fight more effectively for Arkansas east of the Mis sissippi than anywhere else." By September ist he had withdrawn his forces to Pitman's Ferry. On September 1 7th he notified General Polk that he had ordered Colonel Cleburne to move with his regiment and repair the road to Point Pleasant. His morning report that day showed 900 sick out of 4,529 present, not including 1,100 at Poca- hontas. On September 24th, Hardee dispatched to Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston : * ' The last detachment of my -com mand will start to-morrow for Point Pleasant, on the Mis sissippi, which place I hope my entire command will reach in nine days from that date. ' ' Crossing the Mississippi, he led his Arkansas troops to join the Central army of Kentucky, in which Hindman, Cleburne and Shaver soon became brigade commanders. Before leaving Pitman's Ferry, General Hardee ordered the transfer of all stores to Pocahontas, and left a force there under Col. Solon Borland, consisting of seven com panies of Borland's cavalry, four companies of McCarver's infantry regiment, and Captain Roberts' independent company. Maj. D. F. Shall, with 230 men, moved to near Ironton, Mo., to cooperate with M. Jeff Thompson, late in October. The defeat of Thompson exposed the posts at Pitman's Ferry and Pocahontas to an expedition soon afterward attempted by Col. R. J. Oglesby, of Illi nois, from Bird's Point. In apprehension of this, Novem ber 5th, Colonel Borland wrote to General Polk that he had but 700 men and half a dozen discarded cannon. Needing artillerists, he had ordered back Roberts' company, which Hardee had called into Kentucky. Fortunately, the Fed eral expedition was turned aside in Missouri. Governor Magofnn, of Kentucky, on August i9th addressed a letter to President Lincoln, begging that the neutrality of that State might be respected through his orders as President, and that the soldiers that had been enlisted in the United States army and collected in the central part of Kentucky, and there armed and supplied CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 59 without the consent of the State, might be removed. President Lincoln, who had already crossed the Rubicon of constitutional law, and become the practical dictator of the United States, answered the governor with a prompt and flat refusal. A similar letter to President Davis received a prompt reply, to the effect that the assemblage of Confederate troops in Tennessee had no other object than to repel the lawless invasion of that State by the forces of the United States ; that the government of the Confederate States had respected most scrupulously the neutrality of Kentucky, but neutrality, to be entitled to respect, must be strictly maintained — if the door be opened on the one side for aggression, it ought not to be shut on the other for defense. Mr. Davis concluded by expressing the belief that Kentucky would not suffer its soil to be occupied for the purpose of giving advantage to those who violate its neutrality and disregard its rights. It was a vain hope. Neutrality in Kentucky, as in Mis souri, was scoffed at by those who believed the power of the United States government supreme over the soil of the States. The Federal commanders threw their forces into por tions of Kentucky and Missouri at will, without a thought as to the rights of those States. The revelation of their plans, through these movements, made it necessary that General Polk should immediately occupy Columbus, in Kentucky, as a point of great strategic importance on the Mississippi river, where the naval flotillas of the United States might be arrested in descending that river, cutting the Confederacy in twain, and making possible the estab lishment of strongholds and depots for operating against regions adjacent to the great river. Polk took possession of Hickman, September 3d, and of Columbus, September 4th. On the 5th and 6th of September, Brig. -Gen. U. S. Grant occupied Paducah, Ky. , at the mouth of the Tennes see river, and established his headquarters there and at Cairo, at the mouth of the Ohio. 60 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY H1STOR Y. The occupation of Columbus by General Polk was timely enough to prevent the movement soon afterward under taken by General Grant. While General Polk was strengthening his defenses, he placed a small force at the village of Belmont, in the lowlands of the Mississippi bottom, opposite the heights of Columbus. Col. J. S. Tappan's Thirteenth regiment Arkansas infantry and Beltzhoover's battery were thrown across the river to occupy Belmont and to drive out the Union military bands, which had terrorized the citizens and frightened into exile all who refused to take an oath to support a constitution which the men who would administer it utterly ignored. On the yth of November General Grant moved against Columbus, for the purpose, as he asserted in his "Mem oirs," of diverting attention from other movements of Federal armies in Missouri, to try the strength of his newly-constructed gunboats, and test the weight of the metal of General Polk's artillery at Columbus. The movement in Missouri he attempted to aid was the threatened march of Fremont, Lane and Sturgis against Price, after the battle of Lexington, when Price had caused them each to go to ditching in anticipation of an attack, while he was really crossing the Osage to make a junction again with McCulloch, at Neosho. That the engagement brought on at Belmont by Grant was a second thought of the Federal commander, to give diversion to his officers and men, and furnish evidence of activity to the expectant people who were demanding that the "war be prosecuted," there is no reason to doubt. The disadvantage of the defensive policy is that it gives the aggressor liberty to pick his own time, place, and opportunity for directing his blows. The armies of both sections had been lying inactive. But the North had been making preparation ; and the destructive agencies CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 61 devised and now nearly finished were speedily to be hurled, with a force hitherto unknown to warfare, against the Southern lines. General Polk was careful to maintain a defensive force at Columbus, as was demanded of him, under belief that the movement of the large force from Paducah meant an attack upon Columbus. No other supposition could have been entertained under the circumstances. He, himself, went to Belmont, across the river, to lead in the actual battle going on there. Col. J. C. Tappan, of the Thirteenth Arkansas infantry, was in command of the small force stationed at "Camp Johnston, ' ' Belmont, consisting of his own regiment, two companies of Miller's Mississippi cavalry, and six guns of the Watson artillery, commanded by Colonel Beltz- hoover. J. C. Tappan, a lawyer of high standing at Helena, Ark., had been chosen colonel of the Thirteenth Arkansas at its organization in June, 1861, with a full quota of 1,000 men. A. D. Grayson was elected lieuten ant-colonel, and J. A. McNeely, major. The captains were: Robert B. Lambert, Company A; B. C. Crump, Company B; Benj. Harris, Company C; Balfour, Com pany D; J. M. Pollard, Company E; Dunn, Company F; Shelton, Company G; Johnson, Company H; George Hunt, Company K. On the morning of November 7th, at 7 o'clock, Colonel Tappan received information that the enemy was landing on the Missouri side of the river. Ordering the two cav alry companies forward to watch the enemy, he formed his command for battle. Two of Beltzhoover's guns were stationed in an old field back of the camp, commanding a road, with Pollard's company to sustain them, and the other four guns to the northwest commanding the other road, with the companies of Hunt and Harris in support. The rest of the regiment was formed in line of battle fac ing from the river. After Tappan had been in line about half an hour, Gen. Gideon J. Pillow reinforced him with 62 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the Tennessee regiments of Colonels Freeman, Pickett, Russell and Wright, from Columbus, and took command. Tappan's companies supporting the artillery were returned to the regiment, and he then sent out Shel ton's company as skirmishers, who in about three-quarters of an hour were driven in by the enemy, who advanced with heavy firing along the entire Confederate line. The Thirteenth and the other regiments returned the fire, and maintained their position for over an hour and a half. Then Russell's regiment fell back, representing that it had exhausted its ammunition. The enemy being greatly augmented by a force that came in from the old road back of the encampment, the Confederates retired in good order through the timber recently cut down by Colonel Tappan's orders, to the bank of the river, where they again formed, but were compelled to fall back under the bank and await rein forcements from Columbus. Meanwhile, the enemy took possession of and burned the camp of the Arkansas regi ment. General Cheatham reported that upon his arrival he found a line formed by the fragments of the Thir teenth Arkansas, Thirteenth and Second Tennessee, ready and anxious to advance, and he went forward with them, the Thirteenth Arkansas in advance, against the Federal flank. Soon the fight was renewed, with the Confederates on the aggressive. After fifteen minutes' heavy firing, a charge was made and the enemy routed with heavy loss. General Polk arriving, and with him several additional regiments, he and Cheatham continued the pursuit of the Federals to their transports, and captured muskets, blankets, knapsacks and clothing, thrown down in the flight. The horses of Beltzhoover's battery having run away with a limber, one of the guns was left in the course of the engagement, and was being carried off by the enemy, when W. J. Hunt, of the Second Tennessee, ordered his men to fire on the captors, and the enemy cut out the horses and fled. Captain Hunt, of the Thir- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 63 teenth Arkansas, and a quartermaster of the same regi ment, went to the assistance of the other Hunt and brought the piece back. The Thirteenth lost 12 men killed, 45 wounded and 25 missing. Subsequently, the Thirteenth Arkansas regiment was engaged in the bloody battle of Shiloh, April 6 arid 7, 1862, Colonel Tappan joining it after the battle had opened and Lieutenant- Colonel Grayson had been killed; participated in the invasion of Kentucky by Kirby Smith, fighting gallantly under Cleburne in the battle of Rich mond, August 30, 1862, and took a conspicuous part in the battles of Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge and Ringgold Gap. With the Arkansas troops under the lead of Cleburne, it stood by that gallant leader unflinchingly to the close of his career. Colonel Tappan, after the battle of Shiloh, was promoted to brigadier-gen eral and was transferred to the Trans- Mississippi depart ment, where he commanded a brigade composed of Shaler's regiment, Shaver's Seventh, regiment, Col. R. S. Dawson's Sixteenth regiment, and the regiment of Col. S. H. Grinsted, in the defense of the Arkansas river and Little Rock, September, 1863, and was under Major- General Churchill at the battles of Pleasant Hill and Jenkins' Ferry, in 1864. Maj. J. A. McNeely, by suc cession, became colonel of the Thirteenth, and R. A. Dun can, major, frequently commanding the regiment with distinguished gallantry. The Thirteenth was consoli dated with the Fifth Arkansas, under Col. John E-. Mur ray, at the battle of Ringgold Gap, where their service was so distinguished as to receive the thanks of the Con federate Congress, CHAPTER IV. CAPTURE OF LEXINGTON— PRICE AND McCULLOCH— VAN DORN IN COMMAND — FEDERAL ADVANCE UNDER CURTIS— BATTLE OF ELKHORN TAVERN- DEATH OF McCULLOCH AND McINTOSH — HEAD QUARTERS AT POCAHONTAS — VAN DORN PRE PARES TO CROSS THE MISSISSIPPI — THE NOBLE WOMEN OF ARKANSAS. AFTER the battle of Oak Hills and the occupation of Springfield by the Confederates, General Price, having failed to induce General McCulloch, com manding the Arkansas troops, to unite with him, made a forward movement toward the Missouri river with his Mis souri command, directing his march against Lexington, via Warrensburg. There he was joined by Thomas A. Harris, whom he had appointed brigadier-general in the State Guard. General Harris, upon his little staff of three men, had recruited a force of 2,700. Price besieged Lexington with the forces under Generals Harris, Steele, Parsons, Rains, McBride, Slack, Congreve, Jackson and Atchison, and on September 20, 1861, after 54 hours' incessant attack, he was successful, capturing 3,500 pris oners, 3,000 stands of arms, 5 pieces of artillery and 2 mortars, 750 horses and $100,000 worth of commissary stores, besides $900,000 in money, which had been taken from the Bank of Lexington by the besieged (and was now restored at once) , together with Colonels Mulligan, Marshall, Van Horn, Peabody, Gowen, White and 118 commissioned officers. The Confederates lost only 25 killed and 72 wounded. After this, Price learned that all the forces of the enemy which General Fremont could control were marching against him. Generals Pillow and Hardee had been with- 64 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 65 drawn from southeast Missouri. Ammunition, which General Price had arranged to get, was taken charge of by McCulloch, who expressed his want of confidence in Price's ability to maintain himself in Missouri. Price was compelled to disband a large number of recruits for want of arms and munitions, and send to their homes 10,000 volunteers who had come to him from the counties north of the Missouri river. The campaign which Price had conducted with so much success was thus doomed to fail through want of the cooperation of his associates in command of the several departments. The result was discouraging to the enthusiastic uprising which had been incited in Missouri in behalf of the Confederate cause. General Price appealed, from camp on Sac river, to Gen eral McCulloch in behalf of a forward movement, and remonstrated with Mr. Benjamin, secretary of war, against inaction at a time when the Federal forces in Missouri were embarrassed by rivalries between com manders, and the fatuous course of Fremont, who was occupied with anticipations of future political campaigns rather than the military duties of the present. But General McCulloch seemed to distrust utterly the plans and purposes of General Price. He wrote from Springfield, Mo., November iQth, to the secretary of war: Sir: I shall return to Arkansas, put my troops in winter quarters soon, and ask permission to come imme diately to Richmond so as to give the administration cor rect information regarding affairs in this region before it acts on matters here. On November 3oth, the secretary of war replied : I cannot understand why you withdrew your troops, instead of pursuing the enemy when his leaders were quarreling and his army separated into parts, under different commanders. Send an explanation. To which McCulloch responded, December 4th, from Little Rock : Ark 5 66 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. Your dispatch of November 3oth has been received. It is impossible to explain by telegraph. I ask leave to go to Richmond at once for that purpose. My army is now going into winter quarters. At Richmond, December 226., General McCulloch filed a long report in which he urged the want of discipline in the troops under General Price, with reflections upon the competency of his subordinates, and even the bravery of his men. He concluded by confessing that he and Gen eral Price could not agree upon a plan of campaign, and declared that it was impossible for the different com mands to march together ; he denied that he was unwill ing to assist Missouri, reminding the secretary that he had been assigned to the Indian Territory, with instruc tions to defend that district against invasion from any quarter — a district never at any time seriously threatened. While McCulloch was absent in Richmond, Gen. James Mclntosh wrote from Van Buren, December yth, to the adjutant-general, stating that he was in command of the division of General McCulloch and had established his headquarters at Van Buren ; upon which Adjutant-General Cooper made the endorsement: "In my opinion, this command, instead of being put into winter quarters, would be kept free from disease by being ordered to the field in Missouri." Gen. Leonidas Polk wrote from Columbus, January 3, 1862, to President Davis: I am perfectly satisfied that the force now in McCul loch 's hands should be controlled by some one who would cooperate freely and vigorously with General Price. So long as the Federal forces under Halleck are kept occu pied by Price in Missouri, they cannot cooperate with Buell against Johnston. The army of McCulloch, as it appears to me, might be better employed than in the inaction of winter quarters. That was equivalent to pronouncing sentence against the course of McCulloch, for no voice was more potential with Mr. Davis. There followed, January loth, special CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 67 order, No. 8, creating the "Trans- Mississippi district, of Department No. 2, " and placing it under the command of Maj.-Gen. Earl Van Dorn. On January 29, 1862, with headquarters at Little Rock, General Van Dorn assumed command of the district, which comprised Missouri, Louisiana north of Red river, Arkansas west of the St. Francis, and Indian Territory. Headquarters were established at Pocahontas, Ark. , and the following staff officers announced: Maj. W. L. Cabell, chief of quartermaster's department; Maj. A. M. Haskell, inspector-general; Maj. R. W. Keyworth, chief of sub sistence department; Capt. W. N. R. Beall, assistant adjutant-general; Surg. J. J. Gaenslan, medical director; Lieut. Clement Sulivane, aide-de-camp. February 6th, General McCulloch was commanded by Van Dorn to order two regiments of infantry, two of cavalry and one battery of artillery to proceed at once to Pocahontas, where they would be stationed for the time being. The appointment of Major-General Van Dorn to the command of the Trans- Mississippi district was no doubt made in order to bring about harmony of action between the Missouri and Arkansas troops, or, rather, between the commanders of the respective forces, the soldiers being on the best of terms, and their sympathies alike in many respects. The Arkansans were eager to advance against the enemy wherever they could find him, and were equally indignant at the cruelties of war inflicted upon the once prosperous and happy districts of Missouri, which the enemy had invaded and ravaged. They were sorry they could not have a chance at Fremont, who had induced the large enlistment of Germans in the Federal army — "Dutch," as they were called all alike — immi grants lately from a strange land, but eager to precipitate themselves into a conflict growing out of questions that were supposed to be settled and compromised in the for mation of the government that offered them an asylum. They were principally from the servile grades of their 68 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. own land; ignorant, brutal, and needing to be instructed to in matters of government and conduct of civilized war fare more than the negroes. The Confederates wished to have vengeance especially upon these intruders, who insulted women, burned homes of non-combatants, and murdered prisoners of war. The difficulties between the Texan commander of Arkansas troops and General Price requiring settlement were: i, rank and precedence; 2, the proper field of action; 3, widely divergent views of military strategy. .General Price, holding the higher rank, had yielded the command of the combined forces on a former occasion. It could not be expected of him that he should do so con tinuously, especially since he had shown, by practical successes, that he could cope with the enemy and attract thousands to his standard, unaided, and on his own mo tion had displayed an energy and enterprise in military campaign that has rarely been equaled. General McCulloch had an unconquerable distrust of the military judgment and capacity of General Price, notwithstanding his achievements, and of the stability and subordination of the recruits he had drawn to his standard. He avoided the association with earnestness, claiming that he was assigned to the Indian Territory, and was not authorized to march his command into Mis souri. He was as much bent upon retaining his Indian command as General Price was anxious for the occupa tion and redemption of Missouri. If there had been forces adequate, it might have been well enough to keep the Indian country under military control; but it was of secondary importance in comparison with other fields. There was, however, reason for believing General Price's designs in Missouri could not be carried out. Its stra tegical effect in preventing the reinforcement of Grant was its chief importance. The eastern boundary of Mis souri was occupied by large bodies of the enemy, and other forces could be sent out from the Ohio river on CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 69 short notice. Kansas, to the west, swarmed with the enemies of the South. Were there available forces of the Confederates sufficient to hold Missouri, should they suc ceed in occupying it? Yet it was strategy to make war in Missouri. In fact, the soldiers of both commands, Arkansans and Missourians, were otherwise likely to have to go to the assistance of Polk or of Johnston and Beauregard east of the Mississippi river, where the great wager of battle was being listed, not for a district, but for the entire country. A vigorous movement into Mis souri might have rendered such transfer unnecessary. Very openly it was said by some that the object of Van Dorn's assignment was to accomplish this transfer. The circumstance of his prompt establishment of headquarters at Pocahontas, in striking distance of Point Pleasant on the Mississippi, the route by which Hardee's command had been transferred, confirmed this opinion in many minds. Halleck's strategy was to prevent this. Gen. John Pope, who had been in command of the enemy's forces in Missouri between the Missouri and Osage rivers, had sent "Merrill's Horse" through Saline county, where they were bombarded with mortars loaded with mud by Jo Shelby and his men, near Waverly. They stripped farms, impressed stock from women, and captured, Feb ruary i pth, several companies of Confederate recruits at Blackwater creek, near Knobnoster, under Colonels Rob inson, Alexander and McGiffin, of which achievement Generals Pope and Halleck made much boast to Wash ington. Brig. -Gen. S. R. Curtis was, December 23d, assigned to the command of the Federal forces of the southwestern district of Missouri. On December 2d, martial law had been declared in Missouri by Mr. Lin coln, and Curtis was without restraint. The men under him burned the towns of Dayton and Columbus on Jan uary 3, 1862, and with a largely superior force proceeded southward, confronted by Price's men. Taking Spring- 70 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. field, after a skirmish on February 1 2th, and fighting at Crane creek on the i4th, and near Flat creek on the i$th, Curtis met a more stubborn resistance by Price's men at Sugar creek, Ark., on the lyth. Sustaining considerable loss, he encamped on the battleground, waiting for Sigel, who was a few miles behind, to reinforce him. While the Confederates under Price were camped at Cross Hollows, a cavalry force of Federals under General Asboth, on the i8th, took Bentonville, Ark., which the Confederates had evacuated. The same officer, on the 23d, marched into Fayetteville, occupied only by a Con federate picket of Col. W. H. Brooks' battalion. Fayette ville is the principal town of northwest Arkansas, north of the Boston mountains, the center of a fine region of rolling black lands, where grow the famous "big, red apples." Its permanent occupation would signify the subjugation of a populous section of the State, most of whose men were in the Confederate army, and was a menace to Van Buren and Fort Smith. McCulloch's division, meanwhile in winter quarters at Van Buren, consisted of the following commands, as reported January i, 1862: First brigade, Col. James Mclntosh commanding: First regiment Arkansas mounted riflemen (Churchill), 845 ; Second Arkansas mounted riflemen (Mclntosh) , 862; South Kansas- Texas regiment (Greer), 1,003; Fourth Texas cavalry (Sims), 713; Sixth Texas cavalry (Stone), 927; company Texas cavalry (Stone), 83; total, 4,433- Second brigade, Col. Louis Hebert commanding: Hill's Arkansas infantry, 738; McNair's Fourth Arkan sas infantry, 725; McRae's Arkansas battalion, 646; Mitchell's Fourteenth Arkansas infantry, 930; Rector's Arkansas infantry, 544; Hebert's Third Louisiana in fantry, 739; Third Texas cavalry, 796; Whitfield's bat talion Texas cavalry, 297; Brooks' battalion cavalry, 316; Games' battery, 74; Good's battery, 105; Hart's battery, 75; Provence's battery, 73; total, 6,052. Grand total of the division, 10,485. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 71 General Van Dorn was at Pocahontas when, February 23d, he received dispatches informing him of the retreat of Price, followed by Curtis and Sigel, and the battle of Sugar Creek. Van Dorn immediately sent McCulloch orders to form a junction with Price without loss of time, to which McCulloch sent reply, March ist, that he had ordered the command to march, as soon as the command ing general should arrive, with six days' cooked rations, and awaited his arrival anxiously. He appended to this note a memorandum of his actual effective strength: Hebert's brigade, 4,637; Greer's brigade, 3,747; total, 8,384. Artillery, 18 guns. McCulloch 's command marched the next day across Boston mountains to Elm Springs, Ark. , where it would be joined by General Van Dorn and the Indian forces of Gen. Albert Pike, who had been given command of the department of the Indian Territory, November 22d. The main body of Price's Missouri State Guard was camped near Elm Springs. The march of the division over the Boston mountains was toilsome and slow. It reached the place of rendezvous on the 3d, where the commanding general had arrived. On the 4th of March, without waiting for General Pike, Van Dorn moved out for Bentonville, where Sigel, with his Germans, had arrived and taken possession. Two bodies of cavalry, one under Mclntosh and one under Gates, were pushed forward, the former to go around the town on the west, the latter on the east, in an effort to cut off Sigel from the main body of the enemy at Sugar creek. But Mclntosh found the country north of Ben tonville so rough with rocks, ravines and mountains, guarded by a natural cheval-de-frise of small oaks and black-jacks, that he could not hope to form a junction with Gates. Coming upon the Federals in force on these heights, and being fired upon from an ambuscade, he made an effort to charge the enemy in position, but the ground was impracticable for cavalry, and he drew back 72 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. to Bentonville, which by that time had been evacuated by Sigel. Sigel left the north side of the town as Price's division entered on the south ; his departure marked by burning* depots and forage piles. Van Dorn says in his report: "Owing to bad roads and delay, though the distance from Bentonville to Elm Springs is only eleven miles, it was n o'clock before the leading division (Price's) reached the village. If we had arrived an hour sooner, we could have cut off Sigel and beaten the enemy easily the next day. ' ' Colonel Gates pressed upon the retreating Germans and charged their rear guard on the road to Springfield, killing and wound ing several of the guard, and capturing a baggage-wagon laden with arms and ammunition. He accelerated Sigel 's march by continuing the pursuit and attack until the enemy disappeared in the uncertain light of the winter night. Sigel continued his march in the darkness until he joined the main body in its stronghold, on the heights commanding the valley of Sugar creek. Snow fell during the night, and clothed both hill and valley in a mantle of white. The hills are high on both sides; the valley deep, about half a mile in width. The main road from Fayetteville to Springfield, via Cross Hollows, crosses the valley at right angles, and the road from Fayetteville leading to Keetsville, Mo. , after mak ing a circuit through the hills, also passes through this valley. Going north, a road takes off to the left nearly parallel with it, some three or four miles distant, return ing to the Telegraph road on the "divide," called Pea ridge, or Peavine ridge. These roads Curtis had block aded with trees felled across them. He had erected for midable breastworks on the headlands, and the approach by the main road from Bentonville he had "completely shielded by earthworks. " As Van Dorn well knew, to attack the enemy's line from the south, with his infantry and artillery in chosen positions, would be storming a stronghold. He resolved CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 73 to make a formidable demonstration in front, while he should lead his main attack against the enemy's left (northeast) flank, marching around on the north of the Federal line. Camping with his whole force within a mile of the enemy's front, he lighted the snowclad hills with the fires of an army, as if in position to give battle next day from the alignment then occupied. After the men had eaten supper, Van Dorn and Price, with the Missouri division, leaving their campfires burning, re sumed the march in the night, moving on the parallel road which would lead them into the Telegraph road, by a long and toilsome circuit, it is true, but well in the enemy's rear, and in an equal position on Pea ridge near Elkhorn tavern, to the north of the enemy. The large trees felled across the roads by Curtis, to block up the approaches on his left and rear, proved formidable obsta cles to cut away for the passage of the Confederate artil lery and ordnance wagons, and the flanking column did not reach the ridge in the enemy's rear until 10 o'clock a. m. of the ;th. Its march had not been molested and it took the desired position unopposed. The roar of artillery and rattle of small arms came from the distant front and center as this line of attack was formed in the rear of the carefully-established lines of the enemy. Completely surprised, Curtis had necessarily to reverse his front at the place of attack, which was his extreme left, and now became his right, at the same time that his established right center was engaged from the front. When Price's division ascended to the plateau of Pea ridge, there ensued an artillery duel of more than an hour's duration, between the batteries of Captains Wade and Clark, and the enemy's batteries commanded by Col onel Carr. The guns of the enemy first ceased firing. Gates' Missouri cavalry charged the position occupied by the batteries, but was repulsed ; then, dismounting, went into line under General Little. The enemy charged Little's brigade twice and were repulsed. Having placed 74 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. a battery in position which played upon the enemy's lines, the commands of Little and Slack charged the position and held it. A general advance was still de ferred, waiting for McCulloch 's demonstration against the enemy's front McCulloch was necessarily delayed in arraying the dis organized detachments which choked the narrow roads — General Pike with his Choctaws, Cherokees and Creeks, Stand Watie's regiment on foot, D. N. Macintosh's Creeks on foot, Drew's Choctaws, pony-mounted, and a " squadron, " as General Pike named it, of mounted whites —in all only 1,000 men. Gen. Douglas Cooper's Indian command contained Chilly Mclntosh, the Creek war chief, and John Jumper, Boudinot, and other celebrated Cherokees, all of whom had come up late on the 6th. "It was about 10:30 a. m.," says Col. Evander McNair, of the Fourth Arkansas, on the extreme right of Hubert's (Second) brigade, "before that brigade, under the lead of McCulloch, was ordered into action. ' ' The brigade was composed of the Arkansas regiments of Colonel Mcln tosh, Colonel McNair and Colonel Mitchell, Hebert's Third Louisiana, and McRae's battalion. There were nominally attached to the brigade, Brooks' Arkansas bat talion, Good's, Hart's and Provence's Arkansas batter ies, Games' Texas battery, the Third (Greer's) Texas cav alry, and Whitfield's battalion Texas cavalry. The other brigade, called the First brigade, sometimes led by Mc lntosh, was commanded by Col. Elkanah Greer, of the Third Texas, and was composed of Churchill's Arkansas rifles, the Second Arkansas regiment, the South Kansas- Texas regiment and three commands of Texas cavalry. Colonel Mclntosh usually left the command of his regi ment to Lieutenant-Colonel Embry, and forming a bri gade of mounted men from the five regiments, led them as cavalry, which was the arm of the service preferred by that dashing soldier. The colonels of Arkansas regiments, in both of these brigades, had already greatly distin guished themselves. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 75 General McCulloch, in person, directed the movement against the enemy's front and center, near Leetown, up the valley and along its sides. For this the enemy was prepared, and resisted with a storm of shot and shell from his batteries in position, and with infantry behind his breastworks. There were vacant fields, separated by strips of timber and dense undergrowth in the valley, and fallen timber, which the Confederates had to pass ; this they did with difficulty, but with undaunted resolu tion under a harassing cross-fire from the enemy upon the heights. They ran upon ambuscades of the infantry in the underbrush, which they drove back, and when opposed by a new formation, repulsed that also, until, penetrating the cul-de-sac formed by the valley, they were met by large bodies of the enemy's infantry. The Confederates reformed their disordered lines and charged, driving back the enemy, and capturing a battery which had been playing upon them at a distance of nearly 200 yards. It was when the enemy had concentrated his forces to meet this charge that General McCulloch fell, shot from the brush, and Colonel Hubert, leading an advancing party of the brigade which became disconnected, was sur rounded and captured. Four times the Confederates re pulsed the enemy's lines in this advance up the valley, driving batteries and repulsing assaults by cavalry on their flanks, with great slaughter of men and horses. But finding the enemy strongly intrenched and increasing in numbers, beginning to enfilade their lines and threatening to surround them, being themselves unsupported by reinforcements from their own lines, and "not hoping to obtain any advantage by persistence in the attack, they fell back in good order, no one pursuing them," to a position which Colonel Greer, who now com manded the division, ordered to be occupied until further orders. Colonel Mclntosh had led a cavalry charge with five regiments across a field and, driving away the gun- 76 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ners, carried a battery of the enemy. With his usual fearless energy, he returned to the assault in a second charge, and was shot dead at the head of his men. The consequence of the loss of these leaders, to whom the entire command looked for direction in the disposition of their forces in the action, caused a paralysis of this wing of the army. Officers rode about trying to learn the posi tion of commands, what movement next should be made, and who was to take the place of the dead commanders, while the men stood or rested in their lines, in a state of inaction, until after 2 o'clock. Then, after correspond ence with the commanding general, several miles distant, they were ordered to his assistance. Meanwhile, on the field near Elkhorn tavern, before 2 o'clock, it was evident, Van Dorn reported afterward, that if McCulloch could advance or even maintain his ground, Price's left could be thrown forward, the whole line advanced, and victory won. A dispatch to this effect was sent to McCulloch, but was never received by him. "Before it was penned his brave spirit had winged its flight, and one of the most gallant leaders of the Con federacy had fought his last battle." It was getting late in the day, and General Price sent instructions to his subordinate commanders that they would press the enemy at once, and drive him from the field, or be driven, and to prepare for a general advance. The brunt of the action had fallen during the early part of the day on the brigades of Slack and Little, and they were everywhere victorious, though Slack fell mortally wounded. Toward evening the enemy were found in great force, supported by artillery, and the whole line was advanced. "Forward! for Missouri, for Arkansas, for the States which stood for manhood and equality, in good faith, as the symbols of a lasting Union." The foe resists; he delivers deadly volleys of musketry and hurls screaming shells, which bursting scatter death among the Confederates. But on they press, as the MAP OF THE SHGiraNTr THE POSITIONS OF THK STATES AND CONFEDERATE FORCES G^of MarcK,1862 . : • c>? • ^ * ' *inap forwarded to the Eru*Lneer Department. ^^BiihliBhed bjr authority of SECRBTART OF WAR, — Union — ConftdaYtte CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 77 enemy falls back stubbornly into a wood across the field, resolving to retire no further. Now the Confederates charge the wood. The lines of Carr cannot stand ; they retire, as Colonel Little said, "compelled to seek refuge in the obscurity of the forest." Col. Henry Little's report is the story of the action of his brigade of Missouri volunteers. If the whole battle could be described as he pictures the action of that bri gade, it would stand revealed as in a photograph. His account, which is here reproduced, is clear and unimpas- sioned — no boasting, no criticism — a plain narrative which carries with it the conviction of its truthfulness in every word. It rivals any description of Xenophon's "March to the Sea," or of "Livy's pictured page." The brigade . . . marched from bivouac at Elm Springs early on the morning of March 6th, and pro ceeded on the road to Bentonville. In compliance with orders issued from headquarters on the previous evening, Colonel Gates' regiment of cavalry led the advance of the whole army. On reaching Bentonville the smoke of burning stores and dwellings indicated the presence of the enemy (Sigel and his Germans), whose rear guard abandoned the town as Colonel Gates' cavalry entered. From information subsequently received, it is believed that this body of troops was General Sigel 's division, numbering from 5,000 to 7,000 men. Colonel Gates, pressing upon the retreating enemy, engaged his rear fuard a short distance beyond the town on the Spring- eld road. Here, besides the capture of prisoners and a baggage-wagon laden with arms and ammunition, our cavalry killed and wounded several of the enemy and compelled the main body to continue its retreat, pursuing it until dark. The other regiments of the brigade, occu pying their respective positions in the line, came into camp late in the afternoon and proceeded to prepare supper, having received orders to resume the line of march at 8 o'clock on the same evening. Colonel Gates' cavalry having rejoined the brigade, the Second regi ment under Colonel Burbridge was detailed for the advance. At 8 o'clock our line of march was resumed, and con- 78 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. tinued all night. Once, about midnight, and again, toward morning, our progress was checked by an extempore blockade of the road, the enemy having felled the timber behind him as he retreated. By 6 a. m., the yth, we had cleared the road of every impediment, and by 8 o'clock we reached and secured possession of the Telegraph road at a point about half a mile to the north [and rear] of the enemy's position. The Second infantry, being at the head of our column, was now ordered to advance in line by the hillside to the right of the road, the Second brigade, under General Slack, following. Gates' cavalry next defiled by the left up the face of the hill afterward occupied by our artillery. Here the cavalry made a prize of several forage wagons, returning laden to the camp of the enemy. In compliance with orders, I then advanced by the same road with the remaining portion of my command. The Third infantry I placed in posi tion as reserve on the hill to the left of the road, and shortly afterward summoned up the two batteries under command of Captains Wade and Clark, which were im mediately placed in position with some other batteries [MacDonald'sand Bledsoe's] already engaged in replying to the heavy fire directed from the enemy's artillery along the line of the Telegraph road. For more than an hour our guns played upon the enemy's batteries with such spirit and effectiveness as to silence their fire. Colonel Gates, with his cavalry, then charged the heights, sup ported by Rives' regiment of infantry. On reaching the ground, our cavalry received a heavy discharge of small arms from three regiments of the enemy's infantry in position. Returning the fire, our cavalry prudently fell back before superior numbers, and, dismounting, they formed on the left of Colonel Rives. The enemy, in turn, advanced against our lines, but were received by Colonel Rives' regiment with a heavy fire, and repulsed with heavy loss. A second time the enemy charged our lines, only to be repulsed with greater spirit, Colonel Rives sternly holding [his "position, from which his men did not yield an inch of ground. After an inter val of thirty minutes the enemy, with two pieces of artil lery, were observed advancing against our right, occupied by Colonel Burbridge (the Second) and by the men under General Slack. Major Lindsay, of the Sixth divi sion, arriving on the ground with a small body of CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 79 infantry, I directed him to the support of Colonel Bur- bridge's position, on the left. Thus supported, Colonel Burbridge advanced, driving the enemy before him. This movement was supported on the left by the simul taneous advance of Colonels Rives' and Gates' regiments, which speedily occupied the heights lately crowned by the enemy's batteries. Here we found a broken caisson and a quantity of ammunition, and several dead and wounded horses, showing the destructive effects of our batteries on the enemy's position. After a considerable interval, the batteries of the enemy renewed the action by a heavy fire directed against our lines from the road in front of the Elkhorn tavern. A brisk reply from Guibor's battery, which I had placed in position on the road to the left of Rives' infantry, very speedily checked the bold assault of our adversaries, who gradually slackened their fire and answered only by an occasional round from their guns. Meantime our ambulances were summoned to the field. After our wounded had been removed, the wounded of the enemy, who thickly strewed the ground, were removed to our hospitals in the rear. Colonel Burbridge 's command, having been much weakened by their prominent position during the action of the day, now called for reinforce ments. General Frost, whose brigade had been ordered up to my support at my request, advanced his command to Colonel Burbridge 's support, taking position to the left of Lindsay's battalion, on a slope of the ridge to his rear, with the ravine intervening. About this time I received instructions from General Van Dorn to the effect that General Price was about to make an assault on the extreme left of the enemy's line [his right formerly]. With this information was coupled an order for me to advance my whole line so soon as the heavy firing on our left should give the signal of the attack under General Price. Colonel Burbridge 's regiment having been pressed forward somewhat in ad vance of Colonel Rives' regiment, I ordered Burbridge to fall back, and forming my command into line, awaited the expected signal. It was very late in the day when the sharp rattle of small-arms, in the direction of the extreme left, an nounced the moment for action. My men advanced in one unbroken line. We met the foe. For a few seconds 80 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. he resisted, and then fell back before our lines, as with a shout of triumph, Rives' and Gates' regiments dashed onward past Elkhorn tavern, and we stood on the ground where the enemy had formed in the morning. Here, too, Burbridge's regiment halted, after forcing the enemy's position on the right, and came into line, having Lind say's battalion and a portion of Frost's division, under Cols. Colton Greene and Shaler, on his left and resting on the Elkhorn buildings. Two pieces of the enemy's cannon, with an artillery camp, commissary and sutler's stores, fell into our hands, captured by the charge of Gates' and Rives' regiments. A renewal of the enemy's fire by a battery placed in position on the road was answered by Guibor's battery, of Frost's brigade. For more than thirty minutes we contested the position against a brisk fire of artillery, when, General Price hav ing forced the left wing of the enemy from the ground he had occupied by General Van Dorn's orders, my com mand again charged the enemy's lines, driving them from the woods, beyond the tavern, and compelling them to seek refuge in the obscurity of the forest which skirted the opposite side of an open field. In this last charge Lieut. - Col. J. A. Pritchard made prisoners Lieutenant-Col onel Chandler and five other officers, with forty men of the enemy's line, who surrendered to Col. J. A. Pritch ard, commanding the left of Rives' regiment. . . . Our men, exhausted by the exertions of the day, after a fast of thirty-six hours, were now released by the descent of night, and, under favor of the obscurity, rested upon their arms on the field whence they had driven an obsti nate and stubborn foe. . . . Early on the morning of the 8th, our line was formed on the verge of the timber, . . . our front being covered by Col. John F. Hill's Arkansas regiment, deployed in line. ... To the right, and almost 300 yards in rear of Colonel Burbridge's command, three Arkansas regiments, commanded by Col. Thos. J. Churchill, were stationed. . . . Until 7 o'clock no gun had been fired. Each army was engaged deploying its columns for a decisive contest. A battery of the enemy now advanced into the open field and took position in front of the enemy's line, in full view of our men. During this operation they received no molestation ; but no sooner had they opened fire upon our line than they were answered by Teel's battery, which, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 81 having come up, was assigned position between Rives' regiment and Gen. Martin E. Green's command. But few shots had been interchanged until Wade's battery entered the list. The enemy, not counting on such odds, limbered up and hastily left the field. For a short interval the report of an occasional shot from our own batteries was the only sound that broke the stillness of the morning. After a short time, the appearance of the enemy's batteries moving into position over against our right proved that they had not been loitering. . . . Captain Good's battery, now coming up, was placed to the right of Burbridge's regiment, and opened fire upon the enemy's battery from its position. The enemy, having got the range of our lines, threw in the shells with great precision and rapidity, concentrating their fire on one point. Wade's battery was ordered up to Good's support, but had scarcely unlimbered when Good's battery retired from the ground. Hart's battery was now ordered to take the place vacated by Good. Hart's battery did not prove more steady than its prede cessor under the enemy's fire, and immediately left the field. [Some of Hart's officers and men were censured in reports, but upon investigation by court-martial, were relieved of all censure.] Wade's battery, having ex hausted its ammunition and several horses, was now ordered to retire to the rear and replenish its caissons. The position vacated by Wade's battery was supplied by Cap tain Clark's battery, which continued to answer the enemy's fire, until, by slacking his previous impetuosity, it became evident that he was contemplating a new maneuver. From close observation I concluded that we might expect momentarily to be assailed by a charge of infantry. The enemy's line extended for nearly a mile and was supported by heavy reserves. Having ordered the left of my line to move close to the fence on the left of the woods, and Whitfield's battalion to the support of Bur- bridge's regiment on the right, I reported the expected advance of the enemy's infantry to General Van Dorn, who, in reply, ordered me to hold my position as long as possible. The enemy's infantry advanced. On, on they came, in overwhelming numbers, line after line ; but they were met with the same determined courage which the pro- Aik 6 82 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. tracted conflict had taught them to appreciate. For more than half an hour our greatly-diminished and exhausted troops held their hosts in check. Their inten tion of turning our flanks by their widely-extended line becoming now clearly evident, we slowly fell back from our advanced position, disputing every inch of ground which we relinquished. It was at this critical juncture that the gallant Rives fell mortally wounded; and as though fortune sought to dispossess our resolution by multiplying disasters, within a few minutes after the fall of Rives, we suffered an irreparable loss in the fall of the young and chivalrous Clark, whose battery kept up a galling fire upon the advancing foe as our lines retired; and as we had now fallen back on a line with his position, being ordered to withdraw his guns, he fell, decapitated by a round shot, while he was executing this maneuver ; the last battery in action. Captain MacDonald was now compelled to retire his battery by the intervention of our retiring line between him and the enemy, and it was with regret the order was issued for him to cease firing, so gallant was the conduct of the commander and his men, so terrible was the effect of every round which he delivered against the advancing lines of the enemy, with a coolness and courage unsurpassed. Our latest order from General Van Dorn directed our line to retire by the Huntsville road. . . . Those that remained of McCulloch's wing, after the battle of the yth, followed the route taken the previous night by Price ; and marching all night, a little before daylight on the morning of the 8th reached Van Dorn, and were disposed to the right and left of the line at Elk- horn tavern. Here, upon the renewal of the battle on the 8th, the greater part of the troops remained inactive, while the cannonading on both sides continued, until ordered to fall back on Huntsville. Human endurance could stand no further tax. Some of the cavalry were dispatched to protect the flanks, or, as Colonel Greer ex pressed it, "to keep the cavalry out of the way of the infantry bringing up the rear of the retreating army. ' ' Col. Evander McNair, who succeeded to the command of Hubert's brigade, said in his report that at about 10:30 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 83 a. m. of the yth, his regiment was ordered, with the rest of the brigade, to take a battery, directly in front, but at some distance, and in the rear of an open field and a strip of woods filled with undergrowth and fallen timber. Moving forward, he came upon a body of the enemy's infantry in ambuscade; attacked and drove them back until they reformed on a second body in their rear ; then repulsed the entire body, when, at a distance of 200 yards a battery opened, which he charged and took in a short time. The enemy, receiving reinforcements, made a simultaneous attack with cavalry on the left and infantry on the right of his brigade, in numbers far superior ; but after a fierce conflict, McNair repulsed him a fourth time, with heavy loss to the enemy. When McNair assumed command of the brigade, it did not amount to more than 1,000 men, having been thinned by casualties, and the men being much fatigued. Soon the enemy advanced to attack his right wing, when he ordered Cap tain Harris, commanding the right of the Third Louis iana, to resist him, which he did with great gallantry and success, again repulsing the enemy. At the same time the enemy's cavalry attacked his right, and were defeated with great slaughter. Shortly afterward the enemy was seen advancing in several columns, and McNair fell back in good order and without haste. His report continues : In my own regiment, Lieut. -Col. Sam Ogden and Maj. Jas. J. May nobly performed their duty, cool and intre pid, encouraging and rallying the men. Capt. Rufus K. Garland [brother of the Confederate senator] during the whole battle was constantly engaged in rallying and encouraging his men and leading them on to the attack. Capt. John M. Simpson charged the enemy's battery to the cannon's mouth. Springing upon one of the guns, waving his sword and cheering his men, he fell mortally wounded by a volley from the enemy, thus nobly offer ing up his life for his country. Capt. Josephus C. Tyson, leading the van of his company in the same charge, was severely wounded in both legs, a few paces from the can- 84 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. non. Capt. F. J. Erwin, early in the action, was shot through the body and I was thus deprived of the services of one of my most efficient officers. Capts. J. B. McCulloch and Augustus Kile did much to sustain the men by their intrepidity during the entire engagement. Lieut. H. G. Bunn, my adjutant, rendered efficient service during the whole engagement, and was wounded on the head by the explosion of a shell, as we were retiring from the field. Capt. W. J. P'erguson, my quartermaster, who acted as my aide during the whole engagement, conducted himself with marked ability and intrepidity. Mr. Wm. Garland participated as a volunteer during the entire engagement and proved himself a valiant soldier, rendering great assistance. Col. John T. Hughes, in his report, describing the part of the action which extended to Trott's hill, or Sugar mountain, where he was stationed the first day, said: "A terrific fire of bombs and balls hailed upon our ranks. Several of my men were wounded, but none were killed. Several brave Confederates in Colonel Churchill's regi ment and Major Whitfield's Texas battalion were killed, fighting alongside on our left. ' ' The battle was conducted upon a daring and masterly plan that would have proved a crushing victory over the Federals had McCulloch and Mclntosh lived to execute it on their part. The confusion and inactivity that fol lowed their death saved the enemy. Van Dorn and Price grandly carried out the plan of campaign on their part, but they were defeated in the end by a series of accidents, the like of which rarely occur, though similar ones caused disaster in other great battles with more fateful results. In his report of the battle, General Van Dorn indited the following manly, feeling, and sincere words of commen dation : The force with which I went into action was less than 14,000. That of the enemy is variously estimated at from 17,000 to 24,000. During the whole of this engagement I was with the Missouri division, under Price, and I have never seen better fighters than these Missouri troops, and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 85 more gallant leaders than General Price and his officers. From the first to the last shot they continually pushed on, and never yielded an inch they had won. And at last, when they had received the order to fall back, they retired steadily and with cheers. General Price received a severe wound in the action, but would neither retire nor cease to expose himself to danger. No successes can repair the loss of the gallant dead who fell on this well-fought field. McCulloch was the first to fall. I had found him, in the frequent conferences I had with him, a; sagacious, prudent counselor, and a bolder soldier never died for his country. Mclntosh had been very much distinguished all through the operations which have taken place in this region, and during my advance from Boston mountains I placed him in command of the cavalry brigade and in charge of the pickets. He was alert, daring and devoted to his duty. His kindness of disposition, with his reckless bravery, had attached the troops strongly to him, so that after Mc Culloch fell, had he remained to lead them, all would have been well. But after leading a brilliant charge of cavalry and carrying the enemy's battery, he rushed into the thickest of the fight again, at the head of his old regiment, and was shot through the heart. So long as brave deeds are admired by our people, the names of McCulloch and Mclntosh will be remembered and loved. General Slack, after maintaining a long-continued and successful attack, was shot through the body ; but I hope his distinguished services will be restored to his country. A noble boy, S. Churchill Clark, commanded a battery of artillery, and during the fierce artillery actions of the 7th and 8th, was conspicuous for the daring and skill he exhibited. He fell at the very close of the action. Col onel Ross fell mortally wounded about the same time, and was a great loss to us. On a field where many gallant gentlemen were, I remember him as one of the most energetic and devoted of them all. To Col. Henry Little my especial thanks are due for the coolness, skill and de votion with which for two days he and his gallant brigade bore the brunt of the battle. Colonel Burbridge, Colonel Rosser, Colonel Gates, Major Lawther, Major Wade, Captain MacDonald and Captain Schaumburg are some of those who attracted my special attention by distinguished conduct. In McCulloch 's division, the Louisiana regiment 88 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. be allowed if such accommodations would be recipro cated. The general regretted to state that many of the Federal dead had been tomahawked and scalped, and their bodies shamefully mangled, contrary to civilized warfare, and expressed a hope that this important struggle would not degenerate into a savage warfare. To this note Col. D. H. Maury, Van Dorn's adjutant-general, made an immediate reply, as follows : General : I am instructed by Major-General Van Dorn, commanding this district, to express to you his thanks and gratification on account of the courtesy extended by yourself and the officers under your command to the burial party sent by him to your camp on the gib. inst. He is pained to learn, by your letter brought to him by the commanding officer of the party, that the remains of some of your soldiers have been reported to you to have been scalped, tomahawked and otherwise mutilated. He hopes you have been misinformed. The Indians who formed part of his forces have for many years been regarded as a civilized people. He will, however, most cordially unite with you in repressing the horrors of this unnatural war. That you may cooperate with him to this end more effectually, he desires me to inform you that many of our men who surrendered themselves pris oners of war were reported to him as having been mur dered in cold blood by their captors, who were alleged to be Germans. The privileges which you extend to our medical officers will be reciprocated, and as soon as pos sible, means will be taken for an exchange of prisoners. On March n, 1862, the actual strength of McCulloch's division was reported as follows: Greer's brigade of Texas cavalry, 947, men and horses "in dreadful condi tion;" Churchill's brigade, 2,902. On the 1 8th of March, 1862, General Van Dorn reported that the entire army he had marched against the enemy some days since was in camp a few miles from Van Buren, and that he would march in a few days for Poca- hontas to make a junction with whatever force might be assembled at that point. His intention was then to CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 89 attack the enemy near New Madrid or Cape Girardeau, and, if practicable, march on St. Louis, and thus with draw the forces threatening that part of Arkansas. A heavy blow had been struck the Federals; Van Dorn proposed to seek another field before they recovered. If he gave battle near New Madrid, he would relieve Beau- regard, in command at Corinth. If that were not advis able, he would march boldly and rapidly toward St. Louis. Gov. Isham G. Harris had written Van Dorn, March 7th, from Clarksville, Tenn., that General Beauregard desired Van Dorn to join his forces with those of Beaure gard on the Mississippi river, if possible. To this Gen eral Van Dorn replied, March i6th, that he would unite all his troops at Pocahontas, about the yth of April, and would have about 20,000, maybe more; that the enemy in Arkansas had fallen back to Springfield. On the i yth of March he sent a message to Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston that by the 22d he would get off, and reach Pocahontas on April yth with 15,000 men. He received a letter from Gen. R. E. Lee, dated March ipth, inform ing him that all the troops called from Arkansas and Texas, and by Hebert from the coast, were ordered to him. March igth, General Van Dorn ordered Col. T. J. Churchill, with his brigade, and Gates' battalion of cav alry, to make an expedition against Springfield, Mo. , and endeavor to capture and destroy the stores of the enemy there. On the same day the First division, army of the West, under command of Major-General Price, was or dered to be ready to march on the 25th inst. General Pike was continued in command of the troops in the Indian Territory, and Woodruff's battery, reorganized at Little Rock, was ordered to report to him at Van Buren. Maj. W. L. Cabell, at Pocahontas, was advised, as chief- quartermaster, on the 25th of March, that it had been decided to make Des Arc, Ark. , the point of rendezvous 88 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. be allowed if such accommodations would be recipro cated. The general regretted to state that many of the Federal dead had been tomahawked and scalped, and their bodies shamefully mangled, contrary to civilized warfare, and expressed a hope that this important struggle would not degenerate into a savage warfare. To this note Col. D. H. Maury, Van Dora's adjutant-general, made an immediate reply, as follows: General : I am instructed by Major-General Van Dorn, commanding this district, to express to you his thanks and gratification on account of the courtesy extended by yourself and the officers under your command to the burial party sent by him to your camp on the 9th inst. He is pained to learn, by your letter brought to him by the commanding officer of the party, that the remains of some of your soldiers have been reported to you to have been scalped, tomahawked and otherwise mutilated. He hopes you have been misinformed. The Indians who formed part of his forces have for many years been regarded as a civilized people. He will, however, most cordially unite with you in repressing the horrors of this unnatural war. That you may cooperate with him to this end more effectually, he desires me to inform you that many of our men who surrendered themselves pris oners of war were reported to him as having been mur dered in cold blood by their captors, who were alleged to be Germans. The privileges which you extend to our medical officers will be reciprocated, and as soon as pos sible, means will be taken for an exchange of prisoners. On March n, 1862, the actual strength of McCulloch's division was reported as follows: Greer's brigade of Texas cavalry, 947, men and horses "in dreadful condi tion;" Churchill's brigade, 2,902. On the 1 8th of March, 1862, General Van Dorn reported that the entire army he had marched against the enemy some days since was in camp a few miles from Van Buren, and that he would march in a few days for Poca- hontas to make a junction with whatever force might be assembled at that point. His intention was then to CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 89 attack the enemy near New Madrid or Cape Girardeau, and, if practicable, march on St. Louis, and thus with draw the forces threatening that part of Arkansas. A heavy blow had been struck the Federals; Van Dorn proposed to seek another field before they recovered. If he gave battle near New Madrid, he would relieve Beau- regard, in command at Corinth. If that were not advis able, he would march boldly and rapidly toward St. Louis. Gov. Isham G. Harris had written Van Dorn, March 7th, from Clarksville, Tenn., that General Beauregard desired Van Dorn to join his forces with those of Beaure gard on the Mississippi river, if possible. To this Gen eral Van Dorn replied, March i6th, that he would unite all his troops at Pocahontas, about the yth of April, and would have about 20,000, maybe more; that the enemy in Arkansas had fallen back to Springfield. On the i yth of March he sent a message to Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston that by the 226. he would get off, and reach Pocahontas on April yth with 15,000 men. He received a letter from Gen. R. E. Lee, dated March i9th, inform ing him that all the troops called from Arkansas and Texas, and by Hebert from the coast, were ordered to him. March igth, General Van Dorn ordered Col. T. J. Churchill, with his brigade, and Gates' battalion of cav alry, to make an expedition against Springfield, Mo. , and endeavor to capture and destroy the stores of the enemy there. On the same day the First division, army of the West, under command of Major-General Price, was or dered to be ready to march on the 25th inst. General Pike was continued in command of the troops in the Indian Territory, and Woodruff's battery, reorganized at Little Rock, was ordered to report to him at Van Buren. Maj. W. L. Cabell, at Pocahontas, was advised, as chief- quartermaster, on the 25th of March, that it had been decided to make Des Arc, Ark. , the point of rendezvous 90 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. and of deposit for supplies. Brig. -Gen. Albert Rust was ordered to assume command of the lower Arkansas from Clarksville to its mouth, and of White river from Des Arc to its mouth, and that all companies organized under the call of Governor Rector for the Confederate service should report to Col. Jas. P. Major at Des Arc. On the 28th of March, Gen. T. J. Churchill was urged to reach Des Arc by the earliest possible day. All these orders pointed to the transfer of the army of the West to the east side of the Mississippi, to reinforce Generals John ston and Beauregard at Corinth, Miss. General Price, for the Missourians, .had acquiesced and relinquished his former rank in the State Guard for the same rank in the Confederate army. Special orders an nounced that the First brigade of Price's division would embark for Memphis April 8th, and Colonel Little would take command. At Des Arc, April 8th, General Price bade farewell to the soldiers of the State Guard in a touch ing and eloquent order. General Price was greatly beloved in Arkansas. His natural amiability, his unas suming, fatherly dignity, recognized in the sobriquet of "Pap," his honesty and superb bravery, and untiring energy and devotion to the cause, made him a popular idol. Wherever he became accessible, the ladies called to see him, and the most enthusiastic kissed him, as he sat to give them a reception. The little girls he took upon his knee. The women of Arkansas, in their devotion to the cause of their husbands, sons and neighbors, were glorious martyrs. They worked for the soldiers, not only in pro viding lint and bandages for the wounded, and making clothing for them, but by managing the farms from which they supplied them with provisions, promptly delivered as for a "tax in kind. " They nursed their sick and buried their dead. In north Arkansas, harried as it was by the armies up to 1864, there was no door ever shut upon a Confederate soldier. At any time of night CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 91 and day the women would cook for him and share their last morsel. This, too, when they themselves had actually sown and harvested the grain that made the bread, and in some instances had carried the meal on their heads from a distant mill. A lady of genuine grace and accomplishments, whose brother is a United States senator, and whose husband was a representative in Con gress, walked one day nine miles and carried a bag of meal to her home from the mill, that she might feed her children and the soldiers when they should call at her house, where, until the last servant was taken and the last horse impressed, she had formerly enjoyed the luxu ries of life. Not for a moment did the ladies of the South ever falter in their devotion to its cause during the war. The men sometimes wavered and deserted and courted favor with the victorious invaders, but the women, never. To them the men who did so were ever afterward objects of their mistrust and silent scorn. The gallant, patient soldier was to them a hero and an idol. There were women who would have died to shield him from harm. CHAPTER V. THE FEDERALS OCCUPY BATESVILLE— GENERAL HIND- MAN ASSIGNED TO THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DIS TRICT—HIS ADMINISTRATION AD INTERIM— THE CAMPAIGN ON WHITE RIVER — FIGHTING IN INDIAN TERRITORY— TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPART MENT CREATED— GENERAL HOLMES ASSIGNED TO COMMAND— GEN. ALBERT PIKE. AFTER the battle of Elkhorn, a considerable Federal force was collected at Fort Scott, under General Blunt, commanding the district of Kansas, for the occupation of Indian Territory ; and General Curtis, with his army of the Southwest, advanced by way of White river toward northeastern Arkansas. The military board of Arkansas had sent a party of miners and manufacturers to work the saltpeter caves on the south bank of White river, in north Arkansas, near Talbot's Ferry, guarded by a detachment from the com mand of Colonel Coleman. Curtis sent Lieutenant- Col onel McCrillis from Forsyth, Mo., April 24th, to destroy the works. Notwithstanding their inferiority in numbers, the Confederates took position in the log cabins and re sisted the crossing of the river by the enemy with great spirit, killing Lieutenant Heacock, Fourth Iowa, and one of his men, and wounding several others. The enemy finally secured the works, which were injured to some extent, but not destroyed. Then, the Confederates re turning in force, the enemy hastily retreated. April 2ist, Curtis' advance was met in a skirmish at Pocahontas, Ark. , by a small force of Confederates. May 4th, the Federal army reached Batesville, on White river, near its junction with the Black, the home of Elisha Baxter (brother of Judge John B. Baxter of Knoxville, 92 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 93 Term.), who had espoused the Union cause. Batesville is the seat of Independence county, one of the oldest in the State, and an important center of northeast Arkansas. A small force of Confederates under Colonel Coleman retired across the river as the Federals entered the town, and greeted the enemy with a galling fire of musketry, until Curtis ordered out his artillery. Curtis, in his report, says he captured "some hundred stands of arms and con siderable contraband property." Coleman's men had another meeting with the enemy's cavalry at Cottonplant, May 1 4th, where his force was too small to make a decided stand; but on the i8th, west of the little town of Hardin, Mo., he captured wagons, trains, and some prisoners. Detachments of Federal cavalry now penetrated at will into the region adjacent to Batesville, and into the coun ties bordering on Missouri, burning homes, carrying off slaves, destroying farming utensils, and leading old men and boys into captivity, or murdering them. Tories formed a Federal Arkansas regiment at Batesville, and a brigade in Madison, Carroll and Newton counties, and induced some leading citizens, former State officials, Lafayette Gregg and others, and a member of the secession conven tion (Isaac Murphy), to join their standard. Their influ ence was rapidly growing in the hill lands, extending sotithward and west of Little Rock. Colonel Jeffers, May i6th, met the enemy at Chalk Bluff, on White river, and resisted the crossing, causing the Federals considerable loss. May lyth, a detachment of Federal Missouri cavalry, guided by a supposed tory named Van Metre, of White county, were foraging on Little Red river when they were attacked by Confederates under Captain Chrisman, who captured a large number of wagons and mules. It was afterward suspected to be an ambus cade, into which the enemy was led by Van Metre. The Confederates claimed 20 killed and many wounded. Searcy landing is a point on Little Red river, only fifty miles from Little Rock, to which, at a high stage of 94 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. water, steamboats sometimes ascended, delivering freight for the town Searcy, seat of White county and a fertile country in the vicinity. On the igth of May a detach ment of Curtis' army was sent to impress forage on the south side of Little Red river, at Whitten's and Hopper's farms. The enemy's escort consisted of infantry, cavalry and artillery, about 300 men. Having loaded their train and started for the bridge across the river, they were attacked by Confederate mounted men, chiefly armed with shotguns, under Colonel McRae, Hicks and Captain Chrisman, who surrounded the train and killed 20 of the Federals and wounded 36, according to the report of Gen eral Osterhaus. About this time General Curtis reported : A terrible rain, continuing for thirty- six hours, has cre ated a flood, which is very inopportune to my movement. The ox-train had brought me a supply of seven or eight days, and on this I hoped to reach Little Rock. Now, dry creeks are impassable, and several days will transpire be fore I can cross streams, and during this time my bread supplies will probably run short. The country here and below cannot furnish flour and I must depend mainly on the trains for bread. Since writing the foregoing a scout comes directly from Little Rock. The rebels have burned the cotton (100,000 bales) in my advance; also bridges across Des Arc and Cypress [bayous]. On May 26th there was a skirmish between Hicks' men and a detachment of Federals; and on the 27th, at West Point, the enemy's cavalry was met and repulsed by a body of Confederates, after a skirmish of an hour. This was followed by a skirmish at Cache river bridge, on the 28th. On the 2d of June, Colonel Brackett, Ninth Illinois cavalry, retreated from his camp at Jacksonport upon the approach up White river of Commander Joseph Fry, of the old navy, with the Confederate gunboat Maurepas. On the 27th of May, General Carr reported a severe skirmish by Confederates with the escort of one of his forage trains, and added: "Men of mine, who were with the Germans today foraging, report great excesses on their CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 95 part, going into the private apartments of ladies and opening trunks and drawers and ransacking everything and taking away what they wanted. If these excesses are permitted, we cannot wonder at guerrilla warfare. ' ' Henry Cabot Lodge, of Massachusetts, says, in his recent "Story of the Revolution," of the employment of the Hessians by King George in 1776 : "George meant to be a king, and the idea of resistance to his wishes was intol erable to him. It was something to be crushed, not rea soned with. To carry out his plans, ships, expeditions and armaments were being prepared, and the king, in order to get men, sent his agents over Europe to buy soldiers from the wretched German princelings, who lived by selling their subjects, or from any one else who was ready to traffic in flesh and blood. It was not a pretty business, nor over creditable to a great fighting people like the Eng lish, but it unqtiestionably meant business." He also writes that the English ministry "resorted to the inhuman scheme" of intriguing with Indians to "incite this savage warfare" against the colonists, and in the North their Indian allies fought for them diligently, and damaged their cause irreparably. ' ' In the war of 1861-65 the Pm Indians were the first to be turned loose upon our frontier by the Federal govern ment. The Germans in the Federal army were purely mercenaries, as much so as those hired by King George to overrun and pillage the colonies in the earlier struggle for independence. The bounties paid them upon enlist ment, the gross favoritism and extenuation granted their errors and breaches, promotions to high military positions of waiters and bartenders to conciliate the German emi grants, constituted them a distinct and privileged element in the army of the Union, without restraint and yielding to the degraded instincts of an insolent hireling soldiery. They were hardly more accountable to the rules of civil ized warfare than the Indian savages enlisted by Blunt and Herron under Canby. 96 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Meanwhile the command of General Van Dorn had been moved east of the Mississippi, by order of General John ston. The Arkansas troops reported by Van Dorn in his organization, at Memphis, Tenn., April 29, 1862, of the "Army of the West," were as follows: In Gen. Samuel Jones' division: First brigade, Brig.- Gen. A. Rust— Eighteenth Arkansas, Col. D. W. Carroll ; Twenty-second Arkansas, Col. George King; Colonel Smead's Arkansas regiment; Bat. Jones Arkansas bat talion ; McCarver's Arkansas battalion. Second brigade, Brig. -Gen. Dabney H. Maury — Twenty-first Arkansas, Col. D. McRae; Adams' Arkansas battalion; and Gar land's and Moore's Texas cavalry. Third brigade, Brig.- Gen. J. S. Roane — Third Arkansas cavalry, dismounted, Col. Solon Borland ; Brooks' Arkansas battalion ; William son's Arkansas battalion; Arkansas battery, Capt. J. J. Gaines, and Stone's and Sims' Texas regiments. In Gen. Sterling Price's division: First brigade, Brig.- Gen. Henry Little — Sixteenth Arkansas, Colonel Hill, with several Missouri regiments. Second brigade, Col. Louis Hebert — Fourteenth Arkansas, Colonel Mitchell; Seventeenth Arkansas, Col. Frank Rector ; with the Third Louisiana, and Greer's and Whitfield's Texans. In Gen. J. P. McCown's division: First brigade, Brig.- Gen. J. L. Hogg — McCray's Arkansas battalion, with Texas regiments Second brigade, Brig. -Gen. T. J. Churchill — First Arkansas cavalry, dismounted, Col. R. W. Harper; Second Arkansas cavalry, dismounted, Col. Ben Embry: Fourth Arkansas, Col. Evander McNair; Turnbull's (formerly Terry's) battalion; Provence's bat tery. General Van Dorn had recommended for promotion to the rank of brigadier-general, Col. W. N. R. Beall, Col. D. H. Maury, Maj. W. L. Cabell, Lieutenant-Colonel Phifer, Colonel Hebert, and Col. Tom P. Dockery, and assigned them to command as such. Brig.- Gen. W. N. R. Beall, of Arkansas, was assigned to the command of cav alry forces which had been under General Gardner, of Alabama, relieved. Shoup's, Clarkson's, Roberts', Lieu tenant Thrall's section of Hubbard's, and Trigg's batteries CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 97 (the latter half tinder command of Governor Rector) had been transferred already, and assigned to Cleburne's and Hindman's divisions — not heretofore mentioned. By special orders, at Memphis, April 24th, the brigade noted above as Roane's, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Danley, Third cavalry, was ordered to march to Corinth with five days' cooked rations. On his departure, General Van Dorn, having tendered to Gen. J. S. Roane a brigade in the army of the West, which the latter declined, assigned him to command of the forces for the defense of Arkansas, with instructions to organize and put in the field all troops raised under the conscript law, and all cavalry from Texas and north Louisiana who might come into the State to report to Van Dorn. Any infantry troops that might be in the State destined for the army of the West were to be forwarded as rapidly as possible. General Curtis, from Batesville, May i6th, wrote, " Rec tor's call for militia force is likely to cause me trouble in Arkansas." There were some regiments in process of formation, but without arms, which were assembling at the call of Governor Rector. And they, if they had been organized, would also have been transferred, pursuant to orders to Generals Rust and Roane, so urgent were the demands by Gen. A. S. Johnston and the officers associ ated with him, Generals Beauregard and Polk, for an in crease of their forces, to save Corinth and Memphis from the threatened advance of Halleck and Grant from Pitts- burg landing. Gen. J. A, McClernand reported to Mr. Lincoln, after the battle at Pittsburg landing, that Van Dorn and Price had reinforced the enemy with r 0,000 or 15,000 men; but only a few of troops transferred, of the first sent with Van Dorn's command, arrived at Corinth in time to take part in the battle of Shiloh. At this period the forces under Brig. - Gen. Albert Pike, commander of the department of Indian Territory, as he Ark 7 98 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. persisted in styling it, formed a considerable part of the troops apparently available. His return for May, 1862, showed an aggregate present of 3,453, out of an enroll ment of about, 10,000. At Fort McCulloch, his intrenched headquarters, in a prairie on Red river, he had Col onel Alexander's Texas cavalry, Colonel Taylor's Tex as cavalry, Captain Witt's Texas cavalry, Captain Corley's Arkansas cavalry, Colonel Dawson's Nine teenth Arkansas infantry, and Major Woodruff's battal ion Arkansas artillery, fourteen guns. At Fort Washita was Captain Marshall's company. His further statement of troops was as follows : Choctaw nation — Colonel Coop er's First Choctaw and Chickasaw regiment, Colonel Ful- som's First Choctaw regiment, Major Fulsom's First Choctaw battalion; Creek nation— Col. D. N. Mclntosh's First Creek regiment, Lieut. -Col. Chilly Mclntosh's Creek battalion, Captain McSmith's Independence company ; Chickasaw nation — Lieutenant-Colonel Harris' First Chickasaw battalion; Seminole country — Lieuten ant-Colonel Juniper's First battalion; Cherokee country — Col. Stand Watie's First Cherokee regiment, Colonel Drew's Second Cherokee regiment. Pike was ordered to send to General Roane all the troops, not Indians, that he could spare, but this was not done. His * ' Texas cavalry, ' ' mounted on ponies very simi lar to those rode by Indians, and armed as poorly, were little better than the Indian troops — perhaps a little better disciplined. By another order, General Roane was author ized to appoint partisan officers, subject to the approval of the President, to call on the State for troops for its defense and to purchase all necessary supplies. It was hinted that, being isolated, he might exercise plenary powers. He was admonished to act promptly in resisting invasion, to endeavor to harass the enemy "in his flanks and rear, to cut off his trains, and destroy his supplies," and 14 defend the crossings of the Arkansas river to the last extremity. ' ' CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 99 These were pregnant suggestions to occupy the mind of the genial general, suddenly promoted to an empty honor —former governor of the State, but for some time in re tirement on his plantation near Pine Bluff — when he looked about him for the material, the men and munitions for these energetic operations. He had commanded a regiment at Buena Vista, and had fought a duel with Capt. Albert Pike, then commanding a *' squadron, " the result of a controversy which grew out of an incident of that battle. General Roane, with mettle aroused somewhat, responded that, "Curtis' command, reported at 22,000 strong (in my opinion not more than half that number) is at Batesville and Jacksonport, moving to this place and valley of Arkansas river. ' ' He said he was holding four companies of Parsons' Texas cavalry, and "thought with the Texas troops and such others as I could raise in the State, I could hold the enemy in check until you could whip the Federals at Corinth. ' ' But the situation was too serious for joking. The people of the State did not at first realize that the commander of the district was depriving the State of every armed man, and all the materials of war he could possibly procure, to take them to distant fields, while their own homes, the safety of their families and all they possessed were to be left at the mercy of the robber-bands in Mis souri, as well as the merciless Indians and Kansas jay- hawkers. April 1 5th, R. W. Johnson, Chas. B. Mitchell, G. D. Royston, T. B. Hanley and Felix I. Batson addressed an earnest communication to the President, describing the havoc which Van Dorn had caused already, and that which he contemplated and had ordered. They stated "that Little Rock was to be abandoned as a depot, its public works at the arsenal torn down, arms carried off, and, in obedience to orders of generals east of the Mississippi, the State, having furnished her quota, was now to be stripped of her remaining troops, until she was 100 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. left defenseless and open to the invasion of Yankees and the incursions of savages and Kansans so completely that 10,000 men could march from one end of the State to the other in the midst of plenty and wholly unopposed." They urged that a department be established west of the river ; that General Bragg or General Price be assigned there speedily ; that supplies taken to Napoleon and Vicks- burg be ordered back to Little Rock ; that the telegraph lines destroyed be reconstructed; that troops yet in Ar kansas be ordered to remain ; and that the President order them a goodly supply of arms, ammunition and military stores, before the Mississippi be closed against them. The signers were two former United States senators, two Supreme court judges, all of them trusted and honored citizens, all supporters and friends of the President, and two of them members of the Provisional Congress. Their appeal was startling and pathetic. If the President made any answer, it was not made public. The extremity which was supposed to demand that the State be denuded of its defense, may have forbidden an immediate reply. The historian of a war of any magnitude becomes familiar with frantic cries of military commanders for "reinforce ments." McClellan called for them when he did not need them. Van Dorn gathered men from all quarters, until they were in the way of each other. Curtis was begging for men and supplies when he could have marched to Little Rock from Searcy with one-half of his army, "in the midst of plenty, and unopposed. " These appeals are often purely selfish. Incompetency cannot win vic tories with the "nations" of Xerxes or the hordes of Cetowaya. Governor Rector about the same time issued a proc lamation, describing the unarmed and defenseless condi tion of the State, complaining of the destruction and reckless disregard of the people's property and safety displayed by Van Dorn's operations. He protested against the further withdrawal of troops from the State, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 101 and called out the militia, ordering the organization of companies and regiments for defense. He said that if the Southwestern States were abandoned by the govern ment, they must organize to defend themselves, "build a new ark," and "seek their own destiny." Having his attention called by Mr. Davis to the com plaints contained in the proclamation of Governor Rector, also to General Pike's complaints of the stoppage of cloth ing and munitions in transitu for the Indians, General Van Dorn, June 9, 1862, wrote a letter from Priceville, Miss., to the President, of which the following relates to events now in narration : His Excellency, the President: Dear General : The movements of the army from Corinth to Tupelo have occupied my attention so exclusively, that I have found it impossible until to-day to answer your letter in regard to Governor Rector's proclamation. Before doing so now, I must express to you my apprecia tion of your kindness in making me suggestions as to the propriety of making a reply to the people of the Trans- Mississippi department on the subject of that proclama tion. I had previously thought of replying to Governor Rector, but found upon diligent inquiry, that his people indignantly repudiated his pernicious opinions, and that he stood almost alone with them. I had concluded, there fore, to act in the matter by sending some one to Arkansas, during my absence, in my stead, to organize the troops from Arkansas, from Louisiana, Texas and Missouri, already assembling there in considerable force, and to put them in the field against the common enemy. This I conceived would be a sufficient antidote to the poison of the governor's proclamation and a refutation of his state ment that the government had sacrificed the States west of the Mississippi river. General Hindman was therefore ordered to Little Rock to assume command, and was pro vided with all the ammunition, etc., that could be spared from this army. There were five or six regiments already in Arkansas from Texas alone, and about fifteen regi ments in the Confederate service on the march from that State to Little Rock to join them. Two gunboats were also sent up White and Arkansas rivers. . . . These 102 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. facts will be sufficient, I think, to set Governor Rector at rest and to assure his people that the arteries of the Con federate government do extend across the Mississippi river. I was a little surprised at this proclamation of the governor, as I had, previous to leaving Arkansas, taken particular pains to explain to him the military necessity of the army of the West joining General Beauregard at Corinth, and the advantages that would accrue thereby to the Confederacy as a whole, of which Arkansas would reap her share, of course. He professed to understand them, and gave his hearty concurrence to the measure. Why he has changed since in his views I cannot imagine, unless the dunghill policy of fighting at every State's threshold was too alluringly pressed upon him by shallow politicians, too weak to see beyond the door and too cramped in patriotism to go beyond it. I think the mat ter is now at rest, and that his proclamation is buried with the unwise things of the past and has left no sting behind. The forcible protestation of citizens against the with drawal of all the fighting men of the State to distant fields was none too early. Major-General Hindman heard it and accepted the assignment, in the latter days of May, with Price to be his lieutenant. It caused troops to be hurried forward to Hindman, from Texas It may have been that the heroic methods of General Hindman, made apparent in the sequel, were those only which could have saved the State, but it is easy to believe that a kindlier course might have resulted more happily. It is singular that he should have yielded to any "solicita tions" to accept this assignment to duty. He was at the time in command of the largest division in the army at Corinth, composed of veteran troops, who, as he says, "were certain to win distinction for their commander. " He had proved himself, in action, one of the most capable, daring, reliant officers in high command, without previous military training. While other measures than those adopted by him might have succeeded better, the fact re mains, that he suppressed a growing spirit of discord in the State, which threatened to make it the arena of a war CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 103 of neighbor against neighbor; and that while he com manded, there was established a unity of sentiment that was immediately felt, and has exerted an influence upon the State's destinies that will not soon, if ever, be de stroyed. A congressional inquiry into the operations under Hindman was ordered ; but it appeared that his course was in accordance with the law the Congress had enacted. If it were felt that the voluntary service and sacrifices of the people were no longer expected, Hindman merely sup plied machinery suited to the law. If it be said the means were unworthy of the end, the reply is, that what ever the end desired by the Federal authorities, they adopted the same means and succeeded. The order by which Hindman was assigned to duty in Arkansas by General Beauregard, dated at Corinth, May 26, 1862, gave him "command of the forces in that State and the Indian country." He was charged with their defense, "and fully authorized and empowered to organize their troops under the act of April 16, 1862, entitled, an act to further provide for the public defense. ' ' General Beauregard further said, 4 ' The general commanding parts with this gallant officer, whose actions in the field have been so valuably rendered, with sincere regret. He does so at the urgent request of his own people, who so greatly need and justly value his services at this juncture. ' ' A second order designated his command as the Trans- Mis sissippi district, comprising the States of Missouri and Arkansas, Louisiana north of Red river, and the Indian Territory. General Hindman acted promptly. On his way, at Memphis, he managed to obtain, as that city was evacu ated, 35 Enfield rifles, 400 damaged shotguns and squirrel rifles, with a few hundred rounds of shot and shell for artillery. He also "impressed" a quantity of percussion caps, some blankets, boots and shoes and camp equipage, and purchased a small quantity of medicines for his pros- 104 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. pective army. By permission obtained, as he stated, from General Beauregard, he also impressed from the banks of Memphis $1,000,000 in Confederate currency. At Helena, Ark., his own place of residence, he seized all the ammunition, shoes, blankets and medicines on sale, fit for the army, and at Napoleon, from the government hos pital there, he appropriated all the medicines he could find. He appointed Surg. J. M. Keller his medical director, and put him in charge of the medicines and surgical implements appropriated. On his way down the river he stopped all steamboats ascending, because he was certain they would fall into the hands of the enemy, to be used against him, and caused them to be run into the Arkansas river, where they proved valuable in transporting subsistence, troops and munitions. He also, on his way down the Mississippi river, caused thousands of bales of cotton to be burned, under the general order of the war department, to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy, and on the way up the Arkansas made contracts for the delivery of large numbers of cattle for furnishing beef to the camps of his recruits, yet to be collected. Fortunately, several regiments of Texas cavalry, on the way to Corinth, had been permitted to remain at Little Rock, with General Roane, who, in command at Pine Bluff and Little Rock, had eight unarmed companies at Little Rock, and a six-gun battery without artillerymen. Gen eral Roane was the embodiment of good nature, and would not, to become generalissimo of the armies, have ordered one of his "citizen soldiers" out of bed. He beheld the measures adopted by General Hindman with consternation, but had great confidence that Hindman would vindicate himself, and gave them his approval. On the arrival of General Hindman at Little Rock, he formally assumed command, May 3ist, of the Trans-Mis sissippi district, "and of all the forces which now are or may be therein;" and the same day issued an address, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 105 which seems couched in a strain not different from the public utterances of other distinguished officers. It read as follows: To the Soldiers and Citizens of the District : I have come here to drive out the invaders or perish in the attempt. To achieve success, it is essential that the sol dier and the citizen each shall do his duty. In the army, a discipline must prevail unexcelled among the troops of any government ; every officer executing the orders given him, with promptness, fidelity and courage ; every soldier obeying the orders he receives, without question and with out murmur, whatever the hardships involved. In one word, there must be efficiency among officers of every rank, and obedience among soldiers under all circum stances. Among citizens, a determination must be evinced to contribute to the army's support, even to the last dollar which they possess ; to adhere to the Confed erate cause under every difficulty ; to sustain the Confed erate currency ; to crush out the spirit of extortion and speculation, and to sacrifice for freedom's sake all property valuable to the enemy which may possibly fall into his hands. My purpose is to assume every responsibility necessary in the premises, relying upon the Great Arbiter of Nations, and the earnest and active support of every patriot. There was no want of precision in that language. It had been well conned. If the thought seemed unduly exalted, that also was matured and accurate, and fore shadowed the course he immediately pursued to the letter. A year later, at Richmond, General Hindman, after the congressional inquiry had concluded, made a report to the adjutant-general, which furnishes an able explanation of the course of his administration. After reciting the orders assigning him to duty, and describing the condi tion of Arkansas as already mentioned, he said : In the situation in which I was placed, it was necessary to do many important acts with promptness. Any hesi tation or serious error would result in the capture of Little Rock, and the loss of the remainder of Arkansas to the Confederacy. That would involve the loss of the 106 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Indian country, and destroy all hope of recovering Mis souri, besides exposing Texas and Louisiana to the great est misfortunes. Such calamities could not be averted without an army. I had no army, and had not been authorized to raise one, the instructions of General Beaure- gard limiting me to the enforcement of the conscript act, which prohibited new regiments. To wait until the neces sary authority could be applied for and received from Richmond, would be nothing else than the surrender to the enemy of the very country from which the troops must be obtained. I therefore resolved to accept the responsibility, which the situation imposed, of raising and organizing a force without authority of law, and that I would do all acts to make that determination effective. In coming to that conclusion, I considered that the main object of all law is the public safety; and that the evident necessity of departing from the letter of the law in order to accomplish its object, would more than justify me in the eyes of my superiors, and of intelligent patriots every where. The first difficulty to be met in the execution of this purpose, was the attempt of the governor of Arkansas to raise a State force, on the basis of his formal pledge not to transfer it to the Confederate service. Under the most favorable circumstances, two different organizations would antagonize rather than help each other. I had witnessed this result in Arkansas at the commencement of the war. . . . Warned by this experience, and remembering the governor's late threat of secession, I represented to him that I should feel constrained to apply the provisions of the conscript act to his troops, and to impress whatever stores he might have accumulated. He abandoned the attempt, and transferred to the Confederacy the few troops already raised, together with all military property of the State. I now directed the enrollment ... of all men in Arkansas, subject to conscription. Absentees from com mands east of the Mississippi [invalid officers and men also] were to be included, but with a memorandum stat ing their proper companies and regiments. Substitution was prohibited, because I regarded it as certain to increase the difficulties, already too great, that were in my way. . . . Laying off the State into convenient districts,! appointed a commander over each, giving him control of the en- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 107 rolling officers within his district, authorizing him to pur chase or impress arms, ammunition and the necessary supplies, and assigning to him a quartermaster and com missary. Of these staff officers, bonds were required in the penalty and according to -the form prescribed by law. . . . Military posts were established. . . . Measures were also adopted for manufacturing many important articles for army use. . . . Machinery was made for manufactur ing percussion caps and small arms. . . . Lead mines were opened and worked ; a chemical laboratory was estab lished and successfully operated in aid of the ordnance department, and in the manufacture of calomel, castor oil, spirits of niter, the various tinctures of iron and other valuable medicines. Most of these works were located at or near Arkadelphia, on the Ouachita river, 75 miles south of Little Rock. . . . Being made responsible for the defense of north Louis iana, I assigned Brigadier- General Roane to that com mand, with instructions to enroll and organize the men subject to conscription. He found at Monroe two regi ments and a battalion of unarmed infantry, and an artil lery company without guns. Steps had been taken by me to render these troops efficient and to add to them, when without any notice to me, Brigadier-General Blanchard was placed in command of the conscripts of north Louis iana by the secretary of war. . . . With the view to revive the hopes of loyal men in Mis souri, and to get troops from that State, I gave authority to various persons to raise companies and regiments there, and operate as guerrillas. They soon became exceedingly active. . . . Missourians in Arkansas, belonging to the old State Guard, were strongly desirous to revive that organi zation. Embarrassment on that score was prevented by accepting their general officers — Brigadier- Generals Mc- Bride and Rains — into the Confederate service, condi tioned upon the approval of the secretary of war. . . . Being apprised that there were large bodies of troops in Texas unemployed, I applied to Brigadier-Generals Hebert and [H. E.] McCulloch to send or, if practicable, bring them to me. The action of both these officers was prompt, liberal, and patriotic, and I take this opportunity to acknowledge my obligation to them. They sent me many fine regiments, some of which came armed, and others were armed by me. 108 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. In view of the dangers which threatened to overwhelm my district, I decided that all cotton in Arkansas and north Louisiana was in imminent danger of falling into the hands of the enemy. Being of that opinion, it was my duty, under the act of Congress, March 17, 1862, and the order of the war department thereon, to take such steps as would put this property out of the enemy's reach. To defer taking it into possession until the enemy should get in the immediate vicinity and then rely upon the owners to destroy it would be puerile. Wherever that had been tried, the enemy got at least five bales out of every ten. ... I determined to dispose of the matter differently and effectually. An order was issued seizing all the cotton which I regarded as in danger, and directing receipts to be given for.it by the agents appointed for that purpose. The same order directed that all cotton adjacent to the enemy's lines should be burned immediately; that the remainder should be removed 20 miles inland and burned upon the approach of the enemy; but that out of all, as far as practicable, 10 pounds to each member of every family should be issued as a gratuity. The distribution of the lo-pound parcels was as certain a mode of keeping the cotton out of the enemy's hands as to destroy it, while, in fact, it extorted from misfortune a great public benefit. Many planters complained — those nearest the enemy most loudly. The enemy also expressed great indignation and denounced the penalty of death against all cotton burners ; but, on the other hand, the object of the law was accom plished . . . and the wives and children of soldiers, and other necessitous persons, were provided with the materials for clothing themselves and their relations in the army. . . . Meanwhile, Gen. Samuel R. Curtis, with headquarters at Batesville, head of the army of the Southwest and by authority of General Halleck military governor of Ar kansas, with power to depose civil officers and create others who would swear allegiance, was watching the opera tions of his active antagonist. He had by his own returns in May, 6,000 infantry, 3,000 cavalry and 1,000 artillery in the field. On June ist he reported: CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 109 .... Great efforts are making to collect an army at Little Rock. Galveston and Houston forces are ordered up, and 10 Texan regiments have arrived with artillery. Hindman was to start from Corinth on the 28th, and all the Arkansas and Missouri troops were to come with him. If the Corinth hive swarms this way, I must con centrate on this side of White river and be reinforced immediately. . . . The enemy is moving; we must be on the alert. I have spread my force to hold my lines of communication, which have been cut for ten days. . . . Hindman 's organization was progressing rapidly, and although deficient in arms, his new levies amounted to several regiments, which, added to the Texas forces arriv ing daily, began to form a respectable army. Their in creasing numbers caused the enemy to believe he had received reinforcements from Corinth, which belief was industriously encouraged by rumors to that effect, and exaggerated estimates of the number of his forces, in tended to be conveyed to Curtis by disloyal informers. The news that Van Dorn had arrived with 30,000 men, told by a citizen to Colonel Brackett, was a feature of this invention circulated through every channel likely to reach Curtis. General Hindman, in his report, mentions his initiatory operations with forcible brevity : On June 5th I pushed my cavalry boldly against Curtis' advance, which outnumbered them as three to one. I had previously endeavored to impress Curtis with the belief that a large force came with me from Corinth, and that heavy reinforcements had reached me from Texas. After a very feeble resistance, the Federal cavalry fell back beyond Bayou Des Arc. I then ordered the Maurepas gunboat up White river to capture or destroy the supplies collected at Grand Glaize and Jacksonport, and to alarm the enemy by threatening his communications with Bates- ville. Capt. Joseph Fry executed these orders with ad mirable promptness and complete success. [It was this gallant Captain Fry, who, in 1873, was butchered by the Spaniards at Santiago, as the leader of the Virginius expe dition for the relief of the Cubans. ] At the same time the enemy was attacked in front. He retired in confusion to 110 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Little Red river, and thence marched to Batesville. These operations gave me a good line of defense — that of White river and its tributary, the Little Red. . . . Skirmishing was now almost continuous, and our troops were uniformly successful. . . . Major Chrisman, com manding an Arkansas squadron, was bold and active. Captain Rutherford, of his command, passed entirely around the Federal army, crossing White river, destroy ing a supply train from Missouri, and capturing a tele graph station a few miles north of Batesville, with the telegraphic correspondence of Curtis and Halleck. . . . Memphis had long since fallen, and the enemy con trolled the Mississippi from St. Louis to Vicksburg, secur ing access for his gunboats into White river. That stream afforded 10 feet of water to Devall's Bluff, 175 miles from the mouth, and 60 miles east of Little Rock, with which place there is railway communication. On June i6th a Federal fleet appeared in White river, near St. Charles. It consisted of the ironclad gunboats St. Louis and Mound City, each mounting thirteen guns; the Lexing ton and Conestoga, partially ironclad, each carrying seven guns ; the tug Tiger, carrying one 34-pounder how itzer, and three transports with between 1,000 and 1,500 infantry, under Col. G. N. Fitch. The Maurepas was at St. Charles, but would have been useless against the enemy's ironclad vessels. The obstructions being incom plete, she was sunk across the channel, together with two steamboats. Two rifled 32-pounders, and four field pieces were put in battery on the bluff, manned by 79 men of the crews of the Maurepas and Ponchartrain, under Cap tain Dunnington, of the latter vessel. Captain Williams' armed men, 35 in number, were disposed as sharpshooters below ; those not armed were sent to the rear. Captain Fry was placed in chief command. The Federal gunboats attacked about 9 a. m., on the 1 7th. After an engagement of nearly three hours' dura tion, the Mound City was blown up by a shot from our batteries, and the rest retired out of range. The infantry CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Ill then landed and carried the position, our little force spik ing the guns and retiring up the river. Our loss was 6 killed, i wounded and 8 missing. That of the enemy was over 200. On the Mound City alone, 180 perished. Cap tain Fry, the last to retreat, was severely wounded and made a prisoner. A short time before this battle, Col. Allison Nelson arrived at Little Rock with an excellent Texas regiment, but could not advance to St. Charles until too late. Being apprised of the loss of that post when within 15 miles of it, he returned to Devall's Bluff and fortified that place, putting three heavy guns from Ponchartrain in position, and obstructing the river. A regiment and battalion of Arkansas infantry, fresh troops, armed with shotguns, sporting rifles, pikes and lances, joined Colonel Nelson, and were brigaded under him. Meanwhile, Fitch was joined on the i;th and i8th by an additional gunboat, and six transports carrying troops, increasing his land forces to about 4,000 men. Made cautious by the resistance met at St. Charles, he moved very slowly up stream, fired upon from the banks by Con federate cavalry and citizens. Reaching Clarendon, 25 miles below Devall's Bluff, he landed a regiment of in fantry and moved it forward on the west side to recon- noiter, escorted by the tug Tiger, but this force was met by Morgan's squadron of Texans, four companies of Arkansans under Capt. P. H. Wheat, assisted by several independent companies of conscripts, and defeated with a loss of 55 killed and captured. In the latter part of May, Van Dorn had ordered Brig adier-General Rust to report to Hindman. General Rust represented the southern district of Arkansas in Congress at the time of the secession of the State, and raised the Third Arkansas infantry, which he commanded in Vir ginia, until he let the command devolve upon Lieutenant- Colonel Van Manning, a most meritorious officer, and comiag to Arkansas, had been promoted to brigadier- 112 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. general by President Davis, put in command of unattached forces by Van Dorn, and given a brigade in the army of the West. Though a man of great energy in business, and of gigantic stature, he lacked aptitude for command ing or inspiring men in military operations. Under Gen eral Hindman, he commanded the cavalry, led that arm in the first operations against Curtis, and now, Hindman having heard on June 24th that Curtis with his entire army was in motion down the east bank of White river, and almost destitute of supplies, Rust was ordered toward Jacksonport, intending there to cross White river, get in Curtis' front and dispute the passage of Black river, three miles above Jacksonport. Continuing his report, General Hindman says: To delay the enemy and gain time for this movement, Sweet's Texas regiment was thrown across White river above Batesville and fell upon his rear, killing, wounding and capturing over 200 Federals and taking a number of wagons containing army stores and sutler's goods. He was compelled to retire, however, by the near approach -of Washburn's cavalry brigade, marching from Missouri to reinforce Curtis. General Rust reported it impracti cable to cross White river at or near Jacksonport. I then ordered him to Des Arc, 75 miles below, and afterward to cross White river and take position on Cache river, which Curtis must cross in his march southward. [Cache river heads at Chalk bluff, near the Missouri line, and runs south, parallel with White and Black rivers, not far to the east of them.] Rust's force was increased at Des Arc by the addition of Col. D. McRae's regiment of Arkansas infantry, which that indomitable officer had marched to him at the rate of 25 miles a day, arming his men by impressments and purchases on the route. I was unable to send him a six-gun battery, which just then arrived from General Pike's headquarters, com manded by Capt. W. E. Woodruff, an officer of tried bravery and skill. The order for this battery was given on May 3ist. It also directed General Pike to send me Dawson's regiment of Arkansas infantry, which might now have been ex tremely useful. He sent the men, but took away from CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 113 them their arms. Upon learning this fact, I halted them upon the march until arms could be procured by purchase or impressment. Three regiments of infantry were being raised east of White river, mounted, to admit of their with drawal upon any sudden emergency. They were concen trated at Cottonplant, about 15 miles east of Des Arc, and added to General Rust's command. His force amounted to about 5,000 effectives. His instructions were to resist the enemy to the last extremity, blockading roads, burning bridges, destroying all supplies, growing crops included, and polluting the water by killing cattle, ripping the carcasses and throwing them in. In that country at this season the streams are few and sluggish. No army could march through it so opposed. The only remaining route would be immediately along the bank of White river and crossing the Cache at Clarendon. To oppose the march along White river a gunboat was improvised by Captain Dunnington by lining the steamer Tom Sugg with cotton bales and mounting an 8-inch Columbia at her bow. I proceeded to Devall's Bluff, where the dan ger seemed greatest, the enemy below on the river mak ing serious demonstrations by land and water daily, the skirmishing being almost incessant. But, after inspecting the work and observing the spirit of the men, I directed that a garrison of 500 strong could hold out against Fitch, and that I would lead the remainder — about 1,500 — to General Rust as soon as shotguns and rifles could be obtained from Little Rock. Two days elapsed before the arms could be obtained. In that interval Curtis advanced across Cache river and attacked General Rust, whose com mand, after an engagement of about thirty minutes, re treated in great disorder across White river. Many of his men deserted, both Texans and Arkansans. No report of this affair was ever received, though often called for, consequently I am not able to give any of the details. My instructions for devastating the country were not executed. The Federal reports of the affair with Rust show that if a Mclntosh, a Cleburne or a McNair had been in com mand of the- Confederates, the enemy would have re ceived a disastrous blow. His advance detachments were surrounded, and "a charge into the cornfield," where Ark 8 114 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Hovey's brigade was crouching and apprehensive, would have captured 2,000 prisoners, and rifles and steel guns of the finest quality. The Confederates could have armed themselves with the best improved arms. It was for them only to advance and take them. It was not because they were conscripts that they failed, as most of them were Texas volunteers. There were no conscripts in the true sense of the word, since there were very few who had not served as volun teers, and having been captured and exchanged, or their term of enlistment having expired, without pay for their services, were driven by the necessity of feeding their families, all other resources being exhausted, to stay out of the army and make a crop. Taken from their plows, if they had been wanting in patriotism, there were the Federal recruiting officers, tempting them with large bounties, with pay, food and clothing, which they scorned to accept, but remained, the great body of them, in the Confederate army without either. For this reason no distinction is made between Confederate soldiers. All who fought for their State against the invader are hon ored, while those who went to the enemy are mistrusted and avoided. General Hindman continues : No longer able to prevent the junction of Curtis and Fitch, I withdrew my infantry from White river, evacu ating Devall's Bluff without loss of any kind and taking up a new line, that of the Bayou Metoe, 1 2 miles from Little Rock, by which the enemy's difficulties of supply ing himself would be increased and his employment of the gunboats rendered impossible, should he move against me. White river was falling rapidly ; the gunboats and transports dropped down and went into the Mississippi, fired upon to the last moment from the west bank. Cur tis, at the same time, moved eastward to the Mississippi and established himself at Helena. A portion of my cav alry, under Col. W. H. Parsons, was thrown forward in that direction and many successful atacks were made upon the enemy. The most important of these was at Hughes' Ferry on L' Anguille river, 30 miles from Helena, August CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 115 3d. A Federal cavalry regiment, with about 200 armed negroes and as many unarmed, was surprised in camp, and, in effect, cut to pieces, losing over 400 killed, wounded and prisoners, with all its baggage. Colonel Parsons and Lieut. -Col. A. B. Burleson of his regiment highly distinguished themselves. Our loss was 30 killed and 58 wounded. Not to discredit General Hindman's report, but in order to give basis for a conservative estimate of the results of the affair at L'Anguille, reference may be made to the report of the Federal commander, Gen. S. E. Eggleston, who said that he arrived at the ferry with "a train of 27 wagons, 130 men, and about 100 contraband horses and mules," and about daylight next morning was " attacked by 600 Texan Rangers, and, after a severe fight of about 30 minutes," was obliged to abandon his camp, losing all his wagons, horses and mules, and 14 men killed, 40 wounded, and about 25 taken prisoners. The few who escaped made their way to the old camp near the ferry, to Marianna, and to Helena. After this affair Curtis' forces were confined within narrow limits around Helena, watched by Parsons, while the remainder of Hindman's troops were encamped at Little Rock for organization and instruction. Now Hind- man was confronted with new and serious difficulties. The scarcity of supplies caused great distress, with the corn crop two months off. Dismounting four regiments to save corn caused many of the men to desert. The ravages of disease caused the loss of many more. To these embarrassments was added the lack of money. Said General Hindman: The men became clamorous for pay. I prevailed upon the State authorities to turn over to me the war tax due the Confederacy, amounting to upward of $400,000, and caused it to be disbursed as pay funds, $100,000 to the troops in the Indian country, and the residue to those in Arkansas; but the unavoidable delay in doing so gave 116 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. occasion to many desertions. In a word, desertions took place upon every conceivable pretext. Frequent arrests were made, but in many instances the offenders were at first pardoned and returned to duty on promises of better conduct in future. Forgiveness was extended for different considerations. Many were extremely ignorant and had probably been misled. Others had wives and children suffering for food. Lastly, the regimental organizations made by me were not author ized by law, and under the circumstances I shrank from inflicting the death penalty. This leniency brought forth evil fruits ; mercy was mistaken for timidity, and deser tions increased. My command seemed likely to dwindle to nothing. The raising of additional troops was par alyzed. At length, Col. A. Nelson discovered and re ported to me a widespread conspiracy to disband and go home. He ascertained that there was a regular organi zation for that purpose, and that a badge was adopted by the members for distinguishing each other. Within a few hours after this discovery a signal gun was fired in the camp of an Arkansas regiment, and sixty men, headed by two lieutenants, deliberately marched away, with their arms and accouterments. Orders to arrest them were not executed. For the salvation of the country I had taken the re sponsibility to compel enrollment of troops. I was now resolved, for the same object, to compel them to remain. An order was issued convening a military commission of three officers. Four prisoners were ordered before it for trial. They were found guilty of double desertion, cut ting the telegraph wire, and burning a tannery in gov ernment employ. Each confessed his guilt. I ordered them shot to death in presence of the troops, and saw the order executed. Five other men — four deserters and one citizen, guilty of inciting desertion, all of whom had been captured with arms in their hands fighting in the Federal ranks at the battle of L'Anguille — were tried, found guilty, and put to death. Two deserters were similarly dealt with at Fort Smith, and one at Bates ville. These summary measures had the intended effect. The spirit of desertion was crushed. It did not again manifest itself while I commanded in the Trans-Mississippi district. In consequence of the virtual abdication of the civil authorities, I believed it my duty, as the only man having CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 117 the requisite force, to institute a government ad interim. I considered this incumbent on me, alike for preserving society and for creating and maintaining an army. Hence, on June 3oth, I proclaimed martial law. To make this declaration effective a provost-marshal was appointed in each county, and all the independent companies therein were placed under his control. Over these were ap pointed provost-marshals of districts, which included several counties. The provost-marshal-general at my headquarters had command over all. It was my inten tion still further to improve and strengthen the organi zation by forming independent companies into regiments and brigades, as reserve forces for future contingencies. Martial law, and the regulations enforcing it, put an end to the anarchy by which the loyal population had been so long afflicted. They exercised the spirit of extortion which was torturing soldiers into desertion by starving their wives and children ; they restored the credit of Con federate currency and saved the army from starvation. They broke up trading with the enemy, and destroyed or removed out of his reach thousands of bales of cotton that selfish and venal planters were ready to sell for Fed eral gold ; they insured the exclusion of spies, the arrest of traitors, stragglers and deserters, and the enforcement of the conscription. . . . The opposition to martial law never embraced many persons other than tories, speculators and deserters. . . . Before resorting to this alternative, I not only satisfied myself that the circumstances made it necessary, : but that it was demanded as a necessity by the loyaf popu lation. During all of June, letters and petitions to that effect came to me continually. Prominent citizens itrged it at personal interviews. The editors of the two leading exponents of public opinion, the Gazette and True Demo crat, strongly advised it. The State military board ap proved it. Not a single State officer, not a member of Congress, at any time, indicated to me a different opinion. [He then gave precedents for the declaration of martial law in orders of Beauregard, Van Dorn, Hebert, Pike, Bragg, and by himself in Tennessee, sustained by Gen. A. S. Johnston.] In the latter part of July alarming news was coming in from the Indian country. The Federal expedition 118 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. from Fort Scott crossed the Cherokee border, and though Stand Watie and Boudinot made a gallant fight, they were compelled to fall back behind the Arkansas river. The Pin Indians rose in rebellion, and committed horrid excesses, causing between 1,000 and 2,000 help less Cherokees to flee across the line into Arkansas, where they were subsisted at government expense. In regard to his doings in this matter it was stated in General Hind- man's report: Looking forward to this invasion, I had, on May 3ist, the day of taking command, ordered General Pike to advance his force to the Kansas border for the protection of the Indian country. He was then at Fort McCulloch, about 25 miles from the extreme south line of that country, fortifying in an open prairie, with the Red river just in his rear. The order reached him June 8th. Receiving no information that it had been obeyed, I re peated it on June iyth, directing him to move at once to or near Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee nation. . . . On July 8th, he being still at Fort McCulloch, I again ordered him forward, instructing him to go by the way of Fort Smith, assume command of the troops in northwestern Arkansas, in addition to his own. ... On July 2 1 st he had succeeded in getting as far as Boggy Depot, a distance of 25 miles. In the meantime he had forwarded his resignation as brigadier-general, and applied to me to relieve him from duty. ... I forwarded his resigna tion to Richmond, with my approval, and at the same time relieved him from duty. On the receipt of my order to that effect he issued and distributed a printed circular, addressed to the Indians, and equally likely to reach the enemy, in which, under pretense of defending the Confederate government, he evidently sought to ex cite prejudice against it. ... Col. D. H. Cooper, who was next in rank and had succeeded to the command, deemed it his duty to place General Pike in arrest, and so informed me. ... I approved his action and ordered General Pike sent to Little Rock in custody. . . . After his resignation had been accepted, Mr. Pike ap peared at Fort McCulloch, issued an order as brigadier- general commanding, and prevented the march of troops. ... I again ordered him taken in custody. . . . CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 119 Before this incident was closed, the administration of General Hindman as chief, practically, of the Trans- Mississippi region, though subject nominally to the com mander of Department No. 2, came to an end, and the Trans-Mississippi department was created, with a new commander. Gen. J. B. Magruder had been first selected for this duty, while General Hindman was yet engaged in his White river operations. General Van Dorn, in his letter of June pth to Presi dent Davis, previously quoted from, also wrote : I learned a day or two since, that General Magruder had been ordered to the command of the Trans-Mississippi district, and immediately telegraphed you not to send any one at present, as it would have a bad effect. General Price goes to-morrow to see you, and will explain all on the subject. I wish here to suggest to you, General, that the love of the people of Missouri is strong for General Price, and his prestige as a commander there so great, that wisdom would seem to dictate that he be put at the head of affairs in the West. I see the alluring bait to my ambition — the fall of St. Louis, the reclamation of a rich segment of our beloved South from the grip of the enemy, and the glory of that might be mine. But I shut all this out from me, because I think it is to the best interest of the country to do so. I willingly drop what ever glory there may be in it on the brow of General Price, than whom there is no one more worthy to wear it, and than by whom I should rather see it worn. General Price learned, on reaching Richmond, that Gen eral Magruder had been appointed to the command, and he was informed that as soon as his troops could be spared from Mississippi, he would be returned west as subordinate to Magruder. On July i6th, however, to secure ''prompt action," as President Davis said, Maj.-Gen. Theophilus H. Holmes was assigned to command of the Trans-Mississippi department. General Hindman, on August 5th, yet un advised of the change, wrote to Adjutant-General Cooper; I am rejoiced to hear that a separate department has 120 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. been created out of the country west of the Mississippi, and that General Magruder is coming to assume com mand. ... I have now in camp at this place [Little Rock] and Pine Bluff, about 18,000 effective men, well armed. I have in camps of instruction between 6,000 and 8,000 men, either wholly unarmed or else armed with guns that are of little value. ... I have six batteries containing 40 brass pieces, and one battery of iron guns. ... I have on the other side of and along White river a force of about 3, 100 cavalry; near Brownsville I have 500; at and near this place, 500; south of this place and along Arkansas river, and between that and Ouachita, about 2,000. . . . When I advance at all, it will be with the intention of making Arkansas river secure, and then pushing forward into Missouri. My present armed force is sufficient for the latter purpose," if the other object can be attained, which it will be if Curtis [at Helena] is crushed and destroyed. Meanwhile, General Holmes had reached Vicksburg, where he issued a general order, July 3oth, assuming com mand of the department of the Trans-Mississippi. On August 1 2th, his second general order fixed his headquar ters at Little Rock, where he had arrived, and continued General Hindman in command of the troops in the neigh borhood of Little Rock and on the Arkansas river. On the 2oth, the new department commander divided his territory into districts, assigning Hindman to the district of Arkansas, including Arkansas, Missouri, and the Indian country west. On July 1 3th, General Bragg had relieved Gen. Mon roe Parsons and the men under him, at Tupelo, Miss. , from further service east of the Mississippi, and ordered them to report to General Hindman. General Price was transferred later, also Generals Churchill, Tappan, Cabell, McRae and Dockery, some of whose promotions were not yet confirmed by the President, but were eventually approved. Cols. Chas. W. Adams and J. S. Marmaduke were likewise transferred. Organization went on rapidly ; supplies of clothing, money and munitions were received from the East, and the spirits of the people of Arkansas CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 121 rose perceptibly. Curtis was making- no demonstrations beyond occasional scouts on the west bank of White river, which would be quickly attacked and driven back to the east. In his reports General Hindman made mention of the officers to whom he was "most indebted for assistance in the work of organization, ' ' saying : In raising troops in Arkansas, Col. Charles A. Carroll was more successful than any other officer, and is entitled to high credit. He was valuably assisted by Cols. W. H. Brooks and H. D. King, Lieutenant-Colonels Gunter and McCord, Major Dillard and others, and put in the service three full regiments of infantry and one of cavalry. Col. H. L. Grinsted raised two regiments of infantry; Cols. D. McRae, J. C. Pleasants, A. J. McNeill and C. H. Matlock each raised a regiment. In raising Arkansas troops, and afterward in their organization, important services were rendered by the following, among other officers: Cols. J. F. Fagan, Shaler, Shaver, Morgan, Glenn and Johnson; Lieutenant-Colonels Geoghegan, Magenis, Polk, McMillan, Wright, Hart, Young and Crawford; Majors Bell, Gause, Cocke, Baber, Yell, Hicks, Chrisman and Crenshaw, and Captains Johnson, Ringo, Martin, Home, Blackmer and Biscoe. In Arkansas there were raised and organized, under my orders, thirteen regiments and one battalion of infantry, two regiments and one battalion of cavalry, and four bat teries — all war troops — besides upward of 5,000 irregu lars of the independent companies, and not including the Arkansas troops drawn from the Indian country. [This increased the Arkansas regiments in Confederate service from twenty-nine to forty-five.] From Missouri there were raised and organized under my orders, five regiments of infantry, seven of cavalry, and three batteries. ... In addition, I drew from Texas twenty-one regiments of infantry and dismounted cavalry, four regiments of cav alry and three batteries, raising the number of Texan regiments in my district to twenty-eight, with five bat teries. A considerable part of the report of General Hindman was devoted to the subject of the arrest of General Pike. 122 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Amidst his cares, and with the impetuosity of his char acter, he had, unintentionally perhaps, greatly trenched upon the military rights of General Pike, who had been early intrusted with the charge of Indian Territory, first as embassador to make treaties, and then as military com mander. He was unceremoniously ordered by Hindman to make a march and take responsibility outside his ter ritory, for which he felt his unfitness with the material he had. Because he did not move when ordered, he was censured, and, as has been noted, his resignation was abruptly accepted. Then Pike imprudently issued an address to his Indian friends, and gave expression to his complaints, which was regarded as traitorous by Hind man, also by Holmes. When General Hindman ordered Pike arrested and brought to Little Rock, the order was couched in terms of deadly earnestness. In fact, there were two orders, the latter giving more explicit instructions and requiring a larger force, with thirty rounds of ammunition, under a field officer, "one who is brave and determined and who will execute your orders faithfully." General Roane, to whom the order was directed, was too goodnatured not to let Pike get wind of the impending blow. At any rate, Pike went to Little Rock before it was executed. It appears that it was not intended that Pike should make active soldiers of the Indians, and be depended upon to lead them in a campaign. His appointment was intended to protect them from temptation to invade the borders of Arkansas and Texas as instruments of the enemy, who sought aid from every source. The Confederate cause was scandalized by taking them to battle at Elkhorn, where they were charged with barbarous mutilation of the killed. They had little knowledge of or interest in the subject of the contention, and were destitute of any experience in civilized war. And if General Pike, "at Fort McCulloch, only twenty-five miles from the extreme south line of the Indian country, was fortifying in the open CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 123 prairie with Red river in his rear, ' ' it was all the more likely to amuse his unsophisticated followers. So much of the report of General Hindman as tells the story of his operations under Beauregard's order, and is embodied in this history, is quoted from himself, since no historian would be given credit for fairness who should utter it without such authentication. Those who knew him well can recognize the dauntless will of the man, his tireless energy and his unmistakable ability. In his political campaign immediately preceding the war, by the exercise of the same qualities he had revolutionized the politics of the State and, aiding in the election of Governor Rector, had overthrown an ancient organization of his party, of which Robert W. Johnson, United States senator at the time of the secession of the States, was the head. But Colonel Johnson, in the reaction brought about by the proclamation of Mr. Lincoln calling for troops, and the secession of the State, secured a seat in the Provisional Congress of the Confederate States, and Hindman lost no time in making peace with him as an indispensable friend or patron at the Confederate capital, to vindicate his acts, when necessary, with the President and before the Congress and elsewhere. It was not Johnson who instituted the congressional inquiry upon the protests that went up from Arkansas against the alleged usurpations of Hindman. General Holmes, whom Hindman greatly influenced and humored, understood the new friendship of Johnson and Hindman, when he wrote, November 10, 1862 : " Colonel Johnson is just elected senator over Gar land, 46 to 41. He made a long speech to the legislature, in which, I am told, he sustained you thoroughly and unconditionally. He has offered me his services, and I am going to send him to Richmond for arms and money." Senator Johnson occupied a seat in the old Senate, when Jefferson Davis represented Mississippi in that body. He was a member of the same school of politics, and had the confidence and esteem of the Confederate President. 124 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Yet he could not save Hindman from the censure and check of the orders of the secretary of war. The address issued by General Pike, in July, 1862, which was so severely censured, began with these words: To the Chief and People of the Cherokees, Creeks, Sem- inoles, Chickasaws and Choctaws: I have resigned the command of the Indian Territory, and am relieved of that command. I have done this because I received, on the nth of the month, an order to go out of your country to Fort Smith and northwestern Arkansas, there to remain and organize troops and defend that country, instead of remaining in your country, where the President had placed me ; a duty which would have kept me out of your country for months. When I made treaties with you, I promised you protection by a sufficient force of white troops, and I consented to take command here to give you that protection. The President gave me all I asked. I procured infantry soldiers, enough arms, ammunition, clothing, shoes, cannon, and everything necessary for my troops. General Van Dorn, in March, took from me, at Fort Smith and Little Rock, two regiments of my infantry, six of my cannon, all of my cannon powder and many rifles, and let his soldiers take nearly all the coats, panta loons, shirts, socks, and shoes I had procured for you. By other orders, all the rest of my infantry and all the artillery, except one company with six guns, have been taken away, and that company, with its six guns, has been ordered to Fort Smith with the last armed man from Arkansas. [He then contended that he would have been false to his charge if he had gone into Arkansas to take command of troops there.] I tried in vain to get men enough from Arkansas and Texas to prevent an invasion of the Cherokee country. You can see now, at Cantonment Davis, all the white troops I was allowed to have. You will plainly see that with them, if they had been in the Cherokee country, 2,000 or 3,000 of the enemy could at any time have driven them away. And while they were there, if I could have kept them there, what would have kept the northern troops and hostile Creeks and other Indians from coming down to the Deep fork and North fork of the Canadian, and driving out our friends from the Creek and Seminole country? . . , The President and government are not CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 125 to blame for this, nor am I ; nor am I to blame because your troops have not been paid. Moneys have been sent to us long ago and stopped on the way, just as your cloth ing has, and the arms and ammunition I provided for you. By and by these things will all be remedied. To make it certain that this shall be done, and that you shall have justice done you and your rights, I have resigned, in order to go to Richmond and make known to the President the manner in which you have been treated. As far as it is in my power, every dollar due your troops and to the people shall be paid. . . . Remain true, I earnestly advise you, to the Confederate States and yourselves. Do not listen to any men who tell you that the Southern States will abandon you. They will not do it. The comment of General Holmes upon this proclama tion was that, "Under the plausible pretext of sustaining the government, he has led them (the Indians) to believe that they have been betrayed and deserted by the general in command. " Is it not rather an apology to those people, with whom the author had made treaties, for the seeming reckless disregard of them by the generals in command? General Pike doubtless thought that Van Dorn and Hind- man were to be held responsible for the discontent, if any existed, instead of the Confederacy. Hindman's rules were iron, his commands were steel, to which he could admit no exceptions or modifications. Pike was a "Confederate general," with troops, arms and munition, and he ordered him to the front. The order was not obeyed. Therefore, he would strip him of the arms which he refused to employ in the common cause, and accept his resignation ; all of which he did with utmost abruptness. He seemed not to be able to grasp the thought, pronounced everywhere through Pike's address, that the Indians were children or wards, and their sup posed "general" only a suzerain or diplomat, who em ployed the arms as toys to keep them amused. As sol diers they could not use them, as was shown at Elkhorn tavern. Hindman's motto was, "Salus populi est suprema lex " 126 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. — if the ship were sinking, everybody to the pumps. Pike, the poet and dreamer, believed that his Indians might still fare sumptuously in the salon while the sailors were throwing over cargo to keep the vessel afloat. He smoked his meerschaum and wrote his address to explain that it was not he, but General Hindman, who disturbed their repose. Albert Pike had an established reputation as a poet and lawyer — had long served the Indians as their attorney at Washington. Six feet three in height, with hair that floated over his shoulders, and handsome feat ures, convivial and profuse with money, he was a pictur esque character at all times. General Pike, as has been stated, went to Little Rock and reported in person to General Holmes. Thus this unpleasant occurrence ended. He subsequently withdrew entirely from the Indian country and went to Washington, in Hempstead county, the temporary State capital after the fall of Little Rock. There being a vacancy on the bench of the State Supreme court, he was elected associ ate justice. General Pike's letters in vindication of his course are numerous and lengthy, challenging Hindman 's authority to command in matters not strictly military, and reiterating complaints of arms, ammunition and supplies misappropriated. Hindman's acknowledgment to the President that he acted without authority, that he had found the State without officers or law, and, having the requisite force, had instituted a government ad interim, avoided these complaints against him. President Davis, in answer to a letter from Governor Rector, in which the latter was joined by the governors of Texas, Missouri and Louisiana, wrote, September isth, a communication, from which the leading paragraphs are here quoted: The delay which occurred in making arrangements for the proper organization of the Trans- Mississippi depart ment arose from causes, some of which are too obvious to reauire mention, and others of a nature which cannot now CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 127 be divulged. . . . Immediately after the defeat and dis persion of the enemy by our gallant soldiers, in the battles of the Chickahominy, I selected officers possessing my highest confidence for the command and administrative duties of the department and districts composing it. By the assignment of Major-General Holmes to command the department, and Major- Generals Taylor, Hindman and Price to the districts of Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri, aided by a competent staff, I feel assured that the proper military skill, vigor and administrative ability will not be found wanting. Large supplies of funds have been sent and will continue to be furnished as the exigencies of the service require ; and although not able to give all the aid in arms and munitions of war that would be desirable, a supply has been sent about equal to that asked for in your letter. ... In conclusion, be assured that your friendly counsel will always be received with satisfaction and treated with the deference and consideration to which, both personally and officially, you are so well entitled. On September 25th the secretary of war notified Gen eral Holmes that "all requisitions for the Trans-Missis sippi department have been promptly met, and over $33,000,000 has been sent to the department. Upward of 20,000 stands of arms have been ordered to the depart ment, and 16,000 actually forwarded; 5,000 will go under charge of Major Alexander." Special orders from headquarters Trans- Mississippi department, Little Rock, September 28 and 30, 1862, give valuable information regarding the available forces at that time. Colonel McRae with his brigade, consisting of McRae's, Matlock's, Johnson's, Pleasants', McNeill's and Morgan's regiments of Arkansas infantry, and Woodruff's Arkan sas battery, was ordered to take post at Des Arc and report to General Hindman. Buford's regiment of Texas cavalry and Etter's Ar kansas battery were ordered to Elkhorn to report to Gen eral Rains. Grinsted's Arkansas infantry and the infantry of Gen- 128 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. eral McBride's command were to move to Yellville and report to Brig. -Gen. M. M. Parsons. Col. R. G. Shaver was relieved of the command of Shaver's brigade, Roane's division, and ordered to his reg iment at Pocahontas. Brig. -Gen. J. S. Roane, in com mand of troops at Pine Bluff, was ordered to Clarendon. Cols. J. S. Marmaduke and A. Nelson were also assigned to duty as brigadier-generals. Cols. James Deshler and F. A. Shoup were relieved from staff duty, to be assigned to command of brigades. Gen. H. E. McCulloch, with his division of Texas troops — infantry brigades of Young and Randal, and cavalry brigade of E. H. Parsons — was ordered to Devall's Bluff, to report by telegraph to General Hindman. General Nelson, with the other Texas division — brigades of Flournoy and his own — was to report at Clarendon to General Roane. Colonel Garland was directed to concen trate his Texas brigade at some point near the Arkansas post, and was made responsible for the defense of the fortifications against any land attack of the enemy. Col. J. W. Dunnington was assigned to the command of the river defenses of Arkansas, with orders to erect fortifications at suitable points on the Arkansas and White rivers. Colonel Dawson's regiment, Lieutenant- Colonel Crawford's battalion, Captains Fitzhugh's and Williams' corps of engineers, and Captain Clarkson's com pany of sappers and miners, were ordered to report to Colonel Dunnington. By orders of the secretary of war, September 29th, Brig. -Gen. D. H. Cooper was assigned to duty as superin tendent of Indian affairs. CHAPTER VI. OPERATIONS IN NORTHWEST ARKANSAS— BATTLE OF NEWTONIA — SCHOFIELD INVADES ARKANSAS — CANE HILL AND PRAIRIE GROVE— ARMY ORGANI ZATION IN DECEMBER, 1862— FALL OF ARKANSAS POST. AFTER General Holmes had arrived at Little Rock, General Hindman, continuing in charge of mili tary operations in Arkansas and the Indian coun try, took measures to expel the Federals from the latter region. As he reported, he pushed across the mountains, from Fort Smith, two regiments of Missourians, under Brigadier-General Rains, and three regiments of Arkan- sans, under Col. C. A. Carroll. The enemy hastily retreated beyond the Kansas line. "Thus the loyal Cherokees were restored to their country, and enabled to assemble a convention, depose Ross, and make Stand Watie chief of the nation. ' ' On August 24th I assumed command at Fort Smith. Our troops then held the line of the Boston mountains as far west as that place, and the line of the Arkansas river thence westward. The country above, in north western Arkansas and the Cherokee nation, was overrun by marauding parties of jayhawkers, tories and hostile Indians, and was fast being depopulated. The country adjacent to our line was almost wholly exhausted of sub sistence and forage. Our force was about 2,500 white infantry, about 3,600 armed white cavalry, and Indian cavalry estimated at 3,000 armed men. I pushed forward our troops from Forts Gibson and Smith, and occupied a line corresponding to the north boundary of Arkansas, posting the infantry and eight pieces of artillery at Elk- horn. . . . On September i oth, under orders from depart ment headquarters, I left Pineville for Little Rock, The 129 Ark 9 130 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. command thus devolved on General Rains. I instructed him to make no aggressive movement, but if assailed, to hold the line occupied as long as practicable. His experience thus far, he reported, led him to believe he could continue to lead his cavalry northward, drive Blunt into Kansas, and then turn against Springfield, Mo., cooperating with an advance of the infantry under Rains, and he had already issued preliminary orders to this effect, when he was recalled to Little Rock. The Federal * ' District of Missouri, ' ' under the command of Brig. -Gen. J. M. Schofield, was subdivided, Brig. -Gen. E. B. Brown commanding the southwestern division, Brig. -Gen. Thomas Totten the central division, Col. J. M. Glover the Rolla division, and Col. Lewis Merrill the St. Louis division. General Schofield gives the sub divisions credit for the following numbers of troops: The central, 4,750; southwestern, 3,450; Rolla, 1,500; St. Louis, 4,660; total, 14,660, not including the two northern divisions. An order for the enrollment of the Missouri State militia (Federal) was issued July 22d, and by the 2pth, Schofield said, 20,000 men had been organized, armed, and called into active service. "Many of these were mounted, and joined the regular troops in active operations in the field; others relieved forces guarding railroads, etc., while some portions of the State were given over entirely to the enrolled militia." Captains Poindexter, Cook and Porter (Confederate) waged a sanguinary war against this militia and the other Fed eral forces, from July 2oth. On August i3th they attacked and captured the Federal garrison at Independ ence, under Colonel Buell, of the Seventh Missouri Fed eral cavalry. Colonel Coffee, with a small force, not equal to a regiment, passed out of Arkansas and surrounded Springfield, causing General Brown to send a large force in pursuit of him. General Blunt, commanding the department of Kansas, was ordered from Fort Scott to aid in surrounding Coffee. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 131 It was supposed that Coffee intended to attack Lexing ton. General Totten, in command there, sent Colonel Warren with 1,500 men and artillery, and Major Foster with 800 men and two pieces of artillery, to intercept him, when they were attacked by Confederates from Arkansas, under Colonel Cockrell, who utterly routed them and cap tured their artillery at Lone Jack, August i6th. Col. Jo Shelby reported to Gen. J. S. Marmaduke, regarding his operations in this period : I started from Little Rock, July 25th, joined my com pany at Frog bayou (near Van Buren, Ark.), and Col. J. V. Cockrell at said camp, and marched with him for the Missouri river, as far as Newtonia, where we came in contact with Federals under Major Hubbard. After a short skirmish with him, turned west and proceeded as far as Lone Jack, unmolested, traveling night and day. At Lone Jack, Colonel Cockrell attacked and defeated the Federals under Major Foster. We proceeded (my squad) to the river, some 40 miles further. On my arrival there, I made it known that I was duly commissioned by General Hindman to raise a regiment of cavalry, . . . and in four days raised the regiment, and started south from the river, about the 1 8th of August. . . . Joined Cols. Upton Hays and J. T. Coffee at Elkhorn creek, about the 9th of September. At said encampment we were met by General Hindman, who caused the three regiments -to be thrown together, which constitute this brigade ; the com mand of same being given to me. We were then ordered to Camp Kearny, 6 miles south of Newtonia. . . . Whilst at Camp Kearny we attacked the Federals at Newtonia, driving them some 10 miles, in which engagement we lost Colonel Hays. We then moved up to Newtonia. In a few days thereafter we attacked a part of Colonel Phillips' brigade, near Carthage, routing them. We like wise, after that, had two skirmishes with them at Mount Vernon, some 30 miles northeast of Newtonia, driving their pickets in, and on one occasion driving their forces out of Mount Vernon, some TO miles east. During all this time, we were some 40 miles in advance of General Rains, and were required to scout all the country in his front, from Cassville west to Scott's mill, 18 miles west, which required on an average from 700 to 1,000 men daily. 132 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. We were joined, about the 27th of September, by Colonel Cooper, who assumed command. On the $oth we fought General Salomon at Newtonia, defeating him badly. The battle of Newtonia, so briefly alluded to by Colonel Shelby, was a decided Confederate victory. Newtonia is about 30 miles from the Arkansas border, in Newton county, Mo. Gen. Frederick Salomon was commander of the Federal forces, estimated at 6,000 men, with 1 8 pieces of artillery. Col. D. H. Cooper commanded the Confederates, composed of Missouri and Texas regiments, and Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw Indians. The Confederates were desirous of holding the Granby lead mines, in the vicinity, and hearing that a body of Kansas and Pin Indians had marched to that place, moved forward to meet them, and occupied a position at Newtonia. The Federals appeared on the morning of the 3oth in force, and a fierce conflict took place. The Confederate artillery, under Captains Bledsoe and Howell, held its position from the beginning of the conflict. Alexander's and Hawpe's Texas cavalry and Bryan's Cherokee regiment (dis mounted) received them behind stone walls and stopped their advance. When Col. Tandy Walker's Choctaws and Chickasaws charged them, mounted, with a war-whoop, and Shelby's Missouri and Stevens' Texas regiments flanked them, the enemy was put to flight. But they reformed, after a retreat of several miles, and advanced their infantry in strong force. The arrival of Colonel Fulsom's Choctaw regiment saved the right from dis aster, and a fierce conflict followed, ending in another Federal retreat. A third stand of the enemy, after dark, was broken by Howell' s artillery, and the Federals fled in confusion, pursued as far as Sarcoxie, 12 miles distant. The Confederates lost about 75 killed and wounded. The loss of the Federals greatly exceeded this number. In his report of November 3, 1862, General Hindman has written the history of the subsequent operations : CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 133 On October isth, I returned to Fort Smith, where I learned, from rumor, that our troops had retired to the vicinity of Fayetteville. * ... Upon arriving at Fayette- ville, I learned that General Rains, with the armed infantry, one regiment of Arkansas cavalry and eight pieces of artillery, was in camp 2 miles west of Hunts- ville, on the road to Elkhorn; that three regiments of Missouri cavalry and two pieces of artillery, under Colonel Shelby, were 4 miles nearer Elkhorn, on the same road ; that four regiments of Texas cavalry, under Colonel Bass, were at Holcomb's, 9 miles above Fayetteville; that the Indian troops and two white cavalry battalions, with four pieces of artillery, had gone west, toward Maysville, on the Cherokee and Arkansas line, and that the unarmed infantry were at McGuire's, about 10 miles south of Fay etteville, on the road to Ozark. I was informed by Col onel Bass that the enemy in great strength was pressing upon him; that he was retiring upon Huntsville. I directed Colonel Bradfute to go forward at once and assume command of the forces under Colonel Bass, and offer as stubborn resistance as he could, . . . ordered the unarmed men across the mountains toward Clarks- ville, and started to Huntsville. . . . General Rains informed me that he had retired from Elkhorn because satisfied that a Federal force of 15,000 to 20,000 was mov ing upon him; . . . also that the Indian troops under Cooper had refused to retire in the direction of Fayette ville, and that he had therefore ordered them toward the * General Schofield reported that, having secured, in September, united action between Totten in southwest Missouri and Blunt in Kansas, he asked the cooperation of Steele, now at Helena, and determined to go to Springfield, take command of the united forces, and in conjunction with General Steele, drive the enemy, not only from Missouri, but from the Arkansas valley. But Steele failed to cooperate. On September 24th, General Curtis assumed command of the department of Missouri, and Schofield took command of the forces in southwest Missouri, and after the battle of Newtonia he advanced against Rains with 10,000 men, occupied Newtonia after a skirmish, and pushed on to Pineville, Ark. He then ordered Gen eral Herron from Springfield, Mo., to Cassville, and occupied the old battleground at Pea ridge, October lyth. Thence Blunt's division marched to Old Fort Wayne, near Maysville, and defeated Cooper, and Totten's and Herron's divisions occupied Huntsville. On the 3oth, Schofield withdrew his whole force, then 16,000 men, to the vicinity of Bentonville, and later, leaving Blunt in northwest Arkansas, moved the other two divisions to the neighborhood of Springfield. He relinquished command November 2oth. 134 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Cherokee line, and thence into Kansas. I sent an order to General Cooper to the same effect, but it did not reach him in time. . . . His command scattered when he reached Maysville, and on the 2 26. was completely routed, and the battery taken, by the enemy. General Cooper at the time was sick.* I also sent an order to Colonel Burbridge, commanding a Missouri cavalry brigade near Pitman's Ferry, to move rapidly upon Rolla, Mo. , retiring, when compelled, in the direction of Yellville. I placed General Rains in command of the two brigades of Texas and Missouri cavalry, with instructions to concentrate his force in front of the enemy's main body, and resist his advance to the last moment, scouting to the right toward Huntsville and to the left toward Maysville. With an infantry brigade, provided with no subsistence except beef, and only about ten rounds of ammunition, I retired to a point 21 miles south. I reached this point on the 22d of October. On that day I accepted the resignation of Gen eral Rains and relieved him from duty. I placed Brig. - Gen. J. S. Marmaduke in command of the two cavalry brigades of Shelby and Bradfute. The latter fell sick . . . and Col. Jesse L. Cravens was assigned to his position. On the 22d of October a Federal force, reported from 8,000 to 10,000, under Generals Schofield and Brown, entered Huntsville, having evidently learned the exact whereabouts of General Rains' late camp. Their advance *Douglas H. Cooper, May 25, 1861, had been adopted a member of the Chickasaw tribe of Indians by legislative enactment, under the Chickasaw constitution. He was brave and genial, and trusted by the Indians, who endorsed him, by petitions and addresses, to Presi dent Davis before and after the disaster at Old Fort Wayne, or Maysville. Governor Colbert and others, of the Chickasaws, wrote to Gen. Kirby Smith, in April, 1863: "With feelings of deep regret, I learn that false representations have been made to you or to General Holmes as regards the feelings of the Chickasaws toward Gen. D. H. Cooper. Having the utmost confidence in General Cooper, both as an Indian agent and as a general whom they have unanimously placed at the head of their forces to be raised in defense of their country and the South, no one can stand higher in the opin ion of the Chickasaws." He was commended in similar terms of confidence by leading men and military officers of the Creeks, Semi- noles, Cherokees and Choctaws, and by resolutions of the Chickasaw legislature and Choctaw council. Col. Tandy Walker wrote at great length in praise of General Cooper, concluding, " This is the general, above all others, we desire to be placed in command of the department of the Indian Territory." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 135 was resisted by Shelby's brigade; several killed and General Schofield's cook captured. Shelby fell back about 4 miles and prepared to fight, but that night the enemy was seized with a panic, and retreated rapidly toward Holcomb's. Notwithstanding the Confederates had been for months in camps of instruction, the infantry on Mazzard prairie, near Fort Smith, where they were organized and drilled by officers appointed by General Hindman, were poorly equipped to meet the well-armed, well-fed and insolent invaders. The cavalry had few other arms than double- barrel shotguns. But they were well mounted, and relied on their weapons in a charge at close quarters. The infantry had been supplied with the Virginia make of Springfield army rifles, and presented a more military appearance. The force now assembled in north Arkansas, under Hindman, numbered about 20,000 men. He was encamped with the infantry south of the junction of the roads leading, one from Fayetteville, and the other from Huntsville, to Ozark, on the north or east bank of the Arkansas river, where he could not be attacked from the rear by the enemy marching from either Fayetteville or Huntsville. McCrae's brigade of Arkansas infantry and Woodruff's battery, numbering in all about 2,500 men, and 6 pieces of artillery, were camped 22 miles south of him on the 22d. On the 26th, General Parsons with his brigade of Missouri infantry was ordered to fall back from Greenville, across the mountains, to this camp. The new cavalry regiment organized by Colonel Fagan, Lieu tenant-Colonel Monroe and Major Johnson, which had been scouting on Grand prairie, between Little Rock and White river, was ordered up to Bellefonte, a village near Yellville, north of the mountains. While camped there, on the 2yth of October, there was a fall of four inches of snow, which enveloped the green forests. It hung for days on the leaves, which had not been turned by previous frosts, an unusual spectacle. Colonel Fagan was promoted to brigadier-general and 136 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ordered to Camp Mazzard, in charge of an infantry brigade. Lieut. -Col. J. C. Monroe became colonel; Maj. Andrew Johnson, lieutenant-colonel; Capt. P. A. Wheat, of Devall's Bluff, major. Carroll's Arkansas cavalry was ordered to Huntsville to cover the movement of Gen. M. M. Parsons, who was marching to join Hindman. On the 26th of October, General Hindman moved for ward, intending to take position at McGuire's store, on the Fayetteville road, then held by Marmaduke, com manding a cavalry division. A large force of the enemy, advancing against Marmaduke in front and threatening his left, drove his cavalry back from McGuire's before Hindman got up, and Hindman fell back to his former position, and ordered Marmaduke to cross the mountains and take up position on the north and east of Van Buren and Fort Smith. The enemy did not venture any further south, but retreated, followed by Arkansas cavalry under Colonel MacDonald, of the provost-marshal's department, who took position at Cane hill. Thus, for the time, that picturesque country of lofty limestone ridges, pretty valleys watered by crystal moun tain-streams, peopled with industrious communities, pros perous in their flocks and herds and buoyant with their young men and rosy-cheeked young women, was saved from the ravages that attended the movements of a Fed eral army, made up in part of savage militia (which under the lead of skilled officers of the regular army, but defiant of restraint, were shielded in the perpetration of all of war's enormities) and the not more savage Pin Indians, who were licensed to indulge their brutal and cowardly instincts. President Davis noted on General Hindman 's report: * 'The remarks about undisciplined cavalry agree entirely with the conclusions I reached many years since, and by reference to the orders under which many of these troops were raised it will be seen that it was not intended they should serve on horseback." The cav- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 137 airy, or mounted infantry, known in Napoleon's wars as the voltigeurs, was used as our cavalry was, for none had sabers or carbines ; and in a great war this is an efficient and indispensable arm of the service, as was soon realized. Under Lieut. Geo. Cook's system of tac tics, "the fourth man held the horses" — one man keeping four horses quiet in position to be mounted — while three- fourths of the command attacked and fought with long- range rifles. Such troops could move great distances by night or day, strengthen or mask flanking movements, and resist flanking movements of the enemy, which annoy beyond endurance. Merely as cavalry, fighting on horse back, which we never did, the criticisms of the President and General Hindman are just. But fortifying passes in the mountains and points along a frontier of hundreds of miles, which could be avoided or surrounded, was a remi niscence. Beauregard was the "chief engineer" whose system had become universal, and with pick and shovel the army carried the passes and the everlasting mountains along with it as it moved, Any other system requires garrisons and supplies of food and munitions, becoming (except on the seaboard) mere traps to their defenders. President, generals, and men were taking a new lesson in the art of war. The men, forced from their fields and workshops, could not be expected to fight like veterans. The officers who knew war as depicted in the fanciful pictures of illustrated works, had only vague ideas of its "pride and pomp and circumstance." These last it possesses, but not in the guise of the toy prints. A baffled enemy with his hosts overthrown, retreating in blood and terror from fields and hamlets of a land which bears marks of his ruthless hand, are its 4 * circumstance ;" vindi cated honor, its true "pride. " To the soldier who stands for these, whatever his clime, ambition becomes a "vir tue" and realizes the "pomp of glorious war." 138 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. "For him her poet's lyre is wreathed, Her marble wrought, her music breathed ; For him she rings the birthday bells." The snow which fell on October ayth and had remained for several days, disappeared, and the weather resumed its autumnal, hazy mildness, peculiar to that section. Some scouting and resistance to inroads of marauders from Mis souri, kept the cavalry alive to the existence of hostili ties until the last of November, when the regiments com posing the cavalry brigade of Col. Chas. A. Carroll were ordered to unite on the road from Ozark to Fayetteville, and take up the line of march to Cane hill under command of Brigadier-General Marmaduke. Shelby's brigade of Missouri cavalry had preceded them and were in occupa tion of Newburg, a pretty village on an elevation known as Cane hill, commanding views of the surrounding region, a fertile and cultivated country to the north, and the site of Cane Hill college, a favorite institution of learning. Shelby had with him Bledsoe's battery of two iron 6-pounders, and four little howitzers under command of Captain Shoup. On the morning of November 28th, having information of the advance of the enemy under General Blunt, from Lindsay's prairie, 15 miles south of Maysville, the brigade was drawn up, dismounted, north of Kidd's mill, on the Fayetteville road, by which the enemy was approaching; Col. Emmet MacDonald was posted northeast of Kidd's mill, and Carroll's brigade was formed across the road, north of the village of Boons- boro, also on Cane hill. The enemy's artillery, supported by infantry, opened the battle by shelling the positions occupied by Shelby and MacDonald. It was answered by Shelby's two guns promptly for a while, then Bledsoe moved one of his guns from its position covering the Cincinnati road to one giv ing him a cross-fire on the enemy's position, against which his other gun was playing. Heavy forces of the enemy were rapidly deploying and advancing in numbers sufficient to CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 139 surround Shelby and MacDonald, when the former fell back to Boonsboro on Carroll's brigade. MacDonald also fell back from a position now greatly exposed and formed on Shelby's right. Here MacDonald made an advance against the enemy and checked him for a short time, then fell back before the weight of numbers, which seemed to swarm over the hills, while Shelby took new position about the college. Carroll was ordered back to meet the enemy south of the college and Newburg, which he did, until Shelby could reform behind his line on a ridge overlooking a valley, which separated the ridge from the town. Then Carroll, in turn, fell back, after several volleys from his shotguns (falling short and ineffectual), and formed on Shelby's left, MacDonald going into line on his left. The enemy had now reached the college hill, and played his batteries of twelve guns upon the Confederate line, answered by Bledsoe with spirit, and by the little howitzers under Shoup, which had gone into battery on the ridge. This artillery duel was kept up for half an hour, while ladies and little children, who had fled from their pretty homes in Newburg, crouched in terror as the artillery played over them, down in the valley between the contending lines, their bedding having been thrown out by the enemy, and houses dis mantled. It was a most touching scene — the reality of ruthless war. General Marmaduke had information that the enemy was advancing by a route on the right, threatening his rear, and he ordered the command to retire down the Cove creek road, receiving the enemy by regiments in success ive formation along the road. Seeing this movement of the Confederates, the enemy advanced with great bold ness, infantry, artillery and cavalry, but being checked until the last crest of the mountain was reached and the train was secure beyond it. There Shoup 's little battery, gallantly sending defiance to the foe as he advanced, was partially disabled, and the guns, with the assistance of 140 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, the cavalry, were packed upon horses and carried to the rear. True enough, as General Marmaduke had anticipated, a large force of the enemy now came into the Cove creek road, just as Carroll's brigade passed the junction. It was closely pushing some of Shelby's men and Bledsoe's guns. Just at the junction of the roads on the right, facing north, Col. G. W. Thompson had placed a part of his regi ment. The rear guard of Monroe's regiment getting under fire of the enemy's carbines from the junction, Colonel Monroe halted the men of his regiment in hear ing, and facing about, ordered a charge. His little line went across a vacant field at double-quick, firing as it went. At this moment Colonel Thompson, with some of his men, stationed on a rock overhanging the road, deliv ered a deadly fire in the front and flank of the enemy's column. It brought down the lieutenant-colonel com manding, a lieutenant and a number of men, and instantly stopped the pursuit. General Blunt, in his report of this affair, said : The fight continued for 3 miles, until, on descending partially from the mountain into a valley, the Cove creek road was reached, leading from Fayetteville to Van Buren, at the point where it intersects the road from Cane hill to the last-named place. At this point the enemy again brought his artillery into requisition. [Not true.] It was now near sundown, and darkness must soon put an end to the pursuit. Down the valley, in front of us, the ground appeared to be adapted to the use of cavalry, and I determined to make an effort to capture their artillery, of which they had six pieces. A large force of their best cavalry was acting as rear guard, with a portion of their artillery just in front of them. Waiting for my cavalry to come up, I called for volunteers to make a charge. Three companies of the Sixth Kansas, nearest at hand, promptly responded to the call, and under command of their three field officers, Colonel Judson, Lieutenant-Col onel Jewell and Major Campbell, dashed into the rear of the rebel column, cutting and shooting them down with sabers, carbines and revolvers. The charge continued for CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 141 half a mile down the valley, to a point where it con verged into a funnel shape, terminating in a narrow defile. At this point a large body of the enemy were in ambush in front, and upon the flanks where the cavalry could not approach, with their battery also masked in front. [Bledsoe's two guns had gone by, down the road and did not unlimber there ; Shoup's were on the backs of horses. ] As soon as the party we were pursuing had passed through this defile, they opened upon us a most destructive fire, which, for the moment, caused my men to recoil and give back, in spite of my own efforts and those of other officers to rally them ; whereas, if they had, after receiving the enemy's fire, passed on 200 or 300 yards, we could have secured, in a moment more, what we so much coveted — the enemy's artillery. Emboldened by their success in defending the defile and checking our advance, they raised a wild yell and advanced toward us. The rest of his report is an exercise of the imagination. There was no effort by the Federal forces to pass further down the defile. It is true that, with his howitzers, he shelled from a safe position to which he had retired, some distance back of the place where Jewell fell. Maj. P. H. Wheat and the writer dismounted and removed that fat ally- wounded officer from the middle of the road to a fence-corner, where he might not be trodden in a charge of cavalry. The enemy retired voluntarily. No one ever presented for Marmaduke, or at any time had any occasion to bear, as he mendaciously relates, a flag of truce ; for not a Confederate had been there touched, except the few who had received saber cuts before the enemy was checked. The sabered men were not "seriously" hurt, as they made a joke of their wounds. One man, whose ear was bleeding from a saber cut, said, "The enemy thought me a wild shoat and was trying to mark me." A per fect quiet reigned thenceforth in the little, lonely gorge, the enemy sending men wearing badges of the infirmary corps to take away his dead and wounded. A short distance below the scene of this casual fight the Confed erates went into camp, and sent scouting parties the next 142 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. day and ascertained that Blunt remained there. It was remarkable how well the several thousand Southern farmers, who had never before been under fire, demeaned themselves, not a man showing the white feather. Colonel Shelby and some of his men, riding rapidly. down the road, called out to Monroe's men: "If you won't fight, get out of the road and let us fight !" To which the gallant Mon roe replied scornfully, "I am obeying orders, but will cover your retreat; about wheel, forward charge!" and made the charge above described. The Confederates lost 7 or 8 killed in the forenoon, and about 20 wounded. The enemy's loss was reported by him as 8 killed and 36 wounded. Artillery was disabled and horses killed on both sides ; no captures by either. The purpose of the stand at Cane hill was to develop the enemy's strength and subject the newly-organized commands to the baptism of fire, in view of a general advance of the army under Hindman, for regaining the former position at Elkhorn and driving the enemy from the State, which he contemplated making early in Decem ber. Preparatory to his advance, he ordered the cavalry under Marmaduke to move from its camp at Dripping Springs, on December 3d, in the direction of Fayetteville. Early Wednesday morning the cavalry division under Marmaduke — Carroll's brigade, under Col. J. C. Monroe, reduced to about 500 effective men; Shelby's brigade, 1,100; MacDonald's brigade, about 700; total, 2,300 — moved northward. On Friday, the 5th, Monroe, who had advanced on the line road along the Indian Territory boundary, moved across to Cove creek and formed a junc tion with Shelby on the Cove creek road, the same over which Carroll's brigade had fought on November 29th, ten miles afcove Oliver's. MacDonald was ordered for ward on the Wire road, east of the Cove creek road. Both commands engaged and drove back the enemy's pickets. Early Saturday morning, Shelby encountered the enemy in strong force, and dismounting his men, drove him back CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 143 across the crest of the Boston mountain to a position within two miles of his main force. During Friday night Mac Donald was withdrawn from the Wire road to unite with Monroe in the Cove creek road (leaving a strong picket) , and Shelby relieved, that his men might rest and cook their food. On Saturday afternoon it was reported that Blunt was retreating from Cane hill, and Monroe was ordered to move, by the Cove creek road, directly against Cane hill. Shelby and MacDonald were ordered forward to the intersection of the Cove creek and Fayetteville roads, to cut off the enemy's retreat. Monroe's brigade went into line along the crest of the mountains about 4 p. m. Hunter's regiment of Parsons' infantry brigade soon fol lowed and formed across the road in rear, to hold what the cavalry might gain. Clambering the mountainsides, with rifles in hand, resting from time to time in squads, gay as if engaged in a hunting excursion, these infantry veterans easily kept up with the horses. Monroe's advance was met by the enemy in force along the rocky ledges of the mountainside. He charged down the mountain and was repulsed, having 3 men killed and several wounded, and returning to the charge bareback, saddle-girth broken, failed to dislodge the enemy. His assistant ad jut ant- general, J. M. Harrell, was now ordered to direct a sufficient force under Maj. L. L. Thompson, command ing Carroll's regiment, over an unused road to the left. Dismounting near the foot of the mountain, this force was able to pour a steady fire almost directly in the backs of the enemy, who fell back, pursued by Monroe's brigade, and formed behind their artillery in a field at the foot of the mountain. Monroe was ordered to press no further, and bivouacked on the mountain, spreading his camp-fires for about a mile. Hunter's regiment moved, without bivouacking, to the Fayetteville and Cove creek road, and rejoined its brigade that night, at or near Morrow's. General Marmaduke says in his report of the action: 144 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. "The conduct of Colonel Monroe, who charged at the head of his brigade, and of the officers and men under his command in this affair, was gallant in the extreme." General Hindman said: "Colonel Monroe and his brigade of Arkansas cavalry greatly distinguished themselves. ' ' Advancing skirmishers, Sunday morning, Monroe's bri gade met only a feeble resistance, and pushed into Cane hill about noon, to find Blunt had evacuated, leaving behind immense piles of corn, enough to last the brigade a month. The enemy had prepared for Monroe a warm reception, having rebuilt the fences into three-cornered pens and stationed his artillery at the openings between them. There were several wounded Federals, with a surgeon in charge, who were made prisoners at Cane hill, and citizens pointed out graves of several who had fallen in the fight at the mountain. j The same day, December yth, General Marmaduke, learning from his scouts that a large force was hurrying from Fayetteville (two divisions of the army of the Frontier, under General Herron), ordered Bledsoe's bat tery to take position in the road, supported by Shelby's brigade, dismounted, ready to resist an advance from either end of the road, and sent MacDonald around to strike the enemy in the flank and rear, which he did skill fully, causing the Federal cavalry to flee, panic-stricken, back nearly to Fayetteville, and killing fifty or sixty of their number, taking 300 prisoners, and capturing horses, cavalry equipments, and a number of wagons laden with clothing. Colonel Thompson was then sent to learn the movements at Cane hill, while Shelby and MacDonald moved forward toward Fayetteville. On crossing the Illinois creek, the enemy was found in line of battle — infantry, artillery and cavalry. Marmaduke withdrew Shelby and assigned him a position with the infantry, on a commanding hill, and ordered MacDonald to remain CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 145 mounted and retire around the foot of the hill, there to wait the movements of the enemy from the north and west, and repel any attack in that direction. Hindman came up about ten o'clock with his infantry and artillery, to the position chosen by General Shoup, where the Fayetteville road cuts the center of a hill, on which stood Prairie Grove church, and where a cross-road from Cane hill to Cove creek passes by the church. The enemy, coming up in about an hour, opened fire with artillery on the captured train and prisoners, also upon a hospital established for wounded Federal soldiers. At this time a smoke in the direction of Rhea's and New- burg (Cane hill) indicated that Blunt was burning sup plies or houses, and moving to unite with Herron. Shoup 's division and Shelby's brigade, dismounted, were placed in line to resist Blunt. Frost's division, to which there were added a Texas brigade and Clark's Missouri regiment, all commanded by Brigadier-General Roane, was held in reserve. Frost's division was also held in re serve to await the movements of Blunt. MacDonald's Mis- sourians and Lane 'sTexans, the latter commanded by Col. R. P. Crump of Hindman 's staff, were disposed to guard the Confederate flanks. The enemy opened with artil lery at noon, the Confederate batteries being kept silent. At i p. m. , under cover of a heavy artillery fire, Herron advanced against Shoup and Marmaduke from the north, across Crawford's prairie, and moving rapidly past Blocher's Confederate battery, had the battery a moment within his lines. Shoup and Marmaduke received them at short range, with shotguns, rifles and muskets, then charging, drove the Federals back, the regiment of Col. A. T. Hawthorn retaking the battery. The enemy fled in disorder across the prairie, but reformed and renewed the attack. Shaver's Arkansas brigade of Frost's reserves was ordered to the support of Shoup, and the enemy was again repulsed with heavy loss, leaving the ground strewn with dead and dying, and Ark 10 146 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. retiring in great confusion. Blunt having arrived, now advanced his line against Shoup's left, when Frost's division in reserve was brought up on the left of Marma- duke and received the attack of Blunt, which was prin cipally directed against Parsons' brigade, and though persistent and bloody, was also repulsed with heavy loss, causing the retirement of the enemy in disorder. The enemy now massed his artillery against the Confederate left, and with his rifled guns played upon the Confeder ate line for an hour, meanwhile throwing his whole cav alry force against the Confederate right, in which he was defeated by MacDonald. Then moving up with his com bined force against the Confederate center, he was finally routed by Shoup's division, Shelby of Marmaduke's division, and Shaver's and Parsons' brigades of Frost's left division. The Federal commander left his dead and wounded and the colors of several regiments, besides a number of prisoners, in the hands of the Confederates. Some of these were found to be of Totten's division, of the central district of Missouri. In all, 275 prisoners, 5 Federal flags, 23 wagons of clothing and equipage, and over 500 small-arms were captured by the Confederates, who held the ground but made no attempt at pursuit. The Confederate loss in killed was 164, wounded, 817, missing, 236. The enemy had not less than 400 dead on the field, and 1,500 wounded. General Hindman said in his report : There was no place of shelter upon any portion of the field. Wounds were given and death inflicted by the enemy's artillery in the ranks of the reserves, as well as in the front rank. During five hours, shells, solid shot, grape and canister, and storms of bullets swept the entire ground. Many gallant officers and many soldiers, equally brave, fell dead or wounded, but their comrades stood as firm as iron. Volunteers sustained their reputation. "Conscripts" arose at once to the same standard, and splendidly refuted the slanders put upon them A Federal officer under flag brought the following letter : CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 147 Headquarters Federal Forces, In the Field, December 7, 1862. Commanding Officer, Confederate Forces: General : The bearer, Dr. Parker, visits your lines with a flag of truce for the purpose of caring for my wounded. JAS. G. BLUNT, Brigadier-General Commanding. The bearer of the flag indicated twelve hours from sunrise next day as the desired period of truce. To this I acceded, detaining the Federal officer and notifying Gen eral Blunt immediately of the fact. Receiving no written reply, and the bearer of my first note not returning, I again gave him the same information. He replied as follows : Headquarters Federal Forces, In the Field, December 8, 1862. Maj.-Gen. T. C. Hindman, Commanding Confederate Forces: I have the honor to acknowledge your second note, under flag of truce, and express to you my regards for the privilege granted of en tering your lines to care for my wounded, which is in accordance with the usages of civilized warfare. Instead of returning a written reply, as perhaps I should have done, I sent an unarmed party with ambulances, accompanied by commissioned officers, to meet General Marmaduke and to be by him conducted within your lines. I have the honor to be, General, your obedient servant, JAS. G. BLUNT, Brigadier-General Commanding. General Blunt's officer had submitted a proposition, as by authority, that surgeons, hospital nurses and attend ants on the sick and wounded should not in any case be regarded as prisoners, but released unconditionally. This was not in such shape as to be conclusive. I there fore requested that General Blunt should meet me, person ally, next day. He assented, and we met about 10 a. m. on the 8th. The result of the conference was the adoption of the proposition before referred to, with the additional stipulation that ambulances and hospital trains, medicines and hospital stores should be exempt from capture. The following is an interesting acknowledgment of trophies: Headquarters Trans-Mississippi Department, Little Rock, Ark., December 24, 1862. Maj.-Gen. T. C. Hindman, Comdg. First Corps, Trans- Mississippi Army, in the Field : General : I have the pleasure of acknowledging receipt, at the hands of Lieutenant Hammett, acting assistant 148 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. adjutant-general of your corps, of trie three stand of colors captured by your army from the enemy at Prairie Grove church on the yth inst. I am, General, very respectfully, your most obedient servant, S. S. ANDERSON, Asst. Adjt.-Gen. The victorious general paid to the officers who had par ticipated in the engagement, the following official approval and special commendation to promotions : Generals Frost, Shoup and Marmaduke, commanding divisions; Generals Roane, Pagan, Parsons and McRae, and Colonels Shaver and Shelby, commanding brigades, did their duty nobly. I strongly commend them to the lieutenant-general commanding the department. Gener als Shoup and Marmaduke do not appear to have been confirmed as brigadiers. They fully merit the honor. Had the authorities, whose consent is requisite, been present at Prairie Grove or at Shiloh, where these gallant officers equally distinguished themselves, the act of con firmation could not be delayed. ... I had with me the following staff: Col. R. C. Newton, chief of staff ; Maj. J. P. Wilson, assistant adjutant-general; Lieut. S. B. Reardon, aide-de-camp; Lieut. R. W. Lee, aide-de-camp, acting chief of ordnance ; Col. D. Provence, acting chief of artillery; Col. A. S. Dobbin and Maj. E. E. Boudinot, volunteer aides-de-camp; Surgeon J. M. Keller, medical director. All of them were constantly under fire. They displayed great coolness. This was the second bloody battle in which Major Wilson and Colonel Newton served on my staff. In both they evinced the same high qual ities. The confirmation of their ranks has been fairly won at Shiloh and Prairie Grove. I present this subject specially to the department commander, with the case also of Lieut. McK. A. Hammett, all being of the number of assignments made by me while commanding the Trans- Mississippi district. Reference to the foregoing details will deeply impress all intelligent minds with the grandeur of this achievement of General Hindman and his army. He had made his dispositions to fight Blunt alone, who had a force better equipped, better fed and inured to warfare. When too CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 149 late to retire, he was confronted also by the Second and Third divisions of the army of the Frontier, under Herron, the largest of the formidable armies which had been cre ated in Missouri, the theater of war from the beginning of strife. They were hurled against him simultaneously, bold in the confidence of their superiority in armaments and numbers. It was a situation for the Confederate com mander that must have appalled any one not endowed with a nerve that grew steadier when threatened by such imminent danger. His men were untried, were invol untary levies for the most part, and under leaders whom they had not known or chosen; ill fed, badly armed, without tents or sufficient clothing in the severe weather, and suffering from unaccustomed hardships and priva tions. When he formed his small army of 10,000 to face the approach of two armies each of that strength, if not in numbers, yet in all physical respects in evident supe riority, he realized the task before him and quailed not; met them squarely, fought them fairly, and whipped them with a courage that was sublime and a success almost miraculous. Is it at all singular that he retired from his position, when it is a wonder that he held it at all? So he concludes the report of the action with the satisfying explanation following : Considering the strength of my command, as compared with the enemy ; considering that my men were destitute of food, their wagons 39 miles in the rear, and not to be brought forward without imminent danger of being lost ; that my small supply of ammunition was reduced far below what would be necessary for another day's righting, and that my battery animals were literally dying of starvation and could not be foraged in the presence of a superior force of the enemy, I determined to retire, and gave the necessary orders for that purpose. Cavalry was extended along both sides of the Cove creek road, distant 2 or 3 miles from it, from near Prairie Grove to the moun tains, and scouts were thrown upon all routes leading toward the enemy's position. The prisoners and captured property were removed. At 12 o'clock the rear guard of 150 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, the infantry had passed out of hearing. I remained with Marmaduke's cavalry on the field, occupying the line help at dark, caring for our wounded and dead, and collecting the arms which the enemy had abandoned in his frequent flights before our men. About 12 o'clock I withdrew Marmaduke's command, and overtook the infantry that night, at Morrow's. The return to our camp was attended with no incident worthy to be reported. The men, who lay down a little before dawn, divested of their accouterments, to which each footsore mile had added increasing weight, had driven the enemy all day, and piled their front with his slain, which he had begged leave to carry off. Yet the enemy remained in the field to feed upon harvests he had neither sown nor reaped, while the brave Confederates must return to privation, and endure a withdrawal very like the ignominy of defeat. They had borne themselves as heroes in battle; the world had never beheld their superiors. They could win victories and lose the fruits ; they could endure dis aster without humiliation — brave, faithful Southerners, as true as they were disinterested. Monroe's brigade covered the "retreat" the next day and following night, beneath the full, round moon, the hills and ravines sparkling with whitening frost. A per sonal reminiscence will illustrate the circumstances of this retreat. The writer obtained at Newburg a half-peck of fresh cornmeal ; and his companion, after the battle, had bought on the road, from a fellow- soldier, a loin of fat, fresh pork. Since Sunday noon no food had passed the lips of either. The temptation to fall out of the column at a cottage on the hillside, a little before bedtime, and have some cooking done, was irresistible. Two handsome, young married women, of the farmer class, received them and their provisions graciously, and soon had the white sweet-pones and crackling cutlets ready for the table, to which they added, of their own volition, pickles, stewed fruit, butter, and fresh milk served in real glass goblets, upon a snow-white tablecloth. Their CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 151 delighted guests were barely seated, when without knock ing, a tall soldier entered, with army rifle and new, shining cartridge box and bayonet scabbard. He quietly stood his rifle in the corner of the room, but was immediately clasped about the neck by one of the ladies and caressed silently. The other and more active of the two looked on with an expression of pleasure, and exclaimed, "John! you were not hurt! You don't know how glad we are to see you. Where is Charley?" The newcomer was calm and taciturn, and after a short silence replied, "He stayed with Jim White; he will not be here tonight." "Oh, why did you leave him? Where is he? What about Jim White?" she asked, under nervous tension. "He's wounded." "Is he hurt much?" "I think he is." * * When will Charley come ? " "He cannot come tonight. ' ' The silent caressing of the soldier by the smaller woman continued. The soldier was one of the new levies of Brooks' regiment, he told us, as he took a seat at table. He was very quiet, and turned his eyes away from the fair-haired sister-in-law, who was busying herself about the board, but yet earnestly asking, "Was Charley hurt? Will he be home tomorrow?" Quieting answers were given, which seemed to satisfy her, but the guests looked grave, for they understood. The division was bivouacked close by, at the foot of a mountain along the creek, and the men slept late under their saddle-blankets on the frosty earth. They were awakened by a woman's shriek. It was the fair-haired woman, who had come "to camp" to inquire about Jim White and Charley. She was told they were both killed — dead on the battlefield. The enemy had been severely punished. His main body fell back to Rhea's mill, and was ready to retreat farther when the fact that the Confederates were preparing to fall back was ascertained. They were no longer apprehensive of a renewed attack. Monroe's brigade marched the night of the battle over the ground upon which most of the fighting had occurred, and found it unoccupied by 152 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. any Federal force. Hindman's messengers, in response to Blunt 's note, tinder flag of truce, passed entirely over the ground formerly occupied by the enemy, before they reached his headquarters, protected by cavalry only. General Herron, in a communication to Major-General Curtis, dated Camp Prairie Grove, December loth, wrote: The loss in my division is heavy, and will almost reach 1,000 killed and wounded. For four hours the fighting was the most desperate I ever witnessed, and within a space of two acres, 250 of our own and the enemy's dead were found. The victory is more complete and decided than I had imagined. The Iowa regiments fought nobly — the Nineteenth particularly distinguished itself. We mourn the loss of Lieutenant-Colonel McFarland, and several other officers of that regiment, killed. General Blunt, in his report of December 2oth to Gen eral Curtis, said: I could not tell with any certainty the extent of the dam- age done the enemy, but knowing that they had a force greatly superior to mine, I felt assured that they would give us battle again in the morning, and made my arrangements accordingly. . . . Just before daylight I received a note from General Hindman, requesting a per sonal interview, to make provision for caring for his dead and wounded. [See his own note, supra, first mak ing this request of Hindman.] On meeting him, I soon became satisfied that no other force was there except his staff and escort and a party left to take care of the wounded, and that his forces had commenced retreating early the previous night. [In a paragraph just preceding he had written, "I felt assured that they would give us battle again in the morning. "] It is idle to follow his exaggerated estimate of the Confederate strength and losses. The official return of cas ualties in the Federal army, by brigades, shows 175 killed, 813 wounded, 263 captured or missing; aggregate, 1,251. The infantry and artillery of Hindman's corps went into camp near Van Buren. The cavalry division under CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 153 Marmaduke was distributed for obtaining forage and rest. December 12, 1862, the following was the organization of the army of the Trans-Mississippi department, Lieut. - Gen. T. H. Holmes commanding: FIRST CORPS, MAJ.-GEN. T. C. HINDMAN COMMANDING. First division, Brig. -Gen. John S. Roane: First bri gade, Brig. -Gen. Douglas H. Cooper — Cherokees, Choc- taws and Chickasaws, under Cols. Stand Watie, D. N. Mclntosh, Chilly Mclntosh; other Indian commands; Texas cavalry under De Morse, Lane and Randolph; Ho well's Texas battery. Second brigade (dismounted cavalry), Col. W. R. Bradfute — Texas cavalry under Bass, Stevens, Guess and Alexander; Etter's Arkansas battery. Second division, Brig. -Gen. Francis A. Shoup: First brigade, Brig. -Gen. James F. Fagan — Col. A. T. Haw thorn's Arkansas regiment; Twenty-second Arkansas, Col. J. P. King; Twenty-ninth Arkansas, Col. J. C. Pleasants; Thirty-fourth Arkansas, Col. W. H. Brooks; Capt. W. D. Blocher's Arkansas battery. Second bri gade, Col. Dandridge McRae — Twenty-eighth Arkansas, Col. D. McRae ; Twenty-sixth Arkansas, Col. A. S. Mor gan; Thirtieth Arkansas, Col. A. J. McNeill; Thirty-sec ond Arkansas, Col. C. H. Matlock; West's and Wood ruff 's Arkansas batteries. Unattached, Cheek's battalion of sharpshooters; Venable's Arkansas cavalry. Third division, Brig. -Gen. M. M. Parsons: First bri gade, Col. Alex. A. Steen (killed at Prairie Grove) — Missouri regiments of Colonels Caldwell, Hunter, White and Steen; Tilden's Missouri battery. Second brigade, Col. R. G. Shaver — Col. C. W. Adams' Arkansas regi ment; Twenty-seventh Arkansas, Col. James R. Shaler; Thirty-third Arkansas, Col. H. L. Grinsted; Thirty- eighth Arkansas, Col. R. G. Shaver; Roberts' Missouri battery. Unattached, Roberts' Missouri cavalry. Fourth division, Brig. -Gen. John S. Marmaduke: First brigade, Arkansas cavalry of Col. C. A. Carroll (retired from service and succeeded by Col. J. C. Monroe) ; Mon roe's cavalry; Shoup 's Arkansas battery. Second bri gade, Col. Joseph O. Shelby — Missouri cavalry of Colonels Coffee, Jeans and Shelby; Bledsoe's Missouri battery. 154 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. SECOND CORPS. First division, Brig. -Gen. Henry E. McCulloch : First brigade, Col. Overton Young — Texas regiments of Col onels Young, Ochiltree, Hubbard and Burnett. Second brigade, Col. Horace Randal — Texas regiments of Col onels Roberts, Clark, Spaightand Randal; Gould's Texas battalion. Third brigade, Col. George Flournoy — Texas regiments of Colonels Flournoy, Allen, Waterhouse and Fitzhugh; Daniel's Texas battery. Second division, Brig. -Gen. T. J. Churchill: First bri gade, Col. R. R. Garland — Texas regiments of Colonels Garland, Wilkes and Gillespie; Benson's Louisiana cav alry; Hart's Arkansas battery. Second brigade, Col. James Deshler — Texas regiments of Colonels Mills, Sweet and Darnell ; Haldeman's Texas battery. Third brigade, Col. J. W. Dunnington — Nineteenth Arkansas, Col. C. L. Dawson; Twenty-fourth Arkansas, Col. E. E. Portlock; Crawford's Arkansas battalion; Nutt's Louisiana cav alry, and Marine battery. Fourth brigade, Brig. -Gen. J. M. Hawes — Texas regiments of Cols. W. H. Parsons, Burford and Carter; Chrisman's Arkansas battalion. Fifth brigade, Col. M. J. White— Missouri cavalry of Cols. Colton Greene and J. Q. Burbridge. During the operations in the northwest, which have been described, there had been activity of a minor sort in the northeast, including a skirmish at Pitman's Ferry, October 27th; an expedition from Helena to Moro, including skirmishes at Marianna and LaGrange, Novem ber 5th, and a "dash upon the Post of Arkansas," by Gen. A. P. Hovey, from Helena, November 16 to 21, 1862. Hovey failed to reach his destination, and was called back to help Grant in his first campaign against Vicksburg. The Post of Arkansas is situated upon a bluff bank of the Arkansas river, twenty miles from Napoleon on the Mississippi, above the navigable cut-off from White river in Arkansas. The bluff is the southern extremity of the peculiar land feature known as Grand prairie, lying between the Arkansas and White rivers, and extending CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 155 northward through the counties of Arkansas and Prairie into White. It was visited by Marquette and the fol lowers of Chevalier de la Salle, some of whom intermar ried with the Indians, and whose descendants survive in the vicinity. Reminiscent engineers are unmindful that fortifications become mere traps for ensnaring their defenders in a war of such magnitude as may deprive their confederates of the ability to furnish forces to raise the siege. It was one such who conceived the plan of erecting earthworks at the Post of Arkansas, and assign ing a garrison of several thousand men the duty of defend ing it. The garrison at Vicksburg held the Mississippi a long time, but it experienced the inevitable capture in the end. The defenders of the Post of Arkansas, if they had been outside with their arms and munitions, could have rendered themselves more formidable to the enemy's transports ; or, if after trying they found they could not, they might have withdrawn into the interior with their equipments. General Grant in his Memoirs, after mentioning Sher man's defeat at Chickasaw bayou, in his first campaign against Vicksburg, December, 1862, said: After consultation, Sherman and Porter decided that neither the army nor the navy could render service to the cause where they were. Learning that I had withdrawn into the interior of Mississippi, they determined to return to the Arkansas river and attack Arkansas Post, garri soned by 5,000 or 6,000 men.* McClernand approved the move reluctantly. No obstacles were encountered until the gunboats and transports were within range of the fort. After three days' bombardment by the navy, an assault was made by the troops and marines, resulting in the capture of the place and taking 5,000 prisoners and 17 guns. I was at first disposed to disapprove this move, as a side movement having no bearing upon the work before us. But when the result was understood, I regarded it as very important. Five thousand Confeder- * Churchill reported "3,000 effective men." 156 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ates left in the rear might have caused us much trouble and loss of property while navigating the Mississippi. The story of the assault and defense will be understood most clearly from the Confederate point of view by read ing the unaffected, concise account contained in the official report of General Churchill, who was in command : On the morning of the gth of January, I was informed by my pickets stationed at the mouth of the cut-off, that the enemy, with his gunboats, followed by his fleet of sev enty or eighty transports, was passing into the Arkansas river. It now became evident that his object was to attack the Arkansas Post. I immediately made every arrangement to meet him, and ordered out the whole force under my command, numbering about 3,000 effective men, to take position in some lower intrench- ments about a mile and a quarter below the fort. The Second brigade, under Colonel Deshler, and the Third, under Colonel Dunnington, occupied the works, while the First brigade, under Colonel Garland, was held in reserve. Three companies of cavalry, under command of Captains Nutt, Denson and Richardson, were sent in advance, to watch the movements of the enemy. During the night the enemy effected a landing about two miles below, on the north side of the river. The following day, about 9 o'clock, the gunboats com menced moving up the river, and opened fire upon our position. Having but one battery of field pieces, of 6 and i2-pounders, I did not return the fire. It was here that I expected the cooperation of the guns from the fort, but owing to some defect in the powder they were scarcely able to throw a shell below the trenches, much less to the fleet. About 2 o'clock p. m., finding that I was being flanked by a large body of cavalry and artil lery, I thought it advisable to fall back under cover of the guns of the fort to an inner line of intrenchments. The enemy advanced cautiously, and as they approached our lines were most signally repulsed. They made no further attempt that evening to charge our works, and I employed the balance of the time until next morning in strengthening my position and completing my intrenchments. Discovering that a body of the enemy had occupied the cabins in our old encampment, I ordered CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 157 Col. R. Q. Mills, with his regiment, to drive them from the position, which he did most successfully, capturing several prisoners. Just before dark Admiral Porter moved up with several of his ironclads to test the metal of our fort. Colonel Dunnington, who commanded the fort, was ready in an instant to receive him. The fire opened and the fight lasted nearly two hours, and finally the gunboats fell back in a crippled condition. Our loss was slight, that of the enemy much heavier. During the night I received a telegraphic dispatch from you [Holmes] ordering me "to hold out till help arrived or until all dead," which order was communicated to brigade commanders, with instructions to see it carried out in spirit and letter. Next morning I made every disposition of my forces to meet the enemy in the des perate conflict which was soon to follow. Colonel Desh- ler with his brigade, with the regiment of Colonel Daw- son attached, commanded by Lieut. -Col. A. S. Hutchison, occupied the extreme left ; Colonel Garland with his bri gade, with his right resting on the fort, while Colonel Dunnington commanded the river defenses. It was near 12 o'clock before the enemy got fully into position, when he commenced moving upon my lines simultaneously by land and water. Four ironclads opened upon the fort, which responded in gallant style with its three guns. After a continuous fire of three hours, they succeeded in silencing every gun we had, with the exception of one small 6-pounder Parrott gun, which was on the land side. Two boats passed up and opened a cross-fire upon the fort and our lines. Still we maintained the struggle. Their attack by land was less successful ; on the right they were repulsed twice in attempting to storm our works, and on the left were driven back with great slaughter in no less than eight different charges. To defend this entire line of rifle-pits, I had but one battery of field pieces, under command of Captain Hart, to whom great credit is due for the successful manner in which they were handled, contending as he did with fifty pieces in his front. The fort had been silenced now about an hour, most of the field pieces had been disabled, still the fire raged furiously along the entire line, and that gallant band of Texans and Arkansans, having nothing to rely upon now save their muskets and bayonets, still disdained to yield to the overpowering foe of 50,000 men who were 158 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. pressing upon them from almost every direction. Just at this moment, to my great surprise, several white flags were displayed in the Twenty-fourth regiment, Texas dismounted cavalry, First brigade, and before they could be suppressed, the enemy took advantage of them, crowded upon my lines, and ... I was forced to the humiliating necessity of surrendering the balance of the command. My great hope was to keep them in check until night, and then if reinforcements did not reach me, to cut my way out. No stigma should rest upon the troops. It is no fault of theirs. They fought with a des'peration and courage yet unsurpassed in this war, and I hope and trust that the traitor will yet be discovered, brought to justice, and suffer the full penalty of the law. My thanks are due to Colonels Anderson and Gillespie for the prompt measures taken to prevent the raising of the white flag in their regiments. In the Second brigade, commanded by the gallant Deshler, it was never displayed. I ordered Col. E. E. Portlock, commanding at St. Charles, to hasten to my relief with what troops he could spare. Capt. Alf. Johnson reached the post on Saturday night and took part in the action of the nth. Colonel Portlock, at the head of 190 men of his regiment of infantry, made tthe unprecedented march of 40 miles in twenty-four hours, and succeeded in entering our lines amidst a heavy fire from the enemy on his flank. He was just on the eve of bringing his men into action when the surrender took place. In no battle of the war has the disparity of forces been so great. The enemy's force was full 50,000, while ours did not exceed 3,000, and yet for two days did we royally repulse and hold in check that immense body of the enemy. My loss will not exceed 60 killed and 75 or 80 wounded. The loss of the enemy was from 1,500 to 2,000.* An officer in Churchill's command, now a senator of the United States, of conceded ability and fidelity to the traditions of the South, has recently paid the Arkansas soldiers the following eloquent tribute, which is also a graphic account of the combat : * Federal reports, strength about 32,000; losses, 134 killed, 898 wounded. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 159 In speaking of the courage and patriotism of the Con federate troops, I referred to the fact that at the battle of Arkansas Post the Confederates were commanded by that gallant Arkansas soldier, Gen. Thomas J. Churchill, who had a fort, with three smooth-bore guns and an army of less than 5 , ooo men to defend it ; that it was assailed by the most powerful fleet of ironclads that was ever assembled on the inland waters of the United States, and supported by an army estimated at 60,000 men ; that the battle began on Saturday, the loth of January, and early on the morn ing of the nth, General Churchill rode down the Confed erate line and read to the army a telegram from General Holmes at Pine Bluff, that the army must not surrender, but 4t fight till the last man was dead, dead, dead;" that the battle began again Sunday morning, the nth. The fort was knocked to pieces and silenced. All the army, including the general commanding, was captured; and Deshler's brigade alone, consisting of Texas and Arkan sas infantry, and Hart's Arkansas battery, held their guns and standards and stood defiantly in the face of the foe. Charge after charge was made against their line all day long, only to meet slaughter and defeat. Captain Hart, another gallant Arkansas officer, and his brave lieutenant, E. A. Dubose, strewed the field in front of the muzzles of their guns, and had 80 horses, out of 86 in the battle, killed during the day. About one hour before sunset the enemy's columns again came from the woods, waving their standards and cheering, while a general officer and a member of his staff, displaying a white flag, rode ahead of his troops, and approaching close to our line, General Deshler crossed the works and met him. He told Deshler that all of our army except his command had surrendered, and that he demanded the surrender of his command. He was told very promptly that his demand was refused; that we had been ordered to fight till the last man was dead, and that order would be obeyed. While they were talking, the Federal troops had advanced till they were within pistol- shot of our lines, when Deshler said: "If you do not command * Halt, ' I will command * Fire. ' " " Halt' ' was commanded, and the parley was continued for some ten minutes. When the proposition was made to him, "Will you surrender if I will bring General Churchill, and he will command you to do so?" Deshler said he would obey 160 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. General Churchill's orders. An officer was sent for General Churchill. After a half-hour's delay he was brought. He commanded the brigade to surrender, and it stacked its arms, though it had won every inch of the field over which it had fought for two days. That gallant little band of about 2,500 men knew what it meant to continue the fight when surrounded by 60,000, and their lines swept by the enemy's fleet, but they were ready and willing to obey their country's commanding officer and lay their lives on their country's altar. To have attempted to take them by assault, with the whole military and naval forces that surrounded them, would certainly have succeeded in the end, but it would have been scored by a loss to the enemy of more than five times our number. I commanded the Tenth Texas regi ment of infantry that was in Deshler's brigade, was with him, heard the conversation, participated in it, and know whereof I speak. General Holmes, when advised of the expedition against Arkansas Post, had ordered Hindman's army to march at once across the State. It was at the most inclement season of this climate — snow, sleet and rain made the roads impassable, and overflowed the creeks and low places. The army literally waded from Van Buren to Little Rock, without tents, without ambulances, strewing the way with the mules which attempted to draw the scanty subsistence and ordnance. At Little Rock the drenched soldiers, in a heavy snowstorm, were housed partly by the citizens and partly in the workshops at the arsenal, and, hurried on transports, proceeded down the Arkansas river, but escaped the doom which might have been theirs also, by being too late to get into the trap. There was no more hope of defending that petty lunette against the assailing horde, supplied with such an armament, than of "damming the Nile with bulrushes." General Hindman's troops were returned on transports from Pine Bluff to Little Rock in rather sad plight, but were encamped south of the city, where they were soon made comfortable in winter quarters. CHAPTER VII. BORDER FORAYS, SKIRMISHES AND OUTRAGES— MAR- MADUKE'S RAID IN MISSOURI— CABELL'S BRIGADE ORGANIZED— ATTACK ON FEDERALS AT FAYETTE- VILLE— ORGANIZATION UNDER E. KIRBY SMITH- ASSAULT UPON HELENA, JULY 4, 1863— REPORTS OF THE ACTION. EARLY in 1863 there was a formidable array of Federal forces confronting the Southern troops in Arkansas. The Federal troops in eastern Arkan sas were put under the orders of General Grant in Jan uary. In jthis district alone, in February, there was a grand total of 14,144 present for duty, absent, 17,415. Of this menacing power the Confederate generals were, of course, informed. Yet the defenders of Arkansas continued with great energy, despite the weather, the want of equipments or supplies and the most ordinary facilities of war, to strike at the superior and well- equipped force at all points. Some brief mention of the incidents in the disordered and irregular warfare which disturbed Arkansas during this period will serve to show the disadvantages under which the Southern soldiery campaigned, and the suffering which the people were compelled to endure. Of these raids, battles and skir mishes only a few can be named, and the story of them cannot in the space of this volume be fully told. While the Confederates in Tennessee were battling with Rosecrans, December 31, 1862, General Marmaduke was marching from Lewisburg, on the Arkansas river, with Shelby's brigade, MacDonald's and Porter's com mands, for a raid into Missouri. Springfield was attacked, and the forts at Hartville and Hazlewood were burned. Among the killed in the action at Hartville were the 161 Ark 11 162 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. brave Col. Emmet MacDonald, Lieutenant-Colonel Weimer, Major Kirtley, and others. From Hazlewood the Confederates returned to Batesville, Ark., Janu ary 18, 1863. Carroll's Arkansas brigade, commanded by Col. J. C. Monroe, started under General Marma- duke upon this raid, but was detached by orders from General Hindman's headquarters, and directed to operate against the enemy at Van Buren creek, thus escaping an arduous campaign in sleet and snow over a rough region, in which there was scant food for man or horse. After General Marmaduke had marched away, the Fed eral captain of militia, John Philips, surprised some citi zens who had "hidden out," as was customary on the approach of Federals, armed with sporting guns only, as no one dared to go unarmed, and captured them with his force of 75 militiamen near Berry ville, Carroll county, Ark., and 9 of these citizens were murdered. Philips reporting them as '* bushwhackers, " to excuse his brutality. On the i3th of January a force of 300 of the First Iowa cavalry seized a preacher, named Rodgers, took his horses, mules, wagons and portable property, near Kingston, then proceeded to the Confederate salt peter works, on Buffalo river, captured 15 or 20 of the small force in charge under Lieutenant Kinkade, and destroyed the works, burning the buildings. The lieutenant and 7 of his men made their escape. On the same day, Captain Crawley and a small Confederate force met a detachment of Col. Powell Clayton's Fifth Kansas cavalry and of the Second Wisconsin cavalry, at the crossing of Lick creek, twelve miles from Helena, and routed it, taking 20 prisoners, besides killing and wounding many of the enemy. Brigadier-General Gorman, having sent 1,200 Federal cavalry to Clarendon on White river, moved to St. Charles on White river, accompanied byj the two gunboats St. Louis and Cincinnati, and finding the post evacuated by CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 163 the Confederates, garrisoned it with 800 infantry. He then proceeded on transport to Devall's Bluff, which he occupied January iyth, capturing on the cars, ready for shipment to Little Rock, two columbiads and some small- arms, and a part of the little force engaged in guarding them. From there, with the gunboats Romeo and Rose, he sent an expedition which occupied Des Arc, Major Chrisman, with his battalion, retiring to Cottonplant. February 2d, Maj. Caleb Dorsey, with his squadron of Confederate cavalry, was escorting the steamboat Julia Roane down the Arkansas river, when at White Oak, seven miles west of Ozark, he was attacked by a band of Arkansas Federals, under Captain Galloway. Dorsey, with his Confederates, charged and routed them, killing horses and wounding several of the enemy, who retreated to Frog bayou. On February 3d, Capt. Peter Mankins, with a portion of his company, was surrounded in a house on Mulberry by a scouting party under Captain Travis, which Mankins repulsed, killing two men of the Tenth Illinois and wounding others. The land and naval forces on the Mississippi burned Mound City, Ark., on the i5th of January. On the 24th, a scouting party from Fayetteville crossed the Boston mountains, and going down Frog bayou, entered Van Buren and captured the steamboat Julia Roane, with about 250 Confederates from the hospital, who were paroled, being sick ; the steamer, which was only a hos pital, being allowed to proceed. March 5th, Col. Powell Clayton led an expedition to Madison on the St. Francis river, where, meeting but little resistance, he captured some Confederate stores and cot ton, with about 46 citizens, whom he paroled as " prisoners of war." An expedition of 500 Federals from Bloom- field, Mo., under command of John McNeil, marched, on March gth, against Chalk Bluff, compelling the Confed erate force under Col. M. Jeff Thompson to retire to their dugouts on Varney's river, in which they retreated down 164 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the St. Francis, leaving McNeil to parole the citizens and ravage that swampy region as usual. In April, James R. Vanderpool, of the Federal Missouri militia, made raids into Carroll and Marion counties, in which he killed some non-combatants, reporting them as bushwhackers, besides taking off their stock and household goods. General Hindman has told how he conveyed informa tion (such as he desired) to the enemy through deception practiced upon disloyal informers. A man calling him self Wm. R. Johnson was permitted to pass at will through the Confederate camps, as a Southern sympa thizer going to Missouri, but who was really a Union refugee from Dallas county, Tex., going to Iowa. He passed up to Pilot Knob, where he opened his budget of information to the Federal commander of the post, who transmitted it to General Curtis. Johnson's statement was that he was stopped by Marmaduke at Batesville, February ist, who admitted him to a conversation with Colonel Ponder and himself, in which Marmaduke said that General Price was to move up White river to Salem and to Rolla, and had about 14,000 men, one-third being mounted; that Marmaduke 's intention was to march on Pilot Knob with a command of about 4,000 men, etc. General Curtis, desiring as usual to increase his force, sent the statement to the war department with this indorse ment: Price is no doubt going to move heaven and earth to raise or mass forces in Arkansas. He ought to be attacked from Helena before he gets far in this scheme ; his popularity in Arkansas and Missouri will enable him to do much mischief. As now situated, eastern Arkansas is under Grant's command. I am obliged to stop sending more troops from southeastern Missouri, until I ascertain the whereabouts of Marmaduke. The circumstance is mentioned to call attention to the effect of these movements, and rumors of movements, against Missouri, which were useful for the general CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 165 defense, and assisted our armies east of the river as effectually as if the troops had been actually fighting- there. April 1 5th, General Marmaduke marched on his second raid into Missouri, with a cavalry force composed of Carter's Texas brigade, Shelby's, Greene's and Bur- bridge's Missouri brigades, the latter including Col. Robert C. Newton's Arkansas cavalry regiment of State troops. Failing to capture the Palmyra assassin, McNeil, Carter and Shelby moved on Cape Girardeau, but found it unadvisable to attack. Colonel Newton was attacked in camp the night of April 26th, and lost several killed and wounded. Marmaduke retired before a strong Fed eral force in good order to Chalk Bluff, where he found the St. Francis river swollen and no boats. He formed line of battle and engaged the enemy until rafts could be constructed, and then crossed his artillery, wagons and horses safely, losing about 30 killed, 60 wounded, and 150 missing. It was on this expedition that Colonel Newton's scouts captured in Missouri Hon. Elisha Baxter, a citizen of Batesville, brother of John Baxter of Knoxville, Tenn. Elisha Baxter had been a merchant at Batesville, but studied law and was elected as a Whig to the legislature. He 'favored all measures looking to the perpetuation of the Union, and upon the beginning of the conflict of arms, declared himself a Union man, but declined the appointment tendered him by General Curtis, at Bates ville, of commander of the First Arkansas (Federal) regi ment, there organized. On the departure of Curtis, being told that he was in personal danger, he took refuge in Missouri. There he was recognized by Newton and his men, captured and taken as a prisoner to Little Rock. He was part of the first reconstruction government of the State as a Supreme judge, and later as governor, then fell 166 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. out with his party and was instrumental in delivering Arkansas from carpet-bag rule, making a record as an upright, consistent officer and citizen. Jasper, the seat of Newton county, Ark., situated at the head of Buffalo fork of the White river, near the foot of Mount Judea (or Juda), the highest cone of the Boston mountains, had long been the rendezvous of Unionists and Federal recruiting officers. Vanderpool, Worthing- ton, and other mountaineers made it headquarters, from which they terrorized Southern sympathizers of the adjoining counties. Its leading citizens were Unionists, who kept Hudson's mill under their protection for their own use and those of such Southerners as they admitted to use it. Harrell's battalion resolved to endeavor to capture Vanderpool and bring out some of these leaders. Capt. John Sissell, former sheriff of that county, com manding Company E in Harrell's battalion, on May loth guided the battalion through the mountains in an attack upon the town, surprising it and capturing the leaders, but missing Vanderpool. Vanderpool had been informed of the movement, and with a large force was posted in ambush on the highway by which he expected the Con federates to enter the town. In fact, his force was larger than the battalion and armed with the latest-improved arms, as the Confederates found when they moved out against him in his position. The Confederates were therefore content to retire from the town by the way they came, with their captured horses and arms and their eight or ten prisoners, some of whom were badly wounded in their desperate resistance. The battalion joined Cabell's brigade at Fort Smith in May. Maj. W. L. Cabell, who had been sent to inspect the accounts of quartermasters in the department, having well acquitted himself of this duty, was, in March, 1863, commissioned brigadier-general and requested to collect absentees from the service in northwestern Arkansas. Given Carroll's and Monroe's regiments, he was directed CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 167 to perfect such organizations as he could, and take com mand in northwest Arkansas. He issued his proclama tion in accordance with these instructions, and soon organized Hill's battalion into a fine regiment; Gordon's and Morgan's regiments were added. He also organized Gunter's, Witherspoon's and Ousley's battalions, Hughey's battery, and the companies of Palmer, Ingra- ham and Wm. Brown. Crawford's battalion, organized under the order of General Holmes, of which J. M. Har- rell was elected commanding officer, was ordered to Cabell, and it was not long before he had a command numbering about 4,000 men. This rapidly organized body redeemed that part of the State from the despond ency into which it had been plunged by the retreat from Prairie Grove and other Confederate misfortunes. Federal scouts — Missouri and Arkansas Federals, the latter organized under Col. M. La Rue Harrison — made constant forays into the border counties. Other bands of men, moving out of Missouri as State militia, made raids to plunder and kill the inhabitants. A merciless butcher, known as Captain Worthington, returned to Fayetteville from Carroll county, reporting that he had killed 22 men on the trip, and captured 7 * prisoners." The men killed were old citizens, or youths not subject to enlistment, and who therefore ventured to remain at home for the protection of the helpless women and children from violence at the hands of either side. If the grown men had gone away, no matter to which army, the raiders held their families to be Southern sympa thizers, and as such shot them down, some of them in their own doors or front yards ; and others, who had fled to the woods to conceal themselves, when discovered were condemned as bushwhackers. Less frequently, those under military age were captured as prisoners, by men who called themselves "Federal Arkansas soldiers." Col. John F. Philips, who commanded the Seventh Missouri State militia, which murdered the nine citizens 168 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. near Berryville, Carroll county, had set the example for these atrocities. There was another Phillips (W. A.), commanding a brigade of Cherokees (Federal enlist ments), known as Pin Indians, who guarded Blunt 's trans portation over the mountain at the battle of Prairie Grove, and burned Fort Davies on the 25th or 2yth of December. Though representing the Indian race, he was a knight of chivalry compared with his militia name sake. Col. M. La Rue Harrison emulated the ferocity of the militia commander in words and on paper, but not in deeds. He conducted his operations from the ' ' Post, ' ' only encouraging cruelty by giving commissions to unworthy men who abused his authority. The country north of the Arkansas was now at the mercy of irrespon sible banditti, claiming to be authorized by J. F. Philips or Harrison, and bearing the Union flag whenever they did not deem it more useful to their purposes to carry no flag at all, and to pretend to be Confederates. Houses were broken open, horses and cattle driven off, fences burned to make fires, women and children terrorized and insulted if suspected of being Confederate "widows" and "orphans." Implements for making clothing were destroyed or taken away — especially cards for carding wool or cotton. These latter were hidden and guarded as precious treasures by the women of north Arkansas, and for these the valiant militia made diligent and rude search. From burning fences they proceeded to burning barns and outhouses, but as yet generally spared the humble dwellings which sheltered the families. A citizen of Fayetteville, Ark., soon after the war, pointed out to a visitor on the public square, a man seated in a wagon drawn by a horse and a mule, accom panied by a woman who delivered the produce he had for sale. The man wore a brown jeans homespun coat, and the woman a homemade worsted skirt. "You see those people ?" he asked of the visitor. "I used to think they were the salt of the earth; and their homemade CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 169 woolens had a sanctity in my eyes as true emblems of honesty and innocence. But during the war that man manifested his true nature, and but for the general amnesty, could be indicted for a dozen murders, for rob bery, arson and larceny. He used to ride through the country and strip the beds of the poor women in these hills, until he piled quilts in his lap so high he could not see his horses' ears. They say the women shot at him, but the quilts proved a protection against their bullets. He is known as 'Bed-quilt Blank.' " The raids of these forces under Philips, Harrison and Vanderpool, who left their bloody trail through the counties on the border, from Forsyth on White river to the Dutch mills on the Indian line, demanded a move ment for defense and redress. But the veteran soldiers of the region were called away again, this time to defend other parts of the State. The forces remaining were only the cavalry, ill armed, newly organized, without any system for providing subsistence or clothing, and as for ammunition, relying with uncertain dependence upon the efforts of General Magruder in Texas. Although scantily equipped for such an expedition, General Cabell, in response to appeals for protection to the once populous and bountiful plateau north of the Boston mountains, of which Fayetteville and Bentonville are the principal towns, prepared his little force in and around Ozark (on the Arkansas river below Van Buren), to make a dash against Fayetteville, 70 or 80 miles dis tant, where the enemy was in greater force. His con templated movement was considered opportune by Gen eral Steele at Fort Smith, who believed that Colonel Phillips, the Cherokee commander, was preparing to march from Fort Gibson southward through the Indian country, and that his force would be recruited from the enemy's troops at Fayetteville, so that the garrison would be reduced to the minimum and unprepared for Cabell's attack. The latter resolved to make a demonstration, 170 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. whatever the result, hoping at least to "round up" the prowlers who had too long been suffered to perpetrate their enormities with impunity. Col. John F. Hill's battalion was practically unarmed, with horses not shod to stand the stony roads, and was left out of the movement. With Monroe's, Gordon's and Carroll's regiments (the latter commanded by Lieut -Col. L. L. Thompson), Dorsey's squadron, commanded by Col. John Scott, and Capt. W. M. Hughey's artillery, consisting of two formerly discarded 6-pounders — 900 of all arms — General Cabell left Ozark at 3 o'clock a. m. on April 1 6, 1863. Moving with all possible dispatch by the Mulberry and Frog bayou road in the direction of Fay- etteville, he opened his attack upon the rifle-pits and for tifications of the place at 5 o'clock a. m. on the i8th. The enemy had full knowledge of his march and were pre pared to resist his attack, not only with the entire garri son which was retained, but with such additional troops as had been summoned from adjacent stations. Cabell's force charged the rifle-pits along the edge of the hill south and east of the town, drove in the men defending them, and entered the streets of the town, aided by Hughey's guns; but on gaming the town they could not use artillery without injury to houses and their occu pants, some of whom were families of men in the Confed erate armies. In the streets Cabell's men met with effectual resistance from the windows, doorways and cor ners of the houses, and after three hours spent in a vain effort to draw out the forces so protected, they fell back to the artillery. The enemy was armed with Springfield and Whitney rifles; had a force numbering about 2,000, and had the advantage of a position forbidding the destruction or shelling of the defenses. The attacking party awaited and invited an attack from the garrison outside the works, but none was offered. The Confed- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 171 erates then returned to Ozark at their leisure, unmolested on the march. The following extracts from General Cabell's report will be of interest: Col. J. C. Monroe made two splendid charges with his command, one on foot and the other mounted. Col. L. L. Thompson, with his regiment, and Colonel Dor- sey, with his squadron, under Colonel Scott, made a dash ing charge and drove the enemy to their rifle-pits and to the houses, where they rallied and poured in a dreadful fire with their long-range guns. The artillery, managed by Captain Hughey, under my immediate command, did frightful execution in the enemy's camp [outside of the town], driving them out and completely scattering their cavalry for a while. Captain Hughey was wounded in the arm by a sharpshooter at the commencement of the action, but continued in charge of his pieces under a heavy fire from the enemy's sharpshooters during the whole of the fight. His men were all taken from a camp of instruction at Dardanelle, a little over a month ago, and with one or two exceptions did well. Two horses were killed and 2 wounded in the battery, i man killed and several wounded. Our loss is not positively known, but will not exceed 20 killed, 30 wounded and 20 miss ing. The enemy's loss in killed fully equals our total killed and wounded. The number of his wounded was very great. We captured and paroled 26 prisoners, i lieu tenant, i non-commissioned officer and 24 privates; also destroyed a train of 10 or 15 wagons. I could have burned a large part of the town, but every house was filled with women and children, a great number of whom were relatives of the officers and soldiers in our service. The enemy's force consisted (notwithstanding all pre vious reports from persons living in Fayetteville to the contrary) of ... total 1,850, besides four squadrons of cavalry . . . from Springfield. . . . Had I had 500 long- range rifles with good cartridges, I could have taken the place in an hour. As it was, I could not advance my battery, as I had nothing to cover the pieces, and the enemy's guns were equal in range to the artillery. The Arkadelphia rifles, with the cartridges sent with them, are no better than shotguns. . . . The officers and men, with a few exceptions, acted well. Colonel Monroe and his whole regiment deserve particular mention. Colonels 172 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Scott, Noble, Thompson and Major Dorsey acted with great gallantry. Capt. Fen Rieff, Lieutenant Ferguson, Captain Jefferson and Private Sublett, of Rieff's com pany, deserve to be particularly mentioned. My staff officers, Lieut. Ben J. Field, Surg. J. H. Carroll, Maj. Hugh Wilson, commissary, Capt. J. H. Crawford, quar termaster, and Lieutenant Roberts, acted with great gal lantry. Major Wilson, I am sorry to add, was badly wounded. I sent an officer back with a flag of truce to have my wounded properly cared for, leaving surgeons to attend upon them. Colonel Harrison, commanding the garrison at Fayette- ville, replied to Cabell's request to care for his men who were wounded, that he had buried the dead decently in coffins, and removed the wounded to his general hospital, where they were in charge of Surgeons Russell and Holden, of the Confederate command, who were supplied with everything needed. "Rest assured, General, that your wounded shall receive the best of care, such as we would hope to have from you, were we placed in a like situation." Colonel Harrison issued a congratulatory address, April ipth, in which he indulged in the unobjec tionable and natural effusions of a grateful heart, as follows : Let April 18, 1863, ever be remembered! The battle of Fayetteville has been fought and won. Today, the brave and victorious sons of Arkansas stand proudly upon the soil which their blood and their bravery have rendered sacred to every true-hearted American, but doubly sacred to them. In the light of this holy Sabbath sun, we are permitted through God's mercy to gather together in His name and in the name of our common country to offer up our heartfelt thanks to the "Giver of every good and perfect gift"; for the triumph of our arms, and for the blessings which we enjoy. The address was framed upon a high and familiar precedent, and was altogether in a tone honorable to the piety and patriotism of its author. It may have been the restraining influence of these sacred feelings, and not CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 173 the march of Cabell, which caused the cessation of the pillage and murder that had been indulged in by the triumphant defenders of Fayetteville, or by their agents. The fact is, thenceforth they were discontinued, and com parative quietude resumed its sway among these romantic valleys. The old men mended their plows, and women and children began the cheerful preparation for the cul tivation of their little fields. Colonel Harrison was soon ordered to evacuate Fay etteville and go to the assistance of Colonel Phillips and his army in the Indian Territory. Phillips had crossed the Arkansas on the night of the 24th and made an attack on Stand Watie's Confederate Cherokees, at Webber's Falls, and prevented the assemblage of the Cherokee legislature there on the 25th. He then sent a heavy scout, with howitzers, to the Lee's creek road, between Fayetteville and Van Buren, to prevent any force mov ing up east of his position, until Colonel Harrison should move. Lieut. -Gen. E. Kirby Smith had been assigned, January 14, to the command of the 4 ' South western army," embrac ing the troops in west Louisiana and Texas, and on Feb ruary pth his command was extended to embrace the Trans- Mississippi department. He issued his general orders, No. i, March yth, assuming command of the forces west of the Mississippi. Gen. Sterling Price was at last transferred to the Trans-Mississippi, February 27th, and a month later was assigned to the command of the division lately commanded by General Hindman, who had been relieved from duty in the Trans-Missis sippi, January 3oth. On March i8th, the secretary of war advised General Smith that a pressing necessity would require the latter's presence at an early day in Arkansas. The secretary wrote : "From a variety of sources, many of which I can not doubt, the most deplorable accounts reach the depart ment of the disorder, confusion and demoralization every- 174 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. where prevalent, both with the armies and the people of the State." On the date of this letter, Lieut-Gen. T. H. Holmes was relieved from the command of the Trans- Mississippi department and assigned to the district of Arkansas, including also Indian Territory and Missouri. The abstract from returns of the district of Arkansas for April 30, 1863, shows the following present for duty: Price's division, headquarters Little Rock, 529 officers, 6,656 men; Steele's division, Fort Smith, 317 officers, 4,082 men; Marmaduke's division, Jacksonport, 352 officers, 4, 01 8 men; Frost's division, Pine Bluff, 153 offi cers, 2,107 men; Dobbin's regiment, near Helena, 38 officers, 605 men; Hill's artillery battalion, Little Rock, 17 officers, 251 men; Dawson's cavalry, Little Rock, i officer, 52 men. Total, 1,407 officers, 17,771 men; aggre gate present, 22,249; aggregate present and absent, 34,43i- Price's division at that date embraced the Arkansas brigades of Fagan, McRae and Tappan (formerly Shaver's), and M. M. Parsons' Missouri brigade. Steele's division included the brigades of Cooper and Cabell. Marmaduke's division at that time was composed of the brigades of Carter, Burbridge, Shelby and Greene, but on June 2d was limited to his own brigade and Shelby's. Gen. L. M. Walker, on June 2d, was given command of a brigade composed of Dobbin's and Newton's Arkansas cavalry. In his report covering this period, General Halleck said: "The main body of our troops in the department of the Missouri had, in the early part of the season, been sent to reinforce General Grant before Vicksburg. " It was con sidered by the Confederate leaders that the impatience of the war party at the North to take Vicksburg, as an achievement that would give promise of success to their policy and a speedy termination of the war, was stimulat ing the Union commanders to strain every energy to its accomplishment, regardless of minor successes or disas- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 175 ters, and that with this view the defenders of Helena, Ark. , had been reduced to the merest show of occupation. The demand to take Vicksburg was thoroughly impressed upon General Grant, who stated in his "Memoirs" that it would have been far easier to fall back to Memphis after the failure of Sherman above Vicksburg, and undertake a new movement overland from Memphis ; but the change would have been regarded as retreat and have greatly injured, if not defeated, the war party. This political importance of Vicksburg was well understood by the people of both sections. It justified the belief of the Confederate generals that Helena would be neg lected. But the possibility of an attack had also the attention of the Federal leaders. Curtis referred to it and directed a movement from Cape Girardeau in aid of Helena. The hordes collected from all lands to fill the Union armies supplied such numbers of recruits, that with steam transports on the Mississippi it would be com paratively easy to reinforce the place if it should be assaulted from the land side, and the navy could blow any force out of water that might approach by the river. The strategy of the attack as a diversion in favor of Vicksburg was good, but in view of the resources of the enemy, a reverse was to be feared. General Price was at Jacksonport, in the rich valley of White river, below Batesville, June 8th, when General Holmes addressed him a note asking "If we could with propriety attack Helena. Please inform me whether the condition of your troops will justify the attempt. " To this General Price sent the following prompt and encour aging reply: General: In regard to the condition of my troops, I am glad to say that they are all now fully rested and in excellent spirits. General Marmaduke also reports his command to be in efficient condition. He reports to me this morning the following number: Total present, Shelby's brigade, 1,561; Greene's brigade, 1,122; Bur- 176 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. bridge's brigade, 1,089; Kitchen's battalion, 286. In all, 4,058. Of these, many are out on outpost duty. Carter's (Texas) brigade, now attached to General Walker's com mand, is reported 1,170, total present. From the most reliable information General Marmaduke can obtain, the enemy have not more than from 4,000 to 5,000 at Helena; and were a movement conducted with celerity and secrecy, by which you could concentrate the commands of Generals Frost and Fagan with this column, I entertain no doubt of your being able to crush the foe at that point. The raids into Missouri, arduous as they were, could not be compared with the march on Helena from Little Rock and Jacksonport with infantry, artillery and trains. The line of march was across the Grand prairie, a tree less level, whose heavy, wet flats are easily cut into miry roads. At the season of this march, millions of prairie - flies and black gnats swarmed everywhere, distressing the mules and horses. White river was to cross, and the low, swampy bottoms of Cache river, and the soft bottom land of Bayou de View and Caney creek. Other water courses, all more or less difficult, were to be passed and, to increase the distress, a four days' rain commenced about the 226. and caused a rise in all these Stygian waters. On the 1 8th of June it was ordered that Cottonplant should be the place of rendezvous, June 26th, and on that day the following marching orders were issued by Lieu tenant-General Holmes: 1. The movement against Helena will be under the immediate direction of the lieutenant-general command ing the district. 2. Major-General Price, with the forces now under his command, will constitute the first column, and will march from Switzer's, on the direct road to Helena, keeping his cavalry well in advance. He will communicate with headquarters at the close of each day's march. Briga dier-Generals Fagan's and L. M. Walker's brigades will constitute the second column, of which Walker's brigade CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 177 will be the advance, and will rendezvous at a point here after to be designated. Pagan's brigade will march on the lower Little Rock road. . . . Neither Tappan's, Cooper's, Cabell's nor Frost's bri gade was engaged in the attack on Helena. General Holmes, who now assumed command in the field, had hitherto remained at headquarters at Little Rock, charg ing himself with the general interests of the district. Unfortunately, there was no general system managed by a common head, each district acting independently. The vast extent of country to be governed and protected, and the absorbing interest of Missouri affairs, probably bewildered the department commander, while the hope of advancing into that State, no doubt, controlled him in the policy he pursued. During the concentration against Helena, the com manding general was in receipt of dispatches from sub ordinate commanders, giving glimpses of stirring events taking place along the Mississippi river, on his front, attendant upon the movements of the Federal army against Vicksburg. From General Marmaduke a dispatch June 1 4th, read: "A scout from the Mississippi river, 30 miles above Memphis, reports ten transports passed two days ago, going south, loaded with negro troops. I am firmly of the opinion that all the troops that can be spared are being sent to reinforce Grant; that New Madrid, Memphis and Helena are very weak." Major McLean, adjutant-general of Price's division, forwarded the following, June i3th: "A pilot who has been running the river from Memphis, says that if he can get protec tion from our side, we can capture from one to fifteen boats at Island No. 63, where Dobbin has been firing on transports while passing. ' ' From General Price, June 1 5th : "Two hundred and fifty men, with small howitzers, have been sent to a point on the river north of Mem phis, and 400 men with a section of Collins' battery (one piece rifled) to a point on the river below Memphis, with Ark 12 178 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. instructions to harass the enemy's transportation of sup plies and troops. " From Col. Colton Greene, June iyth: "It is estimated that over 40,000 men went down to Vicks- burg during the past ten days, consisting of Burnside's troops from Kentucky, and Herron's division from Mis souri. " From the express agent, June i8th: "Yesterday five boats passed -down with troops. The boats going up this evening are either hospitals or empty. There is more activity to-day than usual. No gunboats have passed. On all transports, I am told, are one or two pieces of artillery; very few troops visible. What fine service for a regiment of ca,valry, with a battery, or even a section of artillery. We could render our hard-pressed friends at Vicksburg great service. ' ' From the same, June 2ist: "Seven passed up last night. The steamer Dove went down last night, came up to-day, with one piece of artillery and the horses harnessed. They reported heavy fighting at Vicksburg. Dobbin and Gary (cavalry) within 12 miles of Helena." As to the advance of his troops on Helena, Holmes was hourly in receipt of dispatches. From General Price, June 27th: "Crossed Cache river with my cavalry, on Thursday morning. . . . The infantry, in consequence of the rapid rise of Cache river, was unable to finish the crossing of that stream with their trains before 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon, having fasted from daybreak of the previous day. I had meanwhile caused Bayou de View to be bridged, and the bottom on each side of it to be causewayed, as also Caney creek. But the very heavy rains of yesterday and last night raised both the bayou and the creek so as to sweep away the bridges and render the bottoms utterly impassable." From General Mar- maduke, June 28th, on Flat creek bayou: "Reached this point this morning and find the bayou here a quarter of a mile wide, 50 yards of which is swimming water." From Maj. Thomas L> Snead, Price's adjutant-general: "Parsons and McRae have encountered greater difficulties CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 179 in passing their trains over Big creek bottom than were anticipated, and they will hardly get beyond this point to-morrow." From Gen. M. M. Parsons to Major Snead, July ist: "I finished crossing this evening at 5:30; worked the men in the water to their waists last night until 10 ; again this morning from daylight. Men much worried; mules more so — they are without forage; not a grain to be had without pressing." From Jo O. Shelby, at Gordon's plantation, July ist: "I have the river road from Helena to St. Francis river well guarded. My command is 8 miles in advance of General Holmes." These reports are enough to present the picture of an army struggling through the mud, water and rain, with out forage for mules or battery horses, in order to * ' sur prise" an enemy who had every facility for reinforcement or retreat. The movement of the Western army, how ever, was suggested by an exigency which could not wait on weather. A diversion must be made in favor of Vicksburg. The energies of this faithful army must be exerted in favor of the common cause, even looking to the maintenance of the conflict in the East, although its own borders be left for a time defenseless. The secretary of war had suggested it, May 23d, in a dispatch to Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, commanding in Mississippi. "I venture with diffidence," he said, "only one suggestion. It is, that should opportunity to com municate with Generals Holmes or Price occur, it might be well to urge they should make diversion for you, or in the case of the fall of Vicksburg, secure a great future advantage to the Confederacy, by the attack on and seiz ure of Helena, while all the available forces of the enemy are being pushed to Grant's aid. " This letter forwarded to Gen. Kirby Smith, at Shreveport, was sent on by him, with the indorsement, "To Lieutenant- General Holmes, to act as circumstances may justify. " To which General Holmes replied from Little Rock, after consulting Price, "I believe we can take Helena. Please let me attack it." 180 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. General Smith gave his assent in a Caesarian dispatch, dated June 16, 1863: "Most certainly do it. " General Holmes believed he could take it. Like another noble visionary, he would have accepted any challenge of emulation. He made investigations and based his opin ion upon "information considered reliable," but he after ward confessed, " The place was very much more difficult of access and the fortification much stronger than I had supposed before undertaking the expedition, the features of the country being peculiarly adapted to defense, and all that the art of engineering could do having been brought to bear to strengthen it. The fortification con sisted of one regular work heavily armed with siege guns, and four strong redoubts mounted with field pieces and protected by rifle-pits on suburban hills." This latter information he did not have when it might have been useful. He does not mention the gunboat Tyler, which lay in the Mississippi, opposite Hindman hill, the commander of which had surveyed the works and calcu lated his range to assist in defending them. The Mississippi river, the main channel of which is more than two miles wide at Helena, runs south in front of the place, originally built on the west brink of the river. The town had grown gradtially to extend back upon the uneven and elevated ridge of land known as Crowley's ridge, which, at its southern extremity, the great river cuts here, and was easily fortified against a force coming from the west. The ridge is broken into many elevations (with deep ravines between) , and upon these had been constructed the breastworks and fort described by General Holmes. The heavy timber of the western slope of the ridge had been cut down to block ade the road and form an impregnable abattis for miles. A road, called the Sterling road, ran from the north, a little back from the river, into town, upon a lower plateau, above which frowned Fort Curtis. A little southwest of this fort was Graveyard hill, upon which the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 181 enemy had constructed their Battery C, protected by rifle-pits and abattis in front. To the south of Battery C was Hindman hill, Battery D, commanding the road to Little Rock, called the "upper Little Rock road" to distinguish it from a road from Little Rock leading in from the south on the river levels. On a headland north of the city, Rightor hill, on Sterling road, was Battery A, which also commanded the old St. Francis road, run ning northwest ; and upon the upper St. Francis road, a little farther south, on a commanding headland, was Battery B. Batteries C and D, a quarter and a half mile south, under the guns of Fort Curtis, were the keys to the capture of Helena from the west. It was July 3, 1863, when the disposition for the attack was made under the following order : The attack on Helena will be made tomorrow morn ing at daylight, and as follows: i. Major-General Price, in command of McRae's and Parsons' brigades, will pro ceed by the best route, assume position, assault and take Graveyard hill [Battery C] at daylight. 2. Brigadier- General Walker, with his cavalry brigade, will in like manner proceed to the Sterling road [north of the town, at Battery A], where he will hold himself in position to resist any troops that may approach Rightor hill; and when these positions are captured, he will enter the town and act against the enemy as circumstances may justify. 3. Brigadier-General Fagan will proceed by the best route, assume position, and take the battery on Hindman hill [Battery D] at daylight. 4. Brigadier-General Mar- maduke will proceed with his command by the best route, assume position, and take Rightor hill [Battery A] at daylight. About midnight the troops began to move to their respective positions. Soon after daylight, General Mar- maduke drove in the enemy's pickets and commenced the assault at Rightor hill, but a cavalry force, under Cols. Powell Clayton and T. H. Benton, appearing on his flank and rear, he had to fall back. This force had 182 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. swept by General Walker unimpeded. Simultaneously with this assault, Fagan advanced against Hindman hill and carried the last of the line of rifle-pits, but was enfiladed from Graveyard hill (Battery C) before the advance upon the latter by General Price. Pagan's charge upon the redoubt was repulsed, and he took refuge behind the inner line of breastworks. After sun rise (an hour after "daylight"), General Price brought his troops into position to make the assault on Graveyard hill, and moving forward, with a magnificent charge car ried the rifle-pits, breastworks, and entered the redoubts without a halt (Battery C). The enemy, before retreat ing, had wedge-shotted his abandoned guns, so that the Confederates could not use them. From time to time the enemy made repeated assaults on Graveyard hill ; but were always successfully repulsed by McRae and Par sons. General McRae, finding that Parsons could hold the works, proposed to assault Hindman hill in the rear, against which Fagan was vainly engaged; but upon essaying this movement, with the troops at his disposal, was fired on from Fort Curtis, from the rifle-pits, and on his flank by the heavy missiles from the gunboat Tyler, and was compelled to withdraw his gallant com mand to shelter in the timber and ravines. Fagan hav ing retired from the assault, Parsons alone held the field, and though advanced upon in front and on both flanks by infantry, and under cross-fire of the artillery from the right and left, maintained his position and repulsed every assault until ordered by the commanding general to retire, at 10:30, after five hours' continuous and deadly conflict. The return of casualties compiled in the War Records shows a loss, in McRae 's Arkansas brigade, of 46 killed, 1 68 wounded, 133 missing, total, 347; of which total the Thirty-sixth (Glenn ' s) regiment lost 1 5 9. Fagan ' s Arkan sas brigade lost 47 killed, 115 wounded, 273 missing, total, 435. Parsons' Missouri brigade lost 61 killed, 304 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY, 183 wounded, 365 missing, total, 730. The total loss of Shelby's brigade was 52; of Greene's, 12; of Walker's division (imperfectly reported), 12. Aggregate of these figures, 173 killed, 645 wounded, 772 missing. General Price reported that his command in the battle was composed of McRae's Arkansas brigade — three regi ments of infantry and a field battery, with 1,227 men present for duty — and Parsons' Missouri brigade — four regiments of infantry, a battalion of sharpshooters and a field battery; having in all, 1,868 men present for duty. He ordered the field pieces to be left behind, because of darkness and the difficulties of the way, across abrupt hills and deep ravines. When he got within one and a half mile of the position he was ordered to take, he found that he would arrive on the ground prematurely, and a brief halt was ordered to give the troops time to recover from the rapid march over a succession of almost precipitous and heavily-wooded hills. At dawn he advanced again, and his skirmishers were soon sharply engaged. He continues : The order for the assault (as explained to the general officers and regimental commanders of the division the evening before) directed that General Parsons, moving in front, should halt the head of his column at the point from which he was to make the assault until the head of General McRae's column should reach its position on the left, when both columns should advance simultaneously to the assault. During the brief halt alluded to, and just as I had ordered General McRae forward, the general command ing rode up and asked why the assault had not been made. I explained the facts to him, and thinking that time enough had elapsed for General McRae to get into posi tion, I dispatched one of my staff to General Parsons to ascertain why he was not advancing. He replied that he was waiting for General McRae to get into position. [General McRae was in position, but owing to the necessities of the ground, further to the left than planned, and a high ridge interposed between him and 184 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Parsons. Price informed Parsons of this and ordered the assault.] Both brigades moved forward on the instant, rapidly, steadily, unflinchingly, and in perfect order, under a storm of minie balls, grape and canister, which were poured into them, not only from the Grave yard hill in their front, but from the fortified hills upon the right and left, both of which were in easy range. The enemy gave way before the impetuous assault of the attacking columns, which, entering the works almost simultaneously, planted the Confederate flag upon the summit of Graveyard hill. Each brigade had done its allotted duty with equal zeal, devotion and gallantry, and each is entitled to an equal share of the honor which justly attaches to those who discharge their duty as these men did, fearlessly, well, and successfully. [Parsons' command was composed of self -exiled volunteers from Missouri, and McRae's of Arkansas conscripts, and Gen eral Price was a Missourian who paid this high tribute. ] Being in possession of the hill, and finding that the cap tured guns had been shot-wedged, I directed my chief of artillery to bring forward the pieces which I had left behind. This he did as promptly as the difficulties of the ground would permit, but not until it was too late for them to be used in the action. Meanwhile a heavy fire was concentrated upon the hill from the four fortified positions which the enemy still continued to hold, and from the hillsides and ravines, under cover of which their sharpshooters delivered a well-directed and very effective fire, while the gunboat which lay in front of the town kept up an unintermitting discharge of its heavy guns. Perceiving that the surest way of relieving my men from the disastrous effects of this galling fire was to aid General Pagan to take the enemy's works upon my right, and receiving information that that gallant officer had been repulsed in every attempt to assault those works, I sent an order directing General Parsons to move his brigade forthwith to the reinforcement of General Fagan. He replied to the officer, by whom I had sent the order, that General McRae (who was by his side at the time) would, with my permission, go to the assistance of General Fagan, while his (Parsons') brigade, being the stronger, would hold Graveyard hill. [This was approved.] It soon became CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 185 obvious, however, that both brigades had been so weak ened by their heavy losses in killed and wounded, and particularly in prisoners (the most of the latter having been captured in the immediate vicinity of the town, whither they had gone without orders from me), and by straggling of those overcome by the intense heat and thirst, and that I amid not send any effective aid to Gen eral Fagan without too greatly endangering my own position. It was equally obvious that unless such aid be promptly sent to General Fagan, the general attack upon Helena must fail. It was under these circumstances that I received an order from the lieutenant-general, com manding me to withdraw my division. In compliance with this order my troops were withdrawn to a point about four miles from Helena, where they rested for the night and resumed the march hither on the morning of the 5th. The lieutenant-general commanding was himself a wit ness of the conduct of my division. He saw the alacrity with which they advanced to the positions assigned. He knows the steadfastness and unfaltering courage with which they moved, in the midst of a deadly fire, over deep ravines and precipitous hills, obstructed by felled timber, to, into, and over the works which they had been ordered to take, driving everything before them. He was himself a witness of the undaunted bravery and enduring constancy with which, animated by his own inspiring example and gallant bearing, they stood unshaken in the very center of that unceasing fire hurled against them from gunboats, from forts and from rifle- pits. I am sure that he will pay them that tribute of praise to which their courage and endurance entitle them. ... I must also commend the excellent discipline which General McRae maintains at all times in his bri gade ; the marked good sense and energy with which he conducted its march to Helena; the promptitude with which he has always obeyed my commands, and the ear nest efforts which he made to reinforce General Fagan toward the close of the attack. General McRae said in his report : As soon as the command was massed in position, a gen eral rush was made into the fort, and the works were 186 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. carried. This assault was made from the north. The enemy were driven from the works and pursued to the verge of the town. About this time General Parsons' brigade entered the fort, he having charged about the same time as my brigade, thus rendering the capture of the position certain, for had my assault failed, he was so close that he could not have failed. Moving along the north side of Graveyard hill, my command was exposed not only to the fire of the fort and the rifle-pits in front, but also to that of the fort north of Graveyard hill, which fort was not attacked, and to whose fire my com mand was exposed. ... I discovered a battery of field pieces being moved by the enemy to the rear, so as to completely enfilade my command. Before marching, I had armed Capt. John G. Marshall's company of artillery with muskets, and moved it along in rear of my column, so that in case we captured the fort I should be prepared to work the enemy's guns. I now used this company as sharpshooters, ordering them to approach this battery and prevent it from getting into position, which they accom plished in a very gallant manner. As soon as the works were carried, I returned and ordered Captain Marshall to call on his men and take charge of the guns and work them. While giving these orders, Lieutenant- General Holmes rode up and ordered me at once to the assistance of General Pagan, who was attacking the fort south of Graveyard hill. I at once went to the fort and ordered the officers to assemble their men. Before they were able to do so, General Holmes again, in a peremptory manner, ordered me to the assistance of General Pagan. I had not more than 200 men with me. With them I charged down the hill, aiming to assault the north front of the fort ; but when I arrived at the foot of the hill the fire of the enemy was so withering that with the force I had it was madness to attempt to scale the hill, the hol low being raked by artillery opposite its mouth, and com pletely enfiladed by rifle-pits in point-blank range. I therefore deployed my men and commenced firing on the rifle-pits and works which were being attacked by Gen eral Pagan, in order to make as great a diversion as pos sible. When informed that the enemy had retaken Graveyard hill, I sent Capt. Paul M. Cobbs, of Hart's regiment, with his company, to General Pagan, to say that I was unable to attack the works in front, being now CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 187 exposed to fire in rear as well as flank. I crossed over the narrow ridge in front of the fort attacked by General Pagan, and the fire was so severe that my men were com pelled to cross the ridge singly. When I reached the crest of the hill I discovered General Pagan's men in a rifle-pit in front of the main works, and they seemed too few, even reinforced with what men I had, to accomplish anything. Within a short time I saw them rush out of the rifle-pits into a deep gorge immediately in their rear. [He withdrew into a ravine between the two forts.] The first field officer I met was Colonel Hawthorn, at some huts where some wounded were, and in a short time General Pagan came up. After moving a short distance I met General Holmes. As for my field officers, that they did their duty it needs but to state that of 9 that went into the battle, 6 were wounded, 2 mortally. Attention is called to the gal lant conduct of Col. R. A. Hunt, who led his men to the assault, and when in the fort, seized one of the enemy's guns and fired it against them. Here also fell, mortally wounded, Lieut. W. P. Rector [second son of Governor Rector], adjutant of Hart's regiment, whose gallantry and undaunted bravery signally distinguished him in the assault. Maj. J. M. Davie, leading his men, fell, shot through the thigh, in front of the fort. Capt. W. C. Rob inson, acting major, fell, mortally wounded, in front of his men. Here also fell, mortally wounded, the brave, the zealous Maj. J. C. Martin, of Hart's regiment; Maj. A. P. Stephenson, of Gause's regiment; Capt. J. C. Gar land, of Glenn's regiment; and Lieut. Thomas A. Eppes, of Gause's regiment, than whom a better man or braver soldier has not offered up his life during this war. [Capt J. R. Morris and Lieuts. R. B. Camp, R. P. McKinney, W. T. Tompkins and J. R. Harlan were also reported killed.] Cols. J. E. Glenn and L. C. Gause, and Lieut. -Cols. J. W. Rogers and William Hicks, deserve special mention for the daring manner in which they led their men. Lieut. J. W. Crabtree, of Glenn's regiment, displayed the greatest intrepidity. Sergt. John H. Champ, Company A, of Hart's regiment, deserves special mention. Color- Sergeant Garland, of Glenn's regiment, advanced his regimental colors to the front, and main tained his position through the assault, his colors being torn into ribbons. My thanks are due my staff, especially to Lieut. John W. McKay. 188 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. Gen. Jas. F. Pagan's report accounts for the Arkansas men tinder his command : On the evening of the 3d inst , at dark, I ordered Col. W. H. Brooks, with his regiment, one section of C. B. Etter's battery, commanded by Lieut. J. C. Arnett, and three companies of cavalry, commanded by Capt. W. B. Denson, to move to the front in support of the cavalry, then within three miles of Helena. About u o'clock at night, with the three remaining regiments, com manded, respectively, by Cols. J. P. King, A. T. Hawthorn and S. S. Bell, and Blocher's battery of light artillery, commanded by Capt. W. D. Blocher, I moved forward on the road toward Helena. . . . At daylight I reached and attacked the enemy in his works. Colonel Hawthorn, being in advance, was hur ried rapidly into line on the right of the road which led directly up to the fort on Hindman hill [Battery D]. He at once engaged the enemy in the extreme outer line of their rifle-pits. Bell's regiment emerged next from the confused mass of felled timber, and was double-quicked into line on the left of the road, engaging, as they came into position, the intrenched forces of the enemy over against them. King's regiment brought up the rear. He threw his men into position and by me was ordered to the support of Colonel Hawthorn. My entire force was now engaged. The assault upon the rifle-pits was made from both the right and left of the road. . . . The gorge is passed, the ascent of the steep acclivity is nearly gained, and the red line of rifle-pits looms up clearly amid the uncertain light and haze of dawn. With a shout of tri umph they rush toward it, and the enemy are driven pell- mell from one row of rifle-pits to another. . . . We reached and took possession of their fourth tier of rifle-pits. Now it was that the column commanded by Major-General Price (Parsons' and McRae's brigades) charged the works on Graveyard hill, gallantly driving the enemy before them, and taking possession of their fortifications and artillery. There remained yet one row of intrenchments between my brigade and the fort on Hindman hill [Battery D]. I ordered a charge. My men, though thoroughly exhausted and worn, answered with a shout and sprang, forward most gallantly. This being the inner and last line of works between us and the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 189 enemy, of course was defended with great stubbornness. It was of no avail. My men sprang forward bravely and defiantly and, after a severe contest, succeeded in driv ing out the enemy, who fled, crowding back into the frowning fort and under cover of its heavy guns. . . . Before us there only remained the fort and the plain on which it was built. Notwithstanding the reduced condi tion of my command and the exhaustion of those yet remaining, I ordered a charge upon the fort. My col onels did all in their power to encourage the men to the attack. The effort was made ; but the prostrate con dition of my command prevented success, and after losing in the attempt several gallant officers and many brave men, I formed again in rear of the inner line of rifle-pits, while the guns of the fort continued to pour forth a furious fire. It was now verging on u o'clock in the day. More than three hours before the guns on Graveyard hill had been taken by our friends, and there seemed no obstacle in the way of their victorious march. Eagerly did we look to see their column coming to our aid, as hour after hour passed, and still they made not their appearance. Time wore on. The pleasant morning deepened into the sultriest and hottest of days. The thinned ranks of my regiments became thinner and thinner each moment. The guns of the enemy (not more than 100 or 150 yards distant) were telling sadly against us, while the heat, the want of water and the toil were no mean auxiliaries. Still the brave men left stood manfully up to the dis charge of their duty. At this time written orders were received from Lieutenant-General Holmes, directing that I withdraw my troops from the field, and fall back to Allen Folk's, 6 miles in the rear. We retired from the field and fell back slowly to that point. . . . My aggre gate force engaged was 1,339. It was in the last assault that Maj. John B. Cocke, of Hawthorn's regiment, received a severe wound. His daring was conspicuous. . . . Colonels Brooks, King, Hawthorn and Bell, each did his whole duty. . . . The position assigned to Colonel King threw him perhaps on that ground most difficult to get over. Maj. John J. Dillard and Adjt. W. T. Bourne deserve much praise. . . . Colonel Hawthorn remained with a small number of his men, engaging the enemy until the last of the army 190 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. had retired beyond the high hills. . . . Colonel Bell and Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, with a large number of officers and over 100 men, were captured by the enemy in an attempt to enter the fort from the south side. Maj. T. H. Blacknall, Maj. B. T. Du Val, Capt. Wyatt C. Thomas were also specially commended by General Pagan. Capt. Walton Watkins, of Hawthorn's regiment, was referred to as falling after displaying great gallantry, but that officer, happily, survived the battle many years. Colonel Hawthorn also reported the death of Lieuts. Richard J. Shaddock, W. H. Hinson, L. R. Kinniard. Maj. T. H. Blacknall, reporting for the Thirty-seventh regiment, reported Capts. H. C. Pleasants and W. J. Smith wounded. The character of the approaches in this action was such that the Arkansas batteries could not be brought to bear so as to perform their important part. The cavalry, except General Walker's division, does not seem to have been dismounted. The army returned by the roads it had advanced upon, again obstructed by the same obstacles, but were not otherwise molested. General Marmaduke's report contained a paragraph reflecting upon the inactivity of Gen. L. M. Walker's brigade, which led to an angry controversy that resulted eventually in a fatal personal encounter between them. Marmaduke asserted : "Walker's brigade not only did not prevent reinforcements from going to Fort Rightor, but the enemy, after sunrise, actually passed to my left and half a mile to my rear and held that position during the day. " General Walker's version was as fol lows: "I was continually engaged until nearly 3 p. m. I effectually complied with the part assigned to me in the order of attack by preventing the enemy from throwing troops to Rightor hill, which they were constantly trying to do and made two strong efforts and were repulsed. I protected Brigadier- General Marmaduke's left flank. My command was engaged in front of his left. At about CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 191 2 o'clock I was informed by General Marmaduke that he had already withdrawn his command. I had hard fighting to protect my left flank, and when my right became exposed I commenced to get loose from the enemy, and retired. ' ' Rumors were circulated which reflected upon the con duct of Brig. -Gen. Dandridge McRae, and that officer pursued the more regular method of silencing them by demanding a court of inquiry. The proceedings by that court, at Shreveport, resulted in a finding that "General McRae's conduct at Helena, on July 4, 1863, on the occa sion of the attack upon the enemy at that place, was obnoxious to no charge of misbehavior before the enemy. ' ' That the student may consider this expedition and action from every standpoint in order to have a compre hensive understanding of the relative positions, and form an impartial judgment upon the merits of the opposing actors in the engagement, the report of the Federal com mander, Maj.-Gen. B. M. Prentiss, should be referred to. He stated that he had been warned of the attack by vague rumors in the public press for several weeks pre vious, confirmed by the reports of his scouts of the con centration of Confederate forces. Consequently, he spared no labor to strengthen his defenses, digging rifle-pits, throwing up breastworks, and erecting four outlying batteries on the bluffs west of the town. On Saturday morning, July 4th, at 3 o'clock, my pickets were attacked by the enemy's skirmishers. They made an obstinate resistance, holding the enemy well in check until 4 o'clock, when they reached over rifle- pits and breastworks and joined their respective regi ments, which before this time had assumed their desig nated positions in the intrenchments. The attack was now commenced in earnest, in front and on the right flank ; but the enemy, though assured by his overwhelm ing numbers of a speedy victory, were driven back again and again. For four hours the battle raged furiously, the enemy gaining little, if any, advantage. Now, how- 192 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ever, the attack in front became more furious. The enemy covered every hilltop, swarmed in every ravine, but seemed to be massing his force more particularly against Battery C [Graveyard hill]. I now signaled the gun boat Tyler, the only one at hand, Lieutenant-Commander Pritchett commanding, to open fire in that direction. The enemy (Parsons' and McRae's brigades), nothing daunted by the concentrated fire from Fort Ctirtis, Bat teries B, C and D, the Tyler, and all the infantry I could bring to their support, and led, as I since learn, by Lieu tenant-General Holmes and Major-General Price in per son, charged upon Battery C. Twice they were repulsed, but the third time, exhibiting a courage and desperation rarely equaled, they succeeded in driving my small force at the point of the bayonet and capturing the battery. Dividing his forces and sending a part, as a feint, to men ace Fort Curtis, the enemy then assaulted Battery D [Hindman hill demonstration by Fagan], to reach which they must pass through a deep ravine and encounter a heavy cross-fire. The enemy faltered ; seeing which the men in Battery D, and those behind the breastworks and in the rifle-pits supporting it, sallied forth and, surround ing more than three times their number, brought them off prisoners. Not to be outdone by their comrades, the men who had been supporting Battery C . . . gallantly charged upon the enemy in Battery C, retaking it, and capturing as well a large number of prisoner? This was about 10 o'clock. I immediately dispatched two aides to carry this information to Cols. S. A. Rice and Powell Clayton, who, with the remnants of two small bri gades, were holding the enemy in check on the right flank, where the attack was only the less severe and suc cessful than it had been in front. At 10:30 it became evident that the enemy was withdrawing his forces; but, unaware how severely he had been punished, and learn ing somewhat of the strength of his forces from prison ers, I could but believe it was for the purpose of massing and attacking my left flank, which I considered the weakest point (the south end of his line). The attack was not resumed, however. . . . My whole force num bered . . . 4,129. [Total loss, 239.] Except by those who suffered from it immediately, through losses and bereavements never to be forgotten, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 193 the attack on Helena soon passed out of rnind. There were contemporaneous and more significant events that absorbed the public attention. On the same day Vicks- burg capitulated, and four days later Port Hudson fell. On the day before, Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania had terminated adversely in his decisive defeat at Gettysburg. Before this momentous July 3d and 4th, the sympathy of the French and English was approaching the point of intervention in favor of the South. Napoleon III was actively advocating it. Gladstone, "the grand old man," openly eulogized the Confederates. His touching refer ence to "that heroic people, struggling for independ ence, ' ' is yet remembered against him in Wall street. A majority of the British cabinet was in favor of recogni tion. The motion of Roebuck for intervention had been offered in the house of commons. If once put to the house its passage was a foregone conclusion. The Lon don Times exulted over Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania. But while parliament was becoming daily more favorable to the proposition, Gettysburg was lost ! The force of events and the dictates of prudence turned the tide so that Gladstone himself mournfully made this decisive utterance in parliament: "It is not that I think the war is waged on the part of the North for any adequate or worthy object that I would venture to deprecate the adoption of the motion of the honorable gentleman (Roebuck). I fear it is running the risk of making that worse which is already and sufficiently horrible ; of caus ing other feuds and quarrels that may carry still further desolation over the face of the earth. " The last thought of intervention was banished from the councils of that great power. General Lord Wolseley, in a eulogy on Lee, has written : * ' The desperate, though drawn battle of Gettys burg was the death-knell of Southern independence." But the conflict went on. Blood continued to flow, even more freely than before. Ark 13 CHAPTER VIII. SCHOFIELD RETURNS TO FEDERAL COMMAND— COOPER AND CABELL IN THE NORTHWEST— ACTIONS NEAR HONEY SPRINGS AND BACKBONE MOUNTAIN— PROP OSITION TO ABANDON ARKANSAS— FEDERAL EXPE DITION AGAINST LITTLE ROCK— ACTION ON THE FOURCHE — DUEL BETWEEN MARMADUKE AND WALKER— EVACUATION OF LITTLE ROCK. nAJOR-GENERAL CURTIS, commander of the Federal department of Missouri, wrote, on May 12, 1863, to Major-General Halleck, commander- in- chief at Washington: "At such a crisis, east, west and everywhere, I will not trouble you with details in this department. Reliable information, just received, satisfies me that the enemy west of the Mississippi is located as fol lows: Near Little Rock, under General Price, 11,000; near Batesville, under Marmaduke and others, 8,000; in the region of Fort Smith, including rebel Indians, under General Cabell and others, 4,000. ... A move up White river now would separate Marmaduke and Price, and totally dishearten all the rebels in Missouri, Arkansas and everywhere west of the Mississippi. I think a junction could be formed between forces now at Helena and Gen eral Herron's force (army of the Frontier), now massing west of Pilot Knob, and thereby complete the discomfiture of every rebel hope in this region. " On the same date of this letter, General Halleck had notified Maj.-Gen. John A. Schofield, at Murfreesboro, Tenn., thac the latter had been assigned to the command of the department of Missouri. General Schofield assumed command of the department of Missouri on the 24th of May. President Lincoln declared that this change was made on account of a "factional quarrel" among the 194 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 195 Union men of Missouri, in which Curtis and Governor Gamble were opposing leaders. As he could not remove Gamble, he had to remove Curtis. General Halleck gave another reason, which throws light on the subsequent campaign in Arkansas, namely : ' ' Although Curtis had been repeatedly instructed to push his entire force from the Mississippi river and White river to Little Rock, he had, instead, brought troops from Helena to operate in Missouri from Pilot Knob, and pushed forward his column again into western Arkansas, under a fear of insurrection in the State of Missouri, and fears of threatened move ments into that State by General Price." Halleck also said, that " Those in Missouri who, at the outset, sided with Price and his rebel gang, but were permitted to return and settle down as quiet and peaceable citizens, are now treated as enemies. No worse policy could possibly be adopted. ' ' In this correspondence, Schofield was sustained in the acrimonious controversy which had arisen between him and Curtis in regard to the Prairie Grove (Ark. ) engage ment. Schofield had written to Curtis: "At Prairie Grove, Blunt and Herron were badly beaten, and owed their escape to a false report of my arrival with reinforce ments. " To this Curtis had replied that he "did not see the necessity of Schofield 's anticipating the reports of these generals of their own affairs. ' ' Herron, now put in command of the army of the Frontier, protested against serving under Schofield, and was informed by Stanton that if he should tender his resignation it would be accepted. After recovering from a dangerous illness at Springfield, Mo., he was sent to assist in the attack on Vicksburg. General Schofield, in a statement of his operations from May 24 to December 10, 1863, says that the capture of Vicksburg and Port Hudson permitted the return to him of the troops he had sent to Grant to aid in these achieve ments, and opened the way for active operations in 196 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Arkansas. From Grant he received (including the troops already at Helena) "a force of about 8,000 infantry and five batteries, to form, with troops to be sent from Mis souri, an expedition against the enemy in Arkansas. ' ' Maj.-Gen. Frederick Steele was sent to command this force. At the same time, the cavalry division under Brigadier-General Davidson, at Pilot Knob, Mo., was ordered to move south, through the eastern part of Arkansas, and effect a junction with the force at Helena for the expedition against Little Rock. Davidson reached Wittsburg on the St. Francis river July 28th, and opened communication with the Federals at Helena. In northwest Arkansas, meanwhile, the situation was disturbed and threatening, on account of the movements of Blunt and his Federal Indian allies and the despondency of the .people, caused by the ravages and ruin they had suffered, and the news of continued disaster to the armies of the South. The tyrannies of the military rule on both sides had brought the people to a state of detestation of war and of soldiers in any uniform. Yet the great bulk of the population was true to the Southern cause. Gen. William Steele had been commended to General Holmes as a suitable commanding officer for the Indian Territory and superintendent of Indian affairs, and in May had been assigned to duty as such. He was an old army officer, residing at San Antonio, Tex., had served in the Mexi can war, was with May in the charge at Palo Alto, and commanded a regiment at the close of that war. But he was severely afflicted with rheumatism, which almost incapacitated him. General Cooper, commanding the Indian allies, since the defeat of Maysville, seemed to have fallen into a state of torpor. While Steele was placed in command of the Territory, General Cabell commanded in northwestern Arkansas. On repairing to Fort Smith, General Steele found there Col. A. S. Morgan's regiment of infantry and some cav alry. Colonel Morgan had the sick and wounded of Prairie CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 197 Grove in hospitals there, in a condition he reported as ''wretched." Morgan was a veteran soldier, captain of Company A, First Arkansas Confederate infantry; had returned to the Trans-Mississippi department and was appointed colonel of the regiment by Hindman. He had raised and organized Company A of the regiment at El dorado, Union county, and had led the regiment at the battle of Prairie Grove. Lieut. William Smith became captain, by promotion of Morgan, of Company A.' The other captains appointed were Samuel Gibson, W. S. Otey, A. H. Holiday, J. R. Stanley, Jesse Bland, J. S. Brooks, J. W. May, J. R. Maxwell and W. A. Bull. The clamor for election of officers had been yielded to by the Confed erate Congress, and the regiment insisted upon a reorgan ization under the law. Colonel Morgan was the reliance of General Steele, as long as he was content to serve under the many annoyances and privations of the post. When an election was ordered, he declined to be a can didate, and was appointed inspector of field transportation, in which capacity he served to the close of the war. Upon the reorganization of his regiment, Maj. Pitts Yell was elected colonel ; Capt J. S. Brooks, lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. Sam Gibson, major. After serving for months at Fort Smith, the regiment was ordered to Louisiana, where Colonel Yell was killed at the battle of Mansfield, and Brooks became colonel. When General Steele assumed command, as successor to Generals Pike and Cooper, he had, in addition to Morgan's regiment, 100 men of Monroe's regiment, and Lane's Texas partisan rangers, under Lieut. -Col. R. P. Crump, numbering about 150 men. He was charged with the control of the hospitals at Fort Smith, then containing about 1,500 patients, in a wretched condition. He reported the quartermaster and commissary departments in a state of great confusion. The continu ance since the organization of Hindman 's camp there in 1862 of large Confederate forces, had exhausted supplies of every kind, and the people, abandoned by their defend- 198 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ers, were hopeless, and with a few honorable exceptions almost completely demoralized. Corn could only be obtained by boating it up the river under convoy of cav alry along the river banks. Bass' regiment of Texans was employed in this duty, and for the defense of Fort Smith. The rest of Spaight's brigade he was ordered to send to Red river. General Cooper had adopted the system of "general furlough" for his Indians, which many of the regiments in his command adopted. But there were others which refused, and, of course, had to be fed. It being impossible to subsist them on the line of the Arkansas river, they were ordered southward. The organization of Steele's division, on April soth, was reported as follows : Brigade of Brig. -Gen. D. H. Cooper: First Cherokee, Col. Stand Watie; Second Cherokee, Col. W. P. Adair; First Choctaw and Chickasaw, Col. Tandy Walker; First Creek, Col. D. N. Mclntosh; Second Creek, Col. Chilly Mclntosh; First Chickasaw battalion, Lieut. -Col. L. M. Reynolds ; Osage battalion, Major Broke Arm ; Seminole battalion, Lieut. -Col. John Jumper; Texas partisan rangers, Col. L. M. Martin; Twenty-ninth Texas cav alry, Col. Charles De Morse; Scanland's squadron, Capt John Scanland; cavalry company, Capt. L. E. Gillett; Howell's Texas battery; Lee's light battery. Brigade of Brig. -Gen. W. L. Cabell: Carroll's Arkansas cavalry, Lieut. -Col. Lee L. Thompson; Dorsey's squadron, Col. John Scott; Hill's Arkansas cavalry, Col. John F. Hill; Monroe's Arkansas cavalry, Col. J. C. Monroe; Bass' Texas cavalry, Lieut. -Col. T. D. Taliaferro; Texas cav alry company, Capt. W. J. Coggins; Crawford's Arkansas cavalry, W. A. Crawford, organizing officer, Maj. John M. Harrell commanding; Hughey's Arkansas battery. Fort Smith was the strategic key to Indian Territory, and Steele, determined to hold it, applied to General Holmes for Monroe's regiment and Carroll's, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Thompson, at Roseville, Ark. General Holmes sent Monroe's regiment, about 400 strong, which, with Carroll's, was soon after ordered to report to CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 199 Gen. W. L. Cabell in northwest Arkansas. Notwithstand ing the failure to increase his command, and its depletion by the withdrawal of Spaight and Monroe, General Steele ordered Cooper to advance to the Arkansas river and compel Blunt and Phillips to release their hold on the upper Arkansas. In obedience to this order, Cooper, with two regiments of Texas cavalry and some of the Indian troops, a battery of three howitzers and one small rifle gun, advanced toward Fort Gibson, which was now strengthened by the earthworks of ''Colonel" Phillips. At the same time, General Cabell, with a considerable cavalry force, made a bold movement beyond Fayetteville to powskin prairie, in Missouri, operating upon the enemy's rear and lines of communication in that quarter. Cooper was instructed to avoid a general action and operate from the west. Col. D. N. Mclntosh, with his Indian regiment, was sent forward, and Stand Watie was ordered to attack a large train of the enemy, going from Fort Scott to Gibson. He did attack, but Cabell did not cooperate, having been informed that Mclntosh had been withdrawn, being ignorant of the substitution of Stand Watie 's command, and impeded by the high waters of the June rains. Thus Stand Watie was repulsed, and the enemy's immense train of supplies and munitions was suffered to reach Fort Gibson, near the banks of the upper Arkansas, in safety. General Cabell, now having recruited his force to 3,000 or 4,000 men, was summoned to Fort Smith to make a campaign against Blunt 's forces by advancing up the Arkansas on the south side and forming a junction with Cooper in front of Fort Gibson. With his force, well mounted and composed of young men chiefly, but poorly armed, Cabell entered the Territory by the old Pacific mail route, the bridges of which, in some places, were still standing in the uninhabited prairies. The desert, wild prairies, dismal post-oak barrens, and the direction they were taking, produced a demoralizing effect upon 200 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the men who lived where fertile mountain valleys, threaded by crystal streams, alternating with rich, pop ulous prairie meadows, had inspired that local attachment characteristic of mountaineers. They began to desert by companies. The rumor that they were nearing the enemy did not put a stop to it altogether, although pride of character prevented many from taking leave at such a juncture. Scouts came with reports of a large force of Federal infantry, artillery and cavalry, in long columns, heading for the Arkansas river. Their numbers seemed greater as they were seen moving over the open, rolling prairies, and their glitter and banners more imposing in the June sunshine than if viewed from some height or obscured by obstacles. The command of Cabell was disposed for battle, and the troops hurried forward with the ordnance wagons, while the subsistence train proceeded slowly, and by a night march was left behind. Early next morning the booming of cannon ahead announced a conflict ; ammuni tion was served out and the march resumed. The brigade pushed on without dinner, while the sounds of the artil lery firing and the rattle of small arms were borne on the wind. Before night the reinforcement came up with Cooper's force, camped in a skirt of timber, in apparently fine spirits. Cabell moved forward to the scene of battle, but the enemy had retreated. There in the prairie lea, upon a bed of rails, under a bank of earth recently thrown up, were thirty or forty lifeless forms, whose straight, black hair protruding in tufts from the newly- made grave indicated their race. It was the i8th of July, and the temperature was about 95 degrees. The dead bodies had to be buried. Dotted over the prairie were graves with headboards designating the killed of Blunt 's command. It was the field near Honey Springs, where Blunt had surprised Cooper on the i yth of July before Cabell could come up. Blunt 's command was composed of the Second CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 201 Colorado infantry, First Kansas, colored, First, Second and Third Indian home guards, Sixth Kansas and Third Wis consin cavalry, and 12 pieces of artillery. On the night of July 1 5th the Federal commander had forded 250 cavalry across the Arkansas river, crossing his 2,500 infantry in boats, and at daylight attacked the Confederate camp at Honey Springs. Then moving up with massed columns, he deployed his lines suddenly, and after a brief conflict drove the Confederates back. Blunt captured one piece of artillery, one stand of Cherokee colors, some small-arms and wagons, but as Cabell came in sight, several miles distant, he retired across the Arkansas, leaving the field to the vanquished. He confessed to 17 killed and 60 wounded. Cooper reported his loss as 134 killed and wounded and 47 captured. The Confederates remained for several days on the ground, and were entertained at night by the corn-dance, or sun-dance of the Indians, a diversion consisting in stamping around in a circle with monotonous chants, broken at intervals by loud cries or grunts, to time kept by beating a hollow log for a drum. The native Indian soldiers were subjects of curious con templation. Nearly all the infantry were barefooted, dressed in coarse shirts and loose cotton trousers, and many with heads protected from the sun's rays only by their matted hair. An Indian infantry soldier, with gun on shoulder, would walk up to General Cooper ^ anywhere, at any time, and holding up his five fingers would say: 4 'Cooper! me go home to see wife and baby. Mebbe so, come back five days — mebbe so, ten. Goodbye, Cooper. ' ' Thus they granted themselves furloughs, which they never broke; but it was a small matter if they did. "Perhaps," said General Cooper, "if they were all fur- loughed, it would be as well. ' ' Finding coal, General Cabell put his blacksmiths to work shoeing the horses of the command, until he was ordered to return to Fort Smith, keeping out scouting parties in front, at the river opposite Fort Gibson, and on 202 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. both flanks. The enemy made no attempt to recross the river to the south bank during the stay of Cabell's bri gade. Cooper's and Cabell's brigades were concentrated July 22d, 25 miles in rear of the battle ground, and by the 25th had been placed in position at Prairie Springs, 15 miles from Gibson, to await the arrival of Bankhead from Texas. But it was discovered that the powder sent the Confederates from Texas was worthless. A night's heavy dew would convert it, when exposed, to a paste. Moving to Honey Springs, Cabell's brigade remained a few days, then fell back to Soda Springs, and thence was ordered to old Camp Pike. The enemy was reported as crossing the Arkansas to attack Cabell, when Steele, with Cooper's command, joined him on the march to Camp Pike. There remaining a few days, a position was taken for a week on the San Bois, where the Beale road crosses it, expecting an attack. The brigade was then ordered to fall back to Scullyville, near Fort Smith, and if attacked take the road leading to Riddle's Station, where there were commissary stores. On August 2ist, General Cabell was ordered to ascer tain the enemy's strength in northwestern Arkansas, and assume direction of the forces about Fort Smith. He con centrated his regiments at McLean's crossing of the Poteau, and removed all the public property at Fort Smith to a place of safety. The enemy pursued General Steele to Perryville with a force of 2,000 cavalry, and 3,000 infantry hauled in wagons, before which Steele evacuated Perryville, which the enemy burned, and turned toward Fort Smith. Gen eral Blunt's advance, striking Cabell's scouts two miles west of the San Bois, skirmished with them until within twelve miles of Scullyville, within four miles of Cabell's pickets. At 2 o'clock on August 3ist, General Cloud attacked the Confederate pickets and skirmished with them to a field near the Poteau bottom. The powder used by the Confederate pickets would knock up the dust in the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 203 road, only 60 or 70 feet ahead, when aimed to strike 100 yards ahead. Here the Federal cavalry waited for the wagon brigade, and knowing Cabell's position, sent a strong force of infantry and artillery to attack him and drive him from the Poteau. Thompson's regiment and Harrell's battalion engaged them beyond the bottom, and falling back, crossed and formed line of battle on the east side of the Poteau, repulsing the enemy about dark. By order of General Cabell, Hughey opened upon them effectively with grape and canister. That night Cabell determined to fall back to the moun tains by the road to Waldron, and terminate his Indian campaign, being separated from Steele by Cloud's division. Early in the morning he started his baggage trains to Jenny Lind, thence to cross the mountain. Blunt sent Cloud with cavalry, 40 wagons loaded with infantry, and 6 pieces of artillery, on Cabell's trail, and struck him at the foot of Backbone mountain, while the train was not yet across, on September ist. But the Confederates, hav ing taken a position which had the enemy close under fire while unseen themselves, fired into the Federal advance guard and killed the commander, Captain Lyon, and 20 of his men. The enemy in force advanced against the strong position held by Cabell, but after a three hours' engagement was repulsed with considerable loss. The Confederate loss was 5 killed and 1 2 wounded. The Confederate infantry regiment and some of the mounted men refused to stand fire, and retreated into the ravines and behind the rocks. But the train was protected, and the brigade that crossed the mountain southward to the valley of the Ouachita numbered about 1,500. The men that ran, deserted — but not to the enemy ; they went back north of the Boston mountains to their unprotected families, leaving word that as soon as they could do something to protect the folks at home they would return, which was regarded as a contemptuous farewell by the enraged commander. But they did return, and, though 204 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. decimated in subsequent victories, constituted a splendidly armed and mounted brigade of nearly 3,000 at the sur render. After the capture of General Cabell on the Little Osage river, Kansas, six months before the close of the war, Colonel Harrell was in command. The situation in the Trans- Mississippi department now deterred the boldest, and caused those in exalted positions to take a view of affairs similar to that of the humbler sol diers. Gen. Kirby Smith, on July 10, 1863, wrote to Gen eral Holmes, from Shreveport: "I can now give you no assistance. You must make the best disposition you can with the troops at your disposal for the defense of the Arkansas valley. In the event of being driven from Arkansas valley by overwhelming numbers, the concen tration must be in this direction. Quietly establish depots for provisions and forage along the line of your probable march. " As early as May Qth, before the capitulation at Vicksburg, Smith had given similar advice, suggesting a concentration in the Red river valley against Banks. To the same purpose General Smith issued a circular letter, containing advice to citizens in regard to destruc tion of cotton and means of embarrassing the invader, and calling a meeting of citizens at Marshall, Tex. This brought forth a vigorous protest from Geo. C. Watkins, former chief-justice of Arkansas, and member of the mil itary court ; C. C. Danley, member of the military board, and R. W. Johnson and A. H. Garland, Confederate States senators. Their address to Governor Flanagin, dated at Little Rock, July 25th, contained the following, among other vigorous paragraphs : We are opposed to any policy of abandoning Arkansas to the enemy, and remonstrate against it as ruinous to our people and greatly injurious to the cause. It is less difficult to hold the country than it will be to regain it. If Arkansas is given up, we lose the Indian country, west, which must share the same fate. . . . The Trans-Mississippi has given up vast numbers of its CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 205 soldiers, and what arms it could spare. They have been sent to fight the battles of our country, east of the Missis sippi; they went with promise of return; they have never been sent back ; there is now little hope of that. They, as a general rule, comprised our best men, spirited and devoted to the cause. Those remaining are less reliable. The question is, Can Texas furnish men enough to defend herself and maintain her independence, much less reconquer the vast area that would separate her from the Mississippi and the Confederacy? The danger is, that Texas may seek to make terms for her own safety, in a revival of her favorite and ancient idea of separate nationality. The thought of our being cut off from the Confed eracy and our subjugation to Northern domination, degrading and ruinous, is insupportable. If any such army as the enemy can bring against us shall be per mitted, quietly and without meeting resolute resistance, to march through and occupy so extensive a country as Arkansas, in view of the resources of this whole depart ment, of which Arkansas is now the key, and involving such mighty and disastrous consequences, it must become a sad reflection upon those in authority. In the way of advice, we offer the following suggestions, and hope General Smith will find something in them worthy of consideration : To make all our people and slaves retire from the banks of the Mississippi. Let that region become waste. To prevent all illicit traffic with the enemy at the various points on the river. That has been vastly injurious to us, and is what we have most to dread. To break up all planting operations attempted under Federal license or control. To allow no cotton to be raised, and destroy what is on hand. . . . Our opinion is against calling out the State militia. General Smith should rigidly enforce the Confederate conscription while and wherever he has an opportunity, throughout his department. Thus they depended upon maintaining Little Rock as a strategic center; not upon "the best and spirited" sol diers who had been sent to fight battles east of the Missis sippi and would not return, but upon those "remaining and less reliable. ' ' 206 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. One of these gentlemen voluntarily addressed to Mr, Davis his individual suggestions: Mr. President: ... I believe a thorough reorganiza tion of our army there (district of Arkansas) would be productive of good results. Both Generals Holmes and Price have their friends and their enemies there, but they themselves do not agree. The good of the service requires the removal at least of one or the other of these generals. Which one ought to be removed, I will not undertake to say at all. I would suggest that the general commanding the department say which one should be removed. This being done, send General Hood, when he is ready for duty, there in place of the one removed. . . . Recom mend that Congress pass a law authorizing the President to appoint persons (say inspectors) to visit that depart ment and investigate the management of the quarter master and commissary departments, etc. Thus the non-military element saw the way clear to redeem the State from military mal- administration in all its branches. The obvious truth was, that with well-equipped armies of sufficient strength, Generals Price, Holmes, Kirby Smith or Robert Lee could win victories. Success attends upon the heavier battalions, and these they did not have. Circumstances over which he had no control prevented General Smith from making Little Rock the center, and Arkansas the granary, of the department. Those circumstances were the swarms of soldiers in blue uniforms, recruited from every land and every race, which swelled the ranks of the enemy, while sheer exhaustion of resources was rapidly diminishing the armies of the Confederacy. The regions of the State which were engaged in planting sent their soldiers to aid the cause. The little county of Phillips, of which Helena is the county seat, furnished the Confederate army seven generals before the termination of hostilities. They were Brig. -Gens. Archibald Dobbin, Charles W. Adams, D. C. Govan, J. C. Tappan, Lucius E. Polk and Major-Gen erals Hindman and P. R. Cleburne. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 207 The Federal army was getting ready, in July, to occupy the Arkansas valley and march upon Little Rock. On the 27th, by special orders of General Grant, Maj.-Gen. Frederick Steele was assigned to the command of the army, to take the field from Helena, and on August nth he assumed command of "all of Arkansas north of Arkansas river. ' ' His military force included the infantry divisions of Col. W. E. McLean and Gen, S. A. Rice, present for duty, 4,493; cavalry under Gen. J. W. Davidson and Col onel Clayton, present for duty, 4,652 ; and artillery, total present for duty, 9,433; aggregate present, 13,207. The field artillery included 49 pieces. With this strong force the Federal movement began on August nth, the infantry marching from Helena by easy stages, with complete sup ply trains. The estimate of Confederate troops present for duty in the district of Arkansas, exclusive of Steele 's division, and not allowing for the losses at Helena, was as follows : Price's division, Arkansas brigades of Fagan, McRae and Tappan, and Missouri brigade of Parsons, 5,500; Marmaduke's Missouri division, 3,000; Frost's bri gade, i, 800; Dobbin's and other commands, 900. The return for September showed 8,532 present for duty; aggregate present, 10,665; field artillery, 32 pieces. On April i, 1863, General Frost had been assigned to command of Hindman's division. On March 2d he was relieved and ordered to Day's Bluff to his brigade,* and Gen. Sterling Price was given the division. In his orders assuming command, General Price announced his staff as follows: Maj. Thos. L. Snead and Maj. L. A. McLean, assistant adjutant-generals; Maj. Isaac Bunker, * On May 3ist, General Frost's division (defenses of lower Arkansas) was returned as follows: First brigade, Col. John B. Clark, Jr.— Clark's regiment, Lieut.-Col. M. W- Buster; Mitchell's regiment, Col. Chas. S. Mitchell; Musser's battalion, Lieut-Col. Richard H. Musser; Ruffner's battery, Capt. S. T. Ruffner. Not brigaded — Nineteenth Arkansas, Col. C. L. Dawson ; Twelfth Texas cavalry, Col. W. H. Parsons; Rector's company (refugees from Arkansas Post ), Capt W. G. Rector; Richardson's company, Lieut J. J. Brooks; Peoples' company, Lieut. S. J. Peoples; McKie's Texas squadron, Capt. M. M. Boggess. 208 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. assistant quartermaster; Maj. John Reid, assistant com missary; Maj. Ed. C. Cabell, paymaster; Maj. Wm. E. Woodruff, Jr., acting chief of artillery ; Lieut. John Moon, engineer and ordnance officer; Thos. D. Wooten, M. D., chief surgeon; Wm. McPhetters, medical inspector; Lieuts. Robert C. Wood and R. T. Morrison, aides-de camp; Maj. Celsus Price and John Tyler, Jr., volunteer aides. On the 23d of July, Lieutenant-General Holmes was seized with an illness which grew so pronounced that he ordered General Price, then with his division at Des Arc, to assume command of the district Assuming this duty immediately, Price left his division under General Fagan, whose headquarters were at Searcy, near the Little Red, a branch of White river. Being satisfied that the Federal army at Helena was about to advance against Little Rock, Price ordered Gen. D. M. Frost, commanding the defenses of the lower Arkan sas near Pine Bluff, to move at once with his infantry and artillery to Little Rock, and Fagan's division, camped at Des Arc and Searcy, to take position upon Bayou Meto, 12 miles northeast of Little Rock, at the crossing of the Memphis & Little Rock road. General Marmaduke, near Jacksonport, was directed to dispose his command so as to retard as much as possible the advance of the enemy, and keep in his front until he should be compelled to fall back upon Bayou Meto. Brigadier-General Walker's division — brigades of Carter and Dobbin — remained in the vicinity of Helena to check the enemy's advance; his position became hazardous and he was ordered (August 2d) across that stream. When the enemy crossed White river, the commands of Walker and Marmaduke, united, were kept at the front. Tappan's brigade, which had been detached from Price's division several months before for duty in Louisiana, was now returned, and held in reserve on the south side of the Arkansas river, at Little Rock. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 209 Rifle-pits and redoubts were constructed on the north of the river, near Little Rock, for occupation by the infantry, should the position at Bayou Meto be turned by the enemy. This was a danger to be apprehended for the bayou line of defense, and, in fact, for the rifle-pits, as the river was fordable in a great many places, and the enemy could cross east of the city. General Price ordered the removal of all public stores in the city to Arkadelphia, in order to be prepared to evacuate Little Rock ; but he still strengthened his defenses in front, and perfected the means of transit so as to be able to throw forces from one side to the other, and particularly, to secure the with drawal of the army to the south side in the event of defeat. Then came information from General Cabell of the retreat of Gen. William Steele in the Indian country, the defeat of Cabell near Fort Smith, and that the Arkansas river above was exposed at all points, all pointing to the inevitable abandonment of the Arkansas valley. Steele 's army advanced slowly. Davidson, reaching Clarendon, August i5th, reported to Steele that the expe dition which he had sent up White river had captured the two Confederate steamers Kaskaskia and Tom Suggs, in the Little Red, and had destroyed the bridge of flat- boats over which the "ubiquitous Marmaduke " had crossed his cavalry to the south side; losing 2 men killed in the expedition, and 5 wounded. It was rumored among the Federals that Kirby Smith was in command at Little Rock. On the 23d, Steele, occupying Devall's Bluff, reported that he should operate from that base, with two gunboats there to defend his flanks; that his sick list was frightful, including many officers, and if reinforcements were not sent him, he should very likely meet with disaster ; that his army was the poorest command, excepting the cavalry, he had ever seen; more than 1,000 reported unfit for duty, and he asked for "more gunboats." General Davidson's cavalry force met with its first Ark 14 210 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. resistance at Bayou Two Prairies, a small stream in the skirting of timber between the two prairies. West of this stream, across the second prairie, he was confronted by the Confederate cavalry of Marmaduke and Walker. The action which followed is described by General Marmaduke in the following official report : August 23d, I received orders from Major- General Price to march my brigade to Brownsville and report to Brig adier-General Walker.* On the morning of August 24th, I reported to General Walker, who ordered Shelby's bri gade to report to me, and ordered me to hold my force in the vicinity of Brownsville to guard the main approach (Wire road) to Little Rock. The next morning at sunrise the enemy were reported advancing in force. I moved my two brigades, about 1,300 effective men, with two pieces of artillery, forward to engage the enemy, Shelby in advance. At this time Walker's brigade, commanded by Col. Archibald S. Dobbin, was encamped some 10 miles south of Brownsville, guarding another important approach from Devall's Bluff to Little Rock [Shallow ford road]. A sharp engagement ensued between the Federal force and my division. The Federals were under command of Gen. J. W. Davidson, and consisted of about 6,000 cavalry and sixteen pieces of artillery. Being unable to meet the enemy's forces in a general engage ment, I withdrew my command, retiring slowly through Brownsville toward Little Rock. The Yankees were exceedingly cautious in their pursuit. . . . After retiring some 4 miles, my division was ordered into position by Brigadier-General Walker, commanding the cavalry. At this time I was with my rear guard. Upon my * Brig. -Gen. L. Marsh Walker, a West Point graduate and officer of the old army, having been transferred to duty west of the Missis sippi and ordered to report to General Holmes, had been assigned, Tune 2d, to the command of a brigade composed of Dobbin's and Newton's regiments of Arkansas cavalry, which brigade, with Carter's Texas brigade, should constitute a division to be com manded by General Walker. Brigadier-General Marmaduke, under whose command some of the troops had served, was ordered to form a brigade of Greene's, Burbridge's and Jeffers' regiments and Kitchen's battalion, to constitute Marmaduke's brigade (Greene's), which, with Shelby's brigade, should form a division under com mand of General Marmaduke. On August lyth, Shelby's brigade was sent to Walker. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 211 arrival at my new line of battle, I made all necessary preparations to check the enemy's advance. This was an important point, and absolutely necessary to hold, as Walker's brigade, troops and trains, would come into the main road at this place, and they had not yet reached the junction. The enemy came upon me, and were hand somely repulsed. They then commenced pushing their forces on my right and left, which forced me to retire. No further pursuit was made. I received orders to encamp my division on and in the vicinity of Bayou Meto. The next day I withdrew my whole force, except scouts and pickets, to the south side of Bayou Meto. On the morning of the 27th, I advanced a light force, engaged the enemy's advance, and after brisk skirmishing my troops fell back to the main force. My troops were disposed as follows : Shelby's brigade ... in line of bat tle above the bridge; Marmaduke's brigade . . . below the bridge ; Bledsoe's battery on the main road command ing the bridge, and Bell's section of artillery near the main road below the bridge. . . . Immediately below the bridge, and between my two brigades, was formed Dob bin's regiment. The whole force, except Preston's regi ment [in reserve], was dismounted. Davidson advanced his troops — cavalry and artillery, a part mounted, part dismounted — and came dashing toward the bridge (which Lieutenant Moon, of the engineer corps, had prepared for, and was now handsomely burning) and toward the bayou. Suddenly, artillery and small arms opened upon them with deadly effect, and caused a precipitate retreat. Soon the enemy formed their lines, brought up their artillery, and the fight continued until sunset, when the enemy, failing to occupy the bayou, retired after a heavy loss, leaving a number of their dead on the ground. I was ordered to retire at dark within 5 miles of Little Rock. My troops, until after the evacuation of Little Rock by our forces, were engaged in scouting and picketing. The following report by Col. R. C. Newton, Fifth Arkansas cavalry, will perpetuate names of places and positions, and will be of especial interest to Arkansans. The officer was a native of Little Rock, and familiar with the country and the names of the inhabitants: The engagement at Brownsville occurred on the 25th 212 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. of August. Col. A. S. Dobbin's brigade, composed of Dobbin's and R. C. Newton's regiments, was camped at Legate's bridge, on Bayou Meto. About 7 a. m. scouts reported the enemy moving upon Brownsville and near the town. By Colonel Dobbin's order I moved my regi ment in rear of his, out into the prairie, about a mile from Legate's, the brigade trains being sent on the prairie road to get upon the main military road at Baker's. About 9 a. m. scouts sent by Colonel Dobbin toward Brownsville reported that the enemy was in town and General Marma- duke retiring on the military road (or Wire road) toward Little Rock. We accordingly retired on the prairie road to the Wire road at Baker's, where General Marmaduke's command was formed, and thence down Wire road to Long Prairie, where we formed to cover retirement of General Marmaduke's forces. Remained there an hour or so, and then, by order of Brigadier-General Walker (command ing cavalry at that time), we moved on to Bayou Meto at Reed's bridge. My regiment was immediately to the right of the bridge. We remained there all night. The next morning (the 26th) my regiment was detached by General Walker and ordered to Shallow ford, to cover that crossing of Bayou Meto. I moved from Reed's bridge about 9 a. m. and reached Shallow ford at 3 130 p. m. Learning from citizens that a party of Fed erals had been there the day before, I immediately, upon my arrival there, and after posting my pickets to guard against surprise, sent out small scouts upon all the roads on the east side of the bayou leading to the ford. Lieut. J. C. Barnes of Company A, whom I sent with 8 men upon the road leading from Shallow ford to Long's stage stand on the Wire road, encountered a party of 10 or 12 Federals about 2 miles beyond the bayou, who fled precipitately upon his approach. He pursued them some distance, but was unable to overtake them. Being sat isfied from the result of the reconnoissance of the differ ent roads that no force of the enemy was in the neigh borhood of the ford, I encamped on the bayou near Mrs. E well's, and about a mile above the ford, picketing care fully toward Brownsville and other points from which an attack was possible. Here I remained all night. Early next morning (August 2;th) heavy cannonading commenced at Reed's bridge, indicating an engagement there. The firing in that direction increasing, I pushed CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 213 out small scouts upon all the roads leading from the ford toward the Wire road, and satisfying myself that the enemy were making no demonstrations against me, I left Maj. John P. Bull, with the bulk of my force, to hold the crossing at Shallow ford, and keep up communication with General Walker at Reed's bridge; and with about 80 men I crossed the bayou and moved toward the Wire road. Reaching Baker's place on that road, about 4 or -5 miles from Shallow ford, I encountered a small Federal picket, which my advance, under Lieutenant Barnes, attacked and scattered, some of them going in the direc tion of Brownsville and the others toward Reed's bridge. Pushing off down the Wire road toward Little Rock, I ran off one company of Federals picketing at Long's stage stand. They left in great confusion, without firing upon me. I pressed on in pursuit, some 2 or 3 miles beyond Long's, whence I returned to that place, and from there by the direct road, made my way back to Shallow ford. Soon afterward the firing ceased at Reed's bridge. About 8 o'clock that night, got a note from General Walker's adjutant-general, informing me that he was withdrawing from Reed's bridge, and directing me to retire on the direct road leading from Shallow ford to the point where that road intersects the Wire road, about 4 miles from the river, opposite Little Rock, and to move at once, sending a few trusty scouts across the bayou to get upon the Wire road in rear of Davidson, and report in the morning what should transpire there during the night. I withdrew my pickets and commenced the retrograde movement in obedience to General Walker's order; reached the point designated about 12 p. m., and bivou acked there for the remainder of the night. About 8:30 a. m. the next day (August 28th), received an order from General Walker to move to English's on the Shallow ford road, about 2^ miles from its intersection with Wire road, camp there, and picket 6 or 8 miles in front of me, which order I obeyed, and remained in camp there that night ; sent Capt. L. D. Bryant with his company to Shal low ford. Next morning (August 29th) Bryant returned with no news of the enemy. About 3 p. m., by Gen eral Walker's direction, I moved toward Shallow ford to take position there; camped for the night at Hicks' plantation ; sent Capt. John H. Dye with his company to 214 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Legate's bridge, on lower road, scouting. The next morn ing, August 3oth, moved from Hicks' at sunrise, in the direction of Shallow ford, and just beyond Greenwood's met a small party of Federals ; advanced Major Bull with 15 men to ascertain enemy's strength; Federals fled at his approach. He pursued them rapidly to Mrs. Ewell's, where he learned a considerable body of the enemy had been in the morning. Arriving there, I placed 40 men under command of Major Bull and sent him forward to ascertain enemy's whereabouts and strength. About half a mile beyond we found some little force of the enemy. I retired to the [Memphis & Little Rock] railroad, where a heavy force of dismounted cavalry was lying concealed behind the railroad embankment. In a short time, the enemy being reinforced from Shallow ford by cavalry and artillery, the force behind the railroad embankment com menced advancing, resisted at every step by Major Bull and his men with admirable courage and steadiness. I immediately ordered forward all the men with long-range guns in the command, and made my preparations to retire before the vastly-superior force of the enemy, fighting as I fell back. He now commenced using his artillery upon me very freely, and although I had none to reply with, I continued the fight with small arms at every available point, dispatching a courier to General Walker with in formation of the enemy's movements, and suggesting that more force be sent upon the Shallow ford road. The fighting, which commenced a little before 9 o'clock, had now continued with but short intermissions, until 2 o'clock, when, being forced back to Martin's place, I took position there, for the purpose of delaying the enemy as long as possible, and giving the reinforcements to me, if any should be sent, time to come up, as Ashley's mills and the crossing of the Arkansas river at Terry's ferry would be left entirely exposed should I be forced back a mile farther. About 3 o'clock the enemy advanced to the attack. I had concealed Companies B and E, under the command of Capt. P. J. Rollow, on the edge of Hicks' field, in front of which was an open clearing, and cau tioned my men to let the enemy get well into the clear ing before they fired, and then to rake them with their shotguns. Displaying a few scouts on the road, the enemy in line pushed rapidly on, and Companies E and B delivered a volley into him when he was not expecting CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 215 any resistance whatever. Recovering from his confusion, the enemy commenced sending heavy bodies of dis mounted cavalry to my right and left. The nature of the country permitting this double flank movement, and my force being wholly inadequate to prevent it (as I had but 1 80 fighting men), I retired slowly to Hicks', three-quar ters of a mile distant, leaving a rear guard to observe the enemy and resist any further advance, should he attempt it. At Hicks' I put my little force into position to meet him again ; but he advanced upon me no further. On August 1 5th, General Fagan had been relieved of the command of Price's division, and Gen. D. M. Frost placed in command of the infantry, consisting of his own brigade, Fagan's, Parsons' and McRae's, occupying the intrenchments on Bayou Meto, northeast of Little Rock. A week later, General Frost, fearing to bring Tap- pan north of the river on account of the unguarded fords, disposed Clark's brigade to cover the road by Shallow ford, and withdrew his advanced brigades to the rifle-pits (in their incomplete condition hardly worthy of the name). On September 2d, the entire Federal force was concen trated at Brownsville, and Steele set about finding a line of approach to Little Rock. He discovered that the mili tary road on the south side of Bayou Meto was imprac ticable, and a reconnoissance in force against the Confed erate left (up the river), covered by a demonstration at Bayou Meto, decided the Federal commander to take the road leading by Shallow ford to Terry's ferry on the Arkansas. From Brownsville west to Little Rock, the old stage (Wire) road, almost impassable in winter, but dry and comparatively firm in summer, skirted the hills adjacent on the northwest, crossing Bayou Meto at Shallow ford, and then winding through the bottoms amid a network of lakes and bayous, by way of Ashley's mills, to Terry's ferry over the Arkansas river, 8 miles below Little Rock, thence along the river up to the city. The road along the south bank is the chord of a circle, while that along the north bank leads around the arc into the upper 216 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. road in front of the city. By this route Steele reached the river September ;th, his advance skirmishing sharply. His plan was to follow up the south bank and enter the city from the east and south, attacking the Confederates in their right flank and rear. He had pontoons, which were convenient but not necessary, as the Arkansas river was then very low. From Terry's ferry, besides the road leading to the city along the river front, a second road runs along the Fourche bayou, which flows from the southern suburb of the city into the river, 4 miles below. Davidson was to occupy both roads, but throw his force into the Fourche road, while Steele, with the infantry, would proceed along the north bank of the Arkansas to the city's front. There was a loop in the river at Terry's ferry on the river below, enclosing sev eral hundred acres, connected with the mainland by a neck or isthmus, not over 500 yards across. By sweeping this neck with artillery, Davidson was enabled to cross over to the peninsula without resistance. General Churchill's plantation was opposite this peninsula on the north bank. The land in the peninsula was owned by Mrs. Harrell. On August 3ist General Price ordered General Walker to move his headquarters south of the river, and concen trate all the cavalry south of the river and east of the city. For an account of the subsequent operations, we return to the report of Colonel Newton, who, after discovering that the enemy had crossed Bayou Meto at Shallow ford, remained in camp at Hicks' on August 3ist and September ist, skirmishing with the Federal pickets between Ashley's mills and Terry's ferry, September 3d and 4th; and on the road to Little Rock north of the river, September 5th and 6th. About dark [September 6th] I received an order from General Price's headquarters, directing Colonel Dobbin to assume command of Walker's division, and for me to assume command of Dobbin's brigade. Dobbin's regi- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY 217 ment (which with my regiment composed that brigade) was encamped on the south bank of the river at Buck's ford, headquarters at (Col. F. A.) Terry's house near the ferry. The next morning (September yth) I went to the brigade headquarters, leaving Major Bull in command of my regiment. About 8 130 a. m. Major Bull reported the enemy rapidly advancing upon him from Shallow ford, and that skirmishing was going forward at Ashley's bayou, in front of his camp. I sent him orders to resist with obstinacy and retire, when forced to the Adamson planta tion, on the Arkansas river, and cross by the ford at that place. I, at the same time, sent directions to Maj. S. Corley, commanding Dobbin's regiment, to have his com mand well in hand to resist the enemy at Buck's, if he should attempt to cross at that place. I ... found Bull making a most gallant resistance against overwhelming odds, and causing the enemy to pay dearly for every inch of ground he gained upon him. . . . Returning to Terry's, I learned that the enemy were driving Lawler before them and would soon be at the ferry, as well as upon the river at Adamson 's, toward which point they were forc ing Bull, notwithstanding his stubborn resistance. . . . Found Bull crossing in safety, and without molestation. . . . Encamped Bull's regiment just below Temple's, on the river opposite Adamson 's, to guard the ford there, leaving Corley at the ford at Badgett's, just above Buck's, keeping a strong picket at Terry's ferry. September 8th, considerable firing all day across the river, but [river-bed being a mile wide there] no damage done. Etter's bat tery was put in position at Bull's camp. On the next day (September 9th), considerable activity observed among the enemy. Bodies of cavalry moved up the river and returned. About dark my pickets reported that the enemy was hauling timber to near the ford in the point of the bend, half a mile above Terry's ferry, and putting batteries into position. Heavy knocking heard during the night ; enemy evidently preparing to construct bridge across the river. A little before daylight, September loth, by direction of Colonel Dobbin, commanding division, I moved a sec tion of Etter's battery into the bend opposite to where the bridge was being constructed. At daylight could see workmen constructing the bridge, which was one-fourth the way across the river. Sent Major Bull with a party 218 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. of sharpshooters to support Etter. A little after daylight Etter opened upon the bridge. His second shot took effect, clearing the bridge of workmen. Immediately the enemy opened with three batteries, so posted as to pour a murdering cross-fire upon Etter, which soon silenced him and drove him out. The sharpshooters kept up a desultory fire without much, if any, effect. About 10 a. m. , the enemy having completed his bridge, threw for ward two regiments of infantry, and crossed them over onto the bar, on this side, his batteries keeping up a contin uous and well-directed fire upon the road leading up the river on the south side, and upon the woods in front of his bridge, and above it. I withdrew Major Corley to a point above the bridge, and sent Etter up the river with instructions to halt at Fourche, whither I also sent Corley with his regiment in a few minutes. The enemy now commenced pouring their troops across the bridge in large numbers. By Colonel Dobbin's directions, I left Bull with his regiment to resist the enemy's advance and retard him as much as possible, and went in person to put the other troops in position at Fourche. Brigadier-General Marmaduke arrived with orders to assume command of all the cavalry. Colonel Dobbin being placed in arrest by General Marmaduke's directions, I assumed command of all of Dobbin's forces, which included my own brigade, W. B. Denson's Louisiana cavalry company, C. L. Mor gan's Texas squadron, and J. H. Pratt's and C. B. Etter's batteries. Major Corley's regiment, being dismounted, was sent (with Etter's battery) to where the road leading to the mouth of old Fourche and the road leading across the dam diverge at the corner of Vaughn's field. Pratt's battery was placed in Vaughn's field, opposite the dam, and Bull's regiment, Denson's company and Morgan's squadron along the bayou on the right and left of the battery in such manner as to support it, and at the same time to be used to our right, should the enemy attempt to cross the bayou above us. The battle opened on our left. The enemy, in small parties, came up in my front so as to be distinctly visible between my position and Fletch er's house, but I directed Pratt to reserve his fire until they advanced in some force and came within easy range, when he was to ply them vigorously with grape and can ister. It was not until after their repulse by Jeffers' bri- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 219 gade, on our left, that they advanced upon me, when Pratt opened with his two guns and quickly drove them back. Moving to our right, they attempted to force a crossing of the bayou, but were met and handsomely driven back by Bull's command, assisted by Pratt 's trusty guns, which continued to rake them with canister and grape until Fletcher's field, immediately in my front, was entirely cleared of them. I earnestly commend Captain Pratt for the skill and bravery displayed here, as he has displayed them on every field where I have had occasion to observe him. The enemy being driven from my front, I reported the fact by a staff officer to the brigadier-general command ing. The firing in the meantime grew hotter on our left, and indicated that we were retiring there. [The enemy had left the road leading up the river, and crossing the bayou above Newton with a very large force, passed by his right, up behind his line, toward the city. ] In a short time I received an order to withdraw through Vaughn's field and get upon the river road near Keatt's [2 miles below town], which I did. I received an order to report to Colonel Dobbin [released from arrest], and, by his direc tion, moved through Little Rock and upon the southern road to Ayliff's [15 miles south], where the command encamped for the night. . . . In closing his report, Colonel Newton warmly com mended the bravery and dash of Maj. John P. Bull and the valuable services of Lieut. J. C. Barnes, Capt. W. N. Portis, Newton's regiment. Others named as particu larly distinguished were Lieut. John Bradley, Sergts. C. D. England and B. F. Rodgers, Corp. John Hinkle, and Privates A. Bradley, S. H. Bradley, John Griggs, C. C. Rodgers and James Woddel. "In the engagement at Fourche, the brave Maj. Samuel Corley, commanding Dobbin's regiment, was killed while fighting in gallant style. To that command it was an irreparable loss, and in his death the country was deprived of the services of one of its bravest and most devoted officers. To an unflinching courage was added a sincere piety, and in him was furnished as noble a specimen of the Christian soldier 220 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. as any our cause can boast." In the same regiment, Lieut. W. H. Bowers was killed, Capt. W. H. Crawford and Lieut. David Morgan wounded. On the morning of September 6th, a lamentable tragedy occurred in the vicinity of the cavalry camp. Evading arrest, which had been attempted, the general then com manding the cavalry and his next in command met in personal encounter, by appointment, attended by friends, and the senior in rank fell at the first fire. Both were officers of experience, bred to arms, of handsome presence and distinguished address, and chivalrous lovers of their native South. It was one of the incidents of army life, in which a high sense of honor forbids a stain or offers to efface it with blood. As gallant a soldier and kindly a gentleman as ever fought for the defense of his home here lost his life, and the Confederacy was deprived of one of its most accomplished defenders through the officious partisanship of over-zealous friends. Generals Walker and Marmaduke were educated in the military academy at West Point. The first named was a brother of J. Knox and Samuel Walker, bankers and business men of Memphis, Tenn. J. Knox Walker had been pri vate secretary of James K. Polk, his uncle, when Presi dent of the United States. Marmaduke was the son of a former governor of Missouri. He forever sincerely deplored the unhappy altercation. To a gentleman with whom, as a member of General Hindman's staff, he had been associated, but who was absent at the time of the duel, he said : ' * How I prayed for you to be here. If you had been present, that meeting would never have taken place." This friend says the meeting was brought about by misinterpretations. Generous and full of dash, Walker, when told that a movement of his command had been censured, only laughed. When persuaded that the charge was having an injurious effect, he grew serious, then angry and demanded an apology. Marmaduke, to whom the criticism was attributed — cool, precise and unyielding CONFEDERA TE MI LIT A R Y HIS TOR Y. 221 — declined to apologize for words not written by him. Explanations could not be made, and in the whirl of the pressing moments Walker challenged, through Colonel Crockett; Marmaduke accepted, through Maj. Henry Ewing. Then, in the edge of the prairie, on the morning of the 6th of September, the principals exchanged shots with revolvers, at a few paces, and Walker fell, mortally wounded. There was much bitterness of feeling over the event. Walker's friends were slow to be appeased. More trouble would have arisen, but the messengers of death flew about them too swiftly from other hands — those of the enemy — for private animosities to take much depth. Excitement of the hour and the assuaging effect of time cured or alleviated the resentment. Gen. Sterling Price, in a note to Colonel Dobbin, wrote as follows, in relation to this event : Having been informed, toward midnight of September 5th, that a duel was pending between Brig. -Gens. L. M. Walker and Marmaduke, I sent to each of them an order to remain closely at his headquarters for twenty- four hours. This order did not reach General Walker, but did reach General Marmaduke. The duel took place, nevertheless, the next morning, and General Walker was mortally wounded. I immediately ordered General Marmaduke and the seconds of both parties in arrest. Feeling, however, the great inconvenience and danger of an entire change of cavalry commanders in the very presence of the enemy, and when a gen eral engagement was imminent, I yielded to the urgent and almost unanimous request of the officers of Gen eral Marmaduke' s division, and his own appeal, sus pended his arrest, and ordered him to resume his com mand during the pending operations. I did this in spite of the apprehension that such leniency toward General Marmaduke might intensify the bitter feelings which had been already aroused in General Walker's division by the result of the duel. When the enemy had forced the pass age of the Arkansas on September loth, and you were falling back before their overwhelming numbers (the com mand of Walker's division having devolved upon you by 222 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. his death), I sent General Marmaduke with his division to reinforce you, ordering him, of course, to assume com mand as senior officer of all the cavalry. You reported to me a few hours later, in arrest, as you informed me, by order of Brigadier-General Marmaduke for disobedience of orders. I at once suspended your arrest for reasons sim ilar to those governing in General Marmaduke 's case, and ordered you to resume your command during the pending operations. When, about a fortnight later, I turned over the command of the district to Lieutenant- General Holmes, I communicated the above facts to him. By General Price's order, the infantry north of Little Rock began to leave their intrenchments about 1 1 a. m. , September loth, crossing on the pontoon bridge, followed by the artillery and later by the cavalry, a continuous procession for hours — the pageant of an evacuation. The bridge of boats was then broken up, some of them set afire. Some river craft and an ironclad gunboat, ren dered useless by the low water, were also given to the flames, sending up black signals of retreat and defiance, which threw a veil over the scene and darkened the fiery September sun. The booming of cannon down the river, the neighing of horses, and soon the shouting of the Fed eral army, moving up to the city's front, the crowds of excited and hurrying citizens, was a mise en scene pre ceding the fall of the curtain, which could not have been better arranged for dramatic effect. The last Confed erate left by 5 o'clock that evening. There was no pursuit. The beautiful little city, seat of refinement and hos pitality, and center of the hopes of a State which longed to be "free" and "sovereign" as a birthright, saw its defenders retiring; its homes, its helpless women and children, its lares et penates, abandoned to "the insolent foe." The ruin was as great as its statesmen had pre dicted. The carpet-bagger trailed in behind the conquer ing army. CHAPTER IX. THE ARMY NEAR ARKADELPHIA— SHELBY'S MISSOURI RAID— MARMADUKE'S ATTACK ON PINE BLUFF- ADVANCE ON LITTLE ROCK PROPOSED AND ABAN DONED—IN WINTER QUARTERS — WINTER RAIDS AND SCOUTS— OPENING OF THE RED RIVER CAM PAIGN— STEELE'S ADVANCE FROM LITTLE ROCK— ENGAGEMENTS AT ELKIN'S FERRY AND PRAIRIE D'ANE. SEPTEMBER 25, 1863, Lieutenant-General Holmes, having returned from a visit to Gen. Kirby Smith at Shreveport, La. , resumed command of the dis trict of Arkansas, with headquarters at Arkadelphia on the Ouachita river, 65 miles southwest of Little Rock, directing Maj.-Gen. Sterling Price to take charge again of his division, and Brigadier-General Frost to resume command of his brigade. Maj. George A. Galla gher, a leading member of the bar of Little Rock, who had served as a private in Virginia and Mississippi, was appointed assistant adjutant-general, with Maj. L. A. McLean. The Confederate army was encamped in the vicinity of Arkadelphia, to which place the army work shops had been removed, and where manufactories had been established by General Hindman when in command of the district. Near Arkadelphia, in the flat-pine woods, the digging of shallow wells yielded salt water, from which large quantities of salt were obtained for the army and the citi zens by evaporation from kettles set in rows upon crude outdoor furnaces, according to the process of boiling and crystallizing the juice of the sugar-cane. A large number of men, women and children, whites and negroes, were employed in this industry, camping out and enjoying it 223 224 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. as a picnic. The lands of that region are productive, and the yield of various grains afforded subsistence sufficient as yet. General Marmaduke, in command of cavalry at Rockport, between Arkadelphia and Little Rock, Sep tember 1 4th, reported no enemy in pursuit, but could not say how long it would be before he would be forced from his position there. He was sending scouts in the direc tion of Pine Bluff, Little Rock and Hot Springs. While the army was near Arkadelphia, General Cabell obtained leave of absence, and the command of his bri gade devolved upon Col. J. C. Monroe. Major Harrell was ordered to Carroll county, Ark. , the Missouri border, and, making day-and-night marches, he forded the Arkan sas at Ozark early in October. Encountering a small force of Federals, he routed them and proceeded up the Mulberry to the head of the Buffalo, crossing over to King's river in Madison county. There he formed a junction with a considerable force of Confederate cavalry under Col. W. H. Brooks, who had obtained a transfer from his infantry brigade in Pagan's division, with authority to raise a cavalry brigade in Washington and adjoining counties. Two companies being added (Peel's and Ingraham's) to Harrell' s battalion, a reorganization was ordered by Colonel Brooks, at which Major Harrell was elected lieutenant-colonel of the battalion. He was ordered to scout through Carroll county to Sugar Loaf, and in Missouri beyond White river. He drove out the Missouri militia, captured prisoners and horses, and rejoined Colonel Brooks at a later date, on Frog bayou, in Crawford county. General Shelby, after the evacuation of Little Rock, with the hope of recruiting his brigade of Missourians, obtained permission to go on an expedition into Missouri, and crossing the Arkansas, September 27th, marched by way of Huntsville beyond the Wire road near Sugar creek. After a raid of considerable range and some fighting nearly every day, he returned to Cross Hollows, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 225 Ark., and about the igih of October reached Huntsville, with McNeil in pursuit. He then crossed the headwaters of the Buffalo, Harrell's battalion, which had not yet crossed the Arkansas, covering his retreat to the head of Limestone valley, which has an outlet to shallow fords of the Arkansas river, near the mouth of Piney. While he was ascending the bluffs of the Buffalo crossing, with McNeil close on his trail, the enemy was fired upon in the defiles by divided detachments of Harrell's battalion and brought to a stand. Then McNeil, taking Harrell's force for Shelby's command, deployed in line of battle, with the view of flanking Shelby — an imposing array, extending a mile or more up and down the bluff, which he crossed in this manner, occupying hours. This, how ever, was not Shelby's army, but Harrell's detachment. On the 2yth, McNeil, with his brigade, marched into Clarksville on the Arkansas, to learn that Shelby had made the crossing of the Arkansas river below there, and that Brooks had gone. He turned his course up the river toward Van Buren and Fort Smith. His force con sisted of Hunt's First Arkansas cavalry, and Iowa, Mis souri and Wisconsin troops, forming a force of about 1,500 men, infantry, artillery and cavalry. Colonel Brooks crossed the Arkansas soon afterward near the same place with 1,000 men or more, and on the south side encountered a force of Federal cavalry under Captain Gardner, which Harrell's battalion charged with out orders, taking 20 prisoners and capturing twice as many horses. Moving through Caddo gap, Colonel Brooks crossed the Little Missouri and went into camp at Temperance ville, early in December, with about 1,000 men and horses. Plenty of subsistence for men and forage for horses was found in the neighborhood, but the weather became severe. Snow, sleet and rain fell upon the men and horses, who were without shelter except straw shacks made upon inclined scaffolding of rails, and much suffering followed. While there, Col- Ark 15 226 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. onel Brooks was transferred to other duty. Harrell's battalion was put on outpost duty there until ordered to report to Cabell's brigade, then camped at Columbus, in Washington county. General Cabell had returned from his visit to Texas and placed his brigade in comfortable winter quarters — huts, with doors and chimneys — with abundant food and forage. The brigade now numbered about 2,500 mounted men, with Hughey's battery of four guns. Shelby was in winter quarters on the Little Mis souri, and Marmaduke's brigade near Red river at Har vey's. October 31, 1863, the monthly return of Marmaduke's cavalry division showed the following strength, "present for duty": Marmaduke's brigade, 139 officers, 1,269 men, 1,751 horses, 8 pieces of artillery; Shelby's brigade, 35 officers, 271 men, 1,624 horses; Cabell's brigade, 91 officers, 779 men, 963 horses, 4 pieces of artillery; Dob bin's brigade, 33 officers, 416 men, 563 horses; Texas brigade, 26 officers, 297 men, 1,110 horses, 6 pieces of ar tillery ; temporary dismounted cavalry regiment, 1 2 offi cers, 144 men, 217 horses; Wood's battalion, cavalry and artillery, 14 officers, 205 men, 222 horses. Total, 350 offi cers, 3,381 men, 6,450 horses, 18 guns. Aggregate pres ent, 5,060. Brooks' brigade reported 18 officers, 1,500 men, 1,518 horses. The abstract from return for the district of Arkansas, November, 1863, showed the following aggregate present: Price's division infantry, 5,795, 16 pieces of artillery; Pagan's infantry, 2,257; Marmaduke's cavalry, 4,482, 16 pieces of artillery; Brooks' cavalry, 431; Newton's brigade, 587; Carter's command, 353; total, 13,905. Present for duty, 1,017 officers and 10,354 men; artillery, 32 guns. By orders of war department, August 18, 1863, Brig.- Gens. W. N. R. Beall and S. B. Maxey were assigned to the Trans-Mississippi department, and directed to report to General Holmes for duty. August loth Col. T. P. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 227 Dockery had been ordered to report to Lieut. -Gen. E. Kirby Smith. He was directed : To assemble the scattered and furloughed men, who had passed west of the river, of the brigade recently com manded by you at the surrender of Vicksburg, take com mand, and proceed to organize and equip them as perfectly as may be practicable. You will discriminate between such as before the final departure from Vicksburg were, by the act or with the complicity of the enemy, contrary to the terms of the capitulation, transferred to the west bank of the Mississippi, and those who afterward by straggling, or after furlough, returned to that side, and return lists as early as possible of the two classes, both to the general commanding the Trans- Mississippi department and to the adjutant and inspector-general here. The first class will, with the approval of the commanding general, be regard ed as discharged from all obligations of parole and free for immediate service. Of the exchange or discharge of the others you will be informed as soon as it can be effected. . . . It is desirable that these troops be returned from the west to the east side of the Mississippi ; but in reference to the ultimate disposition of your brigade, you will obey such instructions as may be given by the com manding general of the Trans-Mississippi department. On the yth of October, Gen. Kirby Smith wrote to Gen eral Holmes, instructing him in regard to the disposition of his forces; directing the removal of the telegraph line from Arkadelphia, and the removal of army stores from Washington to Shreveport ; that the position at Arkadel phia was good only as covering the magazine at Washing ton, Ark. ; that Camden was a better position than Arka delphia for the infantry ; the Little Missouri a stronger front than the Ouachita, as its bottoms in winter are impassable ; that concentration at Camden would be easy, and the line of retreat toward Shreveport would be se cured. This contemplated the abandonment of all terri tory in Arkansas. General Smith explained the necessity for such dispositions as follows: You will see that the force below Shreveport [under 228 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Banks] which has so long been menacing us, is about finally developing its plan of operations. From their position, an advance on either Alexandria or Sabine Pass is still practicable. Should the former course be adopted, and the Red river valley be made their line of advance, I shall concentrate your command on Taylor's, and draw ing what support I can from Magruder [in Texas], risk a general engagement somewhere below this point [Shreve- port]. Prepare your command for moving south with as little delay as possible. The smallest Arkansas brigade of infantry with the cavalry under Marmaduke, should be left in Arkansas. Your line of march will be either direct to Shreveport or by Minden to Campti, crossing the river at Grand Ecore. October nth, Colonel Dobbin reported that he had been driven from Tulip to Dallas county, 80 miles southwest of Little Rock. On October 24th, Marmaduke, with his division, marched upon Pine Bluff, which the enemy had occupied a few days after Steele's entry into Little Rock. Having crossed the Saline, fordable at any point, by a night march from Princeton, he arrived at Pine Bluff on October 25th, and sent a flag to the commander at 9 a. m. demanding surren der. The place was occupied by the Fifth Kansas and First Indiana, numbering, the enemy claimed, 600 men only. Upon receiving the summons to surrender, the Federals employed 300 negroes in rolling cotton bales out of the warehouses where they were in storage for those who had influence to save them from the cotton burner. With the cotton bales the Federal commander, Colonel Clayton, fortified the streets leading to the public square in Pine Bluff, and planted six mountain howitzers and three steel rifled guns, so as to command every street leading into the square. His rear was protected by the Arkansas river. The Confederates, with about 2,000 men and 8 pieces of artillery, speedily occupied the enemy's camp and the town, except the public square. The court house, built CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 229 of brick, was filled with Federal sharpshooters. Some Confederates went over the breastworks, but it was ap parent that with the aid of the enemy's nine pieces of artillery, the position could only be carried by storm. The end, a brief occupation, would not have justified the sacri fice of life necessary. The Confederates replied to the enemy's artillery for a short time, but discovering that the houses of citizens, those of General James, General Yell and John Bloom, near the square, were in some way ignited, either by the enemy or the artillery fire, they withdrew their artillery, and eventually their whole force, at 2 p. m. Colonel Clayton reported his loss at n killed, 27 wound ed and i missing, and 5 negroes killed and 12 wounded. The Confederate loss, as reported by General Marma- duke, was about 40 killed and wounded. Among the killed of his command were Capt. Fenn Rieff, of Monroe's regiment, Cabell's brigade; Lieut. D. Biser, adjutant of Greene's regiment, Orderly John Smith, of Newton's regi ment. General Marmaduke reported the capture of 250 mules, 400 blankets, 600 or 1,000 bales of cotton taken, and a large quantity of quartermaster stores. He also reported that his troops behaved well, and "the Federals fought like devils." As he withdrew his forces the enemy advanced, attacking Greene's brigade, but were repulsed. The regiment of Colonel Lawther, covering the rear, also repulsed an attack of the enemy. Marmaduke retired and went into camp at Princeton. Col. R. C. New ton, in this affair, commanded his brigade of Arkansas cavalry, the Texas brigade under Maj. B. D. Chenoweth, and Wood's battalion of Missouri cavalry. Although the attack on Pine Bluff failed of its object, it had a wholesome effect in showing to the Federal com mander that the Confederate forces which retired from Little Rock, in the fulfillment of a policy long since decided upon by those in control, were by no means dis heartened and without power and spirit to strike when 230 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. opportunity should call for action. It put an end to the random Federal forays which had been commenced after the fall of Little Rock, and caused the Federal commander to keep his army concentrated and disciplined for the moment when it should be ordered to move, in accordance with a studied plan of strategy, in concert with other forces constituting the army of the Southwest. General Mar maduke was wise not to waste the lives of his command in a coup de main, which if successful would have realized no substantial result or permanent advantage. The next day the First Iowa cavalry, sent to Pine Bluff, followed on the trail of Marmaduke to Tulip, and turning off at Princeton, marched on the evacuated Confederate post of Arkadelphia, capturing eight or ten sick soldiers, "a large mail, " some Confederate money, two lieutenants, some salt, and three 6-mule trains. Marmaduke had gone to camp near Washington. General Price had marched his infantry division to posi tion near Camden, on the lower Ouachita. The Federal general, Rice, with 2,000 infantry and two 6-gun batteries, moved out from Little Rock, October i8th, but returned soon. Gen. Kirby Smith sent to General Holmes the fol lowing forecast, November ist, which proved correct : "I hardly think the enemy will move this season with the intention of opening the campaign. They may be acting in connection with General Banks and intend to prevent reinforcements going to General Taylor. They will not attempt an advance beyond the Ouachita or the Little Missouri if they find you in their front and any opposition is made to them." Harrell's battalion was on outpost duty toward Mt. Ida, and his scouts pursued the Federal scouts from time to time until the winter weather grew so severe that neither side attempted military operations. On December isth, Col. Lewis Merrill, with 1,000 men, surprised a camp of newly-formed State troops in an unarmed camp of exchanged men, near Princeton, and caused them to fall CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 231 back toward Camden. He returned a blood-and-thunder report of his men killing numerous Confederates with the saber, and wounding many more with that rarely-used implement. No one of the Confederate camp "stood" to be reached by a saber, and none were made prisoners or ever exhibited wounds from that or any other weapon. They were simply dispersed without a fight of any de scription. The slaughter was ideal ; the flight, a real test of horsemanship and woodcraft. It was, however, ac cepted as a veritable "battle" at Little Rock, and her alded as a "famous victory. " The Federals had augmented their forces at Fort Smith, by the ist of December, to 5,000 whites and blacks and their Arkansas cavalry were pushed forward to Waldron, 50 miles south of Fort Smith. On October 24th Brig.- Gen. R. M. Gano was ordered to report to Brig. -Gen. William Steele, and on December nth Steele was, at his own request, relieved from the command of Indian Terri tory and Brig. -Gen. S. B. Maxey assigned. Gen. Kirby Smith, on December 2oth, left Shreveport for Camden, with the purpose of making a forward move ment to regain the Arkansas valley, in which he was to be aided by the forces in Louisiana under Maj.-Gen. Richard Taylor. He had prepared Taylor to make a simultaneous advance with General Holmes, but kept this secret, hoping to draw the Federals out of Little Rock by the maneuvers of Holmes' weaker force, and then over whelm them with Taylor and Holmes combined. But after reaching Camden, Smith wrote Taylor, on the 23d, that on investigation he found it would be mad ness to attempt to drive the enemy from Little Rock. Steele had prudently fortified his key points. At Pine Bluff were intrenchments inclosing the principal part of the town, with a deep ditch in front, and a second line of cotton bales. Four regiments and twelve cannon were in position. At Little Rock, two large forts had been com pleted, and other works, held by 6,000 men, and Benton 232 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. was fortified and held as an advanced post. It was Smith's information that by drawing in his outposts Steele could concentrate 12,000 effective men. Against these Holmes had but 5,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, a force which Mouton's division would swell to 12,000. Consequently, the projected blow for the Arkansas valley was abandoned as * * Quixotic and impracticable. ' ' Regard ing the disposition of the Confederate forces, General Smith said : ' * General Holmes will place his troops in winter quarters, holding the line of the Ouachita, and will endeavor to discipline and improve their morale for operations in the spring. The Texas brigade goes directly to Texas. Price holds his Missouri division ready to move as circumstances may require. ' ' General Smith had been notified that 25,000 stand of arms were at the Mississippi, to be crossed for his troops, and Gen eral Mouton was directed to use his division, aiding Col. L. F. Harrison, and reinforced by Dockery's 900 unarmed mounted infantry — paroled Vicksburg prisoners — to cover and protect their transportation to Monroe. General Marmaduke, who was to lead the advance to the Arkansas river, and had reached Camden, in his letter of the 28th to his adjutant-general, Maj. Henry Ewing, wrote, "The whole program is changed." He set forth the new plan, which was for the cavalry to operate on the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers. Therefore Marma duke did not move except for forage. Shelby remained in the passes of the Little Missouri around Murfreesboro, in Pike county, Cabell in the black lands of Hempstead, on the Ozanne and Plum creek, amidst impassable black mud, but where there is corn in abundance, only 12 miles from Washington. His brigade of about 3,000 men made the best of the situation. The officers and men got up horse-races. The young officers were entertained by the pretty girls — daughters of Colonel Cannon, Dr. Brown, Dr. Walker, and Mrs. Stuart, at Columbus, and of Dr. Jett, Major Witter, and Mr. Britton, at Washington. Many CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HIS TOR Y. 233 notables and notables-to-be resided there — Senator Charles B. Mitchell, John R. Eaken, chancellor and supreme judge, Senator James K. Jones, then a private under General Forrest, Col. Daniel Jones, afterward governor; and sojourning there were Judges David Walker, Geo. C. Watkins and Albert Pike, for it was the temporary capital of Arkansas. Governor Flanagan, who resided at Arkadelphia, was near there at the head of "State troops"; but ex-Governor Rector was at Co lumbus, a member of the Home Guard. Thus passed six or eight weeks, while the men and horses were recuperat ing for the season when the Federals should advance in force. Meanwhile the usual scouts and skirmishes continued. There was a combat at Brownsville, January iyth, between Poe's Confederate rangers and Missouri Federal cavalry. January 2ist, a scout of Kansas cavalry from Waldron, Scott county, passed down the Little Missouri into Sevier county and, making a circuit, returned north along the Cossatot, attacking Captain Williamson's com pany of Confederate cavalry in the rear at Baker Springs, killing the commander and dispersing his command. Harrell's battalion was sent in pursuit of the raiders, but was unable to overtake them. Gen. Dandridge McRae, tired of camp life with the infantry, obtained orders to scout and recruit a cavalry command in White and adjoin ing counties, along White river, and speedily organized a force of 300 men, with which he met and skirmished with Livingston's rangers from Batesville at Lunenburg, kill ing Captain Baxter, Fourth Arkansas (Federal) infantry; took possession of Jacksonport a few days afterward, and held the south side of Red river. McRae, Freeman and James Rutherford made life irksome for the Federal commander of the Batesville district thenceforward, operating throughout White, Jackson, Woodruff and Independence counties. January 3oth, Captain Kauffner, with a detachment of the Third Arkansas (Federal), 234 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. made a raid against McRae's force, capturing a lieuten ant of Andrew Little's company and n men, as he reported, near Searcy landing. At Hot Springs, Feb ruary 4th, Capt. Wm. Harrison surprised and killed some mountain Federals who had been terrorizing his family. February 5th, Gen. C. B. Holland, in command of Mis souri and Arkansas cavalry, made a raid on Berryville, Carrollton and Rolling prairie, in pursuit of Freeman and Love's Confederate commands, which had crossed White river at Talbot's ferry on an expedition into Mis souri. Holland reported that his valiant Missouri militia men killed 70 men on this raid, and captured 8 or 10 "prisoners," who were non-combatants very likely, or they would not have been captured. These expeditions were simply such as Stanley has described of the Arabs upon Turi and Congo rivers. In January the Federal commander at Fayetteville sent out an expedition, under Captain Galloway of the First Arkansas (Federal), through Carroll into Searcy county. At Clear creek it met a scouting party from Col. A. R. Witt's command, which, after a skirmish, fell back to the crossing of the Tomahawk. There the Federals were again attacked by the Confederates, but proceeded to Burrowsville, the county seat of Searcy county, being fired upon from the brush along the march. On January 25th, Captain Human, of this expedition, proceeded with his Missouri company to Van Buren county, ''killing and capturing a number of prominent rebels." Galloway learned on the 26th that a detachment of Missouri cavalry bearing dispatches from General Sanborn had been attacked and n men killed by Col. Tom Freeman's men. The defeat of Colonel Freeman near Batesville, and the pursuit of Colonel Witt across the Arkansas river below Clarksville, were also reported. Returning to Crooked creek and Rolling prairie, in Marion, Galloway told of pursuing a force of 300, killing and capturing a number, and about Dubuque, on White river, "killing CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 235 ten rebels." He summed up the result of the scout as "over 100 killed of the rebels, with a loss on our side of 2. killed and 3 wounded. ' ' He was twenty days in that remote but fertile region, which had been raided and foraged over by the soldiers of both sides since the summer of 1862. The citizens had not dared to sleep in their own houses for a year or more, but took their bedclothing to the hol lows and thickets, and there "slept out" in the coldest of weather for fear of being murdered in their beds ; and if found in these positions were shot down as "bush whackers." These reports must magnify the number slaughtered, as, if summed up, they show the destruction of twice the whole population of those counties. Lieuten ant Phelps, of this expedition, moved across Judea (Judah) mountains to the vicinity of Bellefonte, and reported that his command alone "killed 15 or 20, and wounded several more. Serviceable property captured by my regiment in this expedition has all been branded and memorandum taken of it. " It doubtless consisted of cows, pet heifers, calves and poor old farm horses belonging to the old men and widows along the route of his raid ; saddles, bridles, bedquilts and coverlets of the children, and children's clothing. The natives had no ivory, palm oil, or ostrich feathers with which to render tribute to the doughty invaders. The hero of this expedition was son of the Col. John S. Phelps, whom Mr. Lincoln had just appointed governor of Arkansas, as if it were one of the territories of the Union. General Smith's defenses of the Trans-Mississippi department extended from the Indian Territory, through Arkansas, to the Mississippi, and down that stream to the mouth of Red river ; thence by the Atchafalaya bayou to Berwick bay, and thence along the Gulf coast to the Rio Grande. His forces were collected at three points — those under Taylor holding the lower' Red river, Price con fronting Steele, Magruder on Matagorda peninsula. The immense transportation of the enemy enabled him 236 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. to commence the invasion at any moment, at any point he might select, while the great distances between the Confederate commands made it impossible to concentrate rapidly or assume the offensive. When the enemy should develop his plans, the Confederate maneuver was to endeavor to throw our whole force against one of the enemy's columns. Believing the enemy would choose the line of Red river as his main line of attack, when the water rose to admit gunboats in support of the move ments of infantry, General Smith prepared to concen trate against the invasion, for this purpose establishing depots of subsistence and forage along the roads through the barren country between Tyler, Tex. , and Red river, and between Camden, Ark. , and the town of Natchitoches. The people of the Arkansas valley, given up to the Fed erals, were incredulous of the commander's plan of "draw ing the enemy on, ' ' and the critical ones invented epigrams expressive of their belief in a disastrous result. On March 5, 1864, General Holmes was notified by General Smith of the opening of the to-be famous Red river campaign, Federal operations having already been reported by General Taylor on the Ouachita. ' * By North ern dates of February i8th, " wrote Smith, "the arrival at Little Rock of one of General Banks' staff was announced, with the statement that arrangements were being made for the cooperation of General Banks and General Steele. The intelligence from below makes it probable that a simultaneous movement from General Steele may be anticipated. . . . You may expect to wind up the campaign by making your headquarters at Little Rock." Sterling Price, returning from leave of absence March 8th, resumed command of his division, and wrote to Gen eral Smith advising him to concentrate 20,000 men and attack Steele, and relieve the armies east of the Missis sippi by invading Missouri. On the nth, Lieutenant- General Holmes, at his own request, was relieved by CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 237 order of the general commanding, and Major-General Price was put in command of the district of Arkansas. Maj.-Gen. Frederick Steele, who had been assigned to command of the Seventh army corps and the Federal district of Arkansas, had suggested a demonstration, rather than a determined movement, from Little Rock in cooperation with Banks' Red river expedition; but Gen eral Grant, who had lately come into command of the United States armies, instructed him to "make a real move from Arkansas. ' ' General Banks left New Orleans to lead the expedition up the Red river March 22d, and on the next day Steele started out from Little Rock toward Arkadelphia. Leaving a force of 2,500 at Pine Bluff, under Col. Powell Clayton, which cooperated with him from that point, he took Salomon's infantry division, 5,127 strong, Carr's cavalry division, 3,428, and 30 pieces of artillery. On the march, April pth, he was joined by Gen. John M. Thayer, from Fort Smith, with about 5,000 infantry and cavalry. Price's infantry division, reported as about 5,000 pres ent for duty, was ordered to Louisiana to reinforce Tay lor, and Fagan's brigade was soon called from Camden to the same field. Thus Price was left for the time with only the cavalry of Marmaduke's division — Greene's and Shelby's Missouri brigades and Cabell's Arkansas brigade, numbering 3, 200 effectives — reinforced, about the time that Thayer arrived, by Brig. -Gen. Samuel B. Maxey from Indian Territory, with his division — Gano's Texas brigade and Col. Tandy Walker's Indian brigade. If a column of the enemy had moved southwesterly from Little Rock and marched about 30 miles a day, it could have camped the first night near Benton on the Saline river; the second at Rockport on the Ouachita; thence following down that river on either bank, the third night at Arkadelphia on the same stream ; the fourth at Okolona, near the junction of the Little Missouri and Antoine creek ; the fifth near Washington, in the rolling 238 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. blacklands; the sixth at Fulton on Red river; the seventh near Texarkana, and there turning southerly, the eighth at Hughes Springs, Tex., and the ninth at Marshall, Tex., west of and behind Gen. Kirby Smith's army and depots near Red river. This route is almost an airline to Fulton. It is the line of the Iron Mount ain & Southern railroad, which makes an arc south to avoid the hills of Antoine. From Little Rock to the Ouachita river the surface is hilly and rocky, the ridges between the streams sterile, and at the time the Seventh army corps made its southwestern movement from Little Rock, the route was practically a journey through the desert. At the end of a three-days' march of 30 miles each day, reaching Arkadelphia, an army might turn southeast and go down the banks of the Ouachita to Camden, or it might keep on to the four-days' camp at Okolona, and turn there southeast and go to Camden. If from Camden it should turn back to Little Rock, 90 miles by the shortest route, it would pass through Prince ton, having the Saline river to cross again, a day's march northeast of that place, at Jenkins' ferry. It will be instructive to follow the successive move ments by which the well-equipped army of General Steele was impeded, surrounded, turned and put to flight by a few thousand ill-equipped Arkansas and Missouri cav alry. The strength of the Confederate cavalry is not preserved in the records, but counting the Indians which Maxey brought eventually to their assistance, it did not amount to 8,000 men, and not more than 18 pieces of artillery. They were inspired by one important fact — they had been provided with efficient arms and munitions, secured by General Smith and distributed in place of the shotguns, horse-pistols and old smooth-bores, with which they had been formerly provided. Virginia rifles with superior explosives had been placed in their hands and fully appreciated by them. They were, in fact, not cav alry, but mounted infantry, and could marcn day and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 239 night over wide circuits, dismount and engage as infantry, and if pressed by superior numbers, remount and elude the foe. The trains of the Confederates were very light and employed chiefly for ordnance. Each soldier had his scanty wardrobe rolled up in an oilcloth behind his saddle, and with this for his pillow at night, covering with a saddle blanket, he slept anywhere. The beef and pork killed by the way and his country's corn- meal made his rations; and he marched by the stars as often as by the light of the sun, to fall confidently upon the flanks and rear of the invading army. The winter quarters of the Confederates were broken up at the first advance of Steele from Little Rock. The pleasant diversions of a few weeks of rest were now only a stimulating memory, and the stern duties and priva tions of the soldier, with their uncertain consequences, confronted them. General Shelby's brigade, which had been camped near Camden, was ordered to cross the Ouachita river and pass to the rear of the advancing army, between it and Little Rock. It was not long before his comrades heard the old iron guns of Bledsoe sending their messages across the valleys, announcing that he was "closing up" the enemy upon their flank. General Thayer, in command of the Federal frontier division, moved from Fort Smith March 2ist, to make a junction with Steele at Arkadelphia. He moved by way of Booneville, Ark., through Danville and Mt. Ida to Caddo gap, thence down the Caddo and Antoine creeks to the river, and joined Steele, April pth, at the crossing of the Little Missouri. Thayer, with his force of a little over 5,000, composed of negro regiments and mountain Federals, with his immense train of broken- down teams, some stuck in the mire, others upset, might have been destroyed as he emerged from the mountains of Caddo creek if the Confederates had attacked him in force ; but Marmaduke was devoting his exclusive atten tion to Steele 's column. 240 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. On March 226. Cabell's brigade marched to Tate's bluff, at the meeting of the Little Missouri and Ouachita rivers, to which place General Marmaduke marched with Greene's brigade and a section of Blocher's battery, under Lieutenant Zimmerman. Cabell and Greene were ordered to operate against the enemy's front, while Shelby marched directly in his rear. Harassed by detachments of cavalry sent against him by Marmaduke,* Steele reached Arkadelphia before Cabell and Shelby got into the positions assigned them. April ist, Steele, after waiting at Arkadelphia a few days, marched on the old military road toward Washington, and Shelby entered Arkadelphia the same evening, capturing some strag glers. Cabell had moved to Antoine creek, 18 miles west of Arkadelphia, and in several rights with the detach ments of the enemy seeking forage, drove them back on his main body. Shelby encamped the night of April ist at Arkadelphia in Steele's rear, Cabell on Antoine creek in his front. Before daylight on the morning of the 2d, Marmaduke, with Greene's column, formed a junction with Cabell's brigade on the military road to Washing ton, three miles south of the Little Missouri, at Cotting- ham's store in Spoon ville. West of Arkadelphia is a good road which turns to the right, leading north from the military road to Okolona and Elkin's ferry, across the Little Missouri. Fearing the enemy might take that road and occupy Elkin's ferry, General Marmaduke sta tioned Monroe's regiment, Fayth's battalion and a section of Hughey's battery of Cabell's brigade at the Antoine as a rear-guard, and withdrew the other commands of Cabell's brigade to Cottingham's, where they could rein force Monroe or prevent the crossing of the Little Mis souri at any of the fords below the military road. It was Colonel Salomon's regiment (Ninth Wisconsin) and Ben- *Dockery's brigade was ordered to act with Marmaduke. "Un fortunately, before General Dockery could execute this order, he was, on March 3oth, attacked at Mount Elba by a party of the enemy from Pine Bluff and completely routed." — Price's Report. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 241 ton's Twenty-ninth Iowa which were ordered forward to protect the train moving down a road toward Camden. They were hurled back until General Rice, with the Fif tieth Indiana infantry and Voegel's battery, came up to their support. Monroe and Fayth, falling back to Wolf creek, were attacked by this whole force, which they again drove back on the main body, with severe losses. The enemy reported 16 killed and 45 wounded. The bri gade under Shelby was at the same time in the enemy's rear as he passed the Terre Noire bottom, killing several and wounding many more. Captain Thorp, of Elliott's battalion, charged a regiment of the infantry, scattering them and receiving a painful wound. Second Lieutenant Trigg, of Marmaduke's escort, having been sent to Shelby with dispatches, charged with Shelby's men and fell mortally wounded. Gordon's, Harr ell's and Morgan's commands were stationed that night at the ford, while Cabell's and Greene's brigades fell back and encamped. The enemy remained halted at the river all of the 3d, waiting perhaps for Thayer, but were attacked from the rear by Shelby, who fought them with his artillery and dismounted men and scattered their rear-guard, killing and wounding many, until, flanked by superior numbers, he fell back. On the 4th, Steele advanced to the cross ing of the river with his main body. General Marmaduke immediately attacked with Greene's brigade and Mon roe's regiment and Zimmerman's artillery section, and a section of Hughey's battery of Cabell's brigade. He drove the enemy back two miles, killed and wounded many, and losing 29 killed and wounded. On the morning of the 5th of April, the Confederate advance, at the ferry, was ordered to fall back, which it did, on being attacked by the enemy in large force. Col. Dan W. Jones' State troops and Harrell's battalion cap tured several guidons of the enemy, and held him in check from time to time, crossing the open prairie under Ark 16 242 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. his fire without a casualty. The command of Marma- duke was now drawn up on the south edge of Prairie D'Ane, where he was reinforced by Colonel Gano with 400 men (Indians) and Lawther's regiment. Shelby had returned to the front and was camped in the prairie on the Camden road, south side of the river, to rest his men. On the yth the enemy advanced again, opposed by a part of Burbridge's regiment, under Captain Porter, which did not cross the prairie. General Price arrived at the front with Dockery's and Crawford's brigades and Wood's battalion, and took command. Gano was now up with his brigade, about 500 men. Cabell's brigade was transferred to Fagan's division. On the 8th the enemy advanced, but did not drive Marmaduke's command out of the timber on the northeast of the prairie. Greene's regiment was relieved from outpost duty by troops of Fagan's brigade. Marmaduke had caused breastworks of logs and small earthworks to be thrown up on the southeastern edge of the prairie, by which the enemy was deceived as to the real strength and the intention of the Confederates. Reinforced by Thayer, Steele now attacked the Confederate outposts, portions of Cabell's brigade, of Dockery's and Shelby's. But Collins' battery opened upon them, while the Confederates, under fire of small- arms and sixteen pieces of artillery, held their position until ordered to retire. That night, supposing Shelby had withdrawn, the enemy again attacked with shot and shell, but were still confronted by Shelby and Collins, until they were ordered to fall back to the Con federate position at the mimic breastworks. Steele had now reached the junction of three roads leading southward, one to Washington, one to Louisville on Red river, and one to Camden on the Ouachita. It was disclosed that his intention was to fall back on Cam den. His vacillation and hesitation were puzzling to the Confederates. On the i2th he drew up his whole force in line of battle on the prairie in front of the Confederate CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 243 works, as if preparing to push forward to Washington, threw out his skirmishers (which were engaged in the open prairie by the Confederate skirmishers) along his extended line, formed as for dress parade, with artillery on his flanks and cavalry in reserve. Withdrawing across the prairie, he resumed the former day's position, but the Confederates had learned that his immense train was passing behind his line, on the road toward Camden, and broke their camp, moving in detachments against his front and flanks. The cavalry under Price (reinforced by Walker's Indians, about 1,000 strong) closed up his rear as he withdrew his column, and engaged him with artillery and cavalry charges until night, one of their shells wounding the Federal general, Rice, in the head. The rear-guard of Steele's army, protected by cavalry and artillery, disappeared from the prairie, under a fierce bombardment by the Confederate artillery, through the little village of Moscow, at dark.* Greene's brigade passed at once to his front, moving toward Camden. Marmaduke and Cabell went into camp, few of the men having slept a whole night for fourteen days. On the 1 3th, Marmaduke marched from Prairie De Rohan, and having ridden sixty miles, passed around to Steele's front on the i4th. Finding the enemy pressing resolutely forward to Camden, he left Colonel Lawther in his front, with orders to destroy all Confederate prop erty at Camden, and then move out and picket all roads leading to Shreveport. The main body of Marmaduke 's command went into camp 8 miles from Camden. News of the defeat of Banks by General Taylor on Red river had now reached the Confederate camp, and explained Steele's position and retrograde movement.. The enemy entered Camden the night of the 1 5th, having consumed twenty-one days in the march from Little Rock via * In the action at Moscow, Dockery, being in the advance, attacked with great intrepidity, and at one time captured a section of artillery, which was retaken by a greatly superior force, and his troops repulsed with some loss. — Price's Report. 244 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Moscow, 140 miles — the direct line being less than 100 miles, only a five-days' easy march. The Confederates under Marmaduke had killed and wounded 600 of the enemy. They had lost 150, and without rest, rations, or sleep adequate to man, fought incessantly, yet not a mur mur or complaint was ever uttered by one of those devoted men. Meanwhile, General Price's old infantry division had been taking a gallant part in the heroic fighting which resulted in the defeat of Banks' expedition on Red river. General Churchill was in command of the two divisions (Arkansas and Missouri) into which it was divided, and General Tappan commanded the Arkansans, his brigade fighting under Colonel Grinsted, and Churchill's brigade under Colonel Gause. In his report General Tappan said: On Thursday night, April yth, about n o'clock [being- encamped at Keatchie], I received orders to hold the divi sion in readiness to move the next morning for Mansfield, at daylight. . . . We reached Mansfield that evening exactly at 3 130. The battle of Mansfield was then progressing, but Major-General Taylor not deeming it necessary to order us into the fight, we were directed to take position on the Gravelly Point road to prevent a flank movement of the enemy, which was anticipated in that direction. That night the division prepared two days' rations and slept upon their arms, in line of battle. At 2 a. m. we were summoned, and moved promptly at 3 o'clock. We expected to meet the enemy about 4 or 5 miles distant. When, however, we reached the point he had retired to the night before, we found he had precipitately fled. We instantly took up the line of march in pursuit, the division under my command taking the lead of the infantry troops. We proceeded some 1 8 miles, to within 2 miles of Pleasant hill, where we were informed the enemy occupied an advan tageous position. Within thirty-six hours my division had marched some 45 miles, almost without sleep, and were necessarily very much worn out and fatigued. After resting about two hours we diverged from the main Mansfield and Pleasant hill road, and proceeded some CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 245 4 miles for the purpose of making a flank movement upon the enemy. Brigadier- General Parsons' Missouri division was upon my right. My line was formed at about 4:30 o'clock. ... I threw out three companies of skirmishers, under Major Steele of Grinsted's regiment, and immediately ordered my line to advance rapidly as directed. . . . For an hour and a half we were as warmly engaged with the enemy as it has ever been my experience to witness on any bat tlefield. My division, however, never faltered, but moved steadily and firmly forward, with the valor of men determined to succeed or fall in the attempt. ... At this juncture, learning that the division on the right had been outflanked and was falling back, I immediately directed my attention in that direction and saw that such was the case. When said division had swept entirely past mine, and my command became exposed to a heavy and murderous fire from the flank as well as the front, I ordered the brigade commanders to fall back with a view of forming a line in a more advantageous position. . . . The exhausted condition of the men, the lateness of the hour (it being near dark), and the denseness of the thicket made it extremely difficult to rally the men. While the battle lasted no men ever fought more gal lantly. This is evidenced by the fact that the enemy made little or no attempt to pursue our line ; 011 the con trary, he fled toward Red river as soon as night came, leaving his dead to be buried and his wounded to be cared for by us. The loss of the division in the engage ment was as follows: Killed, 26; wounded, 112; miss ing, 63. General Smith, Banks being now in full retreat, deter mined to reinforce Price with the infantry, and Church ill's and Walker's commands were ordered into Arkan sas. On April i;th the general commanding made his headquarters near Calhoun, Ark,, Price's headquarters, and assumed command of the operations against Steele. Following is the organization of the Confederate forces in Arkansas, Gen. E. Kirby Smith commanding, April 20, 1864: District of Arkansas, Maj.-Gen. Sterling Price; escort,. Fourteenth Missouri battalion, Maj. Robert C. Wood. 246 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Pagan's cavalry division, Brig. -Gen. James F. Fagan: Cabell's brigade, Brig. -Gen. W. L. Cabell— First Arkan sas, Col. James C. Monroe ; Second Arkansas, Col. T. J. Morgan; Fourth Arkansas, Col. A. Gordon; Seventh Arkansas, Col. John F. Hill ; Arkansas battalion, Lieut. - Col. Thomas M. Guiiter; Arkansas battalion, Lieut. -Col. John M. Harrell; Blocher's Arkansas battery. Dock- ery's brigade, Brig. -Gen. Thomas P. Dockery — Twelfth Arkansas battalion sharpshooters ; Eighteenth Arkansas ; Nineteenth Arkansas (Dockery 's), Lieut. -Col. H. G. P. Williams; Twentieth Arkansas. Crawford's brigade, Col. Wm. A. Crawford — Third Arkansas (Siemens), Capt. O. B. Tebbs; Crawford's Arkansas regiment; Wright's Arkansas regiment, Col. John C. Wright; Arkansas battalion, Maj. Jas. T. Poe; Arkansas battalion, Maj. E. L. McMurtrey; Arkansas battery, Capt. W. M. Hughey. Marmaduke's cavalry division, Brig. -Gen. John S. Mar- maduke: Greene's brigade — Third Missouri, Lieut. -Col. L. A. Campbell; Fourth Missouri, Lieut. -Col. Wm. J. Preston; Seventh Missouri, Col. Sol. G. Kitchen; Eighth Missouri, Col. Wm. L. Jeffers; Tenth Missouri, Col. Robert R. Lawther; Missouri battery, Capt. S. S. Harris. Shelby's brigade, Brig. -Gen. Jos. O. Shelby — First Mis souri battalion, Maj. Benj. Elliott; Fifth Missouri, Col. B. Frank Gordon; Eleventh Missouri, Col. M. W. Smith; Twelfth Missouri, Col. David Shanks; Hunter's Missouri regiment, Col. D. C. Hunter; Missouri battery, Capt. Richard A. Collins. Maxey's cavalry division,* Brig. -Gen. Samuel B. Maxey: Gano's brigade, Brig. -Gen. R. M. Gano,f Col. Charles DeMorse — Twenty-ninth Texas, Maj. J. A. Car roll; Thirtieth Texas, Lieut. -Col. N. W. Battle; Thirty- first Texas, Maj. Michael Looscan; Welch's Texas com pany, Lieut. Frank M. Gano; Texas battery, Capt. W. B. Krumbhaar. Second Indian brigade, Col. Tandy Walker — First regiment, Lieut. -Col. James Riley ; Second regi ment, Col. Simpson W. Folsom. Walker's division, J Maj. -Gen. John G. Walker: Texas * Arrived from Indian Territory, April yth to i2th. f Wounded near Munn's mill. {Arrived after Gen. E. K. Smith reached the field. General Price assumed command of Arkansas and Missouri divisions, April 26th. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 247 brigades of Brig. -Gens. Thos. N. Waul, William R. Scurry and Col. Horace Randal. Arkansas division, J Brig. -Gen. Thomas J. Churchill: Tappan's brigade, Brig. -Gen. James C. Tappan — Nine teenth and Twenty-fourth Arkansas regiments consoli dated, Lieut. -Col. William R. Hardy; Twenty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Arkansas, Col. R. G. Shaver; Thirty- third Arkansas, Col. H. L. Grinsted. Gause's brigade, Col. Lucien C. Gause — Twenty-sixth Arkansas, Lieut. - Col. Iverson L. Brooks; Thirty-second Arkansas, Lieut. - Col. William Hicks; Thirty-sixth Arkansas, Col. James M. Davie. Hawthorn's brigade, Brig. -Gen. Alexander T. Hawthorn. Missouri di vision, J Brig. -Gen. Mosby M. Parsons: First brigade, Brig. -Gen, John B. Clark, Jr. — Eighth Missouri, Col. Charles Q. Mitchell; Ninth Missouri, Col. Richard H. Musser; Missouri battery, Capt. Samuel T. Ruffner. Second brigade, CoL Simon P. Burns — Tenth Missouri, Col. Wm. M. Moore; Eleventh Missouri, Lieut. -Col. Thos. H. Murray; Twelfth Missouri, Col. Willis M. Pon der; Sixteenth Missouri, Lieut. -Col. P. W. H. Gumming; Ninth Missouri battalion sharpshooters, Maj. L. A. Pindall ; Missouri battery, Capt. A. A. Lesueur. The return of Price's division, March loth, showed the following brigade strength, aggregate present : Churchill (Gause), 766; Drayton (Clark), 968; Parsons (Burns), 1,720; Tappan, 1,478; staff and cavalry, 200. Marma- duke's cavalry division, January loth, Cabell, 1,468; Greene, 1,242; Shelby, 1,583; artillery, 148; Brooks' cavalry, 486. {Arrived after Gen. E. K. Smith reached the field. General Price assumed command of Arkansas and Missouri divisions, April 26th. CHAPTER X. BATTLE OF POISON SPRING— BATTLE OF MARKS' MILLS —BATTLE OF JENKINS' FERRY— SUBSEQUENT DIS POSITION OF TROOPS — SHELBY CAPTURES THE QUEEN CITY— OPERATIONS OF MARMADUKE ON THE MISSISSIPPI— PRICE'S MISSOURI EXPEDITION- FINAL ORGANIZATION AND PLANS — THE CARTEL OF MAY 26, 1865. ON the evening of April 15, 1864, said General Price in his report of the campaign, the enemy occupied Camden, ** Colonel Lawther, with his regiment, gallantly disputing their advance, and giving them volley after volley, as he slowly retreated through the streets of the town." Having made his headquarters at Woodlawn on the i6th, General Price disposed his troops to watch all the approaches of Camden south of the river. Shelby was ordered to Miller's bluff, and Marmaduke, with Greene's brigade of about 500 men, maintained the picket force around Camden. General Fagan, who had not until recently commanded cavalry, was at Jordan's farm. On the i yth, Marmaduke informed him that a large train of wagons, with a guard of three regiments and four pieces of artillery, had started out on the road to Prairie D'Ane to obtain forage for Steele's army.* * There were about 800 wagons and 12,000 public animals with the command April isth, said Steele's chief quartermaster, arid the diffi culty of procuring forage occasioned great uneasiness. The chief commissary had made requisitions for corn for the men, as the supply of breadstuff s was exhausted. "I accordingly made up a train of 177 wagons on the i/th of April," said the quartermaster, "and sent them out some 16 miles to a point where there were some 5,000 bushels of corn. The train reached the place and found that about 2, 500 bushels had been burned that day, yet loaded 141 wagons, and 'returned to within 12 miles of Camden, when it was attacked by the enemy, and after a desperate resistance by the escort, in which we lost 240 killed and wounded, the entire train was captured and. destroyed." 248 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 249* Marmaduke, as he had only 500 men, wrote to General Pagan for assistance. Pagan sent him Cabell's and Crawford's brigades, but on marching out to attack the train, he learned that it had been reinforced, and sent for more assistance. General Maxey, with Gano's Texans under DeMorse, and Walker's Indians, was tendered and accepted. Cabell's, Crawford's and Greene's brigades took position about noon across the road between the train and Camden, with Hughey 's battery in the road. Maxey 's Indians were stationed to attack the escort on the flank and rear as the train passed and approached the line of Cabell and Crawford in its front, going toward Camden. Greene's brigade was held in reserve. General Maxey was senior to Marmaduke as to grade, but yielded the command. Thus came on the engagement known as the battle of Poison Spring, April 18, 1864. Crawford's brigade was to the right of the road and the battery. Cabell's brigade was to the left of the line, Monroe on the right, Gordon at the center, Harrell on his extreme left ; the latter brigade being drawn up on a pine ridge commanding the road which lay between sloping pine hills. General Maxey explained the plan of battle to the officers on the left of the line: " When Gano shall be well engaged with the enemy in his rear, this line is to advance and strike him in the flank. This is the wheeling flank, and should advance at double- quick. " He was on foot, whittling a piece of white pine, which has been described as the attitude of General Long- street on more momentous occasions. Gano opened from the rear, half a mile off, and the woods resounded with their fire. Cabell's left, extending along the ridge west of his battery, when ordered forward, went at double-quick, while the enemy's battery cut down the pine saplings around them. Descending from the wooded crest into and across the deserted fields, through the alder bushes, as it struck the road it delivered volleys into a line of 250 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. negroes in uniform, who stood but a volley or two, when they fled in disorder through the opposite woods. Away trotted the poor black men into the forest, clinging to their rifles, but not using them, while the pursuing Con federates cut them down right and left. To the honor of the men, be it said, not a man on the left stopped at the -tempting train of 200 wagons and mules standing in the road deserted by the escort. Some white men lay dead by the train, killed by artillery, but received only a glance of the victorious troops who were after prisoners, bat teries, and the mounted men and officers. The batter ies were captured, but not a horse with them. A thou sand or more mules and 200 wagonloads of corn were taken. The scene furnished proof of the plundering that had been done by the Federals, for piled upon the wagons were little children's and women's clothing in quantities. The negroes of Thayer's command had stripped the houses of the region they had visited of little baby frocks, shoes, stockings, women's bonnets, shawls and cloaks, to take home to their families in Kansas. It was an illustra tion of the ruling spirit, or the impelling influence of these war movements generally, " that he may take who can." On the march to the battlefield that day the Confederates passed a neat frame residence, at which a Confederate guard was placed. The only occupant, a woman, had been stripped of all clothing by the Federal foraging party, the bedclothes taken, and she had only the drapery of the windows left. Of the enemy, 350 were killed on the field, white and black ; all they had taken was recaptured by the Confeder ates, and this was done within hearing of Cam den, where the doughty Salomon, Benton and Engelmann were. The Confederates took about 100 wounded prisoners, four pieces of artillery and many hundreds of arms. As a creditable achievement, it is stated that Cabell's command first broke the enemy's line, his left wing- drawing the first fire. Lieutenant Shipman, of Harrell's battalion, was CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 251 mortally wounded, and in all, 40 men were killed and wounded. This achievement was a severe blow to Steele's army, and was due to Marmaduke's strategy and the resist less valor of Cabell and his men, valiantly assisted by Maxey and his command, composed of volunteers, directed with sagacity and military skill. It led promptly to other and even more important results. The affair was regarded as a brilliant victory by General Fagan, who looked with gratification at the fancy matched mules brought back to Cabell's headquarters, and the ambu lances and trains. On some of the fine mules the brands of the owners who lived along the enemy's line of march were plainly visible. General Fagan was now at the head of his first command of mounted men. Said he, "I could have commanded that attack, but might not have made so complete a success. I will try the next one. ' ' General Cabell, in his report, omitting any mention of the capture of mules and wagons and at least 3,000 bushels of corn, upon which the horses fed sumptuously for sev eral days, says : The enemy's strength was about 2,500, from all the information I could get — 1,500 negroes and about 1,000 white troops, with four pieces of artillery. The number of killed of the enemy was very great, especially among the negroes. I estimate his loss, from what I saw and heard from reliable officers, as follows : Killed, negroes, 450; Indians, 7; white troops, 30; total, 487.* No esti mate of wounded can be made. . . . Never were men known to fight better than my whole command. It was a continuous huzza from the moment the command to charge was given to the close of the fight. Both officers and men behaved with the greatest coolness and the greatest gallantry. It would be doing wrong to particu larize when every one did so nobly. I must mention, *Col. J. M. Williams, Federal commander, reported his troops at 1,170; loss of the escort, 204 killed and missing, 97 wounded. Gen eral Maxey reported about 1,800 Confederates engaged; loss about 145- 252 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. however, the gallant conduct of Colonels Monroe, Gor don, Trader, and Morgan ; also Majors [lieutenant-col onel] Harrell, Reiff, Arrington and Portis, and Lieuten ant-Colonels O 'Neil, Fayth and Bull, of Cabell's brigade, Colonel Crawford, commanding brigade, acted with the greatest gallantry. My staff officers — Major Duffy, inspector-general; Captain King, assistant adjutant-gen eral; Surg. John H. Carroll; Lieut. W. J. Tyus, acting assistant adjutant-general, Lieutenants Carl ton and Inks, aids-de-camp, and Captain Ballos, quartermaster — and Captain Hughey, with his officers and men, deserve especial mention for gallantry. The Ouachita river, from Camden down, is like an estu ary from the sea. The largest steamboats from New Orleans ply to Camden. With the jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi, it is as accessible as New Orleans. The town, upon a high bank on the left side of the river, had been fortified by the Confederates, completely as against any force except a gunboat fleet, to which it would have offered a tempting prize. The Confederate forces were now all around it on the west and south. • On the i Qth of April, General Pagan, having requested of Marmaduke the addition of Shelby's brigade, prepared to make a march against Little Rock, then but feebly gar risoned. His force was organized in two divisions — one under General Cabell, including Cabell's brigade under Colonel Monroe, and Dockery's brigade ; and one under General Shelby, including Shelby's brigade under Col. David Shanks, and Colonel Crawford's Arkansas brigade. General Smith was now near Price's army and in chief command, with headquarters at Calhoun. "Here," he said in his subsequent report, General Price "had sub mitted to me his proposed attack upon the enemy's train, which on April i8th resulted in the battle of Poison Spring, under General Maxey. On April ipth, I found that General Price had not crossed any cavalry to the north side of the Arkansas river, as directed, and that the day previous the enemy had received from Pine Bluff a CONFEDERA TE MIL ITARY HIS TOR Y. 253 commissary train of 200 wagons, guarded by an escort of 50 cavalry. I immediately organized an expedition of 4,000 picked cavalry, under General Fagan, who were ordered to cross the Ouachita, under instructions to destroy the supplies at Little Rock, Pine Bluff and Devall's Bluff, and then throw himself between the enemy and Little Rock." Such was the service cut out by General Smith for Fagan, in consequence of the suc cess of Poison Spring, and his knowledge of the extremity of Steele's situation. This position was not Steele's seek ing, but against his protest all along. He yielded, of course, to the commands of General Grant. General Fagan moved, on the morning of April 22d, from the vicinity of Camden on the road down the west bank of the Ouachita to Eldorado landing, where a pon toon bridge had been laid, over which the troops crossed, and early the next day he proceeded on the road leading from Chambersville to Mount Elba, on the Saline. There information was received that a train of the enemy* had departed from Camden and was on the road to Pine Bluff, under escort of 2,000 infantry, 500 cavalry and a battery of four lo-pounder Parrott guns. General Fagan deter mined, if possible, to intercept and capture this train. By leaving all baggage, except the ordnance train and ambulances, and marching with rapidity, much of the distance in a gallop, he gained a position on the road beyond the enemy, who had camped on Moro creek. About midnight he halted for rest, having inarched 45 miles without stopping for any purpose. After a few hours' rest the command was again in the saddle, moving to a point for attacking the train, when on the morning of *"On the 2oth of April, " says the report of Steele's chief engineer, "we received a supply train of ten days' rations [from Pine Bluff]. This train was immediately sent back for a fresh supply, leaving Camden on the 230!, protected by an entire brigade of infantry, four pieces of artillery, and a proper proportion of cavalry. . . . Scout ing parties had gone up and down the east bank of the Ouachita for 30 miles, before it started, and no evidence of the enemy was seen." 254 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the 25th the advance guard was fired into by a detach ment, which was quickly dispersed. Pagan took position where a road running north and south crossed the Camden and Pine Bluff road at Marks' mills. Shelby's division was ordered to turn squarely off to the right from the road the train was on, and by mak ing a rapid detour, come back in front, near Mount Elba, the Saline crossing. General Cabell's division was placed in line of battle parallel with the road on which the enemy was moving, and from that position Cabell's line immedi ately attacked the enemy, drawn up on a plateau in the open woods, with his artillery in position on either side of some log houses. General Dockery of Cabell's division had not yet come up, having stopped to forage his horses a few miles back. General Dockery had galloped all night to intercept the enemy, but seeing a quantity of forage which his horses needed, he stopped and ordered his men to give it to them. Neither orders nor cannon-shots seemed to disturb that equanimity which he always car ried with him in battle. Jolly, energetic, yet absolutely devoid of nervous sensibility, he appeared to have perfect immunity from both fear and anxiety. Cabell's brigade, commanded by Colonel Monroe and himself in person, advanced steadily upon the enemy, Hughey's battery on his right replying to the rifled i ex pounders of the enemy unflinchingly. Owing to the dis tance General Shelby had to traverse, his attack was not simultaneous with Cabell's, and for an hour Cabell's bri gade sustained the fight alone, gaining ground steadily. Dockery came up and formed opportunely on his left, helping to sustain the unequal combat, but not until many gallant officers and men of Cabell's brigade had fallen. Then Shelby, whose division had galloped ten miles, met the head of the train thundering toward Mount Elba. He formed Crawford's brigade, commanded by the gal lant Col. John C. Wright, to the right of the main road in advance ; then Shanks' and next, Frank Gordon's regiment, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 255 holding his own brigade in reserve, and charged the train and cavalry escort, bringing the former to a standstill and routing the latter, captured two pieces of the famous Battery E, Second Missouri artillery. The resistance to Cabell's line grew feebler. But a movement by the enemy caused the commanding general to withdraw, from Cabell's center, Harrell's battalion and march it by the right flank to the support of Hughey's battery, which was menaced. The enemy having been driven back from this battery, General Fagan in person ordered the same battalion of 400 men on foot, 100 men holding horses back, to deploy as skirmishers and advance (without reserves) to guard against cavalry on the right. The command, advancing at double-quick, arrived at a sutler's train of 100 wagons deserted in the woods, passed through it and found no cavalry, but came upon a large body of Federal infantry moving by the left flank, which immediately held up white flags in token of surrender. There were over 1,000 of them, who, having thrown down their arms, were placed under guard and reported to the general commanding. A few of Shelby's men came up in their rear. The cap ture was ascribed to General Shelby, who did not then know of their existence. Doubtless the appearance of his division and his attack in front, and Cabell's on the flank, caused this body to attempt to escape, and indi rectly brought about their surrender. The entire Federal force, except the cavalry which had fled, surrendered, infantry, artillery and train, besides the large sutler's train. Two hundred of the enemy were killed and wounded. The infantry, Second brigade of Salomon's division, sur rendered with all their arms, four pieces of artillery, four stands of colors and the entire train of 300 wagons, a large number of ambulances, and 150 "contrabands." In his official report, General Fagan said : Owing to the distance General Shelby had to travel, his 256 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. attack was not simultaneous with General Cabell's. Soon, however, and when Cabell's division was hotly engaged and acting in the most determined and gallant manner, General Shelby's opening guns proclaimed him in the place intended. Down he came upon the head of the enemy's train, which was now pushing to gain the crossing at Mount Elba, driving everything before him, capturing many prisoners, arms, etc. The engagement was now general. The enemy's lines could not sustain the com bined attack. They wavered and showed signs of giving way. Our brave troops moved upon them with terrible and crushing effect. It was not long before the enemy's forces broke in dismay and confusion, completely routed. Our victory was decided and complete. It is but due our troops to mention that they fought a force superior in number. A regiment, at Mount Elba to guard the crossing [against Pine Bluff], had been sent out, which, together with similar details and one-fourth of Cabell's division to hold horses, reduced my command to less than 2,500. It is too frequently the case that all are reported as having done their whole duty, when perhaps the facts do not sustain the assertion. In this engagement, I am proud to say, no exaggeration or embellishment is necessary to entitle the troops under me to the entire con fidence and full praise of their commanding generals. The rich fruits of the engagement show with what deter mination and bravery those gallant men fought. To Brigadier-Generals Cabell and Shelby, commanding divisions, and to Brigadier-General Dockery, and Colonels Monroe, Shanks and Wright, commanding brigades, I take pleasure in according the highest praise. They are well deserving of that credit and honor that attach to brave and gallant conduct. Our loss does not exceed 150 killed and seriously wounded. Brig. -Gen. Joseph O. Shelby said in his report: It would be unnecessary to mention by name all who distinguished themselves on this day, for all did their duty well and nobly ; but I will say that Col. John C. Wright [Arkansas brigade] and his officers and men fought well and gallantly, and by their side came the officers of my own brigade, and especially Captain Williams, of my advance. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 257 With the report of Gen. W. L. Cabell, we will close the description of this brilliant victory and deadly blow to the Seventh army corps, although reports of other officers engaged furnish details of great interest and value. The report of General Cabell is as follows : After getting in the neighborhood of the train, General Shelby was ordered on the road leading to Mount Elba, to intercept the train and to attack in front and on the rear. Cabell' s brigade moved up to the road leading direct to Marks' mills. After detaching Hill's regiment and one company of Monroe's regiment, and sending them to ascertain if there was any enemy on our left flank, as we moved down the Marks' mills road the enemy's pickets were soon encountered, and it was defin itely known that the train was moving rapidly toward Mount Elba. I at once formed Monroe's regiment of Cabell 's brigade in line of battle and dismounted them, and Colonel Monroe, by my order, threw out two com panies rapidly as skirmishers, and drove the enemy back until I could dismount Cabell 's brigade and form it in line of battle. This was done, Gunter's command, com posed of his battalion and Pettus' battalion of State troops, on the right; Monroe's regiment on his left; Morgan's regiment on Monroe's left crossing the road, and Gordon's regiment acting as a support to the bat tery. Skirmishers were thrown out in front of our whole line, and were engaged all the time with those of the enemy. As soon as I commenced forming line of battle, I sent my aid to General Dockery to hasten forward his com mand. General Fagan, being present, ordered me to com mand Cabell 's brigade and all the troops in my front, and that he would give General Dockery the necessary orders. After moving Cabell 's brigade as far to the front as I deemed it prudent, until I could hear from General Dock ery, I sent to General Fagan and informed him of my position, which was then across two roads leading into the road in which the train was moving, which could be dis tinctly heard. I received orders "to move rapidly for ward and attack the train." This order was promptly obeyed, and my whole line moved forward rapidly under a tremendous fire, driving the enemy through and beyond Ark 17 258 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. his train 300 or 400 yards, until he was completely routed. . . . Hearing heavy firing on my left flank and in my rear, I marched to the rear and moved forward to aid Colonel Monroe, who was fighting at least 1,500 Federal infantry, and a battery of artillery posted in the road about 100 yards above a house, which was filled with infantry. As fast as each regiment came into position, it became heav ily engaged with the enemy. At this time, Hughey's battery . . . was doing terrible work, and continued to fire grape and canister into the enemy's battery, about 400 yards in advance, until all the horses and many of the cannoneers were killed. The musketry firing was ter rible. Notwithstanding this terrible fire, Cabell's brigade stood for an hour and a half without any assistance. The brigade suffered here terribly, and many of its best officers and men were killed and many wounded. After this, General Dockery's command came up on the left of Cabell's brigade, and attacked the enemy vig orously, supported by Hill's regiment of Cabell's brigade. I charged the enemy and drove him into the house and through the train, capturing two pieces of artillery and over 200 prisoners. The train was then completely in our possession. The enemy, however, returned some distance higher up the road to our left, and attempted to recapture the train by taking advantage of the confusion owing to the commingling of commands. I immediately formed line of battle again with Cabell's brigade, and threw two regiments of Shelby's mounted men on my right, and moved rapidly toward the enemy. The firing became general and very heavy. My men continued to advance steadily and routed the enemy the third time, and con tinued the pursuit until his lines were driven more than a mile beyond the train, when I sent some cavalry in pur suit, which captured many prisoners. . . . The killed and wounded of Cabell's brigade show how stubborn the enemy was, and how reluctantly they gave up the train. Men never fought better than mine. They whipped the best infantry regiment that the enemy had (old veterans, as they were called), and in numbers superior to mine. It would be invidious to particularize any regiment, when all fought, both officers and men, with gallantry and with such daring. Three different positions were taken ; three different lines of battle formed by this CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 259 brigade, and each time they drove the invader off with terrific slaughter. It is not detracting from any com mand to say that this brigade bore the brunt of the fight For five hours it poured a deadly fire into the enemy's ranks, while at the same time it was subject to a fire from the enemy that has carried sorrow to many a family. Colonels Monroe, Gordon, Morgan, Pettus and Hill; Lieutenant-Colonels Basham (who was wounded), Bull, Harrell and Fayth; Majors Reiff, Portis and Adams, deserve great credit for daring and intrepidity, as well as the faithful discharge of duty during the fight. The brave Lieutenant-Colonel O'Neil, of Monroe's regiment, fell at the front, and Colonel Pettus fell mortally wounded while gallantly urging his men forward. Many officers and men fell that day who have left proud names for their State to cherish. This brigade, here, as at the Poison Spring, charged the enemy with an intrepidity unknown, and bore the brunt of the fight, as it did there. ... I wish to return my thanks to Captains Belding and Thomas, of General Fagan's staff, and to Lieutenant Field, of my own staff, for their assistance. . . . Lieu tenant Field was seriously wounded. Lieut. -Col. F. M. Drake, in command of the Federal forces at Marks' mills, reported that his brigade included the Forty- third Indiana infantry, Thirty- sixth Iowa, Sev enty-seventh Ohio, two sections of Battery E, Second Mis souri light artillery, and detachments from First Indiana and Seventh Missouri cavalry. Several staff officers, a large number of citizens, cotton speculators, Arkansas refugees, sutlers and other army followers, and some 300 negroes accompanied the brigade. Major Spellman, from Pine Bluff, with 150 cavalry, joined the expedition on the Warren and Camden roads. Colonel Drake estimated that 250 of his brigade were killed and wounded, that less than 150 soldiers escaped the field, and that at the close of the conflict, 800 or 900 men lay dead or wounded on the field. Steele, in his report, gave the escort force at about 2,000, and said that 500 veterans of the First Iowa cav alry, a few miles in the rear of the train when attacked, 260 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. pressed forward and participated in the fight, but were forced back and retreated to Camden. This engagement took place in a forest of pines not far from the west bank of the Saline river, in a spot usually lonely and undisturbed by any sound ruder than the winds in the treetops, when its calm was disturbed and its silence broken by the jar of artillery and the crash of small- arms for five hours. After the firing ceased, the air was still full of the din of the survivors, men and animals, in whom the excitement was not yet allayed. Steadily the infirmary corps searched for those who needed its offices and bore them silently to the hospital or to burial. The prisoners, officers and soldiers, "refugees," men who had proclaimed their "loyalty" when Steele entered Camden, and were now running away with fear that he would be driven out; cotton-buyers, negroes and army vultures were collected and guarded. But it was not long until the non-combatants were released to go away as best they might, and the prisoners of war were started under the escort of Hill's regiment of Cabell's brigade on their long tramp to the prisoners' camp at Tyler, Tex. The wagons and mules were driven off by details in charge of the quartermaster ; the captured artillery, a source of some contention, was distributed among the captors ; and before midnight the blossom -laden April winds again whispered peacefully through the tall pines which waved over the bivouac of the sleeping victors. There were rumors of * * great hauls' ' of greenbacks from the headquarters wagons stopped by Shelby, and of cotton-buyers who were made to distribute their "rolls," but nothing of this kind was authenticated. The Confederates resumed the march the next morning in the same weather-stained clothing and upon their ill-groomed steeds, and with the same indom itable spirit. There were a few new wagons and ambu lances in the train, and several pieces of additional artil lery, as fruits of their achievement. They moved up the Saline river and loitered there in different camps for sev- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 261 eral days. The commanding officer seemed to be in a state of uncertainty, his force having been diminished by the necessary details for taking care of his captives, and by the killed and wounded. He was also without forage or subsistence, and the Saline was rising, though not absolutely impassable. The general's home was upon it a short distance above, and he knew it afforded no insuper able obstacle if he was prepared to advance. But having been ordered to Little Rock and Devall's Bluff at starting, he had since been enjoined not to cross the Arkansas. That meant, that if he should be repulsed at Little Rock he would have to fail back over 80 miles, without forage or subsistence. The order was in effect an arrest of his march. Thursday night it rained ; Friday it poured down rain all day. To get forage he must move, and he knew of none nearer than the vicinity of the Ouachita, near Arkadelphia. In the meantime, Steele had evacuated Camden, had passed through Princeton, and was in full and frantic flight to the fortifications at Little Rock. A lieutenant of Elliott's battalion reported to Shelby with prisoners captured from Steele 's army at Princeton the night before, that Steele was at Princeton with the remnant of his army. The command marched westward all day, April 2pth, and camped 35 miles from Princeton. That night a dispatch was received about midnight, stat ing that Steele had passed Princeton and was then within 8 miles of Jenkins' ferry. These circumstances General Pagan mentions at the conclusion of his report of the battle of Marks' mills, and explains the mischance by which he left the route Steele had to travel, as follows : At the close of the engagement (Marks' mills), which lasted about four hours, heavy details were necessarily made to take charge of the prisoners, wagons, ambulances, artillery, loose horses, mules, etc. , to be taken to the rear. A strong force was necessary for the safe passage to the south bank of the Ouachita of these prisoners and property. This, with my loss in the fight, reduced my force near 262 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 1,500 men. It was night before I got the train and pris oners on the way. We bivouacked on the battlefield, and early the next morning moved up the Saline river on hearing that a Federal train was then en route from Princeton to Little Rock. I continued for several days (Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday) attempting a cross ing of the Saline, but without success. The rumor of the Federal train proved incorrect. The river [Saline] was swimming at every point, and on arriving at the last crossing, before getting to the military road, and finding it utterly impossible to cross there (Pratt 's ferry), I moved out on the Princeton and Benton road, where I remained Thursday night, within 25 miles of Princeton, and until after 7 o'clock the next morning, hoping to hear something from district or department headquarters, as I had several days before dispatched to district head quarters my route. Hearing nothing of the evacuation of Camden on Friday morning, and being entirely without forage and subsist ence, I moved out toward the Ouachita, at the only point where anything of forage, etc., could be had, between Princeton and Arkansas river. Just before midnight, when 34 miles from Jenkins' ferry, I received a dispatch stating that the enemy was marching on Little Rock, and was within 8 miles of Jenkins' ferry. I at once ordered everything put in readiness and, by the time that I could see the road, moved as rapidly as the animals could travel for the scene of action on the 3oth. On my arrival, the fight had just closed. Being ordered by General Smith to do so, I ordered a part of Shelby's brigade forward. They reached the ferry, where further pur suit was impossible. The statement of the chief quartermaster of Steele's army, as to the wagons and mules captured and destroyed in the expedition, shows : ' ' Total number of wagons cap tured by the enemy, 298 ; total number of wagons burned during engagements by the enemy's projectiles, about 90; total number of wagons destroyed by orders, 247; total number of wagons missing, 635 ; total number of mules captured, about 2,000; total number of mules lost and abandoned, about 500; total number of mules missing, about 2,500." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 263 It would appear from the disasters to the Federal armies on Red river and in Arkansas, that General Grant was for once mistaken in his laconic criticism of the purposes of Kirby Smith in making headquarters at Shreveport. He said he could not imagine Smith's object, ''except it was to avoid being hurt. ' ' Gen. Kirby Smith's selection of Shreveport as his base of operations for the defense of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas undoubtedly worked out the overthrow of Banks and contributed to the defeat of Steele. Taylor's "precipitate" attack on Banks, as it was called, was no doubt aided by the concentration of troops under Smith's policy. Price's troops did not actually participate in the battle of Mansfield, so unexpectedly brought on by Gen eral Mouton and pushed to such a glorious success by Taylor, but their presence was known, and contributed to the victory. The pursuit to Pleasant hill, although a recoil at the instant, added impetus to the overthrow of Banks. The defeat of Banks was the cause of Steele 's retrograde movement from Prairie D' Ane into the fortifica tions of Camden, where he was penned as in a trap, Price, Marmaduke, Pagan and Cabell proving sufficient for his destruction. Perhaps the Fagan march across the Ouachita at Eldorado landing, and the capture of the train at Marks' mills, were entirely due to General Smith's conceptions, carried to immediate achievement. Neither Smith nor Fagan dreamed of striking McLean's brigade, under Colonel Drake, when the expedition started, but General Smith had complained that supplies were being sent to Steele at Camden under an insufficient escort. Hence he ordered the Fagan expedition to Little Rock, and it achieved Marks' mills. The subsequent pur suit of Steele by the infantry from Louisiana, as it turned out, was useless energy as well as waste of the lives of those who fell at Jenkins' ferry. The blow struck on Red river had done its work, as General Smith intended, and de stroyed Steele already. His dispositions are an example 264 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. of fine strategy which proved effectual by its mere design, without its full execution in detail. Returning from Mansfield to Shreveport with the infantry designed to oppose Steele 's advance on Arkansas, on the i6th of April, he halted Walker at his camp, 19 miles from Min- den, to be thrown against an enemy at either Camden or Shreveport. General Smith went to Arkansas the next day and ordered the Pagan expedition, which resulted in the capture, April 25th, of the Federal train at Marks' mills and the evacuation of Camden by Steele on the 27th. Walker's division was now ordered forward, of which General Smith took command in person. He assigned to General Price the command of the Arkansas and Mis souri divisions, commanded, respectively, by Generals Churchill and Parsons. The operations of the army remained under the chief command of General Smith. On the 28th of April, a raft having been laid across the Ouachita at Camden the night previous, the two divisions of infantry moved rapidly in pursuit of the retreating Steele, whose route was marked by cast-off garments and abandoned plunder. Marching from midnight of the 29th until daylight, the pursuing army came upon the enemy's rear near Jenkins' ferry, 22 miles north of Princeton. Marmaduke's brigade, commanded by Colonel Greene, was summoned to General Price and led the advance of the infantry, harassing the enemy's rear near Princeton, after traveling 90 miles without food for horses or rations or sleep for men ; and had 6 privates and a major killed, and 9 other officers, 4 sergeants and 30 privates wounded. Gen. T. J. Churchill, in command of the Arkansas division, counting about 2,000 muskets, marched to Cam den on April 27th, and on the evacuation of that place by Steele, crossed the Ouachita on the 29th, made a forced march of 27 miles, and after a few hours' rest, resumed the march at midnight in a heavy rain, through deep CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 265 mud, until about 7:30 a. m. on the 3oth, when he over took the enemy and deployed Tappan's brigade as skir mishers. This order being recalled, Shaver's and Grin- sted's regiments were substituted, and finally Shaver's regiment was alone deployed. The latter becoming engaged and hotly pressed by the enemy, the brigade was ordered forward in force. This proving insufficient to cope with the numbers of the enemy, General Price threw forward Hawthorn's brigade in support of Tappan and drove the enemy, but the latter, being reinforced and making desperate resistance, caused the Confederates to fall slowly back to their first position. This conflict of the two armies can only be understood by a view of their relative positions on the ground. At first, woods and wet marshes were on the right of the Con federates, and a succession of little fields in front toward the ferry, two miles distant. When near the ferry the road descends into a little valley or defile, to the left of which, in cane and underbrush, lies an impassable bayou with morass beyond, while on the right rises an abrupt, almost inaccessible hill, or bluff; the road and valley affording barely room for the alignment of a full brigade. The land to the right of the road was a field of muddy plowed land and marsh, the fences of which had been removed or destroyed, and the field cut up and trampled into a quagmire by Steele's trains, artillery, cavalry, and masses of soldiery. The canon was over a mile long, ending at the ferry. Gigantic trees had been felled, lapping across the valley, but had not been joined throughout their length, leaving spaces between them for the movement of batteries and masses of infantry. Behind this breastwork of trees the Federals had lodged themselves in desperation, to hold off the Confederate advance until they could cross their trains and their artil lery, which latter was immediately planted across the river to command the approach thereto. There were dead trees standing in the fields also, which gave positions to 266 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. their sharpshooters, from which to pick off all who came within range. Upon the repulse of brigade after brigade by the fire from the resolute defenders of this narrow gateway to the river, Parsons' Missouri brigade advanced, and forming on the left of Gano's Arkansas brigade, charged through the mud and logs that lay in their march, but they, too, exhausting their ammunition, were forced to retire. Major-General Walker's division had now reached the field. Led by General Smith they pushed beyond the lines that had preceded them, and supported by Churchill's division, which once again marched with renewed energy to the contest, General Smith had the pride of beholding the foe suddenly take to flight and leave the hard-fought field. General Dockery's men, under Colonel Williams, had been detached, and under the supervision of General Smith marched around and across the creek and morass to the left, where they formed a position from which they could reach the enemy's flank. When Gause's brigade had driven the enemy nearly a mile, and Clark's brigade on his left gave way, Colonel Gause resolved to hold his ground, and sent to General Churchill for reinforcements. General Tappan offered to go forward, while Colonel Burns formed his regiment at an angle to protect the bri gade; but fresh troops of the enemy began to sweep around to the left and he fell back in some confusion, seeing which, General Churchill, commanding the divi sion, dismounted, seized a rifle, and rallied the remnant of the brigade around him under fire. Soon after this, upon the advance of Walker's division, Gause again moved forward and engaged the enemy, who soon yielded pos session of the field. When General Tappan entered into the first charge against the enemy's position and saw that he needed a stronger force, he ordered Colonel Grinsted's regiment to his support. It was when Grin- sted was leading his men in obedience to this order that he was shot through the heart. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 267 The enemy had the advantage of position in this battle. No attempt to take advantage of position seemed to have been made on the part of the Confederates until General Smith threw Colonel Williams across the creek against the enemy's right and rear. Besides, the enemy had the spirit of desperation in his position. He had to resist to save his train. The enemy, having crossed the river about 2 o'clock, pressed on toward Little Rock night and day, leaving his dead on the muddy field. A little before night his infirmary corps, with proper badges and stretchers, came into the Confederate lines to bear away the dead and wounded. One young man in a Federal blouse had fallen, pierced with seven balls, any one of which would have been fatal, and all from the front, as the stretcher-bearer pointed out. Among the killed in this Arkansas Arcola were Col. H. L. Grinsted and Captain Dickson, Thirty-third Arkansas; Captain Mclver, Lieutenants Creden, Lasiter and Ponder, of Gause's brigade; Lieut. -Col. Simon Harris, of Parsons' brigade ; Generals Scurry and Randal, of Walker's division; and Colonel Watson, Eighteenth Texas infantry. The return of casualties in the Confederate forces in the engagement at Jenkins' ferry, Ark., April 30, 1864, shows the following: Churchill's division: Tappan's brigade — Hardy's regiment, 8 killed, 18 wounded; Thirty-third Arkansas, 21 killed, 71 wounded; Shaver's regiment, 4 killed, 22 wounded. Hawthorn's brigade, no report. Gause's brigade, 16 killed, 67 wounded; Dock- ery's brigade, i killed, 14 wounded. (Churchill reported total loss of division, 64 killed and 270 wounded.) Parsons' division: Clark's brigade, 1 8 killed, 73 wounded; Burns' brigade, u killed, 48 wounded. Marmaduke's division: Marmaduke's brigade, 7 killed, 43 wounded. Walker's division, no report. The loss of the Federals was believed to be much larger. 268 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. General Salomon, whose division bore the brunt of battle, reported a loss of 63 killed, 413 wounded and 45 missing. One regiment of Thayer's division reported 73 killed and wounded. The loss of Salomon's division alone in the entire campaign was reported at 103 killed, 60 1 wounded, and 1,072 captured and missing. Thayer's division reported a loss of 303 at Poison Spring. Those who received honorable mention by General Price for gallantry and faithful service in the campaign were the general officers of his command, members of his staff, Col. J. F. Belton, Majs. Thos. L. Snead and Geo. A. Gal lagher, Capts. J. W. Lewis and S. H. Buck, assistant adjutant-generals; Capt T. J. Mackay, chief engineer; Maj. Isaac Brinker, chief quartermaster; Capt. A. Sigourney, chief paymaster; Surgs. Thos. D. Wooten and C. M. Taylor; and his personal staff, Lieuts. R. T. Morrison and Celsus Price, Col. W. L. Crawford, Capt. D. C. Cage and Lieut. B. F. Scull. Of these, Lieuten ants Scull and Price and Orderly D. Kavanaugh partic ularly distinguished themselves at Jenkins' ferry. Lieu tenant Scull, in reconnoitering the position of the enemy, received a wound which caused the loss of a leg. Mention was made by General Churchill of Brigadier- Generals Tappan and Hawthorn, and Colonel Gause, commanding brigades; and his staff, Maj. W. W. Dunlap, chief of artillery; Maj. H. M. Clark, assistant inspector- general; Lieut. A. H. Sevier, assistant adjutant-general; Capt. J. L. Thomas, paymaster; Capts. C. E. Royston and C. J. Hanks, and Col. John W. Polk, volunteer aides; Chief Surgeon A. M. McPheeters; Maj. C. B. Moore, chief quartermaster; Maj. J. R. Upshaw, chief commis sary of subsistence, and Capt. C. E. Kidder, ordnance officer. General Tappan mentioned Col. R. G. Shaver and Lieut. -Cols. W. R. Hardy and T. D. Thomson; his staff, Capts. Amos Tappan and J. J. Homer, and Lieuts. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 269 W. P. McCabe and C. E. Mitchell; and his volunteer aides, W. F. Sale and E. E. Ives. Colonel Shaver mentioned particularly the gallant con duct of Sergt. David McCulloch of Company A, who, being ordered to advance as near as possible to the enemy's line, shot down one of the enemy's skirmishers, and capturing another brought him off under fire. Col. L. C. Gause mentioned Col. J. M. Davis, Lieut. - Cols. Brooks and Hicks, commanding regiments in his brigade ; Majors Hathaway and Stanley ; Captain Anthony, acting lieutenant-colonel; and Captain Mantell, acting major of Gause 's regiment, and the gallant dead — Cap tain Mclver and Lieuts. Cude [Creden], Lasiter and Ponder. Lieut. -Col. H. G. P. Williams, who commanded the dismounted portion of Dockery's brigade, mentioned Lieutenant Gillespie, Captain Franklin, and his adjutant, Thos. H. Simms; and made acknowledgment of the gal lant assistance rendered by Lieutenant Cunningham of General Smith's staff. After the battle, the infantry divisions of Churchill, Parsons and Walker were marched by the most direct route to Louisiana, with orders to report to General Tay lor. The reoccupation of the Red river valley by Kirby Smith closed the campaign in Louisiana. By general orders, No. 21, headquarters Trans-Missis sippi department, May 13, 1864, Brig. -Gen. J. F. Fagan was assigned to duty as major-general, to date from April 25th (Marks' mills); Brig. -Gens. T. J. Churchill and J. S. Marmaduke as major-generals, to date from April 30, 1864 (Jenkins' ferry); Capt. B. S. Johnson as major, and Lieut. A. H. Sevier as captain, in the adjutant- general's department. General Price, returning to Camden, ordered General Shelby, May 5th, to march to the rear of Steele's army, between Little Rock and Memphis, and prevent the use of the railroad east of Little Rock and the navigation of 270 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. White river. Shelby marched to the Fourche la Favey northwest of Little Rock, and failing to find a suitable place for crossing with the flatboat he carried with him on wheels, effected the passage of the Arkansas at Dardanelle. Landing safely on the opposite bank on May i8th, he passed through Dover and Clinton to White river, scatter ing the bands of Federals and jayhawkers that came in his way, crossed White river 20 miles west of Batesville, and remained between Batesville and Jacksonport to recruit his horses and the numerical strength of his army. On the 23d of June, scouting in the vicinity of Clarenden, he found the gunboat Queen City lying off the place. His description of the capture is in the following char acteristic strain: Placing pickets on every road, and arresting every man, woman and child who came out, and all who came in, I kept m)7 proximity silent as the grave. Determining to attack [the gunboat] and surprise it if possible, I waited until 12 o'clock at night, moved the artillery to within a mile by horses, unlimbered and dragged the guns up to within 50 feet of the boat, covered all bridges with weeds, carried the ammunition by hand to the guns, dis mounted my entire brigade, stationed them along the bank, and waited for the coming daylight. . . . Just as the white hand of morning put away the sable clouds of night, four pieces of artillery sent their terrible messengers crashing through the boat. Then the infantry opened with terrific effect, and in ten minutes the Queen City was a helpless wreck upon the water, her captain surren dering unconditionally. With this capture there fell into my hands her splendid armament of nine guns — six 30- pounder Parrotts, two beautiful Dahlgren boat-howitzers, and one 24-pounder howitzer, with all kinds of the best ammunition — 60 officers and seamen, large quantities of supplies and clothing. Everything that could be removed was taken off. The two Dahlgren guns were placed in position on the bank to help blockade the river, with plenty of ammunition. The magazine was opened, a train laid, and in ten seconds the unfortunate boat was blown into a thousand fragments, the splinters and pieces CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 271 of iron and wood coming down for hours. I hated to see the six splendid guns go down, but no time was left to tarry over an effort to secure them. I had scarcely changed the position of my battery, got volunteers for the new guns, and reformed my infantry, when the shrill whistling of three boats above warned me to be on the alert. Very soon the Tyler, the Grace [Fawn] and the Naumkeag, three formidable gunboats, came round the bend and opened furiously upon me. For two hours the conflict lasted. Without shelter, on an open levee, my gunners stood to their pieces, and the infantry lines charged up to the bank of the river and kept the portholes closed for a while. I now learned that their vast superiority of metal was telling heavily on my command, and with the two new guns dismounted, and the Tyler within 50 yards, vomiting bushels of grape and canister at every discharge, I withdrew in fine order from the unequal contest, the gunboats patrolling the river until night. They were severely handled in the contest. The Tyler received 13 shots through her; the Grace was towed off, and the Naumkeag was reported sunk while being towed to Devall's Bluff. On the 26th, Shelby was attacked by Federal troops of all arms, landed from eleven transports convoyed by three more gunboats. He gave them a running fight June 2yth, and quietly crossed Bayou De View, where he was safe from attack, and took rest. He reported: "The loss of the Federals in the two days' fighting can safely be put down at 250 killed and wounded; 30 will cover my entire loss, but the most of these can never be replaced in this world. Among my wounded, I am sorry to men tion the brave Colonel Shanks. ' ' General Carr, the Fed eral commander, reported his loss at i killed and 16 wounded. About the same date of his order to Shelby, General Price directed General Marmaduke, with his division of cavalry and artillery, to scout the west bank of the Missis sippi, from the mouth of the Arkansas down to Louisiana. General Marmaduke, at the head of his brigade, Pratt 's battery, and a detachment of Monroe's regiment from 272 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Cabell's brigade, entered Chicot county and fought and defeated a Federal force at Lake Chicot the last of May, engaging the United States steamer Curlew, on the Mis sissippi, ten miles above Games' landing. Col. Colton Greene, commanding a brigade of this division, on the 3oth attacked and captured near Sunnyside the steamers Lebanon and Clara Eames; with Monroe's regiment, sup ported by Hughey's battery, fought and disabled the steamers Exchange and Monarch, and on the 3ist struck the Adams with shell 28 times, killed 3 of her men and mortally wounded i. Colonel Greene claimed to have demonstrated the practicability of blockading the Missis sippi river. Lieutenant- Colonel Harrell, with part of his command, was sent to relieve Colonel Hill, near Shreveport, taking the Marks' Mills prisoners and about 1,000 addi tional captured on Red river, 3,500 in all, to the stockade at Tyler, Tex. General Cabell's headquarters were at Monticello, and his brigade was distributed along Bayou Bartholomew and Red Fork, on the lower Arkansas river, occasionally skirmishing with scouts sent out by Clayton from Pine Bluff. These ceasing, for weeks peace once more held temporary dominion. The other commands of General Fagan were on the Arkansas at Douglass' plantation. On August 4th, Maj.-Gen. J. B. Magruder was assigned to command of the district of Arkansas, and Maj.-Gen. Price to command of the cavalry of the district. Gen. Sterling Price had indulged in the belief that he might accomplish more for the Confederate cause by pushing into Missouri, with a large force as a nucleus, and rally around the Southern flag many thousands who only wanted the opportunity to enlist in his army. His mili tary judgment was good, his experience large, and his honorable fame and services rendered a request to be per mitted to lead such a force equivalent to a command. Being authorized accordingly, he perfected the organiza- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 273 tion for a campaign to the Missouri river, assigning his forces to three divisions, under Pagan, Marmaduke and Shelby. Maj.-Gen. James F. Pagan's division was organized as follows : Cabell's Arkansas brigade, Brig. -Gen. Wm. L. Cabell,* Lieut. -Col. A. V. Reiff — Monroe's cavalry, Col. James C. Monroe; Gordon's cavalry, Col. Anderson Gordon; Mor gan's cavalry, Col. Thomas J. Morgan; Hill's cavalry, Col. John F. Hill; Gunter's cavalry battalion, Lieut. - Col. Thomas M. Gunter; Harrell's cavalry battalion, Lieut. -Col. John M. Harrell; Witherspoon's cavalry bat talion, Maj. J. L. Witherspoon; Hughey's battery, Capt. W. W. Hughey. Siemens' Arkansas brigade, Col. W. F. Siemens,* Col. William A. Crawford — Second cavalry, Col. W. F. Siem ens; Crawford's cavalry, Col. William A. Crawford; Carlton's cavalry, Col. Charles H. Carlton; Wright's cavalry, Col. John C. Wright. Dobbin's Arkansas brigade, Col. Archibald S. Dobbin — Dobbin's cavalry, Col. Archibald S. Dobbin; McGhee's cavalry, Col. Jas. McGhee; Witt's cavalry, Col. A. R. Witt; Blocher's battery (one section), Lieut. J. V. Zim merman. McCray's Arkansas brigade, Col. Thomas H. McCray — Forty-fifth Arkansas (mounted), Col. Milton D. Baber; Forty-seventh Arkansas (mounted), Col. Lee Crandall; Fifteenth Missouri cavalry, Col. Timothy Reves. Unattached — Lyles' Arkansas cavalry, Col. Oliver P. Lyles; Rogan's Arkansas cavalry, Col. James W. Rogan; Anderson's Arkansas cavalry battalion, Capt. Wm. L. Anderson. Maj.-Gen. John S. Marmaduke 's division (commanded after his capture at Little Osage by Brig. -Gen. John B. Clark, Jr.) included Marmaduke's brigade, under Clark (succeeded by Greene), and the brigade of Col. Thomas R. Freeman, which included, with the Missouri regiments of Freeman and Fristoe, Ford's Arkansas battalion, Lieut. -Col. Barney Ford. Brig. -Gen. Joseph O. Shelby's division included Shelby's Missouri brigade, Col. David Shanks (wounded * Captured at the battle of Little Osage river, October 25th. Ark 18 274 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. and captured), Col. Moses W. Smith (wounded), Brig.. Gen. M. Jeff Thompson; Jackman's Missouri brigade, Col. Sidney D. Jackman; Tyler's Missouri brigade, Col. Charles H. Tyler; with the Forty-sixth Arkansas (mounted), Col. W. O. Coleman, unattached. General Price left Camden with his army, August 28th. In the report which he made of his advance into Mis souri, to defeat which the veteran armies of the whole West had been concentrated against him, he concludes as follows : On the 1 3th [of November, 1864] I arrived at Perry- ville, in the Indian Nation, where I met three wagons with supplies, and encamped, remaining over one day to rest and recruit my men. I had marched carefully and slowly, stopping to graze my stock whenever an oppor tunity offered. On the i4th, General Shelby, at his own request, was left behind on the Canadian to recruit. On the loth, Cabell's brigade was furloughed, as also the brigade commanded by Col. W. F. Siemens, who was captured. On the 2ist of November I arrived at Clarks- ville, where I received an order from Major-General Magruder to march to Laynesport, I. T., and there establish my headquarters. I arrived there on the 26. of December, 1864, having marched 1,434 miles. . . . To enumerate specially the names of the officers who distinguished themselves for skill and courage would swell this report beyond all reasonable limits Maj.-Gen. J. F. Fagan, commanding the division of Arkansas troops, bore himself throughout the whole expe dition with unabated gallantry and ardor, and commanded his division with great ability. . . . Brigadier-General Cabell bore himself as a bold, undaunted and skillful officer. Impetuous, yet wary, he commanded his brigade in such a manner as to win praise from all. I regret that, for the want of reports from their several command ing officers, I am not able to do justice to this as well as other brigades of Arkansas troops. Brigadier-General Cabell's capture was a great misfortune, and his place will be difficult to fill. . . . Colonels Slemons, Dobbin and McCray (the former of whom was captured) acted throughout as brave, daring, yet prudent officers, and are CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 275 each entitled to great praise. Colonel Freeman proved himself to be a brave and energetic officer, but as his men were mostly unarmed they were not able to render the same brilliant services as other brigades that were armed. . . . In conclusion, permit me to add that in my opinion the results flowing from my operations in Missouri are of the most gratifying character. I marched 1,434 miles; fought forty-three battles and skirmishes; captured and paroled over 3,000 Federal officers and men; captured 18 pieces of artillery, 3,000 stand of small-arms, 16 stand of colors that were brought out by me (besides many others that were captured and destroyed by our troops who took them), at least 3,000 overcoats, large quantities of blankets, shoes and ready-made clothing for soldiers, a great many wagons and teams, large numbers of horses, great quantities of subsistence and ordnance stores. I destroyed miles upon miles of railroad, burning the depots and bridges; and taking this into calculation, I do not think I go beyond the truth when I state that I destroyed, in the late expedition to Missouri, property to the amount of $10,000,000 in value. On the other hand, I lost 10 pieces of artillery, 2 stand of colors, 1,000 small-arms, while I do not think I lost 1,000 prisoners, including the wounded left in their hands and others than recruits on their way to join me, some of whom may have been cap tured by the enemy. On September 30, 1864, President Davis wrote to Gen. Kirby Smith urging the sending of a division east of the Mississippi, and suggesting that Wharton's cavalry com mand might be substituted for Walker's infantry division. General Beauregard wrote to him on December ad, to reinforce Hood in Tennessee or make a diversion in Mis souri. The diversion had been made, as General Smith had already written to the President, by General Price, who took with him to Missouri a force most of which was then available for no other purpose. He had thus drawn the Sixteenth army corps (A. J. Smith) from Memphis, and Grierson's cavalry from Mississippi, leaving Forrest free to operate in northern Georgia, compelling the Fed erals to concentrate 50,000 men in Missouri and diverting 276 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. reinforcements which would have been sent to Sherman. Gen. John B. Magruder, now in command of the dis trict of Arkansas, kept Steele at Little Rock, in constant apprehension of a movement against that city. General Smith at one time in November seriously contemplated such a movement, and Churchill's, Polignac's, Forney's and M. M. Parsons' divisions were assembled in the vicinity of Camden. Parsons' Texas cavalry was extended from Monticello, Drew county, to Games' landing; Wharton's cavalry from Spring Hill to Shreve- port; Logan's (Eleventh) Arkansas, mounted, was scout ing up through Clark and Saline counties, Hill and Burk north of the Arkansas. November i8th, Churchill's divi sion had moved to Louisville, in La Fayette county, on Red river — "Camp Lee." From Price's headquarters, November 3oth, General Clark in command of Marma- duke's division, and General Thompson in command of Shelby's, were ordered to Laynesport; and Gurley's Texas cavalry in that direction to cooperate with Gen eral Maxey. By direction of General Smith the Ouachita and Little Missouri were made "the true line of defense. " Colonels McCray and Dobbin were sent into northeast Arkansas. General Magruder, having transferred his headquarters to Washington, Ark. , wrote to General Price on the sub ject of the reorganization of his command, that "those regiments best disciplined and officered should be retained as cavalry, and sent to Texas to winter; the others to be dismounted, and the Missourians placed with Parsons and the Arkansans with Churchill." He received from General Smith, December Qth, advice "that the command was then better prepared to receive an order dismounting them than it would ever be again ; that not more than two brigades should be retained, and one should be Shelby's, and the interest of the service should decide him (Magruder) whether the other should be Marmaduke ' s or Cabell ' s. " General Magruder decided CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 277 in favor of Cabell's, which had assembled in camp at Hillsboro and was under command of Col. John M. Har- rell. It numbered over 2, ooo effective men, and was better mounted and armed than before the raid into Missouri. The President did not approve the promotion of Brig. - Gen. M. M. Parsons, and he was ordered to resume com mand of his original brigade in Churchill's division. This was because of the great reduction of numbers in Parsons' division. The Arkansas troops in the Second army corps,* com manded by Maj.-Gen. John B. Magruder, are stated as follows, December 31, 1864: First Arkansas infantry division, Act. Maj.-Gen. Thomas J. Churchill commanding: First Arkansas infantry brigade, Brig. -Gen. John S. Roane — Twenty- sixth regiment, Col. Iverson L. Brooks; Davie's regi ment, Col. James M. Davie; Gause's regiment, Col. Lucien C. Gause; Rogan's regiment, Col. James W. Rogan. Second Arkansas infantry brigade (Dockery's), Brig. -Gen. Evander McNair — First consolidated, Lieut. - Col. Wm. W. Reynolds; Second consolidated, Col. Thomas J. Reid, Jr. ; Third consolidated, Col. H. G. P. Williams. Third Arkansas infantry brigade, Brig. -Gen. James C. Tappan — Nineteenth regiment, Col. Wm. R. Hardy; Twenty-seventh regiment, Lieut. -Col. James M. Riggs; Thirty-third regiment, Col. Thomas D. Thom son; Shaver's regiment, Col. R. G. Shaver. Fourth Arkansas infantry brigade, Brig. -Gen. Alexander T. Hawthorn — Thirty-fourth regiment, Col. William H. Brooks; Bell's regiment, Col. Samuel S. Bell; McCord's * The troops of the Trans-Mississippi department were organized in four army corps: First corps, Lieutenant-General Buckner com manding — Forney's, Polignac's and Maxey's (Texas) divisions. Sec ond corps, Major-General Magruder commanding — Churchill's divi sion, Parsons' division, Wharton's division. Third corps, Major- General Walker commanding — Hebert's division, Drayton's division. Fourth corps, Major-General Price commanding — Marmaduke's division, Pagan's division, Cooper's division. 278 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. regiment, Col. Henry J. McCord; Folk's regiment, Col. Cadwallader Polk. The Fourth or cavalry corps, under Major-General Price, included the First Arkansas cavalry division, Maj.- Gen. Jas. F. Fagan commanding : First Arkansas cavalry brigade, Brig. -Gen. Wm. L. Cabell (captured), Col. John M. Harrell — First regiment, Col. James C. Monroe (dis abled) ; Second regiment, Col. Thomas J. Morgan (detached); Gordon's regiment, Col. Anderson Gordon (disabled); Gunter's regiment, Lieut. -Col. Thomas M. Gunter; Harrell's battalion, Maj. J. W. Bishop; Hill's cavalry, Col. John F. Hill (detached), Lieut. -Col. Basham (killed). Second Arkansas cavalry brigade, Col. W. F. Siemens (captured), Col. William A. Crawford (promoted to brigadier-general) — Crawford's regiment, Col. William A. Crawford (consolidated with Harrell's) ; McMurtrey's battalion, Lieut. -Col. Elisha L. McMurtrey; Stirman's battalion, Lieut. -Col. Ras. Stirman; Wright's cavalry, Col. John C. Wright (transferred to Cabell's brigade). Cooper's Indian cavalry division, Brig. -Gen. Douglas H. Cooper commanding, included: First Indian cavalry brigade, Brig. -Gen. Stand Watie — First Cherokee regi ment, Col. Robert C. Parks ; Second Cherokee, Col. Wil liam P. Adair; Cherokee battalion, Maj. Joseph A. Scales; First Creek, Col. Daniel N. Mclntosh; Second Creek, Col. Chilly Mclntosh; Creek squadron, Capt. R. Kenard; First Osage battalion, Maj. Broke Arm; First Seminole battalion, Lieut. -Col. John Jumper. Second Indian cavalry brigade, Col. Tandy Walker — First Chick- asaw regiment, Lieut. -Col. Lemuel M. Reynolds; First Choctaw battalion, Lieut. -Col. Jackson McCurtain ; First Choctaw and Chickasaw battalion, Lieut. -Col. James Riley; Second Choctaw, Col. Simpson N. Folsom; Reserve squadron, Capt. George Washington. The artillery of Churchill's division was organized in a battalion, under Maj. W. D. Blocher, including the fol lowing Arkansas batteries of field artillery, each of four CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 279 guns : First battery, Capt. Francis McNally ; Third bat tery, Capt. J. G. Marshall ; Seventh battery, Capt. J. V. Zimmerman; Fifth (Appeal) battery, Capt. C. C. Scott; Sixth battery, Capt. C. B. Etter; Ninth battery, Capt. John T. Trigg. Capt. William M. Hughey's battery was assigned to Fagan's division, and Capt. Henry C. West's Arkansas battery to Faries' battalion, Polignac's division. And now once more the Confederate army in Arkansas was gathered about the ancient and patriotic town of Washington, the State capital, as well as military head quarters. The pretty girls of that refined and hospitable community had the presence of the officers once more. Maj.-Gen. John Bankhead Magruder — "Prince John," as he was styled in the palmy days of peace — was as much a society man as the youngest officer in the army. His nephew and aide-de-camp was as great a beau as had been his uncle in former days — and would be now. He wore a Confederate uniform, made and finished in regulation style in Paris. The parlors of these two chivalrous rep resentatives of the old South were the scene of many costly and elegant festivities during the winter of 1864-65, while the warriors of his command were resting on their laurels in prospect of a quiet winter spent in quarters. There proved to be but little interruption to this wel come interval of repose. The annoying report of cavalry invasions into northeast Louisiana caused Cabell's bri gade, with West's battery, to be hurried out of its snug shanties at Hillsboro down upon the Ouachita, in a long march of nearly 100 miles into Union parish, La. The brigade crossed numerous streams, with artillery ammu nition carried over by careful details on horseback. Then after scouting and finding absolutely no ground for the alarm, the brigade was ordered into winter quarters at Cherry Ridge, but had hardly erected rude quarters before it was ordered into Texas to go into winter quar ters near Corsicana. The inaction at this time of the 280 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. mounted commands just in from Missouri, in order that the horses might be rested, was not singular. But as the army of the Trans- Mississippi was large and contin ually called for, the inaction of so large a force, while all the Confederates east of the river were in the field, could only be explained by the fact that it could not cross the Mississippi river. The field returns of the army of the Trans-Mississippi gave totals: First army corps, composed of Texans and Louisianians, under Major-General Buckner, aggregate present, 20,868; Second army corps, Arkansans and Mis- sourians, under Major-General Magruder, 10,885; Third army corps, Texans, under Major-General Walker, 8, 251 ; Cooper's cavalry corps, Indians and Texans, 3,019; grand total, 43,054, with 120 pieces of artillery. Leaving out Indian commands, there was a grand total of 40,000 1 ' aggregate present. ' ' Probably the inaction could not be helped, and General Smith was the constituted and best judge of the situation. All of the best faculties of man are required to make a successful leader of military cam paigns. Undoubtedly General Smith gave evidence of the possession of great military capacity. His strategic moves were usually good, and admitting that his over- confidence at Jenkins' ferry cost him dearly, he had a right to rely on assistance there. One practical lesson most thoroughly impressed in experience of actual war is that a most trivial accident may thwart a grand combina tion, and cause disappointment to a heartfelt wish like that expressed by Wellington: " Would that night or Blucher would come." There was only one Stonewall Jackson, and but one Lee, in the course of centuries. As it resulted, the Western campaign proposed for the spring of 1865, after much preparation and thought, was never fought. It may be well, in reaching the closing days of a great endeavor, to repeat the old adage: "Man proposes, and God disposes. ' ' The Confederacy ceased to exist when its military resources were exhausted. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 281 The dispersion of the Confederates in Arkansas was not attended by even a single scene of disorder. The government wagons, ambulances and mules in their hands the soldiers divided among themselves amicably. The separations, after years of common toil and danger, were pathetic. But undoubtedly all felt a measure of relief in the realization that the horrid drama was ended. The Trans- Mississippi was the last to surrender. In general orders, dated April 21, 1865, Gen. E. K. Smith exhorted the soldiers of the Trans- Mississippi to stand by their colors : Great disasters have overtaken us. The army of Northern Virginia and our general-in-chief are prisoners of war. With you rest the hopes of our nation, and upon your action depends the fate of our people. . . . Stand by your colors, maintain your discipline. The great resources of this department, its vast extent, the numbers, the discipline and the efficiency of the army will secure to our country terms that a proud people can with honor accept. . . . General Magruder issued similar orders, and the men remained steadfast. Then came the news of the conven tion between Gens. Joseph E. Johnston and Sherman to arrange terms of surrender in North Carolina, which reached them the last days of April. Taylor and Canby and Smith and Osterhaus made terms of surrender at Baton Rouge on the 26th of May. There was a little engagement at Brazos Santiago about the nth of May, after the entire army east of the river had surrendered, and before Kirby Smith and Canby had entered into terms, but the last Arkansas Confederate had laid down his arms. A few, with Col. J. C. Monroe, went to Mexico. Had the settlement of peace, which they welcomed, been left to the soldiers who had contended against each other, there would have been no bitterness to follow. But the non-fighters, who had not participated in the 282 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. battles, were now to be placated with difficulty and have an opportunity, when danger was over, to appease their offended patriotism and gratify a growing desire to "rally round the flag. ' ' Yet, after years of political strife, the result is finally, in all departments, a lofty and practical reconciliation. This result attests the reach of nine teenth century civilization, and the superiority of a gov ernment which can stand the strains to which nations are subject without weakening, and without losing the esteem of contemporary states and the approval of his tory. The following is a copy of the cartel under which mili tary operations ceased west of the Mississippi : Terms of a Military Convention entered into this 26th day of May, 1865, at New Orleans, La., between Gen. E. Kirby Smith, C. S. Army, commanding the depart ment of Trans- Mississippi, and Maj.-Gen. E. R. S. Canby, U. S. Army, commanding the army and division of West Mississippi, for the surrender of the troops and public property under the control of the military and naval authorities of the Trans-Mississippi department. I. All acts of war and resistance against the United States on the part of the troops under General Smith shall cease from this date. II. The officers and men to be paroled until duly exchanged, or otherwise released from the obligation of their parole by the authority of the government of the United States. Duplicate rolls of all officers and men paroled to be returned by such officers as may be desig nated by the parties hereto, officers giving their individ ual paroles, and commanders of regiments, battalions, companies or detachments signing a like parole for the men of their respective companies. III. Artillery, small- arms, ammunition and other prop erty of the Confederate States government, including gunboats and transports, to be turned over to the officers appointed to receive the same on the part of the govern ment of the United States ; duplicate inventories of the property to be surrendered to be prepared, one copy to be retained by the officer delivering and the other by CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 283 the officer receiving it, for the information of their respective commanders. IV. Officers and men paroled tinder this agreement will be allowed to return to their homes with the assur ance that they will not be disturbed by the authorities of the United States as long as they continue to observe the conditions of their paroles and the laws in force where they reside, except that persons resident in northern States and not excepted in the amnesty proclamation of the President, may return to their homes on taking the oath of allegiance to the United States. V. The surrender of property will not include the side- arms or private horses or baggage of officers. VI. All horses which are in good faith the private property of enlisted men will not be taken from them. The men will be permitted to take such with them to their homes, to be used for private purposes only. VII. The time, mode and place of paroling and surren der of property will be fixed by the respective command ers, and it will be carried out by commissioners appointed by them. VIII. The terms and conditions of this convention to extend to all officers and men of the army and navy of the Confederate States, or any of them being in or belonging to the Trans-Mississippi department. IX. Transportation and subsistence to be furnished at public cost for the officers and men (after being paroled) to the nearest practicable point to their homes. (Signed) S. B. BUCKNER, Lieutenant-General and Chief of Staff. (For Gen. E. Kirby Smith.) (Signed) P. Jos. OSTERHAUS, Major-General of Volunteers and Chief of Staff. (For Maj.-Gen. E. R. S. Canby, commanding military division of West Mississippi. ) Having carefully followed the Arkansas men in many Trans-Mississippi campaigns where fighting was frequent and hardship was familiar, we will turn attention, in the following chapters, to their comrades, under General Cle- burne and other brave officers, with whom arduous and dangerous service was done on the east, as it was on the west, of the Mississippi. CHAPTER XI. ARKANSAS REGIMENTS— THEIR ORGANIZATION AND COMMANDERS— A BRIEF NARRATIVE OF THEIR SERVICE. THE Second Arkansas infantry, organized by the State military board, June, 1861, elected John Rene Gratiot, of Washington, colonel; David Provence, lieutenant-colonel; S. B. Ward, major. The regimental staff was chosen as follows: Granville Wil- cox, of Van Buren, adjutant; Malcolm Simms, of Hemp- stead, quartermaster; Elias B. Moore, of Fayetteville, commissary. The company organization after the elec tion of Colonel Gratiot, who had been captain of Com pany A, was as follows, so far as is now recalled : Company A, Hempstead county, Capt. Daniel W. Jones ; Company B, Washington county, Capt. S. K. Bell ; Com pany C, Crawford county, Capt. T. B. Brown ; Company E, Sebastian county, Capt. John Griffith; Company F, Crawford county, Capt. James Stuart. Colonel Gratiot, a native of St. Louis, Mo. , and a graduate of the military academy at West Point, served during the Mexican war as lieutenant of artillery, and then, resigning his commis sion and studying law, settled at the town of Washing ton, Hempstead county, in 1848, but did not enter actively in the practice of the profession. His sister, wife of Bernard Hempstead, resided there. The family was of French extraction. On the call for troops to resist invasion he offered his services, which were gladly accepted, and he was success ively made captain and colonel of the first regiment or ganized for State service. How he commanded his regi ment at Oak Hills, and what splendid service was ren- 284 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 285 dered by his men in that engagement, has already been related. His regiment went through the Kentucky and Georgia campaigns, and was more than decimated in the bloody battles east of the Mississippi river. The Second Arkansas Mounted Riflemen was organized in the summer of 1861, with James Mclntosh, colonel; Ben T. Embry, lieutenant-colonel; Brown, major; W. D. DeBerry, surgeon; W. A. C. Sayle, assistant sur geon. Colonel Mclntosh was educated at the United States military academy. He was impetuous to a degree that scorned all caution. Being ordered by General McCulloch into the Indian Territory against the Creek chief, Hopo- eithleyohola, he dispersed the Indian Federal organiza tion. It is said his regiment was deployed in groups of two for five miles, when he at its head began the attack upon the Indian camp. He was speedily promoted to brigadier-general, and Embry became colonel. The cap tains were Gibson, Parker, King, Arrington, Harris Flanagin, Witherspoon, Brown and Gamble. General Mclntosh was killed at the battle of Elkhorn Tavern, or Pea Ridge. The regiment was ordered to Mississippi and was reorganized at Corinth, when Capt. Harris Flan agin was elected colonel; Maj. J. A. Williamson, lieuten ant-colonel ; Capt. James P. Eagle, major. Colonel Flan agin being elected governor of the State, Williamson became colonel and Eagle, lieutenant-colonel. Colonel Williamson lost a leg at the battle of Resaca, May, 1864, and J. T. Smith, appointed colonel, was killed in battle July 28th, James P. Eagle then succeeding him as colonel of the regiment. Ten years afterward, Colonel Eagle was speaker of the house of representatives, and after another decade was elected governor of Arkansas, as which he served two terms. Captain Witherspoon became attorney- general. The regiment took part in the battles of Oak Hills and Elkhorn, and in the Kentucky campaign under E. Kirby Smith. Among its battles were Rich mond, Ky., Murfreesboro, Jackson, Miss., Chickamauga, 286 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Resaca, Atlanta, Ezra Church, Lovejoy's Station, Jones- boro, Moore's Station, Franklin, Tenn., Nashville, Sugar Creek, and Bentonville, N. C. It surrendered with Johnston, April 26, 1865, at Greensboro, N. C. The Third Arkansas State regiment, cavalry, which served in the brigade of Gen. N. B. Pearce at Oak Hills, was commanded by Col. De Rosey Carroll, a planter advanced in years, and an ardent Southerner. He came to the State from near Huntsville, Ala. , and was originally from Maryland. Company A was commanded by Captain Carroll; B, by Captain Lews; C, by Captain Armstrong; D, by Captain Perkins; F, by Captain McKissick; G, by Captain Walker ; H, by Captain Parks ; I, by Captain Withers. Upon orders of the military board transferring the State troops to the Confederate service, it was mus tered out September 19, 1861, its members entering new organizations. The Fifth regiment, State troops, forming part of the brigade of Gen. N. B. Pearce, was commanded by Col. Tom P. Dockery, of Lamartine, Magnolia county. Its captains were Whallings, Dismukes, Lawrence, Dowd and Titsworth. Being disbanded September, 1861, its members entered other organizations, most of them into Colonel Dawson's regiment. Walker's State regiment, under Gen. N. B. Pearce, was organized by Judge David Walker, known as "Little Dave" to distinguish him from his uncle, Judge David Walker, who was twice associate justice of the Supreme court and president of the Secession convention, and re sided also at Fayetteville. "Little Dave" Walker was judge of the Fayetteville circuit at the time of his election as colonel of the Fourth Arkansas State infantry. The regiment was mustered out in 1861. Its colonel did not again enter the service, and after the reconstruction he was elected United States senator. McRae's battalion, first organized with eight com panies, and increased to a regiment, was commanded by CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 287 Col. Dandridge McRae, of Searcy; Lieut. -Col. J. M. Hobbs, of Benton county; Maj. L. L. Thompson; James Hobbs was quartermaster ; Dr. Bourland, of Van Buren, surgeon. The captains were Morris Hobbs ; J. B. Cooper, of Benton county ; S. B. Buchanan, of Washington county; Caleb Davis, of Pope county; Hallo well, of Yell county; Knott, of Franklin county, and Douglas, of Benton county. The battalion fought at Oak Hills and Elkhorn ; was transferred to the east of the Mississippi, and partici pated in the battles of Farmington, luka, Corinth, Baker's Creek, and in the siege of Vicksburg. Exchanged at Vicksburg, it was reorganized west of the Mississippi, and with Gause's, Glenn's, Hart's and Morgan's regiments, formed a brigade commanded by McRae, promoted to brigadier-general. Lieutenant- Colonel Hobbs, who had served several sessions as clerk of the house of represent atives of Arkansas, became colonel. The Fourth Arkansas infantry was organized at Miller's Springs, Lawrence county, Mo., August 17, 1861, by the election of Col. Evander McNair, of Hempstead county; Lieut. -Col. A. Bryce Williams, of Hempstead county; Maj. J. H. Clay, of Montgomery county. The regiment was reorganized at Corinth, Miss., May 8, 1862. The companies were commanded as follows : Company A, of Calhoun county, Capt. Joseph B. McCulloch, succeeded by First Lieut. George Eberhart, Second Lieut. Wiley C. Brown, Third Lieut. H. G. Bunn (who afterward became major, lieutenant-colonel and colonel of the regiment). Company B, of Hempstead county, Capt. Rufus K. Gar land, elected to the Confederate Congress and succeeded by First Lieut. Henry J. Bonner, Second Lieut. J. W. Paup, Third Lieut. John L. Loudermilk; Henry J. Bon ner, made captain at the reorganization. Company C, of Montgomery county, Capt. F. J. Erwin, First Lieut. Nathaniel Grant, Second Lieut. J. Scott, Third Lieut. J. Bates. Company D, of LaFayette county, Capt. Joseph C. Tyson, First Lieut. Charles A. Jenkins, Second Lieut. 288 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. James M. Meyers, Third Lieut Chesley G. Williams; on reorganization Samuel W. Mays was made captain. Company E, of Hempstead county, Capt. John A. Rowles, First Lieut. Samuel Ogden, Second Lieut. Augustus Kyle, Third Lieut. Ellis G. Winstead; on reorganization Augustus Kyle was made captain. Company F, of Mont gomery, Capt. J. M. Simpson, First Lieut. J. W. Laven der, Second Lieut. Arthur Mayberry, Third Lieut. P. D. Davis; Captain Simpson was mortally wounded in the battle of Elkhorn, and First Lieut. J. W. Lavender be came captain. Company G, of Pike county, Capt. James F. Black, First Lieut. William B. Gould, Second Lieut. John N. McCollum, Third Lieut. H. Clay Polk; on reor ganization W. B. Gould became captain. Company H, of Polk county, Capt. William H. Earp, First Lieut. James M. Helton, Second Lieut. F. M. Bolin, Third Lieut. Josiah Earp. Company I, of Polk county, Capt. Joseph B. Williamson, First Lieut. Caleb Cox, Second Lieut. George W. Mason, Third Lieut. George W. Walker ; on reorganization J. W. Blackburn, of Benton county, became captain. Company K, of Calhoun county, Capt. O. H. Black, First Lieut Joseph Wilmon, Second Lieut. A. W. Land, Third Lieut Peter Johnson ; on reorganiza tion Thomas A. Smith became captain. The regiment participated in the battles of Elkhorn, Richmond, Ky., Murfreesboro, Jackson, Miss., Chicka- mauga, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Dug Gap, Peach tree Creek, Atlanta, Ezra Church, Love- joy's Station, Jonesboro, Franklin, Nashville, Sugar Creek, and Bentonville, the last prominent battle of the war. This regiment early won distinction in the com mand of the gallant Ben McCulloch. Its colonel, Evander McNair, was promoted to brigadier-general and earned enviable fame early in the war. The Fourth Arkansas battalion was organized under orders of the military board, given to Francis A. Terry, of Little Rock, formerly of North Carolina, a planter and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 289 member of the State senate. He established a camp at Little Rock, and had only partially formed his regiment, when a battalion of it was hurried to Columbus, Ky., just after Grant's demonstration at Belmont. It was reor ganized at Corinth after the battle of Shiloh. Upon its first organization its officers were, Lieut. -Col. Francis A. Terry, Maj. Tom McKay; Company A, Capt. William F. Hoadley, of Little Rock, First Lieut. W. P. Parks, Second Lieut. W. C. Osborne, Third Lieut. John B. Bag- gett ; Company B, Capt. T. F. Murff , of Pulaski county ; Company C, Capt. J. W. Hanson, of Clark county, First Lieut. J. A. Ross, Second Lieutenant Detwiler; Company D, Capt. Thomas Payne, of Prairie county, First Lieut. Tarver Toone; Company E, Capt. John Moore, First Lieutenant Blassingame, Second Lieutenant Bushnell. Captain Hoadley 's company was given charge of a heavy gun battery at Columbus, and thenceforward was detached and employed in the heavy artillery. It was at Island No. 10 during the terrific bombardment of that place, from which, after spiking their guns, upon the withdrawal of their infantry supports, Captain Hoadley and Lieuten ant Baggett escaped to Memphis, but Lieutenant Osborne and his men were captured. Lieutenant Osborne died in prison at Alton, 111. The company was consolidated with the Tenth Tennessee, and placed in charge of the water batteries at Vicksburg, where Captain Hoadley, while serving his guns, was instantly killed by a shell from the Federal batteries. The company was included in the capitulation of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863. The rest of the battalion was stationed at Tiptonville, and escaped at the fall of Island No. 10, by wading through the over flow to the transport Jeff Davis, on which they floated in the dark down to Fort Pillow, Tenn. At Corinth the battalion was reorganized under Maj. T. F. Murff, captain Company A, D. C. Adams, first lieutenant ; Company C, J. A. St. Cloud, captain, and Ross, lieutenant; Com pany D, Tarver Toone, captain; E. B. Whitely, first lieu- Ark 19 290 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. tenant; George T. Williams, second lieutenant; John Moore, third lieutenant ; Company E, John Moore, cap tain ; Blassingame, first lieutenant ; Boushall, second lieu tenant. Company B, which had been changed to Com pany A, was with Captain Hoadley until his death. It surrendered at Vicksburg. The battalion was in battle at Farmington, Richmond, Ky. , and Murfreesboro, Tenn. , and was then consolidated with the Fourth regiment, Col. H. G. Bunn. The Fifth Arkansas infantry was organized at Gaines ville, Ark., in July, 1861, electing as its officers Col. D. C. Cross, Lieut. -Col. S. L. Sweeney; Maj. R. Pope. The staff was Adjt. Joe Dunlap, Quartermaster E. Mallory, Commissary B. Crump. The regiment was transferred to the regular Confederate army in September. Its cap tains were: Company A, Will H. Trader; Company B, L. R. Frisk ; Company C, Bohannan ; Company D, Peter Green; Company E, White; Company F, Grant Smith; Company G, R. S. Gantt; Company H, J. S. Kuykendall; Company I, Robert Jingles; Company K, L. P. Feather- ston. The regiment was transferred to Columbus, thence to Bowling Green, and was in the battle of Perryville under Gen. T. C. Hindman, commanding the First bri gade. While in Kentucky, John Edward Murray was made lieutenant-colonel, upon the resignation of Lieuten ant-Colonel Sweeney. When Corinth was evacuated on the approach of Halleck and Grant in May, 1862, the reg iment fell back with the Confederate army to Tupelo. Here it was reorganized, and Capt. L. P. Featherston was elected colonel, J. E. Murray, lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. Peter Green, major; J. J. Winston was appointed adju tant. Murray, who was made colonel after the death of Colonel Featherston, was killed on the road between Atlanta and Decatur while commanding the Fifth Ar kansas, having received that day his commission as brig- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 291 adier-general ''for gallantry on the field of battle." He was a resident of Pine Bluff, where his father was presid ing judge of the Jefferson circuit court. The First Arkansas Confederate was organized in May, 1 86 1, at Little Rock, immediately after the taking of the arsenal. Before the creation of the military board, Thompson B. Flournoy had been authorized by President Jefferson Davis to organize a regiment for the Confeder ate service. The first companies which arrived in Little Rock sought admission into this regiment, and were recognized by Colonel Flournoy, a patriotic planter of La- conia, on the Mississippi river, and supporter of the presi dential ticket of Douglas and Johnson. He had certain other gentlemen associated with him in the commission, which gave dissatisfaction, and upon the actual organiza tion of the regiment Colonel Flournoy was defeated for the colonelcy, and Capt. James F. Fagan, of Saline county, was elected; Capt. James C. Monroe, of Clark county, was elected lieutenant-colonel, and John Baker Thomp son, major. Prof. Frank Bronaugh, of the military department of St. John's college, Little Rock, was chosen adjutant. Colonel Flournoy and the others acquiesced with good grace in this result, and were chosen to positions in other commands. Colonel Flour noy was afterward promoted to brigadier-general in the Confederate service. Company organization : Com pany A, Union county, Capt. Asa Morgan; Com- B, Clark county, Capt. Charles Stark, of Arkadelphia; Company C, Ouachita county, Captain Crenshaw, of Camden; Company D, Jefferson county, Capt. Donel- son McGregor, of Pine Bluff; Company E, Saline county, Capt. William A. Crawford, of Benton; Com pany F, Pulaski county, Capt. William F. Martin, of Little Rock; Company G, Jackson county, Capt. A. C. Pickett, of Augusta; Company H, Arkansas county, Capt. Robert H. Crockett, of DeWitt ; Company I, Drew county, Capt. James Jackson, of Monticello; Company K, Arkan- 292 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. sas county, Captain Quertermous, of DeWitt. The regi ment was immediately ordered to Richmond, and on the road attracted much attention, being known to have among its captains a grandson of the immortal Davy Crockett, and Capt. Donelson McGregor, who was reared near the Hermitage, and was grand-nephew of the beloved wife of Old Hickory. The regiment was sta tioned at Aquia creek, near Fredericksburg, in the brigade of Gen. T. H. Holmes, and was led by him into the bat tle of First Manassas, in which it participated late in the day, supporting Capt. Lindsay Walker's battery of artillery. It was then stationed at Evansport, where the men of the regiment, under Capt. Will H. Mar tin, made a daring but unsuccessful attempt to cap ture the Federal gunboat Pocahontas, on the Potomac. The regiment was ordered thence to Corinth, and took part in the bloody battle of Shiloh. J. M. Harrell, of Little Rock, who was then holding the State office of solicitor-general, was a volunteer aide-de-camp on Gen eral Holmes' staff at First Manassas. The Second Arkansas infantry (Confederate) was organ ized through the energy of Hon. Thomas C. Hindman, of Helena, Ark., who was representative in Congress in 1 86 1, for the Second district of Arkansas. He resigned his seat upon the secession of the State, and returning home began recruiting volunteers for the Confederate States army ; soon forming a full regiment of which he was elected colonel; J. W. Bocage, lieutenant-colonel; J. W. Scaife, major. Charles E. Patterson was appointed adjutant; Dr. Ralph Horner, surgeon, and Rev. Samuel Cowley, chaplain. The captains were: Com pany A, C. A. Bridewell ; Company B, Thomas Quinlin ; Company C, E. Warfield; Company D, E. G. Brashear; Company E, Anderson ; Company F, D. C. Govan ; Com pany G, B. B. Taliaferro; Company H, R. F. Harvey; Company I, C. D, Ross. Hindman was disappointed in getting arms for his company at first and asked for orders CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 293 to march, which were not issued as promptly as he de sired. He believed that through political influence at Richmond he was being slighted. He adopted heroic measures ; seized steamers laden with heavy cargoes of sugar going up the river to Cincinnati and Pittsburg; and confiscating the freight found on them purchased such arms as he could and embarked his command for Mem phis. While thus delayed, other organizations joined him —Lieut. -Col. John S. Marmaduke's battalion of eight companies, which he afterward denominated the Third Confederate infantry, three companies of cavalry under Maj. C. W. Phifer, and Captain Swett's Mississippi bat tery of four guns. The combined force, temporarily known as Hindman's legion, was first sent to Randolph, Tenn. , then to the defense of Columbus, Ky. , when it was bombarded by the Western flotilla under Foote, in co operation with Federal General Grant. Hindman's regi ment did effective service at Richmond and Perryville, Ky. , and in Hindman's division was in that part of Sidney Johnston's line which swept through Sherman's camps at Shiloh. Hindman, who had been promoted to brigadier-' general, had his horse killed under him, and after the battle was promoted to major-general and given perma nent command of the division. His old regiment was in the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold Gap, Dalton, Resaca, Peachtree Creek, Atlanta, Franklin and Nashville, and finally at Bentonville, N. C. Major- General Hindman himself, after serving in several battles in the Georgia campaign, was struck, in riding, by the branch of a tree across his eyes, which became inflamed and rendered him unfit for duty. He was granted a fur lough, and finally settled in Mexico and engaged in coffee culture. But one day his magnificent plantation was overrun by revolutionists, who made his hacienda their battlefield, and he returned to Arkansas to engage in the practice of his profession. He was an expert in political tactics, and was active as a Democratic manager in his 294 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. county. One night, seated by his fire smoking, he was assassinated by some person or persons who stood outside with a shotgun, and, firing through the glass of the win dow, inflicted a fatal wound in his neck. He was com posed and courageous to the end, talking to his friends who had rushed in, and to his family in regard to the education of his children and disposition of his effects. His murderers could never be detected. The Second Arkansas cavalry (Confederate) was formed out of Phifer's battalion and other Arkansas companies, notably the company of Captain Ragland, of Drew county, of which William F. Slemons was first lieutenant, and companies commanded by Capt. H. R. Withers, and others under T. J. Reid, of Dallas county, who held the rank of major. This command went under Hindman to Columbus, Ky. , thence to Bowling Green, and performed post duty along the Green river, under the immediate command of Hindman. It covered, with other cavalry commands, the retreat of Gen. Sidney Johnston to Nash ville and into Mississippi. It was at the battle of Shiloh, and helped to cover the withdrawal of Beauregard to Corinth. At Corinth, May, 1862, it was consolidated with Phifer's battalion and organized as the Second Arkansas cavalry, Col. William F. Slemons, Lieut. -Col. H. R. Withers, Maj. Thomas J. Reid, Adjt. Thomas Garrison, Quartermaster W. Leeper, Commissary Wat Strong. Its line officers were: Company A, Capt. A. H. Christian; Company B, Capt. Joseph Earle, afterward H. S. Hud- speth ; Company C, Capt. Thomas Cochran ; Company D, Capt. James Portis, afterward Capt. Watt Green; Com pany E, Capt J. S. Somerville, afterward William Cooper; Company F, Capt. O. B. Tebbs; Company G, Capt. E. L. Murtree, afterward C. Stell; Company H, Capt. Phil Echols, later Capt. James Oliver ; Company I, Capt. M. L. Hawkins. On the retreat of Generals Bragg and Beaure gard from Corinth to Tupelo, Miss. , the Second Arkansas again formed part of the rear guard of the army, under CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 295 Gen. John C. Breckinridge. July 3, 1862, it was ordered with Clayton's Second Alabama under Gen. James R. Chalmers against the Federals at Booneville, Miss. , who were completely routed. Together with the Second Mis souri cavalry, it was ordered, under Gen. Frank C. Arm strong, to Tennessee, where it met at Middleburg, Tenn. , the Federals under Colonel Leggett, and defeated the enemy, killing and wounding large numbers of them. About the last of July the Second Arkansas, under Col onel Siemens, the Second Missouri, under Col. Robert McCulloch, and the Fourth Mississippi, under Wirt Adams, engaged the escort of Federal cavalry and artil lery guarding a train of supplies at Britton's lane, Tenn., and after a stubborn conflict of three hours captured the train and 300 prisoners and two pieces of artillery. The Second Arkansas lost 70 men killed and wounded in this engagement. In the campaigns of Price and Pemberton in Mississippi, it was in continuous active service. Under General Chalmers, in 1863, it participated in the battles of luka, Coldwater, Colliersville and Salem. Under Gen. N. B. Forest, 1864, it participated in the masterly move ments of that greatest of cavalry commanders, encircling armies, taking cities, capturing trains and burning bridges. It was then transferred to the Trans-Mississippi department. There it served with Cabell's, Gano's and Dockery's brigades, in the battles of Poison Spring, Marks' Mills and Jenkins' Ferry. It was with Price's army on the raid to the Missouri river, in the autumn of 1864, and engaged in the battles of Pilot Knob, Independence, West Point, and Marais des Cygnes, Kan. In the latter fight, Colonel Siemens' horse was killed and he fell with him, the saddle catching his leg under him so that he could not disengage himself. A number of officers of the bri gade, 100 of his men and two pieces of artillery were cap tured with him. They were sent as prisoners of war first to Johnson's island, then to Rock Island, where they were detained until the end of hostilities. Colonel Slemons 296 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. was elected a representative to the Fifty- second and Fifty- third congresses from his district after the people over threw the carpet-bag government. He lent substantial assistance in bringing about that happy result. The Third Arkansas regiment of infantry was organized at Lynchburg,Va., in June, 1861. When Dr. W. H. Tebbs and Van H. Manning, a lawyer at Hamburg, Ashley county, early in 1861 organized two companies and marched them to Vicksburg, and from there tendered their services to the Confederate States at Montgomery, Ala. , the secretary of war refused to accept them. Their officers then went to Montgomery, and by persistent en treaty succeeded at length in securing their admission into the army "for the war." Captain Manning was an impetuous Southerner, as was Dr. Tebbs, and they had no idea of being refused, but insisted until they obtained marching orders for their little battalion. Manning knew Hon. Albert Rust, then a member of Congress from his district, obtained the assistance of his influence, and as Rust decided to enter the service, Manning urged him to return to his home at Champagnolle, raise eight more companies and follow on to some rendezvous, where they together could organize a regiment for the service "dur ing the war. ' ' Rust did so and joined Manning at Lynch- burg, where the regiment was organized, really the "First" regiment from Arkansas, as regular troops of the Confederacy, enlisted for the war. Upon the organization the officers chosen were, Col. Albert Rust, Lieut. - Col. Seth M. Barton, Maj. Van H. Manning, Adjt. Henry A. Butler, Surgeon Joseph Brown, of Union county. Company A, Capt. W. H. Tebbs, of Ashley county ; Company B, Captain Capers, of Ashley county ; Company C, Capt. [T. M. Whittington, of Drew county; Company D, Captain Douglas, of Desha county ; Com pany E, Capt. R. S. Taylor, of Desha county; Company F, Captain Thrasher, of Hot Spring county ; Company G, Captain Ruddy, of Union county; Company H, Captain CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 297 Reed, of Desha county; Company I, Capt. J. H. Alex ander, of Dallas county; Company K, Capt. Wilson Wilkins, of Ashley county. Colonels Rust and Barton being promoted to brigadier-generals, Major Manning became colonel, Capt. R. S. Taylor became lieutenant-col onel, and Capt. W. Wilkins major, subsequently succeeded by Major Smith. The regiment was ordered to the mountains of West Virginia, where it performed arduous and discouraging service in the campaign on the Gauley and Cheat rivers. It was followed by hard marching under Stonewall Jackson, whom Colonel Rust described as an impracticable old schoolmaster, who said grace before he ate and prayed before going to bed. The regiment was engaged in the battles of Greenbrier and Allegheny. Under Stonewall Jackson at Winchester, in January, 1862, it marched to Bath and Romney, returned to Win chester, and was ordered thence to Fredericksburg, and assigned to the brigade of Gen. T. H. Holmes. It was engaged in the battle of White Oak Swamp, June 3, 1862 ; in J. G. Walker's brigade, July i, 1862, participated in the battle of Malvern Hill, and was at Sharpsburg September 17, 1862, where Colonel Manning was seriously wounded. At Fredericksburg it was assigned to Hood's Texas brigade, commanded by General Robertson, and was recruited by consolidating with it Bronaugh's battal ion of five Arkansas companies. It was not engaged at the battle of Chancellorsville, as it was with Longstreet at that time at Suffolk. It participated in the battle of Gettys burg, in Longstreet 's corps, and fought at Chickamauga, September 19 and 20, 1863, where the gallant Major Reedy was mortally wounded. From there it went with Longstreet to Knoxville, and under General Gregg, of Texas, was in the battle of the Wilderness, May 6, 1864; marching at double-quick several miles that morning to save the Confederate line. In the engagement that day, its colonel, Manning, was shot through the thigh, and being captured was detained a prisoner of war until three months 298 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. after the surrender of Lee. Judge Joe Alexander, as a private, lost an arm in that battle. The regiment, which was one of the largest in the army by the accession of Bronaugh's battalion, having on its roster about 1,500 men, was in the bloody battle of Cold Harbor, June i, 1864, where Texas and Arkansas soldiers exemplified a valor which was never surpassed. It was at Deep Run, August 6, 1864; at Petersburg during the siege by Grant; at High Bridge and Farmville in 1865 ; was in the retreat with Lee, and surrendered at Appomattox, where it stacked only 300 guns out of the 1,500 it carried ten months before. One of its noted achievements was the repulse of a Maine regiment at Spottsylvania, after the latter had repulsed the Fourth and Fifth Texas, which were smaller regiments. Colonel Manning, after being discharged from prison, settled in Mississippi, married, and upon the overthrow of the carpet-bag government in that State was elected representative in Congress. The Sixth Arkansas infantry regiment was organized at Little Rock in June, 1861, by the election of Capt Richard Lyon, of Company H, colonel; A. T. Haw thorn, lieutenant-colonel; D. L. Kilgore, captain Com pany G, major. C. A. Bridewell was appointed adjutant and John F. Ritchie, quartermaster. Company A, of Little Rock, Capt. G. N. Peay, First Lieut. J. E. Rear- don, Second Lieut. D. C. Fulton, Third Lieut. J. B. Lock- man. Company B, Calhoun county, Capt. P. H. Echols, First Lieut. C. A. Bridewell, Second Lieut. H. Hogan. (This company refused to enter the Confederate service, but Lieutenant Bridewell, being adjutant, continued with the regiment.) Company C, Dallas Rifles, Capt. F. J. Cameron (promoted colonel), First Lieut. Mathew M. Duffie (promoted captain and major), Second Lieut. Nick Ketchum, Third Lieut. Robert A. Lea. Company D, Ouachita county, Capt. J. W. Kingswell, First Lieut. J. H. Scroggins, Second Lieut. E. N. Hill, Third Lieut. J. H. Croxton. Company E, Arkansas county, Capt. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 299 Sam G. Smith (promoted colonel), First Lieut. William F. Douglas, Second Lieut. J. T. Armstrong, Third Lieut. Charles Notrebe. Company F, LaFayette county, Capt. Sam H. Dill, First Lieut. E. B. Rutherford, Second Lieut. Thomas Brown, Third Lieut. R. A. Strickland. Company G, Magnolia county, Capt. J. W. Austin, First Lieut. Nick J. Gantt, Second Lieut. Thomas Seay, Third Lieut. Sam E. Miller. Company H, Camden, Capt. S. H. Southerland, First Lieut. E. W. Elliott, Second Lieut. A. J. Griggs. Company I, Union county, Capt. Sam Turner, First Lieut. E. H. Parks, Second Lieut. Joseph Goodwin, Third Lieut. Thomas Lockett. Company K, Ouachita county, Capt. Hope T. Hodnett, First Lieut. James Barnes, Second Lieut. Joseph W. Martin. After the reorganization the regiment was marched to Poca- hontas. Measles broke out in camp, of which a great many died. In September, 1861, the regiment was trans ferred to Confederate service in the brigade commanded by Brig. -Gen. William J. Hardee. After a raid into Missouri it returned and camped a short time at Pitman's Ferry, on Current river. The latter part of September, 1 86 1, the brigade was moved to southeast Missouri; thence by boat to Columbus, Ky. , arriving about October 3d. From there it was sent to Cave City, Barren county, Ky., where it spent the winter of 1861. While camped there the Sixth Arkansas regiment smelled its first pow der, and that deep affection for Terry's Texas Rangers and Swett's Mississippi battery was formed, which lasts until now. Colonel Lyon was killed October 10, 1861, by his horse falling over a precipice with him, while superintend ing the crossing of his regiment over the Tennessee river. Lieut. -Col. A. T. Hawthorn became colonel, Capt. Gor don N. Peay, of Company A, lieutenant-colonel, and Capt. E. J. Cameron, major. While camped at Cave City the Sixth Arkansas regiment supported the Eighth Texas cavalry (Terry's Rangers) and Swett's Mississippi battery on December iyth at Woodsonville, Ky., when Colonel 300 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Terry was killed. It occupied this advanced position until the fall of Fort Donelson, when it returned with the balance of the army under Gen. A. S. Johnston to Cor inth, Miss. Brig. -Gen. W. J. Hardee having been pro moted to major-general, Col. T. C. Hindman, of the Second Arkansas, was promoted to brigadier-general, and held command until he was made major-general, when Col. R. G. Shaver was placed in command of the brigade and led it gallantly at the bloody battle of Shiloh, General Hindman commanding the division. When Corinth was evacuated, the brigade retreated to Tupelo, Miss., where it remained until the latter part of July, 1862. Then the regiment was sent to Chattanooga with General Bragg, and from there on the Kentucky campaign. It was pres ent when 4,500 Federals surrendered at Munfordville, Ky., and was in line at Perryville, where Adjt. Sampson Harris, of Company A, was mortally wounded. Sergt. W. W. Carter, of Company A, was promoted to lieuten ant and succeeded Lieutenant Harris as adjutant. Before the regiment left Corinth, Miss., about 200 of the Twelfth Arkansas regiment were organized into two companies and placed in the Sixth. In December, at Shelbyville, they were sent back to their own regiment, which had been exchanged. This reduced the Sixth considerably, and it was consolidated with the Seventh Arkansas infantry, about December 15, 1862. The regiment was engaged in the battle of Murfreesboro, December 31, 1862, and January i and 2, 1863 ; and in the spring advanced to Bell- buckle, where it remained until June 24, 1863, when it was hastily ordered to the front to Liberty Gap, where it found the Fifth Arkansas struggling with a large force. It retreated from middle Tennessee to south of Tennessee river, went into camp at Chickamauga station, a few miles from Chattanooga, and remained there until about the ist of September, when Bragg began maneuvering for the battle of Chickamauga. The regiment was engaged, actually, or in line of battle, all through the Georgia cam- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 301 paign, and was at Franklin and Nashville, Tenn. From there to the surrender at Greensboro, N. C., April 26, 1865, this brigade was one regiment. The Seventh Arkansas regiment, which at the battle of Shiloh was styled by its corps commander, General Hardee, "The Bloody Seventh," was organized in Smith- ville, Lawrence county, June 16, 1861, and went into camp, called in honor of its commander, Camp Shaver, near Pocahontasin Randolph county, with 1,200 men and over. Gen. W. J. Hardee made it the nucleus of his bri gade after it was transferred to the Confederate service, consisting of the Third Confederate, and the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Arkansas regiments, McCarver's regiment and McCann's battery of artillery. The regi mental and company commanders at the organization were, Col. Robert Shaver, Lieut. -Col. William R. Cain, Maj. James T. Martin. John M. Dean was appointed adjutant, H. C. Tunsell, quartermaster, Commissary John S. Shaver, Dr. Bohannon, surgeon, Dr. Hoadley, assistant surgeon. The company officers at the time of the organization were: Company A, Capt. John C. McCauley, of White county; Company B, Capt. George B. Orme, of Jackson county; Company C, Capt. James T. Martin, of Randolph county (he became major of the regiment, and his brother, J. H. Martin, captain) ; Com pany D, Captain Deason, of Izard county; Company E, Capt. M. Van Shaver, of Fulton county; Company F, Capt. (Rev.) John H. Dye, of White county; Company G, Capt. C. C. Straughan of Lawrence county ; Com pany H, Capt. James F. Archer, of Marion county; Company I, Captain Mellon, of Randolph county. Com pany K, Captain Brightwell, of Independence county. At Camp Shaver, Lieutenant-Colonel Cain resigned be cause of failing health, and John M. Dean was made lieu tenant-colonel, and Jack Home, adjutant. Commissary Shaver resigned and John D. Sprigg succeeded him. The regiment remained in the State service about six 302 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. weeks, when General Hardee was ordered to make trans fer of the State organizations to the Confederate States. In making these transfers nearly all the regiments lost one or more companies. The Seventh transferred with the loss of 17 men only, who refused to enlist as "Con federate troops." Capts. C. C. Straughan, of Company G, and James F. Archer, of Company H, retired, and Cap tain Warner succeeded the former, Captain Blackburn the latter, in command of these companies, respectively. The regiment was ordered to Pitman's Ferry, where it was drilled and disciplined by General Hardee in person until, about the last of August, General Hardee marched it by land to Point Pleasant, Mo. , on the Missouri river, and thence transported it by boat to Columbus, Ky. From Columbus it was ordered to Bowling Green, Ky., in October, where it was assigned to the division commanded by Gen. S. B. Buckner. Under General Hardee, as divi sion commander, it was part of the Third Arkansas bri gade, made up of the Seventh (Shaver's), Eighth (Kelly's), a battalion of the Ninth Arkansas (Bradley 's), and the Nineteenth Tennessee (Allison's), commanded by Col. R. G. Shaver. The brigade remained at Bowling Green until February, 1862, when that place was evacuated, Shaver's brigade guarding the rear, being shelled by the artillery of Buell's advance while the last trains of stores were being loaded. On leaving, Colonel Shaver, by order of Colonel Hardee, burned the depot and took down the telegraph wires. It was during the worst month in that climate, with rain and snow and the thermometer at night below zero, when this retreat was made. The Sev enth was caused to stand to arms all night by a report that a large force of Buell's army was on its heels, which turned out to be Helm's Kentucky cavalry coming in the rear by an unexpected order of march. General Johns ton, at Nashville, dispatched General Shaver that the enemy's cavalry was advancing upon his rear. This was made known to Gen. Dan Wood, of Alabama, who had taken CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 303 command of the brigade on the retreat. General Wood refused to wait for the rear guard, and for this reason Colonel Shaver applied for and secured a transfer of the Seventh to Hindman's brigade. The regiment reached Nashville ten days after the fall of Fort Donelson, and went thence to Murfreesboro, where the remnants of Zollicoffer's command from Fishing creek had gone into camp. From Murfreesboro it went to Decatur and thence to Courtland, Ala. , and went into camp at Corinth, Miss. , to await the concentration there of an army to meet the Federal advance. It there rested from the exposure and fatigue of the retreat out of Kentucky. Then followed the battle of Shiloh, where General Shaver commanded the brigade under General Hindman. Colonel Shaver was born in Sullivan county, east Tennessee, and came to Arkansas in 1851, settling at Batesville and engaging in merchandise. He was educated at Emory and Henry college, Virginia, and had not received any military train ing. At the time the war began he was doing business about twenty miles east of Batesville, in what was then Lawrence, now Sharp county. He entered with enthu siasm into the raising of troops for the service. As the Confederate government was very slow about receiving volunteers for the service, Arkansans generally flocked to the State service. Col. Robert G. Shaver is now major-general of the State guard and reserve militia of Arkansas. The Eighth Arkansas regiment was originally organized at Jacksonport, in the summer of 1861, under command of Col. William K. Patterson, Lieutenant-Colonel Crouch and Maj. John Price, with Surgeon L. H. Dickson, Asst. Surgeon Gee, Quartermaster Tom Watson. Colonel Patterson was a lawyer of ability of northeast Arkansas. The regiment was transferred to Mississippi in the con centration of troops there under Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, and marched in Shaver's brigade, under Cle- burne as division commander, to meet the advance of 304 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Grant at Shiloh. It took part in that engagement, under command of Colonel Patterson, and lost heavily both days. Lieut. Thomas Bateman was killed, and Lieutenants Ferryman, Gates, Harris and Richardson were wounded. Major Kelly commanded four companies, A, B, C and D, 122 men, of whom 62 were killed or wounded. Major Kelly seemed to have a charmed life. Upon reorganiza tion, John H. Kelly was elected colonel; Wilson, lieu tenant-colonel, and Capt. G. F. Baucum, major. Lieu tenant-Colonel Wilson resigned, and Anderson Watkins was elected major. Upon the promotion of Colonel Kelly to brigadier-general, Baucum became colonel, and Anderson Watkins, lieutenant-colonel. The regiment took part in the battle of Murfreesboro, as part of Lid- dell's brigade, and captured two stand of colors, which were taken by Private James Riddle, of Company C, and Corp. N. A. Horn, of Company E. Colonel Kelly was wounded the second day and borne off the field, when Lieut. -Col. G. F. Baucum commanded the regiment. Lieuts. T. H. Beard, S. B. Cole, Colvin 'uEad and H. J. McCurdy, of the Eighth, were killed. The regiment was in the battles of Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Ringgold Gap (consolidated with the Eighth and Nineteenth, under Lieutenant-Colonel Hawthorn), Re- saca, Kenesaw Mountain, Peachtree Creek, Ezra Church and Atlanta or Decatur Road. The Eighth formed part of Cleburne's division, and participated in all the battles of that hard fighting officer, up to his death at Franklin, and surrendered with the army under Joseph E. Johnston at Greensboro, N. C., April 26, 1865. The Ninth Arkansas regiment infantry was organized at Pine Bluff, July 20, 1861, by the election of Col. John M. Bradley, Lieut. -Col. W. Y. McCammon, Maj. W. H. Wallace, Sr. The adjutant was R. W. Millsaps. The com pany commanders were: Company A, of Jefferson county, Capt. James H. Hurley; Company B, of Union county, Capt. W. H. Wallace, Jr. ; Company C, of Jefferson CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 305 county, Capt. James T. Armstrong (son of Gen. William Armstrong, of Nashville, Tenn. ) ; Company D, of Drew county, Capt. W. C. Haislip; Company E, of Bradley county, Capt. Isaac Dunlop ; Company F, of Drew county, Capt. W. H. Isom; Company G, of Bradley county, Capt. J. W. Blankinship; Company H, of Jefferson county, Capt. Philip Henry; Company I, of Jefferson county, Capt. George W. Bayne ; Company K, of Ashley county, Capt. John F. Carr. It has been said that there were forty- odd preachers, of all Protestant denominations, in the regiment. The colonel was a preacher, as was also the major, and many of the company officers were preachers. Notwithstanding it contained so many men of the cloth, it was a fighting regiment, and some of its officers, notably its last lieutenant-colonel (Dunlop), were as intrepid and gallant as any knight of chivalry. The regiment was at the battle of Belmont, Mo., was retained at Bowling Green for the defense of that post in the winter of 1861-62, and was in Shaver's brigade, whieh covered the retreat out of Kentucky to Corinth. It fought gallantly at Shiloh, charging upon the ''Hornets' Nest" with the loss of Lieut. -Col. Isaac Dunlop, in Bowen's brigade. It was through this regiment Gen. Sidney Johnston rode from the rear to the front. The regiment went forward with a cheer and passed him in a run; in five minutes 130 men in their ranks were killed and wounded, but they did not falter. Lieutenant Duckworth was killed at the head of his company, and Captain Wallace was wounded. It closed up and disappeared in the thicket in front, fol lowed by the whole line, and the enemy was silenced in twenty minutes. The regiment was twenty days behind the defenses at Jackson, Miss. It was ordered to the relief of Port Hudson, where it endured the siege of forty-eight days under General Beall. After it was exchanged, it was attached, March 25th, to Reynolds' brigade, and under him was engaged in the last battle of the war, in which their brigadier-general lost a leg. Ark 20 306 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. The Tenth Arkansas regiment was organized at Spring field, Conway county, July, 1861, by the appointment of Col. Thomas D. Merrick, a merchant of Little Rock, its commander; Lieut. -Col. S. S. Ford, Maj. Obed Patty. Adjt. Robert C. Bertrand acted as such until February, 1862, when George A. Merrick was made adjutant. The company officers were : Company A, Capt. A. R. Witt, of Van Buren county, First Lieut. W. W. Martin, Second Lieut. C. M. Cargile, Third Lieut. Israel Davis. Com pany B, Capt. James Venable, First Lieut. John K. Grif fith, Second Lieut. Ben F. Jones, Third Lieut. John F. Kirk. Company C, Capt. L. B. Jennings, First Lieut. W. W. Bridges, Second Lieut. F. M. Jackson, Third Lieut. C. Watkins. Company D, Capt. John A. Pember- ton, First Lieut. J. F. Foster, Second Lieut. W. C. Rainey, Third Lieut. W. P. Harris. Company E, Capt. E. L. Vaughan, First Lieut. J. N. Culpeper, Second Lieut. W. J. Hardin, Third Lieut. A. K. Livingston. Company F, Capt. R. S. Fears, First Lieut. James A. Henry, Second Lieut. Q. T. Stokely, Third Lieut. Terrell Bryant. Company G, Capt. John B. Miller, First Lieut. James E. Lockard, Second Lieut. Henry J. Gatton, Third Lieut. Edwin Ellis; George A. Merrick succeeded Cap tain Miller as captain. Company H, Capt. William Wil son, of Perry county, First Lieut. Robert F. James, Sec ond Lieut. Jesse W. Holmes, Third Lieut. Morgan G. Smyers. Company I, Capt. J. W. Duncan, of Conway county, First Lieut. Z. A. P. Venable, Second Lieut. Jefferson Mallett, Third Lieut. E. H. Russell. Company K, Capt. W. S. Hanna, First Lieut. L. F. Ragsdale, Sec ond Lieut. J. C. Barnes. The regiment was transferred to Union City, Tenn., where 150 men died from the effects of measles ; thence to Columbus, Ky. , and was in General Polk's reserve there when the battle of Belmont took place. Thence they were marched to Bowling Green, Ky. , and formed, together with the Ninth Arkansas, Fifth Missouri and Tenth Mississippi regiments, the brigade CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 307 commanded by General Bowen, which was part of the rear guard in Bragg 's retreat out to Cumberland gap. Assigned to Hardee's corps, the brigade marched to Cor inth, Miss. Being changed to the reserve corps under General Breckinridge at Corinth, they moved with the army under Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston to the attack upon the Federal camp at Pittsburg landing, where the regiment was held in reserve until 1 1 o'clock a. m. , April 6th. Then the regiment was ordered into action, together with the Ninth, and under the direction in person of Gen eral Johnston. Throwing aside coats and canteens and retaining only their guns and cartridge boxes, they charged a position from which two brigades of Louisiana troops had been driven back with severe loss. This was the position in front of Prentiss, where General Johnston was killed, at the instant of the charge. In their rush they drove the enemy from his position and aided in the cap ture of Prentiss' entire command, many of them being shot by retreating Federals, while the others were asking quarter, officers and men with white flags and handker chiefs on ramrods in token of surrender. They did not get the warm breakfast others had in the Federal camp, and not returning where their coats were, lost them. But they exchanged their muskets for Enfield rifles taken from the enemy. The regiment lost 100 men, killed and wounded. Maj. Obed Patty was severely wounded and permanently disabled, but continued in the field and led the regiment in a charge upon a battery. He resigned, and was succeeded by Capt. Zeb Venable. Capt. Wil liam Wilson was shot through the face. Lieutenant Jones, of the same company, was maimed in the hand for life. The regiment was reorganized after the battle. Colonel Merrick, who was disabled by a broken thigh, resigned, and Capt. A. R. Witt was elected in his stead. The Tenth was brigaded with the Ninth and sent to the lower Mississippi under Gen. M. Jeff Thompson, "the swamp fox" as he was called, and took position at Tangi- 308 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. pahoa, above New Orleans, and spent the following win ter in that vicinity in protecting the Jackson & Great Northern railroad, until ordered to the defense of Port Hudson. It had just previously taken part in the battles of Baton Rouge and Ponchatoula against forces under General Banks from New Orleans. The Ninth assisted in defending Port Hudson against the Federal gunboats during a siege of several months, when, after the fall of Vicksburg, its garrison was compelled to sur render, July 9, 1863. It was not extended the terms granted to the garrison at Vicksburg, the men being paroled, but the officers sent as prisoners to Johnson's island. Gen. W. N. R. Beall, commander of the garri son, and his staff, were sent to prison. After it was exchanged, the Ninth subsequently engaged in the battles and skirmishes of Price's raid in Missouri, in October, 1864. The Eleventh Arkansas infantry was organized in Saline county, July, 1861. Jabez M. Smith, of Benton, was elected colonel; Mark Miller, lieutenant-colonel; James T. Poe, major, and William R. Selridge, first lieutenant Company E, was chosen adjutant. The colonel, lieuten ant-colonel and major-elect were captains, and the com pany officers after the election were : Company A, Capt. M. D. Vance, First Lieut. Jasper Shepherd. Company B, Capt. W. T. Douglas, First Lieut. Claiborne Watkins (brother to Anderson Watkins, killed at Atlanta), Second Lieut. M. E. Wills. Company C, Capt. James D. Burke, First Lieut. Alfonso Curl (vice J. B. Hall, deceased), Second Lieut. H. W. Boughton, Third Lieut. R. M. Riddle. Company D, Capt. A. A. Crawford, First Lieut. James Cleft, Second Lieut. John Rye, Third Lieut. Elisha Rit- ter. Company E, Capt. J. E. Moss, First Lieut. W. R. Selridge, Second Lieut. P. S. Selridge, Third Lieut. F. J. Eddy. Company F, Captain Mooney, First Lieutenant Gregory, Second Lieutenant Grant, Third Lieut. L. H. Kemp. Company G, Capt. John L. Logan, First Lieu- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 309 tenant Thomas, Second Lieut Frank Scott. Company II , Captain Matthews, First Lieutenant Black. Company I, Capt. W. F. Morton. Company K, Capt. Anderson Cunningham, First Lieutenant Toomer. The regiment was ordered to Fort Pillow, November, 1 86 1, and was brigaded with the Twelfth, commanded by Col. E. W. Gantt; was stationed at Island No. 10 on the Mississippi river, and transferred back and forth to New Madrid at the will of Gen. Gid. J. Pillow, who had very impracticable ideas of the war we had entered upon. Island No. 10 was surrendered April 15, 1862, after a ter rific bombardment by the enemy's mortar-boats and gun boats, aided by an overflow which nearly submerged the island. The Confederate defenses consisted of dissolving earthworks and twenty guns. Maj. W. J. Hoadley, of Little Rock, having served his guns with great bravery, spiked them and made his escape with one section of the battalion. The others were included in the cartel,, and were transported to Camp Butler near Springfield, 111., then to Camp Chase (Chicago), the officers to Johnson's island, Lake Erie. Lieutenant Gibson, of Company H, was shot dead on Johnson's island by a Federal sentinel because he crossed the "dead line." The two regiments were exchanged September, 1862. The year of the first enlistment expiring there was a reorganization, which resulted as follows: Col. John L. Logan, Lieut. -Col. M. D. Vance, Maj. James T. Poe, Adjt. Edward A. Warren, Quartermaster E. Whitfield, Commissary Clark, Surgeon James Whitfield. Company A, Capt. Jasper Shepherd; Company B, Capt. Claiborne Watkins ; Company C, Capt. James D. Burke; Company D, Capt. A. A. Crawford; Company E, Capt. W. R. Selridge; Company F, Capt. L. H. Kemp; Company G, Capt. Frank Scott; Company H, Captain Matthews; Company I, Capt. W. F. Morton; Company K, Anderson Cunningham. Col. Jabez M. Smith was as brave and pure as Gen eral Lee, but declined re-election. He returned to the 310 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Trans- Mississippi, and was made adjutant of Kartell's battalion and adjutant-general of Crawford's brigade. He was judge of the Seventh circuit for two terms after the war. The regiment was ordered to the lower Missis sippi. The Eleventh and the Seventeenth were mounted under command of Col. John Griffith of the Seventeenth, and dispatched to Clinton, Miss. , to head off the raid of the Federal General Grierson, but failed to meet him. Then, under the command of Colonel Griffith, they oper ated outside the fortifications of Port Hudson during the siege of that place in March, 1863. This detachment operated against the army under General Banks in Louis iana, and took a number of prisoners, among them Gen. Neal Dow. Colonel Logan, of the Eleventh, was second in command of the detachment which captured General Dow. After the fall of Port Hudson the greater part of the regiment remained in Mississippi, where they fought in several small engagements against the Federals. A squad of the Seventeenth, under Maj. B. B. Chisom, cap tured a Federal gunboat on the Yazoo river. They had a sanguinary encounter with Federal cavalry at Keller's lane, June 23, 1863, in which Lieutenant DeVaughn was wounded and maimed for life. Their services were of inestimable value in protecting citizens from the devasta tion wrought wherever the enemy was left undisturbed to roam over the country beyond the fortified posts. The Twelfth regiment was organized under a commis sion issued to Hon. Ed. W. Gantt by the secretary of war of the Confederate States. Gantt had been elected to Congress for the Second district of Arkansas, and in consequence of the rupture between the Southern States and the general government, declined to take his seat. He was successful in raising a regiment, which he led across the Mississippi river, and was at the fall of Fort Donelson, where he and his regiment were taken prison ers, February 16, 1862. While Colonel Gantt was de tained a prisoner in Fort Warren, his regiment was ex- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 311 changed and reorganized at Jackson, Miss. , by the election of Col. T. J. Reid, Lieut. -Col. Ed. C. Jordan, Maj. John S. Walker, Adjt. W. L. Hemingway, Quartermaster C. H. Jonas. The regiment as reorganized was insuffi cient in numbers to comply with regulations, and its officers were granted leave to return to Arkansas for recruits, while the men were temporarily consolidated with the Eleventh under Colonel Logan. When the officers returned to the regiment, the recruits added to the mimbers until the regiment included about 500. The company officers in the new organization were : Company A, Capt. N. W. Stewart ; Company B, Capt. W. P. Don- nell; Company C, Capt. H. L. W. Johnson; Company D, Capt. W. P. Linzue ; Company E, Capt W. F. Glasgow ; Company F, Capt. J. C. Bowen; Company G, A. E. Dog- gett; Company H, J. E. Inge; Company I, J. Archer; Company K, J. B. Davis. Colonel Gantt, being exchanged, was in command of an Arkansas brigade composed of his regiment and the Eleventh Arkansas, at the surrender of Island No. 10 and New Madrid bend. Though the capitulation was inevitable there were severe criticisms of Colonel Gantt. He complained that a commission of brigadier- general, which had been issued to him, was withheld. Feeling aggrieved by this slight, which he regarded as unjust and instigated by personal hostility, he left the Southern army and espoused the cause of the North, going North and making speeches in favor of the Union. He continued to adhere to his new affiliation, and co operated with the Republican party in the reconstruction of the State government after the war. The Twelfth held steadfastly to the cause of the South, though it contained relatives and friends of its old commander. Under Gen. W. N. R. Beall, who was an officer of the old army, a graduate of the West Point academy, they battled and endured for the cause of the South until the end. Lieu tenant-Colonel Jordan was killed by a shell on the ram- 312 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. parts of Port Hudson during the siege of that place. The Twelfth surrendered with the rest when that place capitu lated, and many of them were again prisoners of war, July 9, 1863. Adjt. W. L. Hemingway and Capt. H. L. W. Johnson, besides many of its men, were killed in the siege. Major Walker became lieu tenant- col onel, Capt. T. C. Smith, major, and Lieut. John R. Thornton succeeded Adjutant Hemingway. Upon the capitulation, the non-commissioned officers and men of the garrison were paroled, but the officers were sent as prisoners of war to Johnson's island, among them Adjt.- Gen. John R. Fellows, of Camden. Major Fellows was originally from New York, and subsequently became dis trict attorney of the city of New York. He, with Gen eral Beall, sustained a long and painful imprisonment. Fellows resisted all importunities of relatives that he 4 'take the oath." The Fifteenth Arkansas was given the number of Cle- burne's old regiment. The latter was distinguished by the addition "Confederate." It was organized at Cam- den, Ark., in 1 86 1, with the following officers : Col. James Gee, Lieut. -Col. John C. Wright, Maj. P. Lynch Lee, Benjamin W. Johnson, adjutant; Company A, Captain Proctor; Company B, Capt. H. Purefoy; Company C, Capt. John C. Wright (elected lieutenant-colonel in the reorganization; L. W. Matthews was elected captain of Company C) ; Company D, Capt. Frank Jordan ; Company E, Captain Ferguson; Company F, Capt. Alex. Byrne. Four of the companies were taken from the early regi ment commanded by Col. Marsh Walker when he was promoted brigadier-general. Before its completion as a regiment, six companies were sent to the defense of Fort Henry on the Tennessee river, and thence were trans ferred to the garrison at Fort Donelson on the Cumber land, twelve or fifteen miles distant. At the assault by Grant and Foote with army and navy on Fort Donelson, they were distinguished for their valor. They manned CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 313 the heavy guns until they burst or were dismounted, and then led in a sortie in the snow and sleet against the Federal trenches which were in course of construction in their front. They took the first line of works, suffering great loss, at least one- fourth of the command. Capt. Frank Jordan was among the killed, and Adjt. Ben W. Johnson among the wounded. Men and officers were made prisoners by the "unconditional surrender." The men were sent to Camp Butler, the officers to Fort Warren. Lieut. -Col. John C. Wright made his escape, and return ing to Arkansas, was elected colonel of cavalry in the service under General Hindman, who was organizing the Trans- Mississippi department, and commanded Craw ford's brigade at Mark's Mills. The other officers were exchanged in 1862, and the regiment was reorganized at Jackson, Miss., 1862, under Col. Ben W. Johnson, Lieut. - Col. P. L. Lee, Maj. W. E. Steward, Adjt. J. E. Baker. The captains on reorganization were : Company A, John Stevenson; Company B, Joseph Daniels; Company C, James Franklin; Company D, John Hubbard; Company E, Ed Wilson; Company F, William Walker; Company G, Albert Reed; Company H, Wilkerson; Company I, L. W. Matthews ; Company K, McClung. The regiment after reorganization was sent south to Louisiana to resist Banks, and fought in many minor engagements — Cross Landing, Greenfield, Plum's Store, and with the First Alabama and Thirteenth Mississippi, engaged at Keller's Lane a largely superior force of Federals, which they routed, taking many prisoners and valuable stores. The regiment was called into the forti fications of Port Hudson, when attacked by the army and navy of the United States. Captain Reed, of Company G, was killed May 29, 1863; Captain Hubbard, of Com pany D, was killed. Within a day or two, Captain Ste venson died from wounds received. Capt. E. Wilson died from concussion of the brain, caused by being struck with a shell. The regiment, though not serving in the 314 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. wider fields of conflict, contained the finest fighting material, proved its patience, and suffered and was ex posed as much as any in the service. It went into Port Hudson with 484 men, and came out with only 92. The Sixteenth Arkansas regiment was organized in November, 1861, near the present town of Rogers, Ben- ton county. Its organization was as follows : Col. John F. Hill, of Johnson county; Lieut. -Col. William T. Neal, of Washington ; Major Farmer, of Johnson county ; Adjt. Ben Pixlee, Quartermaster A. M. Ward. Company A, Capt. L. N. C. Swaggerty, of Johnson county ; Company B, Captain Turner, of Johnson county; Company C, Capt. John Connolly, of Johnson county; Company D, Capt. W. W. Bailey, of Carroll county; Company E, Captain Garrett of Carroll county; Company F, Captain Goodnight, of Stone county; Company G, Captain Car- nahan, of Washington county; Company H, Captain Kelly, of Pike county; Company I, Capt Daniel Boone, of Mad ison county ; Company K, Capt. John Lawrence, of Searcy county. The regiment went into camp at Elm Springs, Benton county, where it remained in winter quarters until Feb ruary, 1862, when General Price and his army of Missouri fell back before a large force of Federals under General Curtis, and made a stand at Elkhorn tavern in Benton county. On the 4th of March, the regiment marched to reinforce Price, forming part of Hebert's brigade, under command of Gen. Ben McCulloch, and took part in the battle of the 7th. The regiment entered into action soon after General McCulloch 's death, passing the body of the dead general in their charge. The greater part of the Confederate forces which retreated to Frog Bayou, con sisting of Missouri and Arkansas regiments, were trans ferred under Generals Price and Van Dorn across the Mississippi river in April, 1862. The Sixteenth was brigaded with four Missouri regiments, formerly com manded by Col. Francis Cockrell, which were the flower CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 315 of Missouri, and at Corinth were again united in a bri gade commanded by Gen. Henry Little, afterward killed at luka. While at Corinth the Sixteenth was reorganized and the following officers chosen : Col. David Provence, formerly captain of battery of artillery known by his name; Lieut -Col. B. T. Pixlee, Maj. J. M. Pitman, Adjt. John S. Tutt, Quartermaster Arch McKennon, Commis sary Sam Hays, Sergt.-Maj. David Bronaugh. Captain McKennon is now a member of the Dawes Indian com mission. The company commanders at reorganization were : Company A, Capt. L. N. C. Swaggerty ; Company B, Capt. Jesse L. Cravens; Company C, Capt. James Gearwood; Company D, Capt. E. G. Mitchell; Company E, Lieut. J. H. Berry, commanding; Company F, Capt. William B. Stevens; Company G, Capt. J. P. Carnahan; Company H, Capt. G. D. R. Preston, then J. B. Cloud; Company I, Capt. Daniel Boone; Company K, Capt. James Waldron. The regiment participated in the move ments around Corinth on the approach of the Federal army under Halleck. In September, 1862, it took part in the battle of luka, and in October, 1862, it participated in the desperate assault on the Federal encampment at Corinth, where it lost heavily. Lieut. J. H. Berry, who lost a leg in this battle, was afterward prosecuting attor ney, judge, governor, and United States senator from Ar kansas. Shortly after, the regiment was detached from the Missouri brigade and assigned to the Arkansas bri gade, commanded by Col. Jordan E. Cravens, Arkansas troops, at Holly Springs, Miss. It was there again de tached and sent with other Arkansas regiments to Port Hudson, La., and with the Eleventh, Colonel Logan; the Twelfth, Colonel Reid ; the Fourteenth, Lieut. -Col. Pleas ant Fowler; the Fifteenth, Col. Ben Johnson; the Seven teenth, Col. John Griffith; the Eighteenth, Col. R. H. Crockett; and the Twenty-third, Col. O. P. Lyles, under Gen. William N. R. Beall, went through the siege of forty-eight days, and was surrendered to General Banks 316 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. July 9, 1863. Lieutenant-Colonel Pixlee was killed dur ing the siege, and Maj. J. M. Pitman succeeded him; Captain Swaggerty, of Company A, becoming major, and Lieut. Jesse Adams, captain of Company A. The officers were sent as prisoners to Johnson's island, except Capt. Daniel Boone, Lieut. J. G. Crump and William McConnell, who swam ashore from the transport convey ing them and made their escape. Capt. Jim Cravens and Lieuts. Paynor, W. W. Bailly and Wilson escaped through the lines and returned to their homes in Arkansas, where they re-entered the service in other commands. The Seventeenth Arkansas regiment (there was another of the same number afterward consolidated with the Twenty-first) was organized in August, 1861, at Fairfield, Yell county, under orders of the State military board, from nine companies. The field and staff officers were : Col. George W. Lemoyne, Lieut. -Col. S. W. Williams, Major Lawrence, of Danville, and Adjt. William A. Dowdle, of Con way county. The commanders of com panies were: Company A, Capt. J. M. Dowdle, Conway county; Company B, Capt. Bryan B. King, Conway county; Company C, Captain Harsell, Pope county; Com pany D, Capt. John Mills, Yell county; Company E. Capt. John Perry, Johnson county ; Company F, Captain Bone, Yell county; Company G, Captain Bull, Prairie county; Company H, Captain J. Homer Scott, Pope county; Company I, Capt. William Herrod, Yell county. Major Lawrence was accidentally killed near Pocahontas on the march into Missouri, and Capt. J. M. Dowdle was made major; Jordan E. Cravens being elected from the ranks to succeed him. After being ordered with the Arkansas regiments to Fort Pillow (old Randolph) in Tennessee, the regiment was held to duty in the vicinity of Memphis and joined the combined forces of Price and Van Dorn in north Mississippi. It participated with credit in the battle of Corinth. Maj. Robert H. Crockett became colonel by promotion, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 317 and Capt. W. N. Parrish was promoted lieutenant-colonel "for gallant conduct on the field. " After the battle of Corinth, the Seventeenth and Twenty-first (Colonel Mc- Carver's regiment) were consolidated. Col. Jordan E. Cravens, of Clarksville, who was a private in Company G, was elected colonel of the consolidated regiment, which was thereafter known as the Twenty- first, and assigned to duty at Vicksburg. It took part in the battle of Black River Bridge, May 17, 1863, and endured the siege of Vicksburg until the capitulation of Pemberton, July 4, 1863. Colonel Cravens was captured at the Big Black and, with the other officers, was sent a prisoner to John son's island. Colonel Cravens became circuit judge and representative in Congress ; Colonel Pitman, circuit judge and State senator ; Capt. B. B. Chisom, secretary of State ; F. J. Spurlin, private, who lost a leg, was many years treasurer of Garland county; Col. O. P. Lyles became representative in Congress. The Seventeenth Arkansas, of the northwestern part of the State (not the regiment organized for Colonel Le- moyne, but one formed in the vicinity of Fort Smith), was first commanded by Col. Frank Rector and Lieut. -Col. John Griffith, and took part in the battle of Elkhorn Tav ern. It was reorganized at Tupelo, Miss. , by the election of Col. John Griffith, Lieutenant-Colonel Dodson and Maj. B. F. Jett. The latter brought to the organization a company from Hempstead county, in the Southwest. The company commanders were : Company A, Capt. Cliff Thompson ; Company B, Captain Van Hoose ; Company C, Capt. E. D. Jett ; Company D, Capt. David Arbuckle ; Company E, Capt. Ed Adams. The regiment took part in the battles of luka and Corinth. It was ordered to the defense of Port Hudson, and consolidated with the Eleventh Arkansas, Col. John Griffith being placed in command of the consolidated regiment. It endured the siege of Port Hudson, upon the fall of which, July 9, 1863, the men were paroled. The officers were sent to prison, 318 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. among them Capt. B. B. Chisom, one of the youngest officers in the Confederacy. He commanded the com pany of Captain Arbuckle after the latter was captured at Port Hudson. From Johnson's island they were trans ferred to Fort Delaware, after being sent with all the other officers at Johnson's island to Point Lookout, Md., and detained several months after the surrender of Lee. The Eighteenth Arkansas was organized at Devall's Bluff on White river, by the election of Col. D. W. Car roll, of Pine Bluff; Lieut. -Col. John L. Daly, of Camden, and Maj. Robert H. Crockett, of DeWitt. The company commanders were: Company A, Captain Thompson; Company B, Capt. (Rev.) R. B. Thrasher; Company C, Capt. James Peel ; Company D, Captain Robertson ; Com pany E, Captain Barnett; Company G, Capt. Charles Lynch; Company H, Capt. W. N. Parrish; Company I, Capt. Samuel Southerland ; Company K, Capt. D. W. Carroll, succeeded by W, F. Owen. The regiment num bered 1,000 when it was sent to Fort Pillow, but was decimated by disease and ordered to 'Corinth, Miss., where it continued to suffer from sickness, as did the entire army, due to rain and unwholesome water from pits dug about, the camp. Colonel Carroll was compelled to relinquish his position because of ill health. There upon J. L. Daly was chosen the commanding officer of the regiment. The regiment took part in the battles of luka and Corinth, and suffered severely. Its colonel was killed, and many men and officers were killed and wounded. After the colonel received his death wound, Capt. W. N. Parrish, of Company H, led the regiment through the battle with such courage and ability that he was promoted lieutenant-colonel of the regiment "for gallantry on the field of battle." Maj. R. H. Crockett became colonel by order of seniority, and thenceforth led the regiment. It was ordered to Port Hudson and went through the siege of forty-eight days. The officers were imprisoned on Johnson's island, and the privates were paroled as pris- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 319 oners of war until exchanged. As the prisoners were being transported tip the Mississippi river, Lieuts. James Heliums and Dink Atkins, of Company K, leaped from the steamer into the Mississippi between Napoleon and Helena, and made their escape by swimming ashore. The Nineteenth Arkansas was organized at Devall's Bluff, in April, 1861, with the following officers: Colonel H. P. Smead, of Columbia county; Lieut. -Col. Ben Hale, of Hot Springs; Maj. D. L. Kilgore, of Magnolia; Quar termaster T. P. Dockery, Commissary H. Bussy. The captains were: Company A, J. G. Johnson, of Lewis- ville; B, H. G. P. Williams, of Hillsboro; C, B. R. Mat thews, of Eldorado; D, John Cook, of Falcon; E, P. Dismukes, of Columbia county; F, J. I. Kendrick, of Co lumbia county ; G, William C. Langford, of Eldorado ; H, James Henry, of Hot Springs county. Under an act of Congress the regiment was reorganized by electing Tom Dockery, colonel; W. H. Dismukes, lieutenant-col onel, and H. G. P. Williams, major. From Memphis it was ordered to Fort Pillow. April 12, 1862, the Federal fleet which had caused the evacuation of Island No. 10 proceeded eighty miles below to Fort Pillow, and began a vigorous bombardment of that place and of Randolph, about twelve miles below, on the bluffs of Tennessee. Both places were rendered untenable, and the Confeder ates were withdrawn and sent to Corinth, Miss. They took part in the battles of luka and Corinth, where the Arkansas regiments bore themselves with greatest gal lantry. The Nineteenth earned for its colonel, Thomas P. Dockery, of Lamartine, promotion as brigadier-general in the Confederate army. Colonel Dockery seemed designed for a soldier. Nothing excited him. His ap parent indifference to danger was such in fact that at times it rendered him negligent of necessary precautions. It was this defect, really, that prevented his further pro motion. Upon the promotion of Colonel Dockery, Lieu tenant-Colonel Dismukes became colonel of the regiment. 320 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. The Nineteenth and Eighth, consolidated tinder command of Col. A. L. Hutchison, served in Cleburne's division at Ringgold gap and the retreat through Georgia. A sec ond Nineteenth Arkansas infantry was organized in Nash ville, Ark., the latter part of the year 1861, electing as officers Col. C. L. Dawson, Lieut. -Col. P. R. Smith, Maj. Joseph Anderson. The company commanders were : A, Captain Castleman; B, Capt. Gabe Stewart; C, Captain Spars; D, Capt. J. H. Carter; E, Capt. Nathan Eldridge; F, Capt. D. H. Hamiter; G, Capt. D. C. Cowling; H, Cap tain Featherston; J, Capt. B. H. Kinsworthy; K, Captain Herndon. The regiment participated in the battle of Elkhorn Tavern, and the defense of Arkansas Post, where it surrendered to Sherman, and was subsequently ex changed at City Point, Va., in May following. It was consolidated with Portlock's regiment, and Adjt. A. H. Hutchison was elected colonel. With the army of Ten nessee it went through the Georgia campaign. The Twentieth Arkansas infantry was organized at Little Rock, August, 1861, with the following officers : Col. George King, Lieut. -Col. Alf Carrigan, Maj. James H. Fletcher. Upon reorganization for the Confederate service, there were chosen Col. Henry P. Johnson, Lieut. -Col. James H. Fletcher and Maj. Daniel W. Jones. Colonel Johnson was killed at the battle of Corinth, and Lieutenant-Colonel Fletcher became colonel, but resigned on account of disability, when Maj. Daniel W. Jones was promoted to colonel, and Captain Robertson succeeded him as major of the regiment. Major Robertson was killed in the battle of Big Black in rear of Vicksburg. The regiment was at the bombardment of Fort Pillow and in the battles of Farmington, Corinth, Coffeeville, Miss., Big Black river bridge, endured the siege of Vicksburg, and was surrendered to Grant, July 4, 1863. Colonel Jones, who had been taken prisoner at Corinth and exchanged, was again a prisoner at the capitulation of Vicksburg. After being exchanged, the regiment re- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 321 entered the service as cavalry tinder Colonel Jones, and was at the skirmishes on the Little Missouri and Prairie d'Ane, and the battles of Marks' Mills and Jenkins' Ferry, in April, 1864; and during the raid to the Missouri river took part in the battles of Pilot Knob, Booneville, Independence and Marais des Cygnes, September, 1864. The Twenty-third Arkansas infantry, as originally organized, had for its field officers: Col. Charles W. Adams, of Helena; Lieut. -Col. Simon P. Hughes, of Clarendon ; Maj. J. S. Robinson, of Chicot county. The commanders of companies were: Capt. A. A. Adair, of Craighead county; Capt. E. McAllister, of Crittenden county ; Capt. Henry Hillis, of Craighead county ; Capt. John Clendenin, of Phillips county; Capt. W. W. Smith, of Monroe county; Capt. Thomas Westmoreland, of Poinsett county; Capt. J. H. Robinson, of Chicot county, and after his election as major, Captain Cray craft, of Chicot; Capt. Simon P. Hughes, of Monroe, and after his election as lieutenant-colonel, Capt. John B. Baxter, of Monroe; Captain Seward, of St. Francis county; Capt. Brown Dolson, of Cross county. The regiment was reor ganized after the battle of Shiloh, and the following field officers elected : Col. O. P. Lyles, of Crittenden county ; Lieut. -Col. A. A. Pennington, of Clark county; Maj. E. R. Black, of Monroe couuty; Adjt. C. W. Lewis, of Crittenden; Quartermaster McMurray, of Chicot; Com missary Norton, of Phillips county. The Twenty-third was engaged in the battles of luka and Corinth. It was united in a brigade with the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, Eighteenth and Col. Batt. Jones' battalion, and sent to the defense of Port Hudson under Colonel Lyles, going through the siege. Its officers and men were surrendered and eventually exchanged, after which the regiment was mounted. Capt. W. W. Smith, of Monroe, was elected associate justice of the supreme court, in which position Ark 21 322 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. he died in 1892. Simon P. Hughes was successively attorney-general, governor and associate justice of the supreme court of Arkansas. The Twenty-fifth Arkansas infantry was organized in August, 1 86 1, by the election of Col. Charles Turnbull, of Little Rock; Lieut. -Col. Henry Remington, of Mont gomery county, who resigned, and Eli Hufstedler was made lieutenant-colonel ; Maj. James J. Franklin. The commanders of companies were: Company A, Eli Hufstedler, promoted to lieutenant-colonel and colonel; Company C, John Thomas; Company D, Capt. S. T. Black, killed at Murfreesboro ; Company F, J. J. Franklin, elected major at the organization and sub sequently lieutenant-colonel, Captain Knowles, pro moted major, First Lieut. John O'Brien becoming captain; Company G, Stephen Smith; Company H, W. A. Cotter; Company I, J. G. Adams; Company K, John A. Wakefield. Major Franklin was wounded at Murfreesboro, and Captain Knowles, of Company E, became major. He was killed at Kenesaw Mountain and was succeeded by Captain Cotter, of Company H. Capt. S. T. Black, of Company D, was killed at Mur freesboro. The regiment was at the bombardment of Fort Pillow, and in the battles of Shiloh, Richmond, Ky., Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Tunnel Hill, Dalton, Resaca, New Hope Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Moore's Mill, Peachtree Creek, Lovejoy's Station, Jonesboro, Moore's Station, Franklin, Nashville, Sugar Creek and Bentonville. The Second Arkansas battalion was organized at Little Rock, in March, 1862, and John Miller was commissioned major in command. Two other companies were added and Batt. L. Jones was elected lieutenant-colonel, and continued as commander until the surrender of Port Hudson. Its officers were sent to Rock Island and were kept in prison there until the cessation of hostilities. Among the captains of the battalion were M. R. Wilson, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 323 James Norris, James Imboden and P. T. Wood, who sur vived the siege of Port Hudson and the war. The gal lant little command took an active part in the battles of luka, Rienzi, the big skirmish at Farmington, near Cor inth, and did good service at Corinth in October, 1862. After the capitulation of Port Hudson the men who were paroled and exchanged went into the service claiming their organization, but were consolidated with the Eighteenth and Twenty-third. They took part in the battle of Marks' Mills, and were on the field at the battle of Jenkins' Ferry. Borland's battalion was organized for Senator Solon Borland, who was elected major. At first containing five companies and about 300 men, other companies were soon added, increasing it to a regiment, which was organ ized by electing Col. Solon Borland, Lieut. -Col. Ben F. Danley and Maj. D. F. Shall, all residents of Little Rock and vicinity. Colonel Borland had served in the Mexican war, was one of the * * Mier prisoners, ' ' and was advanced in years. When it became apparent that the regiment would be ordered east of the Mississippi river, he ordered a reorganization, and the regiment elected Col. James Gee, of Camden; Lieut. -Col. Ben F. Danley, of Little Rock, and Maj. A. W. Hobson, of Camden. Colonel Danley was appointed provost-marshal-general, A. W. Hobson was elected lieutenant-colonel, and William A. Blackwell, of Perryville, major. The regiment was retained at Pit man's Ferry a long time after Hardee was transferred, was then ordered to Des Arc and thence to Memphis, dismounted, and sent to Corinth. After the battle of Corinth, October 4, 1862, it was remounted, and served to the end of the war under the greatest of cavalry leaders, Gen. Bedford Forrest. At the battle of Thompson Sta tion, in which Forrest commanded, Colonel Earle, of the regiment, and Capt. Joe Jester, of Hot Springs, were killed. John J. Sumpter, of Hot Springs, who had en listed as a private in Jester's company, was made captain. 324 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Thomas C. Scott, of Little Rock, was color sergeant, and lost an arm. Colonel Danley was captain of one of the original companies, of which John C. Henderson, of Saline, was made captain. Frank M. Conway was lieu tenant, also S. C. W. Lewis. Senator James K. Jones was a private in Captain Holmes' company, of Dallas county, in this command, after rejection from the First Arkansas and a Clark county battery which he offered to join. His rejection was based on his physical inability to perform the service. He was in very delicate health while in the army east of the Mississippi river. From Corinth he was granted a furlough to go home to die. After a short rest at home he grew stronger, and joined Colonel Newton's regiment of mounted men, State troops, some times led by Governor Flanagin as commander-in-chief of State forces. In this command he served as a private until the end of the war. Colonel Fagan's infantry regiment, the First, was ordered from Virginia to increase the force of Sidney Johnston for his attack upon Grant at Shiloh, and, as here tofore narrated, fought gallantly in that battle, in which Lieut. -Col. John Baker Thompson was killed. Colonel Fagan had been re-elected and Major Thompson had been elected lieutenant-colonel upon reorganization, vice Lieut. -Col. J. C. Monroe, who desired and obtained leave to visit his home in Arkansas. Maj. J. W. Colquitt be came lieutenant-colonel upon the death of Lieutenant- Colonel Thompson. At Corinth, Colonel Fagan became offended by General Bragg 's treatment, which he deemed harsh and unreasonable, and tendered his resig nation. He and Colonel Monroe departed for Arkansas on horseback, accompanied by Theodore Linde, a gallant youth and brother-in-law of Governor Rector. Gen. T. C. Hindman had been assigned to the command of the Trans-Mississippi department. Colonel Fagan was as signed by General Hindman to a regiment of mounted riflemen, and soon after by General Holmes to a brigade CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 325 of infantry as brigadier-general. Colonel Monroe suc ceeded him in command of the cavalry regiment and con tinued in the cavalry service, in a short time in command of a brigade which was afterward assigned to Gen. W. L. Cabell, and of which he was ranking officer when General Cabell was captured ; but Monroe himself being wounded and disabled, Colonel Harrell succeeded to the command of the brigade until the close of the war. The commanders of Arkansas troops east of the Missis sippi river who were transferred to the Trans- Mississippi department, as we have seen, were Generals Hindman, Churchill, Rust, Dockery, Cabell, McNair, Beall; Col onels Pagan, Tappan, Hawthorn, Shaver, Crockett, Mar- maduke, Provence, John C. Wright, Siemens, B. W. John son, Gaither. Maj.-Gen. T. C. Hindman, after being relieved of the command of the district of Arkansas, was reassigned to a division, and eventually to a corps, in the army east of the Mississippi, commanded successively by Bragg, John ston and Hood. CHAPTER XII. ARKANSAS BRIGADES EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI— BAT TLE OF SHILOH— RICHMOND AND PERRYVILLE— MURFREESBORO— IUKA AND CORINTH— VICKSBURG AND PORT HUDSON— CHICKAMAUGA— MISSIONARY RIDGE— RINGGOLD GAP— THE ATLANTA CAMPAIGN —FRANKLIN AND THE DEATH OF CLEBURNE. GENERAL ALBERT SIDNEY JOHNSTON, on the ioth of September, 1861, was assigned to the command of "the department of the West," which included the States of Tennessee, Missouri, Arkansas, the western part of Mississippi, and Indian Territory. On taking command he immediately occupied Bowling Green, Ky., with 5,000 men, under Brig. -Gen. S. B. Buck- ner, as a defensive countercheck to the enlistment and intrusion of Federal forces in the State. General Polk was at Columbus, and at Cumberland ford, Gen. Felix K. Zollicoffer had taken position with 4,000 men. Fort Henry, Fort Donelson and Hopkinsville were garrisoned by small bodies of Confederates. The general position of Bowling Green, Johnston wrote, was good and com manding. "There is no position equally as defensive as Bowling Green, nor line of defense as good as the Barren river. So it cannot be abandoned without exposing Tennessee and giving vastly the vantage ground to the enemy." Brig. -Gen. W. J. Hardee, having crossed the Mississippi with his Arkansas command, arrived at Bowl ing Green, October nth, and in a few days was sent for ward to Cave City. His force there was reported on the 23d as follows: First regiment Arkansas volunteers, Col. P. R. Cleburne; Second regiment, Maj. J. W. Scaife; battalion attached to Second, Lieut. -Col. J. S. Marma- 326 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 327 duke ; Fifth regiment, Col. D. C. Cross ; Sixth regiment, Col. A. T. Hawthorn; Seventh regiment, Col. R. G. Shaver; Eighth regiment, Col. W. K. Patterson; battal ion of Ninth, four companies, Lieut. -Col. S. J. Mason; battalion of artillery, Maj. F. A. Shoup — batteries of Capts. George [Charles] Swett, John T. Trigg, George T. Hubbard ; five companies of cavalry, Maj. Charles W. Phifer. When General Johnston assumed immediate command of the central army of Kentucky, October 28th, Hardee, promoted to major-general, was given command of the First division, the component brigades of which were, Brigadier-General Hindman's — Second (Lieutenant-Col onel Bocage) and Sixth Arkansas regiments and Marma- duke's battalion; Colonel Cleburne's — First and Fifth Arkansas regiments, Seventh Mississippi and Tennessee Rifles; and Col. R. G. Shaver's — Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Arkansas and Twenty-fourth Tennessee. The Arkansas artillery and cavalry were also in Hardee's division. Other Arkansas commands in Kentucky were the Thirteenth with Polk at Columbus, and the Ninth, Colonel Dunlop, and Tenth, Colonel Merrick, at Camp Beauregard, in Col. J. S. Bowen's brigade. The returns in December showed the strength of Hindman's brigade to be 1,969, aggregate present, Cleburne's brigade 2,187, Shaver's brigade 2,548, cavalry regiment 614, Shoup's artillery battalion 205, Dunlop 's Ninth Arkansas 611, and Tenth Arkansas 649. December 5, 1861, Major-General Hardee, in obedience to orders of General Johnston, assumed command of the central army of Kentucky, announcing as his staff, Lieut. D. G. White, adjutant-general; Maj. John Pope, of Ar kansas, chief quartermaster; Capt. W. E. Moore, chief commissary ; Captain Chambliss, chief of ordinance ; Col. St. John R. Liddell, aide; Col. Hardin Perkins, aide. In November, Colonel Cleburne was ordered by General Hardee with his regiment, the First Arkansas State (or 328 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Fifteenth Arkansas Confederate), a squadron of Terry's Texas Rangers, and one piece of Shoup's artillery, against a Federal force at Jamestown, which retired on his ap proach, abandoning some supplies. He was soon after ward promoted to brigadier-general. The fall of Forts Henry and Donelson on the 2d and 1 4th of February, 1862, was a lamentable disaster which changed the situation in Kentucky. Grant's possession of the Tennessee river cut off Columbus and separated Bowling Green from Nashville. It became necessary for the entire Confederate army in Kentucky to fall back to another line to protect Memphis. Before the fall of Don elson, every preparation for the retreat from Bowling Green was quietly made; all ordnance and army stores were quietly moved southward; and on February nth troops began to move. Colonel Shaver's Arkansas bri gade covered the retreat. By order, Colonel Shaver burned the depot at Bowling Green and destroyed the telegraph lines on the way. On the i6th the last of the wearied columns passed through Nashville, and during the next two days the main body of the command was moved from Nashville to Murfreesboro. On the 28th the march was resumed to Decatur, through Shelby ville, and Fayetteville, Tenn. Halting at these points to bring up his impedimenta, General Johnston at the close of March joined Beauregard at Corinth, Miss. , the crossing of the Mobile & Ohio and Memphis & Charleston rail roads. On March 5th, General Johnston dispatched the secre tary of war from Huntsville, Ala. : "The advance will reach Decatur in three days. Cleburne's brigade and two regiments and battalion of cavalry left at Shelbyville, under General Hardee, to forward pork, and then rejoin main body. ' ' Cleburne had as yet seen but little of the "pride of glorious war." Constructing plank roads through the lowlands, a depressing and painful retreat in the winter, and guarding and forwarding "pork" in CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 32£ the rear, were attended by no "pomp and circumstance. " News of the defeat of Van Dorn at Elkhorn Tavern, Ark., March yth, and the death of McCulloch and Mclntosh, added to the general gloom. The movement of the enemy from Paducah up the Tennessee river had already commenced. Gen. C. F. Smith assembled four divisions at Savannah, Tenn., on the isth; Buell began his march from Nashville on the i5th, and Sherman disembarked troops at Pittsburg land ing on the 1 6th and made a reconnoissance to Monterey, nearly half way to Corinth. The organization of the army of the Mississippi, April 6 and 7, 1862, was in four corps, under Polk, Bragg, Hardee and Breckinridge. The Arkansas commands were mainly in the third corps, Hardee 's, which was made up as follows: First brigade, Brig. -Gen. T. C. Hindman, Col. R. G. Shaver — Second Arkansas, Col. D. C. Govan, Maj. Reu ben F. Harvey; Sixth Arkansas, Col. A. T. Hawthorn; Seventh Arkansas, Lieut. -Col. J. M. Dean (killed), Maj. J. T. Martin; Third Confederate, Col. J. S. Marmaduke; Swett's Mississippi battery. Second brigade, Brig. -Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne— Fifteenth Arkansas, Lieut. -Col. A. K. Patton; Sixth Mississippi ; Second, Fifth, Twenty-third and Twenty-fourth Tennessee; Trigg's and Calvert's Arkansas batteries, Captain Shoup. Third brigade, Brig. - Gen. S. A. M. Wood— Eighth Arkansas, Col. W. K. Pat terson; Ninth (Fourteenth) Arkansas battalion, Maj. J. H. Kelly; and Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia commands. The First corps, General Polk, included the Thirteenth Arkansas, commanded successively by Lieut. -Col. A. D. Grayson, Maj. James A. McNeely, and Col. James C. Tappan, in A. P. Stewart's Tennessee brigade. The Second corps, General Bragg, contained the First Ar kansas, Col. James F. Fagan, brigaded with R. L. Gib son's Louisianians ; and in Breckinridge 's reserve corps 330 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. were the Ninth Arkansas, Col. Isaac L. Dunlop, and Tenth, Col. Thomas D. Merrick, yet under Bowen's com mand. Hubbard's Arkansas artillery is noted among unattached troops. Grant, since his heart-blow directed against the Confed eracy at Donelson, had been strangely left without defi nite command until the iyth of March, when seeming to have been restored, he proceeded to Savannah on the Tennessee, and permitted Gen. W. T. Sherman to take command of the force at Pittsburg landing. Buell's army was ordered to move on to Savannah. Grant ex pected to make Pittsburg landing a mere starting point for Corinth. But General Johnston observed that the enemy had violated a rule of the military art in throwing an inferior force on the enemy's coast without making his position secure by defenses or means of retreat, and he determined to attack, partly because he desired to return the blow of Donelson, also because there was such an excessive mortality from sickness in his army that it were better the men should die in battle than perish miserably by disease. On the evening of the 2d of April, General Hardee led with the Third corps in the march toward the landing, and at daylight on the 5th, he had developed the lines of the enemy. But as late as half-past 12 on the 5th, the left wing of Bragg 's corps had not appeared. General Johnston, looking at his watch and glancing at the sun, said, "This is not war; let us have our horses," and rid ing to the rear, found that part of the army delayed by the artillery of the reserve corps, which blocked the road. He ordered the road cleared, by which time it was 4 o'clock, "too late," as Colonel Munford said in his address, "to give battle then. " Yet the Federals were in blissful ignorance that an army was drawn up in sight of their lines. A consultation of the Confederates closed with General Johnston quietly remarking, "We shall attack them at daylight to-morrow." CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 331 Col. William Preston, aide-de-camp of the general com manding, in his account of the events of Sunday, April 6th, said: Between dawn and sunrise sharp skirmishing was heard rather more than half a mile in advance in the forest. General Johnston rode forward, when we found the action commenced by General Hindman's brigade, which was suffering under a heavy fire. There were many dead and wounded, and some stragglers breaking ranks, whom General Johnston rallied in person. I rode forward and found General Hindman rallying and animating his men, who were advancing toward the camp. General John ston then, through me, ordered General Bragg to advance. Our forces then entered the enemy's camp under a heavy fire of musketry and artillery. Passing to the left, Gen eral Johnston reconnoitered, from two cabins at the edge of a large field, the position of the enemy beyond. The field extended toward the river, and beyond was fringed with woodland, and 200 or 300 yards beyond was the enemy's camp. Through this field General Cleburne's brigade moved in fine order, with loud and inspiring cheers, to attack the camp. 1 he surprise was complete. It was carried between 7 and 8 o'clock, and its colors, arms, stores and ammunition were abandoned. The breakfasts of the men were on the tables, the officers' baggage and apparel left in the tents. General Hardee's account of the opening of the battle is as follows : Hindman's brigade engaged the enemy with great vigor in the edge of a wood, and drove him rapidly back over the field toward Pittsburg, while Gladden 's brigade dashed upon the encampment of a division under the command of General Prentiss. At the same time Cleburne's brigade, with the Fifteenth Arkansas deployed as skirmishers, moved quickly through the fields, and though far out flanked by the enemy on our left, rushed forward under a terrific fire from the serried ranks drawn up in front of the camp. A morass covered his front and caused a break in the brigade. Deadly volleys were poured upon the in en as they advanced, from behind bales of hay, logs and other defenses, and after a series of desperate charges, 332 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the brigade was compelled to fall back. . . . Supported by the arrival of the second line, Cleburne, with the remainder of his troops, again advanced and entered the enemy's encampments, which had been forced in the cen ter and right by the dashing charges of Gladden 's, Wood's and Hindman's brigades. ... In the attack of the left center of my line . . . Brigadier- General Wood was thrown from his horse and disabled. The command devolved upon Colonel Patterson, of the Eighth Arkansas, who led the brigade with courage and ability until about 2:30 o'clock, when General Wood returned to the field and resumed command. . . . In the arrangement of my line of battle, two brigades were intrusted to Brigadier- General Hindman ; his own, under the immediate command of Colonel Shaver, who conducted his command to my satisfaction, and the other, under command of Brigadier- General Wood. The con duct of General Hindman upon the field was marked by a courage which animated his soldiers and a skill which won their confidence. He was disabled in the action on Sunday. He has never transmitted his report, and I am not able to do full justice to his brave command, but I cannot omit to mention the death of Lieutenant- Colonel Dean, commanding the Seventh Arkansas, who fell in the fight on Sunday. He was a brave and deserving officer. During the action, Brigadier-General Cleburne conducted his command with persevering valor. No repulse discour aged him ; but after many bloody struggles, he assembled the remnant of his brigade and was conspicuous for his gallantry to the end of the battle. In his expression of obligations to his staff, General Hardee named Lieut. William Kearney, his inspector-gen eral, and Surgeon G. W. Lawrence, medical director, a resident of Hot Springs, Ark. , before and since he was a Confederate surgeon. He was a native of Maryland, and one time assistant surgeon in the United States navy. Hindman's and Cleburne 's brigades struck the enemy at the camp of Colonel Peabody, whose brigade was partly composed of Germans from St. Louis and Milwaukee. They crowded the streets of their encampment as they ran out of the tents, and fell fast under rifle balls and the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 333 grape and canister of Swett's battery. Colonel Peabody, arising hurriedly from breakfast, was wounded in the act of mounting his horse. Colonel Shaver, reporting the action of Hindman's bri gade, described the attack on Peabody's camp as very sanguinary ; the enemy's fire was terrific. Ordered to the left, he became exposed to a cross-fire of artillery, and here, near the Chicago battery, General Hindman's horse was cut in two by a cannon ball and he was disabled. In an afternoon charge the brigade encountered the murder ous fire of a concealed battery, and there Lieutenant- Col onel Dean fell. On the 7th, Colonel Shaver was rendered senseless by the explosion of a shell in the midst of a fierce melee. Lieutenant- Colonel Patton, Seventh regiment, was severely wounded. About 100 of the regiment marched under Major Harvey from the field. Maj. James T. Martin, successor of Dean, reported the gallant conduct of Captain Martin, Captain McCauley, killed, Captain Cain, wounded, Captain Brightwell, wounded, Lieuts. John E. Irwin and C. I. Deshazo, killed. The Fifth Arkansas was a member of the bri gade, but was on special duty and did not take part in this battle. The loss of the Sixth was heavy, as was that of the other regiments of the brigade. Among the killed were Capts. Sam H. Dill and J. W. Austin. Subse quently, at Corinth, Capt. Sam Granville Smith was elected colonel, Capt. J. Cameron, lieutenant-colonel, and Lieut. William F. Douglas, major. General Cleburne reported that Maj. J. T. Harris, of the Fifteenth Arkansas, was shot dead while firing on the enemy with his revolver. His brigade passed the night of Sunday in one of the enemy's camps amid heavy rain and the exploding shells from the Federal gunboats. He had 800 men left Monday morning out of 2,700. Ordered to attack the heavy columns of the enemy without sup port, his brigade suffered heavy loss, among the killed, Lieutenant-Colonel Patton and Captain Cowley, acting 334 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. major of the Fifteenth Arkansas. "The Fifteenth con tinued to pursue the enemy until out of ammunition, when 58 men, all that were still together, fell back to replenish." General Wood reported that in the charge on Monday, which followed the speech by Governor Har ris, Maj. John H. Kelly displayed the greatest gallantry. Dashing through a pond, he sat on horseback in the open ground and rallied his men in line as they advanced. Colonel Patterson was also commended. Among the killed were Lieutenants Bateman, Price and Pettit, of the Eighth. The report of General Ruggles commemorates the service of Captain Shoup's guns, and particularly a sec tion of Hubbard's battery, under Lieut. James C. Thrall, in the capture of Prentiss' Federal division. Gibson, who was sent in repeated charges against the enemy's second line, Sunday, found Fagan and his Arkansas ever ready. The earliest casualties of the First, said Fagan, were in filing through a field swept by a Federal battery. There Capt. W. A. Crawford was seriously wounded and several men killed. About noon they began a series of three desperate attacks, in which, among others, Lieut. - Col. John Baker Thompson fell pierced by seven balls, Lieut. L. C. Bartlett was killed, Maj. J. W. Colquitt and Capt. James Newton were severely wounded, and Capts. J. T. Gibson, Carl Hempstead and Jesse T. McMahon killed. The Ninth and Tenth Arkansas, fighting under General Breckinridge, were with the troops sent against Prentiss' division on the first day, meeting a destructive fire. There was a halt at the right of the line, and Governor Harris, of Tennessee, was addressing the men, when General Johnston rode up behind the Ninth Arkansas and asked that a file give way to let him through, at the same time requesting the name of the regiment. Being told, he turned, holding in his right hand a cup he picked up in a Federal camp, and facing the regiment, said with CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. 335 a smile, "I want you 'toothpick' men to show what you can do to-day! " (The bowie-knife was called in jest the 1 'Arkansas toothpick. ") "The enemy over there must be driven out. Will you help us to do it? " The electric cur rent of this appeal thrilled the Arkansas men, and the answer was an enthusiastic dash and a rousing yell. Johnston rode with them, but the regiment passed him and carried the field. The fight was won ! The Tenth regiment was next to the Ninth and went forward in the same headlong charge. Prentiss' division was taken, including no less than 3, ooo men and the general him self. Colonel Dunlop reported the gallant conduct of Lieut. M. A. Duckworth, killed, Capt. W. J. Wallace, wounded, and Sergeant Ford, who carried the colors after the color-sergeant fell. The Ninth lost 17 killed and 115 wounded. The Thirteenth, with A. P. Stewart, lost 25 killed and 72 wounded out of 306. From the fire of a Louisiana regiment, Capt. R. B. Lambert, Lieutenants Hall and Hopkins and several others were wounded. In the subsequent encounter with the enemy, Lieutenant- Colonel Grayson was mortally, and Maj. J. A. McNeely5 Captains Crump and Wilds, and Lieutenants Duncan, Hopkins and Busby, seriously wounded. After the fall of Fort Donelson, Tenn., General Polk evacuated Columbus, and the next stand for the defense of the Mississippi river was made at the bends of Island No. 10 and New Madrid, Mo. At Fort Thompson, near New Madrid, was stationed a garrison consisting of the Eleventh Arkansas regiment, Col. J. M. Smith; the Twelfth Arkansas, Lieut. -CoL W. D. S. Cook, and two Tennessee batteries, all under Col. E. W. Gantt, of the Twelfth Arkansas. An army under Gen. John Pope advanced southward in Missouri against New Madrid and began an attack on Fort Thompson, March i3th. During the following night, in the midst of a violent thunderstorm, the Confederate garrison was removed to the Kentucky shore, by order of General McCown, under the personal 336 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. supervision of Gen. A. P. Stewart. Then for two weeks the regiments were engaged opposite New Madrid, day and night, in mounting guns and digging rifle-pits, under constant fire from Federal batteries. On the night of April 4th, the Twelfth regiment was moved to Island No. 10, where Colonel Cook was put in command by Gen eral Mackall, who moved with the remaining infantry to Madrid bend. On the yth, finding his little rain-drenched force ineffectual to hold the position, Cook evacuated the island, and retreated through the overflowed swamps to Reelf oot lake, which he crossed on small boats and rafts ; heavy rain and snow continuing during all of his move ments. Reporting from Memphis, April i3th, Colonel Cook said that about 300 of his regiment and a few of the Eleventh were with him. Nearly all of Smith's regi ment was surrendered with Mackall on the 8th. After Shiloh, Halleck besieged Corinth, and the Con federates evacuated that "strategic point" and fell back to Tupelo, where Beauregard, as commander, gave way to Bragg. In the organization at Tupelo, June 3oth, the Thirteenth Arkansas remained in A. P. Stewart's bri gade, assigned to Polk's corps; the First Arkansas in its former brigade, tinder General Walker, Samuel Jones' corps; and Hardee's corps included Col. St. J. R. Lid- dell's brigade— Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth Arkansas regiments, pioneer company and Roberts' bat tery; General Cleburne's brigade — Fifteenth Arkansas; and Brig. -Gen. J. S. Marmaduke's brigade — Third Con federate, with three Tennessee regiments and Swett's battery. McCown's division included McCray's regiment in Brig. -Gen. W. L. Cabell's brigade; the Fourth infantry, First Riflemen dismounted (Colonel Harper), Second Riflemen (Colonel Williamson), Fourth battalion infantry, Turnbull's battalion infantry, and Humphreys' battery, in General Churchill's brigade. In command of the army of the Mississippi, Bragg advanced from Tupelo to Chattanooga in July. May pth, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 337 Maj.-Gen. E. Kirby Smith was assigned to the district of East Tennessee. In August, reinforced by McCown's division, sent early in July, General Smith moved into Kentucky through Big Creek gap, and meeting with no serious resistance moved across to Cumberland ford, where he gave his barefooted soldiers a rest of two or three days, feeding them with roasting ears and beef without salt, but promising to regale them better when they reached the bluegrass country. Brig. -Gen. T. J. Churchill commanded the Third division (McCown's) of Smith's army, with one brigade under Col. T. H. Me- Cray — Thirty-first Arkansas (sharpshooters), and several Texas regiments — and Churchill's brigade, under Col. Evander McNair. At Nelson's gap the army was joined by a division under Colonel Cleburne, including the bri gades of Preston Smith and B. J. Hill, the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Arkansas in the latter (Cleburne 's) brigade. Moving through Barboursville, Smith proceeded directly against Richmond, Ky. From Big Hill, on August 30, 1862, General Cleburne moved forward at daylight and found the enemy drawn up to meet him in a commanding position at Mount Zion church, six miles from Richmond. Cleburne at once commenced the action, and Churchill was sent around to attack the enemy on the right flank. During the engagement with Cleburne, the enemy, while making an attempt to turn Cleburne 's right, was repulsed with severe slaughter by Col. Preston Smith's brigade, and at the same time General Churchill, by a determined and unexpected charge against the enemy's flank with McCray's brigade, completed a victory already partially gained. Gen. Kirby Smith ordered the cavalry to make a detour rapidly so as to intercept the retreat of the fugi tives, and also ceased the firing of his artillery. The enemy, rallying in a second line, supposed that the Con federates were preparing to retreat, and as McCray a second time approached their flank, they attacked his bri gade before the other troops came up. To the aston- Ark 22 338 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ishment of the Federals, McCray's men did not retreat, but reserving their fire, received the assault with murder ous volleys, and then by making a dashing charge against fearful odds, put the enemy to flight. A march of two miles brought the pursuers upon Nelson's well-fed legion, returned from Shiloh and wearing the "laurel," splen didly equipped and occupying favorable positions on a ridge with both flanks resting upon woodlands. Church ill marched around to the left and opened the attack. When Churchill's musketry was heard, Cleburne's divi sion went forward at double-quick, under the murderous fire of twice their numbers, and drove the enemy in con fusion from the field and through the town. In the first engagement of his division, General Cle- burne was hit by a bullet from a sharpshooter, in the left side of his face, driving the teeth of that side out of his mouth and compelling him to leave the field. Col. Lucius E. Polk, commanding the Thirteenth and Fif teenth Arkansas, was badly wounded about the same time, Lie at. -Col. A. R. Brown succeeding him. Gen. Preston Smith took command of the division. The Con federate loss was 98 killed and 492 wounded. The casual ties of the enemy were twice that number. The total capture was estimated at 5,000 prisoners, 20 pieces of artillery, 10,000 rifles, wagons, teams, and stores of great value. The Fourth Arkansas was now able to change its flintlock muskets for the latest Springfield rifles with saber bayonets, and all the men improved the opportunity to supply themselves with stores, shoes, hats and clothing of all kinds. Colonel McNair was promoted to brigadier- general "for gallantry and bravery on the battlefield of Richmond, Ky. " The Arkansas troops all shared the honors as they had the dangers of the battle, and now becoming better equipped were ready for the field again. Gen. Kirby Smith moved on Lexington, September ist, with three divisions, Cleburne's, Churchill's and Heth's, and entered that city on the 4th, welcomed with dem- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 339 onstrations of joy by the inhabitants. Here stores were captured valued even at millions. His forces then approached Covington, but made no attack upon the Fed erals there, and proceeded to Georgetown, Mount Ster ling and Frankfort. General Bragg, with his army of the Mississippi, was on his way to join the army of General Smith, having marched with Hardee's and Folk's commands from Chat tanooga by the eastern route, passing the flank of Buell, causing the evacuation of middle Tennessee and northern Alabama by the Federals, and capturing 5,000 of the enemy at Munfordville, Ky. Buell, however, managed to win the race to Louisville. General Hardee, with his command at Perryville, on October yth, observed the enemy massing against him. On the yth, Liddell's Arkansas brigade was in advance of Hardee, supporting the cavalry of Wheeler, who was drawing the shells of the enemy, many of which fell in Liddell's lines. The Seventh Arkansas, under Lieut. - Col. Peter Snyder, held a woodland in front. Wheeler was forced back that night, and next day the battle of Perryville was opened by the Federals with an attack driving in Liddell's skirmishers. Colonel Gillespie, of the Seventh, was ordered to regain the woods, and the Fifth, Col. L. Featherston, Lieut. -Col. John E. Murray and Maj. P. V. Green, went to Gillespie 's assistance, but the enemy was found in great force, and Liddell was soon ordered to retire to the main line. In the afternoon the battle raged with fury. The Confederates taking the initiative, a general assault was made, in which Cle- burne's brigade, which was again with Hardee, attacked the angle of the enemy's line with impetuous valor and irresistible force. The enemy was driven back in dis order. Toward evening, Liddell's brigade, which had borne the opening shock of battle, was called to give the final blow. About 5:30 Colonel Perkins, of Hardee's staff, found Liddell with the message: ''General Hardee 840 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. wishes you now to move upon the enemy where the fire is hottest." Liddell moved toward the enemy's extreme left, and met General Cheatham, who urged Liddell to relieve the pressure upon his division. ''Arriving near twilight," said Hardee, "it was difficult to distinguish friend from foe. Major-General Polk first discovered the enemy. Returning rapidly, he gave Liddell the order to fire, and a deadly volley was poured in that completed the rout. By this brigade, arms, prisoners and colors were captured, together with the papers and baggage of Major-General McCook. " General Polk wrote, "that (Liddell's) veteran brigade, under its gallant commander, closed the operations of the day in that part of the field with a succession of the most deadly volleys I ever wit nessed. The enemy's command in their immediate vicin ity was well-nigh annihilated." General Liddell reported the loss of Capt. H. W. Robinson, of the Fifth, in the morning, and of Adjt. Sampson Harris (a young lawyer of Little Rock), of the Sixth, mortally wounded by a shell. In the evening fight, Capt. H. W. Grissom, of the Second, fell. The Second regiment captured two flags and the ambulances containing General McCook 's and another general's baggage. Col. J. H. Kelly personally captured Colonel Good, of Indiana, commanding brigade. Liddell's total loss was 71 killed, wounded and missing. While the Second Arkansas, Colonel Govan, and Eighth, Colonel Kellogg, were in line in the dark, they became aware of the nearness of a Federal regiment, the Twenty-second Indiana, which was ignorant of their proximity ; and thinking the Federals were ambuscading them, they delivered a deadly volley at short range, which killed the Indiana colonel and many of the regi ment. General Cleburne's horse was killed by a shell and he was wounded in the foot, but remounting, he remained on the field to the end of the battle. By this victory the Confederates captured 15 pieces of artillery and about 300 prisoners, and inflicted a great CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 341 loss in killed and wounded. Then followed Bragg 's memorable retreat out of Kentucky, covered by Gen. Joe Wheeler, who, in protecting the retiring army, en countered the pursuing enemy twenty times. The Con federate army did not get out of the State too soon, for the wet season came on to swell the streams and render the roads impassable. The retreat under these disadvan tages would have been disastrous. The enemy concen trated again at Nashville under Rosecrans, who had super seded Buell, and Bragg took position at Murfreesboro. Christmas festivities, to which many had abandoned themselves, were hardly over, when the advance of Rose crans developed the Confederate line on both sides of Stone's river — Lieutenant-General Hardee's corps (Cle- burne's and Breckinridge's divisions) on the east bank, Lieutenant-General Folk's (Withers' and Cheatham's) on the west bank, McCown's division in reserve on the right of Hardee. The little river at its shoals is fordable ; the banks above and below are shelving limestone ; the land undulating with rocky upheavals and covered with cedar glades. On the 2 9th, to protect his left flank, Bragg put McCown out in an extension of his line westward, and on the 3oth Cleburne's division was moved across the river to the same position, and Hardee was put in command of the two. At Murfreesboro the Arkansans (except Capt. J. H. Wiggins' battery with Gen. Joseph Wheeler) were under Cleburne, commanding a division of Hardee's corps, and under McCown, whose division was sent from east Ten nessee to reinforce Bragg. Cleburne's division embraced his old brigade, under L. E. Polk, promoted to brigadier, Liddell's Arkansas brigade, Bushrod Johnson's Tennes see brigade, Wood's Alabama and Mississippi brigade. Folk's brigade — First Arkansas, Col. John W. Colquitt; Thirteenth and Fifteenth Arkansas; Fifth Confederate, Second and Fifth Tennessee; Helena battery, Lieut. T. J. Key. Liddell's brigade — Second Arkansas, Col. 342 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. D. C. Govan; Fifth, Lieut. -Col. John E. Murray; Sixth and Seventh, Col. Samuel G. Smith (Colonel Shaver ordered west); Eighth, Col. John H. Kelly, Lieut. -Col. G. F. Baucum; Swett's battery. Brigadier- General McNair's brigade (McCown's division) — First Arkansas rifles, Col. Robert W. Harper; Second rifles, Col. H. G. Bunn; Thirtieth infantry, Maj. J. J. Franklin; Fourth battalion, Maj. J. A. Ross; Capt. J. T. Humphreys' battery. The battle of Murfreesboro opened on the morning of December 31, 1862, with the attack by Hardee upon the Federal right. McCown advanced in the first line, with McNair on the right, Cleburne's division at first in the second line. The sight of this advance was magnificent. The enemy was taken by surprise and swept back in con fusion. McCown kept on in a westerly direction and Cleburne came up in the front (and single) Confederate line, and they still drove the enemy back through fields and cedar brakes. Before Cleburne had quite closed up the gap made by McCown's diversion from the right wheel, McNair halted to protect the flank, and Liddell hurrying up gallantly, the two Arkansas brigades charged the enemy with impetuosity, took his battery, and were in full pursuit before they could be reinforced. General McNair, who had come to the field from a sick bed, here was compelled to turn over his command to Colonel Harper. "By this time," said General Hardee, who is here followed, "the men and their ammunition were exhausted by a two-mile chase and fight." But soon Liddell and McNair pushed forward again toward the Nashville road. Harper drove the enemy from a cedar brake, but was ordered back under cover of Humphreys' battery. Cleburne, with Polk on his right, had met a stern resistance, but after a bloody struggle crushed the Federal line in his front. The Second Arkansas again routed the Twenty-second Indiana, which it had punished so severely at Perryville. Cleburne was now in advance CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 343 of the troops to his right, and was enfiladed by a battery, which the First Arkansas and Fifth Confederate charged, capturing four of the guns. Here the battle was bloody. General Sill was killed in front of the Second Arkansas, and the regiment captured the Federal hospital. Now the Federals formed a new line, which was assailed by Polk and Liddell and Cleburne's other brigades, and the enemy finally dislodged, but at heavy cost. Lieut. -Col. Donelson McGregor (nephew of Mrs. Andrew Jackson), First Arkansas, lost his life, and Col. Samuel G. Smith, Sixth and Seventh, and Col. John H. Kelly, Eighth, were among the wounded. Lieut. -Col. John E. Murray, Fifth, carried his regimental colors to the front, and Private J. K. Leslie, Fifth, captured the colors of the enemy. Late in the afternoon Cleburne's men again assaulted the last Federal line, along the railroad, at right angles to their original line of battle, but were repulsed; Polk's brigade suffering very severely. On January ist, Liddell was again engaged, and in the fight Lieut. -Col. F. J. Cam eron, Sixth and Seventh, was wounded. Liddell's bri gade was 1,709 strong, and lost 607 killed, wounded and missing; Polk's brigade, 1,343 strong, lost 347; McNair's brigade lost 424. The following names of officers who fell at Murfreesboro, conspicuous for valor, were ordered to be inscribed on the guns of Swett's battery : Lieut. -Col. Donelson McGregor, First Arkansas; Capt. James T. Armstrong, Sixth; Lieut. H. C. Collier, Second; Lieut. H. J. McCurdy, Eighth. The Arkansans honorably mentioned by General Cle- burne and the brigade and regimental commanders were : In First regiment, Lieut. -Col. Donelson McGregor (mor tally wounded), Adjt. S. N. Greenwood, Capt. W. A. Alexander (wounded), Capt. W. H. Scales (wounded), Capt. O. F. Parish (wounded), Lieut. John E. Letson (wounded); Corps. G. M. McKenzie (killed), J. S. T. Hemphill (wounded) ; Privates G. W. Sallee, J. C. Bogy, W. W. Chaney, Hardee J. Bullion, A. P. Green (killed), 344 CONFEDERA TE MILITARY HISTORY. James Beeson, John H. Curd, O. C. Cheat. In Sec ond Arkansas: Capt. Charles P. Moore (killed), Lieuts. H. C. Collier and B. L. Clegg (wounded), Lieut. -Col. R. F. Harvey, Capt. J. K. Phillips; Lieuts. C. S. Ever- son, M. D. Brown and R. E. Smith. In Fifth Arkansas: Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, Capt. A. B. Washington; Privates John Atkinson (wounded), B. W. Maret and C. Mattix (carried flag, though wounded, after three color-bearers shot down), J. K. Leslie (wounded). In Sixth and Seventh Arkansas: Lieut. -Col. F. J. Cam eron (wounded), Capts. J. W. Martin, S. C. Brown, J. G. Fletcher, W. E. Wilkerson, M. M. Duffie (wounded) ; Lieuts. J. A. Reeves, Sergeant-Major Eddins, Sergeant Bratton, Private Halse (Capt. J. T. Armstrong and Lieuts. J. E. Nicholson and Henry Fisher were killed). In Helena artillery: Lieut. Robert Fitzpatrick. In Eighth Arkansas : Adjt. H. J. McCurdy (killed), Lieuts. H. J. Cole (killed), S. B. Cole (killed), W. M. Bass (wounded), Calvin East (killed), T. H. Beard (killed), B. A. Terrett; Capt. W. H. Lankford, Private James Riddle, Corp. N. A. Horn. In Thirteenth Arkansas: Lieut. John Dolan, Color-Bearer Felix E. Lipe, Private William Sanford. In Fifteenth Arkansas: Maj. C. H. Carl ton (wounded), Capts. T. H. Osborne and George Dixon (wounded), Sergt. J. M. Harkleroad, Lieut. W. H. Pearce (wounded), Capt. W. H. Kinsey. On General Liddell's staff: W. R. Liddell (wounded), Lieut. W. R. Young (wounded), Surg. W. R. Kibler (wounded), Adjt- Gen. G. A. Williams, Lieutenant Bostick, Lieutenant Dulin and Bugler Jacob Schlosser (wounded). Cols. J. H. Kelly, Eighth, and Samuel G. Smith, Sixth and Seventh, were wounded. Colonel Colquitt, First, was specially mentioned by General Cleburne. General McCown in his report mentioned the bravery of Arkansas color-bearers — Sergts. J. R. Perry and J. C. Davis, Fourth battalion; H. W. Hamblen and J. W. Piles, Second regiment; J. B. Bryant, Lieut. John Arm- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 345 strong, Lieut. G. D. Gooding, all wounded, and Capt. John W. Lavender, Fourth regiment. The Thirtieth regiment was admiringly mentioned for coolly maintain ing its organization though losing its last field officer, Maj. J. J. Franklin, and in one charge seven captains. Seven color-bearers fell in McNair's brigade. General McNair particularly commended last field officer, Maj. L. M. Ramsaur, First rifles (dangerously wounded). Others distinguished were Maj. J. J. Franklin (wounded), Adjt.-Gen. R. E. Foote, James Stone, volunteer aide, Color-Bearer Gotten, First rifles; Capt. T. F. Spence (killed), Maj. J. T. Swaith, Adjt. C. W. Woods (wounded), Second rifles; Lieut. -Col. James H. May, Maj. J. B. Mc- Culloch, Sergeant- Maj or Johnson, Fourth regiment; Lieuts. W. H. Gore (wounded), O. P. Richardson, H. C. Riggin, Sergt. William Shea, Ensign Cameron, Privates S. M. Tucker, J. W. Adams, Dennis Corcoran, Duty Sergeants Thompson, Casey, Greer, Long, Brewer and Burkett, Humphreys' battery; Lieut. W. C. Douglas (killed), Fourth battalion. Some histories fail to state that there were any but Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida and Alabama troops at Murfreesboro, but Hardee's corps was formed in great part of Arkansas soldiers. The first Confederate service of that distinguished soldier was at Pitman's Ferry, his command solely Arkansas troops, and when his corps was formed he was glad to have it include so many of the men of Arkansas whom he knew and valued. During the advance of Bragg from Tupelo, in the sum mer of 1862, Gens. Sterling Price and Van Dorn were left in Mississippi to confront the forces under Grant and Rosecrans. With Van Dorn was the Ninth Arkansas, in a brigade commanded by Col. Albert Rust. Price's army of the West was organized in two divisions, under Gens. Henry Little and D. H. Maury. In Little's were the Sixteenth Arkansas, brigade of Col. Elijah Gates; Four teenth and Seventeenth, Hebert's brigade; and in 346 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Maury 's division, the Fifteenth and Twenty- third, Moore's brigade; Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-first regiments, Jones' and Rapley's battal ions, Appeal battery, Gen. W. L. Cabell's brigade; Third cavalry dismounted, Stirman's sharpshooters, McNally's battery, General Phifer's brigade; Col. W. F. Siemens' cavalry regiment, F. C. Armstrong's brigade. The campaign in co-operation with Bragg was opened by Armstrong's cavalry, including Siemens' regiment, who defeated the enemy at Bolivar and Denmark (Brit- ton's lane), and destroyed his railroad communications. Advancing to luka, Price was attacked on September 19, 1862, by two columns of the enemy. Hebert's brigade met the enemy south of luka, and bore the brunt of the deadly conflict there. Hebert said in his report : "I must put in the position of brave and true men the small num bers of the Fourteenth and Seventeenth regiments of Arkansas infantry. Nobly, heroically have they proved themselves true patriots and brave soldiers." The Seventeenth, out of its strength of 109 men, lost 17, and the Fourteenth, out of 116, lost 17 killed and wounded. To the north of luka, Maury met the advance of Ord (Federal) on the i6th, and with the sharpshooters under Rogers and Rapley drove the enemy back to Burns ville, and on the i7th, Cols. Wirt Adams and Siemens captured and destroyed a train of cars near the enemy's lines, causing considerable loss to the Federal cavalry. The assault upon Rosecrans' intrenchments at Corinth followed, October 3d and 4th, by the united forces of Price and Van Dorn, in which the Arkansas regiments suffered heavy loss. The enemy was driven in from his outer line — Beauregard's old breastworks — on the 3d, and on the next day was fiercely assailed in the town, which was bristling with artillery. Maury reported that Moore and Phifer began the attack, and Cabell was soon sent forward to support Gates. "The brigades of Moore, Phifer and Cabell were gallantly led by their commanders CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 347 to the assault of the enemy's works in the heart of Cor inth. They carried them, planted their colors within them, drove the enemy from them, and held them until forced back by the overwhelming Federal reserves. ' ' In Moore's brigade, which was particularly distinguished both days, Lyles' regiment was commanded by Lieuten ant-Colonel Pennington, and Boone's regiment by Lieu tenant-Colonel Boone. Private Morgan, of the latter, was distinguished for gallantry. "The flag of Lyles' regiment," said Moore, "was torn to tatters by the enemy's shots, and when last seen, the color-bearer, Herbert Sloane, of Company D, was going over the breastworks waving a piece over his head and shouting for the Southern Confederacy." General Cabell reported of the charge on the second day: The whole line moved at double-quick almost as one man, shouting "Butler," and driving the enemy before them until they reached the crest of the breastworks, where a greater force than that driven in, sprang up, delivering a tremendous volley in the very face of my line, which was subject also to artillery fire from the left. A part of the Twentieth Arkansas, under Colonel John son, went over the works inside of Corinth. My men were compelled to fall back with a very heavy loss. The courage and daring of my men, who shot the enemy down in their trenches, is beyond all praise. The ground in front of the breastworks was literally covered with the dead and dying of both friend and foe, the killed and wounded of the enemy being nearly, if not fully, two to our one. Those left presented the appearance of men nearly whipped, which convinced me that it was nothing but their reinforcements and superior numbers that kept them from total rout. Cabell's Arkansas brigade crossed the space in front of the inner batteries with an impetuosity that neither artillery nor small-arms served to arrest. Over fallen timbers and ditches, they pushed forward, blackened with 348 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. powder which the perspiration spread over their features, yelling and firing in the very faces of the intrenched enemy. General Cabell himself ascended the parapet with his men, and at arm's length from him a Federal officer cried, "Shoot that rebel officer! " The general, saber drawn and practiced in wielding it, instantly cut him down with a stroke that must have been mortal. J. H. Bullock, adjutant of the Eighteenth Arkansas, who had left his plantation in Chicot county a private, dis played a sublime courage at the side of his commanding general, careless of the fact that his clothing was riddled by the bullets of the enemy. He was saved as if by a miracle from wounds and death, while his gallant col onel, J. H. Daly, leading his men, was mortally wounded in that sheet of fire and lead which no troops could with stand. Lieut. J. H. Berry (now United States senator) lost a leg. Capt. W. M. Parrish, who took command of the regiment, and was wounded, was promoted for gal lantry on the field. Lieuts. John B. Walker and R. S. Winfrey were wounded. Of 300 men of the Eighteenth who went into battle, only 45 escaped unhurt. Capt. Daniel W. Jones (now governor) was shot through the body and left for dead, but survived a prisoner. In an account of this battle, Gen. W. S. Rosecrans has written : It was about as good fighting on the part of the Con federates as I ever saw. Their columns were plowed through and through by our shot, but closed up and moved solidly until forced back. Just after the assault for the first time I heard the word * 'ranch." Passing over the field on our left, among the dead and dying, I saw leaning against the root of a tree, a wounded lieu tenant of an Arkansas regiment who had been shot through the foot. I offered him some water. He said, "I thank you, General, one of your men just gave me some water." I said, "Whose troops are you?" He replied, "Cabell's." I said, " It was pretty hot fighting there." He answered, "Yes, General, you licked us good, but we gave you the best we had in the ranch ! " CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 349 Among the killed in Cabell's brigade were Col. H. P. Johnson (Maj. D. W. Jones reported dead), of the Twentieth; Major Dowdell, T wen ty- first ; Col. J. L. Daly and Captain Lynch, Eighteenth, and Captain Atkins, Rapley's battalion. Colonel Cravens (whose horse was shot under him) and Lieutenant-Colonel Matheny, Twenty- first ; Colonel Dockery , Nineteenth ; Lieutenant- Colonels Dismukes and Fletcher, Majors Williams and Wilson, and Captain Ashford, commanding Rapley's sharpshooters, were particularly distinguished. General Cabell also commended the bravery of his staff, Maj. John King, adjutant-general; Captain Balfour, inspec tor-general; Lieut. Marshall Hairston, aide-de-camp; his volunteer aides, Lieutenant Shepperd and Mr. Tem- pleton, Captain Burnet, chief of artillery, and Lieutenant Hogg, commanding Appeal battery. The brigade loss was 98 killed, 223 wounded, 214 missing. Gen. Mansfield Lovell mentioned first among the regi ments particularly distinguished the Ninth Arkansas, Colonel Dunlop, which, with the Twenty-second Missis sippi, was the main factor in carrying a fortified hill on the 3d. This regiment, confronted by the enemy's intrenchments and artillery across a deep railroad cut, was the first in the works, according to Colonel Rust, capturing one fine piece of artillery, the "Lady Richard son." But many fell, among them Capt. D. H. Norwood and Lieutenants Kennebrew and Moore, killed, and Lieutenants Kerr and Bailey, wounded. Among the wounded of the Sixteenth Arkansas was Lieutenant- Col onel Pixlee. On the 5th at the Hatchie bridge, a strong Federal force cut off that line of retreat, and Moore's gallant brigade, reduced to 500 men, was sent across the river with two guns captured at Corinth to attempt to open the road, but they were swept away before Phifer could come to their help. The remnants of these brigades and Cabell's, with the artillery under Burnet, nevertheless held the 350 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. enemy in check until a route was found for withdrawal by another bridge, for which the army was indebted to General Armstrong. At Corinth and at the Hatchie, the losses of the Arkan sas commands in killed, wounded and missing were as follows: Sixteenth infantry 63, Fourteenth 14, Seven teenth 20, Lyles' 144, Boone's 125, Cabell's brigade 635, Third cavalry dismounted 123, Stirman's sharpshooters 147. The Rev. R. B. Thrasher, who was captain of Company B (of Dallas county), Eighteenth Arkansas, in letters home described the battle in some of its details as follows: I was captured in the last charge near the breastworks at Corinth, on the morning of the 4th of October, 1862. One man of my company, William Ross, was captured with me. Before making the last charge, we were drawn up in line of battle along a branch in a skirt of woods about 350 yards from the enemy's works, which at that point were in a semi-circle converging inward, with heavy batteries on the right and left, and a strong force of infantry behind the entire line of works. In front of the works was an open space of about 250 yards, somewhat obstructed with logs and brush. Over this space we were ordered by General Cabell to charge at double-quick. A murderous storm of iron and leaden hail came down furi ously upon us from the batteries, and as we advanced, volley after volley of musket balls, like the thickening blasts of a hurricane, swept the field. Within 75 yards of the works, our line, already greatly reduced by killed and wounded, and broken by the obstructions, began a confused retreat. When I came within 25 yards of the works, I looked to the right and left, and seeing no line, supposed the command to "lie down" had been given. I said to Ross, "We will take shelter behind this stump and log, and do the best we can until the command comes up. " Ross dropped down behind the stump and I behind the end of the tree which had been felled from it, I with my sword and he with his musket. From his position Ross took three deliberate shots, at one time bringing down one man in the uniform of an officer. After the third shot, and before he had time to reload, our position was CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 351 charged upon by several men from the works, led by an athletic Irishman, who knocked Ross down and whacked me over the head with his bayonet, saying, 4 ' Dom ye, and won't ye surrender noo? Come into the breastworks, dom ye, or I'll kill ye ! " A little Dutchman now ran up at a charge bayonet, and said, "By tam! what for you keep on shooting? I kill you!" I, appealing to the Irishman, demanded protection. The Irishman, turning on the Dutchman with raised musket, said, "I'll knock ye into smithereens, ye dom coward! Go and kill men ye see fighting and leave these men be ! " We were held in Corinth six days. This last charge was made Satur day morning. On Monday I got permission to visit the battlefield in front of the breastworks. A detail of Fed erals were burying the Confederate dead. I found Ad Barbee, Bob Wilcox and John Ross, brother of William, among the slain. I found also our colonel, John L. Daly, who commanded the Eighteenth Arkansas, and a number of others of the regiment. It was horrible to contem plate the scene and look upon the blackened and bloated corpses. In April, 1863, there was one brigade of the troops in Mississippi, under Gen. J. C. Pemberton, that was mainly composed of Arkansans — that of Brig. -Gen. M. E. Green, including the First cavalry battalion (sharpshooters dis mounted), Capt. W. S. Catterson; Twelfth infantry bat talion (sharpshooters), Capt. Griff Bayne; Fifteenth regi ment, Lieut. -Col. W. W. Reynolds; Nineteenth regiment, Col. T. P. Dockery; Twentieth regiment, Col. D. W. Jones; Twenty-first regiment, Col. J. E. Cravens. Bri gaded with these were some Missouri dismounted cavalry and two batteries. Capt. W. N. Hogg's Appeal battery was with Hebert's brigade, Capt. Francis McNally's bat tery was unattached, the batteries of Capts. J. A. Owens and J. C. Thrall were with General Ruggles' command. At Port Hudson, La. , was the Arkansas brigade of Gen. W. N. R. Beall, composed of the Eleventh regiment, Col. John L. Logan ; Twelfth, Col. T. J. Reid, Jr. ; Four teenth, Col. F. P. Powers; Fifteenth, Col. B. W. John son; Sixteenth, Col. David Provence; Seventeenth 352 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. (State), Col. John Griffith; Eighteenth, Col. R. H. Crockett; Twenty-third, Col. O. P. Lyles; First battal ion, Lieut. -Col. Batt. Jones. In the same district then, but soon transferred to Jackson, were the Ninth Arkan sas, Col. I. L. Dunlop, in General Rust's brigade, and the Tenth Arkansas, Col. A. R. Witt, in General Buford's brigade. When General Grant landed south of Vicksburg, among the first to oppose him were the Arkansans of Green's brigade, who fought nobly at the battle of Port Gibson, May i, 1863. Capt Griff Bayne was mentioned as "pre eminently gallant, " falling severely wounded after he and his sharpshooters had contested the enemy's advance from midnight to 8 a. m. The Twenty-first, Fifteenth and Twelfth battalion lost 140 killed, wounded and missing. The Ninth, with Buford's brigade, took part in the battle of Baker's Creek, and subsequently was with the forces under Gen. J. E. Johnston. Green's Arkansas and Missouri brigade, part of Bo wen's division, did gal lant service at Baker's creek, also served at the Big Black bridge, and fought in the trenches during the siege of Vicksburg. After the death of General Green, Colonel Dockery commanded the brigade, which was surrendered with Pemberton's army, July 4, 1863. The fate of Green's brigade was soon shared by Beall's brigade at Port Hudson, which was surrendered on July 8th. The loss of the brigade during the siege, up to June ist, was 68 killed and 194 wounded. On June 26th, 30 men of the Sixteenth Arkansas, under Lieut. A. S. McKennon, gained distinction by a courageous night sortie, surprising and capturing a part of the enemy's works. Among the officers killed during the siege were Lieut. William Hemingway, Twelfth; Capt. Q. T. Stokely and Lieuts. W. H. Harrison and P. H. Pruett, Tenth; Lieut. E. M. Spain, Sixteenth. After the battle of Murfreesboro, Bragg retired to the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 353 Tullahoma line in Tennessee, which he held until mid summer, 1863, when he took position at Chattanooga. In July, Lieut. -Gen. D. H. Hill took command of Har- dee's corps, President Davis saying he found it necessary to detail Hardee to defend Mississippi and Alabama. In the organization, at this time, of Cleburne's division, Liddell's brigade embraced the Second regiment, Col. D. C. Govan; Fifth, Col. L. Featherston; Sixth and Seventh, Col. D. A. Gillespie; Eighth, Col. J. H. Kelly; Thirteenth and Fifteenth, Col. J. E. Josey. Churchill's brigade (the old guard at Arkansas Post exchanged) included the Nineteenth and Twenty-first regiments, Lieut. -Col. A. S. Hutchison, brigaded with Mills' and Coit's Texas regiments. Colonel Colquitt's First Arkan sas and Lieutenant Key's battery were with Folk's bri gade. McNair's brigade, of McCown's division, had been sent to Mississippi in May. When Rosecrans advanced against Bragg in middle Tennessee in June, 1863, he found Liddell guarding Liberty gap. Colonel Featherston and Colonel Josey, at the gap, were warmly engaged on the 24th, when Capt. W. B. West, Thirteenth, was distinguished, and the Fifth regiment lost a brave officer, Capt. L. R. Frisk, a Swede who had espoused the Southern cause. Next day the brigade fought gallantly at Wartrace creek, against an enemy showing twelve regimental flags. Three color- bearers of the Second were killed. The total casualties were 120, nearly half in the Second Arkansas. Capt. V. M. McGehee, of the Second, and Privates J. D. Edgar and L. Parrott, of the Fifth, were conspicuous for bravery, and were wounded. The Nashville Union, of approximate date, admitted a loss of 300 in the Federal brigades opposed to Liddell. Liddell held his ground until ordered back. The battle of Chickamauga, September iQth and 2oth, is denominated by Gen. D. H. Hill, "the great battle of the West. ' ' A description sufficient to give an idea of Ark 23 354 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the position of the Arkansas troops in that bloody strug gle is all that need be here attempted. Rosecrans, mov ing down from Nashville and Murfreesboro to Stevenson, Ala., placed his army on a line nearly due west from Dalton, Ga. Thence moving into and through the mountain ranges and valleys running southward from Chattanooga, he threatened to strike Dalton and leave Chattanooga twenty-five miles to the north. It is thought Bragg should have held Chattanooga, since to leave it was to lose all east Tennessee south of Knoxville. But Bragg hesitated to risk his communications with Georgia, and he therefore moved out of that city Septem ber 8th, with an effective force of 40,000. Rosecrans' force in the field was about 65,000. Bragg took position between the branches of Chickamauga creek, extending his line from Ringgold southward to Lafayette. Cleburne's division now comprised the brigades of S. A. M. Wood, L. E. Polk and James Deshler (formerly Churchill's). Liddell commanded a division of W. H. T. Walker's corps, composed of his own brigade, under Col. D. C. Govan, and Walthall's Mississippi brigade. Mc- Nair's brigade, returned from Mississippi, was in Bush- rod Johnson's division of Buckner's corps. General Hindman commanded a division of Mississippi and Ala bama troops. Lieutenant- General Hill, placing Breckinridge at Lafayette, sent Cleburne to hold the three gaps in Pigeon mountain, west of Lafayette — Catlett's, Dug and Blue Bird. Bragg was attempting to beat Rosecrans' forces in detail, and Thomas' corps had a narrow escape on the nth when it emerged from the mountains into McLe- more's cove, west of Cleburne's position. Cleburne was sent forward to attack from the east, as soon as Hindman opened fire from the north ; but there were unfortunate delays and misunderstandings, so that when Cleburne was put in action, the Federals made a safe retreat to the mountain pass on their rear. On the i3th Folk's brigade CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 355 was brought down from Pigeon mountain in expectation of a fight near Lafayette, and next day Deshler, at Cat- lett's gap, was reinforced by the whole of Breckinridge's division. Rosecrans, learning now of the reinforcement of Bragg, began a hurried concentration northward toward Chatta nooga, on the west side of West Chickamauga creek. On the 1 8th Bushrod Johnson moved from Ringgold to a position on the extreme right of Bragg' s line, near Reed's bridge, and Walker was next south, near Alex ander's bridge, while Cleburne was in line of battle still further south, on the extreme left of the army. The Arkansans of Govan's brigade were among the first west of the creek, crossing on the night of the i8th, after skirmishing at Byram's ford; and next morning the brigade participated in the initial action of the battle, brought on by Thomas' northerly advance attacking Forrest near Reed's bridge. About noon, Govan attacked, in line of battle facing north, and drove the Federals from his front, capturing three guns of Loomis' battery and other pieces, and 300 or 400 prisoners. He pushed on with success against a second line, until over whelmed by others of Thomas' forces sent against his westward flank, and compelled to retire. In this two hours' fight there was heavy loss, among the killed Col. L. Featherston, commanding the Fifth and Thirteenth regiments, and among the wounded Lieutenant-Colonel Baucum, Eighth Arkansas. McNair's brigade, Johnson's division, which had crossed the creek about 4 p. m. on the i8th, had also passed the night in the front of the Federal forces, but much closer to the enemy, in fact near the center of the Federal line which was broken by Longstreet on the aoth, and not far from the Chattanooga road (north from Lee and Gordon's mill), for the possession of which the battle was fought. Johnson's division was assigned to the command of Lieut. -Gen. James Longstreet, who had just arrived with 356 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. part of his corps from Virginia to reinforce Bragg. About noon McNair was ordered to support Gregg, who had become involved in the fight in which Govan partici pated. The Twenty-fifth Arkansas, Lieutenant-Colonel Hufstedler, and the Thirty-ninth North Carolina, made an impetuous charge, and drove the enemy three-fourths of a mile across the Chattanooga road. In the last charge the gallant Hufstedler fell, with five wounds. The First and Second rifles, Colonels Harper and Williamson, and the Fourth, Thirty-first and Fourth battalion (consoli dated), Major Ross, charged soon afterward and also cleared the road of the enemy. But it was found neces sary to withdraw the brigade from its exposed position. Cleburne reached the northern wing of the Confederate line about sunset of the ipth, and took position with his right (north) — Folk's brigade — in front of Jay's mill. In the dark he was ordered to attack and drive back the Federal left wing, and he pressed on westward driving the enemy back about a mile and a half, capturing two or three pieces of artillery, 200 or 300 prisoners, and two stand of colors, halting only before the hastily-con structed breastworks of "Pap" Thomas, where for half an hour, said Cleburne, "the firing was the heaviest I had ever heard," each party aiming at the flashes of the other's powder. This concluded the battle of the iQth. In the battle of the 2oth, the heroic assaults of Cle- tmrne's and Walker's and their fellow divisions, upon the northern wing of the Federal line, caused Thomas to demand help, to give which Rosecrans weakened his center, where Longstreet with McNair and other gallant fighters broke through and routed the Federal right. Cleburne assailed the log breastworks from the front Folk's brigade took breakfast Sunday morning, the first meal in twenty-four hours, and at 9 o'clock moved for ward on the left of Breckinridge's division, soon coming into such a destructive fire of canister and musketry that further advance was impossible. Polk held the crest of CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 357 a hill, his men lying down fighting, for an hour and a half, then retiring 400 yards, where he remained -until 4 p. m. Deshler's brigade had the same experience, and its gallant general was killed, Col. R. Q. Mills taking command. Govan's brigade, advancing further north, made its way around Thomas' line by the north, and turning south ward reached his rear on the Chattanooga road, where it fought without support, alarming Thomas for the safety of his position. McNair's brigade advanced, on the right of Johnson's line, against the Federal center, a little before noon. The Arkansans were in the front line, supported ' by General Hood, in whose line was Col. Van H. Manning's Third Arkansas, from the army of Northern Virginia. The enemy was swept back to his breastworks and through them. Moving on irresistibly, McNair's brigade charged a hill near Dyer's house. About this time General McNair and Colonel Harper were wounded, the latter mortally, and Colonel Coleman took command. The bat tle here raged with great fury for three hours, for the possession of Snodgrass hill. About sunset a general forward movement of the whole Confederate line was made, and the field was gained, not, however, without a repetition of the heavy losses of the morning. Folk's brigade lost nearly 200 men in the evening, among them Capt. Alfred C. Hockersmith and Lieut. A. J. Pitner, First Arkansas. Colonel Colquitt reported that the1 First lost 13 killed and 180 wounded, out of 430. Adjutant Greenwood, mortally wounded, was conspicuous for dar ing. Lieutenant-Colonel Hutchison reported that the Nineteenth and Twenty-fourth, from an aggregate of 226, lost 8 killed, including Lieut. L. F. Lattimer, and 97 wounded. Col. D. C. Govan, commanding Liddell's brigade, par ticularly commended Lieut. -Cols. John E. Murray and R. F. Harvey (died on the soth). Capts. T. J. Fletcher, 358 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. A. B. Washington and Lieut. W. T. Jones, Thirteenth regiment, at a critical moment rallied enough men to save Swett's battery from capture. The Fifth and Thirteenth lost 38 killed, 131 wounded, and 33 missing, out of 450; Privates J. K. Leslie, J. K. Pyburn, P. A. Hern and William Gamble were honorably mentioned. Maj. A. Watkins, for the Eighth, reported the capture of Loomis' battery. The regiment lost 14 killed, 92 wounded, 65 missing, out of 387. Losses of other regi ments not reported. Colonel Coleman reported that his brigade (McNair's) captured 10 pieces of artillery and 2 stand of colors. The First rifles lost 106 out of 2 70;^ the Fourth, Thirty-first and Fourth battalion, 103 out of 415; the Second rifles, 52 out of 139; the Twenty- fifth, 6 1 out of 133. General Robertson, commanding Hood's brigade, reported among his killed Lieutenant Worthington, Third Arkansas. This regiment shared fully in the battle, and suffered, said Manning, accus tomed to the casualties in Virginia, a "remarkably large" loss. Cal vert's battery, Lieut. T. J. Key, fought effect ively with Polk's brigade; Humphreys' battery, with Stewart's division; and Wiggins' battery was with Wheeler in the raid through Tennessee which followed. Chickamauga was a great Confederate victory. Fifty pieces of artillery, 15,000 stand of arms, and a large amount of ordnance stores were among the spoils of bat tle. Said Assistant Secretary Dana, "The Federal rout was only surpassed at Bull Run." Rosecrans retreating to Chattanooga, withdrew his forces from the mountain passes, which had covered his supply line from Bridge port, and these were immediately occupied by the Con federates. Bragg, gradually closing up his lines and occupying Lookout mountain and Missionary Ridge, placed Chattanooga in a state of siege, and the large hos tile army was soon near the point of starvation; its horses and mules reduced to skeletons and unable to move. Their horned cattle the men of the Federal army called CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 359 beef "dried on the hoof." Had Bragg held on to Chat tanooga when he fell back to fight at Chickamauga, his position might have been that of the Federals, with no great armies to summon to his relief. General Grant, the conqueror at Vicksburg, was called to meet at Louisville Secretary Stanton, and they decided that a "retreat from Chattanooga at that time would have been a terrible disaster, involving the annihilation of the army. ' ' It was agreed that Grant must drop all other engagements and go to the relief of Rosecrans. While they were together in Louisville, Stanton received from Dana a dispatch saying that unless prevented, Rose crans would retreat, whereupon Stanton, at midnight, in dressing-gown, sent for Grant and gave him command of the military division of the Mississippi, and assigned Thomas to the command of the army of the Cumberland, ordering him to hold Chattanooga at all hazards. Thomas replied, "We will hold the town till we starve." Grant visited Chattanooga after giving orders to mobilize armies for its relief, and says he found the army of the Cumberland without ammunition enough for a day's fighting. Parts of the corps of Howard and Slocum, under Hooker, had already been ordered from the army of the Potomac to reinforce Rosecrans, and were concentrated at Bridgeport. On October 26th Hooker crossed to the south side of the Tennessee at Bridgeport and marched eastward. A detachment from Chattanooga, floating down stream at night, captured the Confederate pickets at Brown's ferry, and laid a pontoon bridge. Hooker, on the afternoon of the 28th, was in Lookout valley at Wauhatchie, and became the right of Grant's line, with the road opened in the rear for abundant supplies. Gen eral Sherman was on his way with an army, and arrived at Bridgeport November i4th. Meanwhile Bragg had been unable to hold Longstreet. The latter, with McLaws', Hood's and Buckner's divisions 360 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. and Wheeler's cavalry, had moved against the Federal forces at Knoxville under Burnside. Whether the strat egy of this campaign by Longstreet was good or bad, it created an " agony of apprehension" to the authorities at Washington, who plied Grant with dispatches, urging that something be done for the relief of Burnside. This so worked upon Grant, that he ordered Thomas on November yth to attack Bragg's right, so as to force the return of Longstreet, but Thomas evaded the order until the 23d, when he carried the first Confederate line in his front, in the valley between Chattanooga and Missionary ridge. General Cleburne, on the morning of the 2$d, was with his division and Buckner's at Chickamauga station, start ing all these troops to Knoxville to aid Longstreet. Nearly all of Buckner's division had been sent off, when he received a telegram from General Bragg: "We are heavily engaged. Move up rapidly to these headquar ters. " Leaving Gen. L. E. Polk to bring up the divi sion, he galloped forward for instructions, and was ordered to hold his division as reserve for the army, reporting directly to the general commanding. It is an interesting query, What would have been the result November 25th, if Thomas had waited one more day to attack, and allowed that invaluable "reserve" to proceed to Knoxville? At early dawn on the 24th, Cleburne began to construct a new line of defense along the top of Mis sionary ridge, and while he was thus engaged, Bragg first learned that Sherman had crossed the river at the north, and was about to assault his right flank. General Folk's brigade was sent to this new point of danger, to hold the railroad bridge over the Chickamauga, and at 2 p. m., Cleburne, with Govan's and his other brigades, Smith's (Deshler's) and Lowrey's, was sent to take position near the railroad tunnel. These were the only Arkansas infantry commands engaged, McNair's brigade having been returned to Mississippi. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 331 General Hardee, again in corps command, renewed this day his old association with Cleburne. The latter, assigned to position by Hardee, at once perceived that Sherman, having already gained a lodgment on a spur of Mission ary Ridge, near the river, meant to get possession of the main ridge between Cleburne 's right and the Chicka- mauga, cutting Polk off from Cleburne and endangering the safety of the whole army. So Govan was sent to thwart such a maneuver. Their position was held that day (24th), the main righting being by Smith's brigade. By night Cleburne, hearing of the disaster at the other extremity of the line, Lookout mountain, sent most of his artillery beyond the Chickamauga, supposing Bragg would fall back, but recalled it when told at midnight that the fight would be made on Missionary ridge. Mak ing a moonlight reconnoissance, he placed Polk on a hill which covered his line of retreat, and took position on an east spur of Missionary Ridge and the ridge itself, with an angle at the railroad tunnel. Cal vert's battery, under Lieut. T. J. Key, was placed directly over the tunnel. An eclipse of the moon delayed for some time this preparation for the bloody work of November 25th. Next day there was severe skirmishing through the morning. Hardee told Cleburne to post himself at the tunnel and direct everything there and beyond to the creek. There he saw the enemy advancing in two long lines of battle — three divisions under General Sherman, supported by Davis' division and part of Howard's corps, army of the Potomac. The serious fight began at 1 1 a. m. , and the Federal charges were repulsed. During a lull in the fight the Second, Fifteenth and Twenty- fourth Arkansas, Lieutenant-Colonel Warfield, were sent to sup port Key's artillery on Tunnel hill. About i p. m. a des perate attack was made on that position. Warfield 's men were moved out to the crest of the hill, and they met the advance with such an effective fire that the column stopped just below the crest and took shelter. "Tier after tier of 362 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the enemy, to the foot of the hill and in the valley beyond," concentrated their fire on Key and Warfield, "till it seemed like one continuous sheet of hissing, flying lead. ' ' Key depressed his guns to the utmost to answer, and officers of Warfield' s regiment pitched down heavy rocks, with apparent effect. After an hour and a half of this, Warfield proposed a charge, and it was made, the Arkansans participating with empty guns. Sherman was repulsed from Tunnel hill, and began fortifying. The brunt of the fight against Sherman was borne by Smith's Texans, Warfield 's Arkansas regiment, and Swett's and Key's batteries. Warfield 's regiment cap tured a Federal flag. A little later the appalling news reached Cleburne that the center of Bragg 's line was broken, and he was directed to take command of his own, Walker's and Ste venson's divisions, and protect the right wing in retreat. Polk and Govan were posted to guard Shallow-ford bridge, where they were again engaged. As the disheartened army was on its way toward Dai- ton, Ga., Cleburne received an order, at 3 a. m. on the 27th, to take position in the gorge of Taylor's ridge, at Ringgold, and hold back the pursuing enemy long enough to save the artillery and wagon trains. In the disposition of his forces he placed on the left hand hill, fronting Ringgold, three companies of the Sixth and Seventh Arkansas (consolidated) of Liddell's brigade, under Lieu tenant Dulin, of Liddell's staff. For the defense of the gap itself, he disposed the rest of the Arkansas brigade, under Col. D. C. Govan, the Fifth and Thirteenth (con solidated), Col. John E. Murray commanding, in a small ravine running across the mouth of the gap ; the Eighth and Nineteenth (consolidated), under Lieut. -Col. A. S. Hutchison, fifty paces in rear of the former regiment; the Sixth and Seventh (consolidated), under Lieut. -Col. Peter Snyder, and the Second, Fifteenth and Twenty- fourth regiments (consolidated), under Lieut. -Col. E. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 363 Warfield, at suitable distances in rear, making four short lines across the gap. From these regiments skirmishers were sent forward, and in front of the mouth of the gap, supported by Go van's foremost regiment, was placed a section of Semple's battery, commanded by Lieutenant Goldthwaite, screened with withered branches. Folk's bri gade was held in reserve. In the famous fight which soon followed, General Hooker's command was repulsed, and the duty of Cleburne's division performed with such splendid valor as to win the admiration of the army and the thanks of Congress. Hooker attempted to gain a foothold on the ridge, to the north, but was foiled by the First Arkansas, hur ried up by Gen. L. E. Polk, who won the crest twenty paces ahead of the enemy, repulsed them once alone, and being reinforced, hurled back a second and a third charge, taking 20 prisoners and two stand of colors. Among the Confederate wounded was Lieutenant-Colonel Martin. This fight of the First Arkansas was the decis ive part of the combat, Govan, in the gap, having little trouble in holding back the enemy. "In a fight where all fought nobly, I feel it my duty," says Cleburne, "to particularly compliment this regiment for its courage and constancy. In the battle the officers fought with pistols and with rocks, and so close was the fight that some of the enemy were knocked down with the latter missiles and captured. ' ' About 12 o'clock, the trains being at a safe distance, Cleburne withdrew without difficulty. In his report General Cleburne adds: "I took into the fight: In Folk's brigade, 545; Lowrey's brigade, 1,330; Smith's (Texas) brigade, 1,266; Liddell's brigade, 1,016 effective men, making a total of 4,157 bayonets. My loss was 20 killed, 190 wounded, 1 1 missing. I am confident that the enemy's loss was out of all proportion greater than mine. The con duct of the officers and men in the fight needs no comment ; every man, as far as I know, did his whole duty." 364 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Judge S. C. Hardy, who was a fighting member of the Sixth Arkansas to the close, writes : Just before the battle of Chickamauga, our brigade was taken out of General Cleburne's division and placed with General Walthall's brigade of Mississippians in a subdivision, commanded by Brigadier-General Liddell of Louisiana, who had been placed in command of our bri gade at Tupelo, Miss. After the battle our brigade returned to and remained with General Cleburne's divi sion, where we belonged. Our loss in men and officers in the battle of Chickamauga was fearful. Some of our companies had to be commanded by non-commissioned officers after the battle. I cannot enumerate the many who were killed and wounded. After our color-bearer and color-guard all fell, Private George W. William son, of Company H, carried the flag. From Chickamauga battlefield we went to Chattanooga, and in the battle of Missionary Ridge our brigade occupied the extreme right where General Sherman made so many desperate assaults and was as many times repulsed with great slaughter. We were very much surprised after dark when we were ordered to retreat. We did not know the result on our left until we marched down from the ridge and found everything in confusion. Our division covered the retreat to Ringgold Gap, where we turned upon the Fed eral advance, flushed with its victory at Missionary Ridge, and gave it such a whipping that the enemy never advanced a mile beyond that place. We continued to retreat, in order, to Tunnel Hill, the next station, where we went into winter quarters and remained there unmo lested until the Dalton campaign opened, except when we were sent to meet Sherman in March, 1864, when he started east from Vicksburg. We went as far as West Point, Ga. , when we were ordered to return to Dalton to meet a contemplated attack by General Thomas. During the winter of 1863 and 1864 Col. D. C. Govan, of the Second Arkansas regiment, was promoted to brigadier- general, and he commanded our brigade to the close of the war. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston assumed command of the army of Tennessee at Dalton in December, 1863, and commenced the reorganization and recruiting of his CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 365 forces for such service as the new year should bring. Cleburne's division, which, with Cheatham's, W. H. T. Walker's and Bate's, composed Hardee's corps in May, 1864, included Gen. L. E. Folk's Arkansas and Tennes see brigade, Gen. D. C. Govan's Arkansas brigade, Gen. M. P. Lowrey's Alabama and Mississippi brigade, Gen eral Granbury's (Deshler's) Texas brigade. The depleted Arkansas regiments were consolidated, the First and Fifteenth, Folk's brigade, under Lieut. -Col. W. H. Mar tin; and in Govan's brigade, the Second and Twenty- fourth, under Col. E. Warfield, the Fifth and Thirteenth under Col. John E. Murray, the Sixth and Seventh under Col. Samuel G. Smith, and the Eighth and Nineteenth under Col. George F. Baucum. Brig. -Gen. Francis A. Shoup, Hardee's old artillery captain, was chief of artil lery, which included Captain Key's battery, of Hardee's corps, and Wiggins' battery with the cavalry. McNair's brigade, which had been sent after Chicka- mauga to Jackson, Miss., to meet Sherman's operations in that quarter, reached Johnston's army early in May, and was attached to Cantey's division, which, after General Folk's arrival, was attached to his corps, the army of Mis sissippi. On March 5th, Col. D. H. Reynolds, of the First Arkansas rifles, Churchill's old regiment, and at the time in command of the brigade, had been promoted to briga dier-general. General Reynolds was a native of Iowa, who had made his home in Chicot county, Ark. , where he was a lawyer in high standing when the war began. The brigade had its former gallant regiments: First rifles, Col. Lee L. Ramsaur; Second rifles, Col. J. A. Williamson; Fourth regiment, Col. H. G. Bunn, Twenty-fifth and Thirty-fifth, Col. C. J. Turnbull, and Colonel Coleman's North Carolina regiment, for which the Ninth Arkansas, Col. I. L. Dunlop, was substituted May 25th. General Sherman, having collected an army of i oo, ooo men at Chattanooga, began his movement against 366 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Atlanta early in May by attacking Johnston's position behind Rocky Face ridge. On the 8th General Geary, with two brigades and a battery, assaulted Dug gap, which, said Johnston, "was bravely held by two regi ments of Reynolds' Arkansas brigade." General Cle burne was ordered there in haste, and arrived about sun set with Lowrey's and Granbury's brigades. He found the First and Second rifles, under Colonel Williamson, and Grigsby's Kentuckians, holding the position, having gallantly repulsed evory assault. To save their ammu nition, they had rolled down great stones as missiles from the mountainside. On the icth Cleburne moved toward Resaca, leaving Williamson at the gap he had so success fully defended, and after a counter-march he was ordered again to Resaca. Snake Creek gap, a passageway to Resaca and the rear of the army, had through some neg lect been left open, and was promptly occupied by Mc- Pherson, who, if he had been bold, said Cleburne, might have wrought a complete Confederate defeat. Going into line of battle at Resaca, Cleburne intrenched, and during the 1 4th of May repulsed the repeated assaults of the enemy. On the night of the i5th Johnston evacuated Resaca and crossed tho Oostenaula, and next morning Cleburne met a flanking force of the enemy near Calhoun, and Polk and Govan were briskly engaged. The division was next in line of battle at Adairsville and Cassville, but not engaged. It crossed the Etowah river May 2oth,and marched to Powder Springs. It was marching to the front during the night battle at New Hope church, but was unable to get through the crowded roads. On the afternoon of May 26th the division went into position and intrenched on the extreme right (north) of the army, forming a line retiring eastward from the main line on Pumpkin Vine creek. On the afternoon of the 27th, Govan reported the enemy pushing against John ston's right flank. Granbury, sent to Govan's right, received the assault which followed, known as the battle CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 367 of Pickett's Mill. Govan, with his two right regiments, disdaining the enemy in his own front, and Key with two pieces of artillery, materially aided Granbury by an enfilading fire. The enemy, pushing away some cavalry, went around Granbury 's right and threatened disaster, when the Eighth and Nineteenth Arkansas met them, and in a sweeping charge, drove them back into the woods. The ground they rescued was held by reinforce ments and the right of the army was saved. The casual ties of the enemy were very heavy. Cleburne, out of 4,683, lost 85 killed and 363 wounded. A witness thus describes this heroic conflict : In the valley the Confederates left 770 Federals to be buried in one pit. Had a Tamerlane been there, he could have erected a pyramid of human skulls at New Hope church. Had Ahmed, the butcher, seen it, he would have been appalled at the sacrifice. This was part of the 1,400 that Gen. O. O. Howard says Wood's division lost alone. Never to be forgotten were two little boys whom we saw among the dead Federals. They appeared to be about fourteen years old, and were nearly exactly alike. Their hands were clasped in death, with feet to the guns and faces to the sky. The heart was melted at the idea that these little boys must have been twin brothers, and their spirits had taken flight together far from the mother's home in the forefront of cruel battle. The grape vine dispatches in our army were that on the evening of the 25th, Stewart had annihilated "Fighting Joe Hooker," and that on the evening of the 27th, Pat Cleburne had not left a man of Wood's division to carry the message to Sherman how old Joe enjoyed the game of chess with him. I went through the New Hope bat tlefield afterward. I wondered, when I saw that the trees were imbedded and mown down with shot and shell, how it had been possible for men to come out of that battle field alive. I recall the scene of the dead piled upon each other between the contending lines, the seething mass of quivering flesh, the groans of the dying ; the sudden and unlooked-for attack by Hooker's corps of three divisions, whipped in a square fight by three brigades and the artil lery that bore the brunt. Alexander P. Stewart was a 368 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. genius of battle on the 25th, and Patrick Cleburne the hero on the 27th. General Johnston, about ten days later, took position in the mountainous country about Marietta, and on June 1 9th the line was occupied on Kenesaw mountain. On the day before, Gen. Lucius E. Polk, of Helena, who had risen from a lieutenant of Cleburne 's company to be one of the army's best brigade commanders, was wounded by a cannon ball, which shattered his leg and rendered him incapable of further active service. When he had par tially recovered, however, he sought and obtained posi tions of utility to the army, which he held until the close of the war. His brigade was consolidated with the bri gade of General Govan, also of Helena, formerly Hind- man's lieutenant. On the 27th of June, General Sherman made an assault on the Confederate line on Kenesaw mountain, begin ning with a furious cannonade. Cleburne's division was one of those upon which the attack fell most heavily, but his loss was only n, while 1,000 Federals fell in his front. In this fierce battle Major Knowles, of the Twenty-fifth Arkansas, was killed. General Johnston withdrew across the Chattahoochee and was relieved by General Hood. On the 2oth of July, Hardee and A. P. Stewart attacked Thomas as he was crossing Peachtree creek. General Hardee explained his lack of success by the withdrawal of Cleburne's division at a critical moment to meet the advance of McPherson from Decatur. During the crossing of Peachtree creek by the Federals, July iQth, Gen. D. H. Reynolds, with his Arkansas brigade, was briskly engaged at Moore's mill, repulsing an attack and capturing a considerable number of prisoners. The Ninth Arkansas took two Federal flags. Reynolds lost 8 killed and 48 wounded, among the latter Maj. J. P. Eagle and Lieutenant Kirk- patrick, Second rifles. On the 2oth the brigade, only 540 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 369 strong, made a gallant charge and part entered the Fed eral breastworks, losing 6 killed and 52 wounded. Cleburne, transferred to Bald Hill, east of the city, was in battle on the aist. His division occupied some slight defenses south of the Georgia railroad, and was formed with Smith's brigade on the right, Govan's in the center, and Lowrey's brigade on the left, across the railroad. Their position was attacked by detachment after detach ment of the Federal army, which were successively repulsed all day, but with some losses to the Confeder ates. That night Cleburne was withdrawn to make a night march against the south flank of the forces which he had resisted all day. This movement, in which all of Hardee's corps participated, brought on the battle of Atlanta, July 22d. The battle raged throughout the afternoon, with alternating success and continuous and terrible slaughter, finally ending with Hardee in posses sion of most of the Federal line assailed, and the credit of winning the only decided success about Atlanta. From General Govan's report of this battle, it appears that the Second Arkansas, under Lieutenant-Colonel Brasher, was first engaged, as skirmishers. The bri gade struck the enemy directly in flank, but also found unexpected intrenchments facing them, and during the hot fight which followed, part of the Second and Twenty- fourth Arkansas, being called into the Federal lines by a mock offer to surrender, were captured. Colonel Mur ray, leading Govan's other wing, was successful, and the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Nineteenth captured a battery of six guns. Govan was now fighting on both sides of the Federal main line, and a gallant charge by his right wing rescued those of his men who had been captured, and took two more guns and several hundred prisoners. The valor of the Arkansans was never more manifest than on that bloody day, when the Federal veterans fought with desperation, and would not give up their intrenchments until bayonetted, though assailed both in Ark 24 370 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. front and rear. The loss was frightful. Col. John Edward Murray, of Pine Bluff, commanding the Eighth Arkansas, was killed in front of his regiment. He had recently become of age, and that day had received his commission as brigadier-general, being the youngest brigadier in the army. Lieutenant-Colonel Smith of the Second Arkansas was killed, a bullet striking him in the left breast causing instant death. Col. J. W. Colquitt of the First Arkansas was wounded in the foot and had to leave the field. Being the last field officer of his regi ment, the command devolved upon Capt. Felix G. Lusk, of Little Rock, who continued to lead the regiment until ordered to the Trans- Mississippi department. Lieut. -Col. Anderson Watkins, of Little Rock, was killed while lead ing an assault upon the Federal earthworks. Others severely wounded 'were Lieutenant-Colonel Martin, First Arkansas; Colonel Warfield and Lieutenant-Colonel Brasher, Second; Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron and Major Douglas, Sixth; Lieutenant- Colonel Hutchison, Nine teenth, and Captains White and Washington, Fifth. In another charge made at 5 o'clock p. m., the brigade car ried and held the most advanced position gained in the day's fight. At this time Colonel Baucum, Eighth, was dangerously wounded. The brigade carried 772 men into the fight, and lost 86 killed, 322 wounded, and 91 missing. Sherman's advance, being checked by Hardee on the east, was renewed on the west of the city and met by S. D. Lee at Ezra church on July 28th. Reynolds' bri gade participated in that battle, losing out of 400 engaged, 167 killed and wounded. Here Lieut. -Col. James T. Smith, commanding Second rifles, and Lieut. - Col. Eli Hufstedler, commanding the Twenty-fifth, were killed; and Lieut. -Col. M. G. Galloway, commanding First rifles, and Col. H. G. Bunn, commanding Fourth regiment, were severely wounded. The siege of Atlanta ended in the last days of August CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 371 and first of September by Sherman extending his flank ing line far to the right, as he had done before at Rocky Face and Kenesaw, and Hood was compelled to fight at Jonesboro. In this battle, General Hardee was in chief command, General Cleburne commanded Hardee 's corps, and Gen. S. D. Lee, Hood's old corps. Hardee attacked Howard's two corps at Jonesboro, August 3ist, and a bloody conflict ensued which lasted several hours and only ended at dark. That night Thomas came up and had now five corps, leaving only one with Sherman to watch Atlanta. The Confederates spent the night taking posi tion and throwing up earthworks, and occupied them half completed the next day, when the Federals renewed their assaults. The attacks became more determined as the day advanced ; the enemy assaulting by successive lines, which the Confederates repulsed one after another from behind their barricades of trees and partly- finished trenches, until the ground in front was becoming blue with their fallen foes. But on and on poured the living tide, until at a point where the brigades of Gr anbury and Govan were joined, behind their weak defenses, the enemy, by the very momentum of the surging mass he threw forward, enclosed Govan and 600 of his Arkansas troops, making them prisoners and recapturing a battery which the Confederates had taken at Chickamauga. This Federal success did not break up or put to flight the other parts of the Confederate line. It merely folded back upon itself and discharged volleys from both wings into the crowding mass which had entered the works. At short range the Confederates so mercilessly cut them down, that most of those who entered were killed or taken prisoners. When the break occurred, both Hardee and Cleburne beheld it, and the latter exclaimed that, he must not lose his Arkansas brigade! Hardee sent for the only brigade that in this extremity could be moved, and 372 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. on its arrival, Cleburne led it promptly to the place where the line had been broken and held it during the rest of ;the- battle. The defense of Jonesboro by Hardee for two days against such forces as were hurled upon him, was an achievement of lasting honor to that commander. His chief loss was the capture of Govan and his 600 Arkansas veterans. Says Stan. C. Harvey, who was among the prisoners, in his letter to the Little Rock Gazette : There was not a brigade that did more effective service in the army. It met every assault successfully, inflicting : severe loss on the enemy every time it met them, carry ing every point against which we were ordered, never suffered our lines to be broken at any time except at Jonesboro, Ga., September i, 1864; then our ranks were single, and we were stretched one yard apart, trying to cover the enemy's front. We repulsed the first assault there, but the next assault the enemy successfully carried our works and captured our brigade. The second assault was made in seven columns, with fixed bayonets, guns atrail, and without firing a gun, they ran over us like a drove of Texas beeves, by sheer force of numbers. We killed and wounded a great many of them, but our line was too weak. By special arrangement between General Hood and General Sherman, the brigade was exchanged on the i Qth day of September, and we took our place in the division as before. While a prisoner, Col. Samuel G. Smith died, and Lieutenant-Colonel Cameron became colonel of the regiment, Maj. W. F. Douglas, lieutenant- colonel, and Capt. M. M. Duffie, of Company C, major. Neither Colonel Cameron nor Major Duffie served in the field in either capacity, as both had been permanently disabled for active service. We went with General Hood into Tennessee. Thus it appears that Cleburne did not rest until he got his Arkansas brigade exchanged. After the evacuation of Atlanta, Cleburne 's division was especially desired by Hood, when he selected the troops he should take with him in his famous campaign in Tennessee. It marched under the corps command of CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 373 General Cheatham, and was among those in the march upon Franklin, November 30, 1864, when Schofield (whom we first became acquainted with as a captain at Oak Hills), now a general, commanded the Federal army that halted, closely pursued by Hood, on the banks of the Harpeth. It was a position chosen temporarily, offering in the steep banks of a winding river a natural strong hold where an attack might be repulsed by a retreating force, only too anxious to get away and form a junction with Thomas at Nashville, seventeen miles distant, behind permanent fortifications deemed impregnable. Hood resolved to intercept Schofield or destroy him before he could reach Thomas, and overtook him at Franklin. Schofield threw up earthworks and formed abatis across the isthmus of a peninsula made by a bend of the pretty little Harpeth river. The country around Franklin had been long cultivated, and presented no cover for the approach of an attacking force. A few trees, forming a grove here and there for a woodland pasture, or a shade about the houses and barns of a sub urban residence, was all there was of timber, and there were but few depressions in the broad savannahs of rthe winding river which were cultivated up to the banks. When Hood caught sight of the enemy from the hills south of the town, he instantly ordered a charge. Stewart's command had moved that day right in front. The battle was fought by the infantry. Stewart's corps was on the right of the line of battle, and Cheatham 's on the left. The forward movement began at 4 o'clock. As the shadows were lengthening, the remnant of the army of Tennessee moved with intrepid step across the yet quiet fields upon the intrenchments of the enemy. The approaching night gave increased glare to the sheets of flame that leaped from beneath the enemy's headlogs to meet the advancing lines. The outer works were carried with but little delay, and Wagner's division made prison ers by Cleburne's and Brown's men. The First Arkan- 374 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. sas, under command of Capt. A. F. Hockersmith, Col onel Colquitt having been wounded at Atlanta, went over the outer works without check. Abatis made of thorny locust trees and branches were in front of the works at some points. Cheatham's corps charged along the Co lumbia pike. Cleburne 's division went through the locust thicket, from which the abatis had been cut, and, being on the right, came first under fire. He and the men of his division of Stewart's corps went over the outer works first, but there was an inner parapet. Some of Cheat- ham's men on the left leaped upon this parapet and planted the Confederate colors. Those who went over it were killed or captured. Cleburne did not reach the parapet, but fell just outside. The army could not stand the unequal fight. It drew off to move against some other point of attack. Schofield moved out as soon as it was dark, and by midnight had his arm)'- mainly at Nashville. General Hood took posses sion of the Federal works, but it was after his own army had suffered terribly and the enemy had escaped. Hood's loss- was estimated at 5,000 or 6,000. He had lost some of his best generals. Cleburne of Arkansas, Gist of South Carolina, Adams of Tennessee, Strahl of Tennes see, and Granbury of Texas, were killed ; John C. Brown, Quarles, Cockrell, Manigault, Scott and Carter were wounded, and G. W. Gordon captured. The general officers riding behind their men or in line with them were shining marks for the deadly rifles aimed from a rest behind breastworks. Cleburne was killed in a charge at double-quick. His horse was first killed under him, and he pressed forward with his men on foot, when he was killed within a few hundred feet of the parapet. He fell pierced through by a single rifle ball. General Cleburne was loved by the men and honored by the officers of the entire army. Sleepless in vigilance, ever ready to do his duty, he was never caught unpre- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 375 pared, never advanced without having measured his adversary, and was ever as discreet as he was courageous. Of him it was well understood that when placed in charge of a line, he held it until relieved, or if he decided to advance, it was to drive the enemy — except once, and then he gave up his life. His remains were buried at Columbia ; then at Ash wood, the private cemetery of the Polk family, and finally at Helena by the Ladies' Memo rial association, beneath a modest shaft in the Confeder ate cemetery. The pretty village of Franklin has erected a memorial college, called the Battle Ground academy, on the walls of which should be inscribed the tribute of Gen eral Hardee to Cleburne, "When his division defended, no odds could break its lines ; when it attacked, no num bers resisted its onslaught, save once — and there is the grave of Cleburne. ' ' Maj.-Gen. (afterward governor and senator) William B. Bate of Tennessee, who fought in that battle, in an address delivered on the ground, October 5, 1889, thus spoke of Cleburne: "Just to the left there fell Major- General Cleburne, whose name in history is circled with a halo as bright as the sunburst on the green flag of his native Ireland." President Jefferson Davis, writing of the battle of Franklin in his "Rise and Fall of the Con federate Government," pays the Arkansas chieftain a tribute which ranks him with Jackson and Lee as the third star in its galaxy of military leaders: "Around Cleburne thickly lay the gallant men who in his desperate assault followed him with the implicit confidence that in another army was given Stonewall Jackson ; and in the one case, as in the other, a vacancy was created which could never be filled. ' ' Arkansas regimental commanders who fell in the battle of Franklin were, Maj. J. C. Bratton, Ninth, wounded; Maj. A. T. Meek, Second and Twenty- fourth, and Capt. M. P. Garrett, First and Fifteenth, killed. At Nashville the survivors of Cleburne 's division 376 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. were commanded by Gen. J. A. Smith. In the battle of December isth and i6th, General Govan was wounded, and Colonel Green took command of the brigade. From this disastrous field the Arkansans of the army of Tennessee fell back through the snow and sleet beyond the Tennessee. Their next fighting was in North Caro lina, against Sherman. At the battle of Bentonville, March 19, 1865, Govan's brigade, under Col. P. V. Green, for the last time won the compliments of its superior officers, by repelling the enemy's attacks. Gen. D. H. Reynolds, at the head of his brigade, lost a leg, and Col onel Bunn, who succeeded him, also being wounded, Lieut. -Col. M. G. Galloway took command. APPENDIX. MEDICAL OFFICERS, TRANS-MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT. IN this appendix are recorded the surgeons of the Con federate army assigned to duty in the Trans- Missis sippi department from the date of the following order of the general commanding : Headquarters Trans- Mississippi Department, Little Rock, June 9, 1862. Special Orders, No. n. [Extract.] The following-named surgeons are assigned to duty and will constitute the Army Medical Board for the Trans- Mississippi department: Surgeons G. W. Lawrence, P. O. Hooper, W. M. Lawrence. By order of secretary of war. T. C. HINDMAN, Major-General Commanding. R. C. NEWTON, Acting Adjutant-General. Record of the Army Medical Board for the Trans- Missis sippi department, 1862, 1863, 1864, Little Rock, Ark.: Adjutant General's Office, Richmond, February 7, 1863. Special Orders, No. 32. [Extract] The following medical officers are detailed as an army medical board for the examination of officers in the Trans-Mississippi department, and applicants for appoint ment in the medical department invited by the secretary of war for examination : Surg. P. O. Hooper, president ; Surg. W. M. Lawrence, Surg. F. D. Cunningham, Surg. J. T. Scott. The junior member will act as recorder. By command of the secretary of war. JOHN WITHERS, Asst. Adjutant- General. To P. O. HOOPER, President Army Medical Board, Little Rock, Ark.. 377 378 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. (May 23, 1863, Surg. F. D. Cunningham was relieved from duty on the board by the secretary of war. ) Office Army Medical Board, Little Rock, December 28, 1862. To Surg. -Gen. S. P. Moore, Richmond, Va. Sir: Your letter of 2gfh inst. to Medical Director J. M. Haden, reflecting on the medical board, was handed to day for perusal. The only communication ever received from your office to the board was the "renewed instructions," which arrived within the present week, and the receipt of which I acknowledged per last mail. The board was organized by Major-General Hindman and was continued by Lieutenant-General Holmes, and we have never examined any surgeon, assistant surgeon or applicant without a permission from the secretary of war or the medical director of the department, and none have ever appeared before the board for examination without a special permit from the secretary of war or medical director. The standard of examination, instead of being too lax, has been thought by many of the old army surgeons too rigid, considering the available material. Be that as it may, we have conscientiously done our duty to our country and the service. It is also charged that we have passed men who have been rejected by the board in Mississippi. I have no means of knowing whether it is true or not, but so far as my knowledge extends, I am totally ignorant of it. I have the honor to be, etc. , P. O. HOOPER, President. List of surgeons and assistant surgeons examined and appointed for the year ending December 31, 1862 :* Surg. J. M. Keller, appointed medical director, June 1 6, 1862, was transferred east at the close of that year at his request, and Surg. J. M. Haden held the position at Shreveport, La., until May i, 1864, when he was styled Chief of Medical Bureau. Year ending December 31, 1862: Charles M. Taylor, * Names of medical colleges at which each was graduated, given with each name in this and following lists, are omitted in this copy. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 379 Napoleon, Ark., surgeon Little Rock hospital. L. A. Dickson, Batesville, Ark. , surgeon Little Rock hospital. S. W. Vaughan, Hamburg, Ark., surgeon Pleasants' in fantry. James C. Gee, West Point, Ark. , assistant surgeon Arkansas Post hospital. James S. White, Memphis, Tenn. , surgeon Little Rock hospital. LaFayette Yates, Paris, Tex., assistant surgeon Texas battery. Albert Dunlap, Fort Smith, Ark., surgeon Little Rock hospital. Jesse M. Pace, Camden, assistant surgeon Grinsted's Arkansas infantry. Alexander M. Clingman, Hot Springs, Ark., assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. William R. Walker, Springfield, Mo., surgeon Little Rock hospital. Thomas S. Harris, Princeton, Ark., assistant surgeon Woodruff's Arkansas battery. John W. Talbot, Boston, Tex. , assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. James N. Thompson, Tulip, Ark., assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. John A. Dow, Sturgeon, Mo., assistant sur geon Little Rock hospital. Rufus A. Watkins, St. Cath erine, Mo., assistant surgeon Glenn's Arkansas infantry. John W. Jones, Quitman, Tex., assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. Bennett H. Clark, Sturgeon, Mo., assist ant surgeon Little Rock hospital. Thomas W. Abington, Natchitoches, La. , assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. Thomas J. Johnson, DeKalb, Tex., Little Rock hospital. Junius N. Bragg, Camden, Ark., Grinsted's Arkansas infantry. William H. Tobin, Clarksville, Ark., assistant surgeon Carroll's Arkansas infantry. David R. Cole, Pt. Sullivan, Tex., Johnson's Texas spy company. Wiley B. Green, Little Rock, Ark., Johnson's Arkansas infantry. John D. Collins, Eagle Creek, Ark., surgeon Pine Bluff hospital. Thomas J. Dye, Madison, Ark., assistant surgeon McNeil's Arkansas infantry (deserted). Jacob Cooper, Barfield Point, Ark., assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital (deserted). William H. Park, Jack sonville, Tex., surgeon (resigned). Dempsey M. Larkin, Marianna, Ark., assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. Charles T. Hart, Little Rock, surgeon Dardanelle hos pital. Isaac Folsom, Wittsburg, Ark., assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. David A. Jordan, Clear Lake, assistant surgeon Woodruff's Arkansas battery. George W. Newman, Helena, assistant surgeon (resigned). Alexander M. Headley, Grand Glaize, Ark., surgeon Pleasants' Arkansas infantry. Alfred L. Trigg, Little Rock, assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. John F. 380 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. McGregor, Pine Bluff, Ark. , surgeon Flournoy's Texas in fantry. William L. Killian, Charleston, Ark., assistant surgeon King's Arkansas infantry. John R. Con way, Lit tle Rock, surgeon Little Rock hospital. Charles Wheeler, Station Creek, Tex., assistant surgeon (died in service). Elisha Trottman, Searcy, Ark., surgeon McRae's Arkan sas infantry. James H. Swindells, Lancaster, Tex., surgeon Gause's Arkansas infantry. William P. Head, Kentucky town, Tex., surgeon Fitzhugh's Texas infantry. Joseph F. Reid, Centre Point, Ark., surgeon Dawson's Arkansas infantry (resigned). John Jobe, Richmond, Ark., assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. David F. Stewart, Bonham, Tex., assistant surgeon Daniel's Texas cavalry. Andrew Guillette, Breckinridge, Mo., assistant surgeon laboratory, Arkadelphia. Charles O. Cuitman, Lacon, Mo., surgeon laboratory, Arkadelphia. Elisha W. McCreary, Centre Point, Ark., assistant surgeon Dawson's Arkansas infantry. David S. Wil liams, Arkadelphia, surgeon Grinsted's Arkansas infantry. Benjamin A. Jordan, Kansas City, Mo., surgeon Morgan's Arkansas infantry. John H. South, Truxton, Mo., assistant surgeon Pratt 's Texas battery. Hervey N. Austin, Lan caster, Mo. , assistant surgeon Pine Bluff hospital (deserted to enemy September, 1863). Elias I. Beall, Marshall, Tex., chief surgeon Walker's division. Angus G. Shaw, Camden, Tex., surgeon Seventeenth Texas cavalry (taken prisoner January, 1863). William C. Wai than, Bethel, Ark., surgeon Eighteenth Texas cavalry. Gabriel H. Fort, Lewisville, Ark., surgeon Haw thorn's Arkansas infantry. Thomas W. Mathews, Fort Smith, Ark., surgeon Parsons' Texas cavalry. Junius Terry, Lexington, Mo., assistant surgeon Roberts' Mis souri battery. Francis D. Cook, Denton, Tex. , assistant surgeon Darnell's Texas cavalry. John H. Gaines, Selma, Ark., surgeon Portlock's Arkansas infantry (taken prisoner at Post of Arkansas and escaped at Memphis). Albert G. Quarles, Garrettsburg, Ky., assistant surgeon Hawthorn's Arkansas infantry. Nathan H. Wynskoop, Springfield, Tex. , assistant surgeon Fifteenth Texas cav alry. Albert B. Hoy, Utica, Mo., surgeon Pine Bluff hospital. Rufus L. Talbot, Roseville, Ark., surgeon Carroll's Arkansas cavalry. Charles P. Bogan, Shiloh, Ark., assistant surgeon. Henry Dye, Piano, Tex., assist ant surgeon Little Rock hospital. Robert Duncan, St. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 381 Louis, Mo., assistant surgeon Shaler's Arkansas infantry. W. B. Welch, Boonsboro, Ark., surgeon Brooks' Arkan sas infantry. John R. Lowther, Clarksville, Ark., assist ant surgeon hospital at Clarksville. C. Dorsey Bain, Dover, Ark., surgeon Parsons' Missouri infantry (died in service). James A. Purdom, Washington, Ark., surgeon Monroe's Arkansas cavalry. John I. Grinsted, Keatts- ville, Mo., surgeon W. P. Johnson's Missouri cavalry. Edward L. Hamilton, Richmond, Ark., Dawson's Arkan sas infantry. Edward W. Cade, Starrville, Tex. , surgeon Twenty-eighth Texas cavalry. James T. Norris, Bren- ham, Tex., surgeon Twenty-first Texas cavalry. John B. Simmons, Jacksonport, assistant surgeon. Godfrey N. Beaumont, surgeon Missouri infantry. William J. Fow ler, Seven Leagues, Tex. , assistant surgeon Clark's Texas infantry. William P. Smith, Buena Vista, Tex. , assistant surgeon Randall's Texas infantry. Ebenezer Jones, Tyler, Tex., surgeon Roberts' Texas infantry. Thomas S. Petty, Chapel Hill, Tex., assistant surgeon Carter's Texas cavalry. Alonzo G. V. Dorsey, Gray Rock, Tex., assistant surgeon Roberts' Texas infantry. Eugene W. Herndon, Clarksville, Mo., surgeon Priest's Missouri infantry. Robert T. Bell, Indian Creek, Mo., assistant surgeon Graham's Missouri artillery. Akin M. Sublett, LaGrange, Mo., surgeon-general Parsons' staff. Fran cis D. Hallonquist, Gilmer, Tex., assistant surgeon, Texas command. David W, Fentress, Prairie Lea, Tex. , assistant surgeon Morgan's Texas squadron. David R. Wallace, Independence, Tex., surgeon Spaight's Texas infantry. Edwin E. Harris, Osceola, Mo., surgeon. Joseph H. Williams, Waco, Tex., assistant surgeon Spaight's Texas infantry. W. G. Mitchell Walker, Tyler, Tex., surgeon Flournoy's Texas infantry. David C. Howson, Orange, Tex., assistant surgeon Des Arc hospital. Charles C. Taliafero, Waco, Tex. George M. Bryan, Webberville, Tex., assistant surgeon Edgar's Texas battery. Richard L. Smith, Mt. Enterprise, Tex., assistant surgeon Young's Texas infantry. William E. Saunders, Sherman, Tex., surgeon Clark's Texas infantry. William J. Cocke, Belleville, Tex., assistant surgeon Flournoy's Texas infantry. Richard L. Rutherford, Hollywood, Ark., assistant surgeon Little Rock hospital. Charles F. Brown, Van Buren, Ark., surgeon Arkadel- phia hospital. Gaines M. Boynton, Pine Hill, Tex., 382 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. assistant surgeon Roberts' Eleventh Texas infantry. Adolphus L. Patton, Quitman, Tex., surgeon Hubbard's Twenty-second Texas infantry. Nicholas H. Boving, San Antonio, Tex., assistant surgeon McKee's Texas battery. John R. Beauchamp, Camden, Tex., surgeon Young's Texas infantry. M. S. Gayle, Texana, Tex., assistant surgeon Wilkes' Twenty-fourth Texas infantry. D. Port Smythe, Lockhart, Tex., surgeon Allen's Texas infantry. Robert P. Sweatt, Waxahachie, Tex. , assistant surgeon Parsons' Nineteenth Texas cavalry. Jonathan J. Jones, Pine Bluff, Ark., surgeon Dardanelle hos pital. By order of secretary of war the Army Medical Board was convened for examinations, April, 1863, Little Rock, Ark., and a new list was begun: Robert Joe Bell, Monroe county, surgeon Pickett's Mis souri infantry. Richard Johnston, St. Martinsville, La. , surgeon chemical laboratory, Arkadelphia. Paul Chris tian Yates, Huntsville, Mo., surgeon Shaver's Arkansas infantry. Jesse Edward Thompson, Powhatan, Ark., assistant surgeon Shaver's Arkansas infantry. Thomas Hinde Kavanaugh, Independence, Mo., assistant surgeon Tilden's Missouri battery. Nicholas N. Pumphrey, Independence, Mo., surgeon Cald well's Missouri infantry. Randolph Brunson, Pine Bluff, Ark., surgeon Pine Bluff hospital. William Carson Boone, Fayette, Mo., surgeon Clark's Missouri infantry. Reuben Jernette, Greenville, Tex., surgeon Stevens' Texas dismounted cavalry. Isaac Shelby Taylor, Palestine, Tex., Hawpe's Texas dis mounted cavalry. . John M. Lacy, CaHe Hill, Ark., assist ant surgeon Brooks' Arkansas infantry. Thomas H. Holies, San Augustine, Tex., surgeon Barrett's Thir teenth Texas infantry. J. Curry Brabaker, surgeon Bur nett's Thirteenth Texas infantry. Edward L. Massie, Salem, Va., surgeon. Andrew N. Kincannon, St. Joseph, Mo., assistant surgeon Pindall's Missouri battal ion. Uriah Haine, Anderson, Tex., assistant surgeon Terry's Eighth Texas infantry. Albert P. Fulkerson, Chapel Hill, Mo., assistant surgeon Morgan's Arkansas infantry. Marshall A. Brown, Miami, Mo., assistant surgeon. Thomas J. Basket, Tarleton, Mo., assistant surgeon. James V. Duhme, Washington, Ark., assist- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 383 ant surgeon Etter's Arkansas battery. R. A. Roberts, Cedar Hill, Tex., assistant surgeon. Except sitting at Fort Smith in June, 1863, the board continued its sittings at Little Rock, until the approach and entry of the Federal army under Gen. Frederick Steele, September 10, 1863, when it retired behind the Confederate lines to Washington, Ark. The admissions of surgeons and assistant surgeons at Fort Smith, June, 1863, are in a third list, as follows: Elias R. Duval, Fort Smith, Ark. , surgeon Gen. Wil liam Steele's division. John J. Tobin, Cusseta, Tex., assistant surgeon Morgan's Arkansas infantry. Jesse W. Johnson, Brunswick, Mo., surgeon Monroe's Arkan sas cavalry. Walter T. Adair, Cherokee Nation, surgeon Cherokee cavalry. George Tebault, Oakville, Tex., surgeon Bass' Texas infantry. Orlando A. Hobson, assistant surgeon Hill's Arkansas infantry. James P. Evans, Tahlequah, Cherokee Nation, chief surgeon Cooper's Indian division. Craven Peyton, Little Rock, chief surgeon Marmaduke's division. Rhesa W. Beard, DeKalb, Tex., surgeon DeMorse's Texas cavalry. Eugene B. Rochelle, Moore's, Tex., assistant surgeon DeMorse's Texas cavalry. Julien C. Field, Little Rock, Ark., assistant surgeon Bass' Texas infantry. Leo M. Alexander, Cambridge, Mo., surgeon Second Creek cav alry. Octavius Alexander, Cambridge, Mo., surgeon First Creek cavalry. Felix N. Littlejohn, Paris, Tex., assistant surgeon Martin's Fifth Texas rangers. July, 1863, the board returned to Little Rock: John R. Pickett, Jacksonport, Ark., assistant surgeon Stand Watie's Cherokees. Thomas A. Lornagin, St. Louis, Mo., surgeon Lewis' Seventh Missouri infantry. George G. Duggans, Cambridge, Mo., assistant surgeon Scanland's Texas squadron. August, 1863: John F. Locke, St. Joseph, Mo., assistant surgeon Mitchell's Missouri infantry. Willis R. Jones, Arkadelphia, Ark., assistant surgeon Bell's Arkansas infantry. Alcephus Robertson, Crooked Creek, Ark., assistant surgeon Harrell's Arkansas cavalry. 384 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Rufus A. Watkins, St. Catherine, Mo., surgeon Glenn's Arkansas infantry. The board held its next sitting in Washington, Hemp- stead county, Ark, September, 1863: John W. Crowdus, Neosho, Mo., surgeon Choctaw and Chickasaw cavalry. John D. Parsons, Kaufman, Tex., assistant surgeon. Junius Terry, Lexington, Mo., sur geon Shelby's First Missouri cavalry. John T. Turner, Armstrong Academy, C. N., surgeon Folsom's Second Choctaw cavalry. William Kennedy, Greenfield, Mo., assistant surgeon Smith's Third Missouri cavalry. January, 1864, at Washington, Ark. : Marshall A. Brown, Miami, Mo., surgeon Clark's Missouri infantry. John M. Welborn, Walnut Hill, Ark., assistant surgeon Camden hospital. Robert Duncan, St. Louis, Mo., Gaither's Arkansas infantry. Johnson J. Whitmore, Centre Point, Ark., assistant surgeon Hill's Arkansas cavalry. John M. Frazier, Missouri, assistant surgeon Burns' Eleventh Missouri infantry. February, 1864: John H. McMurray, Independence, Mo., surgeon Engineers' troop. William C. Smith, Washington, Ark., assistant surgeon hospital duty. Levi H. Fisher, Belleville, La., assistant surgeon Harri son (La.) cavalry. Jeptha D. Bass, Homer, La., assist ant surgeon, ordered to General Taylor for duty. John W. Madden, Waco, Tex., assistant surgeon Gurley's Thirtieth Texas cavalry. Charles H. Smith, Pine Bluff, Ark., chief surgeon Marmaduke's division. Gregory Ferguson, Tyler, Tex., assistant surgeon Dockery's Arkansas cavalry. March, 1864, Washington, Ark. : William W. Newton, Johnsville, Ark., assistant surgeon General Dockery's command. Elijah A. Shippey, Shreveport, La. , assistant surgeon camp of instruction, Shreveport. Rufus Linthi- cum, Roseville, Ark., assistant surgeon Hill's Arkansas cavalry. Alf. M. Davidson, Campti, La., assistant sur geon. William Thompson, Waverly, Ark., surgeon Crawford's Arkansas cavalry. Elijah Thigpen, Mans field, La. , assistant surgeon, ordered to Missouri division, Trans- Mississippi department. William Watt, Elysian Fields, Tex., assistant surgeon, ordered to Major-General Taylor's division, Louisiana. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 385 August, 1864, the Army Medical Board removed their quarters to Marshall, Tex. Every applicant during April, 1864, was rejected by the board. May, 1864: Robert Nuckolls, Belleview, La., assistant surgeon. David L. Todd, Washington, La., assistant surgeon. Robert J. Christie, Monticello, Mo., surgeon Ponder's Missouri infantry. June, 1864, Marshall, Tex. : John H. Carroll, Lewis- burg, Ark., surgeon Hill's Arkansas cavalry. Thomas E. Vick, Thibodeau, La., surgeon. John H. Blackburn, Eola, La., assistant surgeon Benton's Louisiana battery. George W. Sherman, Springfield, Ark., surgeon Witt's Tenth Arkansas infantry. July, 1864, Marshall, Tex. : James A. Jones, New Orleans, La., assistant surgeon Crescent Louisiana in fantry. James W. Brown, Camden, Ark., assistant sur geon Crawford's Arkansas cavalry. August, 1864: Robert T. Gibbs, Mansfield, La., sur geon Vincent's Second Louisiana cavalry. John L. Wagley, Pleasant Hill, La., assistant surgeon. Melvin E. Williams, Mansfield, La., assistant surgeon Ander son's Texas cavalry. Edward L. Hamilton, Richmond, Ark., surgeon Tappan's brigade. Milton McD. Marcus, Homer, La. , surgeon Ross' Second dismounted infantry. William A. Hardy, Alexandria, La., examined for pro motion. September, 1864, Military Medical Board sitting at Camden, Ark. : Robert A. Benton, Camden, Ark., sur geon appointed by secretary of war, May, 1861, Camden hospital. James C. Ford, Hermitage, Mo., assistant surgeon Moore's Missouri infantry. Thomas Benjamin Hopkins, Homer, La., assistant surgeon Reid's Arkansas Second dismounted cavalry. Thomas S. Petty, Chapel Hill, Tex., surgeon Madison's Texas cavalry. October, 1864, Military Medical Board sitting at Cam den, Ark.: Francis D. Hallonquist, Gilmer, Tex., sur geon Bonner's Eighteenth Texas infantry. Peter G. Sigmund, Eudora, Ark., assistant surgeon McNeil's Louisiana cavalry. Matt. A. Jolly, Mt. Hebron, Ala., chief surgeon Wharton's cavalry. A. N. Kincannon, DeKalb, Mo., surgeon Pindall's Missouri infantry. November, 1864, sitting at Camden, Ark. : John M. Frazier, Weston, Mo., surgeon Burns' Eleventh Missouri Ark 25 386 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. infantry. David Wendell Yandell, Louisville, Ky., sur geon appointed by the President, October 20, 1861. J. A. Denson, Georgetown, Tex., assistant surgeon Taylor's Nineteenth Texas infantry. December, 1864, board sitting at Washington, Ark. : Leonidas C. Ferrell, Homer, La., surgeon Capers' Fifth Louisiana cavalry. Nicholas Spring, Fort Smith, Ark., (not a graduate), surgeon hospital duty. William R. Wilkes, Springfield, Mo., surgeon hospital at Washing ton, Ark. James N. Morgan, Brownstown, Ark., surgeon Newton's Arkansas cavalry. Army Medical Board, P. O. Hooper, William M. Law rence, Joseph T. Scott (George W. Lawrence, resigned), sitting January, 1865, at Marshall, Tex. : William A. C. Sayle, Lewisburg, Ark., surgeon Hill's Arkansas cavalry. Joseph A. Mclrwin, Clinton, Mo., assistant surgeon Mitchell's Eighth Missouri infantry. T. M. Colley, Mt. Enterprise, Tex., surgeon First Creek cavalry. February, 1865, Marshall, Tex. : John S. Compton, Alexandria, La. (two courses), assistant surgeon. Chris topher C. Francis, Rusk, Tex., assistant surgeon. Wil liam P. Means, Cotton Gin, Tex. (one course), assistant surgeon. Alsey F. Pollard, Bonner, La., assistant sur geon. Miles J. Birdsong, Douglasville, Tex. , surgeon. Austin Moss, Mt. Pleasant, La. , surgeon Third Louisiana infantry. James Russell Cunningham, Mt. Enterprise, Tex., assistant surgeon. John C. Rosser, Carthage, Tex. (never attended college), assistant surgeon Baxter's Twenty-eighth Texas infantry. March, 1865, Marshall, Tex. : William L. Killiam, Charleston, Ark., surgeon Twenty-second Arkansas infantry. William Wiley Perry, Jonesville, Tex., sur geon Lane's Texas cavalry. Howard Smith, New Orleans, surgeon, medical purveyor Trans-Mississippi department. Charles Wilkerson, Hamburg, La., assist ant surgeon Cameron's Fourth Louisiana battery. April, 1865, sitting at Natchitoches, La. : James G. Campbell, Opelousas, La., surgeon Vincent's Second Louisiana cavalry. Levi H. Fisher, Bayou Lachute, La., surgeon Harrison's Sixth dismounted cavalry. Alexan der P. Brean, Natchitoches, La., assistant surgeon. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 387 George W. Leatherman, Mississippi, surgeon McNeil's Fourth Louisiana cavalry. Edward D. Stigner, Stockton, Mo. (one course), assistant surgeon Eleventh Missouri infantry. Thomas Charles Thompson, Matagorda, Tex., assistant surgeon Edgar's Texas battery. David Custe- berry, Harrisonburg, La., assistant surgeon Second bat tery heavy artillery. Harfield McCormick, Shreveport, La., assistant surgeon Sixth Louisiana dismounted cav alry. James G. Wiley, Lake Providence, surgeon Har rison's Third Louisiana cavalry. Albert S. Davidson, Alexandria, La., surgeon Conner's Louisiana battery. Henry H. Key, Mt. Lebanon, La., assistant surgeon Fifth Louisiana cavalry. Charles Jones, Jr., New Orleans, medical purveyor district of Louisiana. Charles Alexander Cruikshanks, Alexandria, La., consolidated Crescent regiment infantry. May, 1865, sitting at Natchitoches : William Watt, Elysian Fields, La., surgeon Yeager's First Texas cav alry. James E. Keaten, Cheney ville, La., assistant sur geon McMahon's battery. Thomas J. Fort, Ringgold, La., assistant surgeon Norwood's Twenty-seventh Louis iana infantry. James P. Oliver, Winfield, La., assistant surgeon Vincent's regiment. William M. Gince, Winns- boro, La. , assistant surgeon Eighth Louisiana dismounted cavalry. Robert L. Lockett, Alexandria, La., surgeon. James R. Percy, Tchula, Miss., surgeon Twenty-eighth Louisiana infantry. Joseph A. Lavigne, Iberville, La., surgeon Eighth Louisiana dismounted cavalry. Isaac P. Webb, Iverson, La., assistant surgeon. Wiley Wood ward Medaris, Austin, Tex. (one course), acting assistant surgeon. "wai "TX7 \ >L -^ X^- ^ LITTLE RO 1 \lTons SlitphLO-Sprs/ A&ons Slare^ff_J ^ / ij^s -€ - - ^aw.-^w-J^T^V -iW-.j_. 7 f*^ / \ N: ARKANSAS FROM 1861-65 OFFICIAL WAR RECORDS ATLAS Principal Engagements -^ f/>;i BIOGRAPHICAL. 389 MAJOR-GENERALS AND BRIGADIER-GENERALS, PRO- VISIONAL ARMY OF THE CONFEDERATE STATES, ACCREDITED TO ARKANSAS. Brigadier- General William N. R. Beall was a native of Kentucky, born in 1825. His parents moved to Arkan sas, and from that State he was appointed to the United States military academy at West Point in 1844. He was graduated in 1848, and was assigned to the Fourth infantry as brevet second lieutenant. He served on the frontier in the Northwest until 1850, with promotion to second lieutenant of the Fifth infantry, April 30, 1849. From that time until 1855 he served in Indian Territory and in Texas, and was commissioned first lieutenant of the First cavalry, March 3, 1855, and before the end of the month, March 27th, captain in the same command. He was engaged in several Indian expeditions, encountering the hostiles in several combats and skirmishes. The last of these expeditions was in 1860 against the Kiowas and Comanches. He was on frontier duty when his adopted State seceded from the Union. He then sent in his resignation as captain in the United States service and received the same rank in the Confederate States army. He served in Arkansas under General Van Dorn, who, on the iyth of March, 1862, recommended that he be com missioned colonel. On the nth of April this request was more than granted, for Captain Beall was commissioned a brigadier-general in the army of the Confederate States, and on the 23d of the same month was assigned by General Beauregard to the command of the cavalry of the army at Corinth. On September 25th he was in command at Port Hudson, and though Gen. Frank Gard ner subsequently assumed chief command, General Beall and his brigade continued to be important factors in the 391 392 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. gallant defense of the post until its surrender. His bri gade included the Tenth, Twelfth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Twenty-third Arkansas regiments, and First Arkan sas battalion, as well as several Mississippi and Alabama regiments, and Louisiana artillery. His Arkansas troops lost 225 in killed, wounded and missing during the long siege, which was only terminated when they were forced to surrender by the capitulation of Vicksburg. On July pth the post was surrendered, and the men were then paroled, and some of them were never exchanged. After the war General Beall resided in St. Louis, Mo., and engaged in business as a general commission mer chant. He died on the 26th of July, 1883, at McMinn- ville, Tenn. Brigadier-General William L. Cabell was born in Dan ville, Va., January i, 1827, the third child of Gen. Ben jamin W. S. and Sarah Eppes Cabell, who lived to see seven sons and two daughters grown. Six sons held prominent positions in the Confederate army. The other, Dr. Powhatan Cabell, died from the effect of an arrow wound received in Florida just before the Confed erate war began. General Cabell was graduated at the military academy at West Point in 1850, entered the United States army as second lieutenant, and was assigned to the Seventh infantry. In June, 1855, he was promoted to first lieutenant and made regimental quar termaster of that regiment. In March, 1858, he was pro moted to captain in the quartermaster department and assigned to the staff of Gen. Persifer F. Smith, then in command of the Utah expedition. When the war became inevitable, Captain Cabell repaired to Fort Smith, Ark., and from there went to Little Rock and offered his serv ices to the governor of the State. On receipt of a tele gram from President Davis he went to Montgomery, Ala., then the Confederate capital, where he found the acceptance of his resignation from the United States CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 393 army, signed by President Lincoln. He was at once com missioned major, Confederate States army, and under orders from President Davis left on April 2ist for Rich mond to organize the quartermaster, commissary and ordnance departments. Later he was sent to Manassas to report to General Beauregard as chief quartermaster of the army of the Potomac. After Gen. Joseph E. Johnston assumed command, Major Cabell served on his staff until January 15, 1862, when he was ordered to report to Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston, by whom he was assigned to General Van Dorn, with headquarters then at Jacksonport, Ark. He was next promoted to the rank of brigadier-general and put in command of all the troops on White river, Ark. , where he held the enemy in check until after the battle of Elkhorn Tavern, March yth and 8th. After that battle the army was transferred to the east side of the Mississippi. The removal of this army, which included Price's Missouri and McCulloch's Arkan sas, Louisiana and Texas troops, and his own command, devolved on General Cabell, and was performed within a single week from points along White river. Van Dorn's army proceeded, after reaching Memphis, to Corinth, and General Cabell was assigned to a Texas brigade with an Arkansas regiment attached. He led this brigade in several engagements around Corinth, and commanded the rear of the army on the retreat from Corinth to Tupelo. After Bragg had moved into Tennessee, Cabell was transferred to an Arkansas brigade, which he com manded in the battles of luka and Saltillo in September, at Corinth on October 2 and 3, 1862, and at Hatchie Bridge on the 4th. He was wounded leading the charge of his brigade on the breastworks at Corinth and also at Hatchie Bridge, which disabled him for duty in the field. What was left of his command was temporarily assigned to the First Missouri brigade under General Bowen, and he was ordered to the Trans- Mississippi department to recover from his wounds and inspect the staff depart- 394 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. ments of that army. When his strength was sufficiently restored he was, in February, 1863, put in command of northwest Arkansas, with instructions to augment his forces by recruits from every part of the State. In this he was very successful, organizing one of the largest cav alry brigades west of the Mississippi, which he thereafter commanded in more than twenty battles. He took a prominent part in the engagements at Poison Spring and Marks' Mills, in April, 1864, commanding two brigades of Pagan's division. In his report of the campaign ending at Jenkins' Ferry, General Marmaduke wrote that, "To speak of the quick perception and foresight or the reck less bravery of Shelby, the elan and chivalrous bearing of Cabell, inspiring all who looked upon him, or the perse verance, untiring energy and steady courage of Greene, would be telling a twice-told tale. ' ' During the raid into Missouri under General Price he was captured in battle near the Little Osage river, October 25, 1864, and was taken to Johnson's island, Lake Erie, and later to Fort Warren, near Boston, and held until August 28, 1865. General Cabell is now a resident of Dallas, Tex. , and holds the rank of lieutenant-general United Confederate Vet erans, commanding the Trans- Mississippi department. His wife, the daughter of Maj. Elias Rector, of Arkansas, is a woman of great intelligence and courage, and noted for her ready wit. During the war she followed her hus band and did much to relieve the sick and wounded. Major-General Thomas J. Churchill was born March 10, 1824, near Louisville, Ky., and in 1844 was graduated from St. Mary's college. He studied law at Transyl vania, and volunteered in the war with Mexico, becoming lieutenant in Humphrey Marshall's regiment of mounted riflemen. He was made a prisoner by Mexican cavalry, and not exchanged until the war was virtually over. In 1848 he went to Little Rock, where he married Anne, daughter of ex- Senator Sevier, of Arkansas, who was one CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 395 of the commissioners to negotiate a peace with Mexico. General Churchill's earliest American ancestor was Wil liam Churchill of Middlesex county, Va., who married Elizabeth, sister of Judith Armistead, ancestress of Rob ert E. Lee. His son, Armistead Churchill, married Lucy Harrison, aunt of Gen. William Henry Harrison. Their son, Armistead Churchill, was the grandfather of General Churchill. His son Samuel married Abby, daughter of Colonel Oldham of Kentucky, and their children were Armistead, Samuel B. , William H. , Thomas J. (the gen eral), Charles T., Mary Abigail, and Julia. The last named is widow of Dr. Luke P. Blackburn, former gov ernor of Kentucky. General Churchill was a planter at the beginning of hostilities, and, offering his services in the opening conflict, was elected colonel of the First Arkansas mounted rifles. His career from this beginning has been sketched already in these pages. He won for himself, by his dauntless courage and unflinching devotion, the laurels of an honorable name. His martial renown early reflected credit upon his State and its citi zens who served under him and rightly share his honors. His gallant services at Wilson's Creek and Pea Ridge have been noted. On March 4, 1862, he was commis sioned brigadier-general. Ordered with his brigade to Kir by Smith, on that officer's advance into Kentucky in August, he and Cleburne were in the van, and at the brilliant victory of Richmond they were the first to strike the foe and overwhelm him by the impetuosity of their onset. Toward the close of 1862 Churchill was sent back across the Mississippi to take a new command in Arkan sas. Being placed in charge of Arkansas Post, he was attacked in January, 1863, by an overwhelming force of Federals under General McClernand, assisted by Admiral Porter's fleet. After a desperate fight of five hours McClernand took possession of the fort, the guns and the captives. Horace Greeley, the Northern historian, in his "American Conflict" says: "Churchill's men had fought 396 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. with signal gallantry and resolution so long as hope remained. . . . Most of their field pieces had been dis abled . . . and the fight was against an enemy whose ample artillery was still efficient, who had mastered their defenses, and whose numbers were several times their own." On March 17, 1863, Churchill was commissioned major-general in the army of the Confederate States. After his exchange he was ordered to report to General Bragg in Tennessee, but was soon transferred to the Trans-Mississippi, where he bore an honorable and active part in the Red river campaign, in command of the Arkansas division of infantry, at the battles of Pleasant Hill and Jenkins' Ferry. He continued in division com mand until the close of the war. Major-General Patrick R. Cleburne, one of the most brilliant soldiers of the Confederate States, was a native of Ireland. When twenty-two years of age he joined the British army as a private, and there took his first lessons in drill and discipline. For good conduct he was promoted to the rank of corporal. After remaining three years in the British army he procured his discharge and came to America. He settled in Arkansas, became a hard stu dent, was admitted to the bar, and the year 1861 found him practicing law in Helena, enjoying in his profession and in society the honorable position which his toil and native worth had gained for him. He was among the first to answer the call to arms. He raised a company and with it joined the First, afterward known as the Fifteenth Arkansas regiment, of which he was almost unanimously elected colonel. His first campaign was with General Hardee in Missouri. At its close he went with Hardee to Bowling Green, Ky. He had during this short military service so impressed his superiors that he was assigned to command of a brigade, and on March 4, 1862, was commissioned brigadier-general. At the battle of Shiloh he proved that his abilities had not been over- Maj -Gen. J. F. FAGAN. Maj.-Gen. P. R. CLEBURNE. Brig.-Gen. ALBEKT PIKE. Brig.-Gen. D. H. REYNOLDS. Bn^.-Gen. \V. N. R. BE ALL. Bng.-Gen. D. McKAE. Bng.-Gen. L. E. POLK. Brif?.-Gen. T. P. DOCKERY. Brig.-Gen. E. McNAlR. Brij?.-Gen. D. C. GOVAN. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 397 estimated, and during the reorganization of the army at Tupelo he brought his brigade to a very high state of dis cipline and efficiency. He had that valuable combination of qualifications for command which enabled him to enforce discipline and at the same time secure the esteem and confidence of his troops. At Richmond, Ky., he commanded a division whose impetuous charge had much to do with winning the magnificent victory over "Bull" Nelson's army. Though painfully wounded in this battle, a few weeks later he led his men in the fierce conflict at Perry ville, with his usual success. On December 13, 1862, he was commissioned major-general. He was in the memorable attack upon the right of the Federal army at Murfreesboro, which drove the Union lines until the mass in front became at last too thick for further penetra tion. Again at Chickamauga Cleburne made a charge, in which his men by desperate valor won and held a posi tion that had been assailed time and again without suc cess. At Missionary Ridge, in command at the tunnel, he defeated Sherman, capturing flags and hundreds of prisoners, and when involved in the general defeat, he made a heroic fight at Ringgold gap and saved Bragg' s artillery and wagon train. In recognition of this gallant exploit, the Confederate Congress passed the following joint resolution: "Resolved, that the thanks of Congress are due, and are hereby tendered to Maj.-Gen. Patrick R. Cleburne, and the officers and men under his com mand, for the victory obtained by them over superior forces of the enemy at Ringgold gap in the State of Georgia on the ayth day of November, 1863, by which the advance of the enemy was impeded, our wagon trains and most of our artillery saved, and a large number of the enemy killed and wounded. ' ' One of the most bril liant episodes of the Atlanta campaign of 1864 was Cle- burne's victory at Pickett's mill over Howard's corps of Sherman's army. In the awful carnage at Franklin, November 30, 1864, Cleburne, the "Stonewall Jackson of 398 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the West," gave his last battle order. Within twenty paces of the Union line, pierced by three wounds, he fell, and on the battlefield expired. His death was a disheart ening blow to the army of Tennessee, and was mourned throughout the whole South. Brigadier- General Thomas P. Dockery was among the conspicuously brave officers whom Arkansas furnished to the Confederacy. Though this State did not secede until it became evident that she must fight either for or against her Southern sisters, yet when her decision was made she went with all her might into the struggle for Southern independence, and gave to the South some of the most gallant men that ever drew sword or carried a musket. General Dockery went into the service as col onel of the Nineteenth Arkansas. His regiment was in the brigade of Brig. -Gen. N. B. Pearce, and in the divi sion of Brig. -Gen. Benjamin McCulloch. On August 10, 1861, occurred the bloody battle of Oak Hills, or Wilson's Creek. General Churchill, who was then colonel of the First Arkansas regiment, mounted riflemen, in an account of this battle says: "The contest seemed doubt ful. At times we would drive them up the hill, and in turn they would rally and cause us to fall back. At length we shouted and made a gallant charge and drove them over the hill. At this moment the Louisiana regi ment with Colonel Dockery flanked them upon my left> made a charge and drove them completely from the field. This was the last position they abandoned, and the last stand they made. ' ' Brigadier-General Pearce, who com manded a division in this battle, says in his report : "I respectfully call the attention of the general to the praise worthy conduct of Colonels Gratiot, Carroll and Dock ery. ' ' When Price and Van Dorn crossed to the east side of the Mississippi in May, 1862, Colonel Dockery 's regi ment formed a part of this force, and participated under the lead of its gallant colonel in the bloody battle of CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 399 Corinth. When Price, with the army of the West, recrossed the Mississippi, Colonel Dockery was for awhile in command of the middle subdivision of Arkansas. On August 10, 1863, he was commissioned brigadier-general. He organized a brigade in Arkansas, which participated in the Camden campaign of 1864 against Steele, and Dockery and his men bore, according to reports, a gal lant part in the brilliant victories of Marks' Mills and Jenkins' Ferry. General Dockery survived the war many years. He died in the city of New York on February 26, 1898. Brigadier-General James F. Fagan was born in Louis ville, Ky., in 1827. When he was a youth his father was one of the contractors to build the State house at Little Rock, soon after the admission of the State, and died there. His mother, Catherine A. Fagan, married Sam uel Adams, former treasurer of State, in December, 1842. As president of the senate, Mr. Adams succeeded to the governorship in 1844, upon the resignation of Governor Yell, who became a volunteer colonel and fell in the war with Mexico. On the death of his stepfather, Fagan took charge of the farm and family home on the Saline river. Though a whig, he repeatedly represented the Democratic county of Saline in the general assembly of the State. He served through the war with Mexico in Yell's regiment, returning home a lieutenant, and was among the first to raise a company at the beginning of the Confederate war, being chosen captain of his com pany, and on regimental organization elected colonel of the First Arkansas Confederate infantry. His subse quent achievements gave him high rank and an honorable name in that eventful struggle. On September 12, 1862, Colonel Fagan was promoted to brigadier-general in the provisional army of the Confederate States. He com manded a brigade composed of the Arkansas regiments of Colonels Brooks, Hawthorn, Bell and King, in the 400 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. siege of Helena, in all 1,339 men, and lost 435 in the determined assaults of his command on Hindman's hill. His gallantry in this bloody engagement was warmly commended by Gen. T. H. Holmes. General Pagan's command was operating in southern Arkansas during the Federal campaign against Shreveport in 1864, and after Banks' defeat at Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, General Pagan, in command of a cavalry division comprising the Arkansas brigades of W. L. Cabell, T. P. Dockery and W. A. Crawford, was ordered to operate against the Fed eral expedition of General Steele at Camden. He was highly successful, General Smith reporting that "Fagan's destruction of Steele 's entire supply train and the cap ture of its escort at Marks' Mills precipitated Steele 's retreat from Camden. ' ' In the last great maneuver in the Trans- Mississippi, Price's campaign in Missouri, Fagan, who had been commissioned major-general on April 24, 1864, commanded the division of Arkansas cav alry, including the brigades of Cabell, Slemons, Dobbin and McCray, and "bore himself throughout the whole expedition," said General Price, ltwith unabated gal lantry and ardor, and commanded his division with great ability. ' ' At the last he was in command of the district of Arkansas, and as late as April, 1865, he was active and untiring in his efforts, proposing then an expedition for the capture of Little Rock. General Pagan's first wife was a sister of Gen. W. N. R. Beall, and after her death he married Miss Rapley of Little Rock, a niece of Maj. Benjamin J. Field, brother of the first wife of Governor Rector. Brigadier- General Daniel C. Govan, of Arkansas, is one of the commanders of whom General Cleburne said, * ' Four better officers are not in the service of the Confed eracy. " Entering the army in 1861, he was made colonel of the Second Arkansas regiment, and was present in the first day's battle of Shiloh. Sickness prevented his par- CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 401 ticipating on the second day. In the Kentucky campaign, the Second Arkansas was in the brigade of General Lid- dell, and participated in the battle of Perryville. At Murfreesboro, still in Liddell's brigade, Colonel Govan led his regiment and during a part of the day the bri gade. At Chickamauga he led the brigade, Liddell act ing as commander of a division. He again commanded his brigade at Missionary Ridge and on the retreat, sharing prominently in the timely victory at Ringgold, and win ning from Cleburne the compliment already mentioned. On December 29, 1863, he was promoted to brigadier-gen eral, his command consisting of the Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Arkansas regiments of infantry. Through out the Atlanta campaign he handled his brigade so admirably as to merit favorable mention from his division and corps commanders and from Gen. Joseph E. John ston, who especially mentioned the gallant conduct of his brigade at Pickett's mill. On the istof September, while Hardee with one corps was holding a position of no great strength in order to protect Hood's retreat from Atlanta, he was attacked by five corps of Sherman's army. Fortu nately, the attacks were not simultaneous along the line, and Hardee was able to shift troops to the threatened points in time to repel assaults. About the middle of the afternoon an angle held by Govan 's Arkansas and Lewis' Kentucky brigades, troops that had no superiors in the army, were assailed by an overwhelming force. They held to their line until the dense masses of the Federal troops poured over the works, and by force of numbers drove back the brave defenders. A large part of Govan 's brigade fought until the dense volume of Fed eral troops ran over them and took physical possession of the men. What was left of the brigade, charging with Granbury's Texans and Gordon's Tennesseeans, suc ceeded in establishing a new line, which was held until night put an end to the conflict. General Govan, captured that day, was soon exchanged and followed the fortunes of Ark 28 402 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. the army of Tennessee to the last. He led his brigade through the hardships and disasters of the Tennessee campaign, and in the final campaign in the Carolinas commanded his own and Granbury's brigade, which had been consolidated. No officer of the army of Tennessee enjoyed to a greater degree than General Go van did, the esteem of his men and of his superior officers. Brigadier- General Alexander T. Hawthorn, when the Sixth Arkansas infantry was organized in 1861, was elected lieutenant-colonel. By the spring of 1862 he had been appointed colonel of the gallant regiment, which he led at the battle of Shiloh, up to that time the greatest conflict of arms that the New World had ever seen. The soldiers of the South stormed and captured the camp of the victors of Donelson, drove them in complete rout to the protection of their gunboats, and, had not the advance been stayed, would probably have annihilated the army of Grant before Buell could get to its assistance. When the large army of Grant and his powerful fleet were besieging Vicksburg, General Holmes was ordered by Kirby Smith to create a diversion, if possible, in favor of Pemberton, by attacking the strong post of Helena, Ark. This was done, but without success. The Sixth Arkan sas was in Pagan's brigade, and under its gallant colonel drove the enemy out of two lines of works, but was at last repulsed in the attack upon Fort Hindman. During the joint campaign of Banks and Steele, in April, 1864, Hawthorn, who on the 28th of February, 1864, had been commissioned brigadier-general, led a brigade in the division of General Churchill, and made a gallant fight at Jenkins' Ferry, April 3oth, during a fierce engagement of several hours' duration. He continued in command of his brigade, under General Churchill, until the close of hostilities. He then gladly laid aside the sword and CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 403 entered upon the task of helping to restore the fallen for tunes of the South. He spent the latter years of his life in business at Atlanta, Ga., where he died about 1894. Major-General Thomas Carmichael Hindman was born in Tennessee in November, 1818. He received a common school education, then studied law and moved to Missis sippi. He was engaged in his professional business when the Mexican war aroused the country to arms. Forsaking peaceful pursuits, he went as lieutenant in one of the Mississippi regiments. Returning home after the war he again took up his former occupation. From 1858 to 1 86 1 he served in Congress as a representative from Arkansas. He was intensely Southern, believing with all his heart in the justice of the position taken by his section. Of course, it was to be expected that a man of his views would be quick to take up arms. He entered the army and was appointed colonel of the Second Arkansas infantry, June 21, 1861, and brigadier- general September 28, 1861. His first service was in Arkansas under Gen. William J. Hardee, with whom he crossed the Mississippi when everything possible was being con centrated at Bowling Green, Ky. He and his brigade took a conspicuous part in the battle of Shiloh. He was wounded in this battle, and promoted to major-general April 1 8, 1862. On the 26th of May he was assigned to the command of the Trans- Mississippi district, and hastening to Little Rock, he established his headquar ters there on May 3ist, and took command of his district. He had to create an army and restore order and confi dence. This he quickly did ; for he was a man of great energy and administrative ability of the very highest order. He declared martial law, sent his provost-mar shals in every direction, and enforced the conscript law in the most rigid manner. His recruiting officers went all over northern Arkansas and even into Missouri. He established shops for the manufacture of all needed sup- 404 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. plies, such as arms, clothing, etc. In every way he man aged so well that early in July he had gathered a consid erable army, and had saved for the time Little Rock and the valley of the Arkansas to the Confederacy. But about this time Gen. T. H. Holmes was sent to take command of the Trans- Mississippi department. Hindman, going into western Arkansas, was about to lead an expedition into Missouri when he was recalled to Little Rock by General Holmes to help organize the troops in that neighborhood. During his absence, disasters befell his army. Return ing, he fought the battle of Prairie Grove, December 7, 1862, against the forces of Herron and Blunt, winning a victory, but on account of the concentration of the enemy in superior numbers found it necessary to withdraw. He was afterward ordered back to the east side of the Mississippi, where he commanded a division at Chickamauga. There and all through the Atlanta campaign Hindman and his division were found among the bravest and the best. After the Atlanta campaign he served in the district of North Mississippi. At the close of the war General Hindman went to Mexico, but in 1867 returned to the United States and settled at Helena, where he was assas sinated by some unknown person on the 28th of Septem ber, 1868. Brigadier- General James McQueen Mclntosh came of a martial race, his father, his uncle and his grandfather being distinguished as soldiers. His father, James S. Mclntosh, was born in Liberty county, Ga. , and entered the United States army in 1812. In the Mexican war he greatly distinguished himself. At Molino del Rey, one of the bloodiest battles of the valley of Mexico, where as ranking colonel he commanded a brigade, he received a mortal wound. The brother of the subject of this sketch, John Bailie Mclntosh, remained in the United States army throughout the civil war, fought with great gal lantry, lost a leg in the battle of Winchester, and was CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 405 retired in 1870 as brigadier-general. James McQueen Mclntosh was born at Tampa Bay, Fla., in 1828. He was appointed to the United States military academy from Florida, and was graduated in 1849 as brevet second lieutenant of the First infantry. He served on frontier duty, and rose through the successive grades to the rank of captain of the First cavalry, January 15, 1857. He was in several expeditions against the hostile Indians, and was engaged in the combat of Solomon's Ford, July 29, 1857, and in several skirmishes with the Kiowas and Comanches in 1860. In 1861, when it became evident that war between the States could not be averted, he resigned his commission and entered the service of the Confederate States. He was first captain of cavalry, Confederate States army, then was made colonel of the Second Arkansas mounted infantry. On the 24th of January, 1862, he was commissioned brigadier-general in the army of the Con federate States. His command consisted of the First and Second regiments of Arkansas mounted riflemen, South Kansas-Texas regiment, Fourth and Sixth regiments of Texas cavalry, and Burnett's company of Texas cavalry. His services in the Confederate army were valuable, but soon ended. He was killed in the bloody battle of Pea Ridge, March 7, 1862. In his official report of this bat tle, General Van Dorn pays the following high tribute to this gallant soldier: "Mclntosh had been very much dis tinguished all through the operations which have taken place in this region ; and during my advance from Boston mountains I placed him in command of the cavalry bri gade and in charge of the pickets. He was alert, daring and devoted to his duty. His kindness of disposition, with his reckless bravery, had strongly attached the troops to him, so that after McCulloch fell, had he remained to lead them, all would have been well with my right wing. But after leading a brilliant charge of cavalry and carry ing the enemy's battery, he rushed into the thickest of the fight again at the head of his old regiment, and was 406 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. shot through the heart. So long as brave deeds are admired by our people, the names of McCulloch and Mclntosh will be remembered and loved. " Brigadier-General Evander McNair became colonel of the Fourth Arkansas regiment on August 17, 1861. The first experience of this regiment in battle was at Wilson's Creek, Mo. , where the Confederates gained a signal vic tory. At the battle of Pea Ridge, when General McCul loch was killed and Col. Louis Hebert captured, Colonel McNair took command of the brigade. When Price and his army of the West crossed the Mississippi to the sup port of the Confederate army that had just fought the battle of Shiloh, the Arkansas troops formed a part of his force. On July 3ist, Bragg and Kirby Smith met at Chattanooga and planned the Kentucky campaign. Price and Van Dorn were left to confront Grant in north Mis sissippi. Bragg took Churchill's division, consisting of the brigades of McCray and McNair, and then sent them to Kirby Smith, who with his wing of the army pushed rapidly into the bluegrass region, utterly defeating the Union army at Richmond. In the desperate battle that here occurred, McNair's brigade turned the enemy's right and contributed to the rout that followed. On November 4, 1862, Colonel McNair was commissioned brigadier-general. His brigade embraced the following Arkansas troops, the First and Second dismounted rifles, Fourth and Thirtieth infantry regiments, Fourth infantry battalion, and Humphreys' battery of artillery. On the 3ist of December, McNair's brigade took part in the bril liant charge of McCown's division, which, aided by With ers and Cheatham, drove the Federal right a distance of between three and four miles, bending it back upon the center, until the line was at right angles to its original position. In May, McNair's brigade was sent from the army of Tennessee to reinforce the army forming under Joseph E. Johnston for the relief of Vicksburg. These CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 407 troops were in the subsequent movements and engage ments around Jackson, Miss. At Chickamauga,McNair's was one of the eight brigades which, under Longstreet's direction, rushed through the gap in the Federal line and put one wing of the Union army to rout. In this battle McNair was wounded. He and his brigade were sent back to Mississippi after the battle of Chickamauga, and in 1864 he was transferred to the Trans- Mississippi department, in which he continued to serve until the close of the war. Brigadier-General Dandridge McRae was among those active in recruiting men for the Confederate service in 1 86 1. He was zealous for the cause, and showed great ability in recruiting, organizing and training soldiers for the service. He raised a regiment, which was mustered in as the Twenty-first Arkansas, and was elected its col onel. This regiment was assigned to the brigade com manded by Gen. Ben McCulloch. In the summer of 1 86 1 the command was led into Missouri, joining Price in time to participate in the battle of Wilson's Creek. Gen eral McCulloch in his official report speaks in very high terms of the services of Colonel McRae in this bat tle, saying: "He led his regiment into action with the greatest coolness, being always in the front of his men." At the battle of Pea Ridge, fought in Arkansas in March, 1862, McRae's regiment and its gallant commander again acquitted themselves so handsomely as to win from Gen eral Van Dorn high commendation for their good con duct. During the remainder of 1862, McRae was engaged in operations in Arkansas. He was commissioned brig adier-general on the 5th of November, 1862. During the siege of Vicksburg in the spring and summer of 1863, General Holmes, being ordered by the department com mander, Kirby Smith, to make a diversion in favor of Vicksburg, boldly undertook the almost impossible task of capturing Helena McRae's brigade on this occasion 408 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. acted well its part in the desperate battle, which ended in the repulse and retreat of the Confederate army. Dur ing the campaign between Price and Steele in Arkansas at the same time that Banks was conducting his ill-starred Red river expedition, McRae's brigade formed a part of the force under Price, which impeded the march of Steele, and being reinforced after the defeat of Banks, turned upon the Union army of Steele, forced its retreat from Camden, and drove it back to Little Rock after the battles of Marks' Mills and Jenkins* Ferry. Throughout the year of 1864, McRae's brigade was active in the marches and battles of northern Arkansas and Missouri. The services of this gallant officer ceased only with the close of hostilities and the return of peace. Brigadier-General Albert Pike was born in Boston, Mass., December 29, 1809. He received his early educa tion at Newburyport and Framingham, and in 1825 entered Harvard college, supporting himself at the same time by teaching. He only went as far as the junior class in college, when his finances compelled him to continue his education alone, teaching, meanwhile, at Fairhaven and Newburyport, where he was principal of the grammar school, and afterward had a pri vate school of his own. In later years he had attained such distinction in literature that the degree of master of arts was bestowed upon him by the Harvard faculty. In 1831 he went west with a trading party to Santa Fe. The next year, with a trapping party, he went down the Pecos river and into the Staked Plains, whence with four others he traveled mostly on foot until he reached Fort Smith, Ark. His adventures and exploits are related in a volume of prose and verse, published in 1834. While teaching in 1833 below Van Buren and on Little Piney river, he contributed articles to the Little Rock Advocate, and attracted the attention of Robert Crittenden, through whom he was made assistant editor of that paper, of Brig.-Gen. STAND WATIE. Mii.j.-( ;en. T. J. CHURCHILL. Brig.-Gi'ii. ALBERT RUST. Brig.-Geu. W. L. CABELL. Brig.-Gen. JAMES MC!NTOSH. Brig.-Geii. A. T. HAWTHORN. Brig -Gen. ,T. C. TAPPA.N. Maj.-Gen. THOS. C. HINDMAN. Bi-ig.-Gen. JOHN S. ROANE. CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 409 which he was afterward for two years the proprietor. He was admitted to the bar in 1835 anc* studied and practiced law until the Mexican war, when he recruited a company of cavalry and was present at the battle of Buena Vista under the command of the famous Col. Charles May. In 1848 he fought a duel with Gen. John S. Roane on account of something said by him in his story of that battle, which the governor considered as reflecting unjustly on the Arkansas regiment. In 1849 he was admitted to the bar of the Supreme court of the United States at the same time with Abraham Lincoln and Han nibal Hamlin. In 1853 he moved to New Orleans, hav ing prepared himself for practice in the courts of Louis iana by reading the * * Pandects, ' ' of which he translated the first volume into English. He also made translations of many French authorities. He wrote, besides, an unpublished work of three volumes upon ''The Maxims of the Roman and French Law." In 1857 he resumed practice in Arkansas. He acted for many years as attor ney for the Choctaw Indians, and in 1859, assisted by three others, he secured for them an award by the United States Senate of $2,981,247. He was the first proposer of a Pacific railroad convention, and at one time obtained from the legislature of Louisiana a charter for a road with termini at San Francisco and Guazamas. When the war of secession began he cast his fortunes with the South, and was Confederate commissioner to the tribes of Indian Territory. As such he brought the Creeks, Seminoles, Choctaws, Chickasaws and part of the Cher- okees into alliance with the Confederate States. On August 15, 1 86 1, he was commissioned brigadier-general in the army of the Confederate States, and at the battle of Pea Ridge he commanded a brigade of Indians. On November n, 1862, he resigned his commission, on account of some unpleasant relations with General Hindman, and appealed to the authorities at Rich mond, when the dispute was settled and the matter 410 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. dropped. From this time he disappears from Confeder ate military history, but he remained true to the Confed eracy to the last. After the war he resided in Memphis, Tenn., and edited the Appeal in 1867. The next year he moved to Washington, D. C., and practiced in the courts until 1880. From that time until his death, which occurred at Washington, April 2, 1891, he devoted him self to literature and to freemasonry. He was the high est masonic dignitary in the United States, and was author of several valuable masonic works. Brigadier-General Lucius Eugene Polk was born at Salisbury, N. C., July 10, 1833; was graduated at the uni versity of Virginia in 1852, and was living in Arkansas at the opening of the civil war, when he enlisted as a private, but was soon made first lieutenant in Company B, Fifteenth Arkansas, Cleburne's regiment. Serving in the west under Hardee, his regiment was, with other troops of that command, transferred to the east side of the Mississippi early in 1862. At Shiloh, Polk conducted himself with great gallantry and received a wound. On the nth of April he was commissioned colonel of his regiment. At Richmond, Ky., he was severely wounded early in the fight, but was back with the army in time for the Murfreesboro campaign. He was commissioned brigadier-general on the i3th of December, 1862, and participated with conspicuous gallantry in the battle of Murfreesboro, in command of Cleburne's old brigade. For his part in this fierce conflict he was mentioned in terms of high praise by Cleburne, Hardee and Bragg. At Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge, Folk's brigade maintained its reputation for valor and efficiency. At Ringgold gap, when Cleburne saved by his splendid fight the artillery and trains of Bragg's retreating army, Brigadier-General Polk was included with Lowrey, Govan and Granbury in a very high testimonial of merit. Cle burne said of them: "Four better officers are not in the CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 411 service of the Confederacy. ' ' One might well be proud of such commendation from the "Stonewall of the West. " In the spring of 1862 came the fierce and protracted grap ple of the armies of the West, which, beginning at Dalton, had but little cessation until Hood retired from the trenches of Atlanta on September ist. Folk's command bore an honorable part in the marching, intrenching and fighting of this wearisome campaign. At Kenesaw mountain, not far from where his illustrious kinsman, Leonidas Polk, lost his life, Gen. L. E. Polk was severely wounded by a cannon ball and disabled for further serv ice in the field. He retired from the army with the admiration and regret of officers and men, who so well knew his worth, and made his home on a plantation in Maury county, Tenn. In 1884 he was elected a delegate to the national Democratic convention at Chicago. On January i, 1887, he was elected to the State senate of Tennessee. Brigadier- General Daniel H. Reynolds was born in Centrebury, Knox county, Ohio, December 24, 1826. He was educated at the Ohio Wesleyan university, settled in Somerville, Fayette county, Tenn., in 1856, and was admitted to the bar in 1858. In May of the latter year he moved to Arkansas and settled at Lake Village, Chicot county. Although a Northerner by birth, he was all Southern in sentiment. There were many others like him in the South. When Arkansas was about to secede from the Union, he raised a company for Confederate service and was elected its captain May 25, 1861, receiv ing his commission from the Confederate government on June 1 4th of the same year. This company was attached to the First Arkansas mounted rifles under Col. T. J. Churchill, and shared in the battle of Wilson's Creek, in which the Union general, Lyon, was defeated and slain. This regiment was engaged in many skirmishes in Mis souri and Arkansas until ordered to the east side of the 412 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. Mississippi in the spring of 1862, when the army of Van Dorn was brought over to reinforce the Confederate army near Corinth. On the i4th of April, 1862, Captain Reynolds was promoted to major, and on May ist, to lieutenant-colonel of his regiment. This command was part of the army under Kirby Smith in east Tennessee and Kentuck)7 in 1862, and with Bragg until that officer retired from the command of the army of the Tennessee. Gen. Bushrod Johnson, in his report of the operations of his division in the battle of Chickamauga, says: "I especially noticed the faithful toil and heroic conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Reynolds, of the First battalion of dismounted rifles, McNair's brigade, who was conspicu ous in his efforts to preserve our lines and encourage and press on our men. For hours he, with many other officers, faithfully and incessantly labored in this duty. ' ' From the day of this battle, September 20, 1863, dates his commission as colonel in the army of the Confederate States. Just before the opening of the Dalton- Atlanta campaign he received the commission of brigadier-gen eral. He followed bravely the fortunes of the army of Tennessee up to the battle of Nashville and the retreat from that disastrous field. On this retreat the brigade of General Reynolds formed part of the splendid rear guard which did its duty so bravely as to win the praises even of the enemy. After the war General Reynolds returned to Arkansas. From 1866 to 1867 he was a mem ber of the State Senate. Having retired from public life, he is enjoying the rest that belongs to honorable old age. Brigadier-General John Seldon Roane was long a con spicuous figure in the political and military history of his State. He was born in Wilson county, Ark., in 1817. His education preparatory for college was obtained in such schools as the country afforded, and then he was sent to Cumberland college, Princeton, Ky., where he graduated. Entering early into the political arena, he CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 413 soon exerted a strong influence among his people and proved himself an able leader. On the opening of the war with Mexico, he was made lieutenant-colonel in the Arkansas regiment of which Colonel Yell was com mander. At the battle of Buena Vista, in repelling a furious charge of the Mexican lancers, Colonel Yell was slain and Roane succeeded in command. After the close of the war he returned to Arkansas, again entered the field of politics, and became governor of Arkansas. He was always very jealous of the honor of his native State. The versatile and eccentric Albert Pike, who in the Mex ican war had been an officer in the regiment of the dash ing Col. Charles May, wrote an article on the battle of Buena Vista in which he commented on the Arkansas troops at that battle in terms which Governor Roane con sidered derogatory to the military character of his regi ment. Thereupon he challenged Captain Pike to a duel. The challenge was accepted and the duel fought, but with no harm to either antagonist. In the long sectional quarrel between the North and South, Governor Roane was firmly on the Southern side of the question, and gave his approval to the secession of his State. He entered the military service of the Confederate States, and on March 20, 1862, was made brigadier-general. When Van Dorn at the bidding of the Confederate government took his army across the Mississippi, leaving for awhile Arkansas and Mississippi almost defenseless, he assigned Brigadier-General Roane to the command of Arkansas. Roane had been governor of the State, was amiable and popular, as well as brave and zealous for the South. The task before him was one that might appall even a man of great military experience. There were no troops at that time in the State, except a few companies of mili tia, badly organized and poorly armed. Besides these, there were a few thousand Indian, and mixed Indian and white, troops in the Indian Territory under Gen. Albert Pike. But they were unreliable and had to 414 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. be treated with great consideration. Under these cir cumstances, with the people discouraged and hence apathetic, and the governor and State officers about to abandon the capital, things were in a desperate state. General Roane could do nothing except keep what forces he had together, the best he might. This he did until General Hindman came, and bringing order out of chaos, succeeded by his peculiar administrative ability in restor ing for awhile the fortunes of the Confederacy in that quarter. General Roane and his brigade took an active part in the battle of Prairie Grove and in all the fighting and marching in the Arkansas division of the Trans-Mis sissippi department. After the war he resided at Pine Bluff, Ark., where he died April 7, 1867. Brigadier-General Albert Rust was one of the leading men of Arkansas during the days of political strife that preceded the great civil war. Devoting himself with might and main to the defense of the Southern interpre tation of the Constitution, he ably defended the cause of the South before the people and in Congress as one of the representatives of the State. Among the first in his State to take up arms, he raised a regiment and was elected colonel of the Third Arkansas, receiving his com mission July 5, 1 86 1. He was ordered with his regiment to Virginia and assigned to the brigade of Gen. Henry R. Jackson, consisting partly of fresh troops and partly of those who had been in West Virginia under Gen. Robert Garnett. After the remnant of Garnett's com mand had been recuperated and rested awhile at Monte rey, the brigade under Gen. H. R. Jackson advanced to the Greenbrier river and pitched their tents at the head of a beautiful little valley among the Alleghanies, known as the Travelers' Repose. General Lee, who was at this time commanding in Virginia, determined to attack the Federal fortified camp on Cheat mountain. Colonel Rust on a scouting expedition had discovered a mountain pass, CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 415 by which he could lead infantry into the rear of the Fed eral position. He was ordered to lead his regiment to this point, and Gen. Samuel Anderson was directed to support him with two regiments from Loring's command. Henry R. Jackson was to advance with his brigade from the camp at Greenbrier river, and Loring was to advance from Hunterville by the main road upon the Federal position. The troops reached the places assigned with remarkable promptness and at the time appointed. Colonel Rust's attack was to be the signal for the advance of all the troops. That officer, hearing nothing of Anderson, though he was in supporting distance, failed to attack. As the only hope of success was in a surprise, and as that intention had been thwarted, the troops were withdrawn to their original position. On the 3d of October, Gen. J. J. Reynolds marched down from Cheat mountain and attacked the Confederate camp on the Greenbrier. He was repulsed after a spirited little battle of four hours' duration. Colonel Rust, who on this occasion commanded the left wing of the Confeder ates, performed his part so well as to be favorably men tioned by Gen. H. R. Jackson in his official report. In December Jackson's brigade, now under Col. William B. Taliaferro, joined Gen. Stonewall Jackson at Winchester. During Jackson's advance upon Hancock, Md., in the winter campaign to Romney, Colonel Rust, in command of his own regiment and that of Colonel Fulkerson, with one section of Shumaker's battery, when near the rail road bridge over the Big Cacapon, encountered the enemy and defeated him. Gen. Stonewall Jackson in his report says: "Colonel Rust and his command merit special praise for their conduct in this affair." On March 4, 1862, Colonel Rust was appointed brigadier-gen eral in the army of the Confederate States. He and his command had an honorable part in the glorious but dis astrous battle of Corinth, on the 4th of October, 1862. He was sent back across the Mississippi in April, 1863, 416 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. with orders to report to General Price in the Trans- Mis sissippi department. He served the Confederacy faith fully to the end. Brigadier- General J. C. Tappan supported the action of his State by promptly offering his military service. It was in the month of May, 1861, that Arkansas passed her ordinance of secession, and in that same month the Thirteenth Arkansas was organized, with J. C. Tappan as its colonel. This force was sent to the army under Gen. Leonidas Polk, and was stationed at Belmont in a brigade commanded by Gideon J. Pillow. On the yth of Novem ber, 1 86 1, General Grant attacked the Confederate army at Belmont, intending to destroy their camp and capture its defenders. At first Grant was successful, but was finally repulsed, barely escaping by the aid of his gun boats. On this occasion Colonel Tappan had posted his regiment in a most advantageous position for repelling the enemy's attack, but his plan was altered by General Pillow, and this proved to be a mistake which came near losing the battle. Gen. Leonidas Polk in his report com mended "Colonel Tappan and his regiment for the promptness with which they prepared to receive the enemy, and the determined courage with which they sus tained their part of the general conflict. ' ' Colonel Tap- pan led his regiment in the battle of Shiloh. It was attached at that time to the brigade of A. P. Stewart, which made, with other brigades, assault after assault upon the memorable "Hornets' nest," and in the dread ful ordeal held its ground until W. H. L. Wallace's posi tion was turned, when, the whole line advancing, their stout opponents were driven back. Again in Kentucky, at Richmond and at Perryville, his gallant regiment sus tained its former reputation. On November 5, 1862, Col onel Tappan was commissioned brigadier-general and sent to the Trans-Mississippi. He commanded a brigade through 1863 in the army under Gen. Sterling Price CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 417 operating in Arkansas. In the spring of 1864 occurred the famous Red river expedition, so disastrous to the Union army. The evening of the day on which Taylor gained the brilliant victory at Mansfield, Churchill with his infantry, under Tappan and Parsons, joined him and took part in the fierce battle of Pleasant Hill, a conflict in which each army was considerably shaken, but which was followed by the retreat of Banks. Upon the retreat of Banks, Churchill's division was withdrawn from Tay lor and sent to unite with Price in an attack upon Steele, and Tappan 's brigade after a long march participated in the battle of Jenkins' Ferry. The Missouri expedition of General Price was the last great movement in the Trans- Mississippi, and in this Tappan bore an honorable part. At the close of the war General Tappan settled in Helena, Ark. Brigadier-General Stand Watie, of white and Indian blood, was a prominent man in the Cherokee nation and intensely Southern in sentiment. From the beginning of the war between the North and South, efforts were made by Ben McCulloch and Albert Pike to secure for the Confederacy the alliance of the tribes of the Indian Ter ritory. Stand Watie and others of his class were anxious to form this alliance, but John Ross, the principal chief of the Cherokees, hesitated. After the decisive victory of the Confederates at Wilson's Creek, the party represented by Watie succeeded in persuading Ross to join the South. Before that time General McCulloch had employed some of the Cherokees, and Stand Watie, whom he had appointed colonel, to assist in protecting the northern borders of the Cherokees from the raids of the "Jayhawkers" of Kan sas. When the Cherokees joined the South they offered the Confederate government a regiment. This offer was accepted, and in October, 1861, the first Cherokee regi ment was organized, and Stand Watie was commissioned colonel. In December, 1861, he was engaged in a battle Ark 27 418 CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. with some hostile Indians at Chusto-Talasah, in which the Confederate Indians defeated a considerable force of the hostiles. Colonel Watie pursued the enemy, overtook him, had a running fight and killed 1 5 without the loss of a man. He participated also in the battle of Pea Ridge, March 6 and 7, 1862. Gen. Albert Pike, in his report of this battle, said: "My whole command consisted of about 1,000 men, all Indians except one squadron. The enemy opened fire into the woods where we were, the fence in front of us was thrown down, and the Indians (Watie 's regiment on foot and Drew's on horseback), with part of Sim's regiment, gallantly led by Lieutenant- Colonel Quayle, charged full in front through the woods and into the open grounds with loud yells, took the battery, fired upon and pursued the enemy retreating through the fenced field on our right, and held the battery, which I afterward had drawn by the Cherokees into the woods." But though the Indians were so good on a sudden charge they were easily thrown into confusion when the Fed eral artillery opened upon them, and it required the greatest exertion on the part of their officers to keep them under fire. There was considerable fear after this battle lest the Indian Territory should be entirely lost to the Confederacy, but Watie and his regiment were firm in their adherence. Gen. William Steele, in his report of the operations in the Indian Territory, in 1863, says of Colonel Watie that he found him to be a gallant and dar ing officer. On April i, 1863, he was authorized to raise a brigade, to consist of such force as was already in the service of the Confederate States from the Cherokee nation and such additional force as could be obtained from the contiguous States. In June, 1864, he captured the steamboat Williams with 150 barrels of flour and 16,000 pounds of bacon, which he says was, however, a disadvantage to the command, because a great portion of the Creeks and Seminoles immediately broke off to carry their booty home. In the summer of 1864, Colonel CONFEDERATE MILITARY HISTORY. 419 Watie was commissioned a brigadier-general, his com mission dating from May loth. In September he attacked and captured a Federal train of 250 wagons on Cabin creek and repulsed an attempt to retake it. At the end of the year 1864 General Watie 's brigade of cavalry consisted of the First Cherokee regiment, a Cherokee battalion, First and Second Creek regiments, c, squadron of Creeks, First Osage battalion, and First Seminole bat talion. To the end General Watie stood by his colors. He survived the war several years, and died in August, 1877. UNIV AUTt 1