USA > Illinois > Military history and reminiscences of the Thirteenth regiment of Illinois volunteer infantry in the civil war in the United States,1861-65, pt 1 > Part 11
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"Colonel Dodge requested me to send a small party to Salem and vicinity, to bring in some witnesses in the case of some prisoners he has now in the Fort."
And again, in a letter to Adjutant-General Thomas, of the Regular Army, by General Halleck, who, under date of De- cember 13th, 1861, says * *
* * " The service of some of these (army engineers) is absolutely indispensable in the construction of the works which are now being built at Rolla."
And as late as January 18th, 1862, we find in Comrade Chapel's diary, the following entry :
"Troops all gone except our regiment, which has all the duty to do. Provost-guard, Labor details at the Fort. A picket guard for the railroad, besides our own camp guard."
And lastly, in a communication to Captain N. H. McLean, Assistant Adjutant-General to General Halleck, under date of February 16th, 1862, only twenty days before we bade good-bye to Rolla forever, Colonel Wyman says : * * * *
"I am still of opinion there should be more force at this post, particularly a battalion of cavalry, and one company (one hundred men) with two good officers to man the Fort, and finish it up."
Dear delightful old Fort Wyman ! You were ours, and we loved you from the first spadeful of your loyal earth which was to begin your walls, under the competent and accom- plished Bushnell, and on upward through the various slow stages of construction toward your never-consummated completion.
We loved those four old guns of yours ; skulkingly half hid among the neutral undisturbed weeds near by ; with hun- gry stomachs which had never yet had a square meal of
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HISTORY OF THE THIRTEENTH REGIMENT
powder and ball ; but which had already most thoroughly scared more rebels than ten times as many of Mcclellan's mounted guns of much larger caliber on the Peninsular.
The Thirteenth loved, and always will love you, for your name ; which, together with the figures one and three, and your unfinished walls, and those four unmounted cannon, and the old Thirteenth alone at the post for defense, and at the same time handicapped by the care of over a thousand sick and wounded men of other regiments ; yet your frowning, ragged walls and the significant, though silent, growls from those skirmishing four old " dogs of war " in the neighboring brush, were potent enough to prevent Price, McCulloch, Hardee, or Pillow, from approaching nearer than three or four days' march. And even after we were gone, Price never seemed ready to march toward you. His tastes led him in some other direction. In fact, it was not his forte.
We wish we could take you with us. You are tenderly associated in our memories with the well-loved Bushnell, your builder ; and the names of Wyman and Bushnell, not to men- tion others as worthy, will always cause such a thrill of sol- dierly pride and loyal devotion in the heart of every survivor of the old regiment, as to involuntarily bring every imaginary gun to an imaginary " Present arms !"
Farewell old Fort ! Farewell old guns !! Farewell for- ever, dear old Fort Wyman ! ! !
HEADQUARTERS, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,
December 25th, 1861.
General FRANZ SIGEL, at Rolla, Missouri.
GENERAL : Get all your troops ready for the field. The cavalry as soon as possible. Respectfully,
H. W. HALLECK. Maj-Gen. Com'd'g Dep't.
Pope to Halleck :
December 25th, 1861.
GENERAL : Price in full retreat for Arkansas, says it is by order from Richmond. Passed Humansville on Saturday.
I am, General, with very great respect,
JOHN POPE, Brig-Gen. Com'd'g.
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ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
HEADQUARTERS, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,
January 20th, 1862.
Major General GEO. B. MCCLELLAN.
GENERAL : So far, it seems to me the war has been conducted upon what may be called pepper-box strategy-scattering our troops so as to render them inferior in numbers in any place where they can meet the enemy.
I am, General, with very great respect, H. W. HALLECK, Maj-Gen. Com'd'g Dep't.
Curtis to Halleck :
February Ist, IS62.
Major-General H. W. HALLECK.
'GENERAL : One (scout) arrived last night giving news direct from Springfield. All was quiet there ; Price still occupying Mr. Grave's house, and no signs of running away.
Very respectfully, S. R. CURTIS, Maj-General.
The reference to General Price occupying the house of Mr. Graves at Springfield, Missouri, in the above letter of General Curtis recalls a story told the writer, by Mrs. Graves, touch- ing the matter itself.
A LADY OUT-GENERALS A GENERAL.
The alternate advance and retreat of both Union and Con- federate armies in Missouri, in the beginning of the war, rendered the condition of the Union families precarious in the extreme ; and many of them flocked to Rolla, as the only safe place until peace should again settle down on the land.
Mr. and Mrs. Graves were living in Springfield, Missouri, at the breaking out of the war, and, as he was a merchant, his stock of goods was constantly in jeopardy ; and when the death of General Lyon lost us the battle of Wilson's Creek, Mr. Graves removed his stock of goods to Rolla, leaving Mrs. Graves to close up their affairs as soon as possible, and join him.
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They had a very fine house at Springfield, which would be pretty likely to be appropriated by some of the Confederate officers. In a closet of this house, Mrs. Graves had packed away large quantities of valuable medicines, left in her care by Union surgeons, who, in the hurry of evacuation following defeat, found it impossible to take their medicines along with them to Rolla, and had begged Mrs. Graves to secrete them until they could be reclaimed. These medicines, valuable though they were to us, would be a thousand times more valuable to the Confederates ; hence the importance of putting them in a place of safety : and Mrs. Graves had promised to do the best she could with them, and had nailed them up in this closet.
General Sterling Price, the Confederate Commander, was personally known to Mrs. Graves, and applied to her for per- mission to occupy her house for his headquarters until he was obliged to move. Mrs. Graves told General Price that he was welcome to her house on two conditions. That she had some articles of bric-a-brac, nick-nacks, and some other articles of very little intrinsic value, but of great value to her on account of some associations connected with them, in that closet, and she did not want the closet opened and the things rumaged among.
She wanted his word of honor that the closet might remain nailed up just as she left it ; and the other condition was, that he would take as good care of the house and grounds as he could, as she desired to occupy it again "when this cruel war was over." All of which General Price promised and per- formed, never dreaming that in that closet, which he passed several times every day, lay stored, what, to the army under him would have been worth more than its bulk in gold.
When next Mrs. Graves occupied her house, the closet honestly gave up intact its stores of bric-a-brac, nick-nack and ipicac. Mrs. Graves had out-generaled a General.
Thirty years' distance from war, and war's alarms, undoubt- edly tends to a feeling of security against the realities of what the veterans of the Thirteenth experienced at the other end of those three decades ; but now and then a shudder may be
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called up by reading of the perils of those campaigns which were, many times, not far off, as a bit of rebel contemporary history, which your historian has rescued, will abundantly show. It is as follows :
Special orders No. -
HEADQUARTERS, COLUMBUS, KENTUCKY, January 16th, IS62.
The General commanding congratulates Lieutenant S. Swank, with four men : Matthew Wyrick, Geo. Holman, Jo. Danforth, and Alonzo Clark, all of the C. S. A., who attacked and drove thirteen hundred of the Yankees, killing five and wounding twenty-one, of whom five died soon. LEONIDAS POLK, C. S. A., Maj .- Gen. Com'd'g.
This most astonishing piece of work might most properly call forth a congratulatory order from any commanding gen- eral-for, of course, it is true-and it is recorded here for the emulation of the Thirteenth, and it seems to have been a direct and conspicuous example of the pious teachings of the good bishop, inculcated at the same time, and alongside of Har- dee's manual of arms; and is positive evidence that such remarkable prowess could only be attained by those who, like the disciples of the good bishop, kept the commandments, as shown in Leviticus, 26th chapter and eighth verse, where reference is found to these very men, as follows :
"And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight." * * -X
It will be observed that the number of these champions exactly agrees with the Bible account, only, the soldiers turned out by the bishop were thirteen times as valiant as the best of the Bible soldiers. It is to be regretted that the force chased by these valiant Southerners, could not have been designated, or have by some means been recorded in history. It would also be interesting to know whether these doughty (doubtful ?) warriors kept up their fighting reputation in the same direc- tion ? It was claimed at the beginning of the war, by the Southerners that one Southerner was good for ten Yanks ;
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but each one of these valiant men under Bishop Polk, was twenty-six times as good as the above claim. It seems as though we must admit the above claim, as, up to the present writing, none of the thirteen hundred so chased, have found the opportunity to return and report for duty, and substanti- ate the rebel claim.
By comparison, however, we shall find some other rebel forces not quite so formidable as were those of Bishop Polk ; and undue anxiety need not be harbored by the Thirteenth, as will be seen by reference to what is said by Confederate General Thomas C. Hindman, of the Trans-Mississippi De- partment, who does not seem to have been so fortunate in a moral direction, in his army, as was Bishop Polk; for, in a report to his superior officer, Major-General T. H. Holmes, about all that can be gathered of interest, after wading through seven or eight solid pages, is the mention of a battle in which Schofield and Brown captured one of his batteries, defeated, and drove him off, and his only offset was, his claim to have captured General Schofield's cook. He bounced . Brigadier-General Raines for drunkenness, and Colonel Coffee for being intoxicated. He arrested Colonel Stevens for cow- ardice, and also Colonel Bass for not daring to any longer fight the Yanks. He then says that he instructed Brig .- Gen. A. Rust to poison the drinking water on the rout of Curtis' army, by killing cattle, ripping open the carcasses and throw- ing them into the water.
General Hindman and his army had evidently not been pupils in Bishop Polk's Sunday-school.
LEBANON, MISSOURI. February 2d, 1862.
Major-General HALLECK, St. Louis.
GENERAL : Col. Jeff. C. Davis' Division was expected at Linn Creek to-day. *
S. R. CURTIS, Major-General.
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ROLLA MISSOURI, February 2d, IS62.
Major-General H. W. HALLECK.
GENERAL : No forces at Salem. General Curtis ordered them all away. I have only my own regiment to hold this post. One thousand sick left behind for me to take care of.
I am, General, with very great respect, J. B. WYMAN, Col. Com'd'g Post.
CAMP VERNON, MISSOURI. February 6th, IS62.
Major-General H. W. HALLECK.
GENERAL : Twenty-five of the teams used on the march were or- dered by the post quartermaster at Rolla, * * and ten were * given in accordance with your orders by Colonel Wyman, from his regi- ment, under my obligation to return them. *
I am, General, with very great respect, ASBOTH.
February 8th 1862 .- Martial law declared in Kansas, by General Hunter.
Special Orders No. So.
LEBANON, MISSOURI, February 9th, IS62.
VI .- "The remaining troops of this command, the Thirteenth Illinois, commanded by Colonel Wyman, Colonel Phelp's regiment, Bowen's Battalion, the Curtis Horse, and other troops not here desig- uated, will report to these headquarters until otherwise ordered."
By order of Brigadier-General S. R. Curtis.
T. I. MCKENNY, Act. Asst. Adjt .- Gen.
EXECUTIVE MANSION, WASHINGTON,
February 10th, 1862.
Major-General HUNTER and Brigadier-General LANE, Leavenworth, Kansas.
" My wish has been, and is, to avail the Government of the services of both General Hunter and General Lane; and, so far as possible, to personally oblige both. General Hunter is the senior officer and must command when they serve together ; though, in so far as he can, con- sistently with the public service, and his own honor, oblige General Lane, he will also oblige me. If they can not come to an amicable understanding, General Lane must report to General Hunter for duty, according to the rules, or decline the service. A. LINCOLN.
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Bowed down, as these Generals knew President Lincoln to be, under the load of anxieties and responsibilities of a dis- rupted nation's troubles, it does seem as if they might have settled their squabbles by themselves, and there is a tinge o: pathetic sadness in the fatherly firmness with which he settles the dispute.
MARSHFIELD, MISSOURI, February 10th, 1862.
Major-General H. W. HALLECK.
GENERAL : The Iowa Cavalry are not needed at Rolla. They are needed here. I wish they might be allowed to come forward. Van Dorn is moving up to join Price. Shall try to prevent junction. My columns are arriving here. Let the cavalry reinforce me. Van Dorn has promised thirty thousand or forty thousand at Springfield very soon. Expects to be there with ten thousand by the 15th. These are the hopes and expectations of the enemy. I move on to attack in detail. I am, General, with great respect, S. R. CURTIS, Maj .- Gen. Com'd'g.
In thus taking away the cavalry from Rolla, General Curtis must have considered the Thirteenth nearly equal to General Polk's five men.
Where are kept the rosters of the great armies of anxious ones who were constantly pressing, by rail or steamer, to the front, peering through hospitals, or gasping almost despair- ingly over battle-fields, sometimes so fortunate as to find their loved ones, but far more frequently, despondently returning alone to a home of sadness and gloom? Some of them ex- tremely fortunate if they could recognize and tenderly bear back the cold remains for burial in some quiet nook, where tears could be shed on the sacred mound.
I have a memory for voices. I was busily writing passes one evening, in the Provost-Marshal's office at Rolla, Mis- souri, surrounded by probably twenty applicants, when my ear caught a familiar voice talking with Marshal Williams, who was questioning the man as to where he lived, and so on. I had not heard that voice for six years, but knew it at once ;
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ILLINOIS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY.
and I called to the Marshal, that I would vouch for that man. The man was Mr. Coon ; and was an old neighbor of mine at Rockton, Winnebago county, Illinois, and he wanted a pass for himself and sick son, who was a soldier.
Mr. Coon came over to my table, and, looking at me sharply, said, " Who are you, sir ?" I explained the matter to him, when he said : " I perfectly well remember the man whom you claim to be, but I do not in the least recognize you while dressed in the army blue." "Never mind, Mr. Coon," said I, " so long as your pass is all right. When you get home, please remember me to my old neighbors, Fletcher, Gridley, Dickinson, the Talcotts and all the rest."
Mr. Coon departed, still eying me sharply, but rejoicing.
Twenty years after, I was visiting in the village where I had known Mr. Coon, and while walking the streets with one of the old friends mentioned above, he said, "There comes Mr. Coon ; you must remember him," which was true; but the army incident had entirely gone from my memory, until Mr. Coon himself, said : "Why, you are the man who gave me the pass to bring home my sick son." Then it came over me like a flash ; and I replied, "I am the same man." The greeting on his side, I hardly need say, was cordial, and the meeting, at the same time with him who had been the sick soldier, made it the more interesting.
HEADQUARTERS, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI,
Major-General GEO. B. MCCLELLAN.
February 13th, 1862.
GENEALL : * * * I am anxious about Fort Donelson. I am, General, respectively, H. W. HALLECK. Com'd'g Department.
Three days later, Grant relieves the anxiety, not only of General Halleck, but of the nation, by the capture of Fort Donelson and thirteen thousand prisoners. And on the same day, Price orders retreat from Springfield.
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CHAPTER XI.
GRANT'S CAPTURE OF DONELSON MAKES US THE MORE EAGER TO HUNT PRICE IN THE BOSTON MOUNTAINS. -AT LAST WE ARE ON THE MARCH.
P RICE had retreated from Springfield, the day before the date of the following letter, from Van Dorn, laying out their joint spring's work, which letter must have had some trouble in making a circuitous skulk around the flanks of our army, and humping itself briskly enough to overtake Price, who was "not standing on the order of his going, but was in something of a hurry." Van Dorn's letter was as follows :
POCAHONTAS, ARKANSAS, February 14th, IS62.
GENERAL STERLING PRICE.
GENERAL: On the Ist of April, you and I together will have twenty-three thousand men. *
* * I design attempting St. Louis. As soon as I can get my wing ready to march from Pitman's Ferry, I intend putting your column toward Salem, in Dent county, covering your object by moving your advance toward -Rolla. I will move so as to join you between Salem and Potosi. * *
* * From this point of junction of the two columns, I will push on by rapid marches to St. Louis, and attempt it at once by assault. As we advance, the bridges on the railroads from Sedalia, Rolla, and Ironton, will be destroyed. * * * Being between Ironton and Rolla, if we are immediately threatened on either hand, we can strike with our whole force to the right or to the left, as most advisable, taking the two armies in detail. If we were repulsed from St. Louis, or if we found it not advisable to attempt it, we could attack the enemy in the field towards Rolla and Sedalia, passing up the river and gathering together our friends in that
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section of country to reinforce us. Now with this plan in view, I do not think it advisable to disturb the enemy, or alarm him any more than is necessary until we are ready to march. But if in the mean- time, with the force at your disposal, and you think it perfectly practi- cable to strike him a blow at Rolla, [don't remember of feeling anything] secure his arms [just imagine the Thirteenth handing over their guns to Price] and check his intention of advancing for awhile, it is well to do so. [The trouble with the Thirteenth was, that they could never get any orders to advance. ] Having done this, pause where you are [ Price was too wise to ever go near enough to Rolla to need any advice about pausing, ] and call in recruits from that section or country and north, and watch closely the enemy to the northwest, and maneuver your column over the country between Rolla [saw nothing of them, ] and Springfield until I am in readiness with my column to join you at or near Potosi.
I am, General, respectfully, EARL VAN DORN, Commanding.
There being more room south of Springfield, Price ma- , neuvered his army in that direction, instead of between Spring- field and Rolla. And Van Dorn, with his army, long before that Ist of April, had been among the conquered, and was in hiding among the fastnesses of the Boston Mountains.
The subject of the valor, or fighting qualities of Confed- erate soldiers and their generals, is a bundle of surprises and contradictions very difficult to understand.
On the 23d day of July, 1861, Confederate General Polk announced to Confederate Secretary of War Walker, his scheme for overrunning Missouri, seizing St. Louis, invading Illinois, and " taking Cairo in the rear on his return." He claimed to have twenty-five thousand men to do it with. Five days afterward, he writes again to Secretary Walker, and says that since his former letter he learns from the Adju- tant-General of Missouri, that his estimate of the forces under the several generals reported to him by Governor Claib. Jack- son, was greatly exaggerated ; to the extent indeed, of one-half. (What a fall was there, my countrymen!) And so, the invaders did not invade.
At Wilson's Creek, the victorious rebel army did not fol- low the vanquished army a single step ; and went the other way when they did move.
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On the other hand, five men of Confederate Bishop General Polk's army encountered, attacked, and routed, an army of thir- teen hundred Federals, several being killed and many more wounded. (? ? ? )
Then, again, while our army under Hunter, lay at Spring- field, Missouri, in the fall of 1861, Price, with his army ap- proached to within one day's march of Springfield, and there, without striking a blow, or being attacked, turned, and precipi- tately fled into Arkansas.
Instances could be produced similar to the above enough to seriously discommode the multiplication-table to measure ; but the following will do for a finish :
FAYETTEVILLE, ARKANSAS, February 16th, 1862.
Major-General STERLING PRICE.
GENERAL : * * * * Rumors have reached me that you are fall- ing back from Springfield. I place no reliance on the rumor, because I think you would have advised me of the movement.
I am, General, with great respect, BEN. MCCULLOCH, Maj .- General.
When McCulloch wrote that letter, Price was three days' march on his retreat ; and it may easily be presumed that Price invited himself to supper that evening at McCulloch's table. +
On February 24th, 1862, one week previous to the time he and Price were to assault St. Louis, capture Rolla and the Thirteenth, Van Dorn, issued a circle to the people of Arkansas, in which he says :
* * The enemy has invaded your State. His army is powerful, disciplined, flushed with success, and he comes with hatred in his heart. He seeks to subjugate your soil, to desolate your homes, and to wrest from you and degrade all you hold dearest in life. * * EARL VAN DORN, Commanding C. S. A. Forces.
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HEADQUARTERS, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, February 15th, IS62.
Major-General S. R. CURTIS.
GENERAL : Be careful in your pursuit of Price. Don't separate or divide your forces. Keep them together, and well in hand. Sigel's detour lost the battle of Wilson's Creek. Don't let him lead you into the same error.
I am, General, respectfully, H. W. HALLECK, Major-General Commanding Department.
HEADQUARTERS, ROLLA, MISSOURI, February 16th, 1862.
Captain N. H. MCLEAN, A. A .- G.
CAPTAIN : The telegraph of General Halleck last night, is at hand. I had an interview with Major Wood this morning, and find he has re- ceived sabers sufficient to arm his command, and also has made requisi- tion for carbines, which is being filled by Colonel Callender as fast as possible. This will make him effective. I am satisfied from present appearances that I shall be obliged to keep at least half of his force near Salem to support Major Drake. The counties of Dent, Texas, Shannon and Howell are infested with three or four bands of outlaws, who are stealing and destroying all the Union property they can find ; would attack Salem and this post if they dared, and will try and tear up the railroad track unless closely watched.
I am still of the opinion there should be more force at this post, par- -- ticularly a battalion of cavalry, and one company (one hundred men) with two good officers to man the Fort and finish it up. A battery of - four guns, well manned, would be the best to take possession of the Fort, as they could be used both in the field and Fort. There is an im- mense amount of government property here which I do not want the _rebels to get or destroy, and do not intend they shall while I command here.
I have sent Major Wood with two hundred of his best mounted and armed men to the support of Major Drake at Salem, with the orders to exterminate or drive out of the State any marauding rebels they can find.
I am, Captain, respectfully yours, J. B. WYMAN, "Colonel Commanding Post.
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NEW MADRID, MISSOURI, February 26th, 1862.
General EARL VAN DORN.
GENERAL : * * * The Legislature is to meet here on Mon- day, if we are not driven away before that time.
I am, General, respectively yours, M. JEFF. Thompson. Com'd'g Post.
This rebel Legislature of Missouri, reminds one of the Mis- souri farmer, whose chickens used to come up to the door every morning, and roll over on their backs, and stick up their legs and cross them, to have them tied ; so used, had they got to moving.
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