USA > Ohio > Four years in the saddle. History of the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 > Part 11
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An incident occurred just at this time in front of our line that touched the heart of many a grim and sun-bronzed veteran. The First Ohio was formed on the left of the road and just as we moved "front into line," a battery (perhaps the Chicago Board of Trade) came down the road on the gallop and went crashing through the brush and over the logs on the right of the road. Immediately in front of their line and but a few yards distant was a little pine log cabin with a few acres cleared around it. Hearing a piercing cry as if coming from the cabin, and looking in that direction, we saw a woman running from the door and through the yard with a child in her arms and two or three other small children clinging to her dress. The mother and children were all screaming most pitifully. In front of them was the rebel line, in the rear was our line. Halting for a moment at the rail fence around the yard, she looked implor- ingly around, and after lifting the children over the fence, and with the babe in her arms and another little one clinging to her hand, she started through the little cornfield parallel to our line, while the balls from the skirmish lines of the enemy were cutting the corn blades on every side. But she seemed to have a charmed life and soon disappeared in the woods on the right, and a fervent "thank God" went up from the long line of blue, and not one of these old veterans, that could stand unmoved amid the carnage of battle, but would have risked his life between those two skirmish lines to save that mother and her little ones. This was a very touching incident and I, with many others, no doubt, have often wondered what became of the mother and children.
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After a sharp skirmish, the firing ceased, and we lay in line of battle all day. In the evening we moved out and felt the line in front, and found it strong and in very close proximity to ours. Our skirmish lines were so near together that our boys got up a conversation with the Johnnies about dark, one reb singing out, "When's you all going down to Atlanta?" and an- other asking, "Where is old Granny Burnsides now?" To both of these questions our boys were not able to give a very satis- factory answer. We lay in line all night holding our horses by the bridle and ready to mount at the first gun.
On the morning of the twenty-second General Long came galloping out to the front and directed our Colonel to "Mount his regiment and to order his pickets to join the regiment and fall back rapidly up the Chattanooga Valley." We were soon in the saddle moving to the rear, and after marching two or three miles the rebel skirmishers began firing into our right flank, and a battery soon opened out and the shells came falling thick and fast into our ranks. Companies G and M of the First were ordered by General Long to charge into the woods to the right and check the advance. Captain Frankenberger had command of Company G, and I was in command of Company M, and just as we struck the woods Captain Frankenberger said to me, "Bill, Colonel Long never expects us to get out of this, but I do, and as soon as we strike the advance we will fire a volley and get out of here most devilish quick." We moved forward very cau- tiously, and had not pentrated the pine woods but a short dis- tance when the rebel skirmish line opened fire on us, which we answered with a volley from our carbines, then moved "twos left about" and fell back rapidly into the valley, which we reached to find that the command was almost out of sight, per- haps a mile distant. Sergeant Young was just coming in with the pickets, and joining our squadron, we all moved up the valley at a brisk gallop.
Just as we overtook the command, the shells commenced falling thick and fast from a rebel battery over the ridge to the right. Our division dismounted, and, forming line, we moved up the ridge, and a division of infantry, that had been sent out from Chattanooga to reinforce us, formed on our left. After a brisk skirmish and driving the rebel line back some distance, we then fell back to our horses, and mounting, marched up the Chat- tanooga Valley, past the signal station at Somerville, on Look- out Mountain, and into Chattanooga.
The first indication we had that we were nearing Chat- tanooga was in seeing the black smoke rising from many burn- ing buildings on the outskirts of the city that were in the range of our batteries in the fortifications. We marched through the breastworks and into Chattanooga about 1 o'clock P. M., Tues- day, September 22, and as we have always understood, the last
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troop of Rosecrans' army to reach Chattanooga after the battle of Chickamauga.
Thousands of army wagons, ambulances, and mule teams were crowded and jammed in the narrow streets, all anxiously and impatiently awaiting their turn to cross the one pontoon bridge across the Tennessee River. After halting a short time, our command forded the river just within the city limits, to the northeast.
Thus ended the Chickamauga campaign, beginning at Mur- freesboro, June 24, and culminating in the hard-fought battle of Chickamauga, September 19 and 20, 1863, being one of the most brilliant campaigns of the war, and General Rosecrans could truly say, as did Sherman after the capture of Atlanta, "Chattanooga is ours, and fairly won."
IST OHIO CAVALRY,
LT. COL VALENTINE CUPP COMMANDING
LONG'S BRIGADE, CAVALRY
CROOKS DIVISION, CORPS.
MONUMENT 1ST. O. V. C.
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Monument of the First Ohio Cavalry at Chickamauga.
The ground selected for locating the monument of the First, Third and Fourth Ohio Cavalry was near the house of Widow Weather's, but it was afterwards moved further north and east, and the monument is now located about three hundred feet west from the Widow Glen's house, where General Rosecrans bad his headquarters, and between Dry Valley Road and the railroad now running from Chattanooga to Rome, about four hundred yards south from Bloody Pond, and a half mile from Battle Station on the Chattanooga and Rome Railroad, and was erected by the State of Ohio at a cost of $1500. The photograph, from which the cut of the monument published in this history, was made, was taken on the field after the mon- ument was erected, the front facing the east and toward the Widow Glen's house, showing the pine trees in the rear, and the forest across Dry Valley, toward the west and south of the Vidito house. The monument is about eleven feet high, and nine feet wide. In the cut published is shown the front of the monument, and on the other side the following inscription appears:
FIRST OHIO VOLUNTEER CAVALRY.
Organized at Camp Chase, Ohio, August 17 to October 5, 1861. Re-enlisted January 4, 1864.
Mustered out at Hilton Head, S. C., September 13, 1865. Fought at Glass' Mills on Chickamauga Creek, five and one-half miles due S. W. from this point from 10 A. M. to 1 P. M., September 20, 1863. Held second line at Crawfish Springs until 4 P. M., then fell back by road in rear of Lee House, N. W. across ridge to Chattanooga Valley. Colonel Cupp mortally wounded 12 M. September 20; died at Lee House, 4 P. M.
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OFFICERS COMMANDING. Lieutenant-Colonel Valentine Cupp, Commanding Regiment.
Captain G. F. Conn. Company B
Lieutenant J. W. Kirkendall .Company D
Lieutenant A. D. Lutz. . .Company E
Captain Lafayette Pickering . Company F
Captain J. C. Frankenberger Company G
Lieutenant D. A. Roush Company H
Captain J. P. Rea. . Company I
Captain W. H. Woodlief. Company K
Captain J. D. Barker. Company L
Lieutenant W. L. Curry Company M)
The First, Third and Fourth are the only monuments of Ohio cavalry regiments erected on the Chickamauga battle-field. 'Ohio has erected on the battle-field of Chickamauga fifty-five monuments, as follows:
INFANTRY REGIMENTS.
1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, 21, 24, 26, 31, 33, 35, 36, 40, 41, 49, 51, 52, 59, 64, 65, 69, 74, 89, 90, 92, 93, 94, 98, 99, 101, 105, 113, 121, 124, 125, regiments.
CAVALRY REGIMENTS. First, Third and Fourth Regiments.
FIRST BATTALION OHIO SHARP-SHOOTERS. ARTILLERY.
Independent Batteries Ohio Light Artillery, Sixth, Eight- eenth and Twentieth.
Batteries A, B, C, F, G and M, First Regiment, Ohio Light Artillery.
Ohio had a larger representation here than on any other battle-field of the war, and more soldiers here than came from any other state in the Union on the Union side, and more than came from any state on the Confederate side, excepting Ten- nessee alone.
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Maj. Gen. George Crook.
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Chickamauga Campaign.
June, July, August and September, 1863.
When General Rosecrans' army advanced from Murfrees- boro on the twenty-fourth day of June, 1863, Bragg was strongly entrenched north of Duck River, his line extending from McMinn- ville on the right to Columbia on his left flank. Rosecrans first made a feint as if he intended attacking Bragg's left, but his objective was the right of Bragg's army. The enemy was driven through Liberty Gap and Hoover's Gap on the twenty-fourth, and on the twenty-fifth a severe battle was fought at Liberty Gap, the Union troops engaged being Johnson's division, and our loss was two hundred and thirty killed and wounded, but that of the enemy was much heavier, as they made the assault against a very strong position held by our troops, and lost, in killed and wounded, eight hundred and fifty. On the twenty- sixth, Thomas made steady advance towards Manchester, and had some sharp fighting, and on the twenty-seventh drove the enemy out of Manchester, taking a number of prisoners. On the same day the cavalry, under Stanley, attacked Wheeler's cav- alry at Shelbyville, captured a battery, with five hundred pris- oners, drove the enemy across the bridge at Duck River, and about two hundred of the enemy were killed or driven into the river and drowned. There was only one bridge, and as there was a regular stampede, many men and horses were forced off the bridge, and as the stream was deep and rapid, both men and horses were drowned. By the thirtieth Rosecrans' whole army was in front of Tullahoma, and as the enemy was strongly fortified, it was expected that he would give battle, but on the night of the thirtieth Bragg evacuated Tullahoma, retreated rapidly across Elk River, with our army in hot pursuit. The cavalry had some sharp fighting at Elk River, but the stream was at high flood, as it had been raining almost continuously since the twenty-fourth, and the waters in all streams were so high that but little progress could be made atter Bragg had crossed Elk River. Rosecrans' loss in the nine days' campaign was about
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one hundred killed and five hundred wounded. We took one thou- sand six hundred and twenty nine prisoners, eleven pieces of artillery, and while Bragg's loss in killed is not known, yet it is safe to say that his loss, in killed and wounded, was one thousand, as he lost eight hundred and fifty at Liberty Gap. A brief rest was then given both of our armies, excepting our cav- alry. On the twelfth of July, Stanley, with his whole cavalry force, started on a great cavalry raid through Northern Alabama via Huntsville. This expedition was gone about two weeks and brought back three hundred prisoners, fifteen hundred horses and mules, twelve hundred cattle and sheep, and six hundred negroes, with a vast amount of provisions. As Rosecrans was getting farther away from his base of supplies, it now required about one-fourth of his effective force to guard his communica- tion back to Louisville, and this important matter gave him great concern in preparing for the next forward movement of his army. Chattanooga was his objective, and his army com- menced the movement across the Cumberland Mountains August 16. By the fourth of September our army was all across the Tennessee River, and they began to advance over Sand Moun- tain. Rosecrans had now decided to move on Bragg's communi- cation through the mountain passes to the south, instead of attacking him at Chattanooga, and the movement was com- menced at once.
The cavalry under Stanley, with two brigades from Mc- Cook's corps of infantry, crossed the Tennessee River, below Stevenson, and made a reconnoissance toward Lafayette, Ga. On the eighth Bragg evacuated Chattanooga and Rosecrans took possession of that stronghold without even a skirmish, and Gen- eral Crittenden's troops were the first to occupy the town. Rosecrans was led to believe that Bragg was retreating, when in fact he was concentrating his army for the purpose of strik- ing Rosecrans' army in detail as they emerged from the moun- tain passes. Rosecrans' army passed over Lookout and Sand Mountains as rapidly as possible, and on the ninth Stanley's cav- alry had a sharp fight at Alpine and ascertained that Bragg was not retreating. From the ninth to the nineteenth there was continuous maneuvering by both armies and several severe engagements. Through the coves, valleys and mountain gaps troops were kept on the march, each wiley commander striving for the mastery, and it seems that each commander was com- pletely deceived as to the designs of the other. Stanley's cavalry made a reconnoissance from Alpine toward Lafayette on the thirteenth, had a sharp fight, took some prisoners, and found that Hill's division of Longstreet's corps was at Lafayette, and this was the first intimation we had received that Longstreet's troops had arrived. McCook, with Stanley's cavalry, ascended the mountain on the night of the thirteenth and marched along
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CRAWFISH SPRING-THE OLD WHEEL.
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the mountain road to Stevens' Gap, where they descended and Crook's cavalry division was stationed at Dougherty's Gap. Bragg having failed to crush Rosecrans' army in "detail," de- cided to give battle by attacking the left of the Union army and concentrated his army for that purpose, but Rosecrans, anticipating his design, moved several divisions to his left dur- ing the night of the eighteenth and on the morning of the nine- teenth General Thomas confronted Bragg's right ready for bat- tle. The fight opened on our extreme left and the battle was soon raging from left to right. The battle opened at 7:30 near Jay's Mills between Croxton's brigade of the Union army and Forest's cavalry, dismounted, and raged with great fury all day and into the night, and the two armies surged back and forth many times on different parts of the line, with varying success, and when the battle ended on the night of the nine- teenth Rosecrans held the roads and passes between Bragg and Chattanooga, and the slaughter in both armies had been fearful. The night of the nineteenth was one of great anxiety to the commanders and a busy night for the troops moving into position for the great struggle which the soldiers of both armies felt assured would take place on the twentieth for the possession of the Lafayette Road. Many changes were made in the formation of the lines and the troops from the right of the Union line were shifted to the left and near the center of the Union army.
The battle opened on the morning of the twentieth, about 9:30 o'clock, by Breckenridge's division attacking Baird, and Beatty's brigade of the Union army and Helm's brigade of the Confederate army were so shattered that they were both com- pelled to withdraw from the field. The fighting on the Union left was terrific, as Breckenridge was desperate in his effort to turn and envelope the left flank of Rosecrans' army. From early morn of that bright September Sabbath day until dark, shot and shell were hissing and screaming through the pine forests along the Chickamauga and mowing great swathes among the ranks of the blue and the gray. The battle lines swayed back and forth, now in the thick woods and again across the open fields, with wounded, dead and dying of both armies mingled together, and when darkness hovered over the field of blood and carnage, both armies were exhausted and there had been but little change in the lines excepting on the right of the Union army. It is not possible in the meagre space that can be used in a regi- mental history to enter into the details of any great battle, and in writing of the battle of Chickamauga, the author can only skeletonize, and give the strength of the opposing armies with losses. As it is well known to every reader, the Union army was pierced in the center by Longstreet's forces, and the Union right was swept from the field back through McFarland's Gap,
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and Rosecrans, with a number of prominent corps and division commanders, did not halt until they reached Chattanooga, leav- ing General Thomas to fight the whole Confederate army. From noon until dark, with five divisions, the Rock of Chickamauga held his lines and beat back the fierce assaults of the Confeder- ates for six long hours, and then withdrew his troops in good order, thus saving our army from total defeat. Van Horn, in his history of the Army of the Cumberland, uses the follow- ing language regarding the crisis in the battle when Steedman's division of Granger's corps arrived on the field:
"The noise of the conflict had penetrated the murky cloud which overhung the bloody field, and reached General Granger far to the left and rear, suggested the need of his troops where the battle was so hotly raging. Accordingly, he had moved forward rapidly, in disregard of the enemy's effort to arrest his progress, and at the moment of greatest need reported to General Thomas with two brigades. As the enemy moved down the northern slope of the ridge toward the rear of Brannan and Wood, Whittaker's and Mitchell's brigades of Steedman's divis- ion, with a fury born of the impending peril, charged the foe and drove him over the ridge, and then formed a line of battle from Brannan's right to the hill above Viditos, in front of Longstreet's left flank. In gaining this position there was heavy loss, but if the issue of battle has ever given compensation for the loss of valuable lives, it was this action, for the opportune aid of these two brigades saved the army from defeat and rout."
( General H. V. Boynton, in his history of the battle of Chick- amauga, gives the strength of the two armies and losses as follows:
"The battle of Chickamauga, aside from its sanguinary features, was one of the most remarkable of the whole war, inasmuch as neither army was victorious and each withdrew from the field. The pen of the critic has been busy with this memorable engagement for many years, but it is not the prov- ince of the writer to say who was or is right, or who wrong; it is sufficient to know that, however the battle was conducted, General Rosecrans obtained his object, the occupation and reten- tion of Chattanooga.
"The losses sustained by both armies in this conflict were simply appalling. Each commander claimed he fought superior numbers, and in the absence of official reports dependence is had upon the estimates of officers who were in position to know. General Rosecrans had in action thirty brigades of infantry, five of cavalry, one of mounted infantry and thirty-three batteries, aggregating 56,160 officers and enlisted men. His casualties were 1,656 killed, including General Lytle, 9,749 wounded, among them Generals King, Starkweather and Whittaker, and 4,774 missing, a total of 16,179. General Bragg had on the field thirty-
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five brigades of infantry, ten of cavalry and about thirty bat- teries, probably all told, 65,000. He lost in general officers, Bri- gade Generals Deshler, Helm, Preston and Smith, killed; Major- General Hood and Brigade Generals Adams, Benning, Brown, Bunn, Clayton, Cleburne, Gregg and MeNair, wounded; 2,389 officers and enlisted men killed, 13,412 wounded and 2,000 miss- ing, a total of 17,801, and a combined total of 33,980.
"All things considered, the battle of Chickamauga, for the forces engaged, was the hardest fought and the bloodiest battle of the Rebellion. Hindman, who fought our right at Horseshoe Ridge, says in his official report that he had 'never known Federal troops to fight so well,' and that 'he never saw Confederate sol- diers fight better.'}
"To the enemy the results of the engagement proved a vic- tory barren of any lasting benefits, and produced no adequate results to the immense drain on the resources of his army. In a number of places Bragg's official report shows that his army was so crippled that he was not able to strengthen one portion of his line, when needed, with troops from another part of the field, and after the conflict was over his army was so cut up that it was impossible for him to follow up his apparent success and secure possession of the objective point of the campaign -- Chattanooga. This great gateway of the mountains remaining in the possession of the Army of the Cumberland, after Bragg had paid the heavy price he did at Chickamauga, proves that this battle was a victory only in name, and a careful examination of the results and their costs will show how exceedingly small it was to the enemy."
Headquarters Fourteenth Army Corps, Crumpton's Creek, July 1, 1863.
Major-General Reynolds, Commanding Fourth Division:
Orders have been given to General Brannan to send Sted- man's brigade forward to reconnoiter as near Tullahoma as possible. The General directs that you support his left with your two regiments and what cavalry you have at your disposal. It is believed from pretty good authority that the last of the rebels left Tullahoma last night. You will be prepared to move should this information prove authentic.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
GEO. E. FLYNT,
Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff.
The above order was issued on the information furnished . by Company K, of the First Ohio Cavalry. On the morning of the first a man by the name of Duncan was shot on the picket line in front of Company K and badly wounded, and he stated that Tullahoma was evacuated. This information was immedi-
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ately transmitted to General Thomas by Lieutenant Curry and the above order was issued at once, and Company K led the advance of Reynolds' division into Tullahoma.
Extracts from report of D. S. Stanley, Chief of Cavalry:
Camp near Winchester, July 8, 1863.
We arrived at this place at 1 P. M. and found that the small force under General Turchin's command had been repulsed in their attempt to cross in the forenoon, and immediately meas- ures were taken to force the passage. This was effected with little opposition, a fortunate circumstance, as the current was swift and almost swam a horse. Colonel Long's small brigade crossed first, and was soon engaged in a very heavy skirmish with the enemy's cavalry, driving them in the direction of Decherd.
This skirmish was disastrous to the enemy, one of his Col- onels being killed and one mortally wounded, who fell into our hands, besides twenty killed and many wounded left on the field.
Camp of First Ohio Cavalry, Near Winchester, Tenn., July 9, 1863.
Sir: I have the honor to report the operations of the four companies, B, D, H and K, detached from the brigade on the thirtieth of June. I was ordered to report to General Brannan on the Winchester road, and from him ordered to report to General Crook for picket duty. The General ordered me to call in my pickets and take position on the right of his advance. My position on the march placed me in a dense thicket. We had more or less skirmishing all the way to Elk River. Late in the afternoon of July 2, the enemy fired on my extreme right from the brush. The three companies were immediately fronted into line, commanded respectively, Captain Conn, of Company B, Captain Erwin, of Company D, and Lieutenant Roush, of Company H, and commenced firing immediately, which lasted for about fifteen or twenty minutes, before the enemy's firing ceased. It is with regret that I have to announce the death of Private Jackson Hickman, of Company H, who was killed instantly while gallantly and faithfully performing his duty. I had two horses killed and ten men wounded.
JAMES N. SCOTT,
Major, Commanding Detachment First O. V. C.
Report of Major-General David S. Stanley, U. S. Army:
Winchester, July 22, 1863.
General: I arrived here this morning. Long's brigade is at Pulaski. Long will go to Lawrenceburg and further if I
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SCALE/ 4 MILES.
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UNION
CONFEDERATE
SHERMANS COUSSING
AND
CHATTANOOGA
DOLONG
MOCCASIN POINT
MONTIPOKER
BRAGG
CAOS
TENNESSEE
Boundary Line
GEORGIA
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ME PARLAVOSHE
CHICKAMAUGA
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£940
LIZ-GORDON'S
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CRAWFISH
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Glass MILL
J. NOHOOT
THE NATIONAL PARK AND ITS APPROACHES.
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can hear anything from Biffle, and attack him. I brought away in all about 300 contrabands, collected about 500 cattle, and the same number of horses and mules. A force of 10,000 could be subsisted in the Huntsville country - plenty of corn, mutton and beef, and if we don't eat, the rebels will.
Major-General W. S. Rosecrans.
Extract from report of Major-General D. S. Stanley: Camp five miles from Winston's,
September 3, 1863, 7 P. M.
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