USA > Ohio > Four years in the saddle. History of the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 > Part 39
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Colonel Long commanded and led his brigade in a charge at McMinnville and at Farmington, Tenn., at both of which places the enemy was badly defeated, losing at the last named place three or four hundred prisoners and three pieces of artil- lery, and losing on the trip over one thousand prisoners. Colonel Long's horse was shot at McMinnville, and both horse and rider were shot at Farmington. During the battle of Missionary Ridge, Colonel Long, in command of fifteen hundred cavalry, marched to Cleveland, East Tennessee, destroying thirty miles of the Knoxville and Chattanooga Railroad, burning a valuable cap factory and rolling mill at Cleveland, capturing and destroying a wagon train of eighty-two wagons, and capturing three hun- dred and twenty-two prisoners, with which he returned to Chat- tanooga within three days after leaving there. Shortly after this, with the same command, he reported to General Sherman and marched two days in advance of his infantry column into Knoxville, thence through the western part of North Caro. lina into Northern Georgia, having marched four hundred and sixty-three miles in seventeen marching days, with little food for the stock and less for the men. Soon after returning to
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Calhoun he administered a severe castigation to General Wheeler, completely routing his command and capturing nearly five hundred stands of small arms and one hundred and twenty- seven prisoners, including five officers, he having less than one hundred and fifty men in his column when he made the charge.
In February, 1864, he participated with his command in the reconnoissance on Dalton with the Fourteenth Army Corps, having several sharp skirmishes. From thence, in March, he had a leave of absence for a month. Rejoined his brigade in Colum- bia, Tenn., where it had been ordered to refit. Superintended its remount and refitting, and marched in the month of May south, joining the Seventeenth Army Corps, under General Blair, at Decatur, Alabama, and marching thence with him to Kingston, Georgia (enroute badly defeating the rebel General Roddy and his command at Moulton, Alabama, capturing a number of prisoners from him), where he joined the main army under Gen- eral Sherman and participated from that time in all or nearly all of the operations of the army up to the twenty-first of August, 1864, when he was wounded in the right leg and arm, his horse being shot in the head at the same time, on the raid of General Kilpatrick, near Lovejoy Station, south of Atlanta. He was appointed Brigade General of Volunteers, August 18, 1864.
Returning from a leave of absence, owing to his wounds, he rejoined his command at Nashville, Tenn., in November, 186-1, when he was assigned to the command of the Second Division of Cavalry Corps, M. D. M. Returning to his command at Louisville, Ky., in a very disorganized condition, partially un- avoidably so, and partially owing to Circular 75, War Depart- ment, 1864, having deprived the command of over half its officers. The division was remounted, armed and equipped, and left the place on the twenty-eighth of December, 1864, in better condition than it had ever been. He started, in command of his division, on the late expedition of Brevet Major-General Wilson, through Alabama and Georgia; his division, twelve hundred and fifty men in line, dismounted, attacked and cap- tured Selma, Alabama, on the second of April, 1865, which was defended by earthworks intended to resist infantry. Thirty pieces of artillery in position, with three or four thousand of General Forrest's best cavalry, also from three to four thousand militia, twenty-seven hundred prisoners, two hundred pieces of artillery in the works and arsenals, and a vast amount of materials of war were captured at this place. Many persons think this the handsomest thing done by cavalry during the war. The works were taken within twenty-five minutes after the advance was sounded. But three hundred and twenty officers and men of the twelve hundred and fifty engaged were killed and wounded.
In this engagement General Long was wounded by a bullet
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on the top and right side of his head, indenting the skull, pro- ducing a severe concussion of the brain, and paralyzing the tongue, right side of the face and right arm. He still suffers from the effects of this wound, and the recovery of the use of his hand is extremely doubtful.
Throughout the war he never, in a single instance, received aught but the commendations of his superior officers, and the War Department has shown its appreciation of his services by making him a Brevet Major-General of Volunteers, and Brevet Colonel, U. S. A., from the thirteenth of March, 1865.
General Long commanded the brigade in which the First Ohio served from the battle of Stone's River, December 31, 1862, until November, 1864, when he was assigned to the command of the Second Cavalry Division, Wilson's Cavalry Corps. Gen- eral Long was held in high esteem by the officers and soldiers of the brigade which he commanded so long, and it may be safely said that no officer could have had the confidence of his command in a greater degree than he had.
MAJOR-GENERAL DAVID S. STANLEY.
Born in Ohio June 1, 1828; retiring year 1892; appointed from Ohio. Graduated M. A., class of 1852; Brevet Second Lieutenant, Second Dragoons, July 1, 1852; Second Lieutenant, September 6, 1853; Second Lieutenant, First Cavalry, March 3, 1855; Captain, Fourth Cavalry, March 16, 1861; Brigadier-Gen- eral of Volunteers, September 28, 1861; Major-General of Volun- teers, November 29, 1862; accepted April 10, 1863; honorably mustered out February 1, 1866; Major, Fifth U. S. Cavalry, December 1, 1863; Colonel Twenty-second Infantry, July 28, 1866; Brigadier-General, U. S. Army, March 24, 1884.
Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, U. S. Army, December 31, 1862, for gallant and meritorious service in the battle of Stone River, Tenn; Colonel, May 15, 1864, for gallant and meritorious ser- vices in the battle of Resacca, Ga .; Brigadier-General, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious service in the battle of Ruff's Station, Ga .; Major-General, March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services in the battle of Franklin, Tenn.
On frontier duty, 1852-1861, serving with distinction against Indians, especially the Comanches. He commanded a division in the army of General Rosecrans at the battle of Corinth, October 4, 1862, and distinguished himself as commander of all the cavalry at the battle of Stone River, which ended Jan- uary 2, 1863; Chickamauga Campaign, September, 1863; Mis- sionary Ridge, November, 1863; Atlanta Campaign, 1864. About August 1, 1864, he obtained command of the Fourth Corps in Sherman's army. Took part in the battle of Franklin, Novem- ber 30, 1864, where he was severely wounded; led the brigade which restored the break in the main line, which had just been
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penetrated by the Confederate forces. In 1872-'73 he commanded expeditions in Dakota and Montana. Commissioned to locate Brule Indians under Spotted Tail, and Ogallalla Indians under Red Cloud, summer of 1878. Fort Clark, Texas, from 1879 to 1882; 1883, headquarters removed to Fort Lewis, Col; engaged during the year in pacifying semi-hostile Navajo Indians; 1884, headquarters at Santa Fe; commanding Department of Texas from 1884 to April 21, 1890.
He was appointed Chief of Cavalry, Army of the Cumber- land, in November, 1862, and commanded the cavalry of that army with distinction throughout the Stone River, Tullahoma and Chickamauga campaigns.
Among the many letters of recommendation now on file in the War Department regarding the service of General Stan- Jey, we only have room to quote from one written by General Thomas regarding the battle of Franklin, Tenn.
"It was here that his personal bravery was more decidedly brought out, perhaps, than on any other field, and the terrible destruction and defeat, which disheartened and checked the fierce assaults of the enemy is due more to his heroism and gal- lantry than to any other officer on the field."
MAJOR-GENERAL JAMES HARRISON WILSON.
Major-General James Harrison Wilson was born in Shaw- neetown, Ill., September 2, 1837, and was educated in the com- mon schools and McKendree College, and graduated from West Point in 1860. Appointed Second Lieutenant of Topographical Engineers, July 1, 1860; First Lieutenant, September 9, 1861; Captain, May 7, 1863; Lieutenant-Colonel, Thirty-fifth Infantry, July 28, 1866; discharged December 31, 1870.
He was also breveted in the regular army; Major, April 11, 1862; Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel, November 24, 1864; Brevet Colonel, May 5, 1864; Brevet Brigadier-General, March 13, 1865, and Brevet Major-General, March 13, 1865. All of these promo- tions were made "for gallant and meritorious service on the battle-field" during the war of the rebellion.
General Wilson was Chief of the Topographical Engineers on the Port Royal Expedition, including bombardment of Fort Pulaski, and he was aid on the staff of General Mcclellan at the battle of South Mountain, and was Inspector-General . of the Army of the Tennessee during the Vicksburg Campaign in 1863. He was with General Grant's army at the battle of Mis- sionary Ridge and relief of Knoxville in the fall of 1863. For a short time after that he had charge of the Cavalry Bureau at Washington, D. C., and was then appointed to the command of the Third Cavalry Division under General Sheridan and served in that capacity in the Shenandoah Valley from May to August, 1864. In October, 1864, he was assigned to command
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the cavalry corps of the Military Division of the Missisippi under General Thomas at Nashville, Tenn. He organized the cavalry of that department very rapidly and contributed very largely to the success of General Thomas at the battle of Nashville. After the battle of Nashville he organized the greatest cavalry expedition of the Civil War, and through the months of March and April, 1865, made a raid through Alabama and Georgia, and in twenty-eight days captured the fortified cities of Selma, Montgomery, Columbus, Ga., and Macon, Ga., capturing twenty- three stands of colors, two hundred and eighty-eight pieces of artillery and six thousand eight hundred and twenty prisoners, including Jeff. Davis.
General Wilson has recently been appointed Major-General of Volunteers in the war with Spain.
MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE CROOK.
George Crook was born in Montgomery County, near Day- ton, Ohio, September S, 1828. Entered West Point in 1848 and graduated July 1, 1852. He was appointed Brevet Second Lieu- tenant of the Fourth U. S. Infantry. Promoted to Second Lieu- tenant in 1853; to First Lieutenant, March 11, 1853; and to Captain, May 4, 1861. Appointed Colonel of the Thirty-sixth O. V. I., September 12, 1861, and was promoted to Brigadier- General, September 7, 1862, and served in the Army of West Virginia and in the Army of the Potomac until January, 1863. In that month he was transferred to the Army of the Cumber- land and commanded the Second Cavalry Division under Gen- eral Rosecrans with great distinction through the Chickamauga and Chattanooga campaign. In February, 1864, he was again detached from the Army of the Cumberland and assigned to the command of the Third Division in West Virginia. During the summer of 1864 his command was engaged in continuous fighting in Western Virginia. July 20, 1864, he was breveted Major General for distinguished gallantry. During July and August his army operated with that of General Sheridan, and in September he was assigned to the command of the Department of West Virginia. In all of the campaigns in West Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Valley, General Crook commanded with distinguished ability, and in January, 1865, he was promoted to. a full Major General.
He participated in all the movements of Sheridan's Cavalry until the close of the war, and in the eleven days preceding General Lee's surrender, his division lost one-third of its number, killed and wounded. After the close of the war he was assigned to the command of the District of Wilmington, N. C., which he commanded until mustered out of the volunteer service on the 15th of January, 1866. After the close of the war, he served on the frontier fighting the Indians for a number of years, and
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was promoted to Brigadier-General, October 29, 1873, and to Major-General, April 6, 1SSS. He died on the twenty-first day of March, 1890. General Crook was one of the most distinguished Cavalry Commanders of the war, and no officer of the Army of the Cumberland had the confidence of the Cavalry in a greater degree than had General Crook.
Whitelaw Ried, in his "Ohio in the War," speaks of General Crook in the great Cavalry Raid of Wheeler after the battle of Chickamauga as follows: "With two thousand five hundred men he drove General Wheeler before him, and in three battles routed and defeated him, capturing all his artillery. In these battles the use of the saber was first introduced in the Cavalry of that army, and General Crook was thanked in orders and pri- vately both by General Rosecrans and General Thomas."
GENERAL EMORY UPTON.
General Emory Upton commanded the Fourth Division of General Wilson's Cavalry Corps, in which the First Ohio was brigaded in the Cavalry expedition through Alabama and Geor- gia in March and April, 1865.
He was a brave, dashing young officer and commanded his division with great skill throughout Wilson's great raid. He died in California a number of years ago.
He graduated from West Point and was appointed Second Lieutenant Fourth U. S. Artillery, May 6, 1861, and Colonel of the One Hundred and Twenty-first New York Volunteers Octo- ber 23, 1862. For meritorious service on the field during the war, he was breveted in the regular army as Major and Lieuten- ant-Colonel and Colonel. He was promoted to Brigadier-Gen- eral of Volunteers May 12, 1864, for a distinguished service at the battle of the Wilderness and breveted Major-General of Vol- unteers October 19, 1864. Breveted Brigadier-General U. S. A. and breveted Major-General U. S. A., March 13, 1865, for gallant and meritorious services on the field during the war. After the war he served as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Twenty-fifth U. S. Infantry, Eighteent Infantry, First Artillery, Fourth Artillery, and was made Colonel of the Fourth Artillery, July 1, 1880.
GENERAL ANDREW J. ALEXANDER.
General Andrew J. Alexander was born in Woodford County, Kentucky, November 21, 1833. He married Avelina Throop Martin, of Auburn, New York. He was educated at St. Louis, Mo., in the common schools and afterward attended col- lege at Danville, Ky.
When the war of the rebellion broke ont, he entered the army as a Second Lieutenant of the Third Regular Cavalry. Early in the war he was ordered to Washington for duty on the staff of General Mcclellan, and in March, 1862, he was desig-
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nated to act as A. A. G. of the Cavalry forces under General Stoneman, and was with Mcclellan through the Peninsula Cam- paign, and also served as Staff Officer with General Banks at Washington in October, 1862. He was assigned as A. A. G. of the Third Army Corps under General Stoneman and at the Battle of Gettysburg, he was A . A. G. to General Pleasanton and was distinguished for services on that field. In the spring of 1864 he was ordered west, and assigned as A. A. G. of the Sev. enteenth Corps, commanded by General Frank P. Blair, and served through the Atlanta Campaign with distinction.
At the Battle of Nashville he was General Wilson's Chief of Staff, was promoted to Brigadier-General in January, 1865, and was assigned to the command of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division in Wilson's Cavalry Corps. Soon after the close of the war, he was breveted by General Grant, "Colonel" in the Regu- lar Army and "Brigadier-General" for distinguished gallantry in the Cavalry engagements at Ebenezer Church, Ga., and Co- lumbus, Ga. After the war he joined his regiment, the Third U. S. Cavalry, under his proper rank as Captain and served with distinction on the frontier, fighting the Indians, and was pro- moted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second U. S. Cavalry in 1879. While in command at Fort Custer, in 1881, his health failed and in 1885 he was placed on the retired list. He died on a railroad train between New York and Utica on the 4th day of May, 1887.
He was an ideal Cavalry officer and General Upton after the great Wilson Raid, declared him to be "equal to any com- mand the fortunes of war might bring him." General Wilson, in his biography of Alexander says, "He was gentle and consid- erate in social life, faithful and devoted in friendship, calm and deliberate in council, vigilant and industrious in camp and on the march, bold and resolute in action; he was a model husband and father, a noble citizen and model soldier."
The First Ohio Cavalry served in his brigade from January, 1865, until the close of the war, and Captain Yeoman was In- spector General on his staff.
MAJOR JOHN H. ROBINSON.
Major John H. Robinson was born in New York City about the year 1818, but removed to Martinsburg, Va., early in his childhood, and moved from that place to Decatur, Brown County, Ohio, in 1838, where he engaged in the merchant tailoring busi- ness. In the year 1845, he moved to Washington, C. H., where he was engaged in the same business, and in 1850 he went across the plains to California with emigrants and stock and returned in 1851. Returned to California again in 1852, but soon returned and engaged in the dry goods business in Illinois until the break- ing out of the war. From his early youth he was very much in- terested in military matters and during all of his life made a
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study of military tactics. In August, 1862, he was appointed Captain of Company A, First O. V. C. This was the first com- mission issued to any officer in that regiment. The men in his company furnished their own horses, and about the middle of August went into Camp Chase, O. His company soon became very efficient in drilling and were equipped some time before the other companies of the regiment. As Cavalry was very much in demand in Virginia, Companies A and C, First O. V. C., were sent to Virginia before the other companies of the regi- ment were equipped. They did good service in Virginia up to the fall of 1864, when they were again united with the regiment at Nashville, Tenn.
Captain Robinson was a very efficient officer, very fond of military service, but as he was in delicate health when he en- listed he was not able to stand the rigors of the hard campaigns. June 1, 1862, he was promoted to Major and died at his home in Washington, C. H., October 29, 1862. Had his life been spared, he would no doubt have gained distinction during the war.
MAJOR-GENERAL JUDSON KILPATRICK.
General Judson Kilpatrick was born in New Jersey and was appointed to West Point from that state. He was appointed Second Lieutenant of Artillery May 6, 1861, and First Lieu- tenant May 14, 1861; Captain, November 30, 1864, for gallant and meritorious service during the war, and was breveted Lieu- tenant-Colonel and Colonel in the regular army, and for gallantry at the battle of Resaca, Ga., breveted Brigadier-General March 13, 1865, and for gallant service during the campaign in the Carolinas was promoted to Brevet Major-General. He resigned December 1, 1865.
General Kilpatrick was a brave and gallant cavalry officer during the war, serving in the Army of the Potomac through all of the campaigns of that army up to the spring of 1864, and was a division commander. In the spring of 1864 he was ordered to report to General Sherman, who was then organizing his great campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta. At the begin- ning of this campaign in May, 1864, General Kilpatrick was assigned to command a division of cavalry, and at the battle of Resaca he was severely wounded. He was disabled from duty until about the middle of August, when he again returned to the front and commanded two divisions of cavalry in his raid around Hood's army in Atlanta in the latter part of August, 1864. On "Sherman's march to the sea" he was in command of the cavalry forces, and did excellent service. It is sufficient to say of his military career that on the campaign from Chat- tanooga to Atlanta, and from Atlanta to the sea, he had the full confidence of General Sherman and was highly compli- mented by that officer for his many successful cavalry expedi-
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tions. After the war he served two terms as minister to Chili, and died many years ago while in discharge of his duties as minister in that country. He was an ideal cavalry officer, and the members of the First O. V. C. have good reason to remember him, as they were in his command on some of the hardest and most dangerous charges in which they participated during the war ..
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The End.
After the surrender of the rebel forces in Central Georgia to Colonel Eggleston, who was in command at Atlanta, and the capture of Jeff. Davis, in which a detachment of the regi- ment played so important a part, there was but little service to perform in closing up the great drama of war that had been deluging the country with the blood of the flower of our armies North and South for four years. The regiment was broken up into detachments, and did garrison duty in Georgia and South Carolina during the summer of 1865 until it was mus- tered out, and any incidents of the last four months' service of the regiment would seem very tame and barren of danger and adventure compared with the four years of continuous, active and dangerous service of the war just closed.
When Sherman started on his march to the sea, he had thoroughly destroyed the railroad from Atlanta north and south toward Macon, and when our cavalry occupied these two last- named cities, the matter of getting supplies at once was very important. As both the Union and Confederate armies had swept back and forth over this country in the summer of 1864, it had been stripped of everything in the way of forage and pro- visions. But with Wilson's bold riders no obstacle seemed unsurmountable, and the following account of an expedition planned and successfully executed, shows how the soldier in the field adapts himself to the surroundings and is ready for any exigency.
When the regiment was stationed at Macon it was learned that there was a little steamer on the Ocmulgee River, at Hawk- insville, that the rebels had been using for transporting sup- plies from toward Savannah to Macon. Captain Kirkendall was given a detail of about thirty men from the regiment and was ordered to press the boat into service and go down to Savannah after supplies. He marched his command to Hawkinsville on foot about thirty miles, pressed the steamer into the U. S. ser- vice, secured the service of an old colored man, who had run
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on the river, as pilot, and started for Savannah. The river was narrow, water shallow, and he was compelled to tie up at night, so the progress was slow. Finally the boat arrived at Savan- nah, was loaded with supplies, and as the regiment had left Macon, the boat was run up the Savannah River to Augusta, and the supplies were delivered to the command at that point. It was quite an experience for these bold troopers, after a ser- vice of nearly four years in the saddle, to assume the role of "roustabouts" on a steamer; but no doubt they could do the swearing necessary to be ranked as a first class "Jack Tar," and it is said that Captain Kirkendall was not slow in picking up the lingo and was as much at home in giving his commands as he was in giving orders to "draw saber" or "advance carbine."
The regiment marched via Augusta, Ga., leaving Atlanta June 19, 1865, to Orangeburg, S. C., where Colonel Eggleston was appointed Inspector of Cavalry on General Gillmore's staff. During the summer the regiment did garrison duty at Orange- burg, Summerville, Charleston and Hilton Head, and found that duty rather monotonous after their incessant active service.
Marches.
It is hardly possible to name every point struck by the regiment during the war, or the number of miles marched; but after careful examination of all the records bearing on the ser- vice of the regiment and consultation with many officers and soldiers, the following points named will be found as near cor- rect as it can be made.
The regiment left Columbus, Ohio, December 9, 1861, and the route over which it marched will be followed with great interest by every survivor.
Columbus to Cincinnati, Ohio, and by boat to Louisville, Ky. Louisville via Bardstown and Springfield to Lebanon, Ky. Lebanon to Louisville. Louisville by river to Smithland and up the Cumberland River to Nashville, Tenn. Nashville to Pitts- burg Landing, Tenn., via Columbia, Waynesboro and Savannah. Pittsburg Landing to Corinth, Miss. Corinth to Booneville, and back to Corinth. Corinth to Huntsville, Ala. Huntsville via Athens, Decherd, Altamont, McMinnville to Nashville. Nash- ville to Louisville, Ky. Louisville via Perryville and Bardstown to Nashville. Nashville to Murfreesboro, Manchester, Tulla- homa, Decherd, Winchester, Athens, Ala., Huntsville, Ala., Fayetteville, Tenn., Pulaski, Winchester, Stevenson, Ala. Down the Tennessee River fifty miles and across Lookout Mountain to Alpine, Ga., Lafayette, Ga., and back to Alpine. Over the moun- tain to McLamore's Cove and to Crawfish Springs, Ga. Craw- fish Springs, Ga., to Chattanooga; up the Tennessee River to Washington; back to Smith's Cross-roads; over the mountains
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