USA > Ohio > Four years in the saddle. History of the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 > Part 6
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(Series I, Volume 10, Part 1, Pages 732, 733, 734.)
Extract of report of C. Granger, Brigadier-General, com- manding cavalry division, Army of the Mississippi.
Near Corinth, June 19, 1862.
Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, who had joined me at Rienzi with the First Ohio, and Colonel Ingersoll, with one battalion of the 11th Illinois, rendered most valuable assistance in reconnoiter- ing.
June 3. Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, First Ohio Cavalry, with seven companies, made a reconnoisance toward Ripley. At Blackland he encountered the enemy, 100 strong, whom he
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charged and drove in, wounding several, taking prisoners, and capturing their animals, wagons, and several guns dropped by the enemy in his flight. Colonel Smith reports Sergeant-Major Scott as having been in this affair particularly distinguished for coolness and daring.
Lieutenant-Colonel Smith, First Ohio Cavalry, who had re- ported to Colonel Elliott with Companies E, I and M, was directed to act as a support to Lieutenant Barnett's section of artillery, which duty was gallantly done, although exposed to a fire from the enemy. His position not being tenable, Colonel Elliott retired his force in good order across the bridge. His loss was two killed, eight wounded and two missing. The list would have been largely increased had not the enemy fired too high. A prisoner reports the loss in killed and wounded of the enemy at thirty.
On June 4 Captain Pattin, First Ohio Cavalry, on outpost duty four miles west of Booneville with Companies L and D, forty-eight men, was attacked, and after a sharp action of three. fourths of an hour succeeded by coolness and discipline in re- pulsing two hundred and fifty of the enemy's cavalry with ser- ious loss. Our loss, seven wounded.
Lieutenant-Colonel Smith and Captain Pattin, First Ohio, have well and faithfully performed their whole duty and merit the highest consideration from their General and their country.
The regiment was scouting and reconnoitering in the vicin- ity of Booneville and Blackland until the tenth and then marched back through Rienzi and Danville to within five or six miles of Corinth.
Colonel T. C. H. Smith was promoted to Brigadier-General and assigned duty on the staff of General Pope as Inspector- General.
After the cavalry fight at Booneville and Blackland the First Ohio was in great demand and it seems from the follow- ing communication that there was a clash of authority between Generals Buell and Pope.
(Series I, Volume 16, Part 2, Page 9.)
Buell's Headquarters, Corinth, June 11, 1862. General Halleck:
The First Regiment of the Ohio Cavalry belongs properly to Thomas' division, and when I left Booneville I directed it to come in with the division. General Pope has detained it. My cavalry force is limited, and where I am going the services of this regiment are imperatively necessary. The little cavalry I now have in Tennessee is broken down by constant and hard work. I request that the regiment be brought in and accom- pany Thomas' division.
D. C. BUELL, Major-General.
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On the twelfth of June the regiment returned to Corinth and went into camp inside the fortifications. On the fourteenth Company K was sent back to Pittsburg Landing as guard to one hundred and seventy prisoners, and all along the roads back to the Landing could be seen, now and then, a foot or hand and arm protruding out of the ground of soldiers who had been buried, by digging a shallow trench along the roadside, as the rebel army retreated after the battle of Pittsburg Landing, and they were only buried deep enough in the mud to hide their bodies from sight.
The grounds inside the fortifications at Corinth were in a miserable filthy condition and many more men were added to the already long sick roll, but under the supervision of General Thomas the camp soon presented a very different appearance for the better.
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From Corinth to Decherd, Tenn.
June and July, 1862.
The regiment remained in camp at Corinth until June 17, and on that date took up the line of march east along the Memphis and Charleston Railroad for the purpose of guarding the railroad from the raids of the rebel cavalry, before Buell's army com- menced their movement to the east, toward Chattanooga.
Companies Land M were stationed at Bear Creek near Iuka, Ala., under command of Captain T. J. Pattin; Companies B, D, G and H at Tuscumbia under Colonel Millikin; Companies E, F and K at Town Creek and Courtland under Captain Eggleston, and Company I at Decatur under Captain Writer.
The whole country was swarming with rebel cavalry and the different companies were kept on the move almost continu- ously on outpost duty and scouting in the direction of General Bragg's headquarters at Tupalo, Miss., watching the movements of the enemy, and skirmishes were of almost daily occurrence.
Company G had a severe engagement at Russelville, Ala., July 1, in which Captain Emery was mortally wounded and several men of the company were killed and wounded. Captain Emery was an efficient, brave officer, and his loss so early in the war was a severe blow to his company and the regiment as well.
On the fifteenth day of July Company I, stationed at Decatur with a part of the 15th Indiana Infantry, made a reconnoissance and had a sharp engagement with General Armstrong's brigade of rebel cavalry, in which Captain Writer, of Company I, was . severely wounded, the loss in Company I being two captured and four wounded.
On the nineteenth of July the following order was issued for the concentration of the detachments and proposed move- ment of the regiment.
Extract from Special Orders of Geo. E. Flynt, Assistant Adjutant-General, Tuscumbia, Alabama, July 19, 1862:
VII. The battalion of the First Ohio Cavalry, Colonel Minor
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Millikin commanding, and the two batteries commanded by Cap- tain R. Loder, will cross the Tennessee River at Florence on Friday, the twenty-fifth instant, and march with the Third Bri- gade to Huntsville, Ala., leaving Florence with five days' rations and forage, two days' rations cooked and carried in haversacks.
VIII. The battalion of the First Ohio Cavalry, Captain Pat- tin commanding, on being relieved at Iuka, Miss., will march with two days' rations and forage to Tuscumbia, Ala., and report to Colonel Minor Millikin.
IX. The battalion of the First Ohio Cavalry, Captain Eggleston commanding, on being relieved from Town Creek, Courtland and Decatur, will march to Huntsville, Ala., crossing the Tennessee River at Decatur, and report to Colonel Millikin. Five days' rations and forage will be required.
But the movement was delayed a few days by reason of the attack made by a brigade of rebel cavalry, commanded by General Armstrong, on the garrison at Courtland, July 25.
On the twenty-third day of July, B. F. Lucas, of Company K, was carrying a dispatch from Town Creek to Courtland, distant about five miles, and when about midway between the two posts, at a point where the woods were thick on either side of the road, he ran into an ambush of rebel cavalry waiting to capture a wagon train loaded with supplies going from Court- land to Town Creek.
The rebels were mounted and concealed in the woods on both sides of the road, and when Lucas rode in between the lines the rebels rose up out of the brush and ordered him to halt. Lucas was mounted on a very fine spirited bay horse, and he was a brave and rather reckless soldier, and instead of halting, he stuck the spurs into his horse, laid down on one side of his flying steed, and made an effort to run the gauntlet of the gleaming gun barrels.
As the rebel cavalry was there for the purpose of capturing the wagon train, they did not wish to fire, and Lucas had almost reached the end of the line, when the order was given to fire, a score of muskets were leveled at him, and he was pierced with six balls and instantly killed, and his horse was riddled with musket balls.
The particuars were learned from a trooper who was riding a short distance in advance of Lucas, who surrendered, was paroled, and came into the lines the next day.
The guard with the wagon train heard the firing and halted, thus saving the wagons and supplies from being captured, as the rebels, knowing that the troops at both posts would soon be aroused, beat a hasty retreat. Lucas was buried with mili- tary honors at Courtland, just within bounds of the camp, on the evening of the twenty-third.
Courtland was a beautiful town, situated about midway be-
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tween Tuscumbia and Decatur, Ala., about twenty-five miles from each, on the Memphis and Charleston railroad. It was a lazy little town of fifteen hundred to two thousand inhabitants, noted for the beautiful shade trees that lined the streets, and pretty Southern girls who would insist on making mashes on must continue true and loyal to the "Girl they left behind them" among the hills and valleys of the bonny Buckeye state. We had been stationed here from about the first of July, our camp being in a beautiful grove, along a creek, distant about one- half mile from town, and the camp was supplied with water from several fine springs within a stone's throw from headquar- ters. The duty of the detachment was guarding the railroad bridges and pickets were thrown out on all of the roads, about a mile from camp, to guard against a surprise from the enemy's cavalry who were making frequent dashes against these small detachments.
Compared with the campaign of the siege of Corinth dur- ing the months of April and May this was considered a soft snap, as rations were of the best and duty light. Our camp was on the plantation of an old fellow by the name of Bynam, who professed to be intensely loyal to the old flag, and his corn- fields along one side of our camp, just in good roasting ears, were carefully guarded, and a soldier that even plucked one ear had the guard-house staring him in the face, and visions of extra duty - policing the quarters with a pine-brush broom. This was in the early days of the war, before the emancipation proclamation and before any property had been confiscated, but we got bravely over such fastidious ideas before another year rolled around, and learned, as Sherman said, "that war was cruelty and we could not refine it," and required as well the destruction of the sinews of war as the destruction of life.
On the morning of July 25, after guard mount, the weather being very warm, the men were scattered over the camp taking it quiet and easy and many of them sitting in the shade in front of their tents, or on the piles of forage sacks, having a game of old sledge or poker with a 10 cent ante, while others were writing letters to the dear ones at home, or to their best girls, which was more often the case, little dreaming that the enemy, in large force, was rapidly marching and preparing to pounce down upon our little handful of men like a hurricane.
Lieutenant James Cutler, being a physician, had charge of the sick at the post, and had established a temporary hospital over in the town in a briek church, and he was making his usual morning visit to the sick, and I being next in rank, had command of the company. Just as I had settled down on my cot for a little rest, as I was sick with malaria and camp fever, Captain Eggleston, commanding Company E, came running to my tent
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in his shirt sleeves and bare head, and shouted to me that the rebels were advancing upon our camp. I called to the bugler to sound "boots and saddles" and ran down through the quar- ters, directing the men to saddle their horses and mount as rap- idly as possible.
Looking across the camp and toward old Bynam's house, I saw a cloud of dust raising and in five minutes' time the advance of the rebel column came down the road within three hundred yards of our camp and gave the rebel yell that would have raised the hair on the head of a Comanche Indian.
The command that attacked us was General Armstrong's brigade of cavalry, consisting of about 1700 men, and including Colonel Roddy's regiment, that had been recruited in Northern Alabama, in and around Courtland, Tuscumbia and Decatur.
General Armstrong was an officer of the old army and a fine-looking soldier, and became quite a cavalry leader during . the war.
The rebel commander attacked our camp on three sides simultaneously, and he had been piloted through woods and mountains on by-roads by citizens of the vicinity, who knew every cow-path in the country and knew the position of every picket, as they passed in and out of the camp at will. They had reached a position near our camp before daybreak, and when the picket guard was relieved in the morning they were in plain view of the rebel advance, concealed in the woods and ravines, and passed two or three of the picket posts unob- served, cut the pickets off from camp, but I think all of these pickets made their escape after the camp was attacked, and they found themselves cut off from the command.
The total number of men in our command in the two com- panies of infantry and the two companies of cavalry was about one hundred and sixty, and when they took position behind the railroad embankment, they made it lively for the rebel brigade for a short time, and in the fight the rebels lost seventeen killed and twenty-seven wounded; but the rebels closed in on three sides and it seemed useless and hopeless to prolong the fight, and Captain Davidson, of the Tenth Kentucky Infantry, the senior officer, raised the white flag and surrendered.
When this was done our cavalry charged out through the lines and all escaped but twenty-five, Captain B. B. Eggleston and Lieutenant Alkire, of Company E, and Lieutenant Cutler, of Company K, First O. V. C., were taken prisoners. The total number of prisoners taken was one hundred and thirty-four, including the writer, with all the wagons, mule teams and camp equipage. The prisoners were put under a regular guard com- manded by Major Smith, of Missouri, Provost Marshall, who proved to be a good soldier and gentleman as well, as he pro- tected the prisoners from insult, and we were soon traveling
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southward on the road to Tupalo, Miss., General Bragg's head- quarters. The first day we marched to Moulton, Ala., about twenty miles distant. Here the commissioned officers were sep- arated from the enlisted men and went on south in ambulances and wagons, while the enlisted men had to "hoof it," much to the disgust of the prisoners who were cavalrymen. As the rebels had no stockades or prisons in that part of the south that were safe, and nothing for us to eat excepting green corn, and that without salt, they became alarmed for fear we would escape, and we were soon paroled.
The prisoners were sent to parole camp and were not ex. changed until February, 1863, about six months after being captured.
On the twenty-seventh General Thomas dispatched General Buell from Florence as follows:
Florence, Ala., July 27, 1862.
Major-General D. C. Buell:
Telegram to General Morgan received and forwarded. The attack on the guard at Courtland delayed me one day, but shall be able to get the troops across to-day and start to-morrow for Athens. Two battalions First Ohio Cavalry are here and one company at Decatur for duty.
GEO. H. THOMAS, General.
At the time of the Courtland fight the headquarters of the regiment was at Tuscumbia, but on the twenty-sixth the com- panies at headquarters, under Colonel Millikin, marched east with General Thomas' division and the whole regiment was concentrated at Athens. Ala., July 30, and marched to Decherd, Tenn., where it arrived August 5.
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CO. D.
CO. A.
CO. K.
Capt. J. W. Kirkendall.
Capt. J. A. O. Yeoman.
Capt. W. L. Curry.
CO. G.
Capt. Leonard Irwin.
Surg. Rudolph Wirth. .
CO. I.
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Capt. J. P. Rea.
CO. K.
Capt. James Cutler.
Adjt. M. H. Neil.
CO. K.
Lieu't. Robert K. Reese.
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Campaign From Northern Alabama to Louisville, Ky.
August and September, 1862.
This was the beginning of the retrograde movement of our army and the great race between Buell and Bragg through Ten- nessee and Kentucky, ending up at Louisville, Ky., about the first of October. This proved to be a very hard campaign, as . the weather was extremely hot and dry, and both men and horses suffered greatly from heat and thirst. The air was filled with dust almost to suffocation continuously when the army was moving, water was very scarce, and in many places the only water to be had for men, horses and mules was from stag- nant ponds, and hundreds of animals famished on the march. The regiment had very hard service throughout the campaign, as they were kept continuously on the move on courier duty and scouting, watching the movements of the enemy and harass- ing their flanks.
The regiment was immediately assigned to important and hard service, as shown by the following order from General Thomas, who had determined, after the murder of General Bob McCook by guerillas under command of Captain Gurley, to put a stop to these outrages.
General McCook was sick and riding in an ambulance in advance of his brigade near New Market, when Gurley's band of marauders surrounded the ambulance in a lonely spot and deliberately murdered him. McCook's regiment, the 9th O. V. I., on learning of his death, were so incensed that they burned all the houses and buildings for miles along the road. Gurley was captured near Huntsvile, Ala., about a year afterwards by our regiment and turned over to General Rosencrans.
Extract from orders of James B. Fry, Colonel and Assistant Adjutant-General, Chief of Staff:
Huntsville, August 8, 1862.
A battalion of the First Ohio Cavalry will move on the morn- ing of the tenth instant for the same point as the above, about
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three or four miles from New Market. The object of the move is, first, to destroy guerillas, and no pains must be spared to accomplish this object. If negroes can be found who will act as guides to guerilla parties or camps, they must be used for the purpose, and brought in. Second, to produce an effect upon the community, by arresting all men of bad characters in the vicinity where General McCook was shot, and let them see such outrages cannot be unnoticed. But do this in such a way that they will understand it is by authority and not the acts of indi- viduals; every able-bodied man of suspicious character or sus- picious loyalty or hostility, within a circuit of ten miles around the place where McCook was shot, three miles east of New Market, will be arrested and brought to Huntsville; and all horses fit for service within that circuit will be taken by the officer in command and brought in with the men, receipts being given in due form in each case and payment to be determined on hereafter.
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When the troops get together near New Market the senior officer will take command and see that the orders are executed and that the men behave in an orderly and soldierly manner. As soon as the arrests are made, the companies of the First Ohio will return to Decherd.
Headquarters First Division, District of Ohio, Decherd, Tenn., August 10, 1862.
Colonel Minor Millikin, commanding First Ohio Cavalry,
Colonel: Enclosed please find orders from headquarters Army of Ohio for cavalry expedition in the direction of New Market.
Your instructions are very explicit concerning the ground over which you are to march. The General directs that in all matters connected with the expedition you carry out the instruc- tions of the commanding general.
GEO. E. FLINT,
Assistant Adjutant-General and Chief of Staff.
The regiment lay in camp at Decherd until August 17, and on that date Colonel Millikin, with six companies, marched to McMinnville, and the other four companies, under command of Captain Pattin, made a reconnoissance to Fayetteville. On the nineteenth Lieutenant Rea, of Company I, while on a scout got into a sharp fight and he and six of his company were cap- tured by the rebel cavalry. When Captain Pattin joined the main column a few days later, he and his battalion were assigned to duty at General Crittenden's headquarters, and marched through to Louisville with Buell's army, scouting and skirmish- ing continuously on the flanks and in the advance. Major Laugh- lin with a squadron - Companies F and K - was with Shoepf's
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brigade and were at Altamont and Pelham, and at the first named town the enemy was concentrated in strong force and a fight was expected to take place at that point, as shown by the attached order from General Buell.
Headquarters, Decherd, August 24, 1862, 3:30 P. M. General Thomas, McMinnville:
McCook is ordered to be at Pelham to-night. In case you should hear that the enemy has concentrated in superior force at Altamont, you must force yourself through to Hillsborough to-night. If, on the other hand, you have reason to believe that he is not in too great force, push through and attack him to- morrow morning.
McCook will have a long and rough road, but Shoepf and Sill can be up. In case you fail, fall back on Hillsborough or Manchester. Report all your movements by courier. I shall be with Shoepf.
D. C. BUELL.
They were kept continuously on the move doing courier duty and scouting through Tennessee, and joined Captain Pattin's battalion at Bowling Green, Ky.
The first battalion, under Colonel Millikin, was attached to General Thomas' headquarters doing escort and courier duty, until they reached Louisville, about the last of September, and some days in advance of the other companies of the regiment.
The armies of Buell and Bragg marched on parallel lines and it was a neck and neck race for the Ohio River, and so intent was each commander to reach the goal first, that there was but little time for fighting. It is remarkable that these two armies marched through the states of Tennessee and Kentucky and during a greater part of the time the two columns were sep- arated but a few miles, and yet during all of this campaign there was no general engagement.
During the month of July Buell's army was actively em- ployed in repairing the railroad from Nashville to Decatur, Ala- bama, and also the line from Nashville to Stevenson, Ala., as these were the two lines over which all of his supplies were to be transported in his proposed advance on Chattanooga.
About the middle of July the enemy's cavalry, in the rear of Buell's army, became very active. Railroad guards were cap- tured in Tennessee and Kentucky, and Buell was soon convinced that his communication was endangered and he became satis- fied that Bragg had determined to assume the offensive. Gen- eral John Morgan made a bold dash from Knoxville, Tennessee, with a cavalry force of fifteen hundred men, announcing that he was leading the advance of a great army moving to liberate Kentucky. General Forrest swept up from Chattanooga through
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Tennessee to Murfreesboro, cutting the railroad and creating consternation among the railroad guards; still, as no column of the enemy's infantry appeared, it was at first thought this was only a cavalry raid to cut our communication.
Forrest captured, at Murfreesboro, the 9th Michigan In- fantry and a large amount of ammunition and supplies, besides doing great damage to the railroad. Morgan swept over into Kentucky and dashed up through Glasgow to Lebanon and cap- tured a detachment under Colonel A. Y. Johnson at that place, and destroyed the railroad between Louisville and Lexington.
General Buell did not have sufficient cavalry to cope with Forrest and Morgan and protect his communication, and about this time he made earnest request for more cavalry, but without avail.
About the twentieth of August it was evident that Bragg had assumed the offensive; his army had passed to the north bank of the Tennessee River, and Buell abandoned his plan of advancing on Chattanooga and prepared to meet his wily adver- sary.
On the thirtieth General Buell gave orders for the move- ment of his whole army to Murfreesboro; he made no halt here, but moved directly on to Nashville. While at Murfreesboro Buell was apprised of the battle between our forces under Gen- eral Nelson and the army of Kirby Smith at Richmond, Ken- tucky, and he then decided to make a rapid march to Louisville, Kentucky. About the seventh of September he left Nashville, leaving General Thomas in command with his own division and the division of Negley and Palmer, but Thomas was in a few days ordered to join the main army with his division.
On the twelfth the head of Bragg's column, with a brigade of cavalry under Scott, tore up the railroad near Bowling Green, then made a bold dash for Mumfordsville, but were repulsed by the garrison in a two days' fight. On the seventeenth the garrison surrendered, after being surrounded by an overwhelm- ing force of the enemy. Bragg then moved eastward and Buell marched rapidly toward Louisville, and the last division reached that city September 29, and at about the same date Bragg's army arrived at Bardstown.
During all of this campaign of two months the First Ohio was kept in continuous hard service - on courier duty, scout- ing and skirmishing with the enemy, as the enemy had a much stronger cavalry force than we had.
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