History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 157

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096

USA > Ohio > Knox County > History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present > Part 157

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In the meantime, Morgan sent Spears with his brigade to clear the blockades; with orders to fall back on the approach of an enemy, and to return to the blockade when he retired. The enemy did advance in force to cut off Spears; but warned in

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

time, he fell back, and again resumed the work, after the enemy had recrossed the mountain.

Brigadier General Carter L. Stephenson, with five thousand men, held Cumberland Gap; Lieutenant General E. Kirby Smith, a vigilant and able officer, with a force of ten thousand men, was at Knoxville, while two brigades in Powell's Valley, watched Big Creek Gap, and another force held Chattanooga.

When his plans were completed Morgan, by telegraph, re- quested Buell to cause a demonstration to be made against Chattanooga in order to cause Smith's army in the field to go to the relief of that place. Morgan then occupied a narrow de- - file at the Moss house, where the Deer Creek road debouches, and threw up a work there in order to becloud the enemy at the gap as to his plans. When ready to move he seized every suspected person between the Moss house and the gap, and each day sent a brigade over the Deer Creek road, until at length the whole division had gone forward. The crossing at what is miscalled Rogers' gap, was full of difficulty. The guns were dragged up the mountain side by the aid of block and tackle, and by this means a battery, composed of six twenty- pounder Parrott guns, was carried across the mountains. At the foot of the mountain on the south side the enemy had a cavalry post. The pickets heard the heavy thud of the artillery wagons, and spread the alarm, after having captured one or two stragglers belonging to Morgan's column. The Knox- ville Whig announced that east Tennessee was invaded by fifty thousand Yankees, and as Morgan kept his army con- cealed in the dense forest until it was fully concentrated, the very stillness of his command gave his movement an air of mystery, which was greatly in his favor. His division was con- centrated on the afternoon of the sixteenth of June, and at I o'clock on the morning of the eighteenth he advanced in two columns, by parallel roads, to attack the gap.

The men had their cooked breakfasts in their haversacks, and their canteens filled with coffee. At daylight they halted for breakfast. A force of the enemy was known to have been on the night previous, about three miles in advance of the break- fast halt. Morgan had not slept during the previous night, and went into a house by the road side, to snatch a few moments sleep. He was soon awakened by Colonel de Courcy, who came in with a farmer who reported that the enemy was evacu- ating the confederate stronghold. The march was renewed, and the footprints of the confederates on their retreat were still fresh when the Union troops took possession of the place.

The occupation of this stronghold was more glorious than gaining a battle. It was a victory achieved without the loss of a life, and was fully appreciated by the Secretary of War, by the general commanding the army, to which the Seventh divis- ion belonged, and by the country. The following telegrams and general order, speak for themselves:

"WASHINGTON, June 22, 1862. Brigadier General Morgan:

This department has been highly gratified with your success- ful operations against Cumberland Gap, and commend the gal- lant conduct and labors of your officers and troops, to whom you will express the thanks of the President and of this department.

It is out of the power of this department to supply you at present with any cavalry for offensive operations, and as your force can for some time be advantageously employed defensively in its present position, I trust you will not need it. With thanks for your diligence and activity, I remain, yours truly,

EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War."

"HEADQUARTERS, ARMY OF THE OHIO. IN CAMP,

HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA, July II, 1862.

General Order, No. 27.

The general commanding the army of the Ohio, takes pleas- ure in announcing the success of an arduous campaign by the Seventh division, Brigadier General Morgan, commanding, by which the enemy's fortified position at Cumberland Gap was turned, and his force compelled to retreat as our troops ad- vanced to the attack. .

The general thanks Brigadier General Morgan and the troops of the Seventh division, for the ability displayed in their opera- tions against this important stronghold, and for the energy, cheerfulness, and fortitude which they exhibited in their strug- gles with difficulties of the most formidable magnitude for an army.

By command of Major General Buell,

JAMES B. FRY,

Colonel and chief of staff."

Morgan intended to advance on Knoxville, and established an arsenal at the Gap, containing a large supply of ammunition and four thousand extra stand of arms.

The following dispatch was sent to General Buell, and the Secretary of War:

"CUMBERLAND GAP, June 22, 1862.

I might as well be without eyes as without cavalry. The enemy is said to have taken up a strong position in the Clinch mountains, in the direction of Morristown, but not on the route I would advance, if authorized to go forward; but this place would be threatened by the enemy's position were I to pursue another route. One strong brigade with six heavy guns, and five hundred cavalry to act as scouts and foragers should be left here; and I should be strengthened by two brigades of infantry, one battery of artillery, and two regiments of cavalry. With such a force I could sweep East Tennessee of every rebel sol- dier. My effective force is now about seven thousand five hun" dred men of all arıns.

GEORGE W. MORGAN,

Brigadier general commanding."

Every energy was at once directed to strengthen Cumber" land Gap. Lieutenant W. P. Craighill (now colonel of engi- neers) had charge of the work of fortification, and Captain Patterson, of the volunteer engineers, was engaged in the con- struction of a storehouse capable of containing six months supplies for twenty thousand men.

The whole question of holding that rugged fortress was one of supplies. This fact was well understood by the Union and the Confederate authorities. As has been already said, in 1861, Mr. Lincoln recommended the construction of a railroad from Lexington to that place.

The Hon. John Forsyth, of Alabama, a man of distinguished ability, and at one time a volunteer aid on the staff of Bragg, in his Memoranda of Facts bearing on the Kentucky Campaign, says: "The strongholds of Cumberland Gap would have de- fied our combined armies in a direct assault."

On the thirtieth of June, 1862, Morgan telegraphed to Assist- ant Quartermaster General Swords, at Cincinnati: " We are in want of everything. We are destitute of forage."

On the twentieth of July, Engineer Craighill telegraphed to Brigadier General Totten, chief of the department of engineers: "The country in our rear is exhausted. That in our front soon will be."

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY

On the twenty-third of July Morgan telegraphed to the Sec- retary of War and General Buell: "My supplies are very short." On the eighth of August he telegraphed to Captain Brown in charge of the base of supplies at Lexington, Kentucky: "Twenty-five thousand of the enemy are between this place and Knoxville, and the enemy's troops are constantly arriving by way of Dalton. The safety of this place depends upon the supplies you can rush forward. Not a second is to be lost. Give us supplies and we will hold this place, regardless of the enemy's force." On the tenth of August Morgan telegraphed to Buell and Stanton "I have about three weeks' supplies."

On the night of August 16, 1862, the army of Stephenson, variously estimated at from fourteen to twenty-five thousand men, went into position about four miles west of Cumberland Gap, and a few days previously the army of Kirby Smith en- tered Kentucky by way of Rogers and Big Creek Gaps. Smith established his headquarters at Barbourville and sent two divis- ions under Mckown to summon Morgan to surrender. He re- plied: "Present my compliments to General Smith, and say that if he wants this post he must come and take it."

Thousands of brave soldiers have been sacrificed to gratify the vanity of their commander. Smiith was too wise a general and too true a man to uselessly throw away the lives of his men. He knew Cumberland Gap and the wilderness country which surrounds it. Morgan was hemmed in on every side, and he regarded his surrender as inevitable; and it was so reported to the Government at Richmond.

On the sixteenth of August Morgan telegraphed to the Sec- retary of War, and to Buell: "Kirby Smith cannot possibly remain three weeks in my immediate rear, while I can hold this place five weeks with my present command." He did hold the Gap four weeks and five days from that time. But Bragg and Smith remained in Kentucky until the middle of October. Gen- eral in Chief Halleck telegraphed as follows. The telegram was sent to Lexington, and thence to Morgan by private courier:

"WASHINGTON CITY, twenty-second August, 1862.

GENERAL MORGAN, Cumberland Gap :- Hold on firmly. You will soon be reenforced. Don't yield an inch. Fight the enemy whenever he appears, and I will see that you are very soon sup- ported with other troops. Try to open communications with General Buell; if you cannot do this, telegraph to General Wright at Cincinnati.

H. W. HALLECK. General in chief."

Morgan did not ask for men, but rations to feed an army strong enough to hold the gap against all the armies which en- vironed him. Instead of wanting men, he sent men to aid in the defence of Lexington. The following note was also sent Morgan from Lexington, Kentucky:

" HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES FORCES. -

LEXINGTON, August 23, 1862.

GENERAL :- Yonr despatches reached me safely. Their spirit makes me your servant forever. If your officers and regiments are similarly inspired the great gap will be ours as long as the hills last. I will make a strong effort to relieve you. My brig- ades are already en route in your direction. For reasons, I may have to come slowly, but I will come.

Respectfully,

LEWIS WALLACE, Major General.

To General G. W. Morgan."

The promises of Halleck and Wallace were not, and could

not be, made good. On the nineteenth of August the Union troops were driven back at Big Hill, and on the thirtieth of that month they were routed by an overwhelming force at Richmond, Kentucky. Lexington was abandoned, and in a few days more not a single soldier, wearing the Union uniform, was to be found between the Ohio river and Cumberland Gap.

During the thirty-three days that Cumberland Gap was in- vested, Morgan's troops were on less than half-rations ; bread and other articles having been utterly exhausted. While thus threatened he made five assaults upon the out-posts of the enemy, took over five hundred prisoners, and killed or wounded one hundred and eighty men, against a loss of under forty on the Union side.

In order to save his artillery, cavalry, and wagon horses from starvation, and at the same time reinforce the Umon column organizing at Lexington, Morgan mounted four hundred of Colonel Garrard's regiment, under the command of that officer, and sent him, and the batallion of cavalry, under Lieutenant Colonel Munday, to report to the commanding officer at Lex- ington.

One Tennessee batallion of Morgan's command fought at Big Hill, and three batallions at Richmond.

Smith withdrew from Cumberland Ford' on September Ist, and Morgan sent the brigade of Colonel de Courcy to Man- chester, in the hope of obtaining flour; but it was with difficulty that sufficient supplies could be got for his own brigades.

Colonel de Courcy wrote to General Morgan that he had re- ceived intelligence, which he regarded as reliable, that a large force of the enemy was about to attack him, in which case he might be compelled to retire towards Boonville. To guard against the risk of having his command cut up in detail, on the morning of the seventeenth of September, Morgan dispatched Captain Joline with the following order to Colonel de Courcy .

"HEADQUARTERS, CUMBERLAND GAP, SEPTEMBER 17, 1862.

Colonel :-- A courier arrived here this morning at two o'clock with information that the enemy was beyond Lexington. The information you have received is entirely false, and I am satis- fied no force is approaching you.

"You will in no event advance toward Boonville ; but in case you are threatened by a superior force, you will retreat to this place by way of Flat Lick, sending me a courier in advance.

"This order is imperative and relieves you from all responsi- bility. If threatened by an enemy not superior to your own force, fight him.

To COLONEL J. F. DE COURCY, ( G. W. MORGAN, Com'd'g 4th Brigade 7th Division.

Brig. Gen'l. Com'd'g 7th Division, Army of the Ohio.

The most painful position a commander can be placed in, is to be compelled to abandon a position he has captured by strategy or by battle. Such was Morgan's position. Without the loss of a life, by combined tactics and strategy, he had forced the enemy to abandon one of the strongest positions on the continent. He was now destitute of supplies; not a Union soldier was within two hundred miles, aud he was engirdled by the armies of Stephenson, Bragg, Smith, and Humphrey Marshall; with the ubiquitous John Morgan, ready to pounce upon his flanks, front or rear at any moment.

The enemy would not attack; and starvation threatened the very existence of Morgan's army.

A council of war, composed of the division and brigade com-

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

manders, unanimously decided that the place must be evac- uated, and the following order was issued:

"HEADQUARTERS, 7TH DIVISION ARMY OF THE OHIO. CUMBERLAND GAP, September 17, 1862.

SOLDIERS-You will be glad to learn that you are to be lib- erated from the duty of a garrison, to enter upon an active campaign. Three months ago the enemy who lies hidden in the woods before, fled from this stronghold on your approach. Supposing that you would be equally frightened by the ap- proach of a foe, more than one month ago, he besieged, and proclaimed to the world that you were already prisoners. What has been the result? You sent Garrard and Munday to aid our friends, menaced by an overwhelming force, and yet the enemy dared not attack you. Afterwards you sent a brigade sixty miles away to procure supplies, and still the enemy slum- bered on his arms. You have made five successful attacks upon his out-posts; captured Barbourville and London; made five hundred prisoners; and killed or wounded one hundred and eighty of the enemy, with but a trifling loss on your part. But you cannot longer wait to coax the enemy to unfurl his colors. A more glorious field awaits you, and in crushing the enemy on the soil of Kentucky, you will give freedom to Tennessee.

I know well, soldiers, that you will be patient under difficulties, and heroic in danger-that you will prove yourselves to be worthy of the great army of the Union.

GEORGE W. MORGAN, Brig. Gen'l Comd'g."

With a piece of red chalk Morgan had already marked his line of retreat on the map, by way of Flat Lick, Manchester, Proctor, Hazle Green, West Liberty, and Grayson to the Ohio river. Major Lyons, Morgan's topographical engineer, had been the State geologist of Kentucky, and was familiar with every foot of the route thus marked.

"Major," said Morgan, "follow that red line and tell me what kind of a country it runs through." " It is a hellniferous country, sir; but by abandoning your artillery, wagons and mules, your infantry might get through. You can judge of the country by the names of its streams. Here is the Little Devil; there is the Big Devil, and yonder is Hell-for-certain creek; during the rainy season they are torrents; now they are all dry."

Morgan adhered to his plan and did not deviate from it by a mile on the march of two hundred and nineteen miles to the Ohio.

On the afternoon of the night of the retrent, a confederate flag approached the gap. It seemed like a reconnoissance under a flag of truce. Morgan sent out Colonel Gallup, Fourteenth Kentucky, to receive it. He took along a box of cigars and some liquor, with instructions to beguile and amuse the enemy as long as possible. By mischance the quartermaster's build- ings were fired, and the smoke curled over Poor Valley ridge, which masks a view of the gap from the south, and beyond which the representatives of the stars and bars and the stars and stripes were coquetting with each other.

"What is the meaning of that smoke?" asked a confederate. "Oh," replied Gallup, "the boys are burning brush on the mountains."

The confederates returned to their lines while the work of preparation went on. On the previous night a large wagon train was sent north under the escort of the Thirty-third Indi- ana and Wetmore's battery, and during the entire night of the seventeenth, the troops defiled through the gap. Toward day-

light Gallup fired the great store-house on the mountain, those in the valley, and fired the immense magazine and arsenal. The explosion was heard at Cumberland Ford, fourteen miles away. By daylight the head of the column reached Flat Lick, twenty miles from the gap. That night the army rendezvoused at Manchester, where de Courcy was already in position. . Here Morgan halted one day to organize for the struggle before him.' Just before the column resumed the line of march on the morn- ing of the nineteenth, the cavalry of Stephenson made a dash at Morgan's train, but were promptly repulsed by the Sixth Tennessee, under Colonel Cooper.

Proctor, on the Kentucky river, was an important strategic point, and had it been occupied by a proper force, what the re- sult would have been cannot now be known. It is situated on the high and abrupt banks of the river, and the crossing might have been rendered doubtful. General John H. Morgan had been there on the previous night, but after destroying the large flouring-mills and a large quantity of flour, he fell back upon Irvine. The moment General George W. Morgan reached Proctor he pushed a brigade across the river, with a battery, and took possession of the opposite bank. This done, the point of greatest danger was passed.

At Proctor there are diverging roads, one leading towards Irvine; two others, one of them almost impassable, towards Hazle Green; one running along a narrow ridge, and the other along the North fork of the Kentucky. The former road was almost destitute of water, and the little that was to be found was in holes away down eighty or one hundred feet amid the cliffs. The North fork was seldom travelled, and in many places had been washed away by the winter and spring freshets. Baird and Carter, the latter in front, were directed to proceed by that route, with the wagon train; and the credit of saving it from being abandoned or destroyed was mainly due to General Baird, and the indefatigable Captain Patterson.

With the brigades of Spears and de Courcy, Morgan advanced along the ridge to Hazle Green, where he halted one day, to let the brigades of Carter and Baird come up. Two confederate officers were captured at that place. From them Morgan learned that two divisions of Kirby Smith were at Mount Ster- ling, on the main road between Lexington and Pound Gap, and that Humphrey Marshall was expected there. During the day, Carter came up, and as it was important to occupy West Lib- erty, in order to cut off communication between Pound Gap and Lexington, the next morning Morgan pushed forward with the brigades of Spears, de Courcy, and Carter, with the inten- tion of awaiting Baird at West Liberty.

Between Proctor and Hazle Green John Morgan hovered about the Union column, and let no chance of advantage es- cape him; but it was between Hazle Green and West Liberty that he gave his namesake serious trouble. Every defile was blockaded with felled trees and huge rocks; and from every am- bush, from behind which a dash could be made and a retreat be effected, was utilized. But the men of George Morgan were skilled in removing blockades, and abundantly supplied with axes, saws, block and tackle. Frequently, the advance guard of the Union general surprised the confederates in the very act of blockading the roads. A sharp skirmish would be the re- sult, and it is believed that the confederates fared the worst. At one point the road was so thoroughly blockaded that an in- spection showed that it would be easier to hew out a new road through the forest, than to clear the old one. The ring of a thousand axes was soon heard in the forest, and every block and

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HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY.

tackle was strained to the uttermost, and sufficient clearing was effected to allow the Union army to advance.

The moment Morgan reached West Liberty, he advanced with the brigade of de Courcy across a little stream, the only running water for twenty miles, towards Mount Sterling, and there planted his batteries and went into bivouac. Had an enemy advanced from Mount Sterling. he would have gone into action with his men and horses parched with thirst. But no enemy came. Morgan remained in position two days, and, as Baird had come up, the march was resumed towards the Ohio river.

It had been the purpose of Smith to attack Morgan, and for this purpose he had sent two divisions to Mount Sterling; but Bragg determined to concentrate his entire army, and Smith was ordered to join him.

There was frequent skirmishing between the two Morgans along the route from West Liberty to Grayson, at which point the Union army arrived at midnight on the second of October; od the next day, o ter having made a march of two hundred and nin teen miles : rough a country which has but few equals in the obstacles to be overcome by an army, the ten thousand L'nion soldiers, ragged, barefooted and hungry, went into camp on the banks of the beautiful Ohio.

Throughout the march General Morgan was ably sustained by Generals Baird, Carter, Spears, and Colonel John F. de Courcy, and by all his officers and soldiers.

Throughout the loyal States great anxiety had been felt for the safety of our little army at Cumberland Gap; and at Rich- mond the troops of Morgan's division were regarded as pris- oners of war. When it was learned that they had safely reached the Ohio, the entire press of the loyal States spoke in terms of high commendation of Morgan and his successful retreat. The New York Post ranked it with the retreat of Xenephon; and the Herald demanded that he should be assigned to an independ- eni command.

Major General Wright, then in command of the department of the Ohio, one of the ablest officers in our service, and now in command of the engineer department, made a report to the general in chief, from which the, following extracts are made:

HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE OHIO, } CINCINNATI, October 15, 1862.

GENERAL-I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of the report of Brigadier General G. W. Morgan, dated the twelfth instant, detailing the circumstances occasioning the withdrawal of his forces from Cumberland Gap.

It appears from this report that the evacuation, which was in pursuance of the unanimous opinion of the general officers of the command, was a matter of necessity, arising from the pro- visions being exhausted, their communication being cut off, and no information of any prospect of relief being received.

While the evacuation of the gap is to be regretted, I do not see how, with starvation staring him in the face, and with no certainty of relief being afforded, he could have come to any other conclusion than the one arrived at.

After the unfortunate battle near Richmond, Kentucky, the en- tire country between the Ohio river and Cumberland Gap was in possession of the rebels.

The march of General Morgan from Cumberland Gap to the Ohio river was most successfully accomplished, and reflects much credit on him and his officers for the skill with which it was conducted, and on the men for the cheerfulness with which they bore the hardships of a toilsome march of some two hun-

dred miles, on scanty fare, over a country affording little sub- sistence, and often for long marches with an insufficient supply of water.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

H. G. WRIGHT, Major General commanding.

H. W. HALLECK, General in Chief.

On the evacuation of Cumberland Gap, Captain de Silva and about two hundred other Union soldiers were left in the hos- pital at that place. General Morgan had left a letter to General Stephenson, commending the sick and wounded in our hospital to his especial protection; and they were not only treated with kindness, but with marked courtesy. One day Captain de Silva was invited to dine with Colonels Rains and Vance, both brig- ade commanders, each of whom became a brigadier general.

During the dinner they narrated to Captain de Silva, Stephen- son's plan for Morgan's capture, which the confederates regard- ed as certain. Colonel Vance's brigade was composed of five infantry regiments and five hundred Indians. This force was

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History of Knox County, Ohio, its past and present, Part 157

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co. Number of Pages: 1096

Author: Hill, N. N. (Norman Newell), comp; Graham, A. A. (Albert Adams), 1848-; Graham, A.A. & Co., Mt. Vernon, Ohio
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Mt. Vernon, Ohio : A. A. Graham & Co.
Number of Pages: 1096