USA > Ohio > Itinerary of the Seventh Ohio volunteer infantry, 1861-1864, with roster, portraits and biographies > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
120 SEVENTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
Big Cacapon River at early daylight, he closed in upon Bloomery, when, fearing that his infantry would not get up before the enemy escaped, away he went at the head of his staff and escort, making the most gallant sort of an attack with almost miraculous success. It is proper to state here that Lieut. J. B. Molyneaux of the Seventh went along upon this occasion at the request of the General, as a volunteer aide, and participated in the lively proceedings.
General Lander made the following report of this affair on the date of its occurrence :
"PAWPAW, February 14, 1862, 8 P. M.
"Had an important forced reconnaissance last night, completed to-day. Broke up the rebel nest at Bloomery Gap. Ran down and caught . 17 commissioned officers, among them colonels, lieutenant-colonel, captain, etc. En- gaged them with 400 cavalry. Infantry not near enough to support, and enemy retiring. In all, 65 prisoners; killed, 13. Lost 2 men and 6 horses at their first fire. Led the charge in person.
"It was a complete surprise.
"Major Frothingham is entitled to credit for building, under my direction, in four hours, in the dead of night, a complete bridge of wagons across the Great Cacapon at an unfrequented road. Two columns of 2,000 men marched 32, one column 43 miles since. 4 P. M. yesterday, besides bridging the river.
"As the work entrusted to me may be regarded done and the enemy out of this department, I most earnestly request to be relieved. If not relieved, I must resign. My health is too much broken to do any severe work.
"F. W. LANDER, "Brig .- Gen.
"To Maj .- Gen. MCCLELLAN."
PAWPAW.
On the 14th camp equipage arrived, when tents were pitchied and camp established.
SI
I21
LEAVING ROMNEY
On the 19th General Lander, in a message to Secretary of War Stanton, said :
"I congratulate you on the earnestness and energy of the Western troops under my command. They have suffered every hardship and made no complaints. God bless them! If I could evade the army rules and furnish them with a set of cooking utensils such as men can carry upon their backs, which I have so extensively used in the Rocky Mountains, we should have fewer sick men and dispense with lumber- ing trains.
"Beef cattle, sugar and coffee, and three tablespoons of flour to a man are all that is required for a ten days' march. Nothing but my experience in mountain life has caused this army to move in the way it has. Neither the roads nor the enemy have been an obstacle. Give me, sir, men and means and orders to go on, and hold me strictly responsible for failure. I am never so sick as when I cannot move."
With a view to ordering General Lander to move from Pawpaw through Bloomery Gap to Winchester, he was re- quested to state how many additional troops he would re- quire, when, in his characteristic and gallant way, he re- plied : "I would like 4,000 infantry; but, if you cannot spare them, order me to take Winchester and burn it. I am confident I can do it with what I have."
On the 22d General Lander reviewed his command at Pawpaw, while his batteries fired a national salute.
On the 26th General Marcy, chief of staff to General McClellan, said to General Lander: "The present intention of the General commanding is for you to march by Bloom- ery, and I would think it advisable for you to make all your preliminary arrangements accordingly."
Because of this message, on March Ist, Colonel Tyler was ordered to move his brigade to Bloomery Gap, and left camp that afternoon, crossing the Big Cacapon River and going into bivouac in a pine forest upon the slope of Shen- andoah Mountain, from whence he was, the next day, or- dered back to Pawpaw, in a snowstorm.
122 SEVENTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
The following reports are self-explanatory :
"CAMP CHASE, PAWPAW, VA., March 2, 1862.
"GENERAL MCCLELLAN: General Lander is very ill. It is the opinion of the brigade surgeons, Bryant and Robin- son, his attending physicians, that he is unfit to lead an army in the field to-day; that he may be unfit to do so for many days. By his command I ordered General Tyler's brigade of five regiments to advance and hold Bloomery Gap by a road leading up grade 4 miles from here, and crossing Great Cacapon by a bridge laid on wagons 7 miles from here, and Colonel Mason, chief of artillery, to move with his support of two regiments; Tyler's train, with eight companies of cavalry to Bloomery Gap by the grade, crossing the ford near Bloomery, and report to General Tyler. They started at 3 o'clock yesterday afternoon, and at II last night, when, from the report of the physicians, I was assured that General Lander could not move with the main body to-day, I or- dered a halt.
"This order found General Tyler at the wagon bridge, Colonel Mason 10 miles from this on the Pawpaw grade. The advance moved with tents and knapsacks. They had rubber shirts, three days' subsistence in haversacks and ten on wagons, 100 rounds of ammunition to the infantry, 200 to the artillery.
"The main body was to have moved to-day in the same way. I can carry out General Lander's plan of moving on Martinsburg, and from reconnaissances, spies, and deserters am satisfied we shall meet no enemy worth notice, nor an advance from Winchester; but there is no one here capable of filling in any respect Lander's place, and I have read your two dispatches of yesterday, and would respectfully ask whether Lander's proposed plan is to be carried out or whether the movement is to be by railroad, for which we have sufficient transportation. Lander has so much deter- mination and energy that he may rise from his sick bed to-
123
LEAVING ROMNEY
day and take command, but I feel it my duty to lay these facts before you and abide the consequences.
"S. F. BARSTOW, "Assistant Adjutant-General."
"CAMP CHASE, PAWPAW, VA., March 2, 1862-I P. M.
"GENERAL MCCLELLAN : General Lander has been sleep- ing under the influence of morphine for twenty hours. A heavy snowstorm has set in and if I do not receive orders for the contrary, from Washington by 2 P. M. on this day, I shall order Tyler and Mason back to camp, that their com- mands may not be exposed to storms.
"S. F. BARSTOW, "Assistant Adjutant-General."
"PAWPAW, March 2, 1862. ;
"GOVERNOR CHASE,
"Secretary of the Treasury :
"General Lander died at 5 o'clock this afternoon without suffering.
"I should regret that so firm and valiant a friend heard of the sad news from any one but
"S. F. BARSTOW."
On March 3 the Seventh Ohio Infantry had the post of honor in escorting the remains of General Lander to the train which bore them to Washington.
Maj .- Gen. George B. McClellan, as commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac, paid the following tribute to the memory of General Lander :
"The operations of Brig .- Gen. F. W. Lander on the upper Potomac during the months of January and February, 1862, frustrated the attempts of General Jackson against the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Cumberland, etc., and obliged him to fall back to Winchester. His constitution was impaired by the hardships he had experienced, and on the second of March the fearless General Lander expired, a victim to the excessive fatigue of the campaign."
CHAPTER XV.
FROM PAWPAW TO WINCHESTER.
General McClellan having decided to take additional measures to secure the reopening of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, crossed General Banks's division at Harper's Ferry on February 26, sending a strong reconnaissance to Charlestown the next day, and, under its protection, went there himself.
On the 28th he sent orders to General Lander at Pawpaw, to move at once to Martinsburg, but there must have been some confusion at General Lander's headquarters, because we have seen how a part of his force, as late as March I. was ordered to move to Bloomery Gap, in quite another direction. However, as soon as General McClellan, on the 2d, learned of the serious illness of General Lander, the emergency being great, he assigned Brig .- Gen. James Shields to the command of Lander's division, and the next day instructed Col. Nathan Kimball of the Fourteenth In- fantry to move the command to Martinsburg without un- necessary delay, where General Shields would join him.
At Pawpaw, on March 6, the Seventh was again paid off, and on the 7th "ponchos" (oil-cloth pieces from which shelter-tents could be constructed ) were drawn. On March 8th President Lincoln issued War Order No. 2, providing for the formation of Army Corps, by which Banks's and Shields's divisions were to constitute the Fifth Army Corps, to be commanded by Maj .- Gen. N. P. Banks. On that date also, the Seventh went by rail to Sleepy Run and the next day to Cherry Run and Back Creek, where the railroad bridges had been destroyed by the enemy in Jan- uary, 1862, and were being rebuilt.
On the rith the whole command, carrying knapsacks. marched on the railroad track to Martinsburg, arriving about 3 P. M., where the wreckage of many locomotives and
125
FROM PAWPAW TO WINCHESTER
cars attracted attention. To those who looked upon that destructive scene the following extract from Major Dab- ney's "Life of Stonewall Jackson" will be of interest :
"On June 19, 1861, Colonel Jackson moved north of Martinsburg to observe the movements of General Patter- son. On this expedition he was ordered by General John- ston to destroy the locomotives and cars of the Baltimore Railroad at Martinsburg. At this village there were vast workshops and depots for the construction and repair of these cars; and more than forty of the finest locomotives, with three hundred burden cars, were now destroyed. A number of locomotives and cars were drawn along the turnpike roads by long trains of horses to Winchester and thence to the Central Virginia Railroad. Colonel Jackson said : 'It was a sad work: but I had my orders, and my duty was to obey.'"
Lieut-Col. Creighton, who always took pride in his regiment, never omitted an opportunity to parade the streets with band playing and colors flying, and this was done at Martinsburg, with fine effect, when the Seventh passed through and took the pike for Winchester, bivouack- ing two miles out at Big Spring.
The crossing of the Union troops at Harper's Ferry and their advance to Charlestown was regarded by Gen. Joseph E. Johnston, in command of the Southern army about Cen- terville and Manassas, as a great flanking movement against his position, instead of a simple movement for the protec- tion of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, and on the 8th and 9th he gathered up his entire command of many thousands of men, needlessly destroyed quantities of accumulated sup- plies, and hastened toward Culpeper, taking post behind the Rappahannock. General Jackson, at Winchester, with more deliberation, yet with the liveliest regret, also prepared to fall back to Mount Jackson, and upon the approach of General Banks's division left the gateway to the Shenan- doah Valley, on the 11th, after having been compelled by the adverse judgment of his officers to forego a night at-
126 SEVENTII REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
tack upon General Hamilton's brigade, which occupied the town the next day.
On the 12th Shields's division, under its new commander, moved up to within three miles of Winchester and bivouacked until the baggage arrived, in what became Camp Shields, and the next day the General made the following report to Washington :
"I beg leave to report that I was able to bring 7,000 men here yesterday, and have upwards of 4.000 more en route to this point. The command is an efficient one and is able to do efficient service. I reported as ordered, to Maj .- Gen. Banks."
The following is the roster of Shields's division of the Fifth Army Corps at that time :
"HEADQUARTERS SHIELDS'S DIVISION, FIFTH ARMY CORPS, "NEAR WINCHESTER, VA., March 17, 1862.
"BRIG .- GEN. S. WILLIAMS,
"Assistant Adjutant-General :
"I have the honor to report the following as the present strength and condition of my command :
FIRST BRIGADE.
COLONEL NATHAN KIMBALL, Commanding.
For Aggre- Duty. gate.
14th Indiana Infantry, Lieut .- Col. Harrow, .
744
908
4th Ohio Infantry, Colonel John S. Mason,
397
992
8th Ohio Infantry, Colonel S. S. Carroll,
476
852
7th West Virginia Infantry, Colonel Evans,
*
861
67th Ohio Infantry, Colonel Bustenbinder,
587
896
84th Pennsylvania Infantry, Colonel Murray,
503
1,023
2,707
5,532
SECOND BRIGADE.
COLONEL, J. C. SULLIVAN, Commanding.
For Aggre- Duty. gate.
5th Ohio Infantry, Lieut .- Col. Patrick,
821
918
62nd Ohio Infantry, Colonel F. B. Pond,
854 918
*On duty as Railroad Guard.
127
FROM PAWPAW TO WINCHESTER
For Aggre- Duty gate.
66th Ohio Infantry, Colonel Charles Candy,
730
892
13th Indiana Infantry, Lieut .- Col. Foster,
632
848
39th Illinois Infantry, Colonel T. O. Osborn,
550
788
3,587 4,394
THIRD BRIGADE.
COLONEL E. B. TYLER, Commanding.
For Aggre- Duty. gate.
7th Ohio Infantry, Lieut .- Col. Creighton,
659
886
29th Ohio Infantry, Colonel Buckley,
696
893
7th Indiana. Colonel Gavin,
716
961
Ist West Virginia Infantry, Colonel Thoburn,
674
891
roth Pennsylvania Infantry, Colonel Lewis,
462
670
Andrew's Sharp-Shooters,
48
96
3,255 4,397
ARTILLERY CORPS.
LIEUTENANT-COLONEL DAUM, Commanding.
For Aggre- Duty. gate.
Battery E, 4th U. S. Light Art., Captain Clark, (6 guns, 10-pounder, Parrotts.),
109
I21
Battery H, Ist Ohio Light Art., Captain Huntington, (6 guns, 6-pounder rifled.),
124
144
Battery L, Ist Ohio Light Art., Captain Robinson, (6 guns, 4 6-pounder smooth-bore; 2 12-pounder, howitzers.), .. Battery A, Ist Va. Light Art., Lieutenant Jenks, (6 guns, 4 10-pounder Parrotts; 2 6-pounder brass.),
.128
150
Battery B, Ist Va. Light Art., Captain Davey, (2 guns, Io-pounder Parrotts; I gun 4th Ohio Inf., 12-pounder brass, smooth-bore.), Total, 27 guns.
119
132
128
148
608
695
CAVALRY CORPS.
For Aggre- Duty. gate.
Ist Virginia Cavalry, Major Chamberlain,
484 636
Ist Battalion Penna. Cav.,
Ist Squadron Ohio Cav., Captain J. Keys,
214 469
698
1,105
Total for duty, 10.855 and 27 guns. Total aggregate, 16,123.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE BATTLE OF KERNSTOWN, OR WINCHESTER.
On March 18, 1862, under orders from Brig .- Gen. Al- pheus S. Williams, commander of the First Division, and temporarily in command of the Fifth Army Corps, Shields's division moved through Winchester on the road to Stras- burg. Out near Middletown, some 13 miles distant, the advance encountered .\shby's cavalry, who fled, and burned behind them the fine bridge across Cedar Creek 3 miles north of Strasburg, where the command bivouacked for the night. The next morning, a temporary bridge having been constructed, this force moved on to Strasburg, where the entire day was actively spent in scouting, skirmishing, and artillery practice, without serious results. Here the Seventh drew the fire of Ashby's guns, and was introduced to screaming shot and bursting shell, with which they were to become more familiar later on.
That night the division went to rest in and about the town and the next day, in the midst of rain and mud, step- ped back 21 miles to Camp Shields again. Although the elements were against us upon this return march, Lieut .- Col. Creighton caused the band to play lively airs, and when he reached Winchester the Seventh paraded through the streets as if in holiday attire, much to the surprise of the men of the First Division on duty there, who greeted us with shouts of approval and generous applause. The next day all was serene, and General Banks reported to General McClellan as follows :
"General Shields has driven the enemy to Mount Jackson, 20 miles south of Strasburg. He fled before our troops, burning the bridges in his march."
However, on the 22d Col. Turner S. Ashby, who com- manded the cavalry then serving under Stonewall Jackson,
D
Federal Batteries Infantry
Rebel loss, killed, wounded and prisoners, alout 1200.
Rebel Batteries
Federal loss, killed. wounded and missing. about 100.
Infantry
1
Plan of the BATTLE of WINCHESTER Cot. NATHAN KIMBALL COM .9
Fsignal Sta.
A Position of the General Commanding
I First Brigade, Col Kimball .
2 Second
. Sullivan
8 Third . Tyler
Mills
Rebel forte engaged, about 11,000 Federal force engaged about 6000
Toll Gate
Sin Campo A44 3-44
Cedar Creek Road
13
13
3
9 U
0
0
Farm
Bouwar
8
KERNSTOWN"
Brick Church
Middle Roga!
Valley Roud
Ronney . Road
WINCHESTER
Valley Road
Mills
campo
0
0
BATTLEFIELD OF WINCHESTER, VA.
March 23d, 1862
129
BATTLE OF KERNSTOWN, OR WINCHESTER
reappeared, and made an attack upon the outposts below Winchester, of which General Shields said :
"On the 22d about 5 o'clock P. M., Ashby's cavalry at- tacked and drove in some of our pickets. By order of Gen- eral Banks I put my command under arms and pushed for- ward one brigade and two batteries of artillery to drive back the enemy, but to keep him deceived as to our strength, only let him see two regiments of infantry, a small body of cav- alry, and part of our artillery. While directing one of our batteries to its position, I was struck by a fragment of shell which fractured my left arm above the elbow, bruised my shoulder, and injured my side. The enemy being driven from his position, we withdrew to Winchester."
As a precautionary measure, however, the First and Sec- ond Brigades with Daum's artillery were pushed forward nearly three miles, on the Strasburg pike, making the re- quisite dispositions, while the Third Brigade was held in reserve in the suburbs of Winchester.
On Sunday morning, the 23d, this brigade returned to camp but under instructions to be ready to fall in at a mo- ment's notice. Some of the men, "scenting the battle from afar," were busy writing brief messages to their loved ones, when the sound of Ashby's guns again fell upon their ears.
Near II o'clock A. M. the bugler sounded "Fall in," the five regiments were soon in readiness, and with the Seventh Ohio leading, Colonel Tyler's brigade moved to the front.
In passing through Winchester the windows, porches, and even trees and housetops were seen occupied by the citizens (whose sympathies were strongly with the attacking force ), with their anxious faces turned toward Kernstown, from whence the sullen boom of distant artillery was now fre- quently heard.
Upon reaching the field the brigade halted some distance in the rear of Colonel Daum's batteries, posted along a ridge, from which they were replying to the enemy's guns. Here the Seventh Ohio and Seventh Indiana Regiments 9
130 SEVENTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
were detached as the artillery support. Colonel Nathan Kimball, who assumed command when General Shields was wounded, said :
"We had succeeded in driving the enemy from both flanks and the front until about 4 o'clock P. M., when Jack- son, with the whole of his infantry, supported by artillery and cavalry, took possession of the hill on the right, and planted his batteries in commanding position, and opened a heavy and well-directed fire upon our batteries and their supports, attracting our attention whilst he attempted to gain our right flank with his infantry.
"At this juncture I ordered the Third Brigade. Col. E. B. Tyler, Seventh Ohio, commanding, to move to the right to gain the flank of the enemy, and charge through the wood to their batteries posted on a hill. This brigade moved for- ward steadily and gallantly, opening a galling fire on the enemy's infantry."
Colonel Tyler said :
"At about 4 o'clock Colonel Kimball ordered me to pro- ceed with my command down a ravine to the rear of a piece of woods on our right, and thence along the woods to the rear of a point on the enemy's left flank, where he had a battery of two pieces planted. I succeeded in reaching the enemy's rear unperceived by him, but found him in large force, and on the eve of attempting a flank movement simi- lar to ours to capture Robinson's battery.
"Our front was within musket range of him when he opened on us, and with such force that I immediately or- dered up my reserve. His position was a strong one, and stubbornly maintained for a time, but he was at length forced to fall back before the incessant and well-directed fire of our men. He was protected in front by a stone fence while our only breastworks were the scattered trees of the woods, and a small natural embankment, and the fact that all of his killed and wounded in that locality were struck in the head speaks in stronger terms than I can use of the skill of our men as marksmen.
I3I
BATTLE OF KERNSTOWN, OR WINCHESTER
"After my brigade had thus bravely stood their ground for at least an hour, other regiments came up, when the complete rout of the enemy was effected, he leaving for me 2 pieces of artillery (1 iron 12-pounder and I brass 6-pounder) with caissons, and all his dead and wounded. Both men and officers of my command fought with most commendable bravery and determination, and are entitled to special mention. The colors of the Seventh Ohio were struck by 28 balls, one carrying away the crescent of the spearhead, another breaking the staff. To Acting Assistant Adj .- Gen. E. S. Quay and Aide-de-camp Henry Z. Eaton, of my staff, I am greatly indebted for the prompt perform- ance of their respective duties."
The Seventh Ohio had the right and led the Third Bri- gade in this battle, where its losses were quite perceptibly heavier than that of any other regiment in it.
As we approached the enemy Sergeant Llew. R. Davis of Company A was sent forward as a scout to locate the enemy, and did so gallantly and effectively, for which he was given a commission.
Lieut .- Col. Creighton's horse was struck by a bullet, and becoming unmanageable dashed toward the enemy, when his rider dexterously sprang from the saddle, thereby avoid- ing capture. He then picked up the gun of a disabled sol-' dier and fought in the ranks until the order came to charge, when away he went abreast of the liveliest and best of his men.
Major Casement sat his horse like a statue, several bul- lets passing through his clothing, but doing no harm, while Colonel Tyler, although commanding the brigade, took posi- tion near his regiment regardless of danger.
Wilder of Company C, said :
"In the course of the action, Day, Dickinson, and Worcester [of that company], to secure good shots, made their way around nearly to the rear of the enemy. Here Worcester received his mortal wound. Lieutenant Junkins of General Jackson's staff, losing his way, Sergeant Day
132 SEVENTH REGIMENT OHIO VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
and an Indiana corporal beckoned him hitherward, captured and delivered him up as a prisoner of war. Orderly Dan- forth was killed in the first volley."
At dusk the battle of Kernstown ended, and the victors bivouacked upon the field, in the midst of the dead and dying and suffering, where great fires were built and around which the wounded were gathered, and made as comfortable as possible, in the open, on a damp frosty night in March.
Stonewall Jackson having been misled by the statements of his cavalry commander, Colonel Ashby, in reference to the number of Union troops at Winchester, hastened with all dispatch to return to make the attack at Kernstown, where, after a determined struggle from behind stone walls. favorably located, he was signally defeated, and pursued the next day, to beyond Strasburg, made the following re- port :
"As the enemy had been sending off troops and from what I could learn were still doing so, and having a pros- pect of success, I engaged him yesterday about 3 P. M. near Winchester, and fought until dusk; but his forces were so superior to mine that he repulsed me with the loss of valu- able officers and men killed and wounded; but from the obstinacy with which our troops fought and from their ad- vantageous position I am of the opinion that liis loss was greater than mine in troops, but I lost I piece of artillery and 3 caissons. Shields appears to have had 17 regiments of infantry. I heard he had much less when I made the attack."
When General Johnston, then commanding the Depart- ment of Northern Virginia, read the above, he said: "He evidently attacked the enemy under a misapprehension as to his force."
In his initial report of the battle of Kernstown, General Shields estimated the force of the enemy at about 15.000, under Jackson, Smith and Longstreet; but as neither Smith
I33
BATTLE OF KERNSTOWN, OR WINCHESTER
nor Longstreet was present, it is found, according to the official reports, that General Jackson had, in this engage- ment, but 2,742 men, and 18 pieces of artillery, while ac- cording to General Shields his own force amounted to 8,000 men, with about the same number of cannon as were used by the enemy.
The casualties reported in the Seventh Ohio were 20 killed, 62 wounded, and 10 missing; but as 9 of the missing reported for duty, there was but I man captured, making the total loss 83 .* Sergt .- Maj. Webb was among the killed. The total loss in Shields's division was 118 killed, 450 wounded, and 13 missing; total, 581. General Jackson re- ported 80 killed, 375 wounded, and 263 missing; total, 718.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.