USA > Ohio > The Twelfth Ohio cavalry; a record of its organization, and services in the war of the rebellion, together with a complete roster of the regiment > Part 3
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and improbable, but the contents of the wagon soon revealed the true state of the case. Rummaging among the books, cloth- ing, and trinkets of various kinds that composed the load, the inspecting officer found, at the bottom of all, a rough board coffin, whose weight indicated that it contained the object, whatever it might be, for which that night drive was being · undertaken. Coffins had carried things far different from corpses into the Confederacy, and this seemed, in all respects,
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a case open to suspicion. To wrench off the lid was but the work of a moment, and an ignited match revealed the dead face of a Confederate captain who had evidently fallen, not by disease, but by some sudden death. Then the truth came out : Morgan's division had attacked the camp at Mount Sterling, the few convalescents and musicians left in the tents had taken to a ditch and made a desperate fight before sur- rendering to overwhelming numbers. It had cost the rebels a number of lives to subdue that stubborn little squad, and this dead captain was one of the victims. He was a Virginian of high birth, and his remains had been started to his native State for interment.
The capture of the wagon was most opportune and signifi- cant. It's presence on that road, at that time, showed how fully Morgan had relied upon having escaped Burbridge. It showed that he knew nothing of the return, and the rapid, forced march of our column upon his rear. If Mount Sterling could be reached at dawn the surprise would be complete. Thus assured, the column spurred stubbornly on, forded a dangerous stream about two in the morning, which lengthened out the column sadly, and, finally began to recognize land- marks which gave the welcome assurance that the town was not far in advance. The trot now became a gallop, and the column swept madly along the hard, level turnpike which had at last been reached. The rebel pickets were encountered at a small town six miles from Mount Sterling, but so sudden and unexpected was the coming of the Union troopers that the sentries were swept up and disarmed before they could realize what had happened. It was now three o'clock-just an hour before the dawn would give the signal for attack. The advance now halted, and dismounted while the rear closed up, and a new disposition of the forces was made.
By a previous arrangement, the Twelfth Ohio and Eleventh Michigan Cavalry regiments were separated, and each placed at the head of a brigade of mounted infantry. This was in order that each brigade should have the advantage of sabres,
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in case opportunity should come to either for an open charge. Now, however, that the entire division was to charge along a narrow road into the camps of an enemy whose strength and position could only be conjectured, both cavalry regiments were wanted at the front. The column was accordingly halted, the Twelfth Ohio and Eleventh Michigan ordered up to the van, the Forty-fifth] Kentucky Mounted Infantry (about one hundred strong) retaining the extreme advance, as guides, and the Twelfth Ohio heading the main column.
The leading brigade, thus formed, was under the imme- diate command of Colonel John Mason Brown, of the Fifteenth Kentucky.
The remaining mounted infantry regiments constituted the second brigade, the command of which was assigned, for the occasion, to Colonel Ratliff, of the Twelfth Ohio, who took ,with him Adjutant Mason, as Aide and Adjutant-General, leaving the Twelfth in command of Lieut .- Colonel Bentley. All this was the work of but a few moments, and after a hasty council of brigade and regimental commanders, the Twelfth Ohio rattled past to its place in the front, and awaited the command to advance. The morning was cold, misty and cheerless-a fine rain falling slowly but steadily, and the fog hanging heavily upon the fields and woods. It was not a morning to inspire much heroism, nor was any such inspiration -needed. The men were desperate over the capture of their camp-they were anxious to know the fate of their companions, and avenge their defcat. Utter fatigue and desperate hunger had induced a sullen ferocity which made cach man cager for · the battle ; which, whatever its issue, could not be worse than the march from which it would bring a temporary relief.
Before proceeding to an account of the engagement, a brief description of the ground and the position of the enemy will be essential. Mount Sterling is a town of about two thousand inhabitants, lying, for the most part, along the main road running eastwardly from Lexington to Virginia. The
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length of the village from east to west is, perhaps, three- quarters of a mile. Near the eastern margin of the town the main street, already described, is bisected by the "Ticktown Turnpike," coming up from the south. It was along this turn- pike that the column of General Burbridge was advancing on the morning whose events are about to be described. On the north of the main road, half-a-mile east of the town, lay the camp of the Twelfth Ohio Cavalry, with its hospital and wagon train, all then in the secure possession of the enemy. The rebel force at this point consisted of the cavalry brigade of Colonel Giltner, amounting to, perhaps, six hundred men. South of the town, and on the west side of the Ticktown Pike, lay the camp of another part of Burbridge's division, which had been captured, and was then occupied by Morgan's brigade of veteran infantry. Approaching as we were, it would be this force which would be first encountered. The camp lay in an open wood covering the crest of a hill from which the ground sloped away, northward, to the town. Along the margin of the wood ran the turnpike, and between these a partially destroyed fence, made somewhat more formidable by the slight and irregular bank formed by the excavation made in leveling the road. In this camp lay between one and two thousand of the very best troops in the Confederate service. Secure as they thought, in the unaccustomed luxury of tents, the tired rebels slept soundly, little dreaming of the reveille by which they were to be awakened.
It will thus be seen that the forces to be attacked lay at ' two points, so situated that both could not be reached simul- taneously. The assaulting column must dash upon the infantry, overpower it, then hurry forward into the town, take the Owingsville road castward, and attack the cavalry. The collision with the infantry would rouse the cavalry and, pro- vided the latter were competently handled, induce a counter attack from that quarter. Should the rebel infantry rally from its first shock, and should Giltner prove too strong, the advance of the Federal Column would be caught between two fires, and in a favorable condition for capture or annihilation.
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It was not an ideal plan of attack for a regiment about to fight . its first battle ; but there was no help for it, and the Twelfth Ohio gladly accepted the costly honor of leading the advance. Just as the lingering dawn had begun to make the outlines of the ground distinguishable, the bugles blew the charge, and away went the column, sabres clattering, carbines at the hip, and every nerve set for the work in hand. Just at dawn the advance struck the enemy's inner picket line, which fired and fled. No one was hurt-the advance was not even slackened- but the firing roused the Confederate camp.
In an instant the half-clad rebels were out, muskets in hand, and received the charging column with an irregular, scattered volley-the fire coming from both sides of the road. Finding the enemy in small strength on the right of the pike, the Squadron of the Forty-fifth Kentucky, which led the way as a guide to the advance, wheeled to the right and engaged this force, leaving the Twelfth Ohio to deal with the main body on the left. It being apparent, within a few moments, that charg- ing through this camp to the town would be a hazardous experiment, Colonel Bentley ordered-" Left into line," bring- ing his men face to face with the enemy. "Forward," was now sounded, and, advancing on horseback, firing rapidly with carbine and pistol, the first battalion of the Twelfth drove the rebels through their camp, and back from the road, a distance of fifteen or twenty rods. This done, Colonel Bentley again wheeled his men into a column of fours, and galloped away · through the town to attack the cavalry camp. As the first battalion rode away from its first victory, it had time to see that it was alone. The remainder of the regiment had not come up. Had it done so, the fight on the hill would have been. ended then and there, and many a lite saved. But, through the mistaken judgment of Col. Hanson, of Gen. Bur- bridge's Staff, two pieces of artillery had been pushed forward 'into the middle of the Twelfth Cavalry column during the charge, the rear half of the regiment being halted to allow the guns to pass to the front. This cut the column in two-the first battalion and part of the third not receiving the order to
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halt until they had struck the enemy's pickets and it was too late to stop. Hardly had the useless artillery reached its place in the break which it had caused when a horse belonging to one of the pieces fell dead, and the narrow road was obstructed for twenty precious minutes. The other gun went forward, and, with sixty men of the centre battalion of the Twelfth, under Major Moderwell, reached the fight just in time to see the first battalion disappear over the hill. The rebels instantly rallied and assailed . the handful of men under Major Moder- well with desperate fury. The gunners and the artillery
horses were shot down almost in a moment. But Major Moderwell, with his gallant sixty, came forward splendidly and re-captured the piece. Just here was some terrible fighting, in the midst of which Major Moderwell was shot through the abdomen by a musket ball. The shot, as was subsequently learned, was fired by Colonel Brent, the commanding officer of the dismounted rebels, and who was at the same instant, in turn, seriously wounded by Major Moderwell. They were but a few rods apart when the shots were fired.
Four men, of Company "C," attempted to carry off the wounded officer; but one of them was shot down, and the major ordered the rest to lay down their burthen.
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The sixty men, now under command of Captain Hunter, fell back a few rods and took position in the road, which at that point, was a few feet below the surface of the adjacent land. On came the rebels, but those sixty Spencer rifles made the advance a costly one. Captain Hunter was soon disabled by a severe wound in the right shoulder, and Lieut. Snyder, next in rank, had been taken prisoner in the first charge. The men were thus left without officers, but they never waver- ed. The slight excavation of the road partially covered them from the rebel fire, while every enemy that appeared over the crest of the ridge became a mark for a carbineer.
Thus the battle hung for several minutes. Forty of their number had been killed, wounded or captured, and the heroic
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little squad was well nigh surrounded, when suddenly, with a rush and a shout, the remainder of the Regiment, all dismount- ed, appeared upon the scene. The new strength came not a moment too soon, for the little detachment was on the verge of being overpowered, in a position where retreat was impossible. What had happened in the rear was as follows:
The column, as has been seen, was cut in two at the moment the advance was about entering the fight, by the section of artillery, injudiciously forced to a position near the front of the attacking body. The dead artillery horse and the halted gun carriage formed for the moment an impassable blockade in the narrow road. Before it could be removed, the first battalion, which had gone into the fight, might be overpowered. This the company commanders of the third and second battalions saw in an instant. The first to act upon the requirements of the moment was Captain Degenfeld, commanding squadron "I," a veteran whose keen eye saw instantly that it was no time to await orders. His horses could not go forward, but the men could, and in a moment Company "I" was dismounted and deploying forward in the field on the left of the road. A moment later Major Collier, commanding the rear battalion, had pushed forward through the crowd, saw the situation, dismounted his remaining companies and the two squadrons of Major Moderwell's battalion which had been cut off by the artillery, and throwing his men into line on the left of the road, advanced at double quick to the support of Degenfeld, who by this time had his hands full. The rebels by this time had fully recovered from their surprise, and for twenty minutes after the arrival of Major Collier the fighting was terrific.
The Eleventh Michigan came up in a few minutes, formed on the left of the Twelfth Ohio, the Fortieth Kentucky upon its left, and these regiments, joining in a charge, drove the rebels before them over the hill, through their camp and down across a ravine, into the town. The road had now been cleared, the horses were brought up, and Major Collier, remounting his
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men, cantered into the village to help finish the fight then going on to the north and east of the place. Here the first battalion, shattered by the loss of sixty or eighty men in its first encoun- ter, had found a serious task. Finding itself alone, with the remainder of the division nowhere in sight or within immediate supporting distance, and being already between the cavalry and infantry camps of the enemy, it had no resource left but to fight. Straight into town rode the two hundred, wheeled to the right, and galloped away to attack the rapidly forming line of rebels, full six hundred strong. Stopping a moment to form, the whole line dashed savagely at the rebels. At the same instant Lieut. Defigh who, with Company "F," had pushed straight north- ward through the town, and had galloped toward the enemy's line by a ravine which concealed the maneuvre, came crashing upon the right flank of the rebels, throwing their line into momentary confusion. This fortunate and daring exploit, being supported instantly by the assault of the main detachment in front, broke the rebel line completely, and within five minutes it was in rapid and disorderly retreat. The camp of the Twelfth Cavalry was re-captured, and the defeated troopers of Morgan driven through the fields north of the town, where a few of them suceeeded in joining the infantry, which was retreating along the Lexington Pike; to the west of Mt. Sterling. Many of the rebel troopers were captured and many driven away into the woods, whence they gladly deserted the waning for- tunes of Morgan and escaped to their homes. John Morgan himself was not present with his troops in the first engagement. He had gone the evening before with about eight hundred cavalry to Winchester, a village fifteen miles west of Mt. Ster- ling. As soon as he heard of the attack he hastened towards the battle field, but arrived too late to take part in the fight. He, however, succeeded in arresting the flight of his beaten division, and soon got his whole command into a strong position on some hills west of Mt. Sterling.
As the fugitive cavalry had seen but about two hundred "Yankees," and even the infantry had seen but about twelve
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hundred, Morgan concluded that there could be no considerable force there. So, when to his eight hundred fresh troops he had rallied about twelve hundred of the fugitives, he felt strong enough to renew the engagement, and retrieve, if possible, the fortunes of the day. He therefore at once formed his men into a dismounted brigade, distributed ammunition and made ready to advance. Of these movements, however, our generals were profoundly ignorant. They supposed the enemy entirely routed and demoralized.
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Meantime the remainder of General Burbridge's command had occupied the town, collected the prisoners, and greeted their comrades whom the enemy had captured the day before, but who were now released.
Just here we may properly return, for a moment, to watch the conduct of the little detachment of the Twelfth Ohio left in charge of the camp during the absence of the regiment. The detachment embraced, in all, about one hundred men, including the sick, the regimental teamsters, band, convalescents, in short the whole list of ineffectives, together with perhaps thirty sound, . able-bodied men left in charge of the camp. The whole was under command of Captain Parkinson, of Squadron "H," who was ably assisted by two Sergeants, one of whom was William I. Pond, of Squadron "F." Captain Parkinson con- tinued to picket the main roads leading from Mount Sterling with his small force, and all went smoothly until shortly before daylight of the 8th, when an officer came out from Mount Sterling with the news that something was in the wind. People in town had been up all night. Strange men had been seen on the streets, and the boldest rebel sympathizers had not hesitated to say, openly, that their friends were coming to take the village. Parkinson ordered his men under arms, and on the return of the pickets from the Ticktown road, asked the cor- poral what he had seen. The corporal had seen nothing, but had noticed strange indications about the country. Lights had been kept burning and dogs had barked at the farm houses all night.
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Hardly had this explanation been heard when firing began to be heard in town. Parkinson at once left his camp and with his detachment ascended a hill upon which the regimental hospital had been located, and prepared for defense. Scarcely had the position been reached when he was attacked from two or three sides. The enemy came closing round in a line at first thin and scattered, but gradually growing stronger, until the little detachment found itself fighting at least two full regiments. Not a man of the Twelfth Ohio flinched. Armed with their repeating carbines, they poured into the enemy a hot, well- sustained fire for more than twenty minutes, during which they repulsed three distinct assaults, when the rebels, having lost a Captain and ten or twelve men killed, made a savage charge in overwhelming force and drove the little detachment down the hill, where it took position in a ditch leading from the spring in the centre of the camp. Here another desperate stand was made, but the long rebel line soon wrapped around so as to enfilade the ditch, the Ohioans were driven out, and retired through the tents, still fighting desperately. At this moment cavalry came up in the rear, and the little squad, finding itself surrounded, yielded to superior numbers, and surren- dered. They were at once disarmed and kept in the camp all day, whence they mostly escaped or were recaptured on the arrival of their friends the next morning. The capture of this little party had been a costly task to Morgan. Two of his favorite Captains had been killed, one of whom filled the coffin met by Burbridge's column, on the road to Virginia, and the other was found laid out in state in a small office opposite the Montgomery Hotel. Sergeant Pond behaved with admirable valor, and his example inspired the men to a defense which called forth encomiums from even their enemies.
We return to Burbridge and his men, after their first victory in Mount Sterling, on the morning of the ninth of June. More through the instinct of veterans than by reason of any order from superior officers, the Twelfth Ohio Regiment formed a strong line along the west front of the town, facing
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the enemy, who held the hills a short distance beyond and might return at any moment. The Eleventh Michigan covered the roads leading northward, and was thus placed within support- ing distance of the Ohio men. All this had been completed by nine in the morning. Sergeant Worcester, of Company "F." had been posted with halt a dozen men on the Lexington road, some two hundred yards in advance of the line, as an outpost, and, feeling comparatively secure, the field officers of the Twelfth returned to the town to look after ammunition. Details were sent out to procure food for the famished men, and a majority of those left lay down in line to sleep. Thus matters were at eleven o'clock, when a sharp firing in the region of Sergeant Worcester's picket-post, announced the return of the enemy. A moment later Major Herrick galloped up to the spot, and found the sergeant with but three men left, himself wounded, and exposed to the concentric fire of an advancing line of rebels, but stoutly holding his ground and awaiting orders to retire. These were of course at once given, the picket retired to the main line, and the regiment, with freshly filled cartridge boxes, took position behind a post and rail fence for what proved the sharpest conflict of the day. The scattered rebels had been concentrated and re-organized on the hills west of the town, and now came bearing down with the desperate purpose of reclaiming the day. The cavalry men, now accustomed to their weapons and confident of their aim, waited until the enemy was within easy range, and then opened a fire which speedily threw the veteran musketeers into con- fusion. For twenty minutes the firing was terrific, and at the end of that time Lieutenant Defigh, seeing the enemy's line begin to waver, sprang over the fence, calling upon "all of Company ' F' who wanted to stop this thing," to follow him. Company " F," of course, followed, and in an instant the entire remainder of the regiment was over the fence making their second carbine charge for that day. The rebels had learned * sufficient respect for those terrible repeaters not to wish a closer acquaintance, and as the Twelfth came sweeping down, the
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Confederate line broke, fell back, and, when pursuit ceased, took up a rapid helter skelter march for Lexington. Though lasting but half-an-hour, this second engagement was the most fierce and bloody of the day. The fence held by the Twelfth Cavalry as a breastwork, was riddled with bullets; behind it lay fifty or sixty dead and wounded. The loss of the rebels was in much greater proportion. They had more men engaged, their line was wholly exposed, and their muskets could fire but one shot while the carbineers, lying on their faces behind the fence, could deliver six or seven.
Thus closed, with a complete victory for the Federals, the assault upon Morgan at Mount Sterling. It was a fight won by the rank and file and their own immediate officers.
The attack was competently planned, but the artillery farce threw the whole column into disorder, kept back all but some three or four hundred men, for what seemed hours of precious time, and gave the enemy an opportunity to wage a desperate fight, and make good its escape. Colonel Bentley, and Major Herrick, who led the first battalion through its stormy gaunt- let to a second victory, Major Moderwell and Captain Hunter, who faced the entire infantry brigade of the enemy during the terrible twenty minutes before the remainder of the column arrived, and, finally, Major Collier, who came up and, in the absence of generals, closed the fight on his own responsibility; all behaved admirably, and earned the favorable notice which they all received. Lieutenant J. J. Defigh, of Company "L," distinguished himself brilliantly in the attack upon the cavalry camp, and afterwards in the fight on the Lexington road, by scaling the fence behind which the regiment had been fighting, and calling his men to follow. This they did, of course, the remainder of the regiment followed, and this final carbine charge of dismounted cavalry closed the battle of Mount Sterling. It was the first fight in which our regiment had been engaged, but it came through the ordeal nobly. When all was over, General Burbridge thanked the regiment with the remark that it had saved the day for him. The Twelfth Cavalry,
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in fact, took the advance, bore the brunt of the fighting, and sustained more than half the entire loss of the division. The regiment lost, in killed, wounded and missing, one hundred and ninety-seven men.
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The beaten enemy having, fled towards Lexington, it was apparent that the command of General Burbridge was in no im- .mediate condition to follow. For four days and nights men and horses had been without sleep. For more than two days food had been unknown in the command. A hasty dinner was now improvised, pickets posted on all the roads, and officers, men, and horses lay down on the ground-the pavement-anywhere, to sleep. Ammunition was issued during the afternoon, the wounded were gathered into churches and dwellings by the citizens, and, after a night of the sweetest sleep that we had ever known, the command awoke refreshed, and ready. for another advance. By six o'clock the column was in motion, and moved rapidly in the direction of Lexington. The distance was thirty-three miles, but the constant trot over the hard pike brought us to the city before two in the afternoon. Morgan had been there, robbed the banks and stores, held the town in terror for a night, and then retreated, eight hours before the arrival of Burbridge, taking a northerly course toward Cincinnati. To go further with the horses which Burbridge's command was then riding was impossible, and twelve hours were given to the work of re-mounting and re-organization. Two thousand fresh horses were brought in from Camp Nelson. eighteen miles to the southward, all the government animals in the city, and many private horses which the citizens brought from their hiding places and offered, were distributed to the division, the jaded beasts which had served us so faithfully were turned out to the fresh blue-grass of June, and at two o'clock the next morning the command, freshly mounted and
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