USA > Wisconsin > History of the First Wisconsin Battery Light Artillery > Part 8
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There was yet some corn standing in Poor Valley, and Gen- eral Morgan determined to head a foraging expedition for the purpose of getting it. That he might have a battery ready to assist in the defense of his foragers, if they should be attacked, he decided to mask a section of the 1st Wisconsin Battery in a commanding position near the east end of the aforesaid ridge, with which end in view he gave instructions to the military engineers, West Pointers, to prepare a road up and alongside of the ridge so the artillery could be gotten into position with- out being discovered by the enemy. The expedition was to start at 4 a. m. Lieutenant Webster was ordered to go with the section. and his orders were to proceed to a certain point where he would find a newly-prepared road which he was to follow until he reached a certain other point. designated by certain well-known landmarks, where he was to go into battery and watch the movements of the enemy closely ; and. above all. he was especially enjoined not to show himself or his guns. He followed the foraging train until said new road was reached, when he turned into and followed it. The grades were nice and the angles gracefully turned, but the road led to the top of the ridge and in full view of the enemy. some 250 yards from the point designated for the guns to be stationed, to reach which point it was necessary to travel on the crest of said ridge in plain view of the rebels. Webster halted his section as soon as he discovered this condition and hastened as fast as his horse would carry him to report to General Mor- gan. He found General Morgan just as the column was enter- ing the lower end of the valley, and told him it was now impos-
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HI. A. RIFFENBERG.
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sible to get to the designated point without being seen. The General indulged in some misapplied scriptural language, but said there was no other way now than to go ahead.
When the first gun appeared on the ridge there was seen to be a commotion in the enemy's camp. They at once turned out to oppose our foraging party, and sent a few shell to drive our guns away : but we, at least, held our own. As a result of our early exposure on the "scientific" road plan but little forage was secured.
A few days afterward General Morgan sent for Lieutenant Webster and asked him if he could get his guns up on that ridge and get them in position without being seen by the enemy ? Webster told him he certainly could. if he was permitted to try it. The General told him to call for a detail of as many men as he wanted and to report to him when the road was ready.
The Lieutenant told him that there were a few "swampers" in the 1st Wisconsin Battery that he would take to do the work. The word "swampers" seemed to confuse the General some- what, but when he was informed that it was a name applied to those men who cut roads in the pine woods, that the heavy logs might be hauled to the streams and the mills, he saw the point. The Lieutenant took with him. as nearly as can be recalled, Eph Hackett, Dick Kimball, Billy McKeith, Myron Hill, John Heckman and a dozen or more others, and soon prepared a way by which the desired end could be accomplished, and so re- ported. The next day a successful raid was made on the corn patch, and the 1st Wisconsin Battery, or a portion of it, was placed where it could do the most good in defending the same, and without being seen by the enemy. This put the Battery another notch ahead in the estimation of the General, who on the latter occasion took a position near our guns from which he could watch the foraging column with a glass.
After this there was no further attempt to go foraging. or expectation of receiving supplies until the siege should be raised.
From the mountain top, where the 30-pounder guns were stationed. we could see the rebel camps some three or four miles away. and we used to amuse ourselves by throwing shells into said camps. They had no guns that could reach us, so it was not as interesting as might otherwise have been.
A comrade thus describes an incident of our isolation from the outside world: "While at the East Spring one day, just after dinner, hearing the assembly sounded, I hurried down the rocky roadside to camp and found the boys in line answering to what I thought was a roll call, but was amazed to hear the Orderly call 'Mary E. French.' and a bronzed soldier answered 'here,' stepped to the front and got a letter. 'Susan Brown,'and another strapping cannoneer answer 'here,' and got a letter.
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Other feminine names were called and responded to by persons of decidedly masculine form and feature. Finally, to one of the most feminine names there were two answers and two sol- diers stepped forward to get the letter. The tall cannoneer looking down on the shorter like a Shanghai rooster peeking into a jug. They had both been corresponding with the same girl, and this was a blockaded mail, being 'returned to the writer.' "
On the 30th of August, 1862. in General Orders, No. 81, issued to the soldiers of his command, General Morgan said :
Comrades! General Halleck, Commander-in-Chief, thus addresses you: "Hold on firmly. You will very soon be reinforced. Don't yield an inch. Fight the enemy whenever he appears."
I know right well, soldiers, how your brave hearts will respond to this appeal from our General-in-Chief. Already our brothers of the 3d Tennessee and 3d Kentucky have grappled with the foe. At Big Hill Lieutenant-Colonel Childs repulsed, with great loss to the enemy, a force five times greater than his own, and when surrounded cut his way through with a loss of only 80 in killed, wounded and missing.
In Jackson County, Colonel Garrard was attacked by the enemy's cavalry, but he scattered them to the wind.
From Lexington comes the most glorious tidings. Four regiments are daily arriving, and they are impatient to be led against the enemy. Let every man determine to conquer and victory is already ours.
By command of General Morgan.
CHARLES O. JOLINE, A. D. C.
But the relief did not come as was promised. It would seem that the rebels, with their characteristic disregard of our plans and purposes. had interposed an objection in the shape of a superior force. But, perhaps, the following General Order, issued September 5, 1862, will explain more fully :
General Order No. 85.
Cumberland Gap, September 5, 1862.
Soldiers: Unlike the rebel commanders, I have the fullest confi- dence in the intelligence, as in the devoted courage of the brave men who compose the rank and file, and, as to brothers and friends, 1 communicate to you all the important movements of the opposing armies. As you are aware, soldiers, General Smith lately crossed into Kentucky with 25,000 men, who were met at Big Hill by a little army composed of 10,000 Kentuckians, Indianians and Ohioans, and after a gallant struggle, which lasted for three days, our forces fell back to the Kentucky River, met a large reinforcement under General Nelson, and, on Wednesday, were again gallantly fighting.
You will all be glad to know that our brave comrades of the 3d Kentucky and Mundy's Cavalry participated in the fight and covered themselves with glory.
Now, soldiers, you are about to be called upon to prove that you possess the highest attributes of courage, endurance and fortitude. If you are true to yourselves and our cause you will receive the thanks and admiration of the Nation.
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The first thing to be done is to learn economy. Do not waste a grain of bread or an ounce of meat, and give up the pernicious habit of eating green corn. Let the corn get ripe, for we will need every ear
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of it to make bread. Let it be your pride, soldiers, to preserve this mountain stronghold to the Union, and though Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia should be overcome for a time by the foe, let us guard one sacred spot on the soil of each of these States over which the Stars and Stripes shall defiantly wave.
By command of General Morgan.
CHARLES O. JOLINE, A. D. C. Headquarters United States Forces, Manchester, Sept. 20, 1862.
General Halleck censured Morgan for presuming to "hold on" in pursuance of his own orders, when he was short of pro- visions, but General Wright defended Morgan, and Halleck afterwards ungraciously "crawfished."
Our army was now destitute of supplies; not a Union soldier within 200 miles and engirdled by the armies of Stevenson, Smith, Bragg and Humphrey Marshall, with John Morgan and his "fearless riders" ready to pounce on rear or front. The enemy would not attack, for, as Colonel Forsyth, then on the staff of General Bragg, says in his "Memoranda of Facts," "The stronghold of Cumberland Gap would have defied our combined armies in a direct assault."" Colonel Capron, one of Kirby Smith's staff, said they looked upon us as prisoners, but thought possibly we might try to get out of the trap by going into Virginia, in which case we would be surely captured by a portion of their army. They never dreamed it possible for us to get away from them. Kirby Smith, when at Cumberland Ford, sent a demand to General Morgan for a surrender, to which General Morgan replied: "If you want this fortress, come and take it." He did not want it-at least he did not comply with the terms contingent upon its surrender.
Perhaps the best idea of our situation and condition may be gained from the following extract from the account of said siege furnished by General Morgan to the Century War Book. He says :
"Our situation was now critical. We had been three months in this isolated position. Our only reasonable hope of succor had been destroyed by the defeat of Nelson's force at Richmond on the 30th of August. We were destitute of forage. The horses of the 9th Ohio Battery literally starved to death, and their skeletons were dragged outside the lines. Our supplies of food were rapidly becoming exhausted. DeCourcey had been sent to Manchester, 60 miles distant, in hope of obtaining sup- plies, but there was scarcely enough for his own brigade. En- veloped on every side by the enemy, absolutely cut off from my base of supplies, and with starvation staring us in the face, I assembled a council of war, and stating the situation in a few words, asked for the opinion of the members. Spears, Car- ter and Baird (DeCourcey being absent ) gave it as their opin- ion, in which I concurred, that retreat was inevitable. In fact, I
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had already marked out in red chalk on the map of Kentucky my line of retreat, just as it was afterwards carried out. Hold- ing out the idea that we were seeking to obtain supplies by the way of the barren wilderness through which I proposed to reach the Ohio, I had previously caused Lieutenant-Colonel George W. Gallup, of the 14th Kentucky, a soldier of rare merit, to send me at intervals men of his command familiar with the country through which each day's march would have to be made. The information given me by these brave mountaineers was discouraging. The want of water, the rugged character of the defiles, the almost absolute want of supplies, were stated by everyone, but the opinion was expressed that a few wagons, laden with half a ton each, might get through. My topograph- ical engineer. Captain Sidney S. Lyon, a man of fine intelli- gence and skill, had been the geologist of Kentucky. and was familiar with every foot of the State. Pointing out to him the line I had marked across the map I said: 'Can I take my divi- sion by that route to the Ohio River ?' 'Yes, possibly by abandoning the artillery and wagons.' However, there was no practical choice. To retreat on Lexington would have placed my division, with its reduced numbers, between Stevenson in our immediate rear, and Smith in our front, Bragg on our left and Humphrey Marshall on our right, with the passes of the Wild Cat or the Big Hill to overcome. I therefore determined to retreat by the red chalk line, and at all hazards to take my artillery and wagons with me.
"Stevenson, who knew as well as I did that I must attempt a retreat, was vigilant and energetic. From a knob on the east flank of Baptist Gap. with the aid of a good telescope, he could see all that was going on in Cumberland Gap. His line was nearly a semi-circle, the opposite points of the diameter rest- ing on the mountain's base to the right and left of the Gap. His policy was to starve us out."
During our occupancy of the Gap a large magazine had been built and stored with a good supply of ammunition, and an arsenal provided in which there had been placed 4,000 stands of small arms. A vast storehouse capable of holding supplies for 20,000 men for six months was built, and until our com- munications were cut off there were numerous wagon trains transporting rations and other supplies from Lexington. Not so much had been received. however, but what we found our- selves besieged and short of provisions, particularly bread and meat. There was. however, a considerable supply of coffee. sugar and beans on hand. As soon as it was fully decided to retreat by the "chalk line" preparations were promptly made for the "excursion." Strict orders limiting the amount of bag- gage of officers and men were issued. The former were
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limited to a valise while the latter were restricted to as little as could possibly be required. All surplus clothing was to be destroyed. In short, we were to take only that which would be absolutely necessary for the trip. All tents were to be destroyed and all wagons and harness that could not be taken for want of horses or mules were to be cut up or burned. The Battery was furnished with mules in place of its horses, which had been given to the cavalry soon after we were surrounded by the enemy, as were all other ser- viceable horses in the command. The six 20-pounder Parrotts were put in charge of Lieutenant Webster and a detail of a company of the 5th Tennessee Regiment, commanded by Cap- tain Young. As it was thought quite probable that these guns might have to be abandoned, and as there were no serviceable horses or mules, not otherwise "appropriated," the condemned horses, of which there was a goodly number, were turned over to Webster to haul his guns with. These horses were not only poor in flesh but were worn down and afflicted with numerous and expansive collar and saddle galls. They were, in fact, a sorry lot, the only redeeming feature of the case being that there were plenty of them, there being enough to furnish eight horses to each gun and caisson, with 12 or 15 extra. Lieutenant Webster applied for a team to carry sup- plies and camp equipage, but it was refused, as no camp equip- age was to be taken. As he had the horses he thought they might as well haul something along as far as they went, so took a squad of men and six of the best horses from the "extras" and went first to the pile of harness that had been "marked for destruction" and selected harness for them, then to the place where the wagons were being gathered for the burning that awaited them, and selected and hitched on to a good one that was well fitted with sheets and bows. He then drove to the commissary building where the extra stores were being destroyed and loaded into his wagon a barrel of beans, a sack of coffee. and a barrel of sugar, and from there to his headquarters and put in his trunk (which he has at this writ- ing) and then ordered the driver to take his place in the Quar- termaster's train when it should start. The "deception" was never detected by the higher authorities, and as a consequence the siege battery had coffee in plenty for use and to trade with the few natives that had anything to trade for it, as well as to share with their less fortunate comrades. Captain Foster also "smuggled" an ambulance, in which he carried his trunk. a tent and sundry other plunder.
The army tents were cut and torn in such a manner as to render them unserviceable for shelter or seclusion, and were left standing. All other property that could not be taken was destroyed. The 30-pounder Parrotts were dismounted. spiked.
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solid shot rammed down them and the trunnions knocked off or so weakened as to render them unserviceable, as was thought. They were all placed upon blocks under either end and then subjected to constant hammering with ponderous sledges mid- way between the said blocks, with a view to springing or bend- ing the said guns. The writer hereof witnessed the spiking, the ramming of the shot home, the commencement of the ham- mering and the drilling and the wedging of the trunnions and was led to believe that the work had been well and thoroughly done, but he has since learned that two of said guns were not injured and that the rebels had gotten them up and put them in use. General Morgan further says in the Century War Book :
"During the night of the 16th of September a long train of wagons was sent toward Manchester under the convoy of Colo- nel Coburn's 33d Indiana, two companies of Garrard's 3d Kentucky Regiment, and the 9th Ohio Battery. This entire night and the following day, every preparation was made for the retreat. Mines had been constructed to blow up the maga- zines and the arsenal and fire the vast storehouses constructed and under construction. Everything moved with the precision of a well-constructed and well-oiled piece of machinery, until late in the afternoon of the 17th, when a report came from our signal station on the crest of the mountain that a flag of truce was approaching from the enemy. This was in reality a party of observation. I therefore sent Lieutenant-Colonel Gallup, with a small escort and a few shrewd officers, to meet the enemy's flag outside our picket lines. The officers on either side were laughing and joking together, when suddenly a glare of fire shone from the valley at the foot of the Gap and a volume of smoke curled over Poor Valley Ridge. One of the Confed- erates exclaimed, Why, Colonel, what does that mean ? It looks like an evacuation.' With admirable coolness and ad- dress Gallup replied, Not much; Morgan has cut away the timber obstructing the range of his guns and they are now burning the brush on the mountain side.' This off-hand ex- planation was apparently satisfactory, but the fact was that some reckless person had fired a Quartermaster's building,-a criminal blunder that might have cost us dear.
"On the night of the 17th Gallup, with a body of picked men, was left to guard the three roads leading from the camps of Stevenson, and to fire the vast Quartermaster buildings, as well as the enormous storehouse, nearly completed, on the crest of the mountain, and near the Gap. The arsenal, containing four thousand stands of small arms, and a large amount of shells and grenades, had been mined and trains had been laid to the magazines.
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"At S o'clock that night my command wheeled into column with the coolness and precision of troops on review; and with- out hurry, without confusion, with no loud commands, but with resolute confidence, the little army, surrounded by peril on every side, set out on its march of over 200 miles through the wilderness. Toward morning Gallup fired the vast buildings and trains leading to the mines. The shock of the explosion was felt fourteen miles away; the flaming buildings lighted up the sky as though the Gap and mountain crests were a volcano on fire, and from time to time till after dawn we heard the ex- plosion of mines, shells or grenades. At Manchester we halted for a day and a half to concentrate the command, and to or- ganize for the march before us. A day or two before a soldier had murdered a comrade in cold blood, under circumstances of great aggravation. I had ordered a court to try him. The sen- tence, of course, was death, and at the very moment of the exe- cution the firing of our troops could be heard repelling the dash of Stevenson's cavalry on the wagon train."
The "chalk line" that we were to follow in our search for "the happy land of Canaan" led through the counties of Bell, Knox, Clay, Owsley, Wolf, Elliott, Carter, Morgan and Greenup. The principal towns through which we passed were Flat Lick, Manchester, Proctor, Hazel Green, West Liberty and Grayson.
General Spear's Tennessee Brigade, with a section of the 1st Wisconsin Battery between the different regiments, led the column and made Flat Lick, 20 miles distant, before halting. It was of General Spear that General Morgan wrote to General Wright, "He is energetic and able, but don't comprehend that war is not extermination." The last of the army had scarcely left the camps before the work of destruction began, resulting in as grand a display of fireworks as one could reasonably expect to see in a lifetime. The grass was not allowed to grow under our feet until we reached Manchester, where the column was halted for rest and concentration. As soon as General Morgan arrived he issued the following order :
General Order No. 98.
Soldiers: Instead of a stronghold you left Cumberland Gap a mass of smouldering ruins, and marched away like conquerors from the field of their triumph.
Without the loss of a man you held it for three months and in- creased its strength a hundredfold. During the one month you were besieged you sent out five expeditions, four times attacked the enemy, captured five hundred prisoners and killed and wounded about 117 more, and when your services were demanded elsewhere you brought with you all your field and nearly all the siege pieces, and the stores and the magazines were blown into the air in the very teeth of the foe.
But now, comrades, new and greater difficulties are to be met and conquered. A long march is before you through a region regarded as
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impracticable for an army. It is for you to prove that nothing is impossible to brave men when fighting for their country.
You must economize your rations and make one canteen of water serve for two days' march. When you drink swallow but a mouthful and your thirst will be assuaged. Those who disregard this advice will suffer for their carelessness, and risk being left upon the roadside to the tender mercies of the enemy's cavalry. But I am sure, com- rades, that your judgment and endurance will prove equal to your courage, and that you will secure for yourselves, by your bearing, the confidence and admiration of your country.
GEORGE W. MORGAN, Brigadier-General Commanding.
E. D. Saunders, A. D. C. Acting A. A. G.
Notwithstanding the hurry and anxiety incident upon a re- treat with a vastly superior army following close in our rear, time was taken to empanel a court-martial and try a soldier for the crime of murder, condemn, sentence and execute him in the presence of the whole army, before leaving Manchester.
On the 21st of September Patterson's and Tidd's Corps of Engineers, under direction of Lieutenant Craighill, Chief of Engineers, started about 10 a. m. in advance, for the purpose of repairing the roads, escorted by the commands of Colonels Ray and Edwards.
On the 22d the army moved as follows:
Baird's Brigade, with Webster's siege train, started at 3 p. m. and marched to Island Creek, 10 miles.
Spear's Brigade, with Foster's and Clingman's Batteries, started at 6 a. m. and marched to Island Creek.
Carter's Brigade, with the 9th Ohio Battery, marched at 9 a m. and bivouacked at Island Creek.
DeCourcey's Brigade, with Lamphere's Battery, started at 2 p. m. and bivouacked at Clark's, 10 miles from Manchester.
Thus began one of the most difficult and arduous marches of modern warfare. A small army with a large train of wagons and upwards of 30 pieces of artillery, six of which pieces were heavy guns, surrounded by an army of much superior force, with little else than a veritable "chalk mark" for a road to travel upon, and that through a mountainous country which was thought to be impassable for an army. In some instances our route was over roads which were so badly washed that they had not been traveled for years only as bridle paths.
At Proctor, on the Kentucky River. where there was a large grist mill, we had expected to meet the enemy in considerable force, and were prepared for a fight. but when we arrived we found that John Morgan had been there and burned the mill and contents and had withdrawn to attack us at some other point. Here the column halted half a day for rest and rear- ranging the order of march.
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GEO. W. GALE.
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PROCTOR TO GRAYSON.
Thus far the traveling had been comparatively easy. There had been some semblance of roads, but, from this on, we were to literally feel our way through rocky hills and rugged de- files. It was once said of a certain railroad in Arkansas that its management had been such that there was nothing left of it but "two streaks of rust and the right of way." We were now entering a country through which the streak of rust was mostly obliterated, while the right of way was to be contested by an armed force.
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