Ohio History Journal

edited by

ROBERT W. HATTON

 

 

Just a Little Bit of the

Civil War, As Seen by

W. J. Smith, Company M,

2nd 0. V. Cavalry                             Conclusion

 

 

 

This is the second of two articles based upon the Civil War memoirs of Private

William James Smith, Company M, Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. In the first

article, which appeared in the Summer issue of Ohio History, Smith provides

some information about his pre-war life and enlistment at the age of seventeen

in the Dennison Guards prior to transferring to the 2nd OVC on December 30,

1862. Further, Smith describes in his own words the extent of his involvement as

well as that of his unit in action in Kentucky, East Tennessee, the Wilderness

Campaign, and General Philip H. Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley Campaign.

As this segment of the narration resumes, the time is late February of 1865,

and the end of the long, internecine conflict is in sight. Smith continues his ac-

count of events leading to the fall of Richmond and, finally, General Robert Ed-

ward Lee's surrender at Appomattox. With an end to hostilities in Virginia, the

2nd Ohio heads for home, avoiding a final engagement when General Joseph E.

Johnston surrenders in North Carolina.

On May 23 and 24, 1865, the Grand Review is held in Washington, D.C., sig-

naling the end of military service for most units of the volunteer army, but not for

the 2nd Ohio. Much to the displeasure of Smith and his comrades, they are sent

to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Missouri, for mustering out. While they are in the

area some of them, including Smith, take part in the capture of members of the

"Quantrill Gang," originally under the leadership of William Clarke Quantrill.

Smith's memoirs conclude with a series of varied personal reminiscences en-

titled "Notes and Incidents Along the Way." Some of these incidents are included

in this segment.

Continuation of Smith's Account

The orders were for any man not able to stand a long hard march to be left be-

hind. And for any man having a horse not able to go, to exchange with a man who

was to stay behind. Then along in the latter part of Feb. 1865 we started out, going

on the Valley PIKE, which was then in pretty fair condition, although there was

still some snow in the fields and woods, and the streams were up. At a number of

 

 

Mr. Hatton is Professor of Modern Languages at Capital University. He is the great-grandson of

William Smith.

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2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                   223

 

places the bridges were gone, having been burned the year before, and we had to

cross on pontoons, and in some cases swim our horses, and leave the pontoons for

the Artillery and wagon trains.

The EASTERN CAVALRY had never had much experience in swimming

streams, so it fell to the old SECOND OHIO to learn them how. When we started,

the Cavalry was all together, with Gen. SHERIDAN in command, but about the

second or third day Sheridan started Custer with our Division toward LYNCH-

BURG, while he took the rest of the force off on a route farther east. Our Division

moved on up the Valley Pike, but didn't meet any opposition worthy of mention,

until we reached WAYNESBORO on March 2, 1865. There we found Gen.

EARLY'S command of Infantry, and a few Cavalry who at first ACTED as if

they wanted to fight. But it didn't last long, only four or five hours, until we had

captured ALL of their Artillery, wagons, and quite a number of prisoners, the rest

of them taking to the hills.

From there we went to CHARLOTTESVILLE. There we tore up a lot of rail-

road and destroyed the railroad bridge, a big three-span iron bridge, by blowing

the abutments out and letting the bridge fall into the river.

The way they worked it was to put a lot of powder into the abutment, with a

string of it out on top of a stone. Then run a car of rails and rubbish out over it and

set it on fire. When the fire fell down to the powder the abutment WENT UP and

the bridge WENT DOWN.

While others were at that I was on guard at a wagon bridge not far off, to keep

any one from burning it, as our men had use for it later to get out of there. They

burned it when we left. While we were there some of the boys found several

pieces of Artillery in cellars. They also found quite a lot of muskets and other

government property, which they destroyed. The male population of the town

seemed to be made up of one-armed and one-legged Rebels.

From Charlottesville we moved southward, until we struck the JAMES RIVER

CANAL, leading from LYNCHBURG TO RICHMOND, which was one of the

main lines of supplies for Richmond. We followed the canal for quite a distance,

toward Richmond, blowing up locks and aqueducts and cutting the banks.

The plan we took for cutting banks was to drive a bar of iron or pole through

the bank at a narrow place, then pull it out and start a stream of water out toward

the river. The water would soon do the rest. In a little while the water would make

a gap wide enough to drive a team of horses through, letting the water out of that

level and leaving the boats on the bottom.

We captured quite a number of boats. All of those going toward Richmond

were loaded with supplies for the Rebel Army, such as bacon, hams, flour, meal,

corn, hay &c., some of which came in very nice for us, as we had to live off of the

country. We took care of what we could of it, and then COOKED THE REST.

We followed the canal as far as GOOCHLAND. There on March 11th we found

quite a force of Rebels who had apparently came out to WELCOME us to the

city. Having cut off all chance for GRUB to reach RICHMOND from that direc-

tion, after just FEELING of the force at GOOCHLAND, we went north to

WHITE HOUSE LANDING, on the MAT TA PO NY River. There we met a

couple of small steam boats, loaded with plank to lay on the railroad bridge, for

us to cross over.

They also had grub and AMMUNITION for us. The ammunition came in all

right, as we had used quite a lot since leaving Winchester, and our supply was

getting low. The coffee and sugar also came in all right, as the five days supply

we got at Winchester was getting low, and it was easier using HARDTACK than

making SLAPJACKS. But as for the SOWBELLY, we didn't have much use for

it, as nearly every man had a HAM hanging to his saddle.

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224                                                         OHIO HISTORY

 

There were a lot of Colored Troops with the boats to guard them and build the

bridge. While the Infantry was getting the bridge in shape for us, I heard that the

church in which GEORGE WASHINGTON was married was only a short dis-

tance from there. So I and a couple of the other BOYS rode out to see it. We

didn't find much except the old walls, with HUNDREDS of names written on

them. Of course we had to be in the fashion, and REGISTER.

The boats that had brought the plank &c for us had to take advantage of the

TIDE to get over bars and shoals, and even then at places the troops had to go

ashore to lighten the boat. So after we had got across and they had the plank back

on the boat, they had to wait for the TIDE to rise (high tide is about midnight),

so we laid there to wait for them to get away. I think it was on the second morn-

ing, when we got out, the boats had gone. We were then soon on the road, going

in an easterly direction.

Not long after leaving White House, we fell in with the other Divisions of our

Cavalry, who had came with SHERIDAN, by a route farther east. They had not

met with much opposition but had REPAIRED the railroads running from Rich-

mond north toward Washington.

On March 15th we struck a force of Rebs at ASHLAND, but after three or four

hours sharp fighting, drove them back toward Richmond, and we went on. We

struck the JAMES RIVER some distance below Richmond. On the trip we had

torn up a lot of railroad, burned a lot of bridges, and warehouses, and let the

BOTTOM out of the JAMES RIVER CANAL. In fact we had destroyed all

chance for Richmond to get SUPPLIES from that direction.

When we left Winchester we had five or six days rations of coffee and sugar,

and three days of crackers and meat, and for the rest of the trip had to depend on

the country. But we lived pretty well, especially after we STRUCK the CANAL.

Then we got fresh supplies from the boats at White House. When we got to the

James River we again crossed over on the PONTOONS, then passed along in

rear of the forts occupied by our Infantry, and went into camp at their left, where

we got a few days much needed REST.

While we laid there we got a LITTLE chance to INSPECT the works, but we

had to be VERY careful where we strolled around, as there was all the time some

SHARP SHOOTER across the way who was ready and anxious to try his GUN.

While we were there was the last time I saw ABE LINCOLN, I had seen him two

or three times before that.

We laid on the left wing of the works until the latter part of March, when the

Cavalry, with a couple of corps of Infantry, again started out to move around the

right wing of the Rebel works. And it was certainly a JOB to move. The roads

were simply AWFUL, with a big A. The land was SWAMPY, in many places cov-

ered with water, and by the time a few thousand Cavalry, with their Artillery and

wagons had gone over, OR RATHER THROUGH them, they were simply IM-

PASSABLE, CUT CLEAR THROUGH. So the only way out of it, was to COR-

DUROY them. We had to cut down trees, trim them up, and throw the brush into

the mud, then lay the poles and rails across and in that way make a PAVED

STREET for the TEAMS and ARTILLERY.

In most places the Cavalry and Infantry could get around through the woods,

but in some places even the Cavalry had to go over the corduroy. But we finally

got through and as far as DINWIDDIE COURTHOUSE. There on March 31st

we had a HOT TIME, with a large force of REBS who had been RUSHED out

from Richmond to try to save the railroads, as that was their only chance for get-

ting supplies into Richmond, since SHERIDAN and CUSTER had cut off all

chance to get any from any other direction. They put up a hard fight (to save their

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2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                225

BACON and CORN MEAL), but after several hours fell back toward the rail- road, Sheridan who was in command of that part of the line, PUSHING after them.  They had a line of breastworks about a half a mile from the railroad to which they RETIRED. The next day, Apr. 1, 1865 we fought that MEMORABLE BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS, ONE of the HOTTEST, if not THE HOTTEST fight of the war. They were determined to HOLD, and we AS determined to TAKE THAT RAILROAD. The REBS had a heavy line of Infantry behind the breastworks (the timber cut off in front of it for quite a distance, with small trees laid with the tops toward us, and the limbs cut off and sharpened). Then a short distance in the rear of the works they had a lot of Artillery MASSED and MASKED, behind BUSHES and BRUSH. So you can see they calculated on giving us a WARM RECEPTION. SHERIDAN formed his forces back some distance in the timber, with the In- fantry on the right, and the Cavalry on the left, DISMOUNTED. We of course could not tell anything about what was going on to the right or left, except by the firing. But that I thought was the HEAVIEST I had ever heard. When we had formed, we moved up to the edge of the timber, and after staying there a short time, PRACTICING with our CARBINES on the heads that would occasionally come above the breastworks, we got the order to forward and charge on the works. At the first attempt, we got about one-third of the way across the opening, when the firing from the works and the Artillery in their rear who were using DOUBLE CHARGES of GRAPE and CANISTER SHOT, got so hot we had to fall back to cover in the edge of the woods. Just then Sheridan rode by. cheering the men up and telling them that just beyond those works lay the last line of supplies for Richmond and when we got that railroad, RICHMOND must FALL. CUSTER, too, was cheering the men on and telling us that we were going to

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226                                                          OHIO HISTORY

 

take those WORKS, and would not come back again until we got them. During

this time we could hear HEAVY firing to the right of us. When we made the first

charge, we had gotten as far as to where they had the SHARP STICKS. As we

went back, we pulled enough of them back with us to make some pretty good

open spaces.

When we were again ordered to CHARGE, the REBS apparently held their

fire to let us get CLOSER. When we got a little more than half way across the

open space in front of the works, Custer's BUGLER, who was with the General

in front of us, SOUNDED DOWN. WE ALL HUGGED AMERICA. As we did

so, a most TERRIBLE FIRE went over us, from both Infantry and Artillery. Gen.

Custer's Bugler, Color Bearer, and Orderly, who were following him, ALL went

DOWN, as well as a great many others.

But the General escaped, and, swinging down on the side of his horse, he

caught up the flag, and waving it over his head, stuck spurs to his horse and went

over the WORKS, the men following. As we went over the works, about half of

the men behind the works RUN, the rest we captured, and many of those who

got away left their guns.

As we followed those on the run, we also got their Artillery. Then our artillery-

men. who had pushed their guns up to the edge of the timber, left their guns, fol-

lowed us over the works to the Rebel guns, and turned them on the retreating

Rebs, and went to work. In a very short space of time we had driven them across

the railroad and were tearing it up. During this time the firing was VERY HEAVY

at both sides of us.

It was reported that owing to the failure of one General to go in at the time he

was ordered to, the Rebs had FLANKED some of our men, and got a cross fire

on them, and came near BREAKING the right of the line, and that Sheridan had

him relieved.1

After we had taken and torn up the railroad, we stopped for the night. The

next morning we got the word that the Rebs had EVACUATED RICHMOND,

and were going toward LYNCHBURG. We were then started in the same direc-

tion, and on the morning of the 3rd we struck them at NAMOZINE CREEK,

where after a short fight we captured a lot of wagons, several pieces of ARTIL-

LERY and quite a lot of prisoners. We were then pushed ahead on their flank

and on the 6th of April we struck them again at SAILORS CREEK, where we

captured a long train of wagons, and General EWELL, with his WHOLE CORPS,

of INFANTRY AND ARTILLERY.2

At that time Gen. GRANT was following them up with the Infantry and LIGHT

Artillery from in front of Richmond and Petersburg, and pushing them along.

So we were pushed ahead on the flank to try to head them off. Our Division, un-

der General CUSTER was ahead, and our Regiment second in the column when

on the afternoon of April 8th the Division was halted to close up and rest. A Staff

Officer, came from General MERRITT, who was at that time temporarily in com-

mand of Sheridan's Cavalry Corps, with orders to stop, park the Division, and

REST. General CUSTER sent word back that he had just learned that there were

four railroad trains at APPOMATTOX STATION, two miles ahead, loaded with

 

 

 

 

1. General Gouverneur K. Warren (1830-1882) was indeed relieved of his command by Sheridan

for his lack of leadership in this battle. In December 1879 Warren was granted a court of inquiry by

President Hayes. The consensus of its findings was that Sheridan had overreacted.

2. General Richard E. Ewell (1817-1872), CSA, who lost a leg in 1862, often had to be lifted onto his

horse and strapped in his saddle, was not released from his confinement until four months after the

war had ended.

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2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                   227

 

SUPPLIES for LEE'S ARMY, and unless he got orders to the contrary, VERY

SOON he was going to CAPTURE THOSE TRAINS.³

Before the Staff Officer had got out of sight, the order to MOUNT was given,

and we started on a forced march. In a short time firing was heard in front, and

we struck the GALLOP. When we got to the station we found the four trains

there all right, and all loaded with STUFF for LEE. THEY were guarded by a

small force of Infantry (probably five hundred) and a battery of Artillery (six

pieces).

At the first charge we got the four trains, except one locomotive on which a

part of the trainmen escaped, five of the six pieces of Artillery, and about half of

the Infantry. The one GUN that they got away, they planted in the road leading

toward Appomattox Courthouse. What Infantry they had left rallied to support it.

Then Gen. CUSTER kinder WANTED THAT GUN, and ordered a CHARGE

to get it. He was reported to have said, he was going after that gun if he had to go

alone. He didn't go alone. The OLD 2nd OHIO SOON had that GUN, and al-

most all of the men who had RALLIED around it.

The trains were soon manned by railroad men from among the Cavalry, and

moved out of DANGER. A little later they were run up the line and used to help

Infantry to the front to help us, when LEE'S main army STRUCK us. After taking

their last piece of Artillery, leaving a few men to take care of prisoners &c. we

pushed on toward APPOMATTOX Court house.

We met a few of LEE'S advancemen, and drove them back beyond the Court

House. It was then getting dark, and we went back toward the station. We laid

along the road that night, without unsaddling, ready for BIZZ. In the morning we

found we had help, and not very late in the day we found that we needed it pretty

bad, as one Division of Cavalry in front of LEE'S whole Army would not have had

VERY much SHOW.

By a hard all night march a Corps of Infantry got to us just about daylight.

They stopped near where we were, and began to get their breakfast, some using

our fires. They had not much more than gotten done with breakfast (and got

their DISHES washed) when LEE'S Army showed up. As they had been going for

four days on a pint of cornmeal to each man, they were naturally a little anxious

to get to THOSE TRAINS.

When the Rebs came up, the Cavalry was strung out in a heavy skirmish line

on a hill side. In our rear, just over the ridge out of sight of the Rebels, was a lot

of Artillery, and a solid line of Infantry, laying down out of sight of the Rebels.

When the Rebels came up and saw us, they moved across the field and formed a

very pretty line some distance in front of us. When they had formed and started

to advance, we opened fire on them. They kept on coming, although we could see

a good many of them STOP. As they came on, we turned and got back over the

RIDGE, toward the Station. Then they raised the YELL, and started on the run,

apparently thinking we were alone, and had SKEDADDLED.⁴

But as they came up the GRADE our Artillery was pushed forward, so as to

LOOK over the hill, and opened with GRAPE and CANISTER. At the same time,

our Infantry raised up and gave them a volley, and we Cavalry opened fire over

the heads of the Infantry. Either the SURPRISE or the LEAD was too much for

 

 

3. General Wesley Merritt (1834-1910) distinguished himself even after the war when he was pres-

ent with Admiral George Dewey at the surrender of Manila in 1898 and later served as its Military

Governor.

4. The yell, or distinctive cry of the Confederate troops as they rushed into battle, was probably first

heard at the Battle of Bull Run. In addition to frightening and confusing the enemy, the yell offered a

certain amount of encouragement to those using it.

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228                                                       OHIO HISTORY

them, and they RETIRED, leaving many men on the ground. Our loss was LIGHT compared to theirs so that their victory was very short-lived. But they were not yet ready to give it up. After dropping back across the low ground to the next hill, they formed, and then a part of them moved off to the right, and tried to go into a piece of timber. But when they got a volley from there, they again dropped back, and a small force of them moved off to their left with the same kind of success. The forces they met, both to the right and left, were Cavalry that had been in front of them when they were trying to get toward the Station and which, on seeing them going toward the flank, had been RUSHED around under cover of the hills and woods to meet them. While we were getting in front of them, and keeping their advance from reach- ing those supplies, General GRANT with his Infantry was crowding them along from the rear, so that they could not throw their whole force on us. After they had made the second attempt to get out to the flank and, finding the way cut off, they dropped back to Clover Hill, where the main body of their forces were then massing in plain view of where we were. Shortly after that we saw a white FLAG coming. The flag came in a short distance to the right of our Regiment, I think on the second Regiment to our right. At that time we were on the skirmish line in front of the Infantry, near the road leading from the Station to the Court House.5 The first General Officer to meet the white flag, was General CUSTER. He immediately sent for General SHERIDAN, who at that time was off some dis- tance to our left. He in turn sent word on around the line to General GRANT,     5. Surrender became inevitable when Custer and his troops destroyed Lee's last supplies at Appo- mattox Station and cut off his escape route to the south.

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2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                    229

 

 

who was with the Infantry in the rear of LEE'S Army. After that all was quiet for

awhile. Then the CONFEDERATES stacked their ARMS.

Then you O R T E R a H E A R D the CHEERING. At that part of the

game I rather think that the X-REBELS could have beaten the YANKS. Again

when General GRANT sent in a lot of YANKEY RATIONS for them, they cer-

tainly made the WELKIN RING. If not the welkin, they made the HILLS and

VALLEYS RING. It then looked as if the SHOW was over.

L E E HAD SURRENDERED!

But the 2nd Ohio Cavalry was to see more of it, and have more loss. We were

moved around to the right into a piece of woods and had settled down TO TALK

IT OVER when a small force of Rebel Cavalry, that we afterward learned was a

North Carolina Regiment who either had not HEARD THE NEWS or thought

they would get away, came dashing through the BUSHES in front of us and

opened fire on some of our boys who were nearest the edge of the woods. They

were soon driven back, but not until one of our men was killed and two or three

wounded, and the Rebels had lost several men. Our man who was KILLED was

Serg't BEN WEARY, of Co. A. It was said that he had got hold of a Rebel Battle

Flag, and was trying to get away with it when he was shot. Serg't WEARY had

enlisted on August 16, 1861 and went through safely until after LEE surrendered,

and then was killed.

The last shot fired in that DASH was said to be by JOHN PUTT, of Co. A, who,

as the Rebels were falling back, rode up along side of one of them and by firing

over his head induced him to surrender. He seemed to be either too badly

SCARED to speak, or DEAF AND DUMB, for he did not speak, but tried to

make signs with his hands. We heard no firing after that, and did not hear of any.

So we, of the 2nd Ohio Cavalry, think that the last UNION SOLDIER KILLED

AT APPOMATTOX was Serg't BENJAMIN F. WEARY of Co. A, 2nd OHIO

Cavalry, and that the last shot was fired by JOHN PUTT, saddler of the same

company.⁶

That evening I was ordered to the field HOSPITAL in a church near the Sta-

tion to look after one of the members of our Company (PETER GEOPHARD)

who had been BADLY wounded that day. He was the son of a widow living in

Cincinnati. I staid with him until about ten o'clock, when he DIED. Then after

pinning a paper on his coat with his name, Co. and Regiment written on it, I was

going to start to my Company when one of our Regiment's Surgeons called me

back and told me to tie my horse and come back in the hospital, as he needed me.

At a time like that, a Surgeon's order was LAW. No Officer could take a man

away when a Doctor wanted him to help him.

There were already THIRTEEN tables in the building where they were dress-

ing the wounded. We soon had the fourteenth table rigged up. We knocked church

seats to pieces to get boards, then laid them on top of other seats to make tables.

From that time until long after daylight the fourteen tables were going all the

time. So I didn't get back to my Company until about noon.

While we lay there General CUSTER issued a congratulatory order which he

had printed and distributed among the men after we got back to Petersburg. It

reads as follows:

 

 

6. In a letter to his mother and sisters, Luman Harris Tenney also mentions the death of Weary at

Appomattox Court House and praises his bravery. In that same letter, Tenney claims a decisive role

for the Colored Troops in the action at Appomattox (Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary of Luman

Harris Tenney [Cleveland, 1914], 159).

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230                                                               OHIO HISTORY

 

 

CONGRATULATORY ORDER FROM GENERAL CUSTER

HEADQUARTERS THIRD CAVALRY DIVISION,

Appomattox C. H., Va. Apr. 9th. 1865.

 

Soldiers of the third Cavalry Division,

 

With profound gratitude toward the God of battles, by whose blessings our Enemies

have been humbled and our arms rendered triumphant, your Commanding General avails

himself of this his first opportunity, to express to you his admiration of the heroic manner

in which you have passed through the series of battles, which today resulted in the sur-

render of the enemy's entire army.

The record established by your indomitable courage is unparalleled in the annals of war.

Your prowess has won for you even the respect and admiration of your enemies. During

the past six months, although in most instances confronted by superior numbers, you have

captured from the enemy in open battle, one hundred and eleven pieces of field Artillery,

sixty-five battle flags, and upwards of ten thousand prisoners of war, Including seven

General Officers. Within the past ten days, and included in the above, you have captured

forty-six pieces of artillery, and thirty-seven battle flags.

You have never lost a gun, Never lost a Color,-and never been defeated.

And notwithstanding the numerous engagements in which you have born a prominent

part, including those memorable battles of the Shenandoah, you have Captured every

piece of Artillery the enemy has dared to open upon you.

The near approach of peace renders it improbable that you will again be called upon to

undergo the fatigues of the tiresome march, or the exposures of the battlefield. But should

the assistance of keen blades, wielded by your sturdy arms, be required to hasten the com-

ing of that glorious peace for which we have so long been contending, the General Com-

manding is proudly confident, that in the future as in the past, every demand will meet

with a hearty and willing responce.

Let us hope that our work is done, and that blessed with the comforts of peace we may

soon be permitted to enjoy the pleasures of home and friends.

For our Comrades who have fallen, let us ever cherish a grateful remembrance. To those

who are wounded, and to those who languish in southern prisons, let our heartfelt sym-

pathies be tendered.

And now, speaking for myself alone, when the war is ended, and the task of the his-

torian begins, When those deeds of daring, which rendered the name and fame of the

Third Cavalry Division imperishable, are inscribed upon the bright pages of our Country's

history, I only ask that my name may be written as that of the Commander of the Third

Cavalry Division.

G. A. CUSTER,

Brevet Major General.

We think that a record of which we have a right to be proud.⁷

At that time the Rebels had their arms all STACKED, their Artillery (what little

they had left) all PARKED and guarded by our Infantry, and everything seemed

to be LOVELY. All seemed to be in a good humor and enjoying themselves, ex-

cept possibly some OLD GROUCH. The Rebs seemed to be as glad as we were

that it was all over. Then we Cavalry were started for the south, leaving our In-

fantry and the Rebs camped near each other taking it easy, and the JOHNIES

seeming to enjoy it, especially UNCLE SAM'S GRUB.

At that time SHERMAN'S ARMY was driving JOHNSTON up through North

Carolina. As we could find no more FUN in Virginia, the Cavalry was started out

to head JOHNSTON OFF. But we had only got just across the state line into

North Carolina, when the word came that JOHNSTON HAD SURRENDERED.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. This congratulatory order may also be found in Tenney, War Diary, 156.

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2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                      231

 

 

FOR ONCE WE WERE TOO LATE, and not needed. So we turned back, and

HEADED TOWARD GOD'S COUNTRY.8

We then came on north, and camped for two or three days just south of Peters-

burg. Then moved over between Petersburg and RICHMOND, where we lay a

few days. While there we got a chance to INSPECT the Rebel works a little. It

was SURELY A STRONGHOLD.

From there we moved over north of RICHMOND, and camped there until after

SHERMAN'S ARMY had passed on their way to WASHINGTON, I SUPPOSE

we were kept there to see that Sherman's BUMMERS didn't CARRY RICH-

MOND OFF.

After they had passed we moved on up to ALEXANDRIA, where we camped

for a few days, on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. From there we moved

across LONG BRIDGE and through Washington, and were camping a little ways

north of the City when we started for the GRAND REVIEW. That Review was

certainly a great sight, especially for those who could stand and watch it pass

through the City. And for those of us, who could occasionally turn our heads and

look back, it was a sight never to be forgotten.⁹

In it all of the Soldiers of both GRANT'S and SHERMAN'S ARMIES passed

in review through the City. For two days there was a solid body of Infantry, Cav-

alry, and Artillery passing along PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, filling the street

from CURB TO CURB. Sheridan's Cavalry Corps was in the lead. Custer's,

Third Division in advance (AS USUAL). I think the 2nd New York Cavalry was

the first Regiment to pass. OURS, the 2nd Ohio Cavalry was the second. The

Army of the Potomac took one whole day to pass the reviewing stand, which was

near the WHITE HOUSE.

Sherman's Army took up the next day. In going through the City, the Cavalry

marched by platoons. The Infantry MOSTLY by Companies, thus filling the street

from CURB TO CURB. After our Regiment had passed the Reviewing Stand, I

got to drop out. I then got a position on a cross street, where I could see along

Pennsylvania Avenue, and watched them until I got tired of it.

President ANDREW JOHNSON was the main Reviewing Officer. POOR

OLD ABE LINCOLN didn't have the pleasure of that sight, as he had been killed

about a month before that. We were laying a little south of Petersburg when we

heard that LINCOLN had been KILLED. If there had been any WILD REBS

around there at that time, I imagine there would have been A HOT OLD TIME.

One thing we thought added to the SHOW on the PARADE was the CUSTER

NECKTIE. General Custer was in the habit of always wearing a BRIGHT RED

necktie, looped in the front of his shirt band, with the long ends thrown back over

his shoulders. By that and his long BLOND hair he could be recognized any place,

in camp or on the battlefield. When we were getting ready for the GRAND RE-

VIEW, some of the Officers went to the City and got a lot of RED FELT CLOTH

and cut it into strips about an inch and a half wide, and made CUSTER TIES

for the Whole Division.

 

 

 

8. General William T. Sherman (1820-1891) was born in Lancaster, Fairfield County, Ohio. After

his famous March to the Sea, he was ordered by Grant to lead his army north for the combined attack

on Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. As he advanced, some of the most significant enemy resistance

came from the forces led by General Joseph E. Johnston (1807-1891), CSA. Forced to drop back

steadily before Sherman's overwhelming strength, Johnston realized the situation was hopeless and

surrendered on April 26, 1865.

9. The Grand Review, a two-day parade involving the Armies of the Potomac, the Tennessee and

Georgia, was held in Washington, D.C. on May 23 and 24, 1865. The volunteer army was officially

dissolved upon its conclusion.

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232                                                         OHIO HISTORY

 

IT SURELY MADE A HIT.

After the GRAND REVIEW we laid at Washington for a few days, when we

heard one morning that orders had come for us to go to CLEVELAND, O. to be

MUSTERED OUT. Of course we all felt JOLLY over that. But our NEW COL-

ONEL got onto his horse and spent the day in the City, and came back in the

evening with orders to go to MISSOURI. MAY BE THE BOYS WEREN'T HOT

--but then as he had only been COLONEL a little while and seemed to like the

JOB pretty well, he had to hang on to it as long as possible. But it didn't stay

with him long. The BOYS made it so hot for him that he was glad to get away.¹⁰

OLD [Allured B.] NETTLETON, as the BOYS called him, had been MAJOR

for a couple of years but was always off on some detached duty, never with the

BOYS when they were where there were any HOT JOBS. BUT after the war

closed and there was no danger of his having to go where it was HOT, he had

managed by SOME SCHEME to get promoted to COLONEL over Lieutenant

Colonel DUDLEY SEWARD, a man about 45 years old who had enlisted as a

Private and worked his way up step by step to Lt. Col. He had been in command

of the Regiment for several months, LED IT in several of its HOT engagements,

and was always on the JOB.

The next day after the Colonel got his orders to go to Missouri, we turned over

our horses and saddles, and took a train for Parkersburg. The Officers had a

coach, but the men got to ride in BOX CARS and STOCK CARS. We were so

badly needed in MISSOURI that they could not stop long enough to let us make

coffee or cook our SOWBELLY. We had to go it on HARDTACK and RAW

BACON.

Until along in the afternoon of the second day on the road, when they had to

take a siding for a passenger train to pass, the BOYS began to pile off and start

fires. The conductor and Colonel told them to stay on the train as they would only

stop two or three minutes. But the Boys paid no attention to them. They had

played that on us several times before and it had got old, so we went on with our

coffee making, getting water from a branch close by, and wood was plenty.

Soon the other train went past and the conductor called ALL ABOARD, but

the COOK HOUSE was still working. Then the Colonel began to SNORT, but

THAT DIDN'T COUNT, the COOK HOUSE still worked away. At last the Col-

onel told the conductor to go ahead. He gave the signal, and the engineer started,

but he only took one CAR, then he backed up to couple on, but had to hunt pins

to couple with. They found some on the engine, coupled up and started again.

That time they took two cars.

Then the trainmen took a tumble, and went along the train and found that

scarcely any two cars were coupled together, and they couldn't find pins to couple

them with, so went off and sat down. When the cooks got DINNER OVER AND

THE DISHES WASHED, and the boys had their canteens filled with COFFEE,

and meat cooked for a couple of meals ahead, and everybody was ready to go ex-

cept the trainmen, the boys began to guy them and ask what they were waiting

for, and why they didn't go ahead.

After they COOLED OFF, some of the boys told them that if they would look

under a couple of big logs IN THE KITCHEN they MIGHT find pins to fit them

 

 

 

10. It is not clear why the 2nd OVC had to go to Missouri to be mustered out, although Smith sug-

gests with some degree of subtleness that the change in plans may have been engineered by Colonel

Nettleton for personal reasons. In an explanatory note to Tenney's War Diary (p. 165), Nettleton

writes: "Much to the dissatisfaction of the Second Ohio Cavalry that regiment was retained in service

nearly six months after the close of hostilities, being sent to southwestern Missouri to look after some

disorderly elements there...."

• 11
 

2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                 233

 

out. They got the pins, coupled up the train, and soon we were on the go again.

When we left Washington one engine pulled the train of 30 cars. At relay house

they got a second engine, and when they began to climb the mountain they

hooked on two more, and for a short distance at one time the train was cut into

eight sections, with eight engines. Then they began to drop off engines, until they

got down to one, except a helper occasionally.

The next morning when we got to PARKERSBURG, we found a heavy guard

on all over the town. A HEAVY ARTILLERY MAJOR was patrolling the streets

with a squad of men to keep us from going up into the town. The Colonel ordered

us to all stay at the wharf until our boats came (they came in the evening). The

Officers went off up town to a hotel, and ordered us to not leave the wharf. The

word got around that the Colonel had telegraphed ahead to have a strong guard

on, as he had a lot of recruits and bounty jumpers.

POSSIBLY SOME OF THE BOYS STAID AT THE RIVER. When a lot of us

got up into town and were lounging around on the street, taking in the SIGHTS

and buying something to eat, the HEAVY Major came tearing down the street

on a horse, followed by about twenty guards. He drew his SWORD, flourished it

around, and ordered us to get off the street and go back to the wharf immediately.

He swore that he would not have a lot of RECRUITS and BOUNTY JUMPERS

HELLING AROUND where HE was in command.

Well then of course we all got SCARED, and hurried up and DIDN'T GO. His

men CARRIED HIM AWAY, with what LOOKED LIKE a very sore head. We

heard afterward that he had DIED AGIN, and there was an effort made to find

out who HITTED him, but nobody knew, as nobody had seen anything of it.

Along in the evening our boats came down, and we got on board and started

off down the river. The Officers, of course, got CABIN PASSAGE, but from

there to ST. LOUIS the men had to go on cold grub, except when we could get

on the GOOD SIDE of the COOKS or STOKERS, by crowding or bluff, and get

to do a little cooking either in the KITCHEN or BOILER ROOMS.

We left Parkersburg about dark. The next day we passed RIPLEY, OHIO and

ALF MONROE, our Co. blacksmith, who had not been home for two years was

standing beside me on the deck, and pointed out his home, where his wife and

children were out in the dooryard watching the boats pass. It looked rather

TOUGH that he could not even stop and speak to them, but then the Colonel was

in a hurry to get to Missouri. On the way down the river, some of us who had more

BLANKETS than we wanted to carry in warm weather gave them to MONROE,

and he rolled them up with some other STUFF that he wanted to send home,

tied a rubber blanket around it, and before we got to Ripley he got the PILOT to

sound the whistle to call a SKIFF to come out. So as we got opposite the town,

two men in a skiff pulled out along side of the boat. We threw Monroe's bundle

overboard, along with a nice GREYHOUND PUP, that one of the boys had

picked up in Virginia, and we went on toward MISSOURI. When the skiff got

along side of the boat, one of the men proved to be a brother-in-law of MON-

ROE. They stayed along side for a little while to talk, then we left them.

Before we got to Cincinnati the word got out among the BOYS that the Col-

onel had told the Captain of the boat that he must not go to the shore at the City.

But the Captain had said that he had to have coal, and have some repairs to his

wheel, and MUST STOP. The Colonel then told him he would have to anchor out

in the MIDDLE OF THE RIVER, that he was not going to let his men get ashore

at Cincinnati.

When the BOYS got onto the SCHEME, a COMMITTEE (self-appointed of

course) CALLED on the Captain, and asked him if he was going to ANCHOR

OUT in the river in front of Cincinnati. He said that was his orders from the Col-

• 12
 

234                                                        OHIO HISTORY

 

 

onel. They told him that he could take his CHOICE of three ways, he could go

right on PAST the city, or he could tie up, OR HE COULD GO TO THE BOT-

TOM. They gave him to understand, and that in VERY PLAIN ENGLISH, that

if he ANCHORED out in the river they were going to sink the boat. They told

him that there were only a few men on board who could not swim, and that there

were enough good swimmers to carry those out who could not swim.

Then the Captain CALLED on the Colonel, and told him to look after his men,

as he was going to tie up at the wharf. The Colonel said no to it, but the Captain

told him that if he ANCHORED out in the river they would sink the boat, and

he didn't BLAME THEM A---BIT. He was going to tie up, and the Officers

could look after their own men. He was looking after his BOAT, and would take

no such CHANCES.

There were a good many men in the Regiment whose homes were in the City.

Almost all of Co. I, and quite a number of K, L, and M. They VERY NATURAL-

LY wanted to see their families while they had to lay all day AT the city, after

being away for two years. But the Colonel was DETERMINED that they

SHOULD NOT. So he placed guards THICK along the side of the boat that

would be next to the wharf when she tied up, with strict orders to not allow any

man to go ashore without a written pass, signed by the COLONEL HIMSELF.

When the boat pulled up to the wharf, he had his GRIP in hand, ready to step

off. He would not be there to sign any pass.

It was all nicely arranged, BUT, there's MONNY A SLIP THEY SAY.

When the boat touched the wharf, the GUARDS to a man THREW DOWN

their sabors, and JUMPED ashore, the rest of the men following. I SAW some,

even PUSH the Colonel back so as to get off ahead of him.

The second boat was in charge of Lt. Colonel SEWARD. As it rounded in, he

was standing on the upper deck, no guards were in sight. As they pulled up to the

dock, and OLD DUDLEY, as the BOYS called him, saw the boys going, he

CALLED OUT at the top of his voice, OH BOYS. They all knew his voice, and

RESPECTED IT, and turned to hear what he had to say. Then he said, BOYS

we want to pull out about four o'clock. I am going up in town to look around and

have a good time for a little while. Let's all get back on time, and in good shape.

I hope you will all enjoy yourselves. He then started with the men from his boat,

ALL BOYS TOGETHER, no rushing, pushing, jamming or anything of the kind.

Officers and men all going along quietly together.

When four o'clock came they were almost all on board, a few of them of course

BOOSED UP a little, but not loud about it. As they roamed around over the boat,

some one called out, WHERE'S OLD NETTLETON? The answer came back,

HE'S UP IN THE CABIN. Then some one YELLED out, LET'S DROWN THE

SON OF A---, and it was ECHOED from all corners of the boat, and they made

a rush for him. But he was too quick for them; he got into his stateroom, and his

wife (who had come aboard with him) and several Officers, got their back against

the door, and kept the BOYS OUT. Mr. COLONEL stuck to his STATEROOM,

his wife and the Officers guarding it.

We got started out about six o'clock, going on down the Ohio River to Louis-

ville, through the canal, and on down to CAIRO. After laying a day at Cairo (in-

specting the town) we went up the Mississippi River to ST. LOUIS, Mo. On the

way up the river, when we got within some nine or ten miles of St. Louis, the boat

was run up to the bank (there was no wharf) and the deck hands put out a plank.

They didn't tie up, but kept the wheel moving enough to keep the boat in place.

Then a trunk was carried out and set down on the ground. Then the Colonel's

wife went ashore. Then the BACK UP bell sounded, and the boat began to move

• 13
 

2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                 235

 

around. Then here came the Colonel, RUNNING down the stairs and out along

the plank, to shore. (I suppose he thought his wife was going to leave him, BUT

SHE WASN'T.) As soon as his feet left the plank, the plank left the shore. It was

hauled in, and we were on the move up the river.

We had left our NEW COLONEL behind, but then he had got to MISSOURI.

When we got to St. Louis we went out to BENTON BARRACKS, something

like four miles from the river, where we laid for about three weeks. The HURRY

seemed to be all over, C O Z we were in Missouri.

When we left Cincinnati very few of the boys got left, only one of our Co.,

ISAAC CROSS, a Company teamster and the oldest man in the Company, and

no one blamed him for staying. His home was just a little back of the City. When

he got off of the boat, he cut right for home. When he got there he found his wife

laying VERY sick, in fact at the point of death. So he stayed at home and wrote

a letter to Captain GEORGE ADAMS, who was in command of the Company at

that time, telling him how it was, and saying that if they wanted him they would

have to send a guard after him. Captain Adams didn't send for him, but, instead

sent him a long leave of absence. After his wife died he reported at Camp Chase,

and later was mustered out, on Sept. 28, 1865, the date that we were mustered

out at St. Louis.

While we laid at Benton Barracks the Colonel came out from the City three or

four times. He came out in a cab, which waited for him. Then one day the cab

brought him out and left him and went back. He came about nine o'clock in the

morning, and staid until two or three in the afternoon. Then an AMBULANCE

was backed up to the door of Headquarters, and some luggage put into it. The

driver then got onto his seat. took up the lines and whip, ready to go. Then the

Colonel RUN OUT and jumped in, and the driver laid on the whip, and it was

good-by for our NICE NEW COLONEL. He left about the tenth of June, and was

mustered out of service June 16th, HAVING BEEN COLONEL ALMOST TWO

MONTHS. Then Lt. Col. DUDLEY was promoted to COLONEL.

When we left St. Louis we started for Springfield, M-o. The first 60 miles we

went by railroad (I think they called it a railroad), it was most terribly ROUGH.

On the way on June 23, 1865 one of our Company, JOSHUA FLORA, was jolted

off and fell down between the cars, and was ground to pieces.

When we got into ROLLA, the end of the railroad, we found all of the business

portion of the town a pile of coals and hot ashes. They had had a fire a day or

two before that had taken out all of the main part of the town. Rolla being the

END OF THE LINE and as far as they could go with the GRAVEL CARS that

we had rode in, we had to HOOF IT the rest of the way to Springfield. The first

evening we went out about two miles, and camped among the JIGGERS and

SNAKES. Rattlesnakes were plenty, and JIGGERS were PLENTYER, the

Chinkelpin [chinquapin] oak bushes, and even the ground seemed to be alive

with them. They would go right through our SOJER CLOSE. To get any rest we

had to wash all over two or three times a day with STRONG salt water.

While we were there I shot the biggest snake that I ever saw outside of a

SHOW. It was a BLOWING ADDER, a little longer than a fence rail. Farmers'

wives and children had seen it a good many times, when out picking berries or

hunting cows, but when they would report it and men with guns would turn out

to hunt it, it could not be seen. They had killed its mate a year or two before

that, and were VERY GLAD the soldiers had killed the big snake, as it was called.

When I shot it I had a handful of gravel on top of the ball in my CARBINE.

From there we started to HOOF it to SPRINGFIELD. You couldn't call it

MARCHING, it was pretty near every man for himself. Colonel Seward made no

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236                                                         OHIO HISTORY

 

 

attempt to keep the men together, but would tell us in the evening how far he was

going the next day. Generally about eight or ten miles, never more. Then we

would draw our days rations, go on in the cool of the evening, and camp down

along the road where we pleased, PROVIDING the WOLVES would let us. It

was quite a common thing to see rings of rail fires built to keep the wolves away.

One night I and another BOY climbed up over the barn floor in an old log barn to

get away from the wolves. We located on a little pile of hay, and JUST LET

THEM HOWL. There SEEMED to be hundreds of them around us, but in the

morning they were all gone.

Early in the forenoon of the GLORIOUS FOURTH OF JULY 1865 quite a

number of us had reached the ford at BIG PINEY RIVER where headquarters

was to stop that night. When the water was low, teams could ford the river, and

the STAGECOACH running between ROLLA and SPRINGFIELD could drive

through. But people WALKING A FOOT like we were when we had to HOOF IT

had to be FERRIED OVER. The only house within two miles, was a little log

cabin on the far side of the river where a man lived or stayed who had a flat boat

to FERRY people over. The boat was just big enough to carry a wagon and one

team. To carry the stage over he had to take four horses over, then go back and

get the other two horses and coach. The stage driver drove six horses and kept

them on a dead run, changing every eight or ten miles.

As we laid around in the shade someone proposed that we go hunting, so a lot

of us started out. We DEPLOYED as a light SKIRMISH LINE, and went through

the woods up the river. We had pretty good luck; we got some 14 or 15 DEER

besides some small game, I think about a dozen TURKEYS and a few squirrels

and rabbits. The DEER were mostly young fawn. I think there was one good big

buck in the lot, and some doe. My share was a striped FAWN. The next day we

had BILED DEER to carry for our LUNCH.

The next day as we tramped on toward Springfield we only passed one house

in going six or eight miles. That was a small one-story double house, built of

rough stone, in a clearing of five or six acres, and apparently occupied by two

families. We tramped along at the rate of six to ten miles a day. Colonel Seward

seemed to want us to take time to SEE MISSOURI. When we got to Springfield

we were quartered in an old stockade for a while then got horses and moved to a

nice grove a little out of town, and close to a big spring. Most of the Regiment

was sent to other places, where there was a little Government property to guard,

but four Companies of us stayed at Springfield until we started toward home in

September.

We did no drilling, and had no camp guard, and to exercise our horses we

went when and where we pleased. But we had to be in camp on time--TO DRAW

OUR RATIONS. Guard duty was light, there was one building in town with a

few Government goods in it which called for a Sergt. or Corporal and six men.

They STAID AROUND through the day and slept in the building at night. Then

three or four men were needed to STAY AROUND COLONEL DUDLEY'S

DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS in town to act as orderlies &c. This duty called

for six or eight men from our Company every five or six days. Then occasionally

a squad was sent out on the prairie with the teams to get hay.

We had nothing to remind us of old war times except once, when WILD BILL,

an old partner of BUFFALO BILL'S reported that a lot of the QUANTRILL

GANG, a gang of OUTLAWS, about matches for the JAMES BOYS, or the

YOUNGER BROTHERS, were making their headquarters out a few miles from

• 15
 

2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                    237

 

Springfield.11 About thirty of us were sent out, with WILD BILL as guide, to look

after their welfare. We went out some ten or twelve miles in the afternoon, then

laid quiet back in a woods until about ten o'clock at night. Then we moved on a

mile or two farther, when we halted, and Bill took myself and one other man and

we went on a reconnoitering tour.

We found them in a BIG log house, in a small clearing, back in the woods,

some distance from any road. Then leaving us two soldiers to watch, Bill went

back and brought up the Company, dismounted and placed them in front of the

doors. Then BILL went up and rapped on the door. They asked who was there,

and he said Wild Bill. One of them swore that WILD BILL had better GIT out of

there. But Bill laughed, and told them that the house was surrounded by soldiers,

that they had better come out without any trouble, as we had come after them,

and would GIT them, trouble or no trouble.

They seemed a little BASHFUL at first, but when one of them came, GUN IN

HAND, and took a look out at the door, and saw a line of soldiers, with GUNS

UP ready to pull the trigger, they decided to come out, like little MEN. So we got

the whole GANG without a gun being fired. There was one of them got away and

escaped after we started with them, but WILD BILL brought him in a few days

later. We took them to Springfield, I think they were turned over to the civil

authorities but I never learned what was done with them.

About the first of September we got orders to go to ST. LOUIS, about a hun-

dred and twenty miles, but this time we went on horseback, instead of having to

HOOF IT. We went back again to BENTON BARRACKS, where we turned over

our horses and equipments, and JUST STAID AROUND, while the Officers

made out their reports, muster out rolls, discharges, &c. Any of the BOYS who

wished, were given the privilege of taking their arms home with them, by paying

a small price for them. I brought my SPENCER CARBINE and SABOR home.¹²

On Sept. 28, 1865 we were MUSTERED OUT OF THE SERVICE OF UNCLE

SAM, at Benton Barracks ST. LOUIS, Mo. That same afternoon we started out

for home, coming over the old Ohio and Mississippi R. R. (which was at [that]

time a broad gauge) to Cincinnati, then over the Little Miami and Xenia R. R. to

Camp Chase, near Columbus, Ohio. There on Oct. 3, 1865 we were paid off, and

given our DISCHARGES.

I staid in Columbus that night, got a suit of PEOPLE'S CLOTHES, and laid

off the SOLDIER CLOTHES. The next morning I took the BIG 4 train for HOME,

SWEET HOME, at GALION, OHIO, so that I got home on Oct. 4, 1865, having

enlisted on June 18, 1862.

Thus having been in the service of UNCLE SAM 3 Years, 3 Months, and 10

days....

 

NOTES AND INCIDENTS ALONG THE WAY

The Indian Yell

When our Regiment was in the West in 1862 [before Smith enlisted] it laid

alongside of a lot of Indians, and was in several engagements alongside of them.

The Indians had a peculiar YELL or War Whoop which they let out when going

 

 

11. William Clarke Quantrill (1837-1865), known variously as Charley Hart and Billy Quantrill,

commanded a band of Confederate irregulars during the Civil War. His men burned, plundered, and

killed indiscriminately. Although Quantrill was wounded on a raid and died in prison in June 1865, his

band continued harassing authorities for several months.

12. Smith's Company Muster-out Roll indicates he paid the Federal Government $13 for his rifle

and saber; see Smith's Military Record, Department of War, National Archives.

• 16
 

238                                                         OHIO HISTORY

 

into a fight. It was contagious, and our boys all CAUGHT IT. After we got into

the eastern Army, we all used that same old Indian YELL. Some of the Rebels, as

well as lots of the YANKS in the East called it the 2nd Ohio YELL. In a fight our

Regt. could be distinguished from any other by that INDIAN YELL.¹³

At Hanover C. H. a Rebel prisoner asked, "Where on earth did you YANKS

come from anyhow, we never HEARD no SICH A YELL as that before? and we

thought you 'ens was Infantry." He was told that we GOT IT FROM THE IN-

DIANS out West.

On one occasion, when the two picket lines were close together, one of our boys

called to a Reb. picket, and the following conversation ensued:

HO' THERE JOHNIE, What do you belong to?

(Reb.) KERSHAW'S Brigade, what do YOU'ENS belong to?¹⁴

(Yank) The 2nd OHIO CAVALRY.

(Reb) I THOUGHT you'ens were in Tennessee.

(Yank) We were but we are right here now.

(Reb) Are you'ens just follerin we'uns around?

(Yank) Yes, Sir, we are the only ones who can hold you down.

The 5th N. Y. Cav. tried to CATCH the INDIAN YELL, but they never got to

be more than about HALF BREEDS. The first time that the 5th N. Y. ever heard

OUR YELL, we had [been ordered] into a fight together, they were on our left.

We had been going along all right, PUSHING the Rebs back, when the 2nd Ohio

got orders to charge. We raised the INDIAN YELL, and started.

The 5th. was surprised; they thought we were surrounded, and began to drop

back (some to run). But they soon saw what it meant, and came up again in good

shape, and helped to carry the day. Some of them said afterward, BOYS we left

you that time, but we NEVER WILL AGAIN. NO, not as long as there is a 5th.

N.Y. man left to fall in line. And they never did; we could always depend on them

for help or support.

But we could not say as much of some others who were with us, especially the

3rd N. J. Cav. It was a DUTCH Regiment, or rather made up of all nationalities

but Americans. In some instances men in the same Company could not under-

stand each other.

They had been in the service quite a while, but had been doing guard duty

around Washington, and FED ON RED TAPE. They wore big CAPES of blue

cloth, lined with YELLOW. They would throw the corners of the capes back over

their shoulders, and button them on the back, and were known as the JERSEY

BUTTERFLIES. They were VERY POOR HORSEMEN, and when they came

to the front, were out of their ELEMENT. But after they had been at the front

awhile AND GOT NEW OFFICERS, they improved SOME and got to doing

BETTER, but we never felt safe with them as SUPPORT.

 

Captured

At Waynesboro, Va. on Sept. 28th, 1864 while fighting dismounted, I and about

a half a dozen others (I think they were N. Y. boys) got cut off from the com-

mand, and CAPTURED; they held me a little while, but I got a chance to give

them the SLIP.

We were laying along a rail fence, with a few Rebs watching us; it was getting

dark, and I, being naturally of a rather inquiring turn of mind, thought I would

 

 

13. In early June 1862, the 2nd OVC moved into Indian Territory (roughly the present state of Okla-

homa) on scouting duty. There it was joined by three regiments of loyal Indians.

14. General Joseph B. Kershaw (1822-1894), CSA.

• 17
 

2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                  239

 

like to know what was on the other side of the fence. So I squeezed through be-

tween the rails, and went to see.

Well I found myself in a potato patch, and crawled along for a little way until

I got into a bunch of potato tops and weeds, and lay down to rest. Shortly the

guard took the others away, and after laying there until it got pretty dark, I

crawled out and WENT HUNTING for my Reg't.

I ran up against Rebs a couple of times, but it was so dark that they didn't rec-

ognize me, and I passed on, and after awhile found some YANKEES and soon

got to my Company; one of the boys who had been holding horses during the

fight, had my horse. I mounted and went on, glad to be with the OLD 2nd instead

of on the way to Andersonville....

The Cumberland Crossing

At one time early in the spring of 1863 we had left Somerset, Ky. and gone on a

trip down near Monticello. On the way back, when we reached the Cumberland

River we found it on a boom. When we went down the Cavalry could ford it, but

when we got back it was bank high.

The only way to cross was on a rope FERRY. There were two ropes stretched

across the river, one for high water and one for low water. There were also two

flat boats, one large enough to carry an Army wagon and team, or a piece of Ar-

tillery, while the other was smaller, and only carried some 25 or 30 men. There

was a pulley on the rope stretched across the river and a small rope attached to

it, to fasten to the boat. By fastening it at a certain place on the boat, the current

would strike the side of the boat in such a way as to help move it across the river.

Then by men pulling on the rope they could move the boat across pretty lively.

There was quite a lot of Infantry, and Artillery, and wagons to cross as well as

the Cavalry, so that it was a pretty tedious job. While we were waiting for others

to cross, I strolled along up the river, and found an old canoe, which I brought

down. I pulled off my saddle and put it in the canoe. Then a couple of the other

boys said they would go along. They took some of the stuff off of their saddles and

put them into the canoe. Then while one of the boys led the horses and made

them swim, and the other BAILED out the water; I PADDLED MY OWN

CANOE, and we were soon on the other bank. As we started over, the Captain

had told me to come back after him, and after I got him over he told me to keep

it going. I soon had our Company all over. A few of them didn't like the looks of

the old canoe and crowded in on the boats with the Artillery or teams. After I got

our Company over, I turned the old canoe over to one of the other Companies,

and it was kept working.

After most of the force were over, the largest of the two boats was loaded with

Infantry. They belonged to some eastern Regiment whose term of service had ex-

pired, and they had been ordered to go home. The boat was heavily loaded, and

when about the middle of the stream, from some cause the men who were pulling

on the rope, all let go their hold at once. Then the small rope from the pulley

BROKE, and the boat turned across the stream so that current struck it flat side,

and it started down the river.

They were using the high water rope; the low water rope was farther down-

stream and was slapping up and down on the water. As the boat came to it, men

at the lower edge of the boat grabbed hold of it, and instead of passing it over

their heads they hung on to it. The consequences was that that side of the boat

raised up enough to make the other side dip into the water, and the strong current

pulled it right down and turned the boat upside down.

Many of the men were caught under the boat and had no chance to get out, the

others mostly had their knapsacks and cartridge boxes on to weight them down. I

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240                                                          OHIO HISTORY

 

was standing on the bank and saw it happen. I was some little distance farther up

stream, and holding my horse. I jerked off his bridle and pushed my horse off

over a bank about four feet high, and hollowed to the Colonel, who was a little

ways off, FOR GODS SAKE GET A LOT OF HORSES INTO THE RIVER.

He gave the order, and very soon there were thirty or forty horses following

mine down the river; they almost all swung around among the men in the water,

and brought many of them out. My horse came out away down the stream, with

a man hanging to each stirrup and one to his tail. In fact almost all that were

saved, were saved by our horses. A few caught on some bushes away down stream

and we got them out with ropes. I think the man who had the old canoe got two

or three out. But there were nearly a hundred DROWNED.

One horse that belonged in our Company went right to the bottom, couldn't

swim a little bit. The man with the canoe caught the boat about a mile down the

river, and they got it back and got the rest of the men across, all right....

My First Vote

I CAST MY FIRST VOTE at a little village (I have forgotten the name of the

place) between Winchester, Va. and Hagerstown, Md. under circumstances

which I think were different from those of any other person now living, and any I

ever heard of. I went to the polls with two comrades, one of whom was KILLED

and the other badly wounded within twenty minutes after we cast our VOTES

for ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

In the fall of 1864 I had my horse SHOT from under me up in the SHENAN-

DOAH VALLEY, and was sent with a lot of others to take a lot of CONDEMNED

horses back to PLEASANT VALLEY, Md. nearly opposite to HARPERS FERRY,

Va. After waiting there a few days, about forty of us were given fresh horses, and

started with a Lieut. to take a lot of fresh horses to the front for the Artillery, each

man leading three horses.

We went up the river, through HAGERSTOWN, Md. then crossed the river,

and started toward Winchester, Va. The evening after we crossed over into Vir-

ginia, we came to a little village where there was a HOSPITAL, and CONVAL-

ESCENT camp. When we went into the BURG the Surgeon in charge met us,

and asked us to stay there over the next day. He said it was Presidential ELEC-

TION DAY (Lincoln's second election) and that he had learned that there was a

squad of Mosby's GUERRILLAS in the hills south of there. He thought they

were calculating on capturing the POLLS, and he had no men there able to guard

them.¹⁵ The Lieut. said he had no authority to leave his horses and take his men

off to other duty. Then I suggested that some of the CONVALESCENTS could

take care of the horses and if there was any fighting to do I would just as soon do

it there as any place. BUT I HAD HOPED to get to my Regiment BEFORE THE

POLES CLOSED, as I wanted to VOTE FOR ABE LINCOLN.

The Doctor said he had authority to let men from any state vote, and that their

vote would be properly reported and recorded in their state. The other BOYS

thought as I did, so the Lt. decided to STAY, and the next morning we left the

horses in the care of the convalescents, and we went out to establish a picket line.

It was known that MOSBY'S MEN were in the hills south of town, so we went

out in that direction. After going out about a mile we came to a place where the

road forked, there being three roads, all leading toward the hills. There we di-

 

 

15. John B. Mosby (1833-1916), after serving as scout for the Confederate forces and undergoing a

short period of captivity, organized his own small cavalry command, known as Mosby's Partisan

Rangers, and became a terror to the Union troops with his guerrilla tactics. He supported Grant for

President after the war.

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2nd 0. V. Cavalry                                                          241

 

vided into three squads, each taking a road. The Lieut. going with the squad on

the middle road, and sending Sergt. [JOHN] JONES, of our Co. with the squad

to the left, and myself to the right, with the understanding that if either squad

had TROUBLE those on the other roads would leave one man on picket and the

rest go to where the TROUBLE was.

We went out about a half mile, and established our RESERVE, with a VE-

DETTE farther out. All was quiet until ten or eleven o'clock, when a squad of

Rebs struck the boys over on the left. We went to help them and drove the Rebs

away without much FIGHT. Shortly after that a few of them showed up over on

our road (8 or 10), but after a few shots they RETIRED. Then the Lieut. said for

one man from each road to go to the POLLS and VOTE, and when they got back

for others to go. He sent me and one from each of the other roads first. We went

to town with our horses on the run, VOTED WITHOUT DISMOUNTING, and

run our horses back to the line.¹⁶

Just as we got to the fork of the road, there was an attack made on the MID-

DLE ROAD, so we went right there. They were too many for us, and were driving

us back until we got help from the other roads. Then we got the best of them, and

drove them off, and were not bothered any more by them all day, except to see

some of them at a distance.

In that DASH one of the men who had went with me to the POLLS was

KILLED, and the other WOUNDED. The one killed was a 5th N. Y. man, and I

don't know what Regt. the wounded man belonged to or whether he recovered or

not. So within about twenty minutes after I cast MY FIRST VOTE one of my

COMRADES was KILLED, and the other WOUNDED. We had two or three

others wounded, and KNEW that we GOT some of the GUERRILLAS.

I was not quite twenty-one years old yet, BUT I THOUGHT that if the two and

a half years that I had been fighting for UNCLE SAM were ADDED to my age I

would be PLENTY old enough to KILL THE VOTE OF A NORTHERN COP-

PERHEAD.¹⁷

The History of Ohio in the Warl8 states that the 2nd O. Vol. Cav. FOUGHT

under the following General Officers: BUELL, WRIGHT, HUNTER, DENVER,

STURGIS, BLUNT, SALOMON, CURTIS, SCHOFIELD, BURNSIDE, CUS-

TER, GILLMORE, SHACKELFORD, FOSTER, KAUTZ, SEDGWICK, WIL-

SON, MclNTOSH, TORBERT, CARTER, MERRITT, SHERIDAN, MEADE,

AND GRANT.19

Its horses drank from, and its men bathed in the waters of the ARKANSAS,

KAW, OSAGE, CHEYENNE, MISSOURI, MISSISSIPPI, GRAND, WHITE,

RED, BLACK, WASHITA, CANADIAN, CACHE, OHIO, SCIOTO, MIAMI,

CUMBERLAND, KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE, HOLSTON, CLINCH, PO-

 

 

 

16. In Civil War military terms, a reserve was a force held out of battle until needed. A vedette was

a mounted sentry posted in advance of the main body of troops.

17. Copperhead was a name applied throughout the Civil War to Northern Democrats who opposed

the Union's war policy, though not necessarily being in sympathy with the South.

18. Smith obviously had access to Whitelaw Reid's Ohio in the War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals,

and Her Soldiers, 2 vols. (New York, 1868) in compiling much of the information that follows.

19. Don Carlos Buell (1818-1898); Horatio G. Wright (1820-1899); David Hunter (1802-1886):

James W. Denver (1817-1892): Samuel D. Sturgis (1822-1889); James G. Blunt (1826-1881); Frederick

S. Salomon (1826-1897); Samuel R. Curtis (1817-1866); John M. Schofield (1831-1906); Ambrose E.

Burnside (1824-1881); George A. Custer (1839-1876); Quincy A. Gillmore (1825-1888); James M.

Shackelford (b. 1827); Robert S. Foster (1823-1874); Augustus V. Kautz (1828-1895); John Sedg-

wick (1813-1864); James H. Wilson (1837-1925); John B. Mcintosh (1829-1888); Alfred T. A. Torbert

(1833-1880); Samuel P. Carter (1819-1881); Wesley Merritt (1834-1910); Philip H. Sheridan (1831-

1888); George G. Meade (1815-1872); Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885).

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242

 

TOMAC, SHENANDOAH, RAPIDAN, RAPPAHANNOCK, BULL RUN,

MATTAPONY, PAMUNKEY, CHICAHOMINY, JAMES, APPOMATTOX,

BLACKWATER, NOTTOWAY, AND CHESAPEAKE.

It campaigned in fourteen states and one territory, vis. KANSAS, MISSOURI,

ARKANSAS, ILLINOIS, INDIANA, OHIO, KENTUCKY, TENNESSEE,

GEORGIA, ALABAMA, NORTH CAROLINA, WEST VIRGINIA, MARY-

LAND, VIRGINIA, AND THE INDIAN TERRITORY. It traveled as a Regi-

ment, on foot, and on horseback, by railroad, and by steamboat, over hills and

plains and mountains, and through the wilderness, on land, by river and on the

OCEAN.

It MARCHED an aggregate of more than twenty-seven thousand miles. It

fought in over one HUNDRED AND THIRTY BATTLES and ENGAGEMENTS.

It SERVED in SIX different ARMIES, vis. The Army of the FRONTIER, of

MISSOURI, of OHIO, of the CUMBERLAND, of the POTOMAC, and of the

SHENANDOAH. Thus forming a continuous line of Armies from the headwaters

of the ARKANSAS to the mouth of the JAMES RIVER.

Its DEAD sleep where they fell forming a VEDETTE LINE half across the

CONTINENT, a CHAIN of PROSTRATE SENTINELS, more than TWO

THOUSAND MILES LONG.

• 21