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--Part I
These are the memoirs of Private
William James Smith, Company M, Second
Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. Smith, the
second of eight children in the family of
Randall and Nancy Lyons Smith, was
born in a log cabin near Galion, Ohio, on
October 25, 1844. When he was two
years old his family moved to Iberia, Morrow
County, Ohio, where his father worked
in the Shunk Brothers Cooper Shop.
Although still under the legal age,
Smith managed to enlist in the Dennison
Guards on June 18, 1862. When the
opportunity presented itself, he transferred
to the 2nd 0VC on December 30 of the
same year. His company was involved
in a number of battles, including
many in Kentucky, the Wilderness Campaign,
the Shenandoah Valley Campaign of
General Sheridan, and the final battle of
the war at Appomattox Court House
where Lee surrendered. Jim, as he was
called by his buddies, was mustered
out of the army with his company on Sep-
tember 28, 1865, at Benton Barracks,
St. Louis, Missouri.
Three years later Smith married Mary
Stephens on September 18, 1868, and
they became the parents of eight
children. After living in Richmond, Indiana for
a time, he moved his family to
Columbus, Ohio, where he worked for many years
as a granite engraver. He died at the
age of seventy-three on September 15, 1918,
in his home at 45 West Northwood
Avenue, and was buried in Union Cemetery.
Even though it is not known exactly
when Smith wrote about his participa-
tion in the Civil War, there are
indications that his memoirs were written some
years after the war ended. One
indication is that the memoirs were typewritten
on a shift-key model typewriter
(permitting change of case), which did not appear
until 1878. There is also a reference
(not included here) toward the end of the
narrative to a reunion "nearly
fifty years after that" with a Confederate soldier
whom Smith had captured on March 2,
1865. The day-to-day exigencies of the
war undoubtedly made it difficult for
Smith to make regular diary entries con-
cerning his involvement. He, like his
comrades-in-arms who had undertaken to
write a history of the Second Ohio
Cavalry, was certainly aware of official ac-
counts by Whitelaw Reid and General
Philip Sheridan as well as the personal
accounts that had been published. Two
private works were Isaac Gause, Four
Years with Five Armies and Frances
Andrews Tenney, War Diary of Luman
Mr. Hatton is Professor of Modern
Languages at Capital University. He is the great-grandson of
William Smith.
102 OHIO HISTORY
Harris Tenney, 1861-1865. Smith's
chronology may have been influenced by the
latter. The insights expressed by
him, however, are his own. The memoirs are
written with an attention to detail
and accuracy.
The original manuscript, which is in
this editor's personal library, contains
many misspelled words and the
consistent substitution throughout of commas for
periods. In the interest of
legibility and as a courtesy to the typesetter, it was de-
cided to correct some of the
misspelled words-while leaving intact those that
were obviously intended for
emphasis-and to use periods where called for by
current stylistic practices. Except
for the addition of a first name here and there
for purposes of identification, and
the grouping of sentences into paragraphs, no
other changes have been made in
matters relating to style.
From the beginning of the Civil War
on April 12, 1861, to the end of the year,
both sides were largely concerned
with raising field armies, consolidating posi-
tions, and developing military
strategy. When the Confederates moved their
capital from Montgomery, Alabama to
Richmond, Virginia, just 100 miles south
of Washington, in late April,
Virginia became the major battleground of the Civil
War.
It was in Virginia that the largest
battle of the war's first year took place. On
July 21 at Bull Run (Manassas), the
opposing forces clashed in a battle that re-
sulted in a resounding triumph for
the Confederates, but which clearly demon-
strated to both sides that the war
could not be fought without well-trained soldiers
and that the conflict would be a long
one. The year ended with lesser military
successes for both sides, but
momentum seemed to be on the side of the Con-
federacy.
As 1862 opened, there were two major
areas of military operations, the East
and the West, with the Appalachian
Mountains serving as the dividing line. Both
sides had separate armies campaigning
independently of each other in these
areas until 1864, when the Union
began to coordinate the movements of its
armies. Much of the fighting in the
East centered around the two capitals. Ad-
vances on both were repulsed, and the
advantage shifted from side to side in a
series of raids, battles and
skirmishes. Perhaps the most decisive victory during
the first two-thirds of the year
belonged to the Confederates, when, on August
29, they once again routed the
Federal troops at Bull Run.
Lee, buoyed by this victory, decided
to invade Maryland. The invading Con-
federates were intercepted by the
Army of the Potomac, and the ensuing struggle,
fought along Antietam Creek on
September 17, 1862, became perhaps the blood-
iest one-day battle of the war. Lee
gave up on the idea of invading the North and
withdrew his forces, but any gains
made by the Union at Antietam were soon lost
at Fredericksburg, Virginia. There,
on December 13, 1862, the Army of the Po-
tomac, under General Burnside,
suffered a disastrous defeat. Nonetheless, the
North experienced successes in the
Western theater of the war. Under General
Ulysses S. Grant, the Union achieved
its first decisive victories at Fort Henry and
Fort Donelson in February 1862. At
the battle of Shiloh on April 6 and 7, Grant
forced the Confederates to retreat,
with both sides suffering great losses. The
surrender of New Orleans on May 1 was
a serious blow for the Confederacy.
The morale of the Union was at a low
point at the end of 1862. Some victories
had been achieved, but staggering
losses had been suffered in the process. Its
troops were bogged down at
Fredericksburg on the Eastern front and in the West,
despite a costly victory at Shiloh.
There was heavy desertion among the volunteer
army. People at home were tired of a
war that had lasted far longer than they had
anticipated and whose complexities
they could not understand. Then, on January
1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln
issued the Emancipation Proclamation, re-
minding the people, civilian and
military alike, that they had a cause.
2nd O. V. Cavalry 103
It was at this point that Smith
became an active participant in the affairs of the
2nd 0VC. The story he tells from here
on is not only one of an Ohio private in a
volunteer cavalry regiment of the
Union Army, but also one of a large slice of the
Civil War itself.1
Beginning of Smith's account
I, William James Smith, was born in
RICHLAND COUNTY, OHIO, Oct. 25,
1844, in a LOG CABIN five miles
southeast of GALION, and one mile east of
where EBENEZER CHURCH now stands, and in
what afterward became a part
of MORROW COUNTY. When I was about two
years old, my parents, RAN-
DALL & NANCY SMITH, moved to IBERIA,
where my first recollections are
of a COOPER SHOP where my father worked,
and a little later of hearing my
Grandfather talk about the War of 1812
in which he was with the Engineer Corps.
My EDUCATION I got in the DISTRICT
SCHOOL, with the exception of three
or four terms in the Galion High School.
When the war broke out in 1861, we were
living in Galion, and I very NATU-
RALLY got the WAR FEVER, and wanted to
go with the BOYS. But my parents
thought I was too young and the
Recruiting Officers thought me too SMALL, so
I had to wait awhile.
But in June 1862 there was being a
Company raised to do GUARD DUTY at
CAMP DENNISON.2 I ENLISTED in
that, and PASSED all right, as they were
not very PARTICULAR about SIZE. I
enlisted on June 18, 1862. Our Officers
were Capt. EDWARD V. BROOKFIELD, and Lt.
JAMES M. BARR. Most of
the time while I was at Camp Dennison,
Capt. Brookfield was acting as Post
Commander, leaving Lt. Barr in command
of the Company, and he being a sort
of COMBINATION, of PREACHER, LAWYER,
& MILITARY OFFI-
CER, you can IMAGINE what kind of time
WE HAD. Our DUTY was
GUARDING Government property and keeping
a GUARD AROUND CAMP,
to keep EACH OTHER IN. And to keep
SICK and WOUNDED MEN
from getting OUT, and a whole LOT of
what the Lt. CALLED DRILLING.
Well we VERY SOON got tired of it, and wanted
a change of some kind. So
we got up what is known as a ROUND
ROBIN, that is a LETTER to the WAR
DEPARTMENT, ASKING to be SENT TO THE
FIELD. After several of our
letters had been intercepted by the
Officers, we arranged to get a letter through
1. Some general studies on the Civil War
that may be consulted for the period covered by Smith's
memoirs are the following: George E.
Pond, The Shenandoah Valley in 1864 (New York, 1883); An-
drew A. Humphreys, The Virginia
Campaign of '64 and '65: the Army of the Potomac and the Army
of the James (New York, 1883); Carswell McClellan, The Personal
Memoirs and Military History of
U. S. Grant versus the Record of the
Army of the Potomac (Boston, 1887);
Philip H Sheridan, Per-
sonal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan. General
United States Army (New York, 1888), I
and II; Ulysses
S. Grant, Personal Memoirs of U. S.
Grant (New York, 1885) I and II; Isaac Gause, Four Years with
Five Armies: Army of the Frontier,
Army of the Potomac, Army of the Missouri, Army of the Ohio,
Army of the Shenandoah (New York, 1908); Frances Andrews Tenney, War Diary
of Luman Harris
Tenney 1861-1865 (Cleveland, 1914); Jubal A. Early, A Memoir of the
Last Year of the War for Inde-
pendence, in the Confederate States
of America, Containing an Account of His Commands in the
Years 1864 and 1865 (Lynchburg, Virginia, 1867); Jubal Anderson Early, Autobiographical
Sketch
and Narrative of the War Between the
States (Philadelphia, 1912); August V.
Kautz, "Report of the
Military Services of August V. Kautz,
Brevet Major General U.S.A. From March 4th 1861, to January
15th, 1866" [for Adjutant General's
Office, per request of June, 1872]; Frederick H. Dyer, A Com-
pendium of the War of the Rebellion (New York, 1959), I, II, and III; Whitelaw Reid, Ohio
in the
War: Her Statesmen, Her Generals, and
Soldiers (Cincinnati, 1868), I and II;
Official Roster of the
Soldiers of the State of Ohio in the
War of the Rebellion, 1861-1866 (Akron,
Ohio, 1891), XI; The War
of the Rebellion: A Compilation of
the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (Wash-
ington, 1893), Series I, Vol. XLIII,
Part I; Mark M. Boatner, The Civil War Dictionary (New York,
1959).
2. Camp Dennison was established near
Cincinnati under the command of Major-General George
B. McClellan in early 1861. Reid, Ohio
in the War, I, 43.
104 OHIO HISTORY
by the help of a man in Cincinnati. Soon
our Officers got orders to let any of us
who wished to be TRANSFERRED to the 8th
Battalion O. V. Cav. which was
being organized there at that time. Out
of some seventy or eighty who had signed
the PETITION, EIGHTEEN of us went, the
rest ALL BALKED. Fourteen of us
went into Co. D. (Capt. WILLIAM H.
ULREY) which was to go as ARTILLERY,
the other four preferred the CAVALRY, so
went into Co. C. (Capt. WOOD-
RUFF).3
But when it came to getting our
EQUIPMENTS, we were all fitted out as
CAVALRY. We were under the command of
Capt. Samuel K. Williams, of Co. I,
who called himself MAJOR. We were
transferred on Dec. 30, 1862, and the next
day drew our horses, saddles, and arms,
and started on the MARCH without any
CAVALRY DRILL for either MEN OR HORSES.
A good many of the men were
GREENER than the horses they rode. We
marched away from Camp Dennison
Dec. 31, 1862, late in the afternoon,
HEADED FOR CINCINNATI, and crossed
the Ohio River into KENTUCK while the
BELLS WERE RINGING IN THE
NEW YEAR 1863.
It was nearly daylight when we went into
camp, about four miles back of
COVINGTON. After daylight when our
WAGONS came in, it was found they
had TENTS and COOKING UTENSILS, but no
RATIONS, for either MEN or
HORSES. And as we had started from Camp
Dennison with only RATIONS
for the day, you can guess the BOYS
raised a KICK.
RIGHT AWAY QUICK Capt. WILLIAMS (WHO
CALLED HIMSELF MA-
JOR) and the rest of the HEADQUARTERS
GANG struck out for town to get
rations. BUT when the SUN was getting
low in the west, and neither MAJOR
nor RATIONS SHOWED UP, the KICK got so
STRONG that Capt. ULREY
of our Co. and two or three other
Officers got on horses and STRUCK FOR
TOWN. There they found the HEADQUARTERS
GANG at a HOTEL, having
a NICE TIME.
They INFORMED the MAJOR that if there
were not RATIONS for the
MEN, and FEED for the horses in the camp
inside of an hour, the whole Bat-
talion was coming to town, and they
could look for TROUBLE A PLENTY.
WELL then the MAJOR got a move on
himself. And before the hour was up
the RATIONS CAME IN, with the TEAMS ON
THE JUMP.
But it was after DARK when we got our
NEW YEARS DINNER, and our
OYSTER WITH TURKEY DRESSING looked very
much like SOW BELLY
WITH HARD TACK DRESSING, and some of the
BOYS thought our SHAM-
PAIN tasted very much like BLACK COFFEE.
But I guess we all relished it all
right.
We laid there for several days, and
while the Officers spent most of the time
in town, we men INSPECTED THE FORTS.
While there I saw one GUN taken
out to one of the forts by a team of
FORTY HORSES. When we left there, we
marched through by way of CYNTHIANA to
LEXINGTON, Ky. There we
camped near Gen. GILLMORE'S COMMAND of
Infantry and Artillery, just
south of the town.4
After we had been there some three weeks
those of our Co. who had been
transferred from the DENNISON GUARDS
with the understanding that we
were to go as Artillery, were DETAILED
to go with Capt. JESSE S. LAW'S
3. For organization of the 2nd OVC see
Reid, Ohio in the War, 11,
758; for information on Captain
Ulrey see Official Roster, XI, 110,
294; no reference to "Capt. Woodruff' was found.
4. General Quincy Adams Gillmore
(1825-1888) was born in Black River, Lorain County, Ohio.
Reid, Ohio in the War, 1, 617.
2nd 0. V. Cavalry 105
HOWITZER BATTERY, where we drilled as
Artillery for a short time. Then the
2nd Regiment Ohio Vol. Cav. came and
camped near us, and we were notified
that we were to be CONSOLIDATED with it.
Co.'s A, B, C, & D of the 18th
Battalion became I, K, L, & M of the
2nd Reg't. Ohio Vol. Cav. which was at that
time commanded by Colonel, afterward
General AUGUSTUS V. KAUTZ, and
the men detailed with the Artillery were
ordered to return to Co. M.
A brief history of the Second Ohio
Volunteer Cavalry
The Second Ohio Volunteer Cavalry was
the first cavalry regiment to be re-
cruited and organized in the northern
part of the state. It was mustered in at
Camp Wade, near Cleveland, on October
10, 1861. At the time of its organization,
this regiment consisted of 1177 men.
Muster out took place on September 11,
1865, at Benton Barracks, St. Louis,
Missouri. The 757 men remaining were paid
and discharged at Camp Chase in
Columbus.
Marching orders in early January 1862
took the regiment by rail to Platte City,
Missouri, where it spent the next few
weeks scouting the border. On February
22, while on a march to Fort Scott,
Kansas, a scouting party of the 2nd 0VC was
attacked in Independence, Missouri,
by a group of guerrillas under the command
of the infamous Billy Quantrill.
Casualties were not great on either side in this
brief encounter, and the 2nd OVC
continued on to Fort Scott.
The 2nd 0VC remained at Fort Scott
until late May 1862, engaging primarily
in maneuvers designed to break up
guerrilla activity. In early June it made an
expedition into Indian Territory,
where it was joined by three regiments of loyal
Indians. Throughout the remainder of
June and the month of July, the 2nd OVC
engaged in a few brief skirmishes
with the enemy, with neither side suffering
losses of consequence.
In early August, the 2nd OVC returned
to Fort Scott, with many men and
horses dying en route due to the
excessive heat to which they were exposed. In
the latter part of August the
regiment took part in a forced march, lasting ten
days and nights, in pursuit of a
Confederate raiding party. There were several
encounters but few losses.
Early in September the mounted
portion of the regiment took part in successful
campaigns in Missouri and Arkansas.
Later in the same month the dismounted
men came under the command of Colonel
Augustus V. Kautz and returned to
Camp Chase for remounting and
refitting. They were joined in December by
those who had been serving in
Missouri and Arkansas, and as the year 1862
came to an end the 2nd OVC received
new horses, arms and recruits.
The 2nd OVC left Camp Chase for
Somerset, Kentucky in early April 1863,
where it was joined by a battalion of
four companies originally raised for the 8th
OVC. This battalion became Companies
I, K, L and M of the 2nd OVC. Smith,
who was serving in the Kentucky-based
battalion after transferring from the Den-
nison Guards, begins his account of
the activities of the 2nd OVC at this point.5
Smith's account continued
The 2nd Reg't. had been organized at
Cleveland, early in 1861, and went west,
where they had done duty in Missouri,
Arkansas, Kansas, and the Indian Terri-
tory. They did some fighting, and a lot
of hard MARCHING. They had lost a
good many men, mostly by disease. Then
there had been something like one hun-
dred and fifty Officers and men taken
out of the reg't. to form the 25th Inde-
pendent Battery O. Vol. Art. That had so
weakened the Reg't. that the twelve
5. Reid, Ohio in the War, II,
757-759.
106 OHIO HISTORY
Companies were consolidated into eight,
then recruited up to full strength. Then
the 8th Battalion was added to bring it
up to a full Reg't. of twelve Companies.
Shortly after the consolidation, Col.
KAUTZ was promoted to the rank of Brig.
Gen'l., leaving the Reg't. to the
command of Lt. Col. Geo. A. Purington.
In a couple of weeks the Reg't. was sent
to Mt. Sterling, Ky. where the old 8th
Battalion got its first taste of GUN
POWDER in a BRUSH with Kirby Smith's
Cavalry, Mar. 19, 1863. The Reg't. lost
several men but drove the Rebs, who had
a much heavier loss.6
Soon after that we went to the southern
part of K-y, where I first found out by
EXPERIENCE what a BULLET felt like. On
April 30, 1863, we met a pretty
heavy force of Rebs at MONTICELLO and
drove them for several miles.7 I was
with the advance guard, and we met them
just before we got to the town. When
we were driving their advance line, I
had the LUCK to have the end taken off of
my big toe of my right foot, and the
stirrup taken with it. I lengthened out the
stirrup strap, so as to get my foot in
that, instead of the stirrup, and stayed with
the advance guard. After two or three
hours spent in dashing over stony roads,
stony fields, and stone fences we came
to a creek.
There I dropped out, and went to a house
close by. A woman came to the door,
and I asked her for a rag to tie up my
toe. It was bleeding, and hurting pretty bad
then. The woman got kind of EXCITED. (I
couldn't see anything to get EX-
CITED about. Just a LITTLE BATTLE going
on around her house.)
She got an old calico shirt and handed
it to me. She threw up her hands, say-
ing, OH MY ARE YOU WOUNDED? I told her
not very badly. I tore off a piece
of the calico, and went to the creek,
dismounted, and was washing my foot when
one of our surgeons came along,
dismounted, got out his KIT, trimmed off the
ragged edges, and bound it up. Then
after trimming my boot to FIT MY FOOT,
I mounted my horse and again joined the
advance guard, and stayed with it the
rest of the day. And we surely found it
pretty warm for a spring day.
At one time about twenty of us drove a
squad of rebel Cavalry along a country
road or lane and captured a number of
them. The boys had been falling out to
take care of the prisoners, until at
last Lieut. FRANKLIN S. CASE and I found
ourselves alone and facing some twenty
or thirty REBS, who were behind some
tree tops and were trying to make it
warm for us. But they were all armed with
MUSSEL LOADING GUNS, and couldn't do
much on horseback. But we, of
course, decided to STOP A LEETLE. (You
see our horses needed a rest.) We
were protected a very little by some
trees and were PUMPING LEAD into those
tree tops as lively as possible when the
Lieutenant, who was using a revolver,
said, JIM, I'm out of ammunition. (I
think Lieutenant FRANK CASE who had
command of the twenty men who were taken
from our Reg't. that day for ad-
vance guard, was as brave and as COOL
HEADED a man as I ever saw on the
battlefield.)
6. E. Kirby Smith, CSA, general and
cavalry leader who surrendered the last Confederate force on
June 2, 1865. Boatner, Dictionary, 769-770.
The narrative lags here. Smith's
military service record indicates that he deserted in late January
1863 (three conflicting dates are given)
and returned from desertion on April 10, 1863, apparently
without reprimand. See Smith's Military
Service Record, Records of the Department of War, Na-
tional Archives.
Twelve extant letters received by Smith
while in the service from various members of his family
contain, among other things, an obvious
awareness on the part of his family of Smith's general dis-
satisfaction with life in the military
and his plans for desertion. A concerted effort, obviously unsuc-
cessful, was made to dissuade him.
Perhaps the most reasoned plea of all was made by his mother,
"Pap and Mother" to
"Son," December 17, 1862, VFM 1335, William J. Smith Letters, Ohio
Historical
Society.
7. The 2nd OVC was involved in several
skirmishes in and around Monticello, Kentucky, between
the dates of April 28 and May 2, 1863.
Reid, Ohio in the War, 11, 758.
2nd 0. V. Cavalry
107
I told him I had some revolver
cartridges. But he said they wouldn't FIT HIS
GUN so I handed him my revolver and
ammunition for it. I was using a BREECH
LOADING CARBINE (a Burnside) so we
WORKED AWAY. The LEAD was
BUZZING around us pretty lively.
Presently he said, JIM, this is getting PRETTY
WARM. (We knew that if we turned our
backs to them it would give them the
advantage.8
Then the Lieutenant turned in his
saddle, and sung out at the top of his voice,
SECOND OHIO, F O R W A R D. C H A R G E!
Luckily for us, just at that time some
ten or twelve of our boys came over a hill
back of us, and our friends behind the
brush, apparently thinking the whole
YANKEY ARMY was coming, took a notion to
go down the lane. They started
along a narrow lane, which soon came to
a square turn, with us a CLOSE SEC-
OND. They were BUNCHED as close as they
could crowd in, and since we were
strung out across the lane, this gave us
a chance to PUMP LEAD into them live-
ly, without their being able to return
it, except an occasional pistol shot, which
all went wild. When they reached the end
of the lane, they turned into a small
barn yard. To get out of it they had to
jump their horses over a pair of low bars.
In doing that one of them had his saddle
girth to break, throwing him head fore-
most to the ground, while his comrades
went on across an open field.
Seeing his SAD DILEM MO, I rushed up to
help? him out of it. I suggested
that he need not mind the saddle, or his
GUN which lay on the ground, but to
jump on his horse?? (I guess he called
it a horse) and go with me.
Just as I got started I noticed that my
crowd had all turned back and were mak-
ing for the TIMBER. I also noticed quite
a number of southern GENTLEMEN
ALL DRESSED IN GRAY, coming across the
field at my left. So I invited my
lefthand PARDNER to STICK IN HIS
HOLDERS, and I kept him on the side
NEAREST TO HIS FRIENDS. And I informed
him that I loved him so much
that I would never leave him (ALIVE).
The rebs couldn't fire at me as HE WAS
ON THEIR SIDE.
As we went through the lane, we passed
several Rebs on the ground, and as
we passed one who lay face up, and
looked to be dead I asked, do you know him?
He answered, yes POOR JOHN, we were boys
together, and belonged to the
same Company.
I asked if any of the others were hit,
and he said they were nearly all wounded.
When I got back to the timber with my
NEW MADE FRIEND, I found most of
our advance guard, of twenty men lined
up, and watching several hundred Rebs
forming in a field in front of us. Lt.
CASE told me to turn my FRIEND JONNIE
over to one of the other boys, who
already had a couple of others to look after,
and take to the rear. I did so, but
first took charge of his SPURS, as I did not
think he would need them again soon, as
about all the blood in his MOUNT was
running down his sides.
Then I fell in with the squad, who were
all the YANKS that I could see, except
Col. FRANK WOLFORD of the First K-y.
Cavalry, and his orderly, who were
sitting on their horses across the road
from us, a short distance away. I told the
Lieut. that I thought we had better make
arrangements for getting away from
there, as there was a high rail fence in
our rear. He thought we were safe enough,
but at my urgent request sent a couple
of the boys to make gaps in the fence. The
8. The Burnside carbine was invented and
patented by General Ambrose E. Burnside (1824-1881)
in 1856. This breech-loading percussion
carbine, a short-barreled shoulder rifle to be used by cavalry,
weighed about seven pounds. Burnside was
an inconsistent commander. His successes included the
capture of Morgan's Raiders and the
siege of Knoxville. One of his most patent failures was the
Petersburg mine assault. Boatner, Dictionary,
107-108.
108 OHIO HISTORY
Rebs took it very cool and formed a very
pretty line in front of us, in an open field.
They sent out men to lay down the fence
in front of them, to give them a chance
to charge on us. Then they started over
to CALL ON US. Just as they had got
through the fence and straightened up
their line, ready to charge us, Col. WOL-
FORD, who had been very coolly watching
them, called out LET THEM HAVE
IT BOYS!
At that the old First K-y Cavalry,
nearly a thousand strong, who were dis-
mounted, and hidden behind logs and
trees, raised up, and did surely LET THEM
HAVE IT. Many of the REBS went down, and
the rest went back across the field,
on a regular stampede. They didn't stop
to try to form a line until they got clear
across the farm. Very few of the Rebs
tried to return the fire, and those who did
simply shot up into the air. Not one of
their shots hit any of our men.
Then our Regiment came up and the K-y.
boys' horses came up and they
mounted and we followed the Rebs for
more than a mile, but couldn't get a shot
at them until they got back to the main
force of Infantry and Artillery. Then the
two Regt's. formed in front of them with
a battery of Artillery in our rear, and
made a BIG BLUFF, as if we were going to
charge on them. At the same time our
Artillery was dropping a few shells in
among them with good effect.
In that way we kept them watching us for
some time, and after a while we could
see a column of infantry moving out from
between two hills some distance in
their rear. The first thing they knew
our Infantry charged them in rear and flank.
They had sent a few shells over our way,
but had not hit any body. When our In-
fantry struck them they struck out,
leaving many dead and wounded on the field.
Then instead of Gen'l. Gillmore
following right up and getting the whole
BUNCH, he took us back five miles to
MONTICELLO and laid there for three
days, giving the rebs a chance to gather
up their dead and wounded and get
CLEAN GONE. When he did at last start
after them, they were nowhere to be
found.
But that days work about DONE ME UP for
quite a while, for beside having
a very sore foot, the hard riding all
day over stoney roads and fields, and up and
down hills most of the time with my
horse on the JUMP, and without the use of
my stirrup, had given me a severe pain
in my breast. And then while we laid at
Monticello it rained almost all the
time, and I took a very heavy cold. So when
they did at last go to look for the
JONNIES, I was not able to go along, but stayed
with a few others in the camp. Soon
after that we went back to our old camp at
SOMERSET, KY. After laying there a few
days, I went out with a party to the
country on a foraging trip, and when I
got back I had to be helped off of my horse
and into my tent.
The next morning I was CARRIED to the
HOSPITAL. There the Drs. said
that I had a bad case of DOUBLE TYPHOID
PNEUMONIA. I kept getting
worse for several days, so that the Drs.
said that I had no show for pulling
through.9 But after a big
storm came along, and blowed the side wall of the tent
in over me, and left me laying in the
water, with the rain pouring down on me,
and I heard the Drs. say that would
finish SMITH UP, I began to improve. And
a few days later, when some of our boys
were brought in wounded, I was able to
give up my bed and go out and bunk under
a fly tent along side of the big HOS-
PITAL TENT.
9. Although Smith did indeed pull
through this and other serious illnesses, he was not a well man
for the rest of his life. At the age of
forty-seven he filed a formal request for an invalid pension. The
accompanying medical report stated that
he was suffering from "Pleuretic adhesion of the breast.
Shortness of breath. Vertigo.
Rheumatism. Piles. Kidney and liver disease. General debility and in-
ability to perform manual labor."
The pension was granted. See Smith's Military Service Record,
Records of the Department of War,
National Archives.
2nd 0. V. Cavalry
109
Shortly after that the Regiment got
MARCHING orders, and a lot of us were
loaded into ambulances and Army wagons
and started for Camp Nelson, near
Hickman Bridge, eighteen miles south of
Lexington, K-y. (Only the worst
wounded cases had ambulances, the rest
rode in big jolt wagons on straw.)
I was in the hospital there until along
in August. Part of the time they had me
nursing, and then they had me in the
DRUG DEPARTMENT awhile. I wanted
to go to my Reg't. but couldn't get to,
until I kicked up so much of a disturbance
that the old Dr. was glad to get rid of
me, and sent me over to the Convalescent
Camp. There I found men who had been
there for months, and wanted to go to
their regiments but could not get to.
Some of them began to hollow FRESH
FISH, and say that I would get to serve
out the balance of my time there. But I
told them that if a few of them would
help me we would get out of there inside of
three weeks. They said they would stay
with me, but couldn't see how I was going
to get away. Well the next day we
started in by cleaning out pie pedlers &c. Next
came sutler shanties and everything of
that sort. Wagon loads of water melons
would roll down the hill from the pike
into camp. One morning it was found that
the props had given away from against a
Commissary SHED, and let barrels of
pork and boxes of crackers &c roll
down the hill. Then there came a kind of a
LULL in BUSINESS, the boys couldn't find
anything to do.
Then one evening, a heavy rain storm
came our way, a regular POUR DOWN,
and the boys all huddled in their tents,
very DISCONSOLATE. I told them to
not go to sleep, as that was the night
that would send us to our Regiments. They
couldn't see how such a night could help
us.
It was a terrible night, and the WIND?
well it JUST SIMPLY JUST HOWLED.
It got so strong that it took the tent
CLEAN AWAY from over MAJOR?? WIL-
LIAMS, Capt. of Co. I, of our Regt. who
had command of the camp, and was
having a soft job. (He RESIGNED and WENT
HOME when he was relieved
and ordered to report to his Reg't. at
the front.)10
Well, the MAJOR? gathered up his clothes
and run into the next tent with his
Adjutant. But the WIND STILL BLOWED, and
soon the Adjutant's tent
BLOWED AWAY?
THEN they both run into the Drs. tent,
where all went well for a short time.
But when the Drs. tent went and BLOWED
DOWN, they all three ran for the
Quartermaster's BUILDING which WOULDN'T
BLOW DOWN. The next
morning, when they were putting up the
tents again, I heard one of them say, he
had known a good many strong winds, but
that was the first time he ever came
across a wind sharp enough to cut ropes,
like that did.
After that all was quiet for a few days.
Then a Serg't. came down the line, and
began to call out names and tell us to
fall in. When six or eight first called all be-
longed to OUR GANG, some of them began
to GET NERVES, and said SMITH
THEY HAVE CAUGHT ON. I told them if they
did they would know who to
send TO THE FRONT, as that was about all
they could do, and just what we
wanted.
But he went on calling names until he
had forty men in line. Then we were
ordered to count off by two's. Then No.
One's were told to step two paces to the
front. Then No. Two's were told to break
ranks and pack up their own and No.
ones' traps. Then we in the front line
were taken to the Quartermaster's and each
given a bridle and a halter. Then
marched out through a woods to a CORRAL
and told to each pick out two horses.
When we got back to the Quartermaster's
we were given saddles, then went to camp
where each turned over a horse to his
10. Captain Williams resigned from the
Army on November 1, 1863. Official Roster, XI, 94.
110 OHIO
HISTORY
pardner. We were then marched to the Q.
M. Dept. again and given a few days
RATIONS and REVOLVERS, but instead of
giving us CARBINES they gave
each a BLACK SNAKE WHIP.
Then after a short LECTURE by the MAJOR
about the trouble in camp ever
since certain persons came in, and
hoping they would have some peace--BUT
the LECTURE came to a sudden stop when
CLARK DITTO called out Major,
Oh 'Major' Aint you going to give us no
AMMUNITION for these (holding up
his WHIP)?
The rest took it up, even the Lieut. and
the Major?? gave it up and started for
his tent, followed by hoots from the
BOYS. Then we started out on the pike
leading south. I had been there only TWO
WEEKS.
After going a few miles we camped for
the night. And the next morning after a
few miles march we came to a big herd of
cattle, about three thousand head. We
got them out into the road and headed
south. We had to go along slowly and let
them GRAZE along, as we had no other
feed for them. When we were near
CRAB ORCHARD, we were given about two
thousand HOGS, to drive with
them.
After a few days out, six men, including
myself, were detailed to take out about
twenty-five head of cattle and drop back
with a Brigade of Infantry who were
following us. Each evening their
butchers would kill what cattle they wanted for
the next days meat. When they were about
all gone we would go to the drove and
get more. In that way we worked along
until we reached BLUE SPRINGS, EAST
TENN. on Oct. 10, 1863. We were then
ordered to turn our stock over to some
Infantry, and each man to report to his
own Company. Each one was allowed to
take some fresh PORK with him. I got
half of a small hog.
During our last days drive, for quite
awhile before we got to the Army, we
could hear heavy firing. And when we got
to our Companies, we learned that
they had been in a hard fight. Our
Company had lost three men, one (MORGAN
BARKER) was killed, and ROGER HANNAFORD
and ABE STRUBLE
wounded. THE REBS had been driven back
leaving many dead and wounded on
the field.
Campaign in East Tennessee
Most of the action in the closing
months of 1863 centered around Chattanooga
and Knoxville. In the latter part of
September, the Union Army moved into the
vicinity of Chattanooga and took up
position. General Grant was sent to take
overall command. Although there were
attacks and counterattacks over a period
of several weeks, the battle for Chattanooga
lasted just three days (November
23-25). The victory gained here by
the Union Army was an important one, for it
made possible Sherman's march through
Georgia.
In early November 1863, General James
Longstreet was sent to attack the
Union Army under General Burnside at
Knoxville. Arriving around mid-Novem-
ber and believing that he could
starve out Burnside and force his surrender, Long-
street laid siege to the city for
several days. When Grant's victory at Chattanooga
made his position critical,
Longstreet decided to assault the fort in which the
Union troops were located. The
Confederates, who became trapped in a ditch
and barbed wire barrier in front of
the fort, suffered a resounding defeat. Because
he failed to pursue Longstreet, thus
allowing him to join up with Lee for the 1864
campaign, Burnside was relieved of
his command at his own request.11
11. For the Battle of Chattanooga see
Grant, Personal Memoirs, II, 76-82 and 88; Sheridan, Per-
sonal Memoirs, I, 290-320. For the relief of Knoxville see Grant, Personal
Memoirs, 11, 89-99; Sheri-
dan, Personal Memoirs, 1,
326-336.
2nd 0. V.
Cavalry 111
Smith's account
continued
The next day [October
11] we met them again, at RHEATOWN, where we
again put them to
flight, after a sharp fight lasting some hours. From then on up
to the time we left
East Tenn. fights were a common occurrence. In fact, from
Aug. 30th to Dec.
27th there were 39 days on which our Regt. heard BULLETS
whistling around our
heads, making a total of over 60 during 1863.
Those battles in
which I had a small part were
BLUE SPRINGS
..............Oct. 10
RHEATOWN
.................Oct. 11
BLOUNTSVILLE
..............Oct. 14 & Dec. 29 & 30
SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE
.......Nov. 17 to Dec. 4; 18 days
CLINCH FORD
............... Dec. 5
WALKER'S FORD
............Dec. 6 & 2nd
THORN HILL
................ Dec. 7
MORRISTOWN
............... Dec. 10
CHEEK'S CROSS ROADS
.....Dec. 12
BEAN'S STATION ............Dec. 13
BEAN'S STATION ............Dec. 14
RUTLEDGE
.................. Dec. 15
RUTLEDGE
.................. Dec. 16
BLAIN'S CROSS ROADS
......Dec. 17
BLAIN'S CROSS ROADS
......Dec. 18
DANDRIDGE
................ Dec. 24
DANDRIDGE
................. Dec. 25
MOSSY CREEK
...............Dec. 27
Our Reg't. lost
heavily during the campaign in killed, wounded and captured,
but the closest they
got to me was at Blountsville, Oct. 14th when some little
something in the air
bruised the side of my head and blistered the top of my ear.
Quite a good deal of
the time while in East Tenn. I was on detached duty with
the Telegraph Dept.
at Gen'l. BURNSIDES Head Quarters. My duty there was
carrying dispatches,
or orders to the different Divisions. Either in camp or on the
line of battle, we
had a PORTABLE instrument, which we had to keep just in the
rear of the line,
when in an engagement, and had to be moved from time to time,
as the line changed
position. Then we had to carry messages to different parts of
the line. The instrument
had to be set so the operator could lay behind a log, a
tree or something,
for protection. Sometimes the SKEETERS and BLUE BOT-
TLE FLIES would BUZ
around pretty thick as we went up or down the line, or
went up a pole to
change the wires.
On the night of Dec.
31st and Jan. 1st 1864, known as the cold New Years, we
were laying near
Mossy Creek, Tenn. Early in the evening the Colonel of our
Regt. which was on
picket, gave orders to change the guard every hour, instead
of every two hours.
Then about eight o'clock he ordered them changed every half
hour, and soon after
that he told them to build fires and all three reliefs to stay by
them. The three
reliefs were then on outpost all night, but by fires. Not being on
duty that night I was
LOCATED by a big rail fire, built against a big log. I had
the fire in front,
and a wind break up behind me, so that I stood it pretty well.
A few days later I
was talking to a prisoner when he asked me how we stood
that cold night. I
said, Oh, we are used to that kind of weather up north. He said
that we made a BIG
mistake by not attacking them that night. He said all they
would have asked of
us would have been to let them stay by the fire, and they
would have all
SURRENDERED, rather than leave the fire. They were not used
112 OHIO HISTORY
to any cold weather and were VERY POORLY
and THINLY DRESSED, so
could not stand as much cold as we
could.
From there we moved to STRAWBERRY
PLAINS. While there the call came
for VETERAN RE-ENLISTMENT. Almost all of
our Reg't. re-enlisted, and
were given thirty-day furloughs, and
transportation home. Those who didn't re-
enlist were transferred to some other
Regiment.12
On our way home, after turning in our
horses at Strawberry Plains, we came
by rail to the Tenn. River, where the
Loudon bridge had been burned. Then by
small boats to Chattanooga, where we
laid for three or four days, waiting for
transportation. That gave us a chance to
see Lookout Mountain, and Missionary
Ridge, and other works around
Chattanooga. Then we came by the Railroad (in
box cars) by way of Nashville,
Louisville, and Cincinnati to Columbus, where we
got our furloughs.
At that time we were told to report at
Cleveland, Ohio at the end of the thirty
days. From Cleveland we started for the
south, but when we got to Cincinnati
there was a change made in the orders,
and we were sent back by way of Colum-
bus, and Bellaire, to Annapolis M-d. We
laid there for two or three weeks (living
mostly on oysters and fresh fish). From
there we went by rail to Washington,
D. C. and went into Camp Stoneman, some
three or four miles below the city.
There we were given new guns, SPENCER
CARBINES (seven shooters) and
revolvers, with all new equipments, and
fresh horses. After drilling our horses
for a few days, we were started out for
OLD VERGINNIA.13
We learned afterward that Gen'l.
BURNSIDE had been ordered from East
Tenn. with the Ninth Army Corps, and had
asked that the Second Ohio Cav.
might go with him. We were attached to
the Ninth Corps for a short time after
going to V-a. before the Cavalry was all
put into a separate corps and placed
under the Command of Gen'l. PHIL
SHERIDAN.14
The Wilderness Campaign
In March 1864 Ulysses S. Grant was
commissioned lieutenant-general by Pres-
ident Lincoln and given general
command of the Union Armies. He was charged
with the task of bringing the war to
an end as soon as possible by whatever means
necessary.
In his first major campaign in his
new capacity, Grant, leading Meade's army,
crossed the Rapidan River on May 3
and 4 into the Wilderness, a wild and tangled
woodland about ten miles west of
Fredericksburg, Virginia. What he thought
would be merely a prelude to his confrontation
later with Robert E. Lee's Army
of Northern Virginia was in effect
the beginning of a military campaign that
would last throughout May and June,
with both sides suffering sizable losses.
The nature of the terrain made the
two-day battle of the Wilderness (May 5-6,
1864) a bloody affair devoid of
military tactics. Grant and his men managed to
push ahead, though claiming no
victory, in the direction of Spotsylvania Court
House, about twelve miles to the
southeast. Lee, anticipating the move, was al-
ready there. Another series of bloody
battles ensued which lasted several days
(May 8-21) and which resulted in
heavy losses for both sides.
12. Strawberry Plains, Virginia (Deep
Bottom Run) was the site of two major confrontations be-
tween Union and Confederate forces
between the dates of July 27-29 and August 13-20, 1864. Boat-
ner, Dictionary, 229-231.
13. Christopher M. Spencer of
Connecticut patented the first successful breech-loading repeating
carbine in 1860. The federal cavalry and
infantry were both making extensive use of it by 1864. Boat-
ner, Dictionary, 782.
14. Philip H. Sheridan (1831-1888) was
born in Albany, New York on March 6, 1831. His family
moved to Somerset, Perry County, Ohio in
1832. He led a number of successful campaigns, culminat-
ing his Civil War experience at
Appomattox. Sheridan, Personal Memoirs, 1, 2.
2nd 0. V. Cavalry
113
Some of the severest fighting of the
war took place when Grant and Lee met
again a few days later, this time at
Cold Harbor, Virginia on June 3, 1864. Ignor-
ing the advice of his military
advisors, Grant attacked Lee and his men in what
turned out to be an almost suicidal
effort. Reports of the battle indicate that the
Union lost over 7000 men in a few
hours of terrible fighting. In the entire Wilder-
ness Campaign, which for all intents
and purposes ended in a series of fierce at-
tacks and counterattacks at Cold
Harbor, the Union Army lost approximately
55,000 men in killed and wounded,
almost as many as in Lee's entire Army of
Northern Virginia. 15
Smith's account continued
We got into Virginia just in time to
help open the BATTLE OF THE WIL-
DERNESS, May 1864. In the opening of the
battle, the Cavalry had the advance.
We first met the Rebel Cavalry outposts,
drove in the pickets, then Cavalry re-
serves, then struck the main body of
Cavalry, and after driving them for some
distance, we ran against a heavy body of
Infantry, in a THICKET, where it was
simply IMPOSSIBLE for Cavalry to get
through. Then our Infantry came up and
formed in front of them, and made an
attack.
When they pushed their way into the
thicket, the UNDERBRUSH was so
thick they couldn't see a man ten feet
in front of them. That gave the Reb's quite
an advantage, as they could tell when
our line was advancing. But our men kept
moving forward while our Artillery kept
RAKING the THICKET with SHOT
AND SHELL AND GRAPE AND CANNISTER.
They kept that up for two days and
nights before they got the Reb's out of the
thicket. For forty-eight hours the
firing was so heavy and CONTINUOUS that
you couldn't begin to count the reports
of the Artillery, to say nothing of the
Musketry, which was just a CONTINUAL
ROAR. When the Infantry took our
place at the front we went to the left,
to work on their FLANK.
That placed us near the old
CHANCELLORSVILLE HOTEL and in the timber
between that and United States Ford, and
along the Fredericksburg road. During
the first days fight we were engaged
almost all the time. That night we lay in the
woods on the left and listened to the
MUSIC, which kept up all night. The next
day we moved around their right flank to
TODD'S TAVERN. There we got into
it pretty HOT for several hours. And
again on the 8th at ALSOP'S FARM we had
several hours HOT WORK.
For the next three days we were guarding
the left flank, while our Infantry was
driving them along toward RICHMOND. Then
again on the 12th we got into it
RED HOT at SPOTSYLVANIA. On the 15th we
had quite a mix up at PINEY
BRANCH CHURCH. I had been sent out to
investigate the condition of a hos-
pital where a lot of wounded men were
reported to be badly in need of supplies.
I had found them, and had a talk with
the surgeon in charge. I learned that they
needed help BADLY, and I was about ready
to start back, when a squad of Rebel
Cavalry came in. By playing the BADLY
WOUNDED GAG I fooled them until
they got off to the upper end of the
camp. Then I slipped into a little thicket just
below the camp, where I had left my
horse. I mounted, and was trying to widen
the space between myself and them when
they spied me, and gave chase. I didn't
tarry.
15. For the Battle of the Wilderness see
Humphreys, The Virginia Campaign, 18-56; Grant, Per-
sonal Memoirs, II, 193-203; Sheridan, Personal Memoirs, I,
357-365; Early, Autobiographical Sketch,
343-351. For the Battle of Spotsylvania
Court House see Humphreys, The Virginia Campaign, 57-
118; Grant, Personal Memoirs, II,
217-225; Sheridan, Personal Memoirs, 1, 365-367; Early, Auto-
biographical Sketch, 352-358. For the Battle of Cold Harbor see Humphreys, The
Virginia Campaign,
169-193; Grant, Personal Memoirs, 11,
270-278; Sheridan, Personal Memoirs, I, 402-407; Early, Auto-
biographical Sketch, 361-365.
114 OHIO HISTORY
I had a good horse, and used my spurs,
and after about a four mile spurt got
away. Oh NO, I DIDN'T RUN FROM THEM,
that might be called cowardly,
I JUST FLEW. I got back to the Regt.
just at noon. I made my report to the
Colonel, then went to my Company, where
my pals had dinner ready. (Two other
Boys sent out on the same errand landed
in Andersonville [a Confederate prison
in Georgia]. We had taken different
routes on the same case.) Without waiting to
unsaddle, I sat down to EAT A BITE. And
just as I got done there was a rattling
heard on the picket line.
There were seven Companies of us. (Four
miles from the plank road, and
about eight miles from Chancellorsville,
was the nearest place where we could
get help.) There was one Company on
picket across the creek from the camp, and
another Company saddled up, ready to go
on duty to relieve them, when they
were attacked by a division of Rebel
Cavalry and a Battery of Artillery. The bot-
tom of the creek was a regular MIRE
HOLE. The only place it could be crossed
was at the road, where there had been a
ford made by filling it up with stone. As
soon as the pickets were fired on, the
Co. that was saddled up dashed across to
help those on the other side hold them
back, and the five Companies left in camp
divided, half grabbing their guns and
running to the creek to help them back
over, while the rest saddled up. My
horse being all ready saddled, I was soon in
line. By the time our boys all got over,
the horses were all saddled, and we were
in action. As soon as the attack came,
the Colonel had sent an orderly back for
help, sending word that we must have
help when we got back to the plank road
(four miles).
The road from where we were to the plank
road was through an almost im-
penetrable woods, and VERY crooked, and
the CROOKS helped us out. At a
bend in the road we would form, three or
four deep across the road, and as the
Rebs would come around the next corner,
we would empty our SEVEN SHOOT-
ERS, then fall back, when they got to
the next corner, another VOLLEY awaited
them. We moved back slowly, thus giving
time for help to come.
When we got to the plank road, we were
out on open ground, and surely needed
help. But as we got out of the woods and
formed in the open field, casting our
eyes off to the right, we saw a VERY
DARK CLOUD. It was Gen. FERRERO'S
Division of COLORED TROOPS. And they
were certainly COMING SOME.
When the Gen. got the word, he had the
long roll sounded, and told his men that
the BULL DOGS (a name given us by the
darkies) were in trouble, and must
have help soon or all be butchered. The
man who had went after them told me
afterward that they did not wait to form
ranks, but all grabbed their guns and
cartridge boxes and started, and came
the four miles on a run. When I first saw
them, there was some Artillery in the
lead, but as they came out of some timber
and saw that we were out in the open,
although the drivers were wearing out
whips fast, the Infantry passed them.
They RUN along in front of us, faced to
the right, and moved toward the woods.
About that time a few of the Rebs were
coming out of the woods, and the DARKIES
gave them a VOLLEY. And the
Artillery began to SHELL THE WOODS.16
The Rebs didn't wait to say goodby, but
got a move on them. We followed
them for six or eight miles, but didn't
catch them, but found about twenty DEAD,
and twice as many wounded, and learned
that they had taken many wounded
away.
We next met them on the 19th at Harris'
Farm, on the 21st at United States
16. General Edward Ferrero (1831-1899)
was born in Spain. His command, the 4th Division, IX
Corps, Army of the Potomac, was the
first Negro unit to serve with the Union forces in Virginia.
Boatner, Dictionary, 277, 585.
2nd 0. V. Cavalry 115 |
Ford, and on the 27th at NEWTOWN. Then again on the 31st we met them at MECHUMPS CREEK, where we took our morning exercise. Then, not having had much exercise during the MERRY MONTH OF MAY, we finished up the month by giving them another DOSE in the afternoon at HANOVER COURT HOUSE. On June 1st we had a HOT TIME at ASHLAND, where we ran up against a heavy force and got rather the worst of it, and had to RETIRE. There we were facing their Infantry. On June 3rd quite a SCRAP at HAW'S SHOP, and in the afternoon another at COLD HARBOR. On June 4th at OLD SALEM CHURCH. There we went in to relieve Infantry, who had run out of ammunition. I guess it was warm weather, but we got there all the same. On June 11th we CALLED on them again at SHAD'S GROVE. And on the 12th at WHITE HOUSE LAND- ING. And on the 15th at St. MARY'S CHURCH. Richmond Campaign The final campaign against Richmond, begun in May 1864, was led by General Grant. After suffering repeated setbacks in his attempt to take the city, he changed his strategy in mid-June, crossing with his troops to the south side of the James River. He hoped to capture Petersburg first, an important communi- |
116 OHIO HISTORY
cations link, and then move on to
take Richmond. He then began joint siege
operations against the two cities
which lasted until April 2, 1865, when Peters-
burg fell to the Union forces.
Richmond was occupied the following day.17
Smith's account continued
During all this time our Infantry was
PUSHING THEM ALONG. In fact,
there was no day that we could not hear
FIRING some place on the line. And by
that time we had them BOTTLED UP IN
RICHMOND, where for three years
they had been building HEAVY
FORTIFICATIONS, a large part of the work
being done by SLAVES. When they had
CRAWLED INTO THEIR HOLES, our
Infantry under General U. S. Grant, took
a position around the city and began a
long SIEGE, which lasted for almost a
year.
While the Infantry and Heavy Artillery
were in front of Richmond, spending
much of their time in ROLLING LOGS and
SHOVELING DIRT, in building
FORTS, the Cavalry, under General PHIL
SHERIDAN were not IDLE, but
were kept on the GO, always looking for
SOMETHING, SOMEPLACE. After
the Infantry had gotten settled down
around Richmond and Petersburg, we
crossed the river below the city. We
crossed on a PONTOON bridge, which had
been put down by the Infantry. It was
made by placing flatboats side by side
across the river, with anchors to hold
them in place. Then timbers were laid from
boat to boat, and planks on the timbers.
It made a pretty shaky kind of bridge for
heavy wagons, Artillery and Cavalry to
cross on, but we got over. The Infantry
had to take ROUTE STEP, and the CAVALRY
had to dismount and lead their
horses, and then sometimes the bridge
would shake so as to throw a horse off.
Early in the war the boats were all made
of wood, and were very heavy, and it
took a wagon and team for each boat, but
later they used a frame made of light
wood, which was bolted together, then
set on a canvas, which was drawn up and
tied around the top. In that way one
wagon could carry several boats. This was
much better and handier, especially for
Cavalry on forced marches.
Wilson's Petersburg Raid
In a continuing effort to extend
their lines to the west and further to cut Con-
federate communications with
Petersburg, the Union Army undertook an oper-
ation known as Globe Tavern or, more
commonly, Weldon Railroad. On June
21, 1864, as a supporting move in
this operation, Union General James H. Wilson
received orders to take General
Augustus V. Kautz and their two divisions to the
Southside Railroad, near Petersburg,
and to destroy as much as possible of that
and, subsequently, the Danville
Railroad.
Wilson, Kautz, and their mounted
troops moved out on June 22 with their
destination the Southside Railroad.
Shortly after splitting up to destroy separate
sections of the railroad, they were
attacked and separated by a Confederate
cavalry division. They were reunited
on June 24 at the Danville Railroad. Al-
though the mission was not entirely
successful, Wilson and Kautz decided to move
on. They followed different routes,
each meeting strong opposition along the way.
They met again at Ream's Station,
only to find it occupied by three Confederate
cavalry divisions and an infantry
division. Before an organized escape plan could
be implemented, Wilson and Kautz were
again separated by enemy forces. Kautz
managed to get away with most of his
command intact and eventually joined up
with Federal infantry. Wilson,
following a circuitous route, eluded a large Con-
federate force in reaching safety,
although losing some men along the way.
17. Humphreys, The Virginia Campaign,
137-159, 268-307, 322-371.
2nd O. V. Cavalry
117
The raid, which ended on July 1,
1864, cost Wilson some 1500 men in killed,
wounded, and missing. It did succeed,
however, in disrupting Lee's communica-
tions with Petersburg.18
Smith's account continued
After crossing the river, we laid in the
rear of the left wing of our Infantry for
a few days, then started out on what was
known as the Wilson Raid, which proved
rather DISASTROUS, especially to our
Regiment.
Our Division, under Gen. James H.
Wilson, with a Brigade of the 2nd Division,
under Gen. A. V. KAUTZ, who was formerly
our Colonel, were sent around
LEE'S right flank, to destroy his lines
of supplies from that direction. After tear-
ing up quite a lot of the WELDON and
SOUTHSIDE railroads, we moved on
toward the southwest. At NOTTAWAY COURT
HOUSE on June 23rd we had
a pretty sharp fight, but got the best
of them, and went on.
On the 25th we struck them again at
ROANOKE STATION. There they had
a fort, built to protect a railroad
bridge, and when we got there we found quite a
force of Infantry, which had been thrown
out across the river to meet us.
A part of our forces were dismounted,
and sent out to TACKLE them, while
the rest were lined up to support our
Artillery, or to charge mounted if necessary.
Our Artillery was placed on a ridge,
about a half a mile from the river. The fort
was on the opposite bank, at the far end
of the bridge. As soon as our line started
across the field, the Artillery in the
fort OPENED on them. But our GUNS (Bat-
tery B, 2nd U. S. Art.) soon silenced
them. (They had one BIG and three or four
smaller guns.) Then our guns paid their
RESPECTS to the bridge.
In firing at the fort, one shell went
into a PORT HOLE, and looked to us as
though it went into the end of their BIG
GUN, hitting a big shell, and exploding
it, and BURSTING the GUN. At any rate
there were pieces of SOMETHING
flying in all directions, and we heard
no more from the BIG GUN.
When our guns OPENED on the bridge, the
first SHOT took a corner off of it.
The next shell exploded in the bridge,
and set fire to straw which the Rebs had
put there to burn the bridge if we got
too friendly. Men from the other side ran in
with water, and put the fire out. Then I
heard our Serg't. say, Oh, ho is that your
game, WELL we'll see what we can do
about it.
He then had three guns loaded. Ranged
them himself, and when all were
ready, he said, No. 1, FIRE! LOAD. That
shell went into the bridge, and again
set it on fire. Then, as he saw men
again running in with buckets to put it out, he
said, No. 2, fire! LOAD. That shell
struck the bridge and exploded. Then he said,
No. 3, fire, load. And he kept it up
until there was no chance left to save the
bridge. Of some eight or ten shells sent
that way, all except two or three BUSTED
in the bridge.
When the Infantry saw the bridge GOING,
they seemed to think it time for
them to GO, so made a break. When they
saw that they couldn't get over the
bridge, they went for the RIVER, and
over the bank. From where we were we
could not tell, but it did not look as
if nearly as many men got out at the other side
as jumped in. None of our men went to
look after them. We then started back a
different route toward PETERSBURG.
We didn't find much opposition until we
reached STONY CREEK STATION,
June 28th. There we encountered a large
FORCE of Rebel Infantry, which had
apparently come out to meet us. We had
three or four hours hard fighting, and
then had to withdraw and hunt another
route, leaving many dead and wounded
18. Humphreys, The Virginia Campaign,
235-242; McClellan, Grant versus the Record, 227-230;
Grant, Personal Memoirs, II, 303;
Sheridan, Personal Memoirs, I, 438-445.
118 OHIO HISTORY
on the field. Gen'l. WILSON then headed
north, directly toward Petersburg, and
instead of going around to the right of
LEE'S army came in their rear, apparently
having LOST either his WAY or HIS HEAD.
Then instead of using his whole force to
cut his way out, he sent KAUTZ'S
Brigade and our Regt. ahead on June 29th
to REAM'S STATION, apparently to
be SACRIFICED while he took the rest of
the Division to ESCORT him out of
the HOLE.
We were having it pretty HOT. I WAS
ordered up a telegraph pole to cut wires.
While I was up the pole, one of WILSON'S
aides came with a white handkerchief,
tied on a stick. Our Colonel asked what
he was doing with that. He said that Gen.
WILSON had sent him to SURRENDER our
Regiment, thinking that might check
the Rebels, so the rest could get away.
The Colonel said, GIVE ME THAT RAG. He
took it and tore it into RIB-
BONS, and told the aide-de-camp to never
try that trick again, on anybody's
orders or it would cost him his LIFE.
For he would shoot him down LIKE A DOG.
Then a dash was made to get out of
there. He soon got with Gen. KAUTZ, and
together they soon cut their way out and
got into GRANT'S LINES, but not with-
out losing HEAVILY, in KILLED WOUNDED
and CAPTURED. Our Reg't.
had one whole Company and a number of
men from other Companies CAP-
TURED.
It was while I was UP THE POLE that our
Reg't. made the dash to get out. I
slid down, and I and two other men who
were with me started to go with them,
but found ourselves cut off. So we had
to CUT OFF in another direction, and
after going through a HOT PLACE in the
woods, I and one of the others got to
Wilson's Forces. But the other man had
his horse shot. As luck would have it he
got onto a swamp, and after working his
way across got out on the other side,
traded clothes with a DARKEY, BLACKED
his FACE and HANDS with a piece
of burnt wood, and after DODGING around
for three or four days got into
GRANT'S lines, and back to the Regiment.
The other man and I got to Wilson's
CROWD which was on the SKEDADDLE
and BADLY demoralized, and after two
days and nights of very hard riding and
several very narrow escapes we got back
to our Regiment. On that trip I saw Gen.
Wilson draw his sword on a wounded man,
and order him back to the line when
Wilson himself was behind a big tree.
The man's arm was BROKEN and hanging
at his side. The line was composed of a
lot of men who were TRYING to hold the
Rebs back, without any Co. or Regimental
formation, or Commanding Officers
while WILSON himself was trying to get
away. I heard him call a man a ------
Coward for going to the rear when BADLY
wounded, and he himself, trying to
get away.19
After getting in off of that trip we
laid on the left of GRANT'S line in front of
19. Sergeant Isaac Gause, Four Years
with Five Armies, in his account of the Wilson Raid, seems
to concur with Smith's appraisal of it
as an exercise in futility: "[It was] the memorable raid that
proved so disastrous to friend and foe,
and no conclusion has yet been reached as to who suffered the
greater loss" (p. 275). Lieutenant
Tenney, also a participant in this action, was of the same opinion. His
account of it suggests poor judgment on
the part of the officers involved as one of the contributing
factors. On p. 123 of his War Diary he
points an accusing finger, saying, "Sorry that we could not get
out without so much loss. Blame
Wilson."
Kautz, who shared the command with
Wilson on this raid, acknowledged in his "Report" that some
military blunders were made which
resulted in rather heavy losses on both sides as well as to the
civilian population. He claimed,
however, that the mission was accomplished (p. 13).
General Sheridan, in his Personal
Memoirs, stated that Wilson erred in interpreting General
Meade's instructions regarding the
operation to mean that he (Sheridan) would be on hand to lend
assistance if necessary. Sheridan
claimed that he received no orders to this effect (I, 437-445). He was
later sent in relief of Wilson, but only
after matters were already out of hand. While he commended
Wilson for being able to retreat in the
face of overwhelming odds, he suggested that the mission car-
ried out by Wilson was not worth the
losses suffered.
2nd O. V. Cavalry 119
Petersburg for some time. There we had
an occasional SKIRMISH, but there
was no very heavy fighting on that end
of the line.
But I was in sight of the BIG mine
explosion on July 30, 1864, when BURN-
SIDE'S men touched off TWO THOUSAND
pounds of powder under a Rebel
fort (which was called FORT HELL). It
was certainly HOT STUFF with a BIG
H. They had tunneled through
underground, from in the rear of one of our forts,
and placed the powder in three places
under the Rebel fort. It tore the fort all to
pieces, throwing men, cannon, logs
&c high in the air, and in all directions.
I heard it claimed that out of more than
a hundred men in the fort, but one
came out SAFE. He was thrown so far that
none of the OTHER RUBBISH got
to him, as it came back to the earth. As
soon as things QUIT flying THROUGH
THE AIR, a Brigade of COLORED TROOPS
charged into the OPENING. But
were met by a heavy force of REBS who
poured in from either side, and were not
SUPPORTED by white troops who were to
have followed them. They were
driven back, with a VERY HEAVY LOSS.20
Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley
Campaign
In early June 1864, Lee ordered General
Jubal Early to undertake an offensive
in the Shenandoah Valley to drive out
as many Union troops as possible and,
ultimately, at least to threaten
Washington. When Early's advance carried him
across the Potomac on July 5, the
Union generals began to take his operation
seriously. Reaching the outskirts of
Washington on July 11, Early and his men
found the defenses reinforced. After
some probing attacks, he decided that he did
not have the strength for a
successful assault and retraced his steps across the
Potomac. As he retreated through the
Shenandoah, Early caused the Union forces
considerable trouble.
Grant became annoyed at having
constantly to deploy men in the Valley, and
gave orders that it should be laid
waste so that neither army could use it. Sheri-
dan proceeded to carry out Grant's
instructions. In a series of attacks, counter-
attacks and feints, Sheridan and
Early's forces alternately assumed the offensive
as they moved through the valley.
After a series of sharp encounters at Charles-
town and Berryville, Sheridan crossed
Opequon Creek on the morning of Sep-
tember 19 and defeated Early in a
hard-fought battle at Winchester. Sheridan
now took up pursuit and kept the
pressure on Early. After several more late-
September and early-October clashes,
the Confederates suffered decisive defeats
at Tom's Brook on October 9 and Cedar
Creek on October 10. Although more
raids and cavalry encounters
followed, the battle at Cedar Creek brought to an
end the major military actions in the
valley.
During the winter of 1864-65, Early
was left with only a small force of infantry
and cavalry when many of his troops
were sent to Lee at Petersburg. At Waynes-
boro, Virginia, on March 2, 1865,
General George A. Custer administered Early's
last defeat. General Sheridan thus
concluded one of the major campaigns of the
war and with it the devastation of
the Shenandoah Valley.21
20..The Petersburg Mine Assault was one
of the major incidents of the Petersburg-Richmond
siege which lasted from the spring of
1864 to the spring of 1865. Although the Confederates knew the
mine was being constructed, they were
unable to countermine. The explosion, which resulted in the
deaths of many Confederate soldiers,
left an enormous crater. In the desperate battle which followed,
much of the fighting was at close range.
Conflicting orders concerning the use of both white and
Negro soldiers (Ferrero's 4th Division)
caused a great deal of confusion among the Union troops. The
Confederates took advantage of the
confusion and, aided by artillery, repulsed the attack. The oper-
ation, which cost heavy casualties on
both sides, was a failure. Humphreys, The Virginia Campaign,
250-266; Grant, Personal Memoirs, II,
307-315.
21. For a good study of military
activity in the Shenandoah Valley see Pond, The Shenandoah Val-
ley; also see Sheridan, Personal Memoirs, I, 457-500
and II, 1-123; Early, Autobiographical Sketch,
366-458.
120 OHIO
HISTORY
Smith's account continued
Shortly after that we were ordered to
the SHENANDOAH VALLEY. We
turned in all horses not fit for a hard
CAMPAIGN. (The one I had on my hard
RUN on the Wilson RAID was knocked out.
He was a fine big IRON GRAY
that I had CAPTURED from a REBEL
DOCTOR.) We then loaded the rest,
with our equipments, and ourselves onto
boats at CITY POINT, and went down
the JAMES RIVER. We stopped a few hours
at FORTRESS MONROE, then
around on CHESAPEAKE BAY to the POTOMAC
River, then up the river to
Camp Stoneman.
While out on the BAY, when most of the
boys had curled down for the night,
we were struck by a storm that certainly
made things look dark for awhile. I
heard the Captain of the boat tell the
PILOT to steer away from shore and into
deep water, to keep from being dashed
onto the rocks. Also heard him order
LIFE PRESERVERS and SMALL BOATS got
ready. I had a good life preserver
strapped on me for quite awhile. But it
all blowed over, without any damage to
us, and we got into the river all right.
We then ran up the river to Camp Stone-
man four miles below WASHINGTON. On the
way up the river we passed MT.
VERNON, Geo. Washington's old home. But
only got the view of it from the
river.
We laid at Camp Stoneman long enough to
draw fresh horses and drill them
A LITTLE. And some of them certainly
needed some BREAKING. For instance,
I got one that it took four of us to put
a saddle on, and three men to hold while
I got into the saddle. And then was all
over the country before I got him to the
Regiment, a mile away. It was a week
before I could saddle him without help.
But when I got him EDUCATED he was the
best horse I had while I was in the
service. But while he was tough as
whalebone, and a DANDY riding horse, he
was not LEAD PROOF. He was shot from
under me while in the Shenandoah
Valley.
When we left Camp Stoneman, we marched
through WASHINGTON, and up
the river to HARPERS FERRY, and soon
after getting there we got to SEE A
BATTLE. It is not often that a SOLDIER
gets to see a battle. That time we were
not ordered in, but laid in RESERVE on a
hill supporting the Artillery where we
had a good VIEW of the whole field, and
could see the WHOLE SHOW.
Our Infantry and some Rebel Infantry
were having a DRILL?? on an open
field, when it could be seen that the
Rebs were DRIVING our men back. Then
General CUSTER, who at that time
commanded the Michigan Brigade, rushed
his Brigade up, keeping behind a hill
out of sight of the Rebs, until he got in be-
hind our Infantry. Then he formed for a
CHARGE.22
Our Infantry opened the way for them to
pass through. After passing our In-
fantry, they EMPTIED their GUNS (Spencer
Seven Shooters) then drew their
SABORS, and CUT THEIR WAY THROUGH. They
went on some distance be-
yond the Rebs, then turned, re-formed,
and CUT THEIR WAY BACK. By that
time what Rebels were left, concluded to
RETIRE.
General Custer was in the lead, using
his SABOR freely. He could handle it
O. K. We followed them up, and tried
giving them another whirl at WINCHES-
TER on Aug. 17th. We drove them out of
the town and for quite a distance be-
yond, capturing quite a number of
prisoners without our having much loss. We
22. General George A. Custer (1839-1876)
was born in New Rumley, Harrison County, Ohio. A
brigadier general of Union volunteers at
age twenty-three, his first command was the Michigan Bri-
gade of the 3rd Cavalry Division. After
assuming command of the entire 3rd Cavalry Division, he led
it from the Shenandoah Valley to
Appomattox. Boatner, Dictionary, 216; Reid, Ohio in the War, I,
778.
2nd 0. V. Cavalry 121
next met them at SUMMIT POINT on Aug.
21st where we had quite a SCRAP
with their Cavalry, when they again
RETIRED.
Then we met them again the next day,
Aug. 22nd at CHARLESTOWN (the
place where OLD JOHN BROWN was HUNG). We
got the best of them again
there and they got out of there. As we
passed through the town, I saw what was
said to be the TIMBERS of the scaffold
on which John Brown was hung. The
platform was still there, but the upper
timbers were down.23
On Aug. 25th our Reg't. had a little
skirmish with their outpost. We were just
feeling to find out where they were at,
and didn't stir up the main nest. They
were at Kearneysville, W. Va.
We next struck them at BERRYVILLE, on
Aug. 31st. We again CLEANED
THEM UP, capturing most of their
Artillery and quite a lot of prisoners. They
skipped, and we camped down for a rest.
After laying there a couple of days,
living on a diet of ROASTING EARS AND
BACON, we started out again and
found them at WHITE POST, where we had
it pretty WARM for two or three
hours before they bid us GOOD-BY, on
Sept. 3rd.
On Sept. 13th while on a reconnoitering
trip we again had quite a TILT with
their Cavalry at ABRAHAM'S CREEK.
Our next JOB was at WINCHESTER on SEPT.
19th where we had it RED
HOT from early in the morning until
after dark. Our Division went in on the
BERRYVILLE road, and struck their
Cavalry at OPEQUON CREEK east of
Winchester. After driving them a couple
of miles we found, about a mile east of
the town a heavy line of Infantry,
behind a line of BREASTWORKS, with quite
a lot of Artillery just in their rear.
Then our Infantry came up and we moved off
to the left, and DISMOUNTED, and as the
Infantry CHARGED the center, we
struck their right wing. And while that
was going on, another force of our men
were coming in on another road to our
right and playing the same kind of a JOKE.
While we were trying to drive them out
of the breastworks, they had several
HEAVY GUNS in a fort on the top of a
hill, throwing BIG PILLS over among us,
besides quite a lot of field pieces
along behind the works. So they made it VERY
HOT for us for several hours before we
got them GOING. We had to charge
them a number of times before they TOOK
THE HINT and moved out. But we
at last got them started and drove them
quite a distance beyond the town that
night. The loss was heavy on both sides.
While we were charging the WORKS
our loss was MUCH the heaviest, but when
we got them started I think we more
than balanced it up.
That night, pretty near the whole town
was turned into a HOSPITAL. The
Rebels had left many of their wounded
behind, to be taken care of, and quite a
number of their Surgeons came in to help
look after them, and worked right
along with our Surgeons, until all were
cared for. That evening I was ordered to
report to our Drs. at a hotel which was
being used as a hospital. Lieut. JAMES
M. LOUGH of our Co. had been BADLY
wounded, and I was ordered to stay
with, and care for him until further
orders. When not busy with the Lieut. I was
helping the Drs. with other wounded men.
The largest hospitals in the town were
the big three-story hotel, and a couple
of large storerooms close by. After two
days I was relieved by Serg't. Frank Davis
23. John Brown (1800-1859), an active
abolitionist to the point of fanaticism, kept a station of the
Underground Railroad in Ohio. He became
involved in antislavery movements in other states. Wanted
for his part in the murder of five
pro-slavery men in Kansas, he nevertheless remained active and led
several guerrilla-type attacks on the
pro-slavery forces. His plans for a massed invasion of the South
to free the slaves did not materialize.
He was captured by Robert E. Lee and the U. S. Marines and
was hanged at Charlestown, Virginia on
December 2, 1859. Boatner, Dictionary, 91.
122 OHIO
HISTORY
of our Co. and I reported to the Co.
Davis and the Lieut. had been boys together,
were schoolmates, and CHUMS, and were
together attending College at Ox-
ford, Ohio when they enlisted. Davis
stayed with him until he died, Nov. 12, 1864,
and sent his body home.
While I was on duty at the hospital, the
Cav. were following the Rebels up and
keeping them awake. On Sept. 20th they
drove them from CEDARVILLE. The
next day they again struck them at FRONT
ROYAL. There the Rebs had quite
an advantage in the lay of the ground,
having stopped where they had BIG ad-
vantages in the way the LAND LAID. They
put up a pretty hard fight but had to
retire, leaving their wounded and
several CANNON.
The next day (the day I got back to the
Company) we again drove them at
MILFORD, Sept. 22nd. About that time
Gen. Wilson was relieved, and Gen.
CUSTER took command of our Division. We
followed up slowly, and caught
them again at WAYNESBORO, where they
TRIED to make another stand. But
we captured quite a number of them with
several pieces of Artillery, and the rest
scattered to the hills. Quite a lot of
them went through a R. R. tunnel UNDER
the hill. There, at one time they had me
a prisoner for a short time, but I man-
aged to escape and get back to my
Regiment.
From there we started back down the
valley. At BRIDGEWATER, on Oct. 2nd
our Regiment, which was bringing up the
rear, were attacked by a force of Cav-
alry that were following us up, and had
quite a BRUSH before we drove them
back. At Columbia Furnace, Oct. 7th and
again at Tom's Brook on the 9th after
our Infantry had fallen back to
Winchester, we had pretty sharp fights with their
Cavalry, but got through all right
without calling for help.
On Oct. 19th at CEDAR CREEK, we had one
of the hottest fights in which our
Division had yet taken a part. The Third
Division was then COMMANDED or
rather LED by General Geo. A. Custer,
who had succeeded Gen. Wilson, a few
days before the 19th. General SHERIDAN,
who was in Command of the entire
force in the valley, had been called to
Washington City on business.
The Infantry was laying in camp on the
north bank of CEDAR CREEK, with
the Cavalry on the flanks, when on the
morning of the 19th just at daybreak, the
Rebels, who had in some MISTERIOUS WAY
gotten past the Infantry pickets
made a RUSH into their camp. Taking them
by SURPRISE, and DRIVING
them like a flock of sheep, capturing
several pieces of Artillery, all of their tents,
and cooking utensils, and much of their
clothing, and completely DEMORALIZ-
ING the whole right wing of the
Infantry.
Our Division, being on the extreme
right, Gen. CUSTER soon saw that the
Division of Cavalry on the left were
having TOO BIG a job on their hand and
made a DASH to their ASSISTANCE. The
Cavalry, by hard work (MAKING
SEVERAL HARD CHARGES), kept the Rebels
from getting on the flank and
rear of what Infantry were trying to
hold them back, when they were having a
hard fight to hold their own.
Many of the Infantry, who had been
driven from their camp in the morning,
were going DOWN THE PIKE toward
Winchester on a regular stampede when
ALL OF A SUDDEN a cloud of dust was seen
COMING up the valley. Soon
Gen. SHERIDAN was seen COMING TO THE
FRONT. As he came up the
pike from Winchester (where he had spent
the night on his way back from Wash-
ington, and from where he had heard the
FIRING, TWENTY MILES AWAY),
he was waving his hat and CALLING to the
men to COME BACK AND WE
WILL WHIP THEM YET.
The men had so much confidence in him
that almost every man turned and
followed him. In a very short time they
formed in line and, without any regard to
Regimental or Company formation, started
in with a YELL, and soon had the
2nd 0. V.
Cavalry 123
tide turned the other
way. They kept going until soon all the ground lost in the
morning had been
regained. About the time they reached their OLD CAMP, a
Division of Rebel
Cavalry was seen to be working around to the extreme right, to
get a FLANK FIRE on
our Infantry. Our Division was RUSHED to meet them.
We CHARGED and drove
them back, then turned to the left flank and paid our
RESPECTS to their
Infantry and Artillery.
By tickling them
pretty hard in the flank, we soon had them GOING. As we
drove them to the
narrow part of the valley their Infantry, Artillery, Cavalry, and
wagon trains all
tried to GO UP THE PIKE at once. We certainly did GO after
them. We recaptured
all the CANNON they had taken in the morning, got almost
all theirs, several
hundred prisoners, and about all of their WAGGONS. But a
Congratulatory Order
issued by Gen. Custer will give a better idea of our work
than I can, so I will
copy it.24 It is as follows:
Head Quarters Third
Division Cavalry Corps, Oct. 21, 1864
Soldiers of the Third
Cavalry Division. With pride and Gratification your Commanding
General congratulates
you upon your brilliant Achievements of the past few days.
On the 9th of the
present month you attacked a vastly superior force of the enemy's
Cavalry, strongly
posted with Artillery in position, and Commanded by that Famous
Savior of the Valley,
Gen. ROSSER.25
Notwithstanding the
enemy's superiority in numbers and position you drove him twenty
miles, capturing his
Artillery (six pieces in all) also his entire train of wagons and Ambu-
lances, and a large
number of prisoners.
Again during that
memorable engagement of the 19th instant, your conduct throughout
'was sublimely
Heroic, and without a parallel in the annals of warfare.
In the early part of
the day, when disaster and defeat seemed to threaten our noble army
upon all sides, your
calm and determined bearing, while exposed to a terrible fire from
the enemy's guns
added not a little to restore confidence to that portion of our army al-
ready broken and
driven back on the right.
Afterwards, rapidly
transferred from the right flank to the extreme left, you materially
and successfully
assisted in defeating the enemy in his attempt to turn the left flank of our
army.
Again ordered to the
right flank, you attacked and defeated a Division of the enemy's
Cavalry, driving him
in confusion across Cedar Creek.
Then changing your
front to the left at a gallop, you charged and turned the left flank of
the enemy's line of
battle and pursued his broken and demoralized army a distance of five
miles. Night alone put
an end to your pursuit.
Among the substantial
fruits of this great victory, you can boast of having captured
five battle flags, a
large number of prisoners, including Major General RAMSEUR, and
45 of the 48 pieces
of Artillery taken from the enemy on that day. Thus making 51 pieces
of Artillery which
you have captured from the enemy within the short period of ten days.26
This is a record of
which you may well be proud. A record won and established by your
gallantry and
perseverance.
You have surrounded
the name of the Third Cavalry Division with a Hallow of Glory as
enduring as time.
The history of this
war, when truthfully written will contain no brighter page than that
upon which is
recorded the Chivalrous deeds of the Third Cavalry Division.
(Signed)
Official, (Signed)
Geo. A. CUSTER
LOUIS SIEBERT, Brigadier
General
Capt. & A. A.
Gen. Commanding.
24. A copy of the
original of this congratulatory order may be found in Official Records of
the
Union and
Confederate Armies, Series I, Vol.
XLIII Part 1, 527-528. Although Smith has made a few
editorial changes in
the wording, the substance has not been altered.
25. General Thomas L.
Rosser (1836-1910), CSA, and Custer, good friends and classmates before
the war, led their
troops against each other several times during the conflict. They were later
recon-
ciled. Rosser
acquired his nickname, "Savior of the Valley," during the Shenandoah
campaign. Boat-
ner, Dictionary, 709.
26. General Stephen
D. Ramseur (1837-1864), CSA, was mortally wounded in this battle and died
the next day at
Sheridan's headquarters in Winchester, Virginia. Boatner, Dictionary, 677.
124 OHIO HISTORY |
|
After we had cleaned them up at Cedar Creek, they pulled on up the valley. Some of the citizens said that General EARLY went to Richmond to get more CANNONS for CUSTER.27 One Old Citizen told me that it got to be a common saying along there, when they saw Artillery going north, that there goes MORE CANNON FOR CUSTER. During the rest of the fall we had no more HEAVY FIGHTING in the VAL- LEY. We would occasionally run across a small force of Cavalry, but the Infantry seemed to have WITHDRAWN. Their Cavalry were kept out FORAGING through the valley. One of their Infantry that I helped to capture the next spring, told me that their REGULAR RATION that winter was a pound of meat and a pint of cornmeal a day, PROVIDING the FORAGERS brought it in. On Nov. 12th we had a fight at MT. ZION CHURCH or NEWTOWN. And we met them
27. General Jubal A. Early (1816-1894), CSA, took part in a number of major operations, including his famous raid on Washington in the summer of 1864 and the Shenandoah Valley campaign. He was relieved of his command by Lee after a defeat at Waynesboro, Virginia, in March 1865. Early, Auto- biographical Sketch, v, xvii, 466-469. |
2nd 0. V. Cavalry 125
again on the 22nd at MT. JACKSON, but
they didn't put up much of a fight at
either place. We then went back to
Winchester and laid there for some time. On
Nov. 30th we had another LITTLE scrap at
MOOREFIELD, W. V-a.
It had been reported that there was a
Rebel recruiting camp there, and our
Regt. was sent over the Hills to INSPECT
IT. We found the place, all right, had
a little skirmish, captured the CAMP, with
its outfit, and most of the men (some
thirty or forty). We then went back to
Winchester.
On that trip we went through the famous
LOST RIVER GAP, where the river
runs through a gap in the hills. The gap
is just wide enough for the river and a
wagon road on one side. The walls on
either side stand up perpendicularly on
both sides, for more than a hundred
feet. In fact it looks as if they overhung,
seeming to be closer together at top
than bottom. Just before we came to the
GAP we were marching on a road on the
bank, with the river on our Right Hand.
Then we came to a place where there was
no water to be seen. There we crossed
over on the VERY rocky bed of the river,
which, higher than the top of the water,
seemed to act as a bridge, the water
passing under it. It looked as if HIGH
waters went over it. Then after going
along the other bank for a short distance,
we saw the river on our left instead of
the right hand.
On Dec. 21st we had another little mix
up with their Cavalry at LUCY
SPRINGS, about a couple of miles north
of HARRISONBURG. Our Division
had been sent up the valley to see what
we could find. The evening of the second
day out, after we had driven in some
Rebel pickets, and learned that EARLY'S
force was camped two or three miles
farther up the valley, we went into camp for
the night. Our Brigade was in the
advance, and camped on a piece of raised
ground to the left of the road a short
distance south of a big road tavern and back
a little way from the road, a small
field sloping toward the road in front of us.
The 3rd New Jersey Cav. was sent on some
distance ahead to form a picket
line. The 2nd & 3rd Brigades and
wagon train camped on the other side of the
road, and farther north Gen. CUSTER and
staff made their headquarters at the
house. We didn't unsaddle till quite
late, and then it was SNOWING. We laid
down with our heads on our saddles, with
our rubber blankets spread over us to
cover ourselves and our traps, and went
to sleep.
About four o'clock in the morning the
Officers came around and called us and
told us to saddle up, QUIETLY. When we
got out we found about SIX inches of
SNOW on top of our BUNKS. We saddled up,
and then started fires and went
to getting some breakfast. (Some of the
boys crawled back into their nest.) I had
just finished my breakfast of coffee,
bacon and hardtack (many were not through
yet), when firing was heard over where
our wagons were laying.
One of the teamsters had seen Rebs coming
in from some bushes on a hill-
side, and as the best and quickest way
to give an alarm he began FIRING his
REVOLVER. The Rebs had gotten around our
PICKETS and came around over
a hill and were in camp before they were
seen.
When the firing commenced, our Colonel,
instead of trying to form the Regt.
(regular style) SUNG OUT, SECOND OHIO,
MOUNT, FOURS RIGHT,
MARCH, ON LEFT FRONT INTO LINE GALLOP,
MARCH. And as a few men
got into line, he again called out.
First Co. on the right forward and DEPLOY
SKIRMISH LINE. As the line moved out,
they had only gone a short distance,
when they met a line of Rebs CHARGING up
the hill. The Rebs were MANY
TOO MANY for them, and they were driven
back. At that the Colonel ordered
SECOND CO., FORWARD AND STRENGTHEN
SKIRMISH LINE. That
sent our Co. to the front. We moved out
and soon had emptied our guns. By that
time the Rebs and us were right
together, and we drew our SABORS, and the
126 OHIO HISTORY
rest of the Regiment came in. BUSINESS
was LIVELY for a short time. But we
soon got them turned, and started back
down the hill.
As they came in across the pike they had
felt so sure of surprising us and clean-
ing us up, that they had made no
arrangements for getting out of the field. When
they tried to get out, the gap was only
wide enough for about four to go out at a
time. As they crowded to get out, we
strung around them and PUMPED LEAD
into them. When the BALL WAS OVER we
found they had left more than fifty
men behind, a few as prisoners but
mostly dead and wounded. One of the party,
who worked with me some years later at
AULTMAN'S shop at Mansfield, Ohio,
told me that more than half who got
away, were WOUNDED.
In the charge it happened that I met a
man who was much taller than I, on a
horse taller than mine, so it gave him
quite an advantage over me. For some time
all I could do was to parry his licks,
but after a while I got in a head cut, which
seemed to stun him, as well as bring the
red freely. Then I had to PARRY for
awhile again. But at last got in another
HEAD CUT, which he parried enough so
that it got him in the right shoulder
and his arm dropped. Then I tried a POINT.
He reined back and went away hanging
over his horse's neck, so that I never
knew how badly he was hurt. But as I had
came out with only a small GASH on
my head I thought myself LUCKEY.
While we were having our FUN there, the
other Brigades were having it in a
similar way across the pike, but had
fared worse than we did. While we had but
two wounded (myself, and one other, who
was shot in the arm), they had several
wounded, and (I think) one or two
killed. In the first charge the Rebs had cap-
tured several over there, mostly
teamsters. But before it was over they had all
been recaptured, and we took about sixty
prisoners back down, the pike with us.
When the firing commenced, Gen. Custer
was still in bed. He jumped up, and
got out without coat, hat or boots,
jumped on the first horse he came to (which
happened to be a band boy's) without
saddle or bridle, and GOT BIZZY. The
fight was pretty near over when his
orderly brought him his horse, hat, boots and
coat.
Then having found out where the Rebs
were, which was our mission up there,
we headed back down the valley, taking
with us about sixty prisoners and about
as many of their horses. We then camped,
some two or three miles west of Win-
chester, where we soon after got orders
to build winter quarters, which we got
onto a little after New Years, 1865.
Our quarters, built of poles and boards
and covered with our DOG TENTS,
had a door and a big FIRE PLACE in one
end, and bunks in the other end, and
were quite comfortable. But we didn't
get to enjoy them very long, for after we
had been in them about five or six weeks
(part of that time out on the PICKET
LINE), we got orders to BREAK CAMP.
[The conclusion of Smith's Memoirs
will appear next issue.]