Army of the Cumberland

Martyn Cist Henry

Description

pubOne.info present you this new edition. In Kentucky, during the spring of 1861, every shade of opinion prevailed, from the most pronounced Union sentiment to the most ultra secession sympathy.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USA
• History of the Americas
• American Civil War
• États-Unis
• Guerre de Sécession

Informations

• Publié par: Pub One Info
• Date de parution: 06 novembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9782819949916
• Langue: English

Extrait

CHAPTER I.
EARLY MOVEMENTS.
In Kentucky, during the spring of 1861, every shadeof opinion prevailed, from the most pronounced Union sentiment tothe most ultra secession sympathy.
The Government at Washington wished to enlistKentucky heartily in support of the Union, while every effort wasmade by the rebel leaders to secure the secession of the State fromthe Union, and to have it join its fortunes to those of the South.These several efforts enlisted the active support of those in theState in sympathy with them, and Kentuckians became ultimatelydivided into two sharply defined parties. Under the peculiardoctrine of “armed neutrality” adopted by the local authorities, noserious infraction of the peace of the State was had until thefall. With the invitation given General Anderson to take command inKentucky, by the State Legislature, the doctrine of “armedneutrality” came to an end. While it at times restrained promptaction on the part of the Union men of Kentucky during the firstsix months of the war, and hampered the Federal Government in themovement of troops in the State, still in the end it was of immensebenefit to the cause of the Union, and enabled those in support ofit in Kentucky to unite and perfect their plans in comparativepeace, unmolested by the rebels from Tennessee and their own State.Under cover of “armed neutrality” the Union men remained quietuntil the time had arrived for prompt and decided action, with men,and arms for their support, in the measures they adopted to retainKentucky in the Union.
In accordance with a general plan of operationsadopted by General Albert Sidney Johnston, on September 18th,General Buckner broke camp with the rebel forces at Camp Boone,Tenn. , near the Kentucky line, and marching north, occupiedBowling Green, throwing out his advance as far asElizabethtown.
On receipt of reliable information as to Buckner'smovements, General Anderson sent General W. T. Sherman, second incommand, to Camp Joe Holt, with instructions to order ColonelRousseau with his entire command to report at once in Louisville.The “Home Guards” were also ordered out, and they assembledpromptly in large force, reporting at the Nashville depot, and bymidnight they were started to the front by train. Rousseau'scommand followed at once, General Sherman being in command of theentire force, amounting to some three thousand men. The advance bytrain was stopped at the Rolling Fork of the Salt River, aboutthirty-one miles south of Louisville, at which point the railroadbridge had been burned by the rebels. During the following day thetroops under Rousseau forded the stream, and pressing forwardoccupied Muldraugh's Hills with its two trestles and a tunnel overfifteen hundred feet long. The Home Guards were left in camp atLebanon Junction, some two or three miles in the rear, whereLieutenant-Colonel R. W. Johnson of the Third Kentucky Cavalryreported later in the day with some additional companies of HomeGuards, and, by order of General Anderson, assumed command of thecamp.
This disposition of troops caused Buckner to retirewith his entire command to Bowling Green, where he stronglyfortified his position.
The Kentucky State troops were under orders for tendays' service only, and their place was then filled by severalregiments from the States immediately north of Kentucky. Thesetroops were placed in camp, and there received instruction indrill, discipline, and camp regulations, waiting for orders for theadvance.
General Johnston, under his general plan of creatinga defensive line from Columbus on the west, running through BowlingGreen east to some point to be determined on, early in Septembersent General Zollicoffer with a force numbering several thousandmen to make an advance into Eastern Kentucky by way of Knoxville,East Tennessee, through Cumberland Gap to Cumberland Ford,threatening Camp Dick Robinson. On the 19th of that month theadvance of Zollicoffer's command had a spirited skirmish with the“Home Guards” at Barboursville Bridge. These troops were compelledto retire, which they did, to Rock Castle Hills, where they werere-enforced by two Kentucky regiments under Colonel T. T. Garrard,of the Seventh Kentucky Infantry, who had received instructionsfrom General Thomas to obstruct the roads and to hold the rebels incheck. Garrard established his force at Camp Wildcat, behindtemporary breastworks, where, on October 21st, he was attacked byZollicoffer with 7, 000 troops. Shortly after the attack GeneralSchoepff [NOTE from Brett Fishburne the correct spelling is“Schoepf” as I know because this is my great-great-grandfather, butI have kept the spelling as in the original book for subsequentreferences] , with five regiments of infantry, one ofcavalry, and a battery of artillery, re-enforced Garrard, and aftera severe fight the enemy was repulsed.
After Buckner's retreat to Bowling Green,Zollicoffer fell back to Mill Springs, on the southern bank of theCumberland River, and soon afterward crossed the river to theopposite bank at Beech Grove, fortifying this encampment withextensive earthworks.
During the month of September, General George H.Thomas, who with
General Wm. T. Sherman had been ordered to report toGeneral Anderson
for duty in Kentucky— at General Anderson's personalrequest of the
President— was placed in command of Camp DickRobinson, relieving
General Nelson. The latter then established CampKenton in Mason
County, three miles from Maysville, near the spotwhere Simon
Kenton's station was erected in 1785.
On the 7th of October General Anderson, on accountof ill-health, relinquished the command of the department, andGeneral W. T. Sherman on the following day succeeded him. At thesame time General A. McD. McCook was placed in command of the forcethat [had] been ordered to the front underSherman.
During the month of October the rebel Colonel J. S.Williams was organizing a force of some two thousand troops atPrestonburg, on the Big Sandy River, intending to operate inCentral Kentucky through McCormick's Gap. General Nelson early inthe month started with all the troops of his command to drive therebels out of their encampment. Nelson ordered the Second Ohiounder Colonel L. A. Harris to move from Paris, and the Twenty-firstOhio under Colonel Norton to advance from Nicholasville to OlympiaSprings, where the entire command was concentrated. From here headvanced to McCormick's Gap, and then divided his command, sendingthe Second Ohio, a section of Captain Konkle's battery, and acompany of Ohio cavalry under Captain McLaughlin— all under thecommand of Colonel Harris— through West Liberty to unite with thecommand at Salyersville. Nelson then moved forward with threeregiments of infantry, two detachments of Kentucky troops, and twosections of Konkle's battery, with a battalion of cavalry, on theroad to Hazel Green. On the 23d Harris occupied West Liberty, aftera brisk skirmish. The command united at Salyersville and followedthe enemy to Prestonburg. At this point Nelson sent theThirty-third Ohio, with the Kentucky troops and a section ofKonkle's battery under Colonel Sill, by a detour to the right toflank the rebel position at Ivy Mountain. Nelson on the next daythen advanced with his command on the direct road to Piketon, andencountered the enemy in ambush on the mountain at Ivy Creek.Pushing forward at once with the force under his immediate command,Nelson attacked the enemy, and after a brisk engagement, lastingover an hour, routed them from their cover and drove them in fullretreat.
Sill occupied Piketon on the 9th without muchopposition. General Nelson arrived there on the 10th, when therebels leaving the State and retreating through Pound Gap, he wasordered to report with his command to General Buell atLouisville.
On the retirement of General Anderson, as theranking officer in the department, General Sherman assumed thecommand. On the 9th of November, by general order from theheadquarters of the army, No. 97, the Department of the Ohio wascreated, “to consist of the States of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, thatportion of Kentucky east of the Cumberland river, and the State ofTennessee, and to be commanded by Brigadier-General D. C. Buell,headquarters at Louisville; ” and General Sherman was relieved fromcommand at his own request.
Nelson's command being ordered out of East Kentucky,the rebel forces again entered, and in small bands were depredatingon Union people in the Big Sandy Valley. The Fourteenth Kentuckyunder Colonel L. P. Moore was ordered to move from Catlettsburg andadvance up the valley. General Buell finding that the rebel forcehad been largely re-enforced by the advance of General HumphreyMarshall, one of the ablest rebel generals in that part of thecountry, ordered the Twenty-second Kentucky under Colonel Lindsayfrom Maysville to join the Fourteenth, and Lindsay was placed incommand of the two regiments. Marshall was a graduate of WestPoint; he had served in the Black Hawk War and had seen service inMexico as a Colonel of Kentucky cavalry, winning distinction atBuena Vista. He had now entered the State from Virginia throughPound Gap, and had reached a strong natural position nearPaintville, where he was rapidly increasing his army, with theintention of raising a sufficient force— already some fivethousand— to operate on General Buell's flank and to retard hisadvance into Tennessee. The Forty-second Ohio, just organized, wasin a camp of instruction near Columbus, Ohio, under its Colonel,James A. Garfield. While there, in December, he was ordered byGeneral Buell to move his regiment at once to Catlettsburg, at themouth of the Big Sandy River, and to report in person to Louisvillefor orders.
Starting his regiment eastward, from Cincinnati,Garfield, on the 19th of December, reported to General Buell, whoinformed him that he had been selected to command an expedition todrive Marshall and his forces from Kentucky. That evening Garfieldreceived his orders, which organiz