at Huddleston, was Lieutenant J. J. Medlicott, of the Second Virginia cavalry. He was fortunate enough to escape, and, two days after, made his appearance in camp. The coolness and daring of Lieutenant Ankrom, of the same regiment, is deserving of notice; and owing to his exertions at the bridge, Lieutenant Atkinson of company K, Twelfth Regiment, was enabled to get a good position for his command, and then he handsomely returned the compliment by pouring into the rebels a hot fire, which aided the cavalry in getting out. In the attack on our works here, no anxiety was felt as to the result. Since the fight several of the enemy have come in and given themselves up. They report that they are most all willing to lay down their arms and take the oath, but are watched too closely. They say that it was the expectation that a large body of mounted men, under Imboden and Jones, would attack Gauley Bridge at the same time that McCausland would attack us here; but it is the opinion that the movement of some of our forces from the direction of Clarksburgh, changed the notion of the rebels, and, therefore, the column operating on this road was left to take care of itTWELFTH O. V. I. self. Doc. 196. FIGHT NEAR FORT GIBSON, ARK. COLONEL PHILIPS'S REPORT. HEADQUARTERS, INDIAN TERRITORY AND WESTERN ARKANSAS, FORT BLUNT, CHEROKEE NATION, May 22. Major-General James G. Blunt: SIR: I have the honor to report to you a somewhat severe engagement with the enemy on the twentieth instant. I had eight hundred (800) mounted men guarding my supply line, to cover approaching trains, when the enemy, in the night, crossed the Arkanas River with five regiments, going a mountain road. A scout I had sent, failing to do his duty, left that road unwatched, and they approached within five miles of me, getting me on the left flank. They were, however, afraid to attack me in the works, and taking a strong position on the mountains on the south, five miles distant, and close to the Arkansas River, tried to cut off the stock. As all had been reported quiet for twenty (20) miles in all directions this side of the river, the stock was, therefore, being sent out to graze, when the enemy pounced upon it. Sending all the mounted men I could raise, the larger portion of the stock was taken from them. The Creek regiment refused to charge, or it could all have been saved. I sent forward Majors Foreman, Wright, and Pomeroy, with all the present available force, and as rapidly as possible moved every thing within the works. The enemy being strongly posted five miles distant, drove back Major Foreman and the others for some distance, although the ground was hotly contested. Captain Lucas, of the Sixth Kansas, was nearly surrounded, as was Captain Anderson, of the Third Indiana, but they gallantly cut their way through. Leaving Colonel Dole, with a strong command, and most of my artillery behind the works, I moved rapidly forward with two battalions of Indian infantry and a section of Hopkins's battery, under Lieutenant Bassett. Leaving one battalion as reserve, I supported the forces already in front, and soon drove the enemy into the woods. Here they contested the ground for a short time, but they were pushed over the mountain, and rapidly driven in complete rout to Webber's Falls, where they crossed the Arkansas River. As we were following the enemy up the mountain, I learned that the enemy, with two six-pound field-pieces and one twelve-pound howitzer, were trying to cross Arkansas River, two miles from Gibson. Leaving the mounted men to follow the retreating enemy, I took my infantry and two guns down to the river, and found that the enemy, although in considerable numbers on the opposite bank, were only making a feint. Desiring to dismount their artillery, I immediately opened on them, but they rapidly withdrew their guns and fell back. The battle was a very severe one while it lasted, as I could only bring a portion of my forces to bear. My loss in killed is upwards of twentyprobably twenty-five or twenty-six-as some are missing, and about half that number wounded. I understand that the enemy's loss is much more severe. We lost no officers. The rebels had one major killed. On the field there were Colonel Coffey, (with Missouri and Arkansas troops,) Major Bryant, Colonels Levi and Chili McIntosh, each with a regiment; Colonel Adair's regiment and a Choctaw regiment. Only one battalion of Texans came over, as the remainder (infantry) staid with the artillery across the river, with the design of crossing the short way if we were pressed back. Yesterday the enemy kept up a heavy cannonade until dark, over the river at my picket stations. This morning, at daylight, it had been renewed. Lieutenant-Colonel Schurate got in yesterday with the first part of the train, and the paymaster. The refugee train, which I reënforced-sixty miles off—is also in safety. The enemy have left Van Buren and taken all but a handful of men from Fort Smith. They are massed south of the river in front of me, and give their forces at eleven thousand, but their real force is between four and five thousand men. They are nervously determined that I shall not recruit in the country south of the river, and tell the Indians that the United States forces are whipped in Virginia, and will be obliged to evacuate the Indian country, and that their only safety is with the Confederacy. Three of my Indian picket stations behaved very badly, having deserted their posts without giving me notice, and allowed the enemy to get on my flank in the morning. I feel it due to the majority of the men and officers to compliment Respectfully, their gallantry and heroism, by which we, with- heard for miles, owing to the rocky soil and the out risking our position, achieved a decided vic-iron axles; but in Louisiana one must hunt very tory over greatly superior numbers. assiduously in order to discover a pebble, so that a train can move with but little noise-an advantage of great importance to an army on the move. On the evening of the twenty-second the advance had bivouacked at Centreville, and the weary sentinels paced up and down their posts, COLONEL CHICKERING'S EXPEDITION. anxiously listening for the welcome footsteps of WILLIAM A. PHILIPS, Doc. 197. ON BOARD STEAMER CAHAWBA, OFF GEORGIA COAST, No full account has yet found its way into print respecting the recent exploit of Colonel Thomas E. Chickering, of Boston, and having received the particulars from the Colonel, I am enabled to give the interesting details of this hazardous, but successful expedition. the relief-guard, when mounted messengers dashed into camp with news of an attack on our rear. Three squadrons of the Forty-first Massachusetts cavalry were at once ordered to the rear to prevent any surprise in large numbers, and to disperse the cowardly guerrillas that followed in the track of the train, annoying us constantly, evidently with the intention of harassing us to such an extent that a rapid advance would be impos sion. On Thursday, May twenty-first, at daybreak, Colonel T. E. Chickering, of the Forty-first Mas-sible. sachusetts cavalry, (extemporized for this partic- In the mean time other messengers came in ular service,) the Fifty-second Massachusetts, reporting that General Mouton, son of the exOne Hundred and Tenth, One Hundred and Four- Governor of Louisiana, with Brigadier-General teenth, One Hundred and Twenty-fifth, and Nine- Greene, were but a short distance in our rear, tieth New-York, with one company each of the with five thousand men, including a large number Thirteenth Connecticut, Twenty-second and Twen- of "Texicans." It was very plain that Mouton's ty-sixth Maine, and one section of Nim's Massa-object was to engage our rear, and then, by a chusetts battery, under command of Lieutenant coup-de-main, endeavor to flank the entire diviSnow, the whole division under the immediate command of Colonel Chickering, proceeded, with three hundred army wagons, from Berrie's Landing, laden with cotton, sugar, molasses, and other valuable products, toward Berwick City. The ponderous train once in motion, soon began to wind itself along the easterly bank of the Teche, the white canvas covering to the wagons giving the train, at a distance, when viewed from a slight elevation, the appearance of a monster white boaconstrictor, which crawled slowly but surely along. Upon arriving at St. Martinsville, Colonel Chickering learned from his spies, and from those worth less negroes that Copperheads talk so much about, that the enemy were in ambush just beyond his advancing scouts. He at once crossed the Teche, and marched rapidly to New-Iberia, where he found the steamer J. M. Brown, laden with supplies for his troops. Unloading the supplies, they were soon distributed among the various regiments. The steamer was at once laden with cotton, sugar, corn, and molasses, and with one thousand contrabands on board, sailed for Brashear City. Upon discovering this scheme, Colonel Chickering had three regiments of infantry drawn up in line of battle, directly in front of the wagontrain, and orders were then given for the train to move on. Colonel Morgan, of the Ninetieth NewYork, whose regiment formed the rear-guard, was instructed to retreat, giving battle, and at the same time protect the rear of the train. Colonel Morgan indulged in a few lively skirmishes with the scattered forces of the enemy, chiefly guerrillas. The train was pushed on with all possible speed during the night, followed closely by the most daring guerrillas, and on the morning of the twenty-sixth reached Berwick City, after a forced march of one hundred and ten miles in four days. The last forty miles was accomplished in the almost unprecedented short time of twenty-four hours, the enemy following close upon our heels. The rebels were exceedingly vigilant, and we were continually reminded that they were on the qui vire at all points. Colonel Chickering received information through reliable sources that the main body, numbering five thousand men, forty miles south-west of Opelousas, near the Texas boundary line, and from which State the troops were being drawn. From New-Iberia the march was resumed tow-were at Calcosien, or Lake Charles Court-House, ard Franklin, and the warlike caravan entered this pretty little secesh town amid the reverberation of the different bands, and the choruses of the regiments, swelling with the notes of the various camp songs, our glorious colors proudly fluttering their silken folds over the serried ranks-all tended to form a thrilling and beautiful picture. Perhaps you can form some sort of an idea of the gigantic proportions of one of of these wagon trains, when I state that the one under command of Colonel Chickering was five miles long. The noise of such a train in Virginia could be The rebels were expecting Colonel Chickering and his train of booty on the Grand Coteau, and the shrewdness of the Colonel in command alone prevented the rebels from gaining a rich prize. The enemy's spies, who pretended, of course, to be the strongest kind of Union men, were permitted to hold converse with Colonel Chickering, and he very adroitly made use of them, by pretending to divulge to them the plans of the retreat; and he succeeded most admirably in “Yan keeing" the sincere Union men. They were told confidentially that our forces were going to stop at Vermilion Bayou and construct the bridge over that stream, and the Union men, of course, had a strong force there, as we afterward learned from a trusty negro. Colonel Chickering is wholly responsible for their great victory at this point, and it is high time such irritating conduct toward our deluded Southern brethren was stopped. It was agreed between the rebel officers that we should be flanked at St. Martinsville, but the rapidity of the Colonel's movements thwarted them, when Franklin was decided upon as the spot where this immense "Yankee" potent corn-hopping nigger train was to be engulfed in the mighty jaws of the rebel army; but lo, presto, change! they passed through and beyond Franklin. Considerable powder and lead was wasted for the so-called Confederacy, and the chagrin of the baulked rebels was so bitter, that, for sixteen miles, from Franklin to Centreville, they fought us in their brave guerrilla style. The rebels fired from the windows of the house at which Colonel Chickering took dinner on the same day. At Franklin their programme was all laid out, but owing to some slight disarrangement of the machinery, the performances at the confederate theatre did not satisfy the eager audience. They had been told that the retreat of "the d-d Yankees" was to be cut off, as well as all their heads; but suddenly their boasted tragedy became, if possible, worse than a farce. Colonel Chickering arrested a believer in the Jeff Davis doctrine, and a faithful supporter of the "divine" or "peculiar" institution, by the name of Alfred Lastrappe, a wealthy planter, owning a sugar and cotton plantation at Breaux Bridge, on the banks of the Teche. Mr. Lastrappe is only suspected, with some pretty strong evidence to sustain the suspicion, of having murdered four of his best negroes who were preparing to join our army as soon as it passed the plantation. The four new-made graves were found, but the innocent says they died very suddenly, and no doubt they did. He is now under close arrest, and an examination is shortly to be made into the case. the part of Colonel Chickering to keep the road open. Lieutenant Woods of the One Hundred and Tenth New-York regiment was killed, and a major and several commissioned officers were captured by these guerrillas. Colonel Chickering has heard since that they hung two of our officers, but he had not at last accounts received any thing authentic in relation to the matter. General Banks was very solicitous for the safety of this immense train, and a disaster to it would have sadly injured our cause. Now, as for the success, the following figures will show plainly. Six thousand negroes came into our hands, five hundred plantation wagons, three thousand mules and horses, besides a fabulous number of cattle. While the Forty-first Massachusetts were stationed at Berrie's Landing, five thousand bales of cotton were sent from that point, besides immense quantities of sugar and molasses, and it is estimated that upward of ten thousand negroes have been sent from Berrie's Landing to Brashear City and Algiers. It is superfluous business for me to attempt to praise the skill and energy of Colonel Chickering for the determination he evinced and the great success which has crowned his efforts. Let the record be his garland of laurel. All of these negroes are exceedingly eager to fight for their freedom, and I have often seen the tears rolling silently down their sable cheeks when the examining surgeon, after inspecting them, pronounced them physically worthless for active service in the field. Nothing is more false and ridiculously absurd than the statements of Northern Copperheads that the negro will not fight, will not labor without the cruel lash-is of too indolent a nature naturally to support himself. No honest man who has travelled in the revolted States can assert this. Many men come to Louisiana with these impressions upon their minds. The negroes will fight, and desperately too, as the bitter conflict at Port Hudson attests. They do labor, where remunerated faithfully. The negroes of Louisiana are the only friends we have in that State, and one single instance has yet to be named wherein they have proved faithless. CICERONE. -Boston Traveller. The principal evidence is from negroes who tell their simple stories of the great affection of the master for the "Yankees;" so great was it, that Mr. Lastrappe had only to hear that one of his negroes had dared to speak to a "Yankce," and AFFAIR NEAR MIDDLETON, TENNESSEE. on goes the lash, and prostrate was the impudent Ethiopian in the embraces of the stocks. The women and children were very bitter all along the line of march, and Colonel Chickering arrested several insolent male rebels, who professed neutrality when arrested. Nim's battery fired several shots into a sugarhouse, where upward of one hundred and fifty rebels were concealed. A number of them fled to the woods. We cannot state the casualties of this little artillery episode. The contrabands who were in the train were terribly alarmed at the guerrillas, and the scene beggars description. It required the greatest exertion and vigilance on VOL. VI.-Doc. 40 Doc. 198. LOUISVILLE "JOURNAL" ACCOUNT. MURFREESBORO, May 25, 1863. I GAVE you by telegraph a short account of the night attack made by our cavalry on the enemy's camp near Middleton, on the morning of the twenty-first. Through the kindness of Colonel Stanley and General Minty, the latter commanding the First brigade, which sustained the brunt of the fight, I am enabled to glean from official reports, the following details: On the night of the twen ty-first, at eight o'clock, General Stanley started out on the Salem pike, in the direction of Middleton, a small village about three miles west of Fos unsuspectingly followed close behind, firing at us. When within easy musket-range the Fourth Michigan rose and poured in a volley that played sad havoc in the rebel ranks, and they withdrew to trouble us no more. The charge of the advance-guard was a brilliant affair, and reflects great credit on Lieutenant O'Connell, who led the van, and only retired when the enemy in superior force moved forward to oppose him. In this action we lost the daring and gallant Lieutenant Wood. terville, on the old stage route leading from Mur-pared to charge. The confederates, more confifreesboro to Shelbyville. The forces composing dent in the mettle of their horses than in their the expedition were the First and Second brigades own ability to sustain a charge, wheeled about of General Turchin's cavalry division, the former and took to the woods and glades. The Third consisting of the Fourth Michigan, Third Indiana, Indiana, in the mean time, had charged in the Seventh Pennsylvania, and Fourth regular regi-direction of Fosterville. The few rebels they ments, under the command of Colonel R. H. G. found only tarried to exchange shots, and retreatMinty; and the latter composed of the Third and ed. The Second brigade, moved forward when Fourth Ohio cavalry and the Thirty-ninth Indi- the action begun, found the enemy gone, and ana mounted infantry, and commanded by Colo- was now occupying his camp. General Stanley nel Long. Leaving the pike to avoid the enemy's burned the tents, wagons, clothing, guns, ordpickets, posted on the road, the column picked nance stores, and every thing left on the grounds, its way cautiously through an unfrequented re- and, with over two hundred serviceable horses gion, broken by gullies and ravines, obstructed and seventy-three prisoners, took up a line of by bluffs, and traversed by serpentine water-march for Murfreesboro. The rebels, collecting courses. The natural barriers intervening, im- in considerable force, followed us for several peded the progress of the column; but the night, miles, firing on our rear-guard and severely its darkness deepened by the forest that overhung, wounding quite a number of our men. Colonel rendered the path almost impassable. After a Long, with the Second brigade, brought up the march of over twenty miles over this rugged rear, and sustained a loss of eight wounded by country, the horses jaded and the men fatigued, shots from the enemy following. Reporting to the force was halted within three miles of Mid- General Stanley that our rear was being contindleton, and the preparations made for surround- ually annoyed, the Fourth Michigan was placed ing, surprising, and capturing the enemy. Gen- in ambush. The column passed, and the enemy eral Stanley, with his escort and two companies (D and I) from the Fourth regulars, ordered forward to act as advance-guard, under the command of Lieutenant O'Connell, took the road leading from the old Salem pike in the direction of the rebel camp. General Turchin was ordered to follow, in supporting distance, with the First brigade. Reaching a point where the road forked with another leading to the right, General Tur chin sent the balance of the Fourth regulars and the Seventh Pennsylvania to the left, and the Fourth Michigan, followed by the Third Indiana, took the road to the right, leading to Middleton. General Stanley, in the mean time, with the advance-guard, had held steadily toward the point designated by the guides as the camping ground of the enemy. The camp was situated about a mile from Middleton, in a dense cedar glade, and the forces were so disposed that it was necessary to pass through the grounds occu- Major-General Halleck, General-in-Chief United pied by the First Alabama to reach the camp of States Army, Washington, D. C.: the Eighth confederate. Having alarmed the sen- GENERAL: Referring to my brief report of May tries, and anxious to surprise the enemy asleep, twenty-second, I have the honor to report that, General Stanley ordered the Anderson Guard for- learning from Colonel J. Richter Jones, commandward. No time was lost. In a twinkling Lieu-ing outposts, that he deemed it possible to capture tenant O'Connell was at their head, and the two companies, with drawn sabres, were dashing forward with a yell, that was alone sufficient to strike terror into a drowsy man, and sabring the frightened Alabamians. The alarms given by the sentries had aroused the Eighth confederate, who, rallying in sufficient numbers, beat back the advance-guard, who retired with a large number of prisoners. The Fourth Michigan, on the alert, attracted by the tumult, dashed forward at a furious gallop, charged through the town and a mile beyond into the camp of the enemy. The rebels by this time had formed in line of battle on the opposite side of an open field and in the edge of the forest skirting it. Discovering them, the Michiganders fired a few volleys at them, which emptied several saddles, and pre Doc. 199. EXPEDITION TO GUM SWAMP, N. C. GENERAL FOSTER'S REPORT. HEADQUARTERS TENTH ARMY CORPS, the enemy's outpost regiments at Gum Swamps, eight miles from Kinston, I ordered Colonel Lee's brigade, consisting of the Fifth, Twentyfifth, and Forty-sixth Massachusetts regiments, three pieces of Boggs's battery, and a battalion of cavalry, to report to him. Colonel Jones ordered the Fifth, Twenty-fifth, and Forty-sixth, with the artillery and cavalry, under the command of Colonel Pierson, Fifth Massachusetts, to advance up the railroad and Dover road, to attack the enemy's work in front, while the Fifty-eighth Pennsylvania volunteers, and the Twenty-seventh Massachusetts volunteers, under the immediate command of Colonel Jones, took a path through the swamp, to reach the rear of the enemy's position. The main column, under Colonel Pierson, met At five minutes before ten o'clock I ordered that the bugle sound the charge, and within fifteen minutes Lawler's and Landrum's brigades, of the Fourteenth and Tenth divisions of this corps, had stormed a strong lunette work in their front, making enlodgment, and planting our colors upon it. Twelve men went into it, eleven were killed, and the twelfth, aided by our sharp-shooters on the top of the parapet, captured and brought out twelve rebels. A feat more daring and successful is hardly recorded. Its achiever was Sergeant Joseph E. Griffith, company I, Twenty-second Iowa V. I., who deserves equal admiration and praise. the enemy's pickets at daylight of the twenty- our front, and had to be overcome under the ensecond, and driving them in, commenced an at-emy's fire. Our line was some six or eight miles tack on the front. Colonel Jones with his com- long, and was therefore necessarily weakened by mand, owing to the character of the road they attenuation. had taken, and the men having to go by single file, did not arrive at the desired place until nine A. M. On arriving in the rear of the enemy's position, Colonel Jones deployed such batteries of his command as could be used to advantage, opened fire and advanced. The enemy fired a few desultory volleys, then broke and fled in great confusion, taking to the swamps, and escaping by paths known only to themselves. On hearing the firing of Colonel Jones's command, Colonel Pierson advanced his command and entered the work in front. After securing the prisoners (one hundred and sixty-five) and spoils, demolishing the enemy's works, and resting his men, Colonel Jones made a demonstration and show of advance on Kinston. At dusk the same evening his pickets were driven in, and he found himself attacked by the enemy in force, and with artillery. He, in obedience to orders, at once returned, followed by the enemy, and reached our outpost line with-guinary struggle. The enemy was driven away from a loaded gun before he had time to fire it; while Lieutenant White, of the Chicago Mercantile battery, brought up one of his pieces by hand The enemy, mortified at the success of Colonel close to the enemy's works, and double-shotting Jones, and being strongly reënforced from Golds-it, poured a deadly discharge into the enemy's boro, reattacked our outpost line on the after- ranks. This feat was a worthy parallel to Sernoon of the twenty-third. I sent out a support-geant Griffith. ing force to Colonel Jones, and the enemy were repulsed at every point, but with a great loss to us and the service, in the death of Colonel Jones, who was shot through the heart as he was leading on two companies of his regiment to dislodge the enemy from a position he had taken up. out loss. Colonel Lee's brigade were put on cars in waiting, and returned to their camps. By the death of Colonel Jones, a most brave, zealous, and able officer has been lost to the service and this department. I have the honor to inclose a list of casualties, and a list of prisoners and articles captured. I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, J. G. FOSTER, Major-General Commanding. Doc. 200. THE CHARGE AT VICKSBURGH, MISS. Within thirty minutes after ten o'clock, Benton's and Burbridge's brigades, fired with noble emulation, rushed forward; made a lodgment on a similar work in their front, and in like manner planted our flag upon it. This cost a san All this was on my right. On my left Osterhaus's division formed the advance, supported by one brigade of General Hovey's-the other brigade having been left behind, under General Grant's order at Big Black. The movement of these forces was obliquely toward the point of attack, in front of Lawler, which they neared in the course of a struggle which brought most, if not all of them into action. The fury of our assault was such as to alarm the enemy and to cause him to mass his troops from both right and left, in my front. The movements by which this was effected, were plainly seen by officers and men of my command, and greatly increased the obstacles to the advance of my corps, whose strength had been much curtailed by different detachments which had been ordered to be left behind. Passing to matters of a more personal character, I am loth to inform you of rumors which would fix upon me the responsibility of the failure of the assault on the twenty-third. These rumors are as contradictory as they are senseless and mendacious. They must be spawn of petty prejudiced partisans. It would be unjust to impute them to any men of rank and character. GENERAL MCCLERNAND'S LETTER. HEADQUARTERS THIRTEENTH ARMY CORPS, IN THE FIELD NEAR VICKSBURGH, MISS., May 28, 1863. DEAR GOVERNOR: I snatch a moment, amid pressing and responsible duties, to address you a few lines on the subject of our recent operations. The rattle of musketry and the roar of cannon ring at short intervals in my ears, and carnage One rumor charges me with not attacking is all around. All the corps of the army of the promptly, yet it is notorious, I was the first to Tennessee were ordered by its commander to attack, and the first to make a lodgment in the inake a simultaneous assault upon the enemy's enemy's works; moreover, I continued unremitworks at ten A.M. of the twenty-second instant. tingly the conflict until after night, and for a The advance was ordered to be made in quick-longer time than any other corps. My success time, with bayonets fixed, and without firing a gun, until the outer works were carried. A very rough, rugged and broken space was in was also as great as that of any other corps. |