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Camp Fire and Cotton Field by Thomas W. Knox

T >> Thomas W. Knox >> Camp Fire and Cotton Field




Almost at the instant of completing the sentence, he burst into a
laugh, and said,

"It would have done you good to see how your folks captured a big
drove of Price's cattle. The Rebs were driving them along all right,
and your cavalry just came up and took them. It was rich, I tell you.
Ha! ha!"

Not knowing what condolence to offer a man who could be so gay after
the death of his wife, I bade him good-morning, and pushed on. He
had not, as far as I could perceive, the single excuse of being
intoxicated, and his display of vivacity appeared entirely genuine. In
all my travels I have never met his equal.

Up to the time of this campaign none of our armies had been into
Arkansas. When General Curtis approached the line, the head of the
column was halted, the regiments closed up, and the men brought their
muskets to the "right shoulder shift," instead of the customary "at
will" of the march. Two bands were sent to the front, where a small
post marked the boundary, and were stationed by the roadside, one in
either State. Close by them the National flag was unfurled. The bands
struck up "The Arkansas Traveler," the order to advance was given,
and, with many cheers in honor of the event, the column moved onward.
For several days "The Arkansas Traveler" was exceedingly popular with
the entire command. On the night after crossing the line the news of
the fall of Fort Donelson was received.

Soon after entering Arkansas on his retreat, General Price met General
McCulloch moving northward to join him. With their forces united, they
determined on making a stand against General Curtis, and, accordingly,
halted near Sugar Creek. A little skirmish ensued, in which the Rebels
gave way, the loss on either side being trifling. They did not stop
until they reached Fayetteville. Their halt at that point was very
brief.

At Cross Hollows, in Benton County, Arkansas, about two miles from
the main road, there is one of the finest springs in the Southwest. It
issues from the base of a rocky ledge, where the ravine is about three
hundred yards wide, and forms the head of a large brook. Two small
flouring mills are run during the entire year by the water from this
spring. The water is at all times clear, cold, and pure, and is said
never to vary in quantity.

Along the stream fed by this spring, the Rebels had established a
cantonment for the Army of Northern Arkansas, and erected houses
capable of containing ten or twelve thousand men. The cantonment
was laid out with the regularity of a Western city. The houses were
constructed of sawed lumber, and provided with substantial brick
chimneys.

Of course, this establishment was abandoned when the Rebel army
retreated. The buildings were set on fire, and all but a half-dozen of
them consumed. When our cavalry reached the place, the rear-guard of
the Rebels had been gone less than half an hour. There were about
two hundred chickens running loose among the burning buildings. Our
soldiers commenced killing them, and had slaughtered two-thirds of
the lot when one of the officers discovered that they were game-cocks.
This class of chickens not being considered edible, the killing was
stopped and the balance of the flock saved. Afterward, while we lay in
camp, they were made a source of much amusement. The cock-fights that
took place in General Curtis's army would have done honor to Havana or
Vera Cruz. Before we captured them the birds were the property of the
officers of a Louisiana regiment. We gave them the names of the Rebel
leaders. It was an every-day affair for Beauregard, Van Dorn, and
Price to be matched against Lee, Johnston, and Polk. I remember losing
a small wager on Magruder against Breckinridge. I should have won if
Breck had not torn the feathers from Mac's neck, and injured his right
wing by a foul blow. I never backed Magruder after that.

From Cross Hollows, General Curtis sent a division in pursuit of
Price's army, in its retreat through Fayetteville, twenty-two miles
distant. On reaching the town they found the Rebels had left in the
direction of Fort Smith. The pursuit terminated at this point. It had
been continued for a hundred and ten miles--a large portion of the
distance our advance being within a mile or two of the Rebel rear.

In retreating from Fayetteville, the Rebels were obliged to abandon
much of the supplies for their army. A serious quarrel is reported
to have taken place between Price and McCulloch, concerning the
disposition to be made of these supplies. The former was in favor
of leaving the large amount of stores, of which, bacon was the chief
article, that it might fall into our hands. He argued that we had
occupied the country, and would stay there until driven out. Our army
would be subsisted at all hazards. If we found this large quantity of
bacon, it would obviate the necessity of our foraging upon the country
and impoverishing the inhabitants.

General McCulloch opposed this policy, and accused Price of a desire
to play into the enemy's hands. The quarrel became warm, and resulted
in the discomfiture of the latter. All the Rebel warehouses were set
on fire. When our troops entered Fayetteville the conflagration was at
its height. It resulted as Price had predicted. The inhabitants were
compelled, in great measure, to support our army.

The Rebels retreated across the Boston Mountains to Fort Smith, and
commenced a reorganization of their army. Our army remained at Cross
Hollows as its central point, but threw out its wings so as to form
a front nearly five miles in extent. Small expeditions were sent in
various directions to break up Rebel camps and recruiting stations.
In this way two weeks passed with little activity beyond a careful
observation of the enemy's movements. There were several flouring
mills in the vicinity of our camp, which were kept in constant
activity for the benefit of the army.

I accompanied an expedition, commanded by Colonel Vandever, of the
Ninth Iowa, to the town of Huntsville, thirty-five miles distant. Our
march occupied two days, and resulted in the occupation of the town
and the dispersal of a small camp of Rebels. We had no fighting,
scarcely a shot being fired in anger. The inhabitants did not greet us
very cordially, though some of them professed Union sentiments.

In this town of Huntsville, the best friend of the Union was the
keeper of a whisky-shop. This man desired to look at some of our
money, but declined to take it. An officer procured a canteen of
whisky and tendered a Treasury note in payment. The note was refused,
with a request for either gold or Rebel paper.

The officer then exhibited a large sheet of "promises to pay," which
he had procured in Fayetteville a few days before, and asked how they
would answer.

"That is just what I want," said the whisky vender.

The officer called his attention to the fact that the notes had no
signatures.

"That don't make any difference," was the reply; "nobody will know
whether they are signed or not, and they are just as good, anyhow."

I was a listener to the conversation, and at this juncture proffered a
pair of scissors to assist in dividing the notes. It took but a short
time to cut off enough "money" to pay for twenty canteens of the worst
whisky I ever saw.

At Huntsville we made a few prisoners, who said they were on their
way from Price's army to Forsyth, Missouri. They gave us the important
information that the Rebel army, thirty thousand strong, was on the
Boston Mountains the day previous; and on the very day of our arrival
at Huntsville, it was to begin its advance toward our front. These
men, and some others, had been sent away because they had no weapons
with which to enter the fight.

Immediately on learning this, Colonel Vandever dispatched a courier
to General Curtis, and prepared to set out on his return to the main
army. We marched six miles before nightfall, and at midnight, while
we were endeavoring to sleep, a courier joined us from the
commander-in-chief. He brought orders for us to make our way back with
all possible speed, as the Rebel army was advancing in full force.

At two o'clock we broke camp, and, with only one halt of an hour,
made a forced march of forty-one miles, joining the main column at ten
o'clock at night. I doubt if there were many occasions during the
war where better marching was done by infantry than on that day.
Of course, the soldiers were much fatigued, but were ready, on the
following day, to take active part in the battle.

On the 5th of March, as soon as General Curtis learned of the Rebel
advance, he ordered General Sigel, who was in camp at Bentonville, to
fall back to Pea Ridge, on the north bank of Sugar Creek. At the
same time he withdrew Colonel Jeff. C. Davis's Division to the same
locality. This placed the army in a strong, defensible position, with
the creek in its front. On the ridge above the stream our artillery
and infantry were posted.

The Rebel armies under Price and McCulloch had been united and
strongly re-enforced, the whole being under the command of General Van
Dorn. Their strength was upward of twenty thousand men, and they were
confident of their ability to overpower us. Knowing our strong front
line, General Van Dorn decided upon a bold movement, and threw himself
around our right flank to a position between us and our base at
Springfield.

In moving to our right and rear, the Rebels encountered General
Sigel's Division before it had left Bentonville, and kept up a running
fight during the afternoon of the 6th. Several times the Rebels, in
small force, secured positions in Sigel's front, but that officer
succeeded in cutting his way through and reaching the main force, with
a loss of less than a hundred men.

The position of the enemy at Bentonville showed us his intentions,
and we made our best preparations to oppose him. Our first step was
to obstruct the road from Bentonville to our rear, so as to retard
the enemy's movements. Colonel Dodge, of the Fourth Iowa (afterward
a major-general), rose from a sick-bed to perform this work. The
impediments which he placed in the way of the Rebels prevented their
reaching the road in our rear until nine o'clock on the morning of the
7th.

Our next movement was to reverse our position. We had been facing
south--it was now necessary to face to the north. The line that had
been our rear became our front. A change of front implied that our
artillery train should take the place of the supply train, and _vice
versa_. "Elkhorn Tavern" had been the quartermaster's depot. We made
all haste to substitute artillery for baggage-wagons, and boxes of
ammunition for boxes of hard bread. This transfer was not accomplished
before the battle began, and as our troops were pressed steadily back
on our new front, Elkhorn Tavern fell into the hands of the Rebels.

The sugar, salt, and bread which they captured, happily not of large
quantity, were very acceptable, and speedily disappeared. Among the
quartermaster's stores was a wagon-load of desiccated vegetables, a
very valuable article for an army in the field. All expected it would
be made into soup and eaten by the Rebels. What was our astonishment
to find, two days later, that they had opened and examined a single
case, and, after scattering its contents on the ground, left the
balance undisturbed!

Elkhorn Tavern was designated by a pair of elk-horns, which occupied a
conspicuous position above the door. After the battle these horns were
removed by Colonel Carr, and sent to his home in Illinois, as trophies
of the victory.

A family occupied the building at the time of the battle, and remained
there during the whole contest. When the battle raged most fiercely
the cellar proved a place of refuge. Shells tore through the house,
sometimes from the National batteries, and sometimes from Rebel guns.
One shell exploded in a room where three women were sitting. Though
their clothes were torn by the flying fragments, they escaped without
personal injury. They announced their determination not to leave home
so long as the house remained standing.

Among other things captured at Elkhorn Tavern by the Rebels, was
a sutler's wagon, which, had just arrived from St. Louis. In the
division of the spoils, a large box, filled with wallets, fell to the
lot of McDonald's Battery. For several weeks the officers and privates
of this battery could boast of a dozen wallets each, while very few
had any money to carry. The Rebel soldiers complained that the visits
of the paymaster were like those of angels.




CHAPTER XIII.

THE BATTLE OF PEA RIDGE.

The Rebels make their Attack.--Albert Pike and his Indians.--Scalping
Wounded Men.--Death of General McCulloch.--The Fighting at Elkhorn
Tavern.--Close of a Gloomy Day.--An Unpleasant Night.--Vocal Sounds
from a Mule's Throat.--Sleeping under Disadvantages.--A Favorable
Morning.--The Opposing Lines of Battle.--A Severe Cannonade.--The
Forest on Fire.--Wounded Men in the Flames.--The Rebels in
Retreat.--Movements of our Army.--A Journey to St. Louis.


About nine o'clock on the morning of the 7th, the Rebels made a
simultaneous attack on our left and front, formerly our right and
rear. General Price commanded the force on our front, and General
McCulloch that on our left; the former having the old Army of
Missouri, re-enforced by several Arkansas regiments, and the latter
having a corps made up of Arkansas, Texas, and Louisiana troops. They
brought into the fight upward of twenty thousand men, while we had not
over twelve thousand with which to oppose them.

The attack on our left was met by General Sigel and Colonel Davis.
That on our front was met by Colonel Carr's Division and the division
of General Asboth. On our left it was severe, though not long
maintained, the position we held being too strong for the enemy to
carry.

It was on this part of the line that the famous Albert Pike, the
lawyer-poet of Arkansas, brought his newly-formed brigades of
Indians into use. Pike was unfortunate with his Indians. While he
was arranging them in line, in a locality where the bushes were about
eight feet in height, the Indians made so much noise as to reveal
their exact position. One of our batteries was quietly placed within
point-blank range of the Indians, and suddenly opened upon them with
grape and canister. They gave a single yell, and scattered without
waiting for orders.

The Indians were not, as a body, again brought together during the
battle. In a charge which our cavalry made upon a Rebel brigade we
were repulsed, leaving several killed and wounded upon the ground.
Some of Pike's Indians, after their dispersal, came upon these, and
scalped the dead and living without distinction. A Rebel officer
subsequently informed me that the same Indians scalped several of
their own slain, and barbarously murdered some who had been only
slightly injured.

On this part of the field we were fortunate, early in the day, in
killing General McCulloch and his best lieutenant, General McIntosh.
To this misfortune the Rebels have since ascribed their easy defeat.
At the time of this reverse to the enemy, General Van Dorn was with.
Price in our front. After their repulse and the death of their leader,
the discomfited Rebels joined their comrades in the front, who had
been more successful. It was nightfall before the two forces were
united.

In our front, Colonel Carr's Division fought steadily and earnestly
during the entire day, but was pressed back fully two-thirds of a
mile. General Curtis gave it what re-enforcements he could, but there
were very few to be spared. When it was fully ascertained that the
Rebels on our left had gone to our front, we prepared to unite against
them. Our left was drawn in to re-enforce Colonel Carr, but the
movement was not completed until long after dark.

Thus night came. The rebels were in full possession of our
communications. We had repulsed them on the left, but lost ground,
guns, and men on our front. The Rebels were holding Elkhorn Tavern,
which we had made great effort to defend. Colonel Carr had repeatedly
wished for either night or re-enforcements. He obtained both.

The commanding officers visited General Curtis's head-quarters,
and received their orders for the morrow. Our whole force was to be
concentrated on our front. If the enemy did not attack us at daylight,
we would attack him as soon thereafter as practicable.

Viewed in its best light, the situation was somewhat gloomy. Mr.
Fayel, of the _Democrat_, and myself were the only journalists
with the army, and the cessation of the day's fighting found us
deliberating on our best course in case of a disastrous result. We
destroyed all documents that could give information to the enemy,
retaining only our note-books, and such papers as pertained to our
profession. With patience and resignation we awaited the events of the
morrow.

I do not know that any of our officers expected we should be
overpowered, but there were many who thought such an occurrence
probable. The enemy was nearly twice as strong as we, and lay directly
between us and our base. If he could hold out till our ammunition was
exhausted, we should be compelled to lay down our arms. There was no
retreat for us. We must be victorious or we must surrender.

In camp, on that night, every thing was confusion. The troops that had
been on the left during the day were being transferred to the front.
The quartermaster was endeavoring to get his train in the least
dangerous place. The opposing lines were so near each other that our
men could easily hear the conversation of the Rebels. The night was
not severely cold; but the men, who were on the front, after a day's
fighting, found it quite uncomfortable. Only in the rear was it
thought prudent to build fires.

The soldiers of German birth were musical. Throughout the night I
repeatedly heard their songs. The soldiers of American parentage
were generally profane, and the few words I heard them utter were the
reverse of musical. Those of Irish origin combined the peculiarities
of both Germans and Americans, with their tendencies in favor of the
latter.

I sought a quiet spot within the limits of the camp, but could not
find it. Lying down in the best place available, I had just fallen
asleep when a mounted orderly rode his horse directly over me. I made
a mild remonstrance, but the man was out of hearing before I spoke.
Soon after, some one lighted a pipe and threw a coal upon my hand.
This drew from me a gentle request for a discontinuance of that
experiment. I believe it was not repeated. During the night Mr.
Fayel's beard took fire, and I was roused to assist in staying the
conflagration.

The vocal music around me was not calculated to encourage drowsiness.
Close at hand was the quartermaster's train, with the mules ready
harnessed for moving in any direction. These mules had not been fed
for two whole days, and it was more than thirty-six hours since they
had taken water. These facts were made known in the best language the
creatures possessed. The bray of a mule is never melodious, even when
the animal's throat is well moistened. When it is parched and dusty
the sound becomes unusually hoarse. Each hour added to the noise as
the thirst of the musicians increased. Mr. Fayel provoked a discussion
concerning the doctrine of the transmigration of souls; and thought,
in the event of its truth, that the wretch was to be pitied who should
pass into a mule in time of war.

With the dawn of day every one was astir. At sunrise I found our
line was not quite ready, though it was nearly so. General Curtis
was confident all would result successfully, and completed the few
arrangements then requiring attention. We had expected the Rebels
would open the attack; but they waited for us to do so. They deserved
many thanks for their courtesy. The smoke of the previous day's fight
still hung over the camp, and the sun rose through it, as through a
cloud. A gentle wind soon dissipated this smoke, and showed us a clear
sky overhead. The direction of the wind was in our favor.

The ground selected for deciding the fate of that day was a huge
cornfield, somewhat exceeding two miles in length and about half a
mile in width. The western extremity of this field rested upon the
ridge which gave name to the battle-ground. The great road from
Springfield to Fayetteville crossed this field about midway from the
eastern to the western end.

It was on this road that the two armies took their positions.
The lines were in the edge of the woods on opposite sides of the
field--the wings of the armies extending to either end. On the
northern side were the Rebels, on the southern was the National army.
Thus each army, sheltered by the forest, had a cleared space in its
front, affording a full view of the enemy.

[Illustration: SHELLING THE HILL AT PEA RIDGE.]

By half-past seven o'clock our line was formed and ready for action. A
little before eight o'clock the cannonade was opened. Our forces
were regularly drawn up in order of battle. Our batteries were placed
between the regiments as they stood in line. In the timber, behind
these regiments and batteries, were the brigades in reserve, ready
to be brought forward in case of need. At the ends of the line were
battalions of cavalry, stretching off to cover the wings, and give
notice of any attempt by the Rebels to move on our flanks. Every five
minutes the bugle of the extreme battalion would sound the signal
"All's well." The signal would be taken by the bugler of the next
battalion, and in this way carried down the line to the center. If
the Rebels had made any attempt to outflank us, we could hardly have
failed to discover it at once.

Our batteries opened; the Rebel batteries responded. Our gunners
proved the best, and our shot had the greatest effect. We had better
ammunition than that of our enemies, and thus reduced the disparity
caused by their excess of guns. Our cannonade was slow and careful;
theirs was rapid, and was made at random. At the end of two hours of
steady, earnest work, we could see that the Rebel line was growing
weaker, while our own was still unshaken. The work of the artillery
was winning us the victory.

In the center of the Rebel line was a rocky hill, eighty or a hundred
feet in height. The side which faced us was almost perpendicular, but
the slope to the rear was easy of ascent. On this hill the Rebels had
stationed two regiments of infantry and a battery of artillery. The
balance of their artillery lay at its base. General Curtis ordered
that the fire of all our batteries should be concentrated on this hill
at a given signal, and continued there for ten minutes. This was done.
At the same time our infantry went forward in a charge on the Rebel
infantry and batteries that stood in the edge of the forest. The
cleared field afforded fine opportunity for the movement.

The charge was successful. The Rebels fell back in disorder, leaving
three guns in our hands, and their dead and wounded scattered on the
ground. This was the end of the battle. We had won the victory at Pea
Ridge.

I followed our advancing forces, and ascended to the summit of the
elevation on which our last fire was concentrated. Wounded men were
gathered in little groups, and the dead were lying thick about them.
The range of our artillery had been excellent. Rocks, trees, and earth
attested the severity of our fire. This cannonade was the decisive
work of the day. It was the final effort of our batteries, and was
terrible while it lasted.

The shells, bursting among the dry leaves, had set the woods on fire,
and the flames were slowly traversing the ground where the battle had
raged. We made every effort to remove the wounded to places of safety,
before the fire should reach them. At that time we thought we had
succeeded. Late in the afternoon I found several wounded men lying in
secluded places, where they had been terribly burned, though they were
still alive. Very few of them survived.

Our loss in this battle was a tenth of our whole force. The enemy lost
more than we in numbers, though less in proportion to his strength.
His position, directly in our rear, would have been fatal to a
defeated army in many other localities. There were numerous small
roads, intersecting the great road at right angles. On these roads the
Rebels made their lines of retreat. Had we sent cavalry in pursuit,
the Rebels would have lost heavily in artillery and in their supply
train. As it was, they escaped without material loss, but they
suffered a defeat which ultimately resulted in our possession of all
Northern Arkansas.

The Rebels retreated across the Boston Mountains to Van Buren and Fort
Smith, and were soon ordered thence to join Beauregard at Corinth.
Our army moved to Keytsville, Missouri, several miles north of the
battle-ground, where the country was better adapted to foraging, and
more favorable to recuperating from the effects of the conflict.

From Keytsville it moved to Forsyth, a small town in Taney County,
Missouri, fifty miles from Springfield. Extending over a considerable
area, the army consumed whatever could be found in the vicinity. It
gave much annoyance to the Rebels by destroying the saltpeter works on
the upper portion of White River.