vance of his division, came into full view of the field where the battle was fiercely raging. The Rebels were very strongly posted on high, rolling ground, covered by timber, and only approached from the north over large, open fields, which afforded no cover, save that a part of them bore a crop of ripe corn. Blunt's eccentric advance had brought him in front of the enemy's left, where they had been massing a large force for the purpose of flanking Herron's position. The flankers found an enemy much nearer than they expected, and were at once hotly engaged with Blunt's division. Its three batteries, firing shell and case-shot at short range, soon proved an overmatch for the two Rebel batteries opposed to them, driving them and their supports back into the woods; where they were charged by Col. Weer, leading the 10th, 13th, and part of the 2d and 11th Kansas and 20th Iowa, and a musketry fight of three hours was maintained with equal energy by the contending hosts. Meantime, our batteries were advanced at various points and served with rare efficiency; Lieut. Tenney, with six 10-pound Parrotts, repelling with shell and canister, while unsupported, a formidable infantry attack. Here fell the Rebel Gen. Stein, of Missouri. A battery of 10 guns, well supported, opening upon Tenney, he in ten minutes silenced its clamor, dismounting two of the guns, and driving off the residue. An attempt to capture Rabb's and Hopkins's batteries, which were supported by the 11th Kansas, Lt.Col. Moonlight, was defeated with fearful slaughter. 4 Gen. Blunt, in his official report, says: As darkness came on, the firing gradually slackened and ceased; the Rebels recoiling into their woody covert, our soldiers sleeping on their arms in the open field where they had so bravely struggled, expecting to renew the combat at daylight. Meanwhile, our wounded were all cared for, the trains of the whole army sent to Fayetteville; and Gen. Salomon's brigade, relieved from the duty of guarding them, ordered to the field; ammunition brought up and distributed, and everything made ready for proceeding to business at dawn; but, just before daylight, Gen. Blunt received a flag of truce from Hindman, asking a personal interview with reference to the burial of the dead and relief of the wounded. Blunt met Hindman accordingly, and was soon satisfied that the meeting so solicited was but a trick; that Hindman had no force present or near but his staff-escort, and a party left to gather up his wounded; that the bulk of his army had commenced retreating several hours before. Our loss in this battle was 167 killed, 798 wounded, and 183 missing-total, 1,148. Most of the missing were captured in Marmaduke's initial attack on our cavalry, and were exchanged directly afterward. Of our loss, no less than 953 fell on Herron's command of hardly more than 4,000 men. Lt.-Col. McFarland, who led the 19th Iowa in its first charge, was killed; as was Maj. Burdett, of the 7th Missouri cavalry. Lt.-Col. Black, 37th Illinois, and Maj. Thompson, 20th Iowa, were among the wounded. The Rebel loss" must have been greater, because not fall short of 3,000, and will probably much exceed that number, as many of them, not se THE TENNESSEE RIVER. 41 of our superiority in artillery, with | 336 missing-total, 1,317; and claims which the principal execution was to have taken 275 prisoners, 5 done. Hindman's official report flags, 23 wagons, and over 500 makes it, 164 killed, 817 wounded, | small arms. III. KENTUCKY-TENNESSEE-ALABAMA. THE river Tennessee, taking rise is the largest tributary, draining an in the rugged valleys of south-west- area of over 40,000 square miles. ern Virginia, between the Alleghany and the Cumberland ranges of mountains, but drawing tribute also from western North Carolina and northern Georgia, traverses East Tennessee in a generally W. S. W. direction, entering Alabama at its N. E. corner; and, after a detour of some 300 miles, through the northern part of that State, passes out at its N. W. corner; reentering Tennessee, and, passing again through that State in a course due north, and forming the boundary between what are designated respectively West and Middle Tennessee, thence flowing N. N. W. till it falls into the Ohio scarcely 70 miles above the mouth of that river, whereof it verely wounded, were taken to Van Buren. Their loss in killed upon the ground will reach 1,000; the greater number of whom have been buried by my command." Pollard, on the other hand, says of this battle: "Our whole line of infantry were in close conflict nearly the whole day with the enemy, who were attempting, with their force of 18,000 men, to drive us from our position. In every instance, they were repulsed, and finally driven back from the field; Gen. Hindman driving them to within 8 miles of Fayetteville; when our forces fell back to their supply dépôt, between Cane Hill and Van Buren. We captured 300 prisoners, and vast quantities of stores. The enemy's loss in killed and wounded was about 1,000; the Confederate loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, about 300." Gen. Blunt further says of this Pollard victory: Very rarely frozen, it is usually navigable, save in dry summers, from its mouth to the Muscle Shoals, toward the lower end of its course through Alabama, and thence by smaller boats. at high stages of water some 500 miles, to Knoxville, the capital of East Tennessee. The Cumberland, draining the opposite slope of the Cumberland Mountains, takes its rise in the heart of eastern Kentucky, and, pursuing a similar but shorter course, runs W. S. W. into Middle Tennessee, which it traverses very much as the Tennessee does northern Alabama, passing Nashville, its capital, bending N. W. into Kentucky some 20 miles eastward of the latter river, "Their transportatlon had been left south of the mountains, and their retreat thereby made unincumbered and stealthy. I am assured by my own men who were prisoners with them, as well as by deserters from their ranks, that they tore up the blankets of their men to muffle the wheels of their artillery." Gen. Herron, in a private letter, dated Dec. 15th, says: "The loss of the enemy is terrific. After their burial-parties had been on the ground for three days, we had to turn in and bury 300 for them. The country for 25 miles around is full of their wounded. We have, as captures, 4 caissons full of ammunition, and about 300 stand of arms. Hindman had prepared himself, and risked all on this fight. His movements were shrewdly managed; and nothing but desperately hard fighting ever carried us through." loss. and pursuing a generally parallel | rifles, destroying the camp equipage, course to that stream, to its own re- and returning to Pikeville without ception by the Ohio, and being navigable for 250 miles by large steamboats, save in seasons of summer drouth, and by boats of 500 tuns for some 300 miles further. These twothe only rivers, save the Mississippi, navigable southward from the border of the Free into the Slave States were obviously regarded on both sides, in view of the notorious impracticability of Southern roads in Winter and Spring, as the natural routes of advance for our Western armies collected and drilled on and near the Ohio during the Autumn of 1861 and the Winter following. The close of 1861 left Gen. Humphrey Marshall, commanding the Confederate forces in south-eastern Kentucky, intrenched at Paintville, Johnson county, intent on gathering supplies and recruiting. Col. James A. Garfield, of Ohio, commanding a Union brigade consisting of the 42d Ohio, 14th Kentucky, and a squadron of Ohio cavalry, moved up the Big Sandy early in 1862, occupying Paintville' without resistance, and pushing on to Prestonburg, Floyd county; near which town, at the forks of Middle creek, he encountered Marshall, whom he put to flight with little loss on either side. Garfield reported his full strength in this engagement at 1,800, and estimated that of Marshall at 2,500. Marshall was obliged to retreat into Virginia. Cumberland Gap was abandoned without resistance to the Unionists next month; and Gen. Garfield, with 600 men, made a rapid excursion to Pound Gap, where he surprised a Rebel camp, capturing 300 1 Jan. 7, 1862. About Feb. 22. Gen. Zollicoffer, at the close of 1861, held a position on the Cumberland, near the head of steamboat navigation on that sinuous stream, which may be regarded as the right of the Rebel army covering Tennessee and holding a small part of southern Kentucky. His force did not exceed 5,000 men; but even this was with great difficulty meagerly subsisted by inexorable foraging on that thinly settled and poorly cultivated region. His principal camp was at MILL SPRING, in Wayne county, on the south side of the river; but, finding himself unmolested, he established himself on the opposite bank, in a substantial earthwork, which he named Camp Beach Grove. He had one small steamboat, which had run up with munitions from Nashville, and was employed in gathering sup plies for his hungry men; but the advance of a Union detachment to Columbia, on his left, had rendered his navigation of the river below him precarious, if not entirely obstructed it. On his right front, Gen. Schoepf, with a force of 8,000 men, occupied Somerset; but was content to occupy it, without attempting or desiring to make trouble. But Gen. George H. Thomas, having been ordered by Gen. Buell to take command in this quarter, had scarcely reached Logan's Cross-Roads' when Maj.-Gen. George B. Crittenden, who had recently joined Zollicoffer and superseded him in command, finding himself nearly destitute of subsistence, and apprehending an attack in over4 ⚫ Dec. 29, 1861. * Jan. 17, 1862. March 16. BATTLE OF LOGAN'S CROSS-ROADS. 43 whelming strength from all our forces | with Kinney's battery-were serious in that part of Kentucky, resolved to anticipate it; and, at midnight after the next day,' advanced with his entire available force, consisting of six Tennessee, one Alabama, and one Mississippi regiments of infantry, six cannon, and two battalions of cavalry, to strike and surprise the three or four Union regiments which he was assured were alone posted between him and Somerset. He struck them as he had expected, but did not surprise them; Gen. Thomas having taken the precaution to send out strong pickets of infantry on the roads leading toward the enemy, with a picket of cavalry still farther in advance. These were encountered by Crittenden's vanguard before daylight; but, after firing, retired slowly and in good order, and reported to Col. M. D. Manson, commanding the advance brigade, who in ten minutes had his two regiments-10th Indiana and 4th Kentucky, Col. S. S. Fryin readiness; and the Rebels, in that hour of darkness, necessarily proceeded with caution, doubling themselves as they advanced. Thomas was of course at the front, having ordered up his remaining regiments, within ten minutes afterward. The charge of the Rebels was desperate, and the battle raged with great fury for nearly two hours, during which the muskets of the combatants were often fired through the same fence. Barely five Union regiments in all-the 10th Indiana, 2d Minnesota, 9th Ohio, 4th Kentucky, and 1st Kentucky cavalry, A Rebel letter to the Louisville (Nashville) Courier, says: "The enemy in front occupied Somerset with Beveral regiments, and Columbia with an equal force. On the 17th and 18th, it rained so much ly engaged; but the 12th Kentucky, and two or three Tennessee regiments, reached the field just as the day was won by a charge of the 9th Ohio on our left flank with fixed bayonets, supported by a galling fire from the 2d Minnesota in front, under which the Rebels gave way and fled, scarcely halting until they reached their intrenched camp by the river; leaving one gun on the battle-field and another by the way. In the heat of the battle, when the combatants were scarcely separated by an open space, Gen. Zollicoffer was shot by Col. Fry, and fell dead on the field, where his body was left by his followers. Col. Fry's horse was shot dead directly afterward. Col. Robert L. McCook, 9th Ohio, was wounded in the leg, and also had his horse shot. The Rebels lost 192 killed, 62 wounded and captured, besides those carried off by them, and 89 taken unhurt. Our loss was 39 killed, and 207 wounded. It rained, as usual, and the roads were horrible; but the victors, considerably rëenforced, were, before 4* P. M., in front of the intrenchments at Camp Beech Grove, within which the flying Rebels had taken refuge an hour or two before. Shelling was immediately commenced on our side, feebly responded to on the other; and this continued until 7 at night, when our soldiers desisted and lay down to rest. Gen. Schoepf's brigade came up that night, and were so disposed by Gen. Thomas as to make sure of the capture of that Fishing creek could not be crossed; and so the Somerset force of several thousand could not join the force from Columbia before the 20th." Sunday, Jan. 19. * Jan. 18-19. |