Raiding with Crook: A 23rd Ohio Private Remembers Cloyd's Mountain


The 23rd Ohio was among the most notable regiments that served from the state in part because it was the “birthplace” of so many generals and Presidents. Its first commander was William S. Rosecrans who went on to become a major general and led the Army of the Cumberland; its next commander, Eliakim P. Scammon, became a brigadier general as did its third commander Rutherford B. Hayes. Stanley Matthews left the regiment as lieutenant colonel to head the 51st Ohio and was later a brigade commander. Two members of the regiment served as President of the United States: Rutherford B. Hayes from 1877-1881, and William McKinley from 1897-1901.

This post features a campaign letter from one of the privates in the ranks of the 23rd Ohio. Wilson B. Patterson was born May 24, 1841 in Morgan County, Ohio to Leander and Nancy Patterson. The 1860 census shows him living at home with his parents and working as an apprentice. He enlisted in Co. H of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry for three years’ service under Captain James L. Drake on May 30, 1861. His company was raised from north-central and northeast Ohio, with portions of the company coming from Ashland and Holmes Counties. He re-enlisted in 1864 and was transferred to Co. F on July 1, 1864, serving the remainder of the war with the regiment and mustering out July 26, 1865.

Patterson’s older brother Henry served in Co. B of the 52nd Ohio and survived the war. After the war, Patterson married Jenny Mary Long, moved to Wisconsin, and had two children, neither of whom survived him.  He died August 26, 1906 and is buried at Mauston-Oakwood Cemetery in Mauston, Juneau Co., Wisconsin.

Patterson’s account Crook’s raid into southwestern Virginia including the Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain was sent home to his parents a few weeks after the campaign and published in the June 24, 1864 issue of the Morgan County Herald.

Captain Carlos A. Sperry and two unidentified men from his company (Co. B) in an image dating from  March 1862. Sperry mustered out of service in June 1864.
Library of Congress



Meadow Bluffs, West Virginia
May 29, 1864
         
I will occupy a few leisure moments in writing a few lines to you which you can give room in your columns if you see fit. I will now give you a slight detail of the recent raid on the Richmond & Tennessee Railroad by General George Crook. Our forces were concentrated at Fayetteville, Virginia on May 1st. Our force is composed of five Ohio regiments- the 12th, 23rd, 34th, 36th, and 91st along with four West Virginia regiments- the 9th, 11th, 14th, and 15th. The 1st Ohio Battery under Captain James R. McMullen, Captain Stenn’s 1st Kentucky Battery under Captain David Glassie, and two companies of cavalry rounded out the force which amounted to about 6,000.
General George Crook

On the morning of May 2nd, we broke up camp at daylight and set out for the railroad; we marched twelve miles and camped for the night on Black’s farms. Our scouts captured 200 bushwhackers and brought them into camp; they were sent with a guard and dispatched. The next morning, we broke up camp at 5 o’clock and marched to Ravine Creek- a distance of 14 miles. The next day we went to Princeton where we expected a little brush, but were put off with a little skirmish. Our advance guard charged into the Rebel camp and drove the Rebels from it; they ran like wild men, leaving their camp equipage to fall into our hands. All the officers’ baggage was left in a house in the town. Two of our boys were wounded slightly.

The next day we marched to Rocky Gap- distance 24 miles. Next day we marched to Camp Creek- distance 14 miles. Skirmishing took place several times during the day but none hurt on our side. On the morning of the 8th, we marched to Parisburg and Dublin Pike, cut the Rebel telegraph wire and dispatched to the Rebels to know what their force was at Dublin; they answered 40,000 and said they were ready to receive us. I suppose they thought they would scare us, but we didn’t scare worth a cent.

23rd Ohio Infantry Color Guard. These men "didn't scare worth a cent," either. 

We broke up camp Monday morning the 8th and started towards Cloyd’s Mountain where the main body of the enemy lay in their fortifications to receive us. The Third Brigade in advance, the Second Brigade next, leaving the First Brigade in the rear. We advanced about two miles when the enemy’s pickets fired on our advance guard but they were soon driven back toward the main body, closely pursued by our braves. The main column of our force advanced slowly; we soon came in range of the enemy’s batteries when they opened on us with shells.
 
Roadside marker commemorating the Battle of Cloyd's Mountain fought May 9, 1864
The Second Brigade, commanded by Colonel Carr B.White of the 12th O.V.I., had taken a by road and went around on the enemy’s right flank. We took a path which led down a steep hill, so steep that we were obliged to hold to the bushes to prevent us from falling. We reached the bench and formed a line of battle and laid down waiting to hear from the Second Brigade. We did not have to wait long until we heard the skirmishers guns going ‘click, click.’ Shortly after we heard a volley and a cheer given by the enemy. We were then called to attention which was obeyed in almost an instant. We were then ordered forward. We left the woods, went into an open meadow which we had to cross, facing the enemy while they poured volley after volley into our ranks, but did little damage. The enemy was in the woods on the opposite side of the meadow from which we started. We went on the double quick. Just at the edge of the roads there was a creek which we had to cross; we did not wait to see who was going in first, but all plunged in together and crossed; there was a noble little hill which screened us from the enemy’s fire.
Shell-torn flag of the 23rd Ohio 

We halted a short time- then up the hill- charged on the Rebs through grape, canister, and showers of buck and ball, but not a man looked to the rear, but all forward- leaped the enemy’s works and drove them away. They lit out on a dead run- some of them got the dead without the run. We followed them, taking two pieces of artillery, 170 prisoners, and quite a number of their wounded which fell into our hands. They left one colonel, one major, and several captains and lieutenants, and 195 dead privates on the field. A contraband told me that they had sent nine car loads to Lynchburg. Their loss was very heavy; I cannot tell what our loss was exactly. Out of 470 in our regiment, Co. H lost seven wounded and none killed. The Rebs retreated beyond the depot. We camped at the depot for the night.

On the morning of the 10th, we burned the depot and a large quantity of Confederate Army stores of various kinds, then started down the railroad toward New River Bridge, tearing up the track and burning all the culverts as we went. We came near the bridge about half past 7 o’clock and found the enemy in position. Our battery got a position and in a short time silenced the enemy and drove them from their position. They left three siege guns to fall into our hands after burning the carriages of them. We set fire to the bridge, which burned down in a short time. We then went down the river about two miles, crossed, and camped for the night. We had then accomplished all we had desired and all we had to do was to get back. We were out of grub and far from home.

The morning of the 11th found us on our road by daybreak marching toward Blacksburg; then we began to see hard times. Nothing to eat and it was raining. We reached Blacksburg about 2 o’clock and had a little skirmish which killed a Rebel colonel of the 8th Virginia Cavalry and took one colonel prisoner, then camped and sent out foraging parties who soon found plenty to eat. The rain fell fast all night and we made the fences suffer to keep fire for us. On the 12th it rained all day. We marched to the top of Salt Pond Mountain and camped in the woods, or wherever we could find a spot to lie on. We lay down without either fire or food. There was but little sleeping done that night. The next morning it was still raining; the mud was so deep that we were compelled to throw all our camp equipage away and burn a part of our trains and double team in order to get along at all. After this was done, we started on our way rejoicing in the rain and mud without anything to eat.
 
Members of the regimental band of the 23rd Ohio in an image taken at Lakeside, Ohio in 1885. 
We descended the mountain, found a portion of Mudwall Jackson’s force; our advance fired on them and they lit out leaving ten wagons, two pieces of artillery sticking in the mud, which we then burned, that is the wagons. We took the artillery along and camped that night in the woods, sending out foragers and got what little we could. We pressed two mills, ground all the wheat and corn we could find, and stayed there until 3 o’clock the next day and then marched to a little town called Union. There we lived fat. The quartermaster issued corn in the ear and wheat in the chaff. We blew the wheat out of the chaff and boiled it and parched the corn and had a fine supper and breakfast. The rain still fell. We lay there one day. The morning of the 15th, the sun again showed his beautiful face which was cheered by the whole division. About 9 o’clock the assembly was blown and we were soon on the march for Alderson’s Ferry across Greenbrier River. Our regiment was in the rear and we did not get to camp until about 9 o’clock; had just got fixed down to sleep when Companies C and H had to go on guard to guard prisoners. We were two nights and a part of two days crossing the river. We had to stay on guard all this time, faring on the best of parched corn.
Wilson B. Patterson gravestone in Mauston, Wisconsin 


Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their way to
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of how Confederate jacke
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true warrior, for then comes the harvest of gain.
Read more

The Cannons are Now Silent: The Field of Death of Tupelo

Image
       The smoke of battle had drifted away from the battlefield at Tupelo, Mississippi on the hot afternoon of July 14, 1864, but the carnage of war lay spread across the open fields. “Scattered at intervals over the field of a few yards are dull gray blotches half shaded by grass,” an officer from the 7 th Minnesota Infantry recorded. “These are the Rebel dead. They have fought their last battle and lie generally in attitudes of rest; some of them look as if they had welcomed death. On the faces of two is imprinted a smile. One is a boy of 16 with delicate features, almost girlish in their beauty. His last gaze seems to have been directed toward his hand on the forefinger of which was a ring. A circle of purer white indicates its place; the ring was carried off as a trophy of the field.” The following account of the Battles of Tupelo and Old Town Creek was written by an unknown officer of the 7 th Minnesota Infantry, his account appearing in the August 5 th 1864 edition of the
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on securing all the Enfi
Read more

Straw Already Threshed: Sherman on Shiloh

Image
  W illiam Tecumseh Sherman was enjoying retired life in New York City when just before Christmas in 1889 he was presented with an article written by John Cockerill, a former drummer boy in the 24 th Ohio who was visiting his father Colonel Joseph Cockerill of the 70 th Ohio of Sherman’s division when the Battle of Shiloh began. Cockerill’s article, originally published in the New York Journalist and later featured in the January 1893 issue of Blue & Gray Magazine, Sherman later pronounced as “the best war story ever written” and the truest account of Shiloh.           On New Year’s Day 1890, General Sherman composed the following letter to his friend Marshall P. Wilder thanking him for sending along Cockerill’s article and giving his own explanation of Shiloh. “This to me is straw already threshed for we have fought this battle on paper several times, a much more agreeable task than to fight with bullets,” he concluded. “When in England some years ago I was gratified to liste
Read more

Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign

Image
  T he following list, constructed after many years of research, lists unit by unit which type of weapons were carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Stones River campaign. A number of sources were consulted including state ordnance reports, Federal quarterly ordnance reports (thank you Research Arsenal ), Ken Baumann’s Arming the Suckers, regimental histories and memoirs, captured ordnance reports, and consultation with knowledgeable experts in the field of firearms. Some of this information has been shared on the blog before in “ Rosy’s Heavy Metal: Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland ” or “ Shoulder Arms: How Sheridan’s and Davis’s Divisions Were Armed at Stones River ” but this is the first time the army as a whole has been presented. The overall conclusion I drew from looking at this data is that the Army of the Cumberland in December 1862 was an organization in the midst of transformation as far as arms. Many of the regiments still retained their original issue
Read more

Escape of Captain Henry H. Alban of the 21st Ohio Infantry

Image
Captain Henry H. Alban was among the dozen officers of the 21 st Ohio Volunteer Infantry who were captured on September 20, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment had held its position atop Snodgrass Hill against repeated Confederate assaults and now battered and without ammunition, with the darkness of evening enveloping the hill, the remainder of that gallant band found themselves at the mercy of the 54 th Virginia. A total of 12 officers and 121 enlisted men surrendered; the regiment’s colors were taken, and the men marched off the field into captivity. Captain Henry Harvey Alban, Co. F, 21st O.V.I. Captain Alban along with the rest went through a series of Confederate prison camps before arriving at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1864. Determined to make an escape, he watched for his chance and one night made his leap for freedom, successfully eluding the local camp guard and setting out along the railroad to head for the mountains of eastern Tennessee and
Read more

Knapsack Compression: Wilbur Hinman recalls the first step of becoming a veteran

Image
L ooking back on his experiences during the war, Captain Wilbur Hinman of the 65 th Ohio (perhaps best known as the author of Si Klegg and His Pard ) recalled that the first road along which his regiment marched was strewn “with debris. A pair of six-mule wagonloads might have been gathered of notions that had been flung aside by a thousand suffering “tenderfeet.” “The average young patriot started for the war with a wheelbarrow load of clothing, a bed quilt or two, books, photograph albums, toilet articles, and gimcracks of every sort,” he wrote. “Neither he nor the good homefolks had the slightest conception of the capacity of a knapsack, nor did they for a moment imagine that before the close of his first day upon the road every pound he carried would seem a hundred.” To the true mark of a veteran soldier was one who “learned to dispense with every unnecessary ounce of weight, and just in the ratio that he did this he increased his efficiency as a soldier. It was of the highest
Read more

Federal Arms in the Chickamauga Campaign

Image
T he ordnance returns of the Army of the Cumberland at the end of September 1863 show the results of a transformational year in weaponry. Since taking command of the army at the end of October 1862, General William S. Rosecrans had repeatedly pestered the War Department to supply his regiments with better firearms both to improve the command’s efficiency as well as expand its striking power. The results speak for themselves: for the infantrymen at the end of September 1863, 90% of them now carried Class I long arms (36,058 out of 39,959), 8.3% carried Class II arms, and a mere 1.5% carried Class III weapons. Most of the foreign-made weapons (except Enfields) were gone, and by and large the army had settled on a single common .58 caliber ammunition, although a few .54 caliber and .69 caliber weapons remained within the ranks. The English-made Enfield rifle musket was by far the most common arm, carried by 56% of the men while the second-most common arm was the .58 caliber M1861 Spring
Read more