Holding the Flank at Greenbrier with the 3rd Arkansas

     The 3rd Arkansas Infantry arrived in western Virginia truly ducks out of water. They were the only regiment from Arkansas in the theater, and their rough-hewn appearance made their Virginia comrades view them as " ignorant country boys." While the regiment would go on to greater fame as part of Hood's Texas Brigade with the Army of Northern Virginia, it spent much of its first year of service in the foreboding mountains of western Virginia, taking part in the battles of Greenbrier and Camp Allegheny. 

    Sergeant Major Frederick Lawrence of the 3rd Arkansas penned the following letter describing the Battle of Greenbrier, Virginia which took place on October 3, 1861. A Federal force of eight regiments and three batteries under General Joseph Reynolds marched from Cheat Mountain with the intention of breaking up the Confederate force stationed at Camp Bartow on the Greenbrier River. The 3rd Arkansas formed the left flank of the defending force and was able to successfully hold off Reynolds' column from making on a lodgement on the Confederate side of the river. All told, both sides suffered about 100 casualties in this small engagement. 

This period map of the engagement at Greenbrier shows the 3rd Arkansas at the far upper left holding their position on the left flank against the Federals. The 17th Indiana Infantry, later part of Wilder's Lightning Brigade in the Western Theater, was the flanking force that attacked the 3rd Arkansas. Sergeant Major Lawrence wrote that the 3rd Arkansas captured a "magnificent U.S. flag" during the battle. 

Headquarters 3rd Regiment Arkansas Volunteers, Camp Bartow, Pocahontas Co., Virginia

October 1861

          I have not written to you since the organization of our regiment because nothing of interest has occurred since we came to Virginia until with a few days. We have undertaken since we came here two months ago to surprise the enemy in his stronghold on Cheat Mountain but without success. We marched over almost impassable mountains, waded ice-cold streams, slept in chilling rains on the ground, in short, suffered every hardship only to find the enemy too strongly fortified to be attacked with any hope of success.  On the last expedition on September 12th we skirmished with a considerable body, killing four and taking nine prisoners with a loss of one on our side. The enemy have magnified our loss into 70 killed and taken prisoners.

          On the 3rd of October, however, the grand battle of the season came off. About daylight our pickets commenced firing; at first only dropping shots were heard to which we paid but little attention. But soon we heard rapid and continuous discharges of musketry in the direction of the enemy indicating a hot contest between them and our pickets. A runner came in with a dispatch from the officer commanding the pickets that the enemy was approaching in force with cavalry and artillery. Colonel Rust ordered the long roll to be beaten and our regiment formed in order of battle. The right of our position was defended by the Georgia regiment, the center by the Virginians, and the left by the 3rd Arkansas and Anderson’s battery. The enemy came down in fine style with eight pieces of artillery and 6,000 infantry and cavalry. When within range they unlimbered their guns and opened fire, pouring shot and shell from their rifled cannon upon us with the most remarkable rapidity and precision. Our batteries opened in reply and under an arch of shrieking shells and whizzing cannon and Minie balls, the gallant 3rd Arkansas marched to take up its position on the left in the woods.

Colonel Van Manning, 3rd Arkansas
lieutenant colonel at Greenbrier

As anticipated, the enemy attempted to turn our left with his infantry, covering their advance with showers of grape and canister. They crossed the river in three columns some distance below us and throwing out a vanguard, approached us cautiously through the woods not knowing exactly where we were. They soon found out, however, for when within 25 steps the left flank of our regiment gave them a morning salute of about 60 guns which caused the head of the column to fall back in confusion upon the main body. This became panic stricken and the whole force retreated in disorder precipitately down the hill and across the river, taking with them, however, their dead and wounded, leaving some in the shallow stream which we fished out next day. They then made an attempt on the right but were repulsed by the Georgians and Shoemaker’s battery which pitched grape and canister into them in a most feeling manner, killed them by scores.

All this time, the mountains reverberated with the roar of 12 pieces of artillery in constant action, while at intervals between claps of thunder in an autumnal storm. The attack lasted four hours at the end of which time the enemy cried out ‘They are charging us, they are charging us, retreat, retreat!’ They broke ranks and fled in confusion, leaving some of their dead on the field. They hauled off 20 wagons and ambulances loaded with dead and wounded for their share of the spoils. They came down from the mountain fastnesses with a large train of wagons, anticipating an easy victory and an abundance of spoils, but instead of filling their wagons with the spoils of the Secesh as they call us, they filled them with the bloody and mangled bodies of their miserable dunces of a cruel and insensate despot.

The loss of the enemy was at least 250 or 300 and ours about 30. The loss of our regiment one just nine killed, wounded, and missing. I know this number to be accurate because in the discharge of my duties as sergeant major of the regiment I make a full report of the state of the regiment every morning. We acted solely upon the defensive because many of our regiments were so weak from the effects of our terrible campaign in the mountains as to be scarcely able to stand in ranks. Out of a regiment 800 strong we only marched in the field about 350 men. Our whole force did not exceed 3,000 men, scores of whom arose from sick beds where they had lain for weeks to fight the battles of their country. We had no cavalry at all and never could have caught them on foot. But thanks to the God of battles, we drove the insolent foe back to his den, taking a magnificent U.S. flag and a large quantity of clothing, knapsacks, haversacks, and guns which he abandoned in his inglorious retreat.

 

Source:

Letter from Sergeant Major Frederick Lawrence, 3rd Arkansas Infantry, Arkansas True Democrat (Arkansas), November 21, 1861, pg. 1

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