The Glory of Dumfries has Parted: A Scrap with Jeb Stuart

The camps of Colonel Charles Candy’s brigade at Dumfries, Virginia seethed as the year closed 1862. Picking up a recent copy of the Baltimore Clipper newspaper, the men were astonished to read the following:

“Disgraceful surrender of Dumfries, Va. By the following named regiments: 5th, 7th, and 66th Ohio regiments and the 12th Illinois Cavalry, commanded by Col. Chas. Candy of the 66th O.V.I. Great cowardice shown by the troops, etc. It is reported in military circles that Dumfries Landing, Va. Was attacked on the 27th ultimo by a Rebel cavalry force. After a few shots being fired on each side, the place was disgracefully surrendered by our forces. Strange to say, our force was composed of Western troops,” it reported. “The report needs confirmation…”

The newspaper report was the purest malarkey. 

“General Henry Slocum, who has his headquarters at Fairfax Courthouse, on hearing the report, immediately ordered a portion of his corps under arms and set forward to recapture the town that Colonel Candy had so disgracefully surrendered,” remembered Sergeant Robert S. Bower of the 7th Ohio. “Judge his surprise on arriving at Dumfries and finding us all snug in camp, spinning yarns, talking over times past and present, and discussing the affairs in our nation. General Slocum arrived at this place on the evening of the 29th. On the morning of the 30th, he ordered a review, after which he made us a short speech in which he  gave us the reports which I have already given. He then said, “I am happy that I have it in my power to contradict the reports gotten up and circulated by the eastern press, and still happier am I to know that those men whom they have tried to injured are Western men who know how to win and how to appreciate a high reputation.” And with that, Slocum puts his troops on the road back to Fairfax, leaving Colonel Candy in command of the post. 

For the story of what really happened at Dumfries on December 27, 1862, a few accounts from the Union soldiers that fought there would be in order.


Wartime CDV of Aaron D. Riker of the 66th Ohio (L.M. Strayer Collection)

Private Aaron Riker of Co. G, soon to be appointed commissary sergeant of the 66th Ohio, recalled Dumfries and the engagement of December 27, 1862 in his journal:

Dumfries had at one time been a large and prosperous town and deserves more than a passing notice. It was settled by emigrants from Scotland, it being the second settlement in Virginia. The town has been twice burned and now numbers about 20 dilapidated houses. The present rebellion has left its mark here and on the country around, the Rebels having destroyed all the fencing together with a number of buildings in and around the town.

This was formerly a county seat, the courthouse still standing. The brick from which it is built was brought here from Scotland and the first bell ever imported to America summoned the people together when Patrick Henry delivered his famous speech against colonial taxation. Within the walls of the court house it was here that Washington spent a portion of his youth. And the house in which Mason Weems, the author of the Life of Washington, lived is still standing.

But the glory of Dumfries has departed and soon it will cease to be a town as none but the poorer class now reside there. Men of capital means having gone to more enterprising towns where they have established themselves in business. While we remained here, our pickets were sometimes annoyed by bushwhackers and very often sutler wagons were captured on the road between there and Alexandria, yet we were allowed to remain in quietude with the exception of an occasional false alarm and the frequent intelligence of the capture of sutler wagons which we attributed to the citizens. Thus, our time passed from the 16th of December until the 27th.

That day we were startled by the booming of cannon at 12 o’clock. While we were at dinner on going out to learn the cause we found the Rebels had a battery planted on a hill overlooking the town and were shelling it. The troops of our command were stationed out of town a half mile on the east and north with the enemy appeared on the west. We had but two pieces of artillery and they were soon placed into position and the fire returned.

In the meantime, the infantry came up and the musketry commenced. The fight lasted until dark and left us in full possession of the field although the enemy outnumbered us three to one. They had four pieces of artillery, yet we repulsed them at every point where they attempted to advance. They retreated in the night and we were not molested anymore by them. Our loss was three killed and a few wounded and one picket post captured with a small guard.



Lieutenant Aaron D. Riker in a postwar cabinet card dating from the 1890s. Riker enlisted as a private in Co. G of the 66th Ohio in October 1861; on January 1, 1862, he was appointed regimental commissary sergeant, a post he held until he was commissioned first lieutenant on April 12, 1865. Riker ended the war in command of Co. E. 

Sergeant Bower continues his account of the fight at Dumfries. “In a few moments, our artillery was sending its compliments to the enemy in the shape of shells which soon dismounted one of their guns and made it so hot for them that they had to change position,” remembered Sergeant Bower of the 7th Ohio. “Their cavalry was then dismounted and advanced to take the camp; but they little thought whom they had to deal with, for they had no sooner come out of the woods in which they were and into range of our boys than they were greeted by a shower of balls that made them recoil in horror. They tried several times to advance and capture our camp but were repulsed in every attempt. They invariably fought on foot, leaving their horses in the rear under cover of the woods. The firing was kept up from 1 p.m. until after dark when, finding themselves unsuccessful, they thought discretion the better part of valor and withdrew their forces under the cover of darkness. The loss in the 7th was one killed, eight wounded, two prisoners and four missing; our total loss in the brigade was three killed, 10 wounded, and 20 missing.”

 

“Colonel Candy was ready to receive Stuart in handsome style, and Stuart’s failure to come to time may be considered as evidence of the popularity of Colonel Candy acquired in Rebel circles on the 27th day of December last. The Rebs must think it hard that they can gobble up a brigadier at Fairfax and can’t whip a colonel here! I think it queer too, but they make “brigs” out of queer stuff nowadays.” ~ Private William A. Brand, Co. G, 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

 

          Colonel Charles Candy of the 66th Ohio had command of the brigade encampment at Dumfries; the 5th, 7th, and 66th Ohio regiments all camped together east and north of the village. Candy described the fight at Dumfries in a letter to his wife a few days after the battle.


Colonel Charles Candy, 66th O.V.I.

          About 11 a.m. two of the cavalry patrols reported that several of their party had been captured by the Rebels near this place. I ordered the whole force under arms and at the same time ordered out a strong cavalry force to proceed in that direction and find out the force of the enemy. The order had hardly been received before the enemy opened with a battery of four guns on the town, shelling it and thus endangering the lives of the wives and the children of those fighting against us. I discovered that their force consisted of cavalry with four guns under General Stuart and the two Generals Lee. Our men were placed in the best positions and met them on all sides. They evidently intended to make a dash and crush us but my boys (the 5th, 7th, and gallant 66th) were ready for them and our two guns after a time effectually silenced their four. They then moved to my right with the apparent determination of flanking us but were met at that point by some dismounted cavalry and the 66th Ohio and were repulsed after two attempts to charge. The pickets under command of Colonel William Creighton of the 7th Ohio were charged and the enemy also repulsed at this point. The firing continued until dark with small arms interspersed with an occasional shot from our battery. The enemy remained around us till nearly morning when they left to try someone else as they had discovered that our boys were not of the skedaddling genus they have been in the habit of fighting.

Upon his return to Fairfax, General Slocum showed his appreciation to Candy’s men by ordering the balance of the brigade to join them at Dumfries, the 29th Ohio, 28th and 147th Pennsylvania regiments arriving on December 30th. The next day, Slocum sent even more welcome reinforcements in the form of a paymaster. The Buckeyes hadn’t been paid in more than six months and “we have almost forgotten what change looks like,” recalled Sergeant Bower.

 

Sources:

Letter from Sergeant Robert S. Bower, Co. H, 7th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Jeffersonian Democrat (Ohio), January 9, 1863, pg. 2

Aaron Riker Journal (M341), George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections & Archives, Bowdoin College Library, Brunswick, Maine, pgs. 57-60

Letter from Colonel Charles Candy, 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Urbana Citizen & Gazette (Ohio), January 7, 1863, pg. 3

Quote from Private William A. Brand, Co. G, 66th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Urbana Citizen & Gazette (Ohio), March 19, 1863, pg. 2











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

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

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

The Wizard of Oz and the Civil War

Image
T he 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has delighted viewers for 85 years and ranks as a personal favorite, especially during the Halloween season. While watching it with the family the other night, I wondered if there were any connections between the film and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the answer is yes and those connections touch both the blue and the gray.           Interestingly both “witches” in the film not only had Civil War ancestors but had connections with Civil War soldiers from Ohio. Margaret Hamilton, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 9, 1902, to attorney Walter Jones Hamilton and his wife Mary Jane Adams; Margaret’s grandfather was Judge Edwin Timothy Hamilton. Judge Hamilton had served as a private in Co. D of the 84 th Ohio Infantry during the summer of 1862. The 84 th Ohio, a three months’ regiment, served nearly the whole of its service attached to the Railroad District in western Maryland, performing provost duty at Cumberlan
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

In front of Atlanta with the 68th Ohio

Image
  The arrow corps badge of the 17th Army Corps was worn by many members of the 68th Ohio in the latter days of the war.       Private Edward A. Bigelow of Co. F of the 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry wrote this brief account of the Battle of Atlanta just two days afterwards to his father back home in Henry County, Ohio. The regiment formed a part of Colonel Robert K. Scott's three regiment all-Ohio brigade consisting of the 20th, 68th, and 78th regiments, being designated the Second Brigade of the Third Division of Frank Blair's 17th Army Corps. Bigelow's letter originally appeared in the Napoleon Press newspaper and was copied in the Toledo Daily Commercial which was providential as no known copies exist today of the wartime Napoleon Press.  
Read more

Charging Battery Robinett: An Alabama Soldier Recalls the Vicious Fighting at Corinth

Image
W riting 30 years after the Battle of Corinth, James A. McKinstry of the 42 nd Alabama recalled his experiences storming Battery Robinett with Colonel William P. Rogers of the 2 nd Texas and expressed guilt that it was perhaps his action that brought about the colonel’s demise. “On seeing a line of Federals approaching, and before giving the situation a thought, I immediately raised my gun and fired full into the breast of a Federal sergeant, who was in front of the column, and only a short distance from us.  'Twas then that Captain George Foster shouted, "Cease firing, men! cease firing!" and waved his handkerchief, then I realized the true situation. 'Twas too late! That fatal volley had been turned on our little band from the muzzles of 1,500 muskets. I was still standing just as I was when I fired my last shot, and within a few feet of Colonel Rogers, when a Minie ball went crashing through my left hip and turned me half round; another went tearing through my
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

Cook & Brother of New Orleans

Image
    The lockplate of a New Orleans-made Cook & Brother Enfield rifle produced in 1862 shows the fine craftsmanship that became the hallmark of the maker throughout the Civil War. Note the stars and bars flag at left, an emblem used on C&B's production throughout the war and the Cook & Brother, N.O. 1862 markings. Earlier production weapons at New Orleans had the flag located just above the maker's name while later weapons produced in Athens, Georgia would have a modified flag and Athens on the plate followed by the serial number.        In the spring of 1861, two English-born businessmen, Ferdinand and Francis Cook of New Orleans, perceived the need for the South to have its own domestic production of firearms and  set out to prove "that rifles could made here as well as in Yankee land or in Europe." The brothers  elected to produce copies of the British Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield rifle as this was considered the benchmark longarm at the outset of the
Read more

Revisiting Snodgrass Hill: Memories of a 21st Ohio Officer

Image
Captain Isaac Cusac, Co. G, 21st Ohio Volunteer Infantry proudly displaying his rank as captain in an image likely dating from early 1863. One of his shoulder straps was shot off in the final stages of the 21st Ohio's fight atop Snodgrass Hill on September 20, 1863. Cusac brought it back to Chickamauga 50 years later.  I n September 1913, 83-year-old Isaac Cusac, a retired Presbyterian minister from the little town of McComb, Ohio, returned to Chattanooga to attend the national G.A.R. encampment. The former captain of the 21 st Ohio returned to Snodgrass Hill on the old Chickamauga battlefield on the 50 th anniversary of the battle carrying with him a precious relic of his wartime experiences. “He carried with him there an epaulet that was shot from his shoulder at the battle,” it was reported. “The bullet clipped off the epaulet and then struck him on the left hand, injuring two fingers.”           The flood of memories as he walked the grounds must have been overwhelming. The f
Read more