Disaster at Snaggy Point with the 120th Ohio

     On May 3, 1864, the steamboat City Belle was puffing against the strong Red River current to deliver about 500 Federal soldiers to reinforce General Nathaniel Banks’ army located at Alexandria, Louisiana. The senior officer on board was Colonel Marcus Spiegel of the 120th Ohio, and the good colonel’s mind was preoccupied with home matters. In a recent letter from his wife, Colonel Spiegel had learned that his eldest son had lost a forefinger in a printing press accident. “I am not doing justice to my family,” Colonel Spiegel commented to one of his officers. “I ought to be at home but I cannot leave the boys. I fear this regiment will be the death of me yet.”

    Little did Colonel Spiegel know how right he was. As the steamboat rounded a bend in the river, a hidden force of dismounted Confederate cavalry armed with four cannon opened fire on the nearly defenseless vessel. “a shell was fired from the south bank which passed through the cabin. Immediately after a second shot cut the steam pipe near the boiler and a third bursting near the pilot house killed the pilot. At the same time, a force posted behind the levee opened upon us with musketry. Our men briskly returned the fire but with great disadvantage owing to the meager protection offered by the boat and their crowded condition on the side where their fire could be delivered with effect,” remembered Captain James Taylor of the 120th Ohio.

    The disabled ship drifted with the current until it crashed into the opposite shore where roughly 150 men jumped on the bank and scattered into the woods. The remaining troops, battered by a heavy fire, soon displayed a white flag, and surrendered. Colonel Spiegel was struck in the abdomen by a musket ball and died the next day of his wounds. The disaster at Snaggy Point, Louisiana cost his regiment 246 casualties out of the roughly 400 men (28 killed, 97 wounded, 121 captured) who were aboard the City Belle, more casualties than it had sustained in any battlefield engagement. The losses so devastated the regiment that within a few months it was consolidated with the 114th Ohio.

    This account of the Snaggy Point disaster was penned by Captain James Taylor of Co. H, one of the lucky survivors who got off the boat and escaped into the woods. It was originally published in the June 9, 1864, edition of the Wooster Republican.

 

This image shows the men of Co. H of the 120th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in camp at Plaquemine, Louisiana in the fall of 1863. The regiment lost more than 60% of its strength due to the disaster at Snaggy Point and before the year was out, the "Bloody 120th" had been consolidated with the 114th Ohio. 

Headquarters, 120th Regt., O.V.I., Alexandria, Louisiana

May 6, 1864

    Ere this communication reaches you, you will have heard through the account telegraphed to the associated press the sad and lamentable calamity which befell our regiment while ascending the Red River en route for this place on board the steamer City Belle. We had on board our own regiment numbering about 400, 26 men of the 22nd Kentucky, Colonel John J. Mudd of the 2nd Illinois Cavalry, Colonel Bassett, and their line officers, and 35 men of the 2nd Louisiana (colored) and about 30 men of different regiments not mentioned. On the 3rd of May at 3:30 p.m. when five miles above Snaggy Point and 30 miles below this place, we were attacked by a heavy guerilla force of at least 500 men with a battery of four guns. As the boat was rounding a bend, a shell was fired from the south bank which passed through the cabin. Immediately after a second shot cut the steam pipe near the boiler and a third bursting near the pilot house killed the pilot. At the same time, a force posted behind the levee opened upon us with musketry.

Colonel John J. Mudd, 2nd Illinois Volunteer Cavalry
Killed in action May 3, 1864 at Snaggy Point, Louisiana

    Our men briskly returned the fire but with great disadvantage owing to the meager protection offered by the boat and their crowded condition on the side where their fire could be delivered with effect. The steam pipe being cut, the boat became unmanageable and was borne with the current. Because of the steam and boiling water, many were forced to leap into the river and swim to the nearest shore which was the one occupied by the enemy. Soon after the attack, Colonel Marcus Speigel was mortally wounded by a Minie ball in the abdomen (he was dying when we left the boat) and about the same time Colonel Mudd was shot in the forehead and instantly killed.

"The Rebel infantry gained the bank and were pouring volleys of musketry upon us. Our men kept up a constant fire. When the boiler was struck, the hot water and steam drive into the river many of our boys who were either shot in the water or drowned. Word reached us that Colonel Spiegel was killed so I went below and found him unable to speak. Colonel Mudd of the 2nd Illinois Cavalry lay nearby him with his head shattered and brains commingling with the blood of others." Lieutenant Colonel Willard Slocum, 120th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

    A quartermaster’s clerk from Illinois named Bates volunteered to swim to the opposite shore with a headline. He was assisted by Lieutenant John M. Baer of my company and Sergeant William Van Ostern. After reaching the shore, Lieutenant Baer received a flesh wound in the hip. The boat was landed alongside the north bank, thus offering cover to those who could get off while passing up the bank to the timber above. The men continued to leave the boat till the enemy had secured a position from which they could enfilade the bank to the rear of the boat, this cutting off any further attempt at retreat. Of our regiment, eight officers and 168 men reached the shore; of these, Lieutenant Baer and three others were left at Grimes’ plantation, four miles this side of the scene of disaster.

Private Josiah Martin
Co. I, 120th O.V.I.
Captured May 3, 1864

    After as many as could have reached the shore, the steamer with those on board was surrendered, the enemy coming over in skiffs and taking possession. The ammunition of those on shore being almost exhausted, we formed the men in line and marched four miles to Grimes’ plantation where we obtained a Negro guide who safely conducted us through the pine woods to Smith’s plantation 20 miles distant from the steamer where we arrived at midnight. The men being completely exhausted by the fatiguing march, we resolved to throw out pickets and remain at Smith’s until morning. Captain William Harvey (Co. C) and Quartermaster Sergeant Emanuel H. Bixler volunteered to cross the river to the south bank and proceed to Alexandria with the tidings of the disaster.

    We expected a boat to return for us, but at daylight no boat having arrived, we marched up the river one mile where we found a small skiff and with this, we crossed the river and at 11 a.m. marched to this place, arriving at 2 p.m. Here we found that a transport had been ordered to our aid but was refused permission to pass the gunboat on duty below the city. Our men were without knapsacks, haversacks, or canteens and had been without provisions for 24 hours. We reported to General Nathaniel Banks who treated us with great kindness. We soon secured rations, shoes, and caps for our men from the proper departments. The Sanitary Commission sent us cotton shirts and socks and assigned us a large room in which our men were soon comfortably quartered.

    We have no means of estimating the number of killed and wounded as the firing on the boat was continued after we had gained the shore. Colonel Bassett was killed after escaping from the boat. A transport with the 56th Ohio (returning home as veterans) and two tin clads were sent down on the 4th, all three of which were captured and destroyed. We have obtained no news from the City Belle since we left her in the possession of the enemy.

    I attach a list of casualties with such information as we have been able to obtain. We secured nothing but what we had on our persons at the time of the attack. The casualty is most lamentable and has cast gloom over the regiment. The loss of Colonel Speigel and many brave boys will be severely felt. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on those who swam ashore and thus landed the steamer, nor on Corporal William H. Jones of Co. E who safely brought off the colors of the regiment.

 

Regimental colors of the 120th O.V.I.

Sources:

Letter from Captain James B. Taylor, Co. H, 120th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Wooster Republican (Ohio), June 9, 1864, pg. 3

Soman, Jean Powers and Frank L. Byrne, editors. A Jewish Colonel in the Civil War: Marcus M. Spiegel of the Ohio Volunteers. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1985, pg. 335

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 t...
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 ...
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 h...
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 Ma...
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 se...
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

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...
Read more

I Want to See a Battle: A Hoosier at Shiloh

Image
W riting in his diary, Private Manius Buchanan of the 29 th Indiana recalled the eagerness with which his regiment marched towards Savannah, Tennessee with the sounds of the battle of Shiloh ringing in their ears.           “The forced march was kept up until 2 p.m. when we were halted until 4 p.m,” he noted. “The rest was really needed, but the continual question is ‘Why are we stopped here?’ The sound of battle increased in volume and anxiety to be up and doing grows more intense. As I am weak from a late sickness, I am urged to fall to the rear; but no, in common with all, I want to see a battle and fear this will be my only chance.” The regiment would go into action the following afternoon, and of the four neighborhood boys who had enlisted together in Co. B, only Buchanan escaped unscathed. One afternoon's exposure to the horrors of battle was all it took to satisfy this Hoosier's desire to see the elephant. “I wanted to see a battl...
Read more

An Interview with Forrest in May 1864

Image
  “The noise of battle is the only music that ravishes the senses of Forrest.” I t was May 1864. Back east, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac were locked in the deadly dance of the Overland Campaign while in Georgia, General William Tecumseh Sherman's army squared off against General Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of the Tennessee in the campaign for Atlanta.       Based in relatively quiet northern Mississippi, General Nathan Bedford Forrest bided his time waiting for a Federal advance from Memphis. Earlier in the month, General Samuel Sturgis led a brief campaign into Mississippi but Forrest was sure Sturgis would venture out again. In the meantime, he tried to keep his reorganized command intact despite persistent demands from his superiors that he return the absentees and deserters who inflated his ranks (nearly 1,000 in number) to their original commands.      Around this same time,  an old acquaintance from Me...
Read more