A Gentlemanly Sort of War: The Piatt Zouaves Survive Princeton
In May of 1862, the 34th Ohio, also known as the Piatt Zouaves, took part in General Jacob D. Cox’s demonstration against the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. This railway ran more than 200 miles through the valley of Virginia between Bristol and Lynchburg and proved to be a vital means of supporting the Confederate war effort in eastern Virginia, providing a direct rail connection between the eastern and western halves of the Confederacy. Besides moving troops, the railroad also moved mined copper from Cleveland, Tennessee, lead from the mines near Bristol and at Wytheville, and salt from Saltville.
The expedition
didn’t go as planned as one Zouave recalled in a letter home. Confederate
general Humphrey Marshall moved to confront Cox’s division and, in the process,
Cox divided his force attempting to strike at Marshall. An engagement was
fought at Princeton where the two divided halves of Cox’s troops attacked
Marshall’s position, but this proved a signal failure.
“The way that General Cox pushed
matters on this route seems to have been very rash and it certainly betrayed a
want of foresight on the part of the commander of this division,” Private Alonzo
Peitzel of Co. E complained, but he was impressed at the gentlemanly manner in
which the Confederate commander permitted the defeated Federals to retrieve
their dead and wounded from the field. “The Rebels paid great respect to the
truce and did even more than they had agreed to as it took all afternoon to get
our wounded to our hospital,” he wrote.
Alonzo Peitzel, a regular correspondent with the Bucyrus Journal, would be wounded in the regiment’s next engagement at Fayetteville, Virginia on September 10th of that year and die of those wounds on September 16, 1862, at Gallipolis, Ohio. His letter below describing the Battle of Princeton was originally published in the June 13, 1862, edition of the Bucyrus Journal.
Camp Flat Top, western Virginia
May 21, 1862
Dear Friends,
When I last
wrote you, we were at Frenchville seven miles east of Princeton. Since that
time, we have made a retrograde movement, a short account of which I will give
you. Upon the removal of our brigade from Princeton, four companies of our
regiment were left there as a guard. This force was thought sufficient and
strong enough to protect it from any threatened danger. But the defeat of
Humphrey Marshall’s force in Tazewell County brought this twice-defeated
general into this section. Colonel Augustus Moor, commanding our brigade, on
Friday last ordered Major Freeman Franklin, commanding the detachment at
Princeton, to send a part of his force to attack the enemy which was then only
three miles south of Princeton.
In the
meantime, a detachment of four companies of the 28th Ohio, four
companies of the 37th Ohio, and Co. F of our regiment had been sent
from Frenchville on the Tennessee road to attack the enemy in the rear. The
force sent out by Major Franklin attacked the enemy but was overpowered by
superior numbers and driven back to camp. This was about 2 p.m. Towards
evening, some of the enemy’s cavalry advanced near the camp but were met and
driven back by our men. After dusk, the cavalry having been reinforced by the
main body of the enemy again attacked the camp and succeeded in driving its
brave and gallant defenders beyond its limits. I should here state that General
Jacob Cox, his staff and bodyguard were there at the time of the fight in the
afternoon, but left for our camp upon the renewal of the fight at dark. As soon
as he arrived, the remaining six companies of the 34th Ohio were
sent on to the rescue of our comrades.
We marched about seven miles
through mud and water, wading streams that were nearly waist deep and then
stopped until the remaining companies of the 28th Ohio and 37th
Ohio, one company of cavalry, and Simmond’s battery should arrive. It was
nearly morning when they overtook us. We expected a skirmish before we should
arrive at Princeton, but we reoccupied the town without any difficulty. Upon
observation, however, we discovered that the enemy had fallen back to a hill
about one-and-a-half miles south of town where they had drawn up in line of
battle.
This unidentified soldier from the 34th Ohio sports his Edmond hat (thanks Justin Mays) and rifle musket in this early war image. |
The greater part of the forenoon
was taken up in skirmishing. During the early part of the skirmish, two of Co.
K were killed. Co. E and a company of the 37th Ohio were out skirmishing
under the command of Major Franklin and advanced to within 300 yards of the
enemy’s left wing. Prior to this and while we were lying back as a reserve, the
detachment of nine companies sent out from camp while at Frenchville attacked
the rear of the enemy and after a desperate and determined struggle were
repulsed with a loss of 45 killed and wounded. It had been the plan to attack
enemy in front of their left wing as soon as they should be attacked in the
rear. This was not done. Why, we do not know. Had it been done, the detachment
could, at least, have cut its way through to our camp.
After having found ourselves so
near the enemy’s camp with, as it were, only a handful of men and over one mile
from any supporting forces, we saw that we were in a truly desperate situation.
But what could surprise us so much as to see one of the Rebel officers advancing
towards us with a flag of truce. Lieutenant William H. Carpenter [Co. E] met
the bearer halfway between the two forces. He came back and reported the result
to Major Franklin who then sent Lieutenant Frank Helwig [Co. G] who returned
and reported that General Marshall had agreed to a cessation of hostilities for
two hours, during which time we would be allowed to remove all our wounded and
bring in our dead.
Our force (the skirmishing
party) then withdrew to the farther edge of the woods adjoining our camp. The
Rebels paid great respect to the truce and did even more than they had agreed
to as it took all afternoon to get our wounded to our hospital. We did not bury
all of our dead. The force of the enemy must have been near 4,000 men. Our
force, exclusive of the detachment sent to attack their rear and which we
expected would be taken by the Rebel force coming up from the narrows, was only
about 1,450 men.
On the following morning
[Sunday], we were ordered to retreat. The first brigade commanded by Colonel
Eliakim P. Scammon, which had first driven another force of the Rebels beyond
the narrows, had come up to Princeton on the previous evening. But as the enemy
which they had held in check at the narrows was much larger than theirs and
following them up they had weakened instead of strengthening our force; in face
of all these and other facts, the retreat was doubtless justifiable.
We are 22 miles this side of
Princeton on Flat Top Mountain. Our position is naturally a very strong one and
not easily approached by an attacking party. It is probably that we should not
move forward again until our force is large enough to sweep every opposing one
before it. The way that General Cox pushed matters on this route seems to have
been very rash and it certainly betrayed a want of foresight on the part of the
commander of this division. When we were at Frenchville, our supplies had to be
hauled over 100 miles and along this whole route there was not altogether (with
the exception of our force at Frenchville) more than 700 or 800 men and these
were distributed at only three different places: Fayetteville, Beckley, and
Princeton. That part of the route between Princeton and Beckley was very poorly
guarded and the distance (45 miles) is so great that a team cannot pass over it
in one day.
The loss of the brigade is, as
nearly as I can learn, about 90 killed, wounded, and missing while that of the 34th
Ohio is about 35. The loss of the enemy is not known by us but is supposed to
be much larger than ours. A shot from one of our large Parrott guns killed six
of their men and two of their horses. There seems to be a disposition on the
part of the Rebels to make another strike into western Virginia. We shall
undoubtedly be prepared for them in a short time. The general health of the
troops here is very good.
To read an alternate account of this engagement written by Corporal Morton Hawkins of Co. F of the 34th Ohio, click here to check out "Buckeye Zouaves: The Damned Red Tops and the Fight for Princeton Courthouse."
Source:
Comments
Post a Comment