Great Expectations Dashed: The Kanawha Division Meets the Army of the Potomac at Manassas Station

It was mid-August 1862 when the veteran troops of the Kanawha Division in western Virginia received orders to proceed with haste towards Washington, D.C. “The troops that had served so long and faithfully among the mountains in the West were very anxious for a change of scene,” the regimental historians of the 11th Ohio remembered. “They desired to behold the grand Army of the Potomac which they had so often heard extolled as excelling all others in drill, discipline, and fighting qualities. The sequel will show how the anticipations formed were realized.”

          Dispatched along with the 12th Ohio to Manassas on the morning of August 27th, the first sight the Buckeyes had of the Army of the Potomac was a jarring one: the wreckage of General George Taylor’s New Jersey brigade streaming back in full retreat from their clash with Stonewall Jackson’s men at Union Mills. It looked like a repeat of Bull Run the year before.

“We met them in the road with the enemy pressing closely upon them,” Orderly Sergeant Phocian Way of the 11th Ohio recalled. “They were bringing their dead and wounded with them as they had been fighting a long time. Their faces were blackened with powder and they were completely worn out with fatigue. General Taylor, their brigade commander, was severely wounded and the whole brigade would most certainly have been captured had it not been for our timely arrival.”

The two Ohio regiments quickly formed into line near the Bull Run railroad bridge and tried to stem the Confederate tide, losing more than 100 casualties in the process. Historian John Hennessey gave credit to the Buckeyes for saving Taylor’s brigade from almost certain capture; the Ohioans believed that they saved Washington from certain capture. Orderly Sergeant Way’s account of this action at Manassas Station first saw publication in the September 12, 1862, edition of the Clinton Republican from Wilmington, Ohio.

         

Confederate troops marched into the Federal depot at Manassas and laid waste to the masses of Union army supplies that had been stockpiled there to support General John Pope's army. The 11th and 12th Ohio arrived at Manassas via train on August 27th but had to embark east of town since wreckage like that shown above blocked the line. They marched to Bull Run Bridge where they found General Taylor's brigade was in full retreat. The Buckeyes formed into line and held off Jackson's Confederates long enough for Taylor's survivors to reach safety. This action earned praise from McClellan himself. 

          The 11th Ohio, with the advance of General Jacob Cox’s division, left Gauley Bridge, Virginia on August 17, 1862, arrived in Parkersburg on the 20th, and Washington City on the 25th. Here the locomotive to our train broke through the Long Bridge and we were compelled to disembark and cross on foot. We then camped for the night.

          The next day [August 26th] we marched into Alexandria where we expected to find some rest after the fatiguing march; but march to our chagrin, we were roused up at 2 o’clock the next morning along with the 12th Ohio and ordered to proceed to Manassas Junction to reinforce the New Jersey brigade who had previously been sent to guard an important bridge at that place. The New Jersey brigade unexpectedly found a large force of Rebels at that point and a severe battle was raging at the time we started. When within several miles of our destination, we heard the constant roar of cannons which continued until we left the cars. We then marched deliberately to the field of action which was less than a mile distant.

          The Jersey brigade had landed from the cars about daylight and marched without interruption as far as the famous Bull Run. Here in a narrow defile, they were suddenly opened upon by three batteries in the form of a semi-circle. Notwithstanding their awkward position and the suddenness of the attack, they stood their ground like men until they found it impossible to advance and certain destruction to remain. They then slowly retired and when our two regiments advanced, we met them in the road with the enemy pressing closely upon them. They were bringing their dead and wounded with them as they had been fighting a long time. Their faces were blackened with powder and they were completely worn out with fatigue. General [George W.] Taylor, their brigade commander, was severely wounded and the whole brigade would most certainly have been captured had it not been for our timely arrival.

Brigadier General George W. Taylor unknowingly led his 1,200-man New Jersey brigade into disaster at Manassas Junction. The brigade charged into a semi-circle of Confederate brigades and lost a quarter of its men, 201 of them captured. Mortally wounded in the leg by an artillery shell fragment, General Taylor died in an Alexandria hospital on September 1, 1862. 


          Our two regiments crossed Bull Run and advanced up another ravine, when they were assailed by a shower of bullets from the brow of the hill. Our boys returned the fire and led by Major Lyman J. Jackson, made a gallant bayonet charge upon the enemy which drove them from their position. A slight advantage was thus gained, but the enemy appeared in force upon every side and opened with shot and shell upon our men. They stood the fire like old veterans.

          At this moment, Colonel Augustus Coleman appeared upon the ground and was greeted with a wild shout of welcome from the boys. They called upon him to lead them in a charge upon the battery which was annoying them. “Boys, I am glad to be with you and will lead you anywhere,” he replied. But it was now too late; the enemy was outflanking is on both sides in overwhelming numbers and we thought it best to fall back while we had an opportunity. We retreated slowly and in good order, the enemy following closely upon us until we got to the railroad.

Detail map from a Civil War Trails marker shows how Taylor's brigade fell back towards Bull Run Bridge where the 11th and 12th Ohio regiments arrived just in time to cover the retreat. 

          The surgeon of the 12th Ohio, taken prisoner at Bull Run and was released, says that there were six brigades under Stonewall Jackson to oppose the Jersey brigade and our two regiments. It is a wonder that we were not all captured as no doubt we would have been if the Rebels had not supposed that we were the advance of a large army. They were cautious about following us.

          It is generally believed here, and I learn that it is positively asserted by McClellan, that if it had not been for the 11th and 12th Ohio regiments, the Rebels might have taken Washington. Our men fighting so gallantly there deceived the Rebels into the belief that we were only the advance of a large force and led them to desist from their contemplated dash on Washington. If they had moved on Washington at that time, they might have captured it as it would have been a complete surprise and our forces could not have concentrated soon enough to prevent the accomplishment of their purpose. Our regiments then averted the greatest disgrace that could have befallen our nation: the capture of Washington. This is glory enough for them.

Colonel Augustus H. Coleman, 11th O.V.I.
Killed at Antietam

          The 11th Ohio in this affair established its reputation for coolness and bravery. The regiment loss 33 men killed, wounded, and missing while the 12th Ohio lost about 70 men. Most of our wounded were taken prisoners as we were pressed so closely by the enemy that we did not have time to remove them. Adjutant John E. Alexander was severely wounded and taken prisoner. He was an accomplished, brave young man and stood high in favor with the boys. Co. G lost none in killed or wounded but several men are missing. They have all since returned but one and he will probably come up in a day or two. I have not learned of the loss of the Jersey brigade but it must have been severe. [339 out of roughly 1,200] 

          Our regiment returned to Alexandria on the 28th and the next day started for Fall’s Church where we arrived the same evening. There are thousands of recruits arriving daily in Washington and crossing the Potomac. The whole country in the vicinity of Alexandria is dotted with tents and the rumbling of passing artillery, wagons, and carts; the hurrying to and fro of officers and men and the continual hum of a cast multitude of voices is like the confusion of a vast Babel.

          General McClellan is here with a great portion of his army and an indescribable number of cannons of every description and caliber. I do not know the number of troops in this vicinity, and if I did know, it would not be proper for me to tell. But one thing I do know, and should have stated before, that the Rebels have gotten into Pope’s rear and are now between him and Washington.

Sources:

Letter from Orderly Sergeant Phocian R. Way, Co. G, 11th Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Clinton Republican (Ohio), September 12, 1862, pg. 2

Horton, J.H. and Sol Teverbaugh. A History of the 11th Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry, containing the military record, so far as possible to obtain it, of each officer and enlisted man of the command, a list of deaths, an account of the veterans, incidents of the field and camp, names of the three months' volunteers, etc. Dayton: W.J. Shuey Printer, 1866, pg. 64

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