Showing posts with label Waddell Farm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Waddell Farm. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

BRIGADIER-GENERAL WM. VANDEVER

FIRST COLONEL, NINTH INFANTRY.

Of General Vandever's early history I have been able to learn but little. I do not even know his native State. I first find him at Rock Island, Illinois, where he was employed in a news-paper office. Iowa was then a Territory. From Rock Island, he removed to Dubuque, and entered the Surveyor General's office at that place. Still later, he studied and practiced law in Dubuque. In 1858, he was nominated for Congress from the Dubuque District, there being, I am told, no stronger man of his party, who would accept the nomination, on account of the almost certain prospect of defeat. But the general made a good canvass; and, to the surprise of all, was elected. He was distinguished in Congress, for his dignity and taciturnity; two traits, which would embellish the records of many, who have worn Congressional honors.

Mr. Vandever was commissioned colonel of the 9th Iowa Infantry, on the 30th of August, 1861; and in the winter of 1862-3 was made a brigadier-general. As a military man, he has gained less distinction than any other public man who has entered the service from Iowa.

The 9th Iowa Infantry was enlisted principally from the counties of Jackson, Dubuque, Buchanan, Jones, Clayton, Fayette, Bremer, Blackhawk, Winneshiek, Howard and Linn. Its first field of service was Missouri, and its first hard-fought battle, Pea Ridge, Arkansas. At Pea Ridge, the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel, now Major-General Herron; for Colonel Vandever was in command of the brigade to which it was attached. In the march from Rolla to Cross Hollows, it had several skirmishes with the enemy, but suffered, I think, no loss. From Cross Hollows it marched with its brigade on an expedition to Huntsville, Arkansas, an account of which is thus given by Colonel Vandever:

"On the morning of the 4th instant [March 1862] I left Camp Halleck, at Cross Hollows, in command of an expedition in the direction of Huntsville. The forces consisted of three hundred and fifty of the 9th Iowa Infantry, one hundred and fifty from Colonel Phelps' Missouri Regiment, one battalion from the 30th Illinois Cavalry, one section of the Dubuque Battery, (light artillery) and one section of Brown's Mountain Howitzers. We prosecuted the march and arrived at Huntsville at noon of the 5th instant, without incident. A portion of the enemy's stores was captured at their camp, three miles beyond Huntsville, and several prisoners taken. From the prisoners I obtained information that the enemy was marching in force toward our lines, for the purpose of attack, which information I immediately transmitted to head-quarters, and then prepared to retrace my steps. I moved out of Huntsville, and camped three miles distant. At two o'clock in the morning, I received your [General Curtis] orders to return and Join the main body at Sugar Creek. At three o'clock A. M., I resumed my line of march, and, at dusk the same evening, arrived in camp, having accomplished a forced march of forty miles in a single day."

The next day, the seventh, the severe fighting at Pea Ridge opened; and early in the morning Colonel Vandever marched his brigade out in the direction of Elkhorn Tavern. His command fought that entire day, on the left of the brigade of Colonel Dodge, which, it will be remembered, held the extreme right of General Curtis' army. It is stated elsewhere that the division of Colonel Carr, to which both Dodge and Vandever were attached, did the severest fighting at Pea Ridge. In speaking of the conduct of his own regiment in this engagement, Colonel Vandever says:

"Major Coyl of the 9th Iowa acted with distinguished valor, until disabled by a severe wound, and compelled, reluctantly, to leave the field. Adjutant William Scott also deserves great praise. Lieutenant Asher Riley, of Company A, my acting assistant adjutant-general, deserves particular mention. Upon the fall of Captain Drips and Lieutenant Kelsey, both distinguished for their bravery, Lieutenant Riley gallantly took command, and remained with the company throughout the action. Captain Carpenter and Lieutenant Jones, of Company B, also acted with great bravery, leading their company in the face of the enemy, and bringing off one of our disabled pieces and a caisson.

"Captain Towner and Lieutenant Neff, of Company F, were conspicuous for their bravery. Both of these officers were severely wounded, when the command devolved upon Lieutenant Tisdale, who gallantly led the company through the remainder of the action. Captain Bull and Lieutenant Rice of Company C also deserve particular mention, the latter of whom was killed near the close of the day, while the former was severely wounded. Captain Bevins of Company E, was killed upon the field, and the command devolved upon Lieutenant Baker. He acquitted himself with great credit. Captain Washburn and Lieutenants Beebe and Leverich of Company G, Lieutenants Crane and McGee of Company D, Captain Moore and Lieutenant McKenzie of Company H, Captain Carsakaddon and Lieutenant Claflin of Company K, and Lieutenant Fellows, commanding Company I, also Lieutenant Inman, were all conspicuous for bravery, under the hottest fire of the enemy. Many instances of special gallantry occurred among non-commissioned officers and privates. All did their duty well. I should also mention Sergeant-Major Foster of the 9th Iowa, and other members of the noncommissioned staff, who did their duty nobly."

After nearly a month's rest in the vicinity of the battleground, Colonel Vandever joined in the march of General Curtis across the Ozark Mountains to Batesville. While at Batesville, General Steele joined Curtis with a division from Pilot Knob; but here, also, the general lost the commands of Davis and Asboth, which were summoned by Halleck to Corinth. Early in June, the Army of the South West was re-organized into three divisions, commanded by Steele, Carr and Osterhaus. Colonel Vandever remained in Carr's Division, and retained the command of his brigade. The hardships of Curtis' march from Batesville to Helena, which was made in mid-summer, have already been enumerated; but not the different points at which the enemy were met: they were Searcy Landing, Sillamore, Waddell's Farm, Jeffries' Mills, Cashe River Bridge, Stuart's Plantation, Pickett's Farm, Grand Glaize and Round Hill. The last was of the most importance: less than six hundred defeated two thousand Texan Rangers, inflicting on them a loss of more than two hundred.

Colonel Vandever remained at Helena for several months, when, being appointed a brigadier-general, he was ordered to report to General Curtis at St. Louis, and given a command in Central Missouri. In the early part of April, 1863, he commanded the cavalry force, which, leaving Lake Springs, Missouri, marched against Marmaduke, and drove him from the State. It was this command that, at mid-night of the 26th of April, charged the enemy's camp on the Dallas road, near Jackson, routing the enemy, and afterwards pursuing them to St. Francis River.

General Vandever accompanied General Herron to Vicksburg, in command of one of his brigades; and, after the fall of the city, sailed with him up the Yazoo River to Yazoo City. For his services on this expedition, he was thus complimented by General Herron:

"I desire to return my thanks to Brigadier-Generals Vandever and Orme, my brigade commanders, for their unceasing efforts to carry out all my plans, and aid in the success of the expedition."

Since that time, and up to the spring of 1864, General Vandever served in the Department of the Gulf, but during the march on Atlanta he was ordered to report to General Sherman by whom he was assigned a district command with head-quarters at Rome, Georgia. He retained this command till after the fall of Atlanta, when he was ordered to Louisville, and assigned to duty on a court-martial. After the fall of Savannah he reported to General Sherman at that city, and was assigned to the command of a brigade in the 14th Corps which he commanded till the arrival of the Army of the Tennessee at Washington, when he was assigned to the command of the 2d Division of said corps. This command he accompanied to Louisville.

During the march from Fayetteville, North Carolina, to Goldsboro, General Vandever distinguished himself. The history of the march is as follows:

Crossing Cape Fear River, opposite Fayetteville, on the 15th of March, General Sherman "ordered Kilpatrick to move up the plank road to and beyond Averysboro. He was to be followed by four divisions of the left wing, [the 14th and 20th Corps] with as few wagons as possible; the rest of the train, under escort of the two remaining divisions of that wing, to take a shorter and more direct road to Goldsboro. In like manner, General Howard [commanding 15th and 17th Corps] was ordered to send his trains, under good escort, well to the right toward Faison's Depot and Goldsboro, and to hold four divisions light, ready to go to the aid of the left wing, if attacked while in motion. The weather continued very bad, and the roads had become a mere quag-mire. Almost every foot of it had to be corduroyed to admit the passage of wheels."

Prosecuting this line of march, the left wing fought the battle of Averysboro, and then turned east in the direction of Goldsboro; for Hardee had fled, "in a miserable, stormy night, over the worst of roads," in the direction of Smithfleld. The feint on Raleigh did not deceive Johnson, and Sherman, contrary to his expectations, had to fight the old rebel before reaching Goldsboro. While the left wing was on the march through the marshy, timbered bottoms that lie near Bentonville, Johnson, hurrying down from Smithfleld, threw himself on the front and left flank of Jefferson C. Davis' Corps, which was in the advance. Disaster threatened to overwhelm the leading division, and indeed the whole left wing, and Sherman became anxious; but the great courage and endurance of the troops held the enemy at bay till the right wing was brought up. Then, with their left flank and rear threatened, the enemy retired, and Sherman entered Goldsboro. In this engagement General Vandever distinguished himself.

Mr. J. Thompson, a member of the 1st Iowa Cavalry, who served for several months under General Vandever, writes thus of him:

"General Vandever is a man of medium hight, dark hair and wiry constitution. There is nothing remarkable in his features or organization, to impress one with the belief that there is any true greatness about him, either as a man or a general. He lacks both the will and the energy, but more, the ability of a successful leader. The history of his military life is a history of the man — tame and unromantic, exhibiting nothing striking or remarkable—never sinking below, nor yet rising above his chosen level. Such he is as a general, and such would be your opinion of him were you to see him."

From what I have been able to learn of General Vandever, I am persuaded Mr. Thompson does him hardly justice. Though in no respect brilliant, yet he is a man of good judgment and of great perseverance. He is not of a social, communicative nature. He minds his own business, and this, I believe, has been to his disadvantage in the army; for rapid promotion has depended not less upon hard begging, than upon hard working, especially if the officer in question holds a subordinate position. Can one in any other way account for so many worthless field and general officers?

SOURCE: Addison A. Stuart, Iowa Colonels and Regiments, p. 195-200

Saturday, February 28, 2009

Medical Records of William S. Luce

William Luce, Rank Pvt, Co. K, 9th Reg’t Ills. Cav. Appears on list of Casualties of th Regiment at the battle of near Village Creek, Arkansas. Wounded Jun 12th, 1862. Nature of injury: Badly. Reported by Albert G. Brackett, Col. 9th Ills. Cav. Casualty List No. 296

Wm. S. Luce, Rank, Pvt. Co. K, 9 Reg’t Ill Cav. Complaint, Remi Fever. Admitted Jan 12, 1863, to U.S.A. Post Hospital, Helena, Ark. Ret’d to Duty Feb 1, 1863. Ark. Reg. No. 46; Hos. No. 195; Page 36

Source: National Archives & Records Administration, Washington, D.C

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Skirmish at Waddell Farm: Jacksonport "Cavalier" Account.

Jacksonport, Ark., June 13, 1862.

Yesterday an engagement took place between a portion of the United States forces, stationed near this place, and the confederates known in this vicinity as "Hooker's company," about three hundred strong.

In the morning a train of thirty-six wagons was sent out by Col. Brackett, for the purpose of getting corn and bacon at the Waddcll farm, near Village Creek, with an escort of parts of four companies (K, M, D and C,) of the Ninth Illinois cavalry, under Major Humphrey. The farm is about five miles distant from Jacksonport, and when the train was within about one half mile from it, the advance-guard (company K, Capt Cameron) were suddenly attacked by a large force of the enemy. This attack on the part of the enemy was gallantly resisted by Capt. Cameron and his command, who made, in his retreat before greatly superior numbers, several stands, firing upon and wounding and killing several of the enemy, until he had fallen back to the main body, where there seemed, by common consent, to be a cessation of fighting for some considerable time — Major Humphrey deeming his command insufficient to charge upon the enemy successfully, without sacrificing the lives of his men, which could be easily avoided by waiting a little while for reinforcements from Camp Tucker, sent for at the firing of the first volley by the enemy.

Two hours after the attack upon the train advance-guard, Col. Brackett was at the Waddcll farm, having crossed Black River by ferry with two companies of Bowen's battalion, Missouri volunteers, and two small howitzers. He found the forage train in the road halted, and the enemy in force in front, shouting and jeering at our men with that profusencss of obscenity and blasphemous profanity for which the chivalrous, high-toned confederate troops are distinguished. The rest of the fight, outside of their braggadocio, was of very few moments' duration. Two shots from the howitzers, and a brilliant charge of four companies, A, M, K and C, of the Ninth Illinois cavalry, upon the enemy, and. he was seen plying both spur and whip to his fleet animals, seeking a safe refuge from the glittering sabres and determined hearts and heads, and strong arms, that were in hot pursuit.

The result of the skirmishes throughout, was to the enemy, in killed, wounded and prisoners in our hands, twenty-eight, so far as we can learn, though Capt Cameron's men think the figure too low.

On our side, we have a loss of one taken prisoner by the enemy and twelve wounded, two of them seriously. The following is a list of those wounded and missing on our side:

Wounded.—Corporal Joseph O. H. Spinney, Corporal Judson H. Waldo; privates, William Luce, badly, Joseph Chamberlain, Thomas A. Foster, James Sherlock, Oscar D. Herrick, John R. Wilder, Hiram D. Sturm, William Farnsworth, James Kelley, Frank Doyle, all of com pany K.

Missing. — Private Harvey Strong, company K, Ninth Illinois cavalry, a prisoner in the hands of the enemy.

Thirty-six wagons went out — thirty-eight returned, laden with corn, bacon, flour, vinegar, etc.

Col. Brackett speaks in the highest terms of the conduct of Major Humphrey of tho Ninth Illinois cavalry, Capt Williams, and Lieuts. Madison and Ballou, and First Sergeant Miller, of Bowen's Missouri cavalry battalion ; as also of Capts. Burgh, Knight, Cowen, Blakemore and Perkins, and Lieuts. Benton, Hillier, Shear, Conn, Butler and Smith; Battalion-Adjutant Blackburn, and Sergeant-Major George A. Price; and especially of First Sergeant Clark, of company K, Ninth Illinois cavalry.

Dr. James A. Brackett, Surgeon of the Ninth, was promptly on the ground with all the proper appliances for the comfort of the wounded, and Quartermaster Price, of the same regiment, (always ready for duty,) was " on hand " looking after the material interests of Uncle Sam.

It has been said by some military men, that cavalry are ineffective in the field. We would have been pleased to have had a few spectators of that mind at the scene of action yesterday. The men were ordered by Col. Brackett to put up their revolvers and take their sabres. It was in every respect a cavalry charge.

The four companies were drawn up in line of battle, in a cotton-field, and when the order for the charge was given, away went the men of the gallant Ninth, with sabres raised, at top of speed, but preserving perfect lines, and with such shouts as only troopers give. The "bandits " were dismayed, and without even firing a shot fled in every direction, scattered like chaff before the wind.

Company D, Ninth Illinois cavalry, Capt Cowen, were placed in charge of the train during the fight, and are entitled to great credit for the faithful performance of that kind of duty — when all were eager and anxious to be in the fray.

Source: Moore, Frank, Editor, The Rebellion Record: A Diary of American Events, Vol. 5, p. 191-2

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Fight at Waddell Farm

June 12, 1862, quite a lively fight took place between a considerable force of Confederate troops and a portion of the Ninth Illinois Cavalry. The rebels attempted to capture a valuable forage train, which was sent out with a large escort under the command of Major Humphrey. At first it looked as though the Confederates would be successful, as they appeared to have superior numbers and drove back our advance. The train was halted and run back to a safer position. Several of our men were wounded and one taken prisoner. Couriers were sent back to camp to notify the commander of the affair. Colonel Brackett, with four companies of the Ninth and two of Missouri Cavalry, headed by Captain Burgh and his Company A, ran down a mile or more, but failed to find anything of the rebs, though quite a force of darkies were looking on and grinning from ear to ear to see the Yankees chase the rebs into the woods and out of sight. Just how many of the Confederates were killed and wounded we never knew.

SOURCE: Davenport, Edward A., Editor, History of the Ninth Illinois Cavalry Volunteers (1888), p. 38

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

June 12, 1862.--Skirmish at Waddell's Farm, near Village Creek, Ark.

Report of Col. Albert G. Brackett, Ninth Illinois Cavalry.

HEADQUARTERS NINTH ILLINOIS CAVALRY,
Camp Tucker, near Junction of Black and White Rivers, June 12, 1862.

GENERAL: It gives me great pleasure to report to you that I have this afternoon had a most successful fight with the rebels. This morning I sent out a train of 36 wagons for the purpose of getting corn and bacon at the Waddell farm, near Village Creek, Jackson County, Arkansas. I sent as an escort parts of four companies of the Ninth Regiment of Illinois Cavalry, under Major Humphrey.

The farm is about 5 miles from Jacksonport, and when the train was within about half a mile of it my men were suddenly attacked by a large force of the enemy. Major Humphrey, seeing his command was too weak to cope with the rebels, sent word to me to join him as soon as possible with re-enforcements. I started with two companies of Bowen's battalion, with two small howitzers. I found the train halted in the road about half a mile from the farm, and the enemy in strong force in front, shooting at my men and occasionally exchanging shots. I removed the fence on the right and unlimbered the howitzers in the road, and then formed Companies A, M, K, and C, Ninth Illinois Cavalry, under Captains Burgh, Knight, Cameron, and Blakemore, on the right in a cotton field, with orders to charge the enemy as soon as Lieutenant Madison, of Bowen's Battalion, should fire the howitzers, which were supported and defended by Captain Williams and Lieutenant Ballou, of Bowen's cavalry battalion. I fired two shots directly into the enemy, when the four companies of the Ninth Illinois Cavalry rode forward with drawn sabers, and made the finest cavalry charge I ever witnessed. The enemy was scattered in every direction, being completely routed and broken up. I continued to fire several rounds into Waddell's building and then advanced upon it with Captain Blakemore's company. I then filled my 36 wagons with corn and bacon, and returned to this post, arriving after dark.

Captain Cameron behaved with the greatest gallantry, as did his company, K, Ninth Regiment Illinois Cavalry. I must particularly recommend to your notice the conduct of Major Humphrey, Captains Burgh, Knight, Cameron, Cowen, Blakemore, and Perkins, Lieutenants Benton, Hillier, Shear, Conn, Butler, and Smith, and First Sergeant Clark, of the Ninth Illinois Cavalry, and Captain Williams, Lieutenants Madison and Ballou, and First Sergeant Miller, of Bowen's cavalry battalion. My thanks are due to Surg. James W. Brackett for his care of the wounded, and to Battalion Adjutant Blackburn, Quartermaster Price, and Sergt. Maj. George A. Price, Ninth Illinois Cavalry.

The enemy lost 28 in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Private Hutsell, of Hooker's company, one of the prisoners, is mortally wounded. Captain Shuttlesworth, in command of Hooker's company, is also wounded. My loss was 1 taken prisoner by the enemy and 12 wounded, all of Company K, Ninth Illinois Cavalry.(*)

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

ALBERT G. BRACKETT,
Colonel Ninth Illinois Cavalry, Commanding.

General SAMUEL R. CURTIS.

* Nominal list ommitted.

SOURCE: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Series 1, Vol. 13, Serial 19, p. 122-3