Zollicoffer’s Defeat

Interesting Account by an Eye-Witness

We cut the following letter from a Cincinnati paper.  It is a spirited account of the battle.

ZOLLICOFFER’S (LATE) ENCAMPMENT,

January 20, 1862

Here I am in a cedar log cabin, inside the intrenchments of the wonderful position of old “Zolly,” to write you a letter, on contraband paper, with a contraband pen and contraband ink.  Where shall I begin – what shall I write first.  There are incidents enough, if all recounted, to fill a volume, things that took place in this, the most complete victory, and the most overwhelming, total overthrow the Secession army has yet met with in this rebellion.  To begin at the beginning, and tell the story straight.

Just at day break on Sunday morning, the 19th of January, sharp firing commenced with the pickets in the same spot where the firing was last Friday night, the long roll beat in Indiana 10th, and they formed instantly and marched to the support of their pickets.  The 10th and Kinney’s battery were close together, and a half a mile in advance of everything.  The battery got ready for action on the instant and awaited orders.  By the way, Stannard’s battery and Wetmore’s four gun battery were both in park, one on each side of Kinney’s battery.  The 1st Tennessee was about a quarter mile in the rear of these batteries, in the woods.  The 4th Kentucky, Col. Fry, was the next regiment on the road, half a mile in the rear of the batteries, it was forming as I ran past, getting to my own regiment, (for I slept in Kinney’s battery), the 2nd Tennessee another quarter of a mile in the rear of the 4th Kentucky.  By this time the cavalry were running their horses all over the country, in every direction – except towards the firing, which still continued at intervals.  The 2d was just getting breakfast, and supposing it to be only a Picket fight, kept on cooking and eating though very few had eaten anything when the column of our forces appeared coming on in our rear.  Lieutenant Colonel Trewhit promptly got us into line and double-quicked us into the road ahead of the advancing column, the 4th Kentucky had gone when we reached their encampment.  The firing still continued, and very briskly, we kept on at double-quick, all hoping and believing that we would have a chance to smell burnt powder.  But when opposite the encampment of the 10th Indiana, up rode the Colonel, and halted us for further orders, we all thought – if we didn’t say it – d---n further orders.

The 10th Indiana went into the woods about a quarter of a mile in advance of their tents to the support of their pickets and bravely did they support them, too, for over half an hour against the whole force led against them and never retreated a step, nor gave an inch of ground, until nearly surrounded by overwhelming number then, to save themselves from being entirely surrounded, they unwillingly gave way.  Here was a crisis and yell on yell went up from the lantern jawed Secessionists, they thought the day was all their own.  But happily, any disastrous consequence was prevented by the arrival of the 4th Kentucky and 9th Ohio to the support of the gallant 10th.  Again our men made a stand, now there was fighting in good earnest and the 2d Minnesota joined win with the 10th and the 4th and the 9th Ohio. – Volley after volley rattled in quick succession, and sometimes it seemed as though there was only one continuous volley, interrupted now and then by the growling of the “yellow pups,” which had been brought to bear on the enemy and when they once commenced, they distributed their favors freely in all directions, in the shape of shot and shell and, gentlemen excuse me from being the recipient of such favors. – There were only two or three shots from cannon fired by the enemy, and they were either badly armed or the pieces were out of range, for the shot did not disturb anybody.  Once they threw a shell into the air which burst when some four or five hundred feet high.  No damage was done by it, and their artillery seemed to be of no use to them whatever, while on the contrary ours seemed to be of immense use to us, and was most ably and effectively handled.  After a little more than two hours of hard fighting, a most tremendous volley of musketry followed by a ringing about from our side seemed to have decided the battle in our favor for from that time, although firing was kept up at intervals, the secessionists, whipped and cowed, began their retreat, which in about twenty minutes more became a total rout, and from the indications along the road which we afterwards passed over, the flight appeared to have been a regular race from that point back to their intrenchments to see who could get there first, and the devil take the hindmost.

All the credit and honor of this battle is due to the 10th Indiana, the 9th Ohio, the 4th Kentucky and 2d Minnesota.  For they did all the fighting, as it were, single handed, with the exception of what support they received from the artillery.  They all fought nobly, and judging from the sound of the musketry they never wavered from a fixed determination to gain the victory, and they did gain it.  The combatants where so near to each other at one time, that the powder burned their faces in the discharge of their pieces, but the underbrush was so thick that bayonets were of but little use, and a charge could hardly have been made.

The most important event of the day was the death of Zollicoffer.  Col. Fry, of the 4th Kentucky, charged up a hill by himself upon a group of mounted officers, and fired at one he conceived to be the chief among them, he fired two shots, both of them took effect, and Zollicoffer, one of the master spirits of the rebellion, fell off his horse dead.  Col. Fry was, luckily unhurt, but his horse was shot through the body, the bullet entering only a few inches behind the Colonel’s leg.  This must have been a deadener to all hopes of the secessionists had for victory, as from this moment began the retreat, and so closely did our forces push upon them that they were obliged to leave their illustrious leader where he fell, by the side of the road.

What were the East Tennesseans doing during all this engagement with their boasted bravery?  The 1st Regiment I know but little about, except that it marched towards the edge of the woods in which the firing was going on, and disappeared from sight.  As a regiment they did not fire a gun, but Lieutenant Colonel Spears who is a whole team and horse to let some way got in ahead of his men and where the fighting was, he shot a few times with his revolver, and turned round to see where his men where, when he perceived an officer in between him and where his regiment ought to be, evidently trying to cut him off.  But the officer – who turned out to be Lieutenant-Colonel Carter – waked up the wrong passenger when he got after Spears, and the tables were turned, for instead of cutting Col. Spears off, the Colonel took him prisoner and brought him back into the regiment.  The 2d Tennessee went through various sundry evolutions, they were marched and counter marched, right-obliqued and left-obliqued, right-faced and left-faced, and brought up all standing in a briar patch.

Well, finally we were formed in a line of battle, out of all harm’s way, and remained so until the firing was nearly all over, when we were double-quicked to the edge of the woods, and halted again, until the firing receded and died away entirely.

It is needless to comment upon the conduct of the Tennesseans, to say that they could have done or would have done under other circumstances.  Here is the fact what they did do, and that was simply nothing.  As to the rest, the future will decide.

Our course was now steadily forward to the main road that led to Zollicoffer’s encampment on the Cumberland.  I shall not attempt to describe the battlefield, the dead or the dying. – Of course, in all battles somebody must be killed, and somebody must be wounded, this was no exception to the general rule.  I shall mention only one of the dead – that one Zollicoffer.  He lay by the side of the road along which we all passed, and all had a fair view of what was once Zollicoffer.  I saw the lifeless body as it lay in a fence corner by the side of the road, but Zollicoffer himself is now in hell.  Hell is a fitting abode for such arch traitors!  May all the other chief conspirators in the rebellion soon share Zollicoffer’s fate – shot dead through the instrumentality of an avenging God – Their spirits sent straitway to hell, and their lifeless bodies lay in a fence corner, their faces spattered with mud, and their garments divided up, and even the hair of their head cut off and pulled out by an unsympathizing soldiery of a conquering army, battling for the right!

The March was now steadily but cautiously forward.  Two pieces of artillery were taken, one was crippled in the woods near the battle ground, and the other was stuck in the mud about a mile in the rear; also two wagons with ammunition.  No incident worth mentioning occurred on the march, which was deliberately but steadily forward, with the artillery well up, until a final halt was made, about half past four, within a mile of the breastworks of the famous fortifications on the Cumberland which have been reported impregnable.  Here the artillery was again planted, and set to work shelling the wonderful fortifications; and a continuous fire was kept up for nearly an hour.  Every shell that was thrown we could hear burst distinctly.  There was only one cannon that answered us from the breastworks, and that one sounded more like a potato pop-gun than anything else I can liken it to, and did us no damage, as the shot never reached us.  The one piece was only [fired four times. Night closed in and the firing] ceased. We all lay down on the wet ground, in perfect security, to rest our weary limbs, the distance we had come being over ten miles on the direct road, let alone the bushes and underbrush we went through, to say nothing about two or three dress-parades of the 2d for somebody's amusement, but not our own, I can assure you. And then the roads and fields were awfully cut up, and mud was plenty, as it had rained a good part of the forenoon. Our men lay down to rest without a mouthful to eat, many of whom had eaten no breakfast, but as Captain Cross said, “the man who could not fast two days over Zollicoffer's scalp, was no man at all;” and there was no grumbling, as there was necessity for it. However, the teams came up in the night with crackers and bacon.

Now here is the summary, so far as I know, up to Sunday night we were within a mile of Zollicoffer’s encampment, Zollicoffer is licked and his forces have been whipped – some two hundred of them being killed and a great many wounded, one of Crittenden’s Aids, a Lieutenant Colonel and three Surgeons are taken prisoners, but now many more I know not, two pieces of artillery and tree wagons were left, and the roads were strewed with guns, blankets, coats, haversacks and everything else that impeded flight, on our side from 20 to 30 are killed and from 80 to 100 wounded, having no prisoners taken that we know of.

On the morning of the 20th, soon after day light, several of the regiments were moved forward toward the breastworks, and a cannon ball or two fired over into them, but no answer was made, all was quiet.  The regiment moved steadily on and into their fortifications, it being ascertained that there was no one to oppose them.  The enemy having crossed the river during the night, or early in the morning, the rout was complete.  It seems as though there was a perfect panic among them, their tents having been left standing, and their blankets, clothes, cooking utensils, letters, papers, etc, all left behind.  The position is a pretty strong one, but not near so much so as we had been led to suppose. – Huts were built, nicely chinked with mud, many of them having windows in them for comfortable winter quarters.  How much work the devils have done here and how little it has profited them!  I have been wandering around all day, seeing and hearing what I could.  The Cumberland makes one side of the encampment safe, by an abrupt bank 250 feet high.  I went down to the river bottom, to which there is a road on our side.  Here were all or nearly all of their wagons, some twelve or fifteen hundred horses and mules, harness, saddles, sabres, guns, in fact, everything.  It was a complete stampede, and by far the most disastrous defeat the Southern Confederacy has yet met with.  Ten pieces of cannon, with caissons are also here.  To all appearances, they seem to have completely lost their senses, having only one object in view, and that was to run somewhere and hide themselves.

Now, to account for the battle taking place as it did.  There were 11 rebel regiments here, two being unarmed, and Zollicoffer, who was the presiding devil, although Crittenden and taken the command, thought the 10th Indiana and Kenney’s battery were just two regiments by themselves, and did not know that they were supported by the balance of the division, which was out of sight behind on account of the timber, and he conceived the happy idea of rushing upon and capturing these two regiments to get their arms to supply his own unarmed men.  So he took all the available force he had – some 8,000 or 9,000 men – and made the attack – with what result has already been shown.  Now this only goes to prove that, in order to put this rebellion down we must do something.  In this fight four of our regiments whipped and completely routed the great army that was under Zollicoffer, killed the devil himself, and maybe Crittenden too, for he has not been heard of since the battle.  The prisoners we have taken estimate our force at 20,000, bah!  We can take them any time and any place, and giving them the odds 3 to 1, whip them every time.  Their cause is a bad one, they know it, and the only way their men can be induced to fight at all, is by their leaders getting in the very front rank with them.

The 2d Minnesota, captured a banner from the Mississippi regiment, which had on it the “Mississippi Butchers.”  They may be good butchers at home, but they make a mighty awkward fist at butchering Yankees.  They and better go home and tend to their business.  Nearly every man has a trophy of this victory, there are plenty to get, certain, and I am writing this now with a Louisiana Zouave head dress and tassel on my head.

I give you a copy of two or three of the documents we found in the camp.  The following was found on a table in one of the cabins:

“COL. SPEARS – We fought bravely and desperately, but misguidedly.  We leave here under pressing circumstances, but do not feel that we are whipped.  We will yet succeed, and –”

Here the circumstances became so pressing that the writer did not want to finish the epistle.  Colonel Spears supposes the writer to be Major John W. Bridgman, of the Tennessee Cavalry.

The following was written on a piece of brown paper, with a pencil:

“JAN 19th, 1862.  FISHING CREEK.

The great battle at Fishing Creek took place.  Our loss was great.  Supposed to be eight hundred killed and wounded, and a great many taken prisoners.  We will try them again at our breastworks if they come to us.”

At the bottom of the paper, upside down is a name I cannot make out, and then Polasky.

Here as another paper which is evidently the result of a council of war, held before the force came across on the north side of the Cumberland.

“The result of your crossing the river now, will be that you will be repulsed and lose all the artillery taken over.

ESTILL.”

Dec. 14th, ’61.

“Another ‘Wild Cat’ disaster is all we can look forward to.

FULKERSON.”

“We will cross over and find that the enemy has retired to a place that we will not deem advisable to attack, and then we will return to this encampment.

LORING.”

Estill is a Colonel from Middle Tennessee. – Fulkerson is a Major, and one of the big heads of the Secession party in Tennessee.  It seems there was opposition in the camp to the move on to this side of the river, but old Zollicoffer, the head devil of the army, ruled the roost and did come over.  Some of these predictions proved to be strictly true, it did turn out to be a “Wild Cat” disaster, only worse, and they did lose all their artillery, and more than all, the old he devil Zollicoffer lost his life.  The route has been complete and total.  His whole force is entirely scattered, and if the victory is followed up across the river, they will never rally together again.

It is now nearly three o’clock in the morning while I write, and with a few reflections this already long letter – perhaps too long – shall be closed.

What a lucky thing that Zollicoffer was bold enough to attack our force, had he not done so, no battle would have been fought here for a long time.  And this victory cannot be credited to the skill of a Brigadier General.  The battle was entirely accidental, the position was entirely a chance position, and the men themselves, led by their Colonels fought the battle and won it.  The 10th Indiana got into the fight supporting their pickets, the 4th Kentucky and 9th Ohio rushed in, without orders, to support the 10th.  Whether the 2d Minnesota had orders to go in or not, I do not know. – And these four regiments did all the fighting that was done, and that was enough to whip the eight regiments Zollicoffer had in the engagement.  If these Brigadier Generals must be paid big wages by the Government, why just pay it to them and let them stay at home, for they are no earthly use among us.  Let the men go ahead and wind up this war, it can be done in two months.  Secret – do something.

Would that some abler pen could give you a full and complete account of this rout.  I considered it my duty to do my best in an attempt to describe it, but it has been hurriedly written – with a willing but weary hand, so excuse the confused parts of the letter.

FELIX.

– Published in The Burlington Weekly Hawk-Eye, Burlington, Iowa, Saturday, February 1, 1862, p. 1