150 Years Ago: Corrick's Ford

Image of Robert Garnett via Wikipedia

On July 13, 1861, military operations in the aftermath of the battle of Rich Mountain came to an end.  The Confederate forces under Colonel John Pegram surrendered to George McClellan, and Union General Thomas Morris's Indiana brigade caught up to Robert Garnett's retreating Confederates near Corrick's Ford on the Cheat River.

The two forces fought a running skirmish and Garnett deployed skirmishers to cover his retreat.  As he was attempting to recall the skirmishers and move to another nearby ford, he was shot and killed by a Union volley.  Garnett was the first general officer on either side to be killed during the war.  The Confederates retreated in disarray, leaving behind a cannon, forty wagons and their commander's body.

In recognition of his service and two brevets for gallantry in the Mexican War, a Union honor guard conveyed his body to his relatives, who buried him in Baltimore, Maryland.  Four years later, the family exhumed Garnett's remains and secretly re-interred him in Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, next to his wife and son, who had died before the war.  His grave was unmarked for fears of anti-Southern sentiments.  In May 2011, a small headstone was placed on his grave next to the family's larger marker.

The Confederates were gone and the region was securely in Federal hands.  Although he had planned the excursion into western Virginia and the Rich Mountain campaign, George McClellan received accolades far out of proportion to his actual participation in the battles.  He became the North's first war hero.

Also on this date, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon, "Double-Quick Step to Richmond."  Almost everyone, North and South, thought that this would be a quick war, and "Forward to Richmond" was the cry in the North, especially from Horace Greeley's New York Tribune.  The pressure was on for General Irvin McDowell to march his army south to capture the Confederate capitol of Richmond, Virginia, and end the war.  After McDowell's ignominious defeat at the Battle of Bull Run, McClellan was called to Washington to take command of the Army of the Potomac, leaving William Rosecrans in command in western Virginia.

Also, John Clark (D-Mo.) became the first representative ever to be expelled from the U.S. House of Representatives.  By a vote of 94 to 45 Clark was expelled for taking up arms against the Union.  He was a brigadier general in the pro-secessionist Missouri State Guard.  He was a senator in the First Confederate Congress and a representative in the Second Confederate Congress.

Related articles

• 150 Years Ago: Rich Mountain (civilwarmeanderings.blogspot.com)
• 150 Years Ago: Mopping Up (civilwarmeanderings.blogspot.com)
• City Room: Confederate General Buried Far From the Battlefield (cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com)

150 Years Ago: Mopping Up

Image of George McClellan via Wikipedia

On July 12, 1861, the forces under Union General George McClellan were busy following up their victory the previous day at Rich Mountain in western Virginia (now West Virginia).

With Union forces in their rear, the Confederate positions at Rich Mountain and Laurel Mountain were in jeopardy.  During the night of July 11-12, General Robert Garnett and Colonel John Pegram evacuated the positions at Laurel Mountain and Rich Mountain, respectively.  Both headed toward Beverly.

Garnett made it to the turnpike that led south to Beverly, but he was erroneously informed that the enemy had already occupied that town.  He headed northeast on much more primitive roads.

Pegram's men passed through Beverly and headed north on the turnpike toward Leadsville.  The men were demoralized, exhausted, and hungry, and Pegram stopped and made camp by the Tygart River.  After conferring with his officers, he finally decided to surrender to McClellan.

near Tygart's valley River, six miles from Beverly, July 12, 1861.
To Commanding Officer of Northern Forces, Beverly, Va.:
sir: I write to state to you that I have, in consequence of the retreat of General Garnett, and the jaded and reduced condition of my command, most of them having been without food for two days, concluded, with the concurrence of a majority of my captains and field officers, to surrender my command to you tomorrow, as prisoners of war. I have only to add, I trust they will only receive at your hands such treatment as has been invariably shown to the northern prisoners by the South.

I am, sir, your obedient servant,

John Pegram, Lieutenant-Colonel P. A. C. S., Com'dg.

In the early morning hours of July 12, the Federals advanced to find the Confederates gone.  McClellan occupied the camp at the Rich Mountain gap, then proceeded on to Beverly, occupying the town around noon.  From there, he replied to Pegram the following day:

Headquarters, Department of the Ohio, Beverly, Va., July 13, 1861.
John Pegram, Esq., styling himself Lieutenant-Colonel, P. A. C. S.:
sir: Your communication dated yesterday, proposing the surrender as prisoners of war of the force assembled under your command, has been delivered to me. As commander of this department, I will receive you and them with the kindness due to prisoners of war, but it is not in my power to relieve you or them from any liabilities incurred by taking arms against the United States.

I am, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

Geo. B. McClellan, Maj.-Gen. U. S. A., Commanding Department.

 Meanwhile, General Thomas Morris's men took up the pursuit of Garnett.  They were easy to trail over the muddy roads by following the footprints and the discarded equipment.  Morris caught up to them and fought a running battle the following day.


Also on this date, Albert Pike concluded another treaty between the Confederate government and the tribes in the Indian Territory; this one was with the Choctaws and Chickasaws.


Unrelated to the Civil War, James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickok fought his first gunfight on this date at Rock Creek Station in Nebraska.  It wasn't much of a fight since the other participants were unarmed.

Details are sketchy, but Dave McCanles showed up with two friend and his 12-year-old son.  He wanted some money that was due him and got into a heated argument with the stationmaster.  One version has Hickok intervening and McCanles threatening to drag him outside and beat him.  "There will be one less son-of-a-bitch when you try that," Hickok supposedly replied.  When McCanles moved toward him, Hickok shot him in the chest with a rifle.  Another version has Hickok shooting McCanles while hiding behind a curtain.

The other two men attempted to flee, but were wounded by Hickok and killed by the other station employees.

At the trial, the McCanles son was not allowed to testify, or even to enter the courtroom.  The jury heard only testimony from the station employees and ruled that they had acted in self defense.

In 1867, Harper's New Monthly Magazine published a greatly embellished account of the incident, claiming that Hickok had faced down the deadly McCanles Gang and killed nine men single-handedly.  Supposedly, Hickok was gravely wounded in the shootout and later had eleven bullets removed.  The legend of Wild Bill was born.

Related articles

• 150 Years Ago: Rich Mountain (civilwarmeanderings.blogspot.com)

150 Years Ago: Rich Mountain

Image of General William Rosecrans via Wikipedia

On Thursday, July 11, 1861, the battle of Rich Mountain took place in Randolph County, Virginia (now West Virginia).

Union Major General George McClellan, commanding the Department of the Ohio, had come to western Virginia in late May, occupying Grafton, a key junction on the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.  He then sent a detachment to rout a small Confederate force at Philippi on June 3.  He then spent several weeks consolidating his forces and securing the portion of the railroad that ran through this mountainous country.

He was opposed by Brigadier General Robert Garnett who commanded some 5000 men at Beverly, a vital turnpike crossroads.  Garnett had been unable to get reinforcements or recruits from the pro-Union population, and was reduced to staging raids on Union supply lines.

When McClellan was finally ready, he moved forward to take on this force and capture Beverly.  He commanded an imposing force of 20,000, but some 5000 were were scattered throughout the countryside guarding the railroad, bridges and roads.

He found the Confederates entrenched on Rich Mountain and Laurel Mountain, protecting Beverly on the west and north respectively.  He split his force into two columns that marched on the positions in a coordinated advance.  From Philippi, Brigadier General Thomas Morris marched to confront the force at Laurel Mountain.  McClellan, with his principal lieutenant, Brigadier General William Rosecrans, moved from Buckhannon toward Rich Mountain.

Morris was in position on July 7 and engaged the Confederates in a series of small skirmishes over the next few days that convinced Garnett that he would be attacked from the north.  He concentrated most of his men on Laurel Mountain, leaving just 1300 under Colonel John Pegram on Rich Mountain.

Even with an overwhelming advantage, McClellan was hesitant to launch a frontal assault on Rich Mountain.  The Confederates had a strong position and a prisoner had convinced the general that he faced many more men than were actually there.

A young civilian, David Hart, appeared in the Union lines and told Rosecrans of a path that led around the left flank of the Confederate position.  Rosecrans took the young man to McClellan and, after deciding that Hart could be trusted, came up with a new plan.  Rosecrans would take his brigade of 1900 men -- the 8th, 10th and 13th Indiana, and the 19th Ohio Regiments -- south of the Confederate position and attack the Confederates from the rear.  McClellan would wait with the rest of the men and make a frontal assault when Rosecrans launched his assault.

At 5 a.m. on July 11, Rosecrans's force headed off with David Hart in the lead.  It was slow going, taking eight hours to get seven or eight miles through the mountain forest, but Rosecrans finally emerged a mile or two in the rear of the Confederate position.  After a sharp fight that lasted almost two hours, Rosecrans personally led a charge that overwhelmed the Confederates.  McClellan never made the planned frontal assault.

From McClellan's official report:

Headquarters, Department of the Ohio, Rich Mountain, Va., 9 a.m., July 12, 1861.
Col. E. D. Townsend: We are in possession of all the enemy's works up to a point in the right of Beverly. I have taken all his guns, a very large amount of wagons, tents, &c.--everything he had — a large number of prisoners, many of whom were wounded, and several officers prisoners. They lost many killed. We have lost, in all, perhaps twenty killed and fifty wounded, of whom all but two or three were in the column under Rosecrans, which turned the position. The mass of the enemy escaped through the woods, entirely disorganized. Among the prisoners is Dr. Taylor, formerly of the army. Col. Pegram was in command.

Colonel Rosecrans's column left camp yesterday morning, and marched some eight miles through the mountains, reaching the turnpike some two or three miles in rear of the enemy, defeating an advanced post, and taking a couple of guns. I had a position ready for twelve guns near the main camp, and as guns were moving up, I ascertained that the enemy had retreated. I am now pushing on to Beverly, a part of Colonel Rosecrans's troops being now within three miles of it.

McClellan submitted a second report a little later:

Beverly, July 12th, 1861.
Col. E. D. Townsend, Washington, D. C,:
The success of to-day is all that I could desire. We captured six brass cannons, of which one is rifled, all the enemy's camp equipage and transportation, even to his cups. The number of tents will probably reach two hundred, and more than sixty wagons. Their killed and wounded will amount to fully one hundred and fifty, with one hundred prisoners, and more coming in constantly. I know already of ten officers killed and prisoners. Their retreat is complete.

I occupied Beverly by a rapid march. Garnett abandoned his camp early in the morning, leaving much of his equipage. He came within a few miles of Beverly, but our rapid march turned him back in great confusion, and he is now retreating on the road to St. George. I have ordered Gen. Morris to follow him up closely.

I have telegraphed for the two Pennsylvania regiments at Cumberland to join Gen. Hill at Rowlesburg. The General is concentrating all his troops at Rowlesburg, and he will cut off Garnett's retreat near West Union, or, if possible, at St. George.

I may say that we have driven out some ten thousand troops, strongly intrenched, with the loss of 11 killed and 35 wounded. The provision returns here show Garnett's force to have been ten thousand men. They were Eastern Virginians, Tennesseans, Georgians, and, I think, Carolinians. To-morrow I can give full details, as to prisoners, &c.

Related articles

• 150 Years Ago: Grafton, Virginia (civilwarmeanderings.blogspot.com)
• 150 Years Ago: The Philippi Races (civilwarmeanderings.blogspot.com)