The Eleventh Kentucky Cavalry, C. S. A. From the Lexington, Ky. Herald, April 21, 1907.
By Anderson Chenault Quisenberry.
On August 14, 1862, General E. Kirby Smith left Knoxville, Tenn., with an army of some 1,000 men, about 1,000 of whom were cavalry. This army, by forced marches, passed rapidly across the intervening mountainous country, subsisting to a great extent upon the roasting ears growing in the fields along their route, and on August 30 its advance brigades, about 5,000 strong, hungry and pugnacious, struck the Federal Army, under General William Nelson, some 16,000 strong, at Richmond, Ky., and destroyed it. It has been said that in no battle in the Civil War was an army so completely destroyed as Nelson's was in this fight. At the same time General Braxton Bragg entered Kentucky from another direction with a strong force and advanced upon Louisville; and thus, for the first and only time during the war, nearly the whole of Kentucky was within the Confederate lines. During the six weeks it was so situated, a number of Confederate regiments was recruited in the State.On Sunday, August 31, 1862, the day after the battle at Richmond, Mr. David Walter Chenault, a prominent citizen of Madison County, then about thirty-six years old, went to Richmond from his country place, and on arriving at the town found that a great many young men of Madison and some of the neighboring counties were there, and anxious to join the Confederate Army, and that Messrs. Carey Hawkins, John D. Harris, Clifton Estill, Dr. Jennings, and several other prominent and influential citizens of the county, of Southern sentiment, had united in recommending him (Chenault) to General Kirby Smith as one of the most suitable men in Kentucky to recruit and organize a regiment of Kentuckians for the Confederate service. As Mr. Chenault's sympathies were already deeply engaged in the cause, he was easily persuaded to accept the commission; and [260] Joseph T. Tucker, of Winchester, and James B. McCreary, of Richmond, were named and commissioned, respectively, as lieutenant-colonel and major of the proposed new regiment.
Ten days later (September 10, 1862) the regiment, then consisting of nine companies and 800 officers and enlisted men, was mustered into the service at Richmond, and assigned to General J. H. Morgan's Cavalry Brigade. It was the first regiment of Kentucky soldiers mustered into the service after Bragg and Kirby Smith advanced into Kentucky; and, properly speaking, it should have been designated the 1st Kentucky Cavalry, for it was mustered in before the regiment that was designated the First (Colonel D. Howard Smith's), and in fact before any of the other regiments of cavalry raised in Kentucky, after the Fourth. Chenault's Regiment was first called the Seventh, by which designation it was known for several months. But Colonel R. M. Gano claimed the designation of ‘7th’ for his regiment, and was given it; after which Chenault's Regiment was known as the 11th Kentucky Cavalry.
General Adam R. Johnson's book, ‘The Partisan Rangers,’ commanded by Colonel William Hollis, of Webster County, gives a roster of another 11th Kentucky Cavalry, C. S. A., where, and in the adjoining counties, this regiment of 410 men was recruited. On June 22, 1863, this regiment was defeated in a fight with the 35th U. S. Cavalry, and Colonel Hollis was killed. The regiment then disbanded and the men joined other organizations.
So Chenault's Regiment had the distinction of having borne two numerical designations—first the 7th Kentucky Cavalry, and second, the 11th Kentucky Cavalry—when there were already other regiments claiming these designations and bearing them,
Chenault's 11th Kentucky Cavalry was composed altogether of ten companies. Companies A and C were recruited in Clark County; Companies E, B and F in Madison County; Company D in Estill County; Company G in Bourbon County, and Company H in Madison, Estill and Montgomery Counties. I do not know where Company I was recruited, though probably it was in Estill County. Company K was recruited in Clinton and Wayne Counties, Ky., while the regiment was [261] doing outpost duty in that section of the State early in 1863. After the accession of this company the regiment had a strength of more than 900 men. Some of the companies were consolidated and their letter designations changed, while the regiment was in Tennessee.
That the 11th Kentucky Cavalry was intended for real use rather than for ornament is shown by the fact that on the very day that it was mustered into the service (September 10, 1862), orders were received from General Kirby Smith, then at Lexington, for one of its companies to go on an expedition to Irvine and Estill Counties to find out whether there had been any movement of the Federal General George H. Morgan's forces from Cumberland Gap, in that direction; and to remain upon the scout until they had found out something definite about his movements, in whatever direction. Another order, received on the same day, directed that part of the regiment should operate with General John H. Morgan in one of his scouting forays in the mountains. On September 15 four companies of the 11th were sent into the Fox or Sugar Hill Country, in Garrard County, to hunt up, disperse or capture a little army of home guards and bushwhackers under the command of a man named King, who was giving a great deal of trouble in that direction. On the same day Lieutenant J. L. Wheeler was assigned to the command of Winchester and Clark County with his company (C) and directed to suppress all bushwhacking and break up all communications with the enemy, and to take away the arms of the Winchester home guards and parole the men.
It was in such arduous and perilous work as scouting, fighting bushwhackers, etc., that the young regiment of raw recruits received its baptism of fire, as well as its first military training, before the men were even instructed in the manual of arms or the simplest rudiments of drill and the school of the soldier; and in such work it continued until the retreat from Kentucky.
Although assigned to Morgan's Brigade, the regiment as a whole, did not join him before the retreat, and did not go out of Kentucky with him on the retreat. Morgan went out of the State by way of Versailles, Lawrenceburg, Bardstown, Elizabethtown, Hopkinsville, etc., to Gallatin, in Sumner County, [262] Tenn. Chenault's Regiment, which was the largest in Morgan's command, and perhaps the largest that ever went into the Confederate service from Kentucky, left Richmond on October 18, 1862, and retreated with the forces of General Kirby Smith by way of the Big Hill route across the mountains of Tennessee, and so had no opportunity to engage in the battle of Perryville. However, they had plenty of skirmishing with bushwhackers, as well as other rough experiences by the way.
The regiment remained with Smith until the latter part of November, when it joined Morgan's Brigade (to which it belonged) near Lebanon, Tenn. On November 20, 1862, the Confederate War Department issued an order assigning Chenault's Regiment to General Abram Buford's Cavalry Brigade, which was to be dismounted. This was done by instigation of General Bragg, whose hatred of all Kentuckians was notorious, and who did everything in his power to annoy and humiliate them. He was constantly endeavoring to have Morgan's whole force dismounted and made infantry, and it required great vigilance on the part of General Morgan and his friends to prevent this being done. Notwithstanding the fact that Chenault's Regiment was officially assigned to Buford's Brigade as early as November 20, 1862 (at which time its designation was changed from 7th Kentucky Cavalry to 11th Kentucky Cavalry), Morgan had sufficient influence to keep the regiment under his own command, and it never was a part of Buford's Brigade, only nominally.
Soon after joining Morgan, the Eleventh was prominently engaged in the biggest fight it ever took part in—the battle of Hartsville, Tenn.—one of Morgan's greatest and most brilliant victories. This battle was fought on December 9, 1863—Chenault's Regiment having then been in the service exactly three months. Numerous accounts of the battle have been published, and it is not my intention to add another. Chenault's Regiment was posted in a prominent position and took a very important part in the fight, where his men behaved like veterans and contributed materially toward securing the victory. The regiment, attacking obliquely on the flank, drove the enemy, who were greatly superior to them in numbers, for nearly half a mile, [263] without a check, until the Federal right wing was forced back upon their own left wing.
General Morgan, in his official report on the battle says: ‘Colonel Chenault led on his men with the most determined bravery, encouraging them by voice and example.’ Colonel Joseph T. Tucker used to say that General Morgan promised to have Colonel Chenault made a brigadier-general for his services in the battle of Hartsville; and no doubt he intended to do so. But Morgan himself was at that time (December 9, 1862) still only a colonel acting as brigadier commander.
General Basil W. Duke, in his ‘History of Morgan's Cavalry,’ says: ‘The most valuable capture (at Hartsville) was of boots and shoes, for some of the cavalrymen, especially of Cluke's and Chenault's Regiments, had no other covering for their feet than rags.’
Soon after this battle, and on account of it, Morgan received his long delayed commission as brigadier-general; and, on December 18, 1862, his forces were organized into two brigades, which he commanded as acting major-general. The 11th Kentucky Cavalry was assigned to the 2nd Brigade, which was commanded by Colonel W. C. P. Breckinridge, of the 9th Kentucky Cavalry, as acting brigadier-general.
On December 22, General Morgan started on what is known as his ‘Christmas Raid’ into Kentucky—the greatest of all his numerous forays into the enemy's country, except the one known as the ‘Ohio Raid.’ Starting from his camp at Alexandria, Tenn., he marched as far as Shepherdsville, Ky., before beginning his retreat, fighting nearly every day. He destroyed the L. & N. Railroad from Munfordsville to within eighteen miles of Louisville, rendering it impassible for at least two months; captured 1,877 prisoners, including 62 commissioned officers; killed and wounded a large number of Union troops, and destroyed more than $2,000,000 worth of United States property. His own loss on the raid was two killed, twenty-four wounded and sixty-four missing. His command was back in Tennessee, in camp at Smithville, on January 5, 1863, having spent just two weeks on the raid. He and his men received a vote of thanks from the Confederate Congress for their brilliant services on this raid. [264]
The 11th Kentucky Cavalry was conspicuous for the part it took in this raid. It daily did its full share of the hard and bloody work cut out for the whole command by its daring and brilliant leader, General Morgan. On December 29, Colonel Chenault and his regiment were sent in advance to burn the stockade and trestle at Boston, in Nelson County. This work they successfully accomplished, capturing and paroling the garrison at Boston, as well as destroying the bridge and trestle, and that night they rejoined General Morgan at Bardstown.
On December 31, as Morgan was slowly retreating across Muldraugh's Hill, Captain Alexander H. Tribble, of Chenault's Regiment, and Lieutenant George B. Eastin, of Duke's Regiment, were loitering behind the column, and were attacked in a hand-to-hand conflict by Colonel D. J. Halisy, of the 6th Kentucky Cavalry (Union) and two of his aides, who were riding far in advance of their own column. Lieutenant Eastin killed Colonel Halisy, and the two aides surrendered to Captain Tribble, who engaged them both, and would have slain them, except for their surrender.
On January 14, 1863, Morgan's command went into camp at McMinnville, Tenn., and Chenault's Regiment was immediately ordered to Clinton County, Ky., to guard against a dash of the Federals from that direction. On the next day (January 15) the regiment started in a pelting rain for Albany, the county seat of Clinton. It marched through rain and snow for five days, swimming both the Collins and the Obie Rivers, and reached Albany on the morning of the 22nd, much exhausted, and many of the men dismounted, the hard riding having thoroughly disabled their horses. On the 24th Major McCleary went on a scout to Monticello, twenty-five miles from Albany, and drove a company of Federals, commanded by Captain Hare, out of Monticello and across the Cumberland River.
It will be remembered that Chenault's Regiment, though operating (as it always did) under Morgan's commands, was still officially a part of Buford's Brigade. About January 20, `1863, Colonel Chenault got leave to go to Richmond, Va., where he saw Mr. Davis, the President of the Confederacy, as well as the Secretary of War; and, as the result of his conferences with them, Special Orders No. 25, dated January 30, 1863, [265] were issued, which rescinded the order of November 20, 1862, assigning his regiment to Buford's Brigade. The order concluded with these words: ‘This regiment will remain, as heretofore, with the brigade under Brigadier-General John H. Morgan. Colonel Chenault will immediately proceed from this city to Tullahoma, Tenn., and report accordingly.’
It was during this visit to Richmond that Colonel Chenault had the portrait made of which the cut accompanying this sketch is a reproduction. According to his orders, he proceeded from Richmond to Tullahoma, and reported what had been done to General Morgan, and then rejoined his regiment at Albany, Kentucky.
From January 25 until February 15 the regiment scouted and picketed the roads in every direction. The men had good rations and forage, with comfortable quarters, but the duty was heavy and severe, the whole regiment being on guard duty every two days. ‘Tinker Dave’ Beatty annoyed them so much that a chain picket had to be established around the entire town every night. Colonel Jacobs' Regiment (Federal) was at Creelsboro, twelve miles distant, and Wolford's Brigade was at Burksville, fourteen miles distant. The 11th Kentucky then had about 600 effective men, the others being sick or dismounted, and was 120 miles from support. It was only by the greatest vigilance and activity that they could maintain their position and do the immense amount of scouting and picketing that was required of them.
On February 10, 1863, the scouts brought in some newspapers from which it was learned that Colonel Frank Wolford would make a speech in Burkesville on the 12th. Early on the morning of that day Major McCreary started from Albany with two companies; and, on approaching Burkesville, formed his men behind a hill, and from the bushes near the river watched the assembling of the crowd at the courthouse to hear the speaking. There was a guard of soldiers at the ferry, within 400 yards of the courthouse. Major McCreary charged with his men, on foot, to a school house immediately on the banks of the river, and from there drove the dismounted pickets away from their horses, and broke up the speaking in tremendous disorder. Seven of the Federal troops were killed or wounded. [266] The boys christened the school house ‘Fort McCreary,’ but it did not last long, for the Federals crossed the river that night and burned it.
On February 19 Colonel Cluke passed near Albany, starting on his raid to Eastern Kentucky. He delivered orders from General Morgan for Colonel Chenault to furnish him two companies from the 11th Kentucky, to go on the raid; and Captain Terrill's and Captain Dickens' companies were detailed for that purpose.
After that date the field of picket duty for the 11th Kentucky Cavalry was extended so as to include Wayne County, as well as Cinton. On March 7 Colonel Chenault, with a great part of his regiment, went to reinforce General Pegram at Beaver Creek, marching by way of Maynardsville and Racoon Valley; and on the 10th they rejoined the regiment at Monticello, in Wayne County. At this time and place Colonel Chenault mustered into his regiment a company of men who had been recruited for it during the time it had been in Clinton and Wayne Counties.
On March 19 Major McCreary crossed the Cumberland River in a horse-trough, with a few men, and marched two miles through the rain to capture a Federal picket. He took two men, and lost one of his own.
After taking station in Kentucky on January 22, and up to April 1, 1863, a period of about sixty days, the regiment lost seventeen men by ‘brain fever,’ among them Captain Willis F. Spahr and Lieutenant Charles H. Covington. In this disease of brain fever, the men were suddenly seized with intolerable pains in the back of the head; and, after suffering intensely for a few hours, they invariably died. A case of recovery from it was unknown.
About this time General Pegram made an unsuccessful raid into Central Kentucky, going as far as Danville. He was badly defeated at Somerset, as he was retreating. The Federal forces were pressing him sorely; his troops were much scattered and demoralized, and many were captured. It is probable that nearly all of them would have been captured, except for the fact that (April 1) Colonel Chenault marched his regiment to the Cumberland River and protected the crossing of Pegram's fugitives. General Pegram never forgave Colonel Chenault for this kindness, [267] and from that date never lost an opportunity for annoying him.
On April 18 the two companies of the Eleventh that had gone with Colonel Cluke on his raid in Eastern Kentucky, rejoined the regiment. They had suffered much loss on the raid. Captain Robt. B. Terrill and Lieutenant Seth Maupin, of Company E, were both severely wounded in the hot fight at Mt. Sterling (March 21, 1863), and had to be left there. Captain Terrill, who was shot through both legs, did not recover from his wounds until several years after the war was over.
April 19, 1862, Colonel Chenault wrote from Monticello to General Morgan as follows: ‘I hasten to give you all the news we have. There is a rumor here that our forces have been attacked at Big Creek Gap, whether true or not, I do not know. Captain Joseph Chenault has just got in from a scout across the river; he crossed at Creelsburg, went to Jamestown, recrossed at Rowena, found no enemy nor heard of any. Colonel J. J. Morrison has moved his command to Albany, which leaves us a very long and heavy picket duty to perform—from the mouth of South Fork to Burkesville, but with the assistance of Major Bullock I hope to be able to hold the enemy in check. Captain Chenault was within a short distance of Burksville, heard of no force there. There are three regiments (Union) at Columbia. There is, beyond doubt, a large force on the north side of the river, with their headquarters at Danville. What their movements will be I am unable to ascertain. From various reports I have received, I should not be surprised if the enemy were moving on East Tennessee. I shall hold myself in readiness to move at a moment's notice.’
On April 20, the Cumberland then being fordable, the Federals crossed in large force at Mill Springs, and also at the mouth of Greasy Creek. Lieutenant-Colonel Tucker met them on the Mill Springs Road, and Major McCreary met them on the Greasy Creek Road. Colonel Chenault, with the remainder of the regiment, remained at Monticello. However, as the Federal force was overpowering in numbers, the three sections of the regiment were reunited at Monticello, which place they were compelled to evacuate that night, falling back in the direction of Travisville, but they re-occupied Monticello again in a [268] few days. From this place Colonel Chenault wrote (April 24) to General Morgan: ‘I have the honor to report to you that we are yet on this side of the Cumberland, and safe from the Yanks. Colonel Morrison moved on Sunday without giving me any notice, and left the front unprotected. I immediately sent out pickets and found that the enemy had crossed the river, but found the ford too deep for artillery, and consequently recrossed before my pickets reached the river. I learn from Colonel Morrison that there are three regiments of Yanks at Burkesville, and that they are scattered all along down the river. I sent a scout across the river night before last; they went eight miles, but found no enemy. I will give you all the news we get. My impression is that the enemy intends to cross the river soon.’
On April 28 he again wrote to General Morgan, from Monticello: ‘I have just returned from Mill Springs. The enemy have crossed at Morrins', and I have been skirmishing with them all day. I have just received a note from Major McCreary that they have crossed at Green's Creek, and he is skirmishing with them in that direction. We will fall back to the forks of the road, at Mr. Schull's, tonight, and await their movements. General, if possible, help us.’
On April 29 General Pegram reported to General Joe Wheeler that he had ‘assumed command of the regiments of Colonels Cluke and Chenault whilst they remain in Clinton and Wayne Counties.’ On the same day Colonel Chenault reported to General Morgan, from camp on Jimtown Road, eight miles from Monticello: ‘As previously reported, the enemy crossed the Cumberland in force yesterday at two points. We skirmished with them until dark last night; lost no men except four sick and four pickets. I will fall back to a point near Albany where they cannot flank me from Burkesville, as I learn from Colonel Morrison that there was heavy cannonading at Celina on the 25th. He is still at Albany. Major R. S. Bulloch is with me, with Cluke's Regiment.’
On May 1 Colonel Chenault sent two dispatches to General Morgan, who was then at Sparta, Tenn. The first was from Monticello: ‘The enemy are on this side of the river, and pressing hard upon me—three regiments of infantry and one of cavalry. Without help I shall not be able to hold this point [269] long. I have written to Colonel Morrison for reinforcements. Do not know whether I will get them or not. I have only about 600 men and Colonel Scott's two bull pups.’ The second dispatch was from ‘twelve miles from Monticello, on Jimtown Road—Sundown,’ and was as follows: ‘I hasten to inform you that the enemy have driven me to this point. Early this morning Colonel Morrison moved up from Albany to my relief, with Pegram's Brigade. They ambushed him, and have taken all his artillery except the two bull pups I had with me. His forces are much demoralized. I shall move with all dispatch to Livingston.’
On May 2 he was in camp near the Obie River, twelve miles from Livingston, to which point the Federal troops, some 5,000 strong, had driven him with his 600 men, and the Federals were then camped within twelve miles of him. On the next day they had come up to within four miles of him, and were pressing him hard. General Morgan then sent Colonel Adam R. Johnson's Regiment (10th Kentucky Cavalry) to Colonel Chenault's relief, and a few days later General Bragg sent Palmer's Brigade also, and all these constituted so strong a force as to save the situation.
One of the hottest little fights that Morgan's command ever engaged in was that at Greasy Creek (sometimes called ‘Horse-Shoe Bend’) in Wayne County, on May 8 and 9, 1863. On account of the fact that the 11th Kentucky Cavalry bore the brunt of this battle, as well as for the reason that Colonel Chenault's report on it is the only one of his offiical reports I have been able to find, it is here given in full, viz:
By May 25th Colonel Chenault's Regiment had permanently [271] evacuated Clinton and Wayne Counties; and, although the sending of it back there was discussed and advised, it was never sent back. The irksome tour of picket duty along nearly a hundred miles of the course of the Cumberland River was over for good and all. On May 26 the regiment was ordered into camp at Alexandria, Tenn., where Morgan's forces were mobilized in preparation for the Ohio raid. Here the regiments were re-brigaded, the light being again assigned to the 2nd Brigade, which was to be commanded (at least during the raid) by Colonel Adam R. Johnson. Colonel W. C. P. Breckinridge, who had commanded the 2nd Brigade up to this time, was not ordered with his regiment (the 9th Kentucky Cavalry) to go on the Ohio raid, having been assigned to other important duty with Bragg's Army.
On June 11 Morgan's command started on their great and disastrous raid by moving out of camp at Alexandria, Tenn. All of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry did not go on this raid, perhaps two hundred of them remaining in Tennessee on other duty. They crossed the river near the village of Rome; and, fighting and skirmishing incessantly, went into camp at Burkesville, where they remained for several days. On the night of July 3 they bivouaced at Columbia, in Adair County. Early on the morning of July 4, 1863, the command reached Green River Bridge, in Adair County, where they found Colonel Orlando H. Moore, of the 25th Michigan, strongly intrenched with his regiment. In attempting to dislodge him from his position, General Morgan had probably the most disastrous engagement of his entire military career. He never made an official report of this battle for the reason that he was taken prisoner before he had an opportunity to do so. General Adam R. Johnson, who commanded the Confederate forces that were actively engaged in this fight, gives the following brief description of it in his interesting book, ‘The Partisan Rangers’:
‘After a close and careful examination, I found a short and heavy earthwork thrown up around an abattis, a deep ravine on one sideand precipitous bluffs on the other, which prevented any approach except by the direct road to the bridge; the distance between the ravine and the bluff was not more than 150 yards, and was so well and skillfully fortified that I deemed it [272] impregnable against any dismounted cavalry, but believed we might use our artillery so as to induce a surrender. Captain Bennett was sent to the right to a point where he could enfilade the earthworks, and I sent Cluke with his regiment and a part of Owen's Regiment to cross the river at a ford below the bridge, and make a demonstration in the rear. Bennett's enfilading fire soon drove the enemy from the earthworks in front of the abbattis, and I was moving my artillery with the intention of opening fire upon the fortifications, when General Morgan joined me in the Federal earthworks, and gave orders not to use the artillery, and sent in a summons to surrender. The reply soon came back from Colonel Moore: “The 4th of July is a bad day for a Federal officer to surrender.” Morgan immediately ordered me to take the remnant of my brigade left on that side of the river, about 400 strong, and storm the stronghold. I begged the General not to attempt it, as I had but seven rounds of ammunition, and we could easily flank the place, but he insisted, and I led the charge. By the time we reached the abattis our ammunition was exhausted, and about fifty of my men were killed and wounded, including the brave Colonel Chenault. Duke's charge on my right met a similar fate, he losing the gallant Brent, and other valuable officers and men.’
General Duke says (History of Morgan's Calvary):—‘Colonel Chenault was killed in the midst of the abattis—his brains blown out as he was firing his pistol into the earthwork and calling on his men to follow. He was an officer who had no superior in bravery and devotion to the cause for which he fought.’
It is said that Private E. Waller Combs, of Company A, killed the soldier who killed Colonel Chenault. Combs shot him just as he was in the act of shooting the colonel, and both men fell dead at practically the same instant. Major McCreary assumed command of the regiment after Colonel Chenault was killed.
Colonel Moore, the gallant defender of the stockade, states in his official report of the affair that the battle raged for three and a half hours, and that the Confederate loss was fifty killed and 200 wounded, among the killed being one colonel, two majors, five captains and six lieutenants. He probably did not overstate the loss, especially of the killed. He concludes his report as follows: ‘The conflict was fierce and bloody. At times [273] the enemy occupied one side of the fallen timber, while my men held the other, in almost a hand-to-hand fight. My force was a fraction of my regiment, consisting of 200 men, who fought gallantly. Our loss was six killed and twenty-three wounded. After the battle I received, under a flag of truce, a dispatch asking permission to bury their dead, which request was granted, promising to deliver them in front of our line.’
After burying his dead at Green River Bridge, General Morgan marched away without making further attack upon the stockade. He promoted Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph T. Tucker to be colonel, and Major James B. McCreary to be lieutenant-colonel of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry, after the death of Colonel Chenault, and they later were approved by President Davis and confirmed by the Senate and received their commissions.
The next day the command had a hot fight at Lebanon, Ky., where Colonel Charles H. Hanson was intrenched with his regiment, the 20th Kentucky Infantry, and had no alternative but to surrender, being overpowered by numbers. He and his men were paroled, and Morgan proceeded on his way, after destroying a vast amount of United States property that was stored at Lebanon. Colonel Tucker and Colonel Hanson were law partners at Winchester for years before the war, and were still so when the war began.
To give an account of the further deeds of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry would be merely to rewrite the history of the Ohio raid, with which nearly everybody in Kentucky is familiar. This regiment took full part and share in all the dangers and fatigues of that wonderful foray into an enemy's country, where Morgan's men, encompassed by an ever increasing array of hostile hosts, fighting every foot of the way, riding almost incessantly, and eating and sleeping in the saddle, established the world's high-water mark for distance accomplished in daily march, as well as for soldiery fortitude and endurance.
Most of Chenault's Regiment were taken prisoners at Buffington's Island, Ohio, on July 17, 1863. About two hundred of this regiment made a charge under Major McCreary and escaped. at Buffington Island, but were surrounded by a large force of Federal cavalry the next day, and surrendered. A few of the men of the Eleventh were among the band of 300 troops who [274] got safely back to Dixie by swimming the Ohio river on their horses, on the evening of July 16, under the leadership of the indomitable Adam R. Johnson; and a few more escaped capture at Buffington Island only to be made prisoners a few days later (July 26), when the intrepid Morgan made his last stand in Columbia County, Ohio, and surrendered with the remaining remnants of his gallant command. At that time Second Lieutenant Rodney Haggard, of Company A, was the ranking officer of the fragment of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry that still remained with Morgan, whose forces then were about 300, all told, and were surrounded by about 80,000 Federals, including regulars, volunteers, militia, home guards, and ‘squirrel hunters,’ who had flocked from all quarters to beset him. The point where they surrendered was ‘the farthest north’ attained by any Confederate force marching directly from the South during the war. The St. Albano, Vermont, raid was made by twenty Confederate soldiers, mostly escaped prisoners of war, from Canada.
After their capture the prisoners were sent to Cincinnati, where they constituted quite a rare show for the populace; and from thence they were sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, Camp Morton, Ind., and Camp Douglas, Ill.; though eventually most of them were assembled at Camp Douglas. The officers were imprisoned at various places—the Ohio penitentiary, at Columbus; Johnson's Island, Ohio; Allegheny penitentiary, Pa.; Point Lookout, Md., and Fort Delaware, Del. It was claimed that the officers were confined for a while in the Georgia penitentiary.
While Major McCreary was a prisoner at Fort Delaware, 600 Confederate officers including him, were put on a steamer, with a Federal gunboat as a convoy, and sent to Morris Island, opposite Charleston, S. C., and put under fire as retaliation because a number of Federal officers had been imprisoned by order of President Davis at Charleston while that city was being bombarded by Federal batteries, and the women and children and non-combatants compelled to flee for safety to the woods. It was believed by Mr. Davis that if he placed Federal officers in Charleston the Federal batteries would cease to bombard the city, and permit women and children and non-combatants, who had been suffering from disease and exposure to return to their homes, but the Federal authorities, as a retaliation, sent the 600 [275] officers to whom reference has been made to Morris Island, which is a small, barren island of the shape of a sugar loaf, about 1,200 yards from Charleston, and between Charleston and the Federal batteries; and the shells and shots from the Federal batteries passed over the inclosure where the Confederate officers were confined and guarded by negroes.
The steamer on which Major McCreary and the six hundred were being transported to Morris Island was out on the ocean four days and nights in making the trip from Fort Delaware to Charleston, and on the third night was, by a sudden gale, driven out of her course and stranded on the coast of South Carolina, but was afterwards pulled off by the bunboat which was acting as convoy, and went into Port Royal Harbor for repairs. The Confederate officers were finally landed at Morris Island, where they remained during the terribly hot months of July and August, and Major McCreary, Captain David Logan and Lieutenant Crow, of Morgan's command, and a few other officers were exchanged with the sick and returned to Richmond, Va., and the other officers of the six hundred were sent back to Fort Delaware.
At Richmond, Major McCreary was given his commission as lieutenant-colonel and granted a furlough for thirty days, and then he was placed in command of a battalion of Kentucky troops and South Carolina troops, and did service in Virginia, participating in several engagements, and doing considerable scouting until the surrender at Appomattox.
A few months before the surrender many of the soldiers of Chenault's Regiment and hundreds of the men belonging to Morgan's Cavalry, were exchanged with the sick, and those fit for duty were assigned to Lieutenant-Colonel McCreary's command. After the surrender of General Lee at Appomattox, Lieutenant-Colonel McCreary went with what was left of Chenault's Regiment to Kentucky, and reported to General Hobson, at Lexington, and were ordered to disband, and Colonel Mc-Creary returned with his Madison County comrades to Richmond, Ky., terms of peace having been arranged by those in command of the contending armies.
[276]
The regimental field and staff officers.
The field and staff officers of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry during its career were as follows:Colonels—David Waller Chenault, Joseph T. Tucker. Lieutenant—Colonels—Joseph T. Tucker, James B. McCreary.
Major—James B. McCreary. (It is believed that no major was appointed from among the captains of the regiment after Major McCreary was promoted to lieutenant-colonel; Captain August H. Magee was the senior captain of the regiment.)
Adjutant—Captain William Lewis Hickman. Surgeon—Dr. G. M. Webb.
Assistant Surgeons—Dr. Aylett Raines, Dr. B. Washington Taylor.
Quartermaster—Captain Buford Allen Tracy.
Commissary of Subsistance—Captain R. Williams.
Chaplain—Rev. William L. Riddle.
Sergeants-Major—John Henry Jackson, James Royall Price.
Colonel Chenault.
David Waller Chenault was born in Madison County, Ky., February 5, 1826, the son of Anderson Chenault and Emily Cameron, his wife. Through his father he was descended from Estenne Chenault, a native of Languedoc, France, who, in company with many other Huguenots, was obliged to leave France after the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and in 1700 settled in Virginia. Colonel Chenault's grandfather, William Chenault, a soldier of the Revolutionary War, was among the first settlers of Kentucky and lived and died on a farm near Richmond that he bought in 1878, from George Boone, a brother of Daniel Boone. Through his brother, Colonel Chenault was descended from Robert Cameron, of Inverness, Scotland, who fought under his chieftain, Cameron of Lochiel, at the battle of Culloden, in 1745, after which he made his way to Connecticut, whence his descendants, much later, made their way to Kentucky, stopping for a generation or so in Pennsylvania, en route.Colonel Chenault was a prosperous farmer in Madison County, and active locally in politics as a Whig, though he was never a [277] candidate for any political office. He served in the Mexican War as a subaltern in Captain J. C. Stone's company of Colonel Humphrey Marshall's First Kentucky Cavalry. He married Tabitha Phelps, of Madison County, but they never had any children. After his death his widow married William Todd, formerly of Missouri, who had been a captain in Quantrell's command.
Colonel Chenault was buried on the battlefield at Green River Bridge, but in a few days his remains were taken up by his brother, Dr. R. C. Chenault, and carried to Madison County and reinterred in the old family burying-ground. In 1901, thirty-nine years later, his remains were again exhumed, and reinterred in the Richmond Cemetery. On this occasion the undertaker opened the coffin and found that, owing to some peculiarity of the soil in which it had been buried for nearly forty years, the body was still perfectly preserved, as though death had ensued only the day before, and the features of the face were still as perfect as in life, and plainly recognizable.
Colonel Tucker.
Joseph T. Tucker was born in Boston, Mass., in 1824, the son of Dr. Eben Tucker and Mary White Hunt, his wife. Dr. Tucker was educated at Harvard University, and was a leading physician in Boston; his wife was a descendant of Peregrine White, who came to America in the Mayflower, in 1620. Joseph T. Tucker was educated at Yale University, and soon after graduation went to Kentucky, and settled in Winchester to practice law. There he married Miriam Hood, daughter of Dr. Andrew Hood, one of the most famous physicians that ever lived in Kentucky. At that time there were fifteen lawyers at the Winchester bar, and it is said that all of them were Whigs, except Mr. Tucker and Charles Eginton, who were States Rights Democrats. After his capture in the Ohio raid Colonel Tucker was imprisoned in the Ohio penitentiary, but was afterwards taken to Fort Delaware. From this place he was taken on June 26, 1864, in company with fifty other Confederate officers, and placed on the steamer Dragoon to be carried to Charleston, S. C., to be placed within range of the Confederate guns, in retaliation, for the act [278] of Confederates in placing Union officers in points of danger while that city was under the fire of the Union Army. But after being kept prisoners on the Dragoon for five weeks, Colonel Tucker and his companions were exchanged, and he entered active service again under General John C. Breckinridge, in West Virginia, and served there until the war closed, in command of what was called the ‘Kentucky Battalion.’ At the close of the war he led his men through the mountains of Kentucky to Mt. Sterling, where he surrendered on May 1, 1865. Being debarred from practicing law in Kentucky on account of having served in the Confederate Army, he went to Georgia, where he remained until 1869, when his disabilities having been removed, he returned to Winchester and resumed the practice of law. He served as County Attorney for Clark County, and in 1871-2 he represented the county in the State Legislature, where he was recognized as one of the abest members of that body. He died in Winchester on September 28, 1906, in his eighty-third year. His wife and two children, Miss Nannie Tucker and Mr. Hood Tucker, survive him.
Colonel McCreary.
James B. McCreary was born in Madison County, Ky., July 8, 1839; graduated when eighteen years old at Center College, in 1859 graduated in the law department of Cumberland University, Tenn., with first honors in a class of forty-seven members, and at once began the practice of law in Richmond. After his capture at Cheshire, Ohio., he was incarcerated in the Ohio penitentiary, and afterwards at Fort Delaware, Del., and later at Morris Island, S. C. In 1868 he was elected a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, held in New York; elected a member of the House of Representatives of Kentucky in 1869, 1871 and 1873, and was Speaker of the House in 1871 and 1873; elected Governor of Kentucky in 1875, and served to 1879; was appointed, under an act of Congress, by the President of the United States, and served as a delegate to the International Monetary Conference held at Brussells, Belgium, in 1892, where twenty nations were represented; was elected to represent the Eighth Kentucky district in the Forty-ninth Congress in 1884, and re-elected to the Fiftieth, Fifty-first, Fifty-second, Fifty-third [279] and Fifty-fourth Congresses; was elected a delegate from the State-at-large to the National Democratic Convention held in Kansas City in 1900, and was chairman of the State Democratic Committee in the campaign of that year; was elected delegate from the State-at-large to the National Convention held in St. Louis in 1904. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1902 for the term beginning March 4, 1903, and ending March 3, 1909.
Captain Hickman.
William Lewis Hickman, adjutant of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry, was born in Winchester, Ky., in 1824, the son of William L. Hickman and Sarah Pearson, his wife, both of whom were born in Virginia. He was the grandson of Richard Hickman, who was Governor of Kentucky during the war of 1812. Through his mother he was American ‘Rebel,’ the leader of what is called ‘Bacon's Rebellion,’ in Virginia in 1676. ‘Billy’ Hickman, as his friends fondly called him, was educated in the Winchester schools, and went into the mercantile business there at an early age. In 1847 he was partner with Henry Bell in a mercantile house in Lexington. A few years later he went to St. Louis. He was the founder of the Lodge of Odd Fellows in Winchester, which is called Hickman Lodge, in his honer. When the war began he was in St. Louis, and enlisted in a body of Confederate troops that was raised there, but he was captured by General Seigle, and imprisoned. He escaped from prison and made his way to his home in Winchester, where he was again arrested, and paced in prison in Lexington, but escaped from that prison also. When the 11th Kentucky Cavalry was recruited he joined it, and was made adjutant, with the rank of captain, and served gallantly until his capture on the Ohio raid, after which he was imprisoned in the Ohio penitentiary, Johnson's Island, Allegheny penitentiary, Pa., and Point Lookout, Md., remaining a prisoner until the close of the war, when he was released, reaching there on May I, 1865. About 1875 he left Winchester for the West, and has never been heard of since. No man ever had more friends, or more devoted ones, than he.
