Chapter 3 - Gallatin and Hartsville |
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6 On the 1st of November, 1862, they broke camp at New Haven, where they had moved from Frankfort, and rode out towards Bowling Green, Kentucky. They were one man short in company A when they left Frankfort, as Private Randolph Davis deserted the Company on the day they left. The march to Bowling Green was very rough on the men and horses. This part of Kentucky had suffered a severe drought and they were dependent on pools of water which had not yet dried up. When the Rebels had retreated, they attempted to destroy these remaining pools by killing animals and throwing their carcasses into them. The soldiers had to drink from these contaminated pools or die of thirst. Several of the men in the regiment became seriously ill, probably from drinking the poisoned water. During their several days in Bowling Green, two men from Company "A", Privates Allen Taylor and Jim Duggins died in the hospital from illness brought about by bad drinking water and an outbreak of measles. The measles first appeared among the men of the 79th Ohio Infantry. Several men of that regiment died here in Bowling Green. After a few days of picket duty at Bowling Green, the 11th Kentucky Cavalry and its Division moved to Scottsville, Kentucky, camping on the night of November 12th at Allen Springs. They arrived in Scottsville, Kentucky on the 13th, where they remained until November 25th, doing picket duty. A detachment of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry was sent off by General Dumont under Captain W. H. Belle to Nicholasville where they did a great deal of escorting and picketing, taking a number of prisoners. Rebel Cavalry had been reported active in the area and Morgan's cavalry was also reported near Gallatin, Tennessee, south of Scottsville and in their line of march. They were ordered to remain in Scottsville. The 11th Ky. Cavalry Regiment was now assigned to the 34th Brigade of the Department of the Ohio, District of Western Kentucky. The District of Western Kentucky was commanded by Major General H. G. Wright, and the Brigade was commanded by S. A. Strickland. In this Brigade were also the 3rd, 4th, 8th, 9th and 12th Kentucky Cavalry Regiments, and 4th Illinois Cavalry. The 11th was mainly used to protect General Rosecran's flank on his push into Middle Tennessee. On November 25th they moved to Gallatin, Tennessee, where they reported to Brigadier General E. A. Paine, Commander of the Post at Gallatin. pg 7 MORGAN ATTACKS AT HARTSVILLE Some of the Companies of the 11th Ky. Cavalry were used for picket and scouting duties, primarily along the Gallatin to Scottsville Road. On the 1st of December, 1862, Captain Slater and 70 men of Company E, of the 11th, had been sent to serve temporary duty with Colonel A. R. Moore, of the 104th Illinois Infantry, at Hartsville, Tennessee. Hartsville was a small village east of Gallatin on the Cumberland River. On the evening of December 6th, scouts reported to Colonel Moore that John Morgan, with a cavalry force of about 4,000 men, two regiments of Infantry and 8 pieces of artillery, had moved out of Lebanon, Tennessee toward Hartsville. The pickets gave warning in time for the troops at Hartsville to place themselves in proper line to receive the enemy. At Hartsville were the 104th Illinois Infantry, the 106th and 108th Ohio Infantry, 280 men of the 2nd Indiana Cavalry, 70 men of the 11th Ky Cavalry from Company E, and a section of Nicklin's Indiana battery. The line of battle was formed with the Indiana Cavalry, including Company E of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry, and the 104th Illinois on the left. The 108th Ohio was in the center and the 106th Ohio on the right. On the 7th of December, Morgan's artillery opened fire and the 106th Ohio broke and fled. The Cavalry Squadron rode forward trying to keep the enemy's forward pickets from the ravine in front of the Federal lines. They soon had to retreat however, back to the main lines. The fight continued for an hour and a half, and at last Colonel Moore was obliged to order his men to surrender at their discretion. Nearly 2,000 men surrendered, with only a very few escaping and returning to Gallatin. Two Officers and 42 enlisted men of Company E of the 11th Kentucky Cavalry were among the prisoners. The men of the 104th Illinois were made to take off their heavy overcoats and give them to the rebels. This Regiment was ordered by command to draw up in line and given the order, "104th Illinois Infantry, Attention. Come out of them overcoats". The weather was terribly cold and there was snow and ice on the ground. After they were captured, the rebels mounted two prisoners to a horse and crossed all of them over the Cumberland River. Once across, they were forced to march on foot at a rapid pace in the terrible cold toward Murfreesboro, which was General Bragg's headquarters. They made 25 miles on that day between one o'clock P.M. and nine o'clock P.M., and then camped. Most of the men had not eaten for 24 hours. They were ordered to stand around the campfires in the snow where they stood all night. The next day they marched again without any food until 9 o'clock that night. Each man then was given two ounces of flour and four ounces of fresh meat. The men made a dough out of the flour and wrapping it upon a stick baked it over the fire while the meat was roasting. Most of the overcoats had been taken from the men and they suffered severely from the effects of the weather. The next day, about noon, they reached Murfreesboro, where they were later paroled. On Wednesday morning, they were sent under guard to Nashville. When they were within three miles of the Union lines at Nashville, the paroled prisoners were forced to relinquish their blankets to the rebel guards. Colonel Moore was not released with the men and was kept as a prisoner. In all, Moore's command lost about 150 men killed and wounded. The enemy's loss is estimated at 120 killed and wounded. pg 8 About this time, a portion of Company A was ordered to Scottsville, Kentucky to accompany and guard a wagon train from that place to Gallatin and Nashville. They arrived in Scottsville on the 14th of December. On the 15th, they left with the supply wagons, this time without Private William A. Ross, who had deserted while they were in Scottsville. Arriving back in Gallatin much fatigued and cold, they learned there was a breakout of typhoid fever in the camp. Many of the men were in the hospital and morale was becoming a problem. Two more men of the regiment deserted, one man from Company F on the 15th and one man from Company H on the 20th. On the 20th of December, Corporal John M. Cates, of Company A, was identified by a man in the 4th Kentucky Infantry, recently arriving at the camp, as a deserter from that regiment. Corporal Cates confessed this was so, and was delivered to the Commanding Officer of the 4th Kentucky Infantry. The Regiment stood at arms the whole night, on December 21st while Confederate Raider John Morgan was passing the camps of the Army about 6 miles away and the Union troops were expecting a possible attack on Gallatin. On the 28th of December, one of the men in Company B died of typhoid fever. Many of the regiment's men were ill. It seemed that not a day passed but what a man became sick from one disease or another. |