Wasn't it Walker's Choctaw unit?
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Wasn't it Walker's Choctaw unit?
Thanks for the question and interest. Everything in my records show it was General Stand Waite's 1st Indian Brigade which was composed of Cherokee and Creek Indians. Colonel Tandy Walker's 2nd Brigade operated in Mississippi, Alabama, and the Florida parishes of Louisiana. I have several sources that say it was Cherokees. However, there is a lot of confusion about the Indian units. For instance, 5 different units were referred to as the 1st Choctaw Regiment...so! Is it possible it was Choctaws, or is it possible the unit involved at Poison Springs was misidentified as a Choctaw unit? Yep. There were Choctaws in Arkansas earlier in the war, 1862-63, but by 1864 they were HQ in Mississippi.Originally Posted by JuBru
When I saw your post I pulled my notes and checked them, and they show it was Cherokees, a regiment in Waite's brigade. But, if you have something I'd like to see what it says and the citation for the source.
Here's a little more...Walker's Brigade of Choctaws were virtually wiped out in the spring of 1863, most captured, when they participated in the hunt for Grierson's Raiders, the brigade that destroyed Newton Station. The John Wayne movie "The Horse Soldiers" is based on this. Walker's Choctaws took up a position near Baton Rouge to block the road and capture Grierson's Yankees, but Union reinforcements out of Baton Rouge came up from behind Walker's Brigade and forced them to surrender. The final scene in John Wayne's movie is something similar but that was the 9th Partisan Rangers who tried to block a bridge, and many were captured.
There were, and are, Choctaw peoples in West Louisiana and East Texas and certainly were back in the 1860's. Yet, there is no record of any Confederate units being formed from that tribe, which today is HQ in Ebarb, Louisiana. The Cherokees, under General Stand Waite, were from those tribes forced to relocate from Georgia to the Indian Territory (Oklahoma) during the Andrew Jackson presidency, "The Trail of Tears" and they had no love lost for the US government.
But, is it possible the remnants of Walker's Choctaws were operating in that portion of the Trans-Mississippi in 1864? Yeah, I suppose. The Official Records (of the "Civil War"), the ORs, are notorious for inaccuracies. Most of that due to honest mistakes, and some of it because of purposeful CYAs! There are other units that were completely left out of the ORs, like the Isle Brevelle Rangers, for instance.
Had never heard this. Hard to get this image out of my mind.
This is what I see on the internet:
https://usctchronicle.blogspot.com/2...n-springs.html
https://www.okhistory.org/publicatio...hp?entry=WA009
https://www.okhistory.org/publicatio...hp?entry=SE003
https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/e...son-spring-37/
But the main thing is that I remember reading The Battle of Poison Springs by Ira Don Richards for a paper I wrote in another life.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/40030632
Good stuff! Just shows why you can't believe everything you see on the Internet. There is a lot of conflicting information about all aspects of history, and that includes the so-called "Civil War." I attended a Civil War Roundtable in Little Rock years ago and listened to those presenting on the Arkansas portion of the Red River Campaign, which ended with the Battle of Jenkins Ferry. I do not recall much of the details, but I do have stored away, in some box, the handouts from that event. I will have to find them and see what they say about the Indian units at Poison Springs. In my notes, I show it as a Cherokee regiment, but will be happy to correct it if not right.
And, it was during a presentation on Jenkins Ferry a fellow from Indiana got all bent out of shape over the identification of a regiment. The presenter had battle maps from the ORs showing the placement of Union regiments and one fellow in the audience stood up and forcefully stated the map was wrong about one regiment, one his ancestor served in. The presenter pointed out this was from the ORs and all he did was lift the image from the records. Most of us in attendance didn't know who was right, but we did know (and do know) the ORs are notorious for being "in error."
Thanks again.
April 21, 1864
Word reached General Nathanial Banks that General Frederick Steele would not be joining him for the push on Shreveport. Banks ordered an immediate "retrograde movement" (retreat) to Alexandria. His army had sat bottled up at Grand Ecore for more than a week. That night General A. J. Smith's 16th Corps was in the vanguard and moved to secure the river crossing at Natchitoches. The rest of the army passed behind the 16th Corps who was then back in their customary position as the rear guard. A brigade of Confederate cavalry, under Colonel William Steele (no relation to the Union general), had just arrived to bolster the ranks of Brigadier General Hamilton Bee's cavalry brigade. Bee had about 2,000 troopers and two horse-artillery batteries and was no match for the 25,000 Yanks coming down the road.
The Yanks moved with purpose as Banks thought General Richard Taylor had at least as many (25,000) and would bring a battle against him. Instead, Taylor would only have about 7,000 for the rest of the campaign. The Union army skirmished with Confederate cavalry that night and all the next day. General Bee had 1,300 in front and Colonel Steele 700 troopers harassing the rear of the column.
Sidenote: Hamilton Bee was the younger brother of General Bernard Bee who had at 1st Manassas uttered the now-famous words, "there stands Jackson like a stone wall, rally behind the Virginians!" "General Stonewall Jackson" was thus born.
The Yanks covered 22 miles the first day of the retreat, reaching the area of Cloutierville by nightfall on the 22nd.
April 23, 1864 The battles of Cloutierville (Magnolia Plantation) and Monette's Ferry
General Richard Taylor sat by the campfire the night of the 22nd and brooded. He was recounting his gains and his losses but was most troubled by his superior (in rank, not capability) General E. Kirby Smith's decision to transfer the bulk of his command to Arkansas. Smith planned to pursue General Steele's retreating Union army, an effort that would end in utter failure at Jenkins Ferry. Taylor was left with two divisions of cavalry (4,500 troopers) and one of infantry, General Camile Polignac's division (2,500 soldiers), and artillery under Major Brent, about 40 guns. And here he sat with the Bank's Union army, 25,000 men, bottled up in the valley trapped before the heights of Monette's Ferry. If only he had more men...
General John Wharton was on special assignment for General Joseph Johnston, Army of Tennessee, to return to Texas and recruit and build more units. Wharton detoured and sought out Taylor to offer his condolences on the losses of Generals Mouton and Green. Wharton was personal friends with Tom Green, both Texans, and he was deeply saddened by his loss. Wharton is considered one of the very best cavalry commanders on either side during the war, and Taylor knew his sparkling reputation. That night Taylor offered Wharton command of his cavalry for the duration of the campaign, and Wharton accepted. At that time General John Major was in command of Taylor's mounted units and was west with the bulk of it trying to find forage for the animals. Polignac's Infantry and Major Brent's artillery was slowly making their way on the western road along Cane River. Wharton joined Colonel William Steele's small brigade north of Magnolia Planation while General Hamilton Bee's men held the heights covering the Cane River crossing at Monette's Ferry.
Before daylight on the 23rd Steele's Confederates struck a Yankee cavalry battalion at Magnolia Plantation and a pivotal day in history, two separate desperate battles, had begun. The Yankee troopers gave way and retired one mile across open cotton fields into the town of Cloutierville. There the Union 16th Corps Infantry and a division of the 17th Corps, about 9,000 soldiers, were bivouacked. Upon arrival Taylor sent Brent and his artillery across the river to join Wharton. Soon he had 30 of his guns in action shelling the Yanks in town. General Banks and the rest of the Union army was 6 miles south at Monette's Ferry and they could hear the "thunder" echoing down to them. Banks was sure Taylor had at least 25,000 men and maybe more and counseled with his commanders, General Arnold (in command of his cavalry) and General Franklin (infantry) about an honorable surrender to avoid the useless waste of lives. General Emory, 19th Corps, asked for an opportunity to break out, and Banks agreed. Union infantry advanced across open fields but was hammered by Bee's 8 cannons and 1,000 troopers dug in on the heights. The Cane River sat at the base of the heights serving as a "moat" and the only place it could be crossed was at the low spot (water about 4' deep) at the ferry crossing. The Yanks abandoned Cloutierville to escape the shower of artillery shells raining down upon them. Finally, Banks sent General Birge across the river to hit the left flank of the Confederates on the heights. Birge had his own brigade plus one from the 13th Corps, about 3,000 men. Opposing him was Colonel George Baylor and his Arizona Battalion of cavalry, only 300 troopers. Baylor's men carried both rifles and shotguns, and in one instance, on a thickly wooded hill, they halted a Yankee advance unleashing buckshot close up. Seeing the danger Bee sent Colonel Isham Chisholm's battalion of mounted rifles, another 200 men, but they were still badly outnumbered. Chisholm was Cherokee and related to Jesse Chisholm of "The Chisholm Trail" fame.
General Bee had placed his supply train on the western road and it was now threatened by Birge's advance. To save it, Bee suddenly gave up the heights and just like that the cork was out of the bottle. Taylor was furious saying, "Bee had only to hold on a little longer and we had the means to make Banks sorry." Realizing how close they had come to changing the flow of the war both Taylor and Wharton would write how a huge opportunity was missed at Monette's Ferry. General John Wharton died May 6, 1865 but in his personal diary he had recorded his thoughts about that fateful day, April 23, 1864.
Man this is good stuff. Thanks for posting, guys.
Really amazing how close the war came to north central Louisiana. I have often wondered what route the troops took from Camden southward toward the Red River? Reason I ask, a couple of months ago a 6-inch cannonball from what was determined to be a Confederate gun was found around western Union Parish...between Bernice and Dubach, I believe...and the folks that found it were wondering how the heck it got there!
I know there was a fairly large Confederate camp at Vienna, particularly just after the Vicksburg capitulation in July of 1863, as a few of my family members with the 31st LA Inf were sent there after the prisoner exchange. My first thought was this cannonball may have been left from the fortification of that Vienna camp, however, I assume it could have been left by Confederates on the way from Camden to Mansfield?
Any thoughts on this? --- to close out my story, the cannonball found was in very good shape, so they did have representatives ATF come and look at it to make sure it was safe to remove.
Back in the 60's and 70's people could/would relic hunt everywhere, including in state and national battlefield parks. In the latter it was not allowed but enforcement was non-existent. So, have a friend who had (still has???) an attic full of relics including shells. He was curious and took a couple of Hotchkiss shells to a national guard bomb disposal unit, they sent them to Fort Polk where they were disarmed. They had been live shells and could have exploded, especially if his house had caught on fire. He then had the rest of his shells checked out too. His wife was VERY upset knowing just above them had been an attic full of live shells...for decades!
Other than some light skirmishing there was no fighting near Vienna or Bernice. I think you are probably correct, and that cannonball was left, dropped by the artillery crew. Both armies lost stuff and left tons of equipment and ammunition behind.
I don't know of any particular movement of Confederate troops from Camden to Red River. None of the units that participated in the pursuit of Frederick Steele's army, which ended at the Battle of Jenkins Ferry, Arkansas April 30, 1864 returned to Louisiana. There were other Confederate units operating across north Louisiana, namely General St. John Liddel's division of mounted troops, which covered from Milliken's Bend on the Mississippi River, all around Monroe and that area, and down toward Alexandria-Pineville to assist General Richard Taylor in the concluding stages of the Red River Campaign. They passed through Vienna, coming and going, on numerous occasions. Of course they had artillery batteries, lighter pieces, often referred to as "Horse" artillery or "Flying" artillery due to rapid movement of the guns in battle.
North Central Louisiana, the region of Lincoln and Ouachita parishes today, was spared any hard fighting. The Yanks did send gunboats up the Ouachita River and sparred with Confederate batteries up and down the river and had a heavy engagement at Fort Beauregard at Harrisonburg, Louisiana. Other than that, not much happened in that part of Louisiana.
April 24 Union column shelled along the Bayou Rapides Road (near Boyce, La) and from the heights of McNutt Hill.
April 26 The USS Eastport is scuttled near Montgomery, La. to prevent it falling in Confederate hands. It had become disabled after striking a Confederate torpedo (mine). The Eastport was the most powerful in the Mississippi Squadron, Union Fleet, with her six 32-pounder heavy Dahlgren cannons. But below the water line she had a wooden hull, vulnerable to Confederate torpedoes.
April 27 Union foragers encounter slaves guarding the road to Elmira Plantation (above Alexandria, La.). Plantation was owned by John Shaw who was in the 4th Louisiana Cavalry, riding with General Nathan Bedford Forrest. The Yankee troopers tried to convince the blacks to quit the plantation and follow the retreating Union army, but they declined. The blacks carried shotguns and hand weapons and the Yanks wanted no part of it, so they departed.
April 28 After skirmishing, and one heavy engagement along Hadnot Creek (near Colfax, La.), Union "sappers" and patrols were recalled back into the friendly confines of the armed Union camp. Confederate cavalry surrounded the city and ambushed Yankee patrols.
Meanwhile the Union navy had been abandoned, left to fend for itself. The water level in the Red River had dropped to historic lows and the gunboats constantly ran aground. Porter would not depart Grand Ecore until May 7th.
April 30, 1864 Battle of Jenkins Ferry, Arkansas
General E. Kirby Smith's attempt to defeat Steele's Union legion and then chase the Yanks out of Arkansas ended in utter failure at Jenkins Ferry. Smith had taken Churchill's and Walker's infantry divisions and a brigade of horse, about 8,200 effectives away from General Taylor depriving him of the troops he needed to trap Bank's army at Monette's Ferry, and then failed in Arkansas. General Taylor wrote, "it appears General Smith is throwing a protective shield around the Yankees."
May 1, 1864
Union General John McClernand marched his legion back into Alexandria, it was composed of two divisions of the 13th Corps infantry, a regiment of cavalry, and a battalion of artillery, a total of 3,800 men. McClernand had been at Greer's Ferry on the Sabine River on the Louisiana-Texas line, opposite Confederate General John B. Magruder (East Texas Sector of the Trans-Mississippi Department). No major battle was fought.
General William Lynch's 2nd Division, 16th Corps was at Fort DeRussy (Marksville, La.) and General Cuvier Grover, 2nd Division, 19th Corps was at Alexandria. When all the Yankee units converged on Alexandria, their numbers swelled to close to 40,000 effectives. Meanwhile Confederate General Richard Taylor would have a total of 8,500 men to try to do something with. On the west side were 7,000 soldiers, with Taylor, and on the east bank of the Red River was General St. John Liddell's legion of about 1,500 men.
The Yanks would hunker down in Alexandria-Pineville for two weeks, waiting for the trapped Union navy to join them and for General Nathanial Banks, it was a time to weigh his options. Could he/should he renew the campaign?
May 7
Admiral David Porter was out of time and had to chance it. Recent rains had raised the level of the Red River some but as Porter wrote in his personal diary, "the Red was not a river but rather just wet sand." Porter still had 27 ships at Grand Ecore above Natchitoches and the army was 50 miles south in Alexandria. His most powerful ship the USS Eastport had already been lost and there were seven other ironclads and a host of gunboats and support ships, 57 in total, all stranded above the rocky falls at Alexandria, thus the name "Rapides."
Over the next two weeks the Union navy would run the gauntlet of Confederate guns firing at point blank range from the riverbank. Captain Cornay handled Liddel's artillery from the east bank while Major Brent operated with his guns from the western side. Even mountain howitzers and 6-pounder smoothbores could do severe damage to most of the boats, as most were virtually unprotected by armor. And there would be two major tragedies. On a pumper/tug boat, one of the Champions, 185 former slaves were crowded into the cargo hole seeking freedom as promised by the Yankees. This boat received a direct hit to its machinery, the steam boiler exploded releasing scalding hot steam into the bowels of the ship. Only a few of the blacks survived, the rest roasted to death. In another instance a troop transport carrying 340 soldiers of the 120th Ohio Regiment had become isolated and had no gunboat escort. Cornay's guns caught it alone and opened fire. The ship ran aground on the bank and its black powder supply exploded. Those not killed were taken prisoner by the Confederates. The regiment was written off the records as a 100% loss.
And so, by May 9th, Porter's fleet "limped" into the area of Alexandria, now under the protection of the army encamped there. But the vast majority of the fleet, including most of the ironclads were trapped above the rocky falls. The water level in the Red was too low for the boats to pass the rapids.
*** oops! I thought it was May 7th, it's only the 6th! My bad.
Famous Last Words!
Today in History -- On today’s date 158 years ago, Monday, May 9, 1864 during the War Between the States, noted Union Army Major General John Sedgwick (1813-1864) met his earthly demise at the age of 50 when he was killed by a Confederate sharpshooter during the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, becoming the highest-ranking Union casualty during the entire War.
During the Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, General Sedgwick became outraged that his men were ducking in a “cowardly” manner because of musket balls fired by Confederate sharpshooters from a distance of approximately 1,000 yards, so he stepped out into the open & declared: “Why are you dodging like this?” General Sedgwick then uttered his famous last words: “They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance!” A split second later the general was killed instantly by a shot that penetrated his left eye socket.
The .451 calibre English-made Whitworth rifled musket that was used to shoot General Sedgwick was legendary for its long range accuracy, as General Sedgwick later found out.
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