“At ease, men. Close the door!” ordered Captain Taylor.
He had assembled the men of I Company in the Howell County courthouse. There was a feeling of anticipation as the troopers waited for their company commander to speak.
Taylor looked sternly at the men, making sure he had their full attention.
“How many of you men have started a letter home?”
Two-thirds of the men raised their hands.
“Burn them! We are deep in Rebel territory, and we don’t want them figuring out our next movement. If you have a diary, tear out any pages about our operations since we left Salem on the 17th. Understand?”
He waited a moment as the men nodded their heads and began reaching into their pockets for letters and pads.
“I have just had a conference with Major Drake and Colonel Wood. What I am about to tell you is military information of the highest tactical significance. I will personally shoot anyone writing about it or speaking about it within earshot of the Rebels. In the unlikely event you are captured, you know nothing of our plans.”
Taylor paused to let the gravity of what he was about to reveal sink in.
‘This part of Missouri and northern Arkansas is crawling with irregular rebel forces. The Union men and their families have been killed, conscripted, or driven out. There is virtually no one in the local populace who can be trusted.
Claiborn Jackson, the Secesh governor of Missouri, has fled to the southwest part of the state at Neosho. Rebel General Sterling Price is protecting him and his phony Confederate state government. At this moment, General Curtis, with the rest of the 3rd Iowa, is marching into the area to drive them out.”
“What about us, Sir?” someone asked.
“I don’t know when we’ll rejoin Curtis and the rest of the regiment. For now, our mission is to drive as many Rebel Bushwhackers as we can out of this area. We will probably return to Salem to resupply in a week or so. If we’re lucky, we’ll be sent to join Curtis’ army. That may not be until after he fights Price.”
The men seemed satisfied. As Taylor paused, they tore more pages out of their diaries.
“We’ll leave for Texas County tomorrow. Colonel Wood has sent out foraging parties to gather rations and feed. That is all.”
As the meeting broke up, men began burning their letters and diary pages in the fireplace. Then they took care of the horses and replenished their saddlebags with whatever food the foragers could find. The battle at the West Plains courthouse had left them short of ammunition. They would have to conserve what they had left.
At 2 PM, the next day, the combined command was ready to leave West Plains. On the 22nd of February, they entered the town of Houston, where they killed 2 rebels. The intelligence that said Coleman was there with 30 of his men proved to be outdated. Wood made his temporary headquarters there and sent scouting parties out to find Coleman.
Reuben’s party of 15 men located an empty house that had been fortified with logs and a wall of dirt. It had to be a Rebel fort. They burned it to the ground. Another party returned to Houston with 10 prisoners. Low on rations and ammunition, the combined command marched back to their respective bases on the 24th. By then, the 2 companies of the 3rd Iowa had accumulated 100 prisoners.
Two days later, the Iowans and their 6th Missouri Cavalry partners were back in the field in Texas County. They had almost daily encounters with marauding bands of irregular troops and opportunistic Bushwhackers.
By the 12th of March, the long-awaited showdown between Cleman and the combined command of Wood and Drake was imminent. After a brief skirmish, the Yankees had driven the Rebels toward a swamp on the Spring River, near Salem, Arkansas. The area was important because the Rebels mined saltpeter and bat Guano (poop) for making gunpowder there. Coleman had recently been reinforced by a force of Missouri State Guard troops under General James McBride. Their combined force numbered 1,000 men. Other Confederate troops in the area were trying to link up with Coleman. It was up to Col. Wood to keep the linkup from happening. On the morning of the 13th, Wood passed through the abandoned Confederate camp. The Rebels had retreated into the swamp.
“Take your men to the north side of the swamp,” Wood told Drake. “Once you are set, I’ll attack from this side. Be ready when I drive them toward you.”
Drake moved his men quietly into position, using the woods to hide his movement from the enemy.
“Keep your hands off those revolvers!” he commanded the men, not wanting to betray his position.
As they arrived on the other side, Wood opened up with his mountain howitzer. Then the Iowans heard rifle fire as the 6th Missouri charged into the swamp. Drake directed a squad of mounted men, including Reuben, to guard the left flank. He dismounted the rest of the men and deployed them under whatever cover they could find, facing the swamp.
“Get ready,” said Major Drake, sensing that the battle was coming their way. “Don’t waste any ammunition until they get close, real close.”
Lacking rifles, the men would have to make the best of the short-range firepower of their revolvers. The noise and smoke from the retreating Rebels grew closer. Suddenly, they began to emerge from the swamp.
“Fire!”
The Iowans opened up. The Rebels panicked. Most retreated into the cover of the swamp. They left a few dead and wounded behind. One group made a break for it, trying to get around the Iowans. Reuben and the other mounted riders spurred their horses toward them.
“Hold up there, damn you!” he shouted, approaching three of them. They looked around and saw no path of retreat.
“Drop it!” commanded Reuben as he rode between the men and the swamp. Other I Company men soon had them surrounded. The Rebels dropped their weapons and raised their hands. As the Iowans were escorting them to the rear, they saw another Rebel force approaching. About 250 volunteers from Salem were reinforcing the men in the swamp. Slowly, the tide of battle began to shift. Wood’s men were catching the full weight of the Confederate countercharge. The Missourians were suffering heavy casualties, but they held the line. Realizing the Iowans with their pistols were at a disadvantage in firepower, Wood gathered up the carbines of his wounded and dead and sent them around the swamp. The 50 or so long guns made the difference when the Rebels turned their might on the Iowans.
Outnumbered and low on ammunition, Wood finally decided to withdraw after 4 hours of fighting. Coleman’s battered force declined to pursue. Four Union troopers, all from the 6th Missouri, had been killed. One of the Iowans from K Company had been wounded. Wood estimated Confederate casualties at 100. As Wood’s force returned to Missouri, it took with it 25 prisoners and a handful of Union men recovered from Confederate captivity. They seized some “contraband” wagons to carry their 18 wounded men and the 4 dead troopers. It was a somber moment when they stopped to bury their dead.
At least their families will know what happened to them and where they lie, thought Reuben as he helped push the earth over the bodies. Some of the dead Confederates had been left in the swamp to rot.
The battle had not been decisive, but Coleman would no longer be much of a threat to southern Missouri. Only Southwest Missouri, where General Curtis and the rest of the 3rd Iowa were bound, remained under Rebel control.
The remaining 6 companies under Colonel Bussey were marching with General Curtis’s Army of the Southwest. Curtis was determined to drive the Rebels out of Missouri and push them into northwest Arkansas. Having overextended his supply lines, Curtis stopped at a place called Pea Ridge and waited for the Rebels to attack. Though the battle was a success, the 3rd Iowa paid a high price. Rumors and scattered news reports of the battle at Pea Ridge, Arkansas, began reaching the detached Iowans by mid-March. Though the battle was hyped as a victory in the St. Louis press, the casualty figures were not available. The I and K Company men were worried about their fellow Iowans.
At last, a courier arrived from Col. Bussey. Drake called his officers together to hear the report. An hour later, they emerged from his command post with grim looks on their faces. Captain Taylor persuaded the courier to accompany him to I Company’s bivouac area to talk about the battle.
“What’s the news from Bussey, Sir?” clamored the anxious men.
“The sergeant here will tell you what you need to know,” Taylor said, pointing to the courier.
“Well, the battle was a success. The Rebs have been driven back into Arkansas. Unfortunately, the cost was damn high.”
“How high?”
“We lost 24 killed. Eighteen were wounded. Another 8 are missing, probably captured.”
The news stunned the men. The numbers of dead and wounded compared to other Civil War battles seemed off. Usually, there were more wounded than dead.
“Why more wounded than dead?”
“Good question. On the first day, our 6 companies went up against 2 regiments of Indians.”
“Indians?”
“That’s right, two regiments, about 1,000 of them. Colonel Pike recruited them from the Indian Territory. Some might say the Cherokee and the Chickasaw are civilized Injuns, but they behaved like savages at Pea Ridge. After we attacked, we discovered they far outnumbered us. We had to retreat. They caught up with some of our men as they retreated and gave no quarter. Wounded men were drug off into the woods and scalped.”
The troopers gasped at the news.
“Eventually, our guns drove the Injuns off. They were so tore up and skeered no one ever saw them on the battlefield again.”
“So, how did the battle unfold?”
The Rebels tried to get behind our army. Curtis turned the whole force around to face them faster than the Rebs expected. The rumors that Sterling Price and McCulloch hated each other’s guts were probably true. Old Jeff Davis hisself sent General Van Dorn in to take command. It didn’t seem to help much. The Rebs had every advantage in terms of terrain, strength, and artillery. Curtis still out-generaled them.”
“Is it true McCulloch was killed?”
“As sure as I’m standin’ here today. McCulloch and his deputy commander, General McIntosh, were both kilt. That left half of Van Dorn’s army leaderless on the first day.”
“What happened then?”
“On the second day, the 8th of March, the Rebels got separated from their supply train. They were running out of ammunition and retreated in disorder. The latest intelligence says Van Dorn moved most of his Army of the West across into Mississippi. That leaves Arkansas open for the taking.”
“So, when do we join up with Curtis to take Arkansas?”
Captain Taylor stepped up to interject, “Soon enough. The campaign is already being planned. Apart from a few guerrilla units, like Quantrill’s, all southern Missouri is safe. Curtis needs us to rebuild his cavalry strength.”
“What did Curtis say about the battle?”
“He sent General Halleck a telegram commending the 3rd Iowa and the rest of his force for liberating Missouri and putting Van Dorn on the run. All Van Dorn had to say was, ‘I was not defeated but only failed in my intentions.’”
“And the casualty list?”
“Major Drake is making a copy to post outside his command post.”
The men raced to Drake’s CP. Other troopers were crowded around the bulletin board, reading the list.
“Take it down and read it out loud!”
A man from K Company removed it and turned to face the men. There were gasps as each name was read. They had trained with these men at the Camps of Instruction. In their spare time, they had joined them for card games, baseball, and occasional visits to town. Everyone knew someone on the list.
Recognizing several names, Reuben swore revenge. He couldn’t wait for the Arkansas campaign to begin.
Index- Unbowed: The saga of a Civil War Cavalryman- Unbowed: The Saga of a Civil War Cavalryman-Index – Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies
Outlaws, Outrages and Outright Lies 