13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment (Confederate)

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13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment
Wood's Missouri Cavalry Battalion
14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion
ActiveApril 6, 1863 to June 8, 1865
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Branch Confederate States Army
TypeCavalry
EngagementsAmerican Civil War

The 13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment was a

Battle of Pilot Knob failed to capture Fort Davidson
.

Wood's battalion fought at the

prisoners of war and the rest as killed and wounded. It then accompanied Price's army to Laynesport, Arkansas, via the Indian Territory and Texas. At an unknown date, it was enlarged to regimental strength and renamed the 13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment. After Price's Raid, the unit spent the rest of the war serving outpost duty in Arkansas. The Confederate commander of the Trans-Mississippi Department surrendered on June 2, 1865, and the men of the 13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment were paroled
six days later. Around 670 men served in the unit over the course of its existence, at least 67 of whom died during that time.

Background and formation

Main articles: Missouri in the American Civil War and Cavalry in the American Civil War
Photograph of Sterling Price
Major General Sterling Price. The unit was frequently under Price's command.

At the outset of the

government in exile. Militarily, the pro-secession forces won some early victories, but had lost most of their gains by the end of 1861.[3] Price abandoned Missouri in February 1862, and a Confederate defeat at the Battle of Pea Ridge the next month gave the Union control of Missouri.[4] By July 1862, most of the men of the Missouri State Guard had left to join units of the Confederate States Army.[5] Missouri was then plagued by guerrilla warfare throughout 1862 and 1863.[6]

Owing to a shortage of weapons controlled by the

six-shooters was also popular, while the regulation sabers were not.[12] The shotguns in particular were inferior to carbines.[11]

Confederate cavalry in the Trans-Mississippi had an easier time procuring horses. In 1860, the states of Missouri, Arkansas,

breaking wild horses were also sources of cavalry mounts.[13] The turnover in horses was very heavy, many dying or becoming worn out due to enemy fire, disease, starvation, and heavy use.[14] Confederate law required cavalrymen to replace their horses when they were killed or rendered unusable, and reimbursement was only provided if the death occurred in combat. This led to widespread theft and forced purchases of horses in 1863 and 1864, although such depredations were officially forbidden.[15] For Trans-Mississippi Confederates, horses were generally much easier to acquire than weapons, food, or clothing.[16]

During the American Civil War, cavalry was most commonly used to perform

pitched battles, the men generally fought dismounted with detachments of the units serving as horse holders. In the Trans-Mississippi, Confederate cavalry was used heavily for raiding purposes after the Battle of Prairie Grove.[17]

Formation

On April 1, 1863, Price was sent to Little Rock, Arkansas to command a division. Five days later, Price's aide-de-camp, Captain Robert C. Wood, and 16 men of the general's escort were transferred to form a new artillery unit. By May 9, the unit had grown to 26 men manning four Williams guns and was under the authority of Brigadier General John S. Marmaduke.[18] The Williams guns were powered by hand cranks, and fired 1 pound (0.45 kg) projectiles at a rate of 18 or 20 per minute. They are sometimes considered to be early machine guns.[19] Wood was authorized to recruit cavalrymen by the Confederate District of Arkansas on June 12. According to Union estimates made in August in Fulton County, Arkansas, Wood had collected about 150 men and still had the four cannons, which were described by the Unionists as "flying artillery".[18] The Williams guns were most likely manned by men in Captain William Woodson's company of the formation. No evidence exists that suggests the pieces were ever used in battle.[20]

Service history

Pine Bluff and Poison Spring

13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment (Confederate) is located in Arkansas
Little Rock
Little Rock
Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff
Camden
Camden
Arkadelphia
Arkadelphia
Princeton
Princeton
Pea Ridge
Pea Ridge
class=notpageimage|
Map of Arkansas, showing several locations of importance during the war

On September 28, Wood and the 275 men he had recruited by then were ordered to move from their camp at Arkadelphia, Arkansas, to join Marmaduke's command. This order was rescinded because the unit, which was organized into a six-company battalion, was considered by Wood to be too poorly disciplined to be an effective combat unit.[18] Earlier that month, Union forces commanded by Major General Frederick Steele had taken Little Rock; this success was followed by the occupation of several points along the Arkansas River. One of these outposts was at Pine Bluff, which was defended by 550 Union cavalrymen and 300 freed slaves commanded by Colonel Powell Clayton. Marmaduke decided to lead an attack against the post, which occurred on October 25.[21] Wood's battalion took part in this action, which was known as the Battle of Pine Bluff.[18] The Confederate force was advancing from the east, and Marmaduke drew up a plan of attack that involved dividing his force. Wood's battalion was part of the detached force, which used side roads to attack from the southeast.[22]

The detached force followed this path of approach, and Wood's battalion and most of the rest of the column dismounted after reaching a

sharpshooting, the Union defenders were driven further into the town. This was followed by another Confederate attack through the streets, until the Union troops reached a barricade made of cotton bales. Wood's men used a lull in the fighting to create their own cotton bale defenses.[25] The Union defenders bolstered the strength of their cotton bale line with nine artillery pieces, and the Confederates were unable to take the position, despite launching several attacks and attempting to burn down the courthouse.[21] The unit is reported to have suffered two casualties at Pine Bluff.[18]

A strength report issued in October 1863 stated that the battalion had a strength of 219 men and 222 horses.[26] At some point after November 1, Wood's battalion was augmented by two companies that had been recruited by James T. Cearnal during Shelby's Raid. The unit issued a strength report on November 10, which stated that it consisted of 400 men in 8 companies. The report did not mention any artillery component; what happened to the four cannons previously associated with it is not known.[27] Documents dated as late as October 27 refer to the artillery component, those from November 3 and later do not. The Williams guns may have been sent to a different unit in November.[20] Throughout the rest of 1863, Wood's battalion served as an independent unit under Marmaduke's command; it spent the early portion of the next year associated with Price's headquarters.[27]

In March 1864, Steele was sent from Little Rock with 8,500 men to thrust into southwestern Arkansas in support of the Union

African American soldiers were massacred; postmortem mutilations were also inflicted on some of the Union dead.[33]

In Louisiana, the Red River campaign had been repulsed, enabling the Confederates to focus on Steele. Isolated and running low on food, the Union troops abandoned Camden on April 26, and were harried by pursuing Confederates during their retreat.[34] The 14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion participated in skirmishing during the pursuit.[29] When Steele's column reached the crossing of the Saline River, they were caught by the Confederate pursuers, who launched several futile attacks on April 30, in the Battle of Jenkins' Ferry. The Union soldiers were able to escape across a pontoon bridge and eventually reached Little Rock.[35] The 14th Missouri Cavalry Battalion had been held out of the Jenkins' Ferry fighting as a reserve unit. It then spent mid-1864 defending an outpost at Princeton, Arkansas.[29]

Price's Raid

Main article:
Price's Raid

St. Louis and Jefferson City

Map showing the movements of Price's army, see accompanying text for description
Map of Price's Raid, which took place in 1864. The red lines denote Confederate movements, the black circles are cities, and the yellow stars mark the sites of major battles.

In the

Western Theaters. This proved to be impossible, as the Union Navy controlled the Mississippi River, preventing a large-scale crossing. Despite having limited resources for an offensive, Smith decided that an attack designed to divert Union troops from the principal theaters of combat would have the same effect as the proposed transfer of troops. Price and the new Confederate Governor of Missouri, Thomas Caute Reynolds,[b] suggested that an invasion into Missouri would be an effective operation; Smith approved the plan and appointed Price to command it. Price expected that the offensive would create a popular uprising against Union control of Missouri, divert Union troops away from principal theaters of combat,[c] and aid McClellan's chance of defeating Lincoln.[40] On September 19, Price's column of cavalrymen entered the state.[41] When Price organized his army, Wood's battalion was attached to Marmaduke's division.[42]

After entering the state, Price learned of a Union force holding

William L. Cabell's brigade. Despite taking heavy losses, Cabell's men and the attached units of Clark's command crossed a dry creek bed and were able to reach the fort's moat; the rest of Clark's brigade did not pass the creek bed. The Confederate attack was unable to reach the fort, whose defenders were protected from much of the Confederate fire by sandbags. After the attack fizzled out, the men of Clark's brigade fell back to the creek bed, although Cabell's men made another unsuccessful attack.[46] Wood's battalion had suffered about 30 casualties during the fighting.[29] The Union defenders abandoned the fort that night,[47] and Wood's battalion was part of a force that pursued them.[29]

Wood's battalion and the

depot.[29] Also on the 30th, parts of the unit skirmished with Union militia at the bridge near Moselle.[48] The unit later rejoined Clark's main body, with which it burned a bridge over the Meramec River.[29] Meanwhile, Price had decided against attempting to take St. Louis, and began to head westwards towards Jefferson City.[49] Wood's battalion was intended to travel to Jefferson City by train after boarding in the area of Hermann, but the railroad tracks were impassable. As a result, Wood's men burned the train and traveled mounted.[29] They also burned a bridge over the Gasconade River.[50] Price eventually decided that Jefferson City was too strongly defended to be taken, so the Confederates instead continued their movement west.[49] Wood's battalion moved on a route that bypassed Jefferson City and reached Marshall via California, Missouri. Four companies of recruits were assigned to Wood's battalion while the unit was at Marshall, although they served separately during the campaign.[51]

Movement west

As the Confederates moved west, they began to meet more Union resistance. Union Major General James G. Blunt fought a delaying action in the Second Battle of Lexington on October 19, but his force was brushed aside.[49] Clark's brigade saw some action during the fighting at Lexington.[52] Blunt's retreating men left a rear guard to hold the crossing of the Little Blue River. The Confederates attacked this holding force on October 21, bringing on the Battle of Little Blue River.[53] Elements of Clark's brigade had crossed the river and were fighting against the rear guard when Blunt arrived on the field with reinforcements, pressuring the Confederates.[54] Wood's battalion crossed the river, dismounted, and took up a position in an orchard to support the right side of the wavering Confederate line.[55][56] Eventually, the weight of Union numbers forced the Confederates back towards the river, but Clark's men were reinforced, stabilizing the situation.[55] The Confederates were eventually able to bring enough reinforcements across the river to successfully attack and defeat the Union line. Blunt's men fell back to Independence, Missouri.[57] Wood's horse was killed during the fighting.[58]

River crossing with vegetation on both banks and a white sign identifying it as Byram's Ford
Modern photograph of the crossing site at Byram's Ford

By the morning of October 22, the Union troops had fallen back to a line along the

Samuel R. Curtis and contained many units of the Kansas State Militia. The Confederates occupied Independence.[59] While Confederate forces broke through the line at the Big Blue River during the opening stages of the Battle of Byram's Ford on October 22, Union cavalry commanded by Major General Alfred Pleasonton, who had been pursuing Price's army from the east, caught up to the Confederates at Independence, resulting in the Second Battle of Independence.[53] Pleasonton's men forced Cabell's brigade back through Independence, capturing several prisoners.[60] While Clark's brigade, including Wood's battalion, managed to slow the Union pursuit, Pleasonton continued fighting into the night, which was uncommon during the American Civil War. The 3rd Iowa Cavalry Regiment drove the Confederates back, and almost all of Clark's brigade fell back across the Big Blue River that night.[61]

The next day, the Battle of Byram's Ford resumed as Pleasonton's men attacked the Confederate position at the Big Blue River. Union cavalrymen drove the Confederate front lines back from the river towards a height known as Potato Hill, where Clark's brigade was aligned.[62] At around 11:00, Union soldiers armed with repeating rifles attacked Potato Hill and drove off the Confederates, most of whom retreated before the fighting reached close quarters.[63] Marmaduke's division eventually escaped from the Union pursuit and fell back to the south.[64] Simultaneously with the fighting at Byram's Ford on October 23, the rest of Price's army was defeated at the Battle of Westport. The Confederates began retreating and entered the state of Kansas.[65]

Retreat

On October 25, Price's column paused at the crossing of Mine Creek, in

John F. Philips caught up to the Confederates, who formed a line between the Union soldiers and Mine Creek.[65] Clark's brigade was on the Confederate right flank.[66] Benteen and Philips' men attacked; Wood's battalion was in the front rank of the Confederate line and was second from the right when the attack hit.[67] During the fighting, which became known as the Battle of Mine Creek, the Union soldiers quickly shattered the Confederate line.[65] The Confederates's single-shot weapons were at a disadvantage against the repeating rifles the Union soldiers carried.[68] About 600 Confederate soldiers, including Marmaduke, were captured.[65] Fifty of the prisoners were from Wood's battalion, which lost a total of 72 men killed, wounded, or captured at Mine Creek.[52] After Mine Creek, Wood's battalion retreated with the rest of Price's army through the Indian Territory into Texas, with an eventual destination of Laynesport, Arkansas. Complete casualty figures for the battalion over the course of the campaign are unknown. While one member of the unit stated that it lost almost 350 of the 400 men in the unit, the historian James McGhee rejects this claim as exaggerated.[52]

At an unknown date, probably while the unit was in Texas or Arkansas, the four companies that had been attached to the battalion during the campaign and the eight existing companies were consolidated down into ten companies. Although the number of companies was reduced, there was an increase in manpower and it was designated a regiment, the 13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment.[52] The ten companies were designated with the letters A–I and K and were composed of Missourians. Wood became the regiment's colonel, Richard J. Wickersham the lieutenant colonel, and William T. Payne was its major.[69] The men of the unit spent the rest of the war performing outpost duty in Arkansas.[52] Smith surrendered the Trans-Mississippi Department on June 2, 1865,[70] and the men of the 13th Missouri Cavalry Regiment were paroled at Shreveport on June 8.[52] The National Park Service states that the unit may have been disbanded in May 1865.[71] Muster rolls indicate that about 670 men served in the regiment over the course of its existence, and at least 67 of them died during their military service.[52]

Notes

  1. ^ State militia rank.[1]
  2. ^ Jackson had died in early December 1862 of stomach cancer; Reynolds replaced him in office on February 14, 1863.[37][38][39]
  3. ^ Many of the Union troops defending Missouri had been transferred out of the state, leaving the Missouri State Militia as the state's primary defensive force.[40]

References

  1. ^ Wright 2013, p. 480.
  2. ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 19–20.
  3. ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 20–25.
  4. ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 34–37.
  5. ^ Gottschalk 1991, p. 120.
  6. ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 377–379.
  7. ^ Oates 1994, p. 62.
  8. ^ Oates 1994, pp. 66–67.
  9. ^ Oates 1994, pp. 71–72.
  10. ^ Oates 1994, p. 73.
  11. ^ a b Oates 1994, p. 74.
  12. ^ Oates 1994, p. 68–70.
  13. ^ Oates 1994, pp. 74–76.
  14. ^ Oates 1994, p. 78.
  15. ^ Oates 1994, pp. 78–82.
  16. ^ Oates 1994, p. 84.
  17. ^ Oates 1994, pp. 86–87.
  18. ^ a b c d e McGhee 2008, p. 103.
  19. ^ McGhee 2008, pp. 43–44.
  20. ^ a b McGhee 2008, p. 44.
  21. ^ a b Kennedy 1998, p. 233.
  22. ^ Bearss 1964, p. 295.
  23. ^ Bearss 1964, p. 296.
  24. ^ Bearss 1964, pp. 296–297.
  25. ^ Bearss 1964, pp. 302–303.
  26. ^ Oates 1994, p. 83.
  27. ^ a b McGhee 2008, pp. 103–104.
  28. ^ a b Kennedy 1998, p. 273.
  29. ^ a b c d e f g h i j McGhee 2008, p. 104.
  30. ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 273–274.
  31. ^ Johnson 1993, p. 185.
  32. ^ Johnson 1993, pp. 185–186.
  33. ^ Forsyth 2003, p. 116.
  34. ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 274.
  35. ^ Kennedy 1998, pp. 274–275.
  36. ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 343.
  37. ^ Parrish 2001, p. 49.
  38. ^ "Claiborne Fox Jackson, 1861". Missouri State Archives. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  39. ^ Keller, Rudi (November 30, 2012). "150 Years Ago: Exiled and Ailing Claiborne Fox Jackson Asks Wife to Come to His Bedside". Columbia Daily Tribune. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  40. ^ a b Collins 2016, pp. 27–28.
  41. ^ Collins 2016, pp. 37, 39.
  42. ^ Collins 2016, p. 39.
  43. ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 380.
  44. ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 78, 80.
  45. ^ Lause 2011, p. 51.
  46. ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 80–82.
  47. ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 381.
  48. ^ Lause 2011, pp. 112, 114–115.
  49. ^ a b c Kennedy 1998, p. 382.
  50. ^ Lause 2011, p. 151.
  51. ^ McGhee 2008, pp. 104–105.
  52. ^ a b c d e f g McGhee 2008, p. 105.
  53. ^ a b Kennedy 1998, pp. 382–383.
  54. ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 184–186.
  55. ^ a b Sinisi 2020, pp. 186–187.
  56. ^ Lause 2016, p. 76.
  57. ^ Collins 2016, p. 79.
  58. ^ Sinisi 2020, p. 186.
  59. ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 194–195.
  60. ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 210–212.
  61. ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 215–216.
  62. ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 236–238.
  63. ^ Sinisi 2020, pp. 239–240.
  64. ^ Sinisi 2020, p. 242.
  65. ^ a b c d Kennedy 1998, p. 384.
  66. ^ Collins 2016, p. 142.
  67. ^ Collins 2016, p. 146.
  68. ^ Collins 2016, p. 149.
  69. ^ McGhee 2008, pp. 102–103.
  70. ^ Kennedy 1998, p. 438.
  71. ^ "Wood's Regiment, Missouri Cavalry". National Park Service. Retrieved December 20, 2020.

Sources

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