142

BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF.

movement, in conjunction with McCall, and, as he supposed, with the division of General Smith, known to be within supporting distance.' He was ignorant of the very important fact that, on the previous evening, General McClellan had ordered McCall to fall back from Drainesville. It was so. At the very time when Baker was preparing to pass over the reserves in force, McCall, by order of McClellan, was marching back to his camp near the Chain Bridge, and Smith was without orders to do any thing in particular, thus making the peril that threatened the Nationals at Ball's Bluff much greater for want of this support.

Colonel Baker, like General Stone, was ignorant of this damaging movement, and was pressing on in high spirits, with the most wearisome and perplexing toil in slowly passing his troops in three scows, when, hearing the sound of battle on the Virginia shore, he hastened over in a small skiff, leaving instructions to forward the artillery as quickly as possible. His California regiment had already crossed and joined Devens and Lee. A rifled 6-pounder of Bunting's Rhode Island Battery, under Lieutenant Bramhall, followed them. Two howitzers under Lieutenant French were already there; and, just before Baker reached the Bluff, a detachment of Cogswell's Tammany Regiment had climbed the winding path leading up from the river. Baker now took command of all the forces on the Bluff, numbering nineteen hundred. These were immediately formed in battle order, and awaited attack.

The ground on which the Nationals were compelled to give battle was unfavorable for them. It was an open field, surrounded on three sides by a dense forest, and terminating on the fourth at the brow of the high bluff at the river. With their backs to the stream, the Union forces were prepared for the contest, which was begun at three o'clock in the afternoon, by General Evans, who hurled the Eighteenth Mississippi, under Colonel Burt, upon Baker's left flank, and the commands of Jenifer and Hunton upon his front.* These came from the woods, that swarmed with Confederates, and were received with the most determined spirit. The battle instantly became general and severe. Colonel Featherston, with the Seventeenth Mississippi, joined in the fray. Bramhall and French soon brought their heavy guns to bear, and were doing good execution, when both officers were borne wounded away, and their pieces were hauled to the rear, to prevent their falling into the hands of their foe. A greater calamity speedily followed. The gallant Baker was seen here and there in the thickest of the fight, encouraging his men by words and deeds, and when the battle had lasted nearly two hours he fell dead, pierced with many bullets."

1 See page 135.

2 The current was so strong and deep that it could be navigated by the scows only by dragging them up the Maryland shore above the island, and letting them float diagonally across the stream until they touched the island. The voyage from the latter to the Virginia shore was accomplished in the same way. The operation was very slow, and the passage of the few troops occupied about three hours.

3 Baker's entire force consisted of the California Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Wistar, 570; the New York Tammany Regiment, Colonel Milton Cogswell, 360; and portions of the Fifteenth Massachusetts, Colonel Devens, 653 and of the Twentieth, Colonel Lee, 318-total, 1,901.

4 The attacking troops were Evans's brigade, composed of the Eighth Virginia, and Thirteenth, Seventeenth, and Eighteenth Mississippi.

• Colonel Baker was probably killed instantly. Eye-witnesses say that a tall, red-haired man appeared emerging from the smoke, and approaching to within five feet of the commander, fired into his body the contents of a self-cocking revolver pistol. At the same moment a bullet entered his skull behind his ear, and a

The immediate command now devolved upon Colonel Lee, but Cogswell, his superior, soon took the control of affairs. Seeing the desperate situation of the troops, with an overwhelming force on their front and flanks, and a deep and turbulent river in their rear, Cogswell ordered them to move to the left, and attempt to cut their way through to Edwards's Ferry, about three miles distant, where they might receive the aid of the force there under General Stone. This movement was about to take place, when the Tammany Regiment, deceived by the beckoning of a Confederate officer, whom they mistook for a National one, dashed off on a charge in the direction indicated by the deceiver, carrying with them the rest of the line. Then a destructive fire at close distance was poured upon the whole column by the Thirteenth Mississippi Regiment, Colonel William Barksdale, which advanced from the direction of the ferry. Cogswell's plan was frustrated, and he gave orders for his whole force to retire immediately to Harrison's Island, and thence to the Maryland shore.

That retreat almost instantly became a rout. Down the steep declivity the Nationals hurried, in wild disorder, to reach the boats, while the Confederates, who had followed them up to the brow of the bluff with ball and bayonet, fired into the straggling mass below with murderous effect. The fugitives huddled on the shore, formed in some order at first, and kept up the hopeless fight for a time, while endeavoring to cross the flood to Harrison's Island. Only one large flatboat was there, and that, with an over-load of wounded and others, at the beginning of its was riddled with

ists

first voyage, bullets, and sunk. The smaller vessels had disappeared in the gloom, and there was no means of escape for the Unionbut by swimming. This attempted by some. Several of them were shot in the water,' and others, swept away by the current in the darkness, were drowned. A little more than one-fourth of the whole of Cogswell's

was

slug from a Mississippi Yager wounded his arm and made a terrible opening in his side. Captain Beirel, of the California regiment, who was close by Baker, caught the slayer of his friend by the throat, just as he was stooping to seize the colonel's sword, and with his pistol blew out his brains. Baker had enjoined many of his

the avenger, and the brave leader of company G of that regiment, acting upon these instructions, raised the precious burden in his arms and bore it away amid a shower of bullets, and delivered it to Major Young, who conveyed it safely to the river and took it across.

1 Pollard says (i. 181) that after the Nationals had surrendered, "the Confederates kept up their fire upon those who tried to cross, and many not drowned in the river were shot in the act of swimming."

The gallant Captain leirel was among the last who left the shore and swam across the river. He was compelled to drop his sword midway, in order to save his life. Many of the men, before they surrendered, threw their arms into the river. Bramhall's gun had been spiked and completely disabled. It was brought to the bluff and tumbled over, with the intention of having it go into the river.

144

DISASTER AT BALL'S BLUFF.

command, including himself and Colonel Lee, were made prisoners, and marched off to Leesburg, whilst Colonel Devens escaped on his horse, that swam across the turbulent Potomac. A few were saved from captivity by stealing along under the banks, and making their way to Gorman's camp below.

While the contest was raging at Ball's Bluff, General Stone, who was at Edwards's Ferry with about seven thousand troops, had been sending over the remainder of Gorman's brigade to co-operate with Baker, all the while unsuspicious of the perilous condition of the troops of that commander. He

for a brigade of his division, to place on the Maryland shore, in support of the troops on Harrison's Island and the severely pressed combatants on Ball's Bluff.'

A little while afterward, the sad news of Baker's death was received, and Stone hastened forward to take command in person. On his way he was met by some of the fugitives, with the tale that the Confederates were ten thousand strong, and that all was lost. Still ignorant of the position of McCall, he left orders to hold Harrison's Island, and then hastened back to Edwards's Ferry, to secure the safety of the twenty-five hundred troops that be

a Oct. 22, 1861.

had sent across the river. There he was joined by General Banks, at three o'clock in the morning," who took the chief command. Orders arrived at about the same time, from General McClellan, to hold the Island and the Virginia shore at all hazards, and intimating that. re-enforcements would be sent.?

So ended the BATTLE OF BALL'S BLUFF, in disaster to the National arms. In the camps of the Unionists, in the vicinity of the battle, on that gloomy night of the 21st of October, there was darkness and woe, while the little

1 Stone had kept McClellan advised of the progress of affairs at Ball's Bluff during the afternoon, and the latter commander, toward evening, ordered General Banks to send one brigade to the support of the troops on Harrison's Island, and to move with the other two to Seneca Mills, ready to support General Stone, at Edwards's Ferry. See McClellan's Report, page 34.

"Reports of General Charles P. Stone and his subordinates, October 28th, 1861, and of General N. G. Evans, the Confederate commander, October 25th, 1861. The latter report was, in several respects, marred by misrepresentations. It represented the Confederate force at only 1,709, omitting to state the fact that there was a strong reserve of Mississippi troops, with six guns, posted so as to repel any troops that might approach from Edwards's Ferry. From the best information since obtained, it is agreed that Evans's force numbered 4,000. His report also claimed that, with his small force of 1,700, eight thousand Nationals were fought and beaten, and that the Confederates killed and captured a greater number than their whole force engaged. It also declared that long-range cannon were fired upon the Confederates from the Maryland side of the river, when there were no heavy guns there at the time of the battle.

3 This is called the Battle of Leesburg by Confederate writers.

village of Leesburg, near by, whither the captives were taken, was brilliantly illuminated, and the Confederates there were wild with joy. The Union loss was about one thousand men and three cannon. Nearly three hundred men were killed, and over five hundred were made prisoners and taken to Richmond.' The Confederate loss was about three hundred. According to General Evans's report, he had one hundred and fifty-three killed, including Colonel E. R. Burt, of the Eighteenth Mississippi, and two taken prisoners. He did not mention the number of his wounded, which was reported to be large.

The death of Senator Baker was felt as a national calamity.' He was one of the ablest men of his time as a statesman and orator. Thoroughly comprehending the great issue, and the horrible crime of the conspirators, he had eagerly left the halls of legislation (where he had combated the friends of the criminals with eloquent words, and voted for abundant means to crush the rebellion) to lead his countrymen into battle for the right. The achievements of his little band at Ball's Bluff, who composed a part of the Army of the Potomac, assisted greatly in effacing from the escutcheon of that army the stain it received at the battle of Bull's Run.

Again, as in the case of the battle of Bull's Run, the grieved, and disappointed, and mortified loyal people demanded an explanation of the catastrophe. To the most inexpert there appeared evidence of fatal mismanagement. General McClellan, General Stone, and Colonel Baker all received censure at different times, and by different persons; the first, for remissness in duty in not informing Stone of the retrograde movement of McCall, and sending re-enforcements; the second, for sending troops across the river without adequate transportation for a larger body at a time; and the third, for rashness in crossing at all and engaging the Confederates, double his own in numbers. There was a natural clamor for investigation, and, on the assembling of Congress, the House of Representatives passed a resolution asking the

Twenty-four of the prisoners were officers, namely, two colonels, one major, one adjutant, one assistantsurgeon, seven captains, and twelve lieutenants. The colonels were M. Cogswell (Captain of the Eighth U. S. Infantry), of the Forty-second New York Volunteers, and W. Raymond Lee, of the Twentieth Massachusetts Volunteers. The major was P. J. Rivers, of the latter regiment. At Leesburg, General Evans (who was represented as a tall, strong man, of unusual length of limb, and in manners courteous and dignified) offered the capparole on the condition that they should not, unless exchanged, again "bear arms against the Southern Confederacy." They refused to accept it, and were sent to Richmond by way of Manassas, arriving there at nine gelock in the morning of the 24th of October, where they were greeted with many jeers from an immense crowd,

tains a

such as

tioned

I say, Yanks, how do you feel?" The captains were confined in the tobacco warehouse, already menon page 26, where they were soon brought under the petty tyranny of the notorious General Winder. A full account of the experience of the captains may be found in a little volume entitled " Prison Life in the Tobacco Warehouse at Richmond," by Lieutenant William C. Harris, of Baker's California regiment.

In a

general order issued by McClellan, on the day after the battle, he announced the death of Baker, and

In

spoke of him as one having "many titles to honor," as a patriot "zealous for the honor of his adopted country (he was born in England), cut off "in the fullness of his power as a statesman, and in the course of a brilliant career as a soldier distinguished in two wars." When Congress met, in December, the Senate appointed a day (the 11th of that month) for the consideration of the death of this distinguished member. The President was there to participate in the mournful proceedings. Most touching eulogies were pronounced by the dead hero's compatriots of the Senate. From that body went resolutions to the House of Representatives, where like proceedings were held; and all over the country there was general grief because of the fall of that noble man. California, which had been his chosen residence for a long time, the news of his death created a profound sensaIt reached San Francisco a few days after the battle, the line of telegraph between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans having been just completed. That line was opened for messages on the 25th of October, when a communication (the first) was sent by Judge Field to President Lincoln. While they were preparing in San Francisco, on the following day, to fire a salute in honor of this important event, a dispatch from the East announced the death of Baker. Rejoicing was changed into mourning, and the celebration was deferred.

tion.

VOL. II.-48

146

a Dec. 16,

1861.

THE CASE OF GENERAL STONE.

Secretary of War "whether any, and, if any, what measures had been taken to ascertain who was responsible for the disastrous movement of the National troops at Ball's Bluff." It was answered that General McClellan was of the opinion that "an inquiry on the subject of the resolution would, at that time, be injurious to the public service." But General McClellan had already answered that inquiry, so far as one of the commanders was concerned. He was at Stone's head-quarters, at Poolesville, twenty-four hours after the disaster, and from there had telegraphed to the President, saying, "I have investigated this matter, and General Stone is without blame. Had his orders been followed, there could (or would) have been no disaster." This was unknown to the public. They were dissatisfied with the apparent desire on the part of the General-in-chief to stifle investigation, and more than ever he was held to be personally responsible for the disaster.

1862.

991

For a time there were warm discussions in Congress on the subject. Finally a victim appeared to propitiate the public feeling, in the Feb. 8, person of General Stone, who was arrested' by order of the War Department and sent to Fort Lafayette, at the entrance to New York Bay, and then used for the confinement of political prisoners. There he was detained until the following August, when, without trial, or any public proceedings whatever, he was released. That fort

ignorance of any charges against him, and was released without comment by the power that closed the prison doors upon him.

But little more remains to be said concerning affairs at Ball's Bluff.

1 Dispatch to President Lincoln, Tuesday evening, October 22d, 1861. General Stone well knew that the public would naturally blame him for the disaster, he being in chief command there, and he had suggested to General McClellan that he should desire a court of inquiry, when that officer showed him the above satisfactory vindication by the highest authority.

2 The proceedings in this case were extraordinary. So full was the acquittal of all blame accorded by General McClellan to General Stone, in his dispatch to the President, that Stone was not only retained in command, but his force was increased to the number of 12,000 men. For about a hundred days Stone was busily engaged in his duties, and had just submitted to McClellan a plan for the capture of General D. H. Hill and his force of 4,500 men, lying opposite his camp, when he was ordered to Washington, and placed before the Committee on the Conduct of the War, to answer charges against his loyalty. His explanations were such that the Committee simply reported to the Secretary of War that, on the points to which his attention had been called, "the testimony. was conflicting."

General Stone heard nothing more of the matter until the night of the 8th of February, when, after being engaged at Willard's hotel, in Washington, in the examination of maps until almost midnight, he was retiring to his residence, he found General Sykes, an old friend, and then commander of the city guard, waiting for him,