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George Fleming claimed, but was unsure about
the gunmen, but said Alf Killen was
"at the head of the other crowd -
Yankees." Fleming said that Washington Phipps
was also one of the men who did the
killing." Isaac Mullins added a few other
names of the Home Guards, listing Alf
Killen, Joel Long, Wash Phipps, Jack
Phipps, Wesley Vanover, and another or two
who were scouting around near Wilburn
Phipps' place near the mouth of Brush Creek.
The whole incident was a case of family
difficulty and mistaken identity.
Marshall Keel had traded hats that morning
with the bushwhack- er's intended
victim. Henry Keel's recollection of events
basically agreed with others, but
added:
Cripple
Billy (W. J.) Fleming told me that Harmon Mullins, while in the
penitentiary
for killing his son, confessed to firing the shot that killed my
uncle.
He claimed that this band of bushwhackers was composed of himself, his
father,
Isaac Mullins, and others of that neighborhood, and that it was their
sole
purpose to kill John J. Fleming, Jr., a nephew of Isaac Mullins, Sr., and
who
had roused the ire of some of his relatives. They killed the wrong man.
Isaac Mullins in 1933 admitted that it was
either his father or his uncle who
killed Keel. It is ironic that Marshall Keel
was not formally in either army,
although he was joining the Confederate
force.
Dunbar concluded by noting, "the
Confederate soldiers then left there as it was
unsafe for them to travel..." The woods
were "full of union bushwhackers."
George Fleming's account continued,
"Some rebels were camping on Sinking Creek
in Russell County, and he was going there
for protection, as times were getting
serious in this section." George
Fleming concurred in the opinion that the
"soldiers went on to Russell
County" for protection.
In late August 1863 General Ambrose
Burnside's force invaded East Tennessee and
forced the Confederates in that area into
northern Georgia or southwest
Virginia. By September 1, the Federals
appeared in front of Cumberland Gap and
demanded the surrender of the 2,000 man
Confeder- ate garrison there under
command of Colonel John Frazer. Several Wise
County boys who were members of the
64th Virginia, as part of Frazer's command
were surrendered on September 9 and
were shipped off to Camp Douglas to spent
the remainder of the war. Many of them
died while in prison and are buried in
Chicago, Illinois. Federal scouting
parties fanned out from their recently
secured positions at Cumberland Gap soon
advanced into Southern Wise County and
temporarily occupied positions at Guest's
Station.
Despite the assertion that the men went to
Russell County, by local residents,
William B. Myers, Adjutant General for
Brigadier General William Preston ordered
Fields to occupy Pound Gap and
"Lieutenant-Colonel Prentice will, after he has
wiped out the enemy at Guest's Station,
[Wise County] scout the country between
that place and Pound Gap." The records
do not indicate any fighting around this
period and it is likely the Federals
consolidated their positions around
Cumberland Gap and simply withdrew without
any effusion of blood.
On the night of September 26, 1863 the Cooks
robbed the Ashland bank. E. H.
Logan, the clerk of Rowan County, was killed
by Cook's men near Morehead on
October 26, 1863. Shortly afterwards, Dave
Cook, a recent escapee from the
military authorities in Ironton, Ohio, shot
down William H. Tyree at his home
near Olive Hill. Tyree was a former Union
Army officer.
Federal reports placed the 7th Battalion
Confederate Cavalry at Salyersville,
Kentucky on October 11, 1863 when a company
of the 14th Kentucky (Federal)
defeated Prentice's command. Due to
operational considerations, the eastern
Kentucky theatre was denuded of Federal
troops. During October 1863, only the
14th and part of the 39th Kentucky were
reported on this front. Their effective
strength was reported to be 1,232 on
November 6.
The Salyersville defeat, far from
Confederate support, must have scared Prentice
and his men. By October 25, 1863 they had
withdrawn from Kentucky and moved all
the way back to Washington County. Guerrant
blasted the notorious Prentice in
his personal diary once again. He wrote:
Such
conduct [robbery] is a sin & a shame to our cause. It blasts the
reputation
of good men, & brings dishonor upon the innocent. I hope they will
all
be arrested & tried in the civil courts, & that the good people of K'y
do
not
hold us responsible for the depredations of such bandits as Jno. T.
Williams
& Clarence Prentice, who has also just returned from an Eagle swoop
down
to Hazel Green Ky.
Confederates were in no position to exploit
the Federal deficit in eastern
Kentucky. They had their hands full with
Federals at Chattanooga and in upper
east Tennessee.
Prentice's personal reputation got worse. On
Friday, November 13, 1863, Guerrant
noted in his journal:
Clarence
Prentice shot & killed old Tom White of the "Kentucky Hotel" at
Abingdon,
Va. -- a few days ago. Cause -- whiskey. Effect -- Destruction -
temporal
& eternal.
Although charged with murder, Prentice
quickly wiggled out of his legal
troubles. By November 18, 1863 he was back
in the action at Abingdon, planning a
raid into Kentucky with Pete Everett of
Clay's Battalion Kentucky Mounted
Rifles.
In early November 1863, Sid Cook shot his
brother Dave during a quarrel over a
recently captured horse and slave. Left
behind to die, Dave was captured by a
Union patrol at the home of James Banner in
present day Elliott County on
November 18, 1863. He later died at the
Lexington Military Prison awaiting trial
for murder and robbery.
One story, properly considered a folk tale,
was related to James Taylor Adams by
Findlay Adams at Big Laurel in Wise County
in 1941. This story concerns Robert
Bates, Captain of Company A, 7th Battalion
Confed- erate Cavalry, but is not
placed in time. Since this company was
organized in the summer of 1863, late
1863 or 1864 seems to be likely its
placement. Findlay Adams related:
You've
heard of John Dick Adams, ol' Uncle Jess Adams boy, Grandpa Spencer's
nephew.
He was a dangerous man. When the Civil War broke out he got up a
company
an' was a captain. Some sort o' home guards. They raided around. He
owned
a fine carbine gun. One time he was at Grandpa's an' told him if he was
to
be killed that he wanted him to see that his carbine was buried with him.
He
was on the rebel side. [Actually Federal].
One
day his company and a company of Yankee home guards got into a fight
somewhere
on Kentucky River [in Letcher County, just across the Wise County
line]
I think it was. John Dick, he got shot through one arm. After while he
was
shot through one leg. He couldn't waalk or use but one arm, but he kept
shootin'
his carbine rifle. At last they shot him an' he said, "Well, well,
I'va
allus said I'd never surrender, but I'm helplesss now an' will have to
beg
for my life." One of the Bates' I think it was, said, "I'll give you
your
life!"
an' just up an' shot him through the heart. Then he took his gun.
Well,
they say that that fellow never rested after that. He would holler out
all
times of the night--"Take John Dick Adams away from here. He's come to
kill
me." He even got so he would see John Dick in his cup o' coffe when he
set
down to the table to eat. He heard about the request that John Dick had
made
about his gun bein' buried with 'im an' he sent word to Grandpa to come
an'
get it. Grandpa went an' got the gun, but hit had been several months an'
he
didn't bury the gun with John Dick then, of course. But him gettin' the gun
didn't
do any good. That feller just kept seein' John Dick whereever he went.
He
didn't live long. Got so he couldn't eat. Said John Dick Adams was in every
bite
he tried to swallow. So he jes' dwindled away. Died in about a year after
he
killed John Dick. [Bates survived and became known as the father of Knott
County,
Kentucky.]
Virginia held its gubernatorial elections in
late 1863. Governor Letcher
retained much of his popularity but was
unable to succeed himself as chief
executive of the Old Dominion. General
William "Extra Billy" Smith won the
election and was inaugurated New Year's Day
1864.
Federal Scouts East of the Cumberland
William Robinett, a member of the 39th
Kentucky, was captured while scouting in
Buchanan County, Virginia on August 14,
1863. Allen and Lawson Peterson, from
Yancey County, North Carolina, but members
of the 39th Kentucky, deserted while
scouting in Wise County, Virginia on
September 17, 1863. Other occasional scouts
east of Cumberland were undertaken by
Federal patrols, but far southwest
Virginia remained quiet. One notable
exception was adjoining Lee County. Lee
County's problems relieved much of the
pressure in Wise and Buchanan counties.
Some Confederate soldiers were in Buchanan
County during these scouts, but most
were disabled, on French leave or legitimate
furlough. They were no match for
the scouting parties and generally stayed
out of their way. On one occasion in
late 1863 Whitt Day, Joshua and Andrew Cole
encountered some of their neighbors
serving in the Federal army--the Whites. The
Whites were back in their old
neighborhood, but were not confident enough
to venture to far afield. The Whites
knew the Days were about and were at the
time their enemies. The White captured
a hog and were cooking it at their hiding
place when discovered by Whitt Day.
Day "rounded up" Joshua and Andrew
Cole, absent from the 34th Battalion Virginia
Cavalry. The three Confederates surprised
David and John White and a friend from
the Union Army they had brought with them.
The Day- Cole team started shooting
at Whites who could not respond in kind due
to wet powder. The Whites ran, and
the Day-Cole team enjoyed the meal their
home-Yankee cousins had been preparing.
Eighteen Sixty-Three ended with the
Confederacy struggling more than it had done
at the end of 1862, but it was far from out
of the war. General Lee had won a
grand victory over the Army of the Potomac
at Chancellorsville in May and led an
invasion of the north and ultimate failure
at Gettysburg on July 3. The Wise
Yankee Catcher's participated both these
fights. Unfortunately for Southern
partisans this expedition failed to shake
Lincoln's resolve to prosecute the war
to its conclusion. The Eman- cipation
Proclamation took effect on New Year's
Day, and slaves were more inclined to
attempt to escape to Federal lines.
Federals forces were also able to cut the
Confederacy in two when Vicksburg
fell. Manpower short- ages for the
Confederate army continued to plague Southern
generals and conscription agents scoured the
country-side for every able-bodied
man. Those not inclinded to fight took to
the hills in increasing numbers. The
war in the west continued to go badly, with
the notable exception of Chicka-
mauga. Bragg's obsession for organization
allowed Federals to escape the only
hope for a death blow to the Federal cause
in the western theatre. His dilatory
pursuit later allowed the Federals to defeat
his troops at Missionary Ridge.
1864
The New Year opened on the Cumberland much
as it did other places in the
Confederacy. Soldiers remained in ranks on
distant fields, and in Southwest
Virginia. Eastern Kentucky had not been
reinforced, but neighboring Lee County
had its hands full with a Major Beeres of
the 16th Illinois Cavalry who had
occupied Jonesville. Auburn Pridemore had
assumed command of the 64th Virginia
after Campbell Slemp was relieved of duty by
Brigadier General William Edmundson
"Grumble" Jones in November 1863.
The 64th had been badly beaten in an encounter
with Federal patrols from Cumberland Gap in
late 1863, and he asked for help to
drive the Yankees out of Lee County. Jones,
Pridemore and their com- mands
finally surrounded Beeres in Jonesville and
defeated and captured them on
January 2, 1864. The northern reaches of the
eastern side of Cumberland mountain
remained quiet except for an occasional
bushwhack- ing expedition by one side or
the other.
Other serious skirmishing occurred in Lee
County during the winter of 1864.
Additional fighting in upper east Tennessee
relieved strain along the
Wise-Buchanan frontier with Kentucky.
On February 2, 1864, Captain Sid Cook and
four of his men were surprised by a
Union scout led by Lieutenant Ed Brown in
Morgan County, Kentucky. The rebels
were in the act of lynching John Cantrell
when they were captured. Cook was able
to escape on foot after his horse was shot
from under him.
On February 5, 1864, Prentice had Jacob
Mullins executed for desertion and
joining the Federal Army. The execution was
carried out in West Abingdon "near
the colored graveyard." Mullins was
described in the Abingdon Virginian as:
He
was an exceedingly ignorant young man, almost a heathen, having never read
the
Bible, nor heard it read until after his conviction, and never heard a
sermon
in his life. The chaplain of the post and several other ministers have
gave
him the benefit of their counsel and consolation, and he seemed to be
penitent.
He was greatly affected on the day of his execution, but exhibited a
good
deal of firmness and composure after arriving at the place of execution.
He
was sitting upon his coffin with his fingers in his ears when the order to
fire
was given. He expired almost instantly, five balls having pierced his
breast.
What Prentice was thinking was unclear, but
this event seem to have sparked
several members of the Mullins family to
join up with Alf Killen's band.
Executions were rare in this quarter of the
Confederacy, and that Prentice
ordered it is even more remarkable. There
was probably some unknown difficulty
between the two men which led to his joining
the Federals.
The Military Situation on the Cumberland in
Mid-1864
Apparently Prentice and the 7th Battalion
Confederate Cavalry returned to Wise
County for winter quarters and soon began
some cross- border scouting. His
information was given enough credence for
Lieutenant General James Longstreet to
pass it along to Major General John Cabell
Breckinridge on March 23, 1864.
Longstreet noted that Prentice was just back
from a raid from Kentucky and
learned the Federals were massing troops at
Mount Sterling, Kentucky for a raid
into southwest Virginia. Prentice claimed
there were from 5,000 to 10,000 troops
ready to invade the Old Dominion. It never
occurred. The eastern Kentucky
district was reinforced, but not by much. By
April 30 the area became known as
the First Brigade First Division, District
of Kentucky. Troops assigned were the
14th and 39th Kentucky Mounted Infantry, the
11th Michigan Cavalry and Captain
Drew J. Burchett's artillery battery.
President Abraham Lincoln issued an amnesty
proclamation in early 1864. This
proclamation basically stated that if
Confederate soldiers would turn themselves
in and take the oath of allegiance, they
would be allowed to live peacefully in
the North until the war was over. Several
members of the 7th Battalion
Confederate Cavalry took advantage of this
proclamation and deserted in Wise
County in March 1864. While not a major
problem for Prentice's battalion, the
records indicate some disaffection with
Prentice at that time. Some of the
prisoner of war records indicated the men
had been conscripted and only served
briefly with the battalion. Among the Wise
County residents who took advantage
of the amnesty proclamation were: Henry
Adkins, Emanuel Church, Emanuel Fleming,
John W. Hubbard, James A. Kilgore, John and
Marshall Mullins, William P. Neal,
Levi Perry, William Perry, William Poe, and
George W. Porter. Additionally Noah
Sykes, a Buchanan County resident deserted
and took the oath.
The 7th Battalion Confederate Cavalry was
officially assigned to George Hodge's
Brigade on March 31, 1864. Other units in
this brigade were the 6th Battalion
Confederate Cavalry under command of
Lieutenant Colonel Allen Lawrence McAfee,
the 1st Kentucky Battalion Mounted Rifles
under Lieutenant Colonel Ezekiel F.
Clay, the 2nd Kentucky Battalion Mounted
Rifles under Lieutenant Colonel Thomas
Johnson and the 27th Battalion Virginia
Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant
Colonel Henry A. Edmundson. A man named Mr.
Salyers, a rebel at heart,
misinformed Colonel C. J. True of the 40th
Ohio on April 15 that Hodge passed
through Pound Gap with 3,000 men, who were
only the advance of a major
Confederate advance into Kentucky.
Surprisingly Salyers was believed, and
Federals rushed reinforcements into the
area.
The 7th Battalion Confederate Cavalry
remained close to Pound Gap during most of
the spring of 1864. Prentice's command
occasionally scouted into Kentucky during
the period. The battalion was reported in
Kentucky on April 29, but Hodge's
Brigade was consolidated with Henry L.
Giltner's Brigade.
Prentice's command was reported on John's
Creek in Pike County, Kentucky on
April 6, 1864. Colonel D. A. Mims was
ordered with three companies of infantry
to drive them out. Mims' men were to be
joined by Major Auxier detachment of the
39th Kentucky (Federal) to assist. About
this time, other elements of Hodge's
Brigade were on Beaver Creek, Floyd County,
Kentucky. Mims' men met Prentice's
command on April 7. The Confederates escaped
after a short skirmish in which a
few rebels were wounded. Auxier was unable
to reach Mims in time to assist in
the fight. Hodge's command fell back to
Pound Gap and reached that point about
April 19. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Johnson
and Hodge's brigade were at Guest's
Station in Wise County as late as April 21,
when he prepared his report on their
recent Kentucky raid.
Prentice's command was described as
"scattered around generally" during late
April. Prentice's main camp, however, was at
Castlewoods on the western edge of
Russell County. On April 28, Prentice and
Hodge's Brigade were ordered to
Blountville, Tennessee once again leaving
the Cumberland unprotected from
potential Federal incursion.
With Prentice's men in mind, several new
orders were issued on May 1. Soldiers
found guilty of straggling were to be
punished by con- scription into infantry
service. Theoretically, stealing merited
incarceration in the penitentiary.
Guerrant continued:
Prentice's
men (7h Conf. Batt'n) have the reputation of stealing everything
they
get their hands on: & by associa- tion the others (Jessee's &c) [6th
Battalion
Confederate Cavalry] have become somewhat corrupted. All of Hodge's
brigade
represented as an armed mob.
On May 3, 1864 Prentice's second in command,
Major W. G. Re- pass, was cashiered
from the Confederate Army by General Order
No. 46. This was the second major in
the Battalion, the first was William
Guerrant, cousin of Edward O. Guerrant.
William Guerrant had resigned in disgust the
previous August. On May 4, Guerrant
had some more disparaging remarks for the
7th Battalion Confederate Cavalry. He
wrote:
These
new fellows of Hodge's Brigade are about the greenest horns I ever met
with
"officially." Prentice's men are same. "I want some
rations." "Where is
yr
requisi- tion?" "Don't know." "How many rations do you
want?" "Don't
know.--Jist
wants to draw." [is] dialogue between one of Prentice's boys &
Maj.
Thompson--the elegant Commissary.
Colonel George W. Gallup ordered another
raid on Pound Gap on May 9. He reported
that Major Wise of the 11th Michigan Cavalry
had moved with three squadrons to
Pound Gap on the morning of the 9th and
skirmished with one of Morgan's scouts.
Gallup claimed his men captured 6 horses,
the telegraph operator with
instruments, and one private and killed two
others.
No confirmation of this report has been
found in Confederate reports. At any
rate, Gallup exaggerated becasue there was
no telegraph station at Pound Gap.
In the meantime, on May 1, 1864, the
impertinent, outrageous Lieutenant Colonel
Clarence Prentice wrote President Davis, not
to recommend himself for promotion
to Brigadier General again, but to propose
consolidation of his 7th Battalion
Confederate Cavalry with the 6th Battalion
Confederate Cavalry to form a
regiment. Prentice wrote:
I
have made a first application to Maj. A. L. McAfee for the consolidation of
the
Sixth and Seventh Confederate Cavalry Battalions and have not as yet been
respectfully
(notified)... I am the commander of the Seventh, Maj. McAfee the
com-
mander of the 6th. We both think that the welfare of the service would be
improved
by the consolidation of these battalions and therefore, most
respectfully
urge and request that the consolidation letter be ordered as soon
as
possi- ble.
I
do not ask for promotion on the... but Maj. A. L. McAfee be promoted Colonel
to
command the organization formed by the consolidation.
I
know the Major well, have been with him in the face of the enemy and he is
the
only man my inferior in rank that I have ever met that I was willing to
serve
under. He has had experience both through this and the Mexican War and
heartily
that your Excellency may see fit to promote him to the position....
This consolidation was never seriously
considered by the Confeder- ate War
Department and, of course, was never brought
about. Prentice's reputation as a
rouge had preceded him.
The famed Confederate guerrilla General John
Hunt Morgan was in overall command
of the Department of Western Virginia and
East Tennessee in May 1864. His heart
still lay in his beloved bluegrass of
Kentucky. His last raid into Kentucky
occurred in the late spring of 1864.
Morgan's command departed from Abingdon,
Washington County, Virginia in May. The
operation met disaster at Cynthiana,
Kentucky on June 11-12, 1864. The raid ended
when Morgan limped back to
Abingdon, Virginia on June 20.
While at Saltville on May 3, 1864, Morgan
ordered his command restructured. The
circular read:
From
this date the Brigade Commanded by Col. Giltner shall be known and styled
'1st
Brigade Morgan's Division Cavalry'. That commanded by Lt. Col. R. A.
Alston,
as the '2d. Brigade Morgan's Division Cavalry.
John
Hunt Morgan's Division - Spring 1864
John Hunt Morgan's command was organized
into three brigades for the expedition:
First Brigade - commanded by Colonel Henry
Liter Giltner - totaled about 975
men. Subelements were:
4th Kentucky Cavalry Regiment - Colonel
Tandy Pryor
10th Kentucky Cavalry Battalion - Colonel
Edwin Trimble
1st Battalion Kentucky Mounted Rifles -
Major Holliday
2nd Battalion Kentucky Mounted Rifles -
Colonel Thomas Johnson
10th Kentucky Mounted Rifles - Major Tom
Chenoweth
6th Confederate Cavalry Battalion -
Lieutenant Colonel George M. Jes- see
7th Confederate Cavalry Battalion -
Lieutenant Colonel Clarence J. Pren- tice
Second Brigade - commanded by Colonel D.
Howard Smith - totaled about 500 men.
Subelements were:
1st Battalion Kentucky Cavalry - Colonel
Bowles
2nd Battalion Kentucky Cavalry - Colonel
Kirkpatrick
3rd Battalion Kentucky Cavalry - Colonel
Cassell
Third Brigade - commanded by Colonel Robert
Martin - totaled about 900 men. This
brigade was dismounted. Subelements were:
1st Battalion - Lieutenant Colonel Robert
Alston
2nd Battalion - Major George Diamond.
Edward O. Guerrant, adjutant of Giltner's
Cavalry Brigade, wrote on May 3, 1864:
We
are all very much pleased with our brigade with the exception of Prentice's
(7h)
Battalion, who are represented to us as a band of thieves, &c.-
Therefore,
today I made application to have them transferred to Gen. Wm. E.
Jones.
We don't want them.
About the time all of the changes were being
effected in Morgan's command, the
64th Virginia was ordered by Brigadier
General William E. "Grumble" Jones to
Wise County. Jones ordered Pridemore to
"Scout well in the direction of Pound
Gap and the Louisa Fork of Sandy. Report any
advance of the enemy to the troops
on your left, to this place and to
Saltville."
On May 16, Major Charles E. Smith of the
11th Michigan Cavalry reported that he
had led a scout from Paintsville, Kentucky
on Monday, May 9. They marched
through Piketon, Middle Creek and Forks of
Beaver Creek, and reached Pound Gap.
The Michigan cavalry crossed over the border
when they heard some Confederates
were on Rockhouse Creek in Letcher County.
Smith reported that at 11 a.m. on May
13, his men charged the 45 rebels at
Rockhouse Creek which scattered. The
Federals did not identify the detachment
they fought, but it was probably a
group of Ben Caudill's men.
The next major Confederate undertaking was
with John Hunt Morgan in his last
raid into Kentucky. This left Wise County
virtually defenseless. It is
debatable, however, how much protection
Prentice's Battalion offered Wise
County's residents. Morgan's raid in any
event would result in all the Federals
in the area chasing him, and leaving the
civilian population alone.
Morgan's men left Abingdon, proceeded
through Russell and Wise counties and
crossed the Kentucky Frontier at Pound Gap
on June 1, 1864. The 6th Confederate
Cavalry Battalion, one unit along for the
expedition, had reported 85 men
present for duty on May 30. About 12 miles
east of Pound Gap, Morgan's men
encountered the Federals' 45th Kentucky
Mounted Infantry. The Confederates
brushed aside about 500 Federals like gnats.
General Burbridge's report noted
that he had left Lousia, Kentucky with the
39th Kentucky and 11th Michigan and
two-twelve pound mountain howitzers on
Friday, May 27. By May 28, Burbridge
realized he did not have enough supplies for
his raid into Southwest Virginia.
He sent the 39th Kentucky back to Louisa to
obtain a sufficient quantity.
Colonel John Mason Brown was sent to Pound
Gap to observe Confederate movements.
Burbridge claimed to have moved up with the
rest of his command to throw Morgan
off his guard. He was too late, Morgan had
reached Rockhouse Creek in Letcher
County. Burbridge detached part of the 37th
and 52nd Kentucky Infantry to
obstruct Pound Gap if Morgan retreated
hastily. These detachments lost three
killed, six wounded and one missing during
the subsequent engagements. The whole
force sent to engage Morgan along the
Cumberland suffered 24 killed, 107 wounded
and 191 missing during Morgan's raid.
General Morgan reported the Yankees
"burn[ed] all their commissary and
quartermaster's stores." Morgan did not
give any casualty figures for this
skirmish. The command proceeded to Mount
Sterling, which the Confederates
occupied without opposition on June 8.
Morgan in his July 20, 1864 after-action
report wrote:
On
the 1st of June my advance was met by a force of the enemy twelve miles
this
side [toward Abingdon] of Pound Gap, being the advance of the Federal
forces,
who were moving in this direction. We drove them back rapidly before
us,
and succeeded in remounted some of the dismounted men upon horses that
were
taken upon the gap, which point was gained just at night fall. I ordered
a
detachment of men under Captain [Bart] Jenkins to follow the enemy, who
retreated
in the direction of Piketon, and moved next morning upon a by-road
that
runs parallel with the Piketon and Mount Sterling road, determining, if
possible,
to reach Mount Sterling (their principal depot of supplies in
Eastern
Kentucky.) before the force under General Burbridge could move to my
front.
The
forces under Generals Burbridge and Hobson, who were at Pound Gap and Mud
Creek,
finding that the State was invaded, immediately gave up their intended
expedition
into Virginia and pursued my command.... Hobson, when I passed
through
Pound Gap was in com- mand of one of the divisions of General
Burbridge
near Piketon, Ky.
George Dallas Mosgrove wrote, in Kentucky
Cavaliers in Dixie, an overly romantic
but eyewitness account of the next two
months of activities. He noted that
Morgan's command passed through southwest
Virginia and crossed the Clinch River
and through Cumberland mountain passes into
the Bluegrass State. The march was
slow, and the first objective was the
Unionist town--Mount Sterling. Federal
General Burbridge, in the meantime,
"with a strong force was at that very time
en route to Virginia, his objective point
being probably the Saltworks. He was
marching on another road, however, nearly
parallel with our route." Morgan's
command reached Mount Sterling, without
incident, on June 7, 1864. Confederate
intelligence discovered Federals in the
area. Morgan was not agreeable to a
delay. However, an attack in the dark could
be disastrous. Morgan attacked at
dawn of June 8, easily brushing aside the
limited Federal force he faced. The
Wise County boys in Prentice's Battalion
tagged along.
After Morgan was defeated, the 7th Battalion
Confederate Cavalry returned to
Gladeville. Prentice and his men remained in
the area the rest of the summer. By
June 22, Robert M. Martin's Brigade was back
in Southwest Virginia and the 7th
Confederate had been reassigned to it. At
that time the main body of the brigade
was located at Liberty Hill in Tazewell
County. Two days later they were ordered
to moved immediately to Rich Valley in
Washington County. On June 28, Martin was
ordered to take most of his men and
rendezvous with Giltner's men at Bristol.
Morgan's last Kentucky raid had been
successful in forestalling a major assault
on the salt-works from Kentucky. The
disaster his raid met at Cynthiana,
however, weakened his force and he feared
Burbridge's men would attempt another
raid. As a result, Morgan posted his second
brigade at Gladeville during the
summer of 1864.
The 10th Kentucky Mounted Rifles was listed
in the August 1, 1864 organization
order for troops serving the Department of
Western Virginia and East Tennessee.
John Hunt Morgan remained Departmental
Command- er. The Virginia element of the
Battalion changed commands, Hodge's old
brigade was reduced in size, with
Lieutenant Colonel Martin commanding the
remnant of that organization. This
order assigned the 6th Confederate Cavalry
Battalion to the first Cavalry
Brigade, under command of Colonel Henry L.
Giltner. This table also reported the
strength of Giltner's Brigade as 842 men
present, but only 732 were considered
effective. This organization chart showed:
Morgan's Command - August 1, 1864
Infantry
13th Battalion Virginia Reserves -
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Smith. (Saltville)
Cavalry Brigade, - Colonel Henry L. Giltner
(Near Rogersville, Tennes- see)
6th Confederate - Captain Warren Montfort
(Commander of Company D)
4th Kentucky Cavalry - Captain William D.
Ray
10th Kentucky Cavalry - Lieutenant Colonel
Edwin Trimble
1st Battalion Kentucky Rifles - Capt. Peter
M. Everett
2nd Battalion Kentucky Rifles - Capt. John
T. Williams
10th Battalion Kentucky Rifles - Major J.
Thomas Chenoweth.
Second Brigade - Lieutenant Colonel Robert
M. Martin. (Gladeville, Virgin- ia)
1st Battalion Kentucky Cavalry - Lieutenant
Colonel R. A. Alston
2nd Battalion Kentucky Cavalry - Major Jacob
T. Cassell
7th Confederate Cavalry Battalion -
Lieutenant Colonel Clarence J. Prentice
Vaughn's Brigade (detachment) (Near Bull's
Gap, Tennessee and Abingdon,
Virginia)
16th Georgia Cavalry Battalion
1st Tennessee Cavalry
3rd Tennessee Cavalry
12th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion
16th Tennessee Cavalry Battalion
31st [39th] Tennessee Mounted Infantry
43rd Tennessee Mounted Infantry
59th Tennessee Mounted Infantry
Morgan's division (dismounted)
Osborne's scouts
Vaughan's old brigade
Jones' Brigade (detached) (Near Liberty
Hill, Tazewell County, Virgin- ia)
34th Virginia Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel
Vincent A. Witcher
64th Virginia Regiment, Colonel Auburn L.
Pridemore
Artillery (Saltville and the Lead Mines)
Burrough's Tennessee battery, Captain
William H. Burroughs
Levi's Virginia battery, Captain John W.
Barr
McClung's Tennessee battery, Captain Hugh L.
W. McClung
9th Georgia Artillery Battalion
(detachment), Capt. Andrew M. Wol- ihin.
After Morgan's men returned from Kentucky
recriminations were rampant, and
degenerated into the petty bickering
Confederate military commanders in the area
were noted for. On August 21, Morgan
complained to the War Department that had
not and was not giving him the proper
respect. Morgan further stated that
Giltner's complaints were the result of a
"personal pique" with him, rather than
based in fact. Giltner's complaint was based
on the theft of $80,000 in gold,
silver and bank notes from a bank in Mount
Sterling, Kentucky. D. Howard Smith
asked Morgan to investigate at the time, but
did not and had not up until the
time of Giltner's complaint, which was dated
August 18, 1864.
In July while at Gladeville, Martin was
ordered to send Cassell's Battalion to
Taylorsville in Johnson County, Tennessee.
Of course the men of the 2nd Brigade
Morgan's Division thought being sent into
Wise County punishment for
whistle-blowing about robberies committed by
Morgan's men in Kentucky.
Manpower shortages were taking their toll on
the Army of Northern Virginia's and
the Army of Tennessee's ability to defend
the infant nation. Conscription
officers scoured the land, impressing any
able-bodied man not already in
uniform.
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Let Us Pray Our For Troops In Foreign Lands
The Civil War in Morgan County 2003
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