An Unfortunate Soldier of the Fourth Iowa Cavalry

One of my favorite regimental histories by a veteran is William Forse Scott’s The Story of a Cavalry Regiment: The Career Of The Fourth Iowa Veteran Volunteers, From Kansas To Georgia, 1861-1865 (1893). Scott’s book is mostly a serious recounting of his regiment’s many campaigns, but some amusing soldier stories are included as well.

On October 11, 1862, about fifty men detached from companies A, G, and H were attacked by the 21^st Texas Cavalry just a few miles from Helena, Arkansas. Routed by the Texans, the detachment lost four killed, six wounded, and fifteen captured. Scott dutifully narrates the skirmish but then wrote, “Some amusing incidents are told of the rout…” (p. 53).

One of the soldiers who escaped capture “was a short, stout man, his form presenting several great projections. When he lost his horse he went lumbering down the lane afoot, while the rebels were engaged with the others behind him, till he came to a gutter or culvert across the road. It was covered by a couple of planks, laid the length of the gutter and supported by short cross-pieces under the ends, so that by the weight of horses or wagons they were bent down in the middle. The frightened fugitive no sooner saw the hole under the planks than he thought it a good place for hiding, and crawled in. But the space was shallow for a man of his thickness, and while his front was on the ground his rear was against the planks. Hardly had he got into position when the rebels came galloping down the lane in pursuit. They rode over the little bridge with a clatter that must have seemed to him endless, and every horse struck the planks with a thump upon the protuberant portions of his body. There was no turning around, there was no getting out, unless to be killed or captured. Each thump was worse than the one before, but at last, when he thought he was nearly dead, the riding ceased, and he tried to recover his breath. But then, driven by Parsons’ charge, many of the rebels rode back again, and pounded more trouble into the unhappy fellow. His torture seemed endless, but the time did come when the fighting was all over….Night came at last, to the relief of his mind, if not of his body, and the jellied trooper crawled out and lay in the weeds, in a field near by, until morning….The sufferer found each inch of his flesh more tender than any other, and when he was discovered and helped to camp, it appeared to his rescuers, as well as to himself, that he had borne the brunt of the battle” (pp. 54-55).

“…the spectacle is probably without a parallel in the war.”

Cavalryman William Forse Scott of the 4^th Iowa Veteran Volunteer Cavalry wrote that in reference to the great charge by Union troopers at the Battle of Mine Creek on 25 October 1864. This battle (also known as the Battle of the Osage, or the Battle of the Marais des Cygnes, or the Battle of Little Osage) was fought in Kansas near the conclusion of General Sterling Price’s raid into Missouri. It is considered to be one of the largest cavalry battles of the conflict, and certainly it ranks as a battle with one of the most lopsided outcomes.

On Labor Day weekend, my mom and I went on a day trip to the Mine Creek Battlefield State Historic Site which is near Pleasanton, Kansas. A small visitor’s center is on the battle site, and I spent a pleasant hour or so walking an interpretive trail. According to their website, the Mine Creek Battlefield Foundation has been successful in acquiring an additional 210 acres of battlefield property.

Two brigades of well armed Union troopers managed to catch two John F. Fagan’s and John S. Marmaduke’s cavalry divisions as they attempted to guard a ford being used by a supply train crossing Mine Creek. Union cavalrymen, according to Scott, charged across “ground [that] was entirely open and covered with prairie grass” (p. 332). The sight must have indeed been a “spectacle” as reported by Scott. Here is a photograph of the open field looking from the Confederate position toward the Union lines:

It is not difficult to imagine a cavalry charge across that field!

According to the interpretive walking trail brochure, the Confederate force suffered approximately 1,160 casualties (260 estimated killed, 300 estimated wounded, and 600 estimated captured) out of about 7,000 men present. Some Confederate prisoners were executed by Union troopers because they were wearing Union uniforms. The Union force numbered about 2,800 men and suffered a grand total of 90 casualties (8 killed, 80 wounded, and 2 missing).

The main source for this battle remains Lumir F. Buresh’s book, October 25^th and The Battle Of Mine Creek, first published in 1977 and reprinted by the Mine Creek Battlefield Foundation in 2000.

Note: The quotes from William Forse Scott are from his book, The Story Of A Cavalry Regiment: The Career Of The Fourth Iowa Veteran Volunteers: From Kansas to Georgia, 1861-1865 (1893; reprinted Iowa City: Camp Pope Bookshop, 1992).