The Real Horse Soldiers

by Timothy B Smith

  ***

  Few Confederates were now in a position to stop Grierson, but a new enemy made its appearance. The long and miserable night march had taken its toll. The men were now 16 days into their long and tiring journey and completely exhausted. “All night we rode and made good speed,” explained Grierson, “although nearly the entire command was much of the time asleep on their horses.” When no longer spurred along by their riders, the horses often stopped to feed on the grass growing beside the road. “The shock given by the occasion of the inaction or momentum would wake up the rider,” continued the brigade leader, at which time “the horse and man would re-enter the column.” To keep the men moving, he posted several troopers “who believed they could keep awake” on the flanks, though he later admitted that, “besides myself, few of the command were awake that night.”47

  Captain Forbes’s Company B, 7th Illinois Cavalry, took station in the rear to keep the column moving. These men had endured similar hardships on their mini-expedition. Forbes left a detailed account of what was transpiring:

  Men by the score, and I think by fifties, were riding sound asleep in their saddles. The horses excessively tired and hungry, would stray out of the road and thrust their noses to the earth in hopes of finding something to eat. The men, when addressed, would remain silent and motionless until a blow across the thigh or the shoulder should awaken them, when it would be found that each supposed himself still riding with his company, which might perhaps be a mile ahead. We found several men who had either fallen from their horses, or dismounted and dropped on the ground, dead with sleep. Nothing short of a beating with the flat of a saber would awaken some of them. In several instances they begged to be allowed to sleep, saying that they would run all risk of capture on the morrow. Two or three did escape our vigilance, and were captured the next afternoon.48

  The Amite River crossing unfolded rather smoothly, but the crossing of the waterways that followed did not. The sleepy column plodded southwest to Sandy Creek near Greenwell Springs, described by one rider as “a pretty, rushing stream,” where scouts ran up on a Confederate camp guarding the roadway. Grierson marveled at the effect the news of another potential fight had on the men. “At the time this news reached us,” he wrote, “nearly the entire command of officers and soldiers were asleep on their horses. The prospect of a fight, however, quickly awakened all the sleepers, who began to tighten up their reins, grasp their carbines and revolvers, and prepare for a charge. . . . It was wonderful to observe what life and vigor was stirred up as the order went back to the rear to prepare for a rapid advance upon a foe which, to judge from the size of the camp, must be a considerable force.”49

  The enemy camp, situated along the main road at the crossing near Burlington’s Ferry, belonged to Hughes’s cavalry battalion under Lt. Col. C. C. Wilbourn. The troopers, however, were off to the northeast and hunting for Grierson. Grierson was unaware the enemy was gone when he used the same tactic he employed at Newton Station nine days earlier and struck the camp about dawn on May 2. A company of the leading 6th Illinois Cavalry moved out at a trot, followed by a second company from the same regiment. The trot turned into a gallop that developed into a charge as the men rode between the tents, firing into them “with a tremendous yell.” The Confederates were so confident that no danger was within striking distance that they had not even posted pickets or skirmishers. “We reached this point at first dawn of day,” reported Grierson, “[and] completely surprised and captured the camp, with a number of prisoners.” Only one Rebel, dressed only in his underwear, managed to escape by leaping onto a horse and galloping bareback out of harm’s way. The camp, explained Grierson, protected only by a small guard, consisted of “about one hundred and fifty tents, a large quantity of ammunition, guns, public and private stores, books, papers, and public documents.” The 6th Illinois troopers remained behind to destroy everything they could find, but the 7th Illinois men pushed on with the rest of the column on the road to Baton Rouge. Not far out of camp the Federals came across a lieutenant colonel drawn in their direction by the firing. When he realized his mistake the officer yelled, “Get like hell boys, the road is full of Yanks in our rear!” By that time Grierson’s scouts were behind the officer, and one of them replied. “Yes, [and] here you are among them” as the Rebel fell into Union hands.50

  The column moved on, riding over additional creeks and streams flowing into the Amite River. The only watercourse likely to pose a problem if it was defended was the Comite River, whose headwaters were far north in Mississippi east of Woodville. Unfortunately for the raiders, several companies of Miles’s Louisiana Legion were patrolling its banks, watching the crossing points at Haw’s, Robert’s, Bogan’s, and Strickland’s fords. The Federals were heading toward Robert’s Ford, which was guarded by a company led by Capt. B. F. Bryan.51

  Despite the long hours and hard riding, Grierson’s men remained awake and alert. “The country hereabout, with its beautiful groves, the trees laden with the grey moss characteristic of Louisiana, was very attractive,” explained Woodward. “And as the day dawned, it seemed to inspire the men with renewed life and spirits.” The head of the column approached the river around noon, where Bryan’s company was discovered blocking the road near modern-day Monticello. As scouts dressed as civilians approached the Confederates, one of the defenders asked, “How are you, gentlemen? Have you come to relieve us?” One of the scouts replied in the affirmative, adding that the main command would be up soon. “It’s about time,” grumbled the Southerner, “for we have been here four days and are nearly out of rations.”52

  While the scouts were deceiving the enemy, Grierson—who had no intention of slowing down—ordered another attack. Riding in the van, the men of the 7th Illinois Cavalry set their spurs and drove forward, one battalion moving to the left and another to the right, the gap between them filled with the balance of the column. The attack was handsomely delivered even though the men had been in the saddle since daylight the previous day and had ridden some 60 miles in a little more than 24 hours.53

  The sudden appearance of the raiders bearing down on them from three directions surprised Bryan, who had “only about 30 [men] immediately in camp.” The Confederates had been paying more attention to the Federals holding Baton Rouge to the southwest than Grierson’s Federals arriving behind them from the northeast, and they had “no possible chance of . . . making a stand.” Grierson’s cavalry, which Captain Bryan estimated at 1,000 strong, “made a dash and surrounded me on all sides before I was aware that they were other than our own troops, their advanced guard being dressed in citizens’ garb. Indeed, I could not think it possible that an enemy could approach my camp without my being notified in ample time to be prepared to meet them.” The enemy, noted Grierson, was “in happy ignorance of the fact that the Yankees were in their rear and near at hand.” Thus surprised and mostly surrounded, the only man to escape was a captain, who hid behind clumps of Spanish moss in a tree. One Illinois trooper corralled at least a dozen Confederates hiding in a hole along the riverbank. In his report, dated May 10, Bryan detailed a list of his losses that included 38 men and as many horses, wagons, small arms, ammunition, and more. “I would state that I have 6 horses left by the enemy at the Comite Bridge,” he added, as if that would in some way ameliorate the wholesale embarrassment. The other Confederate units guarding nearby fords quickly figured out what was happening, reporting that Bryan’s capture left “our left and rear . . . entirely exposed.”54

  The only problem now was to get across the wide river, which Grierson ordered the troopers to do as quickly as possible. The Comite, observed the brigade leader, was “deep enough to swim many of the horses.” Once the scouts found a suitable ford half a mile away, the entire column crossed, with the 6th Illinois Cavalry riding in advance. A large throng of some 500 slaves who had flocked to the column during the last few miles crossed with them. “I tried at first to prevent them,” explained Grierson, “knowing how rapidly we would have to ma
rch and fearing that they would not be able to keep up, and that they would be made to suffer if caught by their masters, but it was no use.” The slaves saw the appearance of the column as perhaps their one chance at freedom, and a motley collection of wagons, carts, horses, and mules followed the begrimed Federal raiders. Once across the Comite River, the slaves burst out in “alternate shouts of rejoicing and prayers.” Grierson admitted, “I never before during my life saw such a medley or motley crowd. To describe it would be an impossibility.” But it was “the most wonderful appearance imaginable.”55

  With nothing between him and the safety that Baton Rouge afforded, Grierson allowed the exhausted men to stop about four miles from the city to feed their horses and rest a short time. The opportunity was welcomed by everyone, explained Colonel Prince, because it was “the first [time] that man or beast had eaten for 30 hours.” As “hungry and jaded as these men and horses were,” he added, “not a murmur was heard from the lips of a soldier.” Some of the men were tasked with guarding the substantial number of prisoners with the column, but the rest grabbed what little sleep they could. Soon, declared Grierson, all but “myself, Lieutenant Woodward, and the guard were enjoying a sound and refreshing sleep.” He later proudly observed, “The last twenty-eight hours, we marched 76 miles, had four engagements with the enemy, and forded the Comite River. . . . During this time the men and horses were without food or rest.”56

  While many of his troopers slept, Grierson relaxed in a very different way. The brigade commander rode to a nearby plantation house in search of his first love and what he needed most. “I astonished the occupants by sitting down and playing upon a piano which I found in the parlor,” he recalled with deep satisfaction. “In that manner, I managed to keep awake while my soldiers were enjoying themselves by relaxation, sleep, and quiet rest.” Reaching the outskirts of Baton Rouge after all he had accomplished and being able to play the piano were, he elaborated, a “great relief to the overtaxed mind and nerves. I felt that we had nobly accomplished the work assigned to us, and no wonder that I felt musical. Who would not under like circumstances?”57

  Benjamin Grierson had just turned in the most renowned performance of his life—a nonmusical recital of epic proportions.

  ***

  The Federals in Baton Rouge were as surprised at Grierson’s sudden appearance as had been the Confederates at the Comite River. “Judge of the general astonishment and delight,” one newspaper said, “when we learned that the brigade was no other than the cavalry force that has for weeks been the terror of Central Mississippi, heard from occasionally in rebel prints, as destroying a train here, a bridge there, terrifying a town in the morning and burning a camp forty miles away in the evening.” A Federal in Tennessee had not directly predicted Grierson would end up in Baton Rouge, but he made it clear that if he did so, it would surely shock his comrades there: “It would be rather surprising to the Federal soldiers in Louisiana, to see 1200 or 1500 blue coats emerging from the brush some fine morning.” A. N. Shattuck of Company E, 7th Illinois Cavalry, wrote home, “We had a grand reception here, the people could hardly believe that we were really troops from the North.”58

  Major General Christopher C. Augur, commanding at Baton Rouge, heard the raiders were approaching in a most unusual way. One of Grierson’s orderlies was asleep when the halt was called a handful of miles outside of town. The exhausted man “did not hear the order, went moping on, nodding to the motion of his horse,” which kept walking until it reached the Federal lines, where pickets shook the man awake and thoroughly questioned him. “He rubbed his eyes in astonishment and answered all the questions put to him in a sort of a dazed manner,” Grierson remembered. The guards found it hard to believe the 6th and 7th Illinois Cavalries operating out of La Grange, Tennessee, had suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Baton Rouge, Louisiana. “They thought it was some sort of a trap to draw their troops out to ambush,” wrote the thoroughly amused Grierson.59

  With no other news about Grierson’s position, the logical explanation was that Confederate cavalry had crossed the Comite River to attack Baton Rouge. General Augur sent cavalry troops under Capt. John F. Godfrey to investigate, and a couple of Grierson’s orderlies who had remained awake to guard the camp reported the enemy attacking from the west. “Feeling confident that there must be some mistake about the matter and that no enemy could possibly come against us from that direction,” Grierson explained, “I rode out alone to meet the troops, without waking up my command.” Grierson approached Godfrey’s cavalry, who by this time had dismounted and taken cover wherever they could, their weapons pointed at the approaching rider. Grierson did some fast talking to convince the Federal commander of his identity, admitting that Godfrey was “not at all satisfied with the looks of things,” nor did he believe “we were really and truly ‘bona fide’ Illinois troops from Tennessee.” According to Henry Forbes, Grierson “had to negotiate for admission within the Federal lines.” Once Grierson convinced Godfrey he was indeed a Federal officer, the captain popped from behind his fence and shook Grierson’s hand, and his soldiers followed suit. Grierson had finally reached Union-held territory after spending 16 days behind enemy lines and riding at least 600 miles since leaving La Grange.60

  Grierson’s Brigade Column. One of the few contemporary photos of Grierson’s raiders. This one shows the brigade after it reached Baton Rouge. Photographic History of the Civil War

  Word coursed back east to roust the Illinoisans out of their slumber so the column could formally enter Baton Rouge. General Auger insisted on a parade, including the column’s prisoners, most of whom had been captured at the Comite River. The Rebels, recalled Grierson with no little pride, “twitted [teased] the Baton Rouge soldiers, saying that they never could have captured them; that the United States government had to send Illinois soldiers clear from Tennessee into their rear before they could be taken.” According to a newspaperman, the prisoners were “only distinguishable from their capturers by being less travel stained and riding in fatigue dress without arms.” Grierson gave the honor of leading the final ride into Baton Rouge to his own 6th Illinois Cavalry, followed by Smith’s guns, the prisoners, the 7th Illinois Cavalry, and the large throng of slaves moving toward freedom. Word spread and “for nearly a mile before entering the city, the road was lined with wondering spectators—old and young, male and female, rich and poor, white and black, citizens and soldiers—all mixed up indiscriminately.” Colonel Prince recalled how he and his comrades “found the people ready to receive us with open arms—Every courtesy was extended to us.” Another trooper remembered that “their band played & they gave us three rousing cheers.”61

  Grierson’s troopers made their triumphal entry in a column of fours with sabers drawn:

  Amid the wildest shouts and cheers and waving of banners and flags, heralded by bands of music, the [tired] and travel-stained troops marched in triumph through the city, around the public square, down to the river to water their horses, and then out to Magnolia Grove, the trees of which were in full bloom and deliciously fragrant, situated two miles south of the city, where at sunset, scarcely waiting to partake of the refreshment provided for us by the kind-hearted soldiers of the 116th New York and 48th Massachusetts infantry regiments, we laid down to sleep amid flowers and perfume, beside the deep waters of the great Mississippi River, without guard and without danger.62

  1Surby, Grierson Raids, 103-4.

  2For Chancellorsville, see Ernest B. Ferguson, Chancellorsville 1863: The Souls of the Brave (New York: Knopf, 1993).

  3Winschel, Triumph and Defeat, 1-12.

  4Grierson, A Just and Righteous Cause, 171; Surby, Grierson Raids, 104.

  5OR 24, pt. 3, 793; Grabau, Ninety-Eight Days, 120; “The Grierson Raid: What the People Think of It,” Jackson Daily Mississippian, May 9, 1863.

  6OR 24, pt. 3, 801-18.

  7Ibid., pt. 1, 533.

  8Ibid., 547-48.

  9Ibid., 540-41; Berrien, The Military Annals of Ten
nessee, 748-53.

  10OR 24, pt. 1, 545.

  11Ibid., 541, 553.

  12Ibid., 527.

  13Ibid., 527; Jackson, The History of Orange Jackson’s War Life, 11; “The Grierson Raid,” Weekly Register (Canton, IL), September 7, 1863.

  14Woodward, “Grierson’s Raid,” 102, 111; Bearss, The Vicksburg Campaign, vol. 2, 229.

  15“Incidents of the Raid,” Memphis Daily Bulletin, May 23, 1863; Grierson, A Just and Righteous Cause, 171.

  16OR 24, pt. 1, 527; Surby, Grierson Raids, 104; Roth, “Grierson’s Raid,” 62.

  17OR 24, pt. 1, 539, Brown, Grierson’s Raid, 192.

  18OR 24, pt. 1, 527; “The Grierson Raid,” Weekly Register (Canton, IL), September 7, 1863; Woodward, “Grierson’s Raid,” 103; Surby, Grierson Raids, 104, 110.

  19Surby, Grierson Raids, 105; Grierson, A Just and Righteous Cause, 171.

  20OR 24, pt. 1, 539; Grierson, A Just and Righteous Cause, 171-72; Surby, Grierson Raids, 106; Surby, Grierson Raids, 108.

  21“The Grierson Raid,” Weekly Register (Canton, IL), September 7, 1863; Grierson, A Just and Righteous Cause, 172; Woodward, “Grierson’s Raid,” 104.

  22OR 24, pt. 1, 540; Grierson, A Just and Righteous Cause, 172; Abbott, “Heroic Deeds of Heroic Men,” 280; “The Grierson Raid,” Weekly Register (Canton, IL), September 7, 1863; Surby, Grierson Raids, 110, 112, 114; “Camp Correspondence,” Fulton City Register (Canton, IL), May 26, 1863; “From New Orleans,” n.d., Thomas W. Lippincott Papers, ALPL.

  23OR 24, pt. 1, 540; Grierson, A Just and Righteous Cause, 172; Abbott, “Heroic Deeds of Heroic Men,” 280; “The Grierson Raid,” Weekly Register (Canton, IL), September 7, 1863; Surby, Grierson Raids, 110, 112, 114; “Camp Correspondence,” May 26, 1863; “From New Orleans,” n.d., Thomas W. Lippincott Papers, ALPL.