In the annual report of the Secretary of War (the Hon. Jefferson Davis’), for
the year 1855, it was stated that “The four additional regiments authorized by
the act of March 3, 1855, have been recruited and organized. Seven companies of
the First Cavalry have recently returned from an expedition into the Sioux
country and the regiment will winter at Fort Leavenworth, where it will be in
position for ulterior operations in the spring.”
When the two regiments of cavalry were authorized to be formed in 1855 it was
with the understanding that all the field-officers and one-half of the company
officers should betaken from the army, while the other half of the company
officers should be taken from civil life.
The military fitness of those selected for the First (now Fourth) Cavalry is
indicated by the high commands to which many of them rose, as follows:
Colonel: Edwin V. Sumner (Major General U.
S. V. commanding corps).
Lieut. Col.: Joseph E. Johnston (Quartermaster General U. S. A.; General
C. S. A.).
Majors: William H. Emory (Major General U. S. V. commanding corps); John
Sedgwick (Major General U. S. V. commanding corps).
Captains: Delos B. Sacket (Inspector General U. S. A.); Thomas J. Wood
(Major General U. S. V.); George B. McClellan (Major General, commanding U. S.,
Army and Army of Potomac); Samuel D. Sturgis (Brigadier General U. S. V.);
William D. de Saussure (Colonel C. S. A.); William S. Walker (Colonel C. S. A.);
George T. Anderson (Brigadier General C. S. A.); Robert S. Garnett (Brigadier
General C. S. A., killed in action).
First Lieuts. : William NL. R. Beale (Brigadier General C. S. A.) George
H. Steuart (Brigadier General C. S. A.); James McIntosh (Brigadier General C. S.
A., killed in action); Robert Ransom (Major General C. S. A.); Eugene A. Carr
(Brigadier General U. S. A.); Alfred Iverson (Brigadier General C. S. A.); Frank
Wheaton (Brigadier General U. S. A.).
Second Lieuts.: David S. Stanley (Major General U. S. V., Brigadier
General U. S. A.); James E. B. Stuart (Major General C. S. A., mortally
wounded); Elmer Otis (Colonel U. S. A. James B. McIntyre (Major and Brevet
Colonel U. S. A.); Eugene W. Crittenden (Major U. S. A.); Albert B. Colburn
(Lieut. Colonel Staff U. S. A.) Francis L. Vinton (Brigadier General U. S. V.);
George D. Bayard (Brigadier General U. S. V., killed in action); L. L. Lomax
(Major General C. S. A.); Joseph H. Taylor (Lieut. Colonel Staff U. S. A.).
“In August, 1855, the regiment which had been organized at Jefferson
Barracks was ordered to Fort Leavenworth. About the middle of September it was
engaged in an Indian expedition in which no fighting occurred, but which kept
the troops in the field until the fourth of November.
During the following year the First Cavalry was engaged in the work of
keeping the peace between the political factions in Kansas who were struggling
with the delicate question of slavery.
The first important Indian affair in which the new regiment participated
occurred on the North fork of the Solomon River, within the limits of what is
now Norton County, Kansas. From a letter* written by one of its officers who was
there wounded—afterward the famous cavalryman Major General J. E. B.
Stuart—we quote as follows:
Camp on Solomon’s Fork, July 30, 1857.
Yesterday after seventeen days’ march from Camp Buchanan, we overtook about
three hundred Cheyenne warriors drawn up in line of battle, and marching boldly
and steadily. We fronted into line as soon as possible (the six companies of
cavalry) the infantry being too far behind to take any part in the action, also
Bayard’s battery, which the colonel stopped three or four miles back as unable
to keep up. It was my intention and I believe that of most of the company
commanders, to give a carbine volley and then charge with drawn pistols, and use
the sabre as a dernier resort; but much to my surprise the colonel
ordered “Draw sabres! Charge!” when the Indians were within gunshot. We
setup a terrific yell, which scattered the Cheyenne in disorderly flight, and we
kept up the charge in pursuit. I led off Co. G right after their main body; but
very few of the company horses were fleet enough, after the march, beside my own
brave Dan, to keep in reach of the Indians mounted on fresh ponies. My part of
the chase led toward the right and front, and in that direction companies G, H
and D, were, in a short time, mixed together in the pursuit, so that Stanley,
McIntyre, McIntosh, Lomax and myself were, for the greater part of the time,
near each other, and frequently side by side. As long as Dan held out I was
foremost; but after a chase of five miles he failed, and I had to mount the
horse of a private. When I overtook the rear of the enemy I found Lomax in
imminent danger from an Indian, who was on foot and in the act of shooting him.
I rushed to the rescue, and succeeded in wounding the Indian in his thigh. He
fired at me in return with an Allen’s revolver but missed. About this time I
observed Stanley and McIntyre close by. The former said: “Wait! I’ll fetch
him.” He dismounted to aim deliberately, but in dismounting accidentally
discharged his last load. Upon him the Indian now advanced with his revolver
pointed. I could not stand that; but drawing my sabre rushed upon the monster
and inflicted a severe wound upon his head. At the same moment he fired his last
barrel within a foot of me the ball taking effect in the centre of the breast,
but, by the mercy of God, glancing to the left, lodging near my left nipple, but
so far inside that it cannot be felt. I was able to dismount and lie down,
before which the Indian, having discharged his last load, was dispatched by
McIntyre and a man of Co. D.
*Campaigns
of Stuart’s Cavalry, H. B. McClellan, A. M., New York, 1885.
From the fall of 1857 until the summer of 1860 six companies of the First
Cavalry were stationed at Fort Riley under the command of Major John Sedgwick.
In 1861 the regiment, like all others of the army, changed to a certain
extent the personnel of its officers. Some of its most experienced soldiers
resigned but their places were taken by young and ardent supporters of the Union
cause who, under the eyes of those officers who remained in the service of the
Government, rapidly developed into efficient subalterns.
The operations of the regiment during the first year of the war were
desultory in their character. On the 18th of March Lt. Col. Emory
commanding was ordered to proceed to Fort Washita and establish his
headquarters. April 17 he was directed to proceed “with all the troops in the
Indian country west of Arkansas to Fort Leavenworth” and reached there May 31.
About the same time Captain Sturgis evacuated Fort Smith and marched to Washita.
Two companies were ordered (May 29) from Fort Wise to Fort Kearney to hold in
check the Indians in that section and Lt. Col. Sedgwick was sent to Leavenworth.
On the 22 June, Gen. McClellan, operating in West Virginia, applied for that
part of the regiment stationed at Fort Leavenworth.
Capt. Colburn with Companies A and E participated in the battle of Bull Run,
and was favorably mentioned by the division commander, Col. Heintzleman.
Companies B, C, D and L were at the same time serving under Major Sturgis in
Missouri. On the 27th of July a skirmish took place near Forsyth,
Mo., in which Capt. Stanley, 1st Cavalry, with his troop, had the
advance and lost two men wounded and four horses killed (including his own, shot
under him). The same officer was conspicuous in an affair at Dug Springs, Mo.,
Aug. 2 when, as part of a detachment of troops under Gen. Lyon, his squadron
made several charges cutting the enemy’s line and completing his discomfiture.
Capt. Stanley’s loss was four killed and six wounded out of a total engaged of
forty-two: Sergeants Coates and Sullivan were mentioned for gallantry.
In the annual report of the Secretary of War (Dec. 4, 1854), occurred this
paragraph:
“The cavalry force of our Army being all required
for active service of the same kind, there appears no propriety in making a
permanent distinction in the designation and armament of the several regiments.
It is therefore proposed to place all the regiments of cavalry on the same
footing in these respects, and to leave it in the power of the Executive to arm
and equip them in such manner as may be required by the nature of the service in
which they may be employed.”
It is worth noting that this recommendation of the subsequent President of
the Southern Confederacy was not acted upon until in the early part of President
Lincoln’s administration when (Aug. 3, 1861), an order was issued renumbering
the mounted force and naming the subject of this sketch the Fourth
Cavalry.
At the historic affair of Springfield, Mo., known as Wilson’s Creek (Aug.
10), where the lamented Lyon fell, the regiment was represented by Captain
Carr’s company and one company under Lieut. Canfield, 2d Drags.*—serving in
different brigades. In the official reports Lieut. Canfield is honorably
mentioned; the casualties consisted of one wounded and three missing in D, and
four missing in I. The small regular cavalry force engaged shared in whatever of
credit could be obtained from “the mixture of glory, disgrace and disaster,”
reported by Major Schofield of Gen. Lyon’s Staff as a prominent feature of
this engagement.
On the 19th Dec., 1861, a spirited skirmish, in which B, C, D,
(being part of an expedition under Gen. Pope to cut Price’s communications)
behaved very gallantly, occurred on the Blackwater River, Mo. Gen. Pope reported
that in attempting to carry a bridge held by a strong force of the enemy:
•
Afterward Captain 2d Cav. Killed at Beverly Ford, Va., June 9, 1863.
“The two companies of the 4th regular
cavalry being in the advance under the command respectively of Lieuts. Amory and
Gordon were designated for that service and were supported by the five companies
of the First Iowa. Lieut. Gordon led the charge in person with the utmost
gallantry and vigor, carried the bridge in fine style and immediately formed his
company on the opposite side. He was promptly followed by the other companies.
The force of the enemy posted at the bridge retreated precipitately over a
narrow open space into the woods. The two companies formed in line at once,
advanced upon the enemy and were received with a heavy volley of small arms. One
man was killed and eight wounded by this discharge, with one exception all
belonging to Co. D; Lieut. Gordon himself received several balls through his
cap.”*
When McClellan in April, 1862, began his Peninsular Campaign, two companies
(A and E) of the Fourth Cavalry (4 officers and 104. men) under Captain McIntyre
constituted his personal escort; the remainder of the regiment being on duty in
the West. On the 27th August, Gen. McClellan reported that he had
loaned his “personal escort (a squadron 4th Cav.) to Burnside to
scout down the Rappahannock.” In October, 1862, this squadron joined the
regimental headquarters in Tennessee.
In Nov. 1862, Cos. F and H were stationed at Fort Laramie, Neb.
At Pittsburg Landing (Shiloh) Tenn., April 6, 1862, Company I was present,
losing one enlisted man and five horses killed and five men wounded; this
company (together with B, C, D, G, K) was also present at Corinth, Miss., 9-14
May; a detachment under Lieut. Gordon took part in an affair near Farmington,
Miss.; no casualties.
In the organization of the Army of the Mississippi, April 30, 1862, Capt. E.
W. Crittenden commanded a part of the regiment, “unattached.”
During the Stone River campaign (1862-63) the regiment commanded by Capt.
Elmer Otis served under Gen. Stanley who said in his report of the operations
near Murfreesborough that “The Fourth U. S. Cavalry behaved very
handsomely.” The casualties comprised three enlisted men killed and Capt. Eli
Long and nine men wounded; twelve men missing. Capt. Otis in his official
report† states that “from prisoners taken (of whom there were over one
hundred) by the regiment I have learned that the 4th U. S. Cavalry
charged at this time an entire brigade of cavalry and routed them to such an
extent that they disappeared from the field altogether.” Other details are
given as follows:
“Of the officers engaged it is almost impossible
to particularize, they all did so well. Capt. Eli Long led his company with the
greatest gallantry and was wounded by a ball through his left arm. Lieuts. Mauck,
Kelly, Lee, and Healy could not have done better. It was a matter of surprise to
me, considering the ground passed over to find Dr. Comfort so soon on the field
with his ambulance caring for the wounded; he was in time to capture a prisoner
himself. First Sergt. Martin Murphy led Co. G and commanded it with great
gallantry. He reports having counted eleven dead of the enemy on the ground over
which his company charged. Sergt. Major John G. Webster behaved gallantly,
taking one lieutenant mounted on a fine mare. First Sergt. James McAlpin led Co.
K after Capt. Long was wounded. First Sergt. John D. Lan (B) captured a captain
and received his sword. No one could have acted more bravely than First Sergt.
Charles McMasters.‡
*See Lieut. Amory’s Report, War
Records VIII, 40.
† War Records XX., part I, 648
‡ Afterward Lieut. 2d U. S. Cavalry, killed at Front Royal, Va., in 1864.
First Sergt. Christian Haefling, in charge of
courier line near headquarters, proceeded in the thickest of the fire and
recovered the effects of Colonel Garesché on his body, killed in this day’s
fight. * *
”Private Snow (L) orderly to Gen. Rosecrans was ordered, Jan. 2, to pick up
fifteen stragglers, take them to the front and turn them over to some
commissioned officer. Failing to find an officer he put them into line and
fought them himself, telling them the first one who attempted to run he would
shoot. Private Snow reports they fought bravely.”
At the battle of Franklin, April 10, 1863, the regiment under Capt. McIntyre
greatly distinguished itself, charging and capturing a battery of six guns and
some three hundred prisoners. A large force of the enemy subsequently attacked
our troops and after an hour’s fight McIntyre was obliged to abandon the guns,
having spiked them and broken up the carriages. Gen. Stanley in his report of
the battle said: “From the circumstances the Fourth Cavalry did the most
gallant service. Two gallant officers, old soldiers, were dangerously wounded—Lieuts.
Healy and Simson, the former it is feared mortally.” Capt. McIntyre gives a
full account* of this fight for which there is unfortunately not space here.
The regiment was also in action at Middleton,
Tenn., 20 and 23 May, ‘63 (B, D, E, G, I, K, M); Shelbyville, Tenn., 27 and 30
June, ‘63 (B, C, D, G, I, L, M); Ringgold, Ga., 18 Sept., ‘63 (A, B, C, I,
M); Chickamauga Creek, Ga., 18 and 25 Sept., ‘63 (B, C, D, E, F, G, I, L);
Okalona, Miss., 22 Feb., ‘64 (A, B, F, G, H, I, K, L, M ) ; Tallahatchie
River, Tenn., 22 Feb., ‘64 (A, H, M); Dallas, Ga., 26 and 28 May, ‘64 (A, B,
C, E, F, I, M) and Lovejoy’s Station, Ga., 20 Aug., ‘64.
In the latter part of October, 1864, the 4th Cavalry was relieved
from duty with a brigade and ordered to Cavalry Corps Headquarters. The regiment
was very much reduced in strength, numbering about 175 men. It marched to
Nashville and took part in that battle on the 14th and 15th
of December and in the pursuit of Hood. On the 24th of December a
portion of the regiment, led by the brave Lieut. Joseph Hedges, charged into a
battery of three guns driving them off the field and finally capturing them
after a pursuit of a mile.
The Corps Commander (Gen. Wilson) says of this incident:†
Late in the evening, apparently exhausted with a
rapid marching, the enemy took up a strong position in the open field about a
mile north of the West Harpeth. It was then so dark from fog and approaching
night that the men of Hatch’s division who had become somewhat intermingled
with the sullen and taciturn Confederate stragglers, began to doubt that the
ranks which were now looming up in their front were really those of the
enemy’s rear-guard. The momentary hesitation caused by this doubt gave Forrest
an opportunity to straighten his lines and to push his single remaining battery
in position so as to sweep the turnpike. Hatch on the left and Knipe on the
right were at once ordered to charge the enemy’s flanks, while the Fourth
Regular Cavalry, under Lieut. Hedges, was directed straight against his centre.
Seeing what was about to burst upon him, the battery commander opened with
canister at short range, but had hardly emptied his guns before the storm broke
upon him. Forrest did his best to hold his ground, but it was impossible. Hedges
rode headlong over the battery and captured a part of his guns. * * *
“Lieut. Hedges, outstripping his men, was
captured three different times, but throwing his hat away and raising the cry,
‘The Yankees are coming, run for your lives,’ succeeded in getting away.”
*War Records XXIII, part 1, 231.
† “Battles and Leaders of the Civil War.”
Gen. Wilson’s staff headed by Col. E. B. Beaumont charged with the Fourth
Cavalry in this affair.
It participated in the campaign of Selma and in the march to Macon. At Selma
(April 2, 1865) it was again distinguished by a mounted charge on the enemy’s
earthworks. This was repulsed with loss, but a second charge, dismounted,
resulted in carrying the works. “The enemy rallied behind a second line of
works where they were charged by a small mounted battalion of the Fourth
Cavalry. The charge was broken up by a railroad cut and some fences close to the
works. The regiment lost many horses; a few men killed and some wounded. Lieut.
Webster was shot in the arm and Lieut. O’Connell had his horse shot under him,
and was supposed to be killed. This charge failed; but the same battalion
dismounted and supported by the 17th Indiana and 3d Ohio and a
section of the Chicago Board of Trade Battery charged again and the line was
gallantly carried. As we approached the works we had the satisfaction of seeing
the bulky form of O’Connell rise from behind his dead horse, where he had been
lying to avoid the enemy’s fire. He was bruised but unwounded.”*
