Battle of Buffington Island
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Buffington Island
, also known as the St. Georges Creek Skirmish, was an American Civil War
engagement in Meigs County, Ohio
, and Jackson County, West Virginia, on July 19, 1863, during Morgan's Raid
. The largest battle in Ohio
during the war, Buffington Island contributed to the capture of the famed Confederate
cavalry
raider, Brig. Gen.
John Hunt Morgan
, who was seeking to escape Union army
pursuers across the Ohio River
at a ford opposite Buffington Island.
Delayed overnight, Morgan was almost surrounded by Union cavalry the next day, and the resulting battle ended in a Confederate rout, with over half of the 1,700-man Confederate force being captured. General Morgan and some 700 men escaped, but the daring raid finally ended on July 26 with his surrender after the Battle of Salineville
. Morgan's Raid was of little military consequence, but it did spread terror among much of the population of southern and eastern Ohio, as well as neighboring Indiana
.
from Southern forces in Tennessee
, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and 2,460 handpicked Confederate cavalrymen, along with a battery of horse artillery
, rode west from Sparta, Tennessee
, on June 11, 1863. Twelve days later, when a second Federal army (the Army of the Cumberland
) began its Tullahoma Campaign
, Morgan decided it was time to move northward. His column marched into Kentucky
, fighting a series of minor battles, before commandeering two steamships to ferry them across the Ohio River into Indiana, where, at the Battle of Corydon
, Morgan routed the local militia
. With his path now relatively clear, Morgan headed eastward on July 13 past Cincinnati
and rode across southern Ohio, stealing horses and supplies along the way.
The Union response was not long in coming, as Maj. Gen.
Ambrose Burnside
, commanding the Department of the Ohio
, ordered out all available troops, as well as sending several Union Navy
gunboat
s steaming up the Ohio River to contest any Confederate attempt to reach Kentucky or West Virginia
and safety. Brig. Gen. Edward H. Hobson
led several columns of Federal cavalry in pursuit of Morgan's raiders, which by now had been reduced to some 1,700 men. Ohio Governor David Tod
called out the local militia, and volunteers formed companies to protect towns and river crossings throughout the region.
On July 18, Morgan, having split his column earlier, led his reunited force towards Pomeroy, Ohio
, a quiet river town near the Eight Mile Island Ford, where Morgan intended to cross into West Virginia. Running a gauntlet of small arms fire, Morgan's men were denied access to the river and to Pomeroy itself, and he headed towards the next ford upstream at Buffington Island
, some 20 miles to the southeast.
Arriving near Buffington Island and the nearby tiny hamlet of Portland, Ohio, towards evening on July 18, Morgan found that the ford was blocked by several hundred local militia ensconced behind hastily thrown up earthworks. As a dense fog and darkness settled in, Morgan decided to camp for the night to allow his jaded men and horses to rest. He was concerned that even if he pushed aside the enemy troops, he might lose additional men in the darkness as they tried to navigate the narrow ford. The delay proved to be a fatal mistake.
The US Navy's Mississippi Squadron
was involved in Battle of Buffington Island. Morgan had brought field cannons with his column. A heavy river blockade and a means was realized early in the chase while Morgan's column traveled easterly towards Cincinnati, Ohio
. Lt Commander Leroy Fitch
's fleet
included the Brilliant, Fairplay, Moose, Reindeer, St. Clair, Silver Lake, Springfield, Victory, Naumkeag, Queen City which were tinclads and ironclads. A few of these steamers lagged behind to zone-up protecting against a possible doubling back of Morgan's column. The forward vessels were each assigned a patrol zone along the Mason, Jackson and Wood counties of West Virginia
by Fitch's instruction. Naumkeag patrolled from Point Pleasant, West Virginia
to Eight Mile Island zone and Springfield guarded from Pomeroy, Ohio
towards Letart Islands
. Victorys cannon balls have been found along Leading Creek, Ohio, its patrol from Middleport, Ohio
to Eight Mile Island along the West Virginia river bank. The Magnolia, Imperial, Alleghany Belle, and Union tinclads and armed packets which were privateers along with others documented under Parkersburg
Logistics'
command. The Army's "amphibious division" officer, Major General Ambrose E. Burnside at his Cincinnati
headquarters, provided intelligence of Morgan's march and turned his flagship, Alleghany Belle, over to Fitch before the battle. The "amphibious
division
" tinclads had four to six large jonboats (sideboats) used to fire rifles from, for landing to give chase and pickup prisoners.
Fitch's flagship
was the ironclad U.S.S. Moose
, USN
. Moose and Fitch's dispatch privateer, Imperial, were tied up within earshot of the island the night before the battle. It has been written that Fitch had the boilers fired up and shooting its large cannons at the island on first rifle fire, slightly out of range before steam could make way. Allegheny Belle was a little farther down tied up along the Ohio side. Having heard Mooses cannons, it made steam and soon brought up Burnsides' "amphibious infantry" (M. F. Jenkins 1999).
The 9th West Virginia Infantry
were delivered by packets working under Fort Union (Ft Blair) to the high banked, tree lined crossings along the West Virginia shores. These were commanded by Colenel I. H. Duval
under Federal Command at Wheeling, West Virginia
. "The regiment was composed largely of refugees, who, having been driven from home, were fighting with a desperation that was not excelled by any troops in any army." The river provided further impediment to the Confederate Cavalry during these skirmishes. It is unknown, save educated guess, how many horses and Confederate Cav Troopers drowned while facing West Virginia stationed sentry in several locations down shore stemming from the main battle. Some individuals did make the crossing without horse by foot evasion and was aided back south to home by sympathizers despite some of Col J.P.R.B. Smith's 106th militia of Jackson and Mason counties Cavalry patrols behind the sentry line. One of several smaller shoal crossings was near Ravenswood, West Virginia
. That sentry
squad was provided a worn out cannon
of which several earlier authors have anecdote. The "amphibious division" assaulted any Confederate squad found near the shores and pulled prisoners from the river.
Continuing upstream after the main battle broke into unit manoeuvre and skirmishes, USS Moose fired on a Confederate Artillery column trying to cross the river above the island at the next shoal crossing. Fitch dispatched Imperial to recover Confederate field artillery left behind there. All along the river, spotty ironclad and field cannon fire with clusters of rifle fire was heard shooting at Morgan's scouts looking for another possible ford. Meanwhile, Parkersburg
Logistics terminal had sent a local armed packet with 9th Infantry sentries below Blennerhassett Island
on word of the Battle's gunfire some twenty miles below. These paralleled patrols opposite the Belpre, Ohio
Union Army encampment below the Ohio side of the terminal. This steamboat river harbor and large land Debarkations Camp blocked Morgan's further attempt to ford the river upstream turning his retreat northerly and away from this Ohio River
area. The local support vessels were busy hauling ammunition
, rations and prisoners. Belpre, Ohio
had a supply receiving dockage and depot.
Unlike General William W. Loring
during the Confederate over-run of Charleston's
salt works, General Morgan had missed his chance farther downstream as he approached this center. It was a direct rail route from the Washington D.C., Philadelphia
and Baltimore region. The western states got their supplies from the east's rail depot and packet docks at the Union's Parkersburg Supply
Center. Belpre and Parkersburg was also a huge Union embarkation center for union infantry being transported by conscript steam packet boats (privateers) to the Kentucky
and Tennessee
theatre. As the railroad Line from the East's factories, it had no bridges across the Ohio River. There were no railway bridges across the Ohio River at this time. Railroad bridges would be built across the Mississippi
and Ohio rivers after the Civil War
. Clearly, before Gen. Morgan left the South, he lacked detailed intelligence of the Union's logistics system on the upper Ohio Valley as some military historians have figured.
s under August Kautz
and Henry M. Judah
finally caught up with Morgan and attacked his position on the broad flood plain just north of Portland, nearly encircling the Confederates as another column under James M. Shackelford
arrived on the scene. In the spirited early fighting, Maj.
Daniel McCook
, the 65-year-old patriarch of the famed Fighting McCooks
, was mortally wounded. Nearly 3,000 Federals were soon engaged with Morgan's outnumbered and exhausted men. In addition, two Union gunboats, the U.S.S. Moose and the U.S.S. Allegheny Belle, steamed into the narrow channel separating Buffington Island from the flood plain and opened fire on Morgan's men, spraying them with shell fragments. Soon they were joined by a third gunboat.
Morgan, his way to the Buffington Island ford now totally blocked, left behind a small rear guard and tried to fight his way northward along the flood plain, hoping to reach yet another ford. It proved to be an exercise in futility, as Morgan's force was split apart by the converging Federal columns and 52 Confederates were killed, with well over one hundred badly wounded in the swirling fighting. Morgan and about 700 men escaped encirclement by following a narrow path through the woods. However, his brother-in-law and second-in-command, Col. Basil W. Duke
, was captured, as were over 750 of Morgan's cavalrymen, including his younger brother John Morgan. Duke formally surrendered to Col. Isaac Garrard of the 7th Ohio Cavalry
.
Morgan's beleaguered troops soon headed upstream for the unguarded ford opposite Belleville, West Virginia, where over 300 men successfully crossed the Ohio River to avoid capture, most notably Col.
Adam "Stovepipe" Johnson
and famed telegrapher George Ellsworth
. General Morgan, who was halfway across the ford, noted with dismay that his remaining men were trapped on the Ohio side as the Federal gunboats suddenly loomed into view. He wheeled his horse midchannel and rejoined what was left of his column on the Ohio riverbank. Over the next few days, they failed to find a secure place to cross the river, and Morgan's remaining force was captured on June 26 in northern Ohio following the Battle of Salineville
.
Many of those captured at Buffington Island were taken via steamboat to Cincinnati as prisoners of war, including most of the wounded. Morgan and most of his officers were confined to the Ohio Penitentiary
in Columbus
. Morgan, Thomas Hines
, and a few others would later escape and return safely to Kentucky.
Buffington Island
Buffington Island is an island in the Ohio River in Jackson County, West Virginia, United States, east of Racine, Ohio. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Buffington Island took place on July 19, 1863, just south of the Ohio community of Portland....
, also known as the St. Georges Creek Skirmish, was an American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
engagement in Meigs County, Ohio
Meigs County, Ohio
Meigs County is a county located in the state of Ohio, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 23,770. Its county seat is Pomeroy, and it is named for Return J. Meigs, Jr., the 4th Governor of Ohio.-Geography:...
, and Jackson County, West Virginia, on July 19, 1863, during Morgan's Raid
Morgan's Raid
Morgan's Raid was a highly publicized incursion by Confederate cavalry into the Northern states of Indiana and Ohio during the American Civil War. The raid took place from June 11–July 26, 1863, and is named for the commander of the Confederates, Brig. Gen...
. The largest battle in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
during the war, Buffington Island contributed to the capture of the famed Confederate
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
raider, Brig. Gen.
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
John Hunt Morgan
John Hunt Morgan
John Hunt Morgan was a Confederate general and cavalry officer in the American Civil War.Morgan is best known for Morgan's Raid when, in 1863, he and his men rode over 1,000 miles covering a region from Tennessee, up through Kentucky, into Indiana and on to southern Ohio...
, who was seeking to escape Union army
Union Army
The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...
pursuers across the Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
at a ford opposite Buffington Island.
Delayed overnight, Morgan was almost surrounded by Union cavalry the next day, and the resulting battle ended in a Confederate rout, with over half of the 1,700-man Confederate force being captured. General Morgan and some 700 men escaped, but the daring raid finally ended on July 26 with his surrender after the Battle of Salineville
Battle of Salineville
The Battle of Salineville occurred July 26, 1863, near Salineville, Ohio during Morgan's Raid in the American Civil War. It was one of the northernmost military actions involving the Confederate States Army. The decisive Union victory shattered John Hunt Morgan's remaining Confederate cavalry and...
. Morgan's Raid was of little military consequence, but it did spread terror among much of the population of southern and eastern Ohio, as well as neighboring Indiana
Indiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
.
Background
Hoping to divert the attention of the Federal Army of the OhioArmy of the Ohio
The Army of the Ohio was the name of two Union armies in the American Civil War. The first army became the Army of the Cumberland and the second army was created in 1863.-History:...
from Southern forces in Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan and 2,460 handpicked Confederate cavalrymen, along with a battery of horse artillery
Artillery
Originally applied to any group of infantry primarily armed with projectile weapons, artillery has over time become limited in meaning to refer only to those engines of war that operate by projection of munitions far beyond the range of effect of personal weapons...
, rode west from Sparta, Tennessee
Sparta, Tennessee
Sparta is a city in White County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 4,599 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of White County. It was the hometown of Lester Flatt of the bluegrass music legends Flatt and Scruggs.-Geography:...
, on June 11, 1863. Twelve days later, when a second Federal army (the Army of the Cumberland
Army of the Cumberland
The Army of the Cumberland was one of the principal Union armies in the Western Theater during the American Civil War. It was originally known as the Army of the Ohio.-History:...
) began its Tullahoma Campaign
Tullahoma Campaign
The Tullahoma Campaign or Middle Tennessee Campaign was fought between June 24 and July 3, 1863, during the American Civil War. The Union Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj. Gen. William S...
, Morgan decided it was time to move northward. His column marched into Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
, fighting a series of minor battles, before commandeering two steamships to ferry them across the Ohio River into Indiana, where, at the Battle of Corydon
Battle of Corydon
The Battle of Corydon was a minor engagement that took place July 9, 1863, just south of Corydon, which had been the original capital of Indiana until 1825, and was the county seat of Harrison County. The attack occurred during Morgan's Raid in the American Civil War as a force of 2,500 cavalry...
, Morgan routed the local militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
. With his path now relatively clear, Morgan headed eastward on July 13 past Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
and rode across southern Ohio, stealing horses and supplies along the way.
The Union response was not long in coming, as Maj. Gen.
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Burnside
Ambrose Everett Burnside was an American soldier, railroad executive, inventor, industrialist, and politician from Rhode Island, serving as governor and a U.S. Senator...
, commanding the Department of the Ohio
Department of the Ohio
The Department of the Ohio was an administrative military district created by the United States War Department early in the American Civil War to administer the troops in the Northern states near the Ohio River.General Orders No...
, ordered out all available troops, as well as sending several Union Navy
Union Navy
The Union Navy is the label applied to the United States Navy during the American Civil War, to contrast it from its direct opponent, the Confederate States Navy...
gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
s steaming up the Ohio River to contest any Confederate attempt to reach Kentucky or West Virginia
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...
and safety. Brig. Gen. Edward H. Hobson
Edward H. Hobson
Edward Henry Hobson was a merchant, banker, politician, tax collector, railroad executive, and an officer in the United States Army in the Mexican-American War and American Civil War. He is most known for his determined pursuit of the Confederates during Morgan's Raid.-Early life and career:Hobson...
led several columns of Federal cavalry in pursuit of Morgan's raiders, which by now had been reduced to some 1,700 men. Ohio Governor David Tod
David Tod
David Tod was a politician and industrialist from the U.S. state of Ohio. As the 25th Governor of Ohio, Tod gained recognition for his forceful and energetic leadership during the American Civil War....
called out the local militia, and volunteers formed companies to protect towns and river crossings throughout the region.
On July 18, Morgan, having split his column earlier, led his reunited force towards Pomeroy, Ohio
Pomeroy, Ohio
Pomeroy is a village in and the county seat of Meigs County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,966 at the 2000 census. During the late 19th century, Pomeroy was an important producer of coal and salt...
, a quiet river town near the Eight Mile Island Ford, where Morgan intended to cross into West Virginia. Running a gauntlet of small arms fire, Morgan's men were denied access to the river and to Pomeroy itself, and he headed towards the next ford upstream at Buffington Island
Buffington Island
Buffington Island is an island in the Ohio River in Jackson County, West Virginia, United States, east of Racine, Ohio. During the American Civil War, the Battle of Buffington Island took place on July 19, 1863, just south of the Ohio community of Portland....
, some 20 miles to the southeast.
Arriving near Buffington Island and the nearby tiny hamlet of Portland, Ohio, towards evening on July 18, Morgan found that the ford was blocked by several hundred local militia ensconced behind hastily thrown up earthworks. As a dense fog and darkness settled in, Morgan decided to camp for the night to allow his jaded men and horses to rest. He was concerned that even if he pushed aside the enemy troops, he might lose additional men in the darkness as they tried to navigate the narrow ford. The delay proved to be a fatal mistake.
Fitch's Fleet
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
was involved in Battle of Buffington Island. Morgan had brought field cannons with his column. A heavy river blockade and a means was realized early in the chase while Morgan's column traveled easterly towards Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
. Lt Commander Leroy Fitch
LeRoy Fitch
LeRoy Fitch, born 1 October 1835 in Logansport, Indiana, was a member of the United States Naval Academy class of 1856, and served with great distinction in the American Civil War and afterward...
's fleet
Naval fleet
A fleet, or naval fleet, is a large formation of warships, and the largest formation in any navy. A fleet at sea is the direct equivalent of an army on land....
included the Brilliant, Fairplay, Moose, Reindeer, St. Clair, Silver Lake, Springfield, Victory, Naumkeag, Queen City which were tinclads and ironclads. A few of these steamers lagged behind to zone-up protecting against a possible doubling back of Morgan's column. The forward vessels were each assigned a patrol zone along the Mason, Jackson and Wood counties of West Virginia
History of West Virginia
West Virginia is one of two American states formed during the American Civil War , along with Nevada, and is the only state to form by seceding from a Confederate state...
by Fitch's instruction. Naumkeag patrolled from Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant, West Virginia
Point Pleasant is a city in Mason County, West Virginia, United States, at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. The population was 4,637 at the 2000 census...
to Eight Mile Island zone and Springfield guarded from Pomeroy, Ohio
Pomeroy, Ohio
Pomeroy is a village in and the county seat of Meigs County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 1,966 at the 2000 census. During the late 19th century, Pomeroy was an important producer of coal and salt...
towards Letart Islands
Mason County, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 25,957 people, 10,587 households, and 7,569 families residing in the county. The population density was 60 people per square mile . There were 12,056 housing units at an average density of 28 per square mile...
. Victorys cannon balls have been found along Leading Creek, Ohio, its patrol from Middleport, Ohio
Middleport, Ohio
Middleport is a village in Meigs County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 2,525 at the 2000 census.Middleport was the home of Walter "Mother" Watson, a Major League Baseball pitcher.-Geography:...
to Eight Mile Island along the West Virginia river bank. The Magnolia, Imperial, Alleghany Belle, and Union tinclads and armed packets which were privateers along with others documented under Parkersburg
Parkersburg, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,099 people, 14,467 households, and 8,767 families residing in the city. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Parkersburg's population had decreased 4.4% to 31,755. The population density was 2,800.5 people per square mile . There were 16,100 housing...
Logistics'
Military logistics
Military logistics is the discipline of planning and carrying out the movement and maintenance of military forces. In its most comprehensive sense, it is those aspects or military operations that deal with:...
command. The Army's "amphibious division" officer, Major General Ambrose E. Burnside at his Cincinnati
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
headquarters, provided intelligence of Morgan's march and turned his flagship, Alleghany Belle, over to Fitch before the battle. The "amphibious
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
division
Division (military)
A division is a large military unit or formation usually consisting of between 10,000 and 20,000 soldiers. In most armies, a division is composed of several regiments or brigades, and in turn several divisions typically make up a corps...
" tinclads had four to six large jonboats (sideboats) used to fire rifles from, for landing to give chase and pickup prisoners.
Fitch's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
was the ironclad U.S.S. Moose
USS Moose (1863)
USS Moose was a steamer purchased by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was used by the Union Navy as a gunboat assigned to patrol Confederate waterways to prevent the South from trading with other countries....
, USN
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
. Moose and Fitch's dispatch privateer, Imperial, were tied up within earshot of the island the night before the battle. It has been written that Fitch had the boilers fired up and shooting its large cannons at the island on first rifle fire, slightly out of range before steam could make way. Allegheny Belle was a little farther down tied up along the Ohio side. Having heard Mooses cannons, it made steam and soon brought up Burnsides' "amphibious infantry" (M. F. Jenkins 1999).
The 9th West Virginia Infantry
9th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
The 9th West Virginia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.-Organization:...
were delivered by packets working under Fort Union (Ft Blair) to the high banked, tree lined crossings along the West Virginia shores. These were commanded by Colenel I. H. Duval
Isaac H. Duval
Isaac Harding Duval was an adventurer and businessman prior to becoming a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was a postbellum U.S. Representative from West Virginia in the 41st United States Congress.-Early life and career:Duval was born in Wellsburg, West...
under Federal Command at Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling, West Virginia
Wheeling is a city in Ohio and Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia; it is the county seat of Ohio County. Wheeling is the principal city of the Wheeling Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. "The regiment was composed largely of refugees, who, having been driven from home, were fighting with a desperation that was not excelled by any troops in any army." The river provided further impediment to the Confederate Cavalry during these skirmishes. It is unknown, save educated guess, how many horses and Confederate Cav Troopers drowned while facing West Virginia stationed sentry in several locations down shore stemming from the main battle. Some individuals did make the crossing without horse by foot evasion and was aided back south to home by sympathizers despite some of Col J.P.R.B. Smith's 106th militia of Jackson and Mason counties Cavalry patrols behind the sentry line. One of several smaller shoal crossings was near Ravenswood, West Virginia
Ravenswood, West Virginia
Ravenswood is a city in Jackson County, West Virginia, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 4,031 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Ravenswood is located at , along the Ohio River at the mouth of Sandy Creek....
. That sentry
General Orders for Sentries
Orders to Sentry is the official title of a set of rules governing sentry duty in the United States armed forces. While any guard posting has rules that may go without saying , these orders are carefully detailed and particularly stressed in the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and...
squad was provided a worn out cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
of which several earlier authors have anecdote. The "amphibious division" assaulted any Confederate squad found near the shores and pulled prisoners from the river.
Continuing upstream after the main battle broke into unit manoeuvre and skirmishes, USS Moose fired on a Confederate Artillery column trying to cross the river above the island at the next shoal crossing. Fitch dispatched Imperial to recover Confederate field artillery left behind there. All along the river, spotty ironclad and field cannon fire with clusters of rifle fire was heard shooting at Morgan's scouts looking for another possible ford. Meanwhile, Parkersburg
Parkersburg, West Virginia
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,099 people, 14,467 households, and 8,767 families residing in the city. In 2006 the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that Parkersburg's population had decreased 4.4% to 31,755. The population density was 2,800.5 people per square mile . There were 16,100 housing...
Logistics terminal had sent a local armed packet with 9th Infantry sentries below Blennerhassett Island
Blennerhassett Island
Blennerhasset Island, an island on the Ohio River below the mouth of the Little Kanawha River, is located near Parkersburg in Wood County, West Virginia, USA....
on word of the Battle's gunfire some twenty miles below. These paralleled patrols opposite the Belpre, Ohio
Belpre, Ohio
Belpre is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,441 at the 2010 census....
Union Army encampment below the Ohio side of the terminal. This steamboat river harbor and large land Debarkations Camp blocked Morgan's further attempt to ford the river upstream turning his retreat northerly and away from this Ohio River
Ohio River
The Ohio River is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River. At the confluence, the Ohio is even bigger than the Mississippi and, thus, is hydrologically the main stream of the whole river system, including the Allegheny River further upstream...
area. The local support vessels were busy hauling ammunition
Ammunition
Ammunition is a generic term derived from the French language la munition which embraced all material used for war , but which in time came to refer specifically to gunpowder and artillery. The collective term for all types of ammunition is munitions...
, rations and prisoners. Belpre, Ohio
Belpre, Ohio
Belpre is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, along the Ohio River. It is part of the Parkersburg-Marietta-Vienna, WV-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 6,441 at the 2010 census....
had a supply receiving dockage and depot.
Unlike General William W. Loring
William W. Loring
William Wing Loring was a soldier from North Carolina who served in the armies of the United States, the Confederacy, and Egypt.-Early life:...
during the Confederate over-run of Charleston's
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is located at the confluence of the Elk and Kanawha Rivers in Kanawha County. As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 51,400, and its metropolitan area 304,214. It is the county seat of Kanawha County.Early...
salt works, General Morgan had missed his chance farther downstream as he approached this center. It was a direct rail route from the Washington D.C., Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
and Baltimore region. The western states got their supplies from the east's rail depot and packet docks at the Union's Parkersburg Supply
Logistics
Logistics is the management of the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of destination in order to meet the requirements of customers or corporations. Logistics involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing, material handling, and packaging, and...
Center. Belpre and Parkersburg was also a huge Union embarkation center for union infantry being transported by conscript steam packet boats (privateers) to the Kentucky
Kentucky
The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
and Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
theatre. As the railroad Line from the East's factories, it had no bridges across the Ohio River. There were no railway bridges across the Ohio River at this time. Railroad bridges would be built across the Mississippi
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
and Ohio rivers after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
. Clearly, before Gen. Morgan left the South, he lacked detailed intelligence of the Union's logistics system on the upper Ohio Valley as some military historians have figured.
Collated and Compiled from the Official Records of the War Department: 1-Morgan's Raid into IN, KY and OH U.S.A.- 22 Killed, 80 Wounded 26- 790 Missing or Captured C.S.A.- 86 Killed, 385 Wounded 3000 Missing or Captured | Lieutenant-Commander LeRoy Fitch report to Acting Rear-Admiral David D. Porter, Commanding Mississippi Squadron: "Many places he has been in large bends in the river, where by marching 4 or 5 miles he could have struck several fords, which, by water, would perhaps be 15 or 20 miles apart. All these fords in the rear, ahead, and intermediate had to be guarded." |
Battle
On the foggy morning of July 19, two Federal brigadeBrigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
s under August Kautz
August Kautz
August Valentine Kautz was a German-American soldier and Union Army cavalry officer during the American Civil War. He was the author of several army manuals on duties and customs eventually adopted by the U.S. military.-Early life and career:Born in Ispringen, Baden, Germany, Kautz immigrated with...
and Henry M. Judah
Henry M. Judah
Henry Moses Judah was a career officer in the United States Army, serving during the Mexican-American War and American Civil War...
finally caught up with Morgan and attacked his position on the broad flood plain just north of Portland, nearly encircling the Confederates as another column under James M. Shackelford
James M. Shackelford
James Murrell Shackelford was a lawyer, judge, and general in the Union Army during the American Civil War...
arrived on the scene. In the spirited early fighting, Maj.
Major
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
Daniel McCook
Daniel McCook
Daniel McCook was an attorney and an officer in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was one of two Ohio brothers who, along with 13 of their sons, became widely known as the “Fighting McCooks” for their contributions to the war effort.-Biography:McCook was born in Canonsburg,...
, the 65-year-old patriarch of the famed Fighting McCooks
Fighting McCooks
The Fighting McCooks were members of a family of Ohioans who reached prominence as officers in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Two brothers, Daniel and John McCook, and thirteen of their sons were actively involved in the army, making the family one of the most prolific in American...
, was mortally wounded. Nearly 3,000 Federals were soon engaged with Morgan's outnumbered and exhausted men. In addition, two Union gunboats, the U.S.S. Moose and the U.S.S. Allegheny Belle, steamed into the narrow channel separating Buffington Island from the flood plain and opened fire on Morgan's men, spraying them with shell fragments. Soon they were joined by a third gunboat.
Morgan, his way to the Buffington Island ford now totally blocked, left behind a small rear guard and tried to fight his way northward along the flood plain, hoping to reach yet another ford. It proved to be an exercise in futility, as Morgan's force was split apart by the converging Federal columns and 52 Confederates were killed, with well over one hundred badly wounded in the swirling fighting. Morgan and about 700 men escaped encirclement by following a narrow path through the woods. However, his brother-in-law and second-in-command, Col. Basil W. Duke
Basil W. Duke
Basil Wilson Duke was a Confederate general officer during the American Civil War. His most noted service in the war was as second-in-command for his brother-in-law John Hunt Morgan; Duke would later write a popular account of Morgan's most famous raid: 1863's Morgan's Raid...
, was captured, as were over 750 of Morgan's cavalrymen, including his younger brother John Morgan. Duke formally surrendered to Col. Isaac Garrard of the 7th Ohio Cavalry
7th Ohio Cavalry
The 7th Regiment, Ohio Cavalry was a regiment of Union cavalry raised in southern Ohio for service during the American Civil War. Nicknamed the "River Regiment" as its men came from nine counties along the Ohio River, it served in the Western Theater in several major campaigns of the Army of the...
.
Morgan's beleaguered troops soon headed upstream for the unguarded ford opposite Belleville, West Virginia, where over 300 men successfully crossed the Ohio River to avoid capture, most notably Col.
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Adam "Stovepipe" Johnson
Adam Johnson (colonel)
Adam Rankin "Stovepipe" Johnson was an antebellum Western frontiersman and later an officer in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War....
and famed telegrapher George Ellsworth
George Ellsworth
George "Lightning" Ellsworth was a Canadian telegrapher who served in the Confederate army during the American Civil War, specifically with the cavalry forces under Brig. Gen. John Hunt Morgan...
. General Morgan, who was halfway across the ford, noted with dismay that his remaining men were trapped on the Ohio side as the Federal gunboats suddenly loomed into view. He wheeled his horse midchannel and rejoined what was left of his column on the Ohio riverbank. Over the next few days, they failed to find a secure place to cross the river, and Morgan's remaining force was captured on June 26 in northern Ohio following the Battle of Salineville
Battle of Salineville
The Battle of Salineville occurred July 26, 1863, near Salineville, Ohio during Morgan's Raid in the American Civil War. It was one of the northernmost military actions involving the Confederate States Army. The decisive Union victory shattered John Hunt Morgan's remaining Confederate cavalry and...
.
Many of those captured at Buffington Island were taken via steamboat to Cincinnati as prisoners of war, including most of the wounded. Morgan and most of his officers were confined to the Ohio Penitentiary
Ohio Penitentiary
The Ohio Penitentiary, also known as the Ohio State Penitentiary, or less formally, the Ohio Pen or State Pen, was a prison operated from 1834-1983 in downtown Columbus, Ohio, in what is now known as the Arena District. The prison housed 5,235 prisoners at its peak in 1955...
in Columbus
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. Morgan, Thomas Hines
Thomas Hines
Thomas Henry Hines was a Confederate spy during the American Civil War. A native of Butler County, Kentucky, he initially worked as a grammar instructor, mainly at the Masonic University of La Grange, Kentucky. During the first year of the war, he served as a field officer, initiating several...
, and a few others would later escape and return safely to Kentucky.