The Arkansas in the Civil War Message Board

Battle of Pilot Knob

Sept. 27th - "Monroe's regiment, Cabell's Brigade, attacked the enemy's skirmishers on Shephard's Mountain, and drove them from it. The brigade was formed at the foot of the mountain and ordered to charge the fort, Slemons' and McCray's brigades on the right and Marmaduke's division on the left. At the signal Cabell's brigade, led by himself, advanced over the open ground for half a mile swept every foot of the way by artillery and musketry from the fort, and reached the walls, losing men losing men at every step. They had done all they could do, for in front of them was the fort with a ditch 7 feet deep, 8 feet wide, and a wall 12 feet high. They could scarcely have got in had there been no one inside. They were ordered to fall back and did so in good order to a little branch some 200 yards from the fort, the banks of which offeed some protection. Here they connected with Clark's brigade and a portion of McCray's and kept up a fire on the enemy until nearly dark when they were retired to Ironton. During the evening three pieces of artillery (one of Hughey's and two of Pratt's batteries) were planted on Shephard's Mountain and threw shot into the fort. Firing ceased at dark.

September 28 - During the night General Ewing blew up the fort and retreated towards Rolla. Cabell's brigade in this actiuon fifty or sixty killed and 150 wounded. To particularize the gallant conduct of the officers and men would take pages. General Cabell had his horse3 killed in thirty or forty yards of the Fort. Colonel Thomas of General Fagan's staff was severely wounded. At the same place Colonel monroe. Lieutenant Colonel Basham was killed. Captain Corder, aid to Cabell, severely wounded, also Captain Alexander, Company C, Monroe's regiment. Monroe's regiment lost about 100 officers and men. Morgan's, Hill's Gorodn's, and Gunter's regiments behaved most nobly and lost heavily on this day. We took possession of Fort Davidson and the town of Pilot Knob, and marched fifteen miles on the road to Potosi. ("The Missouri Campaign: Diary of an Officer" in Supplement to OR Vol. 7, pp. 406-407