Weekly Perrysburg (Ohio) Journal US
The Battle of Cane Hill, Arkansas.
[From the Chicago Evening Journal,]
CANE HILL, ARK., December 1, 1862.
General Blunt's division of the army consisting of three brigades, four batteries and six mountain howitzers, under the command of General Salomon, 1st brigade. Colonel Ware, 2d brigade, and Colonel Cloud, 3d brigade, were in camp near Lindsey's Prairie on the evening of the 27th. Orders were issued for detachments from each regiment to move at daylight on the morning of the 24th, with three days' rations of hard bread and salt in their haversack. Most of the artillery was ordered to move and all the ambulances accompanied the column.
Promptly at daylight the column was put in motion, General Blunt commanding in person. The country over which we passed (southeast) was extremely rugged, rendering the passage of our artillery and ambulances slow and tedious. Nino o'clock in the evening however found us within ten miles of our enemy, who were camped in a force from seven to eight thousand strong at Boonsborough. From our scout we learned that they were determined to fight at this point. The rebel forces were under the command of Major-General Marmaduke, Brigadier-General Shelby, and other lesser Confederate lights, such as McDonald. Quantrill, Livingston, ,&c. It was a concentration of all the " bushwhacking " gangs united to Marmaduke's force. It was evident that they were driven by necessity to hold if possible the section of country comprising Boonsborough, Cane Hill, Roy's Mills and Dutch Mills, all within a radius of fifteen miles, and comprising the greatest wheat-growing and flouring section in Arkansas.
At 4 o'clock on the morning of the 29th the column was put in motion, the 3rd brigade in the advance under Colonel Cloud, in the following order:
The Kansas 2d cavalry, Colonel Bassett, Captain Rabb's Indiana battery, the Kansas 11th infantry, Colonel Ewing, the rebel battery taken at Fort Wayne, the 1st Indian regiment commanded by Ellithorpe; next Colonel Weer's brigade, and the rear brought up General Saloman with his brigade. The column moved rapidly over the mountain roads ; indeed one of the mountains was so percipitous that the men had to lay hold of the guns and assist the jaded animals to make the ascent. These difficulties did not deter the men or officers; silently as possible we pressed forward, hoping to get in sight of the enemy’s camp without alarming them. The advance scout ascertained the position of the enemy's pickets, and "took them in," killing one and capturing the rest. This alarmed their grand guard, although but a few shots were fired.
Immediately their whole camp was alarmed and quickly formed in position, planting two batteries of four guns each, intending to rake us as we filed through the narrow ravine that led to the town. General Blunt was not to be caught in this kind of a trap. Thu column was at once moved from the main road, up the steep hillside, and through the thick brush, completely out of sight of the enemy. A position was gained upon the top of a hill overlooking the town and the enemy. Three mountain howitzers, put in position, at once commenced the battle. Some twenty shells were dropped among them before they could reply. While they were engaged in changing position, Captain Rabb, with his battery, gained a favorable site, and opened up with four twelve-pound guns, with terrible effect, dismounting one of their guns and disabling another. By this time the enemy had located two of their guns, and paid their compliments to Captain Rabb, by way of killing and wounding five of his men, and killing six horses.
Now the battle became general, and the artillery duel continued some fifty minutes, when the enemy withdrew their batteries, and commenced to fall back to a now position. The regiments comprising the first brigade rapidly advanced, covered by the Artillery. Deafening shouts went up from our lines us they pressed forward. The rebels could stand it no longer, and now the skedaddle commenced. From one hill to another, through deep ravines, up and down mountains, and through the woods they fled, occasionally making a stand in some masked place; until charged and shelled out. Thus the battle continued, the retreat and pursuit, from ten in the morning until dark.
Almost every rod of ground was fought over, for more than a for more than a distance of ten miles. Both armies were exhausted. Cavalry regiments dismounted and fought through the brush; artillery horses dropped in the harness, and men would seize the ropes and drag the guns forward. The closing scene was between sunset and dark, The enemy made a stand in a deep ravine. Our howitzer had not yet come up; our men, impatient, made a charge—cavalry men on foot, with sabers and pistols, Infantry with bayonets, and Indians with rifles in the very thickest of the woods. The cheering of the white men and the shrill war whoops of the Indians, the clashing of sabres and the incessant roar of small arms, converted this remote mountain gorge into a perfect Pandemonium. The enemy gave way, and darkness prevented further pursuit. Thus ended the battle of Cane Hill.
At this writing I have no idea of the loss on either side, and it would be but guesswork to estimate it, yet it is evidently much smaller than if the battle had been in open country. The trees would frequently stop the shot and shell before they reached half way to the enemy. The firing of the enemy was very wild, as is evident from the marks upon the trees—the balls lodging from four to ten feet over our heads.